Allez le R.A.F.

I also was remiss in not mentioning the most recent sporting news to emerge from Rodez.

The local football club, le R.A.F., is involved in the French equivalent of the FA Cup, the competition where all the club teams in the country are eligible to compete and where one finds lower tier teams playing against the big money with famous players.

First off, R.A.F. stands for Rodez Aveyron Football, Aveyron being the department in which I am in. Our logo is some sort of red bull's head. Very aggressive.

We had managed to get ourselves into the round of 16 in the tournament, despite sitting 12th in the third division of French football, and for an opponent had drawn Paris St. Germain, currently second in the top tier and one of last year's finalist. For anyone who knows French society it is perhaps the most centralized in Europe when one considers the history and current role of Paris in the affairs of the rest of the country, so there were all sorts of themes beyond the sport tied up in the match as well.

To make a long story short the town was into it from the time the match up was announced, so last Wednesday, March 4th everyone was either at the game or in bars watching. Paris scored early, but Rodez was playing well, we equalized in the 60th minute or so on an excellent shot, survived a few scares at the end of regulation and had some solid play from our keeper. The first 15 minutes of extra time yielded nothing, but in the second block of extra time a ripping shot from 30 yards out took a deflection off a PSG defender and in it went. We added a third right at the end and the town went crazy.

Honking and flag waving and flares and beers until the wee hours of the morn. Jolly times all round.

Allez Rodez! Next up Rennes in the quarters.