How do you say "Curse of the Bambino" in Norwegian?
Well, the collapse is complete. After having what seemed an insurmountable lead in the standings when we got here at the end of July, Bergen's soccer team, Brann ("Fire") has just ensured that they will not win the Norwegian premier league for the 43rd year in a row. They lost yesterday to Trondheim's Rosenborg team, which wrapped up its fourteenth title in fifteen years by winning 3-1 in Bergen.
The parallels with the Yankees and the Red Sox during the eighty-six years of Sox futility are striking. (God, is Brann only halfway through this dark night of the soul?) Even the colors are the same: Brann sports red jerseys, Rosenborg's are black and white. Bergen's fans are as devoted as any I've seen, despite an ever-losing cause, while rooting for Rosenborg has got to be like rooting for General Electric, as one Yankee-hater once put it. Before coming in second last year Rosenborg had won the title thirteen years in a row. I mean, seriously, what's the point of being a fan? Woo-hoo, the light switch worked again?!?
The whole city is depressed today. They wanted this so bad. Bad enough to tank a European Cup qualifier by fielding their second team and losing to a Swedish amateur team so their starters would be rested for the game that counted in the standings on Saturday. None of it mattered in the end. They only won a couple of their last ten matches while Rosenborg went undefeated, winning nine and tying one.
Grr.

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