Finally. Someone else for the UAE Falcons to hit.
The nation's only American football team will play squads from Egypt and Turkey at the Dubai Sevens ground on March 3 and March 17, respectively, team organisers said, marking the first official games for the Falcons after more than a year spent knocking over each other.
"We have had six or seven scrimmages with no holding back," said Kai Trompeter, the German coach of the Falcons. "But that is not the same as playing another team. Now we can really let our emotions out."
The Falcons are a multinational group of aficionados of the "other" football, the American brand, which celebrates speed, strength and violent collisions. The majority of the team's 40 active players hail from the Middle East, Trompeter said, and among them are four Emiratis.
Their first game will be against an Egyptian team, probably the champion of a four-team league based there, and the second will be against the Mersin Mustangs, who come from southern Turkey. The Falcons are paying for the air travel and lodging of 32 players and coaches for each game. Trompeter estimates that airfare, alone, will cost the Falcons Dh60,000 for each game.
The idea, however, is to develop the game in the country by exposing it to those who have never seen it, aside from on television, and the Falcons consider the expense of bringing in opponents to be a worthwhile investment, potentially leading to a major commercial sponsor.
The games will feature the full American football experience, said Karyn Macdonald, the sponsorship and events manager for the Falcons.
"We're trying to make the event as authentic as possible, with a tailgate party and a food-truck sponsor, and some girls who've gotten together to form a cheerleading team for us," she said. "We will try to show everyone what's it all about, as well as appealing to a big demographic here - Arabs and Indians who have been exposed to the game while at school in the US."
The Falcons continue to train three times per week, in Dubai, and Trompeter's analysis of the talent on hand, which features several big linemen, is taking him in the direction of a run-first, pass-second team.
"Our strategy will be 'ground and pound', a good running game, keeping it basic, and maybe some play-action passing later in the game, when we might get more adventuresome," he said.
"We're taking a very professional approach because we have a core group who can really play, NFL Europe-level, six or seven guys like that. But some guys have little experience, and teaching the fundamentals and strategy, we are very limited on the offensive schemes."
Perhaps the most-experienced member of the Falcons is Dustin Cherniawski, a safety and player-coach who spent time with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.
Macdonald is optimistic that the Falcons can attract crowds of 1,000 fans to each game, and is especially interested in bringing in some who are less familiar with the game. "We hope to get as much exposure as possible because this is new, and a first for the UAE," she said.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Race card:
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m
7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m
10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
