I thought I'd keep a record of what sort of search terms people use to find the blog. Some of them are obvious like "ankara, ankara", "oz kanka", "genclerbirligi isaac promise" and "zalad ankaragucu". Some are connected to football but whoever did the searching was probably not looking for a blog like ours. Some of those searches include "offside rule explained", "ankara tff", "is football commie", "Hasan Sas" and "yep yeni lampard". One cool result is that if you put the word "Fenerbahce" into Google's blog search (not the normal google) then we pop up as the number one search on a "relevance" basis. Good to know that an anti-Istanbul blog claims the top spot for Fenerbahce.
Then there are some particularly weird ways in which people found us. These include searches for "clamp for round balls", "kenan evren", "gretna ball boys", "NZ sport", "colin nish wedding", "tarkan sightings" and "pommy bastards".
Putting the words "Udo Steven Bassey" into google also ended up with our blog being rated higher than the Turkish Daily News, considering he is the sports editor there I was quite impressed.
But perhaps the best way someone found the site, and who then stayed around clicking on all sorts of older stories, was a search for "ayr football tournament results 2006". A new Kanka in the making?
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Interesting search subjects.
ReplyDeleteOne question is though are there any "you know who" blogs or can none of them write!
I cannot bring myself to check.
Oz Kanka, "Udo Steven Bassey" is a fake name that my good friend used to use, who past away last year. He also wrote under Michael Severn name too!...
ReplyDeleteHe's real name was Keith Dearn!...
He was strong Fenerbahce fan and lived in Antalya. New fake name now appears in the Turkish Daily News... it is "OKAN UDO BASSEY" I have no idea who this person is!.... But he is fanatic Fenerbahce fan....Look at the headings that he wrote before Fenerbahce crashed by Manisa Tarzan's!..... He also calls Manisaspor "David"....Give me a break!...
"Fener set to extend win streak and lead"
"Canaries in a class of their own"
Soccer Regards,
AHMET TURGUT
Ahmet, Afraid you are slightly mixed up on the Udo stuff. Udo does indeed exist. He is a Nigerian who came to Turkey some 30 years ago and has been at the TDN for many many years. He was my boss for a while so I'm pretty sure he isn't a figment of my imagination.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Udo is a maniac Galatasaray supporter. About two years ago he took out Turkish citizenship thus the change to "Okan".
You are right about Keith Dearn though. He used to send his stuff in from Antalya (he truely did exist also and yes, he sadly died last year). At some stage a few years ago he had a falling out with the then owners of the TDN and quit. A few months later he started again and started writing under the byline Michael Severn.
In my opinion Keith was own of the best writers on Turkish football I've ever read. He brought a fresh "foreign" point of view to a game he knew thoroughly and loved even more so.
Oh and Gulay, I can't even find a slightly decent Fenerbahce blog in Turkish, let alone English. As far as I can see your blog and ours are the only decent blogs on Turkish football in any language.
Apparently Udo still walks in each morning and says hello to the foreigners at the proof desk with the greeting "Good morning my former colonial masters".
ReplyDeleteGuys. thank you for that information!....I was wrong about Mr.Okan!.... Thanks to every one that wrote back so quick!.... I am working on my new piece called "Fener or Gala?".....
ReplyDeleteLastly.....Do you guys think Manisaspor is "David" I don't!...Look at the players they have....I think Fener choked after the goal they scored!.... And Rustu was the main reason for that!....remember guys, who ever keeps the coolness will win the title!..... It will be very hard for Fener even if they win thsi weekend match....
Dear Ahmet, I think your question about the Fener match is on the wrong blog. Here in Ankara none of us cares who wins the league.
ReplyDeleteTrue though, I wouldn't go as far and describe Fener's loss the other day in the same way as it's loss a few years ago to Pendikspor.
As for the "David" stuff, I reckon any Turkish team taking on Fenerbahce (except perhaps Galatasaray), is definately the underdog, and therefore a "David".
Thanks for the info and comments about the blogs, at least one other person reads my words. Seems the rest of the Turkish soccer world only uses Bulletin Boards and forums.
ReplyDeleteI have to say something....
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I know Udo too. He used to work at my school many moons ago (1999) and I agree with you all. He is one 'elluva guy and I just love the comments about Oz Kanka being his `flunky` and his greeting to the `white honkies`.... former colonial masters. Typical of Udo's sense of humour !!
As for Manisa, well we only have to look at the difference the new coach (Ersun Yanal) has made and look at his previous achievements. For example, look at what he did for Ankaragucu and Gencler during the early 2000s. Also, Ankaragucu foolishly sold Yilmaz to Manisa which upset many of us Ankaragucu supporters at the time. For those who have seen him play for Ankaragucu you will understand his value to ANY team, especially Ankaragucu (his boyhood team). Perhaps Cemal Aydin will admit his mistake and bring him back HOME ???!!!
As for Oz Kanka's remarks.... surprise surprise.... I agree with him for once. We don't care which team wins the league.... all that matters is that Ankaragucu stay up (where they have a God given (and Kenan Evren) right to be, and that Gencler qualify for the UEFA Cup !!!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim