Flirt Vodka and sports karma

It is starting to get cold here in Stara Zagora. Florida this is not. It was cloudy and windy here today with a high just over 49 degrees Fahrenheit, and I think the forecasted high for tomorrow is 38 degrees! Ugh! While I like 3 of the 4 seasons, I hate winter. If I can find a place with just the three seasons of spring, summer, and fall, I am moving there in two years!

If I ever need a reminder that I am living in Europe, all I need to do is look around and see the openness here towards both nudity and sex. I think this first dawned on me as I was getting on a bus a few months ago to travel from Samokov to Dupnitsa, and above the driver’s windshield were calendars with naked women prominently featured. Pretty sure that you aren’t going to find this on Greyhound in the States! Last night, I went to get my haircut at this little salon about two minutes from my apartment. They were busy, so I had to wait. Just like the states, they had a magazine rack full of publications for customers to read while they wait. Unlike the States, this magazine rack contained issues of Bulgarian Playboy.  Of course, in the United States, it is pretty common for hair salons to have magazines like Maxim in the magazine rack, so perhaps the difference is slight.

Huge in Bulgaria is this music referred to as “chalga“, which is basically really, really bad pop music performed my smoking hot women that can’t sing. Sure, they aren’t talented, and sure, they have very obvious bad breast implants, but at least they look hot and dress in lingerie that barely covers anything…apparently the locals are really into this, as about 15 of the 60 channels I get play chalga videos 24/7 (the locals are into hardcore porn as well, as two normal stations turn into the European version of the Spice network at midnight).

Sex comes into play bigtime with marketing products here too in Bulgaria. As they say, sex sells, but companies seem to take it to an entirely new level here.  One of the most interesting ad campaigns here has to be that of Flirt Vodka. Flirt Vodka is owned by none other than Coca-Cola. Check out some of their ads (WARNING: there is a chance you might find these ads offensive. Sexually explicit content is contained. You have been warned!):

Flirt Vodka I

Flirt Vodka II

Flirt Vodka TV Spot

Changing topics for a minute to something that isn’t related to Bulgaria at all (and probably something I shouldn’t write about because I just might jinx myself by doing it), my great sports karma shows no signs of slowing down. As I mentioned in my last blog, my beloved Cardinals defy all logic and win the World Series, and along with that, the Chicago Bears are undefeated and arguably look like the best team in football right now. And the other night, the Chicago Bulls go out and absolutely hammer the Miami Heat in Miami (let’s ignore what happened to them in Orlando the following night, shall we?). While it is unfortunate that I can’t be in the United States and fully appreciate the tremendous success that my teams are having, I am still loving it from abroad! While I know deep down inside that that fact I am living in Bulgaria has nothing to do with these successes, there is still a part of me that feels me making the move has played a huge part. Thus, I am making the following bold predictions, knowing full well that by doing so a) I risk personal humiliation if none of these events take place and b) I will likely cause the any and all sports karma I have to blow up in my face. However, those points being made, sports karma like this is a one-in-a-lifetime thing, and how will the sports deities know what I want to have happen if I don’t list it out!

Events, more or less in chronological order:

1) First of all, Derrick Rose, high school basketball phenom, decides to choose Illinois over Memphis this Saturday, who eventually leads the Illini to a National Championship.

2) Juice Williams leads Illinois to major victory over THE Ohio State University on Saturday in the biggest college football upset of the year. In the near future, Juices leads the Illini win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl where they destroy the Oregon Ducks (sorry about that JC, but aren’t you just happy that the Ducks are there in the first place?).

3) Da Bears go undefeated and win the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots (almost said against the Colts and Peyton Manning, but he has such bad playoff sports karma!).

4) Da Bulls don’t go undefeated, but they do win the NBA Championship over the Spurs.

5) The Cardinals repeat as World Series Champions by sweeping the White Sox (the World Series matchup my brother-in-law is just dying to see I’m sure. And by the way Craig, how does it feel to have the two teams you hate the most win the World Series back-to-back. That’s the price you have to pay for the Red Sox victory in 2004!).

6) Bulgaria wins the World Cup in 2010, beating the United States 1-0 in the final (call me unpatriotic if you must, but Bulgaria has given me so much sports karma, it is only fair that I give a little something back, right?)

That’s my list. Is any of that too much to ask? Hey, if only one of these things happen, I will be pretty darn happy. Oh, by the way, if anyone from the St. Louis Cardinals organization is reading this, you owe me a World Series ring. After all, the Cards wouldn’t have won the World Series without my Bulgaria sports karma, right?

Cheers,

Ryan

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