Original Painting: Game of Chogan (Polo); By Master Painter, Mahmoud Farshchian
Naghsh-e-Jahän square is the heart of Esfahän. And this heart throbs to host Iranian natives and guests, foreign tourists or anyone who comes to admire the beauty of one of Iran’s many gems. A four-century old trade, the square is filled with bazaars and shops that sell everything from redolent spices and handmade jewelries to Chinese products: Stocked with a palace to boot, Nagsh-e-Jahän has long been a place for gathering–whether it is the tourists and locals of today or sufficing as a meeting spot for kings and the masses centuries ago–and the square still exudes the same welcoming energy.
However, one thing that not many visitors, or many natives for that matter, know is that the square is where a 900 feet-long field was made for the game: Polo or Chogän, in Persian. Today, the only visible evidence of the polo field are the short stone columns (each 24 feet apart) that sit quietly between trees planted on the lawn of the square…And, the only part of the square that has lost its vitality, is the polo field. Continue Reading
The Iran V. US basketball game at the 2010 FIBA World Championship game held in Istanbul this week has created a lot of hype, but the one thing we walked away with from the well-paced game is: Friendliness! Continue Reading
Shown cutting the net last month after their 61-55 win over Illinois State in a NCAA college basketball game in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the newly-minted Northern Iowa college basketball star and good-Persian-boy, Ali Farokhmanesh, had a pivotal scoring hand in placing his team in the “Sweet 16″ lineup.
The “haymaker/heartbreaker” is just one of the super-risky moves Farokhmanesh bravely used that led to his team beating out a ranked team like Kansas: An event that ESPN’s Pat Forde says should go down in NCAA tournament history as “one of the all-time no-no-YES! jump shots.”
In the end, Farokhmanesh and his team lost to Michigan State by a mere 7 points but we have a feeling this is just a glimpse of what’s to come for this particular Ali–whose dad also happens to lead a life in sports as a volleyball coach–and his “BK” skills.
“My teammates just call me Stroke sometimes. Or a lot of people just call me Muhammad.” Ali told an interviewer on March 23, 2010.
Since Hamed Haddadi’s is the first Iranian professional basketball player, will Farokhmanesh be the first Iranian-American professional basketball player?
We think so!
Which team will scoop him up?
Who cares?!
We’ll root for any team this Persian athlete is on! (Cue live basketball pre-game hype-music.)
As international support for the people of Iran continues to increase every minute on an array of platforms – online, fashion runways, music concerts, and world rallies – one of the world’s biggest soccer stars Francesco Totti joins the pack.
