The proximity of the 15th, when I and 39.999.999 other Flamengo fans celebrate the 113th anniversary of the founding of the Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, takes me on a journey through time. And I stand here, in this humble space of mine, trying to imagine what Rio de Janeiro, more precisely, Praia do Flamengo, would have been like at the end of the 19th century. Would life have been better, more comfortable than the one we lead today, in these post-Bush times (I'm already allowing myself to consider those dark times a thing of the past)? We didn't have the communications we have today, medicine was still in its infancy (penicillin, for example, only appeared after World War II), human rights, I think, hadn't yet been formulated, and society was awash in machismo. It was in this Rio de Janeiro that a group of young men decided to found the Grupo de Regatas do Flamengo. The terminology was, in itself, a protest against the indiscriminate use of English, just imagine! Since "club" is an English word (now translated into Portuguese as "club"), the Portuguese term was used. However, it later changed to "clube" in its current form, allowing it to join federations and thus become a sports entity (ugh!). But while they fought against foreign expressions, Flamengo's founders began to take a radical approach. The effects of this behavior were felt in 1911, when Alberto (I believe that was his name) Borgeth wanted to create the Department of Land Sports at the club, and his proposal was almost unanimously rejected. The argument? Simple: "Football is for gays. This business of dancing in front of the opponent, swaying back and forth... No!? It's not a man's business." Having overcome the prejudices and natural difficulties of a poor club, we've come a long way. I only regret that the statutes force us to celebrate the founding on a national holiday. Thus, our date was overshadowed by the coup led by Marshal Deodoro. If the original date had been maintained, the 17th (the obligation to celebrate the founding on the 15th is statutory and is included in the founding minutes) would be the great holiday. It would be the day on which Brazil's Most Beloved Club was born, which draws crowds wherever it appears, which drives the masses to delirium, which transforms tragedies into comedies and which makes us, every day, believe that we are governed by the imponderable.