THE RAIN IN SPAIN

sevilla f.c. didn’t beat f.c. barcelona last night, but they didn’t lose, and that seemed to be victory enough for many of the fans watching the game on the television outside of the bar/restaurant next to the alameda cineplex. and sevilla certainly had a fantastic opportunity for losing: in the second of the four overage minutes of the second half, barcelona was awarded a penalty shot for a double foul on the striker responsible for most of its shots in that half, which for the most part saw sevilla on the defense. the shot was blocked, but only after a fight had broken out between the penalty box and midfield over the calling of the foul and one of sevilla’s was sent of the field with a red card. the shot was blocked in the fifth of four overage minutes, and the game was finally called in the seventh at a nil-nil tie. and that seemed to be victory enough for many of the fans. (sevilla, with one recent liga championship, is one of the few teams in seasonal competition to bust the monopoly of barcelona and real madrid over the league.) the forecast had been for rain all weekend, but that rain held off all of yesterday and let those sevilla fans cheer their team to a non-loss to barcelona (at barcelona) in front of an outdoor television for the entirety of the match, which ended just before yesterday did. but the forecast kept its promise for today, and the clouds that had been gathering throughout the morning started sprinkling in the early afternoon and then let it all out in torrents between three and four. by six there wasn’t left any trace of the storm – except that the air was fresher and crisper. and damn, had it needed the clearing.