Apparently Liga and Deportivo are the teams to beat in Ecuadorian football (aka. Soccer). They both play in Quito, and I think that there are two other teams that are quite good down on the coast. I haven't figured this all out lately, so bear with me.
It is kind of strange. In America, the only other country where I have ever gone to professional sporting events, we tend to think of sports as a wholesome family affair. We get annoyed when people swear, fight, and are generally obnoxious.
Here, as far as I can tell, the swearing and fighting seems to be a part of it. In New York, there is a strong police presence - and there probably should be. However, they don't stand around in riot gear and in formation or march around the edge of the field. That said, it must have been effective - there was no real violence. OK, one guy getting punched in the face - but he was wearing a Deportivo jersey and was surrounded by Liga fans. So, well, I guess that was to be expected. Even that got broken up very quickly.
However, that was where the family values ended. Granted, it didn't sound bad. A "punta" means nothing to me. It probably never really will. What I do know is that the word can be applied to the refs, members of the other team, fans of the other teams, and players on your own team when the screw up. I was told it means "whore". I learned other interesting terms, that can be applied in similar situations for homosexuals and parts of the female anatomy.
What amazed me was that kids were screaming it. At the top of their lungs. To be certain, I can swear with the best of them. But I probably wouldn't let my kids call the ref a whore every two minutes. I know that my father certainly didn't.
***Editor's note: I have it on good authority that the proper spelling is puto, not punto as used in the article. I appologize to any professionals I might have offended.
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