The Olympiacos Blog gets an ‘Inside Man’

By: Peter Katsiris | March 5th, 2009

I was once told it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Well if that is true, then I am sure glad I know my colleague Chris Pavlakos. He’s a fairly new addition to the Olympiacos Blog, and because of that, he’ll be doing a bit of dirty work for the next few weeks. Chris will be getting an ‘inside’ look, but nothing like the movie featuring Denzel Washington.

No. Instead, Chris is going on vacation to Greece, and he is getting the once-in-a-lifetime – okay, maybe not once – opportunity of catching three Olympiacos games during his stay. Yes you heard it hear folks, our very own Chris Pavlakos is going to Greece and will be watching our beloved ‘Erythrolefki’ not from a television set, or a shitty stream. This lucky S-O-B (Chris, I’m kidding) will be taking in the game from actual Greek stadiums while inhaling mass amounts of smoke from flares, and getting a true experience of surround sound.

One of the matches Chris will be going to is the upcoming derby with PAOK this Sunday. Recently, more like yesterday, Olympiacos overcame PAOK with a 2-0 win at the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium – also known as my second home during the football season, not because I have been there or anything, but it’s a thing called ‘red sickness’ which targets your brain and then you become paralyzed with obsession over Olympiacos, it’s nasty, I know.

So as Chris makes the trek north to Thessaloniki, more specifically Toumba Stadium, the nest of the ‘Dikefale tou Vorra’, I have been told that if Chris doesn’t post anything by Monday evening then most likely something happened to him – something meaning he is either crippled, or you know, belly up in the Aegean, and we aren’t talking about skinny dipping. PAOK fans are apparently pissed that their team got how they say ‘jipped’ on Wednesday, and are planning some death trap for Olympiacos fans. Likely this is just hearsay from some PAOK bigwigs on Greek soccer forums across the net.

If that wasn’t enough for Mr. Pavlakos, he’ll be spending the following weekend with a visit to the cathedral of Olympiacos football. Chris will be among the many Gate 7 followers at Karaiskaki. It’ll probably be impossible to see him because of the amount of flares and/or the colourful choreographed displays put on by Olympiacos’ largest supporters group. I bet Chris will be positioning himself perfectly to either efficiently use some of the lasers used by fellow ‘Gavroi’, or maybe even look to sit in an ideal place to hurl some objects at whoever takes Iraklis’ corner-kicks. In simpler terms, Chris is badass.

The third stop for Chris during his Olympiacos Odyssey is Nea Smyrni where Panionios awaits Olympiacos for a Super League fixture at the simply named Panionios Stadium. If the match against PAOK and Iraklis wasn’t enough, the spoiling continues as Chris gets a firsthand look at our beloved ‘Erythrolefki’ tackled a Uruguayan-fuelled Panionios. Chris will be in the stands, while Fabian Estoyanoff and the prolific Alvaro Recoba look to avenge a 4-1 loss to the Greek Champions.

Now there might be a downside to Chris’ trip, and it’s definitely serious shit. Aside from attending Olympiacos games, our friend Chris is also going somewhere not too man Olympiacos have ever gone, or in my opinion should never bother going to unless ‘O Thrylos’ is on the ticket.

What do I mean? Well, Chris told me personally – as personal as MSN is – that he might be going to the crack house. Not literally, but the tainted the OAKA Spyros Louis Stadium could be a Saturday night destination for this gutsy ‘Gavro’. Panathinaikos, the green scum they are, host Larissa on Saturday night, and Chris will likely be on hand to watch the battle between the farm animals: Lagoi vs. Vyssini or Rabbits vs. Horses (not unicorns).

In addition to these three confirmed games, a potential death, and of course the contraction of “Vazeliatis”, derogatory for the sting left after watching Panathinaikos, Chris could also be in Greece during the semi-finals of the Greek Cup. Olympiacos plays Asteras Tripolis and AEK Athens plays Panserraikos, but the dates have not yet been released; mainly because the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) is a bit slow when it comes to these things.

So that is basically an overview of Chris’ itinerary for the next few weeks. Meanwhile mine includes lectures, tutorials, readings, essays, assignments and mostly stress expected by a university student. Nonetheless, I’ll sure to tune in for each match and continue to post pre-game and post-game analysis, as well as tidbit information like I always do. But as a bonus, ‘cause you know life isn’t always just fun and games, Chris will also take the time, if he can, to post some pictures, maybe even audio and video from his odyssey.

So stay tuned to the Olympiacos Blog, those who have already tuned in; and for those who haven’t, well you’re kind of missing out on a sweet, sour, spicy, whatever flavour you want, taste of Greek football.