Gio Shuffle

(photo courtesy of Paul Blank at postproduktie@hotmail.com; http://www.postproduktie.nl/)

Gio,

I'm gonna miss you, man. I know you were inconsistent, but so what? So am I. Of course, I'm not a multi-millionaire athlete playing for one of the world's biggest and best teams. So I can glide under the radar, bide my time, and hopefully get out of this whole mess without disappointing too many people. You, on the other hand, will always disappoint because expectations are so high.

But you never disappointed me, Gio. I thought you were a supercool Dutch-Moluccan cat, what with that zippy pace of yours and your one name moniker. Very cool. Oh, and I once had a stupid dream about you, Deco, and me hitting the bars in Barcelona cruising for trouble, women, and whatever else. But that's a story best left in my own head.

Now, unfortunately I won't get a chance to embarrass my partner-in-crime at the Camp Nou when I belt out a rendition (sung to the tune of Boz Scaggs' "Lido Shuffle") of:

Gio, whoa-oh-oh-oh...
He's for the Barca, he's for the show
Gio's a-waitin' for another goal
Gio, whoa-oh-oh-oh...
He said, "One more goal oughta get it
One last shot but we'll never quit it
One more for the road"

Take care, Gio. I'm shocked and saddened, but I and countless others will pull through. No really, I think it's great that you're returning to Feyenoord. Maybe apm will just have to mosey on over to Rotterdam to see you. Perhaps, I'll simply serenade you then.