Soccer? Cricket? They'll Take the Redskins
3 Immigrants, From Worlds Apart, Unite in Playoff Fever

By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 14, 2006

Hailu Dama is an Ethiopian baker.

Dhiran Patel is an Indian-born computer consultant.

Gustavo Cherquis is an Argentine sports anchor on Spanish-language television.

Normally, the disparate lives of these Washington area immigrants would be a testament to the region's diversity. But lately, all three men have been seized with the same fervent wish, a desire so powerful it has united residents across race, class and -- increasingly, it seems -- country of origin. The Dream of a Redskins Super Bowl Trophy.

"If we win, I will be in heaven," said Dama, 49, contemplating today's playoff game against the Seahawks in Seattle.

And if the Redskins lose? The bakery owner paused. "Well, let's just say there would be a chance of my not showing up for work."

Dama, who has donned his jersey to watch nearly every game since immigrating to Arlington in 1981, was not kidding. Last year he was so distraught over the Redskins' last-minute defeat by the Dallas Cowboys that he refused to leave his house the next day.

Over the years, Dama has tried to pass on his passion for the pigskin to his children and friends. Now his small shop, near the Pentagon, is a haven for Ethiopian fans of the burgundy and gold. On game days, they buy traditional pastries such as deep-fried paste and spongy teff cakes, then crowd around a television set next to a sign reading "Redskins Zone."

Like Dama, nearly everyone in the group grew up loving soccer in Ethiopia. Then, in the late 1970s, communists grabbed power, and the nation erupted in civil war. Several members of Dama's wealthy merchant family were jailed or killed. Dama, then a student, fled to the United States.

In Arlington, Dama's best friend and cousin, Berhanu Nega, introduced his fellow exile to a sport he found even more complex and nail-bitingly exciting than soccer.

Nega, who had lived in Philadelphia first, was a diehard Eagles fan. Dama became just as fanatical in his support of the team in his adopted home town.

The rivalry continued even after Nega returned to Ethiopia and was elected mayor of its capital city, Addis Ababa. If the Redskins were to nab the trophy, Nega is the first person Dama wants to call and taunt, he said.

Unfortunately, he can't. Nega was recently jailed in a government crackdown on opposition groups and faces charges punishable by death.

That thought has cast a pall over Dama's mounting joy with the Redskins' success.

Dhiran Patel's family took a different route to Redskins mania. The 28-year-old IBM consultant moved to Gaithersburg from India with his parents when he was 5. Although Patel's father kept up with the cricket matches that are the rage in India, the son was hooked on the Redskins before he graduated from elementary school.

"I guess it was just that it was the local team. It was the first team I ever saw on TV," Patel said.

The same is true of most in his circle of Indian-descended friends, he said.

One couple are so committed that they decided to turn the anniversary party they'd planned for today into a Redskins-fest.

"Well, actually, it's more the husband," Patel said. "His wife puts up with it."

Patel doesn't have that issue with his girlfriend. Born in Maryland to Indian parents, she is a "hard-core" fan.

"I think it's nice that we both get upset when they don't do well," he said.

Meanwhile, Patel's devotion to the team has slowly begun to rub off on his father. Now he's almost as pumped up over the Super Bowl prospects as Patel.

Gustavo Cherquis is also feeling the excitement -- to his immense surprise.

After all, Cherquis, 40, is from Argentina, home to some of soccer's best players and most obsessive fans.

As a sports anchor on Telemundo Channel 64, Cherquis has always followed American football. But he said the anxiety he's feeling over today's game, the Redskins' first playoff appearance since 2000, transcends professional interest.

"I'm suffering like this was a soccer match," he said. "The idea that they could get to the Super Bowl after six years -- it's given me the fever."

Cherquis's Latino audience hasn't quite caught it. Although plenty of Mexicans and other Latin Americans living in the Washington area adore the Redskins, Central American immigrants generally reserve their ardor for D.C. United or even the Washington Wizards.

At El Cuzco, a restaurant and bar serving Salvadoran specialties in Langley Park, few customers bothered to watch Washington beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Saturday.

"They don't know this game. They are bored by it," said the manager, Lorena Ruiz.

Still, local Spanish-language television, radio and newspapers have been abuzz over the Redskins.

Ernesto Clavijo, news director for Univision in Washington, estimated that the TV station has devoted up to 30 percent of its sports segments to Redskins news. That's less than what a soccer team approaching a similar victory might warrant, but still substantial, he noted.

All the media talk has piqued the interest of Central Americans.

Elmer Arias, owner of La Hacienda, a sports bar in Springfield, said he is expecting a crowd for the game, "just to join in the fun."

Miguel Guilarte, sports editor of El Tiempo Latino newspaper, which is owned by The Washington Post Co., agreed.

"Look, we Latinos are very passionate," he said with a laugh.

"If there's a reason for a gathering to share with friends, then people will come to watch this game -- even if they barely understand it."