"La Otra", second channel of the Madrid local TV station shows indoor football, the one with infield walls. To pick up a hat thrown (and although not having watched any further the tournament), more thoughts on football in particular are given. Hopefully other disciplines will gain a bit weight for the column by time, but a topic of interest is hiding.

The sports of football, as young as it's modern history is still, of course has lots of potential to explore it's own art. In wintertime, when outdoor sports is not as amusing unless your up into skiing or iceage nostalgy, football goes inside. A few years ago there were national and eurowide tournaments, pretty attending for fans, not always for the athletes for sure, them requiring spare time too, for relaxation maybe, but could have been reason for stopping the show instead. A pity, the german masters series always was worth watching the winter season.

So let's get a bit deeper into the indoor sports, skipping a little the stress factor for the players. First of all it looks like the fields are still a bit too small. The variant in german division was the most optimal one seen by now, with one exception: fields must be made of english grass, artificial kind, the regular ground may be too dangerous for bones and ankles.

Variants reframed. Let's discuss a little bit further what just as ideas in between was impossible to forget about, and such a pity if it would have gotten lost. There is the classic variant, for those who aren't aware, it's a ball game, having 11 players per team on a regular field outdoor, size about 60 by 120 meters. Large enough, speed into running comes well by distance. Not too much to tell about, the play is what it is, popular all around the world and rules rarely change anymore. What does not mean they shouldn't, especially as lot of the old rules very much better than what is reality today, for example the three steps rule with the ball in hands for the goalkeeper, which completely disappeared today. Most probably one of the bad results of interference from the organized destroyer party, banker's lounge and similar.

Let's come to the inhouse, or indoor variants known. Several styles are played, differing mainly by the size of teams. One variant watched is the one with 7 players, like a friendship game last year around christmas eve with "amigos" de Iker Casillas and the opponents team of captain Luis Figo. It took long until a match developed for too few space for the actors to shine, it should have been a bigger playing field instead. Finally it turned an interesting match, with some retired players still able to demonstrate what made them world class professionals once upon a time, Emilio Butrageño to mention just one more.

Second variant, the first mentioned, the bouncing invariant, with 6 players - like the german masters series all those years ago. The strategy with the goalkeeper as 6th player was pretty interesting, unbeatable by the best team as of the time. By the fanzine, it was Cologne (1.FC) who did it so well, that the DFB had to change it's rules to make it possible to hinder them winning the german hallmasters title in one year when they were as strong as only Bayern Munich ever was in the outdoor division. We hope for a revival. In spain there is another variant with 4 field players, played nationwide. Not too attractive by now, just mentioned for completeness reasons.

More outdoor and other, by now unknown variants. Seen one or the other time, beach football. Completely different as all the other variants, since better suited for ballplay artists. Personal opionion goes as far as that it is fitting pretty well for brasilians and their style of dancing. But to stop kidding, as some of them know how to treat a ball with their feet in a really artistic manner. And when it comes to playing football at the beach, maybe that's where they are the best. Of course it is worth thinking a little beyond, paint some styles never seen by now. First of all there would be one, called the backdoor rule football, similar like icehockey. Why not one could argue, cause it would be very interesting to have a football match a little bit alike, with infield walls again, but with space behind the goal. In addition let's say a special rule making it interesting could be that it is played without a goalkeeper, with the last field player being the one allowed to protect using his hand; last player means the final one in terms of distance inside a team's backfield. Just imagine, how funny it could turn out, with a player behind the goal zone being the goalkeeper at the very point in time, who'd had to jump back to allow himself or whoever of his own team to prevent a goal. Just an idea, and of course the variant played on an icefield is not too far away, "icefootball" - that would be a blockbuster.

All these variants (and maybe more as there shall be dozens of types not even discussed) raise the topic of including some of the small field plays, inside a sportshall into the olypmics, which is a different, a topic on it's own behalf. By the remarks: years ago speedskiing was part of the winter games, taken as a very dangerous discipline and it has never been part again. So why not reintroducing, just not for humans. With roboters, it'll be more secure. It's really too dangerous for humans with some 200 km/h deadly accidents were various. However the case it would be an opportunity to have japanese robots part of the olympics, which look more human today and kind of funny to watch it would be anyway.

Let's stay with football for the time being. There is still so much potential on this popular sports, that especially the olypmics provide a good opportunity to help developing. People obviously like watching it, tv spots on all those variants framed demonstrate the popularity of the small field plays for sure.