Nothing is forever

In the early 1990s, a movie called "A River Runs Through It" was released, which around here was known by another name due to the bad idea of changing the title to make it more attractive. It was renamed "Nothing is Forever" and also "The River of Life." It is a film based on the autobiography of writer Norman Maclean and set in the 1920s in the beautiful mountainous landscapes and rushing, crystal-clear rivers that run through the outskirts of Missoula in the state of Montana. Precisely in this context, a family whose father is a Presbyterian pastor with rigorous conduct has two totally different children, although united by a passion for flyfishing, which was the main reason that motivated me to see it. I must admit that although I am upset when the title of a film is changed, the title "Nothing is Forever" very accurately reflects the theme of the book and what Maclean intended to convey. The life of the young people enjoying nature and fishing with their father ends at some point when they become adults and the oldest (Norman) goes to study in the big city.

You will think that the story is cute but it doesn't have much to do with sports, what happens is that I always escape the main theme a little because I like analogies and memories. We all, including young people, see how life changes and things that were perfect in the past slip like water through our fingers with the passage of time.

This came to mind when I saw the scandals that are now affecting the Brazilian team, once the most feared team in the world that seems to have lost its way a bit by not discerning between fun and games. The rumors are many and they do not come from now. It seems unbelievable, but more than 20 years have passed since their last conquest, including the failure in their own country in 2014 where Germany beat them in the biggest football catastrophe in memory, it was 7 to 1 in the semifinals.

And speaking of better and past times, Germany is also wandering in search of its personality, good play, and discipline that led it to be another of those considered among the most competitive and feared in the entire football community, we suffer twice from its effectiveness, in the finals of Italy 1990 and Brazil 1994.

That's why friends, we have to enjoy the moment and be happy in every opportunity that life gives us, as in Maclean's book, good things are wonderful, but they don't last forever.

In my introduction I did not comment on the entire plot of the film, I recommend it to anyone who has not seen it, it also won the Oscar for best photography in 1993.

I remember at the beginning of the new century I had built a website dedicated to fly fishing in my country. At some point, I no longer remember why, I contacted Jason Borger, son of a renowned fisherman and author of several books on Flyfishing called Gary Borger. In some emails that we crossed, he told me that he had been a technical advisor on that film in all the fishing scenes, he even created a new type of launch that he called "Shadow Cast" that was used by him in a scene where the supposed youngest son casting his fly at sunset with the sun behind him on the fantastic Big Blackfoot River, an extraordinary shot where Jason dubbed Brad Pitt.

For the sake of football, I hope that both Brazil and Germany return to the forefront and that the wonderful present of our team lasts as long as possible.