EDNOTE. Aleksander Svirilin, who sent in the VN soccer material, replies to Nick Grundy: I can't answer Nick's query  but I note that  VN mentions Soviet soccer  teams in two of his novelss:  1) "PNIN" (3-7): "Eight thousand soccer fans watched a match between Torpedo and Dynamo." I note that in the post-war years, these matches never had such modest attendence. 2) PALE FIRE (line 681): "...Niagarin could imitate to perfection the mannerism of a certain stupendous Dynamo goalkeeper." VN may have had in mind Lev Yashin (1929-1990), the most famous goalkeeper in the history of Soviet soccer.
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Aleksandr Svirilin
To: D. Barton Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 3:43 PM
Subject: Fw: Fw: Russia / America's Number One... Who did VN root for?

Извините, что опять по-русски. Ответов на вопросы Ника у меня нет. Хочу лишь отметить, что в двух романах Набокова упоминаются советские футбольные клубы.
"PNIN" (3-7): "Eight thousand soccer fans watched a match between Torpedo and Dynamo." Замечу, что в первые послевоенные годы матчи этих московских команд никогда не собирали столь скромную аудиторию.
PALE FIRE (line 681): "...Niagarin could imitate to perfection the mannerism of a certain stupendous Dynamo goalkeeper." Вероятно имеется в виду Лев Яшин (1929-1990) - самый известный вратарь в истории советского футбола.
 
А.С.
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Nick Grundy
To: Nabokov-L
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 1:53 PM
Subject: Russia / America's Number One...

Out of curiosity, and inspired by Aleksandr Svirilin's post...  Do we know whether VN had a favourite team in any particular country?  And which international side would he have supported?

Nick.