An Arsenal Thrashing and the Championship is Coming!!

The weekend of Daddy Day Care is through and besides a few scars and the foreseeable need for counseling, all is well. We actually had a great weekend, got to hang out, play, and even saw the movie “The Ant Bully.” Decent enough of a flick with all the typical kid movie themes and morals. I think I actually learned something!


Also over the weekend, Corey Pavin won his first tournament in 10 years at the Milwaukee Open. Pavin, who is 46 and has a US Open title under his belt, began the tourney with a 26 on the front nine, which is a tour record. He then played some pretty steady golf and wrapped it up when his second shot on the par 4 8th took three hops and landed in the cup for an eagle. That took him from two up to four up over Jerry Kelly. Congrats to Corey.


Arsenal had another pre-season match today against Austrian 3rd division side SKA Schwadorf. It was the first match back for more of the WC participants (Cesc, Gilberto, Toure, Robin van Persie, and Jose Antonio Reyes) and they trod all over the little team, 8 to 1. RvP and Adebayor had 2 goals each, with Djourou, Kolo, Bendtner, and Hleb rounding it out. Luckily, Schwardof got a goal in 3 minutes from time to keep it from being a shut out. During the first half when more of the regular first XI were in, the team performed pretty well and there were some great passes and looks. It was a bit dodgy when the reserves and youth started coming on, but they did OK. It is a win and the more practice the team can get in now the better as Arsenal have an earlier European season than normal.


With all the Arsenal going’s on, the upcoming start of the Championship nearly slipped my mind. The season for Plymouth starts this weekend on Saturday against Wolves. The club will be skippered by Ian Holloway this season after previous years at QPR. He has done some great things as a player and manager and hopefully the tactics will work. If anything, he will keep us all entertained with his interesting comments to the press. Here are a few gems:

"To put it in gentleman's terms if you've been out for a night and you're looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they're good looking and some weeks they're not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best looking bird but at least we got her in the taxi. She weren't the best looking lady we ended up taking home but she was very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much, let's have a coffee"- on the "ugly" QPR win against Chesterfield.

"You can say that strikers are very much like postmen: they have to get in and out as quick as they can before the dog starts to have a go."

Holloway will have a strong defense to work with this season. The squad did well and only allowed 46 goals last season, which was better than Watford who were promoted to the Prem. By contrast, there needs to be some work on the offense and the strikers as the club only had 36 goals all of last season, which accounts for their mid-table position. Hoepfully new signing Sylvain Ebanks-Blake from ManU will turn things around.

Finally, speaking of ManU, they just completed the signing of Michael Carrick from Spurs for £18.6m. This is an amazing amount of money for an OK player. He is worth at least £8m less in my opinion. These inflated rates for English players are why Arsene continues to look at foreign players who are much cheaper. I would like to see more English Gunners, but the market is way too inflated.

The Season is Getting Closer!!! And Leon's Getting Laaarger!!!

Today the pre-season excitement and anticipation finally hit me! Arsenal is in Austria playing warm up matches and friends over there are posting pictures. The transfers are flying all around the Prem and other leagues. And finally, the Champions League Q3 draw was announced today and Arsenal will play either FK Ekranas or NK Dinamo Zagreb (likely the latter as they are 4-1 up after the first leg). The new season in the new stadium is almost here friends and I can’t wait!!!!

Also, in my need to follow more football and in honor of my mate Graeme, I’ll be following the exploits of his home club Plymouth Argyle. Plymouth plays in the Coca-Cola Football League Championship, which is the league just below the Premiership. I am really excited about following a new team and learning more about this league. Plus, if it involves football and the ability to drink beer, I am there.

Not much else going on in the world of Cam right now except for trying to figure out how to keep a 2 ½ year old entertained all weekend. Have a safe and happy weekend.

Daddy Day Care and the Big Wiesie

Well my friends, we are getting so much closer to Friday and the weekend!! Looks like I’ll be able to leave early tomorrow, so good times for me. The wife is heading up to Houston and I have been given the option of watching the kid all weekend or letting her take the kiddo to Grandma’s house. Strangely enough, I’ve chosen the former over a nice relaxing solo weekend. My daughter is usually attached to my wife’s hip, so it will be fun to get a few days of one-on-one time with her. She is a sweet girl, but can be a pill for sure.

Not much happening Arsenal-wise right now. No new signings and pre-season training continues over in Austria. Ex-Gunner Sol Campbell, who quit the club and had his contract paid out by Arsenal, is beginning talks with French club Marseille. He will go on a free, but if he asks for too much in wages (he was on £60,000 per week) it may hamper the move. Even though he had a disastrous season with Arsenal, I wish him luck and hope he gets himself together and sorted out.


In US Soccer, striker Brian McBride has retired from international football. It is sad to see him go and he has scored some great goals for the US over the years. He first got his US start in 1993 and even considering the injury problems, has been a strong figure up front. Also, this guy seemed to be made of steel as he took some of the nastiest challenges I’ve seen. He has had welts on his head from collisions and even got a bit bloody in the last World Cup thanks to the cheating Italian De Rossi. McBride will continue to play at Fulham in the Premier League.


Finally, I have been meaning to comment on the criticism Michelle Wie took a few weeks back after having to withdraw from the John Deere Classic tournament. If you don’t know about her, Wie’s a 16 year old golf prodigy who can crush the ball and has a swing like Ernie Els. Google her and you’ll be amazed at what she has accomplished at such a young age. Anyway, she received a sponsors exemption to play in a PGA (yes, the men’s tour) tournament. This, in and of itself, is amazing and sparked controversy that she is taking spots from guys who are trying to earn a living on the circuit. However, she was holding her own and competing to make the cut during a tournament that was experiencing record high temperatures. The heat finally got to her, and although she was playing fairly well, she felt sick and withdrew. A lot of critics and golfers said she doesn’t have what it takes to compete in the men’s tour and shouldn’t try it again. The comments likely came from those (knuckleheads) below her on the leaderboard. I for one applaud her and all that she continues to do. I think the critics are scared to death of what she will accomplish when she reaches the ripe old age of, say 20, in 4 years time! Keep it up Wiesie!!

Hump Day

Hump day is here and I am looking forward to the weekend and some relaxing. This getting older is tough, especially when you try to party like a college kid. I passed up a few beers with friends last night and am thinking about skipping the big weekly Happy Hour tonight as well. I think I’m slipping. Oh well, if I hit the lotto tonight then I can sleep late and party more!!

Not much going on sports-wise right now. No new signings at Arsenal and Cole is still a Gunner (as of this second). Arsenal has another pre-season friendly match on Monday against Austrian club Schwadorf. I would imagine that Rosicky will get more of a run out in this match after his 60th minute appearance yesterday. Seems he is playing well and if he can continue the World Cup form, I’ll be happy. Hope Rick, Judy, Bob and all the other Gunners on the Austrian tour are having fun and drinking plenty. Throw another shrimp on the barbie mates! ;)

The Champions League Qualifier draw happens on Friday, so lets hope we get a nice easy team. It is way too early in the season (especially since the Prem hasn’t started yet) to play a top level team. But since the Gunners are seeded, it shouldn’t be too bad. Hopefully though we’ll avoid Maccabi Haifa and the Katyusha rockets. The first match will be August 8th or 9th and the return leg on the 22nd or 23rd. The glorious first day of the season will be on Saturday the 19th at home against Villa. I need to get cracking on the new satellite system.

Out of the Haze

I am finally back and coherent after a long weekend attending a wedding for one of my best friends. Needless to say, the combination of college buddies and the slightest excuse to party led to late nights, large bar tabs, and me being useless all day Monday. I had a great time though and the wedding was a lot of fun, especially when it is for two people who really belong together. All the best to Sean and Jene. And thank the maker I left my camera at home.

While I was trying to return to human status on Sunday, Tiger Woods was in form and won a third Open title at Royal Liverpool. The scary thing for all other golfers is how he accomplished the win. He used his driver only once the entire time. The rest of the tee shots were irons, which left him 40 to 60 yards back of most players. However, he kept the ball in play and was deadly accurate with his approaches and putting. His mental game is amazing and to think he is just 30 and entering his golfing prime.

I also missed the Dennis Bergkamp testimonial on Saturday at Ashburton Grove, the new Arsenal stadium. The report from friends is that it was a great day with some heros of both Arsenal and Ajax on the pitch. The best part was the Gilles Grimandi laid a kung fu style kick into former Spurz player Edgar Davids to prevent him from scoring on an empty net!

Also in Arsenal news, Cashley Cole looks even closer to a move to Stamford Bridge as there appears to be negotiations going on. Of course this is still speculation by the papers, but as the news continues, the stronger my feelings he will go. Arsenal supposedly want £25m for him, but if we get £20m I’d be happy. Cole, who supported the club as a boy and rose through the youth and reserve teams, could have been an Arsenal legend. Now with his supposed “tell all” autobiography coming out, he looks to be one of the most hated ex-players ever. Money sure can cloud your judgement. Also, what is it with people putting out autobiographies in their 20’s? Isn’t that a bit early? Oh well. Till tomorrow.

Clerking and Dope Golfers

The world of football is kind of quiet right now as Germany continues to clean up after the World Cup. The tournament this year was a good one in my opinion and featured some great, unexpected matches. However, the only thing the world (especially U.S.) news pundits seemed to pick up on was the headbutt by Zidane. The details over what was said still haven’t been released, but FIFA has handed out disciplinary action, so hopefully this will be the end of it all. Zizou received a 3 match ban, while Materazzi received a 2 match ban. The ban doesn’t mean much to Zidane as he is now retired, but he says he has no regrets about responding to what was said:

"Above all, I'm human," he said on French television last week. "I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that."

Materazzi’s team-mate and Italian Captain Cannavaro was sold to Real Madrid this week. Cannavaro was one of the stars of the WC and many clubs would have liked to see him join them.


In golf, the British Open started today and as predicted (by me of course!), Jim Furyk is right near the lead after posting a score of 4 under. Keep it up Jimbo. Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els were also at 4 under, while Big Phil was one behind them. The other big “issue”, at least according to the media, was Tiger’s pairing with Nick Faldo, who as a TV analyst, has in the past been critical of Woods’ swing and temperament. Yesterday though, Faldo came over and the two shook hands and had a laugh. I doubt the two will be spending Christmas together on Tiger’s yacht, but whatever. It wasn’t really much of a story anyway. They teed off later (8:40 CDT) and after one, Faldo was even and Woods was one over.

I also heard there is talk of drug testing for golfers! This seems a bit odd to me as performance enhancing drugs (steroids) will not really be much of a benefit to golfers. Look at Barry Bonds. That body style may be fine for knocking baseballs out of the park, but not for the finesse needed on a golf course. Yes, there are golfers who are in the gym much more and are hitting it longer than many. But the need for accuracy and touch will always be one of the keys to the game. So, if the PGA or others want to start testing, fine, even though golf is a self-policing sport. It will end up being all nor naught in my opinion.

For all you losers like me who loved the movie “Clerks”, the second installment with the catchy name “Clerks II” will be released tomorrow. There have been mixed reviews, as you would expect from a Kevin Smith film. However, Joel Siegel of ABC’s Good Morning America definitely had an opinion as he walked out on the film, yelling, "Time to go!" to fellow media types during a critics screening and then stomping toward the exit. Smith wasn’t bothered by the insult and even had a few words for Siegel in his blog at SilentBobSpeaks.com:

"How about a little common f--king courtesy?," Smith writes. "Never mind the fact that when you're paid to watch movies for a living and the only tasks required of you are to a) sit through said movies and b) write your thoughts about them before your deadline, walking out before a movie's over is pretty unprofessional."

Get em Bob!!! Also, Snakes on a Plane opens soon. What a crazy-ass movie. If you haven’t heard about all the hooplah surrounding this flick, you are really out of touch. Go to Google and YouTube, learn more, and leave your mother’s basement.

I’m off to a wedding this weekend in Galveston for a good friend and college roommate. Lots of other college idiots will be there, so I will be drunk most of the time. Enjoy your weekend and stay out of the heat!

The Great Cash Run and The Open

In the most unreliable of newspapers, The Sun, there is an article that Ashley Cole’s move to Chelsea is imminent and Chav-tastic. While I take all stories from The Sun with a grain of salt, I feel this move will happen, whether Gooners like it or not. Cole seems to have checked out, in my opinion, and blames the Arsenal board and manager for not backing him up when he was caught talking to Chelsea without the club’s permission. It’s like being caught with your hand in the cookie jar and blaming your dad for not backing you up against your mother giving you a spanking. Now, I agree with wanting to negotiate a better contract when you are playing well, and we all want to get paid, but there are ways of going about these things and Cashley did the opposite. If he leaves, it will be a loss to Arsenal in that he is a great left back, but I won’t shed a tear.

In other football news, it looks like Ruud van Nistelrooy is off to Real Madrid for £12m. So Shrek is loosing a donkey, but keeping his diver as Fergie won’t part with C. Ronaldo. Have fun fellas! Also, former US mens national coach Bruce (I beat Mexico dammit) Arena has signed on to coach the faltering MLS Red Bull New York club. Maybe they will sign Beckham and then they can be the MLS Mediocre All-Stars.

Finally, to help with the summer, football close season doldrums, the British Open kicks off tomorrow are Hoylake's Royal Liverpool Golf Club. While the likes of Woods, Mickelson, Singh, and Els are the normal favorites, Monty feels he has a good shot at this and 20 more majors (when he will be 48). But, this course does work well for him as he tends to keep the ball low and straight. The course is very dry right now and there will be plenty of run on the drives, and unlike St. Andrews and others, the ball should stay in the fairway if you hit it there. Another candidate for a good performance is Jim Furyk. He has a great iron game and lots of touch around the greens, which always comes in handy in links style golf.

The Red and White is Back!!

As the fire sale begins at newly demoted Juventus and the echo of Zidane’s headbutt begins to fade away, there are stirrings of excitement from north London today as the new Arsenal kit goes on sale along with the opening of the new store “The Armoury” at Ashburton Grove. It is good to see the old red and white again after the ‘redcurrant’ of last year. I enjoyed the Highbury tribute strip, but the red and white is what we all know and love.

Also this week, Arsenal members will get a first view of the new Emirates Stadium during Member’s Day on Thursday. I was one of the lucky ones to get an invite, but being in Texas makes it a bit hard to pop over for a quick look around. I was able though to give the invite to a worthy cause, a London Gooner who inexplicably didn’t get an invite. Glad to be able to help out with a ticket for once!!!

And to wrap up the Arsenal week, this Saturday at 10:15 CDT will be the Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial against Ajax. This will be a fitting tribute to the Dutch master and an Arsenal legend.

Beyond football, it is hot as Hell down here in south Texas, as it is in many other places. I blame the government for the heat. What else can you do?

Finally, I am still raving about the Arctic Monkeys to friends and encourage anyone to go pick up their CD. It is really good and I hope to hear more from them in the future. I’ll try to keep current on the music scene, though much of it will be lifted from my friend’s blog Fresh Bread. Check it out as Ryan is in the music biz and has his finger on the pulse, so they say!

The Beginning

I had the brilliant idea to start posting about football and all other kinds of items once the World Cup was over and before the start of the upcoming European season. Timing was never my strong point. But, this is probably the best way to get some practice in and start getting in to topics besides football (because there will be plenty of posts about that soon enough).

I had the idea for this blog after hours of discussions on all kinds of topics with friends from all over the world during the world cup. I thought it would be fun to put in a regular fellas point of view on football, as well as throwing in discourse on global events.

Hopefully it will be entertaining or informative, but if the readers can at least get a chuckle then I've done my job.

Cam