Tuesday, September 26, 2006

No Diving Please...

Tonight (or this afternoon here in the States) is the Champions League match that sees Porto traveling to London to take on the Gunners at Ashburton Grove. A win here will make passing on to the knock-out stages a much easier task after beating Hamburg a few weeks ago. Porto and most Portuguese clubs are not to be taken lightly, but Arsenal have been playing well and for the most part have the same players available that were part of Saturday’s win against Sheffield United. Hopefully Porto come to play and don’t stick 10 men behind the ball hoping for a draw. Also, I pray that the diving seen so prevalently during Mourinho’s reign is gone. Confidence is brimming at the Grove right now and I see a 2-1 win to the Gunners.


Here is the full lineup for today’s matches:

Real Madrid v. Dynamo Kyiv
Steaua v. Lyon
Benfica v. Man. United
Celtic v. København
CSKA Moskva v. Hamburg
Arsenal v. Porto
AEK v. Anderlecht
Lille v. Milan

In the aftermath of the Ryder Cup loss by the American side, there have been tons of theories as to why they lost and even Woods has posed some (though they are weak, in my opinion). Woods felt that they just didn’t putt well, that the need some younger players (youngest was 30), and that their ‘home course advantage’ when playing in the States is lost because they don’t really play those courses much. That may be part of the case, but I feel it is a lack of them coming together as a team. I know golf is inherently an individual sport, but so is tennis yet they play in the Davis Cup which is a big deal. However, the American golfers all fly around in their private jets, avoid contact with one another all year, and concentrate on only themselves. That is fine, to an extent, for the regular season, but look how it translates to group and international events. I agree with some of the pundits who suggest that the US team needs a tougher captain who is more like a coach and not afraid to chew one of these guys out if they aren’t pulling their weight. At the same time, the golfers need to care about the win and get excited. I for one really enjoy playing in group and match play tournaments. There is more excitement and teamwork is a fun part of a sport that usual doesn’t require it. Maybe the American golfers should play some amateur charity events where first prize is a new shirt and the pride/fun of winning rather than $1 million. It might change their outlook, but if getting your ass handed to you 2 straight times isn’t enough, what is?

And for those that don’t think golf is a sport, that is absolute rubbish and I’ll leave it at that.

Finally, a big shout out to my mom who has her birthday today! Hoorah!!

Adios.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doesn't your sister get a shout out for inviting you to visit for the weekend- a weekend of undoubtable ruckus which includes much beer drinking at the Richmond Arms and 2 tickets to see the fab Houston Dynamo v DC United? not that I've actually bought the tickets yet...

7:50 PM  
Blogger Cameron said...

No tickets, no shout out! :)

6:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Seriously Cam, is there any other clubs that you have even the slighest interest at, I mean anywhere in the world?
Just curious.

6:36 AM  
Blogger Cameron said...

I assume you mean football Patrick. I follow Plymouth Argyle, have a vague interest in Stuttgart, and like to watch Lyon and Barcelona and their leagues. I love to watch football, but beyond Arsenal there are no other clubs I support.

8:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i like ARGYLE too. love the kits and my english ancestors are from the south coast/cornwall. bundesliga...don't have a clue who to follow. can't support Lyon, they play great football, but i would feel like a bandwagon fan. their style reminds me of arsenal.

1:08 PM  

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