Be Careful Michael Phelps!

Ahhh Monday. Here we are again. The work week begins anew and clock is reset on waiting for the weekend. At least this is a short week and the 4th of July is on a Friday this year. I prefer it later in the week so that the holiday comes early in the long weekend and not after three nights of partying. With my sister and her friend coming in plus all the events this weekend I’ll be looking forward to a day of rest on Sunday!



On to current events. Well, there isn’t too much going on, at least in terms of football. The Premiership is still in close season and Euro 2008 finished yesterday. It’s Gael Clichy week on Arsenal.com if you’re interested. Summer transfer rumors still abound, but I typically pay them no mind as it is mostly all rubbish. I would talk about the MLS, but I don’t really follow it and would have to look up a bunch of scores. I did hear through friends that DC United beat the Galaxy. Hurray.

One bit of Arsenal discussion (or ranting) for today is that on Arsenal.com they recently put up 75 players to be voted on for the 50 all-time best. The results for awhile were almost as you’d expect, but recently there have been some surprises, at least to me. Now, I know the voting was supposed to be based on performances on the pitch, but to me you have to consider how these players performed off the pitch as well, especially when they are being considered as Arsenal greats. The first player that snuck up was Anelka. He only played for a couple of seasons and buggered off at the first sign on money. Since then he has played at a different club practically every season. Not really an Arsenal man in my opinion. Then came Ashley Cole. I couldn’t believe it. Not only should he have been banned from the list for his action when leaving Arsenal, but he was ahead of real LB greats like Winterburn. Truly poor judgment. The latest is what I saw today and prompted my wanting to comment on this “list.” The number 15th all-time Arsenal great was Sol Campbell. This is just getting to be too much. I know that there are many who don’t know all the older players, me included, but I have made an effort over the years to learn of Arsenal heroes and I also can spot one who isn’t. Granted, Campbell, for the most part, was a good player while at Arsenal, but he came from Sperzs and actually walked out on the club DURING a match. Then he asked for a transfer so he could play overseas. What club did he go to? Portsmouth. Nothing like lying to get your way. Oh well, I know it is just a silly list but this is what happens when there is no football being played to comment on.

Back to the blog and less ranting, at least for a bit. Yesterday evening, I watched a little of the Olympic trials and saw Tyson Gay break the world record in the 100 meter dash. Those guys are crazy fast and it is amazing how races are won on 100ths of a second. If I were in the races those guys would be halfway through their interviews with Bob Costas before I crossed the line. I never was a fast runner. I know it is hard to imagine, but it is true. I was slow in swimming too and could never get the flip-turns down. I always spun wrong and got water up my nose. I was such an athlete.

Speaking of swimming, Michael Phelps turned on the heat as he was chased by his friend Lochte in the 400 IM. Phelps took and early lead but Lochte came on strong in the breaststroke to even it all up and it remained that way until the final flip turn where Phelps was able to pull out a small lead for the win. The two of them finished WAY ahead of the others. There has been plenty of talk lately about the new speedo swimsuits and how they may be giving an unfair advantage to those who use them. Well, considering Phelps and Lochte smoked the rest of the contenders who were for the most part also wearing those suits, I don’t think they suits helped that much. I will say that those swimmers must shave everywhere because one false move by Phelps (who wore only the low-cut pants) and Mr. Happy would be making a surprise visit!



Finally, I know I’ve done some stupid things while drinking, like singing “Tommy” at the top of my lungs at my own Christmas party, falling out of a black cab in London, etc. etc., but this story ranks up there. It seems a Swedish guy got loaded over in Denmark and drank all his ferry money. So, in order to get home, he decided to steal a boat and row the 3 miles to Sweden across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Predictably, he got tired and sleepy about half way over and took a nap in the boat. Luckily some Danish police found him. Those wacky Euros!!

Well, that’s enough for today. Time to get back to work and look busy. I may need to do the old grab a file and walk around for awhile trick.

Adios.

The Finals and Queso. Mmmmm......

This post isn’t an immediate follow-up, but it is close enough. I had a trip to the Houston area at the end of last week and got to see my sister on Thursday. It was fun but I had a splitting headache the next morning. Stupid pints. Actually, they were tasty, and so was the wine at dinner. Guess that was the problem!

Anyway, what has been going on since last we spoke? Not much for Arsenal, other than a story the Gael Clichy signed a new contract with the club. He told his agent that he wanted to sign only with Arsenal and to not even look around at other clubs or
more money deals. That is a true Arsenal man. I wish some others had the same attitude. I know it is a bit different for us fans who would love more than anything to be paid millions and be associated with the Arse. But there is such little loyalty in sports today. As a result, I do like it when a player moves and finds the grass isn’t greener. They may have some more money but that should never be the ultimate decider in life, unless you have absolutely no money, but then even with a grain of salt.

Wow, that was a bit of a ramble.

Well, in Euro 2008 Germany scored a late goal, Turkey style, to beat Turkey in the first semifinal on Wednesday. On Thursday, Spain beat Russia 3-0 with some great play from Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas!! Wenger really needs to make this boy captain. He is only 21 but is way beyond his years.These results set up the final today of Germany v. Spain. The first goal was always going to be key in this match as Germany is well suited to sitting on a lead and defending, thus making it hard for Spain to break through. Spain would need an early goal to help open up play so they could get chances for a second, which considering their lackluster defending would be important.

The match started today with me sipping a Boddingtons and feeding my boy a bottle. Germany came out strong and put some pressure on Spain. At the same time Liam threw up a little on my shirt and shorts. Spain and myself regrouped and the Iberian youth pushed forward. In the 33rd minute a through ball sent Torres and Lahm chasing it into the German box. Torres then sprinted around the defender and was able to put enough of a loft-toe on it to send it over the diving Lehmann for the 1-nil lead. It truly was a good goal.



Spain kept it up and was able to see off some German attacks before half time. During the break, I heated up some plastic queso and sat down with another pint and chips to see the second half through. Spain continued their good play and Germany kept attacking. Both sides made subs, Spain’s were mostly defensive, and they managed a bit of luck in the remainder of the game. So Spain are now the European champs and Cesc has a winners medal plus no injuries. All in all a good summer for the lad. Now some rest and a good preseason will see him ready for club football.

Not much else has been going on. I flicked to the Ladies U.S. Open, but decided to write this instead. I was going to try and play golf, but sometimes things don’t work out. Now I’m rambling again. Maybe I should get another beer and watch Star Wars with my daughter. Guess I’m sorted now!

Adios

Here We Go Again...

So friends, here we are. 6 months. Whew, that was way too fast. Guess I have been a bit behind on the old blog, eh? Now, after some serious berating by friends, I’m back. Or at least I plan to be. So why the long layoff? Well, things have been a bit crazy and here is my last 6 months in a nutshell:



Really, it is mostly because I got lazy, but my official excuse is the birth of my son. Liam came on January 8th and started causing trouble from the outset. Not only did he arrive 3 weeks early, but he decided to come ass first. Result was an emergency c-section. More money. Hurray. But really, he is a great boy and is growing up fast. My daughter loves him too, but we’ll see how she feels when she gets a bit closer to the teen years!!

On to the show. What has happened between post? I’ll summarize some, ignore other stuff, and perform my usual ramshackle reporting.

Arsenal. The last 6 months have been a true definition of highs and lows. The club came through the holiday period still on top of the table and they even took a sizeable lead over all the other contenders. Then came the match versus Birmingham. Up until this match, Ade was on a scoring streak and Eduardo was finally finding his place in the squad. Then, in one horrible moment, a tackle by Martin Taylor crushed Eduardo’s ankle and the team’s spirit. Eduardo had to be rushed to hospital and the break required major surgery. He is now out until sometime next season and who knows if he’ll be the same. I sure hope so as he is a great footballer and seems to be a good man.

Now, this match wasn’t really the reason for the bad season, but it is when the wheels came off in my opinion. The rest of the match was kind of a blur and Birmingham equalized on a late penalty (that was pretty dodgy). After this Arsenal couldn’t win games. Adebayor cut his hair and the goals stopped. Arsenal were drawing with clubs they should have stuffed. Then losses to Man U and Chavski in the league and crap decisions by refs against Liverpool in the Champions League saw Arsenal on a track to end without any silverware. It seemed like there was a black hole, drawing in Arsenal supporter’s early season high emotions as we watched the slow and steady decline at the end of the season. But this is football. Crap happens. The season ended with 4 successive wins (and a new funky dance by Ade!!) and it looks like there will be some good players coming in (we’ll deal with this later). I can’t wait for August!!

So what do we (or I) do with ourselves (or myself) until the Premier League season starts? Well, we watch the summer extravaganza known as Euro 2008!!! Hurray!! Well, it is something to do and it is football. Anyway, seeing as I’m late to update the blog, the tournament is almost over. The group stages had some good matches with Portugal (boo!!) and the Dutch playing good football. Italy semi-stuck it up and France were just absent. Not that they weren’t in the tournament, it’s just that the team didn’t really do much of anything. The quarterfinals saw Portugal lose to Germany (HAH!!), Croatia lose a 2-0 to the Turks who won 3-2 to a series of late goals, and Holland did eff all against the high flyin Ruskies. The final quarterfinal was a snoozefest as Italy played typical crappy defensive football and prayed for a set play goal or a PK. They are such a bore to watch. But Spain kept trying and had some good chances, though they didn’t get the goal they wanted and went to PK’s. Luckily, Iker Casillas was on his game (or more likely lucky!!) and Spain won the match. And who scored the final PK for Spain, why Arsenal’s own wunder-kid, Cesc Fabregas!!! He has played well off the bench so far this tournament and I hope to see him get a start over Xavi in the semifinals.



The next matches are German v. Turkey tomorrow and Russia v. Spain on Thursday. Of course I’ll be traveling on Thursday, but I’ll be taping the match for sure. The final will be on Sunday so tune in and pray Andy Gray is the color commentator for ESPN though it’ll likely be the annoying little Irishman Tommy Smyth.

Well, my lunch is almost over and I’ve written enough for a just-back-blog. More on other summer happenings soon. I’m also taking a photography course at the junior college so maybe I’ll fill some space and force my crappy photos on my unlucky reader.

Adios.