They're Baaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!

Ah, the joys of teething babies. Oh how I love the incessant crying through the night! Tis truly one of the great wonders of childrearing. What could top this nighttime joy? Why, bed wetting by the older child and the need to change sheets at 1 am could be the trick! I think I need some more coffee.

Now that I’m slightly coherent, what all is going on in the world of Cam? Well, pre-season training at Arsenal has begun! Hooray!!! Huzzah!!! High-five-ah!!! Finally,
we get to see some of the lads running around, training, laughing, etc., but most importantly it means that Arsenal matches are around the corner and we can all, to some extent, move past the constant barrage of silly season rumors. The transfer window is still open almost 2 more months and there are supposedly more transfers in the works, but with the upcoming friendlies, we can watch the players who are here and ready to play for the club. There are a number of fans who believe that the current board is limiting the manager, that proper signings aren’t being made, and that basically the club is slipping. I, however, am not one of those fans. I think the manager will do what is best for the team and I feel the Board and their overall direction is good. Nothing is perfect, but I look forward to another exciting season. The lads really showed a lot of mettle last season and I think it will carry through to this one.

In other Arsenal related news, former player Ray Parlour has announced that he is likely to retire. The Romford Pele spent 20 years at Arsenal don’t you know!! He signed as a schoolboy at 12 and played until he was 32, 12 of those as a regular first-teamer. He was a strong force on the pitch and scored a goal in the 2002 FA Cup to give the Gunners the Double. He was always a favorite of mine and I was sad to see him go on to Boro once he knew he wouldn’t get much first team football at Arsenal. Since the move though, he didn’t play much and injuries are forcing his retirement. I wish him all the best and hope he continues on with TV commentary or coaching. A recent petition has been started to let Ray have a testimonial at Arsenal upon his retirement (which typically occurs when a player puts in 10+ years of service, but was waived once he left for Boro). If you like, you can go here to sign. I’d love to see him get the accolades he deserves as a true Arsenal man.


Prior to all this Arsenal related news, there was some tennis to keep me in front of a TV, not doing chores. The men’s final at Wimbledon was on Sunday and featured Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. As mentioned previously, I wasn’t too excited about the matchup because I’ve seen it plenty of other times. Besides the recent French Open, typically it was a match that we all knew Federer would win. He had won the previous 5 Wimbledon title, two by beating Nadal, and seemed to win most everything else, but Sunday was a bit different story. Nadal came out and played well, taking the first two sets. It seemed like he had things going his way but a rain delay let Federer regroup and he took the second two sets in tie-breakers. Nadal even had 3 championship points in the last tie-breaker, 2 with the serve, but he couldn’t close the deal. On to the 5th it went and there was more tension as each struggled to win their service games. With no tie-breaker in the 5th set, rain delays, and diminishing light, it looked like the match would be finished the next day. Nadal rallied though and broke Federer to go up 8 to 7. He then had the serve to win the title and nearly lost the game, but he held on and got the win when Federer hit a shot into the net. It really was a good, nail-biter of a match and I was glad to have watched it. Plus it was raining out so there wasn’t much else to do. Anyway, congrats to Rafa and Spain who seem to be winning quite a bit lately! I bet little gets done on the Iberian peninsula this month.

To wrap this post up, the annual Finnish wife-carrying races were held recently and Estonian Alan Voogla carries\d his wife Kristi Viltrop to win the title! Not only do the winners get immense bragging rights, but they win their wife’s weight in beer! This truly is a noble sport, and one of great strategy. You see, you want to carry a wife that will get you plenty of beer if you win, but you also want one that is light enough to make the winning more plausible. It really is a game of balances. Congrats to the Estonian couple and the others who competed.



That’s enough for me today. Let’s hope for sleep tonight.

Adios.