Since I didn't come with something new today, here's a little bonus for y'all.
Hadn't looked for Stoopid vids for a while, but there's now a vid with studio sound for one of their better tunes, "Closer To The Sun" from the album by the same name. Awesome acoustic guitar stringing by Myles.
Peace, and happy weekend.
"I think she beautiful, well that's for sure
Give a little loving, but I still gon need some more, I be
Stealing from the rich and then give it to the poor
Telling everybody it don't matter anymore, she said
All I really needed was a friend like you
Help me through and together we can change, but
If I was to stay it wasn't for too long
People sing the same song everywhere I'm going
Closer to the sun and far from the moon
People screaming out they gonna see me real soon, they say ooooh"
Friday, April 18, 2008
Feel Good Friday: Old Faithful
I don't care that I've used it a time or two before.
After a work week like this one, might as well go back to the tried and true, the one song that gets me from Stressville to Chill City faster than any other, "Mellow Mood" by Slightly Stoopid featuring G. Love and an awesome oceanside video with waves, surfing, dolphins, and the rest.
No song hits my tranquilo bone quite like this one, Bob Marley included
My favorite SS song, and maybe my favorite song in the whole wide world. Much needed on this Friday.
Have a great weekend whatever you get into. I hope to be back for the attack next week. Laters.
After a work week like this one, might as well go back to the tried and true, the one song that gets me from Stressville to Chill City faster than any other, "Mellow Mood" by Slightly Stoopid featuring G. Love and an awesome oceanside video with waves, surfing, dolphins, and the rest.
No song hits my tranquilo bone quite like this one, Bob Marley included
My favorite SS song, and maybe my favorite song in the whole wide world. Much needed on this Friday.
Have a great weekend whatever you get into. I hope to be back for the attack next week. Laters.
ASU-UGA: Wanna Get Away?
If you are answering the call and coming out for Arizona State-Georgia on September 20, and having trouble or suffering sticker shock on airfare, then be informed that Southwest is now selling Sept/Oct flights on their website {they only sell like 4 or 5 months into the future}.
Anyhow, just a heads up that you can now add this to your search arsenal. We just scored my sister a sweet direct flight from Sacramento that was +$120 cheaper than anything else out there.
Besides Southwest's site, kayak.com is the best place I know of to find airfare.
So there it is.
Sorry for the break this week, crazy busy, visitors, work, blah, blah. I'll try to get back on the train here shortly. I find that blogging is like working out, when you get into a rhythm/pattern it's easy, but once you stop for a bit it's really tough to get back at it.
Anyhow, just a heads up that you can now add this to your search arsenal. We just scored my sister a sweet direct flight from Sacramento that was +$120 cheaper than anything else out there.
Besides Southwest's site, kayak.com is the best place I know of to find airfare.
So there it is.
Sorry for the break this week, crazy busy, visitors, work, blah, blah. I'll try to get back on the train here shortly. I find that blogging is like working out, when you get into a rhythm/pattern it's easy, but once you stop for a bit it's really tough to get back at it.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Don't Expect The TW Miracle
Immelman -11
Snedeker -9
Flesch -8
Casey -7
Woods -5
Everyone is looking for a TW miracle win today, but I just can't see it happening.
- 16 of the last 17 years, the winner has come from the final group, Zach Johnson last year being the exception, and he started the final round only 2 shots behind
- Tiger has NEVER won a major coming from behind on the final day
- Tiger's biggest final round deficit overcome was 5, a few years back at Pebble Beach and included a hole out from the fairway and youngster Matt Gogel shitting the bed. Tiger may hole out today, but it is highly unlikely that all 4 dudes in front of him will shit the bed.
But the biggest reason is the weather, specifically the wind. It is swirling and gusting to 20-25 mph today, meaning the course will play so tough that it will look more like a US Open, with par being a good score and birdies scarce, and you will see more guys back up today than go forward. Shooting a low score today will be damn near impossible.
The only way Tiger can win is if everyone in front of him backs up due to the conditions and he miraculously shoots a 67 or 68 while the others shoot over par. Possible, but unlikely.
Basically, if Immelman and/or Snedeker shoot a decent round today and don't implode, one of them will be your winner. The course setup these days excludes fireworks and really low numbers- add in the swirling winds and a low number today is damn near impossible. Flesch and Casey have a chance, but realistically Tiger is too far back.
That being said, 12 years ago on Sunday I would have bet you my house, car, and every cent I owned that Greg Norman would not blow his 6 shot lead, so I suppose anything is possible. My point is simply that it is highly, highly unlikely.
Enjoy.
Snedeker -9
Flesch -8
Casey -7
Woods -5
Everyone is looking for a TW miracle win today, but I just can't see it happening.
- 16 of the last 17 years, the winner has come from the final group, Zach Johnson last year being the exception, and he started the final round only 2 shots behind
- Tiger has NEVER won a major coming from behind on the final day
- Tiger's biggest final round deficit overcome was 5, a few years back at Pebble Beach and included a hole out from the fairway and youngster Matt Gogel shitting the bed. Tiger may hole out today, but it is highly unlikely that all 4 dudes in front of him will shit the bed.
But the biggest reason is the weather, specifically the wind. It is swirling and gusting to 20-25 mph today, meaning the course will play so tough that it will look more like a US Open, with par being a good score and birdies scarce, and you will see more guys back up today than go forward. Shooting a low score today will be damn near impossible.
The only way Tiger can win is if everyone in front of him backs up due to the conditions and he miraculously shoots a 67 or 68 while the others shoot over par. Possible, but unlikely.
Basically, if Immelman and/or Snedeker shoot a decent round today and don't implode, one of them will be your winner. The course setup these days excludes fireworks and really low numbers- add in the swirling winds and a low number today is damn near impossible. Flesch and Casey have a chance, but realistically Tiger is too far back.
That being said, 12 years ago on Sunday I would have bet you my house, car, and every cent I owned that Greg Norman would not blow his 6 shot lead, so I suppose anything is possible. My point is simply that it is highly, highly unlikely.
Enjoy.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Boo Weekley: A Golfer For People Who Dislike Golfers
Been meaning to write this for over a year, but now that he's -2 and tied for 20th going into the weekend, there's no better time than now...
Do you dislike golf and golfers because to you they all seem like spoiled, wealthy, country club kids with no personality?
Then Boo Weekley is the guy for you. Named after Yogi Bear's sidekick, a country boy from North Florida, he is the most refreshing thing to hit the golf world since John Daly {Jason Gore included}.
A PGA Tour professional who doesn't know anything about the Ryder Cup, is not at all aware of golf history, records, and who admittedly loves huntin' n' fishin' much more than being a professional golfer, to the point where he would rather be at home fishin' than shooting 64 in the 3rd round of a major to put himself into contention while barely missing a tie for the best round in the history of all four majors. No, really:
"Naw, I mean I had a good day and it was fun... but what would
be even funner if I'm sitting at the house catchin' about a 10 pounder."
See? I knew you'd dig him.
How about that 1) he's been a PGA Tour professional for 4 years now but still lives in a trailer, and that he didn't even know what week The Masters was even after he qualified for it and was figuring out his playing schedule- check out his recent interview with Jeff Rude:
Here's an interview he did at the tour championship last year, where he rocked a Cleveland Golf camo hat.
And here is a great longer piece on him, his background, through his own words and those of his family:
"Out here in this golf, you know, you gotta show a little etiquittacy."
Don't be fooled, the fact that he did that interview means that he was in the top 30 on the money list last year, so dude can flat out golf his ball. He won the event in Hilton Head last year, and will be defending that title next week {I think it's called the Verizon Heritage these days}, and he is one of the best young players around.
Again, a massive breath of fresh air in the stodgy and often boring drone life of the PGA Tour, and a kind, honest, friendly, humble, modest, and simple man that anyone can get behind and root for, from serious golf fans to casual ones to people who don't even like golf.
Boo is -2 going into today at The Masters {tied for 20th}. There's lots of dudes that I would like to see win this week, but none moreso than him.
Oh, and for a country boy from North Florida who loves huntin' n fishin' more than golf, he can do a little pimpin' as well.
Boo on Thursday
Boo on Friday
Do you dislike golf and golfers because to you they all seem like spoiled, wealthy, country club kids with no personality?
Then Boo Weekley is the guy for you. Named after Yogi Bear's sidekick, a country boy from North Florida, he is the most refreshing thing to hit the golf world since John Daly {Jason Gore included}.
A PGA Tour professional who doesn't know anything about the Ryder Cup, is not at all aware of golf history, records, and who admittedly loves huntin' n' fishin' much more than being a professional golfer, to the point where he would rather be at home fishin' than shooting 64 in the 3rd round of a major to put himself into contention while barely missing a tie for the best round in the history of all four majors. No, really:
"Naw, I mean I had a good day and it was fun... but what would
be even funner if I'm sitting at the house catchin' about a 10 pounder."
See? I knew you'd dig him.
How about that 1) he's been a PGA Tour professional for 4 years now but still lives in a trailer, and that he didn't even know what week The Masters was even after he qualified for it and was figuring out his playing schedule- check out his recent interview with Jeff Rude:
Here's an interview he did at the tour championship last year, where he rocked a Cleveland Golf camo hat.
And here is a great longer piece on him, his background, through his own words and those of his family:
"Out here in this golf, you know, you gotta show a little etiquittacy."
Don't be fooled, the fact that he did that interview means that he was in the top 30 on the money list last year, so dude can flat out golf his ball. He won the event in Hilton Head last year, and will be defending that title next week {I think it's called the Verizon Heritage these days}, and he is one of the best young players around.
Again, a massive breath of fresh air in the stodgy and often boring drone life of the PGA Tour, and a kind, honest, friendly, humble, modest, and simple man that anyone can get behind and root for, from serious golf fans to casual ones to people who don't even like golf.
Boo is -2 going into today at The Masters {tied for 20th}. There's lots of dudes that I would like to see win this week, but none moreso than him.
Oh, and for a country boy from North Florida who loves huntin' n fishin' more than golf, he can do a little pimpin' as well.
Boo on Thursday
Boo on Friday
Friday, April 11, 2008
Masters Day 2: Pimpin' On The Rise
The biggest theme was once again white pants; at this point that is looking like the fashion trend for Masters 2008. Even 2 time champion Tom Watson got in on the act:
Sadly he finished at +6 and will not be playing on the weekend.
Gary Player finished last at +17, but he did finish up par/par to shoot 78. Why is this important? He had said after shooting 83 in the first round that if he didn't break 80 on Friday then we would not come back and play his 52nd Masters next year. So thanks to his 78, hopefully he will be back for another go next year.
Thank you, GP. Hope to see you next year.
Oh, he also went full-on Wimbledon yesterday and rocked an all white outfit. After a career of wearing all black and acquiring the name "The Black Knight" this was interesting, along the lines of Gandalf The White. He also rocked the completely old school shoes with the flap over the laces. If you haven't figured out by now, I love this guy and he is my favorite of the legendary Big 3 of the 60s {Palmer, Nicklaus, Player}.
Retro shoes make the outfit. King of all-time
pimps GP knows it's the little touches that matter
The cut was not kind to other well and/or funky dressed men, among them:
Rory Sabbatini, who came extremely strong yesterday with a red shirt, white pants with red trim, a red belt, and a giant silver SKULL BELT BUCKLE. No really.
100% awesome, esp. in the hallowed halls of Augusta National.
Two time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who looked like the sharpest dressed Wyoming Cowboys fan you'll ever see.
You'll have to trust me that the brown shoes were tight,and if he
went with a hat to match those pants he would be El Rai de Laramie for sure.
Speaking of cowboys, Shingo missed the cut as well, so only 2 wacky but somehow pimpin' Japanese cowboy outfits this year instead of four.
Happy trails, Shingo.
U.S. Amateur champion and Virginia Tech student Drew Weaver came with it yesterday, rocking a sweet argyle sweater as part of a slick black & white ensemble:
Pretty strong for an amateur
The cut line was especially cruel to those at +4, as the cut looked to be at +4 all day but then finished up at +3, with several prominent +4's left on the outside looking in.
Sergio Garcia, who did much, much better on his outfit but as you can see here is sad to be missing the weekend, and it's increased pimpin' opportunities.
Tu ropa son mejor hoy, Sergio, pero adios mi amigo.
Luke Donald, also at +4, proved once again that you can actually pimp pretty hard even when yo handicap yourself by wearing a dorky ass golf visor.
Yesterday's newcomer Toru Tanaguchi came very weak yesterday, and missed the cut by 1 shot. After such a promising, close but no cigar start, surely a more bold attempt at pimpn' would have saved a stroke somewhere out there.
Aussie Aaron Baddeley also just missed at +4, which absolutely sucks because he wore the sweetest pants of the day yesterday- white with green pseudo plaid. Awesome. Sad that his Saturday and Sunday outfits will stay in the suitcase.
I want these.
Also, it is very sad that longtime fan favorite Fred Couples, who was looking to break Gary Players record for consecutive cuts made {23 I think} missed breaking the record in the end by a single shot, as he also finished at +4.
So who's left?
Well, leader Trevor Immelman, like Gary Player a smaller dude from South Africa, is your clubhouse leader and did ok yesterday, rocking the ever more ubiquitous white pants himself:
Ian Poulter is in 3rd place at -5, and backed up his lime green solid effort on Saturday with a pink & white ensemble on Friday.
Defending champ will not go quietly into that goodnight.
It sounds counterintuitive, but it takes a man to pull off pink pants, belt, and shoes, but he did it. At this point I think he's rocking the visor just to give everyone else a chance: if he had gone with the pimp hats again this year he'd pretty much already have it sewed up again.
Steven Ames is at -4 and also showed that he isn't afraid to rock a little pink, although {not surprisiingly} he was nowhere in Poulter's league.
England's Nick Dougherty was even stronger than yesterday. Check out this shirt:
He could be a surprise contender on the weekend.
I also must mention Adam Scott's pants yesterday, a subtle plaid print that was sweet as hell. These plus Baddeley's green & white's and I'd be muy contento.
Nice pants, mate.
Finally, a sad word of caution. Although I appreciate the effort, Bubba Watson simply went too far in his efforts yesterday. I applaud the white shirt, pink pants, white shoes foundation, but although visors are not so good, they can be pulled off {Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, etc}. On the other hand, neon green visors are never a good idea, nor is the neon green belt with dark pink {salmon} pants. Poulter & Ames proved that pink can be done and done well; w white belt and plain white visor would have been serious pimpin', but this insistence on neon lime green turned into a total disaster.
Ouch: a fashion Icarus that flew too close to the sun.
Again, I appreciate the boldness to think outside the box, just need to rethink outside the box bubba.
Usually pimpin' subsides a bit on the weekend as 1) the field is basically cut in half 2) the golf goes from serious to super serious. Hopefully we'll have a few standouts to get us through.
I only saw some of ESPN's coverage over the first two days, so I can't fully comment on it {until this year the first two rounds were on the old USA network but the production was still by CBS golf}. I can say that, not surprisingly, they abandoned CBS golf production's philosophy of showing golf only as much as possible: shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot: as much live golf as possible, unlike NBC who turns their golf broadcasts into the Olympics with canned human interest story features in the middle of the golf, which may be interesting to casual fans but is highly irritating to hardcore golf fans. ESPN showed lots of non live golf action- interviews, talking heads, and canned human interest story features as well from the little I saw. Obviously, I'm 1) not surprised and 2) very much looking forward to the fact that Saturday & Sunday are back on CBS.
One final note on the new & improved www.masters.org. They really stepped it up this year, with live video feeds both of amen corner {11, 12, 13} and the 15th & 16th holes. The quality of the video is amazing, and 16:9 to boot. I have a crappy monitor at work and it looked like HD. I can say that is is easily the best streaming feed of any sporting event that I have ever seen on a computer, the quality was that good. If you are stuck at work this weekend then definitely check it out.
Here's hoping for good golf and good pimpin' through the weekend. Enjoy.
Sadly he finished at +6 and will not be playing on the weekend.
Gary Player finished last at +17, but he did finish up par/par to shoot 78. Why is this important? He had said after shooting 83 in the first round that if he didn't break 80 on Friday then we would not come back and play his 52nd Masters next year. So thanks to his 78, hopefully he will be back for another go next year.
Thank you, GP. Hope to see you next year.
Oh, he also went full-on Wimbledon yesterday and rocked an all white outfit. After a career of wearing all black and acquiring the name "The Black Knight" this was interesting, along the lines of Gandalf The White. He also rocked the completely old school shoes with the flap over the laces. If you haven't figured out by now, I love this guy and he is my favorite of the legendary Big 3 of the 60s {Palmer, Nicklaus, Player}.
Retro shoes make the outfit. King of all-time
pimps GP knows it's the little touches that matter
The cut was not kind to other well and/or funky dressed men, among them:
Rory Sabbatini, who came extremely strong yesterday with a red shirt, white pants with red trim, a red belt, and a giant silver SKULL BELT BUCKLE. No really.
100% awesome, esp. in the hallowed halls of Augusta National.
Two time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who looked like the sharpest dressed Wyoming Cowboys fan you'll ever see.
You'll have to trust me that the brown shoes were tight,and if he
went with a hat to match those pants he would be El Rai de Laramie for sure.
Speaking of cowboys, Shingo missed the cut as well, so only 2 wacky but somehow pimpin' Japanese cowboy outfits this year instead of four.
Happy trails, Shingo.
U.S. Amateur champion and Virginia Tech student Drew Weaver came with it yesterday, rocking a sweet argyle sweater as part of a slick black & white ensemble:
Pretty strong for an amateur
The cut line was especially cruel to those at +4, as the cut looked to be at +4 all day but then finished up at +3, with several prominent +4's left on the outside looking in.
Sergio Garcia, who did much, much better on his outfit but as you can see here is sad to be missing the weekend, and it's increased pimpin' opportunities.
Tu ropa son mejor hoy, Sergio, pero adios mi amigo.
Luke Donald, also at +4, proved once again that you can actually pimp pretty hard even when yo handicap yourself by wearing a dorky ass golf visor.
Yesterday's newcomer Toru Tanaguchi came very weak yesterday, and missed the cut by 1 shot. After such a promising, close but no cigar start, surely a more bold attempt at pimpn' would have saved a stroke somewhere out there.
Aussie Aaron Baddeley also just missed at +4, which absolutely sucks because he wore the sweetest pants of the day yesterday- white with green pseudo plaid. Awesome. Sad that his Saturday and Sunday outfits will stay in the suitcase.
I want these.
Also, it is very sad that longtime fan favorite Fred Couples, who was looking to break Gary Players record for consecutive cuts made {23 I think} missed breaking the record in the end by a single shot, as he also finished at +4.
So who's left?
Well, leader Trevor Immelman, like Gary Player a smaller dude from South Africa, is your clubhouse leader and did ok yesterday, rocking the ever more ubiquitous white pants himself:
Ian Poulter is in 3rd place at -5, and backed up his lime green solid effort on Saturday with a pink & white ensemble on Friday.
Defending champ will not go quietly into that goodnight.
It sounds counterintuitive, but it takes a man to pull off pink pants, belt, and shoes, but he did it. At this point I think he's rocking the visor just to give everyone else a chance: if he had gone with the pimp hats again this year he'd pretty much already have it sewed up again.
Steven Ames is at -4 and also showed that he isn't afraid to rock a little pink, although {not surprisiingly} he was nowhere in Poulter's league.
England's Nick Dougherty was even stronger than yesterday. Check out this shirt:
He could be a surprise contender on the weekend.
I also must mention Adam Scott's pants yesterday, a subtle plaid print that was sweet as hell. These plus Baddeley's green & white's and I'd be muy contento.
Nice pants, mate.
Finally, a sad word of caution. Although I appreciate the effort, Bubba Watson simply went too far in his efforts yesterday. I applaud the white shirt, pink pants, white shoes foundation, but although visors are not so good, they can be pulled off {Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, etc}. On the other hand, neon green visors are never a good idea, nor is the neon green belt with dark pink {salmon} pants. Poulter & Ames proved that pink can be done and done well; w white belt and plain white visor would have been serious pimpin', but this insistence on neon lime green turned into a total disaster.
Ouch: a fashion Icarus that flew too close to the sun.
Again, I appreciate the boldness to think outside the box, just need to rethink outside the box bubba.
Usually pimpin' subsides a bit on the weekend as 1) the field is basically cut in half 2) the golf goes from serious to super serious. Hopefully we'll have a few standouts to get us through.
I only saw some of ESPN's coverage over the first two days, so I can't fully comment on it {until this year the first two rounds were on the old USA network but the production was still by CBS golf}. I can say that, not surprisingly, they abandoned CBS golf production's philosophy of showing golf only as much as possible: shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot: as much live golf as possible, unlike NBC who turns their golf broadcasts into the Olympics with canned human interest story features in the middle of the golf, which may be interesting to casual fans but is highly irritating to hardcore golf fans. ESPN showed lots of non live golf action- interviews, talking heads, and canned human interest story features as well from the little I saw. Obviously, I'm 1) not surprised and 2) very much looking forward to the fact that Saturday & Sunday are back on CBS.
One final note on the new & improved www.masters.org. They really stepped it up this year, with live video feeds both of amen corner {11, 12, 13} and the 15th & 16th holes. The quality of the video is amazing, and 16:9 to boot. I have a crappy monitor at work and it looked like HD. I can say that is is easily the best streaming feed of any sporting event that I have ever seen on a computer, the quality was that good. If you are stuck at work this weekend then definitely check it out.
Here's hoping for good golf and good pimpin' through the weekend. Enjoy.
Masters Day 1: Moderate Pimpin', But Nothing Spectacular. Yet. Hopefully.
If last year was a bit disappointing because inaugural Dodgy At Best 2006 Pimp Of The Masters Darren Clarke shot 83 on the first day and didn't make the cut, then this year is even more dire as he isn't even in the field at all. Niclas Fasth did a watered down homage to Clarkey's 2006 winning getup however, rocking a light-lavender outfit.
Poor man's version of D Clarke back on 2006.
That leaves 2007 Pimp Of The Masters Ian Poulter the favorite, and yesterday he opened his title defense pretty well with a nice white lounge lizard shirt with lime green trim, lime green pants, belt, shoes, and visor. The visor's a little soft, and certainly cannot compete with last year's collection of pimp hats, but all in all a solid effort on day 1 of his title defense. He has clearly established himself as the player to beat this year, as if there were any doubts before the tournament got underway.
IP: even with a visor {-1}, still favored to defend title
Oh, in addition, Gooner Ian got over the depression of Arsenal's dubious exit fromt he Champions League with a hole in one at the famous 16th hole, the 5th hole in one on 16 in Masters history, and interestingly the 4th in the last 4 years:
Among the chasers there was some moderate pimpin' but nothing spectacular. The major themes of the day seemed to be 1) white pants 2) all black or 3) white & green. A good dozen or so dudes rocked the white pants, some with the accompanying white belt as well.
Stephen Ames: one white shirt from all white awesomeness
Carmello Villejas and Lee Westwood even went a bit Wimbledon and went {mostly} all white.
Black hat/white shirt/black belt/white pants:
it pains me to say it, but the Gator {Villejas} came strong with it.
Both Phil Mickleson and Justin Rose went for modified versions of an all black kit, but neither of them quite pulled it off. I don't think they'll be too bothered, Justin Rose shares the lead at -4 and Phil shot a nice 1 under 71.
The white/black combo was best pulled off by Andres Romero, who came with this:
Romero: one to watch for sure.
I never saw his shoes, but with the right ones, like say some Gary Player black & white specials, this could have been really special. One to keep you eye on as the week progresses.
The other major theme was white and green, either green shirt/white pants or vicey versey.
Aaron Baddeley: white hat, white shirt, white belt, green pants, white shoes
Paul Casey: white hat, green shirt, white belt, white pants, green shoes
Nick Dougherty: white visor {-1}, white shirt, green belt, green pants, white shoes
Luke Donald: white visor {-1}, white shirt, white belt, green pants, white shoes
Speaking of Gary Player, respect must be paid to the man appearing in his record 51st Masters. He has been pimpin' hard for more than 5 decades, and yesterday went with an all gray outfit that was pretty average for him, but those classic Gary Player shoes put him solidly in big pimpin' territory.
GP: at age 72, playing in his 51st Masters,
he's pimpin' strong into his 6th decade at Augusta. Bow Down.
And speaking of classics, T Woods showed yet again that damn near every day he looks clean and sharp, and he gets the all important concept of matching your shoes/belt/hat with the same color.
Just like with his golf, dude always brings it.
On the other hand, newcomer Toru Taniguchi came out pretty strong, but his failure to master the aforementioned shoes/belt/hat combo left him just short. A good first effort, and a newcomer to watch for sure, but the black shoes, white belt, black hat combo left him so close but still no cigar. The red pants/pink shirt is strong though. If he can tighten up his game he could come out of nowhere to surprise.
One black belt {or white shoes & hat} from Pimp Of The Day.
Adam Scott got the hat/belt/shoes {they were white too} combo correct as well, and looked casually sharp as always
Adam Scott reflects on his position on the fashion & golf leaderboards
Obligatory Shingo shot, who went all black with the exception of a powder blue shirt. Good as always.
Shingo: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Too bad Sergio doesn't read this blog, as last year I expressly told him that orange and gray don't match. He went with it again, and admittedly it is a bit better, but still a swing and a miss- although the bright orange alligator skin belt on it's own is STRONG. Improved color coordination is his only chance at making a serious run at this.
The belt is sweet, and it's a bit better,
but we talked about this last year, Sergio.
Oh, the golf tournament? More US Open non excitement overall. Perfect warm weather, no wind, course conditions described as "benign" by many, and yet only 3 eagles all day, one of which was IP's hole in one on 16. Outside of that, Tiger's chip in for eagle from behind the 15th green, and Phil's pinseeker from behind the 1st green, there wasn't a whole lot.
Keep up with day 2 at the official Masters site, with lots of live coverage that is much more interesting that whatever work you have to do in your office today.
Poor man's version of D Clarke back on 2006.
That leaves 2007 Pimp Of The Masters Ian Poulter the favorite, and yesterday he opened his title defense pretty well with a nice white lounge lizard shirt with lime green trim, lime green pants, belt, shoes, and visor. The visor's a little soft, and certainly cannot compete with last year's collection of pimp hats, but all in all a solid effort on day 1 of his title defense. He has clearly established himself as the player to beat this year, as if there were any doubts before the tournament got underway.
IP: even with a visor {-1}, still favored to defend title
Oh, in addition, Gooner Ian got over the depression of Arsenal's dubious exit fromt he Champions League with a hole in one at the famous 16th hole, the 5th hole in one on 16 in Masters history, and interestingly the 4th in the last 4 years:
Among the chasers there was some moderate pimpin' but nothing spectacular. The major themes of the day seemed to be 1) white pants 2) all black or 3) white & green. A good dozen or so dudes rocked the white pants, some with the accompanying white belt as well.
Stephen Ames: one white shirt from all white awesomeness
Carmello Villejas and Lee Westwood even went a bit Wimbledon and went {mostly} all white.
Black hat/white shirt/black belt/white pants:
it pains me to say it, but the Gator {Villejas} came strong with it.
Both Phil Mickleson and Justin Rose went for modified versions of an all black kit, but neither of them quite pulled it off. I don't think they'll be too bothered, Justin Rose shares the lead at -4 and Phil shot a nice 1 under 71.
The white/black combo was best pulled off by Andres Romero, who came with this:
Romero: one to watch for sure.
I never saw his shoes, but with the right ones, like say some Gary Player black & white specials, this could have been really special. One to keep you eye on as the week progresses.
The other major theme was white and green, either green shirt/white pants or vicey versey.
Aaron Baddeley: white hat, white shirt, white belt, green pants, white shoes
Paul Casey: white hat, green shirt, white belt, white pants, green shoes
Nick Dougherty: white visor {-1}, white shirt, green belt, green pants, white shoes
Luke Donald: white visor {-1}, white shirt, white belt, green pants, white shoes
Speaking of Gary Player, respect must be paid to the man appearing in his record 51st Masters. He has been pimpin' hard for more than 5 decades, and yesterday went with an all gray outfit that was pretty average for him, but those classic Gary Player shoes put him solidly in big pimpin' territory.
GP: at age 72, playing in his 51st Masters,
he's pimpin' strong into his 6th decade at Augusta. Bow Down.
And speaking of classics, T Woods showed yet again that damn near every day he looks clean and sharp, and he gets the all important concept of matching your shoes/belt/hat with the same color.
Just like with his golf, dude always brings it.
On the other hand, newcomer Toru Taniguchi came out pretty strong, but his failure to master the aforementioned shoes/belt/hat combo left him just short. A good first effort, and a newcomer to watch for sure, but the black shoes, white belt, black hat combo left him so close but still no cigar. The red pants/pink shirt is strong though. If he can tighten up his game he could come out of nowhere to surprise.
One black belt {or white shoes & hat} from Pimp Of The Day.
Adam Scott got the hat/belt/shoes {they were white too} combo correct as well, and looked casually sharp as always
Adam Scott reflects on his position on the fashion & golf leaderboards
Obligatory Shingo shot, who went all black with the exception of a powder blue shirt. Good as always.
Shingo: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Too bad Sergio doesn't read this blog, as last year I expressly told him that orange and gray don't match. He went with it again, and admittedly it is a bit better, but still a swing and a miss- although the bright orange alligator skin belt on it's own is STRONG. Improved color coordination is his only chance at making a serious run at this.
The belt is sweet, and it's a bit better,
but we talked about this last year, Sergio.
Oh, the golf tournament? More US Open non excitement overall. Perfect warm weather, no wind, course conditions described as "benign" by many, and yet only 3 eagles all day, one of which was IP's hole in one on 16. Outside of that, Tiger's chip in for eagle from behind the 15th green, and Phil's pinseeker from behind the 1st green, there wasn't a whole lot.
Keep up with day 2 at the official Masters site, with lots of live coverage that is much more interesting that whatever work you have to do in your office today.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
SF: Clusterfuck Champions Of The Universe Ride Again
If anyone is still intersted, you can follow all of the post-farce finger-pointing and blame assigning here.
So there wasn't anything for me to go see after all, as the impromptu, on the fly, last minute changes saw the torch go out towards the bridge then high tail it down to the airport and get the hell out of town, leaving me as well as about 10,000 others with nothing to see after all.
What a joke.
No biggie for me, as I just watched on local TV with their coverage and helicopter cams, waiting to see if they would indeed come back to the planned finishing ceremony location by the Ferry Bldg. It never happened, I stayed near work, no biggie. Hell, I've seen the torch before, as up close and personal as you can get, but it would have been awesome to walk down and see the spectacle of the mass protest first hand. But I really and truly feel sorry for the thousands of people who came out to see the torch. Many people flew here from all around the US and brought their kids just to see the torch, and they got royally shafted by our wanna-be superhero doofus mayor and his massive ego.
I basically agree with everything said here about yesterday's fiasco.
Basically the Free Tibet folks succeeded in bringing lots of attention to their cause, and basically scaring the mayor and the event out of town. And the mayor was a fool {as usual} as well- if they were going to run away like pussies then they should have just canceled the whole thing, not told 10,000 people that they were going to do it and then run away scared because they didn't plan properly to have enough police on the scene.
An embarrassment for SF: certainly not the first, and won't be the last. I'm sure Hannity, O'Really?, Rush et al all had massive erections yesterday that will probably stay good and hard for the rest of the week. And John Stewart writers and the staff at The Onion as well, although theirs will most likely soften and they'll move on after a day of well deserved snark.
Good luck, Buenos Aires, the hot potato is now in your hands.
Lastly, why give a flying fuck about the Olympic Torch relay at all?
So there wasn't anything for me to go see after all, as the impromptu, on the fly, last minute changes saw the torch go out towards the bridge then high tail it down to the airport and get the hell out of town, leaving me as well as about 10,000 others with nothing to see after all.
What a joke.
No biggie for me, as I just watched on local TV with their coverage and helicopter cams, waiting to see if they would indeed come back to the planned finishing ceremony location by the Ferry Bldg. It never happened, I stayed near work, no biggie. Hell, I've seen the torch before, as up close and personal as you can get, but it would have been awesome to walk down and see the spectacle of the mass protest first hand. But I really and truly feel sorry for the thousands of people who came out to see the torch. Many people flew here from all around the US and brought their kids just to see the torch, and they got royally shafted by our wanna-be superhero doofus mayor and his massive ego.
I basically agree with everything said here about yesterday's fiasco.
Basically the Free Tibet folks succeeded in bringing lots of attention to their cause, and basically scaring the mayor and the event out of town. And the mayor was a fool {as usual} as well- if they were going to run away like pussies then they should have just canceled the whole thing, not told 10,000 people that they were going to do it and then run away scared because they didn't plan properly to have enough police on the scene.
An embarrassment for SF: certainly not the first, and won't be the last. I'm sure Hannity, O'Really?, Rush et al all had massive erections yesterday that will probably stay good and hard for the rest of the week. And John Stewart writers and the staff at The Onion as well, although theirs will most likely soften and they'll move on after a day of well deserved snark.
Good luck, Buenos Aires, the hot potato is now in your hands.
Lastly, why give a flying fuck about the Olympic Torch relay at all?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
It's Masters Week; I Must Be Two
So The Golf Channel is once again talking about something I first brought up two years ago and then again last year, and want to emphasize again because I feel like I spotted it pretty quickly, was on the leading edge of the realization: that The Masters is much more boring now, much less exciting, has lost it's essence, and is now a pseudo US Open.
Then I realized, holy shit! It's Masters week. This means that Dodgy At Best is officially 2 years old- last Sunday to be exact.
Circa 1992-93 Kanu & Solon team up to show
you how old DAB is this week
So thanks to the tens of you that come around occasionally to read my incoherent ramblings and interact in the comments section. I only wish I has more free time to post more, as for every post that makes it here there are literally 5-10 good ideas that die somewhere along the process, usually an idea who never receives enough oxygen {in the form of free time to sit down and write it all out, cross reference links, fact check, etc,} and dies before it gets to the internets.
One good thing: over the next 4 days there will be some serious pimpin' goin' down.
Then I realized, holy shit! It's Masters week. This means that Dodgy At Best is officially 2 years old- last Sunday to be exact.
Circa 1992-93 Kanu & Solon team up to show
you how old DAB is this week
So thanks to the tens of you that come around occasionally to read my incoherent ramblings and interact in the comments section. I only wish I has more free time to post more, as for every post that makes it here there are literally 5-10 good ideas that die somewhere along the process, usually an idea who never receives enough oxygen {in the form of free time to sit down and write it all out, cross reference links, fact check, etc,} and dies before it gets to the internets.
One good thing: over the next 4 days there will be some serious pimpin' goin' down.
SF To Be In Next Nike Ad: "Our Protest Is Better Than Your Protest"
Follow all the Olympic torch relay shenanigans at SFGate and local CBS today.
Considering what happened in London and Paris in the last few days, SF knows that is has to step up its game. Hell, protesters in Paris forced the authorities to extinguish the flame, get on a bus, and drive the rest of the route to the finish. FRANCE did that. So SF needs to step up, and all indications are that they are up to the challenge.
Saturday, 4 days out:
Human Rights Torch Relay through SF
protest in downtown SF draws a few hundred people
Monday, 3 days out:
dudes sneak out onto the Golden Gate Bridge with all their gear concealed in baby carriages, climb up the support wires of the Golden Gate Bridge, and hand two massive banners on the bridge itself before finally being forced down and arrested.
Tuesday, 1 day out:
Olympic Flame is flown into SF at 4 a.m.
IOC considers stopping the torch relay
1,000 - 2,000 protest at UN Plaza, City Hall, shut down streets, etc.
Tuesday night:
Candlelight vigil at UN Plaza draws several thousand, Archbishop Desmond Tutu {and Richard Gere!!!} speaks
Today the relay was supposed to start at 1 p.m. PST. It didn't, rumors are swirling. SFPD has confirmed that the route will be shortened from 6 miles to 3 miles, and that runners will hold the torch in pairs. But no routes have been announced, and no one knows where the torch is or where it will be going, as thousands of fans and protesters line the now old route.
In the last 10 minutes differing local news reports have 1) the torch being put on a boat at McCovery Cove and driven via water to the final site at Justin Herman Plaza, bypassing the route altogether 2) the torch has been moved to a warehouse near Pier 48 and that some new but unknown route is going to happen.
So thousands of people are in the streets, tons of helicopters are overhead, all the local news stations are in full OJ coverage mode, we're an hour in and nothing has happened, and no one has any idea what is going on or where the torch is or may or may not go.
A classically wacky SF day, where we will turn this into an enormous clusterfuck and the world can sit back and roll their eyes and laugh at our silly wackiness.
You can keep up with the circus with live craptastic local SF news coverage here.
I'm going down to the Ferry Bldg/Embarcadero in a little bit to soak it all in a bit.
More later...
Considering what happened in London and Paris in the last few days, SF knows that is has to step up its game. Hell, protesters in Paris forced the authorities to extinguish the flame, get on a bus, and drive the rest of the route to the finish. FRANCE did that. So SF needs to step up, and all indications are that they are up to the challenge.
Saturday, 4 days out:
Human Rights Torch Relay through SF
protest in downtown SF draws a few hundred people
Monday, 3 days out:
dudes sneak out onto the Golden Gate Bridge with all their gear concealed in baby carriages, climb up the support wires of the Golden Gate Bridge, and hand two massive banners on the bridge itself before finally being forced down and arrested.
Tuesday, 1 day out:
Olympic Flame is flown into SF at 4 a.m.
IOC considers stopping the torch relay
1,000 - 2,000 protest at UN Plaza, City Hall, shut down streets, etc.
Tuesday night:
Candlelight vigil at UN Plaza draws several thousand, Archbishop Desmond Tutu {and Richard Gere!!!} speaks
Today the relay was supposed to start at 1 p.m. PST. It didn't, rumors are swirling. SFPD has confirmed that the route will be shortened from 6 miles to 3 miles, and that runners will hold the torch in pairs. But no routes have been announced, and no one knows where the torch is or where it will be going, as thousands of fans and protesters line the now old route.
In the last 10 minutes differing local news reports have 1) the torch being put on a boat at McCovery Cove and driven via water to the final site at Justin Herman Plaza, bypassing the route altogether 2) the torch has been moved to a warehouse near Pier 48 and that some new but unknown route is going to happen.
So thousands of people are in the streets, tons of helicopters are overhead, all the local news stations are in full OJ coverage mode, we're an hour in and nothing has happened, and no one has any idea what is going on or where the torch is or may or may not go.
A classically wacky SF day, where we will turn this into an enormous clusterfuck and the world can sit back and roll their eyes and laugh at our silly wackiness.
You can keep up with the circus with live craptastic local SF news coverage here.
I'm going down to the Ferry Bldg/Embarcadero in a little bit to soak it all in a bit.
More later...
You're Once... Twice... Three Times, A Blown Lead...
6 minutes from the CL semifinal was agonizing, needed a minute to collect my thoughts...
Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal
0-1 Diaby 13'
1-1 Hyypia 30'
2-1 Torres 69'
2-2 Adebayor 84'
3-2 Gerrard PK 85'
4-2 Babel 90'
Multi-language highlights over a Justin Timberlake track:
Highlights from last week's 1-1 first leg {sorry, no JT}:
Liverpool advance 5-3 on aggregate
Alot of my thoughts on the match are in the comments section of the previous post, but in no particular order:
- First off, there are a bunch of Liverpool fans that hang out around here, so I want to begin by offering my congratulations to you all. I don't think it's too harsh to call Liverpool a somewhat limited side, but yet again, for the umpteenth time, something Pavlovian happened when the Champions League anthem was played, and per usual they somehow found a way to grind out a result and get the job done. It's uncanny, and there's not much more to say other than when it comes to the Champions League, The Pool be on that kryptonite, straight up on that kryptonite, Pool be on that, straight up on that, Pool be on that kryptonite.
- Secondly, respek to Stevie G for his classy post game comments {I can't ever imagine a ManUtd or Chel$ea player saying this}:
“Arsenal are a fantastic team. At times they passed us off the pitch. That was possibly one of the worst performances I’ve ever put in in a Liverpool shirt.”
More on that last sentence in a bit.
- Or right now. The key moment in the match for me was when Flamini went off after 30 minutes and was replaced with Gilberto, who these days is sadly a total shell of his former self. Flamini has been an amazing defensive midfielder all year, and after bossing EPL midfields and then completely neutralizing world player of the year Kaka over two legs against Milan, he did the same to Stevie G in the first leg as well as the first 30 minutes of the match yesterday. As a result Arsenal dominated the midfield in both instances, enjoyed the lion's share of the possession, and prevented Liverpool from looking functional at all. When he went off and Gilberto came on, the whole dynamic of the match changed and now it was Liverpool who controlled the midfield, kept much more possession, and was able to get into comfortable and dangerous offensive rythms time and again. It's stunning how far Gilberto has fallen, and especially sad since he is such a great guy. Anyhow, this subtle change in the game was huge over the last 60 minutes, and Arsene needs to sack up and pay Flamini whatever he wants- dude is only 24, runs his ass off, is a hard nut, and plays with controlled fire and passion- basically a French Gattuso. Sign him up long term please, Arsenal are a much worse side with him out, as was proven quite dramatically yesterday.
-I was wrong in my prediction for the match- it was Arsenal who came out blazing and completely dominated the match from the off, while Liverpool bunkered down and tried to survive. Diaby's goal on 13 minutes meant that Liverpool had to come out and play, and they did. I must also credit Rafa/Liverpool for playing to win when 2-1 up instead of playing 10 men behind the ball, although I feel a part of that was that Liverpool were controlling the midfield and match due to the Flamini/Gilberto thing described above. Still, Rafa went for it instead of closing up shop like the tactical pussy {but shrewd pussy} that he often is, so credit where credit is due.
-For 3-4 months now Solon and I have been commiserating weekly on the phone about how it is just stunning that Eboue plays in front of Walcott, and how stunning it is how terrible and completely useless Eboue has been this year. For fuck's sake, Eboue has contributed 0 goals and 1 assist from the right wing all season, and specializes in giving the ball away {when he is not diving}. Walcott is still young, raw, and not the finished article, but he is an infinitely better option than Eboue on the right and in his limited appearances this year has contributed 5 goals and 4 assists. The contrast yesterday between Eboue's 70 mintes and Theo's 20 was again stunning, and after Theo's great performance highlighted by that amazing 80 yard end to end run and set up on the looked like tie winning goal on the world's biggest stage, we're basically at the point now that if Eboue starts over Theo this weekend against Manchester United then the only logical explanation is that all those disgusting ManUtd/Spurs/Chel$ea fans are right, that Arsene Wenger is in fact a pedophile, and that Eboue has the proof and is using it as ransom in exchange for his starting place.
- Also, could we have a new rule whereby Phillipe Senderos can play against Fulham, Wigan, Boro, Spurs, and basically anyone else except the top 4? He is a good defender but against world class strikers he is simply out of his depth. The "marking" on the Hyypia goal was shambolic, and although many are giving him a pass of the Torres goal, noting how great Torres is and there's not much many defenders could have done against that, look at it again and tell me why oh why, when Torres has the ball in your penalty area, would you play 3 yards off him and give him the space to turn and shoot with absolute ease? New rule: if Drogba or Torres or Rooneh is on the teamsheet, Senderos sits. It's that simple.
-I guess we should talk about the penalties. I think I'm somewhere between Myles and Arseblogger. The one yesterday was super soft and tough to take considering KT didn't push or really foul Babel, it was more clumsy and they just got a bit tangled up, but we've all seen penalties given for such things and less {although we've also seen yesterday's incident, and worse, not given as well}. On the other hand, you don't make contact with a player in the box in the last 5 minutes of a CL elimination match, especially not on a Liverpool player at Anfield in front of the Kop, and expect a penalty to not be given. As Myles said, if your man beats you in that situation, you let him go by and make him then beat your keeper. Also, part of the whole setup was Arsenal's defense still celebrating Adebayor's goal and not shifting from potential tie-winning euphoria back to concentrating on the task at hand and being ready to refocus when the ball is put back into play.
I can live with the penalty being given yesterday, but when taken together with the beyond horrible no call last week when Kuty clearly arm-tackled Hleb in the box and it was not given, even though the referee was 5 feet in front of the play looking right at it, is just a massive kick in the balls. Whether or not the fact that last week's referee was from the same hometown in Holland as Kuyt is relevant or not doesn't matter: it was 10x more a penalty than Toure's awkward pseudo-collision with Babel, so taken together that is a very bitter pill to swallow. Right after it happened I reflected on something I wrote after last week's match:
But that penalty no call will still haunt me next week when Liverpool 1) hold out for a 0-0 or 2) win on a fluky goal.
And I feel like the penalty qualified under #2 above.
- That being said, shit, these things happen, that's the way the cookie crumbles, etc, etc. And it's not like Arsenal didn't have a whole bunch of opportunities to win the tie and make any dodgy last minute refereeing decisions completely moot, so the focus should be on that as much as the penalties. The total domination last week, Bendtner literally kicking out a ball that was 1 foot from rolling into the net {holy shit what a controversy that would have been if he didn't as he was judged, very late indeed, to be in an offsides position when Hyypia was standing on the goal line and another Liverpool player was behind the goal line altogether}, Adebayor's chance in the second half, and many, many more. Finally, as much as it pains me to say this, it's not a guarantee that if the penalty was rightfully given against Kuyt last week that Reina wouldn't have saved it. I think 75-85% of penalties are converted, so it was probably but not certain that it would have resulted in a goal {and of course then everything would have changed and the rest of the match would have been played differently, etc, etc, etc}
- And let's not forget also that Arsenal took the lead in this tie not once, not twice, but three times, and all together protected those 3 combined leads for a grand total of 22 minutes {4 min, 17 min, 1 min}. So I can totally see where whining about penalties would ring hollow with neutrals/opponents- looked at another way they have no one else but themselves to blame, whether they couldn't seem to catch a break or not.
- So that's that. Again, congratulations to Liverpool. The Champions League isn't a beauty contest, and it's not about playing the most attractive soccer, it's about results, and Liverpool got the result by showing almost their entire repertoire of the ways they can score: 1) set piece 2) hopefully punted route 1 longball to Torres and hope for a moment of magic {29 moments of magic in 40 matches sure seems worth $50 million now, eh?} 3) a penalty 4) a breakaway by a fresh and newly introduced Babel against an exhausted Fabregas after the other team has 10 men in The Pool's box trying to desperately get an equalizer. The only thing missing was a fluky deflection, or the occasional Stevie G rocket shot from outside the box. But again, it worked, they got the result, and they move on, and also once again Arsenal played beautiful stuff, creted numerous chances, and converted exactly 1 less than they needed to win. In that regard this 2 legged tie was a perfect microcosm of both teams.
- I have been trying to get to Zen place about this for nearly 24 hours, and I think I finally have by realizing that I would much rather lose to Liverpool in the CL quarterfinals than win only to lose to Chel$ea in the CL semifinals- that would be 10x worse.
-So congratulations again to The Pool and best of luck against Chel$ea- I'm sure that when 2 weeks rolls around I will be pulling hard for the Reds against the Blue$, and ditto if it's The Pool-ManUtd in the final. Hopefully Barca will win the whole damn thing, or at least Barca and Liverpool can do something to stop the worst potential CL matchup of all time for an Arsenal fan: Chle$ea- ManUtd. I'm not sure I'd watch that, as literally I would not know what to do- what to root for, if I would want every pass to be completed or intercepted, etc- it would truly be dividing by zero for my brain.
So Come On The Pool! and Forca Barca!
Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal
0-1 Diaby 13'
1-1 Hyypia 30'
2-1 Torres 69'
2-2 Adebayor 84'
3-2 Gerrard PK 85'
4-2 Babel 90'
Multi-language highlights over a Justin Timberlake track:
Highlights from last week's 1-1 first leg {sorry, no JT}:
Liverpool advance 5-3 on aggregate
Alot of my thoughts on the match are in the comments section of the previous post, but in no particular order:
- First off, there are a bunch of Liverpool fans that hang out around here, so I want to begin by offering my congratulations to you all. I don't think it's too harsh to call Liverpool a somewhat limited side, but yet again, for the umpteenth time, something Pavlovian happened when the Champions League anthem was played, and per usual they somehow found a way to grind out a result and get the job done. It's uncanny, and there's not much more to say other than when it comes to the Champions League, The Pool be on that kryptonite, straight up on that kryptonite, Pool be on that, straight up on that, Pool be on that kryptonite.
- Secondly, respek to Stevie G for his classy post game comments {I can't ever imagine a ManUtd or Chel$ea player saying this}:
“Arsenal are a fantastic team. At times they passed us off the pitch. That was possibly one of the worst performances I’ve ever put in in a Liverpool shirt.”
More on that last sentence in a bit.
- Or right now. The key moment in the match for me was when Flamini went off after 30 minutes and was replaced with Gilberto, who these days is sadly a total shell of his former self. Flamini has been an amazing defensive midfielder all year, and after bossing EPL midfields and then completely neutralizing world player of the year Kaka over two legs against Milan, he did the same to Stevie G in the first leg as well as the first 30 minutes of the match yesterday. As a result Arsenal dominated the midfield in both instances, enjoyed the lion's share of the possession, and prevented Liverpool from looking functional at all. When he went off and Gilberto came on, the whole dynamic of the match changed and now it was Liverpool who controlled the midfield, kept much more possession, and was able to get into comfortable and dangerous offensive rythms time and again. It's stunning how far Gilberto has fallen, and especially sad since he is such a great guy. Anyhow, this subtle change in the game was huge over the last 60 minutes, and Arsene needs to sack up and pay Flamini whatever he wants- dude is only 24, runs his ass off, is a hard nut, and plays with controlled fire and passion- basically a French Gattuso. Sign him up long term please, Arsenal are a much worse side with him out, as was proven quite dramatically yesterday.
-I was wrong in my prediction for the match- it was Arsenal who came out blazing and completely dominated the match from the off, while Liverpool bunkered down and tried to survive. Diaby's goal on 13 minutes meant that Liverpool had to come out and play, and they did. I must also credit Rafa/Liverpool for playing to win when 2-1 up instead of playing 10 men behind the ball, although I feel a part of that was that Liverpool were controlling the midfield and match due to the Flamini/Gilberto thing described above. Still, Rafa went for it instead of closing up shop like the tactical pussy {but shrewd pussy} that he often is, so credit where credit is due.
-For 3-4 months now Solon and I have been commiserating weekly on the phone about how it is just stunning that Eboue plays in front of Walcott, and how stunning it is how terrible and completely useless Eboue has been this year. For fuck's sake, Eboue has contributed 0 goals and 1 assist from the right wing all season, and specializes in giving the ball away {when he is not diving}. Walcott is still young, raw, and not the finished article, but he is an infinitely better option than Eboue on the right and in his limited appearances this year has contributed 5 goals and 4 assists. The contrast yesterday between Eboue's 70 mintes and Theo's 20 was again stunning, and after Theo's great performance highlighted by that amazing 80 yard end to end run and set up on the looked like tie winning goal on the world's biggest stage, we're basically at the point now that if Eboue starts over Theo this weekend against Manchester United then the only logical explanation is that all those disgusting ManUtd/Spurs/Chel$ea fans are right, that Arsene Wenger is in fact a pedophile, and that Eboue has the proof and is using it as ransom in exchange for his starting place.
- Also, could we have a new rule whereby Phillipe Senderos can play against Fulham, Wigan, Boro, Spurs, and basically anyone else except the top 4? He is a good defender but against world class strikers he is simply out of his depth. The "marking" on the Hyypia goal was shambolic, and although many are giving him a pass of the Torres goal, noting how great Torres is and there's not much many defenders could have done against that, look at it again and tell me why oh why, when Torres has the ball in your penalty area, would you play 3 yards off him and give him the space to turn and shoot with absolute ease? New rule: if Drogba or Torres or Rooneh is on the teamsheet, Senderos sits. It's that simple.
-I guess we should talk about the penalties. I think I'm somewhere between Myles and Arseblogger. The one yesterday was super soft and tough to take considering KT didn't push or really foul Babel, it was more clumsy and they just got a bit tangled up, but we've all seen penalties given for such things and less {although we've also seen yesterday's incident, and worse, not given as well}. On the other hand, you don't make contact with a player in the box in the last 5 minutes of a CL elimination match, especially not on a Liverpool player at Anfield in front of the Kop, and expect a penalty to not be given. As Myles said, if your man beats you in that situation, you let him go by and make him then beat your keeper. Also, part of the whole setup was Arsenal's defense still celebrating Adebayor's goal and not shifting from potential tie-winning euphoria back to concentrating on the task at hand and being ready to refocus when the ball is put back into play.
I can live with the penalty being given yesterday, but when taken together with the beyond horrible no call last week when Kuty clearly arm-tackled Hleb in the box and it was not given, even though the referee was 5 feet in front of the play looking right at it, is just a massive kick in the balls. Whether or not the fact that last week's referee was from the same hometown in Holland as Kuyt is relevant or not doesn't matter: it was 10x more a penalty than Toure's awkward pseudo-collision with Babel, so taken together that is a very bitter pill to swallow. Right after it happened I reflected on something I wrote after last week's match:
But that penalty no call will still haunt me next week when Liverpool 1) hold out for a 0-0 or 2) win on a fluky goal.
And I feel like the penalty qualified under #2 above.
- That being said, shit, these things happen, that's the way the cookie crumbles, etc, etc. And it's not like Arsenal didn't have a whole bunch of opportunities to win the tie and make any dodgy last minute refereeing decisions completely moot, so the focus should be on that as much as the penalties. The total domination last week, Bendtner literally kicking out a ball that was 1 foot from rolling into the net {holy shit what a controversy that would have been if he didn't as he was judged, very late indeed, to be in an offsides position when Hyypia was standing on the goal line and another Liverpool player was behind the goal line altogether}, Adebayor's chance in the second half, and many, many more. Finally, as much as it pains me to say this, it's not a guarantee that if the penalty was rightfully given against Kuyt last week that Reina wouldn't have saved it. I think 75-85% of penalties are converted, so it was probably but not certain that it would have resulted in a goal {and of course then everything would have changed and the rest of the match would have been played differently, etc, etc, etc}
- And let's not forget also that Arsenal took the lead in this tie not once, not twice, but three times, and all together protected those 3 combined leads for a grand total of 22 minutes {4 min, 17 min, 1 min}. So I can totally see where whining about penalties would ring hollow with neutrals/opponents- looked at another way they have no one else but themselves to blame, whether they couldn't seem to catch a break or not.
- So that's that. Again, congratulations to Liverpool. The Champions League isn't a beauty contest, and it's not about playing the most attractive soccer, it's about results, and Liverpool got the result by showing almost their entire repertoire of the ways they can score: 1) set piece 2) hopefully punted route 1 longball to Torres and hope for a moment of magic {29 moments of magic in 40 matches sure seems worth $50 million now, eh?} 3) a penalty 4) a breakaway by a fresh and newly introduced Babel against an exhausted Fabregas after the other team has 10 men in The Pool's box trying to desperately get an equalizer. The only thing missing was a fluky deflection, or the occasional Stevie G rocket shot from outside the box. But again, it worked, they got the result, and they move on, and also once again Arsenal played beautiful stuff, creted numerous chances, and converted exactly 1 less than they needed to win. In that regard this 2 legged tie was a perfect microcosm of both teams.
- I have been trying to get to Zen place about this for nearly 24 hours, and I think I finally have by realizing that I would much rather lose to Liverpool in the CL quarterfinals than win only to lose to Chel$ea in the CL semifinals- that would be 10x worse.
-So congratulations again to The Pool and best of luck against Chel$ea- I'm sure that when 2 weeks rolls around I will be pulling hard for the Reds against the Blue$, and ditto if it's The Pool-ManUtd in the final. Hopefully Barca will win the whole damn thing, or at least Barca and Liverpool can do something to stop the worst potential CL matchup of all time for an Arsenal fan: Chle$ea- ManUtd. I'm not sure I'd watch that, as literally I would not know what to do- what to root for, if I would want every pass to be completed or intercepted, etc- it would truly be dividing by zero for my brain.
So Come On The Pool! and Forca Barca!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Liverpool-Arsenal: What To Watch For
Champions League Quarterfinal 2nd Leg
Liverpool-Arsenal
11.45 a.m. PST
ESPN2
Score after 1st leg: 1-1
I have no idea what will happen today- could be anything, and no result will surprise me.
Anyhow, Arsenal know that they must score a goal, as 0-0 would put Liverpool through on the away goals rule. In a way it's better knowing exactly what you have to do. The trick will be scoring that goal if and when Rafa decides to put 10 men behind the ball, close up shop, and play for the 0-0, and hope that maybe a Torres moment of magic or one by someone else on the break can sneak a goal.
That is basically how the game will play out. Arsenal will again dominate possession, but the trick will be whether or not they can break down the packed in Liverpool defense and get a goal.
Scoring first would be ideal, because then it would force Liverpool to come out and play which would open things up for Arsenal and make it more likely that they could get a second goal. BUt even if Liverpool score a goal it's not the end of the world, because Arsenal have to score a goal anyway, and if they did then 1-1 would get them to extra time and perhaps penalties {note: do. not.want.}.
1 more thing to watch for: there is alot of talk about Liverpool packing it in and playing for 0-0, but what happens oftentimes at big games at Anfield, especially big Champions League games at Anfield, is that the crowd is so energized that Liverpool play the first 15-20 minutes on adrenaline and attack and create several chances- this happens time and time again, and then after 15 minutes things settle down a bit. If you're a Liverpool fan then you hope they can land a knockout blow in this first frenzied phase of the match; if you're Arsenal then you hope to hold them through this initial adrenaline rush until the game settles in, and perhaps even score one yourself while they are actually trying to go forward a bit with more than just route 1 longballs.
So look for a energetic and even frenzied first 15 minutes, then for the match to settle down into what everyone is expecting: Liverpool to defend with 10 men behind the ball and trying to maybe sneak a goal against the run of play, while Arsenal will all the possession trying to break them down.
Oh, and Mr. Referee- if Dirk Kuyt grans an Arsenal player by the arm and tackles him in the penalty area today, and you are standing 5 feet away with a front row seat, then for fuck's sake call a penalty.
I'm taking off my work shirt, throwing on Kanu25 circa 2000, and going across the street to the pub.
Come On You Gunners!!!
Liverpool-Arsenal
11.45 a.m. PST
ESPN2
Score after 1st leg: 1-1
I have no idea what will happen today- could be anything, and no result will surprise me.
Anyhow, Arsenal know that they must score a goal, as 0-0 would put Liverpool through on the away goals rule. In a way it's better knowing exactly what you have to do. The trick will be scoring that goal if and when Rafa decides to put 10 men behind the ball, close up shop, and play for the 0-0, and hope that maybe a Torres moment of magic or one by someone else on the break can sneak a goal.
That is basically how the game will play out. Arsenal will again dominate possession, but the trick will be whether or not they can break down the packed in Liverpool defense and get a goal.
Scoring first would be ideal, because then it would force Liverpool to come out and play which would open things up for Arsenal and make it more likely that they could get a second goal. BUt even if Liverpool score a goal it's not the end of the world, because Arsenal have to score a goal anyway, and if they did then 1-1 would get them to extra time and perhaps penalties {note: do. not.want.}.
1 more thing to watch for: there is alot of talk about Liverpool packing it in and playing for 0-0, but what happens oftentimes at big games at Anfield, especially big Champions League games at Anfield, is that the crowd is so energized that Liverpool play the first 15-20 minutes on adrenaline and attack and create several chances- this happens time and time again, and then after 15 minutes things settle down a bit. If you're a Liverpool fan then you hope they can land a knockout blow in this first frenzied phase of the match; if you're Arsenal then you hope to hold them through this initial adrenaline rush until the game settles in, and perhaps even score one yourself while they are actually trying to go forward a bit with more than just route 1 longballs.
So look for a energetic and even frenzied first 15 minutes, then for the match to settle down into what everyone is expecting: Liverpool to defend with 10 men behind the ball and trying to maybe sneak a goal against the run of play, while Arsenal will all the possession trying to break them down.
Oh, and Mr. Referee- if Dirk Kuyt grans an Arsenal player by the arm and tackles him in the penalty area today, and you are standing 5 feet away with a front row seat, then for fuck's sake call a penalty.
I'm taking off my work shirt, throwing on Kanu25 circa 2000, and going across the street to the pub.
Come On You Gunners!!!
Can Fenerbache Win The Champions League?
Been thinking about this for the last week...
I'm not sure about winning the CL, but I think they have a great chance to get to the final.
Although Chel$ea are the masters of 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, Feberbache are in a good position because they score lots of goals, and even 1 road goal today would make it really difficult for Chel$ea. I have a funny feeling/hunch/Colbert gut feeling that they are going to score today and knock Chel$ea out. And if they do, neither Liverpool nor Arsenal are playing all that well at the moment, and with their insane home field advantage and playing style I would favor their chances to defeat either team and get to the final in Moscow on May 21.
And hell, why not win it all? Even though they would be in all probability facing on form Manchester United or on form in Europe Barcelona, anything can happen in a one-off final. Own goals, red cards, penalties, you name it, and it is also possible that they could just outplay and beat a better team in the final to win.
Don't be surprised in Fenerbache, the first Turkish team to ever make it as far as the quarterfinals, shock the soccer world by winning today and then beating the Arsenal-Liverpool winner in the semifinal. In fact, of all the Champions League bets out there, a fiver on them to win the whole thing at 20-1 probably offers more value than anything else at this point.
I'm not sure about winning the CL, but I think they have a great chance to get to the final.
Although Chel$ea are the masters of 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, Feberbache are in a good position because they score lots of goals, and even 1 road goal today would make it really difficult for Chel$ea. I have a funny feeling/hunch/Colbert gut feeling that they are going to score today and knock Chel$ea out. And if they do, neither Liverpool nor Arsenal are playing all that well at the moment, and with their insane home field advantage and playing style I would favor their chances to defeat either team and get to the final in Moscow on May 21.
And hell, why not win it all? Even though they would be in all probability facing on form Manchester United or on form in Europe Barcelona, anything can happen in a one-off final. Own goals, red cards, penalties, you name it, and it is also possible that they could just outplay and beat a better team in the final to win.
Don't be surprised in Fenerbache, the first Turkish team to ever make it as far as the quarterfinals, shock the soccer world by winning today and then beating the Arsenal-Liverpool winner in the semifinal. In fact, of all the Champions League bets out there, a fiver on them to win the whole thing at 20-1 probably offers more value than anything else at this point.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Get Well Larry
Friday Georgia legend Larry Munson had brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Apparently everything went well and Munson, 85, is expected to make a full recovery. Whether he calls home games this season or not is pretty irrelevant, here's hoping he gets back to good health.
Lots of thoughts are with you around these parts. Get well, Larry- we love ya.
Lots of thoughts are with you around these parts. Get well, Larry- we love ya.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Kanu Puts Pompey In Final
12 hours later, and that is still the headline on Soccernet.
Kanu's goal helped Portsmouth beat his former club West Brom 1-0 in the FA Cup semifinal and put them into their first FA Cup Final since 1939, when they won their only FA Cup by beating Wolverhampton 4-1.
You can be sure that all over Pompey tonight his song is being belted out by revelers both sober and drunk:
"He's tall, he's black,
He's had a heart attack,
Kaaaaa-nuuuuu, Kaaaaa-nuuuuuu!!!"
Great for him. Already the most decorated African footballer in history, at almost 32 this may be his last chance to win a major honor, at least at the club level. Here's hoping he scores the winning goal in the final to become a Portsmouth legend for ever after.
Kanu's goal helped Portsmouth beat his former club West Brom 1-0 in the FA Cup semifinal and put them into their first FA Cup Final since 1939, when they won their only FA Cup by beating Wolverhampton 4-1.
You can be sure that all over Pompey tonight his song is being belted out by revelers both sober and drunk:
"He's tall, he's black,
He's had a heart attack,
Kaaaaa-nuuuuu, Kaaaaa-nuuuuuu!!!"
Great for him. Already the most decorated African footballer in history, at almost 32 this may be his last chance to win a major honor, at least at the club level. Here's hoping he scores the winning goal in the final to become a Portsmouth legend for ever after.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Feel Good Friday: John Cruz, Island Style
A few weeks ago I hipped you to a band called Bag Of Toys, a great local acoustic surf rock band that I saw at the Red Devil Lounge. They were great, I bought their CD, and I have been digging on their music since then.
So I was excited to learn that they were playing last night at The Independent and opening for a dude named John Cruz, with whom I was not very familiar before. But Hawaiian chill acoustic guitar singer/songwriter is right up my alley, and I'd been listening to his stuff on myspace all week and digging it.
Well after last night's show I can honestly say that John Cruz is probably the best Grammy winning singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar slayer that no one has ever heard of. Bag of Toys was very good, but John Cruz fucking killed it. Dude came out and played his entire set by himself. No backup, no band, nothing: just him and his acoustic guitar, for over an hour. He was incredible, especially considering how hard it is to be that good when you are doing it all yourself, and don't even have a percussionist making a beat for you. Then he brought Bag Of Toys out to back him on on a couple of songs, and they ripped it. John even broke his bottom guitar string but kept on going without missing a beat- he played 2 more songs with only 5 strings, then did his solo encore with the lead singer from Bag Of Toys guitar- great stuff. We drank, we danced, we had a wonderful time. I bought both his CDs and would see him again in a heartbeat if he played anywhere near where I was.
Anyhow, his most famous song is "Island Style", and although it cannot be embedded, by far the best version of it is the video on his official site which you can check out here. Seriously, I challenge you to listen to it/watch the vid and not be in a better mood. No really. Go watch it and then tell me you are not in a more chill, better place.
Through the power of embedded video I can share with you him performing Island Style here, and below with fellow Hawaiian native Jack Johnson at the 2007 Kokua Festival.
But make no mistake, he ain't no one trick pony. Lots of great tunes, both jammin' ones and beautiful ones- "Shine On" is a particularly beautiful love song. And in concert he just rocks the living shit out of the acoustic. I talked to him after the show and he was just as humble and chill as you would expect from a Hawaiian dude.
I think World Champion surfer Kelly Slater says it best:
"Anyone I play John's CD for, everyone says, I love that, I need to have that, what is that, who is that? I'm like, come on man, that's John Cruz, what are you talking about? You gotta get this CD. It is just a matter of people hearing him and getting him out there that way because it's the type of music that speaks to everyone."
Couldn't have said it better. While I absolutely love finding new, kind of unknown artists, it is truly saddening that artists like John Cruz, whose music is better than 99% of the crap on commercial radio, is a virtual unknown, but everyone constantly hears and knows about no talent ass clowns like Ashley Simpson.
If you are into the chill, the acoustic, the surf, good ass singer/songwriter, the Hawaiian, then check him out and add his music to your arsenal, for real.
So I was excited to learn that they were playing last night at The Independent and opening for a dude named John Cruz, with whom I was not very familiar before. But Hawaiian chill acoustic guitar singer/songwriter is right up my alley, and I'd been listening to his stuff on myspace all week and digging it.
Well after last night's show I can honestly say that John Cruz is probably the best Grammy winning singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar slayer that no one has ever heard of. Bag of Toys was very good, but John Cruz fucking killed it. Dude came out and played his entire set by himself. No backup, no band, nothing: just him and his acoustic guitar, for over an hour. He was incredible, especially considering how hard it is to be that good when you are doing it all yourself, and don't even have a percussionist making a beat for you. Then he brought Bag Of Toys out to back him on on a couple of songs, and they ripped it. John even broke his bottom guitar string but kept on going without missing a beat- he played 2 more songs with only 5 strings, then did his solo encore with the lead singer from Bag Of Toys guitar- great stuff. We drank, we danced, we had a wonderful time. I bought both his CDs and would see him again in a heartbeat if he played anywhere near where I was.
Anyhow, his most famous song is "Island Style", and although it cannot be embedded, by far the best version of it is the video on his official site which you can check out here. Seriously, I challenge you to listen to it/watch the vid and not be in a better mood. No really. Go watch it and then tell me you are not in a more chill, better place.
Through the power of embedded video I can share with you him performing Island Style here, and below with fellow Hawaiian native Jack Johnson at the 2007 Kokua Festival.
But make no mistake, he ain't no one trick pony. Lots of great tunes, both jammin' ones and beautiful ones- "Shine On" is a particularly beautiful love song. And in concert he just rocks the living shit out of the acoustic. I talked to him after the show and he was just as humble and chill as you would expect from a Hawaiian dude.
I think World Champion surfer Kelly Slater says it best:
"Anyone I play John's CD for, everyone says, I love that, I need to have that, what is that, who is that? I'm like, come on man, that's John Cruz, what are you talking about? You gotta get this CD. It is just a matter of people hearing him and getting him out there that way because it's the type of music that speaks to everyone."
Couldn't have said it better. While I absolutely love finding new, kind of unknown artists, it is truly saddening that artists like John Cruz, whose music is better than 99% of the crap on commercial radio, is a virtual unknown, but everyone constantly hears and knows about no talent ass clowns like Ashley Simpson.
If you are into the chill, the acoustic, the surf, good ass singer/songwriter, the Hawaiian, then check him out and add his music to your arsenal, for real.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Things To Do In The Off Season, Florida Edition: Make Killer Jorts
The college football off season is a long haul, which leaves time for projects both big and small.
If you are a University Of Florida fan, the list of offseason project begin and ends with: makin' jorts.
To help out, here is a handy presentation called "How To Make Killer Jorts"
Not much else to say, is there?
If you are a University Of Florida fan, the list of offseason project begin and ends with: makin' jorts.
To help out, here is a handy presentation called "How To Make Killer Jorts"
Not much else to say, is there?
Stop Me If You've Heard This Before
Arsenal totally and completely dominate and yet fail to win.
Oh, you have? Me too, many times over.
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Shots: Arsenal 15, Liverpool 4
Corners: Arsenal 6, Liverpool 3
Possession: Arsenal 65%, Liverpool 35%
Arsenal scored a great goal from a short corner when Adebayor rose to bury a great Robin van Persie cross in the 23rd minute. But just 3 minutes later Stevie G did good work to put in a cross that Dirk Kuyt was able to slide and stab home because both Clichy and Senderos decided that marking the only man in the box was not at all necessary but rather they could just stand around and watch. Shambolic defending, the kind of schoolyard shit you see in my rec league on Sundays, but should never see in the Champions League.
And despite Arsenal's domination in the second half, that was that. Hell if Arsenal had 65% possession for the entire match then I guarantee they had 70% for the second half, which is just unheard of- Liverpool were literally struggling to get out of their own half. A critical moment was when Kuyt grabbed the onrushing Hleb with his arm, tackled him in the box, and somehow despite having a front row seat from about 5 feet away from the play the referee inexplicably did not award the penalty. Further incompetence a bit later when Bendtner somehow managed to clear the ball off the Liverpool line by getting it mixed up in his legs, when if he would have just not touched it, it would have gone right into the Liverpool goal- the linesman flagged him for offsides in front of goal, which I don't see how that is possible when Sami Hyppia is standing on the goal line.
But make no mistake, Arsenal should have won this match 3-1 and no amount of sour grapes at the referee can change the fact that they did not convert their chances and domination into a convincing win.
But that penalty no call will still haunt me next week when Liverpool 1) hold out for a 0-0 or 2) win on a fluky goal.
Fuck it, it's over, and now the task is clear. Arsenal must score a goal at Anfield at the minimum and beat Liverpool in their house at most to advance. They beat their asses twice in 4 days last year at Anfield, knocking them out of two cup competitions, so it can be done. But as we've discussed many times over, Liverpool in the CL are just a different animal.
Fenerbache 2-1 Chel$ea
Fenerbache gifted Chel$ea an early lead with a terrible own goal, then stormed back with two beauties, the second of which was an absolute screamer and redemption for Deivid, who scored the opening own goal. 2-1 is a nice win for Fenerbache, but with the {albeit lucky ass} away goal all Chel$ea need next week is a 1-0 to go through. I can see them getting that, but if Fenerbache can score a goal at Stamford Bridge I think they will pull off the shocker.
Yesterday morning I wrote:
If I was forced to pick today's/tomorrow's matches, I would guess a Roma-ManUtd draw {without Totti more like a ManUtd win}, a Barca win, an Arsenal-Liverpool draw {if so then 0-0 please} and a Fenerbache win.
Not bad, eh?
Oh, you have? Me too, many times over.
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Shots: Arsenal 15, Liverpool 4
Corners: Arsenal 6, Liverpool 3
Possession: Arsenal 65%, Liverpool 35%
Arsenal scored a great goal from a short corner when Adebayor rose to bury a great Robin van Persie cross in the 23rd minute. But just 3 minutes later Stevie G did good work to put in a cross that Dirk Kuyt was able to slide and stab home because both Clichy and Senderos decided that marking the only man in the box was not at all necessary but rather they could just stand around and watch. Shambolic defending, the kind of schoolyard shit you see in my rec league on Sundays, but should never see in the Champions League.
And despite Arsenal's domination in the second half, that was that. Hell if Arsenal had 65% possession for the entire match then I guarantee they had 70% for the second half, which is just unheard of- Liverpool were literally struggling to get out of their own half. A critical moment was when Kuyt grabbed the onrushing Hleb with his arm, tackled him in the box, and somehow despite having a front row seat from about 5 feet away from the play the referee inexplicably did not award the penalty. Further incompetence a bit later when Bendtner somehow managed to clear the ball off the Liverpool line by getting it mixed up in his legs, when if he would have just not touched it, it would have gone right into the Liverpool goal- the linesman flagged him for offsides in front of goal, which I don't see how that is possible when Sami Hyppia is standing on the goal line.
But make no mistake, Arsenal should have won this match 3-1 and no amount of sour grapes at the referee can change the fact that they did not convert their chances and domination into a convincing win.
But that penalty no call will still haunt me next week when Liverpool 1) hold out for a 0-0 or 2) win on a fluky goal.
Fuck it, it's over, and now the task is clear. Arsenal must score a goal at Anfield at the minimum and beat Liverpool in their house at most to advance. They beat their asses twice in 4 days last year at Anfield, knocking them out of two cup competitions, so it can be done. But as we've discussed many times over, Liverpool in the CL are just a different animal.
Fenerbache 2-1 Chel$ea
Fenerbache gifted Chel$ea an early lead with a terrible own goal, then stormed back with two beauties, the second of which was an absolute screamer and redemption for Deivid, who scored the opening own goal. 2-1 is a nice win for Fenerbache, but with the {albeit lucky ass} away goal all Chel$ea need next week is a 1-0 to go through. I can see them getting that, but if Fenerbache can score a goal at Stamford Bridge I think they will pull off the shocker.
Yesterday morning I wrote:
If I was forced to pick today's/tomorrow's matches, I would guess a Roma-ManUtd draw {without Totti more like a ManUtd win}, a Barca win, an Arsenal-Liverpool draw {if so then 0-0 please} and a Fenerbache win.
Not bad, eh?
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
A Call To Dawgs: Arizona State-Georgia, 9/20/08
This is your formal invitation to West Coast Dawgapalooza 2008, otherwise known as the Arizona State-Georgia game on Saturday September 20. It's only 5 1/2 months away, so start sifting through the couch cushions for that spare change. I am locked and loaded: flight, hotel, car, tickets, the whole nine, so I thought I'd share some info for anyone who still has plannin' to do.
Here's what you need to know:
Flights
Kayak.com is the best flight search engine that I am aware of. Rock it.
Orientation
Here's a Google map of the Tempe area to get you acclimated. Zoom in, zoom out, and cruise around to figure out the lay of the land in and around ASU & Tempe.
Hotels
Trip Advisor is the best hotel site going. Here is a list of the 45 hotels in Tempe ranked according to user reviews; it is a great place to start your hotel search, as you can read several traveler reviews in addition to the usual info. This is the best resource I can recommend for finding a hotel in Tempe.
Of course, you can also stay north of the river in Scottsdale, but it's definitely a higher pricepoint. Here's the trip advisor list & ranking of Scottsdale hotels.
If your into the staying with the team thing, the UGA football team is staying at the Marriott Phoenix Airport {ranked 41 of 158 hotels in Phoenix by tripadvisor}, and rooms are currently available for $139 a night.
Tickets
Thanks to the work of Paul Westerdawg, we have found out the deal with tickets from the ASU ticket office office
ASU single game tickets go on sale August 13th.
ASU season tickets are on sale now {more on why this is important in a minute}.
First off, here is the Sun Devil Stadium seating plan for reference:
Note that for some unknown reasons that are alien to the average SEC fan, tailgaiting is NOT allowed in university "parking lots and structures" until 3.5 hours before kickoff, and although public consumption of beer and wine is legal, public consumption of hard liquor is not. No, I am not kidding. Don't ask, because I have no fucking idea, either. Not sure yet how to work around this yet; maybe just rock the bars and then walk to the stadium; not sure at this point but we'll figure it out. But if you are planning on setting up your tailgate early in the a.m., it looks like that isn't happening. I know: weak sauce.
Golf
Golf Arizona
Metro Phoenix Golf Guide
That's all I can think of. I am beyond geeked about this for more than just the game and the fact that several friends are flying out. I also took the week after the game off work, and I'm renting a car and leaving Phoenix on Sunday to explore Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks for a week, then driving to Vegas the following Sunday and flying home from there.
So there's all the information you need to make it happen. First beer is on me.
Here's what you need to know:
Flights
Kayak.com is the best flight search engine that I am aware of. Rock it.
Orientation
Here's a Google map of the Tempe area to get you acclimated. Zoom in, zoom out, and cruise around to figure out the lay of the land in and around ASU & Tempe.
Hotels
Trip Advisor is the best hotel site going. Here is a list of the 45 hotels in Tempe ranked according to user reviews; it is a great place to start your hotel search, as you can read several traveler reviews in addition to the usual info. This is the best resource I can recommend for finding a hotel in Tempe.
Of course, you can also stay north of the river in Scottsdale, but it's definitely a higher pricepoint. Here's the trip advisor list & ranking of Scottsdale hotels.
If your into the staying with the team thing, the UGA football team is staying at the Marriott Phoenix Airport {ranked 41 of 158 hotels in Phoenix by tripadvisor}, and rooms are currently available for $139 a night.
Tickets
Thanks to the work of Paul Westerdawg, we have found out the deal with tickets from the ASU ticket office office
ASU single game tickets go on sale August 13th.
ASU season tickets are on sale now {more on why this is important in a minute}.
First off, here is the Sun Devil Stadium seating plan for reference:
- The UGA section {the tickets that UGA will be selling to it’s own fans through the UGA ticket office} for this game will be sections 231-236.
-You can buy, today, any seat in sections 212-230 for $99 for a season ticket.
Let me repeat that: for $99, you can buy, right now, an ASU 2008 season ticket for all 7 home games. Last year face value on these tickets was $42 per game. So you can buy $320 worth of face value tickets for $99.
This is amazing because:
1. You will have ticket in hand
2. If you buy in section 230, you will be adjacent to the official UGA sections, and with the number of UGA fans going out I am willing to bet that section 230 is going to be much more red and black than gold and maroon.
3. With your ticket to the other 6 games, you can either:
3a. Attempt to sell them, on your own, on Craigslist, Stubhub, Ebay etc. You could sell them for way below face and make up the approximately $50 above a single ticket face value that you paid for your ASU-UGA ticket
3b. The ASU ticket office told me that you can return any of the tickets that you don’t plan on using, and each year they donate those tickets to charity {last year it was Boys & Girls Club of Tempe/Phoenix} and will provide you with a receipt of your contribution that can be used as a tax writeoff.
4. Note also that if you want better seats and aren't as worried about proximity to the UGA section, sideline tickets in sections 201-211 with seatbacks start at $149 for a season ticket. Also, with the $99 tickets in sections 212-230, note that sections 222-226 have seatbacks although they are a little farther away from the UGA section.
I have purchased my tickets in section 230. My recommendation is to call ASU ticket office and get your tickets in section 230. The ASU ticket office is open Monday- Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. PST. Their phone number is 480-727-0000, and this season ticket deal can only be purchased by phone {you can't get it on line}
Think of it this way:
Why wait until August 13 to pay $45-50 for a seat which could be who knows where in the stadium when today you can buy a seat adjacent to the UGA section, for $50 more?. And with that $50 more, you are getting about $250 more worth of tickets to the other 6 games that you can either sell to get your money back {and if things work out you could end up going to ASU-UGA for free, or even getting paid to go}, or you can give back to the school, donate to charity, and get a $250 tax writeoff?
This is a no brainer.
The UGA ticket office has not announced a point total cutoff for season ticket holders to purchase the tickets that UGA has in sections 231-236, but everyone thinks that they will get more requests than the total number of tickets they have and that they point total cutoff will be significant- the buzz is that it will be at or above the point cutoff for Georgia/Florida road game against a good opponent tickets {20,000 - 30,000 points}.
Note that for some unknown reasons that are alien to the average SEC fan, tailgaiting is NOT allowed in university "parking lots and structures" until 3.5 hours before kickoff, and although public consumption of beer and wine is legal, public consumption of hard liquor is not. No, I am not kidding. Don't ask, because I have no fucking idea, either. Not sure yet how to work around this yet; maybe just rock the bars and then walk to the stadium; not sure at this point but we'll figure it out. But if you are planning on setting up your tailgate early in the a.m., it looks like that isn't happening. I know: weak sauce.
Golf
Golf Arizona
Metro Phoenix Golf Guide
That's all I can think of. I am beyond geeked about this for more than just the game and the fact that several friends are flying out. I also took the week after the game off work, and I'm renting a car and leaving Phoenix on Sunday to explore Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks for a week, then driving to Vegas the following Sunday and flying home from there.
So there's all the information you need to make it happen. First beer is on me.
Champions League Quarterfinal Preview
First off, the television situation:
Today
Roma-Manchester United, ESPN2, 11.45 a.m. PST
Schalke 04-Barcelona, Setanta 11.45 a.m. PST AND ESPN Classic, 2 p.m. PST
Tomorrow
Arsenal-Liverpool, ESPN 2, 11.45 a.m. PST
Fenerbache-Chel$ea, Setanta, 11.45 a.m. PST AND ESPN Classic, 2 p.m. PST
Now then...
Roma-Manchester United
These two met at this very stage last year, and Roma won the first leg 2-1 only to get absolutely hammered 7-1 at Old Trafford in the return leg. Roma under Spalletti are tricky in that they play an unusual formation and style, some call it a 4-6-0, others see it as a loosely structured 4-2-3-1. Either way, Roma seem a stronger side this year than last, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win today, but to have a real good chance I think they also need to keep a clean sheet. Like many Champions League games, this could be a tight and boring 0-0, but if the game gets a goal then it could really open up and we could see some real fireworks. Of course, watch for fireworks in the stands and around the grounds as well, as there were the typical fightings & stabbings last year with the added bonus of Italian riot police beating the shit out of Man Utd fans. UEFA has threatened Roma with revoking their already awarded 2009 Champions League final at Stadio Olympico if there is more violence today.
*Update* I didn't realize that Roma talisman Totti will miss today's game with a thigh injury. With that in mind, a draw would be a wonderful result for Roma, a scoreless draw even more so. This game might be a snoozefest if and until there is a goal scored.
***Update***
Roma 0-2 Manchester United.
While the play was fairly even, United scored two goals, the first one a great goal by C Ronaldo from a Scholes cross, the second one of the crappiest goals you will ever see, as Roma went Keystone Cops in defense and the keeper and 3 different defenders managed to all fall down/crash into each other/fail to clear it/fail to mark Rooneh who tapped into an open goal from 3 yards out. After that Roma looked like they knew it was all over, but they still tried in vain to score despite winning 10 corner kicks to ManUtd's 1.
This tie is basically over, with ManUtd not only 2-0 up but with 2 away goals.
Schalke 04-Barcelona
There's no two ways about it: it is really difficult to see anything but a comfortable Barcelona win here, and I, like everyone else, would be shocked to see anything different. For some reason Barcelona's road woes in La Liga have not followed them over into the Champions League this season, and even with Messi still out they have so many horses in the stable that this should be meat and drink for them as the Brits say.
***Update***
Schalke 04 0-1 Barcelona
I only saw the goal, so can't comment much about the rest of the match {Schalke had 24 shots to Barca's 5?!?!???}. The goal was a beautiful and clever through ball by Iniesta to the onrushing Henry, whose first shot was saved, but like a good shooting guard Henry followed his shot and worked hard to cross it to Bojan at the far post for a simple tap in.
Barca return home next week ahead and with a road goal. At this point I'll be amazed if it isn't a clash of the titans, Barcelona-Manchester United semifinal matchup.
Arsenal-Liverpool
I have absolutely no idea what will happen here; it all depends on which teams show up. Liverpool in the prem are truly mortal and often completely average, but in the Champions League they always seem to step it up a notch and play like the 5 time European Champions that they are. For Arsenal, the team that outclassed AC Milan twice can beat anybody, but the team that recently played 5 EPL games earning 4 draws and a loss was pretty damn rubbish. The key for Arsenal is don't concede tomorrow, I think they would be happy with 0-0. On the other hand, so what if they do? Just last year they beat Liverpool 6-3 at Anfield with a mostly reserve team.
Torres is on fire and should be feared, but other than that they don't scare me on paper; besides Torres only Gerrard and Mascherano are world class in my opinion, but again, on European nights something Pavlovian happens and they almost always step it up. A key matchup to watch for is the central midfield, and who wins that battle: Cesc & Flamini against Mascherano and Gerrard.
To sum up, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen here, and there is not any result that would really shock me.
Fenerbache-Chel$ea
Fenerbache are the first Turkish side to make it to the Champions League quarterfinals, so you know they are excited and you also know that their fans will, be, ummm, up for it. Even after 1 billion dollars in player transfers under Abromavich, Chel$ea's game plan still often breaks down into hoofing hopeful route 1 longballs up towards Drogba and hoping for the best. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Fenerbache win the first leg tomorrow; if they can win and not concede an away goal to Chel$ea then I think they have a great chance to pull off the shock of the tournament thusfar. One thing we all know for sure- they will enjoy an unbelievable home field advantage tomorrow.
If I was forced to pick today's/tomorrow's matches, I would guess a Roma-ManUtd draw{without Totti more like a ManUtd win}, a Barca win, an Arsenal-Liverpool draw {if so then 0-0 please} and a Fenerbache win.
What do you think?
Today
Roma-Manchester United, ESPN2, 11.45 a.m. PST
Schalke 04-Barcelona, Setanta 11.45 a.m. PST AND ESPN Classic, 2 p.m. PST
Tomorrow
Arsenal-Liverpool, ESPN 2, 11.45 a.m. PST
Fenerbache-Chel$ea, Setanta, 11.45 a.m. PST AND ESPN Classic, 2 p.m. PST
Now then...
Roma-Manchester United
These two met at this very stage last year, and Roma won the first leg 2-1 only to get absolutely hammered 7-1 at Old Trafford in the return leg. Roma under Spalletti are tricky in that they play an unusual formation and style, some call it a 4-6-0, others see it as a loosely structured 4-2-3-1. Either way, Roma seem a stronger side this year than last, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win today, but to have a real good chance I think they also need to keep a clean sheet. Like many Champions League games, this could be a tight and boring 0-0, but if the game gets a goal then it could really open up and we could see some real fireworks. Of course, watch for fireworks in the stands and around the grounds as well, as there were the typical fightings & stabbings last year with the added bonus of Italian riot police beating the shit out of Man Utd fans. UEFA has threatened Roma with revoking their already awarded 2009 Champions League final at Stadio Olympico if there is more violence today.
*Update* I didn't realize that Roma talisman Totti will miss today's game with a thigh injury. With that in mind, a draw would be a wonderful result for Roma, a scoreless draw even more so. This game might be a snoozefest if and until there is a goal scored.
***Update***
Roma 0-2 Manchester United.
While the play was fairly even, United scored two goals, the first one a great goal by C Ronaldo from a Scholes cross, the second one of the crappiest goals you will ever see, as Roma went Keystone Cops in defense and the keeper and 3 different defenders managed to all fall down/crash into each other/fail to clear it/fail to mark Rooneh who tapped into an open goal from 3 yards out. After that Roma looked like they knew it was all over, but they still tried in vain to score despite winning 10 corner kicks to ManUtd's 1.
This tie is basically over, with ManUtd not only 2-0 up but with 2 away goals.
Schalke 04-Barcelona
There's no two ways about it: it is really difficult to see anything but a comfortable Barcelona win here, and I, like everyone else, would be shocked to see anything different. For some reason Barcelona's road woes in La Liga have not followed them over into the Champions League this season, and even with Messi still out they have so many horses in the stable that this should be meat and drink for them as the Brits say.
***Update***
Schalke 04 0-1 Barcelona
I only saw the goal, so can't comment much about the rest of the match {Schalke had 24 shots to Barca's 5?!?!???}. The goal was a beautiful and clever through ball by Iniesta to the onrushing Henry, whose first shot was saved, but like a good shooting guard Henry followed his shot and worked hard to cross it to Bojan at the far post for a simple tap in.
Barca return home next week ahead and with a road goal. At this point I'll be amazed if it isn't a clash of the titans, Barcelona-Manchester United semifinal matchup.
Arsenal-Liverpool
I have absolutely no idea what will happen here; it all depends on which teams show up. Liverpool in the prem are truly mortal and often completely average, but in the Champions League they always seem to step it up a notch and play like the 5 time European Champions that they are. For Arsenal, the team that outclassed AC Milan twice can beat anybody, but the team that recently played 5 EPL games earning 4 draws and a loss was pretty damn rubbish. The key for Arsenal is don't concede tomorrow, I think they would be happy with 0-0. On the other hand, so what if they do? Just last year they beat Liverpool 6-3 at Anfield with a mostly reserve team.
Torres is on fire and should be feared, but other than that they don't scare me on paper; besides Torres only Gerrard and Mascherano are world class in my opinion, but again, on European nights something Pavlovian happens and they almost always step it up. A key matchup to watch for is the central midfield, and who wins that battle: Cesc & Flamini against Mascherano and Gerrard.
To sum up, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen here, and there is not any result that would really shock me.
Fenerbache-Chel$ea
Fenerbache are the first Turkish side to make it to the Champions League quarterfinals, so you know they are excited and you also know that their fans will, be, ummm, up for it. Even after 1 billion dollars in player transfers under Abromavich, Chel$ea's game plan still often breaks down into hoofing hopeful route 1 longballs up towards Drogba and hoping for the best. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Fenerbache win the first leg tomorrow; if they can win and not concede an away goal to Chel$ea then I think they have a great chance to pull off the shock of the tournament thusfar. One thing we all know for sure- they will enjoy an unbelievable home field advantage tomorrow.
If I was forced to pick today's/tomorrow's matches, I would guess a Roma-ManUtd draw{without Totti more like a ManUtd win}, a Barca win, an Arsenal-Liverpool draw {if so then 0-0 please} and a Fenerbache win.
What do you think?
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