2008 Roundup

I think that it's about time that I showed up back on the scene with my take on the 2008 sports year for my teams. If I had to sum up this year in one word, it probably would be "mundane". Why you ask? Well simply because none of the teams that I follow did anything to improve upon their position as well as their image in the comity of their respective peers. Arsenal, which started the season pretty shaky, has continued to falter here and there with draws and losses to teams that are not to be expected. At the same time I am so happy that they were able to beat both Manchester United as well as Chelsea (although that goal was an off-side but guess what STOP WHINING!). Overall Arsenal is settling for what I think a mediocre finish in probably the top 4-6 teams (that's right; I can't even be sure whether they are going to finish in the top 4 for the first year since 1999 when I started watching them). Will this have any effect on my resolve, probably not, in fact I will continue to shout and cheer for my gunners the way that I have always done, with pride in my heart for that red and white uniform. So Texans also sucked this year, although I am going to cut them a break, as they started off the season by going through a storm and Pittsburgh Steelers (that's right I put the Steelers at par with a storm too). With the roof of the Texans stadium unusable for the rest of the season after Ike, Texans pretty much settled for a long season, but I have to admit that they have come back and beat teams that towards the tail end of the season that I thought they would lose to. What's even better is that if they finish 8-8, I would actually be happy (now only if they stop losing games, in the last 2:00 minutes: See loss to Indianapolis in 2008). I feel that if we can maintain the core players that were involved in this team this year, and harvest some good safeties/CB's and O-Line players through this draft, I think we should be pretty good to go next year (I know, I know the whole next year thing...) but I feel that with K Walter, A Johnson, A Davis in the receiver/TE lineup and M Schaub and S Rosenfels in the QB role we have a very solid Offense, which can compete with the best of the best. Defense Line is also fair in my opinion with not a plethora of teams stuffing it down our throats (that much), but obviously it can be much better, and if we are able to get a good draft going this year, I feel that in 2009 we will really have a team that can give Jaguars/Titans and Colts a run for their money. Aggies! Oh my poor Aggies. You are probably my first sports love in the US, and every year you rise up in the beginning and then fall through the ashes of broken and burnt dreams. With two QB's taking the helm through various stages this season, and the Defense deciding to act like a sieve; there wasn't a whole lot that M Sherman could do. However keeping in mind that 4 of the teams from the Big 12 South were ranked through the last week of the season, and that three of the QB's from the Big 12 south were being considered for the Heisman, I think I can unequivocally say that it wasn't something I was surprised at. Although that one loss to Baylor does hurt as A Briles now starts to come into big time. Dare I say "Maybe next year!" So all in all it was a "mundane" year for my teams. Well at least we've got the unbeaten 49-0 to last us a lifetime, ha ha ha ha; take that united fans.

Adieu Henry! You will be missed!

It FINALLY happened, and you know what it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be. Was it painful? Absolutely, will it linger? Maybe, Will I lose any sleep over it? Probably not! Thierry Henry finally made the move to Barcelona that all the Gunners were dreading for years. It was bad at first, almost as bad as the spurs might have felt when Sol Campbell left for the Gunners, but the point that I am finally beginning to understand is that Arsenal may yet rise from the Post Thierry ashes. I don’t think that there will ever be player, like Henry, but then again, all the players have their own style, their own charisma. There will never be another Bergkamp, but there will be Van Persie. With Henry leaving, no new players coming into to take the club by storm, and Wenger’s departure almost clear by next year, I think that its time for all the Gunners to brace for impact. For the past few years, the battle ground has changed, with history, heart and honor no longer the calling cards of the day but rather the deep pockets of the owners and diversity of the owners is at hand. New ideas need to be injected every now and then to have the ability to win, and that is what Arsenal lost sight of. Its not the Russian’s billions or the xenophobia of the American that has won Chelsea and Man U the titles, but rather the injection of the idea that change is a good thing. Why Steve Kroenke wasn’t invited to offer new ideas earlier is beyond me, but as the club now settles their differences with him the time may already have passed. So to all the gunners out there who agree or disagree with me all I can give you is a word of consolation if the Gunners don’t make it to the UEFA champions league next season, or even if the fail to reach UEFA cup qualifications. If they win that would be amazing, but at times we have to call the situation as it is, and with the future of the club in they greyest areas that I have seen in 10 years, I can’t help but worry about the future.

Anthology of Celebration!

No, this is no illusion, trickery or slight of hand. It is Obafemi Martins, an exhilirating Newcastle player and yes, he is upside down in the air. I always love when players do backflip celebrations, I just happened to catch this one in mid air. Although Newcastle is towards the bottom of the table, this one win over Spurs for the magpies will go a long way in getting them to the mid table. Below are some pictures of the beginning of the back flip. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I did.

Anthology of a Goal!

Sometimes in sports you have to put aside your animosities and stand in awe as a player shows why he or she is a legend. I give you an anthology of a goal with Paul Scholes pulling the trigger on an amazing, astounding and thundering volley. Paul Scholes has been and will always be part of the Red Devils' history and despite my dislike for Man U, there are some players that I simply can't ignore.

Tribute Editon

Just realized that during the recent weeks I haven’t had a chance to update my blog so what better time to update it before we head into the Thanksgiving festivities. I just wanted to start this blog by paying homage and tribute to one of the finest players of football. You see no matter what the political views of a player are, what race, religion or creed he follows it doesn’t matter. What truly matters is the talent and respect for the game. I know these are not easy terms to define, but I will share a clip with you that will truly embody all that I have mentioned above and much more. This is for all the fans of football, Paolo Di Canio and his embodiment of football. This is why I love football. I have rarely seen such instances in American football and less and less I have seen this happen in EPL and other football leagues around the globe. It’s about going for the jugular at no cost. This play embodies that no matter what, it’s only a game and you can transcend the bounds of football by actions like these.

On to the table then lads! Manchester United and Chelsea seem to be in complete control of the table with their winning ways. Diedre Drogba at Chelsea seems to have found his stride after staying 2 years at Stamford Bridge with absolutely marvelous goals scored (including a hatrick) against some of the tough opponents they have faced recently. Same goes for Manchester United, as Ole Gunner, Louis Saha, and of all people Rooney have started to gain form. Arsenal on the other hand have been successful in maintaining a sight on the target, and even though they are currently sitting in the fifth place, they have two games in hand, but the coming weeks will test the mettle of the gunners. Portsmouth, Bolton, and Fulham continue their impressive runs this season. Each of the teams has not only maintained their position in the top half of the table, they have stymied the midfield and defenses of the opponents.

On the other hand, Manchester City, Newcastle and West Ham United have denigrated into the bottom feeders. The situation at Newcastle is getting desperate as injuries mount and Martin Jol is coming under heavy fire from not only the fans, but also the patrons of St. James’ Park.

Watford, Sheffield United, and Reading are adjusting to their new homes in EPL, while Wigan are back to their winning ways as they so often showed last season. Spurs on the other hand are continuing their slow climb through the table, even though their season started a little slow. The most enigmatic team this season is Liverpool. Even though they are in the top half of the table, Rafael Benetiz has not had the easiest time with a plethora of good players. The starting lineup has changed throughout the year, and still many players are not sure if their position is guaranteed. Yet players from Liverpool have produced some breathtaking goals this season with Xabi Alonso and John Arne Riise scoring goals that will contend for goals of the season. Blackburn and Middlesboro have been very inconsistent but yet they are on the opposite spectrums with Blackburn maintaining their position in the top half whereas Garreth Southgate trying to rouse his team to do better.

Even though a quarter of the season is over, the picture in the top half or even the bottom half of the table is not clear. With Manchester United and Chelsea leading the Charge and Portsmouth, Bolton, and Arsenal keeping the top two teams in sight. Come January’s transfer market, things are sure to heat up.

The stunner week

It wasn't pretty but it happened nonethelss. The Red Devils are atop the EPL once again, followed by Chelsea which also isn't too surprising. What is surprising though are the other teams that trail the top two. Usually we would have Arsenal, Liverpool or maybe even a Newcastle or Spurs in sight but not this time. This time the thrid place is occupied by Bolton who under Sam Allardyce have bloomed in the first half of the season. Other interesting spots go out to Reading who lead Arsenal and Liverpool and probably the most surprising of all are Middlesbrough and Charlton Athletic who are in the bottom half of the table the latter being the last of the EPL. This week there were some predictable games and some not so. Harry Redknapp faced defeat once again at White Hart Lane as a controversial penalty awarded by the Ref lifted the Spurs from the bottom three. Protsmouth showed that they can probably still hang with the best of them as Kanu struck again, with Lau Lau also making his mark. A great performance by the Spurs was marred by the controversial penalty awarded when Zakora showed that he was brought down by Pedro Mendes (when the replays showed no contact). Another great result came from Reading who beat the Hammers for their fifth straight loss. West Ham almost on the verge of season greatness are fast sinking into a quicksand of their own making. Ole Gunner returned to the Red Devil's Line up and showed why he belonged there with a couple of goals in the match against Newcastle. Arsenal are continuing their slow but sure climb up the table after a stunner from Robin Van Persie. Another stunner was pulled by Phil Jagielka when Sheffiled United got their first win against a stubborn Middlesbrough late in the game. Aston Villa continued their brilliant run in the EPL when Abgonlahor scored through a header and equalised with Chelsea. There were many great games this weekend and they will surely continue after the European break on October 14.
All the while Serie A is heating up. With Juventus gone and AC Milan penalized 12 points from the start of the season, this seemed to be the season for Inter Milan. Ripe with new talent like Ibrahimovich and with the old guard like Adriano, Zanetti, Julio Caesar, and Materazzi Inter surely looked like it would run away with the Calcio title this year. Not so fast with Palermo, Atlanta, Cagliari, Lazio and Sampdoria in hot pursuit Inter seem inept at best to once it for all close the title once again.
The match between Boca Juniors and Veles Sarsfield was an absolute breathtaking match. With the Argentinian Apertura 2006 underway and other clubs like River Plate, Indepediente and Estudiantes creeping up Boca Juniors couldn't afford to lose this one. All hope was lost though when they went down 2-0 at halftime to a better playing Veles. Although Rodrigo Palaciao made sure that Veles didn't steal 3 precious points with Maradonna's presence on the field and he made sure of that when he scored 2 brilliant goals for Boca and Gago scored the other one to left Boca past Veles 3-2.
On the MLS side things couldn't be going well for the Dynamo. Brain Ching's bicycle kick towards the end of the match scored Houston's entry into the Playoffs for the first time, as Dallas, Chivas also made it into the playoffs from the west, while DC United, New England made sure they got their flights booked for the playoffs after te end of this weekend's games.
That is it for this week's game, will be back for the EPL when after the break. So long!

My Kingdom for a ...

As King Richard III is fighting for his last breath, he bemoans his fate but for a horse and is willing to give up an entire kingdom for the sake of a four legged creature, I wonder what would Charlie Weiss say if such a predicament befell him; wait, oh snap! it already has. As Michael Hart, and Chad Henney murdered the Irish by the scores in the latest match up, Weiss couldn't help but make this call in the dark corners of his heart. Brady Quinn was sacked more times than he and the Irish would like to remember, and the defense seemed inept when a throw to the wide receiver was turned into a 60 yard TD run. But for all the things that went wrong with the Irish this week, I still think that they may be one of the best teams in the nation. After all It was football, and the Irish were up against a great team.

The last week matches were something to be remembered as it was dubbed "Separation Weekend", the reality of the teams came to light as lower ranked teams fell to the higher ones, and NR teams toppled the ranked ones. To me the two biggest upsets after the ND, Michigan game were the TCU vs. TT game and the Clemson vs. FSU game. TCU held the explosive Tech offense to only a field goal. I mean that is impressive for even TCU. Tech has been producing QB's who have records in each of the previous 4 season of NCAA football and this was a smashing reminder. Clemson on the other hand rose up pretty nicely after their loss in the first week to beat the Seminoles. FSU seemed really poised to win after they beat the 'canes but it was not to be. 'Canes on the other hand lost to Louisville after dominating every game played with Louisville for the past decade.

Since the season has opened, there have been quite a few changes in regards to the rankings and the image of certain teams and conferences. So far my views

1. Conference USA CAS produce great teams on a regular basis.
2. Teams will exchange rankings more often than teams would like for teh sole reason that teams are much better this time around and a single team is hard to dominate rankings like they have in the previous years.
3. NCAA should implement a relegation as well as promotion system, where Division - I A teams who have performed most horribly should be relegated and teams from Division - II A should be promoted. Although I don't see this happening, still I hope that in the spirit of competition such an arrangement can be very beneficial.

On a side note this time around, I am going to say that Oklahoma deserved to win that game and that they should not only be given a forfeit, but also they should be marked off in the win column. Usually I am not that vocal about officiating, but this is not an instance about sore losers, or losers at all. This is Oklahoma people, Bob Stoops, National Championship caliber team (although they haven't won one in the past 2-3 years). When people tell me that anything could have happened and the TD could have been scored anyways by the Ducks, I am not only skeptical, I am furious. You don't seriously expect me to believe that Bob Stoops and Adrian Peterson would have not held on to the ball. It's like saying that Bobby Moore getting an open net and not scoring, or the Colts having the ball in the red zone with first and ten and not even coming up with three points; hard to imagine right. Although I realize that Ducks, and the Pac-10 people will not reverse this win, I still think that if we let this go this will become a trend. With microscopic accuracy required in officiating these days, controversies like these will not lessen anytime soon.

Of Pompey and The Gunners?

As I do my usual update for the English Premier League for the week I can’t help but feel happy as to how the season is turning out. Although Arsenal my favorite team has not been quite themselves for the start of the season, I look at the table and I love what the game is going through right now. After 5 weeks of pure premier league play the table presents a view that some may not have guessed prior to the start of the season. Portsmouth under the tutelage of Harry Redknapp and with a team reinforced by new players like Kanu, Sol Campbell and David James and with players like Lau Lau already in tow for the team are sitting happily atop the table after 5 weeks of play. Portsmouth couldn’t have asked for a better start to their season. With West Ham returning to their old self despite the new transfers lost to Newcastle who is still without Owen. Reading recorded another win as they are looking more and more like Wigan Athletic from last year while Sheffield United and Watford are sulking at the bottom of the table as they are trying to adjust to the new premiership life. Tottenham perhaps after the 5 weeks have had the worst start that they could hope for after qualifying for Europe last year and missing the UEFA Champions league play by only one game as they lost their match again. The toughest battle perhaps came in the form of Arsenal vs. Manchester United and Chelsea vs. Liverpool. Manchester United was flying high with a couple of new players in tow and with a lot of experienced players in the team. Their start of the season was great and this would have been the first test of their prowess as they battled against a tattered Arsenal. Arsenal has been really slow to start their campaign with no win coming out of their first three matches, they not only needed this win but they were craving it. The result surprised a lot of spectators as Arsenal overcame a much better but a poorly performing Manchester United team when in the last 5 minutes a deserving Arsenal team scored a goal through a little magic by Cesc Febregas and Adabayor. Liverpool on the other hand was not as lucky as they missed countless chances but an absolutely beautiful turn and strike by Drogba earned Chelsea the 3 points they needed. As the season progresses we are sure to see a lot of changes in the table as the dominant teams take their places atop the table but one thing is for sure change is coming and there are a lot of teams with a lot of talent out there who can regain the glory of the English Football as it used to be in the past.

A little Pink with that Black!

Until now I have been keeping my hands clear of all the scandal ridden Italian football. Although I have nothing against the Serie A, it was just the disappointment caused by the stupidity of a few clubs that ruined everything for everyone that even loved the dazzling, daring, passion ridden Italian football. With illustrious names to the league it was with heavy heart that a lot of people admitted that without the relegation of Juventus and other teams from the top league, the scandal would have ravaged the sport al together. Now the few teams that do remain into the mix for the Serie A are picking up the pieces and moving on so that they can one day return to glory what the club football in Italy really means. But the relegation and the emotions also meant something else; the head start that a lot of teams may have gotten over the years including AS Roma, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio in regards of club coffers will at least for the time being be thrown back in line as other clubs try to make the schism between the clubs into a more even match up.
So as I watch the match between Palermo and Lazio in the Stadio Olympico I have this feeling that can best be described as euphoria as Palermo try to match up to a better Lazio. The goal keeper Frederico Agliardi saves so many shots on goals that I lose count and despite their inability to put up a proper defense against Lazio, Di Michelle of Palermo scores two goals over Lazio and shows the world that Italian football is not dead yet, that teams long forgotten and relegated to the dungeons of football history halls can yet rise again to the challenge and play with the big clubs, that once again the passion., ingenuity, athleticism, and more than anything true footballer’s heart can regain what was lost into the scandals that left a devastating history in their wake.

On a side note, I loved the jerseys for Palermo. Italian football is the only league that I can recall that puts as much emphasis on their stylish presence in their uniforms as much as in their play. Only an Italian team can carry a bit of pink with the all time black. Nice.