I have been meaning to get to the finals of the UEFA Champions league but I have been with my real job. The game took place last Wednesday between Man. Unitied and Chelsea. Both teams are from England and this was the 1st time two English teams had made the finals.
Christiano Ronaldo scored the first goal of the game for Man United. Chelsea tied it up right before half on a goal by Frank Lampard. The game went scoreless until the penalty shootout. Man United wins in the 7th round of kicks.
What I want to get to is John Terry. If you did not see watch the game, Terry is the captain of Chelsea and actually one of the players on their team I cheer for. I do not care for either team, but its comparable to me a Mets fan hating the Yankees and cheering for Jeter. The score was 4-4 in the PKs and Terry has the last shot. It was raining most of the game and this time was no different. Terry runs up on the ball and slips as he kicks it. The ball goes way wide and Terry reminds me of Charlie Brown as he lays on the ground with his head in his hands. I am sure he was saying "good grief" in his head, or something a little more harsh.
I feel bad for him. With the shoes they wear, I would think slipping is the last thing you would be worried about. now everytime he sees someone slip, he is going to be reminded of the one time where he could have been written down in the history books, instead its the wrong side of history.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Billy Wagner
Billy Wagner yesterday critizied certain players on the New York Mets for not taking questions after another loss to the Washington Nationals. One of his quotes from ESPN.com said
"I didn't even play today, I was not a participant in the game and the guys that had participated were gone," Wagner said in his interview with ESPN Radio 1050's Michael Kay. "David Wright is always there, the same guys are always there. But there needs to be other guys that are accountable. It gets a little old when the same people keep getting interviewed even when they don't participate."
This came up last year during the biggest September choke in MLB history. Players named in the article were Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, and Carlos Delgado. If we just look at stats for the year. Wagner has not given up an Erned run all year, while Castillo is hitting .259, Beltran .246, and Delgado .222. Another player not playing up to potential is Jose Reyes who has an OBP of only .328 well below what it should be and like normal he has 5 more strike outs than walks.
Two things can happen from the Wagner blow up. One can be the team can figure out how to play and work as a team to win games. Option two being a comeplete meltdown of effort from the players who Wagner called out, a sub .500 record, and more boos from Shea and Chad from Omaha.
"I didn't even play today, I was not a participant in the game and the guys that had participated were gone," Wagner said in his interview with ESPN Radio 1050's Michael Kay. "David Wright is always there, the same guys are always there. But there needs to be other guys that are accountable. It gets a little old when the same people keep getting interviewed even when they don't participate."
This came up last year during the biggest September choke in MLB history. Players named in the article were Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, and Carlos Delgado. If we just look at stats for the year. Wagner has not given up an Erned run all year, while Castillo is hitting .259, Beltran .246, and Delgado .222. Another player not playing up to potential is Jose Reyes who has an OBP of only .328 well below what it should be and like normal he has 5 more strike outs than walks.
Two things can happen from the Wagner blow up. One can be the team can figure out how to play and work as a team to win games. Option two being a comeplete meltdown of effort from the players who Wagner called out, a sub .500 record, and more boos from Shea and Chad from Omaha.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
ESPN
Tom Brady said in a recent article "...That's what ESPN has become. ESPN, to me, is like MTV without the videos, ESPN is without the highlights." Can anyone disagree with this. Right now on ESPN they have the best of Mike and Mike and guess what they are talking about spygate. On ESPN 2 NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad is on. Wow powerful stuff. If I wanted to listen or watch Mike and Mike I would have done so when it was on in the morning. Also I have lost complete interest about spygate, and pretty much the NFL anymore. Maybe its because NFL today or tonight or whatever the show is called is on all the time in the off season.
Remember the good ole days when everynight you had 30 mins of Baseball Tonight, NHL tonight, etc. and that was it. Now its all NFL it seems. I bet I know why, is it because they have Monday Night Football. ?? the always show basketball highlights over hockey highlights. Sure I understand basketball is more popular, but would it be the other way around if the NHL was on ESPN and basketball on Versus. ??? Oh even better if the NHL was on ESPN would it be bigger than the NBA.
Now came word that they are going to show live sportcenters starting August all morning. the best part is Hannah Storm is joining the crew. Super. They only have about 4 sportcenter people as it is anymore that are watchable and now they are going to make they are not on all morning. I do not mind Hannah Storm, but she is no John Anderson or John Buccigross.
Now on Mike and Mike is quite possibly my least favorite ESPNite, Steve Phillips. the man who single handedly destroyed the Mets with terrific personal moves. Now he is this expert, but Harold Reynolds hugs a co-worker and get fired.
Remember the good ole days when everynight you had 30 mins of Baseball Tonight, NHL tonight, etc. and that was it. Now its all NFL it seems. I bet I know why, is it because they have Monday Night Football. ?? the always show basketball highlights over hockey highlights. Sure I understand basketball is more popular, but would it be the other way around if the NHL was on ESPN and basketball on Versus. ??? Oh even better if the NHL was on ESPN would it be bigger than the NBA.
Now came word that they are going to show live sportcenters starting August all morning. the best part is Hannah Storm is joining the crew. Super. They only have about 4 sportcenter people as it is anymore that are watchable and now they are going to make they are not on all morning. I do not mind Hannah Storm, but she is no John Anderson or John Buccigross.
Now on Mike and Mike is quite possibly my least favorite ESPNite, Steve Phillips. the man who single handedly destroyed the Mets with terrific personal moves. Now he is this expert, but Harold Reynolds hugs a co-worker and get fired.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sandhills
When you hear the word Sandhills, you probably think of some kind of place where its hot, dusty, and overall a place where you would not want to be stranded. When I hear Sandhills I think of the most prestigous bowling tourney in the Omaha area. The Sandhills presumedly named after a western part of Nebraska is a semi annual bowling tourney in the Omaha area. Yesterday was the 59th edition. the format is simple, there are four squads, each squads is five games. The four squad winners and the next 6 highest score advance to the finals. The finals consists of everyone bowling each other head to head and then a position round. 30 bonus pins are awarded to the winner of each match.
What really makes this tourney shine is the history it tells you. Duane Alstadt, the man in charge of the tournament, has kept every score, for every year. he keeps a top 10 average and money list. Scores are always low. Shooting 1000 for the five games regularly makes it into the finals. Its also not a suprise to see a 700 by someone who has never been there before. It puts a premium on spare shooting and mental toughness to achieve the focus that is needed for what feels like a full day of bowling instead of being just 5 games.
I think I have bowled in six of them now. I would have to check with Duane to verify. I have made the finals once, but finished 10th. That day has eaten at me for sometime now. So yesterday was my chance to get my revenge. The 59th Sandhills was held at much updated 30 Bowl in fremont, NE. I shot a respectable 972, good enough for a check, but not the 1017 I needed to make the finals. Overall I would give myself a good grade, with only a few mistakes on my accuracy. November will bring another chance.
What really makes this tourney shine is the history it tells you. Duane Alstadt, the man in charge of the tournament, has kept every score, for every year. he keeps a top 10 average and money list. Scores are always low. Shooting 1000 for the five games regularly makes it into the finals. Its also not a suprise to see a 700 by someone who has never been there before. It puts a premium on spare shooting and mental toughness to achieve the focus that is needed for what feels like a full day of bowling instead of being just 5 games.
I think I have bowled in six of them now. I would have to check with Duane to verify. I have made the finals once, but finished 10th. That day has eaten at me for sometime now. So yesterday was my chance to get my revenge. The 59th Sandhills was held at much updated 30 Bowl in fremont, NE. I shot a respectable 972, good enough for a check, but not the 1017 I needed to make the finals. Overall I would give myself a good grade, with only a few mistakes on my accuracy. November will bring another chance.
Friday, May 9, 2008
the 1st of many (or a few)
Good Day,
After watching the latest Costas now, I realized two things. First and foremost Bob Costas is still the smartest sports jounalists in America. The other came from the topic of internet and sports.
Two of the guests on the segment were Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin.com and Buzz Bissinger, who wrote Friday Night Lights. I have heard of both, and really that is about it. I have not read the book or seen the movie based off of it. I rarely go to deadspin.com because I see no news value or anything of substance I can gain from reading it.
After listening to these two "discuss" why they feel a certain way. All I could feel was wow Buzz is really being a jerk, and what I thought would be very unprofessional. On the other Mr. Leitch was trying to be the calmer of the two, but frankly not convincing me he was right in doing what he does. I felt Buzz myself agreeing with Buzz. So what do feel the need to do. Yep go write a blog about.
I am by no means someone who knows how to write, nor am I a threat to either the newpaper industry, or deadspin.com. So how am I part of "the dumbing down of the nation" as Buzz stated in the interview? I think Buzz has a problem finding the difference between a blog like this and one is just full of opinions based on shaky facts or worse yet rumors. I am just writing a simple editorial on a 15 minute segment off a TV program. I think he should re-examine is position somewhat.
Chad
After watching the latest Costas now, I realized two things. First and foremost Bob Costas is still the smartest sports jounalists in America. The other came from the topic of internet and sports.
Two of the guests on the segment were Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin.com and Buzz Bissinger, who wrote Friday Night Lights. I have heard of both, and really that is about it. I have not read the book or seen the movie based off of it. I rarely go to deadspin.com because I see no news value or anything of substance I can gain from reading it.
After listening to these two "discuss" why they feel a certain way. All I could feel was wow Buzz is really being a jerk, and what I thought would be very unprofessional. On the other Mr. Leitch was trying to be the calmer of the two, but frankly not convincing me he was right in doing what he does. I felt Buzz myself agreeing with Buzz. So what do feel the need to do. Yep go write a blog about.
I am by no means someone who knows how to write, nor am I a threat to either the newpaper industry, or deadspin.com. So how am I part of "the dumbing down of the nation" as Buzz stated in the interview? I think Buzz has a problem finding the difference between a blog like this and one is just full of opinions based on shaky facts or worse yet rumors. I am just writing a simple editorial on a 15 minute segment off a TV program. I think he should re-examine is position somewhat.
Chad
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