The Sammis begin on Tuesday

Here he is: Sammi Hyppia, hero of the Quarterfinal 2nd leg. He’s older, he’s slower, but he’s hoisted the Reds’ last European Cup and he’s a winner. He makes up in smarts and experience what he gives away in youth.

Tuesday the 22nd at Anfield 14:45 ET. Wow, soccernet is now using ET or Eastern Time. Getting these match times right for taping is not easy for a dopey American. Usually it’s 17:45 UT or GMT. That’s “Universal Time” aka “Greenwhich Mean Time” which is the time zone the UK is in. They are 5 hours ahead. So you deduct 5 hours to get it to New York time and then deduct 12 hours to get rid of the goofy military time they use there and you have, what? 2:45? As in Pee Em? Ok, got it.

The 2nd leg is the following Wednesday at Stamford Bridge. For the uninitiated, in the Champion’s League (winner gets the European Cup), the knock out stages are a home-and-home series in which the two game scores are combined. But away goals break ties. The final is a one game winner-take-all game at a neutral venue. That game goes extra time and PK’s if there is a tie. The knock out rounds (Round of 16, Quarters and Sammis) don’t go extra time unless the aggregate score is tied (and away goals don’t break it) after the second leg. Then you need a winner so sure, you’ll do the extra time and PK’s ritual. And I say ritual because who plays for the win in extra time? Everyone’s knackered and the subs are to align for kicks and no one wants to get hit on the break trying to go forward and win there. Everyone wants to get to that magical flip of the coin that is PK’s. Can you blame them? It seems like it ought to easy on paper, no? And who can forget Jerzey Dudek in Istanbul doing the Grobbelaar wobbly knees act. What a night that was. Buckle up. Here we go. YNWA.

Mike Tyson to help Gazza get sorted?

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A few weeks after Paul Gascoigne goes into rehab complaining, among other things, that he has a Red Bull addiction and downs 50+ cans per day, I see this story where Tyson is offering up his services to help Gazza get through this rough time. Have to do the old double take but hey, who besides Tyson knows just how outlandish being a sports giga-star can be?

I, for one, always just instinctively put Gazza in the same category as Rube Waddell and Keith Moon. Fatally flawed men with big talents and bigger demons and almost no hope of coping with it all. I hope he gets well. I sincerely do. Good luck Gazza and Mike Tyson. YNWA. –Fog

Hoop, Hoop Hyppia! On to the Sammis!

Sammi Hyppia scored the goal that made it possible to come back last night. I know, I know–it was 4-2 as a final but that score does not tell the story. Arsenal played some of the fastest one-touch football I’ve ever seen and Liverpool were out of it and dragging until Hyppia nailed the header off the corner. It was a great goal from pretty far out and perfectly placed.

After the equaliser 1-1 from Sammi, Arsenal NEVER got back up to that gear and that was the difference, as Liverpool could not have hoped to cope with it!

The penalty was not a penalty but it was given so what are you going to do. Babbel did his job and drew the PK and Gerrard buried it. I was really, really worried about Gerrard because he was totally knackered by that point that you could see he was a mess. And if Arsenal fans are upset, realize that Babbel did hit them on the break even though I realize that would not have been the situation if they had the lead (which they did with the away goal and the PK took that from them so they fling themselves forward).

Torres’ goal was tremendous! Just amazing. He knew exactly where he wanted to put it when he took the ball with his back to the goal. He’s so great up front–let Peter Crouch go–set him free. Buh-bye, big boy. I was glad to see Crouch come off because in a game with this kind of pace, Crouchy just can’t do anything fast enough up there. He’s just a fixed target on set pieces. That won’t do against Arsenal.

So now the Reds go to the semis to play Chosee for the 3rd time in 4 years. You think Chelsea wants to avenge the past now? Yea, just a little. And the first leg is at Anfield. I’d love it if it were the other way around. And if they should somehow get in the finals, just as I predicted, Manchester United will be waiting for them. I think they could beat Chelsea but I do not feel so good about Man U at all. Was the last meeting in a cup final 1995-6 FA Cup? With Cantona drilling the winner off Rush for Rushie’s last touch in Red? Love to avenge a little of that. Tall order. But that’s what they do there.

The Draw

Arsenal - Liverpool

Fernebache - Chelsea

Shalke 04 - Barcelona

Roma - Man United

He’s just a man, and not a freak…

Nothing much new today. Seeing the oil refinery explosion and realizing that oil isn’t going to pull back below $90 anytime soon. My strategy is to wait for the next big pullback, hopefully into the mid 80’s and then, assuming that that pullback pulls down MRO Marathon Oil to a nice, sub-45 price, I load up on some Marathon Oil and am pretty certain I’ll see it at 60 sometime in the next 12 months. Remember though, I’m no Jim Kramer.

Also trying to figure out a way to see Liverpool-Inter tomorrow at 2:45pm here Eastern Standard Time or Daylight Time or whatever. Options now are to see if Fox Soccer Channel will air it and tape it while at work. The other option is to go to work at 5am and not take a lunch (mostly don’t anyway) and then ride down to the Bronx at 2:30 and go to Rory Dolan’s and watch it. That’s where I saw them win the European Cup in 2005. Which reminds me. I had thought to list my “top greatest sports thrills” list, for anyone who cares. Here goes:

And this is just me, ok?

Kewell: The John McCain of Liverpool FC

[Freddie and I and the old Joe DiMaggio statue at the last Joe DiMaggio Day at Yankee Stadium in 1998. I am wearing the 97 or 98 away kit so that's your tie in.]

Detail Oriented Stadium Meister

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http://www.majorleaguemodels.com/about.asp

This is something interesting I found while looking for the little plaster model of Yankee Stadium for 93-year-old-Max’s grandson. This man builds huge, tabletop scale models of old ballparks from scratch. You know, the exacto knife and the balsa wood and a thousand other things. I can relate to this man because of what I do with the wood products and all and will even admit to having built a cardboard model Shea Stadium in 1976 that was pretty darned good.

I love this kind of wacky, I’m-going-to-build-this-thing-in-my-cellar-and-sell-it-for-150k attitude. Take 5 minutes and visit the guy’s site. Look at the original wooden 1888 Polo Grounds model and see how baseball was just after the Civil War. It’s amazing work.

It also points out that I need to do better on my website. But now, we’re 7 minutes from the kickoff of Liverpool-Chelsea. The first league encounter of the year was way back in August, on the day we had our boy christened. I left for the church at half up 1-0 only to come home and find out that the ref called a silly PK and GIFTED the point to Chelsea. So strange was the call, that the next day, the ref PUBLICLY stated that he was wrong to point at the spot! I’ve never heard of such a thing but when taking points from the Reds, the refs have done some funny things. I think it’s because they all grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s when Liverpool won every darned thing and I think there is some lingering resentment. Kind of like if I worked the plate at a Yankee game.

To give you an idea of how big these things get (he does different scales), take a look at the Old Comiskey Park. Old Comiskey is my favorite of the 38 ballparks I’ve been to. It was a real timewarp to go there and the place just felt right. They say that Jimmy Foxx hit two homers completely over the roof in left between the two light towers. Double-X was the best hitter no one’s ever heard of.

If the first 10 minutes of Liverpool Chelsea are any indicator, then Chelsea will get the points. They seem a whole gear faster than Liverpool and more confident and more creative. Liverpool look slow and I think it’s only a matter of time. Chelsea’s defense is so fast and shuts everything down so tightly, that I don’t see Kuyt and Crouchy cracking it. What we need is the pace of Fernando Torres.

Well, at least ManU lost their derby to City today. No points for Alex. That’s what you get for ripping your boss, Sir. With United coming away with none…if Chelsea could be beaten…oh stop dreaming. Wake up!  And I have to say: After watching only 25 minutes: Dirk Kuyt shouldn’t be in the first team.  Really.  He looks slow and lost.  Zero confidence.  And his play on the right is atrocious.  He can’t beat his man deep and he can’t do anything on the cut inside–every posession that reaches him, goes awry.  Perhaps he can be productive in the middle, but Crouchy is there now.  Play another midfielder and let them go forward.  Kuyt should come off.  Caragher has more mojo going up the right wing than this guy.  Oy.  Rafa.  Help. (Of course Kuyt till make an a** of me and score the winner but I’ll take it and eat my words if that is so).

Anfield Road End 1998

Gerrard’s First Match-Anfield Road End

Click here to open a link to this book on Amazon

I just got this book off of Amazon used. Don’t know if people realize it or not, but Amazon’s used book functionality is great. Look up the book and then click the “used and new” link somewhat below the top of the page. I’ve noticed that some folks I show that to, don’t realize it is there. It is great. If a book is in print a year or two, most of the time, you can get it for shipping + a buck or two.

So yesterday this came in the mail and I quickly flipped through it and wouldn’t you know, I come on the part where he is describing his first minutes playing with the first team at Anfield. He got 3 or 4 minutes of garbage time at the end of the game. I’ve been to exactly one Liverpool match at Anfield and that was it! And I don’t remember him at all. What I do remember was the nice goal by Paul Ince–one of the best I’ve ever seen, right in front of us at the Anfield Road end. And then 10 minutes later Owen scored a garbage goal from the 6. 2-nill Reds. What a great night. I had taken a weekend trip over to see the match and I think I was still working with Cincinnati Bill and my brother at Baxter Pharm when I went. I looked like hell when I got back because for basically 72 hours, I got like 8 hours of sleep, if that, and really ate little more than Guiness. I look at that trip as being a dividing line in my life.  When I left on the trip, I was young and when I came back, I was not anymore.  Make sense?  Still, it was a riot and I enjoyed the sheer goof of realizing that I had not only seen Owen and Fowler both start, but Stevie came on as well.

One thing I don’t like about the book is that it is written in the vernacular–as if Gerrard were dictating it (probably did) and they leave in all the curse words, that any pro athlete knows so well. Why? Why do that on a book that most kids will be reading? What for?

Gerrard is a special player. Other than Athens last May, he seems to be able to go up another gear for big games. He wills things on the field. I put him in a DiMaggio-esque group of elite guys that can make me pay attention to a game just because they are playing. Jordan. Henry. Cantona. Beckenbauer. Those kind of guys. And yes, Fowler for a few years back there in the 1990’s.

To answer your question, Phil, yes, I saw Liverpool on their American tour in 2004 at Hartford vs Celtic and Giants’ Stadium vs Roma. In fact, if you were at Giants’ Stadium, you got good seats and you saw Michael Owen score his last goal as a Red. We couldn’t make the trip to the SkyDome, because we were in Atlanta, but we thought about it. That tour kicked off the European Cup winning season–they should tour the states every year, no? Instead, they try to build their brand in the Far East. Those guys are already plugged in–there’s sooo much more “space” in the US for P-Ship exposure, I think they should make it a regular thing. At least send the reserves or the U-19 side over each year. I mean, the MLS is a joke. Are the “playoffs” over yet? ahahaha. I love that. Let’s start a league and design the format on the NHL! Yea, that’s a good idea. A long, interminable season that no one cares about and then EVERYBODY qualifies for a long, complex playoff system! Americans will LOVE that! hahahaha… YNWA Stevie.

Crouchy: What can you say?

From soccernet: “Former Aston Villa striker Peter Crouch rescued a Premier League point for Liverpool with a late goal at Anfield tonight. Crouch hooked in right footed from 10 yards in the the 88th minute to avert a disastrous result for under-fire manager Rafael Benitez. “