Congrats: City!

(The moment that Ferguson got the news…)
Was that not one of the most amazing things you’ve ever seen in sports? My goodness. What a final league day. Phenomenal. Defies description. That’s how it ended in my head in the backyard, as a kid, doing my own commentary and kicking the ball against the shed. My oh my oh my. Take THAT, Whiskey-Nose! Hahahahaahahaha….wowo. I emailed my City friend congrats. He’ll be incoherent after that. Don’t blame him. Wow.

So long Dirk Kuyt. You’ll Never Walk Alone, Dirk. Loved your work.

Seeing Maxi in the team twice in the last two games makes me wonder if he won’t stay another year. Hmm…

To those of you who don’t like or “get” soccer, or believe all the stupid nonsense about how it’s “girly” or the guys wear shorts, or there’s no hitting like American football, or there’s not enough scoring…I just want to say, today, I feel extra sorry for you.

Hair they are

Somewhere in this photo of Ted Williams at the 1982 Old Timer’s game at Fenway, is a regular reader of the Rag.

The hair is amazing. Check out the kid who’s head is partly behind that book on the left side. That’s like a shampoo commercial~
***
EPL season ends Sunday. City and United tied. If both win, United would have to win 10-0 or better, assuming a City win of 1-0. I really hope United doesn’t win #20. City fans have suffered since before the days of NY Cosmos Denny Tuert, who was on the last cup winning side in the 70′s before last year’s FA Cup triumph.

Sure, I’m rooting for them now, but after their ridiculous money turns them into a juggernaut, I’ll be ruing it. But right now, enjoy it. Walk on, City…

Oh, Hale: the Last of Kuyt at Anfield (and Maxi)

Sad day today. And Kenny, while he gave Maxi a start on his way out in front of The Kop, didn’t start Dirk Kuyt! C’mon, Kenny. You have to give this guy 70 or 80 mins!

Listening to the game on sat radio, oddly enough, I was driving and clearly heard the Maxi Song. What a great song. We should have had many, many more opportunities to sing it this year. Kenny, you lost the scent. Last year, Kuyt, Miereles, Maxi and Suarez were awesome. In fact, they got you that job on permanent status from caretaker. And the first thing you did was bury them! Miereles? Out. Maxi? Bench: despite the best scoring-to-mins ratio on the team. Guess he was making the bought players look bad (that wasn’t hard). Kuyt? Also used less and less.

Anyway, Maxi and Dirk: Thanks for the memories. Thanks Dirk for the tireless running and trackbacks and great attitude and some really big, memorable goals. An unselfish player. A team player. He will be missed. But understand that he and Maxi SHOULD LEAVE! Leave. Please. Don’t stay where Kenny has clearly back-burnered you.

I hate to say it but I don’t want Kenny back. Love the guy, but he needs to vacate. I would take Rafa back in a heartbeat. Rafa? With that money that Kenny just blew? Rafa would have had some major players in for that cash. Not guys where you have to constantly be reminded that, oh, “…they’ll come good”. No, they would BE good. Right now. No waiting. How about that?

When did he lose me? The Bolton game. Then he won me back for a spell, but it’s clear. Clear.

Here is the latest scuttlebutt on KD and John Henry.

And remember. Maxi Rodriguez could start for Argentina, but he couldn’t get Henderson’s or Downing’s place in the side.

Watch this to cheer you up.

Come on you Red Men!

FA Cup Final. Today. Liverpool-Chelsea. Will Gerrard rise to the occasion as he frequently does? Will Maxi play? He owns Chelsea. Will Carroll play? Bells? It’s certainly Kuyt and Maxi’s last big day in Red, sadly. I wish it had gone better for Maxi but they don’t listen to me. The man scores. What can I say? Pull up a chair and enjoy the “British Superbowl”. Odd that it’s so early this year. It’s usually a week or two later. Let’s hope there are no bad calls and no Drogba flopping around (and Suarez). Enjoy the game.

Unexpected surprise

Playing nerf soccer with my son just now and he made a move that I had not seen him do ever before.  He rolled the ball over lefty, across to his right and then booted it low and hard and he did this deftly for 4.5- all in one motion sort of. 

I was a little surprised and asked him, “…buddy, where did you get that move from?  Where did you see that?”

He said, “From you.  I saw you do it”.

That was the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day.  Maybe a couple of days.  I thought, “…that was why I am playing now at my age.”  I want him to see me play and think, “that looks fun”.  I don’t want to tell him to do it.  I want him to see me doing it and want to join in, more or less. 

And I would like to be able to teach him some individual things, and to do that, you need to go out and do it.  You can read all the books you want, but there is NO substitute for going out and doing it.  And there’s not just playing the game that you are learning, but training and practicing.  I think I spend more time and energy wondering what works and why and how to get a result, than in any game I might play in.  I want them to prepare efficiently.  To put some thought into it at some point.  “I roll it this way and then pull it back, ok, I’ll do that a few more times and I think I have it”.  Etc.  Nice.

In 3 days, 6 guys will run 76 miles for 96

http://hillsborough-anfieldrun.co.uk/

Click here to read about the run

Great idea. Click the link. Donate. Follow them on that tweetering thing. It’s an impressive figure, for sure. I recall being impressed with the US Military’s White Sands Missile Range run for the WWII Bataan Death March. Full pack and heat, sure, but 76 miles? Let’s hope the Reds can win it if for nothing else, than just for these 6 Scousers. Good luck. We salute you from America. YNWA.

***

Just read an SI headline: “Jeter, Yankees, pick up first win”.

So now he’s ahead of the team? Oy. Gag. If he was on the Titanic, surely it would have read: “Jeter, 1500 others: lost”.

A couple of facts about Jeter you’ll never read. He has only ever played ONE season on a team that wasn’t the highest paid team in MLB. The one year? 1997, when the Yanks were a 1% behind Baltimore. In some years of his career, they outspent the 2nd spendingest team by 40%!

As Kolchak would say, “FACT!, if it weren’t for the Houston Astros looking to save $300,000 on a signing bonus, Jeter would have been an Astro for a few years, and then a purchased Yankee.”

Just saying.

You lost to QPR? The hoops?

Liverpool were cruising 2-nill and then proceeded to cough up 3, count ‘em, THREE goals to lose 3-2. Even J is agog. Was this worse than the Bolton game? Well, at least we scored 2.

The consolation? Coates’ goal of the year after subbing for Martin Kelly. And also that 4th was not realistic so really, who gives a whoop? (I mean, besides J).

If we win the FA Cup, how bad a year have you had? I understand the Champs’ League, yea, I get that. But honestly, with our squad…with Cholly Adam et al, would be going into the Bernabau and the San Siro and doing anything? We can’t beat QPR up 2-0 on 77′! What good would the Champs’ League do? Remember Basel? And that was a better team.
***
Mrs. Pinetar loves the show “Restaurant Impossible”. It’s basically her “Gold Rush” show. And, I can watch it, unlike the prom dress show last night that was making my flesh crawl. Thankfully, she let me switch to the Military Channel and they had “Fatal H*tler” on again. I’ve only seen it 3 or 4 times so it was somewhat fresh.

Anyway, I have watched many episodes of Restaurant Impossible and I’ve learned a few things. What I’ve learned is that at a subpar restaurant, they are serving you frozen food that they are losing money on, and, the kitchen is filthy and no one has looked at the books to notice, “…hey, we’re losing 3 dollars ever time we serve X…”
***
With the Wilpon’s “winning” their little trial, Mets’ fans have absolutely NOTHING to look forward to for maybe a generation, maybe more. Let’s begin agitating for a National League expansion team in NY. Maybe pull a “Bill Shea” and threaten to start a 3rd circuit. Get Cuban on that. Put a group together. Pick some cities. Smell Bud sweat. Get your team. Worked in 1960, why not? Met fans: Vote with your dollars. Go to minor league. Go to Philly. Go to Baltimore. Go to Wash. Watch MLS. Watch Curling. You get the idea.

This is why I don’t dig Drogba

Click to watch it in a new window. It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.

Why they don’t retroactively review these games in slow-mo and penalize this, I will never know. It would end diving in about as long as it takes to say it.

Prayers for Muamba. YNWA, Fabrice.

Soccer dangerous?

We were bantering about the soccer world record throw and that led to discussion of the “flip” throw and then, well…er…there’s this:

Click to see one of the more freak soccer injuries

My family is no stranger to freak soccer injuries having had 3 of 4 brothers breaking ankles, but I am happy to say, we never experienced this one. And, it looks like the kid was pretty tough and stayed in the game. It’s amazing really how that happens and there aren’t squad cars needed to break up the reaction. There’s actually very little reaction.

An observation about the long throws. The many examples you toob up are kids and they are just looking for sheer distance really only. As you get up the ladder, that throw has to be more of a line drive and less of the optimal-for-distance, 45 degree angle throw. At high levels, the guy getting on the end of that needs the speed in order to really head that thing on goal. Otherwise, you’re basically giving up possession and creating a weak 50-50 ball that isn’t a big advantage. Put some pace on it? Get it near post? Then, it’s trouble, either as a head-on-goal, or a big-guy-knocks-it-down-for-smaller-guy-to-score.

Also in this video, I don’t understand why the boy needs to be right on the touchline with the thrower? He can’t throw it to himself, so give him the space to play it in and really, you should be concerned with unmarked men upfield and runners who can run onto a throw. Why stand up tight to the kid throwing? Even after the recovery, he’s too close. There’s no tactical reason for being there. The religiosity with which he stands there makes me think he has been heavily coached to do that. Go figure.

World Record Soccer throws

Click here to watch a women’s flip throw

Here’s a story on a world record of 50 meters by flip

You know, as I’m reading about this, I’m more and more thinking that my 25+ yards is not too shabby. I’m not doing a flip either and may have that up to 30 yards by summer league. I have to watch that muscle down low though, it feels like it’s going to be ripped to shreds if you really lean back to heave it.

Click here to watch Portland Timbers’ Timber Joey, cutting off a MOTM chunk of wood. This, apparently, is America’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone”…