First round of group play wrapped up in horny South Africa with a mix of the expected, the predictable and the surprising. The expected included dominance from Germany and Holland, the predictable was a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo dive for Portugal and the surprises came in the form of upsets. Switzerland provided a bombshell with a gritty defensive performance versus favored Spain, while Ghana defeated Serbia to provide the only victory for the host continent. Argentina hammered 20 shots in a 1-0 win while the ever-efficient Japanese needed just 3 shots to win by the same. A number of teams slumbered to a slow start, with African squads leading the way of the hapless by scoring just two goals (one a PK) in 6 matches. Brazil disappointed despite winning and although Portugal and Italy avoided losses, they were as flat as 2 day old soda.
Team America drew versus England thanks to the heroics of keeper Tim Howard and the tomfoolery of his Limey counterpart. Slovenia jumped to the front of the group, upping the ante ahead of the Friday match-up with Team America.
Tournament officials passed on the opportunity to ban the vu-vu horns, something I was indifferent about until I woke with the noise in my head at 3am- in bed with no television. The other casualty of the din is the noise of the crowd. Even though the foreign lyrics are unintelligible, the rhythmic chants and songs add more ambiance than the steady buzz of the horns. Looks like we’re stuck with the most annoying background since the death of the sitcom laugh-track. Someone needs to tell FIFA that these aren’t the drones they’re looking for.
San Diego Chargers general counsel, Mark Fabiani, spoke in Mission Valley to a gathering of engineers and construction industry professionals about the pursuit of a downtown football stadium. The $750M structure (up to $1B w/ roof) faces financing issues because the Chargers expect public money to be contributed, a sensitive proposition in cash-strapped SD. The addition of a retractable fabric roof would allow for convention space and serve as a replacement for the Sports Arena (can’t wait for that demolition party) or MLS franchise.
Fabiani pointed out that by replacing city-owned Qualcomm and Sports Arena sites, SD could generate revenue by selling the unneeded land. Additional savings would also be possible since taxpayers currently are on the hook for up to $300M in improvements to Qualcomm if the Chargers finish out the current lease through 2020.
If the East Village complex is built, the 10 acre site would be the smallest in the NFL (bye-bye traditional tailgating) and the proposed 62,000 capacity would need an additional 8,000 temporary seats in order to host a Super Bowl. The capacity is intentionally undersized to minimize construction costs and ensure regular season sellouts.
The next step in the process is a vote scheduled on June 22 by San Diego City Council to authorize further studies on financing options. If the City approves (write your local councilmember), the County would need to do the same before the project is put to a county-wide public vote. The 2012 presidential primary would be the likeliest opportunity to put the stadium on the ballot.
On the possibility of the Chargers exhausting local sites and leaving town: “We’re closer to the end of this process than the beginning, we’ve been looking for 8 years” and “I’d hate to say this is the last option, we could take another look at the Escondido site, but the stars seem to be aligning downtown.”
With the 2010 World Cup South Africa less than 30 days away, provisional squads have been named and a number of big money superstars and aging heroes have been left off their national teams.
Brazil excluded 2-time world player of the year Ronaldinho, but Argentina’s maniacal manager Diego Maradona took the biggest risk. Maradona bypassed multiple European club stars (including 2 starters from Champion league finalists Inter Milan), opting instead for untested domestic club players. With Greece, South Korea and Nigeria in his group, Maradona can afford to take risks, but anything past group play could be sketchy.
Maradona last made headlines in his post-qualifying press conference for telling his haters they could “suck his **** and keep on sucking” (*the original interview was in Spanish so whether he said dick or cock or Johnson is up to interpretation). He apologized to all the ladies in the room before telling an inquisitive reporter he had a ****(dick/cock/johnson) inside of him. Should be fun in South Africa!
The tournament that started with 76 qualifying teams last summer has been whittled down to 2 finalists as Internazionale will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on May 22. The final will be broadcast live on FOX and will likely be the world’s most watched sporting event.
Inter Milan held their spot in the final with an impressive defensive stand against favored Barcelona. The Italian club was outshot 17-1 after being reduced to 10 men in the first half. Bayern crusied comfortably past Lyon with a hat trick from their Croatian striker, Ivica Olic.
Bayern winger Franck Ribery is filing an appeal to determine if he will be eligible for the final after being dismissed from the semi for a challenge that earned him a straight red card. Ribery, who was disfigured in a car accident as a wee lad, is a good example of why looks aren’t important if you’re a world class footballer.
The reputation of English football took a Cristiano Ronaldo-like dive in the latest round of Champions League matchups as both remaining clubs were eliminated from the competition. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi renewed his claim as the best footballer in the world by scoring 4 goals and knocking out London club Arsenal. German side Bayern Munich advanced at Manchester United thanks to another spectacular score by Dutchman Arjen Robben, despite trailing 3-0 early in the match. Lyon won the right to play Bayern setting up the most interesting France v Germany rematch since May 1940. Inter Milan advanced to the joy of their elated and fashionable fans. Semi-final fixtures take place April 20-21 with return legs the 27-28 before the May 22 finale.
Editor’s Note: The video you sent the linked to was removed before I could see it but I found a clip of Robben’s shot…
In an impact that would make Ronnie Lott want to cut his entire arm off, one of the largest and most expensive experiments in the history of mankind, the Large Hadron Collider, performed successfully in Europe. Geeks around the world buzzed like a new Olivia Munn pictorial release. The experiment involves blasting high energy particles around a 17 mile track and smashing them together to form the cosmic jizz that was present milliseconds after the Big Bang (i.e. moment of Creation for all the Easter egg hunters). The jizz will hopefully provide insight into what makes up the 96% of the Universe that this planet’s “intelligent life” has no clue about.
Editor’s Note: Sorry, this is a week and a half late. It was contributed on St. Paddy’s Day, but I kept forgetting to post it. Sorry about the title, too. I picked it.
The final 2 Champions League spots in the round of 8 were claimed by last year’s champs Barcelona and France’s Bordeaux in European football action. English giants Manchester United and Arsenal each won convincingly at 4-0 and 5-0, while Russian champs CSKA Moscow surprised and scored 2 away goals to advance. Inter Milan knocked out chokers Chelsea in a bruiser that saw 8 yellow cards, 7 in the second half (plus one straight red for their stomping striker). German side Bayern Munich advanced on Dutch striker Arjen Robben’s laser beam, the tournament’s most spectacular goal.
The most painful loss was for Real Madrid, who will host the final in May in their home stadium. The club spent nearly $275,000,000 (~6 Padre payrolls) exclusively on new players this past offseason. Club president is reportedly a little bummed out. Despite being in first place in La Liga, the manager is in danger of losing his job for failing to advance past Lyon. Como se dice ‘Marty Schottenheimer’ en Espanol?
The lottery for the home-away quarterfinal match-ups will take place on Friday. Matches will be March 30,31, with return legs on April 6,7. Support a club, these ladies do.
As the NFL offseason wallows in the ugly business side of sport, real life competition continued across Europe as the world’s most exclusive club tournament wrapped up the first leg of the round of 16 competition on Wednesday. Highlights included manager Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan team defeating his former Chelsea squad in Italy by a 2-1 margin. First fixture surprises were provided by Portuguese side FC Porto’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal and Manchester United’s 3 valuable away goals at AC Milan. Man U had never scored at the San Siro in 4 matches, although 1 goal came off Darren Scholes’ laughable swing and miss.
Besides Man U, France’s Bordeux was the only other away side winner, setting themselves up for the next round if they can draw or win at home in the 2nd leg. Several remaining matches could be decided on the tournament’s intriguing ‘away goals’ tiebreaker rule, which entices and rewards the visiting side for aggressive play. All visitors with the exception of Spain’s Real Madrid scored an important road goal.
The return legs of the competition will be played on March 09-10 and 16-17. Adopt a team (not Chelsea, don’t be that guy) and catch a game, it’s not a bad way to spend the lunch hour, especially if you’re lucky enough to catch a visiting European hottie supporting her team.
(Sorry about the picture of the hot Italy fan, I couldn’t find a girl in club team’s gear. Post one in the comment section if you find a good one I won’t mind. – JO)
In a show of respect for Manchester United, David Beckham of AC Milan has made the pronouncement that he will not celebrate if he scores against his former club in their upcoming Champions League match. Becks took to the pitch 394 times for Man U before leaving for Madrid and LA. He is currently on loan from the Galaxy to AC Milan to keep fit for this summer’s World Cup. Too bad he didn’t have the same loyalty towards his wife Posh Spice while he was performing the old in-out with their nanny. Or maybe he just didn’t celebrate after the hookup.
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First round of group play wrapped up in horny South Africa with a mix of the expected, the predictable and the surprising. The expected included dominance from Germany and Holland, the predictable was a trademark Cristiano Ronaldo dive for Portugal and the surprises came in the form of upsets. Switzerland provided a bombshell with a gritty defensive performance versus favored Spain, while Ghana defeated Serbia to provide the only victory for the host continent. Argentina hammered 20 shots in a 1-0 win while the ever-efficient Japanese needed just 3 shots to win by the same. A number of teams slumbered to a slow start, with African squads leading the way of the hapless by scoring just two goals (one a PK) in 6 matches. Brazil disappointed despite winning and although Portugal and Italy avoided losses, they were as flat as 2 day old soda.
