hello, goodbye.

High-ay-tuss, unless something drastic happens, like inspiration, for instance.

About That Game: Manchester City vs Liverpool

All I can say on this the morning before New Years Eve is: Thank god this wasn’t a 5am game, or I might’ve swallowed my tongue by now. But there’s no saying this game won’t make me suffer in some other meaningful way, is there?

1. Steven Gerrard vs Didi Hamann, believe it or not, was one of my most anticipated match-ups of the season. The Kaiser basically engineered the Liverpool midfield for seven years, only relinquishing that role when Gerrard started to blossom, and even then his influence on the younger generation was palpable and very much welcome. Alonso, as great is he can be, has paid huge tribute to Hamann, and they only played together for two seasons — while Didi was indeed displaced by Alonso’s presence in the center (and later Momo Sissoko), his influence certainly never diminished, and that’s still evident even now.

Today Gerrard played deeper than a deep-sea diver for much of the game, taking on a controlling role similar to that of the Kaiser, mostly out of necessity, as the City players did a fantastic job pressuring Liverpool when not in possession of the ball (in hockey terms, “forechecking”). But his composure there, I’d like to think, was a tribute to the blinkyman — who had quite a good game himself.

2. Arbeloa in central defense sort of scares me on paper, and it sort of scared me in reality as well. While the defense wasn’t exactly perforated, the relative disorganization in the absence of Sami Hyypia was sadly noticeable.

3. Injury-ridden he may be, but Harry Kewell has blossomed into Liverpool’s most reliable left-winger, staving off challenges by players such as Mark Gonzalez even while in the examiner’s room. I say reliable because he has been, in recent seasons, a fine two-way player. Not the fittest, of course, but he’s good for 60-70 solid minutes every game. In the first half, he was the only consistent playmaker, often sent a-gallop by one of Gerrard’s half-crazy, half-inspired long passes, but he also tracked back diligently to help out Aurelio against the half-crazy, half-inspired Stephen Ireland.

4. One of the more ridiculous aspects of football in the winter: players wearing fingered gloves with short-sleeved shirts. Well hey, at least it’s not mittens.

5. Compared to City, whose hustle limited Liverpool’s potency especially on the right wing and through the middle, the Reds looked a bit slow on the uptake, players hesitating just enough on their decision making to allow City to snap at their heels more than they’d like. Vassell, Dunne, and Ireland especially, and of course, Hamann, made things extremely difficult for Liverpool to really settle the game as they would’ve liked. And Ericksson kept things fresh, too, making his substitutes to keep the energy level buzzing. Unlike the Derby match on Wednesday, Liverpool weren’t hampering themselves. Like the Derby match, however, this was going to be a test of will and attitude for the players, in order to break down a tough opponent.

6. Tough day for Torres, as Richards and Dunne have corralled him all evening en route to one of his only lackluster performances in red so far.

7. Dunne, in fact, singlehandedly prevented two winners from going in, first that brilliant goalline clearance off Kuyt’s header and then an equally brilliant tackle on Benayoun inside the box, and somehow City were able to stave off what seemed like two surefire scoring chances. What a performance by the captain, overshadowing any and every effort put forth by Liverpool in the last 10 minutes. This is one result that should have went our way, perhaps, but one can’t begrudge City their success so far this season. They’ve worked hard for it, and they look legit for the first time in awhile.

About That Game: Derby County vs Liverpool

Season’s greetings, happy holidays, etc., I never know what to say because the household I grew up in knew not of a little thing called celebration. My childhood was a lurid combination of Maoist brainwashing and Dickensian dread. Which explains why I’m such an ardent football fan, I suppose, but let’s not drone on about this-and-that, there’s a game to be blogged.

1. I’ve identified the quality that makes Fernando Torres such a hypnotic footballer, or at least part of it — he’s sort of an inverted yo-yo, isn’t he, upper body swaying to and fro, kept in motion as if by an invisible finger attached to a thin string that stretches down the middle of his torso, right through to his heels. And yes, you can count this as an admission of reluctant admiration. He has no problem finding the target, and between keeping a personal grudge and appreciating a player who can put a ball into the back of a neck without being asked fifteen times — well, I think I’m making the right choice here. Besides, he hasn’t been nearly as wormy as I expected him to be, especially when contending with Prem-grade defenders, so that’s another point in the for-column.

2. Xabi Alonso really does bring another level of class to the game. Long passes suddenly shed their negative connotation and take on a certain polish, a feeling of pedigree. I don’t know what it is. Maybe the way he always looks up, always takes great care to pick out his spot before hoofing it thataway, or maybe just the fanciful imagination that he’s considering his moves like a field general. Still, while it’s the calculation that makes his movement appreciable, it’s the execution that makes his style of football (and, by association, Liverpool’s style of football) beautiful.

3. If we were so inclined to make the comparison: Alonso treats each ball like a gift to be given, with personalized name tags but no-nonsense packaging. Mascherano, on the other hand, is a moon, controlling the pull and push of the game by drawing in a player here, taking away the ball there, all done in rough, necessary movements.

4. I don’t think I’ve heard any other opposing set of fans cheer quite as loudly as the Derby faithful did upon winning their first corner of the match. Baby steps, I suppose.

5. I never have anything to say about Derby, and I think it’s because what they play can hardly be described as football. I would require some sort of degraded sporting vocabulary to discuss the way the players seem to abort passes even as the ball is leaving their feet, or how two players can be so unaware of each other that they collide like particularly eager molecules. Even that shabby (or Xabi) giveaway that let Steven Howard cut into the Liverpool box resulted in the striker somehow shooting in a direction completely opposite
from the right one.

6. Continuing our discussion of finishing, I guess it’s a good thing Torres has rung up the net like it were a chick at a bar and the ball was her cell phone number (yeah, don’t question that simile, it’s before 8am and I haven’t slept), because no one else seemed to want to score in the first half. A fairer scoreline going into the break might have been 3-0, were it not for Babel and Carragher’s badly squandered chances.

7. What an intriguing defensive substitution, pulling Fabio Aurelio into the middle in place of Hyypia and switching Babel onto the left wing (Benayoun came in and took the right). Derby did start launching more crosses and lifting high balls into the Liverpool box after the switch was made, which had to have been a conscious decision.

8. Kenny Miller has extreme elfin ears. That is all I can really say on the matter.

9. Derby did a much better job in the second half controlling the ball for short periods of time. (It’s good to know Benny Feilhaber is still alive.) And it paid off, perhaps with a lucky bounce off the original free kick, but it’s hard to begrudge McEveley the equalizer — and his first Prem goal — as they duly deserved it. Liverpool were virtually unwatchable for much of the second half, with Voronin the worst of the lot — he was all over the place, and not in a positive, Kuyt sort of way. Funny story: As soon as I typed “Kuyt,” the camera cut to the Dutchman getting ready to come on for Babel.

10. As much as I rail against these sorts of games — where one team shouldn’t have much trouble with the other team, but for some reason does, and so finds themselves needing a late winner, and goes about methodically trying to pin that other team back into their own territory, but one wonders whether they’ll actually succeed with the way they’re playing — I think they’re also necessary throughout the course of the season, as periodical tests, if you will, of a team’s ability to power through one afternoon’s particular disconnect. Still, I hate these kinds of games the most, and I suspect most fans feel similarly, because they are extraordinarily difficult to sit through, and each missed chance or unlucky break stands out glaringly as a what-if moment.

11. Thank the sweet baby Jesus for Steven Gerrard’s legs, and for his all-consuming unwillingness to give up. I wonder if McEveley was a smidge at fault, though, as Price seemed to be within reach of the ball after parrying Torres’s initial shot, but the defender tried to poke it out of harm’s way, only for Gerrard to meet it with his knee. Either way, it was a day of mixed fortunes for McEveley, having brought his team so close to a moral triumph, only to find himself directly involved in the play that submerged them once again.

OH, THANK GOD THAT’S OVER. LIKE I SAID, WORST KIND OF GAME. I’M GOING TO SLEEP NOW.

The CL draw, Crouch rings the gongs, and a Hornby reference

All in a Friday’s work, people.

1. Champions League draw was early this morning. These are the worst years, when there are some battles worthy of a final and others that can be considered featherweight — and that’s being generous:

Celtic — Barcelona
Lyon — Manchester Utd
Schalke 04 — Porto
Liverpool — Inter Milan
Roma — Real Madrid
Arsenal — AC Milan
Olympiakos — Chelsea
Fenerbahce — Sevilla

Aside from Liverpool’s matchup, I think Man U and Arsenal both have fantastic ties, and Roma-Real could be a real scrap. The others are all underwhelming. Upon first glance, I’m calling it thusly: Barcelona, Lyon (let’s see if they can finally fulfill their perennial dark horse prophecies), Porto, Liverpool, Real, Arses, Chelsea, Sevilla. But we’ll see.

2. This year, Liverpool has given Peter Crouch the opportunity to give out the annual team gongs. Pennant continually gets the short stick, Momo is apparently blingin’, Arbeloa owns an ugly jacket, and Stevie G loves the ’80s, among other fun tidbits. I like that teams do this — it let the fans catch a small glimpse into their lives as teammates and friends.

3. I’ve started writing haikus based on football news items. They’re more immediate reactions than anything profound, but who knows, sports haikus could mark a new trend in blogging. (I jest.) The origin of “little poles” — again, not a dick joke! — of course goes back to Hornby:

“One thing I know for sure about being a fan is this: it is not a vicarious pleasure, despite all appearances to the contrary, and those who say that they would rather do than watch are missing the point. Football is a context where watching becomes doing — not in the aerobic sense, because watching a game, smoking your head off while doing so, drinking after it has finished and eating chips on the way home is unlikely to do you a whole lot of Jane Fonda good, in the way that chuffing up and down a pitch is supposed to. But when there is some kind of triumph, the pleasure does not radiate from the players outwards until it reaches the likes of us at the back of the terraces in a pale and diminished form; our fun is not a watery version of the team’s fun, even though they are the ones that get to score the goals and climb the steps at Wembley to meet Princess Diana. The joy we feel on occasions like this is not a celebration of others’ good fortune, but a celebration of our own; and when there is a disastrous defeat the sorrow that engulfs us is, in effect, self-pity, and anyone who wishes to understand how football is consumed must realise this above all things. The players are merely our representatives, chosen by the manager rather than elected by us, but our representatives nonetheless, and sometimes if you look hard you can see the little poles that join them together, and the handles at the side that enable us to move them. I am a part of the club, just as the club is a part of me; and I say this fully aware that the club exploits me, disregards my views, and treats me shoddily on occasions, so my feeling of organic connection is not built on a muddle-headed and sentimental misunderstanding of how professional football works.”

(from Fever Pitch, where else)

I quit.

That’s it for me. I can’t do it anymore, not after this latest fuck-up by the freakshow at Valencia CF. First Quique Sanchez Flores is replaced by the utterly uninspiring Ronald Koeman, and now Santiago Cañizares and David Albelda, two players who have unquestionably been the heart and soul of this Valencia team for the better part of a decade, are senselessly dismissed by the manager, who then says (in effect), “I don’t care about what they have to say.” It should be needless for me to point out that the fans have lodged furious protests (as they did when contract negotiations were breaking down last season between the club and Albelda), but it’s probably not going to make much of a difference.

I haven’t been able to watch this team play much under Koeman, but what I’ve seen, I haven’t liked at all. Quique’s recent personnel investments — made before he left the club — were a bit baffling, to be honest, but Koeman has completely changed the identity of the team, the same kooky hyperregional identity that drew me to Los Che in the first place, and this latest dismissal of two club leaders is the last straw.

The blame for this should fall on both Koeman and president Soler. The lack of respect is one thing; the lack of courtesy is another. According to the players, they haven’t received any communication from the president, let alone an explanation for the club’s actions. I was overjoyed when they finally renewed his contract; I thought, maybe this is a turning point.

I’m so disappointed. No, I believe the right word is “heartbroken.” Just like Albelda, who grew up with the club, captained the club (his own personal armband is quite astonishing, if you’ve never seen it up close), devoted his entire career to the club, and is now being discarded like none of it meant anything. He (and Cañete) have basically been surgically removed, as if they were tumors. But the cancer at Valencia, as everybody knows, runs deeper than the players and deeper than the coaching staff. Need a few reminders of the insanity? Rafa Benítez and the case of the missing furniture; Amedeo Carboni and Quique Flores’s battle of egos; everything about the Roberto Ayala transfer. It’s a completely diseased organization, and I can’t bring myself to support a club like that anymore, where backroom bickering bleeds onto the field, where you can no longer separate the human figures from the drama that envelops them.

At this point, I’m not sure whether I’ll even follow the rest of the season, which is regrettable, because players like Villa, Silva, Miguel, Morientes, and Albiol are players who still command my attention, who deserve to be watched and adored by fans. I am still undying in my loyalty to the Valencia players. But this organization? I have no more faith in them.

A final note about Albelda as a footballer: I’ve never, never seen anyone do what he does, and it’s so rare to see an entire tactical system successfully built around an individual, but that was his value to the team. For so many years, he and Baraja were the perfect central midfield pairing, and their tandem, their unique dynamic will probably never be recreated by Valencia or any other team. I’ve seen him play in person twice, and the way he covers his territory on the field is so subtle, yet it translates into a tangible dominance. Skill- and speed-wise, the past few seasons have been unkind to his body, and it was obvious that he was entering the twilight of his career, but still, I always expected him to retire like a king. It’s what he deserved, what the fans deserved, what the club owed him. Unless Soler does something drastic (which, if history serves us, will never happen), he’ll go without even saying goodbye. Him and Cañete.

What a damn shame.

About That Game: Liverpool vs Manchester United

So many little things wrong with that game. The tactics were fundamentally sound (hard to go tails-up with your strongest XI in a 4-4-2, innit?), and the strategies were made very clear. The problem? There was no friggen execution. Passes were miscontrolled, shots were scuffed or pulled wide, dead ball situations not taken advantage of. Every time someone made a run, the ball was sent behind them, and no one bothered to get the second ball. How was it that every single time one of our attacking players got the ball in the final third, at least three black shirts swarmed around him, and no one was there to help out? Individual heroics do not defeat Manchester United. Hell, eleven men playing with the utmost will and effort sometimes do not defeat Manchester United. Liverpool fell short today of their best, and I’m too emotionally drained (at 7:30 am) to write anything else about this game. Suffice to say, this fixture terrifies me every year. Arsenal inspire the normal amount of apprehension associated with a really good opponent; playing Chelsea has taken on the sheen of a moral struggle between opposing footballing ideologies, which deflects a bit of the nerves, I think; these Man U games, though, are a bit like shock therapy.

Four seasons with Rafa in charge: seven games played and zero goals scored against our fiercest rival. The season isn’t even half over yet, and people are already writing off Liverpool’s chances at winning the Prem. In my mind, if we don’t win at least one away game against either Man U, Arses, or Chelsea, that’ll be the damning evidence.

Switching gears for a mo’. I’m not sure whether to be worried about Rafa’s transfer plans or not. The only two things on my personal wishlist are: 1) TIE DOWN MASCHERANO FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, and 2) get a cheap but reliable central defender in case Agger really has dropped off the face of the planet and Hyypia succumbs even further to old age. But I’m still worried that Gillette and Hicks don’t understand the importance of the winter transfer window. These few weeks can help shape the rest of our season, which is certainly in need of some direction after the rollercoaster week we’ve had.

Then again, I guess that’s why they’re the men in suits and I’m the girl in the fuzzy slippers and old scarf.

Roman: of dreams and religions

Billups of Free Darko fame has written a heady, epic post about the miracle of Juan Roman Riquelme, as he heads back to Boca Juniors, his boyhood club.

Boca Juniors — the club I hate most in this world, even if I don’t follow River Plate like I used to. But some players transcend club loyalties, and Riquelme is one of them. The sine curve of his career is one of the great enigmas of our footballing generation, decipherable only through the haze of Ray Hudson soundbytes, the bewilderment of the press, and awestruck posts like Billups’ — he is one player about whom every football fan has an opinion, but even more significantly, it is an opinion that is liable to change every two years.

not the most iconic picture of Roman, I’m afraid, but I can’t find any good Argentina shots and I am ethically unable to post anything from his Boca days

About That Game: Reading vs Liverpool

A rare occurrance, and probably an ill-advised one as well, as I have yet to start writing my last essay — which was technically due on Friday, but I’ve been told to send it in “sometime this weekend.” That’s an invitation to watch Saturday morning football if I ever heard one.

A quick link before I get into the game: The Run of Play has a Peter Crouch one-liner contest that has befuddled me for a few days now (if my lack of a proper submission is any indication). What’s that? Incentive, you say? The winner gets to request the next Tuesday Portrait, which, if you’ve been paying attention, is a weekly must. Kind of like church.

Now, then. The team that I love, playing the game that I love.

1. A starting formation of 4-3-3 from Rafa is about as rare as unspoiled food in my refrigerator. But with Voronin and Crouchinho adding to the attack (although the GTFBM playing wide left is terrifyingly reminiscent of Houllier’s human experimentations on Heskey), you can see what he was trying to do: force the Reading defenders to focus on more than just the best and quickest way to put Torres out of commission. To top off the bizarreness, Rafa had the added audacity to field the midfield trio of Gerrard, Mascherano, and Sissoko. Three parts hard knocks, two parts skill, one part nihilism.

2. Jack Hobbs, in his first Premiership start at age 19, what a kid. He’s looked hugely promising for the reserves and in various cup/youth competitions, and the early plan of playing him at the holding midfielder position has seemingly paid off in terms of his positional awareness and his touch. He’s not silky by any stretch of the imagination, but getting these big-league minutes will do even more for his development and his confidence.

3. I won’t go so far as to say that penalty call was bullshit, but the replays tell the story. Carragher was very fortunate not to be booked for the challenge, though, which was a bad one, even if it wasn’t PK-worthy. Ironically, getting an early lead finally forced Reading to play like they deserved it.

4. We’ve seen the Gerrard-Torres Express leaving the station quite a few times this season, but the return trip is every bit as scenic. A lovely control by Torres, a surging run by Gerrard, and — wait, hold on, am I sensing the glimmers of an actual strike partnership? I haven’t been able to say that about a Liverpool team since Owen left.

5. Sonko’s job on Torres, it was kind of like No Country for Old Men, except without sawed-off shotguns. Also known as, Shite and Unconscionable Defending.

6. That second Reading goal was 1) perfectly set up, 2) terribly conceded. Luck and arbitration aside, Liverpool didn’t show much sustained pressure leading up to that. The third goal I won’t even go into. Reading haven’t played absurdly well, but they’ve kept up with the pace, they’ve gotten a few breaks along the way, and most importantly, they’ve taken their chances, and they’ve earned the point.

7. I have to go back to the 4-3-3 as the start of Liverpool’s problems. It was a good idea on paper — add firepower, solidify midfield prescence — but Bobby Convey pretty much singlehandedly nullified that. His work rate on the wing today was, at the end of the 90 minutes, pretty emblematic of Reading’s spirit, and contrary to the thankless individual task it might usually be, his efforts paid off in handsome fashion for his team.

8. Losing for the first time this season doesn’t feel as soul-crunchingly horrible as I expected it would. It’s almost therapeutic, in fact. Now we can concentrate on Marseilles and the Mancs, which, let’s not lie, every Liverpool fan and employee wants to see more than a win against Reading.

About That Game: Newcastle vs Liverpool

Let it be known that I can never keep my promises. Two days after a hiatus announcement, and I’m chomping at the bit to get writing again. This might be due to the fact that I’m scheduled to spew out a hockey column for Tuesday’s issue of the Maroon, but I can’t actually write anything until the Blackhawks finish their circus trip on Sunday. Or it might just be Thanksgiving-related ennui. Either way, I’m pretty sure it won’t last, especially with finals week coming up. But here we go:

1. Words cannot describe how it feels to see Harry Kewell back on the pitch again. One can’t help but sympathize with the guy; he’s had some problems in the past, with ankles and groins (who doesn’t, really?) but this most recent spell on the sidelines made a lot of people wonder if maybe this was it — that, like Owen before him, injuries would completely decimate the rest of his playing career. Indeed, his performance today wasn’t exactly game-changing, and his usual blistering speed has really suffered, but he kept up with the play of his team and seemed to have a good understanding with Kuyt and Torres. All we can ask of him as fans is that he keeps working to get back to full strength/speed. But for his first start in 18 months, that was pretty satisfying.

2. More proof that the 3-5-2 is not a formation to be toyed with: In the 05/06 season (March, at St. James Park), Rafa played 3-5-2 against Newcastle to great success, using Carragher, Hyypia, and Agger as the defensive trio, and Kromkamp and Riise as the wingbacks. Allardyce either doesn’t have the personnel, or the personnel can’t execute such a scheme, as it allowed Liverpool to dominate both possession- and pressure-wise at the start of the match, a pattern that never let up even when the manager readjusted to a 4-4-2. Newcastle were messy, to say the least. The midfield five congealed like lard, and the back three were diagramatically confused.

3. Momo Sissoko trying to grow his hair in = me trying to keep a plant alive. An ugly and ultimately futile process.

4. This was also Lucas Leiva’s first Premiership start for Liverpool, and he exhibited curious hints of his abilities and limitations, successful in starting a lot of attacking plays but also a bit sloppy with some of his passes. Defensively, he didn’t have much to do, as Newcastle were mostly content to muddle themselves up in the midfield rather than force Liverpool to stop them. Still not sure what he can offer that either Alonso or Mascherano can’t, though. My guess is he’ll be off to Spain in a season or two, unless the Mascherano deal doesn’t go through or Alonso is tempted away.

5. English football fans, for all they are an ornery bunch, also have that wry humor ingrained in them — they can boo Steven Gerrard on every corner kick, but they can also sing “we’ve only had one shot” to reflect their team’s sordid level of play. That is, until Alan Smith skied a hopeful chance, upon which the boo-boys modified the lyric to “we’ve only had two shots.” Clever, that. On a more serious note, the fact that the boos were quickly turned upon the Newcastle players and coaching staff may say something about England fans — at the end of the week, I think most still care more about their club than their country.

6. I’m no Ingerlund fan, but even I have to shudder when stopping to consider that Sam Allardyce volunteered his services to England at the same time as McClaren. Could we trace the England crisis to the dearth of good English managers, perhaps? I can’t think of a single one in the Prem — the top four teams all have foreigners at the helm, and even the FA’s preferred successor was O’Neill, a Northern Irishman. Perhaps the FA should look at their own hiring policies before attempting to impose an embargo on foreign players.

7. I just realized that I’ve typed 700+ words without even mentioning the goals. Very well — Gerrard’s was a beauty, Kuyt’s was beautifully set up, and Babel’s was beautifully crafted. Aside from a deflection off a Newcastle defender, that last goal saw eighteen Liverpool touches in the build-up, including the final three in a give-and-go between Babel and Gerrard before the Dutchman’s shot beat Given from an angle. And while eighteen touches still can’t compare to the most beautiful team goal of all time, for Liverpool it is certainly one of the season highlights so far.

8. Let’s face it, Torres should have scored six goals this morning. Given thwarted him several times, the post once, a defender once, and he scuffed a couple wide — and I’m going to criticize him for it. When his team is creating so many chances for him, it’s unthinkable that he can’t put at least one of those away. Then again, at Atlético he was the prince of wasted chances, so I’m far from surprised. His biggest contribution on the afternoon, taking away all those chances, was his ability to monopolize the attention of the Newcastle defenders, winning free kicks and generally being a little worm, as he is wont to do. But he was bought to score goals. I’ve already made my concession; now Torres has to earn his keep.

9. If I hear one more complaint about Rafa’s “rotation policy” I will puke on myself, collect the vomit in a resealable zip-lock bag, and air-mail it to the offending pundit/commentator. Why isn’t there fuss being made about Sir Red Face Ferguson, who routinely makes “adjustments” to his lineups? — in fact, show me a Premiership manager who does not tinker with his starting XI. The ones who don’t are either limited by injuries or lack depth in the roster.

Dream deferred

Jesus, I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, trying to start a blog my senior year of college.

As my friend Tim pointed out, at least the early hiatus of the blog fits in nicely with its title. In the meantime, two soccer blogs that do it more frequently and better than I do:

Pitch Invasion
The Run of Play (check out Tuesday’s profile on Steven Gerrard)

Hockey later. This warrants a post of its own:

I am now Facebook friends with Paul Tomkins.

This is a weird return

Because I have nothing to talk about. My internet connection at home, once sparkly, has now revealed its true self as a beacon of instability, so much that I can’t stream games anymore.

My solution? Radio. It’s amazing how much radio is making me rediscover respect for the spoken word. I’ve been doing live broadcasts for my school’s soccer teams for almost two years now, and there’s nothing harder (in terms of driving past the brain/mouth barrier) or more rewarding (when the words come out and they sound right). So what has prevented me from writing for so long?

It all comes down to this. However brilliant radio is, it’s still cramping my blogging style. 1) It’s impossible to write About That Game segments without visuals. 1a) There’s no visual pleasure, and thus no written pleasure. 1b) There’s no visual evidence, and thus no written evidence.

In a strange series of mind shifts, I’m starting to re-evaluate my strengths as an amateur commentator of sports. I depend too much on the ability to edit, to consider which thoughts are worth jotting down and which can be thrown to the wind. I’ve struggled at times when broadcasting simply because the right words don’t come to mind, or else I get wild and reactionary toward what’s going on in the game and can’t concentrate on speaking at all.

(…)

All that being said, I’ll be back with a hockey post sometime in the future. Hockey has sort of taken over my life recently, in a sort of primal way that makes me feel like a little kid again. Half of the joy I get from sports is the endless feelings of discovery and awe, and in the past couple of weeks, nothing has taken my breath away quite like hockey.

Take this Toews goal and chew on it for awhile:

The only possible thing that could make me like Fernando Torres even a little itsy bitsy bit

… is finding out that he is a strong candidate for OCD:

“I’m very manic. I combed my hair into a crest because a friend suggested it and from that moment I started to score goals,” he said. “I always repeat what I did the day before a game if I’ve scored. So, if when I score I’d stood up on the coach on the way to the game, I’ll stand up again. If I’d spoken to someone, I’ll speak to them again. I always repeat it.”

As a “football obsessive,” the only thing that ever impresses me about footballers’ private lives is the knowledge that they are just as strange or ritualistic as me. Information like what Torres described to UEFA Champions League magazine means two things:

1. That they are as much of a fan of the game as I am. One would think that’s a given, since they are paid gobs of money to play the game, but I’ve been unpleasantly surprised in the past by indications that star players sometimes have zero interest in the game as an entity separate from their job description. When footballers start talking about their own football-watching routines, that sends a happy little jolt of recognition down my spine.

2. That they can be just as irrational as any other fan. The capacity for developing dumb habits is universal, and not at all limited to sports fans, but those little peculiarities of fan culture are what links us together — almost as much as the teams we support. And footballers, well, their kind of crazy allows for a certain kind of identification with the fans.

The jury was returned a long time ago regarding Torres’s status in my mind, but there, I’ve made the first compromise. His end of the bargain must be paid with goals. It’s only fair, after all.

Live text updates: Chicago Maroons-W 0-0 Emory Eagles-W (OT)

Please send e-mails to gomaroons@gmail.com with comments/feedback, and thanks so much for sticking with us through our technical difficulties.

We’ve kicked off.

4′ A neat switch by Nachtergaele finds Ndyabagye on the right wing, but both teams are still lacking any sort of coherency on the pitch.

7′ A lot of the Maroons’ play is going through Ndyabagye right now, who is getting a lot of space along the right channel. She wins a corner, which is taken by Denz and cleared out as far as Nachtergaele. She slides it back to Catalano, who steps up and sends a perfectly weighted cross up for Farmer … who is again adjudged to be minutely offside.

9′ Haiku #46, by Emerald:

Like the summer leaves,
your Go Maroons broadcasters
are wilted by heat.

And the first OT period ends with the game still knotted at 0-0, though there’s been some glimpses of life.

Tim wants to add his own Haiku, but I think it still needs some work:

Like a spider perched,
we are waiting for a goal
but it’s not coming.

12′ Emory wins a free kick, their first real chance of OT, but it amounts to nothing.

15′ Racine, inexplicably, steps up to intercept a free kick, and earns a yellow card for her imitation of a human pinball bumper.

19′ One minute left and still no dice.

A fair result in the UAA opener for the Maroons, but the on-field performance was a bit of a let-down after Tuesday’s second half effort. Thanks for sticking with us through this long and silent afternoon. We’ll see you on Wednesday for the men’s game against UW-Whitewater.

Live text updates: Chicago Maroons-W 0-0 Emory Eagles-W (FT)

Please send e-mails to gomaroons@gmail.com with comments/feedback, and thanks so much for sticking with us through our technical difficulties.

We’re a minute away from the second half. Sit back and enjoy!

46′ Fifteen seconds into the second half, Claire Gill cracks a left footed shot over the bar — an early signal of attacking intent?

49′ Good hold-up play from Bontz as she has her back to the goal, but she turns and finds a pass forward to Farmer. The ball hits a divot or gopher hole before she can take her shot, though, and it is cleared away from harm.

51′ Sustained pressure from the Maroons, as the ball pings around in Eagles territory, before it ricocches off a defender and falls to Farmer, who is adjudged to be in an offside position.

52′ Klamann has the Maroons’ best chance of the half so far, latching onto a soft clearance from G. Lam and nudges past her defender. But her toepoke is saved by Fedeles at point-blank range.

54′ The Maroons escape a close call as the ball is kept in near the Maroons’ touchline, and Sutter falls as she comes out to collect the ball. English tries to chip the ball across the face of goal, but no one is there for the tap-in, and Denz comes across the clear the ball.

65′ Nothing much for the last ten minutes, but now we have an interesting development for the Maroons. Coach Reifert has opted to rest Bontz and use Eva DeLaurentiis as an auxiliary forward — normally a very physical midfielder, it will be interesting to see how this experiment plays out.

68′ A hopeful long shot by defender Racine takes a hop inside the box but Sutter is equal to the attempt. Then, Manuelli is sent running by a neat pass into the box, but before she can control the ball or take a shot, she is tackled expertly from behind. Farmer is now going to make way for Bontz, with Reifert opting for a more physical presence up top.

76′ Some solid defending from Costich, as she battles substitute forward Lauren Smith for the ball inside the Chicago box, and Ndyabagye, who comes over to help. We can only bring you individual highlights like these right now, as the game has lacked shape and pace for most of the second half.

81′ Great effort by recent substitute Manuelli, who takes it up the left sideline almost the entire length of the Eagles territory, before being stopped by a couple of defenders. Reifert and the Chicago bench are engaging in some very vocal encouragement for their teammates.

83′ There’s a circus in the Emory box, as Ndyabagye pierces the defense, only for her shot to be deflected by a defender as Fedeles comes rushing out. There are a couple of defenders on hand to clear the ball.

84′ Off a free kick, Nachtergaele sends the ball into the box, but Gill is unable to control the ball, and the chance is lost. Still, a positive burst of activity from the Maroons.

86′ A nervewracking moment for coach and fans alike, as second-year sensation Meyer is seen limping heavily on the pitch. Finally, play is stopped, and Catalano comes into central defense as the physios evaluate the extent of her injury.

88′ Scherer unleashes a solid tackle on English as the Eagle surge forward, sending the ball out for a corner. Bryan is the one who gets a touch from the inswinging ball, and Sutter makes a crucial save at her far post.

90′ Bontz has Chicago’s last chance of the game, as she bides her time with three defenders around. Finally cutting the ball back onto her dominant right foot, she can only whiff her shot directly into Fedeles’s arms.

Regulation ends with a 0-0 score, with neither team able to do much offensively. Stay tuned for overtime coverage, which will be on a new post. Thanks for sticking around (and upping my blog stats)!

Overtime live text here!

Live text updates: Chicago Maroons-W 0-0 Emory Eagles-W (1st half)

Ten minutes until kickoff, we’ll bring you all the text updates through the game. Sorry about the technical difficulties.

Chicago lineup: Sutter; Costich, Meyer, Scherer, Denz; Ndyabagye, Gill, Nachtergaele, Klamann; Bontz; Farmer.

Emory lineup: Fedeles; Lam (Grace), Racine, Manseau, Toohey; Lydon, Wahr, Vankineni, Lam (Joyce); Levy, English.

And we’ve kicked off.

4′ A move starting in the midfield with second-year winger Klamann results in a cross, which is dropped by Eagles goalkeeper Fedeles. Ndyabagye can’t get back to it, though, but wins a corner for the Maroons. Denz will take all of the free kicks/corners in the absence of fourth-year defender Catalano, who is, in true U of C fashion, taking her LSATs today.

5′ Emory comes back with a dangerous cross sent into the box by J. Lam, but the intended player just misses connecting with the ball.

6′ Farmer tries a shot from 20 yds out, but it’s straight at Fedeles and the keeper collects easily.

8′ English is nearly released with a ball played in between the central defenders, but Sutter, who is coming back from a bruised knee, sees the danger and rushes out of her box for the clearance.

14′ After some good possession in the Maroons’ half, J. Lam sends in a cross that bypasses everybody, and nearly bounces over the head of Sutter, who is just able to get her fingers on the ball. No matter — an Emory attacker was ruled offside.

16′ Farmer nearly latches onto a release by Bontz, but Fedeles is able to smother the ball. The Maroon attack has done a good job putting pressure on the Emory defense and goalkeeper so far. Catalano, back from her brain exercise, has now run onto the sideline and is warming up.

18′ Great defending by Scherer, who is at a height/weight disadvantage going up against Emory’s star forward English. But Scherer uses her body positioning to prevent English from getting a clear touch on the ball inside the box, and winning a free kick in the process.

23′ Sutter makes an incredible save from forward Ward on a one-on-one situation that might have been offside. Levy rushed up for the rebound shot, but was blocked by Costich. Second-year midfielder Molly Costich checks in for Klamann.

30′ Fourth-year midfielder Eva DeLaurentiis checks in for Nachtergaele. The game has been thrumming at a middling pace for the last ten minutes or so, with some nervous moments for both teams but also not many concrete chances.

31′ One of the best chances for Emory this half — J. Lam, free inside the box, gets a strong header off a cross by English, but it trickles just wide of Sutter’s near post. First years Katie Manuelli and Emily Benoit check in for Ndyabagye and Gill. Manuelli gets involved in the attack immediately, taking the ball up the right sideline, but her cross lacks direction.

40′ Both teams have looked a bit disorganized, until substitute forward Shayna Bryan breaks free of the Maroon defense, only to send a weak shot that doesn’t even reach Sutter — Meyer comes back to clear that ball.

41′ A neat one-two between sub Kennedy-Darling and Farmer leads to the former taking a shot that is blocked by the defender; her rebound shot is low and straight at Fedeles, who has been uninvolved since the first few Maroon attacks.

45′ A pretty evenly-matched first half ends goalless. The Maroons started strong, consistenly testing Fedeles, but dropped off a bit toward the latter half. The Eagles have not looked better nor worse than the Maroons, creating a handful of situations. Chicago goalkeeper Sutter has collected a couple of good saves, and looks sharp after being taken out of the last match with a bruised knee.

We’ll have second-half coverage in a separate post; check back for the link, or refresh the front page of the blog in about 12 minutes. Thanks for putting up with this non-audio, non-interactive gameday “broadcast.”

Second half live-text updates here.

Live text updates: Chicago Maroons 2-3 Emory Eagles (2OT)

Please send e-mails to gomaroons@gmail.com with comments/feedback, and thanks so much for sticking with us through our technical difficulties.

Both teams are huddling in their respective halves of the pitch as we wait to start the first period of overtime. The first team to score will take the result, and if the score remains scoreless after two 10-min periods, the game will be logged as a tie.

For the Maroons, a banged-up Hughes has been replaced by Iatarola, but otherwise, the lineup remains the same.

2′ Baron is forced to make a frantic save at his far post. From the corner kick, Baron misses his attempted punch, but is able to clean up as the Eagles have no one in the box.

4′ A neat move by Fitzgerald on the left leaves him enough room to send a cross in for Friloux, who is unable to connect as his defender clears the ball.

8′ Heart-in-mouth stuff as the Maroons escape by the skin of their teeth — or the bottom of the crossbar, as it were. Carver pulls away from his defender to send a header over Baron and off the underside of the bar. After a bounce, Steinart lumps it out for an Eagles corner.

10′ End of the first OT period, with some good chances created by both sides. A quick two minute break, and we’ll bring you the second OT period in this same post.

11′ And we’re off …

12′ And we’re done, just like that. GOAL for Emory, by Carver the invisible man. He gets past Steinart after the ball goes uncleared in the backfield, and his shot gave Baron no chance at all. Chicago 2-3 Emory is your final score, thanks for sticking around.

Live text updates: Chicago Maroons 2-2 Emory Eagles (FT)

Please send e-mails to gomaroons@gmail.com with comments/feedback, and thanks so much for sticking with us through our technical difficulties.

There have been two changes made to the Chicago lineup at the start the second half — Guerra starts ahead of Manners, and Friloux will play up top, with Hamilton dropping back into the midfield.

The second half has started.

46′ A dangerous set piece for the Eagles along the right channel. Carver takes the free kick, and it floats over everybody to bounce out just past the near post.

50′ A clever move by Clifford earns the Maroons a free kick in the right channel. Cartwright’s delivery finds Guerra near the far post, who rises over everybody to send a header just past the goalpost.

55′ In a scene that’s quickly becoming commonplace, McFarland is released by an early pass, but a determined Hughes keeps with him the entire way to the byline, forcing him to try a cross, which Steinart clears with a diving header.

60′ An Emory free kick in a central spot is taken by Carver, but Steinart rises above the opposition to clear the ball out. Emory has looked more comfortable in the second half so far, with Chicago still trying to adjust to the halftime changes by Coach Wiercinski.

62′ A searing run from Farias-Eisner takes him past two defenders, but his short cross catches Hamilton in an offside position.

62′ Emory brings the action back toward Chicago’s goal, as a ball is laid back to Del Marmol, who flashes a speculative shot past Baron’s far post.

64′ Better pressure by Chicago, as Clifford gets the ball near the top of the Emory box. His shot is deflected only as far as the onrushing Cartwright, who takes a hard, low shot that swerves past Meehan’s goal.

67′ Fitzgerald comes in to relieve Guerra on the left wing, and immediately wins a free kick about 30 yds out. Clifford’s delivery nearly searches out Steinart at the near post, but the ball goes out of bounds for an Emory goal kick.

70′ An awful back-header to Meehan nearly resulted in an own goal, just slipping out the goalline but Chicago is unable to take advantage of the resulting corner. Credit goes to first-year goalkeeper Baron, whose box-to-box goal kick was the impetus that nearly drove Emory to disaster.

A triple change for the Maroons: Mike Glass in for Farias-Eisner, Guerra in for Hamilton, and first-year defender Cory Herrick in for Marshall.

73′ GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! Clifford with his second of the game, set up beautifully by Fitzgerald and Friloux. Taking on a couple of defenders on the left edge of the box, Fitzgerald is able to deke his way into space, look up, pick his spot, and send in a cross. Friloux, rushing in, dummies his shot, leaving the ball for Clifford, who has the easiest of finishes in the middle of the box. Chicago 2-1 Emory, with Clifford racking up the points.

79′ Goal? Goal! Pandemonium on the pitch as the Eagles seemed to have a ball cleared off the line by Steinart, only for the sideline ref to indicate that the ball had passed the goalline. An awkward header by Hughes fell for McFarland, who chipped the ball over an onrushing Baron. Steinart got back to the line to clear the ball, but after a minute of deliberation between referees, the goal was awarded to Emory. Chicago 2-2 Emory

80′ The Maroons try to regain the lead, and it’s Clifford again on the right, trying to battle his way into the box. The ball eventually ends up at the feet of Fitzgerald, whose cross is just missed by Friloux.

82′ It’s Chicago’s turn to flirt with calamity — on a relatively tame Emory play, Baron calls for the ball but Steinart’s back-header was short. Carver nearly slides in between the two to score the go-ahead goal, but his shot flashes past the post, with Marshall ushering it out safely.

86′ Fitzgerald receives the ball with his back to goal, turns, and unleashes a hard shot which goes straight to Meehan. A nicely taken half-chance from outside the area.

88′ McFarland is again at the cusp of stealing the game for the Eagles, finding acres of open space after an attacking play breaks down for the Maroons. With Carver rushing in on the other wing, McFarland chooses to take his chance, and misses the near post by inches.

89′ 20 seconds before the end of regulation, McFarland finds a free header inside the box, but it bounces tamely wide of the net.

90′ The game ends on a 2-2 tie, and we go to sudden death overtime! Stick around and we’ll bring that to you live, again in a separate post. Thanks for bearing with us on this most technologically challenged of game days.

Overtime action here.

Live text updates: Chicago Maroons 1-1 Emory Eagles (halftime)

Please send e-mails to gomaroons@gmail.com with comments/feedback, and thanks so much for sticking with us through our technical difficulties.

Starting Lineups

For Chicago: Baron; Cartwright, Steinart, Hughes, Marshall; Farias-Eisner, Phelps; Clifford, Manners, Fitzgerald; Hamilton

For Emory: Meehan; Roche, Jakubowski, Waxman, Laney; Diego, Del Marmol, Eisen-Markowitz; Carver, McFarland, Zalk

Game has started.

3′ The Maroons are starting out strong, pressuring in the opponents’ half and forcing Emory to play the ball back to their keeper on multiple occasions.

4′ Emory gets their first chance of the game as Edelman sends the ball into the box for Deigo. His attempted cross is deflected out by a Chicago defender, and Emory wins the first corner of the game. A left-footed inswinger taken by Eisen-Markwitz was cleared out by Manners, a rebound was cleared by Marshall, and a second rebound ball was finally grabbed by Baron.

10′ GOAL!!! Ball tackled well by Phelps in the midfield, and sent over to Farias-Eisner, whose long switch found Clifford on the left wing. Clifford took the ball around an Emory defender and, from a difficult angle, finished a low, right-footed shot into the far side of the netting. Chicago 1-0 Emory on another classic goal by first-year forward Alex Clifford.

15′ First-year defender Steinart’s height comes in handy as a high ball searches out McFarland near the top of the Chicago box. Using his frame, Steinart insinuated himself in between the forward and the ball, and was dragged down for a whistled call.

17′ McFarland takes on Hughes on the left channel, and sends a high cross over the head of Marshall for Zalk. Zalk’s attempted pass across the top of the box is intercepted nicely by Farias-Eisner, who is having another strong performance this morning.

20′ Jan-Michael Guerra checks in for Kenzo Manners, and immediately makes an impact. Some nice one-touch passing in the midfield results in Marshall sending a left-footed cross, which was cleared out for a Chicago corner.

22′ McFarland is released by an early pass, but his first touch takes it away from him, allowing Hughes enough time to get back and make a tackle just inside the Chicago box that bounces out off McFarland. Emory is regaining some momentum with a few adept passes, but their final touches are letting them down so far.

30′ The Maroons do a bit of clean-up work in the back as a long throw-in allows Emory to crowd the Chicago box. Cartwright and Hamilton both get crucial clearances as Emory has stepped up a gear, trying to get back into the game.

30′ A strong challenge at the top of the box leaves second-year central defender Hughes in some pain. He’s had a few nagging injuries in the early season stretch, and he is promptly replaced by Gabe Iatarola, with Cartwright slotting back into central defense.

32′ A foul by Iatarola gives Emory a dangerous free kick about 20 yds out. Edelman’s delivery somehow misses two Emory heads inside the box, and is cleared out by Marshall. Friloux checks in for Clifford.

34′ Meehan makes a crucial stop for Emory as Fitzgerald is released by an incisive pass from Farias-Eisner, rushing out to smother the ball at the top of the box. Emory dodges a potential bullet there.

37′ Lobell replaces Hamilton, pushing Friloux up front and adding more speed in the midfield. Emory gives up a free kick, which Marshall puts up high and fast, but straight at the keeper.

39′ GOAL! Emory ties up the game through substitute forward Scannapieco. Off a long throw-in, Steinart was only able to redirect the ball toward the spot, and Scannapieco was on hand to poke it into the back of the net. Chicago 1-1 Emory

45′ The Maroons win one last corner before halftime. Lobell takes it long, Meehan gets a fingertips touch on the ball, and Steinart’s second-time cross is unable to seek out a shot inside the ball, and gathered up by the keeper.

The two teams go into the half with a tie score. We’ll start a new post for the second half, so stick around! We are going to post the full first half audio somewhere, and I’ll post the link as soon as it gets uploaded. Thanks for your support!

Second half updates here.

Skypecast?

Working on it right now, it would be great to have some kind of audio. We’ll keep you posted!

Notice

Regular (in)activity on this blog will be suspended this afternoon, as I need to use this space for Go Maroons purposes. Our regular server is down, the new server has yet to be configured to broadcast over the internet, so we are relying on live-text updates so that Maroons parents and fans can follow the game.

Apologies to anyone who was hoping to hear about the Liverpool game; we couldn’t get a working stream, and they played badly anyway. (The game is not yet over; we harbor second half hopes, etc.)

Maroons fans: Please enjoy the text updates.

Emerald (and Sean, and Tim)

Changes are a-comin’

[Liverpool] I wanted to say more about the Porto match, how slow Liverpool looked all game and how lucky they were to escape with one point, but after reading the injury reports today, it’s evident that Rafa was not able send out his preferred starting XI. Not that it’s any excuse — Gerrard was largely invisible, Torres was deprived of both possession and space, and Babel had no clue what he was doing or even where he was. The touch was abysmal and the creativity was as far off as a science fiction dream. Pennant’s sending-off put an underline of frustration on the overall performance, and it’s clear that the international break has, in true form, caused more harm than good for the club.

About the injuries: Both Daniel Agger and Xabi Alonso are expected to be out of commission for six weeks. This is a huge loss, a sucker punch to the gut. Alonso had been in his best form of the last 12 months, and Agger’s importance to the team was proved by Sami Hyypia’s inability to react to Lucho Gonzalez’s pass and the penalty that resulted, and perhaps augmented even more by the lack of another Prem-proven central defender should either Hyypia or Carragher suffer injuries in the near future.

Before the international break, a lot of Liverpool fans felt buoyant enough about the club’s performances to make noise about Number Nineteen. Now? Well, Gerrard’s return from injury should offset the playmaking gap that Alonso has left, and Hyypia’s experience should serve the club, but there’s no denying that both us and Rafa would feel much better about the state of things were the two players available rather than absent. Add to that the two most recent lackluster performances, and the little man living in the back of my brain is dangerously close to ringing his tiny alarm bell. I’m still optimistic about the season, but there’s no denying that the early season momentum has competely dissipated.

[Everyday I become more and more grateful that I don’t support this club] The Mourinho Era has (mercifully?) ended at Chelsea. I have two distinct reactions to this news:

1) Benitez lasted longer. Don’t be mistaken — I’m not crowing, not at all. But it does give me hope that there’s still something to be said for nonvolatile relationships between manager and club. Rejoice, if you will, for the ideal still has its place in English football — for now, at least.

2) The only downside about the Mourinho Era being over is that Abramovic is still alive and well and in control. If he is who we think his is, then his invisible, powerful machine that runs on money, manipulation, and a sort of Soviet ruthlessness will only produce more of the same, no matter who’s in charge, and Mourinho will not have made as singular an effect on the league as everybody originally thought.

Other than that, I’m still processing this information, like most other people are. A story like this you could almost see coming from the very beginning of the season, but it’s no less astonishing when it finally happens.

[Friday Night Lights] You can watch the first episode of Season 2 here.

Early analytics

Just a quick tidbit: The most popular search item leading to my blog so far is either “Aaron Rodgers facial hair” or “Aaron Rodgers Fu Manchu.”

Also, I’ve crossed the 1,000-hit mark in less than a month. I don’t know if most of you are repeat visitors or something, but please feel free to comment and let me know how I’m doing so far! Again, I apologize for the lack of consistent content, since I’m still trying to hook my new apartment into the internet (read: elixir of life), but things should get better. I also blame the international break. I pretty much hate international breaks. But I’m sure I’ll be bitching about that throughout the season, so I’ll end this post on a positive note — feedback, flames, exorbitant praise, YOUR POKEMANS, SHOW ME THEM.

Because video game commercials are just that riveting

Sometimes a commercial is just a commercial, and other times … it’s not. While watching Sunday Night Football (aka “Sunday Night Is Football Night in America,” or SNIFNIA for short), I started thinking, and thinking turned into clicking my YouTube search bar, and that turned into this post.

1.

Field Generals – Madden 08

Somehow this commercial makes me antsy for Season 2 of Friday Night Lights. Maybe it’s the music, the sweeping 6/8 instrumentals. Maybe it’s the narration: “Somewhere along the way you lost a step. You swapped two-a-days for eight-hour days. You surrendered tackles for timecards.” It could even be the cheesy pastiche of American everydaymen wasting away their sad-sack lives in front of the game console.

Whatever it is, it makes me wish I were actually any good at Madden, and could join in the carnival of self-indulgence. I played it once while drunk off my face, and could not figure out how to throw the ball. I’m pretty sure I had Rex Grossman trying to run the ball on every play, which, given the current state of his ball handling, is something that should be kept a fantasy.

2.

Leave Nothing – Nike

This music is from Last of the Mohicans, which is one of my guilty pleasure movies, no joke. I love that it’s such an unmanly song when taken on its own (hello, Riverdance?), and yet I’ll always associate it with war, and battle. I love the trick editing, I love the shaky camerawork, I love the progression through the seasons and the stadiums, I love the shift in POV from defense to offense. So excellent that it makes you lose track of what the commercial is trying to sell — no, really, what are we supposed to be buying here? The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack? Because I already own it, sorry Nike.

3. Unrelated to commercials: I love Keith Olbermann. I love what he’s doing to SNIFNIA. I will probably love TKO reports. I love his voice, the monologues, the way he brings out the best in his cohosts. God, Keith Olbermann, please just stay by our side forever.

About That Game: USA vs Brazil

So here’s what went down on Sunday: Resembling a pot roast (seriously, kids, if you’re gonna do a radio broadcast outside for five hours, you should wear sunscreen), I took the bus up to Soldier Field, which is an experiment-turned-identity crisis, what with the spaceship clashing with the old austere columns. The lack of any box office signage is pretty disastrous as well. A bunch of people stood in the will call line for god knows how long until some kind-hearted security dude finally pointed out that people needing to purchase tickets needed to proceed elsewhere.

Thankfully, my friend Mark (who does scouting for the USMNT) met me with the tickets, so I wasn’t stuck in the sweltering mass of sun-baked flesh for long. After meeting up with Sean and circling back around the stadium (SIGNS, PEOPLE, THEY ARE GENERALLY HELPFUL THINGS TO HAVE AROUND), we found out that our seats were in the shade near one of the corner flags in row 15, which, needless to say, is pretty damn close to the pitch.

We had a great view of some of Howard’s saves in the first half

Still without internet, but with free tickets

The Bears play at San Diego this afternoon, and I wish to god I could sit on my ass somewhere and blog the game, but instead, I’ll be at Soldier Field watching the USMNT take on Brazil. I’ll be wearing my anti-joga bonito shirt, and I’ll be with friends, and it will be a rolicking good time.

All that is rotten in the state of Valencia

Los Che may play some of the prettiest football I’ve seen in Spain, but behind the scenes they are one of the most complex animals I’ve ever come across. Many fans, including myself, thought we’d seen the worst of the worst, with Amedeo Carboni’s antics of last season. The man is gone, but internal squabbing remains a problem.

Earlier today, perennially-injured left winger Vicente lashed out at the club’s medical team, for comments made by head doctor Antonio Giner that suggest that the root of his malaise was psychological. Vicente, who played well and scored in the first leg of the third Champions League qualifying round (vs Elfsborg), insists that psychology has nothing to do with it. He’s been in and out of the medical examiner’s room on a rotating door basis for the past three or four seasons, so much that you have to wonder if he’ll ever return to the devastating form he showed under Rafa Benitez.

The club has handled this most recent outburst the way they’ve handled previous outbursts: by opening a disciplinary case against the player. Whether this will further fracture the relationship between player and club remains to be seen; Valencia’s steeled itself against worse, and Vicente, with his neverending list of knocks and niggles, may very well have to be considered expendable in the near future. The only problem with selling a player of his caliber is that Gavilán, his projected successor, is also injury-prone — two games into the season and he is already out.

With Regueiro (the other potential backup) gone, the job could go to Silva, but Silva is much more useful in a central, roaming position. So what does Quique Flores do? He recalls Mata, the 19-year-old signing from Madrid, who was supposed to go to Getafe for the season. But with Asier Del Horno (the only other reliable left-sided player in the squad, who, surprise surprise, doesn’t have the most reliable fitness either) on loan to Athletic Bilbao, Mata is the only option. He started in the lineup last weekend against Almería, so we can only hope for the best.

What a mess. Then again, this state of chaos is nothing new to Valencia.

Finding baseball at Wrigley Field on a Tuesday night

September 4, 2007
Cubs 2, Dodgers 6

Last night I kept a scorecard for the very first time. It was only innings six through nine, and I made a couple of mistakes, but that hour’s task managed to change my perspective on baseball yet again.

I don’t have an excuse for not liking baseball. I attended A’s games fairly regularly while in high school, and I followed the team faithfully until I went to Chicago for university. To this day, there’s nothing quite like attending a baseball game on a summer night with a couple of good friends. But speaking as a connoisseur of open-field sports, I find the geometry of the game ominous, the fans’ reliance on statistics boorish, the price of concessions tyrannical, and peanut shells exceedingly hard to crack. The one White Sox game I’ve attended in three years of living on the South Side was a disappointment to fan culture — the people around me seemed more interested in talking on their cell phones than in the game. But old habits die hard, and I’ve been clinging to what I like to call my “baseball moment” — just before the pitcher releases the ball, when everything is set into motion — a clarion half-second that dangles all its possibilites, like hostages, over a bridge, and then lets go.

Let me start at the beginning. My friend Sean is an intern with the Cubs, and he invited me to the Cubs-Dodgers game. We had fantastic seats about fifteen rows back behind home plate. And let me tell you, sitting in the terrace seats may be a cheap thrill, but the wall of noise that hits you when you’re seated at the nucleus of the action is another thing altogether. And Wrigley Field, well, they make a lot of noise over there.

About That Game, Stunted Edition: Liverpool vs Derby County

Holy shit.

For the first time in five seasons, I feel that tingly sensation, that blossoming hope in the bottom of my little black heart, that Liverpool can win the Premiership.

Well done, team. Well and truly done.

A dispatch from the land of no internet

It’ll be a couple of days until I get things up and running again, but never fear, here’s a tidbit just to tide me over.

[Champions League draw] Liverpool are in Group A along with Porto, Olympique Marseilles, and Besiktas, which is fairly good competition, in my opinion, but nothing to get wrecked over.

Valencia will be facing Chelsea twice in Group B.

I think Group E (Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Rangers) will be the least predictable, with Group C (Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Lazio, and Olympiakos) a close second in that respect.

More thoughts on that later, perhaps.

Pax eterna.

Before the game tonight, everybody inside Anfield stadium took a moment of silence to honor the memory of Rhys Jones, and 11-year-old Everton fan who was shot dead in Croxteth Park a week ago. From the Guardian report:

At the request of thousands of Liverpool supporters via website message boards and following consultation between chief executive Rick Parry and the family of the murdered schoolboy, the Z-Cars theme synonymous with rivals Everton sounded for the first time inside this stadium. Rhys’ parents, Stephen and Melanie, and brother Owen, again put football into perspective as they stood on the touchline throughout an emotional tribute for the second time in four days, a visibly moved Benítez embracing Melanie Jones at its conclusion. This was a show of unity not seen between the city rivals since the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and a far cry from the poisonous atmosphere and petty point-scoring that has developed between the clubs in the intervening years.

It’s been a harsh week for football:

Anton Reid, a Walsall trainee, collapsed and died at his training ground last week. He was 16.

Ray Jones, of QPR, died in a car crash last Friday. He was 18.

And finally, after three days in the hospital, Sevilla’s 22-year-old Antonio Puerta died of multiple organ failure.

It’s a confusing place to be, but there’s not much to say about the tragedies that have occurred, except to realize that life is so very precious, and that we should all be out there living. May these boys and men rest in peace.

About That Game: Liverpool vs Toulouse (CL qual.)

1. I never thought Momo Sissoko could ever inspire a chorus of “shooooooooot” from the Anfield faithful, but I suppose there’s a time for everything. His accuracy doesn’t seem to have improved with the encouragement, but his passing certainly looks more confident. Whether he is riding a high or experiencing a true transformation remains to be seen, though.

Watching the bossman play is like watching a painter struggling to put the finishing touches on a portrait. He hasn’t forgotten the ears or the mouth or anything like that, but you know that it could use something extra, a certain daub of paint or a gleam in the eye; it’s also missing the slick finish. But even though it’s an unfinished product, it’s still got a powerful effect on the viewer.

2. I wish I could say that it doesn’t matter what a player says off the pitch as long as he gets us the results on it, but that’s patently untrue. Benayoun’s complaints about not getting enough playing time were ridiculous, yes, but it’s not the petulance or the untimeliness of the outburst that offends me, but rather the roving microscope he’s effectively placed over his own head. Just because I am a dedicated fan doesn’t mean I’m not also a lazy one, and I resent having to monitor any one player too carefully a mere two and a half weeks into the season. I use “monitor” for lack of a better term, but it’s not cancerous cell growth I’m watching for, more like signs, little character flaws with which to judge them. That sounds terrible, but I’m hardly the only one who does it.

But now that he’s seeing playing time, let’s evaluate his playing, shall we? He took awhile to get going, but then the passes started connecting, and his interplay with the two strikers was notable, if not dazzling. (Then again, not much in the first half was dazzling — simply economical.)

3. Fitz124 from TheFc100 asked whether Rafa would be able to placate all of his players’ demands, given the size of the squad this season, and while no fan will ever be able to answer the question definitively, I think today’s formation gives us a bit of a hint of just how many different teams Rafa is prepared to use over the course of the season.

I don’t think he’ll have a constantly rotating lineup (tweaks are only to be expected), and the key is for all the players to realize that they were bought for a reason — to fit into a certain system of football. The good thing about having such a deep roster is that none of the players are completely interchangeable. All four of the strikers play incredibly diverse roles, and all of them will see significant playing time this season, in my opinion.

Crouch’s goal, for instance, was a beauty, something only he could have scored with that leg span of his. The great thing about having a versatile attack is that it makes the opponents’ job that much more difficult. Do you plan for a Torres-Kuyt attack? Or Crouch-Torres? Or Voronin-Kuyt? Obviously, it’s not merely a question of whether the benefits outweigh the potential player discontentment from a manager’s point of view, but also a matter of each player’s willingness to accept their place in the organization of the squad. Rafa’s style depends highly on discipline on and off the pitch, a very Foucault approach to team management, maybe, but one that’s been scarily successful for him so far in his career.

5. (continued from part 4) To be honest, I’m more worried about the midfield shuffle, and I have been since January. The arrival of Mascherano had a complicated effect on the midfield because he came when Sissoko was out with an injury and Alonso was playing some of the worst football we’d seen from him. And because he played like he was tailor-made for Rafa’s system — defensively solid enough to allow his midfield partner ample space for creative uses, yet adroit enough to insinuate himself in the proceedings if he needs to — the temptation is there to start him every game. Not Rafa, though. The one thing that’s always predictable about Rafa’s buying habits is that he values each player for his individual skills — the thing that sets him apart, that people can point to and say “hey, he can do THAT” — no matter what generic shortcomings he may be accused of. I’m counting on that interpersonal genius to sort out the various conundrums. I don’t envy him one bit, though.

6. Back to the game (I apologize for the long winding detour). This goal is why the legend of big Sami Hyypia will never die. It’s been eight years, and the way he knows the art of defending, knows how to jig around opposing defenders in their own box, will never cease to make me smile.

7. Leto and Leiva, for me, are the two players I most anticipate seeing in the upcoming seasons. Tonight Leto started out strong but faded out of the game, while Leiva didn’t have much time to make an impact. It may be too much to hope to see them before the Carling Cup starts up, but hey, I’ll take ’em where I can get ’em.

8. Very pleased with Kuyt’s performance. He missed a couple of chances off headers, and the deflection off a crossbar was unlucky, but his battery never runs out, and seeing the two Dutchman connect for his first goal (a hard-earned goal if there ever was one) was immensely satisfying. Seeing him finish that second goal off was the cherry on top.

9. My man of the match is still Mascherano, though.

10. YNWA. Chills. Every time.

Bring on the rest of the so-called champions.

About That Game: Valencia vs Villarreal

There’s something frightening about the league deciding to schedule two derbies on opening weekend. The fanfare and intensity of these fixtures are meant to set the bar high from the get-go, but while the intention is aggressive and well-intended, I think there’s a danger of the games not living up to the expectation. But whatever.

1. Roberto Ayala was supposed to play in this game, until he decided he needed to get further away from Valencia and ended up in Zaragoza instead. The story didn’t make very many waves, as Villarreal seemed generally unoffended by the quick move, but it’s a subtle blessing for Valencia fans. The weirdness that players and fans normally experience after separation (it’s like breaking up with a long-term significant other, seriously!) can now remain at an honorable level, and instead of stressing about the fan reception at the very beginning, Ayala can take some time to focus on playing well for Zaragoza.

Why have I started the season talking about a player who has already departed? Because the backline will never be the same without him. Albiol is a lovely player, but he won’t have the leadership impact of Ayala for another five years or so, and neither Marchena nor Helguera inspire much confidence as a backline enforcer. Alexis is a great prospect, but he won’t see many minutes, at least to start the season.

I’m not wrong on this. Villarreal’s first goal was created by a masterful slot pass, but Albiol was caught completely unaware of Tomasson’s position, and that’s a mistake that can only be rectified by experience.

2. David Villa’s goal slump is both inexplicable and ambiguous. A striker of his caliber should not ever have to go begging for goals, and yet the overall impression of his performances at the end of last season do not suggest that he is playing badly. He isn’t putting the ball in the back of the net, but it’s not for lack of effort — DEFINITELY not for lack of effort — and the team’s miscues had other causes.

Because he’s such a capable striker, and even more because he’s never needed to whine or cheat, the way he’s starting this season is a major disappointment. Both of his yellow cards were extremely unnecessary (dissent, diving), and the ref was right to send him off. That the two cards were accrued within a ten-minute spell should further disturb the fans. He needs to get his shit together, is all I’m saying.

3. Villarreal, coming off a season of major reconstruction, has quietly assembled a sturdy lineup, and that’s without Riquelme the NASA computer mastermind. They may not dazzle like the fireworks season of Riquelme and Forlan, but they go about their games patiently and steadily. Pellegrini has really imposed not only his will, but also his own demeanor, on the team, and they are always surprisingly pleasant to watch.

4. Albelda had an up-and-down season in 06/07, and Baraja’s season was nearly nonexistent. This is how it goes: Baraja starts every year chomping at the bit, and invariably gets injured sometime before December, while Albelda chugs along at nearly full-strength, saves some games and flops some other games, and then goes out of commission about a month before the end of the season.

They didn’t really get going in this game, not defensive or offensively, and to me, that’s even more worrisome than Villa misfiring. We have other strikers who can do the job, although not as efficiently as Villa; we don’t have anybody who has the experience or even the ability to do Albelda’s job.

5. A couple of seasons ago, Quique Flores would not have completely changed the shape of the attack in the second half in any situation. Well, to be fair, a couple of seasons ago, he didn’t have the personnel to do so, but I think he also wouldn’t have taken the risk. Today he sent on Gavilan and Morientes in place of Miguel and Angulo, thus focusing the attack along the wings and intentionally leaving the right side somewhat exposed.

I don’t think this represents a new radicalization of Quique’s comfort zone; I think at this point he’s more driven by the need to salvage something from the game. But for better or worse, he did make a significant tactical change, and willingness to go kamikaze is still something we haven’t seen from him yet in his young career.

6. Of course it backfired. When I said “kamikaze,” I meant it literally. Gavilan can hardly be considered reliable, and his various miscontrols reflected his discomfort on the ball, which was the result of the injury he sustained early last season. Morientes probably should have started the game rather than Angulo, as his MO is more complimentary to Villa’s, so he was playing without any reliable input from the wings for the entire second half.

Moving to a 3-5-2 formation is a Rafa Benitez move in the Champions League final, not a Quique Flores move in the first game of the season, but I can’t fault his desperation. I can fault the team for the creative black hole I saw today, though. The lack of discipline shown by Joaquin and Villa shouldn’t overshadow the midfield’s abject failures to manufacture anything dangerous.

7. Crash and burn. I expected nothing less from Valencia on the first weekend of La Liga against their local rivals.

That’s a lie, of course. I expected much better from them, after a summer of smart spending and some good preseason outings. But the first 15 minutes of the match told me not to expect too much, and the rest of the game was proof that a team can make necessary off-season acquisitions and still look incomplete, unfinished. So that was a veritable disaster, one that should, if nothing else, wake this team up. They’re in the Champions League already, and the league has started. They can’t afford to self-destruct before the war has even started.

8. Self-destruction, well, isn’t that a bit harsh? After all, it’s only week one. Well, when the goalkeeper can’t even complete a simple pass to the leftback, yeah, I’d like to call that self-destruction.

Next!

Daily Roundup [8.26.07]

[Liverpool] It has been confirmed that Jamie Carragher has, indeed, broken a rib. His loss has an immense impact on the team, but the good news is, Hyypia will most likely available for the Toulouse game on Tuesday. In any case, it’s unclear how long he’ll be out, but after Toulouse, Liverpool has a stretch of relatively low-key games coming up. It won’t matter, though, because he could be out for up to two months (thanks, Google), and Hyypia will need to play at his best level.

This news comes jointly with another item, that, after only one full season at Liverpool, Gabriel Paletta has been sold to Boca Juniors. I was never convinced that he had the pace and the awareness to make in the Prem; I watched all of Argentina’s games at the 2005 U-20 Championship, and he’s a guy that works on brute force and sheer physical will. Which has its merits, but with the atmosphere of English football and the demands of the position, perhaps the manager didn’t see him adjusting to his liking. Either way, he’s going to my Number One most hated club in the universe, so I can’t exactly say best of luck, but I do wish him well.

[La Liga/Sevilla] It seems like yesterday was the day for injuries, as Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta collapsed on the pitch and lost consciousness during yesterday’s league match against Getafe. His condition remains “very serious” and the report states that the player had a number of cardiac arrests on his way to the hospital. Incidents like this remind us that the players on the pitch are just mortal beings, like the rest of us, and that things — accidents, tragedies — happen often without warning. The only thing we can do is hope for the best.

[Bears] Their injury update isn’t as gruesome, at least. Devin Hester’s shoulder injury doesn’t appear to be serious, and all Chicagoans can collectively breathe a sigh of relief.

Preseason week 3: Bears vs 49ers

On the first play of the game, Rex Grossman threw long to Berrian, and halved the playing field. A few plays later, Cedric Benson scored on a 4th and 1 from the two yard line, and the Bears were on their way to a dominating start.

Come on, though. The Bears were always going to run over the 49ers, whether it was Devin Hester on punt returns, Berrian and Clark on the long throws, or Grossman stretching the secondary. The details of the offensive game — that’s what’s under scrutiny tonight. On the second rep, Grossman fumbled another snap. Does that cancel out the beautiful throw to Clark just a few snaps before? Points wise, maybe, maybe not. We won’t know, since Bradley dropped a perfectly good pass on 3rd and 10 that could have extended the possession, and Robbie Gould put in the FG.

On the next drive, Grossman connected beautifully with Greg Olsen, and it’s hard to believe how happy that play made me. For one, the pass protection gave Grossman plenty of time and plenty of room. Even better, Grossman was patient enough to use that time to go through the progression and pick out the receiver. It helped that the 49ers defense seemed to be running on marbles, but the Grossman that we saw in the first half was largely confident despite the mistakes. (Let’s talk about the INT for a sec. Was it a bad read? Hell yes. Is it worrisome that Grossman can swing from those highest of euphoric, sky-at-fingertips highs, to sudden no-good-very-bad lows, sometimes all within the same drive? Yeah, a bit. His slants look occasionally problematic, and he still looks like a chump when he tries to roll out of the pocket, but here’s the thing: Inconsistency at the quarterback position is so hard to gauge. It can be a bad block from the O-line that rushes him into a hastily-thrown INT, a momentary brain fart, or a legitimate inability to function. And that’s why, until Rex Grossman shows me he can’t pick himself up and carry on with the game, I’ll support him as the starting quarterback.)

The defense hardly had a job to do until some dude named James dropped the long punt at his own 6-yard line. After that, the Bears lost a bit of momentum, but even that was regained, hysterically maybe, by Brad Maynard dropping the punt snap and sprinting 18 yards for a first down. (It was, even more surprisingly, the Bears’ longest run of the preseason.)

Nine different receivers hit by Grossman in the first half (211 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT). Three Grossman-Olsen connections. Berrian used as a running back (and later, Hass). Throwing for the touchdown rather than running it in from the 3-yard line. This offense looks goddamn POTENT.

About That Game: Sunderland vs Liverpool

1. This is the most hard working Liverpool team that’s been assembled in ages. There’s not one player on this starting lineup who could be called lazy. (Pennant may look lazy at times, but I’d like to think that’s just bewilderment. And Torres, though he may be a little worm, is not a lazy sort of player either.) That’s one of my favorite things about Rafa’s buying tendencies — he favors the workhorses, and so do the fans. It’s a great sight to see.

2. Roy Keane put some black voodoo on the central defenders today or something. Well, at least Sami Hyypia was able to get off an astonishing overhead kick before he was whacked in the nose.

3. It’s been two years of waiting, and two years of balls shanked wide or high, and two years of saying ‘If only Momo Sissoko could score, what a beast he would be then.’ Well gee, that was a beauty.

4. Gordon: 45823, Torres: 0. Well, it was more like 4, but still.

5. I don’t know why it took so long for Carra to be subbed off, but that was frankly ridiculous. There’s a moose on the pitch slumped over, how the gaffer doesn’t notice is beyond me. The Sunderland fans may have thought the botched substitution was a delay tactic, but I for one am glad Babel signalled that he would not leave the pitch, not while there was a more pressing matter. If Carragher is seriously injured I might hurt myself.

6. That second goal was absolutely delicious, and involved three of Liverpool’s four new signings. Babel to Pennant and back, then over to Torres, then over to Voronin, who pulled it back with a baby-soft touch and buried it past Gordon. Voronin is the OTHER ‘Good Touch for a Big Man’ on this Liverpool team. He’s such an icon already, just like Kuyt was last season. Remind me to write more about Liverpool fans’ robust pursuit of folk heroes.

7. Despite Momo’s goal, the Sissoko-Alonso partnership is still the most boring thing ever.

Daily Roundup [8.23.07]

First, a note on the start of the Premiership. It just hasn’t felt right, what with Liverpool actually WINNING their first game and everything. But today I had a breakthrough moment when someone compared Arsenal to Gryffindor (yes, THAT Gryffindor), and okay, she was only talking about team colors, and the context was silly and negligible to begin with, but the fit that I threw made me feel at peace with the world.

(Before you ask, no, my antagonism toward Arsenal cannot be explained easily — or, it seems, at all. I have reasons for hating every other team on my shit list, but Arsenal causes rage seemingly without any warning. More on that at a later date, perhaps.)

[Champions League] When Platini was elected president of UEFA last year, he promised sweeping changes, most significantly to the structure of qualification for the CL. And he’s trying to make good on his promise. Among the proposed changes, insofar as they affect Premiership teams:

• Future FA Cup winners will automatically receive a place in the Champions League

This is huge, especially if the term will also extend to other major league (La Liga, Serie A, etc., all of which have their own domestic cups). A “top 4 finish” would need to become a “top three finish OR the FA Cup,” which ostensibly raises the prestige of the FA Cup as well as allows some of the midtable teams to get in on some European action. He seems to want to diversify the spread of teams (nationalities) that participate in the CL rather than make it more exclusive (originally he wanted to limit each country to three participants). I think it’s is a good idea. It would be impossible to judge the results of such an adjustment before the changes actually take place, but I think we CAN say that it will make the big three leagues more competitive. I’ll be keeping tabs on how this proposal develops, because I think it will have a huge impact on the biggest interleague competition on the face of the earth in the coming decades. Michel Platini, protector of the small, never thought I’d say that, but I kinda like it.

[Bears] From DBB’s link, Mike Freeman of CBS Sports outlines why he thinks the Bears are the next NFL dynasty. A couple points of interest:

8. Jerry Angelo, general manager: Totally screwed up Smith’s contract situation last year by making Smith wait unnecessarily, but Angelo is very Patriot-like in his approach to building the team. The Bears mostly build through the draft, make smart free-agent choices and respect the salary cap.

2. Lovie Smith: Understated coaches almost always do not get the respect they deserve. Chest-pounders and one-line generators always get more praise even when unwarranted. Smith is the most underrated coach in football and what he did last year — handling a messy quarterback situation and not going nuclear over the shabby treatment at the hands of his front office all while going to a Super Bowl — easily earns him that title.

One more thing. Smith has quietly assembled a fairly impressive coaching staff.

I don’t pretend to know anything about how the front office works. All I know is that last season’s draft picks made stunning impacts, and that comes down to two men: Jerry Angelo making the call upstairs, and Lovie Smith doing his job downstairs. If it were easy, we wouldn’t be talking about the Bears possibly dominating the NFC for seasons to come, we’d be talking about other coaches and other GMs. So maybe shelve the talk of a dynasty for now (Lovie rightly pointed out to the author of the article that you need to win a Super Bowl first to be considered anything close to being a dynasty), and just keep up the good work. That’s all I ask.

[NFL] Watched Jacksonville-Green Bay tonight, and laughed my ass off. The Jags, now they really have a QB conundrum. And Aaron Rodgers has a facial hair conundrum. What’s with the Fu Manchu moustache, man. That is all I wanted to say, really.

Daily Roundup [8.22.07]

[Liverpool] A day late, perhaps, but Luis Garcia’s farewell note to the fans is something special. We’ve had players who have left unexpectedly, players who never got the chance to say goodbye to the fans (Didi Hamann, for instance). It’s a small injustice, but for a club that prides itself on the ties between players and fans, it seems almost like a disservice — to whom, I’m not sure, because “thanks” and “goodbye” are words that have a massive emotional impact on both parties. The fact that “Luis Garcia drinks sangria” won’t ever be heard in Anfield again isn’t a sore point with me: As a player, he was inconsistent above all else, a fact that detracts from his occasional miracles. But that a player wrote a letter expressing his gratitude for the fans and the club after the fact of his departure is something I’ve rarely seen, and one that is immensely appreciated no matter what I think of him as a footballer.

So thank you, little Luis, for giving us the opportunity to say goodbye.

[Bears] Rex Grossman this, Rex Grossman that. I’m not saying his two fumbled snaps aren’t concerns, but come on, every quarterback in the NFL fumbles snaps, and we’re only halfway through the preseason. He’s going to start the game come week one, and no amount of panicking will affect Lovie’s call:

Asked if he felt the issue was being blown out of a proportion, Smith said: “Definitely so. I’d just say don’t panic on any of that stuff. We’re fine. That’s what you do in training camp. You see you have some problems and you start fixing them from there and that’s what we’re doing.”

The circle-jerk is taking away from other points of focus, namely, the progress of special teams, the nervewracking battle between new draftees for open positions (Rideau or Hass? Hass or Rideau?), how fucking amazing Devin Hester is going to be on the offense, how steady Cedric Benson has looked, and hey, let’s talk about the O-line and how we are going to have to replace pretty much all of them in the next two or three seasons. And, because Robbie Gould is my favorite player on this Bears team, lemme throw this out there: When’s he going to start making FGs from the 50+ range, or am I gonna have to strangle myself?

And … discuss.

A christening.

Starting a blog is easy. You just start typing. Restarting a blog is terribly difficult. You remember everything you’ve written for the past X years and it’s this massive aggregate, this boulder you’re dragging around by your heels.

I feel like Sisyphus right now. Should I talk about last night’s Bears game? It was a good result, sure, but significant elements of the game were worrisome. But no, it feels wrong to have American football be the subject of my first post here, since our relationship has only become intense in the last season or so. See what I mean? This is a Herculean task.

Should I bitch a little about the Liverpool-Chelsea match last weekend? The time lapse seems a little silly, and I’d have to relive the game in order to talk about it. A big hearty no thanks to that.

I could regale you all with my thrilling, epic Netflixathon of the Mighty Ducks trilogy, and how that’s prompted me to rewatch the Anaheim Ducks’ Stanley Cup games, timing shifts and trying to pin down the tactical machinations. But it would be nontopical and a thoroughly plebeian start to this enterprise.

I give up. Maybe I picked the wrong time to write an intro post. But I guess that’s not so much a bad thing. Like I said: You just have to start typing, and something will come out of it. In the meantime, there’s some crap to click on at the top of the page, manifestos and shameless plugs for Fever Pitch and pretentious quotage of Foucault. Enjoy.