Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Are You Ready for Some Football?
For many of us, February is the absolute nadir of professional sports. The NFL season is over, and March Madness is, well...a month away. (The Daytona 500 may bridge this gap for some. NASCAR fans, please feel free to disregard this post.) There is, however, one last hope, but we must look across the pond...look to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Day One of the first leg of this tournament took place today (February 20). The Dutch side, PSV Eindhoven upset Arsenal, 1-0. Real Madrid beat Bayern München 3-2. Manchester United dispatched Lille, 1-0. And Celtic was able to hold on for a 0-0 draw at AC Milan. (I'm sure three of these scores do not appeal to the average American sports fan in the least.) For those unfamiliar with the Champions League, the Round of 16 is set up thus: Each team plays another in two legs, one match at home and one away. The winner has the greater aggregate score, and moves on to the quarterfinals. The loser goes home. Apart from today's Real Madrid-Bayern München match, the real heavyweights are all featured in tomorrow's matches (February 21). Roma hosts Lyon, and Valencia plays at Inter Milan. But the two matches everyone will be affixed to are:
Chelsea at FC Porto
and
Liverpool at Barcelona
Chelsea is analogous to the New York Yankees of the English Premier League, their Russian oil oligarch owner buying up all of the best talent, including the two best African players in the world, some of the best British talents, and the foremost German and Ukrainian footballers. Liverpool vs. Barcelona is an incredible matchup, and I have no idea how to predict the outcome of their first match. It should be exciting. So, if you have the opportunity to take a long, late lunch tomorrow, I recommend heading down to your favorite watering hole, grabbing a pint or two, and enjoying world-class football. The perfect antidote to the mid-winter sporting void.
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5 comments:
I thought football ended with the Super Bowl?
Futbol! thoughts:
1. so true...testud. what a nice bridge to march. though i've yet to be able to see a match...i will...i will....mendoza!
2. saw that chelsea drew away. this probably means that they will advance...like aids or poverty... but a man can dream against such horrors...
3. finally...."... I'll tell you of our football team
And Liverpool is the name.
We've won the cup, we've won the league
We're the finest in the game
We have the greatest skipper
Any manager could employ.
Let's drink six crates
To big Ron Yeats
Bill Shankly's pride and joy...."
When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart!
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.
LIV ERP OOL Liverpool FC
GO REDS
THE KOP!
Take that Barca! ON to ANFIELD!!!!
I think we should be discussing why soccer is the ultimate socialist sport...
herodotus, you've GOTTA support Chelsea over FC Porto. To borrow your analogy above, if faced with the either/or choice, I'll take Hep A over Hep C EVERY TIME.
Also, I'll reiterate an alternative Liverpool cheer I suggested to V.I., courtesy of Minnesota's own Trashmen (stolen from The Rivingtons):
"B-b-b-bird bird bird, b-b-bird is the word!
Well, don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A-well-a bird bird bird, b-b-bird's the word!..."
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