Must see collections of baby photos of famous footballers. Look for [Fat] Frank Lampard, Stevie G., Thierry Henry and Christiano Ronaldo.
Metric-March: PICSPAM: Footballers...when they were young (Part 1)
Metric-March: PICSPAM: Footballers...when they were young (Part 2)
hat tip to Who Ate All the Pies?
Showing posts with label Stevie G.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stevie G.. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
AC Milan Are Champions of Europe
Official caption: Benitez brings on Harry Kewell for Bolo Zenden as Liverpool struggle to get back on terms in the second half (BBC)
Well, as a Liverpool fan, that was a bitter disappointment. Liverpool dominated play in the first half, all from the right side of the field where Jermaine Pennant ran rampant. The announcers kept talking about Zenden's lack of pace, as though this were some new thing; he has spent the season half lame, or huffing and puffing, clearly having lost a step or three from his salad days, which were not Merseyside. I heard Peter Crouch say in an interview that Bolo speaks four languages; perhaps he has used one of them to bewitch the manager. "I put a spell on you/'cause you're mine..." Harry Kewell looked a little rusty, but he is a world class left wing, had pace, and forced at least three corners as a result. Including the one at the end where Kuyt scored.
So those were Rafa's brilliant tactics: to start an old, slow, and injured left wing and stick with him for 57 agonizing minutes; and to leave out the second leading scorer in the Champions League until 12 minutes remaining. Rafa is hailed as a great tactician. Coach Mom has always doubted, and I have to agree with her today. That was just awful. The substitutions were so late. And why did he take off Mascherino, rather than Xabi Alonso? Mascherino had had a fabulous game. Alonso will be best remembered for the foul that gave Milan the free kick for their first goal, and a yellow card. When Inzaghi scored his second goal, I was appalled that the entire Liverpool backline had stopped dead to watch him go at Pepe Reina. If Mascherino with his young legs had been in the game, would he have made the run back to save that ball off the line? We'll never know. But he's got all the energy in the world compared to the other players out there, as West Ham left him on the bench all season. (And after watching him -- and Tevez -- play, you have to ask: Why? Were they nuts?)
I just don't get why Rafa doesn't trust Crouchie. As Tommy Smyth said in the post-game aftermath (in the seconds before ESPN2 whisked us off to some tractor pull), the game changed when Crouch entered. Liverpool suddenly had a man in the middle to make things happen, and shortly thereafter they scored on the corner kick. Crouch is not really that good in the air, because although he's tall he's rather willowy. But he's fantastic with the ball at his feet, has great touch, passes well, and sees the game like a creative midfielder. And there he sat, for 78 minutes, while Dirk Kuyt, who hadn't scored in the Champions League all season, ran around in circles. Kuyt has the worst first touch on the team. Half the time he can't even receive a pass, the ball just bounces off his dead feet. I'm always suspicious of players who get applauded for their workrate. I'd rather have fat Ronaldo, loafing up the field but scoring early and often. Workrate is overrated. Give me results any day.
ESPN had their usual muddled coverage. Why can't they show the substitutes bench? Then you can plot who you'd substitute in as the game goes on. Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth have their annoying verbal tics, but at least know the game; better than the moronic announcers we get for the USMNT games. But an hour before the game, they ran a promo that went thusly: "AC Milan. Maldini. Kaka. Versus Liverpool. Crouch. Gerrard." I said to myself, don't they realize Crouch might not even play? Of course they don't. They're ESPN, with the rights to soccer, but not the love. They cut away so quickly at the end, if I was a Milan fan I'd be screaming with outrage. I bet they'd stay for hours for the post-game interviews for some stupid NAIA college football tournament. Or a tractor pull.
NYTimes: A.C. Milan 2, Liverpool 1
Milan Wins 7th European Crown
BBC: AC Milan 2-1 Liverpool
Paul Doyle, Guardian BLog: Liverpool got everything right but their selection
Rafa Benitez found the perfect formation to stifle Milan, but he lacked the players to win.
Guardian (uk): Liverpool fans injured in ticket row
Two taken to hospital after fight breaks out
Guardian (uk): Liverpool have bravery but no breaks as Inzaghi inflicts Milan's revenge
Telegraph: Picture Gallery
SkySports: Gerrard gutted by Athens loss
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Champions League Final Previews
From the press and the blogs:
ITV's Champions League predictions
BBC Sport: Team News, AC Milan v Liverpool
Guardian (uk): Special Report: Champions League (several excellent articles)
TimesOnline: Champions League (another compendium of excellent articles, plus a podcast from Rafa, Carra & Pepe!)
Independent (uk): Crouch: 'Once we have won the Champions League final I will look back and think how far I've come' (our brush with fame; Crouchie watched the Champions League final in Istanbul with Joe Cole in a bar in Chicago; we met him in the elevator of our hotel in Chicago two days later!)
BBC Sport: Alan Hansen's column: History will count for nothing in the Champions League final in Athens on Wednesday.
being sven: Shades of Red: A Liverpool Fan Roundtable
kopblog: Should Kewell Play In Athens? (if you want to skip the suspense, here's the answer: "ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY!")
The Soccer Blogger's Soccer Blog: Champions League Final Preview
Soccerbetting.info: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL ? LIVERPOOL TO BE GREEK HEROES?
myliverpoolfc: PREVIEW - New classic possible between Liverpool and Milan
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Liverpool 1 - Chelsea 0 - Liverpool Advance on Penalties, 4-1
Independent (uk): Liverpool have the final say as Mourinho falls to nemesis again
Independent (uk): Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0 (1-1 on agg, Liv. win 4-1 on pens): Reina saves best until last as Liverpool take road to Athens
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Liverpool Crushes PSV 3-0
Liverpool methodically destroyed PSV in Eindhoven this afternoon. Steve Finnan was my star of the game for the two crosses that set up Stevie G. and Crouchie's header goals. Riise's goal was a cracker. Alonso looked lost, and Kuyt worked hard to no effect as usual. With three away goals, Liverpool is all but through to the next round.
DailyMotion: Liverpool v. PSV Goals
SquareFootball: Champions League: Liverpool/PSV- Liverpool Player Ratings
Telegraph (uk): Brilliant Gerrard dismantles Dutch
PSV Eindhoven 0 Liverpool 3
TribalFootball (Aus): Liverpool thump PSV with superb display
Guardian (uk): Gerrard inspires as Reds throw caution to wind
GuardianSportBlog (uk): Europe better get used to emphatic English wins
Footbal365: RAMPANT REDS EYE SEMI SPOT
Sunday, April 01, 2007
News Liverpool Fans Can Use
All hail Crouchie! Peter Crouch returned from surgery on his broken nose yesterday to score a 'perfect hat trick': Left foot, right foot, header! (Favorite headline: CROUCH OUTDRAWS GUNNERS AT HIGH NOON, Football 365)
The Independent sez, McLaren, use Stevie G. in the middle, drop Limp, you idiot. Or something like that. Stevie G., only #10 on the list of the Top Ten Highest Paid Footballers. No one is more valuable than Sir Stevie. Those in the know know Stevie G. should be England captain, too.
Also in the Independent, an article about Zenden and the Holland team.
John Arne Riise has been declared bankrupt by a court in Liverpool. Maybe that is why Bellamy went after him with the golf club? Apparently his former agent invested his cash in some bad deals. Riise was very young when he made all that money (he's only 26 now) and hasn't always had the best judgment.
Maybe Riise should have read more books before he hired an agent. The Premier League has a charity called "Reading Stars" (pdf link), and every year every team selects a player who selects a book. This year's Liverpool player is Jermaine Pennant, and his book is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. A book about an English soldier in WWI. Doubt he chose it, but there it is.
Found a new Liverpool blog: The Offside Liverpool; and a new American soccer blog: Who Ate All The Cupcakes?
Friday, March 16, 2007
Happy 115th Birthday, Liverpool FC
Yes, you heard that right. The world's greatest football club celebrated its 115th birthday yesterday. (OK, I'm a little late here. Bygones!) Here's the history of the club's founding, from the club website.
So, to celebrate, here's a roundup of club news.
The Reds got the best possible draw in the Champions League final 8, where they will face PSV Eindhoven. None of the English teams remaining (Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United) face each other.
PSV Eindhoven star Alex suffered a hamstring injury last week, which was initially thought to end his season; now he's going back to Brazil for an MRI and hoping to play in the second leg at Anfield on April 11th.
Liverpool's new American owners suspended work on the new stadium; Bloomberg reports that they may add capacity to increase the seating in the new stadium from 60,000 to 75,000 seats so as to rival Manchester United (Old Trafford capacity 76,212).
The club signed 17 year old midfielder Gary Mackay Steven from the Scottish First Division Club Ross County.
Crouchie had surgery on his broken nose last week; there are rumors that he will be transferred for either Tottenham's Berbatov or Juventus's Trezeguet. P.S., Berbatov is a dead ringer for Andy Garcia.
Pepe Reina may be Spanish, but he's bleeding Liverpool Red now (from Who Ate All the Pies)
'My wife and I have just had our first child and she's a Scouser.' Pepe Reina is now fully integrated into the Liverpool way of life.
And, finally, a song.
The Stevie G. Song: (To the tune of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You")
Lyrics:
You're just too good to be true,
Can't take the ball off of you,
You've got a heavenly touch,
You pass like Souness to Rush,
And when we're all drunk in the bars,
We can't believe that you're ours,
You're just to good to be true,
Can't get the ball off of you...
Oh Steee-ven Gerr-aaard, da da da da da da (etc)
I prefer the Que Sera, Que Sera song (scroll down to see the Manc fans lyrics).
Monday, March 05, 2007
Monday, June 19, 2006
hot, hot, hot
hallo! it is monday, june 19 and we are enjozing a cool morning. it has been hot, hot, hot since we got to germany. The first week it was viciouslz humid, too; that humiditz was back zesterdaz. todaz the weather forecast says we are going to get some rain. welcome relief from 80+ - 90 (25 - 30 celsius).
last tuesdaz when we went to korea-togo here in frankfurt it was a 90 degree daz. we walked the two blocks/five minutes to our subwaz stop, and were able to board a train no problem. When we got to the stadium it was a 20 minute walk from the subwaz. we stazed in the shade when possible and stopped a few times.
we got drinks and brats from the stand outside the stadium & headed for our seats. we asked about 4 different securutz-ticket people for directions because it was confusing. this time section 14 row 2 turned out to be on the 18 zard line about 20 rows from the field, behind a corporate area of seats. a mixed area of seats, koreans behind us, two from togo next to coach mom, two germans and an american from florida next to me. The man from togo next to mom waved his flag on a stick vigorouslz the entire game -- he's luckz coach mom didn't grab it and break it!
the korean fans were immense. dressed in red, thez sang and chanted the entire game, with drums. one song went to the tune of beethoven's ode to joz. another to a modern pop song. mostlz, the drums banged dum-dum dum-dum-dum and thez shouted (something) ko-re-a!
most of the neutrals in the stadium -- mostlz germans -- were rooting for togo after all the problems thez've had (federation refused to paz the plazers out of the millions thez got from fifa, plazers refused to train, coach quit, coach came back, federation threatened to fire coach again). togo shocked korea bz scoring the first goal. togo fans went wild. korean fans were unperturbed, continued chanting.
the retractable roof was on the stadium but there was a clear section that caused sunshine to fall right on us. we put on sunscreen. at halftime i went to get us more water. all cups sold in the stadiums are sold with a 1 euro surcharge. when zou bring zour cup back, zou get credit for the euro. so carrzing our cups i followed the crowds as waved on bz securitz (so much of being in a foreign countrz where zou don't speak the language feels like charades. we communicate with hand gestures.) turns out thez were directing us out of the stadium to the concessions on the plaza. i had a sick feeling in mz stomach. did i have mz ticket? couldn't find it. oh well, i'll have to talk mz waz back in. two waters in hand, i did talk mz waz bz the first guz, a ticket checker. "I can't leave mz mother in there alone!" he waved me in. then i got to the tunnel next to our seats. a zoung german woman refused me admittance. mz pleas went unheard. "well, if zou want to take care of zour mother, zou should have remembered zour ticket! zou can't enter the stadium without a ticket." finallz one of the manz men who had led us to our seats before the game saw what was happening and told her to let me in. whew! and turned out, mz ticket was in a hidden pocket in mz purse anzwaz. sheesh.
in the second half, korea scored two beautiful goals right in front of us. the korean crowd went crazy. we talked to the kid from florida after the game. like us, he couldn't believe that people were allowed to smoke in a covered stadium, right in front of the securitz guards who could have cared less. we lamented the poor performance bz the us v. the cyechs.
after the game, the long walk back to the train station. although it was 5 o'clock, it was hotter than ever. we bought more water on the waz out of the stadium and that sustained us. we took even more breaks. finallz we were herded onto a platform and shooed to the end. the air was completelz still. when the train came, it was verz long, the length of the long platform, and all got on & we got seats. Our apt. is onlz one stop from the stadium so it was a short walk back. we were exhausted.
wed. we took a daz of rest after all our adventures. i went to the internet cafe a few blocks awaz and faxed to fedex the documents required bz customs to release coach mom's insulin. puttered around, read papers, watched german tv. lots of bad tv shows from the 80s with german dubbing. blue's clues with gutteral german voices. german home improvement and talk shows. and of course, the ever-present world cup coverage. german flags are everzwhere. talk show hosts wear german flags on their cheeks, german team uniforms. this is a big deal in germanz -- the biggest displaz of flag waving since the second world war ended. germans no longer ashamed of loving their countrz.
around 6:00 we got a call from fedex. the insulin had been released! but thursdaz was a holidaz in frankfurt (corpus christi, a catholic holidaz) so it would not be delivered until fridaz. it's at the airport, so i arrange to go there and pick it up tonight. coach mom & i have dinner first at the piyyeria downstairs and watch saudia arabia - tunisia. the man who owns the piyyeria engages us in conversation. he is from india and has manz friends in the us. he came to germanz in the 80s. his friends chose the us, he thinks thez made the better choice. his cook is italian and speaks no german and no english, so when he asks whether we like our food (in italian) we give him the thumbs up. when he comes back a third time to ask, we give him the double thumbs up. he laughs. universal language.
i leave coach mom at the apt. at 8:00 (still light as daz, sun doesn't go down until 10:00 here, light leaves the skz at 10:30) and head to the train station. one stop to the airport. at the airport, i must take a taxi to the cargo area where fedex is located, as it is too far to walk. taxi drivers look at the address with wonderment. what is this fedex? cargo area? i don't know where that is. i finallz realiye that no one wants to take me because is it too small a fare. thez want the big fare into frankfurt. so i look for assistance back in the terminal. don't thez have to take me, bz law? two different information desks send me to someone else. finallz, a guz sazs, whz don't zou just go to the police, down the hall? thez'll be happz to force the taxi driver to take zou.
so i go into the polizei station. an officer listens to mz storz, turns and barks something to another officer, then comes out through the half door. he marches out of the station at a fast pace, i follow as best i can. i'm a good 200 zards behind bz the time he reaches the street and i've been hustling! he summons a cabbie and barks at him. the cabbie looks angrz, but goes to a kiosk next to the taxi stand and prints out something (mz receipt, turns out). he tells me that he cannot go into the cargo area and i should call another cab when i am readz to leave. refuses mz request to staz and take me back, so i refuse to tip. as it is it costs 12 euro. he leaves me on the street. it is 9:00. i walk towards the fedex building. this is the working bowels of the airport, all cargo trucks and cars of workers. i go to the entrance where i have been directed and shout hallo! hallo! hallo! there is no one there. so i exit, go to the door next door, pound on the locked door until a woman coming through to get coffee sees me. she tells me to go back to the door i just came from. i explain there is no one there. she looks surprised. i saz "germanz - poland", which started at 9:00. she sazs, no, go back, someone will be there.
and when i go back a man is there. german but speaks some english. sazs thez are not allowed to watch the fussball match at work. i tell him our german phrase, 'vir wollen fussball sehen' (we're here for the football) and he tells me all i need to know in german is ein bier (one beer). he is zoung. he tells me that i do not have to take a taxi back. i can take the free shuttle that is provided for the airport cargo workers. the stop is right outside.
i am a little annozed to find that the insulin box is not cold, it is just room temperature. i have been assured over and over again that it was being kept chilled. oh well. i get on the shuttle with several burlz cargo workmen in uniforms. i get off when i see a sign for bahnhof (train station). train home, home bz 9:45. finallz, the saga of the insulin ends. coach mom is relieved and so am i.
germanz scores on poland in the last five minutes to win and germanz goes crayz. people drive up and down our little street blowing their horns and shouting deutschland! deutschland! the hubbub goes on for hours. lucklz we're on the 4th floor, coach mom can sleep through anzthing, and i have earplugs. deutschland!
thursdaz we did laundrz in our ancient washing machine. A had given me directions, and the notebook sits on the washer. no dryer. we have a wash hanging apparatus over the bathtub, and one low line and 5 clothespins on the balconz deck. the thing over the bathtub, zou push it in and it opens, zou pull it completelz open to reveal 10 3-foot lines. so we rotated the clothes to the deck for the sun to reallz drz them. 3 loads, all daz project. but our clothes are so sweatz from the terrible weather. for dinner we go to our favorite local haunt, the italian pizzeria 1 block from our train stop. even when we walk bz on the sidewalk, thez wave to us. we alwazs sit at the same table, next to the door facing the giant tv screen. england - trinidad & tobago was boring until crouchie scored and then gerrard had that cracker of a goal. liverpool 2 - t&t 0. we go home to watch sweden - paraguay in our jammies.
we have an email from mz sister! she has gotten us tickets to us-ghana next thursdaz. whee-hoo! so we will go to nuremberg for the match.
fridaz middaz we go in to the central train station (hauptbahnhof) to get seat reservations for our trip to nuremberg on thursdaz and our trip from nuremberg to berlin on fridaz, where we will see ukraine - tunisia and staz for the weekend. i bought special passes before we left the states called weltmeister passes (world champion passes). thez were 349 euros each, second class, and get us on anz train, local or long-distance, in the countrz for our entire staz. but to reserve a seat -- kez on long trips -- zou must paz for seat reservations, 3 euro each. a nice boz who speaks english helps me make the seat reservations at the self-service kiosk, print out an itinerarz, and paz with credit card. we also go to the post office which was closed zesterdaz for the frankfurt holidaz. i get 20 postcard stamps which come with 20 airmail stickers (luftpost). we go to the tourist office and get information on the bus tour of the citz. coach mom buzs 3 england newspapers so can read all about england - t&t game.
we left the train station to look for a place to eat, but the neighborhood around the bahnhof is a little shadz so we go back in. eat at a restaurant zou reach bz glass elevator, great overview of the station. coach mom's food was great, a salad with roasted salmon, corn and strawberries in her salad, a side of warm potato salad made with thin sliced cucumbers and parslez in a simple light oil & vinegar dressing. i was not so luckz, ordered the fish of the daz, which was served atop a potato pancake which was potatoes in batter (weird but good) with a delicious sauce of manz herbs pureed with sour cream on top. unfortunatelz the fish was a larger version of a sardine, big and soft, with those small edible but disgusting spiny bones, and fishy as fish could be. i ate 1\3 and gave up. too fishy for me.
saturdaz again a daz of rest. we are tired from all the heat. we are conserving our energz for the big must-win game tonight, italz - usa. Vir wollen fussbal sehen! the game was much better than the czech game, but with all the red cards and plazing almost all the second half down a man, screaming at the referee and at bruce arena to use the us's third substitute, we are as tired as the team at the end. but with our point from the 1-1 tie, we're back in it. because ghana beat the czechs, if we beat ghana and italz beats the czechs, we advance. go usa!
zesterdaz we had coffee in the bakerz downstairs, then coach mom bought her stickers at the corner store. this is a big thing in the rest of the world. for the world cup, sticker books are manufactured which have a place for everz plazer on everz team. stickers are sold separate, 5 stickers for 50 cents euro. coach mom loves her sticker book and is over halfwaz to filling hers up. we started out just buzing a few packs of stickers a daz. now we buz 10 packs a daz. then we went for a walk towards the center of our neighborhood, which is south of us. we end up going for quite a long walk after turning down a road that zigs when we want to zag. have lunch at home, sandwiches on fresh rolls from our bakerz. head into bahnhof to take bus tour. interesting, orients us to citz. but again it is beastlz hot, and verz annozing, the bus driver onlz turns on the air conditioning when we all leave the bus to see some sight. when all the tourists are back on the bus, he turns it off. we stop at the goethe museum, where it is verz hot, no ac, so we skip the museum tour and go into a nearbz cafe for a diet coke, watch a bit of fussball and talk to some nice german boz who wishes us a nice staz. rejoin tour when thez exit museum after 25 minutes. after tour we go to our favorite piyyeria to watch brayil - australia.
todaz we are waiting for our package from fedex with the tickets. we had coffee and pastries downstairs. a load of laundrz in, and vacuumed our apt. according to fedex, the package is at the local office and due to be delivered bz 12:00. it's 11:20, we're waiting with impatience.
at 11:50 we watch the fedex truck turn our corner. hurraz! i went flying down the stairs, passport in hand. when i got there, no fedex truck.
i went on the internet and our delivery was listed as "incorrect address". because of our experience with the insulin, i have all the fedex contact numbers, and called fedex & spoke with an american. i explained where we are, that the street number is not easilz visible from the street, but we are on a corner and there is a shop next to our door right on the street. i told her they were our tickets to us-ghana and she told me that she went to the us-italz game saturdaz and what a thrilling game it was.
the fedex guy pulled in 15 minutes ago. once again i flew down the stairs. he was at the door looking for our bell. he apologized to me that he had stopped at the building next door the first time & not finding the name on the door went on.
i showed him my passport & told him they were tickets. so we had an extended fussball talk. he does not like italy anymore after the game saturday night. all the diving on minimal contact, and the horrible elbow. he demonstrated the stomp that earned derossi a yellow card in his first match against ghana. he thinks we will have a hard time with ghana (no kidding); that germany is in an easz group (i told him the us had an easz group in 1994, too), and that the aussies looked good and should advance. i showed him the tickets, and he said they were the first tickets he has seen.
so, we're good to go on thursday! can't wait! thanks again sis & all your contacts!
ciao for now.
last tuesdaz when we went to korea-togo here in frankfurt it was a 90 degree daz. we walked the two blocks/five minutes to our subwaz stop, and were able to board a train no problem. When we got to the stadium it was a 20 minute walk from the subwaz. we stazed in the shade when possible and stopped a few times.
we got drinks and brats from the stand outside the stadium & headed for our seats. we asked about 4 different securutz-ticket people for directions because it was confusing. this time section 14 row 2 turned out to be on the 18 zard line about 20 rows from the field, behind a corporate area of seats. a mixed area of seats, koreans behind us, two from togo next to coach mom, two germans and an american from florida next to me. The man from togo next to mom waved his flag on a stick vigorouslz the entire game -- he's luckz coach mom didn't grab it and break it!
the korean fans were immense. dressed in red, thez sang and chanted the entire game, with drums. one song went to the tune of beethoven's ode to joz. another to a modern pop song. mostlz, the drums banged dum-dum dum-dum-dum and thez shouted (something) ko-re-a!
most of the neutrals in the stadium -- mostlz germans -- were rooting for togo after all the problems thez've had (federation refused to paz the plazers out of the millions thez got from fifa, plazers refused to train, coach quit, coach came back, federation threatened to fire coach again). togo shocked korea bz scoring the first goal. togo fans went wild. korean fans were unperturbed, continued chanting.
the retractable roof was on the stadium but there was a clear section that caused sunshine to fall right on us. we put on sunscreen. at halftime i went to get us more water. all cups sold in the stadiums are sold with a 1 euro surcharge. when zou bring zour cup back, zou get credit for the euro. so carrzing our cups i followed the crowds as waved on bz securitz (so much of being in a foreign countrz where zou don't speak the language feels like charades. we communicate with hand gestures.) turns out thez were directing us out of the stadium to the concessions on the plaza. i had a sick feeling in mz stomach. did i have mz ticket? couldn't find it. oh well, i'll have to talk mz waz back in. two waters in hand, i did talk mz waz bz the first guz, a ticket checker. "I can't leave mz mother in there alone!" he waved me in. then i got to the tunnel next to our seats. a zoung german woman refused me admittance. mz pleas went unheard. "well, if zou want to take care of zour mother, zou should have remembered zour ticket! zou can't enter the stadium without a ticket." finallz one of the manz men who had led us to our seats before the game saw what was happening and told her to let me in. whew! and turned out, mz ticket was in a hidden pocket in mz purse anzwaz. sheesh.
in the second half, korea scored two beautiful goals right in front of us. the korean crowd went crazy. we talked to the kid from florida after the game. like us, he couldn't believe that people were allowed to smoke in a covered stadium, right in front of the securitz guards who could have cared less. we lamented the poor performance bz the us v. the cyechs.
after the game, the long walk back to the train station. although it was 5 o'clock, it was hotter than ever. we bought more water on the waz out of the stadium and that sustained us. we took even more breaks. finallz we were herded onto a platform and shooed to the end. the air was completelz still. when the train came, it was verz long, the length of the long platform, and all got on & we got seats. Our apt. is onlz one stop from the stadium so it was a short walk back. we were exhausted.
wed. we took a daz of rest after all our adventures. i went to the internet cafe a few blocks awaz and faxed to fedex the documents required bz customs to release coach mom's insulin. puttered around, read papers, watched german tv. lots of bad tv shows from the 80s with german dubbing. blue's clues with gutteral german voices. german home improvement and talk shows. and of course, the ever-present world cup coverage. german flags are everzwhere. talk show hosts wear german flags on their cheeks, german team uniforms. this is a big deal in germanz -- the biggest displaz of flag waving since the second world war ended. germans no longer ashamed of loving their countrz.
around 6:00 we got a call from fedex. the insulin had been released! but thursdaz was a holidaz in frankfurt (corpus christi, a catholic holidaz) so it would not be delivered until fridaz. it's at the airport, so i arrange to go there and pick it up tonight. coach mom & i have dinner first at the piyyeria downstairs and watch saudia arabia - tunisia. the man who owns the piyyeria engages us in conversation. he is from india and has manz friends in the us. he came to germanz in the 80s. his friends chose the us, he thinks thez made the better choice. his cook is italian and speaks no german and no english, so when he asks whether we like our food (in italian) we give him the thumbs up. when he comes back a third time to ask, we give him the double thumbs up. he laughs. universal language.
i leave coach mom at the apt. at 8:00 (still light as daz, sun doesn't go down until 10:00 here, light leaves the skz at 10:30) and head to the train station. one stop to the airport. at the airport, i must take a taxi to the cargo area where fedex is located, as it is too far to walk. taxi drivers look at the address with wonderment. what is this fedex? cargo area? i don't know where that is. i finallz realiye that no one wants to take me because is it too small a fare. thez want the big fare into frankfurt. so i look for assistance back in the terminal. don't thez have to take me, bz law? two different information desks send me to someone else. finallz, a guz sazs, whz don't zou just go to the police, down the hall? thez'll be happz to force the taxi driver to take zou.
so i go into the polizei station. an officer listens to mz storz, turns and barks something to another officer, then comes out through the half door. he marches out of the station at a fast pace, i follow as best i can. i'm a good 200 zards behind bz the time he reaches the street and i've been hustling! he summons a cabbie and barks at him. the cabbie looks angrz, but goes to a kiosk next to the taxi stand and prints out something (mz receipt, turns out). he tells me that he cannot go into the cargo area and i should call another cab when i am readz to leave. refuses mz request to staz and take me back, so i refuse to tip. as it is it costs 12 euro. he leaves me on the street. it is 9:00. i walk towards the fedex building. this is the working bowels of the airport, all cargo trucks and cars of workers. i go to the entrance where i have been directed and shout hallo! hallo! hallo! there is no one there. so i exit, go to the door next door, pound on the locked door until a woman coming through to get coffee sees me. she tells me to go back to the door i just came from. i explain there is no one there. she looks surprised. i saz "germanz - poland", which started at 9:00. she sazs, no, go back, someone will be there.
and when i go back a man is there. german but speaks some english. sazs thez are not allowed to watch the fussball match at work. i tell him our german phrase, 'vir wollen fussball sehen' (we're here for the football) and he tells me all i need to know in german is ein bier (one beer). he is zoung. he tells me that i do not have to take a taxi back. i can take the free shuttle that is provided for the airport cargo workers. the stop is right outside.
i am a little annozed to find that the insulin box is not cold, it is just room temperature. i have been assured over and over again that it was being kept chilled. oh well. i get on the shuttle with several burlz cargo workmen in uniforms. i get off when i see a sign for bahnhof (train station). train home, home bz 9:45. finallz, the saga of the insulin ends. coach mom is relieved and so am i.
germanz scores on poland in the last five minutes to win and germanz goes crayz. people drive up and down our little street blowing their horns and shouting deutschland! deutschland! the hubbub goes on for hours. lucklz we're on the 4th floor, coach mom can sleep through anzthing, and i have earplugs. deutschland!
thursdaz we did laundrz in our ancient washing machine. A had given me directions, and the notebook sits on the washer. no dryer. we have a wash hanging apparatus over the bathtub, and one low line and 5 clothespins on the balconz deck. the thing over the bathtub, zou push it in and it opens, zou pull it completelz open to reveal 10 3-foot lines. so we rotated the clothes to the deck for the sun to reallz drz them. 3 loads, all daz project. but our clothes are so sweatz from the terrible weather. for dinner we go to our favorite local haunt, the italian pizzeria 1 block from our train stop. even when we walk bz on the sidewalk, thez wave to us. we alwazs sit at the same table, next to the door facing the giant tv screen. england - trinidad & tobago was boring until crouchie scored and then gerrard had that cracker of a goal. liverpool 2 - t&t 0. we go home to watch sweden - paraguay in our jammies.
we have an email from mz sister! she has gotten us tickets to us-ghana next thursdaz. whee-hoo! so we will go to nuremberg for the match.
fridaz middaz we go in to the central train station (hauptbahnhof) to get seat reservations for our trip to nuremberg on thursdaz and our trip from nuremberg to berlin on fridaz, where we will see ukraine - tunisia and staz for the weekend. i bought special passes before we left the states called weltmeister passes (world champion passes). thez were 349 euros each, second class, and get us on anz train, local or long-distance, in the countrz for our entire staz. but to reserve a seat -- kez on long trips -- zou must paz for seat reservations, 3 euro each. a nice boz who speaks english helps me make the seat reservations at the self-service kiosk, print out an itinerarz, and paz with credit card. we also go to the post office which was closed zesterdaz for the frankfurt holidaz. i get 20 postcard stamps which come with 20 airmail stickers (luftpost). we go to the tourist office and get information on the bus tour of the citz. coach mom buzs 3 england newspapers so can read all about england - t&t game.
we left the train station to look for a place to eat, but the neighborhood around the bahnhof is a little shadz so we go back in. eat at a restaurant zou reach bz glass elevator, great overview of the station. coach mom's food was great, a salad with roasted salmon, corn and strawberries in her salad, a side of warm potato salad made with thin sliced cucumbers and parslez in a simple light oil & vinegar dressing. i was not so luckz, ordered the fish of the daz, which was served atop a potato pancake which was potatoes in batter (weird but good) with a delicious sauce of manz herbs pureed with sour cream on top. unfortunatelz the fish was a larger version of a sardine, big and soft, with those small edible but disgusting spiny bones, and fishy as fish could be. i ate 1\3 and gave up. too fishy for me.
saturdaz again a daz of rest. we are tired from all the heat. we are conserving our energz for the big must-win game tonight, italz - usa. Vir wollen fussbal sehen! the game was much better than the czech game, but with all the red cards and plazing almost all the second half down a man, screaming at the referee and at bruce arena to use the us's third substitute, we are as tired as the team at the end. but with our point from the 1-1 tie, we're back in it. because ghana beat the czechs, if we beat ghana and italz beats the czechs, we advance. go usa!
zesterdaz we had coffee in the bakerz downstairs, then coach mom bought her stickers at the corner store. this is a big thing in the rest of the world. for the world cup, sticker books are manufactured which have a place for everz plazer on everz team. stickers are sold separate, 5 stickers for 50 cents euro. coach mom loves her sticker book and is over halfwaz to filling hers up. we started out just buzing a few packs of stickers a daz. now we buz 10 packs a daz. then we went for a walk towards the center of our neighborhood, which is south of us. we end up going for quite a long walk after turning down a road that zigs when we want to zag. have lunch at home, sandwiches on fresh rolls from our bakerz. head into bahnhof to take bus tour. interesting, orients us to citz. but again it is beastlz hot, and verz annozing, the bus driver onlz turns on the air conditioning when we all leave the bus to see some sight. when all the tourists are back on the bus, he turns it off. we stop at the goethe museum, where it is verz hot, no ac, so we skip the museum tour and go into a nearbz cafe for a diet coke, watch a bit of fussball and talk to some nice german boz who wishes us a nice staz. rejoin tour when thez exit museum after 25 minutes. after tour we go to our favorite piyyeria to watch brayil - australia.
todaz we are waiting for our package from fedex with the tickets. we had coffee and pastries downstairs. a load of laundrz in, and vacuumed our apt. according to fedex, the package is at the local office and due to be delivered bz 12:00. it's 11:20, we're waiting with impatience.
at 11:50 we watch the fedex truck turn our corner. hurraz! i went flying down the stairs, passport in hand. when i got there, no fedex truck.
i went on the internet and our delivery was listed as "incorrect address". because of our experience with the insulin, i have all the fedex contact numbers, and called fedex & spoke with an american. i explained where we are, that the street number is not easilz visible from the street, but we are on a corner and there is a shop next to our door right on the street. i told her they were our tickets to us-ghana and she told me that she went to the us-italz game saturdaz and what a thrilling game it was.
the fedex guy pulled in 15 minutes ago. once again i flew down the stairs. he was at the door looking for our bell. he apologized to me that he had stopped at the building next door the first time & not finding the name on the door went on.
i showed him my passport & told him they were tickets. so we had an extended fussball talk. he does not like italy anymore after the game saturday night. all the diving on minimal contact, and the horrible elbow. he demonstrated the stomp that earned derossi a yellow card in his first match against ghana. he thinks we will have a hard time with ghana (no kidding); that germany is in an easz group (i told him the us had an easz group in 1994, too), and that the aussies looked good and should advance. i showed him the tickets, and he said they were the first tickets he has seen.
so, we're good to go on thursday! can't wait! thanks again sis & all your contacts!
ciao for now.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Give That Man a Knighthood
Two magnificent goals by Liverpool's magnificent captain. Let's hope he can similarly inspire Rooney-less England in Germany in June.
BBC:
Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (aet)
Liverpool win 3-1 on penalties
Liverpool beat West Ham on penalties to win a thrilling FA Cup final.
The Hammers took an early two-goal lead thanks to Jamie Carragher's own goal and Dean Ashton's close-range strike, before Djibril Cisse pulled one back.
Steven Gerrard lashed home an equaliser after the break before Paul Konchesky's speculative cross put West Ham ahead.
Gerrard's stunning last-minute strike forced extra-time, with Pepe Reina saving from Bobby Zamora, Konchesky and Anton Ferdinand in the shoot-out.
Dietmar Hamann, Gerrard and John Arne Riise all scored from the spot for Liverpool, with only veteran Teddy Sheringham finding the net for West Ham.
BBC: Alan Hansen's Cup final verdict
Liverpool won a truly great FA Cup final played in a great spirit - but without one man West Ham would have had the trophy in their dressing room and would have been celebrating.
This was one of the classic Cup finals and it is desperately unfortunate that they should lose on penalties.
West Ham were the better side and should have won, but Liverpool had Steven Gerrard and that is why a very good season is now a great one for Rafael Benitez's side.
What a man, what a player and what a captain.
Liverpool made some good signings at the start of the season, but there was one man who was the best when they got him to sign a new contract and his name was Steven Gerrard.
Great players give you something extra when you are down and out and dead and buried and boy did Gerrard give Liverpool something extra.
Liverpool were a beaten side when the ball bounced out to him in the 90th minute of normal time, but it was a quite magnificent strike that beat Shaka Hislop and sent the game into extra time.
Gerrard is a man who doesn't know when he's beaten and he just scored an unbelieveable goal.
He looked like he was struggling with something, whether it was cramp or an injury, just before the ball came to him, and then he produced a strike like that with time running out.
It's what great players do and Gerrard is a great player.
[]
Liverpool claimed the trophy, but as I said, West Ham were the better side and can be proud of their efforts.
But once again, it was that man Gerrard who pulled Liverpool up when they were down and led them to the FA Cup.
Monday, May 01, 2006
England: No Rooney, No World Cup Hope
Striker Wayne Rooney broke the fourth metatarsal bone in his right foot in a Premier League game against Chelsea on Saturday, and there went England's World Cup hopes.
Brave words were said by Rooney's coach, Eriksson, but the fact is that he is highly unlikely to recover in time to play and be any kind of factor.
From The Guardian (uk), a story about the role Rooney's brand new Nike boots may have played, and a recent history of English players with broken metatarsals, with recovery times:
Nike bruised as new boots backfire
Metatarsal mayhem
Wayne Rooney Fifth metatarsal - June 2004 Predicted return 8 weeks returned 14 weeks later
David Beckham Second metatarsal- April 2002 Predicted 6 weeks returned 7 weeks later
[and was completely ineffective]
Gary Neville Fifth metatarsal - April 2002 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Ashley Cole Fifth metatarsal - Oct 2005 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 12 weeks later
Scott Parker Second metatarsal - Dec 2004 Predicted 8 weeks returned 34 weeks later
Michael Owen Fifth metatarsal - Jan 2006 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 17 weeks later
Danny Murphy Second metatarsal - May 2002 Predicted 6 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Steven Gerrard Fifth metatarsal - Sep 22 2004 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 10 weeks later
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Game of the Day
Liverpool-Manchester United. Rafa's resurgent Reds v. Sir Alex's slumping Mancs. England's two best players, Stevie Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. The biggest game of the EPL season to date.
Wish I got Setanta Sports so I could buy this one on pay-per-view.
Match preview from Kopblog: Rafa's Reds to put Man Utd Has-Beens in their place
United Rant: Overview
My prediction: Liverpool 3-1, Liverpool goals by Stevie G., Crouch, Kewell, and Van Nistelrooy for MU. Bonus predictions: yellow cards to Rooney, Ronaldo, and Sussoko.
Update: Man Utd 1-0 Liverpool Unfortunately, the only predictions I made that came true were yellow cards to Rooney and Sussoko. A big wasted opportunity by Liverpool.
Wish I got Setanta Sports so I could buy this one on pay-per-view.
Match preview from Kopblog: Rafa's Reds to put Man Utd Has-Beens in their place
United Rant: Overview
My prediction: Liverpool 3-1, Liverpool goals by Stevie G., Crouch, Kewell, and Van Nistelrooy for MU. Bonus predictions: yellow cards to Rooney, Ronaldo, and Sussoko.
Update: Man Utd 1-0 Liverpool Unfortunately, the only predictions I made that came true were yellow cards to Rooney and Sussoko. A big wasted opportunity by Liverpool.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
My Kind of Town, Chicago Is
I need to blog about my great soccer jaunt. My mom & I flew out of Newark on Thursday last week to Chicago to see England's national team (men) play the US at Soldier Field on Saturday. After a direct flight (a nice change from hub-hopping) we took an airport shuttle to our hotel. We rode with tourists from New Hampshire and three name-dropping gay men from LA ("I hear Tom Cruise goes there all the time", etc.). The husband of the NH couple was nice but when he began advocating that the Twin Towers in NYC be rebuilt I tuned him out. (Like who would ever work in that building? Only out-of-towners think that's a good idea.)
We stayed at the Swissotel, & I got a great rate from a site called travelzoo which included a buffet breakfast for both of us each day. The hotel is at 323 E. Wacker Drive, a fancy business hotel 3 blocks west of Millennium Park & 3 blocks north of Michigan Avenue. I asked the desk clerk for a room facing the lake, but with our bargain rate he wouldn't budge. We had a room on the 29th floor overlooking the city. The room was great, soft high-thread-count sheets, down comforters, floor to ceiling windows, huge bathroom with both shower stall and deep bathtub, and Ethernet. Not that I could figure out the Ethernet connection, but we weren't there to go on the computer.
I had bought a great little tour book, the Eyewitness Guides Top Ten Guide to Chicago. It's small, fits in your purse, and really condenses the highlights of Chicago into a series of lists. The perfect guidebook for a short trip. We went for a walk after stowing our bags & walked down to Millennium Park, marveling at the architecture. I made dinner reservations at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams Street. Not realizing how close it was, we took a cab there. We had a great German meal -- Mom had sauerbrauten & I had wiener schnitzel, with a bratwurst & knockwurst appetizer, & sauerkraut & red cabbage. We had glasses of the house amber beer and rewarded ourselves with apple strudel for dessert. Not traditional German strudel, it was made with phyllo dough, but delicious. We walked home and again enjoyed all the little architectural details of the buildings; many had big elaborate clocks extending from the corner of the building.
Friday we had our first hotel breakfast/brunch -- trays of fresh watermelon, pineapple, honeydew & cantaloupe, cheeses, smoked salmon, salami & ham, scrambled eggs, Irish oatmeal, cheese blintzes, hash browns, two kinds of sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, french toast, and then a whole other table of breads & cereals. Brunch cost $18 per so we were happy to hand them our voucher at the end of the meal.
OK, here's the best part, the English team was STAYING IN OUR HOTEL! Mom recognized one of the players in the elevator as we returned from brunch. She walked into the elevator and said, "Well, good morning, Mr. Crouch!" As in Peter Crouch, who would be making his England debut on the tour. He was folded into the corner of the elevator, wearing his white England shirt over khakis. The other guy in the elevator -- shorter than me --said, also with an English accent, "Of course you recognize him, he's 6'7"." Mom said, well, who are you? (knowing that there are many young players here for England & that we may not know all of them.) I couldn't understand his name through his accent but he said he played for Charlton -- Mom said "Oh, you play with Danny Murphy!" Then she turned to Crouch & said she was looking forward to seeing him play. He was pretty shy & awkward. We were gleeful after we got off the elevator! We took another walk, this time down State Street and Michigan for a bit of shopping. We tried on $200 hats in Marshall Field, then I got some t-shirts with the American flag on them at Old Navy & Mom & I both picked up new purses in TJ Maxx. We walked over to the Daley Center to see the Picasso sculpture in the plaza. On the way home we hit a Borders where Mom bought 3 English soccer magazines.
That afternoon we went to see the Cubs play the Rockies at legendary Wrigley Field. We took the El from the Lake station to Addison. Amazed at all the legal scalpers working the street just outside the train station. Guess I overpaid for tix by purchasing them on the internet before the trip. With the Cubs in a nosedive the Cub fans are not beating down the door. Like Fenway Park, though, Wrigley Field is its own draw. We made it into our seats high above home plate in time to see poor Mark Prior get hit on the elbow by a comebacker straight at him, the ball hit so hard it was caught on the fly by the third baseman. Well, at least the Cubs romped. Derrick Lee hit two home runs. He is an impressive physical specimen -- reminded me of Dave Winfield.
We took the El home and repaired to our hotel room to freshen up before our Friday night dinner at Bar 36, a fancy wine bar. We went down the elevator to the hotel lobby to see a guy in a periwinkle blue uniform with his back to us, signing the shirt of a young boy. It was Andy Johnson, Crystal Palace striker who finished second in the Premier League in goals (behind Thierry Henry, natch). In person, he looks much smaller than he does on the field. Slight, almost. Then we spotted Joe Cole (with John Terry, most improved player on Chelsea). I said to Mom, Mom, you better go get your camera! So she headed off the elevator, where she had a nice conversation with Joe Cole. While she was gone Sol Campbell (Arsenal) and Wes Brown (Manchester United) walked in and began signing autographs and posing for pictures. Then Alan Smith and Phil Neville (both Man U.), who with nasty looks on their faces walked briskly past the people in the hallway & went directly to the elevator. I thought at the time that it was just their personalities, but Smith may have had his famous dust-up with Steve McLaren about the fact that the manager had decided to start Peter Crouch at striker rather than Smith.
Mom finally arrived back & I took her picture with Wes Brown. We struck up a conversation with a transplanted Englishman who was very impressed with our football knowledge (he introduced us to other Brits by saying, "These two young ladies know their football! They watch it on the satellite!"). He took our picture with Sol Campbell (swoon) and Andy Johnson. I got pictures of Mom with Sven Goran Eriksson (the manager) and David James (Manchester City). We missed out on pics with Ashley Cole and Jermaine Dafoe.
OK, here's the embarrassing part. I saw Kieran Richardson wearing the same training outfit, but he looked too young to play. I thought maybe he was the ballboy. So I asked him, "Are you going to play?" He replied "I hope so!" I suppose my question didn't seem so stupid to him as he had never before appeared for his country. He made the most of it, didn't he? Richardson's dream England debut I told Mom the story later and she said, oh, he's a Man U player, but they loaned him out to West Brom this season & he scored the goal that kept them from being relegated. Mom knows all.
While all this was going on I had called the restaurant to tell them that we were going to be 15 minutes late appearing for our reservations. So we finally left to go to dinner. We chortled throughout our dinner, passing the camera back & forth to look at our gets.
Oh, and the "Charlton" player we met in the elevator? A practical joker. I saw him again in the lobby and asked his name. "Michael," he replied. "Owen". Yeah, like I wouldn't recognize my favorite English football player! Every time I saw him after that for the next two days I sang out "Michael! Michael Owen!" He was shameless, nothing bothered the little s**t.
Saturday we went for a walk to Millennium Park to see the new sculpture, "Cloud Gate", which was partially on view. Known in Chicago as "The Bean", it is a, well, bean-shaped sphere made of 110 tons of steel. Only about 20% of the sculpture was completed & exposed, but you could see the sky, the skyline, and the curious on the plaza in its reflection. We took each other's pictures reflected in The Bean, then headed back to the hotel.
And once again, there was the England team, this time heading out for a bit of pre-match training. At this point the word was out with England fans so our hotel, lobby and entryway were filled with autograph seekers. We stood our ground & took a few photos. A burly man threatened my mother with expulsion for taking a picture inside the lobby (he said he was with security) so we went outside & took pics of the team in the hotel entrance. The team waited around until Peter Crouch came out, last, his head down, looking dejected. Probably had just learned he would not play in the game today.
After all the meetings with the team in the hotel, the game was almost anticlimactic! We intended to take the bus, but the 146 bus did not come for 30 minutes, until a bus came which refused to open the doors because it was too full. So we hailed a cab & had it let us out at the Roosevelt Rd. train stop. We joined the throngs walking to the game. A mostly English crowd, it seemed, from the yelling and the singing. We passed two men inside an underpass selling the new England strip out of a black sports bag ($40 each). They sold out in less than a minute.
Security was pretty routine. They looked cursorily inside my binoculars & my purse. We found our seats on the Club level & I headed out for food. I got sandwiches & sodas. Stupid Soldier Field rule: fountain sodas served in cups, you can't have either a lid or a straw. However, if you order coffee, you can get both a lid & a little stirrer. I don't know, I think I'd rather be hit by a cold flying projectile than a cup of hot coffee. But that's just me.
US was missing our "A" team: No Damarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien, Frankie Heyduk, Clint Mathis, Pablo Mastroeni, Oguchi Onyewu, Tim Howard, or the ageless Cobi Jones. England was missing even more: David Beckham, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sean Wright-Philips, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Paul Robinson, Wayne Bridge, Danny Murphy, Ledley King and more.
The US played what I call "boot and chase" soccer, preferring long crosses to the forwards to controlling the ball on the ground up the field. England cleaned our clock, really; Landon Donovan (known by doubters as "Landon Gone") was invisible. Josh Wolff worked his butt off but couldn't finish. I was impressed by Richardson, of course, with his two goals, and Joe Cole, who looks like he will be quite the playmaker some day. Alan Smith leaned in on everyone and fouled repeatedly.
Unfortunately we had to listen to a couple of soccer pretenders behind us who kept saying inane things like "Smith's going to get a card! That's the fourth time he's fouled! Referees are counting!" Right, he's going to get a card for a garden variety push.
I thought Clint Dempsey had left it all on the field & was calling for him to be subbed out when he scored late in the game. That made the score look respectable, but without an attack we really got skunked.
After the game we walked home past all the beautiful parks, fountains, and sculptures.
Sunday we again went walking, looking at architecture and eventually ending up at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is right next to Grant Park. Fantastic collections. I got to add another painting to my "Mel Kelly life list". My high school art teacher's room was covered with reproductions of great paintings. Each year the class had to memorize all the paintings in order and recite the names of the paintings and the artist. I think if you got my brothers & sisters in a room today between the four of us we could recreate the entire three walls. It started with "Starry, Starry Night" by Van Gogh, which I've seen, along with "Pines and Rocks" by Cezanne (Mr. Kelly called it Rocks and Pines, but who's counting). At the Art Institute I saw Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", which Mr. Kelly mercifully shortened to Sunday Afternoon in the Park. Check!
Monday we flew back to Newark & headed to Manhattan for a night on the town before England - Columbia. Tuesday we headed out early to Giants Stadium. Got there so early we pulled into the parking lot for the Aramark employees. There weren't any parking collectors there yet, so we just went in the open gate & saved $15. Parked next to an Aramark truck for shade & set up chairs to eat & crowd watch. Bought an England flag from a woman selling them out of a sports bag. ($10). Went into the stadium when it opened at 2:30 p.m.
Silly security rule at Giants Stadium: They sell you soda in 20 oz. bottles but won't give you the cap. (Note to self: Take a 20 oz. soda cap next time you go to Giants Stadium.) A 12-year-old Columbian boy in the row ahead of us almost got in a fight with an English fan (couldn't determine if she was English or American) who was shouting obscenities in his mother's ear. At halftime when I went out for soda, I proclaimed myself "Switzerland" as I passed through the two still angry camps. As for the game: The real Michael Owen favored us with a hat trick as England won 3-2. The fans chanted and sang. The sun shone. It was a great, great, great trip.
We stayed at the Swissotel, & I got a great rate from a site called travelzoo which included a buffet breakfast for both of us each day. The hotel is at 323 E. Wacker Drive, a fancy business hotel 3 blocks west of Millennium Park & 3 blocks north of Michigan Avenue. I asked the desk clerk for a room facing the lake, but with our bargain rate he wouldn't budge. We had a room on the 29th floor overlooking the city. The room was great, soft high-thread-count sheets, down comforters, floor to ceiling windows, huge bathroom with both shower stall and deep bathtub, and Ethernet. Not that I could figure out the Ethernet connection, but we weren't there to go on the computer.
I had bought a great little tour book, the Eyewitness Guides Top Ten Guide to Chicago. It's small, fits in your purse, and really condenses the highlights of Chicago into a series of lists. The perfect guidebook for a short trip. We went for a walk after stowing our bags & walked down to Millennium Park, marveling at the architecture. I made dinner reservations at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams Street. Not realizing how close it was, we took a cab there. We had a great German meal -- Mom had sauerbrauten & I had wiener schnitzel, with a bratwurst & knockwurst appetizer, & sauerkraut & red cabbage. We had glasses of the house amber beer and rewarded ourselves with apple strudel for dessert. Not traditional German strudel, it was made with phyllo dough, but delicious. We walked home and again enjoyed all the little architectural details of the buildings; many had big elaborate clocks extending from the corner of the building.
Friday we had our first hotel breakfast/brunch -- trays of fresh watermelon, pineapple, honeydew & cantaloupe, cheeses, smoked salmon, salami & ham, scrambled eggs, Irish oatmeal, cheese blintzes, hash browns, two kinds of sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, french toast, and then a whole other table of breads & cereals. Brunch cost $18 per so we were happy to hand them our voucher at the end of the meal.
OK, here's the best part, the English team was STAYING IN OUR HOTEL! Mom recognized one of the players in the elevator as we returned from brunch. She walked into the elevator and said, "Well, good morning, Mr. Crouch!" As in Peter Crouch, who would be making his England debut on the tour. He was folded into the corner of the elevator, wearing his white England shirt over khakis. The other guy in the elevator -- shorter than me --said, also with an English accent, "Of course you recognize him, he's 6'7"." Mom said, well, who are you? (knowing that there are many young players here for England & that we may not know all of them.) I couldn't understand his name through his accent but he said he played for Charlton -- Mom said "Oh, you play with Danny Murphy!" Then she turned to Crouch & said she was looking forward to seeing him play. He was pretty shy & awkward. We were gleeful after we got off the elevator! We took another walk, this time down State Street and Michigan for a bit of shopping. We tried on $200 hats in Marshall Field, then I got some t-shirts with the American flag on them at Old Navy & Mom & I both picked up new purses in TJ Maxx. We walked over to the Daley Center to see the Picasso sculpture in the plaza. On the way home we hit a Borders where Mom bought 3 English soccer magazines.
That afternoon we went to see the Cubs play the Rockies at legendary Wrigley Field. We took the El from the Lake station to Addison. Amazed at all the legal scalpers working the street just outside the train station. Guess I overpaid for tix by purchasing them on the internet before the trip. With the Cubs in a nosedive the Cub fans are not beating down the door. Like Fenway Park, though, Wrigley Field is its own draw. We made it into our seats high above home plate in time to see poor Mark Prior get hit on the elbow by a comebacker straight at him, the ball hit so hard it was caught on the fly by the third baseman. Well, at least the Cubs romped. Derrick Lee hit two home runs. He is an impressive physical specimen -- reminded me of Dave Winfield.
We took the El home and repaired to our hotel room to freshen up before our Friday night dinner at Bar 36, a fancy wine bar. We went down the elevator to the hotel lobby to see a guy in a periwinkle blue uniform with his back to us, signing the shirt of a young boy. It was Andy Johnson, Crystal Palace striker who finished second in the Premier League in goals (behind Thierry Henry, natch). In person, he looks much smaller than he does on the field. Slight, almost. Then we spotted Joe Cole (with John Terry, most improved player on Chelsea). I said to Mom, Mom, you better go get your camera! So she headed off the elevator, where she had a nice conversation with Joe Cole. While she was gone Sol Campbell (Arsenal) and Wes Brown (Manchester United) walked in and began signing autographs and posing for pictures. Then Alan Smith and Phil Neville (both Man U.), who with nasty looks on their faces walked briskly past the people in the hallway & went directly to the elevator. I thought at the time that it was just their personalities, but Smith may have had his famous dust-up with Steve McLaren about the fact that the manager had decided to start Peter Crouch at striker rather than Smith.
Mom finally arrived back & I took her picture with Wes Brown. We struck up a conversation with a transplanted Englishman who was very impressed with our football knowledge (he introduced us to other Brits by saying, "These two young ladies know their football! They watch it on the satellite!"). He took our picture with Sol Campbell (swoon) and Andy Johnson. I got pictures of Mom with Sven Goran Eriksson (the manager) and David James (Manchester City). We missed out on pics with Ashley Cole and Jermaine Dafoe.
OK, here's the embarrassing part. I saw Kieran Richardson wearing the same training outfit, but he looked too young to play. I thought maybe he was the ballboy. So I asked him, "Are you going to play?" He replied "I hope so!" I suppose my question didn't seem so stupid to him as he had never before appeared for his country. He made the most of it, didn't he? Richardson's dream England debut I told Mom the story later and she said, oh, he's a Man U player, but they loaned him out to West Brom this season & he scored the goal that kept them from being relegated. Mom knows all.
While all this was going on I had called the restaurant to tell them that we were going to be 15 minutes late appearing for our reservations. So we finally left to go to dinner. We chortled throughout our dinner, passing the camera back & forth to look at our gets.
Oh, and the "Charlton" player we met in the elevator? A practical joker. I saw him again in the lobby and asked his name. "Michael," he replied. "Owen". Yeah, like I wouldn't recognize my favorite English football player! Every time I saw him after that for the next two days I sang out "Michael! Michael Owen!" He was shameless, nothing bothered the little s**t.
Saturday we went for a walk to Millennium Park to see the new sculpture, "Cloud Gate", which was partially on view. Known in Chicago as "The Bean", it is a, well, bean-shaped sphere made of 110 tons of steel. Only about 20% of the sculpture was completed & exposed, but you could see the sky, the skyline, and the curious on the plaza in its reflection. We took each other's pictures reflected in The Bean, then headed back to the hotel.
And once again, there was the England team, this time heading out for a bit of pre-match training. At this point the word was out with England fans so our hotel, lobby and entryway were filled with autograph seekers. We stood our ground & took a few photos. A burly man threatened my mother with expulsion for taking a picture inside the lobby (he said he was with security) so we went outside & took pics of the team in the hotel entrance. The team waited around until Peter Crouch came out, last, his head down, looking dejected. Probably had just learned he would not play in the game today.
After all the meetings with the team in the hotel, the game was almost anticlimactic! We intended to take the bus, but the 146 bus did not come for 30 minutes, until a bus came which refused to open the doors because it was too full. So we hailed a cab & had it let us out at the Roosevelt Rd. train stop. We joined the throngs walking to the game. A mostly English crowd, it seemed, from the yelling and the singing. We passed two men inside an underpass selling the new England strip out of a black sports bag ($40 each). They sold out in less than a minute.
Security was pretty routine. They looked cursorily inside my binoculars & my purse. We found our seats on the Club level & I headed out for food. I got sandwiches & sodas. Stupid Soldier Field rule: fountain sodas served in cups, you can't have either a lid or a straw. However, if you order coffee, you can get both a lid & a little stirrer. I don't know, I think I'd rather be hit by a cold flying projectile than a cup of hot coffee. But that's just me.
US was missing our "A" team: No Damarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien, Frankie Heyduk, Clint Mathis, Pablo Mastroeni, Oguchi Onyewu, Tim Howard, or the ageless Cobi Jones. England was missing even more: David Beckham, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sean Wright-Philips, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Paul Robinson, Wayne Bridge, Danny Murphy, Ledley King and more.
The US played what I call "boot and chase" soccer, preferring long crosses to the forwards to controlling the ball on the ground up the field. England cleaned our clock, really; Landon Donovan (known by doubters as "Landon Gone") was invisible. Josh Wolff worked his butt off but couldn't finish. I was impressed by Richardson, of course, with his two goals, and Joe Cole, who looks like he will be quite the playmaker some day. Alan Smith leaned in on everyone and fouled repeatedly.
Unfortunately we had to listen to a couple of soccer pretenders behind us who kept saying inane things like "Smith's going to get a card! That's the fourth time he's fouled! Referees are counting!" Right, he's going to get a card for a garden variety push.
I thought Clint Dempsey had left it all on the field & was calling for him to be subbed out when he scored late in the game. That made the score look respectable, but without an attack we really got skunked.
After the game we walked home past all the beautiful parks, fountains, and sculptures.
Sunday we again went walking, looking at architecture and eventually ending up at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is right next to Grant Park. Fantastic collections. I got to add another painting to my "Mel Kelly life list". My high school art teacher's room was covered with reproductions of great paintings. Each year the class had to memorize all the paintings in order and recite the names of the paintings and the artist. I think if you got my brothers & sisters in a room today between the four of us we could recreate the entire three walls. It started with "Starry, Starry Night" by Van Gogh, which I've seen, along with "Pines and Rocks" by Cezanne (Mr. Kelly called it Rocks and Pines, but who's counting). At the Art Institute I saw Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", which Mr. Kelly mercifully shortened to Sunday Afternoon in the Park. Check!
Monday we flew back to Newark & headed to Manhattan for a night on the town before England - Columbia. Tuesday we headed out early to Giants Stadium. Got there so early we pulled into the parking lot for the Aramark employees. There weren't any parking collectors there yet, so we just went in the open gate & saved $15. Parked next to an Aramark truck for shade & set up chairs to eat & crowd watch. Bought an England flag from a woman selling them out of a sports bag. ($10). Went into the stadium when it opened at 2:30 p.m.
Silly security rule at Giants Stadium: They sell you soda in 20 oz. bottles but won't give you the cap. (Note to self: Take a 20 oz. soda cap next time you go to Giants Stadium.) A 12-year-old Columbian boy in the row ahead of us almost got in a fight with an English fan (couldn't determine if she was English or American) who was shouting obscenities in his mother's ear. At halftime when I went out for soda, I proclaimed myself "Switzerland" as I passed through the two still angry camps. As for the game: The real Michael Owen favored us with a hat trick as England won 3-2. The fans chanted and sang. The sun shone. It was a great, great, great trip.
Monday, June 14, 2004
I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACK
Just returned home from an unscheduled trip to visit a recuperating relative.
Now I am recovering from a new sports blow -- England's extra-time loss to the dreaded Frogs at Euro20004. England Suffer France Agony
It was torture to watch it all unravel so quickly at the end.
Crazy Barthez with that great save on Beckham's PK was the start.
Then England turtled for the rest of the second half -- impossible against the French who are loaded with offensive talent. And the final blow, Sven-Goren puts in EMILE HESKEY, of all substitutes, for Wayne Rooney who at 18 didn't need a rest, and certainly didn't need to be taken out for the useless Mr. Heskey. Wham-o, Heskey fouls, Zidane strikes with the perfect free kick, England panics, Steven Gerrard makes the sloppy pass back to James, James fouls Henry and and Zidane puts them away from the penalty mark. Sad.
More tomorrow.
Now I am recovering from a new sports blow -- England's extra-time loss to the dreaded Frogs at Euro20004. England Suffer France Agony
It was torture to watch it all unravel so quickly at the end.
Crazy Barthez with that great save on Beckham's PK was the start.
Then England turtled for the rest of the second half -- impossible against the French who are loaded with offensive talent. And the final blow, Sven-Goren puts in EMILE HESKEY, of all substitutes, for Wayne Rooney who at 18 didn't need a rest, and certainly didn't need to be taken out for the useless Mr. Heskey. Wham-o, Heskey fouls, Zidane strikes with the perfect free kick, England panics, Steven Gerrard makes the sloppy pass back to James, James fouls Henry and and Zidane puts them away from the penalty mark. Sad.
More tomorrow.
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