On Saturday, Manchester United plays Barcelona at Wembley in an attempt to win the European Cup (now called the Champions League, but the trophy itself is still the European Cup, which is what the competition was called until the 1994-95 season) for the fourth time. It will be the fifth time that United plays in a European Cup final, and though they have won three of the previous four, one could argue that they should have lost all of them, not just in 2009 to Barcelona.
In 1968 versus Benfica, also at Wembley, the match was drawn 1-1 in second-half stoppage time when Eusebio had a clear path to goal and should have scored for the Portuguese, but shot right at the goalkeeper instead. United went on to win 4-1 after extra time.
In 1999, United were losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the 91st minute and scored two goals off of corner kicks one after the other to win. Here is a link to video of the goals. I watch this whenever I feel depressed and it always cheers me up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mf8SC_UASg
In 2008 against Chelsea, John Terry had a chance to win the penalty kick shootout after the match had ended 1-1, but missed the goal, and United went onto win when Ryan Giggs scored on his kick and Nicolas Anelka's kick was saved.
But that's why each of the 90 (or 120) minutes count equally. The trophy goes to the team that has scored more goals in that span, not to the team that has played more dominantly or "deserves" to win, because the fundamental basis of the game is that the team who scores more goals deserves to win. That's why Manchester United is the greatest football/soccer club in the world, because they score more goals than the other team much more often than not, and they never believe it is impossible to do so until the final whistle sounds. WE ARE UNITED, WE DO WHAT WE WANT!
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Champions League Final on TV
Saturday afternoon Fox, not Fox Soccer Channel, will televise the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona. This is a huge milestone in the history of soccer in the United States because it will be the first time ever (or at least in my lifetime, but I am pretty sure ever) that a non-American club match will be shown in English on free television. (The Spanish-language networks televise the Mexican league and have shown European finals in the past: I became a Manchester United fan after watching the 1991 Cup-Winners' Cup final between United and Barcelona when I was 11. I was rooting for United because I liked their uniforms better, and I was impressed that Mark Hughes scored both the goals.)
Paradoxically, although much more live soccer is shown in the U.S. than ever before, the amount of it on free television has decreased because ABC no longer shows the MLS Cup or the MLS All-Star game; they only televise World Cup matches. I am unaware of any other network showing any professional soccer since the NASL days. Thus it is huge that Fox is showing the UCL final, which will be the first match on free English-language television since the 2010 World Cup final. It shows a commitment to the sport from Fox that is encouraging. The fact that the final includes two of the world's most famous clubs, who are both popular in the U.S., is also helpful.
Paradoxically, although much more live soccer is shown in the U.S. than ever before, the amount of it on free television has decreased because ABC no longer shows the MLS Cup or the MLS All-Star game; they only televise World Cup matches. I am unaware of any other network showing any professional soccer since the NASL days. Thus it is huge that Fox is showing the UCL final, which will be the first match on free English-language television since the 2010 World Cup final. It shows a commitment to the sport from Fox that is encouraging. The fact that the final includes two of the world's most famous clubs, who are both popular in the U.S., is also helpful.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A Miscellany
The combination of blogger.com being down for a few days last week and a very busy weekend hosting family has led to me not posting for nearly a week, so today's entry is wide-ranging.
I was listening a bit to the Rolling Stones the other day and was struck by the oddness of "Mother's Little Helper." What possessed Mick Jagger to write this song? Why did he, the epitome of (packaged, mainstream) nonconformity and a heavy drug user, feel the need to sing about the dangers of housewives abusing drugs and the rise of pre-packaged food products? It's bizarre.
Manchester United's clinching of their 19th league championship (12 in the Premiership and seven in the old First Division) on Saturday was incredibly satisfying. I fancy their chances of winning the Champions League final against Barcelona more than most (and not just because I am a United fan). All of the pressure will be on Barcelona, and the final is at Wembley! Don't underestimate the "home" advantage for United, as well as all of the ghosts from their 1968 European Cup win, also at Wembley. Plus the revenge factor from losing to Barcelona in the 2009 final. United have all of the intangibles on their side, and they have shown throughout Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure that they know how to use intangibles to their utmost advantage.
I just finished reading Nnedi Okorafor's novel Who Fears Death, a science fiction/fantasy narrative that is a pastiche of themes from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Dave Eggers's What is the What. It does not explicitly acknowledge that it is an allegory of the genocide in Sudan until the very end, though this correlation is obvious from the very beginning. It was a fun read, not especially accomplished technically, but interesting as a fictionalized response to real-world catastrophe, which is an area of scholarly interest for me.
Books Acquired Recently
Dlugos, Tim. A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos. Ed. David Trinidad. Callicoon: Nightboat, 2011.
I wrote last month about how I enjoy Dlugos because of his similarity to Frank O'Hara, and sure enough, the first blurb on the back of the book is Ted Berrigan calling Dlugos "the Frank O'Hara of his generation." The back cover also claims that Dlugos is "a major American poet," which at this point is just wishful thinking, but it is a statement that deserves to be true. It also calls him the "seminal poet of the AIDS epidemic," ha ha.
Toews, Miriam. The Flying Troutmans. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2008.
I've been meaning to read this for a while. I really enjoyed Toews's previous novel, A Complicated Kindness, and am interested to see what she does with characters that (as far as I can tell from reading about the book) are not Mennonite. Toews is also excellent as Esther in the film Silent Light, which is probably the best movie about Mennonites/Amish, beating both Witness and Hazel's People.
I was listening a bit to the Rolling Stones the other day and was struck by the oddness of "Mother's Little Helper." What possessed Mick Jagger to write this song? Why did he, the epitome of (packaged, mainstream) nonconformity and a heavy drug user, feel the need to sing about the dangers of housewives abusing drugs and the rise of pre-packaged food products? It's bizarre.
Manchester United's clinching of their 19th league championship (12 in the Premiership and seven in the old First Division) on Saturday was incredibly satisfying. I fancy their chances of winning the Champions League final against Barcelona more than most (and not just because I am a United fan). All of the pressure will be on Barcelona, and the final is at Wembley! Don't underestimate the "home" advantage for United, as well as all of the ghosts from their 1968 European Cup win, also at Wembley. Plus the revenge factor from losing to Barcelona in the 2009 final. United have all of the intangibles on their side, and they have shown throughout Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure that they know how to use intangibles to their utmost advantage.
I just finished reading Nnedi Okorafor's novel Who Fears Death, a science fiction/fantasy narrative that is a pastiche of themes from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Dave Eggers's What is the What. It does not explicitly acknowledge that it is an allegory of the genocide in Sudan until the very end, though this correlation is obvious from the very beginning. It was a fun read, not especially accomplished technically, but interesting as a fictionalized response to real-world catastrophe, which is an area of scholarly interest for me.
Books Acquired Recently
Dlugos, Tim. A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos. Ed. David Trinidad. Callicoon: Nightboat, 2011.
I wrote last month about how I enjoy Dlugos because of his similarity to Frank O'Hara, and sure enough, the first blurb on the back of the book is Ted Berrigan calling Dlugos "the Frank O'Hara of his generation." The back cover also claims that Dlugos is "a major American poet," which at this point is just wishful thinking, but it is a statement that deserves to be true. It also calls him the "seminal poet of the AIDS epidemic," ha ha.
Toews, Miriam. The Flying Troutmans. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2008.
I've been meaning to read this for a while. I really enjoyed Toews's previous novel, A Complicated Kindness, and am interested to see what she does with characters that (as far as I can tell from reading about the book) are not Mennonite. Toews is also excellent as Esther in the film Silent Light, which is probably the best movie about Mennonites/Amish, beating both Witness and Hazel's People.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday Afternoon Sports Stuff
Overall, this has been a pretty good sports weekend. The Mets crushed the ball and pitched rather well against the Diamondbacks in their three-game sweep, Manchester United beat Everton to continue their run to a record nineteenth league championship, and (almost as good in terms of the chuckle it gave me) Arsenal lost to Bolton Wanderers to basically end their title challenge.
For better or worse, Sunday sports results always really affect my mood going into the week. It's nice to get this week started on a good note--the Mets winning, the sun shining.
For better or worse, Sunday sports results always really affect my mood going into the week. It's nice to get this week started on a good note--the Mets winning, the sun shining.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
"New York" Soccer
I just got back from class this evening and am watching the second half of the DC United-Red Bull New York match, so no post today other than to say that I can't wait for MLS to get a second team in New York, one that actually plays in New York (hopefully the Cosmos) so that I can root for a New York team rather than one that plays in Jersey whose star player is fucking Thierry Henry.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Glory Glory Man. United!
I am sure I will feel ecstatic later, but right now, I am mostly just relieved that Manchester United won the Champions League today against Chelsea 1-1, 6-5 on penalties. Chelsea deserved to win after weathering United's offensive storm in the first half, playing better in the second, and having an opportunity to clinch the championship in the fifth round of penalties (John Terry, my sympathies are with you). But the same good fortune that helped United score two second half injury-time goals in the 1999 final to beat Bayern Munich showed its face again today in Moscow, and it was too much for Chelsea to overcome. Manchester United thereby complete the Premiership-European Cup double, edging Chelsea in both competitions. Well done, lads, well done.
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PS I will be writing much more frequently now than I have been recently. Stay tuned!
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PS I will be writing much more frequently now than I have been recently. Stay tuned!
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