Monthly Archives: April 2012

The View From Row Z: Better Late Than Never Manchester Title Derby

So yeah, apparently there’s a major game going on to decide the fate of the Premier League Title?

Here are the lineups!  Get to Chattin’

Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Lescott, Kompany, Clichy, Barry, Toure Yaya, Silva, Tevez, Nasri, Aguero.
Subs: Pantilimon, Richards, Milner, Dzeko, Kolarov, De Jong, Balotelli.

Manchester United: De Gea, Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Scholes, Park, Giggs, Rooney.
Subs: Amos, Berbatov, Hernandez, Young, Welbeck, Rafael Da Silva, Valencia.

Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands)

 

The Halftime Pint: Chocolate City Sakura Washington

20120430-095250.jpgOne of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: Chocolate City Sakura Washington, Chocolate City Beer, Washington, DC

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in Northeast DC

What You Need to Know: Another of the trappist styles, Abbey Ale (more frequently known as Dubbel) is a brown, medium-strength (about 6.3-7.6 percent, per the Beer Judge Certification Program, which sets stylistic standards for most national and international competitions) beer. It’s frequently characterized by both spicy and fruity notes, owing to the particular strain of yeast used in its production. Most common flavors in a dubbel are raisin or date, with some allspice or nutmeg accents, again, owing to the yeast and not the actual addition of those elements into the beer. Continue reading →

Lorber, you ignorant slut.

Lorber has made some questionable decisions in his life. He decided to root for Tottenham Hotspur, with all the pain and suffering that entails. His European team of choice is the Portugal, international soccer’s most wretched hive of hair gel and villainy. He went to law school. Yet despite all of this, he has never been more wrong than when he expresses his love of Tottenham Hotspur’s third jersey from 2006/2007. Which looks like this:

Milk, milk, lemonade, behind Mido the fudge is made

Has anyone ever been this wrong about anything ever?

Continue reading →

Orr’s Serie A Weekend Preview

So full of hope.

Four rounds to go in Serie A, but we already have out first relegation victim.

Sorry Cesena fans (I know there must be some of you out there) but after two seasons in the top flight the Seahorses return to Serie B.

Who would have thought the attacking force of Adrian Mutu and Vincenzo Iaquinta couldn’t get it done? (Everyone)

Novara look set to be the next to join them, though Milan fans hope they can continue to show the heart they’ve displayed all season and knock off one more big opponent.

Juventus’ lead looks secure, 3 points clear with the head-to-head tiebreaker over Milan, but anyone who has followed this sport with any consistency knows that anything can happen.

This goes doubly for the race to third, with Lazio, Roma, Napoli, Udinese, and now in form Inter all still making a case.

Continue reading →

Tango Ball: Week 12

Boselli (right) had a disastrous time in Europe.

Oh, Tango Ball. Sometimes you underwhelm in the worst way. Like last week. There were five draws out of the ten scheduled matches, and only two matches featured more than 2 goals. Also, the teams that had been shaping up to be contenders have nearly all dropped points. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Looking Back: After Boca drew 1-1 with Belgrano on Sunday, Newell’s had a golden opportunity to snatch the table lead away from them in the Monday night “Arse v. NOB” game. They didn’t. Another 1-1 draw. Only Tigre managed a win over Olimpo to reach 3rd place, one point behind Boca and Newell’s. All Boys beat Union to move into 4th place, while Vélez and Estudiantes drew and lost, respectively, to fall behind. Continue reading →

AM 452: Game On Edition

This week on AM 452 we have a lot of fun to cover. Shenanigans are afoot as we talk about the upcoming Manchester Derby as well as the battle for the final Champions League positions. There is a lot of harassing on ‘Arry and Spurs. I am joined by Skipjack for the podcast, and we have a lot of jolly good fun. as always you can listen below, or subscribe to us on iTunes.

Haha, Barcelona is gone!

Fear Not, United Fans, Michael Owen is Back

Is he wearing a flak jacket?

Good news for Manchester United fans heading into the derby on Monday: Michael Owen is back! Oh what joyous glad tidings! I’ve been saying for weeks now that what this team’s really missing is a thirty-something, chronically-injured 5’8″ forward. If only he’d been available against Everton, perhaps Pienaar’s goal could have been avoided!

Though everyone’s certain he’s the Manchester Messiah, come at this grave hour to shepherd us through the Valley of the Shadow of Second Place, brave little Michael James, who’s finally overcome the nagging thigh injury that’s kept him sidelined since November 2nd, is nonetheless exuding humility: Continue reading →

Mexico Bans Kissing

Spin the Bottle will also be banned from Mexican soccer.

No, there hasn’t been an outbreak of mononucleosis south of the border. Merely a run of the mill case of homophobia amongst members of the FMF, Mexican soccer’s ruling body.

Seems Club América’s Christian “Chucho” Benitez and Matías “the Bull” Vuoso celebrated a goal over the weekend by nearly locking lips (see photo above). The FMF’s Disciplinary Committee reacted by launching an investigation (Span link) and calling for kisses on the lips to be banned from goal celebrations in the Mexican league. According to Alfonso Sabater, head of the FMF DC:

“We can’t allow them to present such an image to the public, the fans, the children; we cannot take it as a good example.”

In other words, WON’T SOMEBODY PLEEEASSE THINK OF THE CHILDREN??!

As you can imagine, others are upset about the FMF’s reaction. Who’s upset? Continue reading →

The Players You Meet in Rec Soccer Hell: The Cherry Picker

Even Inzaghi shakes his head at the cherry picker.

Call him a cherry picker, a goal hanger, or just call him lazy. Either way, this guy is a classic.

Annoying, in fact extremely so. But a classic nonetheless.

He is one of those rare players on a soccer field that can unite both opponents and teammates alike in mutual contempt (the other guy is John Terry).

And he is a beast totally unique to rec league or pick-up soccer.

Continue reading →

Stadium Showcase: Taking your life into your hands at RFK!

The safest distance from which to view games at RFK

Football is played in venues throughout the world, each with their own unique atmosphere and character, from the historic grounds of England, where nostalgia and adjectives go to die, to the stadia of Italy, where spectators have entire sections to themselves.

As a relatively young footballing nation, the venues of the United States may not have the history and tradition of some of the grounds around the world, but they are slowly building it. However there is one ground that offers something entirely unique of any sports stadium in the United States and that is RFK Stadium in Washington DC where you can experience the thrill of third world infrastructure in a first world country.

Continue reading →