Ages ago, when the commercials were aired for the the premiere of the show, the humor caught my attention and I vowed to watch every episode of it. D-day came and went, and my 100% track record of NOT adhering to a time table was intact. As days passed, without much of a regret, I made my peace with not being able to watch the show.
One blessed day, as I flipped channels at the rate of knots, I paused at Star World, which was tuned to Channel Number 14 at that point.....30 mins later, Star World had made the biggest jump into the top 10, landing itself at No.5 (tennis fans should note that this was prior to Agassi jumping from 122 to 6 in 1998). Honestly, I have no idea if my 10 yrs and counting love affair with the show would have left base if the episode hadn't been 'The One with the Boobies', but then.....would Schuey be chasing his EIGHTH F1 World Championship if his father did not work at the local kart club?!!! I am just thankful that I caught one of the perfect episodes.
Now, as I watch each episode for the 50th time (and I don't think that that is an exaggeration), there I go, nitpicking on how the joke was poorly setup, or how it was just slapstick, or plain repetitive....but unerringly, at the end of every joke, I am either smiling, or falling off the couch laughing.
Thanks for the memories.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S Forever!!!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Sighter #2 - Andy Murray
This is titled #2, since #1 was the post on Davydenko during AusOpen 2006, even though it wasn't titled so. Of course, the numbers are in chronological order rather than ordered by significance.
Amidst the gloom of Friday and Saturday, with Argentina and Andre Agassi missing out on their respective dates with July 9th, Andy Murray elicited a smile. I had never seen him in action previously and realised yesterday that he had never been past the third round of a Slam prior to Wimbledon'06. But had read pages and pages that dissected his game and plotted his rise to World No.1 among other stuff. You guessed it.....he's British!
Anyway, within a few games of watching him playing Roddick, I knew that I had seen it all before. The deceptive movement around the court, the incredible angles and the clincher....the vulnerability to a power player. That's right....men's tennis has its own Martina Hingis!
Forza Murray!!! oops...wonder where the Italian influence came from. I mean, was it from the World Cup semifinal or the Ferrari 1-2 at Indy this weekend :D
PS: Actually, to be fair, we have had Fabrice Santoro for ages. For those wondering "Fabrice WHO??". Here's an FYI...7-2 Safin, 3-4 Sampras, 3-3 Agassi....that's his career H to H record against those players. In spite of these incredible stats, Santoro has never been able to put together good enough results to enter the elite top 10. Thus, he has hardly ever had the benefit of TV coverage. Exception: US Open'05 - played Federer on Center Court and I swear that it was one of the most enjoyable tennis matches that I have witnessed.
Amidst the gloom of Friday and Saturday, with Argentina and Andre Agassi missing out on their respective dates with July 9th, Andy Murray elicited a smile. I had never seen him in action previously and realised yesterday that he had never been past the third round of a Slam prior to Wimbledon'06. But had read pages and pages that dissected his game and plotted his rise to World No.1 among other stuff. You guessed it.....he's British!
Anyway, within a few games of watching him playing Roddick, I knew that I had seen it all before. The deceptive movement around the court, the incredible angles and the clincher....the vulnerability to a power player. That's right....men's tennis has its own Martina Hingis!
Forza Murray!!! oops...wonder where the Italian influence came from. I mean, was it from the World Cup semifinal or the Ferrari 1-2 at Indy this weekend :D
PS: Actually, to be fair, we have had Fabrice Santoro for ages. For those wondering "Fabrice WHO??". Here's an FYI...7-2 Safin, 3-4 Sampras, 3-3 Agassi....that's his career H to H record against those players. In spite of these incredible stats, Santoro has never been able to put together good enough results to enter the elite top 10. Thus, he has hardly ever had the benefit of TV coverage. Exception: US Open'05 - played Federer on Center Court and I swear that it was one of the most enjoyable tennis matches that I have witnessed.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Can't say that I did not see it coming
Just last night, after spending a couple of hours following reviews of the day's action and previews of Saturday's action from the World Cup, I noticed the headline 'Federer to open against Gasquet'. Totally surprised that that could even be possible, paid a long delayed visit to www.wimbledon.org. Out there, the articles had started, the previews were in and the draw was out. Using Mozilla's text search, quickly scanned through the four quarters of the draw to find out where Agassi was. 25th seed! And slated to play Nadal in the third round. That's if his back holds.
Anyway, read through 'Agassi's Last Wimbledon Hurrah?' and reflected. This hasn't been the first year that I am seeing an article question his presence next year. In the past few years, have read quite of few of those that very confidently predicted the retirement of the man. All this, when Agassi himself has been very clear that he fully intends to be playing the next year. However, last night, I could not get myself to sneer at the article. Instead, I cursed the freak injury he suffered last year playing squash, which completely dampened the momentum from the US Open and set him back this year. So, I guess that somewhere deep down, I had realised that the rest of this year would indeed be his last hurrah. But after it surfaced last night, there was just nowhere to hide. I wondered, 'Does tennis matter anymore?'. Immediate thoughts went to my total disregard for Roland Garros until the finals. I remembered that I didn't even care to read the interviews of the players after the finals. I remembered going to sleep immediately after the last point, not even interested in the prize distribution. Not that I expected Agassi to reach the finals this year, but he wasn't even there. So, did it even matter? Only if Federer won it, I guess. And that too, due to the monumental significance of that moment, if it had happened, rather than any personal interest in the player.
With those thoughts being the last recollections from last night, I woke this morning to the sound of the shrill alarm. 10 mins before Germany took on Sweden! Hastily, dragged me, the laptop and a pillow to the couch for a morning of entertainment. Opening up BBC Sport for a quick scan, I could not believe that Agassi's distinct eyes were looking right at me from the top of the page. The headline read 'Agassi announces retirement date'!!! You would assume that having thought about the same last night, I would be better prepared to deal with it. Maybe I was. Which is probably why the laptop is intact.
Anyway, not being the very emotional sort, I proceeded to read through the contents and the tributes that were already flowing. And then, life continued....Germany scored twice early, won easily from there on, got caught up chatting with a friend and then Argentina came on and stroked the senses. Not quite vintage, but the mesmerizing ability of this entire squad on and off the ball is something to behold. Theoretically, the high from the injury time wonder strike should have lasted the entire day. Surprisingly, it didn't last much longer past the final whistle.
Unsurprising, considering that AGASSI IS GOING TO RETIRE!!!
Anyway, read through 'Agassi's Last Wimbledon Hurrah?' and reflected. This hasn't been the first year that I am seeing an article question his presence next year. In the past few years, have read quite of few of those that very confidently predicted the retirement of the man. All this, when Agassi himself has been very clear that he fully intends to be playing the next year. However, last night, I could not get myself to sneer at the article. Instead, I cursed the freak injury he suffered last year playing squash, which completely dampened the momentum from the US Open and set him back this year. So, I guess that somewhere deep down, I had realised that the rest of this year would indeed be his last hurrah. But after it surfaced last night, there was just nowhere to hide. I wondered, 'Does tennis matter anymore?'. Immediate thoughts went to my total disregard for Roland Garros until the finals. I remembered that I didn't even care to read the interviews of the players after the finals. I remembered going to sleep immediately after the last point, not even interested in the prize distribution. Not that I expected Agassi to reach the finals this year, but he wasn't even there. So, did it even matter? Only if Federer won it, I guess. And that too, due to the monumental significance of that moment, if it had happened, rather than any personal interest in the player.
With those thoughts being the last recollections from last night, I woke this morning to the sound of the shrill alarm. 10 mins before Germany took on Sweden! Hastily, dragged me, the laptop and a pillow to the couch for a morning of entertainment. Opening up BBC Sport for a quick scan, I could not believe that Agassi's distinct eyes were looking right at me from the top of the page. The headline read 'Agassi announces retirement date'!!! You would assume that having thought about the same last night, I would be better prepared to deal with it. Maybe I was. Which is probably why the laptop is intact.
Anyway, not being the very emotional sort, I proceeded to read through the contents and the tributes that were already flowing. And then, life continued....Germany scored twice early, won easily from there on, got caught up chatting with a friend and then Argentina came on and stroked the senses. Not quite vintage, but the mesmerizing ability of this entire squad on and off the ball is something to behold. Theoretically, the high from the injury time wonder strike should have lasted the entire day. Surprisingly, it didn't last much longer past the final whistle.
Unsurprising, considering that AGASSI IS GOING TO RETIRE!!!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
I'm going PUBLIC
All of a sudden, without being provoked, I sent out a mail to this buddy of mine with a World Cup predictor. Why not make it public, I thought.
WINNER - Argentina
FINALS - Argentina vs Brazil
SEMI-FINALS
July 4th - Argentina vs Italy
QUARTER-FINALS
Argentina vs Sweden
NOTABLE ROUND OF 16 GAMES
Holland vs Portugal
FYI....As is typical, the comments section will remain empty, but this time around, updates as the games happen will be mentioned in the comments section. Both, cheers and the brickbats won't be in moderation.
WINNER - Argentina
- Both HEART and MIND say so. They both can't be wrong!!!
- They would have played a brand of football that would send the world into delirium
FINALS - Argentina vs Brazil
- I thought that Carlos Tevez is just another striker. NOPE, was wrong! He will beat Lucio to score the winner from a Messi assist. Sweeeeeet!!!
- Messi would give a live tutorial to the opposing Robinho and the watching Rooney about how a 19 year old should play a World Cup Final
- The 'Hand of God' will be mentioned during the victory celebration
SEMI-FINALS
July 4th - Argentina vs Italy
- Messi will run circles, squares, rectangles and triangles through the Italian defense
- James Horner will be forced to take note of the Riquelme conducted orchestra
- Two technically brilliant teams. Bound to be tight, but there will be space for those that can create it. Holland seem to be playing a little too physical though. One of their key players MIGHT miss out due to yellow card trouble
- Ronaldo would either not play or be close to his best. Cannot see him being persisted with if he cannot move or control the ball like in the first two matches
QUARTER-FINALS
Argentina vs Sweden
- Sweden would beat Germany in the round of 16 stage. I WISH that Germany would win though. That way, Argentina can extract PERFECT revenge for 1990 WC final.
- My sincerest personal apology to Mr.Rooney, but I cannot accept Terry/Lampard going further
- IFFFFFFFF Holland go on to win the World Cup, they would have played Arg, Portugal, England, Brazil and Arg. MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE!!!
- This one is really hard to predict. I hope that France will come through, but increasingly, that looks unlikely
- If France does not come through, it could be the winner of Korea vs Ukraine. Ewwww!
- If France finish second in their group, they would play Spain in the round of 16. And I favour France to squeak through and play Brazil in the QF. Another Ronaldinho vs Henry matchup
NOTABLE ROUND OF 16 GAMES
Holland vs Portugal
- Again, my apologies to Christiano Ronaldo. But the trickster cannot compensate for a fumbling bumbling Figo. Plus Robben and Van Persie look BLOODY impressive.
- Mourinho's long face will only get longer
- This will be THE GAME where Ronaldinho gets the space to dance to the Samba. Even Maradona will be cheering!
FYI....As is typical, the comments section will remain empty, but this time around, updates as the games happen will be mentioned in the comments section. Both, cheers and the brickbats won't be in moderation.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Thoughts from the First Week
It comes once every four years, and when it does, the world watches in rapt attention. Unlike cricket though, the interim period does not ensure heavyweight international fights equivalent to the Ashes, India-Pak, Aus-SA etc. For instance, when was the last time Argentina played Germany? I don't know the answer to that one. But I do know that the last time Argentina played Holland was back in 1998. As you might know, 9 months of every year is taken up by the club fixtures, thus depriving the internationals of any time. Don't get me wrong, club football enthralls and holds my undivided attention. But how about working out a balance between club matches and Internationals? Anyway, this is not the time to moan, considering that there has been enough happening to spark a full-fledged celebration. So, let's talk about that...
Memory can be tricky. There are those that swear that anything past was best, while current trend is to call the latest the greatest. Not sure about my judgment either. But to my mind, the fare dished out at this WC has been nothing short of exhilarating. And I do not remember this sensation during the '94, '98 or '02 WCs.
Being a sucker for the traditional giants, I did not appreciate the sensational runs of South Korea and Senegal last time around. As I write, we are mid-way through the second round of group matches and but for France, all the heavyweights have won their matches and look poised to take their place in the second round. Ivory Coast, Ghana have shown a lot of skill and fight and can consider themselves unlucky to be going out at the group stage. But the way I see it, their duty is to come to the party, make it interesting and fly back at the end of the second week. 270 minutes of glory should be good enough for teams with 1 or 2 stars.
Check this out. If things go according to plan (my plan, that is), a possible list of second round matches look like this..
England vs Germany
Argentina/Nederlands vs Portugal
Italy/Czech Republic vs Brazil
France vs Spain
And before that happens, we have Argentina vs Nederlands and Czech Republic vs Italy coming up from the final round of the group stage. Enough matchups there to make me seriously consider giving up my carefully saved up India vacation time for a visit to an English pub to watch the games. And I might as well have done so if my colleagues/managers weren't exactly watching all the games at work.
Exhilarating is good. Big names are great. Open football is even better. But without quality goals, football would not be the five course meal at Caesar's Palace that it is meant to be. Happily, ever since Lahm started the deluge 6 minutes after the World Cup started, by cutting in from the left flank, and placing the ball at the top right corner of the goal, the wonder strikes have rained incessantly. What about Frings' thunderbolt in the same match....or, the Riquelme conducted orchestra aided and abetted by Saviola...or, Tevez wrongfooting one defender and then nutmegging the next before slotting one home against Serbia....or, Rosicky's couple of blinders against the USA. We are only 1 week into the tournament and I can vouch that atleast a couple of these will rank above the best from '02. And I am not even talking about the one that Argentina scored, or should I say composed today against Serbia. To compare it to a goal from recent memory is travesty. As a BEAUTIFUL goal, to my amateur and prejudiced mind, it ranks above the 1970 classic scored by the Brazilians. 25 passes!!! That's right. 25 passes in the Serb half, slowly working the ball around, treading it through non-existent spaces, building up momentum, a delightful breakthrough pass by Saviola, a magnificient one-two between Cambiasso and Crespo and then an elegantly simple finish!!! 'Beautiful goal' does not do justice and neither does my football parlance.
Which leads me nicely to the form of the Argentines. Thanks to the aforementioned reason about a lack of Internationals between World Cups, I am watching them in action for the first time since 2002, and if you know what happened there, you can be sure that there are no pleasant memories from then. So, to go from that to what the world is witnessing now, is a quantum shift in ability, elegance and more importantly, results (thus far). Two rounds into the group of death, the qualifiers are set and their order to be determined coming Wednesday (Argentina vs Nederlands - the final before the final). Can't wait!!!
Memory can be tricky. There are those that swear that anything past was best, while current trend is to call the latest the greatest. Not sure about my judgment either. But to my mind, the fare dished out at this WC has been nothing short of exhilarating. And I do not remember this sensation during the '94, '98 or '02 WCs.
Being a sucker for the traditional giants, I did not appreciate the sensational runs of South Korea and Senegal last time around. As I write, we are mid-way through the second round of group matches and but for France, all the heavyweights have won their matches and look poised to take their place in the second round. Ivory Coast, Ghana have shown a lot of skill and fight and can consider themselves unlucky to be going out at the group stage. But the way I see it, their duty is to come to the party, make it interesting and fly back at the end of the second week. 270 minutes of glory should be good enough for teams with 1 or 2 stars.
Check this out. If things go according to plan (my plan, that is), a possible list of second round matches look like this..
England vs Germany
Argentina/Nederlands vs Portugal
Italy/Czech Republic vs Brazil
France vs Spain
And before that happens, we have Argentina vs Nederlands and Czech Republic vs Italy coming up from the final round of the group stage. Enough matchups there to make me seriously consider giving up my carefully saved up India vacation time for a visit to an English pub to watch the games. And I might as well have done so if my colleagues/managers weren't exactly watching all the games at work.
Exhilarating is good. Big names are great. Open football is even better. But without quality goals, football would not be the five course meal at Caesar's Palace that it is meant to be. Happily, ever since Lahm started the deluge 6 minutes after the World Cup started, by cutting in from the left flank, and placing the ball at the top right corner of the goal, the wonder strikes have rained incessantly. What about Frings' thunderbolt in the same match....or, the Riquelme conducted orchestra aided and abetted by Saviola...or, Tevez wrongfooting one defender and then nutmegging the next before slotting one home against Serbia....or, Rosicky's couple of blinders against the USA. We are only 1 week into the tournament and I can vouch that atleast a couple of these will rank above the best from '02. And I am not even talking about the one that Argentina scored, or should I say composed today against Serbia. To compare it to a goal from recent memory is travesty. As a BEAUTIFUL goal, to my amateur and prejudiced mind, it ranks above the 1970 classic scored by the Brazilians. 25 passes!!! That's right. 25 passes in the Serb half, slowly working the ball around, treading it through non-existent spaces, building up momentum, a delightful breakthrough pass by Saviola, a magnificient one-two between Cambiasso and Crespo and then an elegantly simple finish!!! 'Beautiful goal' does not do justice and neither does my football parlance.
Which leads me nicely to the form of the Argentines. Thanks to the aforementioned reason about a lack of Internationals between World Cups, I am watching them in action for the first time since 2002, and if you know what happened there, you can be sure that there are no pleasant memories from then. So, to go from that to what the world is witnessing now, is a quantum shift in ability, elegance and more importantly, results (thus far). Two rounds into the group of death, the qualifiers are set and their order to be determined coming Wednesday (Argentina vs Nederlands - the final before the final). Can't wait!!!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Transcript of two of the GREATEST speeches of all time
#2 ---> Bill Pullman addressing the US soldiers before taking on the ALIENS
In less than an hour, aircrafts from here, will join those from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. (pause) Mankind huh? (pause) The word should have new meaning for all of us today. We cannot be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We are fighting for our right to live....to survive. Not from tyranny or persecution, but from annihilation. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But is the day when the world declared in one voice "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on!! We're going to survive!! The day, we celebrate our INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!" (applause, more applause, some more applause, lot more applause......followed by the greatest salute in the history of cinema)
#################################################################
#1 ---> ME addressing the Argentine Football Team before WORLD CUP 2006
In less than 12 hours, teams from here, will join those from around the world, and you will be fighting the largest football battle in the history of sports. (pause) Sports huh?! (pause) The word should have new meaning for all of us today. We cannot be consumed by petty basketball, cricket and tennis anymore. We are continuing the legacy of Argentina.....of Maradona. Not against Cruyff or Di Stefano....but against Pele and Brazil! And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but is the day when the Argentinians declared in one voice, "We will not concede a goal that night! We will score THREE in the big fight! We're going to play on July 9th!! We're going to win on July 9th!!! The day we celebrate our SEMIFINAL victory day!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
GO ARGENTINA!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL ARGENTINAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In less than an hour, aircrafts from here, will join those from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. (pause) Mankind huh? (pause) The word should have new meaning for all of us today. We cannot be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We are fighting for our right to live....to survive. Not from tyranny or persecution, but from annihilation. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But is the day when the world declared in one voice "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on!! We're going to survive!! The day, we celebrate our INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!" (applause, more applause, some more applause, lot more applause......followed by the greatest salute in the history of cinema)
#################################################################
#1 ---> ME addressing the Argentine Football Team before WORLD CUP 2006
In less than 12 hours, teams from here, will join those from around the world, and you will be fighting the largest football battle in the history of sports. (pause) Sports huh?! (pause) The word should have new meaning for all of us today. We cannot be consumed by petty basketball, cricket and tennis anymore. We are continuing the legacy of Argentina.....of Maradona. Not against Cruyff or Di Stefano....but against Pele and Brazil! And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but is the day when the Argentinians declared in one voice, "We will not concede a goal that night! We will score THREE in the big fight! We're going to play on July 9th!! We're going to win on July 9th!!! The day we celebrate our SEMIFINAL victory day!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
GO ARGENTINA!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL ARGENTINAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Life goes on, doesn't it?
A little more than 2 years ago, as a graduate student managing his living expenses with part-time work, I failed to comprehend the necessity for a cell phone. As recently as a month ago, I wondered how I could ever survive without one.
Seduced by trend and under the guise of its necessity for the job hunt procedure, I signed up for a 12 month T-Mobile contract and opted for the Nokia 6610. Since Jan 11th 2004 when it landed in my palm, it has been a constant companion through thick and thin and on the few occasions that I left home without it, I felt handicapped and cut off from the rest of the world. The thought of it lying at home, unused and unable to fulfil its destiny, meant that I walked/drove back to get it, borrowed a phone to call up the rest of the world and find the one 'dear friend' who is closest to it and can bring it to me.
Now, all of a sudden, with one month to go on my current contract, it conked out. I guess I am partly responsible. I did soak it in water for 5 minutes...
Anyway, I expected a rough ride for the next week or so before the gleaming new Motorola E815 arrived. Surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad. While at work, if I needed to contact someone, I just looked around and found an abundance of landlines waiting to be used. Strange....I don't remember them being around when I had the 6610 in my pocket. And at home, I am using this old handset that a co-worker offered, which fails to hold charge for more than 5 mins talk-time. Life didn't quite implode the way I expected it to. On the contrary, I don't seem to miss it as much.
It's not the first time that such an 'integral' part of my life was taken away from me and I ended up not missing it as much as I expected. Non-vegetarian food and Star Sports have been two longstanding, dear companions who have gone missing for significant portions of time. And life did go on....
Made me wonder if there are actual technological friends that I can't live without...
1) Car - well, I do not need to party or go out every single weekend. Groceries and work are close enough. So, I can easily live without one
2) Digital Camera - no big deal
3) TV - recent history suggests, no problem
4) Internet - (impulsive reaction) NO WAYYYYY....Hang me instead! (after some thought) well, let's see. Though, hopefully, I would never have to see....
Seduced by trend and under the guise of its necessity for the job hunt procedure, I signed up for a 12 month T-Mobile contract and opted for the Nokia 6610. Since Jan 11th 2004 when it landed in my palm, it has been a constant companion through thick and thin and on the few occasions that I left home without it, I felt handicapped and cut off from the rest of the world. The thought of it lying at home, unused and unable to fulfil its destiny, meant that I walked/drove back to get it, borrowed a phone to call up the rest of the world and find the one 'dear friend' who is closest to it and can bring it to me.
Now, all of a sudden, with one month to go on my current contract, it conked out. I guess I am partly responsible. I did soak it in water for 5 minutes...
Anyway, I expected a rough ride for the next week or so before the gleaming new Motorola E815 arrived. Surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad. While at work, if I needed to contact someone, I just looked around and found an abundance of landlines waiting to be used. Strange....I don't remember them being around when I had the 6610 in my pocket. And at home, I am using this old handset that a co-worker offered, which fails to hold charge for more than 5 mins talk-time. Life didn't quite implode the way I expected it to. On the contrary, I don't seem to miss it as much.
It's not the first time that such an 'integral' part of my life was taken away from me and I ended up not missing it as much as I expected. Non-vegetarian food and Star Sports have been two longstanding, dear companions who have gone missing for significant portions of time. And life did go on....
Made me wonder if there are actual technological friends that I can't live without...
1) Car - well, I do not need to party or go out every single weekend. Groceries and work are close enough. So, I can easily live without one
2) Digital Camera - no big deal
3) TV - recent history suggests, no problem
4) Internet - (impulsive reaction) NO WAYYYYY....Hang me instead! (after some thought) well, let's see. Though, hopefully, I would never have to see....
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Farewell KEANO
This past Saturday, was the last day of the 2005-06 English Premiership season. With the winner decided a couple of weeks earlier, the element of MY interest revolved around two sub-plots
1) Race for second spot between traditional rivals ManU and Liverpool (to ensure direct qualification into the Champions league for next season)
2) Race for fourth spot (thus a place in qualifying stages of Champion's League for the next season) between bitter North London rivals Arsenal and Spurs
There was this third one that kept coming up.....turned out that Arsenal's season ending game would be the final game played at Highbury, Arsenal's home ground for the past godforsaken number of years. As I watched the preview shows, every single Arsenal player/fan seemed to use the occasion to reminisce and worse, gloat about the wonderful occasions that the ground had witnessed, thus conveniently forgetting the 30 point difference between the winners of the Premiership and their very own team. Obviously, this did not go down well with me and I berated and cursed every time I heard something that I did not want to.
After the day's action, with ManU sealing second spot and Arsenal sealing fourth spot, almost all the talk was about the events of the day at Highbury. I just could not see why they would not shut up, or better, talk about the 4-0 mauling that ManU gave Charlton. Talk of crowds exceeding 38,000 at Highbury was met in mid-air by "70,000 Red Devils' fans every single home game" chant from my side. The rest of the day passed by peacefully...
Today, as I finished up with work and checked out BBC Sport, I noticed that ROY KEANE had bumped 'any random' England World Cup news off the headlines. For a moment, I lost sight, lost my reading ability and comtemplated about what RK could have possibly done to cause such a monumental event. Anyway, that one second passed, and I realised that RK was staring at me from a picture taken today, at his testimonial match played at Old Trafford. RK, after 12 years of unmatched service, had left ManU earlier this year and moved on to join Celtics of the Scottish Premier League.
Anyway, I did not have a clue that this match was coming up and my reaction to the news was that of unbridled joy, enthusiasm and a little sadness at the passage of time. Did some reminiscing myself and and also conjured up a scenario where the RK of '99 was fit and raring to tackle the challenges of '06-'07. Arsenal's/Liverpool's/Chelsea's combined nightmare come true!
Already shaking with excitement, I started reading. So, the match was between Celtic (RK's current team) and ManU. RK played for the Celtics and the game was nil-nil at half-time. As the players came out for the second half, RK, came out as well, dressed a little differently. In place of the green and white horizontal striped jersey was one that was RED in colour. It bore the number 16!
Some moments transcend description! MAYBE, Highbury deserved it's farewell...
1) Race for second spot between traditional rivals ManU and Liverpool (to ensure direct qualification into the Champions league for next season)
2) Race for fourth spot (thus a place in qualifying stages of Champion's League for the next season) between bitter North London rivals Arsenal and Spurs
There was this third one that kept coming up.....turned out that Arsenal's season ending game would be the final game played at Highbury, Arsenal's home ground for the past godforsaken number of years. As I watched the preview shows, every single Arsenal player/fan seemed to use the occasion to reminisce and worse, gloat about the wonderful occasions that the ground had witnessed, thus conveniently forgetting the 30 point difference between the winners of the Premiership and their very own team. Obviously, this did not go down well with me and I berated and cursed every time I heard something that I did not want to.
After the day's action, with ManU sealing second spot and Arsenal sealing fourth spot, almost all the talk was about the events of the day at Highbury. I just could not see why they would not shut up, or better, talk about the 4-0 mauling that ManU gave Charlton. Talk of crowds exceeding 38,000 at Highbury was met in mid-air by "70,000 Red Devils' fans every single home game" chant from my side. The rest of the day passed by peacefully...
Today, as I finished up with work and checked out BBC Sport, I noticed that ROY KEANE had bumped 'any random' England World Cup news off the headlines. For a moment, I lost sight, lost my reading ability and comtemplated about what RK could have possibly done to cause such a monumental event. Anyway, that one second passed, and I realised that RK was staring at me from a picture taken today, at his testimonial match played at Old Trafford. RK, after 12 years of unmatched service, had left ManU earlier this year and moved on to join Celtics of the Scottish Premier League.
Anyway, I did not have a clue that this match was coming up and my reaction to the news was that of unbridled joy, enthusiasm and a little sadness at the passage of time. Did some reminiscing myself and and also conjured up a scenario where the RK of '99 was fit and raring to tackle the challenges of '06-'07. Arsenal's/Liverpool's/Chelsea's combined nightmare come true!
Already shaking with excitement, I started reading. So, the match was between Celtic (RK's current team) and ManU. RK played for the Celtics and the game was nil-nil at half-time. As the players came out for the second half, RK, came out as well, dressed a little differently. In place of the green and white horizontal striped jersey was one that was RED in colour. It bore the number 16!
Some moments transcend description! MAYBE, Highbury deserved it's farewell...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)