Warthog At Large

Barca played magnificently up to the final whistle but United held their ground and went on to take that coveted spot in the Champions League final. The La Liga club were relentless on their attack and maintained impressive control of the ball throughout the match. Unfortunately, Zambrotta’s mistake early in the game proved to be too costly. That lone goal from Paul Scholes was enough for Man U to advance. 

The defensive wall of United was nothing short of awesome. For a team that’s more famous for its fierce attacks and the lightning speed runs of Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s refreshing to see Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown in full action once in a while. As for Barca, they’re lucky to have Lionel Messi on their ranks. The kid is sheer brilliance and can definitely give Kaka a run for his money.

Overall, it was a riveting game and a spectacular display of first-class football. Here’s to hoping tomorrow’s match will be just as much of football extraordinaire. And no more traumatic own goals. Please.

The Birmingham-Liverpool match was a drag. Benitez of course saved his better players for the second leg of Champions League semifinal against Chelsea. I’m all for that. What seemed left on the pitch though were a bunch of disinterested players who couldn’t care less whether they win or lose. All the Reds could manage on the first half was a failed attempt from Peter Crouch to score a goal.

It didn’t help that Riise was also on the line up. Yeah yeah he made one (really idiotic) mistake (at a very crucial time in this entire season) and everyone makes mistakes and he should be given another chance blah blah blah but I’m still sore about that f’ed-up header so forgive me if I don’t want to see him playing too soon. Liverpool picked up in the second half, scoring two goals to get a draw, but by then I was more interested in the scab on my big toe than in their humdrum performance. And I couldn’t take any more of Voronin. It’s torture to watch him play.

Well, these semifinal match-ups are turning out to be a lot more interesting than expected. First off, an own goal from a Reds defender in the Liverpool-Chelsea game. Now comes a handball from Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito. What was he doing waving his arms around anyway? Did he somehow hope to scare off the United attack by doing a King Kong pose? Then Cristiano Ronaldo goes on to miss the penalty shot and Man U played defensive for most part of the game. Only goes to show that more than quality play, stupid blunders are way more entertaining. Keep them coming guys.

Can you freakin’ believe it?! Riise delivers an own goal in the final minute of stoppage time, giving Chelsea an away goal advantage. Crap. Bad luck, not to mention a crucial moment of sheer stupidity, bites.

“If George doesn’t sell - because I am not going to sell - I guess we stay in this position that we are in.” That’s Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks talking. Now isn’t that something we can all look forward to. In the latest installment of this ridiculous administrative civil war saga, it’s George Gillett who’s now hitting back.

BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell has this to say about European leaders Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy. When you think about it, this team-up actually sounds ingenious: Berlusconi is ill-mannered and Sarkozy is ill-tempered. Perfect. Together, they can set the EU summits on fire and make the boring ones like Merkel and Brown eat their dust.

Hillary Clinton actually released an ad about Obama’s “bitter” remark?! Come on! It’s silly at best and pathetic at worst which, when you think about it, pretty much sums up how her campaign is going these days. If Obama had been as inane as her, he would’ve also made an ad taunting her for that ludicrous sniper fire story.

What’s utterly absurd about all these criticisms against Obama’s statement is that they were nothing more than blatant misinterpretations of what he really said. I didn’t think he was being elitist or condescending. I thought he was merely being truthful. When people lose their jobs and the economy gets worse by the minute and all the while their president cheerfully declares “we’re gonna be just fine,” I’m pretty sure they’re not exactly in the most positive mood.

When people get screwed over and over by government, of course they’re going to be bitter and cynical and when somebody comes along talking about social welfare and economic reforms, the initial reaction would naturally be skepticism if not outright distrust. So they end up casting their votes based on the candidates’ religious affiliation or policies on gun ownership because it’s no use discussing health care and economic programs which will ultimately fail anyway. And Clinton says this point of view is out of touch. Hmm… I wonder what planet she’s living in right now.

The way Hillary is making such a big deal out of this merely shows her desperation and it doesn’t make her look good at all. Let’s talk about Iraq or the economy or health care or just anything remotely important because this “bitter” brouhaha is already going overboard.