Warthog At Large

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.

Apparently, the Italians just can’t get enough of Silvio Berlusconi and his pompous, impolite, politically incorrect, and utterly hilarious quotes that not even The Daily Show can top. “The best political leader in Europe and in the world” (as he describes himself) is back and that means of course that we’ll definitely have more of this.

Who cares if he’s not a statesman. George Bush is a dumb-ass monkey and he got to be the so-called leader of the free world. And contrary to what Walter Veltroni said, we do need a premier who sticks up his fingers and tells dirty jokes at European summits. Otherwise we’ll all be bored to death and the mainstream media won’t have anything to talk about and that’s just tragic.

Just imagine smooth talker Il Cavaliere making a pass at Carla Bruni, model wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, at the next EU summit. I can already tell that this is going to be a fun year.

Just when Liverpool gets an all-important crack at a Champions League title, club honcho Tom Hicks decided this is the perfect time to kick out CEO Rick Parry. Club owners Hicks and George Gillett haven’t exactly been the best of pals lately and now this. Sheesh dude, is this really the best time to do this?

One of the supposed criticisms against Parry is that he hasn’t been very aggressive in the signing of players, which I agree with to a point. Darn, we should have gotten Theo Walcott. The kid was already a Reds fan to begin with! Why the heck did he end up in Arsenal?!

But the thing is, this is not the best time for top management infighting. Newsflash kids, we’re in a crucial campaign for a European title here. Wait until June at least before you rip each other’s heads off.

I slept through the first half of the Manchester United vs Roma match-up. Caught up with the highlights just in time to see the miserable failure of De Rossi’s penalty kick. You’re two goals behind and you butcher that one golden chance to score?! What the heck. Carlos Teves scores in the second half and it was downhill from there for Roma.

So it now comes down to this: Man Utd vs Barcelona, Liverpool vs Chelsea. United-Liverpool match-up in the finals? Sweet.

Finally. After two draws in this harrowing trilogy, Liverpool came out on top and dashed Arsenal’s hope of a Champions League cup. The first goal of the match from Abou Diaby was a painful lapse in Liverpool’s defense as the Arsenal midfielder capitalized on a wide break in the line of defenders to get a goal in. There was no hope for a quick equalizer; the Gunners went on an attacking frenzy while Liverpool again suffered from a torturous stretch of inaccurate passes. Watching the 15 minutes of play after that Diaby goal was like a colonic session gone wrong. The Reds were a mess.

Fortunately, things turned around in the 30th minute as Sami Hyypia converted Steven Gerrard’s corner into a goal. Hyppia’s brilliant header proved to be the energizing force that woke the Reds up from their potentially disastrous stupor. With 1-1 on the scoreboard, Liverpool took control of the game, miraculously improved on their passes, and maintained possessions of the ball.

The second half started with Liverpool still dominating the match. Peter Crouch managed to take a couple of shots but it was Fernando Torres who took the Reds on a lead when he expertly swiveled past Philippe Senderos and sent the ball flying into the top corner. The youthful Spaniard was awfully quiet in the first leg of the quarterfinals and didn’t show much action in the first half of this match that I was starting to wonder whether he has died or something. Glad to see him back in the limelight.

Liverpool clearly had the upper hand after that second goal and I was just about ready to write off Arsenal even after Arsene Wenger brought in Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott in a desperate effort to salvage their Champions League hope. Well what do you know, in the 84th minute, Walcott nabbed ball possession, made a stunning run from the far end of the pitch to Pepe Reina’s domain while managing to evade four Liverpool players, and delivered a cross to Emmanuel Adebayor. It was one of the best plays you could ever hope to see.

Arsenal wasn’t able to bask in their glorious advantage for long though. Seconds later, the Gunners conceded a penalty after Kolo Toure fouled Ryan Babel. Gerrard then coolly brought the Reds back into the lead with a successful shot. With the final minutes winding down and the Gunners all piling forward in a last-ditch attempt to squeeze a goal in, Babel managed to take the ball away with only Cesc Fabregas trailing him and delivered the final score that sealed Liverpool’s awesome victory.

Great game. Great win. We’re taking Chelsea down.

I wasn’t able to catch the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal last weekend. I heard it was another 1-1 though and that the Reds got the better of the game. Bendtner redeemed himself with an equalizer and Voronin screwed up a couple of chances that would’ve given them a win. Looking forward to second leg of Champions League tomorrow. Note to Rafa: please don’t let Voronin play! But I won’t mind seeing Crouch on the pitch. He deserves more playing time and is definitely way more skillful than the long-haired Ukrainian.

————-

Hats off to Barnsley for getting this far in the FA Cup. Who knew these Tykes could knock off Liverpool and Chelsea? They bowed to Cardiff in the semis but it was a good run nonetheless.