Evil Over Good

Fairytale endings aren’t always possible and that was very much the case last night when the flair of Barcelona and the Washington Capitals just could not overcome their stubborn opponents. I have heard so much criticism and negativity being spoken and written about the tactics of Inter and the Habs, but I have nothing but praise for both teams. Most people want to see good, free flowing and attacking football and hockey which I understand, but sometimes the evil gods are against that. Sure, everybody enjoys seeing teams like Barcelona and Arsenal pitting their wits against each other, to see who can out-pass, out-skill and out-score the other. Not everybody can or should play that style however to achieve victory.

I am not for one minute advocating that all teams should play that way – it would be a grim world if they did – but it is equally unfair not to recognise the defensive and tactical master classes which both Inter and the Habs displayed. Both teams faced periods where they faced a numerical disadvantage, but top class positional play from the forwards all the way to the goalkeepers was essential in denying the flair players of Messi and Ovechkin any time or space. Both teams were superbly well drilled, tactically superior, and deserved to win in my view over the two legs and the series. More than anything, and maybe this is the Yorkshire and Everton fan in me, but seeing both the Inter and Habs’ players throwing themselves to block shots with all the desperation in the world to prevent a potential goal, was impressive to watch.

Nobody can deny that Barca had by far more possession, just like the Capitals had easily more shots than the Habs. Looking at actual chances created however (NB: shots and possession are not always a fair reflection of the actual play itself and who ‘deserves’ the result), there was not a great deal between Inter and Barca, nor the Habs and the Caps. Barca had plenty of the ball but how many times was Julio Cesar genuinely tested during the two legs? Not that many in fact. Simply being able to pass the ball from one side of the pitch to another does not constitute deserving to win. Look at the Capitals shooting last night. Sure, Halak’s save record in the last three matches is amazing, but it disguises the fact that the Habs’ players allowed the Caps to shoot when it was favourable for Halak to save them – from distance or when Halak had clear sight of the puck for example. How many times did you see a Capitals player clean through on Halak or a two on one for example? When you analyse the actual chances created instead of the dramatic comparison of saves, the Habs arguably had the same if not the better and clearer chances to score than the Capitals. As well as arguing in favour of organisation and discipline, it must not be forgotten the danger and threat that both teams created on the counter attack neither. This was not remeniscent of the Rangers Uefa Cup runner-up team from a couple of seasons ago that virtually targeted one goal or a penalty win after goalless draws. Both teams played some superb counter attacking football over the two legs and series to outscore their opponents.

Inter’s win very much reminded me of the 2001 (I think) UCL campaign when Bayern and Valencia got to the final. There were plenty more attractive sides to watch, but that was a season when organised and disciplined teams emerged victorious. Evil over good in many people’s eyes. This season is very similar in my view. Thankfully, that style of evil play was overcome in subsequent years but it does happen occasionally where destructive play will overcome creativity and that should not be cast in a negative light necessarily. In essence, it is the reason why we love watching football and hockey. Last night’s games were not the most attractive to watch, but they were incredibly enthralling to watch. The challenge for the Barca’s and the Capitals of this world is to regroup for next season’s campaign, and try and find a way to defeat the evil.

Super Saturday

This Saturday sees one of the biggest, if not the biggest boxing match of 2010. There is only one other fight that has the potential to be bigger this year, and that is Mayweather and Pacquiao. That should take nothing away from this fight however. I cannot promise that it will be an amazing fight in itself – it certainly will not be a brawl, and the chances of a knockout are fairly low. It will though be an amazing event and it should prove to be one of the best tactical fights one can see, with both boxers possessing world class speed and movement.

Personally, I favour Floyd for this fight, but I think it will be an enthralling fight to watch. A close win on points for Floyd, maybe 3 or 4 points, maybe less. I do see him emerging victorious though, with youth on his side to nick the win. Shane is as good a boxer outside of Pacquiao to a. challenge Floyd and b. to create a huge spectacle. I just see him falling short this time, and I do think the ongoing row with Victor Conte which has erupted again could harm his mindset and preparations for this one.

This is just one of those fights that I am genuinely excited about watching. I’ll get up at 4-5am to watch this one, and I’ll be charged up for it as always – perhaps with a hint of sadness for not being there, but you can’t win them all. Thankfully, the fight is being shown live on Swiss television so the Lausanne population will not be too affected by a major Esteva sulk. Instead of swanning off to Vegas, we’re hosting a cocktail party at our place. Note the cocktail part of it rather than beer. The mission to shed the pounds continues – I figure a vodka and orange counts as one of my five per day right?

The Froch/Kessler fight last Saturday was highly entertaining, but for completely different reasons to how I anticipate this fight. Both fighters gave their all, and withstood some big shots. Froch now has to get the job done against Abraham, which is another fight I would love to see and I may just make it to that one as it will almost certainly be in Europe. The success of that fight further strengthens those in favour of the Showtime Super Six concept, and I am certainly one of those given the entertaining fights we have seen so far.

That fight just whetted my appetite for what is to come on Saturday. I’ll be tuning in on Sunday morning regardless of the cocktail count, and I’ll be ready for another Mayweather master class, which will hopefully lead to Floyd v Manny....we can but dream.

Pursuit of Happiness

Mondays are difficult days for most people. Back at work, waking up at the crack of dawn knowing that the next weekend is seemingly a long way away. For me, the hardest thing about Mondays is knowing that my favourite eating establishment is closed. It is bizarre really...I don’t even know the name of the place, but I could eat there virtually every day and be satisfied with my lunch. The fact is, I almost do eat there every lunch time – just apart from Mondays. I actually think it is a ploy by the owners – close on Mondays, make their customers crave it, and then you’ll entice them for the rest of the week. If so, it works on me that’s for sure.

The food itself is pretty good. I defy anybody to go in there and be unhappy with the produce. I’m taking a giant leap this weekend and taking my fine lady there. Granted, it is not the classiest place in the world, certainly not first date material, but I hold it up against any other place. You see, it is not just the food that mesmerises me. It is indeed great food. There is just a charm about the place and the couple that own it.

They must be around sixty years old each, and I am fairly sure they are Italian – the shop itself is Italian, so that is part of the clue I guess. The other part is the Italian/French/Other Random language that the lovely old lady speaks. As somebody who is not fluent in the languages but understands bits and pieces, I actually find here easier to understand than people who just speak French or just speak Italian. The problem is, I find myself speaking random rubbish back to her. The beauty of it is, she understands me fine.

Anyhow, they are a charming couple with her always being bright and on form, and him being dry and sarcastic. The perfect comedy duo really, and I never fail to come out of the little shop with a huge grin on my face.

The thing which strikes me most about them is just how happy they actually are. None of it is an act – I have been going in there almost every day for the past year and they have the same energy and same charm every single day. The best actors in the world can’t be that consistent all year round. Effectively, and this is by no means demeaning what they do as I think they are magicians, but they just make sandwiches and pasta, and stuff like that. They are hardly making waves in the corporate chain, making six figure annual salaries, and swanning off on worldwide holidays. But, they are genuinely happy with their lives.

It goes to show that one does not have to be earning massive amounts of money or have the prestigious title to be genuinely happy. I do not think many people realise that, and it is certainly not something that has crossed my mind until recently with my visits to my favourite lunchtime haunt. A lot of people are striving for something better or something new, and rightly so. But it is important not to lose other such key elements in life in search of that goal such as that small thing called happiness.

Fool's Silva

UFC112 was perhaps one of the most controversial events to take place in the company’s history due to Anderson Silva’s antics. There has been so much written and said about it over the last week, I thought I would put some of my own random thoughts together – and coming from a slightly different angle than the main stream media.

How much of Anderson Silva’s recent performances and antics are related to poor stylistic match-making? Taking the injury to Belfort into account of course, apart from Forrest who arguably got the best out of him, maybe Joe Silva and co take some of the blame with the selections of Coté, Leites and Maia? Could they have selected potentially inferior fighters (or equal) to those three, and forced Silva to fight? The Sonnen fight will almost certainly bring far more entertainment than any of those three, and I think we could have predicted that before any of the fights. I think it is reasonably fair to the division does look light in quality right now. Perhaps losing Dan Henderson from the division could have been a bigger blow than many have thought.

Kevin Iole is one of my favourite writers, and he had plenty to say on the subject. In one of his responses to a mailbag question this week, he said: “He (Silva) fights now only as much as he needs to in order to win". I wonder if that is also becoming somewhat true of GSP. I am certainly not accusing him of playing the same stupid games as Silva, but looking at his last four fights, it could be argued that he has given less credence to finishing opponents, and more to purely dominating them over five rounds with his supreme technical skills, conditioning, and wrestling. I take nothing away from him, I think he is truly amazing. My feeling when watching GSP in his last four fights is that he has become a safety-first and cautious fighter to a degree, and he is that superior to many if not all of his opponents in his weight class, that he takes few risks and does "as much as he needs to in order to win."

My final random point is taking a different perspective on how Silva’s behaviour could affect the UFC. With the developments of most sports these days, the development of the gambling markets around the sports follows shortly behind and thus has the potential to become a major and stable source of revenue within sport. Whether one likes it or not, gambling will always be present around most sports. Personally, I believe that the variables in gambling on individual sports like Boxing or MMA is a dangerous game - unless you are close to the fighters and know exactly how the preparations have been etc, there are too many factors which can influence a fight to gamble money.

At a time when especially in European football, fighting match-fixing and corruption is a major challenge for organisations and federations, the integrity of a sport should not be brought into question where possible - especially due to the foolish actions of a fighter. Anderson Silva's actions will have cost some people a lot of money who may have bet on him winning by a stoppage or in an early round. I am not for one minute suggesting anything underhand in Silva's actions, I am purely pointing out that the ramifications of his actions are far reaching and potentially more damaging to the business (than purely losing fans) than many people may realise.

Bobby Balboa

So, if you haven’t already heard me sulk about how hungry I am, or rambling on in general, I am committed to a bet to lose weight. My challenge is this. I have to lose 10% of my weight. Given that I weighed in two weeks ago (March 25th) at just a fraction over 99kg, I have to lose 9.9kg before the end of May. That basically means I have to get down to 89kg.

My response has been two fold, and it ain’t rocket science. Firstly, I have committed myself to more exercise. From the occasional one game of football per week, I’ve started more regular exercise, with three runs already this week and some weight training. Secondly, I’m improving my diet. I figured that if I cut out alcohol for two months, I would cut the 10kg without any other actions. That was perhaps a slight exaggeration. I have cut it out though, and have just had a couple of beers in the last two weeks. Food-wise, I’m trying to cut back on my portions and eat healthier. This means I’m hungry most of the time, and that in turn, means I’m sulking a lot and ready to fight anybody or nibble on their arm. Well, not quite, but it is not easy trying to cut back a bit, but it’s necessary and I’ll get used to it. It’s nothing drastic, and I’m hardly starving, but it’s a step in the right direction.

I promised in a previous blog post that I would update the blog with my weight every two weeks. In the first two weeks, I have lost just under 2kg and I am a fraction over 97kg now. Small leap but a leap, and it is a good motivator to see some reward for the pain! The pleasing thing is that I know I can improve the diet further, and improve on my workouts also. This has to be the first time that I have actually committed to, and taken seriously, getting in shape.

I am fairly sure the hard work is still ahead and it is no doubt easiest to shed the first few pounds, than the last few. I have visions of running on a treadmill with a black dustbin bag over me trying to dry out just before stepping on the scales on the last day of May in a little thong. Ok, maybe that vision has just turned away most of my readers (all three of you), but you get the drift. I am up for the challenge and I am not going to fail this one.

True Fibs

How often do you fib? When I say fib, I mean one of those which does not constitute a lie, but a fib which is basically a small harmless lie. A gentle fib. A friendly fib.

The last time I fibbed was in Vegas last November – apologies if I missed any other minor fibs out there, but this is the one which sticks to my mind. HJ and I were going down the elevator in Planet Hollywood’s huge shopping centre, and I accidentally let one go. Much to my shame, it really wasn’t pleasant. Now, there are not many things which embarrass or humiliate me, but breaking wind in front of a lady is up there with the worst I think. It’s bizarre in the sense of burping etc, I wouldn’t think twice, but this just seems to make me blush. Funny one really as it does not run in the family nor weighs heavily on my dad’s mind!

Anyhow, I completely denied it when HJ asked me, purely out of shame and embarrassment, blaming the guy who was walking promptly past us in semi-consciousness.

It brought me back to a journey and conversation I had a couple of weeks ago. The tone of this blog post gets better I promise!

Flying back a couple of weeks ago to Geneva, we were sat adjacent to a couple and their child. The little girl was making a bit of a racket to be honest and seemed like one of those really snotty kids. On top of that, she was pretty chubby and bloody ugly. Now, this sounds really harsh, and I appreciate that. I sincerely hope she or her folks are not reading this. The fact is, I smiled and waved at the little girl, and managed to save the eardrums of many passengers. Had I broke into conversation with the mother or father, I would likely have said ‘Ahh, you have a beautiful child there’….or maybe something more like ‘Ahhh, vous avez une belle enfante’ in my bestest French. It would have been a complete fib, but I could hardly say anything else. One of those times when a fib is clearly best.

I recounted this story with friends a week later in London. My favourite Superbowl ticket-buying friend gave another example of how everybody always says how gorgeous the bride is, even if she would give the Gremlins or King Kong a good run for their money in the brutality stakes. It’s completely true. Who says that?

It made me wonder about other examples where fibs just roll off our tongues. How many times have you had a mouthful of dinner made by a close one, and rubbed your stomach in delight and humming when you would happily launch it in the nearest plant pot and feed it to the dog? How many times have you bumped into an old friend or colleague, heck maybe even family, and parted by saying ‘It was great seeing you’, or ‘We should keep in touch’, when both are blatant fibs?

We do it regularly, and I have no real shame in it. The fact is, I would not want to live in a world where people were blunt and so truthful in that sense, and freely hurting people’s feelings. Granted, my fib was slightly different and writing about it makes me feel about 7 years-old and back in the playground. Now I risk everybody reading this not believing anything I say from now onwards or fearing I may let another go in their presence, I realise this. But think about the last time you told a small fib, or used any of the examples above or similar, and unless you’re one of those people I dislike and go up to people telling them their baby is ugly, then you’ll know where I’m coming from.

Glitz & Glamour

I think there is a common misperception that being a professional sportsperson automatically means a glamorous and glittering career. For many, it does. Hit the Premier Leagues, the NHL, the NBA, and you will be laughing…awash with so much cash, it will be coming out of your cosmetically enhanced ears.

Let’s put it into some context. Leo Messi apparently leapfrogged Becks as the top earner in football last year, earning €33 million.

For so many however, and when I say many, I mean the vast majority of professional athletes. Let’s take football as an example, of course the elite make fortunes, but there is a huge number of players in the lower leagues who are only just able to make a living. League 1 and League 2 in England – salaries average somewhere between £1,000-2,000 per week which on the face of it is not a bad salary. Playing football and earning a living is a dream for so many people even if they may never make it to the Premier League etc.

Giving it a bit more thought however, it is not quite as glamorous as it may seem, even for these guys. Put yourself in their position. The best chance in England of making it as a professional footballer sadly means one must join an academy at a young age, and 99% of you are likely to bypass further education in order to get there. Thus in turn meaning no real qualifications to fall back on should things fall apart or at the end of your career.

Contracts. This is not some permanent job one has like Joe Bloggs down the street. Ok, Joey boy runs the risk of redundancy, especially in this day and age, but so does the player, and he likely only has a one or two year contract in his position. There is no luxury called job security here.

Career life span. If the young dreamy player is lucky, he will make it as a pro and have a twenty year career. If he is not, then he can find himself out of work, without an employer in his twenties and in one of the most competitive markets around. Even if he makes it for twenty years, he is left in his mid to late thirties more than half of his life to live, and many are unlikely to be financially secure enough to retire.

Injuries can strike at any time. It is one thing if you’re just not good enough to succeed, it is another if you get injured and are physically unable to do so. Now in football, insurance is generally good enough to cover any losses within reason. Consider other sports and athletes though like the UFC where there is no union protecting their interests and many of them struggle to get a good level of insurance. You may argue they deserve what they get for fighting in the UFC, but it is one area that needs development.

Going back to football, it is one of the reasons why the players union in the States rebelled against the MLS. 70% of their players are on something like $20,000-70,000 per annum. I knew professional players while I was at Brentford (not necessarily at the club) who earned £10,000-15,000 per year. Therefore, when you think about some of the restrictions they currently face, and that players in Europe used to face prior to the Bosman ruling, you can imagine the hardship of some of these players.

Sadly, there are many professional athletes who lose their way either before or after reaching stardom. Drugs, alcoholism, failed marriages are just some of the issues which are prevalent among retired or out of work athletes, and it is easy to understand why. It’s not all glitter and glamour, so enjoy the Champions League, the Stanley Cup, the Superbowls, but I always spare a thought for those lees privileged.

Decision Made

It’s been a fascinating week or so since my blog post regarding my weight. Many jokes and rightly so. And some very nice words of support. It has led to a bet with a good Mexican friend of mine to lose 10% of our weight in the next two months. I think I have finally found the motivation I need to get off my butt and lose the weight. I am more determined than ever and I know full well that I can do this. So I’ve sparked into action this last week and made some bold decisions.

I’ve been enjoying my food and drink exactly as usual, but I’ve spent a great deal of time on the internet. I’ve been researching good surgeons, and I’ve finally found one which offers liposuction in Zurich. Yeah, that’s right, liposuction. Seems like the perfect solution – major weight and fat loss without any particular hassle except for some minor discomfort.

So, I am booked in and ready to go on Monday morning. They reckon they can suck about 20kg from me, so that is really pleasing news. I’m due in next Tuesday morning, so I’ll post some photos on here when I get out. I’m as determined as ever and I’ll win this bet for sure.