Two great magazines I may subscribe to...

I have noted that I am reading a lot these days. This place is Utopia for Soccer publications! The newspapers have very well written pieces on the matches, on tactical stuff, on player news everyday. Even the the free newspaper  The Metro  (same group as in US) has really good stuff on soccer.

In addition to the daily newspapers, two magazines I picked up are called "World Soccer" and "WSC" or "When Saturday comes"

The first is a broader survey of lots of International clubs and countries given the coming World Cup event. They did a very detailed report on the insanity surrounding Neymar coming to Barcelona and the Illegal money that was passed to parties in Brazil. The link is:

World Soccer magazine

The second is more timely and more editorial about past events, best soccer books out there, smaller clubs and the battle they have, and "match of the month" which was nice becasue the team they focused on was Leyton Orient (one match I attended).

This link is
 When Saturday come magazine
The cover byline says " the half decent football magazine" and it understates how good it is!

Leaving tomorrow AM

Well I am packing today and getting ready for the long flight home to the US. It  has been a great trip and all I expected. The weather was a pleasant surprise as it has actually been nice here for a few consistent days.

I saw other fans at matches seeming to wear little for the cold at matches and finally realized that they are moving so much, singing, a jumping, they keep warm. Also, I have always adjusted to being ont he sideline or stands for matches in New England.  Why do we do this? (Freeze?)  We love it, right?

I was watching a game a few weeks ago, started to rain, wind picked up, the beer I had not helping, and I think, "Why am I here doing this?".  I recalled a short time ago, my friend and soccer colleague Bob Meals attended a NSCAA Advanced National License course in Nashua New Hampshire in Mid December. Yep. Mid December.     Here is a picture:

There was a Blizzard that weekend and we fortunately could train mostly inside. But my point is, I was asking myself the same question  ("why am I here...."  I passed and we got this nice short sleeve shirt I can wear it in  a few months!    Coach Link NSCAA

 I am flying Virgin Atlantic tomorrow. I have always been a fan of Richard Branson but not quite understood how big a player he in England. There is Virgin EVERYTHING. The airline is everything that the others are not I ahev to say. I also flew the other Virgin in US a few years ago and that was head & shoulders over other airlines. Here is Mr. Branson

 I also wanted to comment on this guy below. He loves the spotlight and stirring things up. These coaches complain about having to be beholden to the press but people like Jose here really play it up. He is picking fights with all the other clubs, creating drama, getting people talking about foolishness. I cannot tell you how many people absolutely hate him!

So maybe one or two last posts when I am flying or after I get home. This process has been nice to reflect on my trip as it was going along. I appreciated how fortunate I am to be doing something like this and posting about it reminds me of that!

A cool story on Freddy Adu: remember him?

The papers ran a story on Freddy Adu who is training with Blackburn here in England. I really had to reflect that he is only 24 years old! He can still make something of himself. I think he has grown up by stating that "maybe he did not train hard enough".....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackpool/10640538/Freddy-Adu-once-dubbed-the-next-Pele-determined-to-get-career-back-on-track-at-Blackpool.html

West Ham Vs. Southhampton

Yesterday I saw a great match at West Ham (caleld Boleyn grounds) Southhampton is a very strong team and in the middle of the standings but have tied Chelsea an won some other big matches against top clubs.
I had really good seats again, 30-40 rows behind the home team bench and coach Sam Allardyce who is bit of a crazy guy.

In only 7 minutes, Southhampton scored. I was quietly excited as I preferred them over West Ham. I thought it would be a long day but West Ham scored 3 straight times including a final bicycle kick goal to win 3-1 and keep away from being dropped for next season. (The football leagues have an arrangement that the top 4 teams from the division move up and bottom four move down so there is tremendous pressure to not be "relegated".) 

I don't know if I have noted this, but  I have been excited about how close I can be to these matches once I get a ticket.  

The West Ham team song is about bubbles so everyone starts singing the song and the bubble machines (there are multiple ones) pump out lots of bubbles. It is, I have to say, childish in a nice way but a giant paradox to how people behave if one is not " a Hammer fan" or a "spurs fan. Ironic.

The way to the stadium and the surroundings is madness. Hundreds and Hundreds of cops, horses, singing, swearing........Imagine a Patriots game in the center of Quincy with all of the stores and shops. Add the emotion people have about their club and it can make for problems. Here is a link of essentially what I saw when I went to both West Ham and Spurs games this month. 

West Ham and Spurs Fan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0kTRf0OX7o4

Exporting our US Culture:

I was shocked to see an American icon (that had fallen by the wayside due to some health momentum and fraudulent accounting)

I have to say, I was not even tempted!

Right next to the kiosk where this was taken was the e-cigarette place that offered "the cheapest prices around". Ahhhhh capitaliism.  Next door should be  take out stent and nitro pills for the poor bastards that use these..

Gambling

I think I mentioned the amount of betting places around here. They have locations right at the stadium so you can bet on the match, who might score, how many they might score, etc. Today they had odds of 40-1 that Hazard (Chelsea has a hat trick tomorrow vs. Everton.

Arsenal and Chelse stadium visits

Today I visited both stadiums of Chelsea and Arsenal. As two of the most well-known clubs and organizations in the world, it was good to see the enterprise in action. Both were quite impressive and I will eventually comment on the "better" one.

First visit was Chelsea this AM

Chelsea is right smack in the middle of a city surrounding it. The original stadium was very old as was the original Arsenal grounds. I would say that in both venues, I can see that they are made for watching soccer. The farthest seats are still pretty good compared to Gillete for example.
A interesting fact noted by the tour guide and verified right in front of us. A Falcon is brought around each day to scare (and more?) the pigeons. Pretty cool as I hate pigeons and their trappings...


Lots of winning tradition at Chelsea as seen by the museum (Better than the museum of Arsenal) Lots of trophies and emphasis/recognition that the names change but the tradition continues.



 Second was Arsenal in the afternoon

The arsenal tour is "self-guided" meaning they give you a headset and small hand held player with video that walks you through the tour and offers extra vidoes at each part.I liked it as I was not rushed and could get away from the morons I was on tour with. (I think today and my attitude about obnxious teenagers and their obnoxious parents and clueless families, implies I have had enough of tourists even I as Know I am one.   Just clueless.)


Arsenal spent a lot of time emphasizing how perfect the stadium is for football. From the shape of the roofing to allow light and air, to the irrigation system and computerized grass growing process. Everything at the place revolves around the perfect soccer experience for the players. Arsene Wengner sounds like he had an orgasmic opportunity to impact these details as coach and manager.

The locker rooms of both were nice,but the facilities at the Arsenal venue were amazing and surprisingly superior to Chelsea's.The most interesting thing to me was in interviews with the Wenger, he continued to emphasize things like the shape of locker room (to push communication between players) and the Jacuzzi being a place players could hang out after the match. The lights in the locker room, the ability for players to get in the groove however they wanted....




The fields were just amazing. During both tours they were mowing the lawns with multiple machines. Beautiful grass, worn in certain places enough to let you know it's real (Mid field and corners). It was similar to how spots at the WYS fields are worn from where the bad coach mandates the defender should stand.......

Great name for a restaurant for my brother and I.....

Most restaurants are not around in a year-and-a half......
I saw this near the palace in London

Pelada video

Just watched a cool documentary called Peladoa. It did not seem like a documentary, as it was pretty entertaining. It was about two successful (formally) 20+ man and woman and they decide to follow street soccer around the world. Iran, Argentina, Austria, Kenya, Brazil, China, Japan and others show how the love of playing transcends the money.

Favorite parts are the couple bribing officials to play in the highly popular tournaments in Argentina ina  prison!  Also, in Kenya, on the spot of a dump where the major economy is moonshine, a dirt field is really inspirational.

Trailer

Arsenal visit today as well

I was going to go on a tour of Emirates stadium today but surprise-surprise: they don't have tours the day of a match. Yes they had a gigantic champions league match against Bayern Munich there so no tour. I will go back in the next few days as it is not too much of a trip.



It is a huge place, rivaling Gillette stadium. I will see the inside the next few days


I did however get in a tour of the Arsenal Museum. Pretty cool for a club that is from late 1800s. By the way, so many things are really, really old around here and traditional. The museum was interesting and allows me to see why the fans are such fanatics: lots of winning cups and success in Barclays. Not long ago, they went a complete season without losing a match and part of another one-I think they went 49 matches without losing.

Here is a the actual cup they won (Barclays)

By the way, I did try to snag a ticket 5 hours before the game tonight. Scalpers looking for 500 pound (which is more in US dollars. I passed!

West Ham visit

I went to visit the stadium where the West Ham teams plays. It looks like a nice stadium technically in London but definitely in a less urban setting. I got a ticket for Sundays match vs. Southampton who is a team having a good season and giving top teams fits.

It is sad as the the "Hammers" are leaving the nice 35K stadium for a larger one in Olympic stadium in two years. Leaving the historic Upton park to developers seems less than devoted to the local town. The reason is for the move is West Ham says they can compete better with the larger stadiums. This is funny for a club that signed Andy Carroll who I think has zero goals so far. Not sure why they made such a big deal about his three-game ban for a Red card-SO WHAT.

The area will be decimated as it is not too affluent by any means.  A nice looking classy stadium. I will have more pics of the inside Sunday.

As I mentioned, I bought a ticket for the Saturday match. Because I registered on line as a member (most clubs push you to do so to capture your info and streamline the ticket process) the ticket prints out with my name on it!

Customer service superstars

My cell phone or "smart phone" was not working well yesterday and it was rockin my world. I have been using this thing for the camera and it is pretty good I think. Don't forget, you that know me know I am am not the sharpest knife in the drawer with this type of technology.

Well, I stopped in a cell phone/car phone  (yes car phone) store early int eh AM during my touring. These two fine young professionals were awesome.

They stopped my crying.

• They convinced me to hurl it on their floor and stamp on it.
• They assured me a Pint would help me later when the pubs opened.
• They fixed it in 5 minutes.
• They would not take money.
• They would not take beer/Ale/Stout/Lager  (I think they might have otherwise but boss Dom was around

Thank you Emmanuel and Remi!

Barcelona Vs Man City and PSG vs, Bayer Leverkusen

So I was in heaven last night watching 2 good matches of at least three of the best teams in the world (not including Leverkusan of Bundesleague) and having a pint or 2. Place is pretty packed. Apparently there is something called the "Olympics" going on.

Periodically, I would take a break from watching either match, and I would suddenly feel I was back in the Boston area. Why? do you say?

There  were about 5 People from Latvia home of Bruins legend Chara. They won a game in Olympics so the joint was packed with really happy, loaded Latvians. Andris here assure me he would stop in and visit when he is in Boston next Fall.

I am pretty sure he will not even remember this picture...


Oh yeah the game: Barcelona is really amazing. Man city has been playing very very well and scoring a lot of goals against good teams. I think people discount how good Barcelona is defensively and without the ball overall. As a matter a fact, at half time I believe the statisticians said that Barc had the ball 65% of the 1/2. I actually think that was wrong. It was easily 80%. The frustration level that opponents have when they play Barcelona is pretty conssitent: high.

PSG-wow. Ibrahimavich is amazing. He crushed a ball (like so many others he has had. Playing with such confidence. From teh looks of the roster, the team is stacked with incredible players who have had success elsewhere.That game was over ealry in teh 2dn half I thought.

Left foot-his "weaker" left foot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ybczRMhf3Mk

Off to buy West Ham ticket (1) for this Saturday.....

Starbucks in London-just like here

There are lots and lots of Starbucks in this city. I went in one today to get free Wi-fi.(I have been kickin coffee)

As I was standing in line, the woman in front of me was having a stupid dramatic conversation about the absence of her friend who was supposed to meet her there.

At the same time, a woman behind me was having a similar conversation for what seemed like hours. Thank god that the people at the Starbucks behind the counter are not very fluent in English, so the line was slow so I was able to hear these two idiots, grown woman I 'll have you, chat away.

Well, wouldn't you know it it, but I tapped woman #1 on the shoulder, moved out of the line, so she could see her friend #2 right behind me! They laughed and giggled and made exponentially worse losers of themselves, but then tortured me longer, because now the issue of who would pay took more time..

My God!  Where do they work? Who pays them? Are they at the  local Bank of England making monetary policy? Fixing interest rates?

Side of the road driving and escalators in London.

So in England they drive on the left side right? They do a nice job of marking where you should be looking when crossing the street.

At the same time they have a zillion signs that on escalators, people pass you on the left. Highly inconsistent I think!


http://golondon.about.com/od/londontransport/qt/standonright.htm

Penalty shots-purist or traditionalist?

I was watching a cup game between 2 second or third division teams Peterboro and Swindon. Crappy conditions, raining, pitch is not great.  a lot of fouls and several yellow cards. Swindon controls the ball for most of the first half and has a 1-0 lead. The cup match is a semi final and best-of 2 games with goal differential deciding who moves on.

Peterboro scores in the 60th or 70th minute to tie it. The rest of the game is back and forth, end to end but no one can break the tie. The three guys around me on a slow night are intrigued and actually perturbed with me because they are sure who I am for. I know who they are for!

The game ends regular time and it will be a shootout. I start putting my coat  and hat and gloves on to leave and one of the guys says: where are you going? I and I say, "well, the rest is garbage, not soccer, I don't care about the random outcome here with the shootout..." He looks at me with such disgust.

I just think that shootouts are not a pure way of determine who is the best team or most deserving. Why not reward the more fit team with overtimes rather than such a convenience of shootouts? Years ago, an NCAA college soccer match with UCLA went several overtimes and was ultimately decided by a walk on's goal, essentially after almost playing two games. That was for the championship!

I think it is interesting that in a game that has been around for so long, it gets tinkered with to suit TV or the fact that teams might be playing 3 times in 8 days. What does the shootout prove? While I think the role of the goalie is so important, most of the action and touches are by the rest of the players. Defenders for instance average 65 a game. Why suddenly misaligned the deciding variable with the goalie?

Scotland part 2

So while I am having a Pint (alright, two pints) and chatting about local soccer and the Hibs, I see that a abnd is playing locally called "the Beat" which I was suspicious of (cover band? Knockoff?) Nope. It was them minus Dave Wakeling and they were amazing. What memories of dancing at Todays or Cherry street at Hartwick to that stuff.

Big problem is that everyone else my age was there and reliving those moments as well. Big fat guys and fat girls in a small venue dancing around and jumping. I am too old for the crowd. Not too old for the show-it was awesome and completed a pretty F#@$@g day for me. I had a Guiness in my Hotel room and went to bed!

Oh yeah-music. I went to bed Saturday night and watched TV for 1/2 hour. This is tough becasue there are only about 4 channles. Anyway, How I met your mother is on and it is an epsiode where Ted & Marshall drive in a car for hours with a cassingle that is stuck and it plays the Proclaimers "500 miles" over and over and over and over and over and over and over. I went to bed with that Scottish song in my head.

Here is the 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blNOvVaKchE

Guess what they play over and over and over and over and over at the Hibs field?

500 Miles  Yep. I am still singing it.

I was a purchaser of cassingles as many of you know. Spell check does not even know what it is, sadly

Scotland visit

I am back "home" in my London Flat. Seems like I was out of the country in Scotland but actually not. More on that news and perspective...

I took a train from London "kings Cross" to Edinburg Thursday AM. (I am getting the hang of the tube system here int eh city-it is really monstrous) You can see the special train platform a nice guy passing by told me I should take:

In case you can't see the picture well, this is a well known-platform and my stuff and bird cage (that is a clue!) is on the cart....

The main points of the visit were to visit as my budddies said I should. Secondly, I went to see the Hibernians or "Hibs" play. I originally planned to see the other team in town play vs. Celt but the scheduled was best for this one.

So the City has two clubs the Hibernians and the Midlothians or "Hearts". What I know about the other team (Hearts)  is that they were owed by a rich Lithuanian that "just cared about money and did not care about the game. The team went into bankruptcy and the fans and a Board member (who put in 26 Million Pounds!) are taking it over. The fans will own a  big part of it.


The Premier league is broken out somewhat by a couple of "big" clubs called  Rangers and Celts. Thye are  referred in  the northern with more farming type areas as "Sheep shaggers" and the Urban teams like those where I was are called "soap dodgers". Kind of funny because as "big city" as Edinburgh was, it was not that big and sophisticated.

The Hibs have not been doing that well nor their opponent Ross County. The Hibs best player a midfielder and leading scorer in the Scottish Premier league was out on suspension (not sure what for-afraid to bring it up...). The other team is struggling and just sacked the manager.

I picked a random pub near the stadium on one end of the city (Hearts are on the other side) and had two long pints and met fans going to the match. One guy in particular offered to walk with me to the stadium. We talked about how his wife gets annoyed that these 90 minute games are essentially 7 hour ordeals. This guy was a father, has season tickets and spends the time with his sons who go each match. A truly social event yet pretty meaningful.

We show up at the stadium, he shows me the ticket outlet where I need to get my ticket. Not the one that I see at first that will surely have the best seats because I am a "visitor". No. He says that is the wrong one and I need to sit with the Hibs side. OK.

I get a good seat on the end-line about 20 rows up. Not bad attendance in a old buy confy stadium. No frills: no scoreboard, no clock, no crap at halftime on the field......

The grass was not great but.... (Steve you would be Ok with it!)


The game was quick and Hibs attacked intensely immediately. Hibs scored first and crowd went nuts. The crowd by the way was very, very family oriented-more woman than I saw in previous matches. A nice thing was that a recently promoted 19 year old scored the first goal as looked quite at home on the pitch-I did not know he was that young.

There is the opposite side where I had planned to sit.

This next photo I took to show how close the stadium is to day-to day living. The arena/stadium is surrounded by apartments and business. 10 thousand people I estimate walked about 1.5 miles from all directions to get there. Imagine being able to walk so quickly to a match?

Hobs win 2-1 and everyone goes home happy!

Off to Scotland

I am traveling today to Edinburgh Scotland for a few days. I have always thought of going and two of my esteemed colleagues strongly suggested I go there and I really value each man's judgment. Each guy knows how to have fun and I enjoy working with them very much.

Of course, the plan is to watch a match in that time. The city is home to two clubs in the Premier league one called the Hibernians. They are playing Saturday and I will be there. Next Saturday, the other club "Hearts" are hosting the famous (to me!) Celtic team but this weekend worked better.

Timing is everything right? I am not really a world traveler and when I do, there seems to be some strife where earlier there was none. For example, my wife and I had an incredible vacation a few years ago that started in Greece. The country was almost in a civil war and was bankrupt and the rumblings were just starting when we there.

Scotland is publicly stating that they want to be their own country which you can interpret and debate as much as you want.  To me, that is strife!

Scottish independence: UK parties 'will block money union'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26163637




While I am having these great experiences miles from the  US, my Dad is having some major surgery and I am thinking a lot about him and my Mom. I am certainly with them in spirit today.

Pub tonight

Lots of matches for a Tuesday  night.
The pub around the corner I have been visiting is really something. My new friend Javier from Spain says there are not many like this around anymore as many pubs have become chains. The brewers actually buy them to distribute their product (pretty good beer/ale/bitter/stout) This guy has been coming here for 22 years to watch Spanish soccer with other fans from the area.

This Pub is Utopia:  5 separate areas or mini pubs within all showing different matches that guests want: English premier soccer in one area, Italian another, the Bundesleage in another, and as mentioned, La Leaga.  It is really cool and does not feel like a "club": bartenders and fans are there regularly and know each other over the years.  I guess it is like Cheers with sports!

Real Madrid won 2-0 for semi-final la copa

Vespas!

This is a city of a scooters, many are Vespas. Yes Vespas. I would fit in so much here if I lived here...


http://www.scootercommunity.co.uk/group/8  Called Vespaholics. Really......

There are shops where used Vespas with 10 thousand miles are going for big bucks  (!,450 pounds)

• Model
• Vespa LX
• Vespa LX
• Vespa LX
• Vespa LX
• Vespa LX

• Engine Size
• 50cc
• 50cc
• 125cc
• 125cc
• 125cc

• Colour
• Monochrome
• Black
• Black
• Black
• Monochrome

• Year
• 2006
• 2007
• 2011
• 2005
• 2005

• Mileage
• 7015
• 10985
• 4215
• 23348
• 14472

• Price
• £1649
• £1450
• £2500
• £1600
• £1750

Missing some things..

It is fortune to be here on a "holiday" as they say. Yet no matter what we do, we are always missing something to do something else.There are a couple of big things I am missing for instance back in the USA.

For example:  my daughter Abby has her Senior night at high school for Basketball and I will miss it. That's why I have prepared this video to be shown on the Gym floor that evening Tuesday.


Only kidding. I want to not worry about getting killed at night in my sleep by an angry 18-year old.

Seriously, I cannot believe this is it for Soccer and basketball for my daughter. It has always been about her experience yet being along for the ride for my wife and I has been it's own journey. Good, bad, injured, healthy, whatever. Great stuff

Good thing we are moving to wherever Abby goes to college so we can continue watching her play sports, study, go to clubs......
'

Only kidding. Please see picture above

Another reflection on the Spurs game yesterday and Manchester United

The town of Tontenham is in tough shape it appears. Lots of closed places and looks like it has been hit hard by business environment. It is crazy that there is place right in the middle of it where people make 20-50 thousand pounds a week.

The town is very Islamic and of other colors (other than white!) I had a pint (OK, two pints) ina  pub that was owned and run by a consortium of Rastas and white woman. I saw a Beyonce video for the first time. The place became packed ultimately for the match at 1:30.

The crowd was very different from the Leyton Orient family-type atmosphere I saw. Almost all guys, pretty bitter at just about everything and very business-like. I was surprised by the orderliness of the beer situation-can;t bring it in the seats, people sit down for the match, and the sections of the stadium are very reserved for "home" or "visitor" seating. People have asked me in both matches who I was for and my naive response was "'I am just here for the soccer"   One guy called me a "Mad Yankee"-I assume the mad means I am a pycho..............

Numbers and soccer

I hated math and numbers when I was a kid. ask my parents. Ask Mr Flannigan Hyde. Ask Mr. Sami. I began to actually see the use of them and the application of them to the world when I read the Sporting News subscription my dad had. It applied statistics and math to every sport of the time, particularly baseball. I was hooked.

I saw the same type of application to numbers with the stock market and company financials. It is really really ironic (the situation is actually in the dictionary!) that I teach Finance and use simple math to college students. I believe my parents are still in a state of disbelief.

I read a lot about soccer and try to see the same numerical connection to the game of football as other sports. After all: numbers don't lie!  The book I am reading these days is called "the numbers don't lie: Why everything you know about soccer is wrong" It is a Bill James type perspective where numbers are used strategically for success. (Moneyball)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/sports/soccer/with-new-book-seeking-truth-in-statistics-of-soccer.html?_r=0
 I think the book can piss people off as it refutes the common "knowledge" that a fan or novice coach might have. Some of the issues listed in the first half of the book:

• Chelsea has gathered 32 million pieces of data from 12-13,000 games
• On corner kicks, only 1 in 5 result in a shot-only 1 in 9 of those shots result in a goal
• Authors say (And I think prove) football is a 50-50 game:half luck and half skill
• Average number of goals is 2.66 per game over all four European leagues
• Bookmakers have a harder time picking soccer scores than other sports
• Two anaylysts data suggested that 1/2 of World cup matches are decided by luck, not by being better or worse.
• The team that shoots more, actually wins less than half the time
• defenders on average touch the ball almost 2 times as much as the forwards  60 vs. 30

More on this later but I can see that as a coach, one always wants to be somewhat detached from the emotion of the game and goal of the training (or even game!) I some cases, I think I observed on my own watching a zillion games live  or on TV that corners are a lot of excitement over nothing for exmaple.

On the other hand, I have something to say to young players who want to start on defense because they are a bit nervous on the field: "sure, you can be a back-by the way Julie/Bill, you will probably touch the ball more than anyone on the field!"

Toffees

THE TOFFEES

What Sort of a Nickname is that? The Toffees (or The Toffeemen) is the established and traditional nickname for Everton FC.  It originated very early in the history of the club, by association with not one but two local Toffee Shops that figured in Everton's early history: Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House was located within a "mint ball's throw" of the Queen's Head Hotel in Village Street, where much of Everton's early development as a Football Club occurred.  The Toffee House was the operation of Old Ma Bushell, who was the original Toffee Lady, and actually invented Everton Toffees.  This confectionery was sold in huge quantities to the hungry hordes as they journeyed from far and wide to watch Everton play in the new Football League, firstly in Stanley Park, and Priory Road.  Then at Anfield, Everton's third ground. Mother Nobletts Toffee Shop was located near Goodison Park, and figured prominently after the move from Anfield in 1892.  Old Mother Nobletts was placed on the horns of a dilemma when that momentous decision was taken to move the great club from Anfield to the new Goodison Park.  But, being the mother of innovation, Mrs Nobletts hit upon a great idea as direct competition for the Everton Toffees patented by her arch rival, Old Ma Bushell.  Mother Nobletts invented Everton Mints.

Gamblling

It is interesting that gambling is so common everywhere here. At the game, there were odds posted of who would win today, if Spurs would finish top 4, breakout odds of several individual players would score 1, 2, 3 goals today. Emmanuel Abedayer was the most likely to score and he did. I am surprised becasue he is a very lazy, talented player. If I had any balls I would would have bet that the second best offensive player, a named Roberto Soldado would score. He wasn't even posted which is IRONIC as he was purchased from a Spanish club for lots and lots of English Pounds  (26 million)
 

He has 5 goals. Yep 5 with the season half over. 

Anyway, I am not a fan of gambling but it is so open here and there is no real line in any shops. No hookers or people shooting up and snorting though (in public)

Spurs vs. Everton

Wel played l, I saw a tremendous event today as Totonham played Everton. (I believe the Everton nick name is the "toffees" more on that later. Awesome, close match all through the game. Everton outplayed the spurs in the first half but could not score.

Great seats for the match. The fans are really intense and bitter about every little thing. I heard the F*&K word used so many times and in so many ways it actually took the fun out of it. About 37,000 fans there.


I watched the warmups and realized that both teams have a USA goalie. A mentioned earlier, Tim Howard starts for Everton. But I forgot that until Brad Friedel was the starting goalie for Spurs for a while. He is the backup now but was one of the top players in that position for a time.
It is curious that the US has a reputation for not  developing more quality players in the world pool of talent, yet the US is recognized for this factory of players.

I think tomorrow I am laying low-I walked a lot again today.

Cheers

First game I attended

I went to see a lower league (but good nonetheless) today. Leyton Orient vs. Peterborough and it was a good match between the two. Some observations of the teams.
The players are mostly the same athletes as the Man United and Chelseas. However, the technical skills of the players are clearly not as exact and precise as a Juan Mata or Suarez. For examples, passes were consistently a little off, so the defender could jump in. Or the right wing/outside half of Leyton could not receive the ball cleanly even though he could easily blow by the opposing back.

Fans are totally into it: Parents, sons/daugthers, grandparents.Nice atmosphere overall and you can feel there is a lot of history here. The coolest thing I saw was a stadium official approach the handicap section on the sideline with a full team set (real teapot) to serve them.  So cool.

 (The bastard did not offer me any but that is OK

I was right on the field for this match-probably the last time that happens!.

Peterborough had a dominant back four with the outside backs very talented and making effective runs and crosses to the midfield and one decent forward. The second half, the left back was involved in many puhes forward and really wore out the Leyton midfield.

Leyton had a weak midfield offensively but worked hard. They counterattacked and connected with the one good forward and hit the post in the first half. The forward scored on a nice flick header via a corner to make the stadium (called "Matchstadium"  original right?) go nuts.

Late in the second half the midfield was dying and should have been subbed. Two really quick goals, one a nice blast from the top of the penalty area with no defender within 5 yards of him, and second giveawy under pressure by the weak mid let to a tap in-game over. Crowd was very quiet but huge turnout of loud Peterborough fans.

Tomorrow (Sunday Feb 9th)  I see the "spurs" play Everton at the home field Tottenham. The spurs goalie is Tim Howard of the US. Did you know that the US for some reason is well known in soccer for it's goalkeeper development?

So I am recovering from a couple of days of less then exciting traveling in London. You see, the union of the Tube (or the 33% that actually voted) staged a strike because they don't want the city to let people go and be replaced with automatic ticket machines  LIKE THE REST OF EACH MAJOR CITY IN THE WORLD. In fact, the machines and automation are already there.

Yes that is Bob Crow, head of the union. I find it so awesome thought that fortunately for this guy on a soccer tour, this first strike was only for two week-days (Wed & Thursday) because the Labor party really does not want to mess with the weekend Football and Rugby plans. Yep, the "Labor" party totally screwed everyone in the city of London for two days.  I think they should rename it to something more reflective.

If this petty politics happened int he US of A, you can bet there would be hell to pay.....

Leyton Orient fan leaves club £150,000 in his will

-             

A lifelong supporter of Leyton Orient Football Club has left the club £150,000 in his will. Born in Stoke Newington, John Burman died a battle with cancer. He was 55 years old.

. Credit: Press Association

Leyton Orient said he wanted his legacy to live on at the club with a gesture of "unprecedented kindness".

The club will mark his death by dedicating the game against Peterborough United this weekend in his memory.

Here is there tat of a new friend I met last night at a gigantic sports pub with an overwhelming choice of pints. Juan Pablo has this on his arm:

Yes as you may have guessed, he is from Madrid and that is a Real Madrid emblem. For a tough guy, he said he has had it "for only 20 years, because my folks would not approve". 

Well, I caught up on some Spanish (in England) last night; we shall see what today/tonight brings

Good to hear you made it!  It wouldn't be a trip for the Killeens without a strike, swine flu or a few bombings! Snow day here so go out and take London by storm! Love you Les(read my post and then remove not sure how to comment on this blog)

I made it!  Running on fumes with watching movies and reading on Virgin Air. Great experience.

There is a subway or "Tube" strike this week  (Naturally). What a shit-show getting from the local London train location to my apartment...

"Millions of commuters in London face delays and disruption after Tube staff went on strike over plans to close ticket offices on the subway train system."



  More to come....

As I prepare to leave...

I reflect now as I finish packing I just might have an addiction of a strange type.  As most of you know, I like to read, I read annual reports, magazines, newspapers, of course books, and now the Kindle. When I travel (which is no that frequently)  I tend to over prep my reading supplies. My biggest fear is that I am stuck somewhere with nothing to read. I mean my life is ticking away and I am just sitting there wasting my brain.

This is airport and airplane-oriented but I find that I really want to read when something awful is happening. I just visited my brother int eh Hospital  (Beth Israel 3rd time in 15 years) and all I could think about was what I would bring to read, would it be enough? Is there a newstand there in the lobby?

I am bringing on the plane  several soccer books and a couple of magazine about the Beatles. Also John Grisham newest book.  I anticipate drinking a few too many on the long flight and maybe thee is a bad movie?

Just confirmed I will be seeing Liverpool vs. Fulham on the 12th. If Suarez bites someone again, I will be there to witness him. I have probably watched Liverpool more than other clubs due to the Red Sox promotions of the games. I do like the coach Brendan Rogers as well