(no subject)
I don't know what the fuck to say about the CL final. It seems my teams are destined to have at least one very short period where they give up 3 goals per season (DC-LA last year, now this). What can you do? When Paolo Maldini scores his first European goal in 11 years...inside the first minute of the game...and then Hernan Crespo scores twice against a team from a league he struggled mightily in...all in the first half...you win that game. You just do.
I haven't seen any comeback like it before. Not only was it Milan with a 3-0 lead, but it was the way they got there. Totally in control, looking like the Milan that brushed Man. United aside. Liverpool, basically, was just a guest for a Milan clinic. It could (should) have been more, with that offsides call on Sheva. The omens were all there, too. Everything I could think of that would point to another CL trophy was there.
And then, Liverpool came back. The change at halftime was, really, what they should have done from the start: crowd Pirlo and get men to break from midfield. It's what Milan struggles against time and again. I know Benitez used Kewell from the start because he wanted to replicate PSV's speed-based attack, but that only worked against Milan in those games. The teams in Italy that got results against Milan crowded Pirlo out of the game and had a midfielder that could keep Cafu from having the run of the place on the right. Once Liverpool did that, you knew they could at least have a second half to be proud of. Instead, everything they touched turned to gold. Gerrard's header was well-played, but how often is Jaap Stam going to give his man 5 or 6 feet of space in the box? Once Dida saved the penalty (superbly, I might add), only to have the rebound put in anyway, you could sense what would happen. I was actually surprised that Liverpool didn't get another, for the simple fact that they could do no wrong. Unbelievable.
You have to tip your hat to them, though. They didn't give up in the face of a huge deficit, a better opponent, or a total lack of luck or momentum. And this is a team that had to be dragged through the qualifiers by their captain (if memory serves, he scored both goals against AK Graz from Austria in the second leg, after they drew 2-2 in the first leg). They also were 3 minutes from elimination in the first round, until Gerrard (again) scored when it mattered to push them through. They knocked out a succession of more skilled teams, and I've always had a spot in my heart for the underdog (then again...who doesn't?). Steven Gerrard is my kind of player, too. He plays his heart out, is hard but fair, is a leader, scores great goals (and, perhaps more importantly, clutch goals), and stuck with his home team despite the chance of a bigger paycheck with a more glamourous team. I read yesterday that he was in the hotel very late with fans, signing autographs, posing for pictures, and singing club songs. You've got to love that.
Anyway, onto other news...if there were any. DC will be without Clyde Simms against Dallas this weekend, while Dallas will be missing Eddie Johnson, Greg Vanney, and the injured Richard Mulrooney. I'm guessing they'll send out Garlick; Rhine, Goodson, Yi/Jolley/Moor, Gbandi; O'Brien, Valakari, Nunez/Pareja, Pitchkolan; Ruiz, Mina. Just a guess on my part, though they could use Alvarez and O'Brien up front in a 433, dropping Mina. We'll see. DC should probably play Rimando; Namoff, Boswell, Prideaux; Olsen, Carroll, Gomez, Adu, Kovalenko; Moreno, Eskandarian. Freddy will start because Gros was completely unjustly suspended thanks to Preki, who went from "partially respected for play with nats/partially hated for always seeming to score against DC" to "hated douchebag" status. I'm sure Dema loves playing Dallas after all their history, so I expect him to play a big part. I wonder if O'Brien will take another swing at him before the first 5 minutes are done?
I see the game being a shooutout. Dallas, without Johnson, still has a lot of weapons to go up against a defense that, while becoming more steady, still commits a few bad individual mistakes per game. Meanwhile, the already shaky Dallas backline has lost its best player and leader in Vanney. This will be the first test for Dallas since losing Mulrooney, as well (note: Chivas and Colorado do not count as tests because, frankly, they are both crap). Being at RFK has meant goals for DC recently (3 against both Columbus and Kansas City), so I would imagine that continues this weekend. I don't know about a score, but someone will get to 3 goals...maybe both teams. Of course, my previous predictions have seen the exact opposite happen at every turn, so now the game will probably be a 0-0 draw.
Moving onto other things, I'd really like to spend some money on cds or maybe a new shirt, but I can't right now. Job uncertainty will do that to you. In lieu of actually buying music, here's a list of what I want that I don't actually have yet (not counting older stuff):
Triple P - Platinum Pied Pipers (got an Okayplayer email about this...amongst the reviews is ?uestlove saying he is forcing people to listen to this at gunpoint. Detroit hiphop + Motown-trained musician = Good)
Guero - Beck (I've been listening to a decent amount of Beck lately, now that I finally got my cds ripped onto my computer and Dell DJ. Yeah, he's nuts and maybe has too many ideas, but I can identify with that)
Rebel Soul Music - Martin Luther (tons of people with excellent taste have had nothing but good to say about him. I've been impressed with what little I've heard, so I figure this would be a good buy)
Get Lifted - John Legend (Kanye's piano genius has his own album...anyone who's heard "They Say" off of the new Common will probably want to get this)
Champion Sound - Jaylib (Jay Dee + Madlib. Half of the album is Madlib rapping on Jay Dee beats, the other half is Jay Dee rapping over Madlib)
Thunder Lighting Strike - The Go! Team (the only reason I haven't bought this yet is because it's rather expensive for some reason. Sounds like crazy people music, and that's generally what I go for)
Several MF DOOM alias albums (Escape from Monsta Island! - Monsta Island Czars, Vaudeville Villain and Venemous Villain - Viktor Vaughn, Take Me to Your Leader - King Geedorah. Why? "Average MCs is like a TV blooper/MF DOOM, he's like D.B. Cooper")
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party (heard a lot of hype about them. Not sure if I'd buy it without hearing, though.)
The Cosmic Game - Thievery Corporation (anything Brazilian-influenced is going to do well with me these days...plus, sometimes it's nice to not go nuts all the time)
Spirit in Stone - Lifesavas (signed with Quannum, they're supposed to be in the same vein as Blackalicious)
Any other ideas? Or, if you've heard some of the above, can you recommend them more or warn me off of one? There really isn't much musical knowledge inside of our house other than Fenlon and I, and we usually find out about things at the same time.
I think I'm going to recommend we get Winked up (side story: Sak used to leave all these empty bottles from Wink citrus soda around, so when we went to DC we'd take them fill them with strong drinks, and down them on the Metro so we could be drunk without paying for too many $4 beers) and see what comes of us tonight. That, or a party...I am in the mood to put out.
Abrupt ending!
I haven't seen any comeback like it before. Not only was it Milan with a 3-0 lead, but it was the way they got there. Totally in control, looking like the Milan that brushed Man. United aside. Liverpool, basically, was just a guest for a Milan clinic. It could (should) have been more, with that offsides call on Sheva. The omens were all there, too. Everything I could think of that would point to another CL trophy was there.
And then, Liverpool came back. The change at halftime was, really, what they should have done from the start: crowd Pirlo and get men to break from midfield. It's what Milan struggles against time and again. I know Benitez used Kewell from the start because he wanted to replicate PSV's speed-based attack, but that only worked against Milan in those games. The teams in Italy that got results against Milan crowded Pirlo out of the game and had a midfielder that could keep Cafu from having the run of the place on the right. Once Liverpool did that, you knew they could at least have a second half to be proud of. Instead, everything they touched turned to gold. Gerrard's header was well-played, but how often is Jaap Stam going to give his man 5 or 6 feet of space in the box? Once Dida saved the penalty (superbly, I might add), only to have the rebound put in anyway, you could sense what would happen. I was actually surprised that Liverpool didn't get another, for the simple fact that they could do no wrong. Unbelievable.
You have to tip your hat to them, though. They didn't give up in the face of a huge deficit, a better opponent, or a total lack of luck or momentum. And this is a team that had to be dragged through the qualifiers by their captain (if memory serves, he scored both goals against AK Graz from Austria in the second leg, after they drew 2-2 in the first leg). They also were 3 minutes from elimination in the first round, until Gerrard (again) scored when it mattered to push them through. They knocked out a succession of more skilled teams, and I've always had a spot in my heart for the underdog (then again...who doesn't?). Steven Gerrard is my kind of player, too. He plays his heart out, is hard but fair, is a leader, scores great goals (and, perhaps more importantly, clutch goals), and stuck with his home team despite the chance of a bigger paycheck with a more glamourous team. I read yesterday that he was in the hotel very late with fans, signing autographs, posing for pictures, and singing club songs. You've got to love that.
Anyway, onto other news...if there were any. DC will be without Clyde Simms against Dallas this weekend, while Dallas will be missing Eddie Johnson, Greg Vanney, and the injured Richard Mulrooney. I'm guessing they'll send out Garlick; Rhine, Goodson, Yi/Jolley/Moor, Gbandi; O'Brien, Valakari, Nunez/Pareja, Pitchkolan; Ruiz, Mina. Just a guess on my part, though they could use Alvarez and O'Brien up front in a 433, dropping Mina. We'll see. DC should probably play Rimando; Namoff, Boswell, Prideaux; Olsen, Carroll, Gomez, Adu, Kovalenko; Moreno, Eskandarian. Freddy will start because Gros was completely unjustly suspended thanks to Preki, who went from "partially respected for play with nats/partially hated for always seeming to score against DC" to "hated douchebag" status. I'm sure Dema loves playing Dallas after all their history, so I expect him to play a big part. I wonder if O'Brien will take another swing at him before the first 5 minutes are done?
I see the game being a shooutout. Dallas, without Johnson, still has a lot of weapons to go up against a defense that, while becoming more steady, still commits a few bad individual mistakes per game. Meanwhile, the already shaky Dallas backline has lost its best player and leader in Vanney. This will be the first test for Dallas since losing Mulrooney, as well (note: Chivas and Colorado do not count as tests because, frankly, they are both crap). Being at RFK has meant goals for DC recently (3 against both Columbus and Kansas City), so I would imagine that continues this weekend. I don't know about a score, but someone will get to 3 goals...maybe both teams. Of course, my previous predictions have seen the exact opposite happen at every turn, so now the game will probably be a 0-0 draw.
Moving onto other things, I'd really like to spend some money on cds or maybe a new shirt, but I can't right now. Job uncertainty will do that to you. In lieu of actually buying music, here's a list of what I want that I don't actually have yet (not counting older stuff):
Triple P - Platinum Pied Pipers (got an Okayplayer email about this...amongst the reviews is ?uestlove saying he is forcing people to listen to this at gunpoint. Detroit hiphop + Motown-trained musician = Good)
Guero - Beck (I've been listening to a decent amount of Beck lately, now that I finally got my cds ripped onto my computer and Dell DJ. Yeah, he's nuts and maybe has too many ideas, but I can identify with that)
Rebel Soul Music - Martin Luther (tons of people with excellent taste have had nothing but good to say about him. I've been impressed with what little I've heard, so I figure this would be a good buy)
Get Lifted - John Legend (Kanye's piano genius has his own album...anyone who's heard "They Say" off of the new Common will probably want to get this)
Champion Sound - Jaylib (Jay Dee + Madlib. Half of the album is Madlib rapping on Jay Dee beats, the other half is Jay Dee rapping over Madlib)
Thunder Lighting Strike - The Go! Team (the only reason I haven't bought this yet is because it's rather expensive for some reason. Sounds like crazy people music, and that's generally what I go for)
Several MF DOOM alias albums (Escape from Monsta Island! - Monsta Island Czars, Vaudeville Villain and Venemous Villain - Viktor Vaughn, Take Me to Your Leader - King Geedorah. Why? "Average MCs is like a TV blooper/MF DOOM, he's like D.B. Cooper")
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party (heard a lot of hype about them. Not sure if I'd buy it without hearing, though.)
The Cosmic Game - Thievery Corporation (anything Brazilian-influenced is going to do well with me these days...plus, sometimes it's nice to not go nuts all the time)
Spirit in Stone - Lifesavas (signed with Quannum, they're supposed to be in the same vein as Blackalicious)
Any other ideas? Or, if you've heard some of the above, can you recommend them more or warn me off of one? There really isn't much musical knowledge inside of our house other than Fenlon and I, and we usually find out about things at the same time.
I think I'm going to recommend we get Winked up (side story: Sak used to leave all these empty bottles from Wink citrus soda around, so when we went to DC we'd take them fill them with strong drinks, and down them on the Metro so we could be drunk without paying for too many $4 beers) and see what comes of us tonight. That, or a party...I am in the mood to put out.
Abrupt ending!