giggle pop

I am sitting here, glass of wine in hand watching the replay of the Barcelona v. Manchester Untied Champions League final. This was a beautifully played match NO thanks at all to ManU, it was all Barca today. I have spent the day being the most avid Barcelona supporter I can be...for one day only. It is a rare sight seeing a Madridista cheering her heart out for the blaugranna, but I did it today. I am also a die-hard Chelsea fan, and did not think I could cheer for a team after the way Barca beat us to get into the final but here I am and feel like I should explain why.

I mean there is the obvious reason, being a Chelsea supporter and reasonable human being, I hate Manchester United. Not just because they are our league rivals, looking at the current squad it is filled with a lot of unlikeable players. Most of their players would barely be above average if they did not have the puppet master Fergie in charge. Not to mention it is pretty hard if not impossible for me to like players like Ronaldo, Berbatov, Vidic, etc. Mine opinion of course and so I am sure some disagree. Anyways this post is not about why I hate ManU, but that was a factor in my cheering for Barca.

While hating ManU explains me wanting Barca to win, it does not explain why I really really wanted them to win and why I was cheering for them almost (and I mean almost) like I was watching one of my teams out there. When it comes down to it there is a ridiculous amount of arrogance surrounding the EPL and the “English style” of play. It may win games in tournaments but it sucks to watch. Because it works well in tournaments people use it as justification that the English style is best and the EPL is superior to the other leagues. However, I feel like if you took even some of the best English teams and dropped them in to La Liga or Serie A they would be struggling a bit day in and day out. While they may do well being great teams it would not be sheer dominance that people seem to award them automatically. So when I was cheering for Barca today I was cheering for the beautiful game, La Liga, and Serie A.

On one hand I sit and watch Barca and think they should not be there and am gutted at the thought Chelsea is not. But as I have said before I don’t blame Barca or think they cheated or anything like that for how that game ended. I blame that d-bag of a useless man they called a ref and UEFA, but not Barca. Also as I have said before if Chelsea was going to get fucked at least it was for a team that can represent the beautiful game well. In the past few weeks I kept hearing bullshit comments like “well Barcelona can score a bunch of goals in La Liga but they can’t do it against a real strong English defense.” Well Chelsea’s incredible defense could hold them, and I take a small bit of solace in this watching the game today. As a Chelsea fan it makes me feel a little fuzzy inside knowing that my boys in Blue were able to contain Barca heroically and seemingly effortlessly and Man Utd was not only unable to do this but they were also embarrassed when they tried to. And yes it still hurts like a bitch knowing how well Chelsea played and knowing they should be there.

And the last reason…as much as I dislike Barcelona and always will, the current squad has some class players. Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta are just incredible and players I cannot help but have a lot of respect for them. Especially the later two they get out there and get the job done and done amazingly well…exceptional talent carried out with class is hard to come by. If you need proof look at Ronaldo, got the talent and no class. And let’s not forget the fuzzy heart warming comments of Pep dedicating the victory to Maldini.

For some people who seem to think me, and a lot others are bandwagon Barcelona fans because of today or just cheering for them because of some cute players that is far from the case. I know I was cheering for a lot more a lot more than Barca today and cheering against a lot more than ManU. I have no problems with anyone’s alliances in this game no matter what the reasons but this is why mine were what they were.

Oh yeah and man of the match Xavi does make me think dirty things…

*dries off spiky-haired pint sized Spanish ball of sex and places him back in pocket*

I guess I should start off by saying Barcelona is just pissing me off this week, and they need to go away or stop winning. They are not the only team who wants to win things, big meanies!!

Yesterday was just craptastic. The steamroller that is Barca beat my beloved boys in white about 65-2 in the el Classico. Now that Barca is seven points ahead (if I did my math right) with only a few games left they have all but put a little bow on La Liga. Oh well, it seemed from the beginning they were unstoppable and they proved to be. This season my love of Real Madrid grew immensely, it was amazing seeing them battle back in the title race they way they did. An 18 game unbeaten streak, it was incredible. It was not that they even played bad yesterday, Barca just brought a super-human A-game and showed just how good they could be. Xavi, Messi, Henry all had great games, and those are players you do not want to all have a great game on the same day.
The highlight of the game (for me) was without a doubt a goal from my favorite argie…okay second favorite argie…Gonzalo Higuain. And because it makes me smile I am adding a cute Gonzo pic


hehehe oh how I adore him.

On a happier note, Chelsea beat Fulham! And are getting ready for the second leg of the CL SF against..who else, that steamroller Barca. My boys in blue did the incredible last week and kept the blaugrana at 0-0 at the Camp Nou, which has been near impossible this season (in fact has not been done since the first game). Now the next leg is at the bridge, and I know the boys can take care of business. After watcing Barca almost obsessively out of fascination (and my not so secret lust for Xavi, Messi, and Pep) I know they can be beaten, and have a weak defense. Unlike San Iker Victor Valdez main skill in goal is to look pretty, and Barcas only decent defenders (Puyol and Marquez) are out so I know Didi and Nico can take care of business up front, and as the Chelsea defense showed last week they can keep that little fraggle/evil-muppet/cutie-pie Messi contained. I could go on and on right now about this game, but I wont right now.

That is about it for now. Expect some more ramblings and hopefully joyous screams after midweek European action!

As always—COME ON YOU BLUES!! and HALA MADRID!!!

March 22, 2009
This Weekend in Sports (with pictures!)
Football
YAAYY Real Madrid won today, lots of great Dutchie goals and one from Marcello as well. My dear Gago did not play until later, and I don’t think Higuain played at all, meaning there was a serious lack of hot argentines out there, but oh well Iker, Canna and el Ramos held down the hotness and the defensive line (another shut out!!). And Mr. mmmmm mmmm Metzelder played!!! Unfortunately barca won yet again. Surprise, Sur-frickin-prise. Someone needs to lock up Messi until after the season, seriously. Some of us Kickettes had a great chat during the game today. (had a good one for Chelsea game too yesterday)

*on a slightly related note. The chat today has inspired me and I think I may turn my large wooded yard into a sanctuary for injured or retired footballers. Also may bring in the types of Messi and Xavi who are adorable but need to stop scoring goals for teams I don’t want to win *cough* barca *cough* and worry not, I am sure I will develop this brilliant plan more soon.

Golf
There is a tournament going on this weekend, have not really watched. There is a lack of Camilo and Sergio, and too much football and basketball so I will catch up next week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Oh well here is some Camilo looking hotty-boombastic anyways. Mmmmm Bendy bend little lawn crawler.


Annnd those arms!!!


Sweeeet 16!!!

The Zags are in the sweet 16…helll yeah!!! Jesu-whattt! Get out the clear stripper heels espn because Cinderella is in the house this year!!! If you cannot tell I get slightly excited (and usually cry) if the Zags make it to the Sweet 16, I am hoping this is the year we make our return back to the elite 8 as well. We play UNC next. I won’t lie it will be a tough game, but a good game for us. UNC is not a huge team in size, does not bully and plays a running game. Basically don’t hit any of our weaknesses, so we have a fighting chance. And we beat them a few years back!! So bring it on Tar Heels my boys are coming!!

The Zags played Western Kentucky last night, looked like a thrilling game, I of course could not watch any of it because damn CBS would not show it here. So I watched Duke/Texas and slammed wine as I watched the Zags score. I did see the last minute and Goodson’s wonderful last minute shot to win the game. I was so proud. And thought to myself…he could teach Blake Stepp a few things about making a lay up under pressure. If any of you remember that game (I believe it was 2003) against Arizona, I will never get that image out of my head and will forever despise the University of Arizona.

I still am madly loving on Matt Bouldin…especially his pretty pretty arms my oh my, those things are beautiful. He has crazy eyes, yes, but also great hair and as I said the arms of a god. Not to mention his mad ass playing skills. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite Zags of all time, and is nipping on the heels of JP Batista. So here is some barely legal zaggy manmeat.



Oh and I hit a new low yesterday when I noticed a really hot player for UCONN (#33 I think) and felt the urge to say “that’s the best thing about college basketball players. I keep getting older, and they stay the same age”

Tennis
Indian wells is going on this weekend. I could not find anywhere showing it. But the Semi’s were Roger/Murray and Nadal/Roddick. Roger lost, I was sad so did Roddick…that also made me sad. So it is Nadal and Murray in the final and I am of course cheering for the Spaniard. Now I said I was going to not cheer for Nadal until he went sleeveless again, but I don’t like Murray so here I am. Not sure if final has been played yet or who won. Anyways VAMOS RAFA!!

I just watched the reply of Barca-Atletico game in another failed attempt to finally see this weeks Real Madrid game. After seeing Kun Aguero’s goals once again, he is quickly jumping onto my list of Argentine footballers I just cannot get enough of. He is in good company with the likes of Fernando Gago, Gonzalo Higuain, and Lionel Messi. I know they are a tad young, but I just am weak for the ridiculous talent mixed with adorableness.

Also Pep Guardiola is starting to nip on the heels (just a little bit) of the special one (Jose Mourinho) as hottest manager on the planet.

Not to worry this is a slight fascination with barca right now, coming out as love of Pep and Messi and by no means a fanship. I can say with confidence you will not see me running around in the blaugrana anytime soon.

I am sitting here with a perma-smile on my face after an absolutely fabulous weekend in sports for my teams. I enjoy sports a lot, mainly football (soccer), ncaa basketball, tennis, and am getting into golf as well. I just kind of write what I think, and it will often have more to do with the hottness of the athletes as opposed to anything really insightful into the games.

NCAA Basketball

Yay the Zags once again went undefeated in the WCC conference (which we had already clinched a week or so ago). I have been a die hard Gonzaga fan for about 10 years now, which is making me feel quite old. Even with some questionable performances this season I am still remaining optimistic for a good tourney performance by the boys this year, and yes I am aware it is more often than not a futile task. But hey it is March and the begininngs of March Madness are sweeping through me...counting down the days until the tourney!!!

On a related note…I just cannot get enough of Matt Bouldin and his arms. Mmmmmm.

Football

Yes I watch far too much football, it is a bit of an obsession for me. My teams are Chelsea for the EPL and Real Madrid in La Liga.

Let’s start off with the Chelsea game, which I sadly could not watch, but that did not stop me from yelling out in excitement in the bar I was in at 11am (long story) while checking the score on my phone. First off our fearless captain John Terry gets his first goal in a long time, then other team equalizes, and then in true dramatic fashion Super Frankie Lampard scores a last minute goal to win. This puts the blues back at #2 in the league still trailing the ever pestilent Manchester United. Oh I was a happy happy girl. I still have not been able to watch a game since Guus (who I like to call “Goose” because it reminds me of Top Gun) took over a few weeks ago. This win coupled with a win in the first leg of the Champions League game against Juventus and Liverpool losing to Middlesbrough HAHAHAHAHA (sorry ‘pool fans) including an own goal it was a good day in the Premier League.

Moving on over to espana for some La Liga fun. My beloved Real Madrid won 2-0 over Espanyol on Saturday, another game I had to miss but was yelling with excitement upon seeing scores come up. That is about a million league wins in a row for the boys in white and Captain Raul scored his bazilionth goal or something like that. Then today Barcelona lost in an absolutely wonderful game against Atletico. I spend about 90+ minutes a week being an avid fan for whatever team is playing Barca. Now, I have respect for Barca and a bit of a crush on Little Leo Messi and Xavi, but I want nothing more than to see Los Blancos win the league yet again, and that involves the once invincible looking Barcelona loooosing, which they are doing a wonderful job of doing lately. A few weeks ago, all you would hear about is how Barca had La Liga locked up, but now that Real Madrid is only FOUR yes FOUR points off the lead things are getting exciting.

Last but not least, watched a great draw between Inter Milan and Roma over in Italy. I still can’t decide what team I am going to support in Serie A. Right now I am cheering for Inter, but pretty much only because Jose Mourinho is the manager. I am still telling myself everyday that once he takes the trophy in Italy the special one will be packing his bags and coming back to Chelsea where he belongs!!! However, this still leaves me with a need of a team in Serie A to cheer for, maybe I will stick with Inter maybe not….any suggestions?

Ray Hudsonism
Anyone who watches games on gol tv in the states gets to experience the colorful commentary of Ray Hudson. I would give just about anything to have this man narrate everything because he cracks me up. Today he had a particularly great line about his man crush Little Lionel Messi. “He’s got the swivel hips, like a Turkish stripper.” BTW the goal that prompted that comment was beautiful.