Thursday, April 29, 2010

chairs

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I guess it was all about chairs. A place to sit down and collect myself amid the chaos around me.

Waist deep in the measures of bad news and broken expectations. Bush years. 20's gone weird, almost as I'd hoped they might. Anything to break away from the sad silence of windy chicago fields planted with grey memories.

To sit far away from the fields in plush acceptance from the cushion beneath me. Yes, that was what I wanted.

This city, with it's jumbled ethnicity and mixed-up defense mechanisms--this dream became my own and I fed on it's confusion. Contributed to it's polarities. Set-tripping and maneuvering. Made plans and love. Little money and visions held & followed. Peace Frog and LA Woman. All felt from a chair.

It was some 'time of life'-as all times are. A place to be. Is any place the right place to be? If it is, how long can it stay right before it dissipates and reforms in another location? Beautiful city; the more I lived in you, the bigger the question got.

Is it the ground or the ether that controls us all?

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Long Arm Language

The team played Inter Milan. Internazionale. That name is a bit of a joke. What they are referring to doesn't seem to be trans-nationality. In Italy, citizenship is eligible based upon un-renounced citizenship of parents or grandparents. This stops citizenship for immigrants. No one is seen as Italian if they are not ethnically Italian.

During the time of Il Duce, Mussolini cheered his team Lazio and the stadiums throughout the country have had spectators flashing the straight-arm salute ever since.

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Canio throws it up after a win for Lazio. 2000's. Source: BBC.

The game on Tuesday in Milan saw more of the twisted same.

Crowd shots of Milan showed folks casting horns at the field (ostensibly at Barça), and straight-arming as their team took a brutal lead. Bad ju-ju afoot... Pedro scored early in the game and got the coveted away goal which counts for more in the series.

But then Inter broke through from Barça's mid-field weaving and cracked the whip. Their strategy was to explode upfield when they got possession deep in their half. Lightning attacks that shot up field in a few short seconds to the goal and scored.

Ibra didn't hit nothing. Messi was shutout. There were glimpses of the attacking wonderment (a late-game bicycle shot that Pedro didn't get by the keeper), and the clever passing play the team throws around like witty reparté--but it was not enough to keep Inter off of them.

Diego Milito (Argentine-Italian citizen) scored a nasty goal that was clearly off-sides and overlooked by the referees. His brother, Gabi, was not a factor in the game for Barcelona's defense against Milan.

And then there was the story of Samuel Eto'o playing against his former squad. Though Ibra was part of the trade with Inter, his narrative is less involved than Eto'o's. This is because everyone sees Ibra as a mercenary prize-horse that is less personally involved in the game and more invested in his own worth. Not a public speaker. Samuel Eto'o, though, was the most outspoken critic of racism in football and Barça's high scorer. Then they switched their play up around Messi and decided to unload Eto'o to Milan for Ibra and 40mil€. Have fun playing at Lazio; See you in the Champion's league.

Eto'o didn't have a great game, and there was little drama around him aside from his punting the ball into the stands after he was disappointed at a call. That earned him a yellow. He caught pressure from Barça and they seemed to have his number. The other boys on the Inter attack were a different matter. They just blasted through at the urging of Mourinho, their coach punching his palms from the sidelines.

Barça got five yellow cards, though they looked to have caught the brunt of the abuse in the match. Fouls overlooked against them. Cold calls. Inter drew only two in the whole game, while they unleashed a battery on the visitors. The Camp Nou would not be like this.

As the Blaugrana boarded their flight to Barcelona after the match, they were no doubt relieved that they didn't have to sit in a bus for 14 hours as they had to get to Italy. Airspace was open as the air was deemed clear to fly while the game was played.

They went home to cook something up. A dream game that will validate their wet grass magic of arcs and lines. That game will be played on the 28th in front of nearly 100,000. I'd love to be there instead of here struggling with my feed to the game. I have some cooking-up to do too.

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Straight-Arm Salute

Monday, April 19, 2010

Catalan Derby

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Yesterday was the Catalan derby, which played out with the local squads duking it out across town. FC Barcelona played Espanyol just a few kilometers from Barça's home at the Camp Nou. A new stadium for their brothers across the way with the pitch spanning into two different cities: Cornelia and Él Plat. Stats could be kept as to which city in the same stadium had more goals. Espanyol hadn't had their own proper stadium for 11 years and this was the first time they'd host Barça in it.

The two Catalan squads have an eerie rivalry. Espanyol have fought Barça on the pitch with a focus that is nearly unmatched in all of football. To look at the players on the field ~ where internationals hold such presence ~ we saw nine Catalans. Four for Espanyol and five playing for Barça. Local football, as exemplified by the coaching and captains of each team. Pochettino coaching Esp. had played and been involved with the squad since the days Guardiola played for Barça. They were former adversaries on the field who were now still battling via their coaching.

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Pochettino and Guardiola

Barça were three points ahead of Real Madrid for first place and now they were to face a team that had consistently drawn or beaten them in La Liga. RCD Espanyol showed why they were such formidable opposition. They took the field among their rabid fans in blue and white. This was the game they looked forward to with the most bile. The chance to keep the local giants in check. Someone threw a coin and hit Messi with it. The field is closer to the stands than most arenas.

Dani Alves was playing hard, but he was thrown out in the second half for getting his second yellow. The squad was down a man. Messi was shutdown by the defense. Xavi was not hot. The thing about Xavi is that his primary instinct is to always set someone else up for the play. Too much of the team has been focused on activating the magic Messi and leaving the rest of the assault as gravy. Xavi gets key opportunities he could take to score, but then pauses to check for someone else and the momentum is broken. Drawback of the play-maker.

In the second half both Ibra and Henry were brought out to try and make some goals happen, but neither one looked fit. Ibra is nursing his recent injury and made his first appearance in weeks, and Henry has simply conked out for the season. This season has seen his playing age five years.

So it ended in a draw, and I'm satisfied. Espanyol are local boys. They couldn't beat their big bros, but they did draw a line and hold their ground. It was a Catalan thing.

Now the team is in Milan to face Inter for the UEFA quarter-finals. All flights in Europe grounded from the Icelandic volcano plume so the team has taken a coach. The last time the sides met was in September in Milan. A draw at nil. Now they go back for the first of two games this week and next. Eto'o vs Barça and Ibra. Milito brothers facing eachother's world-class squads.

But it's a different point in the season than it was in September. Last week Barça climbed to first in their jiu jitsu lock with Real Madrid, and Inter slipped down from first at the hands of Roma in Serie A. The end of the season is approaching and the screws are on in the races.

The only way to win a race; keep running, keep running, keep running.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Jedi

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El Clásico was just played in Madrid. Biggest game of the season.

Madrid has lost to Barcelona tonight. Barça are back in the top spot of la Liga after having been in a stranglehold tie for first with Madrid. That's exactly how the game was played--as a taut twisting grapple for dominance between two teams that are eager to stomp the other out of the picture.

The first half was a bitter war of inches and possession. The sides struggled against eachother and gave up fouls. Lot's of thrown bows and whistles blown. Still, Barça managed to eke out an advantage in possession and direction of the ball.

The team seemed to be playing in direct psychic opposition to the rough play of Madrid. Madrid were vicious. Each possession of Barça would receive a brutal challenge. Players all over the field; ankles twisted back and their eyebrows scrunched with pain. The refs didn't feel like calling the most egregious fouls and decided instead to blow the whistle when the guilt from negligence reared randomly.

It was after one of these violent clashes that Messi broke through off a quick pass from Xavi. Leo skated up through the center of the pitch and snuck to the box to shoot past the keeper. It was another in the current streak of successively more incredible goals for him. One for the ages.

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Messi scores

Ibra was out for the game, so the team employed a different lineup that moved Messi to the center. This was not ideal, as his lack of height made the chances for headers slim to none.
Pedro was on the side.

Pedro did deliver through out the game with a lot of possession and brutality endured. He then came up on a goal in the second half. 0-2.

But where was Ronaldo?

The Madrid star was consistently denied by the defense of Pique. The two players, both of similar stature and alumni of Man U. were well matched. Pique had his number. That combined with Valdes' supreme handling of the net created a hull that Madrid found they couldn't breach, no matter how many rusty cannonballs they lobbed.

Madrid mostly showed their confusion in the face of Barça's game philosophy: The deft handling of the ball at all times kept la Merengue always one step back. The world's most expensive team couldn't break the code of Barça's frequency.

It was easily the most difficult win of the season so far. They were met at all times and were contested with more audacity than by any other team in the spanish league. The team of the Empire used all of the sinister tricks available to them to try to claw the eyes out of Barcelona, but it was trumped by adherence to their philosophy. Guardiola directed his team to victory by playing their unique game and not getting into a slugfest. Same way they won against Arsenal-who showed a surprisingly physical game in the face of their diminished chances.

How do you kill a sith lord? With a jedi.

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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Inter moving forward

Today Inter Milan is beating CSKA Moscow out of the champions league.

This means that the possibility of Barcelona beating Arsenal in the next game, and then setting up the series against Inter Milan is becoming tantalizingly real.

Eto'o, traded away from Barça to Inter for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and 60mil Euros, will be facing the club-mes que un club. Inter's Milito and Barça's' Milito are in fact brothers. A dramatic rivalry that could only be conjured in the Spanish Kingdom and Italian terra.

Today's team for the Camp Nou battle is looking good. The line up has me psyched. Alves is due for a great game, and Milito is on the pitch for Puyol. Abidal is playing with Keita, and in the front the young great attacking line of Pedro, Messi and Bojan. It feels like a good representation of the team's ethos. Who will wear the captain's band is yet to be seen.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Slackfoot

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There it was. Another day of play and the sounds of grinding city life outside the window filtering in, screening every win of the team and personal disappointment.

Disappointment is an idea that hangs on the hook of an appointment you thought you'd made. As if you're ordering your life in a restaurant. The soup comes and it's the wrong color and flavor from what you thought you'd ordered. But it's one of those restaurants that if you order something, the only way to get it right is if you get in there and cook it.

The team played athletic bilbao. I think they drew with them in the fall. I remember it being a bittersweet day in the league. Barça dropped to second behind Real Madrid--who they play next weekend. Arsenal come first, this tuesday. After that funky game in London, it will be good to have today's defeat of At. Bilbao behind them, filling their sails.

It was the day of the young guys. Jeffren finally scored. It was off of a three man strike that he cleaned up. Bojan followed that with a great goal. In the second half he got another. Ah, the 19 year-old is warming up to the idea of scoring in the league. His Rudy-style celebration was muted for the second score, as if he realized, 'Hey, I can't keep jumping around every time I score. I'm getting the hang, man. That's kid-stuff...' atta-boy.

Then Messi came through with a nice slick shot that he skated by as the defenders all slipped around him. 4-nil`. But with 20 to play, At. Bilbao break past the slackfooted Chrygzmnstrr(????) playing every bit the bewildered defensive back. It's the young guy team, today. Here's the drawback, plus half-disbelief at Jeffren scoring at last.

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Thursday, April 1, 2010

What Goes Around...

That was a very very weird game.

In London, Barça and Arsenal have played their first of two in the Champions League quarter finals, and although Barcelona outplayed Arsenal in virtually every way, the north London squad still pulled out a draw under shady circumstances.

The game opened up with Barcelona lashing Arsenal's defense and taking shot after shot after shot in the first fifteen minutes of play. But as dazzling as their attacks may have been, the back of the net went unmoved. Ibra could not connect. It was a completely frustrating opening filled with the loud "Oh"'s and yells that accompany effort that nearly makes it, but somehow manages to fall short.

Fabregas, playing against his boyhood team, his country and culture--went into the game with one yellow card. Around the twentieth minute he picked up another against Busquets and cancelled himself from playing in the next. Arsene Wenger sent Arshavin off the field after he picked up a yellow, looking to avoid a similar misfortune for next week's game at the Blaugrana.

By the half it was level at nil, with the British commentators left to marvel at how outplayed Arsenal was. Something like 15 shots to Arsenal's one. 70% of possession. The game could have been 4-0 by the half.

It was with that frustrated momentum that Barça took the field for the second half, and on the first play, Pique passes to Ibra who breaks free and taps the ball to send it arcing just over the keeper to bounce and land softly inside the wall of the net. 1-0. A minute later he's there again with only the keeper to beat. He does. 2-nil.

Within a few minutes, the crowd seems to be turning on their team. The London fans are pissed at the adolescent performance of their side. The sounds get surlier. Just when I start to pity Arsenal, they come up with a slick goal. We've got a game.

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The problem is that the officials want more than a game; They want a vengeful miracle for Arsenal. This comes when Fabregas breaks out in front of the goal to take a shot in the games closing minutes. Puyol comes forward to him and tries to get some coverage on him from behind, sending the shot wide. But Puyol's block is ruled not only a foul, but a Red card. Barça's captain is sent off the pitch and will miss the next match as well.

The call was pure venom. It was like a hobbling of the team out of spite. "Oh, our captain will miss the next game in Barcelona? Guess what, tio, now we'll take yours out of the mix for that one too." On top of that, the penalty shot comes and Fabregas sends it past Valdes for the tie.

Fabregas immediately starts limping away from the goal. He is feeling a sharp pain. That's shame. A bullshit call has allowed him to equalize against the team of his country and family. The consolation is that he won't have to play in Barcelona and have his relatives booing him next week. In fact, his fitness is completely scalded. They weren't sure if he'd be up for the match after having some leg injury, and now after the game the ruling has come down that he will not play for the next six weeks. Wegner took chances with his line-up and put in players that were of questionable health. Their team next week will be softer than this one.

Though Barça's side next week will be short Puyol and Pique (who also got a damning yellow card in the second half), the team will surely have a vicious payback on their mind. They should have scored more. They got almost nothing out of Leo. Ibra didn't deliver on ten or more opportunities. Henry? Oh, he's the guy who walked around on the pitch for the last five minutes and got the applause that Kareem Abdul Jabar gets for showing up to watch the Lakers.

The teams played out the last minutes of the game resigned to the draw, as if the outcome had been determined long before the formality of the match. Maybe Barça were just putting us on. This is an aggravation on the road to their inevitable hoisting of the Cup at the end of May.

Maybe.

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