Brobama

A certain British newspaper, which I will not link to, and do not read because of my support for a certain British football club, caught up with one of Barack's little brothers (well, technically half brother). Bernard Obama lives in Kenya where he runs a car parts store, but visits his mother, who lives in the UK, quite often. Bernard and Barack were born of the same Kenyan father, but by different mothers, and didn't actually meet until Bernard was around 17.

It would therefore be difficult to argue that Bernard reflects in any way on his older half-brother - besides, we all know that the Obama is the incarnation of Hope and Change, and cannot therefore be considered anything other than divine.

Bernard is a proud muslim, but we're not supposed to mention that word in the same sentence as His HopeChangefulness, so we'll leave that topic well enough alone. The Brobama is also a devoted Manchester United fan, and avid reader of The Sun*. Now, I could care less about his religion - that's between him and his Maker - but his exceptionally poor choice of football club, and alleged daily reading of such a sorry excuse for journalism is so egregious that it cannot do less than reflect poorly on his illustrious big bro...at least in my book. But then I was already pretty biased against the Obamessiah before I learned his brother was a dirty manc.

*The Sun, which is never to be named in the presence of a Liverpool fan, much less ever purchased or read, is still the subject of a boycott among any well-informed Red. This is due to the inexcusable coverage of the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool FC supporters in 1989. The newspaper's editor ran a completely false and unsubstantiated article on the front page of the rag, claiming that the LFC fans involved in the tragedy participated in horrible acts which will not be given the dignity of having been named on this site. The editor refuses to apologize for this remarkable smear to this day.

He's Big, He's Red, His Feet Stick Out the Bed!

The latest news from across the pond is that Liverpool's towering striker is leaving the north of England for Pompey's sunny south coast. The 6'-7" tall Crouch was a player I always admired. He had a knack for scoring some spectacular goals (as in the photo), and a pretty decent strike rate for England as well. He could be frustrating to watch at times - I never understood how such a tall player could be so lacking in ability to head the ball - and he certainly wasn't the speediest fella on the pitch. But he had very good ball skills for such a gangly frame, and could hold the ball up as well as anyone on the team at the time.

It sounds like Rafa offered to extend his contract, but Crouchie is understandably not thrilled at the prospect of another season playing second fiddle to the boy wonder Fernando Torres. The system Rafa now seems to favor would again limit his playing time, and you can't fault him for seeking out a regular place in a starting eleven. Good luck, Crouchinho!

King of Spain

It's a little late - I havn't had much time to post lately - but I have to give props to the Spanish national team for their victory in Euro 2008. Ever since Rafa Benitez began the Spanish revolution at Liverpool FC, I've supported Spain in international competition. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty patriotic, but soccer in America is pathetic. I usually support England as well, but they spectacularly failed to qualify for this last tournament.

It's too bad. This has largely been recognized as the best tournament in many years, and I would've been very interested to see how Engurland's finest stack up against the best in Europe. Fernando Torres, who has haunted the nightmares of English Premier League defenders since his debut season, had an average tournament...until the final. A tally of only 2 goals is not all that impressive for a striker of Torres' stature, but the last goal he scored in Euro 2008 was a typical El Nino strike:

Torres' best asset is his speed and ability to make something happen out of nothing, and this is a prime example. I can wait to see how he performs for the Reds next season!

Euro Final 3

One of the best matches in a while was played out last night in Basel, Switzerland as the world tried to watch.

VIENNA, June 26 (Reuters) - A thunderstorm that cut power supplies interrupted coverage for millions of television viewers watching Germany's thrilling 3-2 semi-final win over Turkey at Euro 2008 on Wednesday.

I have to admit it was pretty frustrating, but it made for some additional drama in what was already an exciting match. Turkey have been the surprise of the tournament so far. Russia are still in, with a chance to make history tonight against Spain, but many already regarded them as a pre-tournament dark horse. Turkey literally came out of nowhere to shock the classy Croatians in the quarter-finals, scoring a last second goal to force penalties. Most regarded Germany as the easy favorites against the Turks, but the match last night showed why the Turkish team has made it so far into this tournament. They opened the scoring in the first half, thanks to some comic goalkeeping from "Jennifer" Lehman, only to concede an equalizer 4 minutes later. Some had expected Turkey to play cautiously in such a huge match, but to their credit, they were the best team of the opening period, hitting the bar twice, and putting a lot of pressure on the much-heralded German defense.

Miroslav Klose managed to put the Germans ahead during one of the several black-out periods, when the international feed was interrupted by bad weather, and it looked like they would shut up shop and cruise to the finish. The Turks didn't see it that way, however, and equalized late in the half. It looked as if we were going to see yet another match finish with extra time, but Philip Lahm, who was largely responsible for allowing the Turks to equalize at 2-2, scored a brilliant winner in the 90th minute to give Germany the win. The feed stayed in tact just long enough for the world to see Lahm's winner, but the final moments of the match were blacked out as Germany booked their place in the final.

Tonight promises to be the match of the tournament as the young sides from Spain and Russia will duke it out for a chance to take on Germany.

U.S. Forces Soundly Beaten In Iraq

Ok, so the headline is a little dramatic. And before all the Democrats out there start celebrating, let me clarify...

A group of U.S. soldiers were soundly defeated by a band of former insurgents...in a soccer match.

"MULTAKA, Iraq — A soccer game on a dirt field between two amateur teams - one U.S. Army soldiers, one local Iraqis - may not seem like a big deal in the scope of the wider war. Especially when it's a blow-out by the Iraqis; when both teams are playing in running shoes, not cleats; when the nets are thin blue mesh; and when only a couple hundred fans brave the 108-degree temperature in this town due west of Kirkuk."

But the match is a symbol of something much more important (and, no, it has nothing to do with the left's dreams of our big, bad, imperial military drooping home in defeat after it's failed "occupation").

"For one thing, it was the third time in recent days when American soldiers donned shorts and "Salute to Our Fallen Heroes" T-shirts to go head-to-head and foot-to-foot with teams of opponents who, only months ago, may have been trying to kill them. For another, the soldiers were playing without body armor — a sign of improved security in the sandy Hawijah District patrolled by units of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y."

It's certainly not all peaches and cream over there, but isn't it funny how the media has suddenly stopped giving us wall-to-wall coverage of the Iraq war in recent months? I'd say that's probably the best indication of all that things are, in fact, improving.

But, hey, I've got an idea! Now that we're finally beginning to gain some ground, and are finally gaining the trust of the locals, who once wanted us out, let's elect a president who promises to ensure our defeat, and abandon the promises made to the Iraqi people! That'd send a great message to the world: America hasn't the stomach for extended conflict, so we're just gonna pack it in.

Euro Final 4

Euro 2008 has been a pretty exciting tournament so far. Several of the pre-tournament favorites have already gone home, but I'm hoping Spain can now get shod of their deserved label of underachievers and go on to win it. I've been a big fan of European football for a while, and we've seen some of the best (and worst...Turkey is the new Greece) football in this tournament. Despite the anti-football that Turkey play, they have somehow managed to get through to the semi-finals where they face a somewhat inconsistent, but powerful German side that will be brimming with confidence after throwing Cristy Ronaldo and his fellow Portuguese ballroom dancers to the curb - a beautiful site for this Liverpool fan.

The other semi will see Spain take on the tournament's other over-achieving side in Guus Hiddink's Russia. The Dutch master Hiddink is probably not the most popular figure in his native Netherlands after knocking his compatriots, Marco van Basten's "Oranje", out of the tournament in the quarterfinals. For those who are familiar with world footy, I suppose it's no surprise that Hiddink has led yet another relative underdog into the final stages of a major tournament. The big surprise was the Dutch capitulation to Russia after a blistering start to the tournament. The Netherlands easily won the tournament's "group of death", spanking both the current World Cup holders and runners-up, Italy and France, respectively, by a combined score of 7-1. After their second string cruised past Romania 2-0, the Oranje looked unstoppable.

And yet, Hiddink's Russians looked the more confident team, especially in extra time, and went on to win 3-1 to book place in the semis. Their opponents, Spain, took all of extra time and penalties to knock Italy out last night. It was a deserved win - Spain was the only team trying to win the match in regulation, as Italy was content to sit back and defend (it's what Italians do, after all) - and I'll be pretty excited to see how the Spaniards fare against Russia. Spain has looked very confident in all of their matches so far, and with the largest contingent of Liverpool players, they're definitely my favorites for the trophy. I do wish Aragones would quit pulling Torres off in the second half of every match. I realize David Villa is the tournament's leading scorer, but Torres has a knack for creating goals out of nothing, and Spain could've used him last night in extra time.

Well, that was a nice break from our usual more serious subject matter. I'll try to continue posting my thoughts as the tournament progresses.

Superlambananas!...?

For those of you who have been longing for serious expressions of artistic genious...I give you a Liverpool original - Superlambananas!

I've been a fan of Liverpool Football Club for several years now, and I've become pretty much obsessed with English Premier League football. The internet and new media have made it so easy for me to follow my team, even though they play across the Atlantic, and I spend a fair amount of time learning about the unique culture of the residents of Merseyside.

The Scouse are a unique lot, and the city of Liverpool has been named the European Capital of Culture for 2008. Apparently, superlambananas like the one bearing the likeness of LFC manager Rafa Benitez above, have become quite popular in Liverpool.