HHG: Champions League Final 2008

The Game: Manchester United vs. Chelsea
The Prize: The UEFA Champions League Trophy, and title of European Club Champion in soccer.

The Heart says: Manchester United; It was an emotional moment back in 1999 when the Mancunians defeated Bayern Munich in stoppage time to win the Champions League. They were pretty much down for the entire game and were seconds away from losing, when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solskjaer scored the goals that put United in the winner's circle. While I don't see a similar rollercoaster of emotions occurring this time around, the team I feel the most for, is the one from Manchester. It will be Ryan Giggs' record breaking game (most appearances for United). It will be Edwin van der Sar's final big prize (I don't see Holland winning Euro 2008) before retirement. It will cap off a great double season for ManU, who have already pipped Chelsea to the Premiership title.

The Head says: eh... Slightly over a month ago Chelsea almost brought Manchester United down in the race for the Premiership, by defeating them and closing the gap in the league table. That could be the memory for the Blues to hold on to. They have to my account the better team, that should see them through in spite of the injuries to captain John Terry and attacking leader Didier Drogba. Frank Lampard might be able to help Chelsea to offset the individual brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo and sheer tenacity of Wayne Rooney. I'm leaning towards a tie, but having to pick one, I would have to say Chelsea.

The Gut says: This time I go for the heart. I'm pretty sure I don't get to see the game (unless they have a television connection in office), and I'm pretty sure I don't want to see Gary Neville's skinny arms holding any kind of trophy... but I feel Manchester has fewer problems heading into the game than Chelsea, less injuries and more peace of mind. Chelsea I feel has more to lose, having finally made it to the big dance without Jose Mourinho, and now they HAVE to win to prove their former manager wrong.

Man United - Chelsea 2-1

Five fundamental differences between US and European Sports

Sports in the United States is big, brash, loud and above all extremely rich. Contrast this with sports on the European continent and you'll notice a truckload of differences, so much so that it's easy to understand why European sports will not take off in the States, while American sports will never be accepted fully here. Here are five reasons why:

1. Americans cannot handle viewing a sport, unless it's divided in byte-sized chunks. That's why NBA games are divided in quarters, Indycar races are interrupted by yellow flags, NFL moves along play by play, and baseball goes from out to out. Sports with longer, uninterrupted flows of play, like soccer and rugby don't appeal as much to the average American viewer. Likewise a European sportsfan can't stand the continuous breaks, which he would always chalk up to unnecessary commercials...
   
2. In Europe debating the referee's calls is a given, but to an American it's outrageous, and always exciting. In Europe referees control the contest in the calmest way possible; in the USA referees can get mad, make wild, excessive gestures and send the coach off the field.
3. Unless it's an international contest, very few European sports events open with the national anthems. In the States every sports event starts with the Star Spangled Banner... even your backyard touch football game.
4. A commentator in the United States is always supported by a sidekick, the color man, who keeps the viewers, listeners, fans entertained with useless facts, side stories, rumours and general mockery of the best paid player on the team. Nowadays washed-up has-been athletes provide in-game real-time analysis on the events. That's three people employed by the network. In Europe sports commentators during the game are practically always alone, and frankly - apart from Jack van Gelder - extremely bland and boring. Analysis is something you do during half-time or after the game. The network only employs one guy to do the talking, and he often doesn't even get to go to the game at all.
   
5. Aah, statistics. The American loves them, because it allows otherwise menial athletes to achieve feats of epic proportions, thanks to a mathmetical coincidence. For a country that's only been around for slightly over two centuries, it's a quick way to fill up a person's history and trivia sections in wikipedia. Stats also improve viewership when a record is broken or a milestone is reached, so statistics have commercial benefits as well.
   Fans in Europe... are less enthused about mindless numbers.
   

Heart, Head or Gut: Superbowl XLI

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! Superbowl XLI LIVE FROM MIAMI

sorry got a little carried away... anyway, Chicago Bears vs. Indianapolis Colts

The Head Says: Colts win, because there's one guy in this game who is ostensibly the best player in the league today, and possibly the most gifted quarterback of the last ten years (I said gifted, not most successful or most clutch, mind you, because that's Tom Brady), Peyton "Hate His Ugly Mug" Manning. Seriously, the guy looks and speaks like a hillbilly, but he works harder than anyone else, throws the best passes this side of Canton, and he has the best story coming into the Superbowl... he is the guy who could finally end his championship-less streak. Otherwise he might end up like Dan Marino... a fantastic quarterback, probably the most powerful of his generation, but also one who was never able to win the Big One.

The Heart Says: Bears win, because I hope Brian Urlacher and co. kick ass and keep Indy winless for another year. Besides I don't much like the look of the Colts' uniforms, too clean.

The Gut Says: Colts win. Considering everything, the Colts have gotten together at the right time, beat their eternal rivals (Patriots) and seem poised to finally make good on their potential. And of course Manning is the Man of Destiny, lest he become the 21st century version of Marino.

(Madden 06 says: Indy wins by two scores)

Just give me my Haka dammit!

In Rugby Union no team is better, no team is more intimidating than the New Zealand All Blacks. A great deal of their appeal and intimidation factor has to do with the Haka, the war dance that they do before their test matches. It is truly a riveting sight: fifteen burly, strong men, calling upon the power of the gods to beat their opponents. After seeing that across the pitch, you don't wanna play rugby anymore. You want to run home to mommy for safety.

And today the All Blacks decided not to do the Haka against Wales.

!@#$%^&*(^$@!

Pride plays into this: home teams want to be last to be introduced, but a visiting New Zealand squad demands their anthems to be played even after that of the home team's. Or else no Haka.

You wanna see how quickly you can make a crowd turn on you? Don't do your song and dance. Don't do your gimmick. Don't do what people pay hard earned money to see.

World Series... missed it

Ehm... The St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series... well that's okay. Now usually I would do this schtick, in which I predict the winner on the basis of the heart, the head and the gut. But unfortunately the playoffs were so uneventful, I completely missed the part.

Now I think I would have bet money on the Detroit Tigers to win, solely because they were the best team in the majors for a big part of the season and had the better story (from perennial losers to champions in the space of a season). The Cardinals had the star power (well... Albert Pujols, and he didn't turn out that good for the Series) and were the cream of the NL crop for the last three, four seasons so they did have a good argument as well....

But with the Series already behind us, let's just call this one a no-show, and move on.

WTH was Zidane thinking?

All the speculation can end... Zidane truly orchestrated the end of his own career to the last second. The headbutt he gave to Materazzi, and the subsequent red card and sending-off were all his intention. He did not snap, it was a perfectly executed, deliberate action to avoid a situation he was not prepared to endure, i.e. losing the World Cup final to the Italians.

Think about it, his best teammates had already left the pitch (Henry, Vieira), and he was left with young guys he didn't really know well, maybe even like. When the final whistle would sound, all the world's cameras would focus on his face, trying to capture the final moment of his career, in tears. Everyone wants to see the best player in the world in total desolation. Nothing attracts more viewers than someone else's misery, and this would have been one for the ages.

But Zidane is not a puppet of the masses. He is truly a genius, far more intelligent than anyone in football in the past fifteen years (except for Dennis Bergkamp perhaps). He does things his way, and that includes how leaves the game... correction... how he chooses to leave the game.

Of course he got provoked. He probably even was insulted. But he already knew what was going to happen. He had already seen the future. Zinedine already saw Italy win the World Cup 30 minutes later and celebrate at his expense, and that hurt him to the core of his being. And instead of languishing in his fate, he sought to do something about it. Materazzi gave him the opening. And Zidane took it: the footballing equivalent of hara kiri.

Now, even in disgrace, Zidane goes out as the king of football.

No tears.

No pity.

Adieu Zizou.

World Cup Final prediction

The head says: Italy

The Italian national team seems stronger than the French, proven by the two-hour onslaught they endured in the semis against Germany. Frankly Les Bleus looked rather tired in their own semi final, as if time is finally catching up to these guys (average age is over 30). Both teams are struggling up front I think, but I had no expectations about the likes of Toni or Gilardino, opposed to Thierry Henry who is by consensus the best player in the Premiership for the past two seasons. More Italian than French players left a good impression on me: Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Camoranesi, Pirlo (at times) easily go over. Only Ribery and Zidane were impressive on the French side.

The heart says: Italy

I like Italy better than France. France is enjoying its last moment in the sun, the generation that won the 98 World Cup and the 2000 Euro Championship is winding down and don't need to win the cup again to prove a point. Only Zidane I grant winning it all.

The gut says: Italy wins 1-0

The Italian defense should beat out the best the French have to offer. It's not going to be a flat-out defense-first game, but scoring should be very difficult for either team none the less.

Portugal-Netherlands final thoughts

• The ONE game Johan Cruijff is not there, and Holland gets defeated badly. We should blame Jordy Cruijff for planning his wedding during the World Cup, so that his father couldn't be there in the stadium, so Netherlands couldn't draw on the presence from its finest player ever... Come on Jordy, why are you such a spoilsport...
  
• One of the last camera shots of the game: a Dutch supporter crying on the balcony, arms draped over the railing. Behind him is a shot of a glass barrier... completely shattered! Wonder what happened there...
• One of the rules of thumb I use during a game: if you hit the crossbar/post when you're tied or behind, you don't win. Case in point: Cocu's volley at the crossbar early in the second half. It's a matter of fate.
• So the officials get blamed for letting games get out of control... FIFA shouldn't give them so many things to remember in the first place... give yellow card for celebrating goals with shirt over the head... give yellow card for picking up a ball and carrying it four feet... give red card to player yelling at Blatter... look the other way when Switzerland is offside... make sure Brazil gets to the final, no matter how badly they play... etcetera, etcetera

The Streak is still alive

With the Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, the streak of correctly predicted pro sports finals runs up to four. The Gut Rules!

However, the streak will likely end tonight when Dallas hosts Miami in the NBA Finals. The Heat lead the series 3-2 and can win it all in Texas.

Ah... a 4-1 record predicting matches ain't bad I guess.

NBA Finals 2006: Heat vs. Mavericks

And wouldn't you know it, two finals series running at the same time! This time let's look at the NBA finals matchup.


The Head Says: Dallas

• You can't really go wrong with the Mavericks. They've been near or at the top of the power rankings since start of season, and they managed to beat the strongest team of the regular season (San Antonio) and the best offensive team overall (Phoenix) to reach the finals. Despite Miami having two studs in the finals as well, it seems very much like it's Dirk Nowitzki's time to shine.
• I do think personnel-wise things are heading Miami's way: with Shaq, Dwyane Wade, and Gary Payton, they've got three Hall of Famers, and with Alonzo Mourning, Antoine Walker, Jason Williams some solid (former) All-Stars in the top 8 of the roster
  

The Heart Says: Miami

• Personnel-wise I like Miami better. Shaq is still the overpowering Diesel, Gary Payton is still my all-time point guard, and Alonzo Mourning carries a soft spot for anyone. Dirk to me unfortunately is just another German, despite being the best his country has come up with since Detlef Schrempf.

The Gut Says: Mavericks in seven

• The two stars of this series are going to be Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki, no question. Wade has risen to the occasion and is the perfect complement to Shaq's power, not unlike the Lakers dynasty from 2000-2002. But I think the Mavs are going to make it. It's going to be close, but their regular season form is too much to be denied.

Stanley Cup Finals 2006: Hurricanes vs. Oilers

Who do I pick winning the Stanley Cup this year?

The Head Says: Edmonton

• The Oilers finished off the Ducks in the Western Conference finals in five games, so they had some time to twiddle their thumbs, as the Eastern Conference finals wrapped up a week later. The rest I think is welcomed by the team, although much of their momentum they had during the playoffs is now strongly diminished. Edmonton is still the only current format eighth seed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, and defeated Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim to do it. Especially if you beat the Red Wings, you get bonus points from me.
• The Hurricanes' goalies are very young, maybe too young. The two-headed monster of Cam Ward and Martin Gerber did well this playoff season, (well, Ward did anyway) but they still only combine for 4 years of NHL experience. Carolina switched them around a couple of times, which does not instill a great deal of trust in your defence. I understand the current trend towards positional competition within teams to get better output, but it seems overrated to me.
• Carolina has seen better offensive output than the Oilers across the entire season, but Edmonton had better defensive stats, and better performing special teams. Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson is also this playoffs' leading goaltender.
  

The Heart Says: Carolina

• Carolina was a team I followed closely a couple of years back, when Jeff O'Neill was still playing there. I guess that doesn't really apply anymore, but there's still plenty of people with the Hurricanes to like. Eric Staal and Erik Cole finally came of age this season, firmly supported by veterans Rod Brind'Amour, Glen Wesley and Bret Hedican. Personnel wise I like these guys better than I do the Oilers.
• I can't really root for Edmonton here, as division rivals to Colorado...
• ...on the other hand the Stanley Cup should go to a franchise that has hockey in its heart, to a country even that has hockey in its heart. Edmonton fits that description far better than Raleigh.
  
• Having an eighth seed win the entire thing makes for a better story and DVD documentary.

The Gut Says: Carolina in six

• Remember last year? Katrina? Gulf of Mexico? Oil platforms going out of production? The Hurricanes will cripple the Oilers.
• It's a matter of sharing the wealth. Edmonton already has its fair share of cups thanks to some guys named Messier and Gretzky. Let Carolina have one for once. You already had Tampa Bay get its grubby mitts on Lord Stanley's chalice for nearly two bloody years.
  

Raceday

With both the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix and the Indy 500 this Sunday, once again it is RaceDay. Some thoughts about the events leading up to this day:

• so Schumacher got caught with a schwalbe. He didn't have to do it that obvious, but I guess no real harm was done. The officials put him back, give it a rest already.
• so what if Danica may be the next Anna Kournikova (as in good-looking, but few - if any - sports victories). Let her do all those photo shoots and interviews, and leave her up there with the other guys. She's still way faster than most other drivers out there.
• Rubens Barrichello - Formula One driver - wears Tony Kanaan's - Indycar driver - helmet, and vice versa. Hehe... funny. Especially considering they're thousands of miles apart.
  

Arsenal - Barcelona final score

Some observations about the Champions League final:

• I've heard referee Terje Hauge was not selected to go to the World Cup. Now we know why.
• Almost like WWE, the crowd's heat in Paris was amazing. They really teed off on anything they didn't like (as in the referee and his assistants)
  
• If you are going to be an asshole and beg the referee for a card (just like the Barca players did just before Lehmann was sent off), you actually deserved to lose, you bunch of ungrateful, short-sighted cry babies...
  
• ...that's something the NFL does so much better: penalties can be declined if the alternative outcome works out better (such as 11-on-11 and a goal up, versus no score and an opposing player sent off).
• That was a nice touch to have the Barcelona club anthem play after the match.
• Ronaldinho always smiles. Always. Except for last night after the final whistle, strangely enough.

Arsenal - Barcelona Prediction

Well, just a quick one for this time, since I haven't really followed Champions League this season, up until the last few rounds. Thankfully the teams both sort of appeal to me, so that led me to make a prediction about the match:

• Barcelona wins
• Bergkamp stays on the bench in his final game
  

Superbowl results: or How to dig a hole for yourselves

I hate it when I'm right...

So as predicted the Pittsburgh Steelers win Superbowl XL. That's fine by itself, because the Steelers are not an unsympathetic team. They did well on defense, gambled when they needed to, and effectively used trick plays to confuse the Seahawks. However, three things hurt:

• The Seahawks had several controversial calls made against them in the first half... So many officials, so many camera's, still so many bad calls. More eyes don't necessarily mean better officiating, me thinks.
  
• Indeed Seattle did themselves in as well with some sincerely stupid plays they had no business of making. Instead of getting good field position, scoring position or ample time to make plays, they often had to start from scratch and made it unnecessarily hard for themselves to score.
• Why for chrissakes do you use Bittersweet Symphony as an entrance theme?? Did Seattle think it could lull the Steelers to sleep?? What a bad choice... Seahawks, please pay attention to professional wrestling to see how you should handle an entrance. This - whatever that crap was - was not it.

As a sidenote, ever since that Nipplegate thing two years back MTV is persona non grata for organizing the half time show. Unfortunately for the NFL the half time show is deathly boring when they aren't... so there's no need to censor the bloody Rolling Stones okay? We don't care. We're taking a leak anyway.

Gimme an Extra Large

Superbowl XL is up today, pitting the Pittsburgh Steelers up against the Seattle Seahawks. It's The Bus Jerome Bettis against this season's MVP Shaun Alexander. Second-youngest-quarterback-in-Superbowl-history Ben Roethlisberger versus the crafty Matt Hasselbeck. It is the city of steel against the city of coffee...

Who's going to win? The heart says Seahawks, because for some undefined reason I inherently like teams from Seattle (Sonics, Mariners). And they're the underdogs, they've never been here before.

The head says Steelers, because they have the momentum; they have beaten more formidable foes en route to the game, and they look absolutely dominating at times, especially against the Broncos two weeks ago.

So we have to go with the gut, and it goes with the Steelers... by two scores.

This Week in Sports

This week's Mohr Sports comes with a few pointed statements about NFL uniforms.

"The Browns make my short list of ugliest NFL uniforms. Brown and orange are not colors for a football player. They are colors for a person who works at Burger King. When the Browns wear their home jerseys, the offensive linemen look like a collection of UPS trucks. Except UPS is faster.

The AFC North is home to two of the ugliest unis in the game. The Bengals' uniforms look like my son's pajamas. If a group of Bengals players came to my door step I would expect them to all yell, "Trick or treat!" Again, orange is not the best color for football. It is downright sad when a fan paints his face on game day. But painting your face bright orange with stripes should put you in either a mental hospital or a preschool."

Also, as if you didn't realize, cheerleaders, sex and violence sells!
Some of the comments on this report are hilarious:

"I will proudly support the Carolina Panthers Cheerleaders in their quest for equal rights to have sex in any bathroom they please. In an effort to support this, I will be holding a fundraiser at my meager apartment where the two will make out with plenty of heavy petting for support of the cause. Any nay sayers will obviously get punched in the face."

White Sox sweep Astros to win World Series

Okay I didn't get the games right... but I did pick the White Sox to win the World Series!

2005 World Series

The World Series start tomorrow, featuring the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros. It's not going to be something I'll watch on television live (Frankly I still cannot be bothered to watch grown men stand still on a field from pitch to pitch for three hours straight), but the World Series is something special so I will follow the highlights over at SI.com and MLB.com.

Anyway, who do I like winning it all...
The White Sox got Freddy Garcia, who used to be a Mariner (All Hail Seattle!), and I hope to see him do well during the series.
Chicago also has a tragic history not unlike the Red Sox last year for not winning a World Series since the 1910s.
I like both teams' pitching (Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens for Houston; Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Garcia, and Jose Contreras for Chicago), and I can't really name a clear favorite there.

I am under the impression the Astros would look better as World Series champs, but the White Sox look a bit stronger (and more rested) from the outset. So right now I'd say Chicago in six.

Just to set the stage... this is how SI.com depicted it:

At U.S. Cellular Field, rain started falling in the middle of Thursday's workout. There were 14 boxes of baseballs on the table, ready for each player to sign. The logos already were painted in foul territory, and the entrance to the ballpark displayed a pumpkin carved with the White Sox logo.

Outside was a huge photograph of White Sox players celebrating. On it were the words: "Crying in baseball -- only acceptable if champagne burns your eyes."

Imitator Chirac fopt Zinedine Zidane

Met de hand op het hart zongen de Franse internationals mee met hun volkslied. En het leverde succes op, want Ierland werd op eigen veld verslagen. Maar de mooie overwinning gaat ook de annalen in vanwege een grap.
De vorm van patriottisme van de internationals blijkt namelijk het gevolg te zijn van een grap. Zinedine Zidane had besloten tot de hand op het hart, op verzoek van de Franse president Jacques Chirac. Althans dat dacht hij, want in werkelijkheid was het Gérald Dahan.

Met zijn imitatie van Chirac zette de radiomaker Zidane op het verkeerde been. Dahan deed voor zijn radioprogramma in een telefoongesprek met Zizou de president na, die wegens oogproblemen in het ziekenhuis ligt. Het verzoek om met de hand op het hart het volkslied mee te zingen vond gehoor bij Zidane.

Zidane was minder spreken over de grap. 'We zijn beetgenomen door iemand die dit grappig vindt. Jammer, want het was eigenlijk een mooi moment voor onze ploeg.'


Zag er toch grappig uit op TV...