Heineken Cup Final Set

The Heineken Cup Final has its two participants set after Leinster crushed former champions Munster and Leicester Tigers saw off the Cardiff Blues in sudden death shootout.  The final will be played on 23 May at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Soctland.  The Tigers lead the Blues up until two yellow cards sin binned two forwards and left them with a two man deficit.  This allowed the Blues to come back and tie the match at 26 all forcing extra time and eventually the shootout.  

United 7 Away

Manchester United are only seven points away from winning their third successive League Crown with a win over struggling Middlesborough today.  Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-Sung scored to give the champions a comfortable six point lead over 2nd place Liverpool.  With four games left in the league, United are poised to take the crown needing only two wins and a draw playing Manchester City, Wigan, Arsenal and Hull.  United have wins in the first fixture of the season against all of those clubs but Arsenal.  United and Arsenal are also going toe to toe in the Champions League Semi-Finals for a spot against Chelsea/Barca in Rome on 27 May.  United lead that tie 1-0 facing them in the 2nd leg at the Emirates on Tuesday.

UCL Scores and Fixtures

Leg 2 Scores:

                    Chelsea 4 - 4 Liverpool

       Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Barcelona 

Manchester United 1 - 0 FC Porto

                    Arsenal 3 - 0 Villareal 

Fixtures for the Semis:

Manchester United v. Arsenal (Wed. 29 April & Tues. 5 May)

Chelsea v. Barcelona (Tues. 28 April & Wed. 6 May)

UCL Quarters Scores

UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals Scores:

Manchester United 2 - 2 FC Porto

                    Chelsea 3 - 1 Liverpool

                Barcelona 4 - 0 Bayern Munich 

                    Arsenal 1 - 1 Villarreal 

United Recover and Surge

Manchester United rebound from two straight loses (to Liverpool and Fulham) to beat Aston Villa in the 93 minute, regaining tops of the Premiere League.  United started the game poorly (after Liverpool regained the table for the first time) and found themselves fortunate to take the lead in the 14th minute.  Villa keeper Brad Friedel picked up a back-pass from defender Milner to give United an indirect free kick which Ronaldo converted.  

After that, Villa took control of the game and scored two goals (Carew 30' and Agbonlahor 58') and United looked like they were going to drop three in a row, handing over the title to Liverpool.  

But United surged incredibly to snatch the game, and possibly the title, with goals from Ronaldo in the 80th minute and Macheda in the 93rd minute.  Macheda, who made his debut at the age of 17, scored a brilliant goal after attacking the Villa goal several times.  

The commentators predicted that if United win the title, it will be because of this goal.  

FCD Start this year the way they left off last year ... Losing.

FC Dallas blows yet another lead to lose 3-1 to the Chicago Fire on the opening day of the 2009 MLS Season.  Kenny Cooper scored a miraculous goal in the 9th minute from the halfway line to beat sleeping Chicago keeper.  FCD played sloppy ball and was out hustled by Fire forwards.  On the bright side, designated player David Ferreira got a yellow card in the first four mintues of his FCD debut for obstruction and US U-23 star Blake Wagner was owned up and down the field by Fire midfielders and Sala was up to his old theatrics of stalling and complaining of injuries.  It seems like FC Dallas didnt even have a change of season and just took a 6 month break from last season.  Hopefully this is just a glitch and coach Shellas Hyndman can regulate his team and make them actually perform.  Last year FCD lost a ton of fans and ticket sales was at an all time low at Pizza Hut Park all the while not making the playoffs for the first time in 3 season.  Lets not repeat that this year.  

Ags are In

Texas A&M Mens team made it to the NCAA tournament despite losing to Texas Tech in the opening round of the Big XII tournament in Oklahoma City Wednesday.  A&M is a #9 seed in the West Bracket facing #8 BYU in Philadelphia on Thursday.  BYU and A&M faced off last year in the opening round, where A&M beat the cougars 67-62.  The bracket creators said they try and avoid repeat games, but BYU has a special case because they are not allowed to play on a Sunday (being LDS affiliated), so BYU is out for revenge. But the winner gets to move and face (more than likely) UConn.  

League Defining Match

Saturday, Liverpool FC comes of an impressive thrashing of Real Madrid to face powerful Manchester United FC at Old Trafford.  Right now, United sit seven points ahead of Liverpool with a +11 goal differential.

Liverpool thrashed, thrashed, THRASHED Real Madrid in the Champions League 4-0.  That is exactly what Liverpool needed to end their post-christmas slump.  And conversely United is coming off of a 2-0 win over Inter through sloppy play.  But United is rock solid at the back, at the front and pretty much through middle.  Then on the other hand, Liverpool has a strong, well rounded forward in Torres.  

Im predicting 2-1, United.  

Sloppy Play Still Earns a Win

Manchester United saw off Inter Milan 2-0 in the Champions League round of 16.  United seemed to only play well in the opening twenty minutes of each half, and then Inter took over.  Inter had three choice chances, but two struck the post and one went wide (2 by Ibrahimavic and one by Adriano).  Sir Alex was "fuming" at his players for the sloppy play and little flicks the team started doing after taking the lead. 

Both of Untied's goals came from headers within four minutes of the start of the half from Vidic and Ronaldo.  Then United tried to coast and allowed Inter a lifeline, but the back four was solid all except for a few shaky moments leading to the 3 chances.  But besides those two goals, United also had chances.  Rooney stung the palms of keeper Julio Cesar several times and O'Shea just needed to knick the ball over diving Cesar, but instead drove it into his palms.  

The game did become slightly chippy when 18 year old Balotelli began picking fights with Ronaldo (a carryover from the San Siro Match).  The kid needs to prove himself before he picks fights with the world's best player (as voted by FIFA, not just an opinion.  

United enter the Semis

United punched their ticket to Wembley for the semifinals of the FA cup against Fulham FC yesterday 4-0.  Carlos Tevez scored two goals, Rooney one and then J-S Park the exclamation point on the evening at Craven Cottage.  It seems like United are on path for the sextuple this year overcoming Sir Alex's biggest fear.  

Fergie warned the team that it only took one slip to be sent packing and there were two close, early minute encounters where Van der Saar and Vidic were on different wavelengths almost letting Andy Johnson score.  But the back line solidified and the forwards took over playing most of the game in Fulham's half of the pitch.  

United face Everton in the semifinals while Chelsea take on Arsenal in the other match.  

United face Inter Milan in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League at the Theatre of Dreams on Wednesday.  Both teams enter the fixture tied at 0-0 and the winner of this match moves on to the next stage.

Aggies are In

Im calling that with a first round win in the Big XII tournament in OKC that A&M will be in the NCAA tournament as a 14/15/16 seed.  A&M emphatically beat Mizzou at a capacity crowd at Reed Arena 96-86.  A&M even lead at one point by as many as 26 points and commanded the tempo of the game.  Despite the outstanding first half, A&M nearly blew it in the second half.  A&M is notorious for blowing leads against top opponents and letting them come back into the game.  Thankfully A&M's lead was too large for Mizzou to come back.  A&M should be a lock for the tournament in March but will definatly put their 3-year first round win streak on the line when they face a high seed in the opening round of the tournament.

World Baseball Classic

The WBC began yesterday with defending champions Japan shutting out China 4-0, but do we care?  The United States had the opportunity in 2006 to take hold and capture a large American audience with a win, but were embarrassingly beat out by South Korea and Mexico in the second round.  This was especially shocking because the United States was predicted (mainly by US media and players) to role over the rest of the competition.  Baseball had the ultimate chance to captivate America with an inaugural win on home soil, but egos lead to poor play and dismissal from the tournament.  So when the US kicks off pool play of the 2009 WBC, will anyone actually watch?  After all this is now the only international baseball venue after London dropped baseball and softball from the program.

Another Trophy

Sunday, Manchester United Football Club took yet another trophy this year in the Carling Cup against Tottenham on Penalties at New Wembley Stadium.  Ben Foster was spectacular in goal and probably in my opinion leap frogged Tomasz Kuszczak for the second spot and probably took over as the new England number 1 in goal.  

United have taken 3 trophies in 2008-2009 season (Community Shield, World Club Cup Champions, and Carling Cup) and are still in the running for 3 more trophies (Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup).  United could be the first sextuple in football history.  Im predicting United to win the EPL and FA Cup (or at least make it to final) but not repeat the Champions League, I hope Im wrong.  But you have to wonder win all these competitions will get too much for the players.  But United proved they dont need their ace keeper and two best strikers and several other starters to win a cup.  They are so deep I think the magnitude of the amount of games wont effect them.

United Role On

Today United struggled immensely in the first half v. Newcastle United at St. James' Park and to add insult to injury Van der Saar's goalless run was snapped in the 9th minute, shy of a European Record.  Granted he did capture a Premier League Record, an English Record, and a British Record all in a little over 23 hours and no goals since November.  United's back four was shaky at best and didnt solidify until Berbatov's winner in the 56th minute.  But like champions, United won even when playing poorly; real winners/champions win even when things dont go right and when things go perfect.  

Now one thing I noticed (other than night and day play from ManU), is not to get on Vidic's bad side.  He was maliciously elbowed by Martins and cut him above the cheek, and after that incident, Vidic punished any Newcastle player who came within 20 feet of the United penalty area.  He embodies everything that a perfect defender does and the commentators even told a joke that "one day Vidic showed up late, so Sir Alex fined the rest of the team for showing up early".

Updated

So while I was gone the world of sports did not seem to take a break for me.  

Instead Manchester United played three games (beating Blackburn 2-1, and Fulham 3-0, and drawing 0-0 with Inter Milan).  Right now United is playing in the Carling Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspurs. Also United have gone to 62 points in the table, which is 7 higher than Chelsea's (who won Guus Hiddink's debut match v. Aston Villa) and have +4 goal differential with them.  But in this time, Tomasz Kuszczak (the 1st back up keeper) blew Van der Saar's un-scored on streak capping nearly a day of play with out a goal conceded; however, Van der Saar still has a record going as an individual.  

In Aggie Athletics, unfortunately this year has not been kind to A&M.  

-Women's Swimming finished 2nd at the Big XII meet in Columbus and the Men finished 3rd.  

-Basketball seems to be on track to not making the NCAA tournament in which they are one of a handful of schools to win their opening game for 3 years on the trot.  But A&M is on a 4 game winning streak at the moment (beating Texas 81-66, Tech 79-73, Nebraska by a buzzer beater 57-55 and Iowa State 87-69).  But A&M closes their season against top 10 ranked Mizzou, thankfully not in Columbus, but a difficult task none the less.  It will be close to get into the tournament and A&M needs good run in the Big XII tourney to solidify a spot even if it is a 16 seed.

-Women's basketball knocked off #2 OU at home snapping a 20+ game winning streak in front of 5,000 fans.  A&M women have flirted with a top ten rankings and currently are #9.  The women seem a lock for the tournament even if they lose their next three games.  But Gary Blair is looking to defend the Big XII tournament title. 

-#1 Women's track win the Big XII indoor title for a historic 3rd time while the men took third at the first ever Big XII Indoor Track meet to be held at A&M.  The women are considered to take the national title as well, also being run at A&M.

-#1 ranked Aggie Baseball are 6-2 beating #5 UC Irvine in the Houston Classic before losing to #9 Rice.

-Softball, who started the year at #4 and was last year's national runner's up have slipped to #21 with an abysmal record of 11-8, when last year they only lost 10 games for the whole year. 

-At the Combine, Stephen McGee was the second fastest quarterback there.  AND Javorski Lane weighed in at over 300 pounds when ever since last year the team has said hes only at 270, waaaay off. 

- And A&M is in danger of BLOWING the win in the Lone Star Showdown from last year against Texas.  Currently A&M is trailing Texas 6-3 and that only so close because basketball took a whole point (half womens and half mens) this past week at Reed Arena.  

-Unfortunately A&M, who won the most Big XII titles for the past two years, only has 1 Big XII title to date while Texas has a part of or completely 5 titles.  On the bright side, Tech finally has won a title.  Last year they were the only Big XII school not to win a Big XII title.  

This has been a mainly down year for Aggie Athletics but some sports have done really well (Women's Track and Basketball), but some sports have been a let down (football and a laundry list of others)

Update on the blog

This week is crazy for me so Im not posting anything until next week.  And Ive got all the important games recorded so no worries (Ill post all the scores like Im following it live) and Ill preview Champions League then too.  But basically dont tell me about scores to anything or what-have-you.  Thank you. 

On the bright side Manchester United is in the FA Cup Quarters beating Derby County in the 5th round 4-1 and Ill just make a ManU post next week with all three games I missed posting.

USA tops Mexico

Last night the United States continued its winning streak over Mexico on US soil winning 2-0 in the first game of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying in Columbus, OH.  US National Team's coach's son (Michael Bradely) scored both goals at time expired in each half.  Then in the 65th minute Rafael Marquez laid a nasty challenge against US keeper Tim Howard and was shown straight red.  Marquez "went for a header" after Tim Howard claimed the ball in a nasty defending spell by the US.  Howard grabbed the ball and then Marquez barrels through him kicking him in the inside of the knee with the studs up.  Following the incident there was a scrum of players in white and green with the ref in the middle.  It was a despicable tackle and that is the very reason keepers are protected, because of scum challenges by enforcers on unsuspecting players.

Lone Star Showdown Rant

Ok, why on earth is the basketball game between UT and Texas A&M not featured during rivalry week?!?!  Granted until a few years ago, this was not an exciting basketball rivalry because A&M basketball was garbage, but as of late, both games have been heated and real rivalry games.  Instead this game is on Monday, 16 Feb, but is featured on ESPN and we all know Aggie Athletics is media-whore this year.  So one of the oldest rivalries in college sports and the third most played in college sports isn't good enough for rivalry week when A&M and Texas started squaring off in football in 1894, and a continuation of the rivalry still isn't good enough for ESPN or even ESPN2/U?!?!  Has Aggie Basketball tanked so much this season to not be featured as a real rivalry?  Is ESPN giving the game to UT but just putting on ESPN because they know Aggies will watch anyways?  Bill Byrne and DeLoss Dodds should be outraged that this game was not featured and should both have pushed to have it played during rivalry week.  As an aggie athletics fan, I'm offended that the both of them did not work harder to spread our reputation.

England Loses, Beckham Ties Record

Today David Beckham matched Bobby Moore's England caps record at 108 in a Spain Loss 2-0.  Capello was definatly knocked down a peg by the reining European Champions when David Villa and Fernando Llorente scored goals to hand England their first loss in nine matches on the trot.  Once again England, fall short when it matters.  This was a real test for the three lions and has the possibility of negatively impacting upcoming qualifying.  The British Press labelled Capello's team as ruthless, but England hardly seemed like a ruthless team in a lackluster performance against Spain.  Thankfully this was just a friendly and England lost nothing in their quest to partake in World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Scolari Sacked at Chelsea

It seems Chelsea are writing off this season and hoping to build for next season, because yesterday they fired former Brazil and Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.  Scolari won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and only took over at the Bridge in July following Portugal's exit from Euro 2008.  This is Chelsea's third manager in under a year and Chelsea will have to buy out the rest of his hefty three year contract.  Currently the club is talking with Russian head coach Guus Hiddink to take over the position until the end of the season (Guus has promised the Russian Federation to stay with the national team until after World Cup 2010 in South Africa).  Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich wants to win titles and according to BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose "... Abramovich has put in a lot of money and what he wants is to ... win trophies."  

I think this is the worst move Chelsea could make.  Skipper John Terry was "shocked" and I think the last thing Chelsea need right now is a major system change.  However, Chelsea were not playing well as of late even with quality players like Lampard, Drogba, Deco, and Ballack.  Chelsea is still in the hunt for Champions League (but came up runner's up in the group stages), FA Cup and Premier League (even sitting in fourth behind United, Liverpool and Villa). We'll see how this plays out but I am predicting it will hurt Chelsea more than help them.

United Take the Top

Manchester United are once again table leaders with an emphatic win in true championship form against West Ham United.  Ryan Giggs scored a BRILLIANT goal in the 62nd minute, shaking two defenders before unleashing a screamer that nut-megged a defender and flew past the keeper to the far post.  United controlled most of the game, but the hammers had a lot of quality possession and a few good shots on goal.  But in the second half the game was definatly dictated by United's pace and in the last ten minutes of the game, United strung several passes together teasing the hammers.  

The title race seems to be down to two teams, Liverpool and Manchester United and United seem to be firing on all cylinders.  Van der Saar continued his record winning clean sheet record to an amazing 13 games.  Today, just before half he set a British record, beating an old Rangers record and this amazing defensive streak is still alive.  Van der Saar puts the streak on the line against 18 Feb against Fulham.  But their next match is in the FA Cup against Derby County on the 15th of Feb.

My Day of Aggie Athletics

Today I went to four Aggie Sporting Events: Equestrian v. Baylor, Softball v. Tulsa, Basketball v. Kansas State, and Softball v. UTSA.  Actually today was not a good day for Aggie Athletics (Really similar to their year, this year).

For Equestrian, I dont really understand the sport.  I watched the horsemanship section, which to me seems like a giant dog-show, but the jumping seems like fun?  Unfortunately, A&M lost to #4 Baylor 13-10.  

Then in softball, they lost to Tulsa in the bottom of 7th 3-2 to the Golden Hurricanes in the Honey-baked Ham Aggie Classic.  A&M fell behind Tulsa in the bottom of the 6th, but came back to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh.  Unfortunately with one out away from the win, an error at plate scored a run and then off a single the winning run scored and sealed the game for Tulsa.  However, I dont understand why A&M was not the home team on our field.  Had A&M been the home team they would won the game.  Number 4 in the nation falls to the unranked Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in a pre-season tune up game.  

Then at Aggie basketball, A&M falls (yet again) to Kansas State 65-60.  The refereeing in this game was worse than Ive seen in a while.  So bad that the crowd was ready to explode at the slightest provocation.  At half time, the score was 23-21 and there were 17 total "fouls" committed by both teams.  Coach Turgeon looked like he was about to throttle the Line Ref if that half lasted any longer.  

For the final event on the Aggie ticket today, Softball rallied after their first loss this season to crush UTSA (again, after beating them yesterday 4-1) 8-0.  A&M run-ruled UTSA in the fifth with a powerful 6-run fifth inning and emphatically captured the Aggie Classic Crown (wahoo?).  Congrats though for making the only home win on the day (Women's swimming beat Florida State 170-121, but lost to Auburn 126.5-170.5).  

Overall Aggie Softball looked strong this weekend but you could tell they missed having the two All-American pitchers in Gibson and Scarborough deeply.  Pitching was ok, but the team seemed very young and not quite the cohesive unit from last seasons National Runners up.

Aggie Scoreboard of the Day 2-4.  Tomorrow there are two home events (Women's Tennis and Basketball); hopefully tomorrow is better.

Chelsea is Out of the Title Race

I am calling it today, that Chelsea FC are out of the title race, because of today's poor performance against the previous year's third place finishers in the Coca-cola Championship.  Chelsea has picked up only 8 points from their last six matches (18 possible), while rivals Manchester United have picked up a maximum 18 points, Liverpool have picked up 12 and big four crashers Aston Villa have picked up 16.  Of the top four Chelsea has picked up the fewest points total in the last six games.  

Credit to Hull City AFC, they have performed spectacular this year, but recently have slid from their highest position on the tables at 5 to currently at 13.  In the second half, most of the play was in Chelsea's half and Chelsea had few and far between decent chances on goal.  I can hardly remember a shot that had any promise besides John Terry's first minute miss. 

Liverpool took back control on top of the table today by beating Portsmouth, but United have two games at hand and only trail by one point.  United face West Ham tomorrow and could take a two point table lead. 

Lakers-Celtics

Currently, I am watching the dying seconds of the 2008 Finals rematch between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers in Boston and this is just a little rant about how much I dont like the Lakers.  First of All, Kobe is an amazing player, could be the best ever.  But on the court he is a tool.  And whatever happened to the girl he might have raped?  Seriously?  Have we all forgotten that press conference where his wife had a massive new diamond and Kobe just begged us to forgive him?   Have we?  Next Phil Jackson, how shady is it that you are dating the owner's daughter?  Talk about Job security.  I mean times are hard, but we need not resort to sleeping with the boss' daughter.  And why at the Staples Center (only when the Lakers play mind you) are the lights off except for the floor?  Is that not annoying to anyone else?

Ok anti-Laker rant over: to the actual game.  Its actually kinda interesting.  Personally Im not much of a basketball fan; Ill watch a few games here and there or play some hoops with friends but its not a passion.  First of all I cant believe KG got his sixth foul on such a weak call as that, Ive seen more physical warmups.  And of course to the delight of TNT this game goes into overtime.  Im not going to watch overtime, because I dont want to.  So Ill post the score later.  

Wednesday Was a Bad Night ...

Wednesday was a bad night for Aggie Hoops, as both the men and women fell.  Granted the men were supposed to lose, but not after taking a lead on the road, in Norman, against the number 2 Sooners.  But then again, the number 2 Sooners are supposed to come back, at home, against an unranked team, and win.  So yay them.  However the Aggies were supposed to beat the Iowa State Cyclones, with being ranked number 4 in the nation and all.  However, keeping with tradition (since us Aggies like that and all) Gary Blair has yet to win at Ames.  So there you go.  Wednesday blew for Aggie Athletics.  But baseball is a preseason Number 1 and the National Runners-up softball take the field for the first time Friday (they're only ranked number 4... so low).

Gerrard Out 3 Weeks

Once again to Liverpool's dismay, Captain Fantastic is out for at least three weeks with a torn hamstring picked up Wednesday against Everton.  This is NOT what Liverpool needed, especially after just crashing out of the FA Cup.  Gerrard is their only consistent playmaker who can honestly save a game in the fleeting moments.  Luckily Torres is finally starting to find form, but with Keane just being sold back to Tottenham (for a Liverpool loss mind you), Liverpool are really lacking some goal support.

Everton Oust Liverpool from the FA Cup.

Liverpool depart the world's oldest tournament in the Fourth Round at the foot of a 19 year old boy from their cross-town rival Everton 1-0 in extra time by a header from second half sub Gosling (Plymouth Argyle Academy product).  The goal was a beautiful piece of individual skill, but this game was very physical and boring, honestly I could hardly watch.  Neither side created too many chances and even the commentators doomed the match to be decided on Penalty Kicks.  The only excitement in the match came from the intense physical battle that resulted in seven yellow cards and Lucas being sent off, all as you would expect in a derby match.

An even bigger blow to Liverpool, other than losing to Everton in the Merseyside Derby for the first time since September of 2006, was Captain and all around game saver, Stephen Gerrard, left the match in the 15th minute with a hamstring problem.  Both commentators and all four halftime announcers thought he would be out at least three to six weeks.  There seems to be a spot on Liverpool's team that only Gerrard can fill; he is the only player that consistently comes through in the clutch.  This is even harder for the Anfield faithful after selling back back-up striker Robbie Keane to Tottenham Monday.   Liverpool are now only up for two trophies this season (the Champions League and the EPL) and are currently in a trophy drought dating back to their 2006 win of the FA Cup.  This is compared to arch rivals Manchester United, which are up for five trophies and have already claimed two this season.

Steelers are "World" Champions

Now Im going to be honest, I dont really care about pro-football.  I love college football, but pro not so much; however, I did root for the Arizona Cardinals last night.  What a story it would be that the first time in franchise history the team makes it to the super bowl and wins it with a forty year old bag boy as their quarterback.  But the steelers played WAY better than the Cardinals, who knew when to turn over the ball at just the right moment.  And did anyone see number 92 for the Steelers have a heart attack after he ran 100 yds?  He passed out on the field and needed Oxygen!  Hes supposed to be a professional athlete shouldnt he be able to run 100 yds without dying at the end?

Now this part of American Sports frustrates me to no end.  Our sports teams are not World Champions after they win a league with at most ONE international team from Canada.  There are other football leagues in the world and their are other baseball and basketball leagues.  Why do we just assume that because an American team wins it all over here, that they would win it all in the world without even a competition.  In fact I do believe the US went out in the first round of the last International Baseball Classic.  Why not have something like FIFA set up for soccer with other sports?  The winners of each country's baseball/football/basketball League play each other in a tournament, then the continent winners play in a tournament and a real world champion is crowned.  Instead of our current ethnocentric assumption that we would just win it anyways so we are World Champions

Nadal edges Federer ... Again.

Once again Nadal beats Federer in a Grand Slam Title Final in an epicly thrilling five sets.  Now, I am a Roger Federer fan, but the Spaniard really seems to have his number on all surfaces and the world's former Number 1 needs to overcome this latest, never-ending obstacle that is Rafa to break Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam Titles, at which one point he seemed to ease through.  However Federer can use Nadal to push him to be the greatest of all time.  But Nadal has Title wins over Federer on Clay, Grass and now Court.  At the moment all hail King Rafa.

Torres Double Dooms Chelsea

Chelsea may have very well lost the title today with Torres' two late goals in the 89th and 90th minute.  The game was every bit as intense as it should have been with several scoring opportunities by mainly Liverpool.  The first half left Pepe Reina bored practically but Chelsea controlled possession ... in their own half.  Then in the second Liverpool rallied and controlled possession all over the field 70%-30%.  Then at the hour mark Chelsea's star Frank Lampard was sent off for a "reckless" tackle and skipper John Terry picked up a yellow card in the protest.  This means Chelsea's next match against Hull City (the recently promoted shock of the EPL, but who are on a skid from their highest 4th place) will be without Chelsea's two best fixtures of the squad John Terry (Yellow Card accumulation) and Frank Lampard (serving the mandatory one match ban after picking up a Red Card), not only but reverse action could be taken on Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa for kicking over Liverpool's Benayoun in the corner late in the match.  Granted Mike Riley really got Lampard's sending off wrong, because Xabi Alonso was mainly to blame for the contact.  Lampard did win the ball first and his boot was off the grass because of the ball's bounce, then Alonso kicked Lampard's leg and fell over as if he'd been tackled.  If anything Lampard should have been cautioned about a high boot and Alonso booked for a dive.

This could be just the momentum Liverpool need to allow them to capture a record 19th EPL title, especially with Torres finding the back of the net for the first time since his return from the Euros in Austria/Switzerland.  However Manchester United (who are looking to tie Liverpool's 18 titles this season) are finally firing on all cylinders and most of the squad are finally becoming healthy again.  Also to the dismay of Chelsea supporters, dropping two goals today allowed rivals Manchester United to pass them in goal differential (Chelsea +29, United +30) as well as allowing Liverpool to leap frog them into second place in the tables.  

Successful Saturday for Aggie Athletics

There were three events occurring today in the realm of Aggie Athletics: 

Aggie Mens Basketball defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys 76-64.  The Aggies move to 17-5 and 3-4 in Bog XII play.  A&M avenges its Big XII opener loss to the pokes in Stillwater on January 10th of this year.  Their next opponent is OU in Norman on 4 February 2009 at 8:00 pm.

7th Ranked Aggie Womens Basketball took on the Kansas Jayhawks and had to come from behind to win 73-60.  The Aggies improve to 17-3 overal and 5-2 in Big XII play.  The Jayhawks lead at half and the Aggies didnt not rally to take the lead until after 10 minutes left in the second half.  But a win's a win's a win.  The women take on the Cyclones (with Cy the Cyclone winning the Capital One Mascot of the Year, even though they didnt qualify for a bowl) of Iowa State next on Wednesday 4 February 2009 at 7:00 pm.  

Then in Indoor Track and Field the Big XII beat the SEC (Mens 332-279 and Womens 359-226) in a dual meet with the help of several Aggies winning their respective events.  Junior Porscha Lucas lowered her world and collegiate leading mark in the 200 meter sprint to 23.38.  It was interesting though because A&M would have won an event by a long shot (like with Christina Munoz in the 5000) and then have a runner finish dead last.  Also I want to know how big the track team is actually because when they were introduced at the Basketball game against OU they seemed to cover the whole floor.  In spite of our first and last place finishes and having 1/3 of the student body on the track team, being able to go to the meet in the brand new Gilliam Indoor Center was truly amazing and I know Mr. Caruso and the Athletic Department Staff will do a wonderful job hosting the Men's and Women's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Competitions in March.

On a Sad Note

Kay Yow, one of the greatest Women's Basketball coaches from North Carolina State University passed away after her long battle with breast cancer.  The sport has lost a true hero and great coach.

Glory Glory Man United

Manchester United wins a lackluster game against Everton to go five points clear of rivals Chelsea and Liverpool before their clash tomorrow morning.  To start the match both Neville brothers captained their respective sides and United controlled possession early on.  United's first half was brilliant and if it werent for the superb play of the Everton keeper, Tim Howard, United would have been up four or five goals.  With this win, it is secured that United will remain league leaders after the weekend is over.    Ronaldo's conversion of Carrick's penalty put United in the lead three minutes before the half.  Then the second half was a boring display by both teams with little scoring opportunities on either end of the ball.  But United preserved the win with a limited squad yet again.

Van der Saar continues his clean sheet of league games to 12 full games and over 18 hours of play since the last goal he conceded.  This record is even more impressive by the lack of consistency in the starters on the defensive line.  With Ferdinand, Brown, Anderson, Rafael, Evans, O'Shea, Neville, Vidic, and Fabio all playing in the back line for United during this streak.

EPL Preview for the Weekend

This weekend, one HUGE game is being played in the EPL that has title implications.  Chelsea takes on Liverpool at Anfield and the winner could jump to the top of the EPL (barring Man United slips against Everton).  This match should be a tough battle for both teams but Liverpool cannot settle for anything more than a win to stop this massive slide theyve been going on as of late.  Liverpool have drawn three times in their last three games and slipped from League Leaders to third place, but Liverpool did beat Chelsea at the Bridge to snap their 86-game league unbeaten streak.  

The current league leaders, Manchester United take on the Toffees from Everton at Old Trafford three days earlier than originally scheduled because Everton has to replay its fourth round FA Cup tie on the 4th.  United bring in a record 11 game clean sheet and look to protect this record this Saturday at home, but in their last meeting with Everton they took an early lead before conceding a second half goal to settle for a draw.  If United win they will take a 5 point lead over Chelsea and Liverpool into Sunday's massive match and force both clubs to get a positive result to stay in the title hunt.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, and as the title suggests its about all the sports I like.  So if you enjoy soccer, aggie athletics (or college sports in general) or any other sport I mention, this blog is for you.