Archive for 'international soccer' Category
Scandalous!
24 July 2006I am sure by now everyone knows about the Calciopoli scandal that is rocking Italian soccer. If you don’t know, then get out from under your rock and read the verdicts that were handed down by the sporting tribunal. All four teams (Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio) are appealing the outcome and want lighter penalties, [...]
Final Thoughts
11 July 2006Okay, so I thought Italy would win in regulation. I wasn’t off by much.
Once the match went to penalties, the only logical outcome I could think of was Marco Materazzi missing the penalty that would cost Italy the final, seeing as how he was intrinsically involved in the other three big plays of the [...]
All Blues
7 July 2006I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea how this World Cup would turn out, so I guess I feel somewhat vindicated in that it didn’t come out the way anyone — except maybe Nick, who I’m sure picked Italy to reach the final match — had predicted.
I did notice a couple [...]
From WC2006: You Knew This Was Coming
28 June 2006MOERFELDEN TRAIN STATION (12:32am local time) — It’s not like there’s anyone here that would know if I just said I had gotten off my train and walked back to the hotel. But I want this to serve as a lesson for all you would-be travelers out there. Count the number of stops [...]
From WC2006: Ausgang
28 June 2006NEWARK AIRPORT (3:36pm local time) — It’s never just you. On the shuttle that left the hotel at the ungodly hour of 6am, at least two other parties had fallen for the “Airport Hotel” hack, not realizing you could just hop the S-Bahn from pretty much anywhere in Frankfurt. The only real upside is the [...]
From WC2006: The Best For Last
27 June 2006S7 TRAIN TO FRANKFURT (11:42pm local time) — My Berlin host - who shall be henceforth be known as Dave, seeing as how that’s his name and I don’t think I get him in any trouble throughout these diaries - explicitly said in his e-mail that “a visit to Frankfurt is not complete without a [...]
From WC2006: Buy Me A River
27 June 2006NEWS RESTAURANT, FRANKFURT (1:44pm local time) — I’ve got a pretty good agenda today - buying souveniers, watching one match by the river, and visiting some more of those recommended stops. I may skip the late match entirely, or catch the second half back at the hotel. I apologize in advance if I don’t get [...]
From WC2006: The Persistence Of Restaurants
27 June 2006ON A TRAIN TO FRANKFURT (11:32am local time) — There are a considerable number of Italian flags on the walk between the hotel and the train station. More than you might expect away from the main population center of Frankfurt.
This triggers another memory from back in my consulting days. On one business trip that took [...]
From WC2006: March Of The Underdogs
26 June 2006FRANKFURT HBF (11:44pm local time) — Well, there goes Switzerland. I may have to actually start rooting for one of the favorites. It was funny watching everybody crowd around the one bar and the one ice cream stand that had TVs to watch the overtime and the shootout. The Swiss pretty much defined being shut [...]
From WC2006: With Apologies To Roxanne
26 June 2006WEGA RESTAURANT, FRANKFURT (9:51pm local time) — A gratuitous visit to that most American of establishments - McDonald’s - and lots of happy Italians listening to awful music really loudly push the homesickness from my mind, so now it’s time to walk.
What I’m learning is that I have a three- or four-day learning curve in [...]