2010 England Football Sadness

I can empathize with the England fans and their disappointment in their football team.  Here you have a roster comprised of players arguably from the best professional football league in the world--the English Premiere League.  A benched player professionally earns what I could make in a year, but in two weeks.  These men are Gods, and yet they underperformed in so many ways imaginable to their countrymen.  The manager will inevitably be fired, and the players will probably lay blame on other factors rather than blaming themselves.

As an American, I truly can empathize, and you can too if you have ever been or are a fan of American basketball.  Remember the 2004 Dream Team in Athens???  Though youthful, here the US had a team made up of the best basketball players in the world.  They were top paid basketball players and came away with a bronze.  The Dream Team lacked the pride and real want to represent the USA and continue the tradition of dominance in Olympic basketball.  Though there are many factors that led to the disappointing result (e.g., the surge of International players in the NBA), I still wholeheartedly believe that these Americans had no sense of pride; they came to the tournament cocky and acted like ballers (and not skillful ballers, but money oriented ballers).

A part of me believes this is what England is experiencing right now with their football team.  Most of their players are in the tabloids, they get paid way too much to play a sport, and they live their lives like Gods with the added expectation to the win the cup.  They certainly had the talent to make it far in this tournament (not necessarily win, but advance further and perform better than they showed), but since June 12th they looked awful.  As cheesey and cliche as it may sound, they lack heart and to me showed they weren't that bothered by this tournament.

So now England is at a crossroads as they reevaluate their team.  Perhaps they'll pull a USA Basketball and put a fire under these pros.

"Back the Beard"

So this comedian of sorts (he reminds of a British Andy Richter, but not as funny) has his lame show after World Cup games for the day on ITV.  Anyhoo, he does a bit called "Back the Beard".  So watch the video.





When I first saw it, my immediate thought was, "This is totally American!"  It's the American football players (not soccer) who started wearing the playoff beard in the hopes they will continue to win through to the Super Bowl.  Am I correct?  The bit with Katy Perry is funny, but she comes off as a traitor anyways (she's American, but is married to British guy Russell Brand from Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

World Cup - USA v. England

Well, the USA v. England came and went, and I largely came away unscathed; though Dan did try to niggle me the entire game.  It was a good thing we weren't sitting next to each other, otherwise he would have gotten a bruised arm.  But it was a good time, though nobody else gave me much niggle.

I will say that England is a funny country around World Cup time.  Dan says it's the only time you will ever see the country act patriotic--there are England car flags and England flags hanging from houses all over the place!  Naturally everyone is wearing their England kit and playing the England World Cup song (which is fairly annoying).

Bars, or pubs, are pathetic for watching World Cup when you compare them to the USA.  I think any pub who has one TV the size of my flat screen back in the USA is hopeless.  If they have two TVs of the same size as my TV, they are pathetic.  I like watching games at a bar because the atmosphere is different, and beer and greasy food go hand in hand (which my hands prefer not to make).  Don't think I will get that experience here, unfortunately.  I'll be in Germany for a Germany game next week, so it'll be interesting to see how they watch World Cup.

But for those who want to know how the English felt at the end of the game, here are some pictures that encompasses England's feelings.

London 2012

I know for most you have World Cup on the brain.  But please remember that you have the Summer Olympic Games here in London in two years time.  And in case you didn't know, when you are awarded the Olympics you are also awarded the Paralympics--where athletes with physical disabilities compete after the Olympics.

This is all well and good, except that you begin to notice that London's public transportation system isn't so handicap friendly.  Mainly, the Tube has very few handicap accessible stops (e.g., elevators).  Most Tube stations, you have to climb a few stairs to get to the lift (as they call elevators) or escalators.  So what are these less-abled people to do in two years time?  Rely on driving when Central London is riddled with traffic, let alone a congestion charge during the working hours.  Perhaps they should take black cabs that charge an exuberant amount of money for the convenience of curbside transportation.  There's always the bus, but I don't think these buses kneel so those less-abled don't have to figure out how to get up that big step.

I'm sure the paralympians probably don't have to worry about transportation whilst in London.  But perhaps their less athletic counterparts will find it difficult to take part in being independent to transport themselves to observe these athletes.  Maybe London's public transport has a similar system in DC, where you can schedule special transportation if you are disabled.

However, I do often wonder how handicap Londoners get around.  I can't say that I have seen disabled people around.  I do see elderly, struggling up stairs as the youthful rush by.  Perhaps London is making a plan to be a bit more friendly in 2012.

The Media You Say?

Hello!  I am back in the UK--specifically London--for three out of the four next months.  Hope you all (all three of you) didn't miss me too much.  :)

I'm sure many of you have heard of The Sun, a very popular tabloid (3 million copies per day sold nationwide in March 2010) owned by Murdoch.  I don't personally read it, but an old man was reading it on the Tube on our way into Central London.  I looked over in his direction and was taken aback by a large photo of a topless woman, and equally disturbed that this old man was reading the attached article.  Dan must have seen my reaction and quickly told me that the Sun was notorious for their page 3 naked girl (and a quick Wikipedia check confirms this is indeed true).  Craziness!

The US is well known for our Puritan ways, whether we like to admit to it or not.  Bitch is slowly appearing on late night television, but four letter words and nakedness are only on premium cable channels like HBO and Cinnemax (aka, Skinamax).  And publications, newspapers and tabloids, err on the side of fat actresses/actors in swimwear instead of full fledged nudity.  Meanwhile, UK television will have nakedness and cursing at around 9pm on free-view (non-cable subscription TV)!  Then you have the Sun of course.  Funny how we are not similar in this respect.

I guess this is what flaming liberalism feels like?!?