words & dots

Watching all those Chelsea fans scream, curse, jump, spill beer, and cry, I wondered when I will be able to experience that with Milan. I had something close to it in 2007… but I was a soccer novice back then and didn’t understand how significant the triumph was until later. Now that so many teams are miles ahead of Milan in quality and finances, I know it’s going to take me a long time to see my beloved team win. But, when that victory comes, it’ll be the sweetest victory ever tasted. Calcio will rule again.

Where do I even begin? Since I started watching soccer in 2006, I was treated to quite a lot of drama. The 2006/07 season stood out because of my beloved Milan’s Champions League win. The 2008/09 season saw the beginning of the rise of the mighty Barcelona. The following 2009/10 season saw the masterclass of the genius that is Jose Mourinho, guiding Inter Milan to an unexpected treble. I witnessed Spain and Barcelona dominating all before them. I am blessed to be watching the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo shatter records left, right, and centre with their superhuman performances.

But, 2011/12 has got to be the greatest single season of soccer I have ever witnessed. The amount of drama, especially last-minute ones, was just hard to take in and I am still in awe of what’s happened in the past 9 months.

It began with the Premier League as Manchester United taught Arsenal a lesson in that infamous 8-2 win over a helpless Gunners side. In turn, their local rivals Manchester City turned up the gear and swept all teams before them, including a 6-1 demolition at Old Trafford.

I then saw Milan put on a defensive masterclass at Camp Nou, holding Barcelona to a 2-2 draw thanks to majestic defending from Alessandro Nesta. The last matchday of the Champions League group stage was one of the most heart-pounding drama ever in that stage of the competition. Lyon’s unbelievable 7-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb and their subsequent qualification stands out. Marseille, Basel, and CSKA Moscow’s qualifications were all created out of nothing.

Then, there was the Luis Suarez controversy. The John Terry scandal. Carlos Tevez refused to play. It wasn’t just about what was happening on the field.

The new year proved to be a turning point as Manchester City suffered a horrible dip in form, Dortmund began to dominate the league, Juventus were still unbeaten, and Real Madrid began to widen their gap from Barcelona.

Fabio Capello resigned. Andre Villas-Boas got fired.

From March and on, it has been a never-ending spiral of unpredictability excitement. Chelsea began their incredible comeback, with the climax yet to come in the upcoming Champions League final. Their run included that incredible win over Napoli at Stamford Bridge, the FA Cup final, and of course, that night at Camp Nou.

United began to lose form, City began to climb back up (thanks in part to, ironically, Carlos Tevez returning to the team) and the race for third place heated up with a rejuvenated Arsenal, a distracted Tottenham (because of Harry Redknapp’s link to the vacant England job), and a brilliant Newcastle team all battled hard until the last minute for the Holy Grail that is the Champions League.

Juventus still managed to go unbeaten, while Milan began to show signs of slowing down and eventually succumbed to defeat. The departures of old legends at both clubs - Alex Del Piero, Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso, and others - was an emotional affair.

Dortmund dominated Bayern in all of their meetings, clinching the title in record-breaking style and thus opening the door for what could possibly be a black-and-yellow dynasty in Germany.

The Champions League semi-finals proved to be anything but anti-climactic as is so often the case in big games. Favourites Real Madrid and Barcelona crashed out in the most dramatic of circumstances, overshadowing what have been two superhuman individual efforts from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In the end, it was Madrid who clinched the Liga title (again, in record-breaking fashion). Guardiola provided yet another emotional farewell to fans of football.

On the flip side, teams fighting for relegation also provided drama. Blackburn’s long season has been well-documented, reaching the climax at Ewood Park on the second last day of the season, involving the appearance of a chicken (and some very, very angry fans) on the pitch. Villarreal, who were semi-finalists in the Champions League just 6 years ago, were relegated.

Apart from all of this on-pitch drama, we also witnessed human stories. We witnessed the tragic death of an inspiring footballer, Piermario Morosini, further highlighting the need for cardiovascular checkups on professional footballers. However, we also saw the miracle of Fabrice Muamba, who literally rose from the dead to bring hope into the hearts of many.

All of this. And we still have not had the Champions League final, along with the finals of the Coppa Italia and Copa del Rey. Oh, and did I mention EURO 2012?

We are all blessed to be fans of the greatest sport in the world. Enjoy this and take a moment to take it all in, folks. It can’t get better than this (or can it?)

Anonymous asked: hai

who is you

Written 20 minutes before an exam I’m most likely going to fail… guess what? It’s yet another business course. On the bus ride to school, a 35-year old white dude with lots of ink asked if he could sit beside me on the bus. A part of me was reluctant to give up the seat (which was reserved for my royal backpack containing nothing but my pita lunch, thank you very much) because I was playing Angry Birds. I didn’t want him to be able to sit and stare at my smartphone because I am a noob at Angry Birds. And most young people in this digital century have played the most talked about game of the past few years. He asked what game I was playing. He then went on to tell me he had a PS Vita. I said “cool”. What was supposed to be the end of a typical conversation between strangers on the bus resulted in him furiously searching through his backpack to find his PS Vita just so he could show me (he literally took 1 whole minute). I was kind of hoping he forgot it at home so that the conversation could end. But, nope, he found it and I got to look at and hold the new system. It was actually pretty cool. A much better version of the PSP. He then talked about the games he had and asked if I was a PS3 or XBox kind of guy. I just answered his questions because it wasn’t as if I didn’t have the answers. A harmless conversation with a stranger. Whatever. But the unthinkable happened and he started talking about other things. The weather, corporations throwing away electronic waste unethically, some hill in Hamilton where his friend’s brother committed suicide, the size of McMaster, etc. Every time he asked questions, I just answered and didn’t say much. Every time, he would find a new topic to talk about. He then saw that people on the bus were all on their cell phones and laptops minding their own business. He exclaimed how people are so busy with their own lives and that it’s sad that people don’t connect to each other. “We’re so connected with these cell phones and laptops, but in a way we’re all disconnected,” he pointed out. After saying goodbye to him and getting off the bus, I thought back. I was pretty sure he was either high or drunk. But another part of me wanted to believe he was a genuinely friendly person. Why do we just sit on the bus and avoid everyone? Why do we bust out our cell phones in the elevator when we’re not with people we know? Remember the days when next door neighbours would say hi every morning? I have an exam now. Bye

Take a look at some of the goal tallies (in all competitions) of strikers this season (as of April 5th):

Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 58 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 49 goals

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke) - 42 goals

Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) - 37 goals

Robin van Persie (Arsenal) - 33 goals

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) - 29 goals

Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) - 28 goals

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) - 28 goals

Edinson Cavani (Napoli) - 28 goals

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) - 28 goals

Roberto Soldado (Valencia) - 26 goals

Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) - 25 goals

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - 24 goals

Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) - 24 goals

If any of these figures were achieved 5-6 years ago, that player would be considered among the world’s best. Nowadays, scoring 25+ goals a season seems to be a minimum requirement to be even considered one of the world’s elite.

Let’s not even get into Ronaldo and Messi’s achievements. What about players like Huntelaar and Gomez and their incredible goalscoring feats? Why is nobody talking about them? When Ronaldo scored 42 goals during the 2007-08 season, everyone hailed him as the greatest player in the world. Huntelaar will hardly get a vote nowadays with the same amount. Gomez is not even considered Germany’s starting striker!

So, what is causing this sudden upward trend in the standard of goalscoring? Are defenders a lot worse now? Is goalscoring easy? Or are Ronaldo and Messi skewing the true standard of today’s football with their incredible talents? The answer is unclear.