I am Your Sunshine

was probably performing poorly lately.

someone A asked someone B (probably the manager or fan?)
A: How do you think about the execution of your team.
B: I’m in favor of it.

XD

do not follow? Here… Continue Reading »

SiCKO (2007)
A-

A must watch for all Americans (and anyone who lives in the states.)I don’t think other countries, like Canada, UK and France, are as fabulous as he tried to portrayed, as whatever the system is, there has to be both up and down sides. Michael Moore, director of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, here wants to promote his view on Health Care system, or rather the lack thereof and I’d say he pretty much succeeded. At least it makes you think.

Both of them are documentary.

Arctic Tale (2007)
B
It’s the sequel of the acclaimed March of the Penguins. It’s endearing, it’s exciting, it’s dramatic and it’s saddening. It’s not as good as the Penguin one but it’s pretty enjoyable.

A’s 12-2 Devil Rays last night.

A’s 2-12 Devil Rays tonight.

At least I get to make the what goes around, comes around. comment.

And the other thing that’s funny tonight was the name of the Rays’ relief pitcher – Balfour, who lived up to his name and threw four balls to walk the first batter his face.

GILES SMITH’S MIDWEEK VIEW

利記球迷們! 我對你們的痛苦感同身受. 那當然不該罰點球 – 至少由 Sky 轉播的慢動作畫面看來並不應該. 所以當大家決定致函慰問時 (多半會的), 我一定會在上面簽名的.

相信我, 我能體會你們的感覺. 畢竟我們也曾經歷過同樣的事, 不是嗎? 對我來說, 那是歐冠半決賽, 一個並沒有越線的射門, 不該給的進球. 不過這就不多提了, 我只想說,
在 Anfield 發生不公正事件!? 哇~ 誰會想得到呢!

就我的經驗來說, 在這種時刻最有用的安慰就是那句老諺語: 天理昭彰, 報應不爽. 而且在一個賽季中這種事通常都會自己互相抵消掉.

有時這種事一來一往抵消的很快. 記得 07-08 賽季的第一個星期六嗎? 那時利記球迷還在吹噓自己的歷史 (這麼作似乎能讓他們好過點), 所以對 Villa 的開幕賽他們應該記得很清楚, 當包子在踢自由球時用他的招牌 – 帶著希望的長距離射門 – 拿走 Villa 兩分. 而那個自由球, 在事後也被證明不應該被判給利記.

你看你看, 無禮地從 Villa 那偷走兩分, 謙恭地在家裡雙手奉上給我們.
足球永遠不會讓我們失望, 對不對? ;)

當然啦, 我說星期天的那兩分是因為不該判的點球而消失, 是建立在如果沒有判點球, 利記會以 1-0 拿下比賽的假設上. 但這個假設其實不怎麼可信, 畢竟在裁判決定破壞我們由JT, Pizzaro 與 Drogba 等製造的大好機會時, 大家都有共識 – 比分就要追平了.

另外我們要記得, 當人家提起歐冠半決賽那個不存在的進球時, 一般利記球迷都用 “如果裁判沒有判那是個進球, 他也會判點球給我們, 我們還是會得分” 來反駁.

無論如何, 我們至少可以指出當羅伯有型在星期天受到誤導而吹響哨子時, 球正滾向無人看守的滴滴兒, 就在門前十碼外.

因為這個錯誤解讀 Malouda 與 Finnan 之間的衝撞, 以及發出沒有爭議的”第二張黃牌”, 有型備受苛責. 但就我看來, 如果你要合理的批評裁判, 那應該是批評他沒有判斷局勢的能力, 而害我們失去享受一個沒有爭議的漂亮進球的喜悅. 誰知道呢? 搞不好我們就藉著那球的氣勢進而將比賽逆轉!

但事事無法都如我們所願. 舉例來說, 有朝一日我希望能看到我們能有健康的四個後衛在場上對戰利記. 但我也知道這是個遙不可及的夢想, 在我有生之年不可能看到. 啊好吧, 至少我們盡我們所能了.

我們也得接受這個現實 – 當我們對戰利記時, 球迷熱情到腦充血, 所有的理智都拋到窗外了. 這是可以理解的. 畢竟, 對我們來說這只不過是一場聯賽, 對他們來說可是盃賽冠軍戰呢!

談到這裡, 讓我稍微提一下那些領 BBC 薪水的專家們(像是前利記球員 Alan Hansen 與 Mark Lawrenson)的觀點. 他們認為, 雖然在主場對我們失了兩分, 利記無疑地展現了足夠的勇氣與實力可以來挑戰聯賽, 而且有可能拿下他們在”現代”的第一個聯賽冠軍!

也許他們是對的, 我也祝他們好運. 雖然說我怎麼也看不出來. 是的, 簽下 Torres (一個夠穩定, 每三四場比賽就會進個一球的射手) 之後利記看起來是有厲害一點. 但就我看來問題出在於他們還是不肯換教練 (那鬍子是騙不了人的!) 而且別忘囉, 聯賽是沒有點球大戰的. ^_< -- I heart G. Smith!

真是囉哩叭唆的.

Tevez 明明就已經加盟曼聯, 但聽說又有生變的可能. (本來都說 Tevez 檯面下是我們的人, 但在這段拖棚的歹戲裡面切爾西都沒有出聲.)

老人羅本終於成功轉會到皇馬, 官網也公布了.

而切爾西神不知鬼不覺地買了 Barca 的 Belletti.

今天的國家比賽切爾西有十二個球員參與. JT, Lamps, Joe Cole 與 SWP 為英格蘭上場. Ferreira 為葡萄牙踢滿九十分鐘, Shevchenko (好久沒踢球了!) 五十五分鐘, Makalele 與 Malouda 都為法國踢滿全場 (Makalele真是有夠愛國耶!) Petr Cech 為捷克出場, Ben-Haim 為以色列, Kalou 與 Drogba 為象牙海岸.

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia has been torn by war in recent years. I can’t help but wondering what the atmosphere would be like on the field. Not very friendly, I’d say.

今夏剛加盟槍手的 Edurado 在第18分鐘為 Croatia 貢獻了第一球, 接著在第 35 分鐘時 Srna 一個漂亮射門將比分拉至 2:0, 但在第37分鐘 Bosnia 的 Muslimovic 趁我不注意時進了一球. 接下來的比賽雙方互相壓迫, Bosnia 有較高比例的持球, 然而 Croatia 在禁區附近的防守很難纏, Bosnia 幾次進攻 Croatia 都有驚無險地避掉了.

場面上氣氛看起來還算平和, 然而在一次 Croatia 的自由球時, 場邊忽然傳來騷動, 只見大片的 Croatia 球迷被警察趕到後方, 還有一堆人在推擠分區之間的鐵絲網 (這畫面讓我想起來 Hillsborough慘案), 鏡頭又轉到空無一人的座位間, 有東西在燃燒. 幸好沒有太嚴重的傷亡.

下半場兩隊各有幾次射門機會, 由 Muslimovic 於第70分鐘領先進球追平比分, 緊接著卻是第73分鐘與第74分鐘熱血隊長大人 Niko Kovac 與 Srna 進球. 第77分鐘 Muslimovic 上演帽子戲法, 第81分鐘 N. Kovac 又再來一記漂亮遠射! 兩隊聯手上演了十一分鐘進五球的煙火秀.

最後加時五分鐘時, 球員之間的動作也逐漸火爆起來, 幾個球員互相推擠, 也不見裁判即時過來阻止. Niko Kovac 一副被惹惱的樣子, 終於拿了黃牌. 我愛隊長!

我真是等不及要看下一場 Croatia Euro ’08 的資格賽了!

ｇｏ Ｈｒｖａｔｓｋａ！

.
啥? 英格蘭…? 就輸了啊.

不過, 既然都找不到 Croatia 這場比賽的照片, 就貼英格蘭的好了. 看倌請了 Continue Reading »

The A’s have been hot in Aug (woo-hoo!) and they take their shot for the sweep this morning at Rogers Center. Today, we brought to you veteran Loaiza’s 2007 debut and the 114th lineup this year.

At first, it looked very much like a pitcher’s duel. I don’t know about A.J. Burnett but E Lo’s performance was surely comforting. Up until the 5th inning, E Lo had a no-hitter going before he gave up a homer to Aaron Hill, which, fortunately, turned out to be the only run that the Jays produced. The A’s had a few hits here and there but was unable to score. But babe Cust did it again. A two-run jack with one out got the A’s a one-run lead. Then Ellis doubled to score DJ from 1st base, and in the split second he scored with Hannahan’s double.

And that concludes the scoring part. However, there were some brilliant plays by Ellis, Swisher, Scoot and Stewart in this game.

This game is not another meaningless win in the A’s 2007 record book. It’s a milestone that they have climbed back to .500 with half set of players who we didn’t think would be in the lineup. We saw hope; we saw promised players and we saw a good game.

come A’s. Let’s get this over with.

and yay~ Embree owns!

yo同學補捉到的經典畫面. XD

As Haren continues his try on his 14th win, the A’s presents us a rather bizarre/refreshing(?) lineup (apparently this is the 113th different lineup this season):
DaVanon (CF) Scutaro (SS) Swisher (RF) Cust (LF) Piazza (DH) Johnson (1B) Ellis (2B) Hannahan (3B) Suzuki (C)

With the absence of Travis Buck (Get well soon!), ex-Angel DaVanon started off the game good and the A’s scored here and there. The A’s was leading 4-1 until Haren gave up back to back homeruns to Wells and ex-A Frank Thomas which tied the game. But thank goodness for run support and solid bullpen effort, Haren finally obtained his 14th win and the A’s took the series.

Good game. The A’s is among the best 3 in Aug. Even though they’re pretty much out of contention, good baseball is a pleasure to watch. (If only they can manage the number of LOB would be awesome.)

The A’s looks to sweep the Jays tomorrow and climb back up to .500. C ya~

Stardust (2007)
A-
之前說過, 觀影前抱著正確的心態是很重要的. 也許有人會說, 我花錢享受幹嘛還要調整自己心態才行啊? 是沒錯. 不過一部電影明明是在演 A, 你卻期待他演 B, 然後抱怨說他竟然根本不是在演 B, 那不是自己找罪受嗎?

前言說完.

Stardust 是一部非常童話故事的電影, 如果你把它當奇幻故事大概會很失望. 故事很簡單, Michele Pfeiffer 很漂亮, Sarah Alexander 是個意外的驚喜 (是的, 我有認出她喔!) 電影看完心情非常的好呢. =)

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
B+
Bourne 再度出擊.
觀影重點: 好厲害的 Jason Bourne.

Bang the Drums Slowly (1973)
B+
清淡自然, 以現代的標準來說可能步調太慢.
觀影重點: 年輕的 Robert De Niro

Joe’s awesome today. I hope whatever it is he may or may not have against Suzuki is no longer a issue for his pitching performance. I love to see my red hot Joe back.

Congrats to Hannahan who had his first career homer tonight. I like him already. But defense-wise, no one’s better than Chavez. When a ball drives by and looks un-gettable, we all have a voice saying “Chavy would have got that.” inside of our head.

Andrew Brown gave up 3 runs in 2/3 inning, which was unlike the Andrew Brown we knew. (Even though we’ve only known him for a month.)

I’d be happier if we kept the score at 6-1. But that’s the past, let’s try to get Haren his 14th win.

I don’t know what people are whining about. I think it’s a very appropriate and decent (and dignified) Mourinho response to the game. Those who cut and pasted and believed whatever they see on the news headline, well, I don’t even wanna waste my time.

Rafa’s apparently pissed, which is understandable. Styles’ ridiculous.

But seriously, complain all you want about the ref. However, come off of Chels’ (& Mourinho’s) back already. I don’t see any of you whining after the ruling going your way (against Chelsea’s.) Why can’t we act modestly low-key while we arguably had it in favor? Come on, enough with the drama. It’s so last year.

[updated]
Yeah, so then what are you whining about when we didn’t jump up and down after the game yelling “we didn’t deserve it; you should have taken it back”? I’ve never seen any of you stepping up and say “I’m a diving bastard, please red card me a thousand times.”

I heard they’re no good. So what the hell is with losing the first two games? I watched and listened to the first one, the A’s literally rolled over and died. Way to stop an exciting and fun 4-game winning streak. However, DiNardo was awesome yesterday (Charles’ gonna scoff when he sees me saying this, but fortunately he doesn’t read my blog. His gf does.) And the offense resurrected, too. And with Ellis’ defensive gem, it seemed like a good game to watch.

While we were at Long Beach, Mr. G checked Yankees’ score cos Wang was pitching. And a half-hearted yay came from my mouth in response to Wang’s pocketing his 14th win. What I was thinking was, DARN, why is it so hard for Haren to get the 14th win? Poor thing.

星期五穿 06/07 客場出門, 在機場繞了兩三圈 (一邊聽著令人沮喪的 A’s v Royals 轉播), 完全沒有引起什麼注意, 好無聊.

星期六睡到中午起來, 帶著 Chelsea 帽子跟表姐出門吃聽說是好吃得不得了賣完就不再賣的餃子與麵, (為什麼北加沒有這種好吃得了不起的東西呢?) 臨下車前我決定吃個小小餃子用不上帽子, 我就把帽子留在車上了. 沒想到還在等位子時就走進一個穿曼聯球衣的港仔, 害我好後悔啊! (雖然說他就算看到切爾西帽子大概也不會怎樣.)

下午因為某些亂七八糟原因, 我們跑去某個 mall. 表姐看鞋子, 而我戴著切爾西帽子閒晃時, 被店員搭訕了! 他一開始先試圖確認我到底知不知道我戴的是什麼東西,

店員: Is that Chelsea? So you like soccer?
我: Yeah. (嚇一跳害羞中, 不太知道要講什麼.)
店員: Pizzaro just joined Chelsea. He’s a good player. I’m from Peru as well.
我: (原來是皮薩羅老鄉啊!) Yeah, he’s pretty good. I think he’s already scored two goals for Chelsea… blah blah blah

其實我遇到這種情況的時候, 雖然心裡會很高興 (<-通常是事後.), 但身體會不由自主地想要趕快逃走, 我想我的肢體語言大概透露出來了 (搞不好身體已經呈現扭曲狀.) 所以店員很客氣地幫我鋪下台階, 說了一些 "女生很少喜歡這個的, 真不錯." 之類的話. 然後我就含羞帶怯地跟他點頭示意, 跑回去找表姐. 但後來事實證明, 我寧願跟那位 Pizzaro 的老鄉聊天, 也沒興趣聽那位 UCBerkeley 畢業卻在 Nordstrom 當 salesperson 的女生說她多喜歡逛街. 晚上我們去 Santa Monica 晃晃, 是我提議的. 我的目標其實是去年夏天舉辦 Chelsea 簽名會 Adidas. 沒想到 (為什麼沒想到呢? 真是太天真了.) 那裡的 Adidas 早就被小貝攻佔, 切爾西只佔了個小不嚨咚的角落. 而且說真的, 那家 Adidas carry 的足球周邊產品 (各國或各俱樂部球衣) 比舊金山的還要少咧! 失望. 然後在 Santa Monica 三街上逛時, 我又看到一個穿某廠球衣一個穿曼聯球衣的人, 真討厭~

星期天一早六點半 Teri 來表姐家樓下接我, 我們匆匆從 San Gabriel 趕到 OC. 因為是對利記大戰, 大 LA 地區的切爾西球迷決定聚在 Santa Ana 的英國吧 Olde Ship, 不然一般大家都是在各自地區的酒吧看球.

途中竟然還遇到 I-5 封路, 害我們有點擔心趕不及. 還好我們很早出發, 到達 Olde Ship 的時候才七點四十. 一進入 Olde Ship 就看到幾個身穿06/08藍色主場的人迎面走來, Teri 介紹 Andy 等人給我認識, 介紹完後 Andy 劈頭就是一句 “Man U lost to City 1-0.” 一天的開始, 還有什麼比這個更棒的消息呢?

我們點了早餐, 聊一聊前兩場比賽, Andy 講起他愛上切爾西的歷史, 包括他的足球 buddies 在知道他支持切爾西之後是如何不屑, 然後說 “你看到現在我的手機都還沒響, 就知道發生什麼事了.” (他的朋友都是曼聯球迷.)

其他的切爾西球迷也在我們之後陸陸續續進來. 大家問候的第一句話都是, Man U lost today.*grin*

我在比賽快開始之前也打給遠在 Daly City 的 Supa, 跟他分享 Manure 輸掉的好消息, 結果很開心地說完 “Yay~ 曼聯輸了.” 之後就聊不下去. 因為我總不能對他說祝利記好運吧. 反之亦然. 所以我們就尷尬地掛了電話… XD

比賽一開始看到 linup, 驚訝地發現小賴特被擺在右後. 難道奇兵策略好用就改成常規了嗎? 看小賴特踢右後感覺還不錯, 也常常前壓, 果然是滿場飛奔小賴特. (不過好笑的是他有時還會想跳起來爭頭球, 他應該只頂到對方的膝蓋吧. XD)

上半場雖然沒有像對 Reading 那樣踢得支離破碎, 但仍然幾乎是被壓著打. 我心裡暗暗期待平安無事地趕快進入中場, 沒想到還是被閃亮的 Torres 進了一球. 那球真的是沒話說, 但還是很悶啊. /_\

說到 Torres. 幾周前我不知道在哪本雜誌看到利記新進的西班牙貨, 閃亮亮笑容超可愛的 Torres 照片就把我煞到了. 有沒有那麼可愛的人啦! 我還跑去跟支持利記的小弟講, “雖然我不會喜歡利記, 但你們家 Torres 真是超可愛耶.” 結果看了這場比賽之後, 真的是跟 Selina 一樣…

推 selinachen:對托雷斯的好感就像曼聯現在的排名一樣…

(是一定要酸一下曼聯就是了? XD)
Torres 在這場的表現真的是有夠噁心, 包括莫名其妙地摔倒, 不斷在 Cech 周圍排迴, 甚至鬼鬼祟祟地跑到 Cech 身後, 更不要提嬌兮兮地摔到 JT 懷裡了. 看不出來 JT 討厭你嗎? 為什麼要這樣糟蹋你可愛的小臉呢? 說真的, 要不是他那麼可愛, 我會罵得很難聽.

提心吊膽地等到下半場, 卻沒有像對戰 Reading 那樣有顯著的差異. 果然不能拿 Reading 來跟利記比. 利記的攻勢連連, 還好他們三番兩次射歪. 後來馬路達造成的點球有不小的爭議, 不過我只想說, Lampard 上來主罰的時候我真是有夠擔心的. 還好他成攻地騙過 Reina, 狠狠吐了歐冠半決賽的怨氣. 有什麼比 Lamps 點球追平對利記的比分還要更大快人心的呢?

整場比賽黃牌亂飛, 裁判的標準不知道在哪裡, Chelsea 被壓著打感覺很討厭, 老大趕快想辦法!

* Olde Ship 裡完全都是藍軍球迷 (一開始好像有幾個阿森納的, 但後來就離開了.) 大家一起為藍軍鼓掌, 或是溫和地叫罵感覺很好. 只可惜沒有小紅可以給我們嗆, 聽說一個很會帶氣氛 (ie. 常常很激動) 的球迷因為道路施工所以轉頭回家, 不然應該可以更high.

要 catch up 的東西好多 XD

A’s 的三場比賽應該就看賽後 writeup.
Chelsea 這周末 big game 的文章, 包括 CIA 的.
還要寫心得跟貼團體照! =D

I was sitting at home watching Dan Mayer’s first Major League start.
Meyer was fighting with the first batter, few balls were pulled foul.
One of them was catched by a guy in Manure jersey.

EW.

And that batter ended up flying the ball to right field and Cust mysteriously managed to NOT catch the ball. *gasp*

Manure’s bad luck. I’m telling you.
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Who’d have thought that Haren’s 14th win would be as elusive as A’s 50th win was. But the A’s managed to come through, I believe Haren will too. (Well, it’s out of his control.)

Some notes for today’s game:

catch it later: top of 5th Haren backup play! (very confusing listening to play-by-play, even though it was perfectly executed by KenKo.)

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sometimes it flows, and sometimes it just doesn’t. =(