Χωρίς πολλά λόγια, ο Φραγκίσκος Αλβέρτης αποτέλεσε μία από τις σημαντικότερες προσωπικότητες στην ιστορία του ελληνικού μπάσκετ. Μπορεί τα στατιστικά του να μην ήταν πάντα εντυπωσιακά (όπως και του Διαμαντίδη), και τα τελευταία χρόνια να μην έπαιξε ουσιαστικά μπάσκετ, αλλά η παρουσία του και μόνο, όπως επίσης και το φονικό του σουτ μπορούσαν να αλλάξουν ένα ματς.
25 τίτλοι σε 17 χρόνια, για έναν άνθρωπο που δεν είχε πρωτάθλημα Ελλάδας τα 8 πρώτα χρόνια της καριέρας του. Σε άλλα αθλήματα στη χώρα μας θα το βγάζαμε loser, αλλά ευτυχώς για όλους μας, οι άνθρωποι του Παναθηναικού ήταν πιο υπομονετικοί.
Σημαντικό και το γεγονός ότι αποσύρεται η φανέλα με το #4, για πρώτη φορά στη χώρα μας. Ελπίζω να γίνει και με άλλους παίχτες στο μέλλον.
TL;DR version:
Από σήμερα, το Tales of the Bored θα έχει posts αποκλειστικά στα ελληνικά. Αυτό δε σημαίνει ότι θα γράφω πιο συχνά από ότι τώρα (μια φορά στα 32 χρόνια) πάντως.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11
Thursday, July 17
[Basketball Thursday] World Olympic Qualifiers group phase wrap-up
So far, so predictable.
There wasn't a single surprise in the entire group phase of the tournament, with Korea almost providing the exception with their near upset over Canada. However, after leading with sixteen points, they completely chocked and didn't score for almost two minutes. Otherwise, all other games had the expected results, with the favorites getting easy victories.
The teams that have played the best so far are Greece, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia. They're probably going to make it to the semifinals too, and three of them will make it to the Olympics. My money is on Germany, Croatia and of course Greece, but I'm hardly impartial.
That being said, I was really impressed by the way we played last night. A far cry from last year's snooze-fest, the Greek team offered the same type of aggressive defense that became its trademark and gave the team the second place in the World Cup of '06. If we keep this up, I like our chances at an Olympic medal. After all, the team played the absolute worst way possible last year, and still managed to come in fourth.
Beyond that, now that they've managed to get Chris Kaman, Germany has become a much better team, it seems. Rather than expecting everything from Dirk, now they have someone else to depend on, on both sides of the field. Should help the team a lot.
I was kind of bummed yesterday as I arrived a few minutes late at the game, and missed the New Zealanders' patented Haka war dance. I always wanted to see that live, and I'll miss it again tomorrow as I'll be watching The Dark Knight, finally. It's a fair trade, plus I was able to see Dirk kick so much ass yesterday, with 35 points in 32 minutes. That guy could have easily been the best player in the world right now, had he been born an American.
TL;DR version:
Dirk Nowitzki rules you.
There wasn't a single surprise in the entire group phase of the tournament, with Korea almost providing the exception with their near upset over Canada. However, after leading with sixteen points, they completely chocked and didn't score for almost two minutes. Otherwise, all other games had the expected results, with the favorites getting easy victories.
The teams that have played the best so far are Greece, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia. They're probably going to make it to the semifinals too, and three of them will make it to the Olympics. My money is on Germany, Croatia and of course Greece, but I'm hardly impartial.
That being said, I was really impressed by the way we played last night. A far cry from last year's snooze-fest, the Greek team offered the same type of aggressive defense that became its trademark and gave the team the second place in the World Cup of '06. If we keep this up, I like our chances at an Olympic medal. After all, the team played the absolute worst way possible last year, and still managed to come in fourth.
Beyond that, now that they've managed to get Chris Kaman, Germany has become a much better team, it seems. Rather than expecting everything from Dirk, now they have someone else to depend on, on both sides of the field. Should help the team a lot.
I was kind of bummed yesterday as I arrived a few minutes late at the game, and missed the New Zealanders' patented Haka war dance. I always wanted to see that live, and I'll miss it again tomorrow as I'll be watching The Dark Knight, finally. It's a fair trade, plus I was able to see Dirk kick so much ass yesterday, with 35 points in 32 minutes. That guy could have easily been the best player in the world right now, had he been born an American.
TL;DR version:
Dirk Nowitzki rules you.
Thursday, July 10
[Basketball Thursday] The World Olympic Qualifiers
If there ever were a pointless tournament, the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament must be it.
Long story short, instead of having every single team qualify for the Olympic games from their respective tournaments (such as the EuroBasket ' 07 tournament), FIBA decided to make things complicated. As a result, only a handful of teams from each continent from said tournaments, while the rest are now forced to qualify through the WOQT (my own, unofficial abbreviation*).
The result is that the teams in the WOQT had to start their preparations much sooner than the rest of the teams that have already qualified for the Olympic Games, which means they'll be more fatigued. To make matters worse for the teams that will eventually qualify for the Olympic Games, they will have to play in two highly competible tournaments, and not just one. For that reason, I can't really see a team that qualified from the WOTQ to go very far in the Olympic tournament itself, fatigue will most likely be a huge factor. After all, most players are coming from full seasons, in which they got too little time to rest already. These extra games won't help one bit.
Realistically, out of the twelve teams in the tournament, only a few have decent chances of qualifying to begin with. Brazil, Greece, perhaps Germany if Dirk feels like it, Slovenia if they don't choke, perhaps Croatia and Puerto Rico too. It makes me feel like this tournament is pretty redundant, as quite a few games will probably be a blowout. Was there any real reason for twelve teams in this tournament and not eight, or perhaps less?
The obvious answer for this is the fact that then it wouldn't be considered a real tournament, and thus it couldn't be marketed as such, of course. I just can't help but feel a bit sorry for athletes when they're used like that for nothing more than money. They should be given at least one month every year to rest. I can think of players that haven't gotten more than a couple of weeks of free time in the last five years. That's borderline inhumane, in my book.
As far as the WOQT goes though, it's not all bad, at least for the Greek national team, and me as well. The good thing about this tournament is that Greece is going to host it (although I'd really like to hear what the cost for this will be), so at least our players won't have to travel to the end of the world to play these games, which should make for less fatigue. Also, a few extra games at a high level should be good for the team in general, as it's currently going through a transition.
Several players from the team that won the EuroBasket in '05 have left, with the shunning of former captain Michalis Kakiouzis standing out as particularly rude to me, so this new team will definitely need some time to adjust. The easier games in the WOQT should be of help, so long as we don't royally mess them up, in which case this whole thing will be a disaster. Most of the new players are highly talented though, so we should be fine. My only major concern is the lack of an experienced, reliable, center. Bourousis is a good player, but he's more of a tall power-forward than a real center, Big Sofo can't last for more than ten-fifteen minutes per game, and the rest of the guys are too inexperienced. A good center is almost a necessity when attacking a tight defense, 5 on 5, and that's Greece weakest point offensively, as shown in last year's EuroBasket.
We'll see, I guess. I'll definitely watch at least one or two games when the tournament starts next week, and if our level of play is high enough I might watch it all the way to the semis. You can't see me right now, but I'm crossing my fingers already.
*Isn't it funny how the word "abbreviation" is itself quite long?
TL;DR version:
Έλα μωρή Ελλαδαράααααααααα!
Long story short, instead of having every single team qualify for the Olympic games from their respective tournaments (such as the EuroBasket ' 07 tournament), FIBA decided to make things complicated. As a result, only a handful of teams from each continent from said tournaments, while the rest are now forced to qualify through the WOQT (my own, unofficial abbreviation*).
The result is that the teams in the WOQT had to start their preparations much sooner than the rest of the teams that have already qualified for the Olympic Games, which means they'll be more fatigued. To make matters worse for the teams that will eventually qualify for the Olympic Games, they will have to play in two highly competible tournaments, and not just one. For that reason, I can't really see a team that qualified from the WOTQ to go very far in the Olympic tournament itself, fatigue will most likely be a huge factor. After all, most players are coming from full seasons, in which they got too little time to rest already. These extra games won't help one bit.
Realistically, out of the twelve teams in the tournament, only a few have decent chances of qualifying to begin with. Brazil, Greece, perhaps Germany if Dirk feels like it, Slovenia if they don't choke, perhaps Croatia and Puerto Rico too. It makes me feel like this tournament is pretty redundant, as quite a few games will probably be a blowout. Was there any real reason for twelve teams in this tournament and not eight, or perhaps less?
The obvious answer for this is the fact that then it wouldn't be considered a real tournament, and thus it couldn't be marketed as such, of course. I just can't help but feel a bit sorry for athletes when they're used like that for nothing more than money. They should be given at least one month every year to rest. I can think of players that haven't gotten more than a couple of weeks of free time in the last five years. That's borderline inhumane, in my book.
As far as the WOQT goes though, it's not all bad, at least for the Greek national team, and me as well. The good thing about this tournament is that Greece is going to host it (although I'd really like to hear what the cost for this will be), so at least our players won't have to travel to the end of the world to play these games, which should make for less fatigue. Also, a few extra games at a high level should be good for the team in general, as it's currently going through a transition.
Several players from the team that won the EuroBasket in '05 have left, with the shunning of former captain Michalis Kakiouzis standing out as particularly rude to me, so this new team will definitely need some time to adjust. The easier games in the WOQT should be of help, so long as we don't royally mess them up, in which case this whole thing will be a disaster. Most of the new players are highly talented though, so we should be fine. My only major concern is the lack of an experienced, reliable, center. Bourousis is a good player, but he's more of a tall power-forward than a real center, Big Sofo can't last for more than ten-fifteen minutes per game, and the rest of the guys are too inexperienced. A good center is almost a necessity when attacking a tight defense, 5 on 5, and that's Greece weakest point offensively, as shown in last year's EuroBasket.
We'll see, I guess. I'll definitely watch at least one or two games when the tournament starts next week, and if our level of play is high enough I might watch it all the way to the semis. You can't see me right now, but I'm crossing my fingers already.
*Isn't it funny how the word "abbreviation" is itself quite long?
TL;DR version:
Έλα μωρή Ελλαδαράααααααααα!
Thursday, July 3
[Football Thursday] Euro 2008 recap
OR: How Spain won and George is eating crow.
For reference, my post from one week ago, June 26:
"If Spain goes through, I'm willing to bet a lot of money that they'll choke hard against Germany."
Yeah, totally.
So those crazy bastards did it. Even though it was the one Spanish team in recent memory that most people wouldn't call triple-A quality, and had a distinct lack of "star"-quality players, even when their fans were making t-shirts saying "Guess who's gonna get us disqualified at the quarter-finals", after all they are perennial losers when it comes to quarter-finals. They still did it.
It's funny how things work. In Euro 2004, I was waiting for Greece to eventually play like they did in this year's Euro and get mauled/disqualified. Instead they kept playing at their best, which for that year proved enough to win us the cup. Now arguably Greece's best still makes for fairly horrid football, but it was leagues above the sorry effort they put up this year. Honestly, our game against Sweden was probably the worst footbal game I've ever had the misfortune of watching.
Same deal with Spain this year. Ever since the group strage was finished, I was expecting them to choke. First against Italy, which also happens to be their arch-nemesis, but they weren't really the favorites in that game, exactly because of their history. So they won that one, even if it were in the penalty shoot-out.
Fair enough, since they were the underdog they went through so I thought that they'd choke against Russia, since now they were the favorites, and against a team they had defeated 4-1 in the same tournament. Yet they man-handled the Russians again, in a very convincing 3-0 victory over the second best team in the tournament.
Surely, then, they would choke at the final, and against Germany, a football team that has made a name after destroying young teams filled with ambition, and at their peak at that (Hungary 54, Holland 74, Czech Republic 96, etc.), right? Nope. Somehow, the Spanish team managed to defy all preconceptions/curses/expectations/call it what you will, and delivered a solid 1-0 victory over a German team that, in fact, choked hard at the most important game. All this when the Spaniards remained calm and concentrated throughout. Impressive, to say the least.
As a matter of fact, after this final and the one from the World Cup of '02 against Brazil (and perhaps the Eurobasket '05 final against Greece), I'm starting to think that perhaps this generation of German teams are starting to become chokers themselves, when it comes to finals.
All in all though, Spain rightly won by managing to do away with all their ghosts of the past, as well as being the best team of the whole tournament. Holland started out great but fizzled real quick, while Russia and Germany picked up their stride slowly, reached an impressive level, only to sink to the bottom in their most important matches again. Spain was consistant, while not exactly dazzling, and thoroughly deserved a cup they hadn't won in about five billion years.
If anything, I personally much prefer it when teams such as Spain, Greece in '04, and Denmark in '92 win such a big tournament, as it adds to the whole mythos of the Euro tournament. It's the kind of victories people still discuss years after the event, when discussions about the World Cup are rarely about its finals, as those are usually dominated by four teams in the last 30 years (Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina), with the exception of France in '98. Instead, people talking about the champions of Euro championships can talk about how teams can defy all expectations and win the cup against all odds.
(At this point I should point out that Spain has always been the better team, by a fairly wide margin, when compared to Denmark and Greece, but this victory was mainly a triumph against the expectations that they had been setting for themselves these past few decades).
TL;DR version:
So who do you think is going to disqualify the reigning European Champions, Spain, in the quarter finals of World Cup '10?
For reference, my post from one week ago, June 26:
"If Spain goes through, I'm willing to bet a lot of money that they'll choke hard against Germany."
Yeah, totally.
So those crazy bastards did it. Even though it was the one Spanish team in recent memory that most people wouldn't call triple-A quality, and had a distinct lack of "star"-quality players, even when their fans were making t-shirts saying "Guess who's gonna get us disqualified at the quarter-finals", after all they are perennial losers when it comes to quarter-finals. They still did it.
It's funny how things work. In Euro 2004, I was waiting for Greece to eventually play like they did in this year's Euro and get mauled/disqualified. Instead they kept playing at their best, which for that year proved enough to win us the cup. Now arguably Greece's best still makes for fairly horrid football, but it was leagues above the sorry effort they put up this year. Honestly, our game against Sweden was probably the worst footbal game I've ever had the misfortune of watching.
Same deal with Spain this year. Ever since the group strage was finished, I was expecting them to choke. First against Italy, which also happens to be their arch-nemesis, but they weren't really the favorites in that game, exactly because of their history. So they won that one, even if it were in the penalty shoot-out.
Fair enough, since they were the underdog they went through so I thought that they'd choke against Russia, since now they were the favorites, and against a team they had defeated 4-1 in the same tournament. Yet they man-handled the Russians again, in a very convincing 3-0 victory over the second best team in the tournament.
Surely, then, they would choke at the final, and against Germany, a football team that has made a name after destroying young teams filled with ambition, and at their peak at that (Hungary 54, Holland 74, Czech Republic 96, etc.), right? Nope. Somehow, the Spanish team managed to defy all preconceptions/curses/expectations/call it what you will, and delivered a solid 1-0 victory over a German team that, in fact, choked hard at the most important game. All this when the Spaniards remained calm and concentrated throughout. Impressive, to say the least.
As a matter of fact, after this final and the one from the World Cup of '02 against Brazil (and perhaps the Eurobasket '05 final against Greece), I'm starting to think that perhaps this generation of German teams are starting to become chokers themselves, when it comes to finals.
All in all though, Spain rightly won by managing to do away with all their ghosts of the past, as well as being the best team of the whole tournament. Holland started out great but fizzled real quick, while Russia and Germany picked up their stride slowly, reached an impressive level, only to sink to the bottom in their most important matches again. Spain was consistant, while not exactly dazzling, and thoroughly deserved a cup they hadn't won in about five billion years.
If anything, I personally much prefer it when teams such as Spain, Greece in '04, and Denmark in '92 win such a big tournament, as it adds to the whole mythos of the Euro tournament. It's the kind of victories people still discuss years after the event, when discussions about the World Cup are rarely about its finals, as those are usually dominated by four teams in the last 30 years (Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina), with the exception of France in '98. Instead, people talking about the champions of Euro championships can talk about how teams can defy all expectations and win the cup against all odds.
(At this point I should point out that Spain has always been the better team, by a fairly wide margin, when compared to Denmark and Greece, but this victory was mainly a triumph against the expectations that they had been setting for themselves these past few decades).
TL;DR version:
So who do you think is going to disqualify the reigning European Champions, Spain, in the quarter finals of World Cup '10?
Thursday, June 26
[Headache Thursday] So like, Euro 08 and stuff.
My head is killing me today, so this post will be really short.
Basically, I think that this year's Euro 08 championship has been alright, but nothing special. Yet most others seem to disagree and think that it's the best competition in years. It's definitely better than any of the recent World Cups I've seen, but eh, I'm not feeling it.
Last night's match was a good one, the first semifinal: Germany Vs. Turkey. I was kind of hoping Turkey would win so all the nationalistic pricks in this country would go crazy, but that striker dude Turkey had was so damn obnoxious with his "Shh" celebration after every goal he scored. Don't ruin the move, ass.
Plus the Turks, who have been pulling crazy comeback after crazy comeback in this tournament, made the mistake of scoring first. You just don't do that against the Germans, they're the people that invented the comeback.
As for the second semifinal, Russia Vs. Spain, it's currently on the 60th minute and Spain is up 1-0. Boring game so far, which is a shame because you'd expect more from two teams that are so good offensively.
*Update* So the score is 3-0 now, damn, the Spaniards bitchslapped the Russians again. I wasn't expecting that.
If Spain goes through, I'm willing to bet a lot of money that they'll choke hard against Germany. It sucks, since I don't like the German team, but I guess the old saying is true:
"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."
Gary Lineker
TL;DR version:
Score, you damn Russians. (so much for that)
Basically, I think that this year's Euro 08 championship has been alright, but nothing special. Yet most others seem to disagree and think that it's the best competition in years. It's definitely better than any of the recent World Cups I've seen, but eh, I'm not feeling it.
Last night's match was a good one, the first semifinal: Germany Vs. Turkey. I was kind of hoping Turkey would win so all the nationalistic pricks in this country would go crazy, but that striker dude Turkey had was so damn obnoxious with his "Shh" celebration after every goal he scored. Don't ruin the move, ass.
Plus the Turks, who have been pulling crazy comeback after crazy comeback in this tournament, made the mistake of scoring first. You just don't do that against the Germans, they're the people that invented the comeback.
As for the second semifinal, Russia Vs. Spain, it's currently on the 60th minute and Spain is up 1-0. Boring game so far, which is a shame because you'd expect more from two teams that are so good offensively.
*Update* So the score is 3-0 now, damn, the Spaniards bitchslapped the Russians again. I wasn't expecting that.
If Spain goes through, I'm willing to bet a lot of money that they'll choke hard against Germany. It sucks, since I don't like the German team, but I guess the old saying is true:
"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."
Gary Lineker
TL;DR version:
Score, you damn Russians. (so much for that)
Wednesday, April 2
[Greek] Ένα κλασσικό βίντεο
Βαρεμάρα ατελείωτη αυτές τις μέρες, τόσο πολύ που γράφω κάτι στα ελληνικά μετά από μήνες! Και το θέμα; O all-time classic (πρώην;) αντιπρόεδρος της Π.Α.Ε. Εδεσσαικός, Θωμάς Μάτσιος, σε όλο του το μεγαλείο:
Ναι, όλοι έχουν τρακ μπροστά στην κάμερα, και όλοι χάνουν τα λόγια τους μερικές φορές, αλλά ο Μάτσιος δίνει απλά ρεσιτάλ.
Ναι, όλοι έχουν τρακ μπροστά στην κάμερα, και όλοι χάνουν τα λόγια τους μερικές φορές, αλλά ο Μάτσιος δίνει απλά ρεσιτάλ.
Friday, March 21
I'd like to borrow a time machine
Willing to pay for it.
Why? Well...
Need I say more? Alright, I will. I watched episodes 2 to 8 over the last two days (and got a headache in the process, but it was so worth it) and oh my gods, what a season it's been so far. So much for my "I'm not so hyped about this season" nonsense, I'm Lost's bitch oncemore. Season 4 is nothing short of astounding. Lots of answers, more questions, great use of flashbacks, flashforwards and uh, flashbetweens (!) all around. Lost is back, baby!
Glad to hear we'll be getting the whole season this year, too. It's going to be a painful wait until the break is over, but if the above preview is any indication, it's definitely going to be worth it.
On a different note, I planned to write a long, detailed post with my opinion on why Panathinaikos didn't make it to the Euroleague play-offs, but I decided I won't do it after all. Why? Because, well, I don't wanna.
Long-story short, you can't go far in the Euroleague championship with two of your Centers injured and out of commission for months. You just can't survive on that level of competition without your big guys. The same thing happened to us back in '03 and '04.
Could Jasikevicious's paycheck have been used to buy one or two sorta-good Centers? Quite possibly. Would that have made a big difference? I personally doubt it. Saras was one of the few players actually trying these last couple of months (I'm looking at you, Becirovic) and last year we won everything, despite having two players with huge wages (Tony Delk and Robertas Javtokas) that contributed very, very little all year long.
Shit happens, at the end of the day. That's all there is to it.
Why? Well...
Need I say more? Alright, I will. I watched episodes 2 to 8 over the last two days (and got a headache in the process, but it was so worth it) and oh my gods, what a season it's been so far. So much for my "I'm not so hyped about this season" nonsense, I'm Lost's bitch oncemore. Season 4 is nothing short of astounding. Lots of answers, more questions, great use of flashbacks, flashforwards and uh, flashbetweens (!) all around. Lost is back, baby!
Glad to hear we'll be getting the whole season this year, too. It's going to be a painful wait until the break is over, but if the above preview is any indication, it's definitely going to be worth it.
On a different note, I planned to write a long, detailed post with my opinion on why Panathinaikos didn't make it to the Euroleague play-offs, but I decided I won't do it after all. Why? Because, well, I don't wanna.
Long-story short, you can't go far in the Euroleague championship with two of your Centers injured and out of commission for months. You just can't survive on that level of competition without your big guys. The same thing happened to us back in '03 and '04.
Could Jasikevicious's paycheck have been used to buy one or two sorta-good Centers? Quite possibly. Would that have made a big difference? I personally doubt it. Saras was one of the few players actually trying these last couple of months (I'm looking at you, Becirovic) and last year we won everything, despite having two players with huge wages (Tony Delk and Robertas Javtokas) that contributed very, very little all year long.
Shit happens, at the end of the day. That's all there is to it.
Monday, December 3
Does history repeat itself?
Never one to keep up with news stories as they come up, I only recently found out about the draw for the qualifying groups of Euro 2008. That's the one England didn't qualify for.
Reigning champions Greece (42 months after the fact, it still feels wrong to read/write this) have been drawn with Spain, Russia and Sweden. Definitely not an easy group to qualify from, as all four teams are at about the same level of quality.
What's interesting to note, however, is that this is almost the same group as the one Greece was in the Euro 2004 tournament, from which they qualified and went on to win the championship, with the exception of Sweden which has replaced 04's Portugal. And Portugal is the better team, not to mention that they were the hosts that year.
I'm not saying that things will happen the same way, but the games Lady Luck plays are funny sometimes. Moreover, Greece generally tends to do well in a group when either Russia or the former USSR is there too. Is this mere coincidence? Probably, but who cares, little trivia like this make sports more fun to watch.
For the record, in 2004 Greece defeated Portugal 2-1, had a 1-1 draw against Spain and lost to Russia 1-2 in the last group game. It was the only game we lost, and it almost was enough to miss out on qualifying from the group. Should be really interesting to see the rematch.
The first game against Sveden will take place on June 10, so still a while to go. Let's see what happens.
Reigning champions Greece (42 months after the fact, it still feels wrong to read/write this) have been drawn with Spain, Russia and Sweden. Definitely not an easy group to qualify from, as all four teams are at about the same level of quality.
What's interesting to note, however, is that this is almost the same group as the one Greece was in the Euro 2004 tournament, from which they qualified and went on to win the championship, with the exception of Sweden which has replaced 04's Portugal. And Portugal is the better team, not to mention that they were the hosts that year.
I'm not saying that things will happen the same way, but the games Lady Luck plays are funny sometimes. Moreover, Greece generally tends to do well in a group when either Russia or the former USSR is there too. Is this mere coincidence? Probably, but who cares, little trivia like this make sports more fun to watch.
For the record, in 2004 Greece defeated Portugal 2-1, had a 1-1 draw against Spain and lost to Russia 1-2 in the last group game. It was the only game we lost, and it almost was enough to miss out on qualifying from the group. Should be really interesting to see the rematch.
The first game against Sveden will take place on June 10, so still a while to go. Let's see what happens.
Thursday, November 22
My bad
In a previous post, I mentioned that I'll be rooting for two teams in the NBA this year, the Washington Wizards, and the Chicago Bulls. I also said that one of my favorite players in the championship at the moment is Gilbert Arenas.
Less than a month later, what do the standings tell us? The Bulls are at a 2-8 record, probably affected by all this talk about acquiring Kobe Bryant during the off-season, which at the end never happened. For some reason, most teams don't recover all that well from such a change. Or lack of a change. Or something along those lines, anyway.
The Wizards are at a 6-5, which is pretty decent, considering they started with a 0-5 (or was it 0-4?)
The thing is, Arenas was recently injured and will be out for two to three months. How will the Wizards fare without their superstar, especially now that another key player, Power Forward Antawn Jamison has been under-performing lately?
Man, talk about jinxing it, I feel kinda responsible. My apologies, kind gents.
That'll be all for today. Still too tired for a huge post.
It was Lupus!
Less than a month later, what do the standings tell us? The Bulls are at a 2-8 record, probably affected by all this talk about acquiring Kobe Bryant during the off-season, which at the end never happened. For some reason, most teams don't recover all that well from such a change. Or lack of a change. Or something along those lines, anyway.
The Wizards are at a 6-5, which is pretty decent, considering they started with a 0-5 (or was it 0-4?)
The thing is, Arenas was recently injured and will be out for two to three months. How will the Wizards fare without their superstar, especially now that another key player, Power Forward Antawn Jamison has been under-performing lately?
Man, talk about jinxing it, I feel kinda responsible. My apologies, kind gents.
That'll be all for today. Still too tired for a huge post.
It was Lupus!
Wednesday, October 31
So, uh...
I had initially planned to write three different posts today. I had figured I'd write two of them early in the day and then finish the third one in the night, after returning home.
However, a few beers later, and I have to shamelessly admit I have no idea anymore what it was I wanted to write about. No friggin' clue. It's kind of hilarious. I'm sober, in case you're wondering, it's just my memory that's not working.
So instead, I'll just say that today a new world record was made in volleyball as one set in the match of PAOK Thessaloniki V AEK Athens ended at 54-52. For reference, nine times out of ten, a set in volleyball ends when a team reaches 25 points. I'd really like to know how long that set lasted.
In closing, this is one Futurama video I've wanted to post for weeks now but never got the chance, now's a good a time as any, I'd say.
You know it's true.
However, a few beers later, and I have to shamelessly admit I have no idea anymore what it was I wanted to write about. No friggin' clue. It's kind of hilarious. I'm sober, in case you're wondering, it's just my memory that's not working.
So instead, I'll just say that today a new world record was made in volleyball as one set in the match of PAOK Thessaloniki V AEK Athens ended at 54-52. For reference, nine times out of ten, a set in volleyball ends when a team reaches 25 points. I'd really like to know how long that set lasted.
In closing, this is one Futurama video I've wanted to post for weeks now but never got the chance, now's a good a time as any, I'd say.
You know it's true.
Sunday, October 21
I need a Hiro
Having just recently watched the fourth episode of the second season of Heroes, I feel the need to jump on the bandwagon. So far, this season has sucked. Royally. Imperially, perhaps.
Yes, it's only four episodes so far, so there's still a lot of time for its creators to get it back on track, but do you really trust them? Lost had sort of lost its touch for a while during Season 2 and parts of Season 3, but it was never this boring. Outside of Charlie-based episodes, anyway.
I should point out at this point that I was never crazy about Heroes, I've always thought it's a fun, if pretty forgettable show, with mediocre acting and uneven writing. And this is coming from a guy who grew up on Marvel comic books, so you should know what my standards are like.
I could never really understand how the show became so popular with the mainstream, especially here in Greece where any TV show/movie slightly removed from reality is labeled as "childish". I guess its simplistic, yet entertaining, nature made people overlook that, and that's definitely not a bad thing.
But these first episodes of season 2, good gods... It's like watching the O.C., only people can also fly and bore you to death with inane conversations here.
Hiro has always been the most interesting character in Heroes for most people, myself included, and having him stuck on his own in feudal Japan is probably one of the reasons why the show has been really dull so far.
Still, it's not all bad. As I said earlier, there's still a long time to go before the season ends, so I'm not giving up on the show yet. Plus, Kristen Bell (the star of the now canceled Veronica Mars show) is coming on the show for a few episodes, starting tomorrow, so that's a definite improvement. Here's hoping.
In other news, Kimi Raikkonen just won the Formula 1 championship, and even though I've lost interest in the sport in general, I've always been a fan of Kimi. I also like seeing Fernando Alonso lose, because he's an arrogant prick. Suck it, Fernie.
Yes, it's only four episodes so far, so there's still a lot of time for its creators to get it back on track, but do you really trust them? Lost had sort of lost its touch for a while during Season 2 and parts of Season 3, but it was never this boring. Outside of Charlie-based episodes, anyway.
I should point out at this point that I was never crazy about Heroes, I've always thought it's a fun, if pretty forgettable show, with mediocre acting and uneven writing. And this is coming from a guy who grew up on Marvel comic books, so you should know what my standards are like.
I could never really understand how the show became so popular with the mainstream, especially here in Greece where any TV show/movie slightly removed from reality is labeled as "childish". I guess its simplistic, yet entertaining, nature made people overlook that, and that's definitely not a bad thing.
But these first episodes of season 2, good gods... It's like watching the O.C., only people can also fly and bore you to death with inane conversations here.
Hiro has always been the most interesting character in Heroes for most people, myself included, and having him stuck on his own in feudal Japan is probably one of the reasons why the show has been really dull so far.
Still, it's not all bad. As I said earlier, there's still a long time to go before the season ends, so I'm not giving up on the show yet. Plus, Kristen Bell (the star of the now canceled Veronica Mars show) is coming on the show for a few episodes, starting tomorrow, so that's a definite improvement. Here's hoping.
In other news, Kimi Raikkonen just won the Formula 1 championship, and even though I've lost interest in the sport in general, I've always been a fan of Kimi. I also like seeing Fernando Alonso lose, because he's an arrogant prick. Suck it, Fernie.
Thursday, October 18
Predictable
There are few things in life that are entertaining (though not necessarily on purpose) on a consistent basis. Greek sports newspapers definitely fall into that category.
A little flashback is needed in order to better understand the context of this story: Last March, on the 24th, the Greek team lost 4-1 to Turkey in our homecourt, the Olympic Stadium of Athens. This defeat was a huge deal, not only for purely sports-related reasons, but also for political ones, as Greeks and Turks haven't been the best of neighbors for oh, a few hundred years. The fact that this loss came on the eve of what is traditionally celebrated as the start of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman empire didn't really help, either.
The result of this disastrous defeat was a storm of public outrage against the coach of the Greek team, Otto Rehhagel, with the local press furiously calling for his resignation. This being the same coach that three years helped Greece win their first ever title, the Euro 2004. Even certain politicians expressed their disdain of coach Rehhagel in public, and called for his resignation.
Rehhagel though, being a cunning, calculative and just plain smart guy, said nothing but instead made a few subtle adjustements to the team, while retaining its chemistry. The result was that Greece became one of the first teams to pretty much secure qualifying a position in the Euro 2008 championship, even before last night's game in Turkey. The haters had to shut their mouths beforelong.
As for last night's game? Probably the best one this selection of Greek footballers has played yet, and an easy 1-0 victory over the Turks inside their homecourt. Not as emphatic a victory as the one the Turks got last March, but equally as important. With a little more luck, the Greeks could have easily scored a couple more goals, as well.
So how did the local press react to this victory today? Endless praise so exaggerated it's almost painful to read. First-page spreads speaking of a "Holy Victory", references to the concept of the Megali Idea and Byzantium, with pictures of the Hagia Sophia in the background... It's so ridiculous, it's enough to make you cry. With laughter. We only won a football game, guys, relax.
It's as stupid as those videos that circulated YouTube and other similar sites in March, with the Turks saying making a mockery of the 300 trailer and offering such colorful quotes as "the team that fucked the Spartans" and so on.
At least the Turks had the decency to applaud the better team last night, something I've still to see in this country (notable exception being the supporters of AEK, who have their moments.)
Going back to herr Otto Rehhagel, is there any mention of him in all the spreads about the Greek football "empire", that will retain its European champion's crown in Euro 2008*, in any of the 18(!) sport newspapers that circulate in this country? Just one, actually. The newspaper Gata (Greek for "cat") thanks Rehhagel for making them look like fools for telling him to resign in March. The rest seem to have completely forgotten about it, or they just don't care.
Of course, if the Greek team fails completely and utterly in Euro 2008, people will start calling him names and asking for his resignation again. I have to admit, there's some form of morbid entertainment to be had in witnessing such predictable reactions. Which is why I still follow them, after all.
I have decided, for a while now, to stop buying sports newspapers, though. Maybe if their financial gains started diminishing, they'd own up to their opinions a little more. This is my little puny form of protest, if you will. Their frontpages are usually more fun, anyway, and I can read those for free.
*Don't even get me started on that.
A little flashback is needed in order to better understand the context of this story: Last March, on the 24th, the Greek team lost 4-1 to Turkey in our homecourt, the Olympic Stadium of Athens. This defeat was a huge deal, not only for purely sports-related reasons, but also for political ones, as Greeks and Turks haven't been the best of neighbors for oh, a few hundred years. The fact that this loss came on the eve of what is traditionally celebrated as the start of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman empire didn't really help, either.
The result of this disastrous defeat was a storm of public outrage against the coach of the Greek team, Otto Rehhagel, with the local press furiously calling for his resignation. This being the same coach that three years helped Greece win their first ever title, the Euro 2004. Even certain politicians expressed their disdain of coach Rehhagel in public, and called for his resignation.
Rehhagel though, being a cunning, calculative and just plain smart guy, said nothing but instead made a few subtle adjustements to the team, while retaining its chemistry. The result was that Greece became one of the first teams to pretty much secure qualifying a position in the Euro 2008 championship, even before last night's game in Turkey. The haters had to shut their mouths beforelong.
As for last night's game? Probably the best one this selection of Greek footballers has played yet, and an easy 1-0 victory over the Turks inside their homecourt. Not as emphatic a victory as the one the Turks got last March, but equally as important. With a little more luck, the Greeks could have easily scored a couple more goals, as well.
So how did the local press react to this victory today? Endless praise so exaggerated it's almost painful to read. First-page spreads speaking of a "Holy Victory", references to the concept of the Megali Idea and Byzantium, with pictures of the Hagia Sophia in the background... It's so ridiculous, it's enough to make you cry. With laughter. We only won a football game, guys, relax.
It's as stupid as those videos that circulated YouTube and other similar sites in March, with the Turks saying making a mockery of the 300 trailer and offering such colorful quotes as "the team that fucked the Spartans" and so on.
At least the Turks had the decency to applaud the better team last night, something I've still to see in this country (notable exception being the supporters of AEK, who have their moments.)
Going back to herr Otto Rehhagel, is there any mention of him in all the spreads about the Greek football "empire", that will retain its European champion's crown in Euro 2008*, in any of the 18(!) sport newspapers that circulate in this country? Just one, actually. The newspaper Gata (Greek for "cat") thanks Rehhagel for making them look like fools for telling him to resign in March. The rest seem to have completely forgotten about it, or they just don't care.
Of course, if the Greek team fails completely and utterly in Euro 2008, people will start calling him names and asking for his resignation again. I have to admit, there's some form of morbid entertainment to be had in witnessing such predictable reactions. Which is why I still follow them, after all.
I have decided, for a while now, to stop buying sports newspapers, though. Maybe if their financial gains started diminishing, they'd own up to their opinions a little more. This is my little puny form of protest, if you will. Their frontpages are usually more fun, anyway, and I can read those for free.
*Don't even get me started on that.
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