Virgin Airlines is doing a promo where tickets from Seattle to San Francisco is only $33 either way and Seattle to Los Angeles $66 either way. Only for today until 5pm. Tickets must be for any time between August 25th until October 6th. Their site is at http://www.virginamerica.com (Currently, the site is down).
After 62 games played and 30 teams eliminated, we’re down to the last two teams remaining in the tournament: The Netherlands (Oranje) and Spain (La Furia Roja). To be honest, I think this is the match-up for the football purists. Two very solid squads with great passing abilities, great attacking options, and solid teamwork. Did I mention the fact that neither of these teams have won the World Cup either?
So it begs the questions: Who do you think is going to win it all?
I have to admit, calling all the winners of the quarterfinal games and the semifinals games was kinda cool. Congrats to both teams for making it to the finals though. It should be a really really fascinating match these two teams. Both teams rightfully deserved to make it this far. It’s unfortunate that only one team can come out as the World Cup champions though.
Who do I have winning it all? Spain. Had them since before the tournament started. Heck, I had this match-up before the tournament started.
I’ll post my analysis of this match-up in the next few days, as well as the third place match between Uruguay/Germany.
EDIT: It’s not really worth analyzing the third place match. Germany is far stronger than Uruguay. Germany should win it handily. It’s all about the championship game.
So if you haven’t heard already, Uruguay made it into the semifinals, where they’re playing in less than 8 hours from now. However, how they got there is considered by some as “controversial”, others “unethical”, and few as “what just happened, but absolutely genius and awesome”. I’ll explain exactly what happened, as well as other thoughts (in a different format than what I usually do).
World Cup is something I look forward to whenever it comes around. But at the same time, I hate it too. It’s by far one of the most heartbreaking events out there. I came into the tournament rooting for the French (who was one of the most underachieving teams of the finals), the U.S. (one of the most overachieving teams thus far), and the Spanish (who are just fun to watch). But more on this later… But just how hard is it to watch these games? And how hard is it to really win the World Cup?
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. –Matthew 6:9-13
I am an analytical person. I think about all the possibilities, the permutations, the psychology, the mentality, the strategies, the tactics in the things I take part in. Thinking about what happened that Saturday, I couldn’t really get it out of my head. Always thinking about all the possible options that I could have taken. The plays that I could have made. The mistakes I made. The error that sealed up what could have been. When you’re so close to doing something incredible, only to suffer and fall to the hands of defeat. It’s that feeling that you really never want to feel. Continue reading
I think this commercial is both awesome… and horrible:
Awesome: The first segment with Didier Drogba and all of the Ivory Coast cheering as he’s about to score…
Horrible: … except for the fact that Cannavaro (well, more of Italy) not being scored on.
Awesome: The part with Rooney being the scapegoat one moment and then hero the next. Oh, and hugging the Queen of England and schooling Federer in table tennis.
Horrible: Kobe Bryant in a commercial about the World Cup. Obviously, Lakers in such commercials is an automatic lame.
Double horrible: Ronaldinho isn’t going to be playing in the World Cup, yet Nike publicize him as playing. Way to get the soccer newbies’ hopes up.
Awesome: Cristiano Ronaldo megging Homer Simpson… And Homer actually realizing what just happened.
Horrible: Cristiano Ronaldo in a Nike commercial.
But yeah, in the words of Aaron Cohen (guest writer on Kottke.org) on the commercial: “If this doesn’t make you feel a little tingly, you’re probably going to want to go on vacation from June 11 – July 11.” So true.
… I was sitting at my program department’s lounge working on an assignment for a class with a few other people. After a few tangents, we got on the topic of G.W. Bush. I talked about how felt stupid for voting for him twice. Some of the things he did during his campaign. Then his “thick” Texas accent got brought up.
Now the funny thing about this is that I never really paid attention to his accent. I just assumed it was just a part of who is he. One of the guys in the discussion pointed out that his parents don’t have the accent as they were from the New England area. So that kinda made me suspicious. Then he brings up G.W. Bush’s younger brother, Jeb, and how he doesn’t have that Texas accent. So I had to look this up. Thankfully, YouTube provides a lot of material of Jeb’s interviews. He was right. Jeb doesn’t have one.
So why the heck does G. W. Bush have that Texas accent? How your parents speak and the accent that they have does have a pretty strong influence on how you speak when you’re growing up, especially the early years. Your environment does play a role, but his parents are considered a part of that too. The only thing I could think of was he changed it for the sake of votes. Make yourself look like a Texan, get the respect of fellow Texans. That was the perfect way to do it. Maybe someday, someone will catch him without the accent and put that up on YouTube for all the world to see.
Anyone have any other theories on this or can explain why G.W. Bush has that “thick” Texas accent when three well-known members of his family (G.H. Bush, Barbara, and Jeb) don’t? Continue reading
These past two quarters of grad school have been quite an experience. When I say experience, I mean both good and bad. In the three classes that I’ve taken, I’ve learned a lot. I give a lot of credit to my instructor for her help and loyalty to her students in assisting them when they need it. If it wasn’t for her, I probably would be struggling a lot. It forced me to ask for help when I couldn’t figure out the answer. It made me think differently about syntax and about linguistics in general.
At the same time, it’s been a rough time, especially this past quarter. I don’t think I went a week without bitching and moaning about the problems that I encountered in the class. How do I set up this rule to ensure that these arguments are working? Are the semantics for this sentence correct? How do I implement these features in order to ensure that I get the full realization of the phenomena that I’m working with in my language? How do I make sure that this rule works without breaking this other rule? I think you can get the idea.
But over the past couple of months, it’s left me questioning a lot about what I’m doing. Continue reading
I never thought I would manage a team, let alone a soccer team. Soccer never was on my heart until seven years ago, where I helped organize a team for intramurals. Sometimes, it seems like an obsession. That I have some personal motive that results in me choosing to be with the team rather than serving in ministry, hanging out with people, or something of the sort.
In running this teams, I’ve managed to experience a number of injuries. The worse of them were ones to my head. Three minor concussions and numerous hits to the head. A chronic injury to my dominant foot and my hamstring. Yet, I’ve been driven to keep continuing to play, manage and lead a team. Even at the risk of my own health, I’ve still been driven to continue doing this. But why?
Every so often, I think “Why am I doing this in the first place? What’s the point?” I could be risking further injuries. I know that any one severe hit could change me forever. I could be doing something completely different. Having to deal with the complications of managing a squad can be difficult too. Ensuring enough playing time goes around, finding a chemistry among 16 different players, and creating an strategy and tactic that fits everyone’s style of play. It seems like this overwhelming burden, doesn’t it?
Then I’ve looked back on the number of people that have come and gone on this team in the past three years. I’ve looked at all the relationships that have formed over these past years. I’ve seen people who never knew each other become best friends. I’ve seen photos of teammates going on hiking trips and out to the beach. I’ve seen strangers before joining this team to becoming bridesmaids for the bride-to-be at their weddings.
The team does have a focus on winning, teamwork, and playing a beautiful game. Every single person that’s been on this team have had that same desire and goal (minus a specific crazy Eastern European keeper). However, the team was more than just that. It’s been about creating those relationships. I’ve seen a lot of them blossom through this team. And while a lot of them might not be on the team now, I know that those bonds are still there. It’s been a joy to see all of the friendships created these past few years. That’s been what I’ve hoped and loved to see as I managed and lead these players that have come and go.
So in the end, it’s worth it. To me, anyway. Sometimes, that struggle is there. Things might not be going so well, but to create that opportunity and place for those relationships to be created and built outweighs the losses or sacrifices made in its place.
It’s not the score lines that are remembered, but rather the memories and friendships that were created.