Jersey Ga-ga

I love Football. Anyone of you who has been dropping around this blog (even those who pretends not to, lol) should know by now. And like every other football fan, I love collecting and wearing jerseys of my favourite teams, moreso the ones worn by the heores I adore. I have collected quite a few over the years, though some of it i gave out to friends and family. I did kept some in my closet, and when Jean overhauled my closet last Saturday, I had a chance of taking photos of those I really value the most.

The 2002-2003 Manchester United "away" kit. This was the uniform they wore the last time theycaptured the Enlish Premiership trophy.


A Michael Owen Liverpool jersey when he was still with the Reds. This is a replica of the one he wore when they triumph in the 2001 European(UEFA) cup.


A replica of the Brazil jersey that won the 2002 World cup in Japan.


An England World Cup 2006 kit. Too bad they never made it even to the semifinals.


I like this jersey because this is the first uniform Arsenal wore after they left Highbury as their home stadium and transferred to the London Emirates Stadium. This is also the current Arsenal jersey.


this was the last Jersey Chelsea players wore before they jump-shipped sponsorship from Umbro to Adidas. This was also their centennial kit and the uniform they wore in their second consecutive premier league championship.


Maybe my most favourite (not to mention the most expensive) on the current ones I have. This is Manchester United's jersey to date. They are in really good form and is looking to capture their first premiership trophy in four years.

Godfall

For some, Tennis is a bore. While others, live for it. Nowadays, Tennis has become more popular, thanks to the athletes who plays like they are going on a catwalk show. But apart from the usual glitz and glamour of the sponsors, we can't deny there's hard talents in those courts.

Nowadays, you can't talk about Tennis without touching a topic about Roger Federer. The FedererExpress, as he is fondly called. you think about him and you think about Sampras and Agassi combined. No, that's an understatement. you can even add Borg and Lendl in the mixture. Crazy, isn't it? Yeah, maybe, but that's what Roger Federer is for the moment. If you compare his greatness and dominance in Tennis to any other sports legends, you instinctively think of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Ronaldinho. He IS that good. How good, you say? how about winning Wimbledon 4 consecutive times, then the US Open and Australian Open three times respectively. The Roland Garros (freanch open) has remained just the only Everest for Federer to conquer before he can be called the greatest ever. A title he almost got twice, if not for a flamboyant Spaniard named Rafael Nadal. He reached 17 consecutive finals and won 56 consecutive hard court matches. He ranked up there for all time finals wins with 46 wins for 59 finals entered.

He has been called with so many adjectives throughout his career that sometimes it's even absurd. We have elevated him to god-like status and if this was ancient Greece, he may as well have a place in Mt. Olympus.

But then these past two weeks, the unthinkable happened. He lost. We blink. Thought if it's just the beer or are we seeing a conspiracy by the universe. But it is true. He lost-- not once, but twice! In consecutive tournaments, and with THE SAME man! And it's not even in a final. Last week's lose was at the Indian Wells, and this week at the Miami Masters both on the hands of Argentine Guillermo Canas. We panicked. Think. And we feel better. Because like every other sportsman, greats fall. And Federer--as special as he is-- ain't no exception.

This is a setback, of course. And pretty sure Federer will bounce from this and win more tournaments than ever. But for us, it's just a reminder that like us, Federer too, is mortal.

When Genius Deserts You

*Note: This post was made last Thursday but was only published by blogger today because of spams going into my blog. It's cleared now, I hope.

Genius is innate. Either you have it , or you don't. It's that ability that made Einstein see 3- dimentional objects in his mind while creating mathematical theorems and formulas. It's the swiftness in Picasso's hand while paint glides from brush to canvas effortlessly. It's that athletic impossibility that modern-day sportsmen show while we ordinary mortals can't even dare to imagine improbable in our meager and limited thoughts.

In sports, genius is about claiming greatness. Exceptional athletes wanted to be demanded of, they want to dominate teams-- both their own and the enemy. They own the stage. They hug the spotlight. And they deliver the goods in such way and style that we ordinary expectators ran out of adjectives and praises for such deeds. In World Cup '86, Maradona single handedly pass through six opponents to claim a goal against England in such extraordinary fashion. He always wanted the ball. Because only when the ball is with him that he became somebody else... Somebody not us.

In modern football, only two athletes come to my mind when I think of genius-- Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry. Ronaldinho with his wizardry in the pitch and turning out football moves that defies biomechanics; Henry with his gracefulness and finesse with the ball, caliper- precision strikes and field leadership. Incidentally, they came from the opposing teams that slug it out in last season's champion's league final. It was in which Ronaldinho's team Barcelona took the honors and left Arsenal (Henry's team) grasping on regrets.

Lately I've been burning the candles of dawn (these past two days to be more precise) to again watch my favourite football team slug it out for Europe's most prestigious competition, the UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, in its last 16 tie.

Arsenal was taking Holland's PSV Eindhoven while Barcelona took on another English heavyweight and another favourite of mine Liverpool. I was expecting firecrackers and goal fest from the two modern gods of football. As if I absolutely knew that they will lead each of their teams for the onslaught of the opposing team's doom to oblivion.

...It was never meant to be. Arsenal was a a mere shadow of their mighty self as PSV disposed them 2-1 and left Henry injured in the last minute. Barcelona was a bigger disappointment. Never even half the team that they were last year, they scored but haven't really turned out a performance and spirit of champion that they, more often than not, demonstrate. They vowed to Liverpool 2-2 on an away goal role.

And so, with the blow of whistle for the end of the game played in two different stadiums, two of the greatest teams that I admire most-- two teams that came to the finals last year undefeated, two teams I've expected to leave a firebrand on their way to a finals clash repeat-- has danced their swansong for this year's Champion's League, taking broken hearts, shattered dreams and hard lessons they will carry for next year's attempt for glory.

I guess, even genius have their off-day.