Well, as we all knew German and Michael Ballack fail to win the European Championship this morning. And yes, the unlucky 13 has yet again miss out the biggest prize of European football, after miss out 3 trophies this season with Chelsea.
What can I say? The quest of runner up is complete. Personally it will be very disappointing for him for sure, though he can still produce something in Chelsea next season but for international football this might be the end. Two years is a long way to go for athelete. Are we going to see him next world cup? Only time will tell....
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Germans have a little Lahm .....
.... and his heart is as big as they come !
The Germans are coming ! The Germans are coming ! And they've arrived in the Final of Euro 2008 with the winning goal against Turkey from the best right-footed left back in the world.
Take a bow, herr Philip Lahm.
You could make a case that he's the best left back in the world, period. Or the best right back in the world too, for that matter. But we won't get into that. He's definitely one of the most effective attacking full backs in the world. And he can defend well too, unlike a certain Mr. Roberto Carlos.
And finally the Turks are out. After multiple late goals and accompanying fight backs, this was one mountain too high for them. You know, with all their late rallys, Turkey were actually beginning to resemble Germany. And the Turks did manage one late equalising goal in the 86th minute. But the Germans also managed a late goal via Lahm in the 90th minute. I guess you could say that the Germans out-Germanned the Turks !
And check out the stats : Turkey had 22 shots to 9 for Germany. The Turks were actually the more dominating team. Which leaves us with that famous statement from the esteemable Gary Lineker :
Football is a simple game : 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.
As for me, I'm having fun watching Germany progress. They don't have the best players when compared to some other teams but they do have a focus and mentality which enables them to progress far in tournaments. This is the case again in Euro 2008 where their center backs are a far cry from the likes of Beckenbauer and Jurgen Kohler of teams past.
I can only think of two other teams who are comparable tournament teams : Italy and Argentina. Brazil doesn't qualify because, really, they depend more on the sheer abundance of talent dribbling around on their streets.
On a side note, there are 2 million German citizens who have Turkish roots, so they were going to celebrate either way. This would include Mehmet Scholl, a former stalwart of the German national team who has a Turkish father. Turkey also fielded 2 German-born players in the Euro 2008 semifinals against Germany.
On another note, the Germans also approached Owen Hargreaves to play for them as he qualified under residency rules (Hargreaves had joined Bayern Munich at the age of 16). He chose England instead. He really could have chosen better.
Big Girl Already ....
My little girl turned 2 yesterday and yes, she's now aware of birthdays. I don't know whether it's from watching other children have birthday celebrations or TV or whatnot, but she does seem aware that birthdays are fun.
We had a little celebration for a little girl and she got to eat her favourite food .... mushrooms !
And we had to fit it in at the end of a day where I won a SonyEricsson W350 in a lucky draw, and spent a few K on a new Myvi. So I guess you could say that I had a few events in my day.
She got to blow her first candles with a lot of help from her Mama and you've got to admit that she does look pretty good in that dress !
Monday, June 23, 2008
如果
最近常在想，
如果当初选的不是那个科系，
如果当初选的不是那份工作，
如果当初。。。。。
一切都会不同吧！
会更好吗？
会不一样吗？
可惜没有人知道未来，
没有人可以从新来过。
上帝是公平的，也是残忍的。
一切都只有一次的机会，没有预演。
即使我站着不动，地球也会转动。
多无奈的事实。
如果。。。。。
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Germany vs Turkey
That's the 1st semifinal of Euro 2008 confirmed. I guess most people would say that this semifinal pairing is unexpected given that the vanquished, Portugal and Croatia were the favourites against these two teams.
So was Germany winning unexpected ? Well, yes and no. Yes because Portugal have been playing well and Germany have not been impressive. And no because..... it's the Germans. What did you expect ?
Yet again the Germans came through in a big game and this was one where they looked rather comfortable compared to some of their famous fight-till-you-drop, last minute heroics, gut-it-out games. It helped that the Portugese had weaknesses in their defence. I mean, come on.............. two goals from free kicks in exactly the same manner ?
But I think what really swung this game was the tactics. The Germans switched to a five man midfield and this really helped them in two ways :
1. It got Mario Gomez off the field. He hasn't started the tournament well.
2. Portugal couldn't control the game in midfield the way the Croatians did against the Germans. At least the Germans had enough bodies to compete in midfield.
The German defence still doesn't look convincing but with Turkey in the semifinals, I'm betting that they'll do enough to make the final.
So was Germany winning unexpected ? Well, yes and no. Yes because Portugal have been playing well and Germany have not been impressive. And no because..... it's the Germans. What did you expect ?
Yet again the Germans came through in a big game and this was one where they looked rather comfortable compared to some of their famous fight-till-you-drop, last minute heroics, gut-it-out games. It helped that the Portugese had weaknesses in their defence. I mean, come on.............. two goals from free kicks in exactly the same manner ?
But I think what really swung this game was the tactics. The Germans switched to a five man midfield and this really helped them in two ways :
1. It got Mario Gomez off the field. He hasn't started the tournament well.
2. Portugal couldn't control the game in midfield the way the Croatians did against the Germans. At least the Germans had enough bodies to compete in midfield.
The German defence still doesn't look convincing but with Turkey in the semifinals, I'm betting that they'll do enough to make the final.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
4:01
When it comes to the emotional attachments that sports clubs generate in fans, invariably there are images that come to mind. Most people call them Memories.
When I think of Manchester United I get :
* Eric Cantona with an upturned collar. There's a reason why my daughter's name is Catriona.
* Ryan Giggs slaloming through 5 Arsenal players to score the decisive goal in the epic FA Cup semifinal replay in the 98/99 season
* Steve Bruce's 2 late, late goals against Sheffield Wednesday which helped United to their first Premier League title. And Brian Kidd jumping wildly on the pitch at the final whistle of same game.
* Solskjaer's toe poke goal to win the Champions League final in 98/99
* The Busby Babes and the Munich air crash. And how the club recovered from the ashes of this tragedy.
When I think of Manchester United I get :
* Eric Cantona with an upturned collar. There's a reason why my daughter's name is Catriona.
* Ryan Giggs slaloming through 5 Arsenal players to score the decisive goal in the epic FA Cup semifinal replay in the 98/99 season
* Steve Bruce's 2 late, late goals against Sheffield Wednesday which helped United to their first Premier League title. And Brian Kidd jumping wildly on the pitch at the final whistle of same game.
* Solskjaer's toe poke goal to win the Champions League final in 98/99
* The Busby Babes and the Munich air crash. And how the club recovered from the ashes of this tragedy.
So as I was watching the Boston Celtics go about winning their first NBA title after 21 years, 4:01 is the number that comes to mind. That's how much time was left in the game when Doc Rivers substituted all 3 of his big stars in the title clinching game against the LA Lakers. The game was well in hand by then and the celebrations had long begun. And now when I think of Banner 17, 4:01 is the number that comes to mind.
In fact, Manchester United and the Boston Celtics are pretty similiar in many ways. Both are clubs with a rich and trophied history and both had suffered through tragedies which set the club back years : United through the Munich air crash and the Celtics through the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. And I started supporting them when both clubs were going through a lean spell - a very long lean spell.
That's what makes their victories all the sweeter.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Celtics On The Way To A Banner
The Celtics are up 79-48 in Game 6 ! Looks like No. 17 is on the way.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Celtics on the brink of No. 17
Right now they're leading 3 games to 1 in a best-of-seven series, after mounting the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history since 1971 to win Game 4. They don't know if it's the greatest comeback because statistics were not kept before 1971.
Some people named them as favourites at the beginning of the season. 9 out of 10 'experts' named the Lakers as favourites to win the NBA Finals when it was finally confirmed that they would be matching up. I must admit that the Celtics had been struggling to get through the playoffs. Hey ! It's their first time together as a team in the playoffs. In the NBA, you just don't find teams who win on their first trip together in the playoffs. And these Celtics are a team in the 'newest' sense of the word when you consider how many of them are having their first season in Boston. That would be 7 out of the 12 who are having their 1st season as a Celtic. And of that 7, 2 joined in the middle of the season. Now that's 'new'.
But you could see that they were learning. It took them a long time, and it definitely wasn't obvious at first, but by the Detriot series they had started to figure it out. The thing with this team in the playoffs is that when they really, absolutely, totally had to -
They. Always. Come. Through.
And now they're one game away from being NBA Champions 2008. I'm taking leave to watch Game 5 and I hope not to have to take leave for Game 6.
And if the Boston Celtics do eventually win No. 17 - if I get a son, I'm toying with the idea of naming him Paul Kevin Ray Chong.
Game 4........ how do I describe it ? When I saw that the Celtics were down by 21 points after the 1st quarter, I was ready to write the game off as a loss. The Lakers lead got as big as 24 points and they were still up by 20 points in the middle of the 3rd quarter. And that's when the Celtics started to turn things around........ and ended up winning the game 97-91 !
In footballing terms, it's like being down 0-4 until the 60th minute, and then wind up winning the game 5-4.
So now these 3 guys,
stand on the verge of winning their first NBA title.
Some people named them as favourites at the beginning of the season. 9 out of 10 'experts' named the Lakers as favourites to win the NBA Finals when it was finally confirmed that they would be matching up. I must admit that the Celtics had been struggling to get through the playoffs. Hey ! It's their first time together as a team in the playoffs. In the NBA, you just don't find teams who win on their first trip together in the playoffs. And these Celtics are a team in the 'newest' sense of the word when you consider how many of them are having their first season in Boston. That would be 7 out of the 12 who are having their 1st season as a Celtic. And of that 7, 2 joined in the middle of the season. Now that's 'new'.
But you could see that they were learning. It took them a long time, and it definitely wasn't obvious at first, but by the Detriot series they had started to figure it out. The thing with this team in the playoffs is that when they really, absolutely, totally had to -
They. Always. Come. Through.
And now they're one game away from being NBA Champions 2008. I'm taking leave to watch Game 5 and I hope not to have to take leave for Game 6.
And if the Boston Celtics do eventually win No. 17 - if I get a son, I'm toying with the idea of naming him Paul Kevin Ray Chong.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
It wasn't meant to be.......
风度翩翩的王子在泥地遇上了狂野的烈士。王子尽了全力，受了伤，再此失败了。
失望的眼神投向心爱的女人。只有她最懂他的心。昂首扩步地走去了战场。眼泪就在她怀里流吧!
昨天法网决赛，费德里还是没有摆脱命运的安排再次的和泥地大满贯插身而过。连续三年拿到亚军，无缘成为真正的四赛大满贯。今年应该是费帅拿冠军最好的时机，从初赛到决赛都没有遇到难缠对手，偏偏决赛杀了一个程咬金。
今年费帅的状况比前几年差了恨多，更人怀疑费帅时代的结束是不是要来临了。决赛输球其实不是很差的成绩，可怜的是赛情好像一面倒。自己失误多过对手拿分。可能是压力太大吧。三次连败，费帅信心肯定受到打击。尤其今年还特地去请了个泥地专家当教练。可惜，事与愿违，空留遗憾。
如果拿到法网可能就没有遗憾，可以考虑退休。看样子，费帅只好明年再接再励。一直有人说费德里应该是史上最好的球员，如果他能摘下法网那就绝对没有争议。偏偏又出现了一个可能是史上泥地最强的球员。相对相刻。两位风格绝然不同的球员，激起了灿烂的火花。
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Germans need Philip Lahm at left back !
Yes they do ! Marcell Jansen has been a train wreck at left back. The two center halfs are still getting introduced to each other even after two years together. Jens Lehmann has been unconvincing, to say the least. Suffice to say, the German defence looks horrid. Add to that an overwhelmed midfield, an underwhelming attack and an idiotic Schweinsteiger (a red card in a lost game when it was the next game which was going to be crucial !) and the net result is a 1-2 loss to Crotia. Not to say that Croatia is a weak team. Croatia is a strong team but Germany were terrible.
The Germans may not have the best individual players but it's still the same team that got 3rd in the last world cup. It was obvious that the game against Croatia was being played at the Croatians' pace. Now, if the Germans want to progress far, they can't allow that happen. They have to impose their pace on the opposition. That's the reason they went so far in the last World Cup.
And they can start by putting Lahm at left back. He's one of the best left backs in the world and the direction of the Croatia game changed when he was switched from right back to left back. Coach Joachim Loew also needs an alternate plan when Ballack and Frings are outnumbered in central midfield. He needs to seriously consider pushing Podolski upfront to partner Klose. Podolski has been red hot so far (3 goals in 2 games) and the man he would be replacing, Mario Gomez, looks like he'll need a little time to adjust to international football. Of course, the man who would be taking over the left flank if Podolski is pushed up is Schweinsteiger but the darn fool got himself sent off. And I would also have a serious look at dropping Jens Lehmann.
I'm still hoping that the Germans win Euro 2008 but, judging on the game against Croatia, there's a lot of work to be done for the team to make a strong challenge.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
涨！...涨!
政府这次公布汽油起价真是一颗大炸弹。把大家都炸到晕头转向。一公升起了7角钱，结果百物都酝酿涨。 唯有一样。。。工钱倒是没起。 昨天和皇上一起用餐，他突然问起汽油涨价对你问有什么影响。真是废话。那还用问吗？结果有人的答案更加令人跌眼镜。大姐第一个就跳出来说，其实也没什么影响，政府会回扣。所以大慨只加了50零吉，可以应付。
呃。。。小姐，汽油涨了可是什么都会涨。奶粉就已经涨了6零吉。什么叫没影响。真是要晕倒。结果皇上的建议是，让员工从事传销的行业。这肯定不是我们要的答案吧。做工已经这么辛苦还要搅净脑子作传销。不是太可能。
皇上呀，还是起薪给我们比较实际。
Friday, June 6, 2008
New born.
6 months old. 
1 year old. 
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
More on Catriona
Having tuition with Uncle Adrian. 
This's the way I brush my teeth, brush my teeth.......
Acting cute.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Fanatic?
Ever wonder why people are so fanatic about football?
This is so funny yet brilliant....... I don't know how to explain.
Ai, man.......
Oh Owen Hargreaves
You are the love of my life
Oh Owen Hargreaves
I'd let you shag my wife
Oh Owen Hargreaves
I want curly hair too...
Eagerly waiting for the daring fans to sing this at Old Trafford. Can't imagine what will be Owen's reaction. Janelle too, LOL....
Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!
On the NBA front, the Celtics are back in the NBA Finals ! Yes ! What a difference a year makes.
Last year, the Celtics were 29th in the NBA. There were 30 teams. And now.... they're playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. That's the biggest turnaround ever in the history of the NBA. But was it really all done in just one year ?
The NBA is run very differently from football leagues in Europe. There's a salary cap for teams. And you can't buy players, you have to trade them for other players or draft picks. And there's a luxury tax, and you get young players through a yearly draft....... suffice to say, building the personnel for a team is a big job. In fact, all the NBA teams split the job of getting players from the job of coaching players. In the Celtics case, the jobs fall to Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers.
One year ago, the Celtics were hoping for the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft. They had the 2nd highest percentage chance of the 30 teams to get those picks. It would have given them the opportunity to draft Greg Oden or Kevin Durant - so-called 'franchise' players who would have been the main star players of the Celtics for the next 10 years. As it stood, the Celtics ended up with the 5th pick, which was the lowest pick they could get.
So what does, Danny Ainge do ? 4 years of drafting and developing young players, multiple trades, trying to build a team from scratch, taking on big contracts........... and it seemed like they wouldn't be able to make the next step of getting significantly better over the long or short term.
Well, the first thing he did was give up that 5th draft pick and two other players in a trade for Ray Allen, a 7 time all-star shooting guard. That helped Danny boy to persuade Kevin Garnett, a 10 time all-star power forward to move to Boston in another trade. Together with current Celtics small forward Paul Pierce, a 5 time all-star, the Celtics suddenly had a nucleus which had the NBA buzzing.
With that trio in place, veteran players began lining up for a shot at getting an NBA championship : Scott Pollard, Eddie House, James Posey, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell. Together, these guys helped solidify the rest of the squad. It answered a nagging question that had been raised time and again : "What about the rest of the Boston Celtics team ? Are they good enough to win a championship ?"
Over the course of the season, Doc Rivers has managed that squad all the way to the NBA Finals. So, it does look like the rest of the players are good enough to contend for a championship. And it all started on the day the Celtics got a lousy break and ended up with the 5th pick. That forced Danny Ainge to change course and turn one of the youngest squads in the NBA into one of the oldest........ and they're in the NBA Finals. What a difference a day makes.
And what about the journey ?
Danny Ainge was hired in 2003 and inherited an aging team which had done reasonably well but were simply too limited talent-wise to win the NBA. He declared a 5 year plan for the Celtics to be a legitimate NBA contender and set about executing his plan. The plan was to stockpile picks, draft young players, develop them and eventually trade them for an all star player to play alongside Paul Pierce. Well, it worked out a little better than that : he got 2 all star players to play alongside Paul Pierce.
I've been following them through the growing pains of that young team but would I have foreseen an NBA Final just 1 short year ago ? Not on my life. Oh, you could see that Danny Ainge had a talent for drafting good players (on a relative scale) considering that he usually got only around the 15th pick onwards. (He has a particularly impressive record for drafting under-sized power forwards with 2nd round draft picks : Ryan Gomes, Leon Powe, Glen Davis). And Doc Rivers was doing a decent job of developing that talent, on the most part. But when you looked at that team last year, would you have thought "We're going to be a contender next year" ? Not on your life.
Well, we're in year 5 of Danny Ainge's 5-year plan and there's an NBA Final against the Los Angeles Lakers coming up. He built a young team, he traded that team, and he compiled a team of veteran players. He put his ass on the line by backing up Doc Rivers when some fans wanted the coach fired last season. And he could do all this because the team's ownership were willing to trust in him and put their money where their mouth was. What a difference 5 years makes.
And what a journey.
Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!
Last year, the Celtics were 29th in the NBA. There were 30 teams. And now.... they're playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. That's the biggest turnaround ever in the history of the NBA. But was it really all done in just one year ?
The NBA is run very differently from football leagues in Europe. There's a salary cap for teams. And you can't buy players, you have to trade them for other players or draft picks. And there's a luxury tax, and you get young players through a yearly draft....... suffice to say, building the personnel for a team is a big job. In fact, all the NBA teams split the job of getting players from the job of coaching players. In the Celtics case, the jobs fall to Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers.
One year ago, the Celtics were hoping for the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft. They had the 2nd highest percentage chance of the 30 teams to get those picks. It would have given them the opportunity to draft Greg Oden or Kevin Durant - so-called 'franchise' players who would have been the main star players of the Celtics for the next 10 years. As it stood, the Celtics ended up with the 5th pick, which was the lowest pick they could get.
So what does, Danny Ainge do ? 4 years of drafting and developing young players, multiple trades, trying to build a team from scratch, taking on big contracts........... and it seemed like they wouldn't be able to make the next step of getting significantly better over the long or short term.
Well, the first thing he did was give up that 5th draft pick and two other players in a trade for Ray Allen, a 7 time all-star shooting guard. That helped Danny boy to persuade Kevin Garnett, a 10 time all-star power forward to move to Boston in another trade. Together with current Celtics small forward Paul Pierce, a 5 time all-star, the Celtics suddenly had a nucleus which had the NBA buzzing.
With that trio in place, veteran players began lining up for a shot at getting an NBA championship : Scott Pollard, Eddie House, James Posey, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell. Together, these guys helped solidify the rest of the squad. It answered a nagging question that had been raised time and again : "What about the rest of the Boston Celtics team ? Are they good enough to win a championship ?"
Over the course of the season, Doc Rivers has managed that squad all the way to the NBA Finals. So, it does look like the rest of the players are good enough to contend for a championship. And it all started on the day the Celtics got a lousy break and ended up with the 5th pick. That forced Danny Ainge to change course and turn one of the youngest squads in the NBA into one of the oldest........ and they're in the NBA Finals. What a difference a day makes.
And what about the journey ?
Danny Ainge was hired in 2003 and inherited an aging team which had done reasonably well but were simply too limited talent-wise to win the NBA. He declared a 5 year plan for the Celtics to be a legitimate NBA contender and set about executing his plan. The plan was to stockpile picks, draft young players, develop them and eventually trade them for an all star player to play alongside Paul Pierce. Well, it worked out a little better than that : he got 2 all star players to play alongside Paul Pierce.
I've been following them through the growing pains of that young team but would I have foreseen an NBA Final just 1 short year ago ? Not on my life. Oh, you could see that Danny Ainge had a talent for drafting good players (on a relative scale) considering that he usually got only around the 15th pick onwards. (He has a particularly impressive record for drafting under-sized power forwards with 2nd round draft picks : Ryan Gomes, Leon Powe, Glen Davis). And Doc Rivers was doing a decent job of developing that talent, on the most part. But when you looked at that team last year, would you have thought "We're going to be a contender next year" ? Not on your life.
Well, we're in year 5 of Danny Ainge's 5-year plan and there's an NBA Final against the Los Angeles Lakers coming up. He built a young team, he traded that team, and he compiled a team of veteran players. He put his ass on the line by backing up Doc Rivers when some fans wanted the coach fired last season. And he could do all this because the team's ownership were willing to trust in him and put their money where their mouth was. What a difference 5 years makes.
And what a journey.
Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!
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