How do you feel better after surgery? Turn to the Bhoys

Starting my second day of recovery from hernia surgery, I have had a steady diet of footy this weekend, capped today by Celtic's 2-0 win over some team or other in blue (also from Glasgow, Wangers? Strangers? Something like that) in the Co-Operative Insurance Scottish League Cup.

After 0-0 in the full 90, it was the Irish who delivered Celtic in extra time two days before St. Patrick's Day, Darren O'Dea with a fine header and then Aideninho McGeady drawing and then putting away a penalty seconds before time. Mon the Hoops! Mon the Bhoys!

Full story is here.

Now all I need is for Dynamo to take out Columbus this weekend and my recovery will be complete! Read more!

Bhoys go 3 up on Rangers

Celtic 2 Kille 1 - video powered by Metacafe


Check out the nifty run in traffic from "Skippy" McDonald for the sick, sick winner. Now with this win over Kilmarnock and Rangers' spirit-killing injury time penalty kick 1-0 loss to Callie, the Hoops are back on top of the Scottish Premier League en route for their fourth consecutive title. Read more!

THIS is how you take penalty kicks.

After a scoreless 120 minutes, Celtic and Dundee United went to the spot, and 21 kicks later it was FINALLY decided.

So the Bhoys move on to the Cup Final against the Strangers March 15. Read more!

Two sick goals from the Bhoys

After one of the wildest blunders you'll ever see from the Holy Goalie Artur Boruc (or any keeper for that matter), Celtic righted the ship in a tremendous way Saturday in Scottish Cup action at Paradise.

Oh, and did I mention that the weather conditions for this game were something like 100 below? This once again shows that professional footballers are tougher than I ever have been or ever will be (And I'm man enough to admit that as long a I don't have to get out in those frigid conditions to do so!)

Just amazing, amazing stuff. Read more!

Seven steps to Heaven

A quick detour to Scotland and the Bhoys. Those who know me know about my love for Celtic FC, the true Hoops ( My blood boils when people refer to Dallas as the Hoops. Morons.). This is a goal from the the Bhoys' 3-1 win over Kilmarnock in Scottish Cup play earlier this week. Seven passes (seven!) until Aiden McGeady slots it home. Even if you're a Rangers fan, you've got to appreciate how fun this is. Enjoy.

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One of the worst back-passes I've ever seen and more reasons why I can't stand Lee Naylor

Boy, you see this and you just have to wonder what Paul Hartley was thinking. Obviously, he didn't see Bent, but if I were his youth coach, I'd of had to really calm down or li'l Paul's parents would probably have had me removed from the field!



And watching Lee Naylor screw this up is just reason No. 572 why I ended last season hoping I had seen the last of the guy in the Hoops. What the we ginger one continues to see in this guy is just beyond me.

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Quick hits going into the weekend

So I start today with a quick look at tonight's game and some other items of not to me over the last week and looking ahead.

Contrary to what many say, Dynamo do not "need" to win tonight at Rice-Eccles Stadium. While a win would be a great way to say sayonara to MLS until July 22 and put the team into first place, however temporarily, we all know that in the playoff-driven MLS, just hanging around and then getting hot is the route to a championship.

Remember, Dynamo finished second in the west in both 2006 and 2007, but you don't see that on those nifty little championship ring replicas that hang from my keychain. Also, it's important to remember that those seven ties, while quite annoying, are not losses. Dynamo also led the league in ties in 2006, and we all know how that turned out.

Now, that being said, Dynamo have done very little to distinguish itself as an elite team so far in 2008. Great runs met by truly sloppy defending. Head-up game followed by true stinkers. No momentum of any kind whatsoever. So the news today in the Chronicle that Nate Jaqua is about to come back (and then be traded to Seattle as soon as the season is over) comes as no surprise. It's just the same sort of mediocre, hey this is great, except for this one little thing, sort of news that we've been getting all season.

(Now would be the time to speak more of the here-it-is-no-it-isn't-and-back-again Dynamo Park, but I am swearing that subject off for now, despite Fallas and my brother's best efforts to pull me back into it. Must. resist. Must. resist.)

In any event, despite my heart saying Dynamo win tonight 1-0, my head seems drawn to a 2-2 result. Another tie.

Apparently, the Dynamo reserves lost to Charleston again in U.S. Open Cup play earlier this week. My only reaction to that is "Good." With SuperLiga, Champions League, the Olympics, WC qualifying and, oh yeah, MLS already dotting the calendar that was the last thing we needed to worry about. I have kind of a so-so attitude about the USO Cup. I like it and all and I am well aware of its history, but really, can't it be done earlier in the season, especially now that Champions Cup is gone? Right now, my attitude is that I root for whatever USL team is doing well in USO play, and if an MLS team that plays Dynamo is still in the thing, I root for them to keep playing long, drawn out emotionally wrenching matches that distract them.

Is it time to bring up again how superfluous SuperLiga has become with the onset of Champions League? I mean, as Mister3D and I posted back in the spring, SuperLiga was awesome last year and we loved it, but there is nothing it does that Champions League doesn't do better. I think SuperLiga should become the tournament for teams that don't make it into the Champions League knockout stages. Keep the format and relationships and keep it from overcongesting the calendar.

Viva Espana. I honestly say I liked both teams and could not lose in the Euro final. I have mentioned to Mister3D and Playtherapy many times, and I think there will be a longer blog post about this when the seasons start up again, but after my first full European season with GolTV and FSC, I fell in love with the Bundesliga. The speed was surprising and the physicality was amazing to me. I can't wait to start following them again.


Has anyone else seen the TOFFS site, the Old Fashioned Football Shirt Company. SF has written about it over at The Offside Rules and Ronaldo at 101 Great Goals pimps them as well. I think my first purchase over there will be the '67 Leones di Lisbon kit. Their range of NASL gear is great, though still nothing from my old Houston Hurricane. :< Only a matter of time though.

One other thing: I have enjoyed reading about Joseph Ngwenya getting a trial with Bayern Munich (nice links here and here). Good going Joe. See, it pays to network, especially when you're networking with Juergen Klinsmann. But my absolute favorite thing about this is that I don't think there's any way at all he's going to catch on with Bayern, which means that when this three-week trail is over, the chances of him coming back here look even better.

Happy Fourth everyone! Read more!

That championship look

No, the title of this blog does not apply to Dynamo, who were outplayed in almost all aspects of the 2-1 loss to San Jose last night. You get games like that from time to time, losing to inferior teams, but you also get the opposite, beating teams you should never beat.

Rather, the title applies to the now three-time SPL champion Celtic FC. Their surge to the title came almost literally out of their ass. When the Bhoys lost to Motherwell at home in early April, it looked like the SPL title streak would be over. Then came one win, and then another and then, even better, two inspiring and amazing wins over hated rival strangers at Celtic Park. Seven in all to grab the trophy.

I have been a Celtic fan since being directed that way by two friends of mine who live in Ayr, just outside Glasgow. Since then, as I have learned more and more about the team, its history, what it stands for, my fandom has deepened and deepened. I have given myself completely over to the Bhoys (and believe me, I almost foam at the mouth that Dallas would ever consider calling themselves the Hoops. There is only one Hoops, and they ain't red and they sure as hell ain't in Dallas!), just behind my devotion to Dynamo.

But I'll let the Bhoys' actions speak for themselves in the clips below. For Tommy Burns, for Phil O'Donnell, for the return of Neal Lennon, for the Holy Goalie, for the Wee Ginger One, for Skippy and Aideninho and JVOH (and his wondrous, goal-scorin' noggin) for all the rest,

Mon the Hoops! Mon the Championship!










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Another win. Is a miracle in the offing?

Skippy McDonald's expression says it all. When Celtic lost to Motherwell at home earlier this month, it truly seemed as if the championship run was over. But now that the Bhoys have beaten the strangers twice in 10 days, including the 3-2 win at Parkhead yesterday after Skippy scored the brace and then won the penalty kick that Barry Robson fired home for the winner, the Hoops are back on top.

And don't remind me that the blue have three games in hand and are only down by five points. I know all that, but the fact of the matter is also that the strangers and their fans need to deal with their REAL problems, that they could have put this thing away at Parkhead twice, but did not. Now, the Bhoys, who seemed so completely out of it after the Motherwell debacle, are in their heads and stomping around in there having a grand old time! And if the title run is truly over, then that's the way it is. We'll at least have April and my Celts will definitely NEVER walk alone.

(Now if only Dynamo can have someone like Skippy step up now that they're coming home to play a damaged las chivitas. If Celtic can ride this to another title then there's hope for us all!)


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A tip o' the hat to Bhig Shot Jan

A little shout-out to my Bhoy Jan, who scored the game-winner at 94-fuh-reakin' minutes to beat the strangers at Paradise today 2-1! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Or as Matt said over at Lord of the Wing, "I'd like to add F*CK and YES!"

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A tale of two ties, or a duo of draws

There's kissing your sister and then there's liking it. Yesterday, my two favorite teams each slogged their way through 0-0 draws, but with wildly different meanings, showing once again that in footy, as in less important matters, context is everything.


Earlier in the day Celtic and Dundee United fought at Paradise to a scoreless result, which I think pretty much torpedoes the two-time SPL champs' chances of adding the third. Unless that other team starts to lose, the Celts will just have to look to the Scottish Cup for their silverware this season. I'm not giving up by any stretch, just being realistic.


But for my No. 1 team, a scoreless result was just fine with me. Being in preseason still, playing at altitude and against a determined opponent, Dynamo knotted 0-0 at CSD Municipal in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Now there's no need to insert any recap or synopses of the game because several people online have already done so, my favorites being Jeff Bull at Center Holds It, Glenn Davis' and Bernardo Fallas at the Chron. Here's my take posted on those fine blogs:

The combo of legs and altitude had Dynamo gasping at the end, but I was thrilled with the result, getting at least the minimum you would want from the opening away leg. I was impressed with Wondo. Nice disruption of the Municipal defense, though it was clear he was out of gas int he last 10 minutes.

Why is it again that Kinnear is so hesitant to sub? Odd that Caraccio and Mullen did not come in around the 70 min. mark. I think it would have made the period of mins. 68-83 or so a tad less harrowing.

And my personal belief was that Ashe was trying to shoot at the International Space Station or something on his crosses. That was about as bad as it gets.

One thing I noticed is that BOTH of these teams would have wiped the floor with DC or Harbour View. That first game was almost unwatchable it was so bad. I felt like I lost soccer IQ points just having it on my TV.

Next week’s picks: DC 2, HV 1 and Dyn 2, Mun 0.

What are your predictions? Read more!

Bhoys/Barca to be on ESPN Classic

A big thank you to the Orlando Sentinel for letting us all know the error in ESPN's lineup. ESPN Classic (Channel 35 on my Comcast box at home) will indeed be showing the Bhoys/Barca game on tape delay this afternoon at 4 p.m. central time.

Now, to be sure, I am under no illusions here and will offer no bold tilting-at-tsunamis predictions of a Celtic road upset. I will also say that I admire Barcelona and there is no doubt that the best team won at Paradise two weeks ago. (Wow, did Barca ever look good in that game!) However, I will direct you to the Gorgeous Greek's fearlessness, not to mention the realistic confidence emanating from Captain Stevie. And if truth be told, even as beautiful as the weather is today in Houston and no matter my commitments to the this evening's caucus festivities, I'd rather be with these guys.

So I guess I'll just have to warm my Hoops Heart with this:

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Naka's strike-a

And I would be remiss if I did not include this wonderful strike from my main Bhoy Shunsuke Nakamura in Celtic's 1-0 win over St. Mirren Sunday. That's the way to put that pasting from Barca in the rear-view mirror. Forza!

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Very nice 5-1 win for the Bhoys

Taking out Killie with a great 5-1 win in the Scottish Cup, Celtic moves on to the quarterfinals. (Wonderful quickie analysis of the win here.) After an admittedly tepid last two months, it looks like the Hoops are starting to gather some steam for their push to a double defense and passing that other team from Glasgow (Hmmm, forgot their name). For a particularly good time, check out the final goal from new Bhoy Georgios Samaras, he of the orange shoes. (Orange? Playing for Celtic? The anarchist in me thinks that is just great.)

The Hoops have had numerous comings and goings over the last month, many of which have left my head swimming. But one thing is certain, Gordon Strachan and the brain trust there will not just stand pat and let the double slip from their grasp. It brings up my fave quote from club chief executive Peter Lawwell last year: "We don't care who finishes second." Go get 'em Pete m'lad!


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Gordan Strachan and the Hurricane

Found the YouTube clip below over on The Offside, some wonderful footage of current Celtic manager Gordon Strachan during some of his playing days for Dundee. GS's hair is awesome, but it's the uniforms that get me. Absolute beauty. (GS is No. 8 by the way.)


By the way, I have been looking for footage of the old NASL Houston Hurricane for years and have yet to find any. First to send me a link thereof, or just point me in the right direction gets a Nutmegged T-shirt (as soon as we get around to making one, that is!).

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Naka takes a stand

Why do we love Shunsuke Nakamura? This is why we love Shunsuke Nakamura. The stand the Celtic midfielder has taken against racism in European football, specifically in the Lega Calcio is beyond admirable. Every year in the Champions League this is a problem, some of which gets reported (Hello DaMarcus Beasley, who has famously fought back against the problem) and most of which probably does not.

UEFA's William Gaillard has been very honest about the problem, but it still persists for a variety of reasons. Personally, I think that money will still lure players to the countries of the worst offenders, but eventually, there'll be more players like Naka who will speak up and those leagues may eventually be faced with the "change or attract only second rate players" bargain. It can't come soon enough.

What year is this again?



And here's the full AFP story, for those of you who might have trouble seeing the link:


Italian racism discourages Japanese, says Nakamura
AFP
January 12, 2008
ROME (AFP) - Japan star Shunsuke Nakamura has blasted Italian football for its racism in an interview published on the official UEFA website.

Nakamura played for Reggina for three seasons before joining Celtic in 2005, where he has established himself as one of the stars of the team.

But in his UEFA interview, Nakamura talks about the difficulties of adapting to the move from east to west.

"It's very difficult for a Japanese player coming to Europe," said Nakamura. "There are so many factors in different countries, ranging from the style of play to the obvious cultural differences.

"Sometimes you get racism as well, not in Scotland, but in Italy, which is not nice, and that probably explains why so few Japanese players have made it here."

Nakamura's time in Italy was far from a failure and he helped the little Calabrians retain their top flight status in each year he was there.

He was rumoured to be on his way to Spain or Germany after that but instead opted for Celtic.

However, he is still considering a move to slightly warmer climes, such as Spain or Brazil, particularly with only one year left on his Celtic deal.

"It's true I have thought about playing in those leagues, but the situation is difficult," he said.

"If I was in my early or mid-20s, I could go and play in other countries. But, because I'm 29, it might not be so easy to get that kind of move. In any case, it's not as if I'm desperate to play there."

Nakamura is more settled in Glasgow than he ever was in Italy and has even been joined by his wife and young son, something that has made life much more pleasant.

"My son is now two-and-a-half years old and going to nursery in Glasgow. He speaks better English than I do," joked the midfielder, who is reknowned for his spectacular left-foot free-kicks, which have earned him the nickname 'the Japanese Beckham'.

However, it was another midfielder who convinced Nakamura to become a footballer, although it was not former Japan coach Zico, one of the biggest influences on Nakamura's career.

"Don't tell Zico, but Maradona is my favourite player," he said mischievously. "The first tournament I remember watching on TV was the 1986 World Cup, and that's when I first noticed Maradona.

"I love Brazilian football and admired some of their midfield players like Falcao, but Maradona was something else altogether.

"The goals he scored against England - not the 'hand of God' effort - and Belgium in that tournament were breathtaking and gave me the inspiration to try and make a career in football."

He still has a lot of respect for Zico, though.

"Zico was the one who changed Japanese thinking on football, and as such he's very important for Japanese football. He's a big hero in Japan." Read more!