Congratulations, Spain, on your World Cup win!
Other than being the best-looking soccer (football) team in the tournament (possibly in any soccer tournament), having followed Spanish soccer since my first visit about four years ago, I am especially happy about their World Cup win after very close and frustrating games where I thought they should have scored more goals.
Exciting to watch were the Dutch and Germans, who brought fiery play to the field, though I miss the skilled long-distance goals from the Germans of 2006.
Disappointing as expected were the Italians and the French, and the upsets over Brazil and the destruction of Argentina were a pity.
So some of the greats were weaker than normal. Blame the new ball for all those high-flying balls. Blame the vuvus for just drying the players and spectators on couches nuts.
But my beloved Spanish team won and congratulations!!
Drive or ride on Germany’s most famous race track
The Nürburgring, 90km southwest of Cologne, is the ticket. One lap costs €16 in your own vehicle. Or take a ride (up to three passengers) with a pro for €180. One lap is 13 miles. A nice little summary is at about.com or visit the Nürburgring site itself.
I was researching a screenplay I’m writing. Thought I’d share this tidbit of info.
Another track for watching races instead of being on the track is the Hockenheimring. I know. Germans really need to remove some consonants from names. Just separate the “ring” from the word to help a touch.
Top 25 soccer websites – Telegraph – courtesy of kickette
Yeah, it’s a mouthful. But lest I waste your and my time compiling my own list of soccer related sites, thanks to info from the dolls at kickette.com, the Telegraph has already done it. So go to the listing of the Top 25 football (soccer) websites.
Quick, get your love on, Bruce Lee style
Bruce Lee’s former Hong Kong home will only be a love hotel until plans to make it into a museum take effect. A design contest jump-starts the conversion plans, while the current hourly-rate hotel serves its most expedient customers. Check out Yahoo! News article to see where I found out. And no, I’m not saying that the dude in the picture resembles Bruce Lee in any way besides sharing a possible few DNA strands. It’s just a photo that’s supposed to elicit a similar emotion to that possibly experienced in a love hotel.
Celebration of unique blogs
I don’t know how these girls get the pics they do, but what a lovely little blog full of pictures and frivolity featuring soccer stars – mostly the pretty ones – throughout. Got to appreciate some pics you don’t see everyday, at least in the States. It’s also kind of a tribute to families which soccer players also seem to create, at the very least after the DNA evidence grows to about three feet tall and starts to ask why Mommy and Daddy aren’t married yet. Check out Kickette for good times.
World Cup 2010
Hard to believe, especially since the hairstyles of some of the most noteworthy players of the last one still persist, but World Cup 2010 is coming. There are a ton of qualifiers going on just this weekend, so no need to wait. I prefer to watch mine with dedicated beer-guzzling fans in my local pub.
Rugby and Nudity
I had to mention nudity in the title because I wouldn’t have discovered this sport had it not been for the nudity. It all started with a “taping of” DVD I’d rented done by Pedro Usabiaga, a photographer who has shot some of the best-known European celebrities and athletes but has a penchant for shooting hard male bodies. It’s called Private Diary if you want to go check it out. Anyway, when I was searching for it on amazon.com, Amazon’s clever recommendation tool told me I may also like Dieux du Stade, an almost-nude or nude celebration of some of the hottest rugby players of the French Stade rugby team and others they’ve recommended for the honor. So, I bought a couple of their DVD’s and the heavy coffee table book. Inspired by what I saw therein, I began investigating some of the teams these players were on, and thus began my interest in rugby as a spectator’s sport. It looks even better that soccer. Their shorts are shorter and sometimes they wear muscle shirts. They’re big dudes and they have pecs, which soccer players tend to lack in favor of speed and leg strength. It’s very aggressive and they don’t wear pads. What a celebration of human potential!
Confederations Cup Soccer Championship Highlights
I tweeted commentary for the first time via my twitter i.d. as I watched the Confederations Cup final between Brazil and the United States and the third place run-off between South Africa and Spain. Tweeting about five or six times per half so it wouldn’t get crazy, I figure I might keep it up for other competitions.
Now on to the highlights.