The race is on!!

The first race of the 2010 season started today and what a cracker it was! After a long five-month wait the opening race of the new season finally commenced at Losail GP in Qatar. If this is a harbinger of what's to come in the next 17 races then we are all in for a total edge-of-the-seat ride.

It was full of drama (read: crashes and close passes). Casey Stoner, the 2007 champion and last year's runners-up, crashed out after leading the race, which left Valentino Rossi, the MotoGP legend, to finish race in first place, though not without a very tough challenge from his Italian compatriot, Andrea Dovizioso. Yamaha got the 1-2 finishes with Rossi's team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, squeezed into the second place in the last few laps after spending most of the race in fourth position. The close battle was actually between the third and fourth finishes as Ducati rider, Nicky Hayden, passed by Dovizioso in final two lap but was nicked (pun intended!) by the Honda rider at the checkered flag. I am a big fan of the "Kentucky Kid" aka Nicky Hayden and was rooting for him for a podium finish but alas it wasn't meant to be. Still, what a great start for Hayden in his second season racing for Ducati. My other favorite rider, the American, Ben Spies, raced superbly in his debut season in MotoGP by finishing fifth. Spies, by the way, was the former twice champion of the World Superbike Championship. He's super fast and super talented and I see nothing but great things ahead of him in future races. Another MotoGP rookie, Hiroshi Aoyama, also did commendably in his debut race. Aoyama, who was last season's 250cc champion, finished in tenth place ahead of the other former 250cc riders who joined MotoGP this season, Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista. Wow, what a great race to start the new season!

Man, I cannot wait for the Sepang GP in Malaysia this September (if the usual schedule doesn't change). Last year's race in Sepang was extra special as I got to witness Rossi clinched his sixth MotoGP title in person. It was truly magical!

Nature vs Nurture

I just read an interesting news on BBC online about Bolivian football players being prescribed doses of Viagra to help them play better on high altitude. Viagra, as we know, helps to expand blood vessels and oxygenate the blood, thus providing more stamina and endurance to its users.

This brings up the question whether the recent Bolivia's 6-1 thrashing of Argentina was due to the Bolivian players inherent ability to play at high altitude or was Viagra the secret weapon that gave them the added advantage and propelled them into a resounding victory?

It's hard to say unless if the Argentinian team also used Viagra to help boost its chance of winning in La Paz. But if I have to make an educated guess, I'd say that it was the Bolivian players' unique biological structure i.e. "Nature" that made them play well on their native high grounds. I made this assumption based on two reasons: Not all humans are created equal and we are physically and mentally shaped by the environment we grew up in, and it is known that natives of high altitude have bigger-than-normal blood vessels and more expansive lung capacity to help them adapt to their surroundings; second, I doubt that South American teams with a long horrendous track record at La Paz are ignorant of ways - scientific or otherwise - to increase blood flows to the heart and brain that would help level the playing field, literally and figuratively speaking.

Argentinian and Brazilian team doctors and physiotherapists are not stupid and I'm almost certain they know the benefits of using Viagra in high-altitude matches. Why they almost never won in La Paz can then be chalked up to the Bolivian players' natural ability to play in thin-air environment. If, say, Malaysian national footballers are forced to play Zenit St. Petersburgh in the bone-freezing, snow-covered field of Russia, I'm sure they'll lose by 20 goals or more. What if the table is turned and Zenit has to play in hot and muggy Malaysia? I'm sure as heck it'll still win, but only by 10 goals or maybe less... Yeah, this goes to show how patriotic I am!

Football blogging as a form of therapy

Taking up Nicky's advice I'm starting a new blog about my life-long obsession of and my undying love for football: http://jomceritabola.blogspot.com This blog stems from my endless discussions about football with Nicky until wee hours in the morning, especially the English Premier League, and simply serves as another avenue for discussing the beautiful game from an amateur point of view. Also I guess Nicky was sick of listening to me whining constantly about my emotional crises hahaha...

The past few weeks have been very emotionally-taxing for me as my heart was broken into a million little pieces and I was at the lowest point in my life. I was a total emotional wreck despite my friends' attempts to shake me out of it. But I found that playing and talking about football can be soothing to my troubled soul (not a permanent cure though), so I decided to start blogging about football as a way to distract my mind from thinking about her, at least temporarily. Football has always been there for me in my time of need, usually acting as an emotional outlet, so this blog will be no different. I hope my football-crazy readers can contribute to the discussions in here.

p/s: The reason I create a separate blog for football is that I want to keep my old blog strictly for other topics and I don't want to mix them up. I still like to blog about politics, and given my current emotional state, relationship.

Football Fever...

Only if I can get enough people to berdoa this morning for a Manchester United's loss to Inter Milan in the Champions League match at San Siro. I also need to have more people to pray for Liverpool's win over Real Madrid in Bernabeau tomorrow morning. If we can't catch Man Utd in the EPL, the least we can do is hope that they'll crash on the European stage. It's funny that I'm asking for a divine intervention since I'm a secular person by nature...

And Nicky, nope, I have yet given up on Liverpool's hope to claim the league trophy this season. You guys are only 7 points ahead and there are still plenty of matches to play, and there's still the much-awaited "revenge" match at Old Trafford.

At least kalau tak menang league pun tapi dapat beat Man Utd home and away pun dah cukup bagus dah... turun KL la woi... boleh layan game sekali dgn aku!! kita ajak bebudak2 semua layan ramai2 kat rasta in ttdi ker... ada projector screen besar kat situ...

Glory Glory Man.. oopss, wrong song! You'll Never Walk Alone... Go Reds!!

Nicky: I'll be taking up your advice and will make football blogging as a form of emotional therapy from now on. I miss being a football analyst/pundit haha... Anyway, I need to regain my passion in life and football is one of them. Btw, what's the deal dgn Barca la woi?? They've been slipping up lately and Real is catching up to them real fast...

Way to go Packs!

Okay, the Packers didn't make it to the Superbowl this year, but heck, it was one hell of a season. If there are things in the US I miss right now it would be sharing in the Packers' magical season--and cheese curds. By the way, the game temperature was at minus 1F with the windchill factor of minus 23F. Now, this is one aspect of Wisconsin I don't miss at all. I take my monsoon anytime over a blizzard.

Come out and play!

Alright, people! Let's go outside and kick some... football or soccer or whatever. I'm really itching to go out and play. The snow has virtually melted away, the weather's been gorgeous (knock on wood!) and the grass is sprouting up. So, what are you waiting for? It's not like I mind playing indoor soccer; far from it. I love soccer so much that I play the game in any shape and form.

What I have been doing consistently nowadays when I'm a bit stressed or hit upon the proverbial concrete wall while writing papers is kicking the plush toy ball around my apartment, from the living room to the kitchen, and back. I use the front door and the kitchen table as the goal posts on both ends, respectively. One can be mildly surprised at how much creativity is involved in this seemingly childish play. I arrange chairs, and sometimes even move the sofa, to serve as a wall as I try to bend it like Becks and target the upper left or right corner of the goal. Or, I would arrange a row of plastic mugs on top of the kitchen table and try to knock them down through freekicks from the other end of the room. Sometimes, I even put my bike up as a wall and try to kick the ball through the frame of the bike into the goal. Yes, I know what you're saying. This guy is so damn pathetic! He needs to get a life! I have no life, damnit! It's part of the Faustian deal one makes when entering graduate school. Academic and soccer ARE my life!

So, to any Madisonian Malaysian guys who happen to read my blog--by sheer boredom or simply dumb luck--let's go to Far West field this Friday for some fun-filled soccer evening. By the way, the UW Malaysian soccer team has lost quite a few key players these past couple of semesters: Meon (right-back), Nicky (centre-back), and our very own supersub nonpareil/attacking-mid, Badul aka Vikash Dhorasoo. After Malaysian Midwest Games in Northwestern University this May the player loss will become more chronic as many of them will be graduating. With hardly any freshman player to supplant the outgoing seniors, we are certainly witnessing the gradual decay of Wisconsin Malaysian soccer tradition. One can only hope that there will be one or two soccer players in the next incoming freshman batch.

The Summer of My (Dis)content

What now after the World Cup? After nursing the almost expected disappointment of England crashing out early in the tourney? After witnessing Zidane's spectacular headbutt to that idiotico Materazzi's chest? Life after World Cup seems not to hold much meaning anymore--I mean this figuratively, and it's not like I'm planning to commit suicide or anything!--until one is reminded that there are always the English Premiere League, Champions League, Serie A (sans Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio), Bundesliga, and not to mention, the 2008 European Championship (World Cup's little brother) in Austria/Switzerland. The semifinals of the World Cup had given us the preview of what teams to watch in the upcoming Euro 2008: Italy, France, Germany, and Portugal, though my unrepentant self will always bet the farm on the perennial underachiever, England.

Anyway, finally, no more excuses to slack off, right? Right! Summer is such a screwy, topsy-turvy season that foils any attempt one makes to restore order and discipline in one's life. It's hard to function normally in an environment of almost unrelenting daylight when the day breaks at 5am and sets at 9pm. To people who complain that I've not been returning their phone calls and emails, updating my blog or in brother's case for that matter, contributing a piece to his blog, here's my schedule in an average weekday: Wake up around 8-9am, go to work until 5-6pm, play volleyball and/or soccer until 9pm, and by the time I finish my shower and dinner, it's almost midnight. Then it's time to catch up on the news that I miss earlier in the day due to work, which takes about an hour or two. As the clock strikes two, I start to curl up with a book until I fall asleep, which is usually around 3am or so. To say that time flies is such an understatement. What about the weekends, you'd say? See, I do have some free time on Saturdays and Sundays, only if they are not filled with BBQ outings, dinner parties, movie nights, volleyball, soccer, and riding the trails at night with the guys (my new favorite activity) among others.

To top it off, I will have to present a paper in an academic conference on SEA Asia in less than two weeks and revise my MA paper at the same time--I'm using the same paper for both. One good thing is I have to tweak the paper's theoretical framework to make it sounder and clearer and the conference will provide plenty of opportunity for constructive criticisms and refreshing ideas. On the other hand, for the conference, I'll have to shorten the paper to more manageable 10-12 pages from its original 35 pages, so as not to burden the panel discussant, who will have to read my paper, along with two others, a few days beforehand; and I will later have to lengthen the paper to about 50 pages or so to get it up-to-snuff for MA degree submission--and I promise my advisor, Dr. Paul Hutchcroft, that I'll work on the paper through the summer and get it done by sometime in October to have ample time for oral defense. Last Saturday I finally checked out from the library several books that Paul had recommended me to read to further refine my paper's theoretical framework, but I still haven't gotten around to crack open any of them yet. What can I say, it's the same ol' summer malaise.

Anyway, the topic of my paper is "Greening of Indonesia: Islamic Revivalism in the Orde Baru Era," in case if anybody's interested in discussing more about this issue. Doesn't have to be period-specific, say, like during the last decade of the Suharto's Orde Baru rule, but can be at any time, any place, and I especially love to make a comparative study between Malaysia and Indonesia in their respective experiences with Islamic revivalism in the past thirty years or so. I'd also love to explore the connection between SE Asian Muslims who went to study abroad, absorb the Modernist Islamic ideas, and later transform and imbue them into a workable socio-political agenda within the SE Asian context.

Oh, another thing on my to-do plate: Start on the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Program application. I plan to take a year off from school August next year as soon as my assistantship with the UW's Center for SE Asian Studies ends, and teach English in Indonesia or Thailand--I haven't fully decided yet, though I'm leaning towards Indonesia since it's where my academic focus is at. The deadline is sometime in September, and there are shitload of paperwork to prepare and submit for the application. But the thought of spending ten months teaching English in Bali or Lombok never fails to motivate me. Ahhh, the paradise!

YES, it's that time of the year again!!!

It is here, and it is happening right now. The much-awaited and long-anticipated event has finally arrived. No, it's not the Halley's comet passing by the earth's orbit nor the long overdue alien invasion; it's the World Cup, in case if you have been living under the coconut shell for the past four years. And I am excited beyond description. For the next month or so, my life will revolve around the World Cup; everything else is trivial, maybe except for work. Even today, I still managed to catch one live match and miss the other despite having to work all day--the Poland-Ecuador game was negligible as far as I'm concerned. It was a bit less fun because I had to watch the match by myself, and not with others, who congregated at the Regent apartment. Pisang gave me his apartment keys so I can watch the match in his place since I was working around the Langdon Street area, while he joined the rest at the Regent--thanks, bro!

If both opening day matches are the harbinger of what's to expect in this World Cup--especially the highly exhilarating Germany-Costa Rica match--then I simply cannot wait for the other matches to unfold. It seems like full-bore attacking style is the new black, the trend du jour of this tournament, which will certainly makes it far more entertaining and risque.

Too bad that I'll have to miss the final 15 minutes or so of tomorrow's England-Paraguay match because of work, especially when I'm banking on England to win it all this year. Every forty years, England wins the trophy, and the last time was in 1966, which makes 2006 England's year. Call it the forty-year curse, but this year curse will turn to charm--all without Wayne Rooney heading up England's attack in the first and second rounds.

I'm so psyched that I can't hardly sleep tonight, and especially when the match starts at the wee hours of eight tomorrow. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for an upset in the Argentina-Ivory Coast match tomorrow. As hard-core England fans, the least we can hope for is for Argentina to exit disgracefully in the first round. A bunch of thespians pretending to be footballers, albeit skillful ones, simply bring shame to the game. And yes, I'm still bitter about Diego Simeone "acting" that resulted in David Beckham's send-off in World Cup 1998.

GO LIONS!!!!

The Golden Boy

His penchant for self-promotion does get a bit tiring sometimes but one cannot simply dismiss the magnanimity and the legacy of his force within the football milieu. Yes, I'm talking about Diego Armando Maradona, THE golden boy of football.

I was reading this article in The Nation about him and his vociferous protest during the Bush's visit to Argentina recently, and I cannot help but to be curious of his personal transformation over the years. He still is, indeed, the greatest footballer that has ever stepped on the pitch, and yes, even better than the legendary Pele. His off-pitch persona though has been one marred with drug scandals and inane controversies, and to know Maradona, for most football fans, is to either love or hate him--the bête noire or the El Diego Dios.

In light of his recent activities, one can safely assume that he is staging a comeback--in essence to repair his damaged reputation and to present the side of him that usually eludes the kind of microscopic scrutiny and unfair vilifications that have been inveighed upon him over the years. It is the side of him that grew up poor and used his God-given talent to escape the crushing poverty. So, how is it different than any other rags-to-riches stories that can be found quite abundant in global sportsdom? Not much different, I guess, but in Maradona's defense, I believe that while the football elites have long abandoned and left him for dead (or wither away to relative obscurity), he has been and will always be the hero of the football subaltern.

He is the definitely symbol of aspiration for the kids kicking tin cans and crumpled-up newspaper in the barrios of Buenos Aires or Rio or anywhere else in the world for that matter. This is not an argument per se to elevate his status and street cred over the other previously poor football stars such as Pele or even Zinedine Zidane, whose childhood slum of Paris is now rocked with violent unrests and widespread riots. I'm simply saying that he is willing to take on controversial political issues such as globalization and labor standards, especially in international football, and to advocate the side of the downtrodden. As genial and good-natured Pele is, he'll never be the one to rock the boat, to bite the hands that feed him, so to speak.

In all honesty, I don't know if Maradona's goal is actually sincere or merely out to score personal point--pun intended--though my suspicion leans toward the former. Anyhow, he will always be one of my favorite footballers of all time, alongside Pele, of course.

King of Europe!!!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Un-fucking-believeable! Liverpool beats AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League Final. Liverpool is again at the top of the European football stage. Simply the best Liverpool match I've seen in my entire life.

Down 0-3 at half-time, the Reds came back in a blaze in the second half by scoring THREE goals in SIX minutes!! Gerrard led the charge with the first goal, followed by Smicer and Alonso. ALL in SIX fucking minutes!

I'm so deliriously happy that I can't barely think of anything to write. No words can fully describe my feelings right now. I feel like I'm walking on the air and even the reality of this impossible win still hasn't fully sunk in yet.

Can you believe it? Three goals in the span of six minutes? Against one of the best defenses in Europe--Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Jaap Stam, Cafu, Dida, among others?

I'm happy enough that we beat Chelsea en route to the final but to cap off the glorious European run in this truly miraculous fashion is simply surreal.

This win ended the 21-year Champions League drought for Liverpool. Next up: The upcoming EPL season. Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U, Everton--you got nothing on us!!

Yankee Invasion!

The truth is I could care less about the current controversy brewing in the Old Trafford. American billionaire, Malcolm Glazer, who is also the owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, bought a majority stake--75 percent--of Manchester United. Yes, the famous English football club is now owned by a Yank.

I don't mind a bit if he breaks up the whole Man U organization and sell it for scraps in the junkyard, or the eBay for that matter. At least it'll make it easier for my beloved Liverpool to take over the number three spot behind Chelsea and Arsenal in the EPL. Nonetheless, considering Liverpool's outstanding and otherworldly performance in this season's Champions League, Man U existence seems to be a non-factor.

Here's an Op-Ed piece in the NY Times today railing against this takeover.

Busted Brackets!!

Well, my Final Four prediction has been dashed with Duke's loss to Michigan State last night. It means only three of my Final Four teams have made it to the Elite Eight: Illinois, North Carolina, and Louisville.

As matter of fact, I'm happy that Michigan State won last night because now there are three teams--along with Wisconsin and Illinois--representing the Big Ten Conference in the Elite Eight. The much-touted ACC only managed to send one, North Carolina--barely. To all the Big Ten detractors and naysayers out there, eat your heart out!

Also, it was a magical run for the UW-Milwaukee Panthers and I hope that this will continue to be a perennial performance in the years to come.

At the rate the tourney is going in right now, I sure would love to see an all-Big Ten Final, maybe between Wisconsin and Illinois. Man, that would be sweet!

The clock has yet to strike midnight...

UW-Milwaukee Panthers has become the darling of the tournament pundits and casual observers alike, and will get to continue its surreal Cinderalla run to the Sweet Sixteen next Thursday. Today, UWM won convincingly against the much-favored Boston College team 83-75 and again proved that this team is no fluke. Unfortunately, I had to work during the game time and had to listen to the radio for play-by-play coverage. At least I was getting paid to sit in my car for over two hours listening to the game to compensate for not having the chance to see it live on TV.

I do feel a tiny bit of guilty pang for jumping on the Panthers bandwagon since I didn't really pay much attention to most of its regular season games up until the Horizon League tournament leading up to the Big Dance. To my credit, I did pick the Panthers to go all the way to the Sweet Sixteen before succumbing to the formidable Illinois team. I'm still sticking to my original prediction but I will root undividedly for the Panthers team this coming Thursday.

Speaking of other Cinderella teams, what a phenomenal tournament it has been for the underdogs. Bucknell brought down the mighty Kansas that boasts two future NBA top picks, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford; lily-white Vermont dashed the national championship hopes of the much-ballyhooed Syracuse that fielded two of the top talents in the nation, Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara; and tonight, West Virginia Mountaineers sent the tournament favorite, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, packing in an intense-filled, nail-biting double-overtime. To Wake Forest's credit, I'm sure its star guard, Chris Paul, will be among the top-five pick in the coming NBA draft.

My picks for the Final Four still stand: Illinois, North Carolina, Louisville, and Duke. Duke will meet North Carolina in one-half of the Final Four while Illinois will battle Louisville in the other half. The Blue Devils (Duke) and Tar Heels (North Carolina) game will be very exciting but the Tar Heels' much deeper bench and more athletic frontcourt will nudge it to victory. Though I have a soft spot for Coach Rick Pitino and his Louisville Cardinals team, especially its indefatiguable swingman, Francisco Garcia, I still think that the Fighting Illinis' (Illinois) super-quick and highly talented backcourt trifecta is a bit too much for the Cardinals to handle.

Anyway, another Wisconsin team, UW-Madison, will play against Bucknell tomorrow evening, which it has a very good chance of winning. If the Wisconsin Badgers win tomorrow, there will be two teams representing the dairy state in the Sweet Sixteen. It just cannot get any sweeter than this! As Dicky V would say, "It's the cheese, baby!"

Panthers Roar Through The Big Dance!

As usual, it's the perennial 12th-seeded upsets in the NCAA basketball, and this year, it is my school, UW-Milwaukee, that leads the underdog charge. UWM Panthers demolished the mighty fifth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide 83-73 just moments ago. Now, this is the stuff March Madness is made of. I will definitely call Craig in DC tonight and force him to swallow his every words regarding the impossibility of an upset. Dude, as always, you have a horrendous track record in betting against me. If I still live in DC right now, I'd have won myself a tray-load of devil eggs, some turkey wings, and a six-pack of Vitamin water.

Anyway, UWM will most likely play Boston College (BC) in the second round and there is a possibility of an upset in that game too. I'm sure there are a lot of emotions running through Coach Bruce Pearl's mind if UWM has to suit up against his alma mater, BC.

I did not pick UWM to go deep into the tourney but if they can make it into the Sweet Sixteen would itself be an achievement beyond everyone's expectation. My Final Four teams are as follow: Illinois, Duke, North Carolina, and Louisville. The Final would be between Illinois and North Carolina, with the Tar Heels going all the way. Coach Roy Williams has done a tremendous job in molding the highly talented yet individualistic North Carolina team into one cohesive unit that can claim to be a legitimate contender for the national championship. As much as I'd love to root for a fellow Big Ten team, I don't see how the Fighting Illinis can prevail against the Tar Heels unless if they can find ways to stop the North Carolina big men from punishing them in the paint and if they can keep up the frenetic offensive pace and the full-court press throughout the whole game. Still, strange things happen in the NCAA, and there's a reason why it's called the "March Madness."

Greatest Footballer Ever?

No, not American Football. I meant the REAL football, or what the Yanks called, true to their isolationist fashion, soccer. The beautiful game. The most popular sport in the world. Or in a less saccharine term, opined by one British Lord, a gentlemen's game played by thugs.

The reason I ask the aforementioned question is that I just came to realization that the 2006 World Cup in Germany is a mere eighteen months away and I've been thinking a lot about football since. Watching the World Cup tournament is definitely one of the highlights of my existence and four years cannot come soon enough.

My memory of the World Cup goes all the way back to 1982 when I vividly remember the amazing semifinal match between West Germany and France when Paul Breitner scored the equalizing goal, after the Germans were trailing by two goals in overtime, and took the game to penalty shootout, where Germany won 5-4; it also made Paolo Rossi, the young Italian striker, a household name, who later won the highly-coveted Golden Boot for most goals. Rossi's goal against Brazil in the quarterfinal was simply classic when he deftly beat the ill-timed Brazilian offside trap to face the goalkeeper one-on-one before tucking the ball behind the net. Italy ended up winning the tournament and I got a size 5 replica Espana '82 Tango ball for my birthday.

The 1982 tournament did not see much of Maradona in action; he was booted out of the match against Brazil in the second round for kicking his marker in the guts. Maradona was widely hyped to be the best player in the tournament, but rather, it was Rossi who shined through. Four years later, Maradona came back with a vengence.

The year was 1986 in Mexico and Argentina was playing like a juggernaut, laid waste to every team that stood in its way, with Maradona acted as the maestro at its helm. It was the quarterfinal match between my beloved England and Argentina that broke my heart to pieces.

The match also gained notoriety for being the first international match between both countries right after the Falkland War. Argentina's first goal was the infamous "Hand of God" goal when Maradona shamelessly punched the ball into the net under a badly disguised header after an ill-advised backpass from Chris Hodge. But it was his mesmerizing second goal that left every football fan worldwide agape and shaking with disbelief. Maradona picked up the ball in midfield, beat three England defenders, and ultimately slid the ball past the hapless Peter Shilton. Gary Lineker scored for England late in the game but it came too late.

From then on, the match between these two countries would always be marred with controversies (David Beckham's sending-off in WC 1998 in France after ostentatiously kicking the bad Argentinian thespian cum soccer player, Diego Simeone) and occasional brilliance (young Michael Owen's breathtaking goal and England's valiant defense in the same game.) Argentina went on to win the 1986 World Cup by beating West Germany--I was rooting hard for the Germans--and though he didn't score any goals, Maradona did make a stupendous pass that led to a goal by Jorge Burruchaga.

Anyway, my favorite German players like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Pierre Littbarski, Lothar Matthäus, Rudi Völler and others finally got what they long deserved when they won the 1990 World Cup in a less-than-spectacular fashion, by beating the same Argentina team they faced four years earlier 1-0, through a penalty kick.

I was too busy reminiscing about the glorious past of the World Cup that I forgot to answer the question I put forth earlier. Who is the best footballer ever? Depending on who you ask, the answer pretty much runs the gamut and is usually drawn along the national line: A Brit might vote for Sir Bobby Charlton or Bobby Moore or Geoff Hurst (all from the England 1966 World Cup winning squad) or Sir Alf Ramsey; a German might go for Gerd Müller or Franz Beckenbauer or Rummenigge or Lothar Matthäus; an Argentinian might choose the genius Diego Armando Maradona or Osvaldo "Ossie" Ardiles or Daniel Pasarella; an Italian might be partial to Franco Baresi (arguably the best defender ever) or ageless goalkeeper Dino Zoff; and finally, a Brazilian will definitely opt for the legendary Pele. I'd also like to throw the name of the great Portugese player that has ever played this game, Eusebio, into the mix. Lest I'm accused of being partially selective, there are definitely other supremely talented players that had ever graced the football pitch: Oleg Blokhin and Alexei Yashin of the old Soviet Union; Ferenc Puskas of Hungary; Just Fontaine, Michel Platini and Jean Tigana of France; Johann Cruyff, Marco van Basten, and Ruud Gullit of the Netherlands; Poland's Lato; and not to forget, other Brazilian football gods, like Zico, Socrates, Careca, Tostão, and Garrincha. And a Malaysian might be partial to Ghani Minhat, M. Chandran, Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, V. Arumugam, Khalid Ali, Zainal Abidin Hassan and others. I also like to include other great SE Asian footballers like the super-talented Singaporean, Fandi Ahmad, who is also one of my favorite players of all time (bro, you should have migrated to Malaysia and we would have welcomed you with open arms!), and the Thai magician, Piyapong Pue-on.

For me, the choices will ultimately boil down to two players: Maradona and Pele. Yes, the intractable age-old football dispute. I try to be diplomatic whenever somebody force me to take a pick. Here's my stock answer: In terms of pure skills and talent--and nothing else matters--Maradona is the best player, but if all is taken into account--on and off the field--Pele is far and away the best player that ever live. I'm not, in any conceivable way, saying that Pele's skills and talent are inferior to that of Maradona--nothing could be further from the truth. Who, in his/her right mind, can forget the brilliant goal that 17-year old Pele scored in his debut against Sweden in the 1958 World Cup? Flip the ball over his head, swivel around the defender, and shoot the ball before it touches the ground. Executed with the grace of a ballerina and the accuracy of an assassin. Only Pele--and me, after a million tries--can carry out the move to perfection--under the crushing pressure of the tournament, nonetheless.

So, there's my answer. It might border on equivocation but it's the best I can give for now until a better player than both of them comes along. Freddie Adu, maybe?

What a bunch of ROTTEN CHEESE!

I'm pissed that Green Bay Packers lost the NFC wild-card game today. There are simply no excuses; we were playing at Lambeau Field in January--this alone is an iron-clad reason to propel the team into victory. But alas, it seemed like the football gods were sympathetically moved by the Minnesota Vikings' strings of bad losses and inane controversies and decided to conspire against Packers' victory. I wish it'd be this easy to explain the pathetic performance of the team but the fact is the Packers team on the field today was simply horrible and out-of-place.

Well, here's a laundry list of what went wrong in the game: Brett Favre threw FOUR interceptions (though two of them weren't really his fault since the receivers broke their routes); Javon Walker got hurt (shin contusion) and the Packers receiving corps suddenly lost its edge; the offesive line was not as dominating as it always is, which allowed the Vikings defense to harass Favre at-will; Favre made that inexplicable shovel pass into the end-zone while he was way beyond the line of scrimmage when he could have easily ran for first down; the running game was virtually non-existent; and finally, the horrific defense, which needs no explaining at all.

As a matter of fact, I do have a few words to say about the defense. First of all, it didn't make a lick of a difference when the Packers fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatel last season (chiefly for the whole 4th and 26 miscue in the Philly game) and hired Bob Slowik as the new coordinator. The Packers defense is still subpar and under-achieving. One might want to argue that if the Packers would have kept Mike McKenzie by paying his asking price, the defensive back section would have been so much better. I'd counter-argue that McKenzie's presence would probably make the secondary a little better but only incrementally, if at all. The problem with Packers defense, especially the defensive backs, is that they cannot make tackles even if their lives depended on it. They should learn from rugby players on the proper ways to make hard-hitting and effective tackles. Another serious problem is blown coverages. Instead of focusing on the task at-hand, the defense seems to be wandering aimlessly at times looking lost in anticipation of imaginary plays that never materialize.

What to do? First, address these two fundamental flaws in the off-season. My take for the next season is that Ahmad Carroll, the first-round draft rookie cornerback, will be traded for a more experienced player; Mike Sherman will be stripped of his GM duties but still remains as head coach; and Bob Slowik will be fired (there are a lot of rumblings within the defensive ranks concerning his convoluted defensive schemes.)One thing for sure: there will be a lot of changes to the team next season, especially on defense. I wouldn't be surprise if Favre announces his retirement this summer, though it seems highly unlikely since I'm sure Cuatro (what Mario calls Favre--number four (his jersey number) in Spanish for all you linguistically-challenged people out there) would want to end his sterling Hall of Fame career in a bang, and with another SuperBowl ring perhaps. It seems unthinkable to envision the Packers sans Favre, but the reality of it is looming ever larger on the horizon.