An End Has a Start

BY Alex Young

Well, it’s the first of June and I am just about 24 hours from boarding my plane back to The United States. The journey of a lifetime is about to come to an end. England was everything I had hoped it would be, the whole trip offered so much more than I ever could have imagined.

Thanks so four months in England and three weeks in Europe for spring break I have been to so many places I never in a million years thought I would get to see with my own eyes. I’ve walked up Wembley Way. I’ve seen the world’s most famous casino in Monte Carlo and walked on the famous grand prix track at Monaco. I’ve walked in the footsteps of Caesars and gladiators at the colloseum. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience and one that just has me aching to come back some day.

However, what I will remember the most are the little things. Things like weekly curry nights, trips to Camden Town, and winning trivia with Jeff and Nate are what have truly made this trip worthwhile. I have made some of the best friends of my life these four short months and with them this whole trip would have been a waste.

As for the sports, which is what this blog is about after all, they certainly did not disappoint. The English are just as mad as I expected about their sports. Everyone has a favorite team  and they are all fanatical supporters, something  I think American sports could use more of. There’s just more life at their sporting events. Too often do we Americans fall into what the English call the prawn sandwich crowd. That is, everyone sits and only really cheers when something good happens. The English don’t just go to games tobe entertained for a few hours, they go to support their team and hope that they can give that extra boost that their team needs to win. And they really believe in that.

I can tell you that I miss American sports very much. While I love football, four months of nothing but can get tiring and a little stale. I miss the variety that America offers. I miss sitting down to watch baseball every night and, probably most of all, I miss sportscenter. I miss it like a dieting fat kid misses cake. It’s great to wake up every morning and getting all the highlights and news in such an easy to digest format. Trolling the internet for short highlight reels just leaves you wanting something more. On the other hand, I have gone four months and have not heard a single thing about Bret Favre which is a huge plus in my book.

I’m so excited to get back home and back to my lovely girlfriend who is taking me to my first Phillies game of the year on Saturday night. Check back here for World Cup posts coming up soon and I hope you have enjoyed following my journey through English sport.

Sea of Blue

by Alex Young

Just six days after reclaiming the Premier League title after three straight years of seeing bitter rivals Manchester United take the trophy home, Chelsea met Portsmouth at famed Wembley stadium to defend their crown as FA Cup winners.

After a much closer match than was expected (Portsmouth came dead last in the 20 team premiership) Chelsea walked away with a 1-0 win, their sixth FA Cup and the 11th Double in English football history.

To celebrate, the team hopped on a big blue double-decker bus to ride through the streets of west London and show off their new silverware to their legions of fans. I was one of those fans in attendance and I have got to ask, is there anything better than a sports championship parade?

Two of the most memorable days of my life have revolved around a parade for a team. The first, of course, was the Phillies World Series parade on Halloween 2008. That event was just on another level. The pure elation and emotional release that 25 years of waiting produces was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. The joy felt by those 2 million Philadelphians may never be duplicated. The more than 100,000 Chelsea fans gave a good show though, and even the players played a part.

On my way to the parade, I realised one way this day this would be superior to the Phillies parade. The travel. Back in 2008, I drove with friends from school in Glassboro, NJ to Oregon Ave. in South Philly. This trip would normally take about 20 minutes. On the day of the Phillies parade the drive took TWO HOURS! London’s public transportation is much better than Philly’s and after a train ride and quick transfer to the underground I was at my destination.

Now I wasn’t entirely sure where this parade was going down so decided to follow some people dressed in blue who looked like they knew where they were going, boy did it pay off. I ended up on the New Kings Road with a perfect view of where the bus ended up stopping for the players and coach to talk to the fans.

So I was waiting around for the parade to start and something hit me right in the back of the neck. It got caught in my hood so reached back and grabbed it. It was a stalk of celery. And then it hit me. No, not more celery, but I remembered an old song fans sing at games

Celery, celery, If she don’t come we’ll tickle her bum with a lump of celery.

I just never realised that they used to throw the vegetable onto the field during games. The tradition was officially banned by the club in 2007 after several games had to be stopped to clear the field. However, the tradition was alive and well on Sunday where it seemed like every other person brought a bag of fresh celery with them. After the parade was over, the street were littered with the little green missiles.

The party really started when the bus pulled up and the coach, Carlo Ancelloti, and several players got on the microphone and sang with the fans. They gave their renditions of classics like, Blue is the Colour, Blue Flag and Championes. I loved how the players were so involved with the celebration. They knew all the songs and you got a feeling that they just loved being there.

So after the team passed by and the crowd dispersed I made my way back to the tube station. Luckily I was headed in the opposite direction of where most people were going and the train I was on was nearly empty, otherwise the trip home may not have been as smooth as the ride in.

If I’m lucky, maybe the Flyers can bring me another parade shortly after I get home.

So you want more excitement?

By Alex Young

Just a few days ago the NFL released its schedule for the 2010 season. Minnesota and New Orleans will open the season in prime-time on Thursday, September 9. That’s not news though. We all knew how the season would start. They would pick two of the leagues bets teams to start off the season. The biggest news of the new NFL schedule is found at the end of the season where Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the last week of the season would consist entirely of divisional games. This change was made to combat the trend of teams who have already locked up a playoff spot sitting their stars and generally making the last the last week of the season a joke.

The hope is that division titles will still be up for grabs and teams will be forced to field their best players and hopefully make the games exciting again as well as well as keep things fair going into the playoffs.

If you really want to see an exciting end to a season, however, you need look no further than the biggest leagues of European soccer.

As the season winds down for the leagues in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, none of the championship pictures in any of these leagues are yet clear. In each country, the top teams have very little separating them and will be forced to fight until the last game to see will come out on top.

In England there are three games to play and Chelsea are at the top of the league but hold just a one point advantage over Manchester United (A win being worth three points and a draw worth one.) Both teams have big matches to round out the season, having to play Liverpool and Tottenham respectively. It has been one of the closest seasons in recent memory and one of the crazier seasons in the Premier Leagues history.

In Spain, Barcelona have a one point lead on their bitter rivals Real Madrid with five games to play. The clubs are far and away the best teams in the league but have tough matches against teams from the top five to play before the season is over.

AS Roma have a one point lead in Italy’s Serie A standings with four games to play. Roma will try to break Inter’s streak of four straight championships and just might be able to do it as Inter could be distracted by their deep run in the Champions League.

In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich lead Shalke by two points with three games to play. The Dutch Eredivisie just might be the most exciting. FC Twente have a one point lead on league giants Ajax with just one game to play.

One of my favorite things about world soccer is that the seasons actually matter. There’s no such thing as playoffs or wild card teams. If you want to win a championship you have to be the best team over the whole season. You can’t coast after a good start just like you often can’t recover from a horrendous one.

(Follow links for full standings)

England- http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/premierleague/standings

Spain- http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/laliga/standings

Italy- http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/seriea/standings

Germany- http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/bundesliga/standings

Netherlands- http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/eredivisie/standings

Insane (But Awesome) Tradition Cancelled

For about 200 years the townsfolk of Brockworth, England have joined at Cooper’s Hill for some cheese. But this isn’t for some snooty wine and cheese party, it’s for the annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake.

Men and women from all over the world come to Brockworth to run down the hill and win a 7 pound wheel of Double Gloucestershire cheese. As you can see from the video, it’s a wild chase and injuries are plentiful. About 40 of the participants in the chase were injured along with nearly 20 spectators. Eleven in total were taken to the hospital.

Sadly, the organizers decided to cancel the even in 2010, but not because of injuries. They cancelled it because it was too popular. About 20,000 people came to watch the event and it was even featured on ESPN’s E:60 program. They are worried that an even larger crowd would be too much of a problem.

It’s sad that I won’t be able to see this when I’m here. This is one of the strangest competitions on the planet and something that is uniquely British. Hopefully the The Cheese Roll will be back next year.

Blog News: I am going to be away on spring break for the next three weeks exploring Europe. So when I come back expect this blog to become Sports Europa because just because I’m on vacation doesn’t mean I won’t be looking out for some new knowledge about the world of sports.

Another Year of Disappointment

written by Alex Young

If you have been reading my blog at all you know that I am a huge Chelsea fan. Well, on Tuesday night, they managed to disappoint me once again by getting knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16 by Inter Milan.

They have been one of the most successful teams in England in the last ten years, winning two league titles, two FA Cups, and two Carling Cups in the decade the British like to call the naughties. They, however, have not had a great time in European competition. In years past they have fallen victim to phantom goals, penalty shoot outs and poor refereeing all of which lead to early exits and a defeat in the Champions League Final. They had been in the semi-finals of the competition four of the last five years and for each of those years the team that beat them went on to win the whole thing.

This year was a different story, but not for the reason the team and fans had hoped. They had a new coach, Carlo Ancelloti, who has won the European Cup four times, twice as a player and twice as a manager. He was brought in because he knew how to win, and more importantly, how to win the Champions League. Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abromovich has made it clear that he wants the European Cup and he isn’t afraid to fire any manager who can’t do that for him.

Which brings us to Tuesday’s game. Inter’s coach, Jose Mourinho, was the first manager hired by Chelsea under Abromovich and in the three years he was with the club he became the most successful in their history. Under him, Chelsea won both league titles, both Carling Cups and the FA Cup. He was let go by Chelsea in 2007 because of his failings in Europe and because the owner didn’t think that his teams played exciting enough soccer.

At Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, Mourinho’s Inter completely outmatched Ancelloti’s Chelsea. Mourinho built his team just like he did with Chelsea. Inter were a team that was strong in defense, tough and quick to take advantage of their opponents mistakes. They withstood wave after wave of Chelsea attack but never once looked like they were going to give up a goal. They dove in front of incoming shots and they never got intimidated by a Chelsea team which has long been known as one of the toughest teams in the world (They became a tough team under Mourinho.) Then near the end of the game, when Chelsea were really throwing people forward to get a goal, Inter’s Samuel Eto’o broke past the defence and blasted a shot past the Chelsea ‘keeper. It was game over, and Chelsea were again out.

Seeing Inter play made me really miss the days when Jose Mourinho was the manager of Chelsea. They were never too reliant on one player and were never out-coached. Both of those things happened to Chelsea on Tuesday. In the last two years, they have become reliant on their Ivorian forward Didier Drogba to create and score goals and  if a team can stifle him, there is little chance that Chelsea will win. Inter came out with a game plan that they wouldn’t be bullied by Drogba and instead they were the one’s doing the bullying. They never backed down from a challenge and at times even used questionable tactics to keep the ball out of their net. They dragged players down on corners. They pushed and pulled at jerseys to keep their mark close. They even threw the occasional elbow. All of which went unseen by the referee.

In the end, Inter were just the much more complete team and for the first time since 2006 are in the quarter finals of the Champions League. As for Chelsea, unless he can bring the domestic title back to the bridge this year, Carlo Ancelloti will likely be fired and the club will go on to look for their fifth manager since Mourinho was dismissed. Even three years later his success at Chelsea will cast a shadow over whoever takes the job.

The Reason I’m Here

written by Alex Young

I’m not gonna lie. I pretty much came to England for one reason, to see Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge. I finally fulfilled a dream I’ve had for years by going to see Chelsea take on Stoke in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. All the great times I’ve had here have already made this one of the best experiences of my life, but today was really the icing on the cake.

The day started off the worst way possible. The rail line from my town of Surbiton to London was closed for construction for the day so I had to take  replacement bus. So instead of a nice 20 minute train ride I had to endure nearly an hour of stop and go traffic on a bumpy bus.

Luckily, I left almost four hours before the game started so I still made it to the Bridge with about an hour and a half to spare. I got to sit in my seat and watch the stadium go from almost completely empty, to patches of fans while the players warmed up to finally a packed madhouse when both teams took the field for kick off.

The atmosphere was everything i hoped it would be. The passion of the fans something that really drew me to soccer in the first place and I really had the time of my life singing along and listening to the cheers they would make up on the spot.

I had a great view of the field from the upper level right behind the corner flag and Chelsea gave me a first match to remember.

This was the 4th professional soccer game that I’ve been to and this was definitely the best so far. I really got  a good idea of how the players move and each teams’ tactics, something you don’t really notice as much when you watch on TV or have a sideline seat.

Frank Lampard opened the scoring with a goal in the 35th and then everyone just went crazy. The best moment of the match  was after Chelsea captain John Terry scored in the 2nd half and the whole crowd started singing “There’s only one England captain.” This was to show Terry support after he was stripped of the England captaincy a few weeks ago. He may be despised around the country but the Blues fans still love him.

This was followed with take on Que Sera Sera that went like this

Que sera, sera

whatever will be, will be

We’re goin to Wembeley

que sera, sera

With the win, Chelsea clinched a spot in the semi-finals of the Cup and will face Aston Villa at the world famous Wembley Stadium. This was when the crowd got the loudest. The only sporting moment that I have seen live that rivaled this was when I saw the Flyers beat the Capitals in the playoffs two years ago. The only sporting moment that was more important to me was when the Phillies won the World Series.

I’m not sure if I’ll have a chance to go back before I go home or if I will even ever go again, but I will always remember my day at the Bridge as one of the best of my life.

I Might Be the First Person From New Jersey to See an International Netball Game

Written by Alex Young

Before I started my journey into British sports I had the idea that would go and learn new things about their sports. I figured I would learn about the sports that I had heard of, like rugby and cricket, but know much about the games themselves. On Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010, I learned about a sport that I had never even heard of before. That game was netball.

Again, as a part of my sports journalism class, I had to go to the incredible 02 arena in East London to watch and cover the international netball match between England and the world’s number one team, Australia.

Netball, as a game, has its roots tied into basketball. It’s played on roughly that same court and has a net which players attempt to shoot a ball through, but the similarities really stop there. There is no dribbling. Once a player receives the ball, they may take one step and then they are limited to pivoting much like in basketball. There is no backboard in netball, just a net on top of a 10-foot pole. There are seven players on each team, and each player’s position dictates what they are allowed to do in the game.

The court is divided into three zones as well as semi-circular goal areas and there are rules that limit each position’s movement on the court. For example, the goal defender may only move anywhere in the back two defensive zones and their team’s goal area. While the center is free to move around the entire court but may not enter the two goal areas. There are only two players on each team who are allowed to score, the goal attack and the goal shooter. This makes it easy to tell who scored a goal because it’s really a 50/50 chance.

The game is predominantly played by women, especially at the international level and a team’s success relies on their passing and off-the-ball movement to get free of their defenders.

I must say that Netball is not for me. There are just too many rules that stifle any flow that the game seems to have. The referees are constantly blowing their whistle for seemingly every kind of infraction. I think the game is also hurt by rules that make defending a shot very difficult. When a player is set to shoot, the defender must stand three feet away. I’m not entirely sure why, but players rarely jump to block a shot. Shots are rarely taken from more than five feet away from the basket.

It was very interesting to see something new like netball but the sport just wasn’t for me. Here is the article I wrote for class about the game.

Australia Rally in Fourth Quarter to Beat England and Take Series

By Alex Young

LONDON, 23 Feb 2010- Australia dominated the fourth quarter after playing from behind for the whole match to beat their hosts England 45-43 and win the Co-operative International Netball Series 2-1 on Tuesday.

Australian Goal Shooter Kate Beveridge was named player of the match for her 24 goal performance in which she had just seven misses. She came in as a sub for Caitlin Basset in the second quarter.

England started the game off quickly and built a five-goal lead after just five minutes. Australia struggled to get going with their shooters failing to capitalize on several easy opportunities, leading to both of them being taken off after the first quarter ended with England leading 12-8.

England first began to show a few weaknesses in the second quarter but were able to hold on their lead while Australia was still off and looking for their rhythm. The team was looking at the number one team in the world from above with a six goal lead at halftime.

“This is the first time the whole team believed we can beat Australia,” said England co-captain Karen Atkinson, “We should have beaten them comfortably.”

England had a lead that reached nine goals near the end of the third quarter, They lead 35-29 at the start of the fourth quarter but the Australian team showed the crowd at the O2 Arena why they are the world’s number one team.

Substitute Goalkeeper  Laura Geitz came on at the start of the fourth and England seemed to have a much harder time scoring after the switch. Australia showcased their mental toughness,  never letting the deficit or the rowdy London crowd affect their play or determination. The same cannot be said for England as they fell victim to mistakes and turnovers and they finally lost their lead with about five minutes to go.

“We created our loss,” said England coach Sue Hawkins, “We had a nine goal lead. We should have built on that.”

The Australians rebounded from their first loss to England in 29 years on Friday in Liverpool and took the series games to one and will remain at the top of the world netball rankings.