Monday, June 23, 2008

from tiger to the euros

i didn't really expect the lakers to reach the finals. but it would have been great if they were able to win the championships. sb and i were witness to one of the early days of the newly- polished and rejuvenated celtics brand against the wolves during a pre-season match up at the O2 arena last year. we were packed in the nosebleed section of the newly-built dome. but the travelling violations by kevin garnett were still very glaring from way, way up.

tiger woods, the over-achieving fella from florida and winner of golf's last major, is taking a sabbatical to recuperate from the physical malaise that commonly inflict wearied athletes. some sports fans perceive that tiger's winning ways ruin sport. that's a view i don't necessarily uphold. as sports devotees we tend to follow our biases. we are fans first. objective observers second. how can a european cheer for an american? or how can someone who don't follow sports at all even know tiger exists? it's hard to win all the big ones, even for tiger -- bad knee and all. there have been tons of exciting golfing actions not involving his magical clubs. it's just more substantial viewing if he's around. nobody can win everything. not even federer, tennis very own GOAT, could dig deep against Nadal at the french open. the swiss champ was hammered and pulverized. i know it was on clay but c'mon!

i thought italy would win against the catanaccio defensive playing spain. but as in any major tournament, a deluge of unpredictabilities never fail to crop up in a level playing field. pundits surely didn't anticipate russia and turkey against the sleep-inducing spain and germany in the semis. whoever wins the whole thing, i'm sure their fans would be in rejoiced euphoria.

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