tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post8703031578620338536..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: CopaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-37010550867445531972010-12-07T15:38:59.388-08:002010-12-07T15:38:59.388-08:00Thanks very much, Jimmy. Terrific photos. Apologie...Thanks very much, Jimmy. Terrific photos. Apologies for that botched attribution, which I've just corrected.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-21207730151759172982010-12-07T14:21:47.238-08:002010-12-07T14:21:47.238-08:00Thanks for posting my photos. Just one detail, I a...Thanks for posting my photos. Just one detail, I also took photo no. 2:<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/jikatu/4748072019/in/set-72157624390828078/<br /><br />Can you please fix it? All the best!<br /><br />Jimmy BaikoviciusUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14288071105196762460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-45900566760692397782010-07-15T07:17:42.206-07:002010-07-15T07:17:42.206-07:00Joe,
Through many chilly nights in the cheap seat...Joe,<br /><br />Through many chilly nights in the cheap seats at the Coliseum I marveled at the splendid seemingly effortless centerfield play of Dwayne Murphy, who, along with Tony Armas and Michael Davis, formed, in my then estimation, an outfield for the ages.<br /><br />Now it looks more like for the decades perhaps.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-85583240979893220372010-07-14T08:51:18.631-07:002010-07-14T08:51:18.631-07:00Tom, all this Bolinas nostalgia is pissing me off ...Tom, all this Bolinas nostalgia is pissing me off -- there's a baseball season to attend to, young man! And the Giants are still in the race! Well, at least for another month or so, before they start playing all the teams better than them . . .<br /><br />I'm just kidding, but you know, you were already 150 years old in the 70s. Thanks for all this fabulousness, along with the severely astringent Orwell correction below it, which I've incorporated in my "Narrative, Including Sports" this summer. But raccoons are other creatures safe from my nostalgia (the open cabinets ransacked, their paw prints always on the toilet) . . . they can be objects of sympathy and admiration as creatures of the night, but things are different once they share the house.<br /><br />Or so I remember. Did you know that Dwayne Murphy, former Oakland A, was batting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays? Just saying . . .Joe Safdiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10146108321237585329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-45245651759811709612010-07-14T02:18:43.386-07:002010-07-14T02:18:43.386-07:00Steve,
Ah, nostalgia winces, the Bolinas soccer (...Steve,<br /><br />Ah, nostalgia winces, the Bolinas soccer (how I hate that word, it's so arriviste and tacky) club. <br /><br />Back in the Mesozoic period there was that embarrassing moment I told you about, when I was recruited as an emergency left-back and immediately (as the saying goes) "was found by the ball". In exactly the worst spot.<br /><br />I'm still doing that sort of thing, without the football.<br /><br />I have lost all balls forever, alas.<br /><br />What I'd really like to be doing (in heaven, in my dreams) is, as I guess I have said -- or have I? see above, memory loss -- paddling across the channel with you.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-28636548731418023972010-07-14T02:11:21.010-07:002010-07-14T02:11:21.010-07:00Mario,
Thanks for being so helpful and kind.
One...Mario,<br /><br />Thanks for being so helpful and kind.<br /><br />One of the dark beauties of memory loss is its effect of causing you to come up with labyrinthine memory retrieval strategies, which may prove of no practical use but at least give you the sense, perhaps illusory, that the game is not over yet simply because you are up against a superior opponent.<br /><br />As the Dutch showed, if you can't fairly overcome something, you can always try other tactics.<br /><br />But the strategy of giving my loose brain contents a good kicking -- no, I haven't had the nerve to try that one yet. But then again perhaps I lack the right cerebral instruments. A tiny little nano-De Jong or nano-Van Bommel, say.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-39512101882347793522010-07-13T13:09:56.779-07:002010-07-13T13:09:56.779-07:00Then, Mr Clark, if you tell me that your confusion...Then, Mr Clark, if you tell me that your confusion was due to the remembrance of a player called Pedro Ramos, your memory is in a perfect state. Wow, that's a great way of being aware of confusing a name!Mario Domínguez Parra https://www.blogger.com/profile/00215012182528833866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-52681055381639016212010-07-13T00:13:56.763-07:002010-07-13T00:13:56.763-07:00Mr. Clark, I just wanted to help your blog with th...Mr. Clark, I just wanted to help your blog with the correction of Pedro and Sergio Ramos. <br /><br />You know, Pedro himself, when he started playing in Barcelona, wore the name "Pedrito" on his back, with the number 27. Now they call him here "Don Pedro". <br /><br />Your combination of photos and poetry is outstanding.Mario Domínguez Parra https://www.blogger.com/profile/00215012182528833866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-20585983554881268932010-07-12T07:11:44.841-07:002010-07-12T07:11:44.841-07:00Tom,
Great to read through all these this morning...Tom,<br /><br />Great to read through all these this morning, after that "gran final" (as you say), which I did get to see, w/ two old friends (one of whom, Rob Rich, knew you back in the day here -- as I found out when I told them about your "Copa" yesterday). (Those previous 'friends' were members of the Bolinas soccer club, who still play on Sundays (down at the school, or sometimes at "Mesa Park" (another story). Would that I had seen the semi-final match the day before, after reading all comments here about it. But that goal yesterday in, what was it, the 119th minute? - - - what drama. Your "internet trawling" in search of the earlier games is, shall we simply say, heroic. . . .STEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-25419656719045646842010-07-12T04:33:54.940-07:002010-07-12T04:33:54.940-07:00Manik,
Exception on one point, Sneijder's pas...Manik,<br /><br />Exception on one point, Sneijder's pass was sweet but wasted whereas Cesc Fabregas's similarly true pass into the small space between three defenders found Iniesta and won the match.<br /><br />I think by the way that Sneijder might have done better to avoid pretending to be the hard man and looking round more for open recipients not named Robben, by which I mean in particular Van Persie. (I'm no mind reader but everybody has heard that the two do not get along. At this level supposedly personal feelings are to be left aside.)TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-3867113888923570402010-07-12T01:47:46.795-07:002010-07-12T01:47:46.795-07:00i think that would be the biggest challenge for ev...i think that would be the biggest challenge for evolving and improving teams like germany and spain to do it in brazilian turf....and likewise for brazil who before the start of every tournament are labelled as favourites...<br /><br />and i feel satisfied at learning that forlan won the best player for the tournament...thoroughly deserved...FiFa do get certain things right...<br /><br />The best team won indeed..atleast in out of the two in the final..the dutch were lucky to end up with 10 men...i do feel for sneijder ..for he in my eyes played the pass of the match which robben owing to his class should have dispatched ....but then if's and but's<br /><br />and ofcrse the biggest headliner apart from the things about football....the vuvuzela...manik sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18055072451804840121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-37042676862019101972010-07-12T00:32:27.958-07:002010-07-12T00:32:27.958-07:00After nearly five weeks of trying to keep awake in...After nearly five weeks of trying to keep awake in a zombie state and a turbulent emotional day of the gran final, there are a lot of memories to process out of this whole long event, but for now let me just say, first, that I agree with all the points made by Manik and Leigh here; second, that I think Spain is a deserving campéon; and third, that if I wake up in the afterlife and hear the honk of a vuvuzela, I'll know right away I've landed in the wrong place.<br /><br />At the end of the last several World Cups I've wondered if I'd ever live to see another one. That got to be a pretty boring habit, so this time I'll just leave it that I'm looking forward to Brasil. In my dreams...TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-46812461065424891902010-07-11T15:28:35.627-07:002010-07-11T15:28:35.627-07:00If only the final had been (in purely footballing ...If only the final had been (in purely footballing terms) as entertaining as the delight that was the third place playoff. Though despite the first half Dutch mugging (I'm guessing Alonso may have a permanent studded tattoo after Dejongs Cantonaesque karate kick) the best footballing side of the tournament won, thankfully, and well deserved (my heart sank for Torres though), yet my heart rose again on seeing Iniestas under shirt after his beautiful strike...a tribute to their former captain Daniel Jarque who died from a heart attack shortly after a training session almost a year ago aged only 26.<br /><br />The celebrations were wonderful to behold. Oh and, Forlan has won 'player of the tournament' too, that with Mueller winning the 'Golden Shoe', leaves me quietly satisfied..https://www.blogger.com/profile/00532376301529981186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-29294987646035486122010-07-11T09:15:58.465-07:002010-07-11T09:15:58.465-07:00yes....there is a saying that is often muttered i...yes....there is a saying that is often muttered in cricketing alleys...<br />"class is permanent...form is temporary"<br /> <br />and it probably does imply to football as well..the same reason i feel a certain paul scholes could have done something for england if he'd chosen to...<br /><br />as for maradona's inexplicable selection issues...i think raymond domenech the french coach surpassed him....individually france was as good as any of the other contenders...there were roars throughout the world urging him to step down from his position....but some people simply do not get it...perhaps he lived under a rock...never read ,watched ,heard the news....<br /><br />and maradona plays 4 centre backs in his back line(defence)....zanetti probably would be as confused as everyone else was...di-EGO maradona!manik sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18055072451804840121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-31004635917838704592010-07-11T08:59:16.758-07:002010-07-11T08:59:16.758-07:00Manik,
Perhaps it is because I am such a very old...Manik,<br /><br />Perhaps it is because I am such a very old person that I have had sympathies for some of the less youthful players we have seen in the tournament. I mention Blanco and Abreu in the piece. I must confess I feel also that Veron, though he showed very little over the past few weeks to confirm this, still has some life left in the skills department. At least as much as, say, Loco Palermo, who was also in the Argentine squad. <br /><br />These are surely personal affiliations of Maradona's. And of course Maradona's team selection has been crazy all along. The exclusion of Zanetti and Cambiasso certainly made no sense. They were key parts of a European championship team just a few months ago.<br /><br />But while on this subject, I must confess I am so geriatric that I would have been happy to see Juan Roman Riquelme -- another fellow Maradona does not get along with, but then of course that probably puts Maradona in the majority -- not only in the squad, but on the field. Since Riquelme's departure from the national team it has lacked a player of similar skill in that enganche position which Riquelme defined for his epoch. A thinker with peripheral vision, tactical nous and distribution skills. That "link" position has gone unfilled. And I think maybe it was the missing link in the team Maradona assembled. <br /><br /> ___<br /><br />And speaking, as I was, of the ageing brain in the fog... Mario, a bit of memory meditation has yielded the deeper sources (!!) of my "Pedro/Sergio" mistake: in the mid-1950s I worked at sporting events in Chicago. Things were very different in the sporting arena then, the players were far less remote from ordinary human beings. So in the course of ordinary human events, I consorted a bit with the players whom I was meant to protect and serve. And one of those was a pleasant Cuban fellow who was also a fine pitcher, at that time for the Washington Senators (a team that no longer exists). And his name was: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Ramos" rel="nofollow">Pedro Ramos</a>.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-50104081685242724052010-07-11T08:27:26.225-07:002010-07-11T08:27:26.225-07:00yes i completely agree....
and be it mockingly but...yes i completely agree....<br />and be it mockingly but i was astonished to see VERON being fielded for the argentinians .....it was shocking....a country that boasts of the best player in the world(who broke down in the dressing room-revealed by maradona himself after the germans rendered hi invisible on the pitch ) and an array of such excellent talent...<br /><br />forlan has won 2 european golden boots....it is an amazing feat for him and his country alike in this tournament who might find it difficult to even qualify the next time when probably he would be retired if not older....<br /><br />but he has left behind his mark on this tournament i suppose.....but sadly also the medal...that he truly deserved...<br /><br />cheers !!manik sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18055072451804840121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-41081359652236067122010-07-11T08:01:15.898-07:002010-07-11T08:01:15.898-07:00Steve,
Not sure who that erstwhile mutual friend ...Steve,<br /><br />Not sure who that erstwhile mutual friend would be, but the sole suspect would be.... ?<br /><br />The thing is, and it's this that makes my unhealthy preoccupation even MORE insane, there's no cable or dish here either. <br /><br />So watching the games has entailed some pretty strange and indeed pretty precarious and at times extremely frustrating internet trawling.<br /><br />perspective frame, this one<br />done just by letting go<br /><br />... of rationality, I guess.<br /><br />(Speaking of deep fog.)<br /><br /><br />Meanwhile...<br /><br />In honour of cross cultural understanding, on the auspicious day of the gran final, let me offer <a href="javascript:void(0);" rel="nofollow">this</a>, which comes in from our friend Simon Schuchat. <br /><br />It may be dedicated to either the Spanish or the Dutch, as circumstance and inclination determine.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-53127957202166806082010-07-11T07:48:37.996-07:002010-07-11T07:48:37.996-07:00Tom,
What great stuff [photos & the captions t...Tom,<br />What great stuff [photos & the captions that put words to such pictures of action stopped in pictures]. Having no cable/dish, we haven't seen any of this, alas. Used to watch it w/ the friends in the "soccer club" in olden days (one of which at least you remember), back when network TV carried it -- many an hour spent watching as I now recall. Your selection of image and the words to go with it are really terrific, thanks!<br /><br />7.11<br /><br />grey whiteness of fog against invisible<br />ridge, song sparrow calling from branch<br />in foreground, wave sounding in channel<br /><br /> perspective frame, this one<br /> done just by letting go<br /><br /> attention, measured against, <br /> said about is “in fact”<br /><br />grey-white of fog reflected in channel,<br />line of pelicans flapping toward pointSTEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-22975893516369406342010-07-11T07:34:04.032-07:002010-07-11T07:34:04.032-07:00Curtis, good morning and thank you.
Mario, good ...Curtis, good morning and thank you.<br /><br /><br />Mario, good morning and thank you very much for reminding me that Sergio is Sergio and Pedro is Pedro. (That has now been corrected.) I would prefer to mix up my own name than the names of those two excellent players. But ah, the ageing brain... I think it was the fact that I've had Pedro on my mind ever since the late moments of the Germany game, when he passed up the opportunity to provide for Torres in front of an open goal. It was touching to see that Pedro himself immediately knew his mistake, and made a prayerful gesture toward Torres, as if to say, Forgive.<br /><br />In the Americas, the announcers (the Spanish-speaking announcers, who are the only ones worth listening to) sometimes call Pedro "Pedrito". But he has lately shown himself to be a fully-grown hombre, so perhaps the diminutive will be left behind. <br /><br /><br />Manik, good morning and yes, I think Forlán is a seriously underrated player. This probably dates back to his stay at Manchester United, where he was derided as "Forlorn". But as we know, that is a tough stop for even the greatest of South American players. La Bruja Veron was also the butt of jokes there. And Carlitos Tevez was not much appreciated... though when he returned in Man City colours he was at least noticed, if with predictable unkindness.<br /><br />Forlán was the reason a mediocre Atletico team rose up to win that cup they now call Europa (a moon of Jupiter?), and now, along with Suárez, he is a large part of reason why Uruguay will return home with honour from this present tournament. <br /><br />And indeed with that last kick of the match he came very close to extending that wonderful game yesterday. <br /><br />He managed to make the Jabulani, everybody's nemesis, into his companion. Marvelous.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-65290458854252970412010-07-11T05:23:08.636-07:002010-07-11T05:23:08.636-07:00england were pedestrian compared to footballing st...england were pedestrian compared to footballing standards that were set by other countries....these players play well only alongside good foreign players in the league.....but as a matter of personal opinion i think two teams who have made the final have been the two who have had luck on their side of the dugout...<br /><br />needless to say there have been the moments of brilliance that have seen them through....<br /> the germany/uruguay match was indeed a heart-stopper...i think forlan has been the most underrated player who shone in the tournament....the quality of his goals should stand for some reward itself..but then who remembers the ones who didn't win the big one....<br /><br />And the moment of the tournament for me was saurez's handball in the last minute and the miss that followed....how emotions would have vibrated high and low within those 2 minutes of football is quite un-imaginable.....<br /><br />the love the way you picture heskey,gerrard and rooney....<br />coz i'm an england fan<br /><br />tke cre..manik sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18055072451804840121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-63567739263283378502010-07-11T01:12:48.852-07:002010-07-11T01:12:48.852-07:00Sir, the name is Sergio Ramos, instead of Pedro Ra...Sir, the name is Sergio Ramos, instead of Pedro Ramos. Pedro is the outstanding Barcelona forward. Your blog is extraordinary. Thank you very muchMario Domínguez Parra https://www.blogger.com/profile/00215012182528833866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-14042943764552370092010-07-10T18:54:31.763-07:002010-07-10T18:54:31.763-07:00Tom, As a US non-football follower (who will have ...Tom, As a US non-football follower (who will have more to say about the Bennett and Orwell posts tomorrow), I thought this was exceptionally fine sports reporting. The best. As Leigh said, "in a large perfect nutshell." <br /><br />"Consolation". "150 years" These both spy me "found" and "lost", which seems ok tonight.Curtis Robertsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-4571510644629282682010-07-10T18:03:32.261-07:002010-07-10T18:03:32.261-07:00Leigh,
Yes, we are all Tiago without the talent.
...Leigh,<br /><br />Yes, we are all Tiago without the talent.<br /><br />Funny thing today, after a month without sleep and feeling every one of my at least 150 years, I found Uruguay/Germany enthralling and was breathless at the moment Forlán's last kick of the match hit the bar.<br /><br />The absence of the intense pressure to win and go on in the tournament seemed to draw a different kind of game out of those sides, both playing with freedom and abandon, wonderful stuff really.<br /><br />How would we play life if there was nothing much to lose?<br /><br />Third place. In the US there's this "We're number one" business. Nobody ever wanted to be third. That's the beauty of "consolation", it comes much closer than winning to what life might realistically have to offer. There can only one number one. Nobody remembers who came in third. We can all come in third together.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-85398387062542916902010-07-10T16:01:09.595-07:002010-07-10T16:01:09.595-07:00In a large, perfect nutshell.
'Tiago gesticul...In a large, perfect nutshell.<br /><br />'Tiago gesticulates with the air of a man quarreling vainly with history,' - that also sums up the life of a fan :).https://www.blogger.com/profile/00532376301529981186noreply@blogger.com