I apologize for the lack of posting; chalk it up to lacrosse and the aftermath of my encounter with the long arm of the law. But I'm back with big things planned. First, I need to point out to the LBS staff that I posted before Walter.
More importantly, I'm writing this post from a coffee shop in St. Petersburg, Russia. I've been here a week with four more to go. So, my idea was to post every Sunday while I'm here, writing about the interesting stuff that I do and, of course, sporting events that occur over here. Obviously, that means I'll be posting about more European sports and not so much the NBA or NHL playoffs, or baseball. Our readers will be so much more cultured after the next few weeks.
Unfortunately, that means covering the Champions League final from last night (Saturday afternoon for the rest of you)
I'd like to start off my saying that last night was one of the best sport spectating experiences of my life. After going to more popular bars that had all the tables reserved, we called our professor who had mentioned he had a friend who owned a bar. He reserved a table for us with a great view of the tv and we got there just before the game started. During the game, my three friends and I ran up an estimated 200 bucks worth of alcohol and food, which to our drunken delight was given to us for absolutely free, "because we go to UR." It all would have been great, had Bayern not blown what was considered a layup of a win for them.
The game was played not just in Germany, it was played IN BAYERN'S HOME ARENA. They dominated the possession 55-45, had corner advantage 20-1, and Chelsea pretty much sucked for 88 minutes. The players who usually come up big for Bayern (Robben, Gomez, Schweinsteiger) played pretty poorly. I haven't been that frustrated since....the last time Bayern lost a Champs League final. How ironic
We choked. That's clear. The amount of half-chances we had were astounding. Gomez, the guy who can usually benefit from the ball bouncing around the box, seemed to be incapable of doing anything right. On corners, where the tall Germans are dominant in the air, we couldn't convert. Not scoring on corners is common, but that't when a team has maybe three or four corners during the game. BAYERN HAD 20 F***ING CORNERS!!!! It was clear from the start that Bayern was going to dominate, and I was fully prepared to try and talk smack to the Brits in the bar. For the first few minutes, everyone looked great. Robben was doing his usual cutback to the left, making chances for others, even playing a lil defense. But as the game progressed, it became clear something was wrong. His left-footed shots, which are typically are bombs from the right side, kept sailing over the goal. He took a terrible penalty kick after it seemed Drogba had handed us the game in extra-time. No one seemed to be able to put a shot in the net. It was hands down the most frustrating soccer game I have ever watched.
A quick note about Chelsea. It was good to see Drogba, who appeared to have fallen out of favor with the signing of Torres, to come back and cement his legacy as one of the all-time great strikers. After Bayern went up in the 86th minute, I was four minutes away from retribution for two years ago, when Chelsea took their one corner and Drogba had a FIFA-esque header to tie it up. I have never seen a team get more lucky. That was undoubtedly one of the bigger upsets in recent CL history.
Overall, this season has to be considered a monumental failure for Bayern. They were bent over by Dortmund for both the Bundesliga title and the German DFB-Pokal Cup. They seemed to have the CL title in the bag until they pulled a bigger choke job than Alex in the SDC Family Feud final '10. For the amount of money they spend, the players they attract and being in the hunt for three different competitions, bringing back no silverware is completely unacceptable. Fortunately, we should have a nearly identical squad next year.
Now, a few things about Russia that I think everyone will find interesting. Russia is famous for their alcohol consumption, but it's not in the way I thought it would be. Of course you get your vodka-chugging, belligerent homeless dudes that share their drink with the stray dogs, but you more see people drinking anytime, anywhere. Whether it be waiting for the bus in the morning, on the escalator down to the metro, or taking the kids to school, these people drink round the clock. There are college kids who do that in America, but when your only responsibility is attending a few classes at some state university, it's a little different. Also, the kids here are really into PDA. It's very routine for me to see couples making out simply waiting for the metro to arrive. All the Russian girls always hold hands with their boyfriends when walking on the street.
Finally, the Russian girls. I could probably write a final paper about them, but here's just a few sentences. Their everyday dress can be compared to the way an American girl dresses when she's going to the club looking for a random hookup. Most of the women between 20-35 wear four inch heels everyday, with really tight skirts and shirts. They always have a ton of makeup on. My neck started hurting after the first few days here.
Thats pretty much all I got right now. The Russia-Slovakia hockey final is on at 9 tonight, so I'll start my post with that next Sunday.
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