BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Monday Morning Zingers

The man who cannot shut up is at it again. On the eve of a match against Tottenham that could very well tell if Liverpool has a chance of making the top four in the Premier League, Rafa Benitez has said that if the season ends disastrously, the club could let top striker Fernando Torres go to another club for cash which is in short supply in Anfield right now. I don't get this guy, he keeps saying to let them do their talking on the pitch but here he is yakking his head off. And he always deflects the blame elsewhere. I wasn't that impressed with him when he came in from Valencia the Champions League title in Istanbul notwithstanding. I always thought that huge win was more of a product of the team's collective will and Steven Gerrard's leadership than coaching smarts. As he got rid of Gerard Houillier's team, he built the new Liverpool and they came close again two years later in the CL and last season in the EPL. But close does not cut it. In fact, in hindsight, although, I did warn rather cautiously, that they were probably last gasp opportunities. I was, however, hoping that I was wrong. I thought they'd win the EPL in 2008 but they didn't. It's been painful to watch them this year but I'm still supporting the club. Even if Rafa continuously mouths off when he shouldn't.

And then there are the Washington Wizards who are no wizzes when it comes to common sense and sensibility. It would have been interesting to note that the Wizards' first match without the disgraced Gilbert Arenas was against the Cleveland Cavaliers who blew them out; that day was Agent Zero's birthday. No coming out party for sure in another sucky season. Then DeShawn Stevenson, who made the headlines only for challenging LeBron James in a previous playoff encounter, paid his tribute to Arenas by placing his teammate's nom de guerre on his socks. I guess if that's fine by him as a tribute then it's getting fined by the Wizards or the League. Whatta zero.

The New England Patriots were shoved out of the NFL playoffs by the ever-dangerous Baltimore Ravens. Will they be back? Of course. It's too presumptuous to say that they are done for. Who would have thought that the other year they would come so close to a fourth Super Bowl title? Maybe the are on the decline but elite teams -- and now that they've become a winning club -- know and like the feeling that comes with winning so they should just re-tool. Its teams like Green Bay, Denver, and Chicago who really have to figure out what they are doing.

I got an email from a European agency that had complaints from local football associations about the Philippine Football Federation. Look, the PFF is guided by a bunch of delusional idiots who think they are God's gift to the sport. Local football had their chance to rectify things and they blew it. Unity is non-existent as you've got self-serving people everywhere making for a fractured scene. Many of them think they know what they are doing but they don't. It's actually a microcosm of what is going on in local athletics. So do I care? Bwahahaha!

In the wire, a potential swap --- Chris Bosh for Andrew Bynum? Can you say, "Lakers repeat"?

And lastly, Derek Jeter and actress Minka Kelly to tie the knot this November at Long Island? Good show, Cap! Go for title #28 as well!

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