Tag: sports

Marathon

thehungryrunnergirl2 Comments

September 12th BC 450, a Greek messenger was sent from the battlefield of Marathon (name of the city) to Athens to report that Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September that year. According to the Greek messenger, he ran the entire 42.195km(26.1miles) without stopping.

He exclaimed, “We have won” before he collapsed and died.

In 19th century, the marathon became one of the Olympic events. The marathon is one of my favorite events in Olympics. The most memorable marathon I saw on TV was in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I was in first grade. An amazing runner from Japan Naoko Takahashi won the first gold medal in marathon. She said,” It was the most enjoyable 42.195km I’ve ever ran.” She smiled and waved at the crowd. Why is she not tired? Didn’t she just run 26 miles? It was very inspirational. I wanted to start running.

Today, many marathon races are held all over the world. I see many people run and train for races.

The marathon is one of those rare events related to history. Marathon is associated with the Ancient Greeks in the name “marathon” and the distance that is run still remains the same.

We won!

rangerthecat1 Comment

There is nothing better than having the best team mates, a supportive coach, and a team spirit that will stay strong no matter what the outcome of the game.
That being said, there is one thing that can make it feel a whole lot better: Winning.

Saturday, September 17th was the first girls varsity volleyball game.

Walking down to the field, ready to set up the courts and play, I had many mixed feelings about the game in my near future. I thought, since we only had a little over a week of practice, that we would suck. I mean really, I knew Midland wasn’t the best volleyball team, but I thought we were going to lose so badly.

But, as six individuals stand on the court, there is some strong bond that makes us all one. Sounds cheesy, but really, I feel like that’s what happened.

Before I knew it, my prediction from a few hours ago had been completely flipped around. We kicked their butt!

And it felt so good!!!!!!!!!

My doubts for the rest of the season have disappeared. I have so much more confidence in myself and the rest of my team than I had before. I really think this is going to be an amazing season, and hopefully we have a lot more of these victories in our future.

Worse than Dropping the Ball

therightliberal2 Comments

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has been teased by almost every media outlet following his epic dropping of the Copa del Rey, the national cup of Spanish football.

Here is the video of his blunder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXxSuzRpTps

Luckily the cup did not have much damage to it but I am sure Sergio Ramos’ pride did.

Even more lucky for Sergio Ramos is that he is not the first to make a disastrous mistake like this. Here is a look back as some of the biggest athlete fails in the past years.

The Zidane headbutt is the largest mistake that I can remember. For one of the greatest players to end his career like that in such a dirty way was unbelievable. Added to that was the fact that it was in the most watched game in the world and you have a massive media craze.

In American football, the Super Bowl is huge. Everyone gets together and stuffs themselves full of meat and watches men hit each other. Before the game, someone famous always sings the national anthem. When Christina Aguilera was picked to sing, one would think she would work to learn the words. Here is what happened instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMHffUXbLV8

So here is to flubs at sporting events! Sergio Ramos should just pick his head up and laugh at his mistake. These are the moments that make fans laugh…and every sports fan can use a laugh.

Wacky World of Football

therightliberalLeave a comment

Although I am still young, I have had the chance to work on all sides of football. I have played, refereed, coached and worked in the management.

For me there is an obvious favorite, playing. Playing football is a great feeling, one that allows me to get out all of my emotions. It is an art form. It is like I am in my element, one in which I am completely comfortable.

But playing is not that far ahead of the others surprisingly.

Refereeing is not what one might consider “fun” but for me there is a sense of duty. I am going out to ref with the idea that I am helping the game (although players may disagree). Being a ref is a very hard job and it has given me insight to the pain I cause refs when I yell and hassle them.

Coaching is very exciting for me. It gives me the feeling that I am opening up a whole new world to kids. I remember the joy that learning football gave me and I try to emulate that. I hope that my coaching gives kids a opportunity to go have fun and learn as much as they can about the game of football.

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Emotions

therightliberalLeave a comment

Football brings fire to my veins. I am an emotional player by nature. I commit hard tackles, scream my head off and have a tendency to tell the refs my honest opinion of their most recent call.

But one thing in particular that I love about football (and other team sports as well) is the sense of a brotherhood. I love playing for a team where I know that every one of the guys wearing the same jersey as me has my back. I love the confidence it gives me. I love the passion that it brings onto the pitch.

Many people call it a family but I do not see it that way. It is more primordial, raw emotions. There are many times that those emotions overpower my common sense to the point that my actions are run totally off of testosterone. But that is the greatest high in the world.

Football is a team sport. Nothing gets done unless players work together. That mentality leads to a relationship among players that cannot be understood by anyone who has not experienced it.

I love football because I know I can leave everything I have on the pitch and my teammates will be there right by me. I love football because no matter what the circumstance we play to win and stop at nothing.

First of the Fergu(sons) to Retire

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Gary Neville has retired. This was a surprise for me, I did not see him going another season but I did not think that he would retire at this point, midway through the year.

This is the first of a batch of players to retire that were basically raised by Sir Alex Ferguson. This group of players includes Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, and Gary Neville’s brother Phil.

Sir Alex Ferguson has coached Gary Neville for 20 years, he made him into one of (if not the best) right backs in English Football. Gary Neville and the rest of that group have been like Ferguson’s sons over the years. There have been ups and downs but they have had a fantastic relationship on and off th pitch.

Gary Neville played 602 games for Manchester United, 85 for England. Those 602 games for one team is unbelievable. Ferguson mentioned that he does not think (and he is usually right) that 602 games will ever be matched by a EPL player, especially playing for just one team.

In all honesty I have never been a huge Neville supporter. It was not that I thought he was a bad footballer, his style just never interested me. However, I have immense respect for Gary Neville. He laid it all out on the field. He gave everything he had for Manchester United.

I can not say what Gary Neville’s legacy will be, all I can say is that I have immense respect for what he gave for United; all those times he trashed Liverpool, all the times he got in players faces, all the times when he challenged Ferguson.

Neville always reminded me of a pirate, not just how he looked but his hardened attitude and his tenacity, and for that I say thank you.

Why I Love United

therightliberal2 Comments

Over the holidays Manchester United showed exactly why I love them. If one was to watch a Man U game without any knowledge of their current league position, they would easily think they were a mid-table team. But Manchester United, full of potential talent, always does just enough to get by.

Nani celeb Manchester United v Stoke

Now many people might wonder why I would appreciate this in a soccer team, for it sounds quite outlandish. Here is why: Manchester United keeps soccer interesting. They are that team in the Premier League that at any point can do something amazing. But at the same time they are right on the brink of total failure. There are games where their midfield has no control, their defence is full of holes and their strikers don’t even look interested in scoring. And then out of nowhere that all changes, they become a team that cannot be stopped.

To many fans this would come off as being inconsistent and lacking true talent. I will not deny that their play is inconsistent but the fact that fans never know what to expect is what makes it fun.

I love to watch Barcelona play because they almost always are making spectacular passes and moving the ball around in unfathomable ways. But the reason I love Man U is that I never know what to expect when I turn on my TV, every game is a new experience, there is no “been there, done that” type of soccer.

Michael Carrick gets treatment as Steven Gerrard prepares to see red

As inconsistent as the play may have been, Man U sits atop the Premier League. At this point it is theirs to lose. but whats great about that is they very well may lose it
(I cringe to imagine it) , and that is what keeps us watching.

To read about all of the latest Manchester United news go to: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team/_/id/360/manchester-united?cc=5901

Blazing Berba

therightliberalLeave a comment

The Red Devils are at it again, proving that they are the best team in the world. Ok so that is an overstatement but a 7-1 victory is impressive.

Dimitar Berbatov

This Saturday, Manchester United faced an admittedly less than decent Blackburn Rovers side. United proceeded to score 7 goals, allowing only a late consolation goal by Blackburn.

Even more impressive was Dimitar Berbatov’s 5 goal scoring binge. he joins only 3 other players who have managed to score 5 in a game. I admit that up until this season, I had not been at all impressed by the Bulgarian. But his effort and his performances so far during this campaign make me proud to have him.

Dimitar Berbatov

This might seem like a statement based on one performance but it is far from the contrary. I have seen a large increase in effort and he has developed more awareness to the players around him. I feel that it is another example of the potential Sir Alex is able to release in so many players. he makes good players great.

Crackdown

therightliberal2 Comments

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk dropped Nigel De Jong for two games due to his latest dirty tackle. This weekend while playing for Manchester City in a game against Newcastle United, De Jong went in way to hard on a tackle and broke Hatem Ben Arfa‘s leg. This is the second hard challenge that he has committed recently and gotten away with.  The first was in the final against Spain where he karate kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest and got away with only a yellow card. Nigel de Jong plants his studs into Xabi Alonso's chest

This time he goes in, breaks a player’s leg and doesn’t even get a foul called. But Van Marwijk made up for the refs mistake.

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The Typical Brit

Yourcupatea2 Comments

How can you define someone as typical? You can’t. So how can you define a nation as a typical way? You can’t. All one can presume is that the typical figure portrayed as a representative of a country is what the majority of the population is like. This is how stereotypical opinions form.

On television someone of a certain class or nationality is often presented in a particular way in order to entertain the viewer. The characters are often presented as caricatures, over exaggerating their characteristics in comedies to make them amusing. If one English person is like this then they all will be. This is definitely not the case.

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