Two of my worlds collide when David Beckham and Kevin Garnett filmed a commercial for adidas last year:
hat tip to The Spoiler which has a fuller explanation of the shoot.
Showing posts with label David Beckham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Beckham. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Friday, June 20, 2008
Scandal!
This headline just makes me laugh:
Daily Mail (uk): Great tackle, Becks - but have the Armani airbrushers pumped up your lunchbox?
Click it and check out Beckham's lunchbox (now that's new word for that part of the anatomy). I say it was airbrushed. Either that, or a sock.
Daily Mail (uk): Great tackle, Becks - but have the Armani airbrushers pumped up your lunchbox?
Click it and check out Beckham's lunchbox (now that's new word for that part of the anatomy). I say it was airbrushed. Either that, or a sock.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Beckham Speaks
David Beckham interviewed by Michael Parkinson earlier this month:
Part 1:
Part 2:
hat tip to Who Ate All the Pies?
Part 1:
Part 2:
hat tip to Who Ate All the Pies?
Sunday, December 16, 2007
David Beckham's Right Foot
I watched Love Actually last night (one of my favorite movies) and laughed when Hugh Grant, playing the Prime Minister, described Britain as home of, among others, "David Beckham's right foot; David Beckham's left foot..."
Here's that famous foot in action (hat tip to 4 Eyed Keeper)
Here's that famous foot in action (hat tip to 4 Eyed Keeper)
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Footie News
I always have to ease back into blogging after an absence. Easy topics like soccer.
Damarcus Beasley tore ligaments in his knee last weekend and is probably done for the SPL season. Hope he can rehab himself back into shape again.
Legendary women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance's sexual harassment trial scheduled for April 2008.
The groups for Euro 2008 were drawn this morning: Group C (Italy, France, Holland, Romania) nominated as "Group of Death".
The Guardian (uk) has a gallery of photoshopped pics of what the England players will be doing during Euro 2008.
No surprise here: Kaka wins the Ballon D'Or, Europe's top player; Christiano Ronaldo a distant second.
Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra and their 8-month old twins visit the University of Texas. Cute!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Beckham and ...?
Good article on the BBC Football site about David Beckham's LA Galaxy teammates, heretofore pretty much anonymous except for Landycakes Donovan (Invisi-Landon in big games) and old pro Cobi Jones, the most-capped player on the US Men's National Team.
BBC Football: LA Galaxy pen pics
Friday, June 08, 2007
Footie News
AP
The US men's national team eked out a 1-0 win against Guatemala in the Gold Cup last night. Not carried on English-speaking TV, but I watched it on Telemundo. The good news: Great goal by Clint Dempsey (video here), with assists from Taylor Twellman and DaMarcus Beasley. Bad news: Despite being played in California, the crowd was 90% Guatamelan. More bad news: Oguchi Onyewu got sent off with a second yellow red card. He really lost his cool with the flopping of Guatemalan ace Carlos Ruiz. The other good news is that I didn't have to listen to Dave O'Brien, who was doing the MLS game on ESPN2. I tuned in after the USMNT game to hear O'Brien intone "It's a final, US 1, Guatemala 0, and Clint Dempsey responsible for that score." What an idiot. Dempsey scored a goal; he isn't responsible for the score of the whole game. Listening to O'Brien talk about soccer reminds me of reading a badly translated menu in a Chinese restaurant. (ESPN so does not get soccer. One of their graphics for a player last night said, "Played in England for two years". So -- was he playing pickup in Holland Park, or in the Premier League? It was probably somewhere in between, but ESPN doesn't think American soccer fans would know the difference between the Premier League and League Two.)
This week US Soccer dedicated Field 1 at the Home Depot Center to Glenn "Mooch" Myernick. Soccer fan Drew Carey donated $160,000 to the Mooch Myernich Memorial Fund.
The fund was established to help increase the number of children playing the sport in metropolitan communities nationwide, and to assist soccer clubs and organizations in urban areas to create and sustain soccer opportunities for local underserved children. Prior to Tuesday’s event, the Foundation had already raised more than $100,000 from individual and corporate donors in Myernick’s honor to help support the growth of soccer in major metropolitan areas across the country. An assistant coach for the USA in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup, Myernick was universally admired, respected and loved by all those whose lives he touched. He passed away in October of 2006 at the age of 51.
David Beckham lead England to a 3-0 win over Estonia in their crucial Euro 2008 qualifier. He set up goals with beautiful crosses in to Peter Crouch and Michael Owen. Watch the video of the goals here; Joe Cole's goal was even better. It reminded me of Maxi Rodriguez's goal in the World Cup. The English press isn't finished with Beckham; today's alarming news story puts Becks at high risk for deep vein thrombosis if he tries to travel to England games from LA.
I've discovered a new women's soccer blog, USA Women's Soccer. Filled with news, but I can't figure out how to link to individual posts. This one's about halfway down the May archive:
This one slipped under the radar, but the National Soccer Hall of Fame revamped its election rules at its April 28 board meeting. Instead of the top two vote getters (provided they get over 50% of the vote) getting elected plus the possibility of a third player getting elected if he/she received over 80% of the vote, the new rule states that any candidate that receives over 75% of the vote will be elected to the Hall of Fame. While each Hall of Fame has a different election process, this is the same percentage required as the final round of voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame, while the Football Hall of Fame requires 80% of the vote. And in case you're curious, if the new rules were in place for the 2007 election, Joy Fawcett still would not have been elected as she only received 67.25% of the vote.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
He's Beck!
Finally, manager Steve McClaren recalls Beckham to the England squad. 'Ol Bleached Teeth was happy to shitcan Beckham after the World Cup, to show us who's boss; now he comes crawling back to England's best dead ball specialist. You can listen to a long interview with Beckham (recorded before the recall was announced) here on the BBC (click on podcast) or a shorter interview here.
MLS and American soccer are roundly derided in all these articles:
"Beckham will soon be off to an international backwater"
"What a waste of talent."
"His career seemed to be easing into a more comfortable twilight zone when in January Beckham announced he would move to LA Galaxy."
"He is going to be playing at a significantly lower level when he moves to Los Angeles. It is the first step to retirement."
"After their trip to Tallinn, England play Israel and Russia at Wembley on Sept 8 and 12 respectively. Estonia then visit on Oct 13 before the difficult trip to Russia on Oct 17. From July 1, Beckham will only be up against the best that America has to offer so it is unlikely that he will be ready for such challenging matches."
"As far as I am concerned, Beckham retired the moment he announced he was off to play the equivalent of non-league football in America.”
"He looked like a spent force at the World Cup, and if that was not the case would he really be heading for the elephants’ graveyard that is North American “soccer”? Out there in the galaxy of mediocrity that is the rough equivalent of our Nationwide Conference, he cannot hope to be fit enough, or sharp enough, to complete the European qualifying series with England next season. "
"This is the pattern of Beckham's career and it is unlikely to be touched by the fact that in practical terms his forthcoming move to the soccer boondocks of America means that his return to the international stage should be brief."
I watched an MLS game tonight and can't disagree with any of these comments. The level of play, the technical ability, the speed are all lacking. David Beckham will be the best player in MLS the moment he steps onto the field.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Got Tickets?
LA Galaxy website: Summer 2007 Beckham Comes To America
Since the league schedule hasn't been announced yet, you have to buy season tickets to get David Beckham tickets. Coach Mom has already called to put in an order for New England Revolution tickets!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Footie News
FoxSports reports that Jurgen Klinsmann is to be the next USMNT coach. Let's hope so!
via duNord, Eurosport reports that Real Madrid has made a bid for Gooch, Oguchi Onyewu, our massive defender currently toiling for Standard Liege in Belgium. Real Madrid! Teammate of Beckham, von Nistelrooy, and Raul! My god, he could be playing next to Roberto Carlos. Another report we hope is correct.
From Who Ate All The Pies (it's an English thing), video of current England soccer players in their youth. Look for the Michael Owen goal about 3/4 of the way along - he scores from the kickoff. Oh, and Robbie Savage with a cameo as Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Clint Dempsey (The Deuce) has reportedly been offered a deal by Fulham FC, but is going to have to appeal for a work permit, as he doesn't have sufficient appearances for the US National Team to automatically qualify.
Reading, home of Americans Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann, are 6th in the table in the EPL. They did have the highest point total ever in the Championship last season, but their start is amazing.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Misc. Football Links
The Beckhams are interviewed by Ali G. Before there was Borat, there was Ali G. (YouTube video):
Da Ali G show - david and victoria beckham
12 photoshopped pics of Teddy Sheringham (Guardian [uk])
Freddy Adu's US coach says if he's going to play in Europe, he's going to have to work hard even in practice. So I guess he doesn't do that here. (mls.net)
Brad Friedel's gonna come home to the US after he retires, dodgy British accent and all, and run a top-tier football academy in Cleveland, Ohio (BBC Sport)
Mexican tabloid reports that the USMNT coaching job has been offered to Jose Pekerman of Argentina, and that Fernando Clavijo would be his assistant. If so, Sunil Gulati should be drawn and quartered. Klinsmann, Sunil, not the Peckerman. (Du Nord)
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
World Cup Links
Tomorrow we head to Germany! Whee-hoo! Today I bought Eddie Bauer heavy-duty rain ponchos (weather has been lousy in Germany, so hopefully by going super-prepared, it will be hot and sunny while we're there), two big nylon American flags to drape ourselves in, three new soccer magazines (thank you Barnes & Noble) and a notebook for the trip. I've been doing this lately, taking a small fits-in-your-purse notebook on my trips. I find myself recording my meals, the weather, funny things that happen, and I draw something every day. Whiles away long train rides, and a great record when you get home.
Anyway, here are my favorite links of the day:
Clint Dempsey aka The Deuce has a website. Did you know that he rooms with Eddie Johnson? John O'Brien with Tim Howard?
Wayne Rooney cleared to play for England. My prediction is that he will be about as effective as David Beckham was in 2002 -- not very.
Secret footage of the Italian team training for the Cup. Too funny.
My favorite player DaMarcus Beasley profiled in WaPo: On the Eve of the World Cup, Beasley's Full of Anticipation
NTimes World Cup Blog has a daily rundown of injuries, team by team.
Cisse, the French striker who missed most of Liverpool's 2004 season with a broken left leg, has sadly broken his right leg in the friendly against China. Big blow to France, and your heart has to go out to Cisse.
Monday, May 01, 2006
England: No Rooney, No World Cup Hope
Striker Wayne Rooney broke the fourth metatarsal bone in his right foot in a Premier League game against Chelsea on Saturday, and there went England's World Cup hopes.
Brave words were said by Rooney's coach, Eriksson, but the fact is that he is highly unlikely to recover in time to play and be any kind of factor.
From The Guardian (uk), a story about the role Rooney's brand new Nike boots may have played, and a recent history of English players with broken metatarsals, with recovery times:
Nike bruised as new boots backfire
Metatarsal mayhem
Wayne Rooney Fifth metatarsal - June 2004 Predicted return 8 weeks returned 14 weeks later
David Beckham Second metatarsal- April 2002 Predicted 6 weeks returned 7 weeks later
[and was completely ineffective]
Gary Neville Fifth metatarsal - April 2002 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Ashley Cole Fifth metatarsal - Oct 2005 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 12 weeks later
Scott Parker Second metatarsal - Dec 2004 Predicted 8 weeks returned 34 weeks later
Michael Owen Fifth metatarsal - Jan 2006 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 17 weeks later
Danny Murphy Second metatarsal - May 2002 Predicted 6 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Steven Gerrard Fifth metatarsal - Sep 22 2004 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 10 weeks later
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Things To Celebrate (And Not) This Week
May 1st:
Mission Accomplished Day
May Day (International Workers Day)
The Great American Boycott 2006 (Immigration Protest)
May 2nd:
David Beckham's birthday (too bad for England about all those broken metatarsals, huh?)
May 3rd:
World Press Freedom Day
On this date in 1957, Walter O'Malley moved the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles.
May 4th:
Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you! Think about it.)
36th anniversary of National Guard murder of 4 students at Kent State University
1886 Haymarket Riots
May 5th:
Pete Rose got his 3000th hit (did he bet on it?)
And, last but not least:
National Day of Celebration (Frogmarching Day)
Jason Leopold at truthout.org: Fitzgerald to Seek Indictment of Rove
Despite vehement denials by his attorney, who said this week that Karl Rove is neither a "target" nor in danger of being indicted in the CIA leak case, the special counsel leading the investigation has already written up charges against Rove, and a grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict the Deputy White House Chief of Staff sometime next week, sources knowledgeable about the probe said Friday afternoon.
[]
In the event that an indictment is handed up by the grand jury it would be filed under seal. A press release would then be issued by Fitzgerald’s press office indicating that the special prosecutor will hold a news conference, likely on a Friday afternoon, sources close to the case said. The media would be given more than 24 hours notice of a press conference, sources added.
Booman Tribune: Frog-March Scheduled for Next Friday
Hopefully wherever I am on Friday, I'll be wearing a party hat and drinking champagne!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
'We Have Dentists'
US soccer fans win a rare award (from the Guardian.uk):
Swells Awardz 2005
Swells Awardz 2005
The Best Crowd Heckle Ever Award goes to ...
American fans at the US v England friendly in Chicago. Not only did they sport T-shirts proclaiming "Tea is for pussies", "Beach Boys kick Beatles' ass", "Beckham is a Fairy", "FDR can't save you now", "Magna Carta this..." and "We own Man U", but - led by a drummer - they taunted David James for an entire half with:
"We Have Dentists!"
Boom boom boom-boom-boom
"We Have Dentists!"
Boom boom boom-boom-boom
"We Have Dentists!"
Boom boom boom-boom-boom
"We Have Dentists!"
Boom boom boom-boom-boom
"We Have Dentists!"
Boom boom boom-boom-boom.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
My Kind of Town, Chicago Is
I need to blog about my great soccer jaunt. My mom & I flew out of Newark on Thursday last week to Chicago to see England's national team (men) play the US at Soldier Field on Saturday. After a direct flight (a nice change from hub-hopping) we took an airport shuttle to our hotel. We rode with tourists from New Hampshire and three name-dropping gay men from LA ("I hear Tom Cruise goes there all the time", etc.). The husband of the NH couple was nice but when he began advocating that the Twin Towers in NYC be rebuilt I tuned him out. (Like who would ever work in that building? Only out-of-towners think that's a good idea.)
We stayed at the Swissotel, & I got a great rate from a site called travelzoo which included a buffet breakfast for both of us each day. The hotel is at 323 E. Wacker Drive, a fancy business hotel 3 blocks west of Millennium Park & 3 blocks north of Michigan Avenue. I asked the desk clerk for a room facing the lake, but with our bargain rate he wouldn't budge. We had a room on the 29th floor overlooking the city. The room was great, soft high-thread-count sheets, down comforters, floor to ceiling windows, huge bathroom with both shower stall and deep bathtub, and Ethernet. Not that I could figure out the Ethernet connection, but we weren't there to go on the computer.
I had bought a great little tour book, the Eyewitness Guides Top Ten Guide to Chicago. It's small, fits in your purse, and really condenses the highlights of Chicago into a series of lists. The perfect guidebook for a short trip. We went for a walk after stowing our bags & walked down to Millennium Park, marveling at the architecture. I made dinner reservations at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams Street. Not realizing how close it was, we took a cab there. We had a great German meal -- Mom had sauerbrauten & I had wiener schnitzel, with a bratwurst & knockwurst appetizer, & sauerkraut & red cabbage. We had glasses of the house amber beer and rewarded ourselves with apple strudel for dessert. Not traditional German strudel, it was made with phyllo dough, but delicious. We walked home and again enjoyed all the little architectural details of the buildings; many had big elaborate clocks extending from the corner of the building.
Friday we had our first hotel breakfast/brunch -- trays of fresh watermelon, pineapple, honeydew & cantaloupe, cheeses, smoked salmon, salami & ham, scrambled eggs, Irish oatmeal, cheese blintzes, hash browns, two kinds of sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, french toast, and then a whole other table of breads & cereals. Brunch cost $18 per so we were happy to hand them our voucher at the end of the meal.
OK, here's the best part, the English team was STAYING IN OUR HOTEL! Mom recognized one of the players in the elevator as we returned from brunch. She walked into the elevator and said, "Well, good morning, Mr. Crouch!" As in Peter Crouch, who would be making his England debut on the tour. He was folded into the corner of the elevator, wearing his white England shirt over khakis. The other guy in the elevator -- shorter than me --said, also with an English accent, "Of course you recognize him, he's 6'7"." Mom said, well, who are you? (knowing that there are many young players here for England & that we may not know all of them.) I couldn't understand his name through his accent but he said he played for Charlton -- Mom said "Oh, you play with Danny Murphy!" Then she turned to Crouch & said she was looking forward to seeing him play. He was pretty shy & awkward. We were gleeful after we got off the elevator! We took another walk, this time down State Street and Michigan for a bit of shopping. We tried on $200 hats in Marshall Field, then I got some t-shirts with the American flag on them at Old Navy & Mom & I both picked up new purses in TJ Maxx. We walked over to the Daley Center to see the Picasso sculpture in the plaza. On the way home we hit a Borders where Mom bought 3 English soccer magazines.
That afternoon we went to see the Cubs play the Rockies at legendary Wrigley Field. We took the El from the Lake station to Addison. Amazed at all the legal scalpers working the street just outside the train station. Guess I overpaid for tix by purchasing them on the internet before the trip. With the Cubs in a nosedive the Cub fans are not beating down the door. Like Fenway Park, though, Wrigley Field is its own draw. We made it into our seats high above home plate in time to see poor Mark Prior get hit on the elbow by a comebacker straight at him, the ball hit so hard it was caught on the fly by the third baseman. Well, at least the Cubs romped. Derrick Lee hit two home runs. He is an impressive physical specimen -- reminded me of Dave Winfield.
We took the El home and repaired to our hotel room to freshen up before our Friday night dinner at Bar 36, a fancy wine bar. We went down the elevator to the hotel lobby to see a guy in a periwinkle blue uniform with his back to us, signing the shirt of a young boy. It was Andy Johnson, Crystal Palace striker who finished second in the Premier League in goals (behind Thierry Henry, natch). In person, he looks much smaller than he does on the field. Slight, almost. Then we spotted Joe Cole (with John Terry, most improved player on Chelsea). I said to Mom, Mom, you better go get your camera! So she headed off the elevator, where she had a nice conversation with Joe Cole. While she was gone Sol Campbell (Arsenal) and Wes Brown (Manchester United) walked in and began signing autographs and posing for pictures. Then Alan Smith and Phil Neville (both Man U.), who with nasty looks on their faces walked briskly past the people in the hallway & went directly to the elevator. I thought at the time that it was just their personalities, but Smith may have had his famous dust-up with Steve McLaren about the fact that the manager had decided to start Peter Crouch at striker rather than Smith.
Mom finally arrived back & I took her picture with Wes Brown. We struck up a conversation with a transplanted Englishman who was very impressed with our football knowledge (he introduced us to other Brits by saying, "These two young ladies know their football! They watch it on the satellite!"). He took our picture with Sol Campbell (swoon) and Andy Johnson. I got pictures of Mom with Sven Goran Eriksson (the manager) and David James (Manchester City). We missed out on pics with Ashley Cole and Jermaine Dafoe.
OK, here's the embarrassing part. I saw Kieran Richardson wearing the same training outfit, but he looked too young to play. I thought maybe he was the ballboy. So I asked him, "Are you going to play?" He replied "I hope so!" I suppose my question didn't seem so stupid to him as he had never before appeared for his country. He made the most of it, didn't he? Richardson's dream England debut I told Mom the story later and she said, oh, he's a Man U player, but they loaned him out to West Brom this season & he scored the goal that kept them from being relegated. Mom knows all.
While all this was going on I had called the restaurant to tell them that we were going to be 15 minutes late appearing for our reservations. So we finally left to go to dinner. We chortled throughout our dinner, passing the camera back & forth to look at our gets.
Oh, and the "Charlton" player we met in the elevator? A practical joker. I saw him again in the lobby and asked his name. "Michael," he replied. "Owen". Yeah, like I wouldn't recognize my favorite English football player! Every time I saw him after that for the next two days I sang out "Michael! Michael Owen!" He was shameless, nothing bothered the little s**t.
Saturday we went for a walk to Millennium Park to see the new sculpture, "Cloud Gate", which was partially on view. Known in Chicago as "The Bean", it is a, well, bean-shaped sphere made of 110 tons of steel. Only about 20% of the sculpture was completed & exposed, but you could see the sky, the skyline, and the curious on the plaza in its reflection. We took each other's pictures reflected in The Bean, then headed back to the hotel.
And once again, there was the England team, this time heading out for a bit of pre-match training. At this point the word was out with England fans so our hotel, lobby and entryway were filled with autograph seekers. We stood our ground & took a few photos. A burly man threatened my mother with expulsion for taking a picture inside the lobby (he said he was with security) so we went outside & took pics of the team in the hotel entrance. The team waited around until Peter Crouch came out, last, his head down, looking dejected. Probably had just learned he would not play in the game today.
After all the meetings with the team in the hotel, the game was almost anticlimactic! We intended to take the bus, but the 146 bus did not come for 30 minutes, until a bus came which refused to open the doors because it was too full. So we hailed a cab & had it let us out at the Roosevelt Rd. train stop. We joined the throngs walking to the game. A mostly English crowd, it seemed, from the yelling and the singing. We passed two men inside an underpass selling the new England strip out of a black sports bag ($40 each). They sold out in less than a minute.
Security was pretty routine. They looked cursorily inside my binoculars & my purse. We found our seats on the Club level & I headed out for food. I got sandwiches & sodas. Stupid Soldier Field rule: fountain sodas served in cups, you can't have either a lid or a straw. However, if you order coffee, you can get both a lid & a little stirrer. I don't know, I think I'd rather be hit by a cold flying projectile than a cup of hot coffee. But that's just me.
US was missing our "A" team: No Damarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien, Frankie Heyduk, Clint Mathis, Pablo Mastroeni, Oguchi Onyewu, Tim Howard, or the ageless Cobi Jones. England was missing even more: David Beckham, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sean Wright-Philips, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Paul Robinson, Wayne Bridge, Danny Murphy, Ledley King and more.
The US played what I call "boot and chase" soccer, preferring long crosses to the forwards to controlling the ball on the ground up the field. England cleaned our clock, really; Landon Donovan (known by doubters as "Landon Gone") was invisible. Josh Wolff worked his butt off but couldn't finish. I was impressed by Richardson, of course, with his two goals, and Joe Cole, who looks like he will be quite the playmaker some day. Alan Smith leaned in on everyone and fouled repeatedly.
Unfortunately we had to listen to a couple of soccer pretenders behind us who kept saying inane things like "Smith's going to get a card! That's the fourth time he's fouled! Referees are counting!" Right, he's going to get a card for a garden variety push.
I thought Clint Dempsey had left it all on the field & was calling for him to be subbed out when he scored late in the game. That made the score look respectable, but without an attack we really got skunked.
After the game we walked home past all the beautiful parks, fountains, and sculptures.
Sunday we again went walking, looking at architecture and eventually ending up at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is right next to Grant Park. Fantastic collections. I got to add another painting to my "Mel Kelly life list". My high school art teacher's room was covered with reproductions of great paintings. Each year the class had to memorize all the paintings in order and recite the names of the paintings and the artist. I think if you got my brothers & sisters in a room today between the four of us we could recreate the entire three walls. It started with "Starry, Starry Night" by Van Gogh, which I've seen, along with "Pines and Rocks" by Cezanne (Mr. Kelly called it Rocks and Pines, but who's counting). At the Art Institute I saw Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", which Mr. Kelly mercifully shortened to Sunday Afternoon in the Park. Check!
Monday we flew back to Newark & headed to Manhattan for a night on the town before England - Columbia. Tuesday we headed out early to Giants Stadium. Got there so early we pulled into the parking lot for the Aramark employees. There weren't any parking collectors there yet, so we just went in the open gate & saved $15. Parked next to an Aramark truck for shade & set up chairs to eat & crowd watch. Bought an England flag from a woman selling them out of a sports bag. ($10). Went into the stadium when it opened at 2:30 p.m.
Silly security rule at Giants Stadium: They sell you soda in 20 oz. bottles but won't give you the cap. (Note to self: Take a 20 oz. soda cap next time you go to Giants Stadium.) A 12-year-old Columbian boy in the row ahead of us almost got in a fight with an English fan (couldn't determine if she was English or American) who was shouting obscenities in his mother's ear. At halftime when I went out for soda, I proclaimed myself "Switzerland" as I passed through the two still angry camps. As for the game: The real Michael Owen favored us with a hat trick as England won 3-2. The fans chanted and sang. The sun shone. It was a great, great, great trip.
We stayed at the Swissotel, & I got a great rate from a site called travelzoo which included a buffet breakfast for both of us each day. The hotel is at 323 E. Wacker Drive, a fancy business hotel 3 blocks west of Millennium Park & 3 blocks north of Michigan Avenue. I asked the desk clerk for a room facing the lake, but with our bargain rate he wouldn't budge. We had a room on the 29th floor overlooking the city. The room was great, soft high-thread-count sheets, down comforters, floor to ceiling windows, huge bathroom with both shower stall and deep bathtub, and Ethernet. Not that I could figure out the Ethernet connection, but we weren't there to go on the computer.
I had bought a great little tour book, the Eyewitness Guides Top Ten Guide to Chicago. It's small, fits in your purse, and really condenses the highlights of Chicago into a series of lists. The perfect guidebook for a short trip. We went for a walk after stowing our bags & walked down to Millennium Park, marveling at the architecture. I made dinner reservations at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams Street. Not realizing how close it was, we took a cab there. We had a great German meal -- Mom had sauerbrauten & I had wiener schnitzel, with a bratwurst & knockwurst appetizer, & sauerkraut & red cabbage. We had glasses of the house amber beer and rewarded ourselves with apple strudel for dessert. Not traditional German strudel, it was made with phyllo dough, but delicious. We walked home and again enjoyed all the little architectural details of the buildings; many had big elaborate clocks extending from the corner of the building.
Friday we had our first hotel breakfast/brunch -- trays of fresh watermelon, pineapple, honeydew & cantaloupe, cheeses, smoked salmon, salami & ham, scrambled eggs, Irish oatmeal, cheese blintzes, hash browns, two kinds of sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, french toast, and then a whole other table of breads & cereals. Brunch cost $18 per so we were happy to hand them our voucher at the end of the meal.
OK, here's the best part, the English team was STAYING IN OUR HOTEL! Mom recognized one of the players in the elevator as we returned from brunch. She walked into the elevator and said, "Well, good morning, Mr. Crouch!" As in Peter Crouch, who would be making his England debut on the tour. He was folded into the corner of the elevator, wearing his white England shirt over khakis. The other guy in the elevator -- shorter than me --said, also with an English accent, "Of course you recognize him, he's 6'7"." Mom said, well, who are you? (knowing that there are many young players here for England & that we may not know all of them.) I couldn't understand his name through his accent but he said he played for Charlton -- Mom said "Oh, you play with Danny Murphy!" Then she turned to Crouch & said she was looking forward to seeing him play. He was pretty shy & awkward. We were gleeful after we got off the elevator! We took another walk, this time down State Street and Michigan for a bit of shopping. We tried on $200 hats in Marshall Field, then I got some t-shirts with the American flag on them at Old Navy & Mom & I both picked up new purses in TJ Maxx. We walked over to the Daley Center to see the Picasso sculpture in the plaza. On the way home we hit a Borders where Mom bought 3 English soccer magazines.
That afternoon we went to see the Cubs play the Rockies at legendary Wrigley Field. We took the El from the Lake station to Addison. Amazed at all the legal scalpers working the street just outside the train station. Guess I overpaid for tix by purchasing them on the internet before the trip. With the Cubs in a nosedive the Cub fans are not beating down the door. Like Fenway Park, though, Wrigley Field is its own draw. We made it into our seats high above home plate in time to see poor Mark Prior get hit on the elbow by a comebacker straight at him, the ball hit so hard it was caught on the fly by the third baseman. Well, at least the Cubs romped. Derrick Lee hit two home runs. He is an impressive physical specimen -- reminded me of Dave Winfield.
We took the El home and repaired to our hotel room to freshen up before our Friday night dinner at Bar 36, a fancy wine bar. We went down the elevator to the hotel lobby to see a guy in a periwinkle blue uniform with his back to us, signing the shirt of a young boy. It was Andy Johnson, Crystal Palace striker who finished second in the Premier League in goals (behind Thierry Henry, natch). In person, he looks much smaller than he does on the field. Slight, almost. Then we spotted Joe Cole (with John Terry, most improved player on Chelsea). I said to Mom, Mom, you better go get your camera! So she headed off the elevator, where she had a nice conversation with Joe Cole. While she was gone Sol Campbell (Arsenal) and Wes Brown (Manchester United) walked in and began signing autographs and posing for pictures. Then Alan Smith and Phil Neville (both Man U.), who with nasty looks on their faces walked briskly past the people in the hallway & went directly to the elevator. I thought at the time that it was just their personalities, but Smith may have had his famous dust-up with Steve McLaren about the fact that the manager had decided to start Peter Crouch at striker rather than Smith.
Mom finally arrived back & I took her picture with Wes Brown. We struck up a conversation with a transplanted Englishman who was very impressed with our football knowledge (he introduced us to other Brits by saying, "These two young ladies know their football! They watch it on the satellite!"). He took our picture with Sol Campbell (swoon) and Andy Johnson. I got pictures of Mom with Sven Goran Eriksson (the manager) and David James (Manchester City). We missed out on pics with Ashley Cole and Jermaine Dafoe.
OK, here's the embarrassing part. I saw Kieran Richardson wearing the same training outfit, but he looked too young to play. I thought maybe he was the ballboy. So I asked him, "Are you going to play?" He replied "I hope so!" I suppose my question didn't seem so stupid to him as he had never before appeared for his country. He made the most of it, didn't he? Richardson's dream England debut I told Mom the story later and she said, oh, he's a Man U player, but they loaned him out to West Brom this season & he scored the goal that kept them from being relegated. Mom knows all.
While all this was going on I had called the restaurant to tell them that we were going to be 15 minutes late appearing for our reservations. So we finally left to go to dinner. We chortled throughout our dinner, passing the camera back & forth to look at our gets.
Oh, and the "Charlton" player we met in the elevator? A practical joker. I saw him again in the lobby and asked his name. "Michael," he replied. "Owen". Yeah, like I wouldn't recognize my favorite English football player! Every time I saw him after that for the next two days I sang out "Michael! Michael Owen!" He was shameless, nothing bothered the little s**t.
Saturday we went for a walk to Millennium Park to see the new sculpture, "Cloud Gate", which was partially on view. Known in Chicago as "The Bean", it is a, well, bean-shaped sphere made of 110 tons of steel. Only about 20% of the sculpture was completed & exposed, but you could see the sky, the skyline, and the curious on the plaza in its reflection. We took each other's pictures reflected in The Bean, then headed back to the hotel.
And once again, there was the England team, this time heading out for a bit of pre-match training. At this point the word was out with England fans so our hotel, lobby and entryway were filled with autograph seekers. We stood our ground & took a few photos. A burly man threatened my mother with expulsion for taking a picture inside the lobby (he said he was with security) so we went outside & took pics of the team in the hotel entrance. The team waited around until Peter Crouch came out, last, his head down, looking dejected. Probably had just learned he would not play in the game today.
After all the meetings with the team in the hotel, the game was almost anticlimactic! We intended to take the bus, but the 146 bus did not come for 30 minutes, until a bus came which refused to open the doors because it was too full. So we hailed a cab & had it let us out at the Roosevelt Rd. train stop. We joined the throngs walking to the game. A mostly English crowd, it seemed, from the yelling and the singing. We passed two men inside an underpass selling the new England strip out of a black sports bag ($40 each). They sold out in less than a minute.
Security was pretty routine. They looked cursorily inside my binoculars & my purse. We found our seats on the Club level & I headed out for food. I got sandwiches & sodas. Stupid Soldier Field rule: fountain sodas served in cups, you can't have either a lid or a straw. However, if you order coffee, you can get both a lid & a little stirrer. I don't know, I think I'd rather be hit by a cold flying projectile than a cup of hot coffee. But that's just me.
US was missing our "A" team: No Damarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien, Frankie Heyduk, Clint Mathis, Pablo Mastroeni, Oguchi Onyewu, Tim Howard, or the ageless Cobi Jones. England was missing even more: David Beckham, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sean Wright-Philips, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Paul Robinson, Wayne Bridge, Danny Murphy, Ledley King and more.
The US played what I call "boot and chase" soccer, preferring long crosses to the forwards to controlling the ball on the ground up the field. England cleaned our clock, really; Landon Donovan (known by doubters as "Landon Gone") was invisible. Josh Wolff worked his butt off but couldn't finish. I was impressed by Richardson, of course, with his two goals, and Joe Cole, who looks like he will be quite the playmaker some day. Alan Smith leaned in on everyone and fouled repeatedly.
Unfortunately we had to listen to a couple of soccer pretenders behind us who kept saying inane things like "Smith's going to get a card! That's the fourth time he's fouled! Referees are counting!" Right, he's going to get a card for a garden variety push.
I thought Clint Dempsey had left it all on the field & was calling for him to be subbed out when he scored late in the game. That made the score look respectable, but without an attack we really got skunked.
After the game we walked home past all the beautiful parks, fountains, and sculptures.
Sunday we again went walking, looking at architecture and eventually ending up at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is right next to Grant Park. Fantastic collections. I got to add another painting to my "Mel Kelly life list". My high school art teacher's room was covered with reproductions of great paintings. Each year the class had to memorize all the paintings in order and recite the names of the paintings and the artist. I think if you got my brothers & sisters in a room today between the four of us we could recreate the entire three walls. It started with "Starry, Starry Night" by Van Gogh, which I've seen, along with "Pines and Rocks" by Cezanne (Mr. Kelly called it Rocks and Pines, but who's counting). At the Art Institute I saw Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", which Mr. Kelly mercifully shortened to Sunday Afternoon in the Park. Check!
Monday we flew back to Newark & headed to Manhattan for a night on the town before England - Columbia. Tuesday we headed out early to Giants Stadium. Got there so early we pulled into the parking lot for the Aramark employees. There weren't any parking collectors there yet, so we just went in the open gate & saved $15. Parked next to an Aramark truck for shade & set up chairs to eat & crowd watch. Bought an England flag from a woman selling them out of a sports bag. ($10). Went into the stadium when it opened at 2:30 p.m.
Silly security rule at Giants Stadium: They sell you soda in 20 oz. bottles but won't give you the cap. (Note to self: Take a 20 oz. soda cap next time you go to Giants Stadium.) A 12-year-old Columbian boy in the row ahead of us almost got in a fight with an English fan (couldn't determine if she was English or American) who was shouting obscenities in his mother's ear. At halftime when I went out for soda, I proclaimed myself "Switzerland" as I passed through the two still angry camps. As for the game: The real Michael Owen favored us with a hat trick as England won 3-2. The fans chanted and sang. The sun shone. It was a great, great, great trip.
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