Cut The Baseball Season in Half… Please
The baseball season is far too long, and I’m not the only fan that feels this way. For weeks, I have watched baseball games that are meaningless, and around the fifth inning I find myself watching preseason football or antique NBA games. During the months of July and August, there are so many games that fail to keep my attention. I am come to the conclusion that baseball needs to reduce the amount of games they play during the duration of the season. If you cut the season off at the beginning of August, you can have more fans interested in postseason play. I feel that there is no need for baseball teams to have to play everyday. Why not have teams play only three to four times a week instead of seven days? We as a society become very bored with baseball at times because the game is played every single day.
I am an advocate of a 90 game season compared to a 162 game season. Football is America’s favorite sports mainly because its season is short, and they only play one game a week. There is no real anticipation in major league baseball, because you don’t have time to build hype and drama. I know that the baseball traditionalists would hate changes to the game they love, but baseball ratings and popularity will continue to dwindle because the game hasn’t caught up with the times. Baseball is making a grave mistake in trying to combat with Football during the months of August, September, and October. Creating more drama and excitement to the game of baseball are the only two legitimate ingredients to returning baseball to the number one sport in America.
On another note, I feel that Los Angles Dodgers outfield Matt Kemp should be in the running for most valuable player of the national league. Matt Kemp is having a great break out season, and he is top five in the national league in all major offensive categories. For Kemp to stay focused amidst all the drama and craziness in dodger land directly depicts to the baseball world what kind of locked in season Mr. Kemp is partaking in. If Matt Kemp can stay focus and professional, I believe that the Triple Crown will be in his future in a year or two.
Real Madrid thumps aside Real Zaragoza
The Spanish La Liga has finally kicked off this past weekend with runner-up Real Madrid traveling to Zaragoza. The home side has signed Mexican internationals Barrera and Juarez on loan, but didn’t make much of a difference.
In a match that finished 6-0, Ronaldo (3), Marcelo, Alonso, and Kaka were all on the scoreboard for Los Blancos. Each goal scored was off a quick, smart play that was almost impossible to stop. Madrid kept attacking their opponent’s goal with no mercy. That is a reason why they are one of the top two teams in Spain.
Ronaldo, Ozil, Benzema, Alonso, Di Maria, and Marcelo are all game changers for Real Madrid. When the time comes, each one of these players will step up to make the difference. The scary thing is that Nuri Sahin, signed over the summer, is still on the injured list. Once he is cleared, he will add an even bigger spark to the midfield of this already dominant squad.
Zaragoza is known as a team that could compete with most of the teams in La Liga. They were expected to lose this game by no more than 3-4 goals. However, Madrid’s non-stop attacking style forced them to allow 6 unanswered in this match.
This match marked Jose Mourinho’s largest victory away from home as coach of Real Madrid. The team is full of stars who are all quick, smart, and warrior-like on the field. Arguably, there is only one team that could beat them to the la Liga title; FC Barcelona.
The Catalans have won the last three Spanish league titles and recently defeated Madrid in the Super Cup. Madrid will only continue to grow stronger as the season progresses unless important players unfortunately become injured. The more they play Barca, the more they learn about them. Mourinho will have to come up with a huge game plan when the two sides square off in Madrid in December.
Real Madrid is expected to have a successful season but no matter what they win, they need to defeat Barcelona for bragging rights. The La Liga is obviously a two-horse race and it’s time for the capital side to re-possess their throne atop Spanish soccer.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
University of Miami Football Scandal../Manchester United Blank Tottenham
University of Miami Football Scandal...
The University of Miami has recently been the talk of the sports world. A former booster of the university who is now incarcerated has come out and said that he gave athletes illegal benefits. A lot of people inside the sports world are pointing the blame at the players. The players are not to blame because they are not the ones that oversee the program. The coaches and The President of the University of Miami knew that cars, prostitution, yacht rides, and other illegal activities were transpiring under their supervision. I don’t blame the players for taking benefits because everyone surrounding the players are receiving substantial amount of money from their sweat and hard work. I don’t understand how various collegiate sports administrators around the country preaches honesty and fair play, but week after week another school is implanted into a NCAA investigation.
A lot of these kids that play at division 1 schools didn’t grow up with a heavy amount of financial stability. The media is so quick to judge these collegiate athletes, but they have no idea what it’s like to grow up poor. If I was a big time collegiate athlete, and someone was dishing out free money, I wouldn’t think twice. Everyone else around these kids is making money off their god given ability, so why can’t they be rewarded for their hard work? I’m sick and tired of people saying it’s a privilege to play in the NCAA. When has a privilege given people the right to pimp and used kids and make millions of dollars off their sacrifice. I hope more kids take benefits because the system needs to be reconstructed so that the kids receive some financial compensation for their ability to perform at the highest collegiate level.
Manchester United blank Tottenham
The 2nd week of the English Premier League has come and past and the closing match was an absolute treat. Reigning champion Manchester United hosted Tottenham Hotspur at their beloved Old Trafford stadium.
Last season in the same fixture, a controversial goal scored by Luis Nani is what led to their 2-0 victory in the same fixture. Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was absolutely furious as Nani took the ball from keeper Gomes who believed he had a free kick. Nani then scored on an empty net.
Before today’s fixture, Nani hoped to anger Tottenham by bragging about the cheap goal he scored. There was absolutely no need for that at all. He scored a goal that should have been disallowed and a year or so later, he is still celebrating. However with or without the bragging, United were truly the better side.
United fielded a fairly young side without their two rocks on defense in Ferdinand and Vidic. Filling in their shoes were Johnny Evans and Phil Jones. Sir Alex Ferguson started Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck as opposed to Michael Carrick (midfield) and Dimitar Berbatov (forward) respectively.
The decision was a bold one but it certainly paid off. The first half was full of chances for either side but it ended up 0-0.
The second half came around with both sides still battling it out until finally United went on the board. Smalling passed the ball back to Cleverley who crossed the ball one time into the path of Welbeck who headed home past American keeper Brad Friedel in the 61st minute.
Tottenham were dazed by this goal and it showed when a quick give and go between Anderson and Welbeck led to Anderson’s 6th overall premier league goal for United to make it 2-0. Welbeck’s pass was a cheeky back heel and this gave him a goal and assist on the night.
The third goal was a textbook header from Wayne Rooney off of a cross by substitute Ryan Giggs. This put the icing on the cake of a brilliant Manchester United performance which gave David De Gea his first clean sheet in goal for Man United.
This was Tottenham’s first match of the campaign after their opener was cancelled a week ago due to the riots that took place in London. It was obvious because Tottenham had a tough time catching their breath with 20 minutes remaining.
United are one of three teams with a perfect 2 out of 2 record along with Manchester City and the Wolverhampton Wanderers. City is first by goal difference and United sit in second.
The two Manchester clubs are the top candidates for the Premier League title. City has spent big money on some of the best recruits in Gael Clichy (defender) from Arsenal and Sergio Kun Aguero (striker) from Atletico Madrid. Aguero already scored twice and grabbed an assist in the opener last week against Swansea. He scored at Bolton but he was in an offside position.
United signed youngster Phil Jones and Aston Villa’s ace winger, Ashley Young. Both sides are full of talent and are aching to win the Premier League title this season. United got the better of City in the Community Shield but this is much more important than the curtain raiser.
Chelsea are about to add Juan Manuel Mata of Valencia and with his pace and intelligence on the ball, they are perhaps the third and only team who can pose a serious challenge for the title. This will be a year full of surprises and domination and the top clubs in England will look to cement their place amongst the elite.
Stay tuned readers as week by week you will be updated with top news in the world of Soccer.
The University of Miami has recently been the talk of the sports world. A former booster of the university who is now incarcerated has come out and said that he gave athletes illegal benefits. A lot of people inside the sports world are pointing the blame at the players. The players are not to blame because they are not the ones that oversee the program. The coaches and The President of the University of Miami knew that cars, prostitution, yacht rides, and other illegal activities were transpiring under their supervision. I don’t blame the players for taking benefits because everyone surrounding the players are receiving substantial amount of money from their sweat and hard work. I don’t understand how various collegiate sports administrators around the country preaches honesty and fair play, but week after week another school is implanted into a NCAA investigation.
A lot of these kids that play at division 1 schools didn’t grow up with a heavy amount of financial stability. The media is so quick to judge these collegiate athletes, but they have no idea what it’s like to grow up poor. If I was a big time collegiate athlete, and someone was dishing out free money, I wouldn’t think twice. Everyone else around these kids is making money off their god given ability, so why can’t they be rewarded for their hard work? I’m sick and tired of people saying it’s a privilege to play in the NCAA. When has a privilege given people the right to pimp and used kids and make millions of dollars off their sacrifice. I hope more kids take benefits because the system needs to be reconstructed so that the kids receive some financial compensation for their ability to perform at the highest collegiate level.
Manchester United blank Tottenham
The 2nd week of the English Premier League has come and past and the closing match was an absolute treat. Reigning champion Manchester United hosted Tottenham Hotspur at their beloved Old Trafford stadium.
Last season in the same fixture, a controversial goal scored by Luis Nani is what led to their 2-0 victory in the same fixture. Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was absolutely furious as Nani took the ball from keeper Gomes who believed he had a free kick. Nani then scored on an empty net.
Before today’s fixture, Nani hoped to anger Tottenham by bragging about the cheap goal he scored. There was absolutely no need for that at all. He scored a goal that should have been disallowed and a year or so later, he is still celebrating. However with or without the bragging, United were truly the better side.
United fielded a fairly young side without their two rocks on defense in Ferdinand and Vidic. Filling in their shoes were Johnny Evans and Phil Jones. Sir Alex Ferguson started Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck as opposed to Michael Carrick (midfield) and Dimitar Berbatov (forward) respectively.
The decision was a bold one but it certainly paid off. The first half was full of chances for either side but it ended up 0-0.
The second half came around with both sides still battling it out until finally United went on the board. Smalling passed the ball back to Cleverley who crossed the ball one time into the path of Welbeck who headed home past American keeper Brad Friedel in the 61st minute.
Tottenham were dazed by this goal and it showed when a quick give and go between Anderson and Welbeck led to Anderson’s 6th overall premier league goal for United to make it 2-0. Welbeck’s pass was a cheeky back heel and this gave him a goal and assist on the night.
The third goal was a textbook header from Wayne Rooney off of a cross by substitute Ryan Giggs. This put the icing on the cake of a brilliant Manchester United performance which gave David De Gea his first clean sheet in goal for Man United.
This was Tottenham’s first match of the campaign after their opener was cancelled a week ago due to the riots that took place in London. It was obvious because Tottenham had a tough time catching their breath with 20 minutes remaining.
United are one of three teams with a perfect 2 out of 2 record along with Manchester City and the Wolverhampton Wanderers. City is first by goal difference and United sit in second.
The two Manchester clubs are the top candidates for the Premier League title. City has spent big money on some of the best recruits in Gael Clichy (defender) from Arsenal and Sergio Kun Aguero (striker) from Atletico Madrid. Aguero already scored twice and grabbed an assist in the opener last week against Swansea. He scored at Bolton but he was in an offside position.
United signed youngster Phil Jones and Aston Villa’s ace winger, Ashley Young. Both sides are full of talent and are aching to win the Premier League title this season. United got the better of City in the Community Shield but this is much more important than the curtain raiser.
Chelsea are about to add Juan Manuel Mata of Valencia and with his pace and intelligence on the ball, they are perhaps the third and only team who can pose a serious challenge for the title. This will be a year full of surprises and domination and the top clubs in England will look to cement their place amongst the elite.
Stay tuned readers as week by week you will be updated with top news in the world of Soccer.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Jim Thome Reaches Enormous Milestone/UEFA Champions League play-off round up
Jim Thome Reaches Enormous Milestone.
Last night in Detroit, Michigan slugger Jim Thome reached an imperative milestone by hitting his 600th homerun. Jim Thome has always been a class baseball player ever since he reached the majors just over twenty one years ago. His humility has made him a fan favorite for every team he has played for. Some people have their doubt whether Jim Thome is a hall of famer. I don’t understand how you could reject a man into the hall of fame who has 600 home runs. During Jim’s great career, his name has never been correlated with any forms of performing enhancing drugs. Jim Thome has played for five teams during his tenure in professional baseball, but that doesn’t dissolve all of his great accomplishments.
I have a major problem with the lack of publicity that Jim Thome is receiving for his incredible milestone. If Jim Thome played for The New York Yankees, the entire world would be praising and covering the feat. I hate all the publicity that The Yankees always receive because I am a die hard Boston Red Sox fan. The Yankees always receive the spotlight while smaller market guys receive about fifteen seconds of acknowledgment. I would like to congratulate one of the good guys in the game of baseball Mr. Jim Thome.
Here are my awards for the baseball season so far
American League MVP
Adrian Gonzalez
National League MVP
Prince Fielder
American League CY Young Award Winner
Justin Verlander
National League CY Young Award Winner
Roy Halladay
UEFA Champions League play-off round up
The playoff round of the UEFA Champions League has finally arrived with five games that took place today.
The three games that were televised were the most interesting as Arsenal hosted Udinese, Twente hosted Benfica, and Lyon hosted Rubin Kazan. Each of these games provided us with some goals to remember.
Just four minutes in, Theo Walcott struck to score Arsenal’s only goal of the game in the 4th minute and should have added another after decent footwork and a slick through pass from Gervinho. His shot was brilliantly saved by the Udinese keeper.
Benfica scored two valuable away goals at FC Twente as the hosts were able to salvage a draw after Costa Rican international headed home a cross in the 85th minute.
Lyon came from one goal down to triumph in a 3-1 victory heading into next week’s return leg with a healthy 2 goal lead.
Benfica should be able to close out against FC Twente with a slim victory at their Estadio Da Luz (Stadium of Light) in Portugal. Arsenal were lucky to hang onto a 1-0 lead as Udinese had chances throughout but the true dagger would have been Walcott finishing Gervinho’s sneaky pass. Rubin Kazan has a tall mountain to climb when they host the French giants in Russia next Wednesday.
Rubin Kazan has fire power but not enough to match that of Lyon. The French club has players such as Gomis who scored today and another threat in Lisandro Lopez.
FC Twente has everything to play for as they look to play in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the second year running. Benfica will look to halt their run thus far and appear in the tournament’s stage along with fellow Portuguese club FC Porto.
Udinese are almost guaranteed to score on home soil against an Arsenal side that is very shaky on the defensive end. The English club’s best offensive player arguably is Gervinho. He makes it difficult for opposing players to steal the ball from his feet as he is a natural when in possession.
All in all, today’s games were entertaining but being that next week is do or die for each club, everyone will look to leave everything on the field. Stay tuned readers as we will update you with the breaking news.
Last night in Detroit, Michigan slugger Jim Thome reached an imperative milestone by hitting his 600th homerun. Jim Thome has always been a class baseball player ever since he reached the majors just over twenty one years ago. His humility has made him a fan favorite for every team he has played for. Some people have their doubt whether Jim Thome is a hall of famer. I don’t understand how you could reject a man into the hall of fame who has 600 home runs. During Jim’s great career, his name has never been correlated with any forms of performing enhancing drugs. Jim Thome has played for five teams during his tenure in professional baseball, but that doesn’t dissolve all of his great accomplishments.
I have a major problem with the lack of publicity that Jim Thome is receiving for his incredible milestone. If Jim Thome played for The New York Yankees, the entire world would be praising and covering the feat. I hate all the publicity that The Yankees always receive because I am a die hard Boston Red Sox fan. The Yankees always receive the spotlight while smaller market guys receive about fifteen seconds of acknowledgment. I would like to congratulate one of the good guys in the game of baseball Mr. Jim Thome.
Here are my awards for the baseball season so far
American League MVP
Adrian Gonzalez
National League MVP
Prince Fielder
American League CY Young Award Winner
Justin Verlander
National League CY Young Award Winner
Roy Halladay
UEFA Champions League play-off round up
The playoff round of the UEFA Champions League has finally arrived with five games that took place today.
The three games that were televised were the most interesting as Arsenal hosted Udinese, Twente hosted Benfica, and Lyon hosted Rubin Kazan. Each of these games provided us with some goals to remember.
Just four minutes in, Theo Walcott struck to score Arsenal’s only goal of the game in the 4th minute and should have added another after decent footwork and a slick through pass from Gervinho. His shot was brilliantly saved by the Udinese keeper.
Benfica scored two valuable away goals at FC Twente as the hosts were able to salvage a draw after Costa Rican international headed home a cross in the 85th minute.
Lyon came from one goal down to triumph in a 3-1 victory heading into next week’s return leg with a healthy 2 goal lead.
Benfica should be able to close out against FC Twente with a slim victory at their Estadio Da Luz (Stadium of Light) in Portugal. Arsenal were lucky to hang onto a 1-0 lead as Udinese had chances throughout but the true dagger would have been Walcott finishing Gervinho’s sneaky pass. Rubin Kazan has a tall mountain to climb when they host the French giants in Russia next Wednesday.
Rubin Kazan has fire power but not enough to match that of Lyon. The French club has players such as Gomis who scored today and another threat in Lisandro Lopez.
FC Twente has everything to play for as they look to play in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the second year running. Benfica will look to halt their run thus far and appear in the tournament’s stage along with fellow Portuguese club FC Porto.
Udinese are almost guaranteed to score on home soil against an Arsenal side that is very shaky on the defensive end. The English club’s best offensive player arguably is Gervinho. He makes it difficult for opposing players to steal the ball from his feet as he is a natural when in possession.
All in all, today’s games were entertaining but being that next week is do or die for each club, everyone will look to leave everything on the field. Stay tuned readers as we will update you with the breaking news.
Monday, August 15, 2011
NFL Preseason Starts Off With a Boom/Aguero brace steals City hearts in Debut
NFL Preseason Starts Off With a Boom.
The NFL preseason started with various great games this past weekend. I was extremely disappointed with the play of the NY Giants and in particular starting quarterback Eli Manning. Even though the G men have acquired a new center in David Bass, the team just looked like a disoriented group. If I was a Giants fan, I would be concern about Eli Manning because I feel as a quarterback he has always been heavily overrated. The Carolina Panthers looks surprising good and polished on the offensive side of the ball. The acquisition of Greg Olsen from The Bears will surely help out the first pick in this year’s NFL draft Cam Newton. Cam Newton outshined quarterback Jimmy Clausen, and I think Mr. Newton will be the week 1 starter for the boys out of Charlotte.
I was very impressed with the play of Jake Locker and Ryan Mallet during their preseason debuts. Everyone knows that Ryan Mallet will never start in front of Tom Brady, but Ryan Mallet may transform into the next version on Matt Cassel. Jake Locker put on a great show for The Titans fans last week, and I believe he will be the best quarterback from this draft. The reigning AFC champs The Pittsburg Steelers looked like a division 2 football team against The Washington Redskins. Ike Taylor broke his thumb on Friday, and he will miss a large portion of the preseason. The most impressive player to me from last week had to be rookie receiver Julio Jones. Julio Jones played and looked like a five to seven year veteran. The Atlanta Falcons are going to be very dangerous on the offensive side of the ball with weapons such as Roddy White, Michael Turner, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and future first ballot hall of famer Tony Gonzalez.
My Miami Dolphins looked mediocre on both sides of the ball. I don’t understand why we didn’t make the trade for Kyle Orton because we need his stability at quarterback. I don’t want to have to sit through a season where we will be out of the playoff race by week 8. We don’t have enough weapons on the offensive side to blend with a very talented defense. For years we have tried to rely on our defense far too much because we lack play makers on the offensive side of football. Brandon Marshall was a great addition, but you have to have a quarterback to feed him the ball ten to fifteen times a game. I will always love The Miami Dolphins, but I just get sick of seeing football in January without them in the equation for The Lombardi Trophy.
Aguero brace steals City hearts in Debut
Sergio Kun Aguero is the name that has been buzzing all around Manchester for the last few weeks after he made the big switch to City from Atletico Madrid. It took a while for him to finally play his first competitive game, but today was his time to shine. However, he did begin on the bench.
Manchester City hosted newcomers Swansea in a match where they were expected to dominate. However Swansea apparently didn’t get the memo as they dominated possession through the opening minutes. They passed the ball well, but couldn’t get chances on goal.
Manchester City had three golden chances to take the lead in the first half as David Silva and Gareth Barry both struck the crossbar then Edin Dzeko failed to convert from close range. Swansea keeper made a heroic save with his leg for the Dzeko attempt.
The second half came around and right before Aguero entered the match, Edin Dzeko finally scored to give City the lead after Johnson’s shot was deflected towards him by Swansea keeper Vorm. After this opening goal, Sergio “king” Aguero entered the game.
Just minutes after coming on, Kun Aguero saw his shot blocked away by Vorm but then minutes later he got his first ever City goal. Micah Richards sent a teasing ball across the face of goal which was then easily tapped in by Aguero. 2-0 to City.
Just three minutes later, Aguero brilliantly lobbed the ball over the keeper and acrobatically kicked the ball towards the top of the 6 yard box from the end line to Silva who easily kicked home. 3-0 City.
He scored a goal and grabbed an even prettier assist thus far just minutes into his first match for City.
At the 90th minute, Aguero received the ball from his teammate roughly 27 yards away from goal and he unleashed a beauty past the helpless Vorm into the back of the net to make it 4-0. He scored 2 goals and grabbed an assist in roughly 25 second half minutes. It was truly a dream debut.
Coach Mancini didn’t think he was fit enough to start and play for a full 90 minutes so he allowed him to play for most of the second half. Aguero did his job by demanding his coach’s attention and the support of the City fans with his brilliant performance. Once he is fully match fit, he will be a scare to any opponents in the Premier League and Europe.
The match was full of chances in the first but really grabbed my interest after Aguero entered the field. He added a spark that only Carlos Tevez was able to do so prior to this day. Fans were worried that if Tevez were to leave, they would have no other guaranteed goal scorer. Those worries may certainly be brushed under the rug as Sergio “Kun” Aguero has now entered the fray.
Manchester City will play Champions League soccer this season and adding Aguero was the best option they had. He played Champions League soccer before for Atletico Madrid and won the Europa League with them in 2010. He wanted to play for a club with ambition and who could compete with the best of the best. He certainly made a wide decision by Choosing City.
Last season, City finished in third level on points with Arsenal and nine points adrift of Manchester United. Last week they lost the FA Community Shield in a game where Aguero didn’t even play for a minute. This season, Aguero could be the missing link his club needs. He looked great in his first game. Let’s see how he does in the coming weeks in the Premier League and in the UEFA Champions League.
For up to date news on the top clubs and leagues around Europe, NateReySports is your destination. Follow Aydin Reyhan on twitter at @areysportsnews. Stay tuned readers as next week’s article will be here sooner than you think.
The NFL preseason started with various great games this past weekend. I was extremely disappointed with the play of the NY Giants and in particular starting quarterback Eli Manning. Even though the G men have acquired a new center in David Bass, the team just looked like a disoriented group. If I was a Giants fan, I would be concern about Eli Manning because I feel as a quarterback he has always been heavily overrated. The Carolina Panthers looks surprising good and polished on the offensive side of the ball. The acquisition of Greg Olsen from The Bears will surely help out the first pick in this year’s NFL draft Cam Newton. Cam Newton outshined quarterback Jimmy Clausen, and I think Mr. Newton will be the week 1 starter for the boys out of Charlotte.
I was very impressed with the play of Jake Locker and Ryan Mallet during their preseason debuts. Everyone knows that Ryan Mallet will never start in front of Tom Brady, but Ryan Mallet may transform into the next version on Matt Cassel. Jake Locker put on a great show for The Titans fans last week, and I believe he will be the best quarterback from this draft. The reigning AFC champs The Pittsburg Steelers looked like a division 2 football team against The Washington Redskins. Ike Taylor broke his thumb on Friday, and he will miss a large portion of the preseason. The most impressive player to me from last week had to be rookie receiver Julio Jones. Julio Jones played and looked like a five to seven year veteran. The Atlanta Falcons are going to be very dangerous on the offensive side of the ball with weapons such as Roddy White, Michael Turner, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and future first ballot hall of famer Tony Gonzalez.
My Miami Dolphins looked mediocre on both sides of the ball. I don’t understand why we didn’t make the trade for Kyle Orton because we need his stability at quarterback. I don’t want to have to sit through a season where we will be out of the playoff race by week 8. We don’t have enough weapons on the offensive side to blend with a very talented defense. For years we have tried to rely on our defense far too much because we lack play makers on the offensive side of football. Brandon Marshall was a great addition, but you have to have a quarterback to feed him the ball ten to fifteen times a game. I will always love The Miami Dolphins, but I just get sick of seeing football in January without them in the equation for The Lombardi Trophy.
Aguero brace steals City hearts in Debut
Sergio Kun Aguero is the name that has been buzzing all around Manchester for the last few weeks after he made the big switch to City from Atletico Madrid. It took a while for him to finally play his first competitive game, but today was his time to shine. However, he did begin on the bench.
Manchester City hosted newcomers Swansea in a match where they were expected to dominate. However Swansea apparently didn’t get the memo as they dominated possession through the opening minutes. They passed the ball well, but couldn’t get chances on goal.
Manchester City had three golden chances to take the lead in the first half as David Silva and Gareth Barry both struck the crossbar then Edin Dzeko failed to convert from close range. Swansea keeper made a heroic save with his leg for the Dzeko attempt.
The second half came around and right before Aguero entered the match, Edin Dzeko finally scored to give City the lead after Johnson’s shot was deflected towards him by Swansea keeper Vorm. After this opening goal, Sergio “king” Aguero entered the game.
Just minutes after coming on, Kun Aguero saw his shot blocked away by Vorm but then minutes later he got his first ever City goal. Micah Richards sent a teasing ball across the face of goal which was then easily tapped in by Aguero. 2-0 to City.
Just three minutes later, Aguero brilliantly lobbed the ball over the keeper and acrobatically kicked the ball towards the top of the 6 yard box from the end line to Silva who easily kicked home. 3-0 City.
He scored a goal and grabbed an even prettier assist thus far just minutes into his first match for City.
At the 90th minute, Aguero received the ball from his teammate roughly 27 yards away from goal and he unleashed a beauty past the helpless Vorm into the back of the net to make it 4-0. He scored 2 goals and grabbed an assist in roughly 25 second half minutes. It was truly a dream debut.
Coach Mancini didn’t think he was fit enough to start and play for a full 90 minutes so he allowed him to play for most of the second half. Aguero did his job by demanding his coach’s attention and the support of the City fans with his brilliant performance. Once he is fully match fit, he will be a scare to any opponents in the Premier League and Europe.
The match was full of chances in the first but really grabbed my interest after Aguero entered the field. He added a spark that only Carlos Tevez was able to do so prior to this day. Fans were worried that if Tevez were to leave, they would have no other guaranteed goal scorer. Those worries may certainly be brushed under the rug as Sergio “Kun” Aguero has now entered the fray.
Manchester City will play Champions League soccer this season and adding Aguero was the best option they had. He played Champions League soccer before for Atletico Madrid and won the Europa League with them in 2010. He wanted to play for a club with ambition and who could compete with the best of the best. He certainly made a wide decision by Choosing City.
Last season, City finished in third level on points with Arsenal and nine points adrift of Manchester United. Last week they lost the FA Community Shield in a game where Aguero didn’t even play for a minute. This season, Aguero could be the missing link his club needs. He looked great in his first game. Let’s see how he does in the coming weeks in the Premier League and in the UEFA Champions League.
For up to date news on the top clubs and leagues around Europe, NateReySports is your destination. Follow Aydin Reyhan on twitter at @areysportsnews. Stay tuned readers as next week’s article will be here sooner than you think.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Deion Saunders and Shannon Sharpe walks into Canton in style/A Familiar Beginning in English Soccer
Deion Saunders and Shannon Sharpe walks into Canton
Deion Saunders led some of the greatest players and symbols of The National Football League into Canton, Ohio this past Saturday. The two most moving speeches came from standouts Deion Saunders and Shannon Sharpe. I was so happy to see Shannon Sharpe receive his accolades because when you think of the greatest tight ends in football history, Sharpe’s name is mysteriously missing. Shannon Sharpe retired with the most catches ever by a tight end in NFL history. Future Hall of Famer tight end Tony Gonzalez has recently broken Shannon’s record. During Shannon Sharpe’s speech, he gave credit to his success in the NFL to his grandmother and his brother Sterling Sharpe. Sterling Sharpe was one of the most underrated players to ever play the position of wide receiver in the NFL. During the late 1980’s to the early 1990’s, Sterling Sharpe had to carry the entire Green Bay Packers team on his back. Shannon Sharpe allowed the world to see how imperative his grandmother and his brother were to his NFL and personal existence.
The greatest cornerback of all time Deion Saunders depicted in a sad portrait the shame he had for his mother’s occupation when he was residing in an affluent community in Fort Myers , Florida San Francisco
NFL Greats That Should Be In The Hall of Fame.
- Ricky Watters
- Cris Carter
- Ken Stabler
- Roger Craig
- Andre Reed
- Charles Haley
A Familiar Beginning in English Soccer
One of the most entertaining soccer games in English history was played just yesterday between two heated rivals. They are the two teams that come to mind when one thinks about Manchester, England. Manchester United and Manchester City put on a wonderful show for fans all around the world.
City went up 2-0 just before half time when Edin Dzeko struck from distance after Lescott headed in the opener. Everything was going very well for the sky blue side until the final 45 minutes came about.
Manchester United didn’t take very long to get on the score sheet as Christopher Smalling headed in a free kick during the 52nd minute. Just six minutes later Nani added the finishing touch to beautiful quick passing between himself, Wayne Rooney, and Tom Cleverly.
It took the Red Devils just 13 second half minutes to tie the game and afterwards, dominated the game with possession. City seemed shocked and confused on the field as United were bursting with confidence.
City had their chances but it was Manchester United who completed their amazing comeback when Nani latched onto Rooney’s defensive clearance after two City defenders failed to control the ball. Nani dribbled the ball around City keeper Joe Hart and slotted the ball home.
It was the fairy tale finish to an exciting game. It will go down as one of the most unforgettable FA Community Shield match-ups in the history of the English game. They are two of the favorites to lift the English Premier League trophy this season and they both showed us all why.
City has a lot of money to spend and they have done so expecting to win everything by purchasing some of the best players in the world. They transferred one of Argentina’s top strikers in Sergio Kun Aguero from Atletico Madrid. He was arguably the team’s best striker and scored most of Argentina’s goals in the 2011 COPA America. He is great, but City coach did not give him a chance in this match.
He rode the bench for the entire game and that is extremely puzzling due to the fact that he is young, quick, and has a true goal scorer’s instinct in front of the net. At 2-2, he should have come into the game to provide a spark for his side’s offense. After United tied the game, City had no more than 2-3 chances for the rest of the game.
Mancini thought the game was over at half time but United played the game they are capable of in the final 45. There is a reason why they are successful—experience. They won the last 4 out of 5 Premier League titles and appeared in 3 of the last 4 UEFA Champions League finals of which they won in 2008 and fell short in 2009 and 2011 to the unbelievable FC Barcelona.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been coaching the Red Devils for the last 20 plus years and in this time he transformed them from a team that had nothing to one of the most powerful clubs in the world. He is roughly 70 years old and does not see quitting anywhere in the near future.
If yesterday’s game is a mini preview of what is to come this season in English soccer, we are all in for a tasty treat. Stay tuned fans and enjoy watching the English Premier league.
Follow @AReySportsNews
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)