Blog Archives
England Leaves EUROpe
It’s official: Iceland’s most famous export is no longer the hockey squad from D2: The Mighty Ducks.
France is hosting the Euro 2016 tournament, which has seen many of the power teams advance through the group stage and to the single-game elimination rounds (Germany, Italy, France, Portugal). Keep in mind though, this tournament, during the past 12 years, has seen small nations rise to super human levels. Greece, defying all odds and constructs of reality, won Euro 2004 by defeating Portugal 1-nil.
It’s important not to make a direct comparison (yet), but Iceland continues to make a case in Euro 2016 that’s increasingly morphing into something genuinely mind-boggling.
So mind-boggling that its soccer announcer, Gudmundur Benediktsson, can barely believe what he’s seeing. Last Wednesday, Iceland upset Austria on a stunning last minute goal. Mr. Benediktsson had a mildly excited reaction. Yesterday, Iceland (pop. 330,000) was leading England (pop. 53,000,000) 2-1 in the last minute of extra time.
How can you watch and listen to him and not love the beautiful game?
Barring a surprise tournament entrance by Gordon Bombay: The Minnesota Miracle Man, the now famous Icelandic commentator may not be chilling out anytime soon.
P.S. Do you think Brits are more distressed over leaving the EU or being upset by Iceland? The answer may be more surprising than England losing to, well, you know…
P.P.S. Two unbelievably dramatic departures in less than a week. Is it time to call the U.K. the new Cleveland?
The Brexit.
The Björking.
P.P.P.S. The MVP of Euro 2016 thus far: Gudmundur Benediktsson.
Man of (Blue) Steel
We’ve been looking at the world all wrong.
With the weekend here, the time has come to hit the ground running for a memorable couple of days. However, there are so many unknown variables to consider, which begs for the right preparation before venturing out into the wild west of life. We must take full advantage of the things we can control.
How does one accomplish this kind of feat?
Hint: It all starts with a look…
And it ends with a killer dance-off in an abandoned warehouse with a raucous crowd and a fashion icon as the judge.
Casting an Ironclad Legacy
Thankfully, not all college students are clueless PC zombies.
Students at the University of Kent (Canterbury, England) have submitted a proposal to honor the late (and great) Margaret Thatcher with a statue on their campus. If you need a quick refresher, there’s a video for that.
The NBC News article, “Margaret Thatcher Deserves 250-Foot Tall Statue, Backers Say” by Alexander Smith revealed the stunning details.
- 250-Feet Tall
- Made of iron (of course)
- The statue would rest atop a marble pedestal standing 50 feet
- Cost is ~$425 million
Margaret Thatcher was a bold leader of her generation, inspiring men and women in Europe, as well as her American friends across the pond. One of the reasons people admired her, beyond philosophy, was shown in the clip above. Prime Minister Thatcher could hang with anybody at anytime. Her insight, successes and legacy (for conservatism and for women) warrants a monument for the public to admire.
A statue that stands 250 feet tall? The final height may have to be negotiated. Regardless, the students appear to have a strong, determined resolve.
“This is not us having a joke — it is a serious proposal,” 20-year-old Emilio Kyprianou, chairman of the Conservative association and the project’s driving force, told NBC News on Tuesday. “This challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
An iron resolve, if you will.
The Optical Delusion of Arsenal’s Arsène
New career need: Reality Translators.
Leaders in the modern world continue to view black and white situations in clouds of utter disbelief. From business leaders to politicians to presidential wannabes to ship captains to sports figures to members of the media to celebrities and so on and so forth, far too many people in positions of power and influence just cannot admit failure and concede defeat. There’s always a caveat and the end result can never make that individual look poorly, entitled or (dare it be written), wrong. To say it’s frustrating to watch this continuous spectacle would be a massive understatement.
It would be like trying to claim victory after a loss.
The latest example of this impenetrable manager in today’s society is Arsenal’s head coach Arsène Wenger. The Gunners’ UEFA Champions League woes during the past several seasons (as predictable as rain in England) continued yesterday after the underdog squad from Monaco advanced to the quarterfinals of the most prestigious club tournament in the world. Scoring 3 away goals in a shocking 3-1 victory at Emirates Stadium in London a couple weeks ago was enough padding to advance following a 2-nil loss at home against the relentlessly firing Arsenal.
Make no mistake about it, this was a spectacular upset. David v. Goliath. Even with Arsenal’s recent troubles in Champions League play, losing to Monaco was never supposed to happen…and this includes on PlayStation and Xbox.
And what was Arsène Wenger’s reaction after suffering a major upset against the club he managed more than 20 years ago? BBC Sport got the most telling reaction.
Asked if Monaco deserved to progress, Wenger said: “I don’t believe so.”
“If you look at the number of shots on target they had you will be surprised. Every defeat hurts but we didn’t lose.”
Yes, you did.
(FYI – Mr. Wenger: In soccer, it doesn’t matter how many shots are on target, it matters how many goals go in the net).
In a word, the Frenchman is delusional. Let’s add a couple more words: discourteous and unprofessional. Soccer is fluid, unpredictable and ripe for the unthinkable to happen and this tie (soccer slang for 2-game series) proved why games need to played and not predetermined on television. His team lost and Monaco won, pure and simple. It’s long past the point where listening to these sincerely unbelievable explanations by leaders in power who fail or mislead people is genuinely dispiriting.
Just ask fans of Arsenal and Monaco.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 