On March 19, 2012, The UEFA Finals were held in Munich, Germany. The UEFA Championship Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in the continent of Europe. The two teams that were playing was Chelsea from England and Bayern Munich from Germany. Many people believed that Bayern Munich was going to win the match since they are the best soccer [football] team in Germany and Chelsea was the under-dog due to their 6th place finish in the Barclays Premier League. Chelsea did however suprise the world when they beat FC Barcelona (arguably the best football club in the world) in the semi-finals. The Barclays Premier League consist of 20 football clubs [teams] in England and Wales. They were down 4 players due to suspensions so they had to play their subs.
2 minutes after kickoff, Bayern Munich's Center Midfielder, Bastian Schweinsteiger earns a yellow card for a handball which leads to a free kick. It is poor and gets headed away by Chelsea. 5 minutes in, Bayern Munich is the first to attempt a goal. The first half of the game (45 minutes) goes by without a single goal. After most of the second half goes by, Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller (Center Attacking Midfielder) scores with a header that bounces off the ground and over goalkeeper Petr Cech at the 84th minute. Chelsea looks as if they might lose with only 6 minutes to go. At the 88th minute, Chelsea's forward center, Fernando Torres has two Bayern players on him and one of them kicks the ball out of bounds which gives Chelsea a free kick. Chelsea's Juan Mata kicks the ball which connects with Didier Drogba (forward) and scores a goal for Chelsea which ties up the with 2 minutes left.
The game goes into extra time and on the 93rd minute, Bayern Munich earns a penalty kick due to Drogba's tackle from behind. Drogba is booked for a yellow card. At the 95th minute, Bayern Munich's midfielder, Arjen Robben steps up to take the penalty shot, but it is kept out by Petr Cech. Nobody scores in extra time, so now it is down to the penalty shootout. Each team is given 5 penalty shots for the shootout. Bayern scores the first goal while Chelsea misses theirs. Bayern scores another goal while Chelsea lands their first goal. Bayern scores a third goal along with Chelsea's second goal. Cech is able to make a save which prevents Bayern from scoring a fourth goal. Chelsea is able to produce another goal which evens up the score. Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) kicks the ball and Cech misses the catch, but it bounces off the post and rolls away leaving Schweinsteiger completely shattered. The score is Bayern 3-3 Chelsea and it is all down to Didier Drogba. Drogba kicks, goalkeeper Manual Neuer dives to the right, but the ball goes left and lands in the goal giving Chelsea the victory. Drogba's game winning goal was bitter-sweet since that was possibly his last match being on Chelsea since his contract is due to run out soon. It is not clear on whether it will be renewed.
Many Munich fans will argue that Chelsea rode on their luck throughout the entire game, but the Chelsea fans will say that it was the defense that held back Munich. Either way you look at it, a win is a win. To add more salt to their wounds, Chelsea defeated them in their own stadium.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
North Carolina Amendment 1
In North Carolina, there is a controversial issue looming over the state. This issue is about gay marriage. Amendment 1 also known as the Marriage Amendment is advertised as a bill that is suppose to ban gay marriage in the state of North Carolina. Being in the bible belt, gay marriage is seen as an abomination. Most of its supporters are either very religious or don't know what the bill is for. Many people don't realize that this bill goes further than just gay marriage.
If you live in North Carolina or have watched the nightly news lately, then you probably have seen at least one commercial whether it was for or against the amendment. If you analyze, you will notice they it only talk about marriage, but they don't talk about how it will strip away benefits from domestic partnerships and ban civil unions.
This isn't even the worst part. The worst part is that majority of the people in North Carolina are going to vote FOR the amendment. The majority of its supporters only look at the gay marriage and nothing else. I personality oppose this because it is deny people's rights and it is banning something that is already illegal in NC. Their are many closed-mind people in this state that have tunnel vision that is fixated on nothing but gay marriage. If two people have an attraction for each other, then let them get married!!! This amendment is just a despicable way for the state to save money by paying for a smaller amount of benefits since it will exclude benefits for domestic partners.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Motorsports are becoming more boring.
In the 1960s, motorsport racing was becoming widely popular. Ford and Ferrari had a fierce rivalry on the race track, Team Mini was dominating the rally circuit, Formula One and Indy Car became separate racing events, NASCAR was booming with new spectators, and muscle cars became as wanted and desirable as iPods are now. Back in these early race days, there were little if any regulations and safety was a low priority.
Fast foward to two decades later to the 1980s and you will see the age of the Group B rally cars and Formula One. Group B rally cars boasted an amazing 600 hp and only weighed just over a ton. These cars would fly through narrow, tree-filled trails at 80mph. The racing events took place on dirt, gravel, snow, mud, and occasionally tarmac(paved roads). No matter what the weather was, these rally events went on, pushing the limits of the cars, drivers, and co-drivers. Sometimes, these events would take place at night. These high speeds combined with sharp turns and unpredictable terrain caused a number of accidents. In one instance, Portuguese national champion Joaquim Santos was driving up a crest when he had to swerve around spectators and lost control of his vehicle. The car skidded in to another crowd of spectators injuring 31 and killing 3. Due to the staggering cost of these machines and a series of fatal accidents, Group B rally was cancelled and replaced after only having 5 years in the spotlight. The era of Group B may have been short, but its reputation will always be legendary.
Back to the more sane side of motorsports, there is Formula One. Formula one cars are at the tip of the spear when it comes to automotive technology. The engines in F1 cars produced anywhere from 550 hp to 1,500 hp with the help of a turbocharger. During the 90s, turbos were banned which in turn, lowered the horsepower ratings of these cars and slowed the cars down. Advancements in technology gave F1 cars the capability to reach over 1,000 hp without the use of a turbocharger.
During the mid and late 2000s was when motorsports started to become less entertaining and dull. F1 cars went from using 1,000 hp V10 engines to 800 hp V8 engines. In a move to make the sport more economically friendly, F1 cars will switch to V4 engines in the year 2014. These engine will produce between 500-700 hp. For rally cars, they are now more "bare bones" and power has been cut from 340 hp to 300 hp.
Throughout the entire motorsport industry, racing cars are becoming slower and slower. Newer regulations either require smaller engines or larger restrictor plates(these plates limit the amount of airflow to the engine which lowers the power output). Making these cars slower takes away the excitement in automotive racing. Honestly, if we had high-definition cameras and tv's in the 80s, I would rather watch the racing from then instead of now.
Fast foward to two decades later to the 1980s and you will see the age of the Group B rally cars and Formula One. Group B rally cars boasted an amazing 600 hp and only weighed just over a ton. These cars would fly through narrow, tree-filled trails at 80mph. The racing events took place on dirt, gravel, snow, mud, and occasionally tarmac(paved roads). No matter what the weather was, these rally events went on, pushing the limits of the cars, drivers, and co-drivers. Sometimes, these events would take place at night. These high speeds combined with sharp turns and unpredictable terrain caused a number of accidents. In one instance, Portuguese national champion Joaquim Santos was driving up a crest when he had to swerve around spectators and lost control of his vehicle. The car skidded in to another crowd of spectators injuring 31 and killing 3. Due to the staggering cost of these machines and a series of fatal accidents, Group B rally was cancelled and replaced after only having 5 years in the spotlight. The era of Group B may have been short, but its reputation will always be legendary.
Back to the more sane side of motorsports, there is Formula One. Formula one cars are at the tip of the spear when it comes to automotive technology. The engines in F1 cars produced anywhere from 550 hp to 1,500 hp with the help of a turbocharger. During the 90s, turbos were banned which in turn, lowered the horsepower ratings of these cars and slowed the cars down. Advancements in technology gave F1 cars the capability to reach over 1,000 hp without the use of a turbocharger.
During the mid and late 2000s was when motorsports started to become less entertaining and dull. F1 cars went from using 1,000 hp V10 engines to 800 hp V8 engines. In a move to make the sport more economically friendly, F1 cars will switch to V4 engines in the year 2014. These engine will produce between 500-700 hp. For rally cars, they are now more "bare bones" and power has been cut from 340 hp to 300 hp.
Throughout the entire motorsport industry, racing cars are becoming slower and slower. Newer regulations either require smaller engines or larger restrictor plates(these plates limit the amount of airflow to the engine which lowers the power output). Making these cars slower takes away the excitement in automotive racing. Honestly, if we had high-definition cameras and tv's in the 80s, I would rather watch the racing from then instead of now.
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