Good morning Kickers. I’ve got a very busy schedule today so there is no way for me to watch the match until 8pm local time tonight. So, after work, I’ll have to put myself into a media cocoon and not allow any news to penetrate me. BUT! If I’m sucessful, I can drink a few beers and watch a night time match and it’ll be just like I was watching it live. Except it won’t be live and if I get frustrated I can always turn on the computer and get the result.
Match news has Joey “the most untalented criminal jerk in all of football” Barton starting for Newcastle. I believe in giving a guy a second chance. And if he’s a really nice guy who just caught a bad break I’m all for giving him a third or even a fourth chance. After all, some times life is just out of your control and you get caught up in something that you wish you weren’t involved in afterward.
Joey Barton is none of those things. Newcastle allowing Barton to play is like an abused wife welcoming back her husband while she still has two fresh black eyes. And what really makes no sense is why they want him back. If his off the pitch antics aren’t enough to warn you off the player, his utter lack of talent on the pitch should keep him at bay. But somehow, he’s got people bamboozled into thinking that he’s a great talent that’s just gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd. Note to Kev Kee: HE IS THE WRONG CROWD!
Unleashing him on Arsenal at this point is fuck near criminal in my mind. If he permanently injures someone Newcastle should have to compensate Arsenal and the player. And I only bring this up because in my mind there’s a significant chance of him just losing it and tackling Cesc knee-high, studs-up.
Fingers crossed nothing bad happens.
In other news, the Telegraph has a pretty cool little blurb highlighting some of the best Arsenal v. Man U FA Cup matches. They left out Arsenal’s 5-4 penalty shootout win over Man U in 2005. That match was one of my favorites because Lehmann saved Scholes’ penalty and Vieira tucked away the winner. Yeah yeah yeah, “penalty shootouts suck!” I don’t care, it was a great, pulsing game that went into extra time and all the announcers had said extra time benefited Man U. But Arsenal came out on top and stuffed that trophy down Man U’s collective over-hyped throats. Plus, it was the end of an era and the last time the untouchables would all play together. So it’s one of my favorite FA cup memory, and certainly my favorite FA Cup memory that ivolved Man U.
So that’s it. I have to get in the tub and go to work; it didn’t snow like the weathermen predicted… damn.
