Bring On The Burberry...And Beckham

Burberry-the emblem of British soccer fans/hooligans

So it's bad enough that I'm a huge fan of football movies.

You know... movies like We Are Marshall, Rudy and Remember the Titans ...the kind of films that bring on copious amounts of tears and movies like On Any Given Sunday which show a behind the scenes look at how players and management interact.

I loved Bend It Like Beckham and now, after going to a screening of The Damned United, I am now officially a fan of soccer movies.

This film is an not only an intense character study of famed British manager, Brian Clough, brilliantly acted by Michael Sheen, which we all know of as Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon, it is a Bromance showing the ups and downs of the relationship between Brian Clough and and his on/off partner in management, Peter Taylor, sympathetically played by Timothy Spall.

After the screening there was a Q&A with Michael Sheen who was so charming and well spoken. I'm looking forward to seeing him in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Peter Morgan's new film about Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.

So bring on the Burberry and go see The Damned United.

Terje's First Descent

For some reason when I look at the top of a snow covered mountain I just don't feel the need to do this...

Tough Guys Are Awesome

When I think of the English Countryside I think of putting on my barbour and boots and strolling with my dog through a landscape that looks something like this.
Perhaps I would stop every now and then to enjoy the vista, recite some pastoral poetry of William Wordsworth and maybe pick some wildflowers. Of course this is because I am not a Tough Guy.

But two of my colleagues are and here is their tale of the event.

It was…..an experience…. to say the least. The day started with temps in the mid 20s and sporadic snow flurries. At race time it had not changed much. About a quarter of the way into the race the sun came out everything warmed up and the race really became enjoyable and relaxing. If only it could have stayed that way even for just an hour longer. Sadly, the sun and warmer temperatures proved to be short lived. After about 30 min. of sun (just enough to build up a good sweat) the clouds took over, the wind started blowing hard across the open field, the temperature dropped significantly and a light snow began to fall. A. and I met up on the course and began running it together using each other to negotiate the obstacles and get through the water courses.

When I say it was cold, it really really was, to the point of actually being painful and debilitating. But the water obstacles were so painful that we had to stop at certain points to regain some feeling in the legs and feet and let the pain subside a bit before completing the obstacle. In the end, we came to a place where a decision had to be made. In the last leg of the race with about 90% of the course completed we faced three of the hardest water obstacles. The first was a jump into a chest deep pond that led to a football field length low crawl under barbed wire in watery ankle deep mud. The second was a chest deep ditch of water about the length of a football field with three of logs across it at differing intervals that finished with a 10ft wide platform. All of this required the Tough Guy to swim under each log, with the final swim under the width of the platform. The final obstacle required you to climb a rope net up a 12 ft tower, jump into the lake below and swims for the edge. After this, the rest of the course was a run and non-water obstacles to the finish.

At the start of this final leg, A. expressed concern with hypothermia and our ability to make it. Undaunted, I told him, “let’s take it one obstacle at a time.” It was at this point that I realized that you can only will yourself so far. As we moved forward to the first water obstacle, I was stopped by an increasingly intense cramping in my mid and lower back and legs. My back muscles, gluts and thighs were cramped to the point that it hurt to take deep breaths or fully extend the legs. It was at this point that I realized that I was worse off than I realized or was willing to admit. When A. saw the first of the water obstacles he had the common sense to realize the race was over. By the time he got back to me, the hypothermia had really taken hold and I had begun to uncontrollably shake all over. A. was better off than I at that point but not that far behind me. When we called the race, I had the fleeting thought that I could make it on my own. Thankfully my body would not allow what my mind wanted. We stepped off the course, collected our gear and went back to the hotel. Quitting and the walk back to our gear and the car was the most painful of all.

To say I was angry, disappointed and mad that I had failed to reach the finish is and understatement, as I am sure A. would agree. Glad we did it, glad we took the chance, glad we got so far under such bad weather but heartbroken to have had to quit so close to the end. The race ended with 40 people requiring ambulatory care and an unknown number of walking wounded (people who realized their limits and left the course as A. and I did). However, there were many who mustered the strength and spirit to prevail and I hold them all in great awe. I know there were some naysayers who argued that this was not worth it or there were better ways to have fun. While I fully admit it was extremely painful, hard and challenging, it was worth trying and a great experience.

Looking back we were lucky the race ran when it did. The night of the race and all the next day most of England was covered in one of the worst snow falls in almost two decades. Some areas received more than 2 feet of snow and Wolverhampton (where the race was run) got at least 6+ inches. I cannot say that I would do this every year, but I feel I will go back, more ready and fit, and complete what was left unfinished in England . When I do, I hope A. will join me again (I can already hear A. saying NO *&%$#%^& WAY) and that one or two of you might find the challenge worth it. I did carry a waterproof camera with me during the run so I will forward on pictures to you for your enjoyment when I get them (FYI, I snapped a couple of guys wearing nothing but the green Borat thong during the race and other insane behavior). Thanks for your well wishes and support.

Congratulations to D. and A.
Seriously, you guys are awesome!

Gratuitious Football Photo

A thing of beauty, no?
Too bad they didn't win.

Sports - Business - Ethics - Success

Why Can't Our CEOs Be Like Tony Dungy?

This article is too good not to post in its entirety.

Jim Donaldson -- If only the world of business was like the world of sports

Boaz Weinstein, who lost more than $1 billion during the financial crisis (as a trader for Deutsche Bank) will be departing to launch his own hedge fund later this spring.
—Wall St. Journal, Jan. 15

Are you kidding me?
Who’s going to fork over millions for him to invest – guys who were frustrated because they weren’t able to get into Bernie Madoff’s fund?

What I want to know is, why isn’t the business world more like the world of sports?
Rob Marinelli went 0-16 as coach of the Detroit Lions and – gee, what a surprise – got fired. The shock would be if another team hired him as their head coach.
Yet CEO after CEO has seen the value of their company plummet – sometimes into bankruptcy – but seldom seem to pay the price themselves, except to act magnanimous for not taking a bonus.

Business executives like to cite “extenuating circumstances” for their financial failures. Well, Marinelli was given bad players, thanks to the poor personnel decisions of erstwhile Detroit GM — and now “expert” television commentator — Matt Millen. And many of what few good players Marinelli had got hurt.
Well, too bad for him. Nobody cut him any slack. Nobody gave him any sympathy. Instead, the Lions gave him his walking papers.
Yet, here’s this guy Weinstein, whose misguided trades cost Deutsche Bank a cool billion, and he expects investors to flock to him?
He wouldn’t be the first.

John Meriwether was the genius behind Long Term Capital Management, the now-infamous, heavily-leveraged hedge fund whose implosion in 1998 triggered a global financial crisis that resulted in a Wall Street-led bailout that was required to prevent panic in the markets.
Yet, last March, the Wall Street Journal chronicled how another hedge fund started by Meriwether – only a year after the LTCM disaster – had suffered significant losses on mortgage-related securities.

Now, I suppose you could point to football coaches like Rich Kotite, Marion Campbell and Ray Rhodes, who were hired again after failing the first time around, and the fact that the NHL recycles coaches in a way that would make an environmentalist smile.
But, for the most part, the wonderful thing about sports is that the guys who call the shots are rewarded for success and pay the price for failure. Win, and you’re revered. Lose, and you get fired.
That’s true for most players, as well. If they put up big numbers, they get big numbers on their contracts. If they don’t, they could be out of a job – especially in the NFL, where most contracts have limited, if any, guarantees. Professional golfers only get paid if they make the cut. If they don’t, they’re out the money they spent to play in the tournament.

Compare that to Ken Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, whose stock hit an 18-year low last week and is down more than 80 percent from two years ago.
In a recent memo to bank employees, Lewis explained why he decided to forego his bonus for 2008: “This was a difficult decision because we have worked hard and made progress on many projects that will create value for our company in future years.”
A “difficult” decision? Did he really, truly, feel he deserved a bonus? And would it be paid out of the billions in bailout funds his bank has received from you and me, the American taxpayers?

I have no doubt that Romeo Crennel worked hard in Cleveland. The Browns made significant progress in 2007, when they went 10-6, following an injury-plagued, 4-12 season in 2006. But they fell back to 4-12 in 2008 and Crennel got the ax.
Mike Shanahan won two Super Bowls in Denver, where he had just two losing seasons in 14 years. He was fired after the Broncos blew the AFC West title by losing their last three games. Hired to replace him was 32-year-old Josh McDaniels, the offensive coordinator of the Patriots, who’s never been a head coach.
Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2002, two years after getting the Raiders to the AFC championship game. He has had just one losing season in his last four years coaching the Bucs. He went 9-7 this year. But the Bucs lost their last four games and missed the playoffs, and so Gruden was fired Friday and replaced by 32-year-old Raheem Morris, who, like McDaniels, never has been a head coach.
In the NBA, teams are even quicker to pull the trigger. Six coaches were fired before Christmas – ho, ho, ho.
But, in the business world, the corporate fat cats, coddled by their obsequious boards of directors, continue to collect big bucks while their companies lose large amounts of money.

Look at the likes of Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial, whose unbridled lending excesses helped trigger the mortgage meltdown; former Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal, and Charles Prince, the former CEO who paved the way for Citigroup’s precipitous tumble.
Those three corporate titans testified before Congress last year, attempting to justify their outrageously oversized compensation packages. Although their companies lost billions in the housing markets, Mozilo received $75 million when his firm, with all its bad loans, was bought by Bank of America; Prince pocketed $68 million; and O’Neal received more than $160 million.

“The obvious question,” Senator Henry Waxman of California asked, “is how can a few execs do so well when their companies are doing so poorly?”
Good question, Senator.
You might want to pose it to your esteemed Democratic colleague in the Senate, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who, despite being chairman of the Banking Committee, accepted loans at special rates from Countrywide as a “friend of Angelo.”
In sports, you can win and still get fired. In business, you can lose, and lose, and lose, and not only keep your job, but often get a bonus.
It would be a better world if the world of finance was more like the world of sports.

My thoughts exactly.

Gold Medal Messing Around - It Takes an Olympic Village

Well we all know that sports are sexy and now we know that the Olympic Village is the Shangrila of sport f**king.
In this well written article by former Olympic athlete Mathew Syed we get the inside story.

Apparently once the competition is over the testosterone oozing athletes are about getting it on.
But even in an environment of the most fabulously fit, the basic laws of evolutionary biology still hold true. The medal winning males get the most action but the winning females are not in as much demand as the non medal winning women.

But - and this is the thing - success does not work both ways. Gold-medal winning female athletes are not looked upon by male athletes with any more desire than those who flunked out in the first round. It is sometimes even considered a defect, as if there is something downright unfeminine about all that striving, fist pumping and incontinent sweating. Sport, in this respect, is a reflection of wider society, where male success is a universal desirable whereas female success is sexually ambiguous.

To add to the sexual frenzy is the fact that this is a special far away environment where anything goes.
I also think it is significant that, for most athletes, the village is thousands of miles from home. The old “what goes on tour stays on tour” mantra is still alive and kicking, not just in sport but beyond. There is something deepseated in humanity that leads us to play by different rules whenever we leave town, a phenomenon that has caused instances of terrible inhumanity. When it comes to sex, it simply means that those in relationships no longer recognise, or at least ignore, the boundaries of fidelity and honesty that underpin human monogamy. Philosophers call it moral relativism; the rest of us call it hypocrisy.



My favorite Olympic contender has been Britain Nick Foster, aka The Silver Fox. He may have not have won the gold in swimming but I can bet that he was winning with the women.

Final thought: If Chinese gold medal gymnast He Kexin was part taking of the after competition fun, was that illegal if she was under 16 years old?

Competing Against Chinese Children

The Great Chinese Children's Olympic Team

Chinese officials can forge birth certificates and issue new travel documents, but they cannot hide the girls themselves.

The US Golden Girl Nastia Liukin Who Is Not Pre-Pubescent

I was just wondering why does there have to be an age requirement in the Olympics anyway? If a 14 or 15 year old girl can fence or shoot or whatever at an Olympic caliber why does it matter.

Well...in women's gymnastics two tricky physical characteristics, size and weight, actually do matter....especially when a little thing like gravity is an issue.


From Gordon Chang
Yet there is no mistaking what we can see with our own eyes. Chinese coaches tried to hide the ages of the girls with “enough makeup to shame a drag queen,” but no amount of lipstick and eyeliner can hide the fact that the American gymnasts have curves and breasts and the Chinese ones don’t. On average, the girls on the Chinese team are 3.5 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than their American counterparts. Bela Karolyi, the legendary coach of gold-medalists Nadia Comaneci of Romania and Mary Lou Retton of the United States, calls the members of China’s team “half-people.” They still have their baby teeth, he points out. Take a close look at the picture of the charming Ms. Deng, and you will find that she’s missing a tooth — her permanent ones have not all grown in. Yet she too is now listed in official records as — don’t be surprised — 16.

Do Rules Really Matter In The Olympics?

China's Child He Kexin

Do rules really matter in the Olympics?

In Olympic gymnastics, the rule is that athletes need to be 16 years old.

But....

Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

The Olympics used to be so simple when all we had to worry about was the doping of the East German female athletes.

Now our athletes have to compete against 13 year olds!

Not to take anything away from the Chinese team. They are the best. But why does every other team need to comply to the age rule when the Chinese don't?

On the topic of Olympic gymnasts, this story about Nadia Comeneci is incredible. Just think about the fact that we live in an almost completely borderless existence where freedom of travel is a given and Nadia Comeneci had to escape from Romania in 1989 where she was basically a prisoner of the State.

Does anyone today even remember what East Germany or Romania were like in the 1980's?

Fifty Dollar Flip Flops or Some People Will Buy Anything

$50 FitFlops

And...by some people I mean me of course

While Style Spy is modeling her Manolos,

I'm trying to justify spending $50 on a pair of (As seen on Oprah!!) flip flops.

According to the FitFlop spin,

FitFlops are engineered with a multi-density midsole that stimulates your muscles more while you're wearing them. In independent University testing, FitFlops have been shown to trigger increased gluteal muscle response, increased hamstring response, increased rectus femoris (thigh) response and increased calf muscle response.

Now...if only Ferragamo could engineer muscle stimulating technology into their shoes....

Olympic Fashion - More Details

Mexico - Flirty Flip Skirt - Love It

Swaziland - Brilliant Blue - Love It

Switzerland - Manpris - Hate It

South Africa - Green Crocs - Sorry Manolo But I Love It

I couldn't find a photo of the Bermuda team, but I also loved the preppy Bermuda style with the shorts and knee socks.

Opening Ceremony Style - It's All In The Details

USA - Classic Gatsby Look - Great

Britian - Striped Belt - Love It

Spain -Red Shoes - AYYYYY

Italy - Cargo Pants - Love It

Iran - Matching Chador - Love It

The Fashion Report from ESPN.com

• The 10 sharpest-dressed teams:
1. Netherlands. Gray suits with orange ties and cool, two-tone shoes.
2. Antigua and Barbuda. Sharp plaid vests and ties with white shirts.
3. Saint Kitts and Nevis women. Sundresses in the flag's colors.
4. Gabon men. Argylish green-and-blue shirts.
5. Italy. Gray suit coats, black ties and snazzy silver shoes. That didn't keep them from marching in total chaos, all over the place, to the consternation of the orderly Chinese folks overseeing the procession.
6. Botswana. Nice powder-blue-and-black suit ensemble.
7. Tunisia. Blue blazers, lavender shirts and ties. Strong.
8. Latvia. White pants, lavender coats. Well done.
9. Ukraine men. Blue-and-yellow ensemble. Women get a demerit for bad yellow ankle socks and iffy shoes.

• The 10 worst-dressed teams:
1. Denmark. Jean shorts. JEAN SHORTS?! This isn't Gainesville, Fla.; this is the Olympics.
2. South Africa. Committed the unpardonable offense of outfitting everyone in green crocs.
3. Spain. Bright red suits with bright red shoes. The shoes were criminal.
4. Canada. The Canadians usually are among the best dressed, so the penalty for showing up in bad pseudo-sweat suits is extra.
5. Kazakhstan. The women wore sashes that said "Kazakhstan," like it was a beauty pageant. The guys looked pretty cool. Nice white cowboy hats.
5. Switzerland. I cannot stay neutral on these outfits. BAD shorts with suit coats.
6. Australia. Say it again: sweat jacket-ish things that looked like they were purchased at a yard sale.
7. Belgium. Love your beer, hate your men's outfits. Horrific tan suits with red T-shirts.
8. Ecuador. Looked vaguely like a NASCAR driver's jump suit.
9. British Virgin Islands. One guy in jeans, another in black pants, three others in khakis.
10. Somalia. The men rocked some sweet sky-blue suits -- and then along came one dude in a white T-shirt and shorts, as if he slipped in off the street right before the group walked through the tunnel and onto the stadium floor.

10. Egypt. Nice suit coats. Gotta be the cotton.

Opening Ceremony Style - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good - The Netherlands

The Bad - France - What's up with the OBI style sash?

The UGLY - Denmark - Denim Manpris? AYYYY

Beijing at its Best

Maybe it's the doping, maybe it's the apalling environmental conditions in Bejing, or maybe it's just all the hype...for some reason I've had absolutely zero interest in the Olympics.

But now that I've seen the photos from the spectacular opening ceremonies I might just have to muster a little enthusiam for team USA.

Especially now that all the drama over Brett Favre is over.

Giants win Superbowl

Ok, so I was soooooooo wrong.

Who knew that the Giants defense would take down Brady so many times. Who knew that Manning would keep his focus right to the end.

I was thrilled to see the Giants win. In 2 consecutive years we've had the two Manning brothers hand it to Tom Brady. Unbelievable.

It will be interesting to find out how many people watched the game....predicting, like myself, a Patriots rout.

Also, the commercials were great and Tom Petty rocked!

All in all a great Superbowl Sunday.

The Best Quarterback Ever

Well I don't know about you, but I'm expecting the superbowl game today to be a complete rout.

From the International Herald Tribune.

Brady has a Zen master's gift for slowing down and simplifying a rapid and chaotic environment. "He's calm in the pocket," Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. "He has a great feel for how much time he has. He's never thrown off. He's fun to watch.

Tom Brady is the best quarterback, ever.

With his talent and Belichick's coaching, the Patriots should play and win this game today with the finesse of finely tuned swiss watch. Still, all that icy precision gets a little bit boring. I would have rather seen Peyton against Eli in the Superbowl.