No Country For Old Men ...

I cannot remember when I got so much use out of my cable tv. With all that is turning the sports world, I have not time for writing this blog. NBC, MSNBC, USA, CNBC, Fox Soccer Channel, GOLTV and ESPN ... and now Fox Soccer Plus is introduced this week ... what the hell do I have time for ?

American international Landon Donovan has been voted Everton F.C.'s player of the month. There is even a facebook site dedcated to keeping at Everton - which means not returning to MLS before the World Cup this summer. 

The other hottest player has to be Manchester United's Wayne Rooney - with superelatives like "greatest" and "legend" being tossed around. One thing is for sure, the USA defense will have one hell of a time trying to neutralize the Englishman at the World Cup on June 12th.

And while I'm interupting my Uefa Champions League, English Premier League with spring training of the MLS clubs here in Florida, along comes the US National Team to play in Tampa. It was a great match to watch in the pouring rain. The US fans were fantastic !

so all this and then the Olympics get even more interesting. Missed turns, wipeouts, wiped tears, torn limbs and limber athletes ...

Canada rebounds with Roberto Luongo (I told you so) and will meet the USA in a rematch for GOLD on Sunday.

It is lucky I can get any sleep. At least I can carry my laptop to the "can" or eat in front of the TV. But  no time for proper blogging ... so until then ... this will have to do.

Falcons, Crowns, Maple Leafs and U-S-A

After last night's North American battle of the ice, the USA came out on top again over Canada. This makes the host's climb to the medal podium somewhat harder.

The Americans have gone with one goalie - RYAN MILLER.

Canada started strong with Vancouver netminder ROBERTO LUONGO, but changed to Martin Brodeur. The question begs, why ?

Sweden have Rangers' HENRIK LUNDQVIST wearing the blue and yellow crowns and look good for a repeat gold.

The Americans changed their jerseys from the "roller derby" logo to the classic 1960 / 1980 "U-S-A". It may have just been the inspiration ... 

... or HERB BROOKS looking down from hockey heaven.

The Russians hit the speed bump with Slovakia, but will still be in for a medal - this is ALEX OVECHKIN - spelled in Russian. It still means G-O-A-L-S.

The amazing fact that this Olympic hockey tournament is really the NHL on speed. A look at the 12 team rosters of goalies shows only 14 of 36 not in the NHL (3 that once were in the NHL). It includes at least half a dozen who could be Hall of Famers. And all but two teams had NHLs starting between the posts. 

SWEDEN

Henrik Lundqvist - Rangers

Jonas Gustavsson - Maple Leafs

Stefan Liv - Jonkoping

USA

Ryan Miller - Sabers

Tim Thomas - Bruins

Jonathan Quick - Kings

CANADA

Roberto Luongo -Canucks

Martin Brodeur - Devils

Marc-Andre Fleury - Penguins

RUSSIAN

Evgeni Nabkov - Sharks

Semyon Varlamov - Capitols

Ilya Brygalov - Coyotes

SLOVAKIA

Peter Budaj - Avalanche

Jaroslav Halak - Canadiens

Rastislav Stana - Severstal Cherepovets

CZECH REPUBLIC

Tomas Vukon - Panthers

Ondrej Pavelec - Thrashers

Jakub Stepanek - Vitkovice Ostava

SWITZERLAND

Jonas Hiller - Ducks

Ronnie Rueger - Kloten Flyers

Tobias Stephen - Geneva Servette

GERMANY

Thomas Geiss - Sharks

Dennis Endras - Augsberger

Dimitri Patzold - ERC Ingolstadt

BELARUS

Vitali Koval - Dynamo Minsk

Andrei Mezin - Dynamo Minsk

Maksim Maliutn - HK Vitebsk

FINLAND

Mikka Kiprusoff - Flames

Niklas Backstrom - Wild

Antero Nittimaki - Lightning  

LATVIA

3 goalies with Dinamo Riga

The Pepsi Generation ... Argentina

What is great about some current international MLS players is finding some of their soccer cards before they came to America. One of these stars is the Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto - 2008 League MVP.

An icon and idol of Argentina soccer, he was a hero of the terraces at fan-crazed Boca Juniors. In a recent trade with my friend Michel from Texas, I recieved these 1996-97 Pepsi Futbol cards.

They included Argentinian national team players dressed in Pepsi jerseys. Each player appears in a portrait and action pose. I believe there are 50 players in the 100 card set.  Obviously with international players, it is star loaded - including Enzo Francescoli, and Hernan Crespo.

In addition, the trade also featured these 2000 Pepsi 3-D cards. Although scans never do justice to these, the 2 second flicker of action records some spectacular highlight of the player on the card. While there are some nice goals, the one card that I think is exceptional is a save by Paraguay's World Cup goalkeeper - Jose Luis Chilavert - of Velez Sarfield.

The commercializaion of trading cards has come a long way from the cigarette cards of our grandfathers. It definitely makes for some interesting trading and collecting.

If you have any unusual soccer cards you want to trade, let me know.

Flags, Curling and the Danish ... Go Denmark !

One of my favorite reasons (if as if I needed one) to collect cigarette cards, is that they are an abundance of information. In days of old, one could probably get a P.h.D from reading these before the cancer from using the tobacco set into the body.

When I entered JDs Wild Cardz Olympic contest, I knew the random draw would pull me in as a new fan of some country - unless I was lucky enough to draw the USA.

I did not. The lot for number 77 was DENMARK. I could have done worse for the winter games - as Cardboard Junkie's pick turned out to be Jamaica. He had an Allen & Ginter mini card of a Denmark flag which I though about stealing for this blog.

But that would have been a dishonor to my new found country. Besides, I prefer the vintage to the new. So, I found some of these turn-of-the-century issues - including the Queen of Denmark (with a small coat of arms) ...

... and Turkish Trophy  card of a Danish women carrying Danish flags ...

... and more Danish flags, and a Danish coat of arms ...

... and the King of Denmark, with and flag (with a coat of arms) AND a coat of arms (and ice skaters) ...

... and the Danish Capitol building (Copenhagen), with a Danish flag ...

After finding all these, I went to see who the Olympic team of Denmark brought to the 2010 games in Vancouver. It revealed that the team had 18 athletes competing in 6 different events - of which more than half were in the sport of CURLING ...

... sticks and stones ... broom sticks and push stones.

Well, I'll be tuning in to some major Danish superstars in the push and sweep.

GO DENMARK !

For Club and Country ... The Ultimate Sacrifice

He was not the first, he probably will not be the last - Nodar Kumaritashvili, from the Republic of Georgia, died from his injuries at the Olympics yesterday.

Making a practice run on what is being described as the fastest track in the world, Nodar lost control of his luge sled and crashed into a pillar.

In last night's Opening Ceremony, one of the four pillars to the Olympic Tourch did not rise to meet the others. Despite the malfunction, organizers carried on with the remaining three. I found this eerily symbolic.

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As we continue to honor Black history month, the heroics of one Walter Tull must be retold. Although he was not the first black player in professional soccer (football), he was the second. Having signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 1909 he was later transferred to Northampton Town F.C.,  where he played more than 100 matches.

He appears on the very scarce 1912 Lees' Cigarettes  card (above). When the First World War erupted in 1914 he joined the army and was one of the first blacks to serve.

However, what separated him from every soldier aftrwards was that he was admitted to officer training school at a time when it was specifically prohibited by law to allow persons of color as officers in the British military. He became the very first black officer reaching the commissioned rank of Second Lieutenant.

He saw combat in France and Italy and was commended for his coolness and gallantry. After almost four years of war, he was shot and killed instantly in battle so heavy that his body was never recovered.

All accounts report that he was a talented footballer who may have been purchased by Glasgow Rangers after the war. His legacy has been recounted in books and in film.

Walter Tull (1888-1918)

Let The Games Begin ... 2010 VANCOUVER

I'll be a bit busy for the next few weeks - as the world watches the 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver, Canada.

May your team succeed, may you win the hearts of every spectator and may the spirit of the olympics carry you.

Let the games begin ... enjoy !

2010 Topps Match Attax - kicks off new sets

Although the packs have been available for a few months now, I finally got around to opening the pack of 2009-10 Topps Match Attax soccer cards. The trade with my fellow blogger Jack at Pursuit of 80's is always great.

The first pack I opened revealed the online craze of playing football with trading cards. I immediately pulled an icard - with a code that gets you extra points plus more online cards for your team.

Here was the breakdown of 4 packs:

Pack 1:

Christian Benitez - Birmingham City

Hugo Rodallega - Wigan Athletic (icard)

Marc Wilson - Portsmouth

Julien Faubert - West Ham United

Hermann Hreidarsson - Portsmouth

David Edgar - Burnley

Nice start with the shiney insert card, but the others are all from the bottom clubs.

 Pack 2:

James McFadden - Birmingham City

Emannuel Eboude - Arsenal

Ayegbeni Yakubu - Everton

Jonathan Woodgate - Tottenham

Benni McCarthy - Blackburn Rovers

Liam Lawrence - Stoke City

Much better with a few international players in the mix.

Pack 3:

Gary Megson - Bolton Wonderers - Manager

Tomas Rosicky - Arsenal

Steve Finnan - Portsmouth

Emile Heskey - Aston Villa

Steve Sidwell - Aston Villa

Roy Hodgeson - Fulham United - Manager

More Portsmouth (last place team) and two manager cards. Oh well - a bit better.

Pack 4:

John Utaka - Portsmouth (blimey !)

Sir Alex Ferguson - Manchester United - Manager (a real Knight !)

Mark Hughes - Manchester City - Manager (former Man. Utd star)

Ryan Nelson - Blackburn Rovers (former DC United player)

Carlos Tevez - Manchester City (icard)

Karl Henry - Woverhampton

A very nice finish. Although now Hughes has been unceramoniously fired, Tevez to me is the player to watch in the upcoming World Cup. While many will be folloiwing Lionel Messi, Argentina's ace might just be Carlos Tevez.

Speaking of international sporting events - JD's Wild Cardz is having an Olympics contest with cool giveaways. So get there quick, check out his blog and take a flag (or a number) !

The Vancouver Winter Olympics begins this Friday.