Vee Have Vays of Making you Smile

Lots have happened this week: a new soccer team, a new Leafs coach, Rawk the Puck!

All good things must end, though, so it's the Friday roundup, folding in today's Weldpokal post because it's been so crazy busy.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Heidi Klum: Obeying orders.

One Two last read(s). Couple of things, actually. First, Cathal Kelly in the Star columnizes on Germany's smile offensive, in what was going to be that Weldpokal post:

Germans have come under intense pressure from their government to improve their people skills in advance of the tournament. On the G-rated front, bus drivers have received instructional CDs aimed at teaching them basic English. This may not be necessary since Der Spiegel recently reassured visitors that all Germans speak a little English, even if they claim not to. The article ran under the headline, "Those lying Germans."

And although it's almost a week old, it's hard not to resist Slate magazine's Sam Anderson writing "On the Pleasure of Hating Kobe Bryant":

For all his miraculous skills, Kobe is painfully bad at mythmaking. Since he's a Jordan-like talent, Kobe clearly thinks that he's entitled to the Jordan mythology, but he doesn't have any of Jordan's charisma or imagination. As melodramatic and managed as Jordan's career was, there was some authentic core—it was original and seemed to mean something. Kobe exists entirely within quotation marks.

Breaking news. Justin Gatlin sets a 100-metre world record, and some goof is suing the LA Angels because he didn't get a tote bag at a Mother's Day giveaway last year.

Sports around town. Race of the week goes out in the suburbs. It's the Mississauga Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday morning. The 10K, which I can vouch for as a fine race, goes Saturday night.

Miguel Angel Jimenez. JABS' official golfer is in the thick of it at the British Masters.

Watching. Sabres at Senators, Saturday, 7 p.m., CBC. If only for a few minutes, I'd like to see a split screen with this game on one side, and the Sabres-Stars final of a few years back on the other. It'd be like putting a DVD up against an 8-track.

Not watching. The FA Cup. I know it doesn't mean as much as it used to, but - the least they could've done was put it on cable.

Comments

[Ken]

I probably ought to have mentioned this earlier, but I'm pretty certain the Germans refer to the World Cup as the "Weltmeisterschaft", or WM for short.

[Jlo]

Props to Gatlin for his 100m record. In the same race, Canada's Anson Henry ran a personal best of 10.12. He is NOT funded by Athletics Canada under their athlete carding system (i.e. how amateur athletes get paid, usually), by the way, but he did pick up some cash for this race.

In the Half Marathon this weekend, look for Sharlene Cobain on the women's side to run around 1:22ish. She might win it, not sure who else is running.

[Jlo]

Apparently the Marathon will be on TSN! What, isn't there a dog show they need to put on? It's about time! A one-hour tape delay is better than nothing. Better than a dog show. Better than golf.

[Ken]

Hmm... my earlier comment probably looks a bit short. I didn't mean it to be, I was going to go on to discuss the FA Cup Final. I have to say, for years now I haven't been interested in what was going on. But what a game on Saturday! Just what the competition needs to reinvigorate itself. The only problem is that there wasn't a real winner - I always feel short-changed by penalties.

[cy]

"better than golf". house-painting is better than golf, JLo, you're gonna have to do better than that.
And yes, Ken, I know that weltmeisterscheister, or whatever, is the term -- WM, as you pointed out, is all over the FIFA website. But if you want WM, go to the FIFA website, I say. Besides, I tried out weltpokal on a German friend of mine a few weeks back and he actually cracked a smile. At least, I think it was a smile. So there. Weltpokal -- world cup, as in teacup, i reckon -- it is.
As for the FA Cup, it surely sounded like a cracker. But alas, after years of being on the TV here, it was banished to Pay-per-view this year, and I didn't bother ordering it, still stewing about Palace's near-total collapse in the promotion playoffs. What I find amusing in the post-mortems is the rush now to proclaim Stevie Me as the next Rooney and Sven's Crouchisms at the World Cup. I can hardly wait.

[Ken]

Strangely, the German version of the FA Cup is called the DFB Pokal; I've never quite understood when a cup becomes a championship! (Good work on getting a smile, by the way, every time I used Weltpokal in the past I got meticulously corrected)

We are in serious trouble if we start building the team around Gerrard. Lampard is without doubt a better player; Gerrard does so well at Liverpool because he is given the freedom to do more or less what he likes. And the only way the two can play together, in my opinion, is if you play five in midfield, however you choose to do it (wing-backs or wingers), with someone holding the middle together. Both need the freedom to pick up the ball at the edge of the area. That said, if Sven decides to play only one up front, then the ability of Gerrard and Lampard may well help offset some of the loss from unfit strikers.