oi!

i realise from the husband's blog that a lot of visitors do drop by this much-abandoned blog of mine. well, folks, i haven't penned my thoughts here much, what with the baby blog since i became a mommy. hell, it's been a year since i last wrote!

maybe the next time i write again will be next year may.
ho hum.

the penalty alternative

finally! someone who echoes my views, that a penalty is not a good solution to an all important must-be-decided-there-and-then game. but not too sure if his preposition is a practical one though.

read what Christian Celind from soccernews.com suggests.
an excerpt:

"....Although I certainly agree that a match needs to be decided on its designated date, I think that a penalty shootout is not the answer. I will be the first to admit that a shootout holds a high level of excitement, whether you have any connection to any of the teams or not. When your team wins on penalties, it is the sweetest of wins. When your team loses on penalties, you still know that the team fought well and went down with their boots on.

Some would also argue that a penalty shootout is the goalkeeper’s chance to stand in the spotlight. A goalkeeper blocking the last penalty shot becomes an instant hero. In the same second that the Manchester United goalkeeper van der Saar blocked the shot from the Chelsea shooter Nicolas Anelka in the Champion’s League final, a hero was made and a scapegoat was appointed. Letting penalty kicks decide a game is nothing less than forcefully causing a player to make a mistake, one that have broken many fine players and haunted them for the rest of their careers.

My solution is to let the game being decided on the field, with a goal - a sudden death, but with a modification. After 90 minutes in a game that needs to appoint a winner, each team removes one player each at progressive intervals. For instance, with five minute intervals both teams take one player of their own choice off the field, so that after 95 minutes the teams play ten against ten, after 100 minutes they play nine against nine, and so on.

With the increasingly open spaces, eventually there would be a goal. Today games are played 120 minutes in order to try to enforce a goal. With this system, after 120 minutes the teams would be playing five against five, i.e. one goalkeeper and four field players. It would be extremely surprising, even unlikely, that this would not have resulted in a goal...."

what do you think??

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chelsea in my skin

check these out! how cool to wear under your jerseys!

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Mourinho says Grant had "philosophy of a loser"

LONDON - Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has described Chelsea's season as "really bad" and said their campaign could be described as great only by someone with "the philosophy of a loser".

Mourinho, who left the English club in September, made his comments on the day that the man who succeeded him, Avram Grant, was sacked, eight months after he replaced Mourinho at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho, asked in an interview with The Observer newspaper whether the season had been a good one as depicted by Grant, replied: "That depends on your philosophy of leadership.

"In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football 'almost' means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.

"After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect," he said in the interview published on Sunday.

Mourinho admitted to being "very sad" at Chelsea's defeat in Moscow to Manchester United in the Champions League final, adding that the supporters, the board and the players "deserve more".

"I am very sad about what happened. In the last two years this team lost a Champions League final and a Champions League semi-final on penalties. The supporters deserve more, (the players) and some others deserve happiness. I still think of them as my boys."

However, he added: "I believe that after an empty season new success will come to Chelsea. And I will always be a Chelsea supporter."

Mourinho is being linked with a return to Stamford Bridge alongside names including Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink, Roberto Mancini and Marcello Lippi.

Grant was being linked with a move to Manchester City if Sven-Goran Eriksson is sacked by Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

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latest on chelsea

so it seems avram grant has been sacked just two days after moscow. it seems chelsea is becoming more and more desperate for victory football. if anything, chelsea has always been a club that doesn't take defeat very well.

i think mourinho was perhaps one of the best things that could have happened to chelsea. i bet they're kicking themselves in their arses for firing him. come on, abramovich, get on your knees now and beg for mourinho to come back! put your fucken ego aside, it's all for the club, ain't it?

here's the report:

Grant sacked as Chelsea manager The writing was on the wall for Grant after defeat in Moscow . Chelsea have sacked manager Avram Grant after just eight months in charge. The decision followed two days of talks between Grant, 53, and the club's chief executive Peter Kenyon. The Israeli coach's position had been subject to intense speculation after Chelsea finished runners-up in the Premier League and Champions League. Russia coach Guus Hiddink, fellow Dutchman Frank Rijkaard and Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson are among the early favourites to replace Grant. Chelsea said in a statement on their website that the search for a new coach would now begin and that the club will make no further comment. The statement said: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract as manager terminated today. This follows meetings over the last two days. Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September. We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made." The futures of Chelsea assistants Steve Clarke and Henk Ten Cate are unclear and no official word has yet been given on their positions. Grant, a close friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, took over on 20 September 2007 after Jose Mourinho was sacked. Rijkaard, Eriksson and, most recently, Brian Laudrup and Roberto Mancini have all been linked with a possible move to Chelsea with the likes of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Mark Hughes in the running. Despite losing just two Premier League games while in charge, Grant attracted criticism from fans who claimed his team lacked style. He was also criticised for losing February's League Cup final against Tottenham. Grant joined Chelsea last summer from Portsmouth as director of football, a decision which apparently did not please Mourinho. Mourinho was later dismissed after their 1-1 draw with Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge in their opening Champions League game. Grant and Mourinho did not always see eye-to-eye. Grant, who had never managed a club in England, was asked to take over and on 13 December 2007 signed a four-year contract. Both Kenyon and chairman Bruce Buck paved the way for change by insisting that Chelsea's performance this season was simply "not good enough". Buck said: "We have very high expectations at Chelsea and a couple of second place finishes is just not good enough for us. So although we never would have thought in September when Jose Mourinho left that we would be able to make it into a Champions League final as we did - and that is fantastic - Chelsea are here to win trophies. So although it was an excellent season, we are still disappointed." A series of discussions finally resolved Grant's future and it is understood the Israeli said his farewells to the players on Friday - telling them it had been a 'privilege' to manage the team. Ironically, Mourinho has yet to take up a new job since his dismissal by Chelsea but he said only this week that he expects to be back in football in June. His odds for a dramatic and unexpected return to Chelsea were cut from 20/1 down to 8/1 by English bookmakers late on Saturday.

sigh....what's next for my team? i really wanna know.

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family time

a few days ago, i wrote about something really personal on this blog, which i have learnt to regret. while i am not one to ever withdraw my words, i certainly regret my action and am a tad ashamed about it. it was something unnecessary, and i caused a good amount of hurt with my words.

sometimes, with blogging we can't escape letting our emotions get the best of us, and end up writing really personal matters, painting someone in a negative light, or even blowing things out of proportion, when the matter needn't, could have not been and certainly shouldn't be shared with the entire world wide web.

well, we all learn from our mistakes, and i certainly did. to control my emotions better and to leave personal matters just as they are. personal.

now let's move on to better things.

i'm really enjoying the time noel spends at home. since drayden, it's no longer easy for us to do the couply things we used to, like cooking together, enjoying quiet meals together, snuggling up watching tv, having lunch across the street, or even watching movies on the internet. these days, it's near impossible to get some quiet time together, what with drayden perpetually latched on to me. so whatever time he spends at home away from work, we try to make the best of it.

not that i'm saying drayden's presence is an inconvenience. oh no. rather, i think drayden makes whatever time noel and i share together even more special and full of laughter. when we're together, we gush over how adorable he is, we watch and laugh over the adorable funny faces he makes, we have conversations with drayden when he's making all the cute cooing sounds...what i'm trying to say is, we're doing things more like a family now, the three of us, and i'm really enjoying it.

when noel comes home, i normally give him time to attend to his daily chores, like checking his emails, blogging, etc...and then we enjoy some quiet family time together. we still enjoy meals together, albeit with drayden in my arms, and sometimes we lie back to watch the latest movies on dvd, again, with drayden lying asleep on my arm.

it's difficult finding time sometimes, but i guess we're working on it, and there's always give and take necessary, and somebody's got to make some sacrifices sometimes. buuuuut...it's all good.

i had a conversation with willy during drayden's one month. it was not something i had rehearsed, or something i had talked about before, or even something i had given much thought to. when the matter arose, i was actually surprised hearing myself, but realised i was speaking with sincerity and that i couldn't agree more with what i was saying.

anyway....

we're going out this coming monday when noel is off, just the three of us - noel, drayden and i - and it'll be our first family outing for us! i can't wait when outings become more, to the zoo, to the birdpark, to playgrounds, and more! times like these i wish drayden would grow up sooner, start walking and running around, but when i look at him so peacefully asleep on my lap, i wish time would stand still and he'd stay this cute and adorable forever.

well....have a good weekend, y'all. i'm gonna spend time with drayden, and do all the mummy things i love doing!

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cfc

i don't think a football game should ever go into penalties. penalty shoot-outs are a test of luck, not skill. look at ronaldo. he's a skillful player and all, but it's sheer dumb luck that cech was in the way of the torpedoing ball. it's not a matter of cech being skillful knowing which way to dive. i think it was sheer dumb luck, he went the right way. no keeper can ever know which way a player plans to kick the ball. and take terry. it was sheer dumb luck he slipped and the ball went wide.

penalties are all about luck!
luck!!!! not skill!
why subject something of such gravity to dumb luck, after all the breathless and tiresome running around, all the skilfuly planned set pieces and the perfectly practiced tactics?

still, i'm not a sore loser. chelsea had one hand on the cup momentarily when ronny missed, but facts are facts. my congratulations to you man-fucken united fans. pffft.

now.

the GSS starts tomorrow, yes? i hope you shopaholics have your shopping route and plans all figured out. to those working in the town area, good luck facing and bumping into all the kiasu shoppers till july. and good luck with the crowd, man, what with it being the school holidays and all. my opinion? GSS is literally when all the ugly singaporeans are let loose to irritate the rest of us!

anyway....

oh, i've got a new phone today! thanks to noel and mom, i've got a sony ericsson w910i in havana bronze and i'm lovin' it! i can't put it down! well, i'm gonna get busy transferring mp3s and photos into my swanky new phone now!

toodles y'all!

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tonight's the night

tonight is the night my team chelsea gets a chance to redeem themselves after the epl defeat against man-fucken u. if fate is fair at all, chelsea should win tonight at moscow. i'm gonna leave it at that, and not say any more, lest i need to take my foot out of my mouth again. bleh.

we just finished watching american idol. though i could have caught it earlier on cable, i promised noel i'd wait for him to come home and we'd watch it together, so we've only finished watching it on five. i'm really hoping for david cook to win, but the way things went down, it seemed set for an archuleta win. well, who knows, i might just be surprised tomorrow. once again, i won't be able to know the result until noel comes home, so i'm gonna have to resist turning on the cable! oh the agony!

right now noel's watching his favorite show, epidemic, on five. it's the third of a four-part series. it's pretty interesting, but it's not something i'd sit thru glued to the tv like he is. i'm keeping myself occupied blogging, cos i'm patiently waiting for it to finish, and for drayden to wake up - he's been asleep since ten - so we can all go across the street and get some drinks and bites for the all-important game later. it's starting in about three hours!

i think it's a post-pregnancy thing, i'm always feeling hungry for snacks at night. i'm always craving for small bites and munchies like muffins, cakes, chocolates and all the unhealthy stuff you can think of. maybe this is why most women put on weight post pregnancy. i'd better watch myself!

the great singapore sale starts later this week.

but please don't mistake this for excitement. from 23 may to 20 july, i will do my best to keep out of the town area.

tho', there are a few things i've been wanting to get that i've been putting off for the sale. god only knows i hate sales because of the crowd, chaos and confusion, not to mention cash fast diminishing, but the few items i'm planning to get are better bought on sale.

i normally steer clear of orchard road orchard down to city hall all shopping centers during a sale. i never have patience for another person's bad manners during a sale, no matter how badly i want an item. people just seem to lose their basic manners from may to july! plus, it's not as hyped up as it is made out to be anyway. the stuff that is on sale is usually from many season's ago, and stuff we'd never buy otherwise. so why go crazy for them all of a sudden?

oh-oh. the little monster is awake. we'll continue this later!

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i will be back

it's not easy maintaining two blogs - this and the baby blog - that it's resulting in me paying lesser attention here. at first i figured it doesn't really matter, but it's surprising to learn that my blog is the second most outgoing link from noel's - the baby blog being the first - that i reckon i should do it justice.

though, it can be testing sometimes to figure out what to write. my life is pretty much revolving around baby dray, and all there is to tell is already penned on the baby blog. i certainly do not want to be redundant.

so give me time, while i sort it out, get back to active blogging here, and thrill you with exciting stories to tell! soon!

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