No Christmas Break at EPL

I thought the football season gas gone for Christmas break so I didn't bother to open the sports section that I often checked every time there’s an upcoming game whether it is their league games or the Champions League. But to my surprise the Premier League don’t seem to know what Christmas is all about since they still have games last 26 Dec and 29 Dec. And if I wasn't watching the news on TV, I wouldn't know it and will miss again Manchester City’s game again.

Man City is already seven points behind city rival and league leader ManU as they lost away to Sunderland last 26 Dec. And their game last night against Norwich City was a nerve racking match right up to the added injury time which they eventually prevail. At first, I thought they’ll have a comfortable win as Man City went to an early 2-0 lead within four minutes after kick-off, courtesy of Dzeko. But Norwich was able to maintain their composure and fought back up to the end despite conceding two quick goals. 

It was an entertaining match yet very stressful especially in the last 10 minutes of the game just right after Norwich made its third goal and is trying to close the gap as The Blues was forced to play the second half with 10-man when Nasri was given a straight red card just before the half time whistle was blown.

Image from wikimedia commons.

Dexter Season 7 Finale

Dexter Season 7 has reached its penultimate episode and the tension is growing while LaGuerta is closing in with his suspicions about him as the Bay Harbor Butcher. And I still could see Hannah as a liability for Dexter but not seeing the end of LaGuerta’s character. I have said that because we all know that whoever knows Dexter’s dark secret must and has to go yet LaGuerta doesn’t fit to his long established code.

I am pretty sure that LaGuerta will be killed at the end of this season but can’t figure it out how she’ll be killed though. Also if Hannah will still be around next season or she will be killed, eventually, before the season ends. And there’s this interesting thrill of how she’s going to disappear in the storyline. And of how Dexter executes his plan of killing her, if she will be. 

But then, all of the electrifying moment that I have came to an end when the free website that I’ve been using to watch all of my favorite TV series has to unfortunately remove all of the links because of their new TV shows project and will have a new design and brand new name. The only good thing is that it will be back early next year and I have to wait for several weeks to finally watch the finale of Dexter Season 7.

Image from wikimedia commons.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Recently, you’ll find many posts in this blog about sports that I love watching but never able to play them. But in the coming week it seems that I have to rest my mind thinking what to write about my favorite sports since they are also on Christmas holiday break. And I am sure they are wishing to spend some quality and happy holidays with their loved ones despite the only short break they have. 

And by early January, the tennis season will start and the first grand slam will be competed once more but there will be no Nadal at the Australian Open. If ever he will compete, he won’t be thinking of winning more matches as early at this time but will focus instead on his rehabilitation of his injured knee. 

The European football on the other hand will have an intense competition as they resume the battle in their own leagues for the coveted championship trophy. Although it wasn’t only about silverware but the pride to be champions and the bragging rights for one whole season are what matter most.

The Slumping of Real Madrid Never Ends

With the way Barca and Atletico playing, there seems no way for Real Madrid of catching in the leaderboard. And another defeat last night at Malaga didn’t help the plan of resurgence and a repeat of La Liga trophy is nearly impossible yet statistically possible but that if Barca and Atletico will have a long spill of winless games next year. Unless Real Madrid starts winning again and a defeat of 4 or 5 games by leaders Barcelona will bring them back in contention but even that seems very unlikely.

With another Barca and Atletico win, the former heads into the Christmas break with insurmountable nine points lead at the top of the table. While the slumping Real Madrid is sixteen points adrift in the sinkhole with defeat last night at Malaga and a draw at home with struggling Espanyol. The Los Blancos’ fourth defeat of the season is two more than their entire defeats last season and all they can do to possibly raise a trophy is to concentrate in Copa del Rey and in the Champions League. Although they have a tricky path in the latter as they are paired with Manchester United in the last 16 draw.

Image from wikimedia commons.

Results of the Champions League Last 16 Draw

Finally the Champions League last 16 draw is out and some experts have predicted the results as it was drawn with seeming accuracy. There are reports a few days back that PSG players don’t want or would like to avoid facing Real Madrid at this early stage of the pairings. We all know that there are weaker teams included in the list and I think only Porto is fortunate enough not to face a much stronger opponent. Whereas, Real Madrid has to face the giant of the Premier League, ManU, which could be the most talk pairs when the games restarts on 13 February 2013.

The in-form Barca faced Milan and I’m sure they won’t face that much defiance as Milan is struggling to find their rhythm when Ibra and Thiago Silva moved to big spending PSG. That goes also to last season’s runner-up Dortmund as they are paired with Shakhtar Donetsk. PSG may do as well as Valencia is not also doing well in La Liga this season and have some inconsistent matches. In the end, champions Real Madrid and ManU has much thrill to watch although the former is still struggling at La Liga but they have great games in the knockout stage considering that are in the group of Death.

Image from The Times.

The Slumping Real Madrid

I watched how pathetic the Los Blancos played at home against the struggling Espanyol who is now sitting at the bottom second in La Liga standings. In fact, it was Espanyol who made the first goal at the expense of defensive laziness in the back four. Although they actually came back in contention when CRon made a lovely first touch goal from Khedira in injury time just before half time.

Then in the second half CRon made a lovely reverse pass to Coentrao to silent the doubters and the Bernabeu crowd erupted in joy. And as time is waning, Espanyol started to become a threat at the back and it was only a matter of time when they’re going to make another goal. And indeed the defensive lapses of Real Madrid had cost them the valuable three points in trying to cut the already huge gap from La Liga leaders Barca.  

Real Madrid exposes their weakness again at the back by leaving several players without defenders during corner kicks in which Espanyol have capitalized in the 88th minute. This situation has been going on in almost all of Real Madrid’s defeat this season. Instead of cutting Atletico Madrid’s 5-point advantage to just two, all they can do is settle for a draw and salvage a single point which is not enough to be back in title contention.

Image from wikimedia commons.

Taking Care of a Very Sensitive Child

Time run so fast and it was only not long ago when we have sleepless nights when our son was born. Now that he is 2 ½ years old, we have different concerns already. Gone is the sleepless night and comes the constant monitoring of him as he explores his new surroundings. We have to keep an eye on him as he is prone to injuries, him being a hyper-active kid and he is at the age where they call it the terrible two. More so that he already injured himself a few months back when he fell and broke his collar bone. 

I could still remember those days when we are planning of what baby boy nursery bedding we will get for him paying particular attention on the type of fabric since he has a very sensitive skin. He eventually was diagnosed of having Eczema that until know the cause cannot be pinned on a single causative agent. Together with it the list of foods that he is allergy of and others that he could be allergy with. We already knew that he is allergy to certain specie of fish and it was recently that we came to know that he is also allergy to peanut butter but not to cashew nuts. 

We are also very careful in choosing his clothes as what they are made of since it will easily affect his skin and it will suddenly get irritated if not taken cared of.

Real Madrid Woes Continue

Losing too much games isn’t good if you are going to defend a title especially when other teams are stepping up their play in a higher level. And it’s the reason why Real Madrid is only third in La Liga standings this season. Although it is still too early to tell if the defending champions will not be able to fight their way back in the title race and become a threat to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. 

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The recent away loss of Los Blancos at Real Betis (Copa del Rey match) doesn’t seem to show that they are back in contention despite winning against city rival Atletico Madrid. With already three losses in La Liga and five draws, it is by far another worse start of the season by Real Madrid and they have to climb and very long ladder in order to catch up with Barca at top of the standings. Currently, they are eleven points adrift from the leaderboard and are five points down from second place Atletico Madrid after beating Los Indios at the Bernabeu last weekend. 

That probably can be cut to two points next week if Los Blancos will win at Real Valladolid and Atletico Madrid lost to title contender Barca who still have to taste defeat this season. At the moment, Barcelona has won all their La Liga matches except for a single draw at the Bernabeu during the first El Clasico.

The Champions League Saga

The Champions League last 16 teams were identified just a few days back and history is written in record books when the defending champions, Chelsea, became the first team to be knocked out of the elimination. They only manage to grab third place despite winning a big margin in their last match because Juve won in a slim margin although they can still play in the second tier, the Europa League.

While Man City continued their dreadful and pathetic games in the European League by not winning a single match in the elimination and eventually are at the bottom of group D which they associate as the group of death. For the main reason that teams picked in the group are either previous champions or defending champions of their respective leagues.

And as the Champions League season took a break in the grueling European matches, the date for the draw of the last 16 teams is just several days away. We will know by 20 December who will be paired with the best and greatest teams as Barca tries to get back in getting more silverware. Real Madrid on the other hand, is trying to add another Champions League trophy to their already illustrious history with a record nine UEFA Champions League trophies.

For the meantime, while waiting for 20 December, let's just watch Manny Pacquiao slug it off again with Juan Manuel Marquez in the Pacquiao vs Marquez 4.

Image from wikimedia commons.

Who’s to Blame: The Jacintha Saldanha Case

The highly publicized hospitalization of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, became full blown news when a nurse from the hospital that she was admitted was found dead. Considering that any information that you can get from the royal family’s hospitalization will be much read by everyone so a prank call has been made. Kate was admitted due to severe morning sickness and everyone would want to know her condition and any first hand information is great news. 

Then a few days after her admission at King Edward VII Hospital, Australian DJ’s made a prank call impersonating as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and ask for Kate’s condition. And when the call became sensationalized and made worldwide news, the nurse who transferred the call to the room of Kate Middleton was found dead the following day apparently taking her own life. Initial reports from authorities pointed out no foul play as there were three suicide letters that nurse Jacintha Saldanha left. 

The situation eventually captured the attention of everyone and went to social media to express their outrage of what the Australian DJ’s have done. That on the other hand has also created different stands and that the DJ’s should not be blamed of what has happened to Jacintha Saldanha.

Image from wikimedia commons.