Seriously, how do they play outside in Europe all winter?
We're currently getting socked with an ice storm, which I'm taking as an excuse to hibernate and not do anything. "Anything," in this case, includes coming up with proper topics to blog about. Instead, once again, the random news of the week:
- It really hasn't been a good few days for Arsenal, has it? First they lose to Chelsea in the Carling Cup final and then they get beat by Blackburn in their FA Cup quarter-final replay. I would enjoy it even more if either of the teams they lost to had been remotely likeable.
- Arsene Wenger, possibly spurred into action by my awarding the Pissy French Bitches title to Lille and seeking to regain his tiara, has thrown a temper tantrum against the FA, the referees at the Carling CUp final, and basically anyone else he can think of. I very much doubt that it's going to do him any good -- in fact, the latest news is that Emmanuel Eboue has also been slapped with a three-match ban. Ostensibly for hitting Wayne Bridge, but I prefer to think it's because he's such an unpleasant little dickwad.
- How much does Manchester United's B-team suck? In their FA Cup replay this week, they were up 3-0 against Reading after 6 minutes. And then did their utmost to throw the game away, eventually coming away with a 3-2 win. Basically, any time you fuck around with the starting XI, they look like complete and utter rubbish. You just have to compare them to the Arsenal second string, who are generally acknowledged to have put on a good show in their two cup matches this week. Even if they did lose.
- Robbie Fowler is reportedly in talks to join MLS this summer. His agent is denying it, and I hope it's not true -- although I'd prefer it to seeing Fowler playing in Qatar or whatever. But somehow I feel like he should play his last game at Anfield this season and then ride off into the sunset.
- An 11-year-old Muslim girl at a soccer tournament in Quebec was told by the referee that she had to either remove her hijab or leave the pitch. The referee cited FIFA rules stating that "A player shall not use equipment or wear anything (including any kind of jewelry) that could be dangerous to himself or another player." Which is a perfectly good rule, but I have to wonder how much damage a hijab could really do to anyone. I mean, if a piece of cloth is really so dangerous, then maybe they should make footballers play naked. Or at the very least they should ban Ronaldinho from wearing that stupid headwrap. Anyway, the situation has now been referred to FIFA to discuss at their meeting this weekend. So you know they'll come up with a sensible solution as usual.
- And finally, as the frivolous palate-cleanser after that last item: Victoria Beckham is now a blonde. I dunno, I kind of like it.
