FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
England's current and past stars are asked, "Why can't we beat Sweden?" (Varför kan vi inte slå Sverige?). English National Team vs. Sweden preview for the Tuesday night Friendly at Wembley on November 15th, 8 p.m. GMT; at 9 p.m. on TV4 Sport, Sweden. Sweden plays Denmark in Copenhagen this Friday night.
SvFF WebbTV video: Erik Hamrén inför Danmark och England.
SvFF's Andreas Vanberg talks with Sweden manager Erik Hamrén about the upcoming matches against Denmark and England, November 3, 2011.
FA video: England National Team Press Conference in Cardiff for England at Wales Euro 2012 Qualifier, 25/03/11; Fabio Capello and John Terry comment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAt0OVCvvgE
FA video: John Terry delighted to regain the England armband - Wales v England http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkvx9OIElQA
----- BBC Sports Phil McNulty's Sports blog Emotional Terry picks up pieces By Phil McNulty 16:41 UK time, Tuesday, 22 March 2011
John Terry's bleary eyes betrayed a sleepless night and maybe even a hint of the "overwhelming" emotion of reclaiming the England captain's armband after Fabio Capello's brief address to his squad at London Colney.
Capello's reinstatement of Terry has met with a mixed reception, and the man who lost the honour 13 months ago amid claims about his private life admits he will not be "everybody's cup of tea" after replacing Rio Ferdinand.
Read the rest of the post at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2011/03/emotional_terry_picks_up_piece.html
I've been listening to lots of BBC5 live the past two weeks, getting reacquainted with some voices, sounds and mental images that for awhile had been part of my daily routine, but which changed when I had to work on a project that was taking up a lot of my time.
I've been hearing some very interesting quotes, comments and interviews about Saturday's England at Wales UEFAEuro 2012 Qualifier in Cardiff, which will be starting about 11 a.m. Miami time, as well as the continuing saga of John Terry's quest for redemption, that, if it were about the NFL, people would say, "Wow, THAT's some interesting stuff!" Like the way the current NFL Films videos of weekly 'miked' sidelines sound -a depth and context you're not used to. http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/euro2012qualifying
But because it's about English and European football, and there's not a lot of people hereabouts who share that interest, I don't really have a friendly venue for sharing what I've heard with any locals. Unlike the case in Arlington at Summer's Restaurant, the sports bar/restaurant I frequently went to catch Dolphin games on satellite hosted televised Premier League and Serie A matches on Fox Soccer Channelright before the NFL throngs poured in and the great TV switching and game info signs were hooked up. American Football in one door, European Football out the other. http://www.summers-restaurant.com/ http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer
I actually listened to John Terry's press conference Tuesday afternoon via my computer, which, quite literally, sounded like it was next door, so I could hear the extraneous chatter, the moving about in the back of the room and could literally feel the anxiety from thousands of miles away. There are a lot of smart people who think this decision by Fabio Capello is absolutely dreadful, and a like amount who think it's overdue, and in any case, was NOT playing-related and thus more a media-created controversy than a genuine one.
It's my understanding that it was originally scheduled for Friday up in Cardiff at the team hotel, but was moved-up to tamp down media speculation that Terry regaining the captaincy was sure to create fault lines within the team. http://www.livesoccertv.com/news/3200/wales-vs-england-bellamy-doesn-t-know-me-well-enough-says-terry/ http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/euro2012qualifying/story/England-star-Crouch-denies-unrest-over-Terry-leadership
It remains to be seen whether that press conference will keep lips sealed. Personally, given the circumstances of what's happned, the scrutiny that will only increase and the fact that many reporters simply don't like Terry, I'm doubtful.
Saturday's match will be on ESPN 2 in the U.S. at 10:55 a.m. Eastern, and can also be seen on ESPN3.com.
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FA video: Ashley Cole exclusive on Wales, Bale's explosive rise to prominence and Ghana http://www.youtube.com/user/england#p/u/2/kkheSLIHKwI
See also: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/crouch-bale-is-wales-biggest-threat-thats-no-secret-2251063.html
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FA video: Wales vs England predictions from the stars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YxE_XrJok
FA video: England 2, Denmark 1 at København, February 9, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mZaC1KbsRg
Stories at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/8311873/Denmark-1-England-2-match-report.htmlandhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9392631.stm Phil McNulty's blog at the BBC includes this gem:
The talent was on show in a 45-minute cameo that, while confirming Wilshere is not the defensive midfield man Capello apparently envisages and never will be, illustrated rare gifts and an immediate comfort on the England stage.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2011/02/capello_relishes_win_with_mean.html The Guardian'sEngland National Team homepage: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england
I'm listening to The Monday Night Club with Marc Chapman on BBC Radio 5 live now, which is how I heard this surprising bit of news.
Aston Villaowner, American Randy Lerner is clearly clipping Martin O'Neill's wings and selling players rather than strengthening team, with January's apathy in acquiring a player to move up a leading reason for why season ticket sales are down 40%.
O'Neill doesn't want to settle for mediocrity after bring team back to some semblance of quality, a view shared by hardcore Villa fans who don't want to be seen as "feeder club" for Big Four. In listening closely, another thing that has clearly changed is that Lerner's no longer considered the 'Good American' owner by Villa fans -compared to the reviled Glazer family from Tampa at Man U- as his Greta Garbo-like mystery act has gotten old,esp. with local media whom he ignores but for one meeting a year.
Apparently, Lerner also refuses to speak to the Premier League's TV people, which is a nice bit of sabotage that you'd never see in the NFL, which does everything it can to appease the TV networks that pays the huge rights fees. I guess having billions gives you more chances to be spiteful or stupid in unusual ways.
Some commentators on the show say that O'Neill may succeed Sir Alex Fergusion at Manchester United in a few months, while others openly wonder if his hands-on style and thin-skinned personality can handle the different expectation of the Man U fans and owners, where actual championships, not simply improving, is the expectation.
FYI: My promised analysis post on England's horrific 4-1 World Cup loss to Germany in late June, and all the sharp finger-pointing that has resulted from its wake, is close to being finished now that I've digested manager Fabio Capello's press conference this morning, which revealed that, in my opinion, things are, in fact, as bad as English football fans feared. He even brought up the Frank Lampard goal that was dis-allowed. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hP_re4YSJVLLrrDXvDxWfIBqmnzw Really!
