I'm well chuffed!!! Gabe (a friend from CU), another friend of his, and I are going to watch the Colorado Rapids play Everton F.C. Sunday night! That's right, this is the same Everton that finished 5th in the English Premier League last year behind world powers Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Although I've watched tons of football on television, I have never seen a world-class team play in person (national or club).
Maybe I'll get to meet some real-life hooligans?!?! That would be awesome.
Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for Denver's finest band and the proud new owners of my trailer...
The Motel Saints!!! (crowd goes wild)
I met up with these guys twice and conversed with them a few times over the phone and email. They are really cool guys, and I wish them the best of luck on their upcoming road tour. Since they were so cool about everything, I figured I should give them and their MySpace page a shout out.
If they become famous, I'll somehow feel like I was part of it. Does that make me a groupie? I guess so.
Today my worst fears were confirmed. Our two leading scorers from last year, Berbatov and Keane, are leaving Spurs. Our chairman Daniel Levy confirmed that both players have been contacted by Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively, and that they both desire to leave the club. Furthermore, Levy confirmed that he expects neither of them to be playing in a Spurs shirt at the start of next season. What makes this devastating is that Berbatov and Keane were our two starting strikers. Last year they scored 23 goals each (46 total). In fact, they accounted for half of all goals scored by Tottenham last year.
There is more to this story. According to Levy, the manner in which Manchester United and Liverpool lured these players away from Spurs was explicitly against the Football Association (FA) rules. It's called "tapping up". Basically, another club is not allowed to make contact with another player or their agent without approval from their current club. Even making comments to the media about the desire to sign another team's player is considered very inappropriate, if not the same thing. Regardless, without Tottenham's approval, our chairman has stated that both clubs have made contact with Berbatov and Keane and/or their agents. Due to their actions, Spurs have filed a complaint against both clubs. The penalty could be a fine or a points deduction, but they'll probably get away with a relative slap on the wrist.
Reagarding Berbatov, I'm not as disappointed as I am Keane. There have been rumors circulating for almost a year that he was headed to Manchester United. Tapping up Keane really bothers me though. Not only was he our Captain, but he was an emotional leader and someone we all believed was Spurs through and through. Keane also signed a new five contract a little over a year ago. My problem with this situation is it appears that Keane was lured to Liverpool in a completely wrong manner. It appears he would have stayed at Spurs for another four years had it not been for Liverpool breaking the rules and contacting him and/or his agent. If Keane wanted to leave Spurs he could have approached the club and asked to be transfered to Liverpool. However, because of the chairman's statements, it appears as if Liverpool initiated this deal and held a carrot in front of Keane's nose. We'll probably never know exactly what happened, unless the FA issues a report along with punitive measures. In the end though, Tottenham get the short end of stick. Even if both deals are called off, Spurs are stuck with two players that have said they do not want to be at the club anymore. It essentially puts the club in a no-win situation. Because of this, the deals will probably still go through.
Why have a rule if the penalty isn't large enough to prevent clubs from breaking it? I have a feeling nothing is going to happen to Manchester United or Liverpool - or at least not large enough to make it hurt. If these reports are indeed true, these clubs should have to pay a huge sum of money to Tottenham or be deducted points from next year.
Maybe I'm naive, but contracts should be worth something. What are they worth to the club if another team can cause a player to leave while under contract at any time with an offer or comments to the media? Not even the paper they are written on. If a player, on his own, asks to be let out of contract, that's one thing. This is the football equivalent of your closest competitor calling your employees and offering them more money to come work for them...on top of the fact that they are under contract to you and that it's against your industry's "rules".
Although no deals have officially been announced, it is essentially done. It is probably impossible to replace two 23 goal scorers in four weeks (when next season starts), let alone find two strikers of decent quality. Add to this the fact that a striker partnership takes time to develop, it could be another long year for Spurs fans.
This is what happens when you leave Dad alone with the baby. She doesn't look too impressed, but I did manage to get a little smile when I gently pushed her.
This afternoon we went down to Riverfront Park. The park is right next to the downtown area, and it is centered around the Spokane River and Spokane Falls. The area was revitalized in 1974, when Spokane hosted the World's Fair (Expo '74) in the park that year. The park has a gondola and amusement park rides in the summer; in the winter an ice skating rink. You can also watch a movie or see an IMAX film. There is a water fountain and carousel for the kids and on the 4th of July, fireworks.
Since we had never been on the gondola, we hopped aboard and then spent the rest of the time walking around the park. We learned that the clock tower was built in 1902 as part of the Great Northern RR passenger terminal and that Julia likes the taste of ice cream.
Music by David Crowder Band (The Heights)
This morning Stacey, Julia, and I went to Manito Park on the South Hill. It's easily our favorite place in Spokane to walk around outside. We visited the ponds, lilac garden, Japanese garden, and rose garden. In addition, we enjoyed the beautiful foliage and homes that grace this part of town. After our walk, a nice cup of coffee at Rockwood Bakery concluded this delightful Sunday morning at the park.
Music by Telecast (Beauty of Simplicity)
(Telecast were actually the worship team at Calvary Chapel North Spokane when we attended in 2003. Since then, they have released three albums and toured with well-known artists such as The David Crowder Band.)
