"There's a small place inside us that they can never lock away, and that place is called hope."
-- Andy Dufresne
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Why Don't You Take a Good Look at Yourself and Describe What You See?
For a large portion of the first-half yesterday, the part-timers of Havant & Waterlooville were writing the script for the greatest upset in the history of the FA Cup. Unfortunately, they had to return to the pitch at Anfield for the second 45-minute period, and the impossible dream was lost amid Yossi Benayoun's second hat-trick in a Liverpool uniform.
As a Liverpool supporter, it was difficult for me to truly appreciate the potential magnitude of a Havant upset, if only because it would lead to my favorite football club always winding up on the end of a trivia question relating to some of the largest upsets in sports history.
The lone professional player on Havant and Waterlooville's squad, 19-year old Alfie "Harry" Potter, was all over the pitch in the first-half, and on his way to becoming a legend to hundreds of underdogs around the soccer universe, but in the end, the combined skill and force of the Reds dealt the final blow to H&W's Cinderalla run.
The Third Edition of "Why Running Down a Dream loves the FA Cup" focuses once again on the great disparities between the sides at some points in the competition.
When the players from Havant and Waterlooville step onto the pitch at Anfield this Saturday to take on Liverpool, they will be facing a squad that is composed of players that are paid ridiculous sums of money solely to play a professional sport.
A quick glance at their own resumes would reveal something very different...
The manager, Shaun Gale, runs a sportswear business in his spare time.
First-team goalkeeper, Kevin Scriven, is a property-developer in his family business
Second-team goalkeeper, Tom Taylor, is a plumber and barman.
Defender Neil Sharp is a Courier Driver for Lynx UPS.
Left-back Justin Gregory is studying sports therapy at Chichester University.
Center-back Jay Smith is a quantity surveyor (whatever that is) in Surrey/Middlesex.
Center-back Phil Warner works for a plumbing company.
Right-back Shaun Wilkinson works for his father's lagging firm doing whatever it is that people in lagging firms do.
Left-back Brett Poate is a plasterer.
Midfielder Jamie Collins is a football coach for primary school children in West London.
Midfielder Mo Harkin is a Gas Boiler Engineer serving the Twickenham/Richmond area of London.
Midfielder Michael McEnery is a student.
Midfielder Charlie Oatway is a Brighton & Hove Albion Community Officer.
Midfielder Alfie Potter is a "professional footballer" on loan from Peterborough. Finally, someone who gets paid to do this "football" thing.
Midfielder Tony Taggart is a dustbin man. Alright, back to the regular Joes.
Forward Rocky Baptiste is studying to become a London Cab Driver. Imagine that, you have to study to become a cab-driver in England.
Forward Richard Pacquette is a school caretaker/monitor and football coach.
Forward Jamie Slabber (which is a fantastic name, by the way) is a former professional footballer who is currently unemployed. With a last name like Slabber, how could you ever be unemployed?
Finally, forward Craig Watkins is a student. Thanks, Craig. Way to end things on a dull note.
Just imagine if Tom Brady lined up on February 3, 2008 for "The Big Game" and the guy across the line from him wasn't driving a Bentley or living off some gargantuan signing bonus. Instead, the defensive tackle spent most of his time working as an English teacher at the local middle school and played the sport in his spare time. Once you can picture that improbable scene, you'll have some idea of what the FA Cup can be at its best.
Finally, since it is the Song of the Day, I feel obliged to pass along this superb video of U2 playing "One" during the Slane Castle concert in 2001.
Brilliant words today from the Editor-in-Chief of the Blahg:
"If you aren't frequenters of Running Down a Dream, you should be. If you are, you know of the polarizing subject that is Liverpool FC. Endorsing an obscure sports franchise has so brilliantly divided their audience, why not irritate our audience with a similar move?"
There are moments when I fear that my constant ranting and raving over the travails of the Reds falls on deaf ears, but if they are being called "obscure", "polarizing", and "divisive", well, my friends, that's just more motivation to educate the great, unwashed masses.
Last Saturday, the Reds traveled to the northeast coast of Mother England to take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. After Boro took the lead from a George Boateng goal in the 26th minute, the Reds pulled out a 1-1 draw after a wonder goal from Spanish striker Fernando Torres in the 71st minute.
Even if you don't watch most of the videos I post, you need to skip forward to the 4:30 mark for El Nino's strike. You'll thank me later.
Today, Liverpool returned to action in the F.A. Cup with a 3rd Round Replay versus the Hatters of Luton Town. For the second straight match none of the Luton Town players were wearing hats during the match, so the origin of the nickname "Haters" takes its place alongside the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa's body in the great mysteries of our time, but I digress.
The Reds cruised to a 5-nil victory behind a hat-trick from Steven Gerrard, and goals from Ryan Babel and Sami Hyppia. Central defender Jamie Carragher temporarily took the skipper's armband from Gerrard in honor of Carragher's 500th appearance for his hometown club.
I would give you a video of all 5 goals, but you really only need to see the final goal from Stevie G., a curveball that would make Johan Santana envious.
This has been your weekly obscure, divisive, and polarizing post. You may now return to your regularly scheduled reading here at Running Down a Dream. Please enjoy your stay.
When I Was Young I Didn't Think About It, Now I Can't Get It Out of My Mind
Everyone, I have heard your cries, and because I am benevolent, I will heed them with no further delay. I can sense that you have been missing something in your lives that have made them more drear than usual.
That something, my friends, is Liverpool F.C.
I now realize that I have neglected to chronicle the 2007-2008 journey of the Reds since Friday, December 21. Thus, I give you what you have come here seeking...
One week ago at Anfield, Liverpool opened 2008 with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic. Fernando Torres continued his goal-scoring exploits with the 10th goal of his inaugaral Premier League campaign, but a goal by Wigan's Titus Bramble against the run of play secured a draw for the Latics.
This past Sunday, the Reds played their first match in this season's FA (Football Association) Cup against the Hatters of Luton Town. I'm not really sure why they are called "the Hatters" because no one on their team played wearing a hat, but I digress.
As the world's oldest football competition, the FA Cup presents fans with David-Goliath matches between the largest and smallest clubs in England. In the early rounds, a Premier League club like Liverpool will take on clubs in the English minor leagues, such as Luton Town, which is currently in League 1 (the English equivalent of Double A in reference to the Premier League's status).
Just as smaller schools often pull off shocking upsets each year in March Madness, many League One and Championship (equivalent of AAA) squads manage to pull off one or two big upsets each year against Premier League sides that are simply overwhelmed by the determination of their lower-tier opponents.
Although Liverpool came close to suffering this fate, they, unlike Merseyside neighbors Everton (1-0 losers at home against League One's Oldham Athletic), have lived to fight another day after narrowly escaping Luton Town with a 1-1 draw courtesy of a goal from Peter Crouch in the 72nd minute. Three minutes after Crouch's goal, Liverpool midfielder John Arne Riise slid a bit too aggressively into a challenge and unintentionally directed a Luton Town player's cross past Reds' backup keeper Charles Itandje and into the back of the net for an own goal. Thankfully, this is not Medellin, Columbia, and Riise will not be brutally gunned down upon his arrival back in Liverpool.
The FA Cup works on a replay system that forces teams to play a second match at the opponent's home pitch if the first match ends in a draw. The Reds will take on the Hatters next Tuesday, the 15th, at Anfield for the right to move on the 4th Round of this year's FA Cup.
It's not exactly an ideal situation for a Premier League side to need a replay to advance against a League One opponent, but if there is anything that I have learned in one year of following Liverpool, it is that they rarely enjoy doing things the easy way.
