Islamaphobia: Not Just For the US Anymore.

I realize that the title of this article may seem a bit "racy" but it seems that the general fear of peoples of the Islamic faith is spreading outside the boarder of the US.

The event that sparked this article occurred at matched between Middlesbrough and Newcastle on the weekend. An Egyptian player, Ahmed Mido, was warming up on the pitch when the two fans started to chant at him.

The FA has agreed to look into the matter but Mido has stated that the insults went beyond him and struck at his faith.

While the two individuals were removed from the ground and will have to face a judge, it is likely that the worst penalty they will receive will be a lifetime ban from Newcastle games. This gives them the freedom to go to another Middlesbrough match and taunt Mido again, or any other Islamic player for that matter.

You would think that with as much racism that has went on in English football for the past quater of a century, that the FA would have done more than just an annual campagin and match bans to quel the improprerly motivated attacks on player, both physical and verbal.

I suppose the FA has more to worry about such as building the grassroots programs and paying off Wembley.

Body by Soccer.

While I was home for Thanksgiving break, I had a chance to catch up on some cable shows. We don't have cable here at the house, you can imagine what I'm like on match days with no ESPN.

I ended up laying on the couch and watching a marathon of True Life on MTV. There was an episode about these two individuals that could not control their eating habits, so they both experimented with dieting.

The gentleman cut himself off from his family and friends and ate a meal of 800 calories once a day.

One meal for the entire day.

He went from roughly 340 pounds down to 214 in around a years time. He was pushing himself to loose the weight so much that he went out and ran steps on the night before he reached his goal weight. He was exhausted to the point of near sleep from doing so because he was not taking in the food his body needed.

The young lady experimented with crash dieting. Apparently the experiment never worked, because she continued to do it over and over again. She participated in very little physical exercise during her diets but she would loose the weight. However, she would gain most, and oft times more, of it back once she went off the diet.

I think that it is sad that people cannot bring themselves to find an activity and participate in it instead of locking themselves in an apartment for a year, or crash dieting.

I started playing soccer casually at first, simply because I had never touched a ball outside of a school gym. But then it became more than that to me. It became a pursuit. A need. My balls, my cleats, and my gloves are all my friends.

My weight has fluctuated a lot since I started playing. I attribute most of it to breaking my leg last summer. I have never given up though. When my heart races from bounding down the wing with the ball and delivering a beautiful cross, it makes me want to be in better shape so the ball goes further when I swing my leg at it.

I suppose it takes getting to that point. If you have the fortitude to eat 800 calories a day, then I am sure you have the fortitude to do ball work for forty five minutes a day.

My daily routine, when it is not too cold to venture out, consists of general stops of the ball. Simple passes against a wall coupled with trapping exercises. Throw in some cuts, crossovers, turns and pullbacks. After all that is done, I juggle. I always do 100 touches a foot.

By the end I am sweating and I feel better than when I started.

Some people have told me that it is impossible to loose my weight.

Impossible is nothing.

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

It is now officially Thanksgiving. No, I haven't done some weird family right of passage or anything, it's 1 in the morning. I am putting a few finishing touches on a post I made to Bleacher Report and I am about to head off to bed. I have a battle with 12 pound bird when I wake up and I will need all the sleep I can muster.

I figured I would write a bit about what I am thankful for over this past year. I am thankful that Chelsea has done so well. Thankful that the head coaching job at Tennessee will get a breath of new life. But seriously, I am thankful for the time that I was able to spend with my wonderful friends this summer. And I am thankful that they let me be a part of their big day. I am thankful that my friend Country has not blown himself up yet. Thankful that I have gotten through four out of six terms of graduate school. I am thankful that I was able to make it home for the holidays and, God willing, I will make it back home for Christmas. Most importantly, I am thankful, not only now but every day of the year, that I am live in the greatest country in the world.

...also, Josh, if you read this, I did not cry at the Bordeaux goal. I cried when I realized that Man U is STILL 8 points off of both Chelsea and Liverpool.

Sunday Ruminations

I went and picked up a couple of books at Barnes & Noble last night. Empires of Trust by Thomas F. Madden details how the US is similar to Rome but not in the sense that we think. He argues that the US and Rome both had empires of trust, that the nations in which they were overseeing could trust them to do the right thing if needed.

I also grabbed Hidden Codes & Grand Designs by Pierre Berloquin. I shouldn't have to explain what that one is about. The new issue of 4-4-2 is out, so I grabbed that as well. You know with all the books I have to read for school, I can't believe that I go out and spend money on even more of them.

It looks like the good ol' boys at Bleacher Report have started to notice the fluff articles that are being turned out at a breakneck pace by this beautiful young girl. She basically writes lists. Top ten this, top ten that, and she's averaging at least twenty comments per article. There was an article about how the world football community on Bleacher has gone to the dogs.

I agree and disagree with that. Yeah, some of the authors are cranking out three and four articles a day and all it is is a couple of lines and a random joke. I usually write one article a day or one every few days simply because I don't know what I want to say most of the time and I rather take my time and produce something that might not be rubbish.

Mmmm shrimp

There is nothing I like better than footie and all you can eat shrimp. The Blues won today and took the top of the table after Arsenal lost to Hull, and me and one of the roommates went out to Red Lobster for all you can eat shrimp. Now all I need is to sit around and read the rest of the league recaps from todays games and I can sleep a happy man this evening.

I think this could be the year for Chelsea to come back and really show Europe, and England, that they can survive without Mourinho. Granted, I would like to still have the special one here, but Scolari isn't doing too bad of a job.

Bilbo Baggins Had A Birthday

So said my Intel and the Constitution professor yesterday. How the freaks that threw him a party figured this out is beyond me.

So I might be loosing my mind.

I am going to attempt to keep up a two front approach to writing. I will be publishing articles on Bleacher Report and articles here. Bleacher will of course be more formal and here will be random fluff.