(Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of posts in which Reading United and
Villanova defender Kyle McCarthy gives an inside look at what life is really like playing for one
of the top Premier Development League teams in the country.)
Hello again! It's been a long week since my last post, with the highlight being a trip to the
beautiful Blackbauld Stadium for our U.
In what will be remembered as Pep Guardiola's final match with Barcelona (for now) Lionel Messi
sandwiched his astounding 73 goal of the season inbetween two Pedro strikes, all within the first
25 minutes, to lead Barcelona to the Copa del Rey title over Athletic Bilbao.
Messi's right-footed roof job (full highlights above) rounded his out of league goal total up to
23 for the year, which would be considered a spectacular haul for anyone over the course of an
entire league season, let alone just in tournaments outside of league play.
The head of the Premiership, Dave Richards (Sir, if you're into that sort of thing), had
everyone of his colleagues backing away slowly, waving their hands while embarrassingly mouthing "I
don't know him." with his rant on how the world stole football from England. Or maybe why England
is better than everyone else.
At 35 years old, former Germany captain Michael Ballack is nearing the end of a long and very
impressive career as a footballer. Yet, instead of admitting that age is catching up to him, as it
does everyone, Ballack has decided that his diminishing place as a footballer is due to a series of
conspiracies that may or may not involve aliens (OK, he didn't say that.
"No Andrea, I can't see your brain from here. Or any aliens."
Sam is on Twitter. There aren't any aliens in his ears, either. [read more]
If you've ever watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you'll know why I chose this
particular title for today's post. Lyon have one shot to salvage their season, and it's against
APOEL. Anything less than a win tells me that Lyon don't even deserve to be in the Champions
League. Let's be honest Lyon have been crap since winter break to the point that I don't even
recognize them anymore.
Do y'all realize it snowed this morning? Crazy. Actually, as a Minnesota native, I would have
preferred snow to 38 degrees and windy rain. But there's soccer to be practiced, and practice to be
reported on. That's the sacrifice I make.
It was a closed practice today, so oregonlive's Kip Kesgard and I talked over the news and
absences before hanging out in the conference room for an hour.
You have to feel sorry for Sunderland. They suck. They can't seem to buy a string of wins to save
their lives. Well, at least we know there are some worse teams out there... Sunderland gets late in
the game, leading 1-0 only to have a loss shoved down their throats with a late goal by Aaron
Ramsey and a last second one by Henry.
No, we won't be discussing fire trucks, school buses or South African aliens today. It's literally
the pinnacle of our 4-3-3, the striker. It's also the easiest top choice this side of Tim Howard in
our little exercise.This is the most straightforward job description on the field, really.
Naturally, our #9 wants to stay in the middle of the field, make the center backs work, drop back
to be
David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira and Nicolas Anelka keep a bunch of aliens at
bay.
Episode 109: "Two Aliens and an A-Hole"Host: Scott Bornstein
Panel: Sarah Wilson, Brian Bentley, ELAC
DOWNLOAD Episode 10932-Bit (Small File)
96-Bit (Large File)
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This week on the show, resident diva Sarah Wilson and star of the silver screen Brian Bentley are
joined by Around the League star ELAC who makes his show debut.
