threestripes revival

Last post was over a month ago at this point, but it's not as if I have not been thinking about the blog. I believe that my lack of blogging has been due to the erratic nature of my schedule (touring across the state mixed in with variable, odd, and time-consuming tasks) and the fact that when I have had free time, I have not really felt a huge urge to bloviate on any interesting topics. I have been reading some books, following events in the soccer/political world, and researching law schools, so I think my source material is getting to the tipping point where I will absolutely have to write about something to sort everything out.

Check back for a new, exciting post tomorrow!

three stripes, now with tags

I have taken the liberty to tag almost all of the posts from the past year of blogging. Navigation, ho!

the 228 million dollar odd couple

Teammates!

What better week to come back to the world of blogging than this one, full of fantastic record summer signings for Los Blancos. The Galacti-dos era has gone off to a record-breaking start, first with news this Monday that Kaka was heading to Madrid and late breaking word last night that Cristiano Ronaldo would be following him there. In total, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez lightened his transfer purse by an astounding 228 million dollars in the course of four days, with no end in sight to the spending, as David Villa and others are expected to fill out the ranks in the coming days and weeks.

But I think the signing of these two players in particular cannot pass by without comment. In nabbing these two magnificent players, Madrid has set up quite an interesting situation. Both of these men have been regarded in recent times as the best in their craft: Kaka a master finisher (0:27) and distributor of the ball and Ronaldo a free kick wizard and stepover champion. Their on-the-field abilities aside, I am fascinated by the dynamic that the two of them bring to the squad.

One one hand, we have Kaka. I think Kaka goes to church more often than my old school, ultra-Catholic grandfather. After recovering from a very serious spinal cord injury at a young age, Kaka has devoted his life to Jesus (going so far as to wear an undershirt claiming as such during the Champions League final in 2007). Even his wife is as wholesome as WAGs get, not to mention pretty damn fine. Overall, I must say that Kaka seems like a genuinely wholesome dude, which is even more impressive considering the multitude of vices available to a world famous soccer player.

TCFW!

On the other, we have C. Ron. Much has been made of his ultra-metrosexual ways, his womanizing (maninzing?), his man tan, and general dandy-ness. It generally goes without saying that this dude is full of himself and then some. He has also been criticized for being rather petulant and whiny on the field and off, so I wouldn't be going out on a limb in labeling him soccer's #1 prima donna. Apparently he likes to cavort with other ill-regarded, pink-loving, gossip column fodder, proof coming from those fine people at TMZ. Basically, the man in both attitude and lifestyle is the exact opposite of Kaka.

Umm... words cannot describe.

So how will they get on? On the field, I can see magic happening. Off of the field... I can only hope Kaka will at least have some kind of influence on the wild child antics of Ronaldo. After all, one can only hook up with Paris Hilton so many times before becoming completely disabled by VDs.

not dead, just away for a while

I realize its been way, wayyyy too long since my last post, yet the drought will continue until around June 8. After that, when I am bound to have much more time on my hands, there will be a return to form for the ol' blog.

mtp minute

AmeriCorps conference and hyphy DC United weekend kept me from an earlier post.

MTP Minute for 29 March:

- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: Well, I have to say that after his appearance I am slightly more confident in the plan he put forth to save the banking system. While he is clearly not the best communicator (in stark contrast to his boss), he is knowledgeable and apparently competent. I am thinking though, that people might not have the highest confidence in his abilities due to his rather technical way of speaking and his general Frenchman-like appearance. My suggestion to Secretary Geithner? Get a serious-looking haircut and drop the nasal-sounding voice. That way, when you are speaking like a braniac, the American people won't reflexively think you some sort of wimpy, effete European.

- Senator John McCain: I actually liked to hear what Sen. McCain had to say on MTP. He didn't sound bitter or crazed like he did back before the election, but rather like the moderate, thoughtful senator he was before he ran for president. I would like to see him assume more of a leadership role in the Republican party until they can pick some wacko conservative to replace him ahead of the 2010 election cycle, as maybe then he could get enough of them to stop being professional haters and instead resume their duties of responsible cooperation with the Democratic majority.

David Gregory Match Rating: 8.5 - I really liked his thorough walktrough of the Secretary's bank plan, being sure to point out its potential rewards and its risks. The on-screen graphics really did it for me.

new spain kits

Speaking of threestripes...

Spain unveiled their new home kits recently, shown below:



I am really not sure how I feel about it... I mean the stripe seems kind of cool, but it ends awkwardly at the bottom of the shirt. I think keeping the shirt that proved lucky enough for Euro 2008 would have been a good idea, but then again this is soccer and kits must be refreshed to make the bacon.

Also of note is the Cats vibe that the adidas promoters created for the event:

Prrrrr.

monday mtp minute

Saturdays of hard drinking never lend themselves to a prompt Sunday MTP report... that won't change anytime soon.

Monday MTP Minute:

- Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I will never get tired of hearing Ahnold say "California"... what a great governor! Anyway, the Govs and the Mayor were on to showcase their support for increased investment in infrastructure across the nation. While the investment is clearly needed, is this the time to be making such huge outlays on so many projects? I say yes. I agree with the Governors and the Mayor on this one. The government needs to make this investment now while the public is in the mood to accept such spending. In all honestly, though, if government hadn't been so shortsighted when we had record SURPLUSES, this wouln't have been such an issue right now, when we have pretty much NO money. Yeah, so much for those fantastic Bush tax cuts.

- Roundtable of Tom Brokaw and Erin Burnett: Nothing terribly insightful here, so no characters wasted on it.

David Gregory Match Rating: 7.0 - Question for Schwarzenegger regarding Special Olympics was old before it was asked, could have really done without it.