International Biker Chicks
In case I haven’t already announced it,1 I hereby officially announce my retirement from International Football. That’s it. I’m done. I’m hanging up the boots. Jürgen Klinnsman can come begging all he wants. But sorry. I’m through.
I want it understood, however, that while I’m retiring from international football, that does not mean that I’ve retired from writing about international football. I wanted this to be clear, as much as it might disappoint you.
So expect more that writing on occasion. And from my perspective, hopefully more than just occasionally. But from your perspective, probably not. Less is more and all that dross.
Done for good then. Onward.
International Friendlies
Germany 2 England 3
England 1 Netherlands 2
While I’ve generally been mumbling around for something to write about because, as always there is TOO much to write about, there’s been a 2 week international break from club football. Which means, for my pals down at FAT BOY SLIMS in Mineral Point WI that Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Norwich City, Viktoria Plzen, Juventus, and Crvena Zvezda were not playing in, or dominating as may the case, their respective leagues.
It was all about the national teams….in Europe there were friendlies to tune up for Euro 2016, and there were friendlies just for the sake of being friendlies so national teams can hope their hopes raised then crushed in World Cup 2018 and Euro 2020m qualifying.
And naturally, this is my time to beat up on the England team and all the dross surrounding which is still caught up in the glory days of their 1966 World Cup win.2
I’ve been saying all along that England has been living in the glory of the past, and have been relying for far too long on Premier League players w/o international experience who are overpaid and under-motivated and who for the most part hate playing with each other on their national team.
Luckily for this international break, Roy Hodgson was forced to bring some new, exciting talent to the squad because of injuries to Rooney, Sturridge and others.
Jamie Vardy and Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City got starts along with Tottenham’s Dela Alli, Eric Dier, and Harry Kane. These guys not only appreciated the moment, they actually seemed to like playing with other.
Ah yes, their win was against a somewhat experimental German side with little to prove, but it was good to see a more vibrant and fun kind of football from the England team. It was a team I could finally root for. Even when they lost to Holland, I didn’t yuk it up. How England plays, and who they select going forward will make all the difference. As long as they replace the old guard with new young talent that actually cares.
So all in all, this was a good thing. I’ve been waiting for this all along and I hope Roy keeps Vardy and Kane and the rest and kicks the old guard to the curb.3
World Cup Qualifying
Guatemala 2 USA! USA!! USA!!! 0
USA! USA!! USA!!! 4 Guatemala 0
After the opening game in GUatemala, I really did expect a call for Klinsmann. It seemed like he was pulliong any old player of his ass to make up a team, so why not me? Except I’m not only old in the metaphorical sense, I’m also old in the actual sense.
But bloody hell, anyway!! And what the fock!!
I’m not sure, along with at least 1,057 USA! USA!! USA!! fans, what the fock Klinsmann is doiung at the moment. But all the promise that our men’s team had post-World Cup, has pretty much been flushed down the shitter. Sort of.
I really think that Klinsmann is out of his league and element in a way. Unlike his last great success with rebuilding German football, Jürgen doesn’t have the same back-up and support. Especially for the day to day management and coaching of the men’s team.
Back in Germany, during his pomp, he kept his eyes on the prize and the big picture, while Joachim “Yogi” Löw managed the team day to day. Yogi coaches the team now, and in case you hadn’t noticed, he won the World Cup.
In the USA, Klinsmann has no Yogi waiting in the wings to take over.
Well, at least we pegged back Guatemala 4-o in Columbus. But it never should have come down to such a must win game. Squad selection has been game to game for the most part with a lot of guys playing out of position. There’s been no stable team selection, and quick frankly time is running out….in fact it almost ran out against Guatemala.
International Motorsports
Best American F1 Team EVER!!
Team Haas is, so far, the best American F1 team ever! They’re 5th in owner points, albeit after two races, but this is far better than anyone in their right mind expected from an inexperienced American team. They opened the season in the points with a 6th place finish by Romain Grosjean at Melbourne. And on Sunday, Grosjean finished in 5th. He’s absolutely ecstatic and living “The American Dream!”® and all that. But I must say I’m very impressed so far. And the prospects for their continued success look very good. The key thing is that Team Haas is not getting over the their skis over the early success. They know they have weaknesses and a lot of work to do, so their attitude and work ethic are in the right place. Roman Grosjean was a smart selection for their #1 driver. And when Esteban Gutierrez gets of the schneid, well then look out!! It’s only a matter of time before one of them joins Nico on the podium.
Speaking of which, our Happy Action Funtime Mercedes Team continues a-pace. But this time it’s Nico Rosberg leading the charge. He’s got two wins in a row and his win in Bahrain was smooth sailing from the off. He leads his 2nd place and defending champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton by xxx points. Hamilton has had the pole at both Melbourne and Bahrain, but has shit in his pants each time at the start. At Bahrain he spun his wheels and was sucked back to ninth and was clubbed from behind by Vitaly Bottas4 going in to turn 1. Turn 1! How he clawed his way back to a 3rd place podium finish no one in their right mind can figure out.
When NASCAR made its big qualifying rules changes to emulate Formula 1, it was noted with alacrity, but overall, except for the Superspeedways, it was a success. NASCAR then tweaked the Superspeedway rules for the better and all seems well.
The problem here is that F1, which had a very successful qualifying set up in place, so successful in fact that the aforementioned NASCAR copied it, has for 2016 decided to tweak its qualifying. And needless to say, the new rules are uniformly condemned. What was a great format is now, dumber and stupider than you could imagine. Simply put, they still have Q3, Q2 and Q1. And the fastest lap time in Q1 get the pole. But they’ve added a timing element to the equation that no one likes and makes absolutely no sense. What they’ve done in essence is that after a set amount of time, the last place car is eliminated, then the next car, and the next, and so on. So let’s I’m the last place car as first timing point expires, well…I’m retired to the garage and have no chance to keep running laps to get a better time. I’m oversimplifying it a bit, but that’s the essence and nobody, not even Lewis Hamilton, like it.
It’s as if Bernie Ecclestone him had come out, squatted, and shit right on the start/finish line.5 Discuss amongst yourselves.
Domestic Beer
From the Land of Sky Blue Water……Hamm’s the beer refreshing! Hamm’s!!
This might actually be first first actual beer review on these pages. And I’m sure it will not be up to the standards of you zymologists, amateur and professional alike. But that’s okay I suppose.
Okay. Here goes.
At FAT BOY SLIM’S in Mineral Point, I’m normally a PABST guy….PBR me ASAP, and all that. And generally, when I show up, by the time a park my ass on a bar stool, I’ll have a can of PBR and a glass ready and waiting for me. But last xxxxx, Brad, the owner had a beer he wanted me to try.
He had a can of OLD TANKARD ALE and a glass all set up for me. His distributor had left it for him to try so I gave it a go.
OLD TANKARD ALE is an old Pabst recipe from 1937. It’s being brewed for Pabst by Wisconsin Brewing in Verona and the canning I believe is being done by City Brewery in La Crosse.
The can has some interesting historical information on it as well as the original logo for Old Tankard Ale.
So what’s inside?? The blurb touts it as an American Ale….but it’s not an American Pale Ale. It’s got an amberish colour, a malty taste and a lightish body. It’s not too hoppy, it seems balanced. It’s a decent beer. There.
I’m glad to see an old recipe revived and out of 5 stars, right now I’d give it an acceptable 3.5.
I told Brad to order a case for the bar. Thumbs up.
Worst case scenario for Brad is that even if no one else orders it, I’ll drink it all myself anyway.
There.
My first beer-tasting review.
And now, off to the fridge for a can of HAMMS.
And then, some International Music:
- And yes, there is the off-chance that I’ve mentioned this already at some point on these pages, but…just to be clear, so there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind….
- The Green Bay Packers got over their glory years. Why can’t focking England??!!
- If there is any luck or justice in the world, Roy will loan Rooney and Studge to Gibraltar for Euro 2020.
- Who was in NASCAR parlance, black-flagged, and had to do a pass-through penalty for causing a wreck.
- No, actually, Bernie Ecclestone does that on an everyday basis.