At 2 PM (ET) two of the greatest soccer teams will take the field at Wembley Stadium to play in the UEFA Champions League final. This is a rematch of the final of 2009 in which Barcelona won 2-0.
In 2009 Man United relied heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo but they have changed a few things around. Ronaldo is gone but Man United are a gritty bunch. Wayne Rooney has paired himself with Javier Hernandez (Chicarito) and they are dangerously effective. In my opinion the best defender in the world today belongs to Man United, Nemanja Vidic.
Barcelona possesses the greatest soccer player around, Lionel Messi. He is paired with Pedro and David Villa. Andres Iniesta is a player that can really hurt you if you put all your effort in trying to stop Lionel Messi. Barcelona is a strong side from top to bottom.
I think this is going to be a real exciting game. It is going to be great to see the two best teams in the world go at it on a Saturday afternoon.
On June 18th, the Long Beach PD women will play a charity flag football game against the women of Santa Ana PD in support of Costa Mesa PD Officer Dennis Dickens. The game will be played at the Santa Ana Bowl in the City of Santa Ana at 1 PM. Come out, support the athletes. I really like the looks of the Long Beach Team....they are tough.
Submitted for your approval....a man only known as Dwayne, is stuck in an neverending purgatory of playing the same round of golf over and over again. Unsuspecting of the man called Dwayne, golfers will have to play nine holes of hell....the golfers do not see the sign up ahead for the Twilight Zone.
I always look forward to our Thursday evening 9 hole jaunt. Speaking for everyone in the group, I think that we all look forward to getting out there and just letting it fly. I believe that every group that has been playing consistently together, gets used to everyone's idiosyncrasies. When one member of the foursome can not make it and now you might get the single added to your group, here lies the crap shoot. Don't get me wrong, our group is a group with it's own personality. We have Hanania and the Beegs, we have The Standing at Attention Driver, we have Magellen and of course who can forget the cast member that is on hiatus from the group, Cliff Clavine.
Now, I am relaying a story that I did not witness but I was told about. Last week, due to business commitments, I could not make the Thursday night walk in the park. This Thursday night was going to be played at Bixby Golf Course. Now remember, my work commitment dwindled the group down to three.
The first tee box at Bixby basically butts up to the parking lot. Our three duffers are ready to tee off when they hear from the parking lot, a voice yelling, "Hey, can I join you guys?" They turn and see this guy heading to them and I am told he was a site to behold. Here comes this heavy 6'4" sweaty man wearing a red tank top, saggy shorts and Birkenstocks and just dragging his bag behind him. He introduced himself and told everyone his name is Dwayne. I was told Dwayne was hiding a basketball under his tank top. I guess he was fingernails on the chalkboard annoying and a know it all. Dwayne was rivaling Cliff Clavine.
Before our foursome takes off, let me explain our Cliff Clavine. Our Cliffy likes to keep everyones score in his head. Cliffy will point out to you how well he is doing and he will constantly chatter during everyone's shots. Also Cliffy will give you facts that only Cliffy could know. We love Cliff.
As our group leaves the first tee, they realize that Dwayne seemed to just walk on the golf course from the parking lot and never made it into the starters. Dwayne parked his pirate ship in the lot and is now plundering Bixby GC. Dwayne decided to tell everyone how to play every hole and just refused to shut up.
On one hole Dwayne decided to play caddy and tell one of the guys, "Aim for the sandtrap, you'll be fine." That's like someone telling Custer, "Don't worry, they're friendly Indians" Well, he listened and he ended up having a trip to the beach, He turned and told Dwayne and said, "What the hell Dwayne, what kind of advice was that?"
At every hole, Dwayne would sit down on the tee bench and wax philosophical like the great Buddha that he was. He would reach into his bag and take a jigger out and drink some sort of elixir. On the seventh hole, Dwayne was sitting on his tee bench and spinning another yarn. Dwayne began to tell a story of how he shot a hole-in-one on this very hole but no one witnessed it because the threesome that he was with disappeared. Go figure. The three guys got Dwayned so bad they scrapped the last three holes and hoofed it back to safety.
Here is my ode to Dwayne Bixby:
Sirs my name is Dwayne, I am known throughout the land, as the big fat golf pain.
I wiggle and jiggle, like a bowl full of jelly
And sit on the tee bench with my Buddha belly.
When the round ended and the foursome come out of the tunnel and into the parking lot, everyone says there goodbyes and walk to their respective cars. One of the threesome notice that Dwayne has the back hatch of his Prius open and he is rummaging for something. He closes the hatch and starts walking to the first tee and all of our weary golfers could hear is, "Hey guys can I join you?"
In Game 6 of the 1996 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees, the final three innings played out in usual Yankees fashion. The bullpen took over in the late innings and performed flawlessly. The set-up man pitched two strong innings and then handed the ball over to the closer. The closer saved this World Series clinching game, giving the Yankees their first world championship in 18 years. The closer, who saved four games, was named the Series MVP. This blueprint was used over the next 14 years and four more World Series championships. What is unique about this World Series win was that the closer who won the MVP was John Wettland and the set-up man who pitched the 7th and 8th innings was a young Mariano Rivera. Starting in 1997, Rivera took over as the closer and the rest is history.
On Wednesday, Rivera added to his hall of fame career, another milestone that no other pitcher has ever done. Mariano Rivera is the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch in 1000 games for the same baseball team. He probably is the only baseball player to pitch in 1000 games using just 1 pitch. That nasty cutter.
What amazes me is that he has saved 572 games using that one pitch. You always hear how hitters always adjust to pitches and then the pitchers have to adjust and so begins one of the great things about baseball. With Rivera, he has made no adjustments and no matter what adjustments the batter makes, the results were usually the same, Rivera gets the save.
Take a look at the NY Times video article below that shows how Mariano dominates hitters. It is informative and it still makes you scratch your head. After watching the video, you realize what a great closer this guy is. There may not be anyone like him for a long time.
When you are at Yankee Stadium, and the ninth inning arrives and the Yankees are up by a few runs and you hear the beginning notes of Metallica's Enter Sandman, you know what you are about see. A one pitch wonder. Congrats Mo.
