Bleacher Report - Articles by The Arsenal Labradoodle

St. Andrei of Arsenal

The Arsenal Labradoodle — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:09:38 -0400

The New Testament records that St Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, by which it is inferred that he was likewise a son of Jonah, or John. He was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. Both he and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade, hence the tradition that Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that He will make them "fishers of men" At the beginning of Jesus' public life they occupied the same house at Capernaum.

Yes, but Could He Play Football?

I think not.

So I admit it—Arsenal up 1-0 against the run of play after the first half and I am like— screw it, hit the Tivo button and shoot down to the health club figuring I need the work out more than I need to be watching an up to then rather dreary game.

So I have the Blackberry Storm set to refresh the game off the ESPN feed and I proceed to see another 5 or 6 goals over the next 20 minutes. I thought the thing was broken.

Although it ended 4-4, Andrei Arshavin scored all the Arsenal Goals at Anfield. He will now be referred to from now on at St. Andrei of London. Hey there were a lot of things Arsenal did wrong last night—and I will let others focus on that, but this guys performance was simply incredible.

Former Detroit Tigers Pitcher Mark Fidrych: 1954- 2009

The Arsenal Labradoodle — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:32:44 -0400

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1954 - 2009

Mark Fidrych

Mark Fidrych was killed in an apparent accident Monday at his farm in Massachusetts. He is the second Detroit Tiger icon to pass this year. You know, 2009 is really turning out to be a poor year.

One thing I remember about the summer of 1976—I was eight years old at the time—was Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. He was incredible. At the time I liked him as much for his antics: talking to the ball, talking to the hitters, introducing the hitters to the ball and the ball to the hitters, and then telling the ball what to do when he threw it to the hitters, getting on his hands and knees and grooming the mound with his hands, as I did for his pitching. It has been said when coaches or players would approach him on the mound, they would feel as if they were interrupting a conversation, but they would then realize that they were alone with him on the mound.

In 1976 there wasn't anything going on in Detroit and less with the Tigers. The way you could tell if "The Bird" was pitching, was simple: If there were 50,000+ people in the stands, he was pitching. If there were less than 15,000 in the stands, he wasn't.

He had stellar stuff for a year and a half. He got injured and essentially his career was over.

However, and I could be wrong on this, I do not believe there has ever been or will ever be a player who will play for such a short time and have such a profound impact on the game and for lack of a better term—pop culture.

We will continue to miss "The Bird."

Red Sox Looking Good: But Does It Matter?

The Arsenal Labradoodle — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:50:41 -0400

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OK, I watched my first full five innings of a Red Sox Spring Training game yesterday—Ho Hum.

Brad Penny got off to a rusty start, gave up a few runs in the first and then pitched three more scoreless innings. Not bad for a guy who is vying for the No 5. starter's roll.

On the other side of the field, we had surgically repaired superstar Fracisco Liriano for the Twins, who looked un-hittable, until he wasn't, and then he looked like, well, a normal guy getting killed by the Red Sox batters.

Does it matter?

Well, yes and no.

At this point, we do not have any key injuries or holes, so that does matter in the sense that we have no "built" in negatives going into the season. I still want to see how The Big Sashimi (Dice K) bounces back from his WBC work.

I am not sure if Lowell is going to be his same old—er young—self at third base after his offseason surgery. He did, however, make a play at third yesterday that erased any doubt about his fielding prowess. He just needs to get the hitting back.

The "If Come bet" we placed on Smoltz is looking very good, so good that we can take him back very very slow.

Man, can you imagine a healthy and firing-on-all-cylinders John Smoltz to pull out of the bag in June or July? I can see it now:

One of our starters needs a little rest, I guess we'll just have to make due with this guy. I wonder how the rest of the AL East will feel about that.

Papi looks good, but with a bit less pop; however, I do think his best attribute thus far, his clutch hitting, is still there.

OK, I am looking at the Sox and they look really, really, really Good. In fact, they look great, but they don't look like a lock, which to tell the truth, is a good thing.

Last year's lock was the Detroit Tigers—and we all saw how that worked out.

It is a long season, so lets take a look at it again come the All Star Break. But with that said, you have to say with the way things look now, there is a fairly large gape between the top three teams in this division—Sox, Rays, Spankees—and the rest of the AL.

The pressure, you have to think, is on the Spankees; they spent so much money—a considerable amount with Clients of the Great Satan Uber Agent Scott Borass—that you can't help but think they have extreme expectations to live up to. CC usually chokes in the postseason, so if the Spanks do make it to the postseason, we have that to look forward to.

Anyway,it is just too early to tell, but one this is for sure: it is going to be great to watch the race. Now if I could only find a good chair...

George Kell: A Detroit Legend Passes

The Arsenal Labradoodle — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:20:29 -0400

George Kell

1922 - 2009

Story of one great remembering another great can be found here.

Growing up in Detroit in the 1970s and 1980s, there wasn't a lot to be thrilled about. As a kid having never lived anywhere else, you really didn't know the difference. Then again, as a kid I mean how much more would you be doing—short of surfing. I suppose we had just as much to do as any other city kids across the country...we just had to watch out for bullets a little bit more.

One of the best things we had, and this is something I didn't realize until I was an adult, was our baseball stadium and our announcers. I still to this day remember sitting in Tiger Stadium—absolutely almost on top of the players—and watching the likes of Allen Trammel, Lou Whitaker, Lance Parish, Jack Morris, and Kirk Gibson do their thing.

And we are talking close—like touch the players close. I remember sitting along the first-base line when Gibson hit a ball over the right-field roof and saw the ball go out of the park—not on a screen but to be close enough to see the actual ball.

I have always loved Fenway Park in Boston, and when people ask me what is so great about Fenway, one of the answers I always give is that it comes the closest to what Tiger Stadium was.

When not going to games—which, if we were lucky, we would make it to three a year—we would listen to the games on TV and radio. So I ended up listening to the likes of Ernie Harwell and George Kell, who arguably, as announcers, are among the 10 best that ever called the games.

I am too young to ever have seen Kell play, but the images, sounds, and memories of Tiger Stadium and the voices of George Kell and Ernie Harwell define baseball for me and millions of other fans.

Originally Posted at THE HOME OF THE DOODLE

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Curt Schilling Retires - Next Stop Hall of Fame!

The Arsenal Labradoodle — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:02:40 -0400

Bloody Sock and all, Curt Schilling announced his retirement today. He should be a first ballot Hall of Famer. This would be the case for me if he didn't do anything except pitch and win those two games in the 2004 playoffs against the Yankees and the Cardinals to bring Boston their first World Series in 86 years. The guy made two starts, each with about 55 stitches in his ankle, and proceeded to only allow eight hits and one run in 13 innings.

A much better pitcher than public relations manager, Curt never missed an opportunity to speak his mind. Most of the time he held his own, but some of the time his passions got the better of him, usually when he just spoke his mind. He at times alienated teammates, but much more often than not the guy was dead on right. He took on many subjects which most people shied away from discussing.

For me it was refreshing. Agree with him or not at least you know where he stands. As people in general go he was much more well spoken than average; as a baseball player it makes him the "Grand Puba" of the Toast Masters. I mean let's face it, the combination of speaking ability and athletic prowess are not often matched together. Guys like Johnny Damon have difficulty discussing the weather let alone some of the issues that Curt tackled.

Originaly posted at THE HOME OF THE DOODLE

Arsenal's Season Going Down Pipes

The Arsenal Labradoodle — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:21:52 -0500

Arsenal vs. Roma - UEFA KNOCK OUT ROUND / Arsenal's Season Going Down the Pipes

As coach of AS Monaco FC, current Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger, got the better of Roma in the quarterfinals of the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with his team prevailing 1-0 at home after a stalemate in the Italian capital.

Monaco went on to reach the final where they lost to Werder Bremen.

OK so 17 years later and here we are again, and with Arsenal's recent form, you almost might make the argument that the view on the way down is apparently similar as the view on the way up.

You could say that injuries to key Arsenal players helped the team suffer this year. They have been surgical in the sense that they were just bad enough at the right times, to take the team from top in class to just better than average.

However, I believe this is total B.S.

The bottom line is Arsenal lost two experienced central midfielders and didn't exactly replace them.

Samir Nasri is OK, but not a central guy. You could make the case that with no injuries to key players this year, the team would be in the top four. However, who goes into the season saying, "We are going to be just OK—as long as no one ever gets hurt.

It almost begs the question—would Arsenal have gone out and picked up Andrei Arshavin without the injury to Cesc Fàbregas ?

Unfortunately I believe the answer is a resounding "no." Arsenal went out and got Asharvin—which the team really needed to do even if there were no injuries—and the next day, Wenger came out and said their main priority is to win the Champions league.

Who did Arsenal get? They got a guy who can't play in the Champions League this year.

Funny thing, eh?

Add to that, "The Gallas debacle" and "Eboue being Eboue."

Arsenal has a severe lack of goals, mostly due to poor mental form and the fact they are going backwards. I mean seriously—how, at this point in the season—do you not beat Sunderland at home

Arsenal plays Roma today. I am gong to TIVO it and watch it after I see Manchester United against Inter.

This year, Roma is a bit of an enigma in itself. They started off poorly and they then had an unbelievable run of form. However, this past weekend they got shellacked by Atalanta,

Now Arsenal gets a "bonus." Arsenal gets to play Roma on the "up-stroke" after an embarrassing loss.

Great!

I will be happy with a 0-0 tie.

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