Brilliant. Devastating. Fist-punching-the-air with wordless yelp. At least that’s how I would have expected the Milan-Liverpool match. It was so for the Chelsea-ManU match, though.

The FA Cup
Although I was only able to catch the last 15-or-less minutes of the match’s regulation, it still was a jaw-dropper. Chelsea showed how effective their defense is, but ManU also matched it with theirs. Both teams showed great defense, nothing short of stellar. Extra time was given but both teams’ defenses proved to be a worthy brick wall that blocked both teams offense. There was one instance that Chelsea’s brick wall almost crumbled with an own goal by the Blues’ goalie. It was not called by the referee, though. On the second extra time, the Blues launched an attack that was truly fatal for the Red Devils. Drogba, catching an assist from his teammate whom I can’t recall the name, lobbed the ball to score the goal that decided the game. Honestly, I was hoping the match went into penalty kicks, in which the Red Devils will surely have the upper hand. But that’s how the ball drops, and Chelsea takes home the FA cup. A fine moment indeed.

UEFA Champions League
I wan’t able to catch the game between Milan and Liverpool. All I got were trickles of bits and pieces of the game. Milan earned redemption when they scored two-nil over Liverpool, although the game, as commented by my Blue friend, Washington, was not that exciting. His summary, for all its worth, is that both teams played safe, not taking a lot of risks as expected from a finals match to become the Champions League’s champion.

What made me cringe is that even though the match was held in Athens, Greece, which is considered to be neutral grounds for both teams, is that the fans of both teams participated in a riot that destroyed a fair amount of public property. Although caused by Liverpool hooligans, as other people called them, it really doesn’t matter who started it. Dignified, educated people know better not to participate in any actions unbecoming of a gentleman, or lady. It just shows how barbaric the fans, if not the players, can be. The match is not really something considered to be football’s finest, but it does show that civilization hasn’t really gone a long way since the caveman’s days. It shows something we, as humans, need to improve on. Civility and respect.

A lot happened ever since my last post. The ongoing canvassing of election returns for the senatorial race has proven to be interesting, if not intriguing.

1. Legarda, Loren (GO)
2. Escudero, Francis Joseph (GO)
3. Lacson, Panfilo (GO)
4. Villar, Manuel Jr (GO)
5. Pangilinan, Francis (IND)
6. Aquino, Benigno Simeon III (GO)
7. Angara, Edgardo (TU)
8. Cayetano, Alan Peter (GO)
9. Honasan, Gregorio (IND)
10. Arroyo, Joker (TU)
11. Trillanes, Antonio IV (GO)
12. Pimentel, Aquilino III (GO)

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Last Thursday, me and my co-workers conducted a mock election for the senatoriables and here’s what we got:

1. Joker Arroyo
2. Kiko Pangilinan
3. Ralph Recto
4. Chiz Escudero
5. Manny Villar
6. Loren Legarda
7. Migs Zubiri
8. Mike Defensor
9. Noynoy Aquino
10. Ping Lacson
11. Edgardo Angara
12. Tito Sotto
13. Sonia Roco
14. Alan Peter Cayetano

We took this as seriously as we can, although somebody voted for Victor Wood. This is just a mere personal view of the votes we took. A more thorough review can be found here.

Did anyone win by a landslide? Well, Joker had 18 votes and Kiko had 16. A vote was not counted as the name was misspelled, as is the case for Kiko Pimintel. We could’ve considered counting the vote for Pimentel, BUT with the first name of Kiko, which is the first name of Kiko Pangilinan, the vote was ambiguous, hence the disqualification of the vote. Joker’s win is not as decisive for we have a very limited number of voters.

However, could this reflect the true voice of the voting public? Not really. The demographics of the group doesn’t differ that much between the individual members. If we had a very varied demographic survey, the results would’ve been very much different than what we had. I personally will not vote for Sonia Roco and Alan Cayetano. One is an old lady banking on the sympathy vote by using her dead husband’s name, and the other is a very noisy Fil-Am who likes to make, well, noise. I can do without the noise. And I don’t give my sympathy that easy. And if I do, only to a select few (i.e. friends).

Well, that is, if I vote at all. The thing with elections is that a lot of politicians are spewing a lot of crap left and right. And they’ve been spewing the same crap without ever thinking about how to clean them up. They’re all saying that corruption is one thing they’re going to deal with when they get elected. And the Philippines is ranked number one in terms of corruption. And a lot of incumbents are saying the same thing. For those hopeless hopefuls, what makes them think that they can change a society driven by greed and dishonesty. Answer me this: WHERE THE F*** DO MY TAXES GO?!! I don’t mind paying my taxes as long as I don’t get stranded by a flash flood due to a sudden downpour. Are you going to make sure that the BIR will, and should be, transparent about the taxes they collect?! Anyway, are they sure that they won’t be seduced by the “dark side?” And for those who are seeking another term, why are you promising to eradicate graft & corruption on your next term? It only makes me wonder what you were doing during your current term: fending off the temptations of joining the “dark side,” or trying to convince yourself that what you’re doing is not wrong. We all know what the Philippine Government needs. A CONSCIENCE. The only problem is no one, and I mean NO ONE, has enough courage to start having one.

And please, don’t even think about trying to get me started with the local officials. Enough bytes have been wasted on these effin’ pansies.

The second match of the second leg of the Semifinals has proven that ManU’s win over Milan was simply a stroke of luck.

Manchester United’s performance was very disappointing. It was evident that they were not prepared and that Ferguson’s strategy of a full frontal assault wasn’t evident until the 60th minute of the game. He thought it was going to be a scoring match. And it was. But only for AC Milan. And to make things worse, it rained. Rooney’s speed was compromised, big time, that he was slipping and sliding all over. Well, every ManU player was slipping and sliding. Cristiano Ronaldo’s attempts to score was futile, he only made himself look greedy for glory. Or at least, “bought.” Didn’t he know he could be killed for shaving points? He was also diving more often than usual. With regards to the referreeing, it was a bit one-sided at first, favoring Milan, but my thoughts of the game being fixed by a “bought” referee was quashed when he unleashed 3 yellow cards: Ambrosini and Gattuso for Milan, and Cristiano Ronaldo for ManU. What made me think that the calls were biased is because of Rooney’s falls. I was convinced he didn’t dive for any of them BUT he was never given the benefit of being fouled. Nonetheless, the ref’s call stood and the game must go on. ManU, at best, was embarassing during their match against Milan.

Admittedly, I am impressed with Milan’s performance as they showed a very well-balanced game. They can score AND they can defend. Their defense is, no doubt a lot better than their previous match. Kaka’s goal on the 11th minute, which tied the aggregate, was already a proof that Milan was not going to accept defeat, especially when they are playing at home for a finals berth. ManU’s hopes for a finals with Liverpool waned a bit — OK, a lot — when Seedorf scored a second goal, still, in the first half, eventually taking the lead in the aggregate 4-3. Gilardino’s goal on the 78th minute drove the last nail in ManU’s coffin, sealing a UEFA Champions League finals rematch between Milan and Liverpool.

Why a rematch? Because Milan and Liverpool fought each other in the UEFA Champions League last 2005. Milan lost then. I don’t think they will lose again. Comparing the performances of both teams and trying to imagine a match between them, I’d say Milan would win. However, if Liverpool takes their defense up a notch or two and force a shootout, I’d say they would more likely to win in the pens than Milan. That is, IF they can stop Kaka and Seedorf. Now if you put in divine intervention, say, it rains on that fateful day, it would definitely be Milan, hands-down. But then again, this is all speculation.

What now for ManU? The same question also goes to Chelsea as they both prepare to fight each other for the FA cup. But right now, I’m officially taking back what I said in my last post regarding the FA cup belonging to ManU. With the performances of Chelsea and ManU in the Champions League semis, the FA cup would be better off with another team than any of the two. But of course, I’d settle with any of the two as long as Watford NEVER gets their hands on the FA Cup.

Bleh!

By the way, Heroes is back!

If you can read this, it means that gormful.com lives. Anyway, the second leg of the semifinals for the UEFA Championship league is truly an edge-of-your-seat event as Chelsea tried to grab one of the slots for the finals, and failed. Liverpool’s Agger’s goal on the 22nd minute of the game put Chelsea and Liverpool’s aggregate score to 1-1. After much diving and pleading with the ref for a favorable call, at the end of regulation, the score still stood at one-nil. An extra time was given and fans were again delighted as their team has another 15 minutes to score the winning goal. Both teams showed their fortitude with their defense as the game is, once again, forced into a second extra time of 15 minutes. But both teams proved to be evenly matched as no one scored a goal to break the aggregate tie. Then the game went into penalties. Liverpool and Chelsea were evenly matched during regulation and extra time, but on the shootout, Liverpool edged Chelsea converting all four attempts to goals while their counterparts were only successful once.

Liverpool wins 1-0 over Chelsea during a 4-1 penalty shootout.

Chelsea, in which I am dubbing “The Heartbreakers,” didn’t play as well as expected. Their passes ended up in Liverpool’s hands, or in this case, feet. I saw a lot of miscommunication that resulted in Liverpool having possession of the ball almost 70% of the time. Chelsea’s performance is so disappointing that some might think they sold out. Inbound throws were directly received by Liverpool, which affirmed my suspicions. I have no proof, however, so it’s all just speculation. Maybe the pressure of being able to win four championships this season got to them already so , to quote an old cliche, the dog who wanted the second bone ended up with having none. Hopefully, Chelsea will be able to win the other championships, with the FA cup an exception. It belongs to Manchester United.

Anyway, this post is dedicated to Ton, an avid fan of Chelsea FC. I know how you feel. However, you should also know that I have to rub it in. Don’t worry, there’s always next season.