Champions League Quarter Finals 1st Leg - Madrid vs. Tottenham 4-0

Jose Mourinho's men in white entertained Madrid fans this past Tuesday with a convincing 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.  It was a fun game to watch (from a Madrid fan's standpoint of course).  Los blancos were in control the entire game, and within minutes of the second half starting, there was never a doubt about the side that would emerge victorious.  Emmanuel Adebayor got his first two Champions League goals with Madrid from two fantastic headers.  Angel Di Maria scored with a rocket from just outside the corner of the penalty area, and Kaka's return provided an assist to Ronaldo for Madrid's final goal.  Tottenham are a very solid squad under fantastic guidance from Harry Redknapp, but Tuesday just wans't their night.  Things took began looking bad for Spurs in the first half when Peter Crouch earned a second yellow and was sent off for a rash challenge on Marcelo.  It was easy to see that the 10 man squad had trouble keeping up with a full Madrid squad for the rest of the game.  The commentators kept talking about how Tottenham didn't deserve to lose so badly, and I honestly remember agreeing with them.  As I said, Tottenham are a talented team with players like Modric, Bale, Defoe, and Assou-Ekotto.  Bale was able to make a few runs, but only managed to take a couple shots that were mostly off-target.  The highpoint of the game for Tottenham would have to be the defense from their captain Michael Dawson.  It was encouraging to see their leader not giving up and playing hard for the entire match.  At any rate, it was a great win for Madrid, and they will head to White Hart Lane in London for the second leg next week.  Madrid have put themselves in an excellent position by not only scoring four goals, but by allowing zero away goals.  The two leg tie is not over yet, but if Madrid can score just one goal in London next week, Tottenham will have to score six goals in order to make the aggregate score 6-5 (Madrid having an away goal in a 5-5 aggregate score would allow for them to advance) and advance to the semi-finals.  Like I said, it is not over yet, but there is a very good chance Madrid will be advancing to the next round.  Here are some of the highlights, hope you enjoy them.

The Djoker Remains Unbeaten in 2011

Ladies and gentlemen, he's done it again.  Novak Djokovic beat number one ranked Rafael Nadal this afternoon to win the ATP Miami Masters title in Miami, Florida.  The two tennis giants went at it for 3 1/2 hours in the warm, muggy 85 degree weather that only Florida has to offer.  After going down in the first set, Djokovic came back in a well fought second set to defeat the Spaniard.  The third set saw both players even, and after both were tied at six games apiece, it went to a tiebreak.  Things began to look promising for Djokovic after Nadal double-faulted, and Djokovic went up 3-2 in the tiebreak.  Djokovic then went on to win the next three points, and would eventually claim the match.  It was a great win for "The Djoker," and will certainly leave people talking about the talented 23 year old from Serbia.  However, what's so impressive isn't just this victory over Nadal.  No no, what everyone is buzzing about is that this victory was the 24th consecutive match Djokovic has won this year, including four straight tournaments (Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, and Miami).  That's right, you heard me correctly:  24 straight match wins and 4 straight tournament wins.  He is 24-0, which is the best streak since Ivan Lendl went 25-0 during the 1986 season.   How long will this streak last?  We can only begin to speculate.  Djokovic will head to the clay courts in Monte Carlo, where he will meet up with Nadal and Federer yet again.  It will be interesting to see how Djokovic adapts to the European clay surface, and if he will be able to keep his hot streak alive.

http://msn.foxsports.com/tennis/story/Novak-Djokovic-edges-Rafael-Nadal-on-hardcourts-040311

Stumbleupon.com

I would like to first start off by apologizing for not having blogged in a long time.  I'm not going to lie, things have been pretty busy here at college this semester.  I only have a few weeks of school left, and there will be a lot going on between now and then.  At any rate, I again must thank my roommate for the subject matter this particular blog.  This afternoon, I was on my computer talking with my cousins when my roommate asked if I had heard of a website called "stumbleupon.com"  Apparently it has been up for a while, but I had never heard of it.  After a couple minutes of persuasion, I looked up this website out of pure curiosity.  Now, I can honestly say that this website was added to my list of "distractions."  As with any college student, there are tons of distractions while being away from parents:  alcohol, drugs, the opposite  sex, television, etc.  I can honestly admit that I don't fall victim to may of these, but that doesn't mean I'm not tempted.  Stumbleupon.com soared to the top of my list, and I'm sure people will agree with me if they already have or will discover it.  Basically, it's a website that follows your interests and shows you videos, pages, and articles about these interests.  For example, the first thing you have to do is select your interests.  These could be a wide variety of things, including cars, sports, fashion, books, and many more.  After selecting interests, you can begin "stumbling" through different pages of your interests.  By clicking the "stumble" button, you can sift through different pages involving your interests, many of which are things you've never heard of.  If you like "nature," for example, pictures will pop up of oceans, volcanoes, forests, and more.  It is honestly one of the coolest Internet sites I have ever seen, and I hope more people begin to discover it.  Just try not to let it distract you too much.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

Ukraine's Got Talent: Sand Art

Here is the 2009 winner of the show "Ukraine's got Talent," Kseniya Simonova.  Using sand art, Simonova recounts the story of WWII on the Eastern Front, known as "The Great Patriotic War" to Russians and Ukrainians.  It is an emotional and incredible video, and one that observers can barely put into words.  Check it out.

Arsenal vs. Barcelona: First Leg

Last night was another thrilling night of football at the Emirates Stadium in London.  In the first round of the Champion's League knockout stages, Arsenal hosted Spanish giants and best in the world Barcelona.  After an early goal by Villa in the 26th minute, it seemed that the Gunners would be unable to pull off a win.  Barcelona boasts one of the best midfields in the world, along with an impeccable defense.  It wasn't looking good for Arsene Wenger and company.  However, things changed in the 78th minute when Robin Van Persie scored off a wonderful pass from Gael Clichy at a seemingly impossible angle.  Emirates Stadium erupted with cheering as the Gunners had pulled it back level.  But the good news didn't end here.  The 83rd minute saw a fantastic break-away by Samir Nasri, who pulled the ball back and passed across the penalty area to Andrei Arshavin, who buried the ball in the back of the net.  Even louder than before, the Gunners' faithful screamed, hollered, and whistled for their team as they had taken the lead.  Barcelona was unable to equalize, and Arsenal claimed the first leg of the knockout stage.  Now, being a huge Real Madrid fan, nothing made me happier than seeing Barca go down.  It was a wonderful victory for Arsenal, and they have every right to celebrate and enjoy their win.  They must realize, however that winning at Camp Nou will be no easy task, as we saw when Madrid lost there 5-0 earlier in the season.  The Catalan residents are football fanatics and love their team, so Arsenal need to prepare for a hostile environment.  As Barcelona, though I hate to admit it, there really is no reason to panic.  They all ready have one away goal, and are only behind on aggregate 2-1.  With a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, the aggregate score would go to 2-2, but Barcelona would have the advantage and advance since they scored an away goal.  Obviously I will be hoping for another Arsenal victory, but like I said, it will be no easy task.  The Gunners will need to bring all of their artillery to defeat Messi and the Catalans.

Hookups

Every man and woman, at one point or another, has dreamt of the perfect hookup.  We walk into a bar, party, or some type of social gathering with high expectations.  More often then not, alcohol is involved, which for some reason tends to make us more confident and comfortable in the party setting.  We drink, dance, and search the crowd.  Eventually, we start hoping to spot that extremely attractive someone of the opposite sex for a night of cuddling, kissing, and perhaps passionate love-making.  Once the sighting has been made, it's time to move in for the kill.  If both people have some alcohol in their systems, there's a good chance something is going to happen.  However, the next thing we know, we're waking up the next morning in a bed with a total stranger.  As we rub the drowsiness from our eyes and survey our surroundings, we realize that it was a successful night:  we hooked up.  If breakfast is not involved, we start getting our clothes on, perhaps exchange numbers, and kiss goodbye.  Case closed:  it was an awesome night that is finally beginning to come back to us as we walk away.  Normally, it is recognized that this was a one night event that will probably not happen again.  For some people, this is not a problem.  It is actually the reason we wanted a hookup.  But what about those of us who have started to develop feelings for the other person?  Sure, it was only one night, but sometimes that's all it takes for someone attractive with a good personality to have an impact on us.  Here is where the hookup can turn into a living hell.  It's literally all we think about for the next week:  we cannot concentrate on school, work, sports, etc.  The mysterious stranger is swimming through our veins, and try as we may, we can't get them out.  For this reason, it is important to think about how we will handle a hookup before we go into one.  For those of us who just want to have fun and don't really care, it can make for a very fun night.  But for those of us who long for relationships, it can be a terrible decision.

Texting Women

As many of us know, texting has become a huge sensation over the past several years.  It is literally impossible to go anywhere without seeing someone's fingers moving rapidly across their cell phone's keyboard.  Most parents are forced to purchase the "unlimited" texting package as opposed to 250 a month, as many teenage girls could break that mark in an hour.  Now, when it comes to texting, many of us men know that there is no greater joy than looking down at our vibrating phone to see the girl we've had on our mind all day has just sent us a message.  Within seconds we are grinning from ear to ear, and it seems that nothing in the world can bring us down.  This actually happened to one of my roommates 2 days ago, when a girl that he likes texted him.  He literally went from being a grumpy old man into a giddy 4 year old.  Even from my personal experience, I know that when I get that text, I start smiling and feel really good about myself.  And after processing all of this, it really makes me wonder:  can us men have the same effect?  Can we send a simple message saying "hi :)" to a girl, and immediately turn her day around?  It seems that many times girls are afraid to admit it, but at the end of the day, I'd like to think that we too possess this ability.