Best of Sunday Washington Post Comics (Oct. 12th edition)

Greetings to our blog readers in Slovenia, Netherlands and Italy, we recognize that all three countries had club team defeats today in UEFA Champions League play today, but if you are from Slovenia and you root for Maribor, just go ahead and enjoy London and forget about the penalty kick from Didier Drogba of Chelsea and the other four or five goals that followed. Yeah, I guess that is easier said than done as we say here in America.

Our personal favorite comic strip from the Sunday Washington Post (Oct. 12th edition) was "Lio," in which the title character sees an alien who looks exactly like one in the Alien films with Sigourney Weaver, clips off a tab from a poster to learn how to dress for Halloween.

The silver medal went to American gymnast Nastia Liukin (just seeing if you were doodling) or rather "Sherman's Lagoon" in which Sherman the shark and his family try to get holiday photos at a Walgreen's in Dayton, Ohio (or some place like that).

A moving tribute to Robin Williams as Mork (center image) in "Mork and Mindy" was our third-place pick, and "Mark Trail," which featured an amazing illustration of a rock python strangling a crocodile (bottom image is of the beloved children's lit character Gena the Crocodile).....yeah, we have a bit of an off-beat sense of humor here.

Here is the top 10:

1) Lio

2) Sherman's Lagoon

3) Brewster Rockit

4) Mark Trail

5) Zits

6) Candorville

7) Knight Life

8) Doonesbury

9) Frazz

10) Judge Parker

http://www.gocomics.com/lio

http://shermanslagoon.com/

http://www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit

http://www.tvland.com/

http://www.hulu.com/mork-and-mindy

http://www.marktrail.com

http://www.nastialiukin.com/

8 Things You Need to Know: Turkish Soccer Riot, the Durham Bulls and Billy Bragg on Tour in America

Here are 8 Things You Need to Know Today:

1) The 11th Annual Washington D.C. Turkish Festival gets underway this weekend. The event will take place between 12th and 14th Street, two blocks from the White House, of course, Turkish food will be served!

2) In a nationally-televised game on ESPN-U tonight at 8:00 p.m. (eastern time) the undefeated University of North Carolina Tarheels take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack (Mr. Wuf, one of the Wolfpack mascots is pictured bottom) in women's volleyball. UNC has two international players in Ece Taner, a junior from Turkey, and Jovana Bjelica, a gradate student from Serbia. The Wolfpack's lineup includes stand-out Tamm Aljoe.

3) Ivy League women's volleyball gets underway this weekend. Among the games is a match between visiting Columbia University and Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY, at 2:00 p.m. Kelly Marble of Davie, Fla., is among the seniors for Cornell.

4) A major soccer riot broke out in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, in extra time, no less! The game featured two Istanbul powerhouse rivals, Galatasaray and Besiktas. The game had 76,000 spectators in Ataturk Stadium. The Eagles of Besiktas had a 1-0 lead going into half-time. But, Ivory Coast stand-out Didier Drogba scored two goals within minutes for the Lions of Galatasaray. Felipe Melo, (pictured top),got a red card in the 92nd minute, and shortly thereafter hooligans came down on the field. There is still no official winner of the game. Various sources blame far right wing activists disguised as Besiktas fans for the incident, but there appears to no conclusive resolve as to who is to blame. For more on this situation, and Turkish soccer, we highly recommend the blog of our friend Ahmet Bob Turgut: http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com/

5) Kudos to the Durham Bulls of Durham, NC, (pictured middle) as the Triple-A affiliate of the Tamps Rays won its fourth International League title by besting the Pawtucket (Rhode Island) Red Sox. The team went on to the Minor League World Series, which was won by the Omaha (Nebraska) Storm Chasers. Vince Belnome of the Bulls was named as the MVP of the Rays' organization.

6) Legendary progressive singer Billy Bragg, who hails from England, takes the stage at the State Theatre in State College, Pa., which is home to Penn State University, on Oct. 2nd. The venue is located at 1300 W. College Avenue.

7) Insert Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joke here........

8) Teasers: We are hoping to post entries about tweets regarding Washington, DC, and quips from some of our favorite novels on this blog later in the week.

http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t234 (Durham Bulls)

http://www.turkish-football.com/

http://www.billybragg.co.uk/

http://www.turkishfestival.org

Soocer Week (8 of 8): Good Day for Swansea City (plus 11 European teams you've never heard of)

Today, our image is of Wilfried Bony, an Ivory Coast teammate of one of our favorite soccer players Didier Drogba, formerly of Chelsea who now plays for GalataSaray (Istanbul, Turkey). Today, Bony scored one of Swansea City's three goals in their 3-0 victory over Valencia on the road in Spain.

Swansea City is a Welsh team that plays in the English Premiere League as does Cardiff.

Today, a staggering 24 games were played across Europe, which in soccer also includes Israel and Kazakhstan, two countries which are clearly in Asia (but, hey the Dallas Cowboys play in an 'eastern conference' in the 'other football.')

Here is a look at 11 teams you may have never heard of:

1) Austria Wien (Austria): This team based in Vienna is playing in the UEFA Champions League. Though they lost at home this week to Porto (Portugal), one can continue to expect good things from them.

2. Swansea (EPL)

3. Freiburg (Germany): This Bundesliga club held their own today at home in a 2-2 tie with Liberec (Czech Rep.); Swiss national Admir Mehmedi scored for the home team.

4. Plzen (Czech Rep.) Though this team lost to Manchester City 3-0 in the Champions League two days ago; Plzen are one of several competitive teams in a small, but soccer-worthy country.

5. Shakhter Karagandy (Kazakhstan): Though this team created a scandal when they sacrificed a sheep before their match with Celtic United in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, they do have an array of talented players including Roger Canas, a Colombian player, who scored for Karagandy in the team's 2-1 loss to PAOK (Greece).

6. PAOK (Greece): They are a team with lots of long last names, and one of the most successful Greek clubs. In their 2-1 win over Karagndy, Zvonimir Vukic of Serbia scored the winning goal.

7, Tromso Il (Norway): This team plays all the way up in the Arctic Circle! Though they went scoreless today in London with a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham; this squad will likely be competing strongly in Norwegian domestic play.

8. AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands): Though American star Jozy Altidore to Tottenham, the team still has a great Icelandic futboler in Johan Gudmundsson who scored the team's lone goal in a 1-0 over M.Haifa in Israel today.

9. Legia Warsaw (Poland)

10. Steau Bucharest (Romania): Alas, this Romanian team did not fare well in Germany in the Champions League with a 3-0 loss to Schalke '04, but hey they are in the Champions League.

11. Elfsborg (Sweden): Not to be confused with Esberg in Denmark; both teams are in the Europa League. Though with a 4-0 loss to Salzburg in Austria, it appears Esberg which won its game 2-1 over Standard Liege in Belgium had a happier flight back home.

We were going to make fun of Iranian soccer, but it's almost midnight here at the sports desk in Portland, Maine (not really where we are at), so we'll save that for another time!

http://www.greeksoccer.com

http://www.az.nl/en

http://www.swanseacity.net

Soccer Week (3 of 8) International Players in Turkish Super Lig

There are no American players in the Turkish Premiere League as Maurice Edu of Bursaspor headed to play in the English Premiere League, but there is one Canadian. He is Atiba Hutchinson (pictured) who left PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands to play for Istanbul powerhouse Besiktash.

Here are 11 international players in Turkey:

1. Pablo Batalla (Argentina) plays for Bursspor (his name is not spelled right on the tags)
 
2. Ufuk Budak (Azerbaijan) plays for Eskisehirspor

3. Mervan Celik (Sweden) plays for Ankara Genclerbirligi

4. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) plays for GalataSaray

5. Anton Fernidand (England) plays for Antalyaspor

6. Atiba Hutchinson (Canada) plays for Besiktash

7. Marc Janko (Austria) plays for Trabzonspor

8. Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands) plays for Fenerbahce

9. Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) plays for GalataSaray

10. Rodrigo Tello (Chile) plays for Eskisehirspor)

11. Abdou Traone (Burkina Faso) plays for Gaziantepspor 


http://www.turkish-football.com/

http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com/

Turkish Soccer Results_ Fenerbahce Caught Looking Ahead

Our good friend (well, we don't know him personally, but we do know him via Twitter) Ahmet Bob Turgut is very excited about tomorrow's UEFA match-up between Turkish soccer power Fenerbahce (Istanbul) and the Swiss club Basil, but was Fenerbahce looking ahead?

In domestic play, the Canaries fell to Ankara Genclerbirligi by a 2-0 margin with a goal coming from Aykut Demir (pictured bottom) in the fifth minute of play to pull off a seemingly major upset.

One of the other three Istanbul mega-teams Besiktash also had a bad weekend as they stunningly fell to Akhisar 4-1 thanks to two goals from Greek national Theofanis Gekas (we imagine he gets hate mail from old men in Cyprus for playing for a Turkish team; pictured top). The Black Eagles did not help their own cause by getting Gokhan Suzen kicked out with a red card in the 56th minute of play.

But, it was a good weekend for the third Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray as they beat Elazigspor, a team from the eastern city of Elazig 3-1 on goals from international stars Burak Yilmaz and Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast national scored goals in the 20th and 26th minute of play. Serdar Gurler provided the lone goal from Elazigspor in the 22nd minute.

And, our favorite Turkish Premiere League player Pablo Battalla, an Argentina national, kicked in the only goal in the match to assist his BursaSpor to a 1-0 win over Antalyaspor; that goal came in the 73rd minute of goal. Maurice Edu, an American soccer player, also plays for BursaSpor.

Nigerian national Kalu Uche scored both goals for fifth place Kasimpasha in the team's 2-0 win over struggling Orduspor, a team from the eastern Black Sea city of Ordu.

In league standings, GalataSaray leads with 62 points, followed by Fenerbahce (55), Besiktash and BursaSpor (49 points, each) and Kasimpasha (46 points) 

Here are the results of last weekend's play:

1. GalataSaray 3 Elazigspor 1

2. Kasimpasha 2 OrduSpor 0

3. Akhisar 4 Besiktash 1

4. Karabukspor 1 Mersin 0

5. GaziantepSpor 2 Istanbul BB 0

6. Kayseri 1 SivasSpor 1, tie

7. BursaSpor 1 AntalyaSpor 0

8. Ankara GB2 Fenerbahce 0

9. Trabzonspor 1 Eskisehir 0

http://www.turkish-football.com

http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

Sports Desk- Arsenal 5 Tottenham 2

We focus again on the English Premiere League (EPL) where an amazing seven goals were scored between Arsenal and Tottenham, which was won by Arsenal 5-2.

For Arsenal, the goals came from French national Barca Sagna (40th minute), Dutch star Robin van Persie (43rd min.), Czech national Tomas Rosicky (51st minute) and two goals from English national Theo Walcott (65th and 68th mins.), who is pictured with this entry.

For the losing Tottenham Hotspurs, which actually was ahead of Arsenal in the EPL table (they were in 3rd place, Arsenal in 5th) the goals came from French national Louis Saha (64th min.) and the Togo national Emmanuel Adebayor (penalty, 34th min.).

Chelsea had a big day on Saturday as it blanked Bolton 3-0 with a goal coming from the Ivory Coast superstar Didier Drogba (61st min.). Other Chelsea goals came from Brazilian national David Luiz (48th min.) and the team's English captain Frank Lompard (79th min.).

Both Manchester teams continued to fight each other for top of the EPL as Machester City shut out Blackburn 3-0 on Saturday with goals from Mario Balotelli (30th min.), Sergio Aguero (52nd min.) and Edin Dzeko (81st min.).

Manchester United won on Sunday with a 2-1victory over Norwich City; the goals for MU came from Paul Scholes (74th min.) and Ryan Giggs (92nd min.) while Norwich City's captain Grant Holt scored the lone goal for his side in the 85 minute.

Here are the tables for this weekend's EPL games:

Aston Villa 0 Wigan Athletic 0, tie
Manchester City 3 Blackburn 0
Fulham 1 Queens Park 0
West Brom Ath. 4 Sunderland 0
Chelsea 3 Bolton 0
Wolves 2 New Castle 0

Manchester United 1 Norwich City 1
Arsenal 5 Tottenham Hotspurs 2
Stoke City 2 Swansea 0

Sports Desk- American Comes Through for Fulham

Even though there are seven American players in the English Premiere League and American teams have generally played competitively in World Cup play, the term American soccer star may still seem like a bit of an oxy moron in Europe.

But, today one American soccer star Clint Dempsey (pictured here) scored the lone goal in the late stages of the match to ensure a huge 1-0 upset for Fulham over visting Liverpool; Dempsey's goal came in the 84th minute of play as Liverpool was down a player due to a red card. The match was televised in America in the late afternoon (New York time) on ESPN-2.

On Saturday, ESPN-2 also televised Chelsea's 3-0 drubbing of New Castle. The game was much more competitive than the final score indicates. Didier Drogba, the sensational Ivory Coast national, hit an amazing header to give Chelsea the 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. His countrymen and Chelsea teammate Solomon Kalou scored in the 89th minute followed shortly thereafter by an extra-time goal from Daniel Sturridge.

Chelsea will play Spanish power Valencia in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow.

Tottenham continued their hot streak with their own 3-0 win over Bolton. Goals came from the young Welsh emerging superstar Gareth Bale. English players Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe added one goal each.

Tottenham feautres American goalie icon Brad Friedel, who is still playing at age
40. He has also played for Galatasaray (Turkey), the Columbus Crew (MLS) and Liverpool, among many other teams. The last part of his long career has been in the English Premiere League.

As for Bolton, the team features the EPL's only active Turkish player Tuncay Sanli, formerly of Fenerbahce, Galatasaray's main rival, and American player Stuart Holderly, formerly of the Houston Dynamo (MLS), so we wish them well.

In a low-scoring affair, Phil Jones, a 19-year-old English player, scored the lone goal in Manchester United's vital 1-0 win over Aston Villa.

Arsenal, a team that plays Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow, had no challenge from the struggling Wigan squad as they decimated them
4-0. Arsenal's goals came from Spanish national Mikhel Arteta, German player Thomas Vermoelen, Ivory Coast national Yao Gervinho and the Dutch superstar Robin van Persie, who has been scoring many goals all season in both domestic and UEFA play.

With a 5-1 win over Norwich, Manchester City remained on top of the English Premiere League standings, which currently stand this way:

1. Manchester City 38

2. Manchester United 22

3. Tottenham 31

4. Chelsea 28

5. Arsenal 26

Here is a complete list of the scores from domestic play in England:

Chelsea 3 New Castle 0

Tottenham 3 Bolton 0

Arsenal 4 Wigan 0

Stoke City 1 Everton 0

Wolverton 2 Sunderland 1

Manchester United 1 Aston Villa 0

Queen Park 1 West Brom. 1, tie

Machster City 5 Norwich 1

Blackburn 4 Swansea 2

Fulham 1 Liverpool 0

CLARIFCATION: Though we had the correct title for German filmmaker Werner Herzog's documentary in our entry last Tuesday, which is called "Death Row" in Europe, the title here in America, where the film about American death row inmates is called "Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life." It is now playing at theatres in major American cities.