Sports Desk: Soccer Scores from Obscure Countries Around the World

Today, we arbitrarily decided to post soccer scores for four leagues which don't get much mention: Azerbaijan, Serbia, Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia. For results from Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia, go to our sister blog http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

But, for the rest of you, stick here as we give you weekend scores from Azerbaijan and Serbia (assuredly few bloggers outside of Baku and Belgrade are doing this!). The images above are of Will John, who is the first American ever to play in Azerbaijan. He plays for Azal PFC. We were not aware of him when we did our American soccer players abroad entry.

 The bottom image is of Ghana international Obeng Regan who got a red card for his Serbian club Napredak Krussevac.

Here are the results:

Azerbaijan

FK Baku 1 Sungayit FC 0

Khazar Lenkoran 0 Inter Baku 1

AZAL PFC 1 Khazar Lenkoran 3

Gabala 3 Ravan 0 (Gabala is also in first place in the league; Neftci Baku is in third place)

Serbia

Sloboda 2 Radnicki 1

Vojvodina 2 Partizan 1 (in spite of the loss, Partizan is still the Serbian league leader)

Napredak 2 Cukaricki 1

OFK Belgrade 1 Rad Belgrade 0

http://www.azembassy.us/

http://www.azal.az/

http://www.serbia.travel/

Free Form Blogging: Sportsmen of Yesteryear

Greetings to our blog readers in Brazil, Estonia and South Africa.

Today, we are continuing the free form blogging series. This basically works kind of like "Mad Libs." We take a couple of words or phrases and make a short piece out of it. Tonight, we will try to achieve using the names of sporting men from yesterday (we have the same exercise with female athletes on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire").

We are going with Turkish soccer great Hakan Sukur, who just turned 42 (Conan O'Brien actually wished him a Happy Birthday on Twitter; pictured top), tennis legend Jimmy Connors, who just turned 61, boxer  Leon Spinks (pictured middle), golfer Arnold Palmer, baseball player Reggie Jackson and Serbian basketball star Vlade Divac (pictured below).

All these athletes are retired, which is a good thing perhaps for Palmer, as he is 93.

Let's go:

"The Turkish soccer team Sivasspor in Sivas, Turkey, has contemplated asking Hakan Sukur to come out of retirement and help them sell more tickets (this is a joke). He had a birthday on Sunday, and 24 hours later, Connors had a birthday too. We imagine these guys have probably never met. But, both athletes are better remembered that Leon Spinks, who once beat Muhammad Ali in the ring, in 1978 (we think).  We have to wonder if Arnold Palmer played putt putt in Myrtle Beach, SC, with Reggie Jackson, who'd win. We imagine that mini-golf is a sport that Vlade Divac is not too good at because: Well, it's one of the few sports where being tall is a disadvantage."

Also, kudos to our beloved Durham Bulls. They beat the Indianapolis Indians 2-0 tonight at home in Durham, NC, in the opening playoff game in the International League.

For Canada Day, a Quote from Martin Short

Greetings to our readers in Tanzania, Turkey and Tahiti, our regrets that your soccer lost to Spain by a score of 10-0  during Confederate Cup play in Brazil.

Today, our neighbors to the north are celebrating Canada Day, so with that, we have a quip from Martin Short, 63, the former "SCTV" star and character actor, who hails from Hamilton, Ontario:

"I know if I were to drop dead now, people would probably write nice things about me."

SIDEBAR: In case you are wondering, a can of Blue Sky Root Bear has 170 calories in it. The company that was started in Santa Fe, N. Mex., is now based in California.

http://www.secondcity.com

http://www.bleuskysoda.com

Blogging in 3.5 minutes of Less_ The Six Largest 'Cities' in Wyoming

Greetings to our blog readers in Mexico, New Zealand and Peru.

We wrote 'Cities' as opposed to Cities in the header because most 'cities' in Wyoming have a low population unlike major cities.

We found out today that the state flower of Wyoming is the Castilleja Linuriifolia (hurray, it looks like we spelled it right; cartoonist Keith Knight calls these things 'life's little victories).

This flower will be in view at the upcoming Crested Butte Wildflwoer Festival in Crested Butte, Colo., from July 8-14th.
 
Here are the six largest 'cities' in Wyoming, a state where it is very difficult for Democrats to win elections; it is after all the home state of Dick Cheney (biting my tongue):

1. Cheyenne (the capital) 59,446

2. Casper 55, 316

3. Laramie 30,816

4. Gillette 29, 087

5. Rock Springs 23, 036

6. Sheridan 17,444

SIDEBAR: Since we are, for some reason, popular in El Salvador, I wanted to congratulate their under-21 national soccer team for stunning Australia 1-0 in Trabzon, Turkey, yesterday, where the U-21 World Cup match was played.

http://www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com

http://www.wyomingtourism.org

http://www.colorado.com

http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com

http://www.knightlifecomic.com

Sports Desk- Baylor Wins NCAA Women's Tournament, etc.

The top sports news story tonight here in the United States is that the Baylor Bears, a school based in Waco, Tex., completed a perfect 40-0 season as the team won a NCAA championship in women's basketball by defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 80-61.

Brittney Griner, the top star in women's college basketball, scored 26 points for the Bears. Defensively, her teammates Jordan Madden and Kimetria Hayden helped stop Notre Dame's star guard Natalie Novoseal, thus assuring victory.

SOCCER (England): The English Premiere League (EPL) had an exciting weekend of play in which most major powers came through with victories. Here is a partial list of scores:

Manchester United 2 Blackburn 0 (goals from Antonio Valencia in 81st minute, and Ashley Young in 86th minutes)

Tottenham 3 Swansea 1 (Togolese national Emmanuel Adebayor score two goals for Tottenham in 73rd and 86th minutes of play)

Newscastle 2 Liverpool 0 (Both Newcastle goals came from Senegalese national Pappis Cisse in 19th and 59th minutes)

Chelsea 4 Aston Villa 2 (Serbian national Branislav Ivanovic scored two goals)

Manchester 3 Sunderland 3, tie

Soccer (Mexico):

Pachuca 1 Tijuana 0 (The lone goal came from Argentinian national Javier Munoz Mustafa in 63rd minute)

Puebla 1 Queretero 0

Monterrey 3 America 2

Santos Laguna 3 Toluca 1

UAG Tecos 1 Guadalajara 0 (Mexican national Edgar Mejia scored the lone goal in the 83rd minute to beat their cross-town rivals.)

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS:

Women's college gymnastics will have six regional meets on Saturday to determine the 12 teams which will compete for the national championships in Gwinnett, Georgia, from April 20-22. The defending national champion Alabama will head all the way to Seattle where they will face fellow Southeastern Conference rival LSU.

Here are three of the regionals; the other three regional meets are listed on "The Daily Vampire:"

Fayetville, Arkansas

1. UCLA
2. Arkansas
3. Boise State
4. Missouri
5. New Hampshire
6. Maryland

Auburn, Alabama regional

1. Georgia
2. Oregon State
3. Auburn
4. Michigan
5. West Virginia
6. Michigan State

Seattle regional

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Arizona
4. Washington
5. Iowa
6. Central Michigan

PSA- I Need a Job

About six weeks ago, my mom got me "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare," which she found at a very resonable price at a yard sale. The book does indeed contain all 35 of William Shakespeare's plays. And, since I have alas lost my teaching job because of funding cuts, I actually might have time to read "The Merchant of Venice" and "Taming of the Shrew."

But, of course, I am hoping to find employment and put off reading Shakespeare, the great artist that he is, for some other time.

So, I am asking anyone who comes across this entry irregardless if they are in Los Angeles, Cleveland or perhaps even Dubai, if they know of employment opportunities in education, journalism or translation work (I am 90 percent fluent in Turkish).

The three states where I would prefer to work are North Carolina, Virginia or Maryland, but if the job of my dreams is in a far-away place like Logan, Utah, I will have to simply 'jump on the bus,' or perhaps even become a bus driver!

For those of you with jobs and within traveling distance of Staunton, Va., which is halfway between Washington, DC, and Roanoke, I highly recommend going to the American Shakespeare Center.

The troupe is currently performing "Henry V," "The Tempest" and "Hamlet." All productions are 'curtain up' until late November.

SIDEBAR: Alas, my beloved BursaSpor in Bursa, Turkey, lost a home game to traditional Istanbul powerhouse Besiktas (pronounced Beshiktash in English) by a 2-1 score. But, we wish the crocodiles well this season. Yes, that is actually BursaSpor's nickname even though there are no crocodiles that we know of in Turkey, though there could be some at the Ankara Zoo.

Finally, I thought soccer rivalries were pretty intense in Turkey, where in one game just a few days ago involving another Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce was played 'in front of women and children spectators only.' That game with Manisaspor ended in a
1-1 tie.

But, perhaps the ugliest soccer rivalry in Europe is in Glasgow, Scotland, where Rangers and Celtic fans go at each other's throats, literally! The two teams, which are divided along ethnic and religious lines (Rangers fans are Protestants, Celtic fans are Catholic), played each other in the first of five meetings (?!) over the weekend.

According to the BBC, there were some nasty clashes after the game that Rangers won by a 4-2 score on two goals from Steven John Naismith, Nikica Jealvic and Kyle Rafferty. Perhaps, their next game should be played 'in front of women and children spectators only.'

Quote of the Week- Francesco Totti

Since 2011 is the 150th year of Italy as a republic, we thought we'd quote famous Italians this month. After ice cream and pizza, the country is arguably best known for soccer and opera. Hence, the reason why we are quoting Francesco Totti (b.1976) here and the late opera megastar Luciano Pavorotti (1935-2007) on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

Totti is the captain of the Italian Serie A team Roma, and he has scored more goals than any in the league with 207 career goals.

But, he was only six years old when Paolo Rossi scored the game-winning goal against Germany to the 1982 World Cup in Spain. I watched that game as a 12-year-kid in the resort of Fethiye, Turkey, where many German fans were drinking beer and looking, well, pretty disgusted really.

Here is the quote from Totti:

"We will work as a group, we need to be a real team, that is the only way to go far."

Hmmmm....yeah, athletes, aside from Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson, aren't as good quote source materials as well people like opera singers!

Things We Learned on the BBC Today- Iranian Futboler Can Return to Team

The Middle East is the focus of our two blog entries today, and both entries (the one is on "The Daily Vampire") deal with the collision of Islam and western values in that region of the world. Our other feature was about an ironic situation involving social networking in Egypt.

In Iran, futbol star Ali Karimi will be allowed to return to his club team Steel Azin again even though he broke the Ramadan fast. But, in order to do so, he must pay a $40,000 fine.

According to the BBC report from Keith Adams, Karimi seems like a Muhammad Ali of his nation he has been a verbal critic of the Iranian government, the Iranian futbol federation and even his own team!

Karimi took an extra measure to bravely show his voice by wearing a green arm band to show support for the opposition movement against the Teheran regime in a World Cup qualifier against South Korea.

One certainly has to admire his bravery and call for social justice.

There is a significantly large Iranian community here in America in the Los Angeles-area.

SIDEBAR: We have decided to add a "High School of the Week" series of entries to this and our sister blog. The entries will run on Tuesdays and Fridays.

50 Beers From Around the Globe- Cerveza Quilmes (Argentina)

Today's entry focuses on Cervez Quilmes, the most popular brew in Argentina so much so that the brand is considered a national symbol (according to Wikipedia).

Quilmes has been brewed since 1888, and it can not only be found in bars in Buenos Aires, but also in Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Spain, France, Italy and apparently here in the United States.

The beer also sponsors Argentina's soccer team, which fared well in the World Cup until they met Germany which beat them 4-0!

While researching this piece, we came across an informative and interesting beer blog (brbeerscene.com) from Eric Ducote of Baton Rouge, La.

We gather from the blog that Eric is traveling or recently came back from Seattle.

While Googling bars in Seattle, we came across The Alibi Room located in the historic Pike Place Market.

We have no idea if they have any beer from Argentina or not, but it sure looks like a hip, happening place!

Quote of the Week- Zinedine Zidane

Auuuuuuugggghhhhhhh! (As Charlie Brown would say when he tried to kick Lucy's football). We have major time constraints today, so let's cut to today's quote from the French soccer star Zinedine Zidane who is perhaps best known for his head butt against an Italian player in the 2006 World Cup final:

"We are all aware of the task ahead of us in what will be a very difficult match but which we will all dream of playing."

I suppose in some surreal way he speaks for all of us!

Quote of the Day- Che Guevara

Yes, we may get hate mail for this one! But, even though I'm NOT a socialist (I describe myself as a radical centrist liberal), there is nothing I enjoy more than being called a socialist by the Tea Party crowd.

We are actually quoting the revolutionary figure of Che Guevara (1928-1967) whom I have actually outlived!, (Che was shot to death by the CIA in Bolivia) because he is one of 32 people I have chosen from the 32 countries involved in the World Cup.

Many people wrongfully think Che was Cuban because he helped bring Fidel Castro to power, but he was actually an Argentinian. His country is considered a powerhouse in soccer, and they are expected to perform very well in South Africa. Team Argentina dismantled South Korea 4-1 yesterday.

I actually saw a copy of "Che's Diaries" at The Internationalist Bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC, which has its own famous history that is alas too long and too complicated to go into here (I was actually unaware of this until checking out their Wikipedia page!). But, apparently the members of the rock band Sonic Youth (a personal favorite of mine) knew about this long before I did as the store was the inspiration for their song "Chapel Hill."

The bookstore which features some very unique novels, plays, magazines and zines as well as some non-fiction titles that one would probably not find at the Mount Airy Book Exchange in Mount Airy, NC (some two and a half hours from Chapel Hill) is located downtown next to CD Alley on Franklin Street. One of my favorite titles was a zine called "13 Months Pregnant" by an artist/writer from nearby Durham, NC.

While researching this entry, I also found out that apparently Che and the late actress Audrey Hepburn (born in 1929) were almost exactly the same ago! Now, they would have made for a very interesting couple. Don't ya think?!

Here is the quote from Che, who has been played on film by the likes of the late Jack Palance and (much more recently) by Benicio del Toro. Oh, btw, Che was actually a real 'socialist' (to put it midly!):

"Better to die standing than to live on your knees."

Quote of the Day- Rutger Hauer

We continue our series of 32 quotes from people, who may be dead or alive, associated with one of the 32 countries in the 2010 World Cup.

For The Netherlands (we prefer to call it Holland), we go with '80s action film star Rutger Hauer, seen here in the original 1986 version of "The Hitcher."

Holland is off to a good start in the World Cup as they beat Denmark 2-0 on Monday.

Hauer is also known for his role in the 1982 science-fiction film "Blade Runner," which has become a cult classic.

Here is his quote:

"Good guy or bad guy, hero or anti-hero; it doesn't matter to me, what role I play, only the character have something magical."

SIDEBAR: Apparently, North Korea recruited many soccer fans to support their country's appearance in the World Cup, but since there are severe travel restrictions on the citizens of the isolated nation, many Chinese people have come to support 'The Boys from Pyonyang.'

China did not qualify for the World Cup. The BBC talked to Wang Qi, a Chinese man who has professed loyal support for North Korea. At the last minute, North Korean officials decided that they could send a delegation of fans from their own country to South Africa after all. But, in spite of the support of the imported Chinese fans, North Korea still lost 2-1 to traidtional powerhouse Brazil yesterday.

But, there was a bright spot for the North Korean team as Ji Yun-Nam scored a goal for them in the waining minutes of the match which assuredly came as a surprise to soccer fans in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Sao Paolo and perhaps just about everywhere else!

Quote of the Day- Salvador Dali

We are continuing our series of 32 quotes from 32 people (who may be dead or alive) from the 32 countries being represented in this year's World Cup which starts in South Africa tomorrow. The United States team will play England at 1:30 p.m., New York/East Coast time. Nationally, that game will air on ABC.

Today, we quip the late Spanish painter Salvador Dali (1904-1989) who might be best known for his 1931 painting "The Persistence of Memory."

For those of you who might be living or visiting Florida who say, 'da heck with soccer,' there is The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg,Fla., which is open on weekends. But, if you want to know more info, like times of operation, directions and exhibits, you can log on to salvadordalimuseum.org (we don't want to be held accountable for misinformation, but we can verify that the museum is NOT in Tampa).