It's Gonna Be a Long, Hot Summer

Ed Couldn't Write This Week Because His Vehicle Broke Down
photo by babasteve	via PhotoRee

It's Sunday of a holiday weekend and Correspondent Ed's gone missing again -- so it's back to the slave quarters to churn out some more drivel for the masses.  At least we hope Ed is enjoying himself....

Regular readers of this blog will remember that we traditionally head into a more relaxed publishing schedule as we go into football's "off-season."  Sure, we could cover every one of the hot transfer rumors out there, or report on Barcelona signing yet another much-hped, bad-haired starlet, or even discuss Manchester City and Chelsea's money-grabbing American tour, but we prefer to focus on keeping it real, giving our readers some inspired, slightly off-beat coverage of the happenings in world football, and throwing in a beer review every few days or so.  So if you don't see a new post each day, don't stress: we'll be back publishing regularly when the football heats up.

As a parting gift, here are a few thoughts on Bayern Munich's pulse pounding 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions league final yesterday, a game played at the New Wembley Stadium in London, England:  

o The newspaper articles are full of praise for the players on both sides, and for the men from Bavaria in particular, especially one Arjen Robben.  But let's be honest: Bayern should have been playing the final 20 minutes of the match with 10 men -- and possibly nine.  The evening's referee was correct to give a spot kick for Dante's kick in the box -- but his reluctance to show yellow for the same infraction is a bit curious.  A second yellow would have shown the stadium Dante's backside during a long walk to the tunnel, and was clearly deserved.  We can't help but wonder what the final score would have been in that scenario.  

o Contrary to many reports, with Bayern fielding both Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery at the same time, an entirely new generation was turned off from German football.  Talk about despicable characters....

o Pep Guardiola just got handed a live hand grenade: if he tinkers with Jupp Heynckes' team and they don't win the Champins League again next season, guess who will get the blame.  If he does win it'll be  expected -- after all a side that won last year has already strengthened itself with the addition of Mario Gotze.  It's difficult to conceive, but Pep may actually be in a lose-lose situation.

o We hope Robert Lewandowski doesn't follow in his teammate's footsteps and take the well-trodden road to Bavaria.  For all the accolades we heard this week about Der Bundesliga, if Dortmundwere to lose their two best players to their chief rival the German League would begin to look a little bit like La Liga.  Except with one team rather than two.

It's May 26, and here's best wishes for a long hot summer from your friends at farlieonfotie.