Die Zuschauer in Genf erlebten die bisher dramatischste und packendste Partie dieser EM. Kurz vor Spielende sahen die Tschechen wie der sichere Sieger aus. Doch dann patzte Petr Cech. Und so nahm das Schicksal für die Brückner-Elf seinen Lauf. Nihat traf zum 2:2, eine Minute vor Schluss war es erneut Nihat, der alle Dämme bei den Türken brechen ließ. Obwohl die Terim-Elf die Partie mit einem Feldspieler im Tor beenden musste, stehen die Türken nun im Viertelfinale.
In one of the most astonishing turnarounds we will ever see at this level of tournament play, Turkey played a brutal first half, went down to two goals by the Czech Republic, and in the last 15 minutes scored three times to win not only the match, but qualification for the second round.
Turks, whose fans whipped up their traditional frenzy before the start in Geneva, that caution was spiked with several stings of cynicism, kicks and thumps into the backs of the Czechs.
Jeff Bridges on the “Jesus scene” in The Big Lebowski:
“Often I’ll be watching TV, and I’ll be hitting the clicker, and if a movie of mine will come on, I’ll rarely get hooked in cause I’ve seen the thing. But The Big Lebowski, when that gets on, I’ll always say, “I’ll just watch Torturro… ‘ll hing in till Torturro shows up.” And then once he’s there, I’ll say, “I’ll watch unteil he gets to the part about sticking the gun up the ass.”
If you’re into mountain biking, one of the first things you’d want to do, is to ride with friends. With other mountain bikers, people sharing the same passion or with locals, who’ll be delighted to show you the trails around their hometown.
This has always been a key issue for me since 2003, as I was continuously in search of new routes, new trails and a few enthusiastic companions to spend a few hours on the trails.
We do have a pretty decent mountain bike community in Germany, some round 800.000 active mountain bikers. There are many web sites functioning as forums to catalyze the buzz between bikers, and thus spread the word. MTB-news.de is one of them, one of my favourite bookmarks, and it has been one of the first nonprofit web sites completely devoted to modern mountain biking. A forum for me to search for answers.
Like mtbr.com, its US american counterpart, you can find almost everything at mtb-news.de about the sport: Mountain biking, bikers, bike manifacturers, vendors, locals, local forum, pictures, videos, routes, GPS, trail news, articles, advocacy, racing, competitions and most importantly, local bike rides as well. I am talking about those tours you’d usually book at a bike store at your favorite bike destination, these rides, usually offered by local bikers who guide you through “their” trails, are like home made cookies, real fun and absolutely free.
I have been attending and offering a variety of rides in my region (Erkrath, Germany; proximity app. 20 square km) for 5 years now. In fact, my first ever serious mountain bike ride happened to be an LMB hangout.
Although the whole undertaking is completely voluntary, the word has been taken very seriously. I experienced exceptional rides with more than 20 riders or more attending. I’ve seen people, including your truly, driving 30-40 kilometers by car to a proposed meeting point to join one of our usual after work rides.
The attendance generally depends on the usual characteristics of the ride, conditionally and technically. And there are all kinds available: Easy rides, short rides, technical rides, epic rides, girlie-rides, freeride-rides, weekend trips, you name it.
There are still numerous conventional hangouts everywhere, not every biker is web savvy, but once you decide to attend an LMB-ride, you will definitely discover something new.
One more thing: All this would only be, if anything, half-possible without a simple web based app called “Last-Minute-Biking” on MTB-News. LMB, as we all call it, is the core of local riding for us bikers. It brings us together, literally.
It’s a simple interface, where the ride is publicly announced and described, in detail: Duration, distance, elevation, speed, technical level, meeting point and time, who’s in charge, what to bring and what to expect. Many rides are so perfectly prepped that it’s such a marvel, they are still free of charge in today’s world.
LMB is indeed so pure and simple, that you can almost plan to join a ride wherever you are, no matter if you’re looking for a bike trip to some other region or on a business trip not wanting to spend the after hours with your nerdy colleagues at the bar. Just take your bike with you, you’ll never ride alone.
And GPS? Yes gadgets are great, too. But hey, what can be better than a rider buddy in baggies, who’d show you the best downhill in the area?
So, I just checked the LMB-list for tomorrow. It will be a cloudy sunday, so how about some adrenaline rush? You got it, no regrets here: More than 20 rides I could attend in the vicinity with a simple click!
Topun gerisinde Alex var… Altıpas üzerine doğru bir orta… Seken top… Savunma uzaklaştırdı…
Bir korner de sol taraftan kullanacağız… Ceza sahası içerisine doğru gelen top… Bir kafa… Seken top… Kezman’ın önünde kaldı… Kezman arka direkte vuruyor… Cudicini iki hamlede kontrol ediyor…
Chelsea hızlı geldi… Ceza sahasının hemen dışından Ballack vuruyor… Volkan’dan döndü… Önder uzaklaştırıyor…
Maçın 3′te 2′lik bölümü geride kaldı ve konuk ekibin 1-0′lık bir üstünlüğü var…
64. dakika… Alex ceza sahası dışından vuruyor… Cudicini’nin kucağına…
Ve gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolll…
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollll..
Gooooooooo-oooolll… Dakika 65, gol Colin Kazıııııııııııııııııııımmm… Orta sahadan Aurelio savunmanın arkasına harika bir ara pası gönderdi… Colin ceza sahasına girdi… Sol ayağıyla çok sert vurdu ve topu ağlarla buluşturdu… Fenerbahçe 1-1 Chelsea…
66. dakika… Kalemizde büyük tehlike… Ballack penaltı noktasına yakın bir yerden vurdu… Volkan çıkartıyor…
Ceza sahamızın hemen dışından serbest vuruş kullanacaklar…
Drogba var topun başında…
Doğrudan kaleye vuruyor… Üstten dışarıya…
Fenerbahçe’de oyuncu değişikliği… 71. dakika… Kezman çıktı, Semih oyunda…
75. dakika… Sağdan Colin Kazım ortalıyor… Deivid arka direkte vurdu… İstediği gibi değil..
Konuk ekipte oyuncu değişikliği… Lampard çıktı, Mikel oyunda…
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLL…
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO-OOOOOOLLL… GOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOO
OOOLLL… DAKİKA 81, GOL DEIVID… BU KEZ CHELSEA KALESİNE… HEMDE 30 METREDEN… HEMDE ‘90′ DİYE TABİR EDİLEN YERE… HARİKA BİR GOL… HARİKA… FENERBAHÇE 2-1 CHELSEA…
Ceza sahamız içerisine doğru uzun bir top… Volkan’da kalıyor…
Chelsea’da oyuncu değişikliği… 86. dakika… Joe Cole çıktı, Anelka oyunda…
Sağ kanattan tehlikeli geldiler… Essien sağ çaprazda… Ayağından fazla açıyor… Aut…
90 dakikalık normal süre sona erdi… 3 dakikalık uzatma oynanacak…
Ve son düdük… Fenerbahçemiz, İngiliz devini geriye düştüğü maçta yeniyor… İkinci maç öncesi büyük moral buluyor… Fenerbahçe 2-1 Chelsea…
If there is one club who deserves the title “Braveheart of the european Football”, that is FC Liverpool. The Reds are a synonym for football fans all across the continent for celebrating the game of football as a religion, defining it par excellence and never ever giving up.
It’s not the size of their small museum inside the catacombs of the legendary Anfield Road, it is the quality in the history: 5 huge pots, The Champion’s League Cups, the most valuable trophies in football’s history, only matched by the 5 World Cup Trophies of Brasil.
Unmatched yet, is Liverpool’s historic football tradition. It’s not ManU’s pompous appearence or Real’s monarchical stylism or Milan’s trendy convention. It is not only as good as their english and european rivals, it is much underestimated and earthly; it is definitely something from us. It is family.
It’s in our hearts, it is in our ears. Pink Floyd sang the hymn and many others followed. We all love to sing their song, when we watch football. And this is by no means a coincidence.
This alone is the symbol of great determination, the great love of football at its best. It is a mecca for all the fans, not only the fans of the Reds. You’ll have a feeling at Anfield, strangelove, that you too belong to this football club, that you too are a fan of FC, besides the club you support primarily. It’s a spirit, welcomed by every football fan. You feel home.
So they play, and have always played, our idols: the Ian Rushes, the Dalglishes, the Keegans, the Gerards of this world. They all might be significant individuals and very talented players, but as soon as they have their red jerseys on, they were one of the Reds. They played the best they can, they gave up everything on the pitch. They never cheated.
Whenever Reds win, they deserve our deep affection, our joy, whenever they lose, they win our hearts. We’ll always know, they have given everything, both ways. This is the Liverpool way. It is 100% pure football love, nothing else.
Not the easiest task on earth to put yourself back on track again, to reschedule yourself after losing the path. Especially after a long period of absence at school or at work for example, or as in my case, after working your ass off at work and forgetting about the real deal in your life. All those precious little things which spiced up your life seem distant, in some cases out of grasp. I went (am going) through this.
Things change, as you lose track. Things evolve, emerge and, at most times, just do happen, whereas you stay there exactly where you left. The road back to the top is steep and rough. You need stamina and patience to get back, you need high spirits to motivate yourself.
In times of dire straits such as at midlife crisis, you start seeking your relief in unexplored territory. This, however, is very risky business and could end up with some unwanted and really annoying consequences. The curves you take may result in crashes or take you deeper into the hole, you desperately want to get out of. Sunshine is rare, depression widens. Your life gets darker. Literally.
In need of desperate relief I let myself go for a while. I closed all the windows, stuffed the holes and took a deep plunge into the darkness of my very soul. No light there as you might guess.
This has been a unique experience for me, questioning some essential things in my life, looking for answers for my worries. Wintertime is, as you might have guessed, is not the best time to explore troubled waters, as our bodies need (and do not get the necessary) daylight to produce vital hormones to overcome desperation.
Don’t look further than at your own doorstep for your individual escape. It’s outside.
I always loved the outside, since I rediscovered it after living for my work for more than 10 years prior to my 33rd birthday. Reaching levels of obesity and staying away from every sportive activitiy in this period, I finally dropped all my bad habits overnight and got rid of the evil in my body. The reward for the continous workout and discipline was awesome: I lost almost 40 kilos and literally rediscovered my own life. Again. This was 5 years ago and I never looked back.
Until today.
Today, I know I have to go through this one more time. I need all the lessons I learned at the time and think about the big prize at the end. It doesn’t (and will definitely not) happen overnight, but you don’t have time to wait for the holy signal from above to start. You just do it.
It is not only your body, it is your soul, too, which desperately needs a thorough massage. It’s not the destination, it is the journey which is rewarding and you have to learn to live with it. It is not “that day”, “that month” or “that particular year”, which is “your day”, “your month” or “your year” respectively, it is how you live your life from this moment on, starting from today, open ticket.
I remember setting higher and tougher goals for myself back then, aiming higher and higher in all those years, forgetting about the little joys of life. It could be a pound lost or an afternoon alone at the riverside, it could well be a day off from work which made me happy and let my soul shine, it could be a conversation with someone I didn’t know or write down a small story with a happy end. I found ways, far away from satisfying myself with monetary awards and materalistic venues. I stayed outside, as much as I can.
Then I lost track. Compensations are rapidly found in the material world. The more, the faster, the bigger, the better! Little things were obsolete, they represented just the ordinary. I needed the “extra” to be special.
Change is good for all of us. We need to explore ways of changing our lives and ourselves for the better. We need long term goals and the consistency to get the task done. It is not easy, it will not be easy, but it can be done. We, the thirty-some-year-olds (and older) have enough experience in life to figure out our own path to adapt ourselves to changing conditions, we don’t need any dates for the completion. Just take off, no ETA (estimated time of Arrival) necessary.
We will feel the progress as things emerge, we will be proud of it, but the trip will last. The JOURNEY is my mojo, the TRIP is the code. It is where and how I heal my hurts and get back on track.
Until the next stop. And you will know when it is due.
PS. Oh, did I tell you, it’s spring outside. The winter is finally vanishing. This should make you think.
I wish I was traveling on a freeway
Beneath this graveyard western sky
I’m gonna set fire to this city
And out into the desert we’re gonna ride
Time and time again
Here is the picture to it. Just change the words Freeway with trail and city with woods. Voilá!
So, it took a while. I missed the mud.
First the work overload, than the sickness, than work overload (part II), than the bike accident, the broken clavicula, the OP, the week at the hospital and then my new life with the titanium plate with 8 screws now on/in my shoulder. And the answer is “yes, it beeps through the security at the airport!” (one of the key questions people keep on asking these days).
Nice day it was today, cold with lots of sunshine. So I went out and hit the dirt. My first bike ride since forever. Greetings with a sweet warm “welcome back!” from my favourite trails. Man, I love the ride, I ove the game.
You might wonder, wtf the mustard of Dijon has got to do with this. This is how I call the “mud” here in Neanderthal. It’s so “lecker”, it deserves it. Here’s how my eyes see it:
So I am back home, again. I’m feeling home, so I thought I’d write a few words about it.
