Blogging

I don’t know you most of you will remember this, but I actually started writing this blog because I had to. It was one of my English assignments. I have to say even though at times it was a bit of a pain remembering to write the blog entries, and sometimes getting suck on what to write about, I did enjoy writing here for various reasons, and if I was given the chance to choose if I wanted to again or do another type of assignment, I would chose the blog. The first advantage is that we can write about pretty much anything here. I, for example, got the chance to write about football. I got the chance to give my opinion on matches, players, coaches, etc; especially when here in Venezuela, I don’t have many people that are as passionate as me about this sport, and that I can talk to about this. Another positive aspect is that you share this with the world, and even though maybe not every single person might read and enjoy your blog, it might be quite useful to some people. The only negative aspects I see at least for me were the ones I mentioned before, that you sometimes forget to write them and get stuck on what to write about. If you haven't tried this, I would recommend you to at least give it a try. 

Wembley 2011

The large awaited Champions League Final at Wembley this year finally took place this past Saturday. Messi's Barcelona and Rooney's Manchester United faced each other yet once again at the Champions League Final. They played each other at the 2009 Final held in Rome, where the 'Cules' beat Ferguson's Manchester by a two goal difference. Even though when asked, Ferguson denied this would be 'pay back' time, in some levels it was. The red devils wanted to beat them, and what a better place to accomplish that than at one of the most watched sports events of the year, and they had the advantage of basically be playing at home. However, what many reporters defined as 'the match of the decade' ended with a somewhat disappointment from Manchester's end. As much as this hurts me to say not only being a Barcelona hater, but most importantly a Man. United fan, I have to be honest above all, and the truth is Barcelona pulverized the opponent.  Three goals seemed to be enough for the Spanish team to defeat their rival who unfortunately wasn’t able to step up to the challenge. Nevertheless, it was quite a match, and the show included made it even more enjoyable. If you had the pleasure of watching it then you know what I'm talking about, and if you didn’t, then I would recommend you to do so next year even if you're not that big of a football fan since it is the greatest match of the year. More pictures on the Final underneath.    

'El Mes de Clasicos'

As it turned out, Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other on the field a few more times than planned this past April. The only difference this time was that they weren't just trying to win for the pride that you feel when you beat your longest and most sacred rival in history, but there were some of the most prestigious trophies at stake; they met each other in every possible competition this season. Once for 'La Liga', once for the final of the 'Copa del Rey', and twice for the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. It seemed like a baseball or basketball play-offs series. They started with a very dramatic draw, since Barcelona went ahead with a penalty that caused Madrid to lose a man due to a red card, and near the end Madrid rose to the occasion tying the game. The players for both teams ended with the need to keep playing. Later on that week, they met in Mestalla to dispute the final of the 'Copa del Rey'. Madrid started on fire, they had a perfect first half, with several shots in the posts and penetrating Barcelona's midfield, not letting have a single shot into Casillas' goal until the second half. However, the second half was quite the opposite unfortunately since Barca's coach, Pep Guardiola, made a couple of changes that helped Barcelona gain control over the ball, and create valuable opportunities, making Madrid's eleven men stand on their own half of the field. With a 0 - 0 in hand, they went into sudden death; it seemed like they would be going into a penalty shot out, until it happened. Madrid's precious jewel, Cristiano Ronaldo, or as known to many as CR7, embedded the ball with a magnificent header into Pinto's goal. 

Even though Barcelona kept fighting with everything they had at their disposal, there wasn’t enough time to tie the game, and Madrid took home the Spanish Cup. In my opinion that was the best match of the series. The following week, they met in Madrid again to play the first semi-final of the UEFA Champions League. After a quite doubtful red card on one of Madrid's men in the beginning of the second half, Barcelona was able to win the game by a two goal difference, making it an almost impossible mission for Madrid to win a ticket for the Champions League Final at Wembley.  The last game ended with a tie, a goal for Madrid in the second half was nullified, and after Barcelona scored, the story was pretty much finished. I'm glad we won the Spanish Cup nevertheless, and I'm looking forward to the next season. I'll write again after the Champions League Final at Wembley, to tell you all how it went.

Unknown

Are you 100% sure you are who you think you are?  That’s right, besides you "knowing" you are in fact yourself, how are you a 100% sure of that? Confusing, isn't it?

This film begins, when Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson), and his wife, Liz (Jones), arrive at Berlin with the purpose of assisting to a Biotechnology summit. When arriving at the hotel, Dr. Harris realizes he has lost his briefcase with his important and personal information in the airport. He desperately gets a cab to go back and recuperate his lost briefcase. Only he didn’t know that would be the worst decision of his life.  On the way to the airport, he is involved in a car accident, and ends up in the hospital, just barely making it alive. A couple of days after, he wakes up from a coma, and without the doctors approval goes back to his hotel, but only to discover that someone has stolen his identity. There is another man pretending to be him, and not even his own wife recognizes him.  Having lost his briefcase, which included his passport, and other personal files, that are his only way of proving he is in fact who he thinks he is at the airport when arriving at Berlin. And if you think those aren't enough problems yet, he is also being chased by some mysterious people that are trying to kill him. With the help of the cab driver (Kruger) who saved his life, and a private investigator, he is ready to prove everyone wrong, and get his life back.

Won it by One

How much impact can a point have in a final score? Does it really make a difference?

I have to say that until this past Saturday afternoon, I thought it couldn’t have any impact whatsoever in a final score, that one single point couldn’t change anything, especially in sports like basketball, volleyball, tennis, and many more where the final scores are quite high. 

This past weekend, we had a basketball tournament at another international school here in Caracas. We didn’t have the best start; we lost our first game by ten points. However, the team was able to overcome that loss and manage to win the next four games, including the final. You might be wondering right now, what's this whole impact of a point got to do with the tournament right?

Well, you see, we had a very dramatic final, on the last couple of minutes of the last quarter, we were winning by one, the next second they were winning by two, and then we were tied and so on. Only a minute and a half left on the clock. They get two free throws. He takes the ball, shoots it, and it’s out. You could see the signs of hope in the team when the ball didn’t cross the rim. Takes the ball again, shoots it, and it’s in. The score was now 35 - 34 to them. We take the ball and score a basket. 36 - 35 to us. Only around forty seconds on the clock; ball is at their possession again.  They got another free throw with only twenty seconds on the clock. They score, 36 -36. With only ten seconds on the clock, we take the ball down the court and luckily get a free throw. If we scored, we would be winning by one. He took the ball, focused, shot it, and scored. 37 - 36 to us. With only four seconds on the clock, there was nothing they could do. The whistle was blown and we had gone by one point.

One of the most dramatic finals I've had the chance to be in. VANAS is coming up in a couple of weeks, I'm hoping we’ll play our best and come home with the trophy. I'll let you all know what happened. 

Basketball

If you know me at all, you’ll know that sports are an important thing in my life. Even though I might not be perfect at every single sport there is, you could say I am quite good at most of them, with a few exceptions of course. A couple of weeks before winter break, the tryouts for basketball came up; I decided to give it a try even though I knew that basketball wasn’t exactly one of my 'best' sports. I thought to myself, "You have nothing to lose", and so I did.

As I mentioned earlier on in one of my previous entries (Swimming), it frustrates me not being at least above average at any sport, since sports in general  is what I'm good at; it’s my thing. I can draw, paint and build, but I'm missing the Picasso after Pablo. I do play a couple of instruments, but I'm no Mozart. I don’t dedicate as much time and effort into them as I do with sports.

 

As it turned out, I'm on the team. However, I have to admit, I am struggling quite a bit at the moment, especially on the shooting part, which is the most important one of all. I'm going to work hard, and improve as much as I can before VANAS. We have a tournament this weekend, hopefully we'll play our best, and I'll let you all know how it turned out.