Jabulani<\/p>\n
Yes Jabulani. The Adidas World Cup Soccer Ball, or Football if you prefer. Have we heard enough about the ball yet? Can we please just SHUT UP and play the games!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s see where should we begin with Jabulani? First the complaints started during the warm up matches before the World Cup. The ball moves funny. The ball has a mind of its own. You kick the ball one way it goes the other. The ball is too heavy. The ball is too light. The ball is similar to one you would buy at a supermarket. The ball is manufactured to produce goals. The ball will launch into orbit when struck at precisely the right point.<\/p>\n
The ball is weird. The ball is strange. The ball should be used for volleyball not football. The ball is the reason why England won\u2019t advance. The ball will provide no joy or happiness. The ball will solve the Mid East problems. The ball will help the Republicans take control over the Senate.<\/p>\n
Er well you get the point. The ball has been the Achilles heal of the tournament. But everyone needs to blame someone else for its failures.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take England Vs. USA on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Of course it was the ball\u2019s fault that Robert Green couldn\u2019t hold on to it when Clint Dempsey shot it in the 1st half of the game. The goal wasn\u2019t because he along with many other English \u2018keepers just stink. All you have to do is look at David \u201cCalamity\u201d James, or David Seaman for past fumbles in the crease. Of course it was the ball\u2019s fault it couldn\u2019t have been anything else!<\/p>\n
And of course the passes to Wayne Rooney were not on target because of the trajectory of the ball and the weird movements it makes. The passes weren\u2019t on target because of the inability of the players to get him the ball spot on, or because the US defenders did a brilliant job of cutting off those dangerous crosses. No, of course not. It\u2019s all the fault of the ball.<\/p>\n
Just ask the 75 English fans that I sat with at HaGov-the Lion\u2019s Den Staurday night in Jerusalem. They were so shell shocked by the end of the match they couldn\u2019t believe what they had seen and witnessed. The improbability of the Three Lions not coming away with 3 points against the USA. TOO BAD! But it was the ball\u2019s fault. We know already!<\/p>\n
And of course it was Algeria\u2019s goalkeepers fault that he gave up such a cheesy goal against Slovenia yesterday. Or the fact that his team was playing with 10 men because of a man being sent off. No it was the ball and how it bounced, well, we could also the blame the referee too! But it was the ball!<\/p>\n
Or it was the ball\u2019s fault that Mark Schwarzer let in 4 goals in Australia\u2019s defeat to Germany. It wasn\u2019t that the Aussies were good enough, sure they were, it was all the ball\u2019s fault that so many goals went in!<\/p>\n
And the penalty kick that Ghana scored their winner against Serbia. It was the ball that had eyes and the ability on its own to make it to the back of the ole onion bag. And why was the penalty called, well the ball like magic, swooped down and slapped the Slovenia defenders arm. He didn\u2019t hit the ball, the ball hit him!<\/p>\n
Enough, enough, enough! No more blaming the ball! Both teams play with the same sphere and that\u2019s the bottom line. So if something goes wrong in your life today, well, just don\u2019t blame the ball, look at yourself.<\/p>\n
Or, JUST SHUT UP!<\/p>\n
Thoughts from the Pulpit<\/p>\n
1) The Celtics are 1 win away from their 18th World Championship. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo all showed up to ensure a Celtics victory, while Kobe Bryant seemed to be the only one who showed up for the Lakers last night. Kobe\u2019s 38 points led all scorers, but you need more than one player to win a team game and the Celtics are the team to do that and are ever so close to another title. It should be interesting on Tuesday night that is for sure. Will Boston be able to close out the Lakers in LA? We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
2) Stephen Strasburg was good again striking out 8 and giving up only 1 earned run. He gave up 5 base on balls and threw 95 pitches in 5 plus innings of work. The Yankees continued their winning ways, beating up on the Astros this weekend, but Alex Rodriguez\u2019s hip has flared up and this could be a devastating blow for their title hopes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jabulani Yes Jabulani. The Adidas World Cup Soccer Ball, or Football if you prefer. Have we heard enough about the ball yet? Can we please just SHUT UP and play the games! Let\u2019s see where should we begin with Jabulani? First the complaints started during the warm up matches before the World Cup. The ball […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[208,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-uncategorized","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n