As Our Hearts Waver

Chelsea 1     Sparta Prague 1

 

Danicamania aside, who else besides me thinks that Danica Patrick will win a NASCAR race before Fernando Torres scores another goal for Chelsea?

The mercy of my work spared me actually watching the return leg of this Europa League 16th finals tilt at The Bridge. But I didn’t really need to watch this one as it turned out…the halftime score, the final score, told me and anyone within 250.000 miles of Stamford Bridge the whole terrible sad and woeful tale. That Eden Hazard goal to pull off a draw at the death, was merely a somewhat sweet frosting on a very stale piece of cake.

On paper ((or papiér as Arsenal’s  Arsene Wegner might say….and I bring up Arsenal suddenly only to say that us Blues fans should be thankful we’re not Gooners…and to note how sad that small favour is)) we fielded a strong team that should have dispatched Sparta Prague, even given that Ashley Cole, David Luiz, and the aforementioned Eden Hazard started from the bench. And from what I’ve heard from the reports, even with those lads on the bench, we had plenty of chance to win this big, and win this big early.

The blame for this can be laid pretty much across the board, but on this day and a half after, it’s finally time to lay the wood to Fernando Torres. This one is on him. From the anecdotal evidence I’ve gleaned from the broadsheets and telegrams and ham radio messages, Torres got the service he’s been needful of. But everytime he got some service, he tripped over his own shadow like a schlimazel, and spilled everything in his lap.

I’ve been a Torres supporter and apologist every since he arrived with all the fanfare. I was excited about it and figured it was a great move. Even when bit by bit the wheels wobbled and finally fell off, I held on to the hope that with a more congenial midfield, that things would be righted, and Torres with score with ease. I held out hope this season, through all the management turmoil and changes and with, at last, a thrilling new midfield group settling in, that Torres would get right, Chelsea would get right, and things would exciting, entertaining and fun. The talk of a $79 million flop would fade to silence and we’d be challenging for trophies and glory…snatch the title back from the Manchester gits, and repeat as Champions of Europe….and even if we’d lose a few, which happens even to the best teams, we would at least have played our best on the day.

Instead, the wonder and glory has slipped from our grasp. We’ve been dumped from Champions League, the Capitol One Cup, the World Club Cup, and almost got dumped from the FA Cup by lowly neighbor Brentford. So far, our Europa League performances have been paltry and insipid at best.

Is it Torres’ fault that Chelsea paid £50 million for him? No. But even if they’d paid £5mill for him, his performances in the 2 years he’s been here, have not been worth 1/10 of even that. It’s been one excuse after another. No service, no confidence, and all that dross.

Well enough is enough as of today. Torres OUT!! Get him gone. I don’t mean that in a mean-spirited way, mind you, but I’ve finally had enough. A change of place will (maybe, one hopes) do wonders for him. But where? Where is that place where absolute no expectations can or will be placed on him? Wherever that is, he needs to go there, and soon, for the same of himself, and for the sake of our team.

 

 

 

Danicamania, circa 1979

 

Tomorrow, when the Daytona 500 tees off, the proof will be in the pudding. If Danica wins, then Danicamania will be even more in full swing than it is now.

If Danica is among the 42 drivers who will lose the Daytona 500, the naysayers will say she doesn’t belong there….they will say she’s an over-hyped disappointment just like Fernando Torres ((assuming they even know who Fernando Torres is, which they don’t)). But regardless of where Danica finishes tomorrow, that would be further from the truth.

The Daytona 500 is a crapshoot anyway. And lots of good drivers can get caught up in someonelse’s mayhem. So tomorrow will be more about how competitive she can be after she loses the lead…if she gets shuffled back, how adeptly does she get back towards the front. She has a fast car, a great team with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, so where she finishes is not a important as how she finishes. Of course, I want her to win. If she did, I’d be as happy as a little girl with a brand new doll.

Danica brings value not to her team and her sponsors, but also to her sport that few people can. Because Danica won the poll, there will be lots more eyes on NASCAR this Sunday, and if she continues to be competitive, a lot of casual race fans and non-NASCAR fans will tune in just to see how she does. It’s the effect Tiger Woods had on golf…lots of non-golf fans tuned him on the weekends because of him.

Fernando Torres?? Who tunes in to soccer to watch him!? In fact, I challenge you to name a soccer player that casual or non-soccer fans would tune in to watch, with the possible exception of Lionel Messi. Who in the wide wide world of soccer is MUST SEE TV? I don’t know. You tell me.

So today as I watched the 2nd half of an initially confounding, and then finally thrilling, match between Everton and my Norwich City Canaries from Carrow Road, I saw the striker, the difference maker, that we’d all hoped Fernando Torres would be. At the 58 minute mark, Chris Hughton pulled Luciano Becchio for Kei Kamara. And immediately, the difference in Norwich’s play was stunningly obvious. Kamara brought a quickness, determination and spirit that was lacking in the first 58. The momentum of the match swung Norwich’s way and at 84 minutes, Kamara rose up to meet Snodgrass’s corner and beat Fellaini to smash home an authoritative header.With the match 1-1, Kamara’s energy and the goal was infectious, and Norwich kept on the attack until Grant Holt scored the winner at the death!

Why can’t Chelsea play games like this? Why can’t our ((so-called)) management find more guys like Kei Kamara?

Kamara is on loan to Norwich from Sporting KC fro the rest of Premier League season. And I’m quite sure that Norwich will not be sending him back as a permanent transfer has already been pre-negotiated. Right now, I sure wish he played for Chelsea instead of Torres.

As for who will win the Harley J. Earl trophy tomorrow, Chelsea won’t, Rafa won’t. Blame it on Torres and Buck and Gourlay and Emanelo and all that dross. Roberto Mancini and the rest of his erstwhile Citizens won’t win it either, but they just might beat Chelsea, and if they do, it makes my heart waver to say that Chelsea will have gotten what they deserve based on their run of play. Will Danica win it wire to wire? That would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath. So if not Danica, then I’m figuring on Matt Kenseth to repeat as Daytona 500 champion. And if not Matt, then I’d figure on Junior and That Lout Kevin Harvick ((who will be joining Danica’s team next season)) to emerge victors.

At least Sir Alex Facking Ferguson won’t be lifting that trophy. Small comfort in that.

And as hard as it gets, Blues fans, don’t let your hearts waver. Keep The Blue Flag Flying High. Rafa OUT!! Torres OUT!! Emanalo OUT!!

Now I’m done.

But wait….there’s still THIS ((but not enough beer in the world to endure it)):