Paul Oberjuerge

More Death at the Soccer Stadium

Paul Oberjuerge — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:21:46 +0000

Seventy-four are dead in Egypt, according to the government, after violence between soccer fans of the Cairo club Al Ahly and the Al Masry club of Port Said.

This is by no means the first instance of dozens of deaths at soccer matches in the past three decades. In a three-piece package in The National for Friday a.m., we note 10 instances of at least 39 people dying at soccer matches since 1982. Some of it in rioting, like at Heysel Stadium in 1985 and in Egypt on Wednesday night, but also because of fire, stadium collapses and, especially, stampedes.

North Americans do not get this. And it’s a fairly exotic concept, when you think about it: You go to a sports event and dozens of you come back … dead.

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Two Hours in a North American Cocoon

Paul Oberjuerge — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:32:45 +0000

The UAE is a country overrun by expatriates — 85 percent of a population of 7 million. But only a small fraction of them are Yanks. Probably fewer than 50,000.

So, even though I spend most of my days in a room with native English speakers … they are speaking with accents I sometimes find hard to puzzle out, and about topics (cricket, Bollywood, rugby, The Queen) in which I am not well-versed.

Usually, I don’t think about this because … well, that’s how it is. That’s life, at the moment. Speaking English, but …

On the rare occasion when I find myself in a North American bubble … it’s an “aaaah” sensation somewhat analagous to slipping into a cultural warm bath.

I had one of those experiences today.

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Landon: Should Everton Loan Be Extended?

Paul Oberjuerge — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:06:14 +0000

As was the case two years ago at this time, the Liverpool side Everton suddenly are rolling. As was the case two years ago, Landon Donovan is playing for Everton, on loan from the LA Galaxy, and is being given a significant portion of the credit.

Two years ago, Landon went home at the end of February, as arranged before he ever left the U.S.

Should he do the same again? That is the plan, at the moment.

Or should he and Everton and the Galaxy and Major League Soccer look into ways to keep him in England through the end of the Premier League season?

Here are the issues:

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Luca Toni and the UAE

Paul Oberjuerge — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:07:55 +0000

Mark down Luca Toni as the latest old guy to realize he can make a few bucks in the UAE. Like, say, Fabio Cannavaro, David Trezeguet and yours truly. And, as another old guy who has come to the UAE to extend his career, I say: “Well done, Luca!”

So, where in the UAE does Luca plan to land?

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The Day I Saw Tiger at the Course in Abu Dhabi

Paul Oberjuerge — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:08:13 +0000

I’ve watched Tiger Woods play in person. Not bunches of times, but at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles a time or three. Back when he used to play the Nissan Open, or whatever it is called these days.

It had been a while, however. And the man was playing in the Abu Dhabi Championship, at The National course, maybe 20 minutes from the newspaper office. But I didn’t go on Thursday, and then I didn’t on Friday, nor on Saturday …

But when we got to Sunday and he was tied for the lead when he teed off, and my day didn’t look really long …

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Rooting against Maria Sharapova in Dubai

Paul Oberjuerge — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:08:35 +0000

I’m not sure I know of anyone who wants to see Maria Sharapova lose. Any time. Anywhere. She’s just so personable and so cute. And she had that shoulder surgery a few years ago, and she’s battled her way back to relevance after being No. 1 while still a teenager.

And when she was playing for the Australian Open women’s championship against Victoria Azarenka today, I’m going to guess that, oh … 98.6 percent of all people aware of the match wanted Sharapova to win. Not because they dislike Azarenka; they probably hardly know her. But because they like Maria Sharapova.

The 1.4 percent who wanted Az to win in Oz? Fans of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. They were thrilled when Azarenka won.

Why should that be?

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Landon and Becks, and The Pond’s East Side

Paul Oberjuerge — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:10:08 +0000

Landon Donovan continues to make news on the Old World side of the Atlantic. And David Beckham’s decision to stay with the Galaxy led to some financial fallout in Paris.

It’s rather fun to read about this stuff in English and French papers, respectively, and we have some links for you.

The news peg here: Landon’s Everton side defeated Clint Dempsey’s Fulham team tonight to reach the final 16 of the FA Cup. From the accounts we’re going to link to, it seems clear that Landon outplayed Dempsey. No surprise to those of us who always have been quite clear in our minds about the identity of the country’s best player.

Now to the links!

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Costco … and Super Bowl Tickets?

Paul Oberjuerge — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:10:05 +0000

And you thought Costco was supposed to be about bargains.

The scary part of this is … these might be bargains.

If you hope to attend the Super Bowl, in Indianapolis next week, Costco has packages for you. Yes, the same people who sell you massive quantities of peanut butter, corn flakes and paper diapers and lots of other things you probably don’t need all that much of … are now flogging tickets to the NFL’s big game, February 5, and the costs seem pretty steep, by Costco standards.

To wit:

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My Top Ten Super Bowls

Paul Oberjuerge — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:31:51 +0000

Seems like time for a list.

I’m pretty sure I’ve noted on this blog that I am among a rapidly shrinking fraction of Americans who have seen every Super Bowl. Either in person or on television.

Do the math. The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967. Even if we cast a wide net and suggest that a 6-year-old could have seen the Packers and Chiefs and have some memory of it … the very youngest a person could then be and still have seen every SB is … 50 years old. And some large percentage of the U.S. population is younger than 50.

So, having some real-time memory of all of them, I feel in a position to compare and contrast and rank my favorite 10 SBs.

Counting down from No. 10, “Letterman style”, of course.

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$$$ Brings Tiger to Abu Dhabi

Paul Oberjuerge — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:55:13 +0000

An American named Eldrick Tont Woods, generally referred to as “Tiger” … is in Abu Dhabi this week to play in the local European Tour event.

We could tell you he’s here, for the first time, because he likes visiting this part of the world, or heard that the weather here this time of year is nice, or just likes hanging out with the multinational guys on the Euro Tour. Or even that he wants to shore up his “brand” here in the Middle East.

But those would be secondary or tertiary explanations. Tiger is here, first, for the money.

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