Happy Birthday to the Special One

Is that a smart ass look or what

Internazionale: Mid Season Report Card

Now that we are half way through the season I thought it’ll be a good time to reflect on what we’ve seen so far. The pre-season brought us a lot of change. Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, Cruz, and Crespo were the main people to leave.  In came Eto’o, Milito, Motta, Arnautovic, and Sneijder. Recently we welcomed in Goran Pendev, and bid farewell to Viera. We gave up a few too many youngsters in the Milito and Motta trade for my liking (Bonucci!!!!). However this might go down as one of our best transfer seasons in history, at least in the Massimo Moratti era.

Many people thought we would be doomed once we lost Zlatan and our domination would be over. Yet people forgot that we have the deepest squad in Seria A and have one of the best coaches in world football.

The team as a whole leads the league in goals (41) that’s nine more than the nearest rival. Inter is tied for the best defense (17). We lead our league by eight points and we’ve qualified for the knock out rounds of the Champions league.

The Grades:

A

Free Kick Hero

Wesley Sneijder: If ever anyone deserves to be the MVP of the half way point it has to be him. The guy gets told by Real Madrid to f*** off after their crazy summer campaign. Joins us with a major point to prove and has fit in perfectly. The guy does not know what it means to lose and the stats back him up. In all the games he’s played we haven’t lost; 12 wins, 4 draws. Without him five wins, two draws, and four defeats. Wesley has changed the way we play and his leadership is crucial.

Diego Milito: The anti-Ibra. He works hard and never complains. 23 appearances and 12 goals. He plays better with a second striker, but he hustles when asked to play alone.

Walter Samuel: The Wall is having one of his best seasons for sure. A big reason why we have the best defense in the league. Oh and he scores goals to boot.

Samuel Eto’o: I’ll give him an A minus for now just because we all know he can do better. I want to see more away goals to push him up to an A. Still not complaining though, he has scored 10 goals.

B

Mario Balotelli: It’s incredible that Mario is 19 years old with all he’s achieved so far. If it was anyone else he’d definitely be in the A group, but because I have visions of what he can become I will put him here for now. It’s a shame he gets a rough ride where ever he plays, and that the media puts too much pressure on him. This guy is a future Golden Ball winner without a doubt in my mind. He scores important goals and changes games. Six goals and five assists for a teenager are magnificent.

Lucio: I have mixed feelings about Lucio since his Bayer Leverkusen days. He gives me heart attacks every single week. He does have a major benefit that’s for sure; cutting out attacks before they start and his distribution is excellent. His mistakes are costly though and that’s what bothers me the most.

Esteban Cambiasso: He hasn’t been the same since picking up that injury in pre-season. He is very important to us though. His form was coming back before the break and I’m hoping he recovers quickly from this latest setback. His tactical intelligence is extremely high, and he is the coach on the pitch. One of my favorites of this team.

Dejan Stankovic: He is also another one who isn’t the same this year. He spoiled us last season with his excellent performance. He is still extremely important to us, and when he’s on we are so much better.

Javier Zanetti: Consistent!

Ivan Cordoba: Sits on the bench without a complaint. Samuel gets injured and slots in perfectly and we don’t skip a beat. Loves the club.

Douglas Maicon: It looks like a dip in form has hit him recently. He is a major cog in our team and bails us out plenty of times. Defense, offence, and tons of energy.

C

I’m not going to go into great detail for the C group. Motta is up and down. When he is up the football is beautiful. I just wish he could do it more often. I’m not a fan of Muntari as I think he gives the ball away way too much. I liked him in the left back role he played twice. Chivu in my opinion is a central defender. He works hard at left back but doesn’t attack as much. Ironically he had his best offensive game this season at Chievo, and then he unfortunately got injured. Julio Cesar by his own admission hasn’t been the same due to contract negotiations. Well Julio that contract has been signed for a while now. I expect the best goalkeeper in the world back!

D

Heres to you making it on that trip

Quaresma has played one decent game since we got him. I’m still waiting for something from this guy. Mancini? Remind me why we bought him? Santon needs to take this opportunity if he really wants to go to South Africa. He has a great chance to prove to Inter they don’t need Kolarov. The rest haven’t played enough to get a grade.

I’m really looking forward to the second half of the season and the Champions League matches. Let me know what you think about the grading system.

Forza Inter Siempre

Did You Know?

In 1950 Kuwait became the seventh country in the world to give its citizens universal health care? I was shocked and surprised to read this. Something to definitely be proud of even though the current situation isn’t.

Norway, since 1912, Single Payer
New Zealand, since 1938, Two Tier
Japan, since 1938, Single Payer
Germany, since 1941, Insurance Mandate
Belgium, since 1945, Insurance Mandate
United Kingdom, since 1948, Single Payer
Kuwait, since 1950, Single Payer
Sweden, since 1955, Single Payer
Bahrain, since 1957, Single Payer
Brunei, since 1958, Single Payer

Apparently the United States is the only country that does not provide its citizens what every other country does! And if Republicans have their way it wont. Shameful.

In other did you know news, below you will find the real reason Berlusconi was attacked. Enjoy

Real Reason Silvio Got Attacked

Are Video Games Replacing Movies?

I am blown away after seeing the below trailer. WOW! It is so well made. The music, voice acting and editing is all top-notch. These days so much money and time is being spent on games that they are extremely fulfilling. The industry makes more than movies already is it just a matter of time that it takes over? Or are they gonna somehow combine? I doubt it will ever replace it, but the Video Game business is definitely going to give movies a run for their money.

Enjoy. Make sure to click the HD button to get the full awesomeness.

Thought I’d Test out the new theme. Loo…

Thought I’d test out the new theme. Looks nice.

Must See TV

Now that Mad Men season three is over I must bow down to that show. What a spectacular work of art this season was. They tied it up so nicely to end the season and give us so much to look forward to. God bless you Mr. Weiner. Everything about the show is so well thought out and planned. The writing and directing always impeccable.

Now that it’s over I’m going to need to find myself other things to watch. Here is a quick run down of whats out there that I do recommend.

Bored to Death is a very funny show. It has a very well assembled cast that fit perfectly with the writing of the show. It is based in Brooklyn which has a special place in my heart since my bebe lives there. The season is over as well so it’ll give you guys a chance to watch it in one go
Obviously 30 Rock needs no introduction from me. Tina Fey is a genius who somehow has written an even funnier season than the last three. It is the only show that I really laugh out loud every time I watch it.
Our lovable serial killer Dexter is back. He is still going strong and is very unpredictable, however the writers do not know how to write romance! Plus we really don’t need these side love stories. I was slightly getting annoyed with the show till last weeks episode when the surprised us yet again. So they have my full attention.
I dunno about Californication this year. The main guy is even more obnoxious than ever. I’ve only seen the first two episodes. I’ll watch them all later when the season completes. Doubt I’m missing much.
I started V , the remake of the 80’s classic, and I’m not ready to recommend it yet. We’ll see in a few weeks.
Finally, I just saw the pilot of The Prisoner. I am Interested for sure. Still gauging how interested though. Has potential.

Well thats it from me.

Update: I forgot to mention Modern Family. Hilarious!

Forza Inter!

What a fantastic football game yesterday. It was a roller coaster ride that took Inter from last place to first! Mourinho went all out to get us our first win in nine Champions League games. At one point the team had one central defender on the pitch, and the way Lucio was playing you’d say he was an attacking midfielder. Zanetti yesterday played every position he could. Had Inter not won yesterday it would have been truly unfair. The second half was dominant.

Wesley Schneider’s influence on the team grows more and more each week. Mario Balotelli is making it impossible for the coach to keep him on the bench. Diego Milito is the calmest player I’ve seen in an Inter jersey. To be so relaxed in front of goal for that equalizer saved the day. It was impossible to sleep after the game last night. As you can tell from the quality writing that I’m still way too excited to even put in a coherent sentence.

Two weeks from now we go play Barcelona and lets hope we can carry this momentum. Its going to be a huge match up with the possibility of elimination looming on Barca’s head. Now I wonder what Zlatan would think of them apples? If we do not win, then we have a HUGE game against Rubin Kazan on the final group game. Exciting times!

Till then I’m going to bask in the wonder of last night’s win. The team is growing with each match. The injury spell is behind us and Jose can start fielding his best team from now on.

Forza INTERNAZIONALE

Quick Entry

I have to admit I’ve been so lazy with the blog, but its been kinda busy for me lately. Well, I’ve been keeping myself busy. Here is a quick entry.

Gabriele Marcotti writes about what it means now that Roberto Mancini is a free agent. What I like about Marcotti is that he isn’t knee jerk like a lot of the football writers out there. Here he gives great analysis as to how Mancini can affect the footballing landscape. Mancini is a good coach, and was really good with Inter. He managed a lot of big egos, he knows how to manage a league competition, and he’s done well with struggling teams before coming to Inter. Whoever gets him is going to be pleasantly surprised. Those who point to his Champions League record need to know all the factors that led to all those exits. It wasn’t all on him.

Speaking of Inter i really hope we stop this Jekyll and Hyde difference in form when we face Kiev tomorrow. Is a win too much to ask for? Please?

And now for a few laughs via Hussah:

See you all soon.

Nerdgasm

My brother is currently doing his masters in Entertainment Technology at CMU. There he’s part of a team creating a Dungeons and Dragons game for the Microsoft Surface. Check out what they have done so far. Enjoy.

Rambles

Hey all I thought I needed to write something just so I could get back into the habit of writing. I’ve been neglecting my poor blog lately, for no apparent reason might I add, so I’ve decided to force myself to write today.

• I’ve changed the look and feel of the blog. I just found this new layout and decided to go with it. Though I don’t like the fact that I can only put my widgets on the top (which as you can see ends up cutting them off prematurely). If anyone knows how to properly use html and wants to hook me up with a solution please contact me. Oh, and let me know if you like this format or the old one.
• There are a couple of seminar’s coming up to discuss the way in which Kuwait is losing all its freedoms, and its progression to the extreme right. Tonight’s seminar is titled  Censorship Protects Ignorance. Tomorrow’s will be talking about the new Fatwa from the Awqaf Ministry on the Veil (head scarf) and what the Parliamentary committee deems appropriate behavior for our nation. Like I’ve said many times before we are the only democracy that reduces freedoms instead of increasing them!
• In my gang there has been a big debate lately about how to move forward in the very important issue of FIFA 10 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. It’s a tough question since both games have their positive and their negatives. Game play, graphics, league set up and many more is being discussed. Now normally you would say let each person pick what ever game they like. However, when you need to play against each other there needs to be consensus for such issue. I’m still not sure which way to go as I havent played either yet. So stay tuned for the important update regarding this pressing issue.
• There is a new show on HBO that is a lot of fun to watch: Bored to Death. It is very funny. I think we can all relate to wanting something exciting in our mundane lives.
• Mad Men is amazing!

Well thanks for tuning in. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings today.