if only...

What would it be for you? Is there ever a time when you thought if only something was a certain way then it would be all different? You think of the possibilities of what could be or what it should be like instead? Lets be honest I'm sure we have all been there; we as humans always want what we don't have.

Sometimes we got to stop and see what we do have; it might not seem much to you, but everything is a blessing. Everything we have received, everything we have, what ever small or large it may be, is a privilege, not a right.

knocked down again...

Just when you thought I'd stop blogging; think again. This month has been a slow month for blogging for me; I'll blame it on the heat. It's too hot to blog? Either way if I have nothing to blog about, I can always blog about one of my favorite topics, Urawa. Urawa oh Urawa. How I have ridden the highs and lows this year, yet I still yak on about them. But with the season almost over and my plan to kick off a dedicated Urawa blog, what will happen here? Either way we'll see how it goes.

But as for Urawa, this week has got to be another low. We lost one nil at Kyoto. Don't reallly know what to say, after winning last week, I really did believe we'd have a chance of finishing top three and an ACL place for next year. But this year has really been a yoyo year, and hopefully next week we'd finish on a high. We play Kashima @ home next week to finish off the season and hopefully we can play the spoiler; and end result of Kawasaki winning the title. We all can't win, but at least one of us have a chance. Go Reds Go! (And GO KAWASAKI!)

maybe just a little...

So am I a sport nut? Yeah, maybe just a little bit. But what makes a person a sports nut? See I don't go to matches week in week out; mainly because the teams I follow doesn't come from the city I live in. Even in the local competition, I don't follow my local team and most of the teams that I do follow are all overseas based. Which I guess it's a good thing or else I could see where my money would be going to.

I think what makes me a little bit of a sports nut would be the amount of sports I follow and the number of teams I do barrack for. I have mentioned in a previous blog the teams that follow follow; but there are others that I might not follow follow, but I do follow and do barrack for. The ones mentioned in the blogs are four football teams I barrack, and it is the various types of "football" but I do also follow basketball (NBA), baseball (MLB & NPB), ice hockey (NHL), college sports (NCAA) and to a lesser extent rugby (Air NZ Cup). Plus I also follow motorsports (NASCAR), cycling and non-team sports like tennis.According to the above description of sports nut, I don't think I qualify as a sports nut. Alright maybe just a little...

hat-trick plus victory equals...

So I promise starting from next year I wont give you anymore Urawa updates on this blog; I will leave this blog for me personal stuff and all of the Urawa reports will be left on my Urawa blog. Well that is next year, but this year it's still here, so have to put up with it. Besides it's only for like less then 6 weeks.So what does a hat-trick plus a victory equals? Moving up four places on the table. Yes that's correct we have moved up 4 places in one weekend; we're now up in forth place. The hero of the weekend would have to be Edmilson, who first gave us the lead in the 21st min, then tied the game in the 82nd min and struck the winning goal in the last moments of the game. That hat-trick, and other games going our way, dragged us back up the table, and a chance to be in the ACL next year! A few weeks ago that seemed like a distant dream the ACL, now it can be a reality.

some bad urawa news...

Just when you thought I had dried up with all the Urawa news, think again, except this time it isn't good news. I know throughout this year there has been aplenty of bad news; for example the seven game losing streak, but this is worst then that. Much much worst. Are you ready?

Tsukasa Umesaki has been injured. It occurred during a training session on the 17th November. The diagnosis; a damaged anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which means he will be out of action for 6 months at least. Link to the story here.So what does this mean? With only three matches remaining, a majority of the time he will miss is the off season, but he will miss the beginning of season 2010. He should be expected to return around May. This will be for the second year in a row which Umesaki has missed the beginning of the season. He missed the beginning of this season with a lumbago (lower back pain).

Here's for a speed recovery and to be back better then ever!

too much plastic...

Ok, so over the years I have accumulated more and more plastic, and looking at all of my plastic now it appears that I have begun a collection of some kind. It began with one that was linked and now I have people linked to me! Some cards have changed their appearance or name altogether and many have requested that I increase my limit. But the truth still remains that I tend to take advantage of them!You got to love credit cards; now days it's really something that you cannot live with out and for me personally that is true! Mainly I'm attracted to their appearance, like whether or not they look good, but most importantly I look as to how they can advantage me. Always look for cards that have no yearly fees and an excellent rewards program. I want to be rewarded by my spending. Like who uses cash now days?At the moment I have a total of seven credit cards; yes that's a lot but I only use two of them, three the very maximum. No the ones I do not use are not maxed out or anything, they just don't serve a purpose for me during that time so they remain inactive. My main 'weapon of choice' would have to be my American Express Blue. Earns me the most points and gives me the most options on how to use my points. It's fantastic; I've used it's point for a flight even! The only down side to the Blue is that it's an American Express; not as widely accepted as say Visa or Mastercard. That's why I have my secondary card, my Mastercard. Which one? It rotates, which ever one I feel like using at that time.My ultimate credit card? The American Express Centurion card. Maybe sometime soon!?

oakley doakly...

Well for those who know me know that I'm a big fan of Oakley eyewear, well even in general and I think the term big fan is somewhat of an understatement. Either way you get the idea, when it comes to eyewear in particular I "prefer" or only use Oakley.Anyways cutting a long story short; due to being joined up to private health insurance I am able to claim a certain amount of say credit to purchase something to do with optical. Normally these would be a pair of glasses or contact lens, which is what I used my credit on last year. As the end of this year was fast approaching, I still was yet to spend this credit. I have enough contact lens to get me through till next year and I was planning to get new prescription glasses next year, so I thought, heck why don't I just get some new sunglasses.Which is exactly what I did. I "claimed" the pair like the ones above actually. They are called the 'Dispatch' and fit quiet comfortably on my face. So now my tally of Oakley eyewear reads something like this; seven sunglasses, one prescription glasses and one snow goggles. See below; my Oakley collection, only missing my prescription.I think the word I was looking for before was OBSESSED!

mobile blogging...

Well this was a total fail. I tried to blog on my iPhone this morning when I was waiting for my car to be washed and it just didn't happen. I don't know, maybe I was doing something wrong, but it just didn't work for me.

Either way that's all for today!

football & more football...

Wow, there's been like a week between posts; have I really been that busy to blog? Or am I getting over this blogging thing? What ever it is it's not stopping me today; so here I am to blog on about football and some other stuff.

Firstly some Urawa update. We played FC Tokyo @ Ajinomoto stadium over the weekend which resulted in a 1-nil victory for the reds; Edmilson scoring the only goal in the 49th min. We didn't make things easy though, playing a majority of the second half with only 10 men after Haraguchi got his marching orders in the 53rd min after collecting his second yellow card. Either way in the end we held on for the win. We still remain 8th on the ladder, with another 3 teams equal on 49 points. If we just had won a fortnight ago against Omiya, we would be in 4th place, to points behind the ACL position. That's how things go sometimes.
Barcelona also had a win in the La Liga over the weekend, defeating Mallorca 4-2 at the Nou Camp and then defeated third tier team Cultural Leonesa 5-nil in the Copa del Ray midweek.

Now on to football of the American kind; the Houston Texans lost to the Indianapolis Colts 20-17. Kris Brown could have tied the game as time expired, but missed his 42-yard field goal attempt. The Colts have now won 17 regular season games on the trot, but I tell you what, the Texans did give them a run for their money.

FINALLY, in NCAA Football Stanford defeated Oregon 51-42. The win over Oregon, who are the nations 7th rank team, vaults Cardinal Football back into the rankings, at 25, for the first time since 2001.

Overall it has been a good week/weekend for "my football" teams, except for when it comes to my teams in FIFA10. But that's for another time and place.

it's in the game...

As you might have guessed, I like my sports. Then this next statement flows on from that; I like sports computer games; what ever the sport, more then likely I would like to play it. My three favorites would have to be FIFA, NBA and NFL. There's something about sports and sporting games that just draws me to them.I've never been a big fan of any other genres; for example the RPG genre like Final Fantasy and others, but I do like EA sports series of games. I think I'm too much of a sports nut aye? Actually another genre that I am a big fan off besides sport is racing, but then again you could classify that as sports - motorsports to be exact.Well now I'm waiting to play FIFA10; I only have the PS3 for tonight, if only if the TV was available.

hotel babylon...

At Hotel Babylon, I'm glad I'm not; either working or staying. I guess it's a good thing I'm not an actor then aye and actually work in the hospitality industry! Hotel Babylon, for all that do not know, is a TV series based on a five star hotel and to be honest with you I do find it quiet enjoyable seeing what I do through another set of eyes so to speak. As every TV show or movie, this five star hotel of cause has been over-dramatized. How else would they get people to watch it, because the usual day to day operation of a five star hotel is very boring *wink*Well now I've almost finished watching season three and like most TV series, the first season is always the best. I don't know why, but I have developed a deeper connection with the original cast, in some ways relate to them more; maybe? It seems that from the second season onwards it appears to be "over exaggerated". Either way, it's got me hooked.

i don't feel like blogging...

So why am I blogging? Because I really don't feel like it. Confused? Yeah me too. It's been one of those days todays I think. Where the only thing I wanted to do, was what I didn't end up doing and it wasn't because I didn't have the time. It was just because.I'm feeling really confused at the moment. Don't really know what to do; I guess if I don't know what to do (and look abit like the above picture), there's only One that I can turn to right? Yep thought so! It's funny how I can clear my head just by blogging.

My apologies for taking your time.