BLACK

This is Guardiola's first XI for tonight's massive Champions League final:

Valdes
Sylvinho
Pique
Toure
Puyol
Iniesta
Busquets
Xavi
Messi
Eto'o
Henry

Man Utd's starting eleven:

Van Der Sar
Evra
Vidic
Ferdinand
O'Shea
Anderson
Carrick
Giggs
Park
Ronaldo
Rooney

Wolves have a fine pedigree in the game and were particularly successful in the 1950s, winning 3 league titles. Their chief executive Jez Moxey has stated that the club's aim is to emulate the achievements of this era rather than "just" staying up in next season's Premiership. Although this ambition is admirable, Wolves fans will remember that their last experience of the Premiership was short lived (relegated in 2004 after a single season and without winning a single away game) and will doubt be hoping that the Wolves hierarchy do focus first and foremost on surviving. The 2003-04 season was however not without it's highlights as the Molineux failthful saw their team defeat Manchester United 1-0 and it is these sort of performances that the fans will hope can be repeated next season.

Survival will of course depend on how much the club is prepared to invest in new players. Thankfully the financial difficulties of the 1980s, which saw Wolves almost bankrupted and bailed out by the local council, are behing the club. Millionaire owner Steve Morgan is keen to "transform the city centre ground into a venue fit for Premiership football", with the first stage being to re-introduce 900 temporary seats, previously introduced during Wolves' last Premiership experience, into the ground.

The revenue from the 900 seats will however not be enough to raise the extra investment that Wolves legend Steve Bull believes will be necessary to keep the club in the Premier League. Bull believes that £50 million will be required and that this sum will only be enough to pay for five players in terms of fees and wages. Bull believes that Wolves need two centre-halves, two midfielders and a front man. To date Wolves have been coy about how much they plan to invest, but have gone on record to say they are willing to spend the rght amount on the right players.

Many Wolves fans however have doubts about Mick McCarthy's ability to invest in the right players, pointing to his time at Sunderland, during which they claim he bought lots of lower league players rather than a smaller number of high quality players, which they believe the club needs. These fans will however be comforted by the fact that the popular Karl Henry has agreed improved terms on a new four-year deal with the Championship winners. Chris Iwelumo, another fans favourite, has also confirmed that he and the whole squad are hungry to succeeed in the Premier league and will put the work in to maximise their chances.The Scottish international netted 16 goals last term as Wolves clinched the Championship title but he missed the end of season through injury.

So will Wolves spend the right money on the right players and succeed where their Midlands neighbours West Brom failed? Current odds for staying up are about the 4/5 mark. In my opinion Birmingham have the better chance, but more on that another time ....

This season as racing goes has been a bit up in the air… I started my training plan back in October with a view to peak around about now for Wildboar 24 then later in the year when I naturally seem to go better.

When I heard that Wildboar 24 had been cancelled this was a bit of a blow as it effectively meant I would waste a good period of fitness and a lot of work would have gone to waste.. I did a few local events but nothing that was really my forte... to remedy this I needed to find a good honest endurance event to go test the legs.

There was nothing ‘local’ so the net was spread further a field and the only option seemed to be Set2Rise.. a night 12 hour endurance race with rave reviews on how good the course was last year but over 200 mile drive I had originally discounted this as just too far and too costly to get involved with.. with nothing else available I had no option but to go check it out.

Quickly texting fellow racers I found that I would at least know 2 other people there… fellow Genesis rider James Leavsley and the fast female Fi Spotswood... they had decided to race solo and mixed pair respectively.

The day of the race the weather was amazing… hot with clear skies… the drive down was nice and relaxed as the start time wasn’t till 6pm.. I arrived at 2.30pm.. tons of time to spare so got seat out car and began eating.. this race was the first trial of the ‘Paul West Diet For Champions’ feeding approach.. West has continuously chastised me for my bad eating habits and poor race feeding so I gave this one totally to him and followed his instructions to the letter.

James arrived sporting shorts and flip flops and looking decidedly like he had thrown his bike and kit into the car without much prep.. as it turned out he had thrown his bike and kit into the car without much prep, Still awaiting delivery of his team bike he was using an old hardtail which was held together by chance and luck I think… was great to have a few hours in the sun just chatting and eating before we had to do any prepping or racing…

The Solo pit area was gradually filling and it looked like a lot of people were riding singlespeed.. some really nice bikes around too with Tim Flooks sporting what looked like a ti Independent Fab … I put my bike together.. Decided that one light would be enough as I had the Light and Motion Seca Ultra so I donated my Stella 200L to James as a helmet mount.. I was gambling that the big battery and running a lower output would still give me plenty of light and mean I wouldn’t have to change.

Kitted and ready an effort at a warm up was made.. Circling a nearby tarmac area… then a roll to the start.. En route bumped into Fi .. She had done pre ridden the course and was raving about the quality of the singletrack and the harshness of a tarmac steep climb.. all in thought it sounded like a fantastic course.

The start was tarmac and slightly uphill and as the clock ticked over to 6pm we were off at a fast pace.. I was spinning out my gear and James was mis shifting just in front of me.. His bike was grumbling after 30 seconds.. It didn’t look good.
The course was amazing.. After the start we hit a grassy downhill.. Then into the woods on some wider tracks.. We then popped out onto field again then through a short wood to the first steep tarmac climb… once you had done this you were rewarded with a twisty singletrack downhill.. this eventually ended with the start of the long climb on the course.. it was up and down on a field before turning right and hitting a steeper section that went from grass to chalk to tarmac to wood and then back to tarmac.. I had to walk the chalk section every lap but I think it was the quicker option… the climb was long and the tarmac section steep but I seemed to have developed the ability to ride at a cadence of 10rpm on the singlespeed.
After this climb you hit a totally flat out grass downhill… this was purely blind faith as to get the most out of it you had to go with no brakes and point and go.. the level of faith on this increased as the darkness set in and you could only see a few metres in front of you… this left you with lots of wooded sections left and a slightly uphill grass climb upto a fantastic view ( when it wasn’t dark) of the surrounding countryside.. the singletrack was tight and i body rubbed the same tree every lap trying to squeeze extra sped and contort around it… even fully rigid this course was a total blast… somehow they have managed to coax all the trees to grow their roots at right angles to the trail so you can ride straight over them without them wiping your wheels out.

I started leading the singlespeed race but lost this position mid first lap… I figured myself back in 3rd by end of the lap so just settled into it… I had planned on a 12 lap race but laps seemed to be going by quickly and I had done 4 before it was really dark enough for lights… with lights on it was clear that my single light choice was more than adequate with the Light and Motions throwing out plenty of light even in the lowest setting.. My feeding plan was easy enough to follow.. Bottle every 2 laps and then a gel or energy bar every lap… I never felt hungry and energy levels never faltered.. I felt consistent as the laps went by.



During one of my midway laps I caught sight of James ahead of me and I had somehow managed to catch him up.. This was unnerving as he is a top class rider and riding gears so I shouldn’t have been this close to him.. as it turned out he was having a nonstop mechanical issue with his gears which eventually led to his total retirement from the race.

Everyone on course was friendly and clearly enjoying the course and conditions… on Lap 9 I noticed I was sliding further back on the saddle so got off to take a look and discovered that my saddle had worked loose.. I retightened it to ride a few meters before it happened again… balls…. I had to balance on the centre on the saddle and climb out of it.. as I got back to the start I tightened it again and went to check out my position in the singlespeed race.. 2nd!! .. no way I could stop riding so made do with my balancing act on the saddle for the remaining 5 hours of the race…

On my 12th or 13th lap I was caught again by the solo race leader Sam Humphrey (Charge Bikes) .. Luckily I was caught on a flat section so we got to have a chat.. He said he had a few dark moments during the night but was winning convincingly and looked strong

The final lap was always going to be the best… the race was nearly over.. I couldn’t be caught by third place and the sun was out and we were riding in daylight again…

I have to be honest in saying that I don’t enjoy every race I do… riding round in circles grinds you down… but this was a great event… the course was possibly the best I have ever ridden and well organised.

I eventually finished 2nd overall and I reckon I was about 15 minutes behind first place but as I hadn’t managed to catch him by 11.45 hours point I called it a day.. I am happy with my ride and my bike and although the talk at the end of the race was no more riding around in circles racing I can’t help but just have a little look and see what other races are out there…




Big thank you to James at Genesis for getting me a bike that works so well… Jim at Alpkit for my super warm and comfy pre/post ride clothing and Paul West for making me adopt his feeding strategy which although I hate to admit it worked flawlessly.

Pictures courtesy of Adam @ photo-it.com and some unknown facebook member.

Barcelona vs Manchester United Champions League Final Wednesday 27th May. Live on ITV1 at 7.45pm.

The breakdowns of last week lead to breakthroughs a week later.

Frustrated with the progress at the time, the weekend was spent creating position-specific, narrated DVD film study/coaching points with video overlays of what needs to improve. This saved considerable time in addressing the needs heading into game week and affords the players something to focus on (again and again at their convenience) throughout the summer.

The matchup against Evangel went as well as could be expected and the competition helped further define who needs to be on the field and who can contribute.




Next up, 7-on-7 tournaments, weights, and preparing for Fall ball with an intensive film study of all opponents as we transistion to a new (athletic) class this year.

SUNNY HAPPY PEOPLE PARADE
- DISTORTION FESTIVAL 2009 -

The CO2 E - Race Project is in collaboration with Soupa Natural and Distortion hosting the Sunny Happy People Parade, to celebrate the source of all energy and life.

TIME: 19.00
PLACE: AXELTORV - Next to Scala across the street from Tivoli
TO: ENGHAVEPLADS - Where the Parade turns into Dance
WITH: CO2 neutral ways of transportation and music, passing by several spots along the way, such as WAS..ending up with the
Bitchslap Crew at The E Garden Place and their legendary dance contest.



More about Distortion Festival HERE

Sunny Happy People Myspace profile HERE

We Collaborate with WeCollaborate


WeCollaborate has arranged that Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus will be speaking from Roskilde Festival's Orange Stage on Sunday 5th of July 2009 to bring out the message of social business and microcredit to the future generation.

More on WeCollaborate HERE

Soupanatural er en økologisk suppe og cocktailbar der ligger på Nørrebro. Soupanatural vil gerne gøre det rigtige, og det rigtige mener vi at drive vores virksomhed med respekt for mennesker, samfund og miljø. Derfor er vores menu økologisk, fortrinsvis vegetarisk og vi arbejder meget med at finde nye løsninger på gamle problemstillinger. Vi forsøger at reducere vores energiforbrug, finde alternative affaldsløsninger og donerer en krone per solgt suppe eller cocktail til Projekt Udenfor, der arbejder med udsatte hjemløse i København. Soupanatural mener det er vigtigt at tage ansvar for den verden vi lever i, og deltager aktivt i begivenheder, arrangementer og events med dette formål for øje.



Mere info www.soupanatural.dk

Portsmouth 3 Sunderland 1 Guest blogger Josh Allen

Sunderland threw away another opportunity to guarantee Premier League survival last night, after letting a 1-0 lead slip at Fratton Park.

The result puts the Black Cats in serious danger of Premier League relegation. They are now just two points clear of the drop zone and face a daunting trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

If Sunderland are to go down it will be due to an awful run of form that has seen them pick up just 5 points from a possible 36. They have won just once in the last 3 months and that came against a Hull side in a similar state of free fall.

Momentum and confidence are two of the most crucial aspects of football. Sunderland currently possess neither and last night's game merely demonstrated how difficult it is to turn the tide. Despite Kenwyne Jones getting the opener early in the second half, the visitors were unable to build on their advantage. Their lead lasted barely a minute and shortly afterwards Portsmouth were ahead, following a calamity of errors culminating in a Phil Bardsley own goal.

To Sunderland's credit they didn't give in to the football odds and completely give up but it was simply not to be their day. Given the path that the game had taken, its ending was almost inevitable - Jones missed a great opportunity to equalise and moments later the ball was in the net at the other end courtesy of Armand Traore.

After the game, manager Ricky Sbragia was keen to put a positive spin on proceedings, telling BBC Sport: “it has always been in our hands and we know what is required on Sunday.” The fact is, he also knew what was required last night – a win would have secured their safety with a game to spare. Unfortunately for Sunderland, knowing and doing are two very different things.

No matter at what level of this sport you are at… the occasional racer or the professional cyclist you can never escape occasionally having a bad day on the bike..
It can be a combination of many things but the end result is always the same… a depressingly poor performance.
After riding the Colne Valley Challenge last weekend on the SS I was feeling pretty strong... I was able to drop most riders on the climbs and was descending well over the few bit of singletrack… I have to admit that the effort was felt in the legs on the Monday but Mark factored this into last weeks training.
Round 3 of the Lee Quarry racing was happening so thought another good chance to get out and give myself a confidence boost before next weekends drive down to the 12 hour Set2Rise race where I would like to do well.
Great thing about Lee Quarry is its close.. I mean only 40 minutes drive from my house so prep is minimal... the race was only 90 minutes plus a lap so food etc was very low key aswell.. in fact it was a good breakfast..a single bottle and a gel just in case.
I did the unusual thing of pre riding the course.. usually I don’t want to see what I will be lapping for 12 hours but as this was a short race and a short course and would be a good warm up I paid my entry got changed and went for a spin.. or more a slow grind.. the climbing was on the borderline of my gearing being rideable but only just with a few sections just I chose to save the effort and push up.. not so bad I thought … was a little harsh on the fully rigid but if I could get enough speed up I wouldn’t feel the full force of the rocky terrain..

The start… unluckily the start was on a hill… a hill which was on the borderline of my gearing.. I noticed another SS rider in the racer cat and he was both feet clipped in and hanging onto the fence down the right side of the start line.. good idea… I tried to angle my bike slightly to take away starting on the full slope but as the race set off I was left flailing and scooting trying to clip in and went from the first line to near the back and as I looked up I could see the other SS rider cresting one of the first climbs leading the race.. .


I muscled the bike the best I could but my legs didn’t have the strength they had the week before and I was getting a good muscle shake every time I was seated and trying to force the gear… on the flat and descents I struggled to get on top of my gear and pop over the rocky sections so I just got progressively more beat up.. although was good to get some good shouts of support from the marshalls and spectators with much respect being given for the foolish fully rigid SS choice..



I figured on a 6 lap race.. I did have a mid race peak when I could see I was making ground up on the other SS rider.. I could actually see him mid lap but at the end of the lap I did catch him.. but only as he had punctured and pulled over to replace the tube.. I went past and carried on.. most races I will feel awful until I hit an hour then the legs and the brain switch on and I’m away.. this time an hour came and I failed to rise to the occasion in fact I think I slowed down..


As I ended the 5th lap no bell… I was out on my 6th with the prospect of having to do a 7th… to make matter worse the other SS rider caught me on starting the 6th lap.. I am so bad for napping mid race.. I lose focus when there is nothing front of me and sub consciously slow down.. I stayed with him briefly then lost touch as a back marker got inbetween us..
Then the final blow was getting caught mid lap by the overall leader which effectively meant he was on his bell lap and stopped the race for me at end of my 6th lap putting me a lap down on a number of riders.. never great to finish a lap adrift.. well not in short course racing anyway..

This left me nothing but to clean bike and pack the car and reflect…
So I learned to;
- When starting a race on a hill on a SS get both feet clipped in
- Bad days happen to us all… learn from it and move on
- I am no short course racer.. 4 hours plus only from now on..

Lets hope Set2Rise goes more too plan

Pic courtesy of www.laimonas.co.uk

NEW WHISPERS OF HOPE


The HOPE "Whisper" was the first Danish Electric Car from 1983
More info in Danish HERE

USED FRYING OIL IS LIKE A TIGER IN YOUR TANK



More info HERE

E - TRANS DENMARK: PROJECT AT KOLDING DESIGN SCHOOL



More about the project HERE

The "sketch" was made with the help of an Ellert (Danish Electric Car), a bicycle and a Jaguar XF-E as the "brushes". The GPS was the placed on each vehicle functioning as "paint". The White Lines is the GPS track transfered to a map over Copenhagen from 1954 given to the project/sponsored by the Danish Consultancy company within Engineering, Environmental Science and Economics called COWI. The image will be printed into a limited edition, hand colored series of Lithographs.

CO2 NEUTRAL HOTELS WITH CO2 NEUTRAL CARS


The family run Brøchner Hotels in Copenhagen has taken the necessary steps to become the first hotels in the world to be CO2 neutral. Not only is the hotels CO2 neutral, they also offer their guests CO2 neutral cars as the above two seater "Buddy". These cars will also be part of the "Sunny Happy People Parade" on the 5th of June in the streets of Copenhagen.

Read more about the hotels HERE

ANTHROPOLOGY FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD


As CEO of antropologerne.com -- a consulting company of danish anthropologists -- I support the CO2 E-Race as their ambassador and the projects vision for a brave new world. It's a pleasure to join good work for a world where action, speed, flow and freedom is created through awareness.
In antropologerne.com we put human beings, the climate, connectivity and peoples wish to live life with meaning and responsibility in focus. As we help understand and explain the future consumers experiences, and what excites and restrict people in living their dreams we're happy to learn from and contribute to this important initiative.

Rikke Ulk - CEO of antropologerne.com

West Brom 0 Liverpool 2

Championship Play-off Focus

Premier League relgation battle continues with Hull City getting a point towards their cause.

Premiership results for today - 16th May 2009.

Bolton 1 Hull City 1
Everton 3 West Ham 1
Manchester United 0 Arsenal 0
Boro 1 Aston Villa 1
Newcastle 0 Fulham 1
Stoke 2 Wigan 0
Tottenham 2 Manchester City 1

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Manchester City 1

Here is the latest football news ahead of the lunchtime Premier League clash between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford, kick off 12.45pm.

Arsenal team news
Arsenal have been without Rosicky for a long time now, the good news is that he is back in training but will not feature in any action until next season. It has been well documented that Arsenal's problems all season has been defending - teenager Gibbs will remain as the understudy to Clichy at left-back and William Gallas is still out with a knee injury. That said, Gibbs has done well against Cristiano Ronaldo in previous games and the real defensive issue if cover in the Arsenal midfield area. Eduardo is also sidelined with a groin problem.

Manchester United team news
The champions are at full fitness other than England international defender Rio Ferdinany who has a calf injury. Rio will hope to be back for their trip to te KC stadium v Hull City. Darren Fletcher might get a start because he will not take part in the Champions League final due to suspension.

"Its never as good or as bad as you remember it - watch the tape"

2 hours since our first Spring intra squad scrimmage and I am doing my best to lower the blood pressure and relax.... take stock of the positives

I suppose I am frustrated with the performances because I thought we did all we could to best prepare the players (much higher expectations of execution). It wasn't terrible, but my expectations were quite a bit higher than what I saw, and what I continue to review on tape. There ARE positives, there is quite a bit of potential, and brighter spots than once believed.

The good thing is, we have plenty of film on all the entire roster, so it isn't like there are any remaining question marks out there.

* elimination of questions doesn't necessarily mean the production of answers, I'm afraid.

I am still waiting for some lightbulbs to turn on for few players and I'll have to search for new ways to deliver the same information so the executions are more confident and aggressive.







Hopefully, there will be better news to report in one week versus an opponent.

I will take comfort in knowing we have good young men, with good families, who want to take pride in their program. The defense came up with 5 turnovers, everyone hustled (no loafs), everyone got plenty of reps/looks, and we can run perimeter screens competently.

In as much as the title of this blog is an inside joke shared by a former staff, its 'truth' is hard to avoid.


Now, to meditate on all that which is good and soothing...


that's better

Premier League matches for this Saturday 16 May 2009

Mark Hughes has the cheque book. Now he needs 2-3 players to create the core of a new Manchester City, a Manchester City that will break into the top 6 clubs and push on eventually to the Champions League.

Where will Owen go?

Latest odds from SkyBet:

Wigan to win 9/2
Man Utd to win 2/7
Wigan - Man Utd draw 9/2

Use the link on the right to register an account with SkyBet to get your bet on prior to 8pm!

Practice 8 down of Spring Ball after being monsooned out on Monday.

All of the SEC (save 4 teams) and half the Big XII have visited for our prized Senior.

We have been treading water on the Oline trying to develop consistency and continuity with the system. We have installed; zone, stretch, 40s, 50s, solid, bubble, jail, slo, power, counter, lead, option, and 90s......(whew!). We have been trying to own the zone, and the last two practices we have committed to using the TT 3ft splits.

FYI - if it weren't for the time put in the last 3 years learning zone from Todd Sturdy, Alex Gibbs (pick up that name), Ken Wilmesherr, Rod Dobbs, Milt Tenopir, John McDowell, and Jim McNally... I would sure be up the creek. TFS has about squat for resources when it comes to specific OLine technique and installation work. That didn't sound frustrated, did it?

We'll get it down, but of course, we just need more reps. Picked up another athletic senior guard and hopefully we can make it stick (attitude wise).

DBs are looking solid and we are getting our turnovers. Decent down to the 2's and trying to get the 3's and 4's (depth chart)to a competent level. We have C3 and now C1 in. We will shoot for 6 turnovers in the final Spring game, next week (vs Evangel).

BTW - am out of town next week for work and will miss two practices (ugh) and be in Dallas for 3 nights with a Pentacostal co-worker (ahem.... Gold's Club? Pandoras, anyone?)

Should Premier League footballers drink?

Firstly thanks to all of the football bloggers that gave their opinion on whether a English-Scottish 'British Cup' would be an entertaining replacement for the dour Carling Cup.

63% of respondents would replace the Carling Cup with the British Cup....I guess 37% either object to losing the League Cup which began in 1960 OR they just do not care!

Alan Shearer's Newcastle United won arguably one of the biggest games in thier history, beating fellow North East strugglers Middlesborough 3-1.

Scorers: Newcastle: Taylor, S 9, Martins 71, Lovenkrands 86
Middlesbrough: Beye (og) 3

FULL MATCH REPORT TO FOLLOW

With Wildboar 24 now cancelled my racing season started to look a little light… finances are preventing me from travelling big distances and my summer trip hangs in the balance with the destination slowly creeping closer to home to reduce the outlay..
With this bleak outlook I was desperate to get out and get a number on my bike again… quick flick through the usual forums turned up the Colne Valley Mountain Bike Challenge… strictly not a race in the true sense of the word as we would be partially on public roads but strap a number on a bike and put people on a start line together and you bet there will be some racing:)
Research into the event showed that it was a hilly devil... decided that I would have a crack on the singlespeed as all my upcoming events are singlespeed based so good place to give myself a hard time and work out any problems… the times from last year indicated that the 30 mile course would be conquered by the fastest in 2 hours 20ish .. I gave myself a 40 minute buffer as I imagined that singlespeed would see me spinning out on any flat or downhill so aimed for 3 hours..

..side note: people always believe that singlespeeder’s lose out on the climbs.. I don’t find that.. any climb you can’t muscle is nearly always just as quick to walk.. you go faster up the climbs as you have no option but to push the gear you have no matter what you feel like.. where I frustratingly lose time over the geared racers is on the flat and descending where you can’t make any time as you spin the gear out.. annoying but a small price to pay for consistent speed and effort:)

Start of 9am… always nice to get a race done with in enough time to allow you to get home unpack, clean and still enjoy some well earned feet up time being fed by loved ones..

The race started with 30m of slight downhill into a left hand bend then onto the climb from hell… not too long but cobbled and steep… every fully rigid singlespeeders nightmare.. from this a bit more climbing to the start of another cobbled climb but this time wooded and greasy which saw a lot of geared riders walking up it.

The rest of the course followed suit.. we saw a quarry, some boggy wet riding, rocky singletrack descents, road and off road long climbs… on the whole I stood my ground only losing out on the long road descents but being able to make ground up on the long steady climbs which were made for singlespeed riders.
I didn’t wear a watch and I don’t use a computer so just had to instinctively use the 2 gels I carried to see me through to the end.. I opted for a single water bottle and also drunk at 4 of the 5 water stations.. opting for a carrying as little gear as possible approach.



The weather held good with only a hint of rain and was good to chat to some riders as we did some of the climbs.. the course was as described sadistic… steep sharp climbing then quickly losing the gained height to start again.. great stuff and a good challenge as the race title suggested..


Eventually made it back to the finish in 2 hours 34minutes … unknown position.. suspect 20 something.. very happy at only giving away 24 minutes to the winner who was geared over 30 miles.. might come back next year with gears and see how close to 2 hours I can get:)

Image courtesy of Flamingphotography.co.uk

Arsenal v Chelsea Premiership 4pm match