Honours Even

Save for the Liverpool Scousers, the other 3 of the top 4 EPL teams shared the spoils of the weekend round of matches with their opponents. First up was the early kick-off North London derby @ White Hart Lane i.e. Tottenham Hotspurs vs the great Gunners. Spurs started off the match with more gusto than Wenger's boys & dominated throughout the 1st half. In fact, they had a goal to show, courtesy of a corner that was headed in by Robbie Keane. Gilberto & co. certainly looked out of sorts until the half time whistle. Nevertheless, things were better for Gooners all around the world in the 2nd half as the team performed more like the Arsenal we love & support. Cesc Fabregas, who came on for an injured Ljungberg, inspired the Gunners to their 2 goals of the match with a superbly taken freekick, each converted a piece by Toure & Adebayor. The Gunners should have finished the game off subsequently but were let down by poor finishing. Instead, they live somewhat dangerously & were punished at virtually the last kick of the game when Jermaine Jenas's 30 yard screamer ensured that Arsenal returned to Emirates Stadium with just a point. The last minute strike on goal was similar to Michael Essien's recent heroics to win a game for Chelski.


Speaking of Chelski, they were in contention to reducing their points gap with ManUre to a point as the Red Devils were held 1-1 by Middlesborough on Saturday. All Terry & co. had to do was see off Newcastle at St James' Park on Sunday. Surprisingly, will such motivation at hand, Chelski were somewhat subdued in their performance and the match ended with a goalless draw. I watched most of the game & felt letdown by the expensively assembled squad. A golden chance wasted.


Congrats too to Cristiano Ronaldo for being voted PFA Player and Young Player of the Year 2007 by his peers. Fabregas came in 2nd for the Young Player of the Year 2007 award. I agree with the likes of Pele who said that kids like Ronaldo (or even Cesc) are not considered great until they have been performing superbly for a number of years, not just a year or even two. Lets hope Cesc takes the gong next year.


On to non-EPL football matters. I saw TMNT last Saturday morning. Cowabunga, dude! Gf couldn't join me as she was away for a working retreat with her faculty members to plan for next semester's subjects. Hence, i was allowed to ask along those in the OK list (if I chose to). After finding out that gf's sis & also 'bro' Yeech was unavailable to join me for the morning show (there were only 2 screenings that day & I wasn't gonna endure the afternoon crowd at the mall to watch the 1630 show), I was left with asking my PEERS juniors. Luckily, one of them whose exams start in more than a weeks & who is also gf's namesake, was free to accompany me. So, to K.Long, thanks for tagging along for the movie & lunch (Maya too for lunch).


I enjoyed TMNT. It was grittier & serious than the previous 3 movies, which is to my liking. My favourite turtle is Raphael & I was rooting for him in his fight with Leonardo. The movie had some famous voice actors too, notably Patrick Stewart as the voice of Max Winters (the supposed antagonist of the film) whom I recognised. The movie could be made into a mini series with the turtles going about preventing the capture of the 13 monsters (hope I am not giving much of the plot away). Anyhow, I recommend TMNT although I believe it's somewhat not suitable for young turtles... opps, kids, that are unaccompanied by elder rats... adults (argh!) .

Coming soon, the stream of summer released movies. Those I wanna watch includes Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End, Ocean's 13, Shrek the Third, Transformers, Bourne Ultimatum and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Luckily, gf also wanna watch many of these movies. So, I shall save my April salary & prepare for popcorns galore in the coming months.


Till later, live long & prosper.