Month: April 2022

One year, some friends and I decided to do a fun ride, a century. A hundred miles, just for giggles. At about mile 65 or so, we bonked. No energy in the legs. At mile 66, we came across a bakery. About 30 bucks worth of Pepsi and pastries later, we hit the road like… Continue reading Barça 0, Rayo Vallecano 1, aka ‘Hey, they set a record!’

Cliches are sometimes rooted in truth, and the overused word mentality is one of those. On the weekend, Real Madrid came from 0-2 down to win, 3-2 against Sevilla. People will point to various conspiracies, etc, say that Camavinga should have been sent off, etc, but does anyone really think that even a man down,… Continue reading Barça 0, Cadiz 1, aka ‘Mentality matters’

There is no more elegant way to say it: Barça got its ass kicked. In its own house. The day after, the tizzy in culerdom is that more than 30,000 Frankfurt supporters were in the Camp Nou, how did they get all those tickets, something must be done, blablabla. It’s a lovely, convenient distraction from… Continue reading Eintracht Frankfurt 3, Barça 2, aka ‘The woodshed is over there’

Many culers are still wrestling with the notion that their beloved club is in the Europa League. It’s not Champions League, right? It’s like that second-tier tournament where big clubs go to feel shame, and keep from getting egg on their faces at the hands of clubs that nobody except supporters ever watch, right? Right?… Continue reading Barça, for all the marbles … it’s Go Time

Football teams, at their highest-functioning level, are like electrical wiring. Without a complete circuit, something to close the loop, nothing happens. Sometimes that link comes through a player, sometimes a moment that catalyzes the proceedings, but without that linkup, that bit of solder, it’s just a bunch of dead wires. At the end of a… Continue reading Levante 2, Barça 3, aka “Links and redemption”

What a beautiful match the first leg of the Europa League tie against Eintracht Frankfurt was. Yes, there was lots of grumbling, lots of grousing about the quality of football, a ref that left much to be desired and more. Xavi all but called their pitch a cabbage patch. But that match was like medicine… Continue reading Eintracht Frankfurt 1, Barça 1, aka “KaPOW!”

Long before I moved there, all I knew about Frankfurt was that it was the home of the European Central Bank. It was Germany, so of course it was efficient and cutting edge, which obviously meant that I envisioned a sparkling, futuristic world of marble and glass, sprawling plazas, and people in business suits wearing… Continue reading From Frankfurt with Love: Eintracht-Barça