World in motion.

An amazing extended sportsweekend. starting with yesterday's crazy UEFA Champion's League Final in which a below average FC Barcelona took out a depleted 10 man Arsenal side 2-1 in a rain soaked Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris. And what exactly was Anthony LaPaglia doing providing commentary, however briefly on ESPN2??? It's not like Australia is some futbol powerhouse despite the indidivual brilliance of a Kewell and a Viduka. And no, being part owner of Sydney FC does not qualify him. Yes, Lehmann's challenge was a foul, but I think playing the advantage and proferring a yellow after the disallowed goal would have been a better call. My complaint about the ref, Terje Hauge, was not that he favored either team (he clearly didn't), but that he was wildly inconsistent in assessing which strong tackle deserved a yellow card. Then he awarded a card in the 69th minute on what was a clean tackle by Presas Oleguer but emphatically held up 1 and then 2 and then 3 fingers as if to say, "I already gave you a couple of free passes," which is of course, no way to referee a match of this magnitude. Where, oh, where is his baldness when we need him?

Neither Henry nor Ronaldinho played to the best of their abilities. Yes, Henry placed a superb corner for Arsenal's goal headed by Campbell, but he also had two clear shots on goal and didn't score. On the latter, almost a breakaway, he actually mishit the ball a bit right to the keeper. Barca's Brazilian star did basically nothing all match long, but he has had a glorious season overall both domestically and in Europe.

BTW, "World in Motion" was New Order's contribution to the genre of official World Cup team theme song, in this case England for Italia 90, and featured such players as John Barnes and Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne on backing vocals.

Tonight, we have a rare Thursday start for a weekend SEC baseball series at Dudy-Noble Field Polk-Dement Stadium. MSU will play archrival OLE Miss with a trip to the SEC Conference Championship in Hoover on the line. See you in the Left Field Lounge.