Alright, we're facing Boro tomorrow in yet another late kickoff. I know our record in late kickoffs hasn't been stellar, well...to put things into perspective, it's been abysmal.However we've not totally without any sucesses in late kickoffs as slated in my previous post on the subject. Here are the ones which we have won. Not alot, but enough to give hope for tomorrow's game.1-0 Victory over Spurs on 9th Sept (Sat) 1715 kickoff1-0 Victory over Blackburn on 11th Nov (Sat) 1715 kickoff4-0 Victory over Spurs on 4th Feb (Sun) 1600 kickoffTomorrow's the last hurdle we have to clear for premiership games with a late kickoff. Let's hope we pass this one with flying colours. I'm personally hoping for yet another penalty to settle this one....just to rub it for all the whining in past fixtures.
The cushion which we've been sitting so comfortably on has just gotten significantly harder. Chelsea beating Spurs (seriously, who couldn't see that coming!) and us losing to Portsmouth has cut our lead in the table to just 3 points with 6 games to go. It's still a commanding lead, especially when you factor in our superior goal difference.It's just a minor road bump on our journey to wrestle the title from Chelsea. As long as there are no major road blocks in the form of late kickoffs, we should do fine. If at the start of the season, given the option to be in this position, I would gladly grab it with both hands. That's how far we've come, and I doubt neither the players, the management team nor the fans will willingly let this one go, especially not since we've worked so hard to come this far.As for the game, all I can say is that Portsmouth played well, we looked tired and were undone by individual errors. None more glaring than from our stand-in captain Rio and our keeper V
As for tonight's game, I don't really have a good feeling about it. I've just checked the achives and all the games which we've dropped points have come from late kickoffs.1-0 Loss to Arsenal on 17th Sept (Sun) 1600 kickoff1-1 Draw to Reading on 23rd Sept (Sat) 1715 kickoff1-1 Draw to Chelsea on 26th Nov (Sun) 1600 kickoff1-0 Loss to West Ham on 17th Dec (Sun) 1600 kickoff2-2 Draw to Newcastle on 1st Jan (Mon) 1715 kickoff (New Years Day)2-1 Loss to Arsenal on 21st Jan (Sun) 1600 kickoffAs you can see, every single one of those 6 games which we have dropped points this season has come from late kickoffs. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, since I didn't check the time of every single fixture. We could've pulled off some wins from late kickoffs, but given the damning statistics, I'm not too sure about tonight's games. FWIW, I'm keeping my fingers crossed tonight when I'm at Cow's place watching the game.
This year the Super Bowl kicks off at the Dolphin Stadium in South Florida February 4th. Whether it's the Bears or the Colts you are rooting for, I'm sure my fellow foodies will agree that the real winner is a "Super Bowl" of food that stand out from the usual fare of chips, dips and chili. While all the football fans out there are contemplating on who will win this year, I, on the other hand, will be contemplating on delivering a winning snack for this year's Super Bowl party. This year, I am going to stick with a simple party food recipe so I can be in the living room during game time joining in with the cheering and yelling, and most importantly, among the company of good buddies. I have narrowed down my "teams" to two favorites - the tempting "Colt"-en Shrimp Fritters vs. the equally alluring "Bear"-ffalo Chicken Lollipops. *grins* So, fellow foodies, which of these two teams do you think will be the winner of my Super Bowl party food this year ?
