Stuttgart Wins -- FA Cup Viewers Lose
Despite having some of the deepest pockets in the publishing world, Vein of Form is smart about how we spend our endless supply of funds. Thus, we took a pass on shelling out $26 to see the FA Cup Final between Manchester United & Chelsea today. After seeing that the match went to extra time and took well over 100 minutes to produce a goal, I would say this was another in a string of smart decisions VoF has made. Drogba's strike gave Chelsea the Carling Cup and FA Cup this season. Unfortunately, for Jose Mourinho that is two cups short of being able to keep his job.
The real story was in Germany where on the final day of the season Stuttgart were clinging to the title and Schalke held out hope that they could get back what they threw away the previous weekend in Dortmund. When both matches went to halftime, Stuttgart was level with Cottubus at 1-1 and Schalke were up 2-0 against Bielefeld. In the 63rd minute Khedira put Stuttgart up 2-1, and that proved to be the title clinching goal. Cottbus were unable to break the grip that Stuttgart had on the match and Schalke would not get the crucial 3rd goal (or shutout) they desperately needed to have any hopes of winning the Bundesliga.
The German league was very exciting down the stretch and it was nice to see some new blood in the title chase this season with Bayern Munich a non-factor and Werder Bremen inconsistent the last several weeks of the season. I also have to say that GolTV showed the American cable channels how to show a trophy presentation and celebration.
They did a fantastic job - much better than Fox Soccer Channel did for the Manchester United trophy celebration - and it only helped that Ray Hudson was calling the match. Hudson is a force to be reckoned with in the commentator's box. Not only that, GolTV were regularly showing the Schalke match in progress so viewers could keep a tab on how things were shaping up.
All the praise goes to this Stuttgart team though. They got off to a horrible start, but in the end they were the ones hoisting the Bundesliga trophy and celebrating in front of their raucous fans while drinking some extra large glasses of beer. They'll be an exciting side to watch in the Champions League next season and should be a contender for the German title once again.
Shame on all of you that watched the FA Cup snoozer instead of the action in Germany!
The real story was in Germany where on the final day of the season Stuttgart were clinging to the title and Schalke held out hope that they could get back what they threw away the previous weekend in Dortmund. When both matches went to halftime, Stuttgart was level with Cottubus at 1-1 and Schalke were up 2-0 against Bielefeld. In the 63rd minute Khedira put Stuttgart up 2-1, and that proved to be the title clinching goal. Cottbus were unable to break the grip that Stuttgart had on the match and Schalke would not get the crucial 3rd goal (or shutout) they desperately needed to have any hopes of winning the Bundesliga.
The German league was very exciting down the stretch and it was nice to see some new blood in the title chase this season with Bayern Munich a non-factor and Werder Bremen inconsistent the last several weeks of the season. I also have to say that GolTV showed the American cable channels how to show a trophy presentation and celebration.
They did a fantastic job - much better than Fox Soccer Channel did for the Manchester United trophy celebration - and it only helped that Ray Hudson was calling the match. Hudson is a force to be reckoned with in the commentator's box. Not only that, GolTV were regularly showing the Schalke match in progress so viewers could keep a tab on how things were shaping up.
All the praise goes to this Stuttgart team though. They got off to a horrible start, but in the end they were the ones hoisting the Bundesliga trophy and celebrating in front of their raucous fans while drinking some extra large glasses of beer. They'll be an exciting side to watch in the Champions League next season and should be a contender for the German title once again.
Shame on all of you that watched the FA Cup snoozer instead of the action in Germany!
posted by Anonymous at 12:34 PM
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