February 2006

Has anyone seen my gloves?

The whole Houston 1836 debacle is really tragic. Fortunately I've come up with a solution that I'm confident will placate everyone--even the Mexicans who fought at the Alamo. The new name: Houston Jewboys.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 18, 2006 9:59 AM

Happy Reaganmas! I will celebrate by bowling

I have so far managed to see just one game of the African Nations Cup--a largely meaningless dust up between Cote D'Ivoire and Egypt, with the latter earning a 3-1 victory. The primary reason is that, despite the sick number of channels now available on my TV (including GOL TV and Fox Soccer Channel), none of them are broadcasting the ANC.

The only establishment in town that seems to be regularly showing ANC matches is the Holy Land deli. Unfortunately I couldn't make it over there on Saturday for what sounded like a couple of incredible quarterfinal matches. Most notably, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon got aced out on penalty kicks by the Elephants of Cote D'Ivoire. The astounding tally? 12-11. Each side made eleven consecutive PKs--until poor Samuel Eto'o skied one over the bar. What a brutal way to go out.

The semifinals are tomorrow. I again will miss out. But I've got high hopes for catching Friday's final. Some English-language station really needs to pick up the 2008 ANC. This is ridiculous.

On a brighter note, my fellow bar-poker-tournament operator Steve has emailed the lyrics to the Togolese national anthem. They're in French, unfortunately. But I guess that's better than Togolese--if there is such a language (which I doubt). Sing it loud and proud:

Salut à toi, pays de nos aieux!

Toi qui les rendais forts, paisibles et joyeux,
Cultivant vertu, vaillance
Pour la postérité.
Que viennent les tyrans, ton coeur soupire vers la liberté.
Togo, debout! Luttons sans défaillance,
Vainquons ou mourons, mais dans la dignité.
Grand Dieu, Toi seul nous as exaltés
Du Togo pour la prospérité,
Togolais, viens! Batissons la Cité!

Dans l'unité nous voulons te servir,
C'est bien là de nos coeurs le plus ardent désir.
Clamons fort notre devise
Que rien ne peut ternir.
Seuls artisans de ton bonheur ainsi que de ton avenir,
Brisons partout les chaînes, la traîtrise
Et nous te jurons toujours fidélité
Et aimer, servir, se dépasser,
Faire encore de toi sans nous lasser
Togo Chéri, l'Or de l'Humanité.

(Courtesy of Yawo Attivor)

In other good news my bro and I have secured World Cup tickets for all three U.S. first round games in Germany. We are some lucky, lucky dogs. Many other deserving folks were not so fortunate because the morons at U.S. Soccer organized the ticket distribution in a manner more suitable to a second grade cake raffle.

And the Indomitable Drinky Crows are 2-1-1. On Saturday we produced a 6-1 thumping of the opposition.

(WTF is Reaganmas?)

Posted by Paul Demko at February 6, 2006 4:17 PM

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