The Friday Links – October 23, 2009

By: Taylor Rockwell | October 23rd, 2009

This week has been crazy in pretty much every sense of the word. From insane results in the Champions League to a magic fight in Madrid to Wes Brown’s Zombie Corpse making an appearance in Moscow, it’s been a bit of a random week. So, how better to cap it all off then another dose of The Weekly Links.

Random Podcasts:

The Soccerlens Podcast – This week, the Soccerlens boys interview author Andy Mitten regarding his new book, “Glory, Glory! Man Utd in the 90s – The Players’ Stories.” The new book is based on detailed interviews with many of the big name players from United squads of the 90s, and will no doubt prove a good read for any and all United fans who want to hear first hand just how crazy Roy Keane actually is (plus in depth interviews with Eric Cantona, Nicky Butt, Andy Cole, Gar Pallister, and many more). The interview starts about 10 minutes in, and Mitten (not surprisingly) is keen to discuss all things United.

The Football Ramble – Great podcast coming straight from… erm… somewhere in England. The fearsome foursome of Lukey, Markey, Peter, and James/Jim give you a hilarious look at the major topics of the football week. As their website explains, “The most groundbreaking thing to happen in football entertainment since Tim Lovejoy parted company with Soccer AM to go and do that really boring cooking show with that arrogant bloke that makes the cocktails.” The show airs every Thursday and is well worth a listen, if for nothing else than for “The Dean Windass Hall of Fame.”

The Total Football Soccer Show – A bit of self-promotion I know, but for those of you wondering why I seem to be all over the place lately, here’s the reason. Daryl and I do a weekly podcast that attempts to discuss… well… for lack of a better description… the random aspects of world football. This week’s episode is a bit esoteric, as it focuses on our local amateur league. Nevertheless, it’s decent listen for the drive home.

Random Websites:

The Official home of the Unofficial Football World Championships – In 1967, then World Champions England met Scotland in a friendly at Wembley. The Scots won the contest 3-2, thereby allowing many Scottish fans to claim that they were now the unofficial world champions. From the website: “In 2002, a caller to a football phone-in radio show echoed that claim, and threw down a tantalising statistical gauntlet. Who, the caller wondered, were the current holders of the unofficial title?” The website maintains a database that stretches all the way back to the first international friendly (played in 1872 by Scotland and England). The reigning UFC Champion is the Netherlands, who haven’t lost a match since taking the title from Sweden on November 19, 2008. However, Netherlands have a long way to go if they hope to ever reach first place on the all-time winners board. They’re currently fifth (39), and trail Russia (41), Argentina (50), England (74), and Scotland (86).

The Worst Facebook Flirter in History – Gotta love the folks over at College Humor for giving us this one. It would have been funnier if this dude wasn’t simultaneously 1) seemingly illiterate and 2) obviously insane.

25 Funny Motivational Posters – Struggling to stay awake at work? Not entirely concerned about your company’s internet usage monitoring? Then click this link and enjoy 25 wildly inappropriate (but hilarious) Motivational Posters.

Steak House or Gay Bar – How often have you found yourself craving a delicious steak at one of your city’s fine local steakhouses, but you were too scared to venture out for fear of ending up in a gay bar? Probably never, but that doesn’t change the fact that (for some strange reason) gay bars and steakhouses tend to have similar names. Indeed, there’s an entire website/trivia game that should distract you for a good 45 seconds.

Random Articles:

ESPN Soccernet’s “The Week That Was” – A roundup of all the week’s seemingly fake news, featuring all sorts of witchcraft for Slave, Wilson Palacios being ordered by a military regime to get drunk with his teammates, and a Frenchman insulting an entire country in a single breath.

Sporting Emotions At The Highest Pitch – A bit belated I know, but here’s an excellent article from ESPN’s Bill Simmons discussing his trip to the Azteca Stadium to see the USA take on Mexico in a World Cup Qualifier. I found myself taking pride in how amazed he was by the fanaticism of the fans when compared to the likes of the NBA and MLB. “Yeah, we’re soccer fans and we occasionally get so worked up that we throw flares and beachballs onto the pitch. What of it?!”

The Champions League Thus Far – Sports Illustrated’s Gabriel Marcotti hands out his midterm grades for all the Champion’s League teams. I don’t know what’s more surpising. That his worst ranked clubs are Munich, Rangers, Stuttgart, Inter, Liverpool, and Atlético… or that those selections all seem very much appropriate. What a strange, strange world we live in.