July 14, 2007
Dalian (CHINA)
Sushi and Keeping Abreast of Sports Stories
In preparation for life in Japan, I have been making it a point to eat sushi on a near-daily basis. Thankfully, it is not nearly as expensive an indulgence as it is in the United States where a meal will cost upwards of USD$25. In the past you wouldn't find me within 15 feet of a sushi bar because - barring salmon - I always believed fish tastes far better when it is cooked and properly seasoned. I don't know what has changed - perhaps it is an health factor or perhaps it is an ever-growing taste for the "real deal" - but I am now hooked on sushi bars and jars of warm sake. Now, if I can only find geishas for entertainment and hot springs for relaxation my "pre-season training" will be complete.
A
few sports updates...
Arsenal Football Club play their first pre-season game against Barnet this evening, and it will be a welcome reprieve from the never-ending doom-mongering after Thierry Henry recently completed a USD$30MM transfer to Barcelona. It will be tricky finding a broadcast of the fixture, but I will put all my resources into scouring the internet, and if it is there to be found I will find surely it. Any thoughts on the new away jerseys, shown to the right?
In
other news, possibly the world's biggest sports icon,
David
Beckham, was recently unveiled by the Los
Angeles Galaxy as the marketing campaign to make US
"soccer" as popular as it is everywhere else in
the world. Funnily enough, his first comments were that
the second most important thing in his life (after
family) "is the foot -
[**agent nudges
him "You're with Yankees now, Becks!**]
- is the soccer." It is a good thing he stopped at
the second most important thing because the third was
surely the USD$250MM he will receive over the
duration of his five year contract. Either way, I will
be going to as many games as I can when I get back, and
I think it is terrific for the "beautiful game."
Lastly,
it is a bit of a downer knowing Barry Bonds will
soon break Hank Aaron's long-standing home-run
record. My earliest memory of Bonds - besides the old
playing cards from the early 90s where he was skinny as
a twig (shown to left) - was when he connected with the
ball and stood at home plate watching what he thought
was going to be a home run. Instead, the baseball
bounced off the right-field wall and he was damn close
to being thrown out at first base. He is simply that
arrogant of a person. More importantly, everything
relating to the Balco scandal is shady (including
Bonds' personal trainers who are currently in prison),
and it is shameful that everyone knows he is a
cheat, but nothing has been done about it -
remind anyone of the OJ Simpson situation?