An audio clip I think you'll enjoy

Hi,

I think you might enjoy this audio clip from the Audible book "Reconciliation" by Thich Nhat Hanh.

You can listen to it here: http://a.co/5mG6mll


Sent from my iPhone

Sounders Gift Toronto Three Points in Sloppy Second Match of the Season

1. I'd like to thank the elderly gentleman in the white Prius on Northbound I-5 on the way to the match for steadfastly enforcing the 60 mph speed limit in the "fast lane" (you know, the one in which it is actually illegal to block faster traffic in). Sir, your devotion to the speed limit is admirable. Hopefully, few lives were lost in any traffic accidents caused by the many cars that were forced to shift lanes to get around your one-car crusade.
2. On to the game. The Sounders started brightly in the first 15 minutes, controlling much of the possession and seemingly working their way towards something good in the Toronto end. And then, Marco Pappa went to work.
3. Toronto's best player by a long shot had two assists to Jermain Defoe, as the Lillipudlian striker from England cleanly slotted home the gifts provided by Marco Pappa Don't Backpass. The backline was culpable on both goals, as well, but giveaways in our own half are a bad place to start defending. 
4. Team Chemistry and headspace. For those that thought EJ was the sole cause and cure of Seattle's odious chemistry last season, I encourage you to watch the replay of this match. After the 2nd goal, the team was out of sorts, players were looking frostily at each other (Oba helpfully asked Pappa WTF he was doing) and the squad checked out of the game for the rest of the half. Yes, EJ had to go, but let's not kid ourselves that the club fixed the problem. This squad looks just as brittle as last season and just as liable to go on a nine-game winless streak at the wrong time.
5. Which brings me to what EJ took with him to DC: an aerial presence and the ability to score headed goals. We are sorely lacking any significant presence in that area. True to form, the team continues to whip balls in to the box to a significantly overmatched forward, regardless. Does anyone think Oba is going to be outjumping 6-foot-plus center backs and heading balls into the goal or into the path of teammates? Whether it's Fredy Montero, Estrada or other vertically challenged forward players, Sigi's Sounders have consistently relied on aerial service to a frontline that is not well-suited for that game. It's getting old.
6. At times, Oba looked like a mini-Nkufo. By that, I mean disinterested, thinking of retiring on a beach somewhere, while a game or something passing for a football game raged around him. This is a player I like a tremendous amount. He's quick, inventive and a goal-poacher. Last season, if when he wasn't scoring goals, he worked his ass off on both sides of the ball. In the first two games, he has looked a passenger to me, and that's worrisome. When the team put TFC under some pressure in the 2nd half, the old Oba returned, and his play on the Dempsey goal was a reminder of what he offers the game. The coach needs to get Oba in gear and soon.
7. Sloppiness. The Sounders profligacy with the ball was the defining characteristic of the match. I'm sure at some point during the 1st half, they had a higher pass completion rate to TFC players than to other Sounders. That speaks of a team ill-prepared for the game and not on the same page.
8. At halftime I concluded that there must've been a worse 45 minutes of Sounders football, but I couldn't think of what it would be. After some consideration, I'd say it was the debacle in LA last year. Of course, not having traveled to LA, I wasn't forced to watch that unfold in front of me like some waking nightmare. 
9. Too soon for the Sigi Out campaign? Yeah, probably. Two games in is too soon. But you could sense the accumulated frustration and brittleness of the fans today. And there were plenty of boos at halftime. The Sounders fanbase is losing faith in the Sounders coaching staff and front office. That fading margin of support is dangerous for a club that has underperformed for several seasons and hasn't won any silverware in recent seasons. We're not a big market club. Our strongest asset is the incredible fanbase. A few more games like this and the atmosphere is likely to get nasty and some fans will decide they have better things to do on a Saturday afternoon than watch the Sounders gift three points to a perennial MLS doormat.

North London Derby Only Disappoints Spurs Fans

Arsenal 2-Tottenham 0
3rd Round FA Cup

1. Arsene Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal just about 100 days fewer than all 19 other managers combined. Long coat, long tenure. Today was a day that stick-to-it-iveness seems like a good idea. Although, the 2-0 victory seemed farther apart than it did for large parts of the game, the gulf between the two teams was pretty large.
2. Arsenal put out a weakened side, though not as weak as they usually do in the lesser cups. No Giroud and Walcott up front in a false 9. No BFG, or Ozil, and Fabianski between the sticks. Of course, Spurs put Adebayor on the field, so there's that...Speaking of the big oaf, he was crap. He didn't even get to the point of attempting, let alone missing a sitter.
3. Midfield domination trumps two strikers. Gunners midfielders ran rampant through most of the match. Apart from the man advantage in the midfield on paper, several Spurs players didn't cover themselves in glory on the defensive side of the ball. Yes, I'm talking to you Christian Erikksen, Kyle Walker, Moussa Dembele. Arsenal's midfielders, OTOH, were pressing quickly and effectively.
4. Rosicky. Both the Czech and Santi Cazorla were very good today, but Rosicky deserves special mention. He has been bright and lively whenever he's come onto the field this season, and it was a thing of beauty for Gunners to see him pick Danny Rose at midfield and scamper half the field to chip deliciously over Lloris for the insurance goal. What might've been if not for those missing 18 months.
5. Was I the only one who's nerves were calmed when the BFG came on at halftime. I love Thomas Vermaelen's intensity, but I always feel he's one challenge or one bad decision away from disaster. The German, however, inspires calm in the backfield and in the viewer.
6. We Gneed to see more of Gnabry. The young German was excellent all game long, and his cut inside to draw Walker and the center back before poking the ball through to Cazorla for the opening goal was a brilliant piece of play. The funny thing is that as I was watching the play happen, I was confident he'd make the right decisions and the right pass.
7. I also thought Walcott was very good playing up front. He chased the ball, made smart runs (and was punished harshly on a few offsides calls), got some good shots on, and generally made Spurs defensive line look vulnerable. However, seeing him stretchered off was a reminder that we badly need a quality striker in the transfer window. All of the squad's good work to date could be for naught due to the thinness of this squad. Is there good value available?Wilshere, holding ball too long, losting it in middle of the field.
8. I'd rather players not taunt the away fans, but after being taunted and pelted with coins, a smiling Walcott reporting the score for the Spurs fans who might not have been able to see the scoreboard was a gentlemanly thing to do.
9. Mark Clattenberg is an outstanding ref. I often feel this way after watching games he officiates. He was very good again today, sensible in his approach. He kept the game in control by his authority rather than throwing cards around willy nilly the way lesser referees do. And, he didn't make any players have hurt feelings by cutting mean girl remarks. If he can cut this element out of his game, he will go far. My thoughts and prayers are still with Southampton player Adam LaLa Lallalana and his bruised ego. Speedy recovery, my friend.

Top Level Mediocrity

1. At 2 minutes in: Who is this young Walcott fellow and can we sign him up for the first team?
2. At 10 minutes: Who is this Arsenal squad and can we see more of them?
3. By the 2nd half: oh, I do remember these guys.
4. Can we get someone to bring all the broadcasters together in one room and teach them to say Cazorla? Cuh-Zore-La. I do not want to hear it pronounced Cathorla again. I don't care if that turns out to be how it's pronounced. It does not sound good. It makes as much sense as Wayne Roaney or Scott Porter. Say it like its spelled.
5. As long as we're on the subject, what the hell happened to Bacary Sagna? He used to be a quality right back but he's been indifferent to poor this season. Prior to throwing the game in the crapper, I had thought he was having a decent little game. Then he goes and passes the ball straight to RVP, and compounds his error by trying a rash tackle in the box, sending RVP to the spot.His game went down from there. In the 2nd half, he was guilty of additional foolishness with a bad challenge on Evra. He probably should've been booked there and sent off, but was saved by Koscielny's foul at the end of the play. Sagna was approaching Emanuel Eboue levels of self-sabotage today. I don't believe it will hurt too badly when he finally leaves this summer.
6. Fitting summary of Arsenal's season, lots of promise and industry undone by their own rashness. Sagna compounded a bad back pass by putting RVP on the spot.
7. Despite the lively start and brilliant early goal, this was overall a tepid match. Man U never really looked on the boil. They badly needed Sagna's assistance to get the point. Once Arsenal had surrendered the lead, they looked customarily unlikely to score.
8. Which leads to my big question mark of the game: Podolski. If this was the match to back up his talk about playing time, he didn't seem to recognize it.
9. With this draw, Arsenal have failed to beat any if their top 4 rivals this season, a clear indication of the club's unique achievement of top level mediocrity. Three games left and the race for 4th (huzzah!) is on!
   

The (Oh) Man City Full 9

While Arsenal's title hopes were over sometime in August, the thrilling 1-0 defeat of (Oh) Man City at Emirates Sunday was especially sweet in oh, so many ways: extinguishing the English career of ridiculous human being Mario Balotelli, likely sticking a fork in the cooked potato that is Roberto Mancini's Manchester stint, and helping Manchester United prove that a club built on obscene debt is always superior to a club built on obscene wealth...er, wait a minute.

1. Who is the bigger fool? Mario "Why Me?" Balotelli, or the manager who signed him,  not once, but twice, and has given him a very long leash for nor obvious reason?
2. A: Mancini is old enough to know better.
3. Did I mention that Man City lost even though deploying former Arsenal stud buckets Samir "I just wanna trophy" Nasri, and Gael "Theo Walcott of the Defense" Clichy? Write when you get the trophy, guys!
4. So, Samir, how's that working for you? It would be churlish of me to mention that in 2011 you faded earlier than the team did, but you didn't exactly put your stamp on Sunday's match, did you? Or, the season.
5. The shine seems well and truly off the coaching legend of Mancini. the rumbles are starting to, well, rumble that he may be on his way out of Etihad. Commentators and former players are noting that he really wasn't all that at Inter, after all. It's hard not to question the ability of a manager whose squad has imploded as spectacularly as (Oh) Man City. 
6. Mancini claims he didn't see the leg-assault on Alex Song, but perhaps he didn't need to, in order to see that Balotelli was a liability to his team as long as he remained on the pitch. As the game went on, I kept hoping and praying that Mancini left the striker on the pitch. Though, while some (namely, me) are childishly focusing on Balotelli, it would be harsh to blame him entirely for what was a team effort to not win, assisted by a coach who got his tactics all wrong.
7. For those who insist that a deft man manager like Ferguson might be able to teach responsibility to Mario while coaxing the freakish talent he possesses, go on with yourselves. Ferguson would never waste his time on a basket case project like Balotelli.  
8. Perhaps Why Me? might want to issue and apology to Alex Song whose leg he very nearly broke? Or Bacary Sagna, whose legs, for some reason, he seemed to want to break. Fascinating, at halftime to see a parade of Manc players walk by the back-knacked Balotelli without acknowledging him. The only player to talk to him was Arsenal's Sagna who seemed to be encouraging, despite the mugging he'd endured from the Italian.
9. In non-Man City news, Tottenham lost today. Holy crap, Arsenal might actually finish third. What an odd game, this football is! Call it 9.5, but Mikel Arteta's game winner was sweet; not just for the finish, but the way he barged in to steal the pass near the center circle, after 87 minutes of hard work. Arteta was one of several Gunners with outstanding efforts. 

Late to the Houston Full 9

Due to a busy weekend and busier week, I'm slow to pitch up a post-Dynamo Full 9, but here goes:

1. Nice of the authorities to authorize work-release for the Houston 11 so they could play a game of...er, run around on the pitch while hitting anything in green. I kid. The new look Houston team plays a bit more football than the battering rams in orange of previous seasons, but they still like their cheap shots. Hard to believe they made it to the finals last season...
2. I know it's not a popular opinion in Section 119, but I continue to think that Brad Evans does not suck. 
3. Baldomero Toledo. Raises the question, is he the poor man's Ricardo Salazar, or is Salazar the poor man's Toledo? I hate to complain when he called the rare (and spot-on) penalty for the tough love on Ianni as he rose to head home a corner, but he suffers from much of the same ineptitude of Salazar: allows far too much violent play, while whistling the occasional light foul, doesn't allow a game to flow and buys so much bad acting you know he's a huge Adam Sandler fan. 
4. Did Fernandez really dive on the foul before he got booked? El Flaco has looked very good this season, but he has got to avoid becoming El Fake-o.
5. I'm liking Marc Burch. He's a much better defender and passer than Gonzalez.
6. Gspurning. A couple of good saves in the match, and continues to show good ability to distribute the ball from the back.
7. Montero a near perfect 9 of 10 on the Underwhelmo-meter.
8. Ianni has been strong. Kudos to the little giant for addressing the mental side of the game and being open about it. Perhaps he can make a referral for Fredy...or get some matches and some gas and light a fire under his ass. 
9. Not excited to see Zach Scott deputizing for the injured Johansson, but damn it, if the little train that could that is Scott didn't have a decent game. His dogged play is downright irrepressible, with a high workrate and a game that appears to have grown over the off-season. I'll need more evidence than a single game, but it appeared his weak passing abilities may have evolved a level, as well.

Full Points at Goodison

Arsenal hang on to survive 1-0 at Goodison Park and with Tottenham drawing against Stoke, go a point clear of the Spurs for third place. Amazing.

1. Ramsey. Just. Not. Good. Enough.
2. Early goals. They're much nicer when we're scoring them.
3. Everton was level at 31 minutes. AR made a shocking bad call with Trenthe easily onside. It was a  game changer as Everton was getting themselves back into the game, scrapping on defense, stringing together possession and building closer and closer to Arsenal's goal. The linesmen continued to have a shocker, not getting the offsides decisions  correct until mid-second half. Unlike Theo, they then got things going the right way in the latter period.
4. Decision-Making. Not just the linesman. Arsenal followed a very bright opening 15 minutes, abandoning incisive passing for silly give-ups in their own half, allowing Everton to stem and reverse the tide. Some silly passing from Song, and another dangerous pass from Song, but Everton failed to punish them.
5. The Disappearing Lad. Theo Walcott got off to a bright start and looked as if he might be ready to have a cracking game. It lasted 10 minutes or so. Didn't do dick afterwards. His best second half move? Walking off the pitch.
6. Tactics. After the initial Arsenal tide, David Moyes moved Fellaini up behind the lead striker and dropped Cahill, which paid immediate and lasting impact. Fellaini had a major impact on the game from this point on. Arsene never really countered. 
7. Tactics, Pt. II. I understand making a defensive substitution late in the match with a 1-0 lead, but the way he's played this season, can Djourou really be considered a defensive move? Just kidding DJ, you know we love you.
8. Koscielny seems to be getting a lot of props for his play this season. Mercy me, I think he deserves it.
9. Three points. Though Arsenal rarely got back out of 2nd gear after the opening minutes, this was an end-to-end game for large parts and quite entertaining. That and three points totals a fine evening.