Best podcast The Guardian's Football Weekly continues to be the most entertaining soccer pod, at least in this house. While James Richardson's puns can become tiresome, this twice-weekly pod also features regular calls from La Liga correspondent Sid Lowe. Definitely England-centric, the crew do attempt to cover the top results in most European leagues, but the most entertaining is the collective sense of humor and depth of knowledge among The Guardian writers. Sure, there's a tendency to gloss over smaller leagues, but Richardson, Barry Glendenning, and Paul Doyle are just a few of the the group that are able to mock their own profession in the often ridiculous world of English media. Admittedly, Football Weekly may have been funnier in years past, but it remains an enjoyable conversation among some often astute fans of the game. If you watch any EPL soccer, definitely tune in; this is worth listening to on a weekly basis. Honorable mentions: Football Ramble, World Football Phone-In
AP Photo/Daniel Roland
Best crazy character This is often a tough one, since it's easy for performance on the field to magnify one's uniqueness. And there's nothing unique about Cristiano Ronaldo's Greek disco wardrobe, nor David Beckham's tattoos and ever-changing hair. Jimmy Bullard is always good for a laugh and serves as one of the good guys in the sport, but he hasn't been relevant in the last year or so. This year's prize has to go to good old Mad Jens Lehmann, who is reunited with his old Arsenal team mate Alex Hleb at Stuttgart. While still in the Champions League, Stuttgart are battling to stay above the relegation zone at home, and Lehmann is doing all he can to make it interesting. Thankfully, his old buddy Ollie Kahn has something to say about the often combative keeper. He may be remembered most for being sent off for the Gunners in their 2006 Champions League heartbreak, but it was the big, crazy German that got them that far in the first place. Since his departure, which is admittedly timely by Arsene Wenger standards, Arsenal have failed to find that game-changing keeper. Now he's taken his quirky charm back to the Bundesliga. [ESPN, Telegraph]
AP Photo/Michel Euler
Best international incident Thierry Henry's uncalled handball in France's qualification for the 2010 World Cup at Ireland's expense has been labeled by many to be the sports incident of the year. Not since Zinedine Zidane's headbutt of Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup has a hero of Les Bleus undergone so much controversy. To be honest, Henry's handball would've been illegal in basketball, and France didn't really deserve to go through. Then again, could you argue that Ireland deserved to? To Henry's credit, he probably dealt with it as best as he could have, admitting guilt, but late enough that it wouldn't affect his team's chances of going through. Zidane didn't help matters much by claiming no regret in his sending off in the 2006 World Cup for honor's sake. Please. You just got caught, Zizou. [First Post, Reuters]
Comments