Fun with Misplaced News Headlines

Is Diego Maradona looking for a new home after his current World Cup loss?

7days, a local newspaper here in Dubai, is famous for it's headlines and pictures that don't match.  I don't know why they don't see the funny associations that will occur when they look at the final layout.  There are typically two stories on the front page.  One that is dominated by a picture and the other that is dominated by text.

Often the two become intertwined.  The above picture is an example.  The headline belongs to an article about some workers who have been abandoned by their company here in Dubai.  Diego Maradona, the coach of the Argentinian football team in the current World Cup is pictured as well.  He's dejected because Argentina are out of the tournament.

And with their recent loss combined with the extreme passion for football in Argentina, maybe he does qualify as a "stranded man".  Maybe it's not so smart for Diego to go back to Argentina for a while.

Early Morning Surprise: A Beautiful Falcon

Late last week I was driving the kids to school and, in the neighborhood nearby, I passed a man holding a beautiful falcon on his arm. After dropping the kids off I raced back to find the man in a 4x4 with the falcon hooded and perched on the backseat. I inquired about the bird and found the man was a driver employed by his owner who had gone back into the house. He was not going come back out as he had gone to bed and the driver was taking the falcon to the vet for a checkup. I'm guessing that the man was a local Emirati who had his bird with him at a Ramadan tent overnight and he was going to sleep since he might have been up most of the night. This is a common practice for some Emiratis during Ramadan since they are fasting during the day but can eat during the night.

Falconry is, historically, a very popular sport on the Arabian Peninsula. Here is a video of falcon hunting from Sheikh Mohammad's website.

This bird was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Very impressive.

From 2008-9-11 Phone Pics - Falcon

From 2008-9-11 Phone Pics - Falcon

And this picture is from about 5 years ago when I went to Sheikh Mohammad's (different than the current ruler) majlis.

From Sheikh Mohammad & Falcon

Random Funny Video

This video had me in tears. Extremely funny. But you have to know American Football and... have a weird sense of humor :)


Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jacksonville Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life

Just For Fun - Premier League Football Video Montage

Nothing to do with the Arabian Peninsula or faith... But I'm a big fan of the English Premier League. The season ended spectacularly this weekend with Manchester United clinching their 18th title. Here is a great video montage of the season put to music. Enjoy (it's only 2 min 30 sec long).

Ouch. Dislocated Shoulder.

Ok... Warning... this has nothing to do with the Arabian Peninsula.

I hurt my shoulder this past year and it's still giving me problems. The women's basketball team from the University of Tennessee is down to the final four in the college basketball championship in the US. I went to the University of Tennessee.

Their star player, Candace Parker just dislocated her shoulder in a game. Ouch. I feel her pain.

Rare Sight... Little League Baseball in Dubai

I took this picture a month ago. It's particularly interesting to me because baseball is not a popular sport in Dubai... it's particularly American. And the Burj Dubai is so clearly visible in the background. My oldest daughters work the concession stand at the ballpark.

And Now for Real Golf... Dubai Desert Classic!

My parents came to town about a week ago and the last thing we did together was spend a day at the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament. It was a blast! We saw Tiger Woods (who eventually won), Ernie Els, and many other great golfers.

The best moment was watching Ernie Els birdie the hardest hole on the course and then to have his caddie throw my daughter the golf ball!

Just For Fun: World Golf Tour Game

Not much time to blog lately... my parents are in town. But I thought I'd share a fun link with you. This game was just mentioned in Fortune Magazine. It's really fun and looks beautiful. Check it out here.

Screenshots for your viewing pleasure :)

Just for Fun... Dubai Ultimate Frisbee Tournament

Ouch. I'm still sore from the Dubai Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. This was the second annual and it took place at the American School of Dubai to raise money for a school in north India. Last year my team came in 1st. This year we settled for 3rd. :( But fun was had by all and we're already looking forward to next year's tournament. (Boy, am I a "white" boy or what?!)

Shoulder update: A Fracture too!

My x-rays from last week got lost and sent to the wrong clinic. So the doctor just called this morning to give me an update. Seems I might have a torn ligament but definitely have a fracture in my clavicle or collar bone. She re-emphasized that there could be no exercise, save running, until 6 weeks had passed.

Somehow knowing it's fractured makes it hurt more :)

A Separated Shoulder from Football

You may have read my post below about football (soccer). Well, we played our second game last night and I'm happy to report we won again 3-0. I'm not happy to report that I separated my shoulder during the game. I fell across a diving goalee as we both went for the ball. I went over him and landed on my shoulder. Ouch.

A shoulder separation (as I'm learning) is when the ligament that attaches the clavical to the wingbone or acromion. That ligament seems to be torn. And it will take 6-8 weeks to heal the doctor tells me.

I'm most disappointed that this will put me out of Ultimate Frisbee for more than a month. I better get my running shoes out of the closet and ready for a workout.

Football and Football

I like all kinds of football... the worldwide recognized kind (soccer) and the American kind as well. I really like watching English Premiership League and the professional and college level American football seasons have started up as well.

Just last night I joined with friends from the Arab Evangelical Church in Dubai to play in a Ramadan Football (Soccer) Tournament. I've played in this for four years now and this year we're playing indoors rather than outdoors. It's cooler indoors but I really enjoyed playing at the Iranian club fields in the past years. There was just something exotic about being an American walking past the Iranian club lobby with the pictures of the Ayatollah Khomeni and President Ahmadinejad hanging there prominently.

By the way, we won our first game 5-0 :)

Here is a clip of one play from a game in the American football professional league weekend games. You can see lots more clips at www.nfl.com.



Watch the whole clip here...
An Amazing Flip!

World Championship Tennis in Dubai

Federer after the win... (sorry camera on phone is a little blurry)

Federer on the left and Djokovic on the right

I got to attend the Dubai Championship Tennis Tournament last night and watch Roger Federer (current world rank #1) barely get past a 19 year old Serb named Novak Djokovic. It was a great match and it was particularly interesting to see the technology called "Hawkeye" employed.

I think players had 2 challenges per game or set (not sure which). When they suspected a ball was not called out/in correctly then they could signal the umpire. Then everyone in the stadium would watch as the course of the ball was simulated on the large screen and the place where the ball had landed was indicated. The video would zoom in to indicate whether some of the ball had indeed clipped the line to be called "in" or whether it had, in fact, fallen outside the line.

The second set was decided on a "hawkeye" challenge. It was a tie breaker and the supposed winner was called "in" for Federer. But the replay showed it was out and so the tie break went on and the Serb won it!

Superbowl Contender - Sports Figures with Character

As much as I love football (soccer) played the world around I still love American Football too. There are only 4 teams left in the championship, named the Superbowl, that will take place in the U.S. in two weeks.

I am a fan of the Indianapolis Colts as their quarterback and star player went to the same University I did. But it's their owner, Jim Irsay (pictured left), whose comments I noticed this week. Read what he said about winning and losing:

"To me, there's a lesson there. It's who can lose and share in grace? Who can lose and congratulate the other owner and feel joy for him? I mean, that's harder than winning. And it's not about nice guys finishing last or that kind of thing. It's about what do you tell your children when you don't win? How do you conduct yourself? How do you treat people? How do you congratulate other people and the other man?

"That's where life is for me. I want to win the Super Bowl as much as anyone, but I'm always prepared if things don't go well. Because anyone can demonstrate what they're about when things go well. It's when they don't go well that you have a chance to show what sort of individual you are."

(And later...)

I just have the belief that if you do the right things, prepare and work hard, good things will happen. To me, it's not something you stress about. Yes, people have their legacies defined at a higher level when they win championships, but I've never seen a hearse hauling a U-Haul, you know what I mean? You ain't taking the trophy with you wherever you're going.

I don't know much about his spiritual beliefs but this sounds like a man who is thinking about eternity. He's 'never seen a hearse hauling a U-Haul". Let me explain for those not familiar with the idiomatic phrase. A hearse is the large car that typically takes a persons dead body to the cemetery for burial. And a U-Haul is a type of trailer you can rent to pull things in behind a car. In other words, when you die, it will not matter what you have accumulated on earth. Character will matter. I believe that. Do you? (Go Colts :)

UPDATE: The Colts won! Greatest 'comeback' in division championship history!