QWK KCKS is our way of helping you get your day started with a refreshing blast of football culture right in your face.
Distraction
I’m enjoying Euro 2012 immensely. I imagine it’s the same for you.
While not every match has been a thriller, there has been more than enough intrigue to keep the momentum moving from one game to the next. Some of the games expected to entertain did not, but they’ve been countered by excellent games among those that were projected to stink. We’ve been lucky that way.
There are ugly things happening as well, and I don’t mean Fernando Torres’s finishing. A few incidents of violence and racist behavior mars the tournament ever-so-slightly. Let’s hope that those are isolated and remain at the periphery. The truth of the matter is that screaming about them now won’t do much good. Those intent on making trouble will make it (both to good effect [like FEMEN] and bad [racist Spanish chants]), and we can only hope that authorities on the ground contain any issues, that UEFA acts swiftly to punish offenders, and that the tournament can continue. We’ll have plenty of time to review the performance of Poland and Ukraine as hosts, as well as the behavior of visiting fans, once everyone goes home.
Speaking of Fernando Torres’s finishing, consider me fascinated by his story. I do legitimately feel for the man, because while he’s insanely rich and will probably never want for anything in his life, the regular humiliation he faces on big stages cannot be good for his soul. He scored against Barcelona in the Champions League semis. It feel like a lifetime ago.
The most fascinating thing about El Nino’s story is that he continues to get chance after chance. Coaches continue to push him out onto the biggest stage, despite his going more than a year without looking like his old self. Enough of his play sits in evidence for Cheslea or Spain to have dropped him completely, sticking him on the bench never to be seen again in the case of Chelsea and left out of the team altogether in the case of Del Bosque (yes, Villa’s injury is a factor, but it’s not like Spain are without other options). Del Bosque’s strikerless formation against Italy was a message that he has no faith in the strikers he has, but then, he inserted Torres just when Spain needed a goal most. It’s an odd, contradictory message.
I don’t know that we’ll see Torres again, but I hope we do. It’s classic sports drama and I can’t get enough.
On to the links.
| PHOTO: ‘WHAT, DO I HAVE THE…HOW YOU SAY…B.O.?’ |
Michel Platini has a whole section to himself at the Spain-Italy match in Gdansk. (Getty Images)
| THE DEER IN THE PROVERBIAL HEADLIGHTS. WHICH IS THEN RUN DOWN BY A MOUNTAIN LION. |
Mario was LOLotelli yesterday with his comical inability to pull the trigger. He was so upset he decided to take out his frustration on a few particularly impudent blades of grass. Gif attack. // 101GG
| UH. IS THAT COMIC SANS? THE COPA DE LA REINA TROPHY IS ENGRAVED IN COMIC SANS? |
The women of Espanyol regained the Copa de la Reina (the women’s version of the Copa del Rey) from Barcelona and had to do an impromptu name change on the trophy’s plaque. It was tape and marker, but it’s still way better than Comic Sans. // Dirty Tackle
| I’VE HEARD HE’S REALLY GOOD IN THE AIR. LIGHT ON HIS FEET. BIT OF A FEATHERWEIGHT. SHOULD I GO ON? |
The pitch had a tiny winged invader during Spain’s 1-1 draw with Italy yesterday at Euro 2012. // Invent Football
| PHOTO: WE’VE ASKED AROUND THE OFFICE AND DECIDED THE WORD FOR THIS GUY IS ‘BRÖ.’ |
Sweden are the best, bro. Don’t mess with Sweden, bro. We got Zlatan, bro. (Reuters)
| TOTALLY SAW IT COMING. STILL REALLY SCARY. I MEAN, IT’S FRANCK RIBERY. |
The old “pretend to be a mannequin in the shop window than jump and scare everybody” routine. The French, always on the cutting edge of comedy. // Beat the First Man
| FOR THE AMERICANS IN THE ROOM, THE ‘DAS BOOT’ GAG IS OBVIOUS. AND HILARIOUS. |
In this video, a Holland fan puts a wheel clamp on the Germany team bus. It’s a brilliant gag, even if we can’t be sure it actually happened. // Off the Post
| AMERICA’S PREEMINENT SOCCER JOURNALIST GETS HIS GDANSK ON. |
Grant Wahl’s diary of his trip from Houston, where he was attending a wedding, to Gdansk, where he tookin Italy v. Spain. // Sports Illustrated
| PHOTO: THIS IS JUST POOR PLANNING. ALL THEY NEEDED WAS ONE MORE FRIEND. OR A FATTER ANCHOR. |
I see why the didn’t go with “ESPANA.” That extra letter would make it even worse. (Getty Images)
| PELE IS THE GREATEST LOOK AT HIS ART PELE IS THE GREATEST. |
Pele does art? // The Beautiful Gear
| THIERRY HENRY’S LIFE IS SIMPLE. THIS IS MOSTLY BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MONEY. |
Questions are posed to Thierry Henry, and Thierry Henry answers. // Bleacher Report
| PHOTO: I’VE DECIDED THAT BIG TOURNAMENTS ARE MORE ABOUT THE COSTUMES THAN THE FOOTBALL. DRESS UP 2012 |
Closing out with a photo from Getty Images. Do they just suck the beverage through the suit? That’s weird. Follow KCKRS and like KCKRS. We don’t freeze up within sight of goal and get tackled by plodding defenders.
