Champions!!!

Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




And this makes it 7...
Seven times on top of Europe...

11 finals, 7 victories... 64% success rate...

1958 Real Madrid-Milan 3-2
1963 Milan-Benfica 2-1
1969 Milan-Ajax 4-1
1989 Milan-Steaua 4-0
1990 Milan-Benfica 1-0
1993 Marseille-Milan 1-0
1994 Milan-Barcelona 4-0
1995 Ajax-Milan 1-0
2003 Milan-Juventus 3-2 (pen)
2005 Liverpool-Milan 3-2 (pen)
2007 Milan-Liverpool 2-1

In the past 19 years, 8 finals... in the finals, 22 goals scored, 11 against...

Overall, Real Madrid won 9 Champions Leagues in 12 finals but 5 of them coming in the first 5 years of the competition... so Milan is second with 7, Liverpool is third with 5 cups in 7 finals, Ajax and Bayern Munich 4 each (respectively in 6 and 7 finals)...

Overall, these 5 teams won a combined 29 times of a possible 52... 55% of the total...

The rest of Europe is left with peanuts... ManU, Inter, Juventus, Benfica, N.Forest, Barcelona and Porto each won twice... PSV, R.S.Belgrade, Celtic, Steaua, Dortmund, Marseille, A.Villa, Hamburg and Feyenoord won once... Reims and Valencia reached the finals twice with no luck, Fiorentina, Frankfurt, P.Belgrade, Panathinaikos, A.Madrid, Leeds, St.Etienne, B.Moenchengladbach, Brugge, Malmo, Roma, Sampdoria, B.Leverkusen, Monaco and Arsenal once each, also coming away empty handed...

The final was reached 25 times by an Italian team, 20 times by a Spanish, 14 by an English and 13 by a German... all other nations are in one figure territory...

The final was won by an Italian and Spanish team 11 times, by an English team 10 times, Germany and Holland 6 times... the rest is far behind...

France is definitely the one who flares the worst sporting a finals record of 1 victory in 6 finals, a 16.6% victory rate...

Portugal's Benfica and Italy's Juventus are the two teams to reach the finals 7 times and win only twice, a lousy 29% success rate...

AC Milan is also the team to win the most cups in European history, totalling 16... 7 Champions Leagues, 2 Cup Winner's Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups and 4 Supercups... now Real Madrid is second with 15, but Milan as the Champions League winner, has the chance to play again for the Intercontinental and Supercup...

So what a year... after winning Italy's 4th World Cup last July, here I am celebrating yet another Milan fabulous victory... let me remind you, Italy won the World Cup 4 times (trailing only Brazil with 5) as follows:

1934 Italy-Czechoslovakia 2-1

1938 Italy-Hungary 4-2

1970 Brazil-Italy 4-1

1982 Italy-West Germany 3-1

1994 Brazil-Italy 3-2 (pen)

2006 Italy-France 5-3 (pen)

So, I have been lucky enough to witness in my life 8 Champions League finals with 5 victories for my team, and 3 World Cup finals with 2 victories for my nation... not too bad, for a basketball fan!!!

Andrea Bargnani, season report

I started covering the 1st season of Bargnani in the NBA with the intention of covering his stats month by month, but that for one reason or another, it didn't work out...
But now that the season is over, I would like to present you with his final numbers... but before that, just to mention that the NBA playoffs now are already at the second round... Bargnani's Raptors were eliminated by the New Jersey Nets 4-2 in the first round. Despite that, it has to be noted that Toronto finished the season with a winning record of 47-35, a winning percentage of 57.3 and an improvement of 20 victories compared to last year that brought personal accolades, like the Atlantic division title, the insertion of Bargnani into the all-rookies NBA team (together with teammate Jorge Garbajosa) and especially with coach Sam Mitchell being nominated Coach of the Year... maybe, soon to come, GM Bryan Colangelo could be nominated GM of the year too... he probably deserves it...


Note that Bargnani missed about 4 weeks due to an appendicectomy, and that he recovered just on time for the start of the playoff, but at least 7Kg below his fitness level...

Here the numbers:

Season
25.1 min played, 42.7% FG, 37.3% 3-pointers, 82.4% FT, 3.9 Rebs, .8 Assists, .5 Steals, 1.65 TO, .8 Blocks, 11 Points and 2.8 PF

Playoffs
30.2 min played, 47.8% FG, 41.2% 3-pointers, 78.9 FT, 4 Rebs, 1 Assist, .8 Steals, 1.17 TO, .5 Blocks, 11.6 Points and 2.7 PF

His highs for the season:

23 Points at Orlando in December
11 Rebs at Charlotte in February
4 Assists vs Washington in January
4 Steals vs Phoenix in January
6 Blocks vs Golden State in December
39 min played at Chicago in February

Here you can see him right after the final moments of the decisive defeat in NJ that ended his playoff run... see you next year, Andrea...

Heros...

I came accross, today, to the news of the 25th anniversary of Gilles Villeneuve's deadly crash. I still remember it as it was yesterday... obviously, I was 10 at the time, but HE was my hero... I loved watching formula 1, thanks to dad being such die hard Ferrari (back then frustrated) fan...


I remember, even so young, loving every race of this super talented Canadian... his memorable number 27...what he did with his car was simply amazing... but he never had the chance to win a championship, never the chance to delight his fans for many more years, as his life was cut short during a qulifying lap near here we I ended up living... he died in Zolder, after sustaining fatal injuries in a really horrifying crash... I still remember, sitting on the long gone white and brown couches of my parents' livingroom, watching the doctors attending him, motionless on the grass, near a fence that stopped his body from rolling even further... I was in shock, in denial... how can that be? Heros are not supposed to lose, let alone die! So, I thought, he will be fine...

But when the evening news reported that Gilles had died, at age 32, I couldn't believe it. I stopped eating, I ran into my room and never emerged till the next morning... I remember crying as a baby (maybe I still was, after all I was 10...), it was a sleepless night... I think his myth has been amplified, surely by his driving skills, but also by the way he died... a champion in the making... he is one sportsman I can't simply forget, so powerful he had been in my mind during his short stint in the formula 1 circus...

Depending on which sports you follow, we can surely mention few more heros... Mohammed Ali, Pele, Segei Bubka, Pete Sampras, Tiger Woods... to mention the first ones that come to mind... but they were, either before my time, or performing at an unprecedented level, but in a sport I had little interest in... they were (or are) people who dominated their sport... that left little to nothing to the opponents...

I can mention Michael Schumacher, whose greatness was not defined by an unexpected death or his friendliness, but by simply being the greatest formula 1 driver ever... simple as that... maybe Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna, another victim of a race accident, and another great of formula 1 history, could have become what Schumacher is... but they had no chance...


A hero is also defined by the opponents he's able to beat... Villeneuve had epic "battles" with Renault's Rene Arnoux... Senna had to compete with Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, even a young Schumacher... and Schumacher himself? Maybe he didn't have to race with the best opponents in formula 1 history, but he brought Ferrari back on top of the world after 21 years, won 7 titles, 5 consecutively... he could have had 2 more, barred injuries... amazing stuff... But you see, there are no unbeatable heros... Senna unfortuned accident cut his life short at only 34, at the peak of his career... Schumacher also suffered a bad accident where he broke both his legs when he was leading the standings to what it could have been his 1st championship with Ferrari... but it wasn't meant to be, not yet...

Valentino Rossi, the MotoGP rider who won 7 championships in 10 years of races, has also sustained a burning defeat in last championship... blame the lack of competitiveness of his motorbike, blame a slow start of the campaign, blame a career (lucky) season from another rider, but at the end, he didn't win, as everyone expected... by the way, on 2 of the 3 occasions when he didn't win a championship, he finished in 2nd place... including last year... but as you know, there is only room for one winner in sports, so 2nd, for as close as it can be to 1st, ain't good enough...

Even Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all times, had his misfortunes, for as talented, driven, rich and famous as he was... he won everything, he accomplished everything, he achieved everything... but he also had to sustain burning losses, here and there... or give up to age, even if you could really tell he still had it...

But one question comes to mind? Are these people really heros, or they just seem to be? Aren't these people just talented yet fortunate people who can make a beautiful living by doing what they love? Why everyone celebrates them, misses them when they die... we don't know them, after all... they are not our family, they are not our friends... how many people die, silently, every day? Do we miss them too? How many people do more, work harder, without all the accolades of sport and fame? So maybe, we should rethink who the real heros are... maybe... let's just think about it... maybe someone who tries to make this world a better place is more of a hero... someone we don't even know the existance of, and yet dedicate their life to make it better for everyone... shouldn't they be the ones we look up to? Aren't they the real unsung heros?

Back...

It's been a while since I posted on my blog. No, I didn't forget to do so, I just lived everyday down to the last second and I really had no time for much free time. It may sound unreal, or even awful, but that's just the way it was.

But remember, I didn't say I was working all the time. Travel took up some good part too.

So here is something on my whereabouts.

While I was busy with my gipsy European tour, I found the time on a short week end to go down to Slovenia and visit my bro Tad... we have always been very close ever since we met 12 years back, and when our paths separated, we kept visiting each other, regularly... so here I went south, to see him in his home country and meet his gf, Mateja... such a sweet girl, very kind... they are actually expecting a baby now, due for July... so guess where I will be next July? I think you guessed right... anyway, Slovenia is a small but really pretty place, take a chance on visiting it before it's fully invaded by the Brits...


In september, I had few days in Andalucia, Spain. It was 15 years ago I had been there last time. It's a wonderful region, a lot to see, a lot to do, history... the places are great, the seaside is very nice, the food fantastic, and in Jerez, the wine is superb. Visit the Alhambra in Granada, the city of Malaga, the church converted mosque converted church in Cordoba, enjoy the small streets and local restaurants there too... Seville, the pearl of south Spain, so beautiful, every corner of this city tells a different tale... I said, the only thing missing in Seville to make this city perfect is the seaside... or go to Jerez, where you can taste its famous sherry... Oloroso is the best one, for me... but the most, I love the lifestyle there... easy going, relaxed, lively at night as the restaurants and tapas bars get crowded after 9pm... the weather, the seafood, the sangria... Spain, it's one of the top places Europe can offer...


Then, I left for a month of work in Budapest. It's amazing how a month (or more, as in fact it turned out to be) can be so hard on you, away from your commodities, away from the comfort of your home.


Luckily, I have met great colleagues over there. From Pui and Iepure the Romanians, to 20-20 the Czech, to Kurac the Croat, to Perkele Joulupukki the Fin. I had a blast with them, nice people, good colleagues, funny and sarcastic.

With Petri, I discovered a colleague with the same love for Asia as mine. Pretty amazing stuff. His mom moved for the winter to Thailand, on her own, she rocks! With Gabi, I have an open invitation to Moldova-style party nights. I haven't forgotten it! I even had the chance to meet again a former colleague, now working in Bosnia. The ATC world never stops to surprise me.
And furthermore, I had a chance to discover the beauties of this incredible city. The city is as beautiful as the poverty of its people is rather amazing. Hungary is a country that is clearly running out of cash. It shows also in the way Malev was sold for peanuts to a Russian enterprise.

However, amazingly enough, the city's restaurants offer the most amazing portions I have ever been served. And as Petri said, let's go for some meat with the side dishes of meat and meat. Try ANY of the restaurants, but just diet for a week beforehand, or you will be unable to survive your dinner!
I also had a day trip to Bratislava. Need to spend time on talking about this city? Not really. Nothing special, if you are not going there already for another reason, don't plan to go.

Oh, my stay in Budapest was made rather interesting by a two days meeting with Clouds.

We talked till we dropped (or that was drank till we dropped?). However, we spoke about a lot of "nice" subjects, but those talks, unfortunately, will remain confined between the pubs' walls. However, she pulled a stunt on me that cracked me down. She climbed all the way to the top of the chain bridge, which, needless to say, is forbidden if not dangerous. The power of beer :) Or... MOJITOS!!!!!


Well, good thing she is still in one pretty piece to tell this tale :)


After two weeks in Budapest, I took my break to spend about 9 days in Bangkok and Siem Reap. I had a really great time with Shih Yun over there. Bangkok was nice, I met for dinner Chris, Nad and Joop while waiting for Shih Yun to arrive.

Also got the chance for a day visit in Chiang Mai. In my time in Bangkok, I went to visit (again) the largest open air market in Asia, where you can find EVERYTHING for sale, from crocks to (debatable) food.


Then we flew over to Cambodia. Such a beautiful country, such nice people! Only smiles, only kindness. It's amazing to think that this popolation suffered so much and yet found the strength to be so nice. Plus, Siem Reap is an amazing place, so many things to see and visit, and I even got my go with an M-60 machine gun. What a fire power :)

Anyway, the people and the history there is worth a visit, make sure you put Cambodia high enough in your to do list. We even ended up meeting, by pure coincidence, Radio Scicluna, Nick and Florian in Angkor WHAT? :)



Back to Bangkok, we had a last lavish dinner at the 65th floor of a nice skyscraper. Open air restaurant, with an amazing view on the city. The food was excellent, the service too. I think the waiters outnumbered the guests by a ratio of 3 to 1. The price reflected that too, though :) The restaurant and the city below was separated by a 1.20mt high glass. Amazing stuff. And down, on the river, the fire works put up a complimentary show. Privileged position to see such an unexpected show :) Oh, the restaurant. Breeze. Try it out if you are in town, just make sure you have your credit cards with you :)...


we also had the chance to go back to the Royal Palace and the floating market... always nice and colorful, although, after so many Asian experiences, nothing too special anymore... it's been very special few years back, when was my second time in Asia, but now I'm rather accustomed to more than that... spoiled little boy...


After this amazing experience back to Budapest for 2 more weeks. Got to see the Xmas market, a little more of the city.


After that, fly over to Hong Kong, to enroll at university there. OUHK. Many asked me why there. Reasons are multiple. As a start, it's a long distance tuition based university, a very important point for me, but difficult to have here. Secondly, it's in English. Rather important, I would say. Third, for as far as HK may be, I am more often in Asia than in Italy, so why not? Combine my trips for exams (twice a year) with my time off is a good opportunity to get two things done at the same time. Plus, this uni offered the course of studies I was looking for and, compared to ANY U.S. based uni, is affordable. So here I am, beginning yet another chapter of my life. Wish me luck. (oh sorry, I'm still stuck in my high school mentality, where Me and Study didn't go in the same sentence, and indeed every examination was a question of pure luck for me, rather than knowledge...)


And did I mention that I love HK? It's such a perfect city... great location, best skyline of the world, beautiful mix between East and West... sights and sounds... I feel good in HK... I could stay for hours looking at the skyline, it's never the same... the weather, the lights make it always special... this way around, I took the time to go to the Peak, from where you can have a wonderful view of the skyscrapers, from the back... I had my dinner there, and a coffee while looking down such mix of natural and man-made beauty... and while I was there, my brother Tad actually broke the news to me that his gf was pregnant... what a place to have that news... it was actually a funny situation, as people saw me talking on the mobile and have a tear coming down my eyes, a tear of happiness... I wonder what those people thought, maybe that I was having a bad fight with a loved one :)


After finishing my enrollment in HK, off to Taiwan to visit Shih Yun. Spent a few nice days together, we went for a trip into the mountains, sometimes it's scary there, as some of the dirt roads are regularly washed away by storms... you should know, if there is a city where you can find amazingly beautiful, original, artistic restaurants and bars, this is Taichung... never stops to surprise me! I got to meet Jasmine as well, on this trip to Taiwan... we spent a couple of days at the local spa hotel, really nice place on the hillside, with a nice view over the city... very nice stay, as usual in Taiwan... just, at the end, I got DEAD sick as I even had to postpone my departure cos unable to stand firmly (or even shakingly) on my feet... had the experience of a Taiwanese doctor, with very funny english, and his medications... the first set didn't work, as my fever didn't regress, so he went straight for the nuclear-waste-based medicines. They worked! I have NO idea what he gave me, but those pills made me so dizzy. Sure my fever disappeared, but I think I will pay the price for using those pills few years down the line. At least I was back in time to Europe to make my flight to Italy, to spend a sick Xmas with my folks. But I have to admit, I love Taiwan very much too. It's a very pretty island that has plenty to offer... if you have never been there, start planning your next trip there :))


So here I am, in Italy, with the mood for nothing, the health of a fire fighter right after the Chernobyl accident, and the dizziness that doesn't want to give me a break. It would take me at least one more month to feel like before, which is anyway not necessarily good news :))
Anyway, Xmas as usual... a family businness...

January I actually worked. WOAH... although, my competency expired and I had to be re-assessed. Funny stuff. Too much world-hopping, I guess.

And February comes. Plan a trip to Vietnam.

Last time I had to cancel, because it was in 2003 when the Bird Flu outbreak scared off everyone from Asia. I wasn't scared, but the people who were supposed to travel with me decided it wasn't worthy. I still went to Asia, on my own, but Malaysia rather than Nam. So here I am, 4 years later, excited to finally visit this country. Let me tell you, don't go. Not worth. Nothing is prime time beautiful there. Looking for buildings and amazing architecture? Go to Thailand. Looking for history? Go to Cambodia. Looking for impressive cities? Go to HK. Looking for natural beauties? Go to Malaysia and Indonesia. As far as I'm concerned, Nam is stuck in between everything, doesn't excel in anything. Even food isn't so great, and the people... Even Ha Long Bay, I was expecting so so much from it... it's beautiful, but maybe I was expecting more than I should have had...


whatever the case, I was disappointed.... well, after the wonderful experience in Cambodia, I really think Vietnamese people, generally speaking, are rather rude and unfriendly. To top up this messy Chinese New Year trip, my company was... ehm, far from ideal... right Shih Yun? So I really wanted to forget I have been there, and it will surely be a looooooong while before I even consider going back there. Well, at least it's the only place in the world, so far, where I had the awkward pleasure to see a 30cm rat that scared the hell out of Shih Yun wandering around the airport restaurant, right next to the gate. Ha Noi rocks! Thanks for the memories..... NOT! :))


Anyway, there is something to remember... it was amazing to see how many people were on the streets for New Year's eve...


and also, experiencing some weird Vietnamese customs, like eating eggs with half-developed duck in it... I have eaten strange stuff in China, like snakes and turtles, but isn't this egg rather gross?


One thing really worth visiting was the War Museum in HCMC (Saigon), although heavily contidioned by the regime, it's really amazing to see what's exposed, to see the unreported horrors of war...


Or I witnessed the kill of a goat... by collecting her blood, as apparently it makes a rather tasty drink, mixed up with some non-identified alcohol... what can I say? Should I judge and say they are barbarians? I would be wrong... these are their traditions, and if I was them, I would do probably the same... so be it...


Oh, one thing was rather disturbing... how common has become for me to meet people in every corner of Asia, without even trying! This time was the turn of my bro's ex-gf... my bro told me she was in Nam... yeah, ok.. where? And especially, who cares? Nam is rahter big, and anyway, since I was having SO MUCH FUN there, I really had no mood to waste my time to try to meet her. So one morning, going out of my hotel thinking... wow, I'm still here and one more damn week to go, she appears right in front of me... she could have been anywhere else, or right there 5 min later and we would have never met... but no, no such luck :)


After finally leaving Nam behind me, back to Singapore and then hop on to Europe.

Just the time to be back, and back on a plane to LA. I love LA, for its seaside, its proximity to the mountains, its glamour, for BH, its mixed ethnicity with strong Asian influence, its weather, its size!


USA, here I come. Finally some NBA live, with Jerry, Pels and Hans, covering up for EB's absence, this year. The trip was a blast, we all got along rather well. I even took a couple of tango lessons, with a (huge) Porto Rican and a (tiny) Korean teacher. Both of them, cool people, as well quite a weird dancing combo, size wise. I discovered some Japanese restaurants too, nice. We also saw few games, not of the same quality of last year, anyway. Except for Phoenix, there we had a great time. We stayed in a beautiful house in the Arizona desert, watch 2 great games, and even had a close encounter with Itchy Susan, a horny SouthWest Airlines stewardess who tried to pick me up. Thanks, but no thanks. But most importantly, a very nice day trip to Sedona, deep into an Indian reserve. Beautiful canyon, awsome surrounding... really great place... we had a really nice day, driving through the desert, have a relaxing and interesting day...


And for the first time, I had been to San Jose' and San Francisco. Lovely, especially the latter. Great place. Especially with the California weather we had. Two weeks of sunny 24+ degrees, amazing stuff.


Back from USA, and off to Italy to visit my folks. Short stay, as usal. Not much to add, compared to previous times.

Back from Italy, off to Istanbul for work. Jerry came along too. Little time for visits, but very nice city and lovely people. We had an afternoon off with Philippe and Ive too, really nice. Worth a visit. I didn't remember the city to be so beautiful, I really enjoyed my time there. Full of culture, places to visit... the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, a little boat trip on the Bosphorus... the Spice Market, the Grand Bazaar... really nice, this mix of different beauties... on top of that, one evening we were delighted by belly dancers and traditional dancers and musicians... very very nice :) and entertaining... it surely caught everyone's attention...


Back from Turkey, my mom came to visit for the first time since 2000. Oh, I never spent so much time with her before, I really had no idea what to talk about. I took her here and there, specifically Bruges and Gent, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, see the tulips. TIRING! Glad to have her here, sure, but also glad she left, or I would die. :)) By the way, both Bruges and Gent are really pretty cities... take a visit, if you are in the vicinity... it's worthy...

So here we are, rather up to date now. Few things still happened in between, but for those I will dedicate some more time in the coming days.