Matchday Seven: The Billy-Goats Snuffed
By: Scott |
2 Comments
A note to the broadcast rights holders: Stop it. You’re not going to win and you’re just upsetting people. People like me, who just want to see their club play and have no other option but to rely on the Internet streams made available by unsung heroes. For the profits that come from every kit, cap or flag purchased with my club name on it, my rights to enjoy the match have been paid. When North American broadcast rights are removed from the fumbling paws of people like those at GolTV, whose allusions to making all Bundesliga matches of the 2009/2010 season available to the supporters were little more than insincere musings, and instead given to a broadcaster with the capabilities and desire to let us see what we want to see, I shall gladly trade the choppy, low-res streams, the giggle-sopped Cantonese (or is it Mandarin?) commentary, the weekly feed hunts that generally continue well past kick-off time and pay you. But as long as broadcasters choose to wallow in the crumbling castle of media distribution as it used to be, then I will be a stream thief and I will show no remorse for it. There are thousands of us and in trying to shut it down, rather than working with technology to stake your own claim in the p2p ring, all that you serve to do is the limit the fanbase. Limiting the fanbase means limiting interest. Limiting interest means reducing profits and the overall value of the league name. And if the league name doesn’t carry much value, neither do your broadcast rights. And that should never be the endgame for any company with its head outside its own arse.
Oh, and another thing. Screw you, Bayern München. Can’t you eke out a win- or even a damn draw- when I need you to?
So how was your Saturday? Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team News
Aw, FCK.
By: Scott | 4 Comments
The Kaiserslautern coat-of-arms might give the appearance of harmlessness, with its friendly little fish mouthing a happy hello, but today the fish were swimming in their own waters, and that undoubtedly went a long way toward helping the Red Devils do what no team has managed yet to do since the 2008/2009 Pokal final: beat the Werkself. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsMatchday Six: Putting your best foot too forward
By: Scott | Add Comments
Some 30, 000 fans packed BayArena this Sunday afternoon, the greater share of them hoping to see a bit of history. Were they eager for any piece of history, they wouldn’t have been disappointed. But instead of being at the match in which Stefan Kießling set a Bundesliga record for scoring in each of a season’s first six, they only got to go home saying they were there when Leverkusen’s 72-match run without a 0-0 final came to its end.
With Werder Bremen paying a visit, today’s match was the first of this season that involved any real underlying rivalries. We last played Bremen in Berlin, when they took the Pokal final and crushed our last shot at playing in Europe this year. Adding to that bitter wound were the unspoken feuds on the pitch between Rolfes and Frings and Adler and Wiese, all vying for National Team respect. Instead of a full-on fight, though, it was a frustrating 90 minutes of both teams canceling one another out in the midfield and catching one another up in the offside trap Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsBobel to Bayer
By: Scott | Add Comments
Bayer, today, announced that they’ve signed Tomasz Bobel to a one-year contract to replace Benedikt Fernandez as second ‘keeper. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsMatchday Five: Card Tricks
By: Scott | 2 Comments
Pretend, for a moment, that you’re a pretty girl. Maybe some of you actually are. Maybe some of you have been pretending that all weekend, and making good money at it. But, still. Pretend you’re a pretty girl and it’s prom night and your date is the unsightly fat guy. Sure: you’ve got a date for the prom. But you aren’t going to want to look at any pictures of it. That pretty much sums up the three points we took home from Wolfsburg, and it’s in no small part due to the fact that the chaperone to this particular dance quite clearly wanted make certain nobody had any fun. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsMatchday Four: When winning’s not enough
By: Scott | Add Comments
Earlier this week I read that Jupp Heynckes had told the squad to enjoy their time at the top of the table because it wasn’t going to last. He was right, but it wasn’t through any fault of their own that Leverkusen slipped down to second place. The match against Bochum showed a determined team, high on attacking and dominant in possession. As it turns out, the failure to convert our chances left our title as current table leader well within Hamburg’s grasp. A 2-1 win for the Werkself yesterday let HSV snag the lead after they beat Köln 3-1 today, in part thanks to Köln ‘keeper Faryd Mondragon giving HSV’s Ze Roberto an opportunity to pay tribute to Hamburg Diving Days in his own special way. The subsequent penalty kick sealed our fate. We’ll leave that match report, though, to someone else and I ask God to cleanse me of the dirty feeling I’m left with after spending 90 minutes pulling for Köln, even if that support did only come in the form of shouting “Let’s go, idiots!” at a TV screen. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsNumber one? This will not do!
By: Scott | 1 Comment
Complacency and Victory will rarely be seen walking the beach together and those choosing to rest on their laurels soon find themselves driven from their leadership position like an aged ape with a bum leg. Although Jupp Heynckes rewarded the squad with two days off following the past weekend’s trouncing of Freiburg, his immediate response to the match wasn’t one of chest-thumping or even overt pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsMatchday Three; Lord have mercy
By: Scott | 2 Comments
In Freiburg, should you ever have occasion to go, you will find a breath-taking example of Gothic architecture. The Freiburger Münster, a cathedral that only the least observant of sighted beings would be able to miss towering above the city, took 300 years to build and I’d encourage you to climb to the top of its 116-metre spire despite the daunting, narrow spiral staircase you’ll have to navigate to get there. And that’s about the only nice thing there will be said about Freiburg in this match report, since all other points of pride quite deservedly belong to Leverkusen. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsBender bumped up
By: Scott | Add Comments
Looks like we won’t be waiting until next season to dress Lars Bender in black and red after all. Originally set to transfer to our squad in the summer of 2010, the Werkself and 2 Bundesliga 1860 München have agreed to terms allowing the midfield phenom to move over effective immediately. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team NewsMatchday Two; Our house is a very fine house.
By: Scott | Add Comments
There’s a certain pride that comes with moving into a new home. You paint, maybe stain the wood floors, add some wainscoting. Make the place your own. Then, for reasons known only to women and men with personalities too diminutive to hold its own with a dog, someone brings a cat in. Cat’s sorta cute the way it rolls on its back and hits a jingling ball around. But still, that damn cat better not get up on the couch.
Hoffenheim was the cat. The couch was anywhere inside the Leverkusen box. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Bayer Leverkusen Team News
Home 
