So yesterday evening I was casually channel surfing when I stumbled onto the Chelsea-Barcelona semi-final match in the UEFA Champions League (which I thought was coming up later in the week). Being a Chelsea fan, I settled in to watch and was rewarded with an amazing game which the Blues played a man short for the entire second half after their captain took a really stupid penalty. For those who aren't big soccer fans, Barcelona is widely considered to be one of the premier teams in the world, led by the incredible Lionel Messi. They put tremendous pressure on Chelsea, keeping the ball in their end for virtually the entire second half (and already with a 2-1 lead). Messi himself hit the post a couple of times. But my guys withstood the pressure and miraculously scored a goal themselves at the very end to clinch a berth in the finals (holding the tiebreaker against Barca). Then, as if that wasn't enough sports excitement for one night, I went on-line to see how the Braves were doing in their game against the Dodgers and discovered that mlb.com was offering a free telecast of the game (usually I just get the radio feed), AND it was being announced by the one and only Vin Scully, quite possibly the greatest baseball announcer ever. Not only that, but he did the full nine innings totally solo, no color guy, no reporters in the dugout or the studio cutting in. What a treat-- great play-by-play intermixed with fantastic anecdotes of past games spanning Scully's sixty-odd year career. And, to top it all off, the Braves won in dramatic come from behind fashion. I can't remember the last time I had such an enjoyable day watching sports, and wonder if the stars will ever align so perfectly again.
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