Match report: Milan 1 - Bologna 0

• Goals Scored: Flamini 8' (See photo above-- the ball is visible just over Flamini's shoulder)
• What happened: Milan scored early and held on to win. They are in first place-- eight points ahead of Inter and nine ahead of Napoli with three matches left.
• What it was like to watch this match: Milan are good; Bologna are not. Milan had a reason try hard; Bologna did not. Milan scored early; Bologna did not. Milan had many other chances to score; Bologna did not. Therefore, watching this match was nothing less than pure torture-- for eighty-two+ minutes Milan were one stupid/flukey/extraordinary play away from disaster.
• Number of wide open headers Bologna missed during the second half: 2 (Like I said-- pure torture)
• Bologna player sent off undeservedly with a straight red card late in the second half: Della Rocca
• Evidence that there is a conspiracy to give Milan the Scudetto this season: Della Rocca's sending off, which completely ended Bologna's attacking threat. A penalty awarded to Milan against Napoli on February 28th for a debatable handball.
• Evidence that there is a conspiracy to prevent Milan from winning the Scudetto this season: The three game suspension given to Ibrahimovic for talking disrespectfully to the linesman at the end of Milan's 3-0 victory over Sampdoria.
• Milan players who made their debut today: Giacomo Beretta
• Milan players whose wives/girlfriends have apparently had babies recently: Antonio Cassano, Robinho, Thiago Silva, Urby Emanuelson
• What this match teaches us: Milan will win the Scudetto this season.

Below: Before the match, a video of Pope John Paul II was shown at the San Siro.

Below: Flamini doesn't score many goals, and certainly none as important as this one.

Match report: Milan 1 - Lazio 1

• Goals scored: Borriello 18' (penalty), Lichtsteiner 32'
• What happened: Roma beat Inter on Saturday to move into second place. Milan needed to win in order to keep pace and move one point back of Inter. Everyone tried very hard, but Milan only managed a tie.
• Milan players who were unavailable today: Nesta, Pato, Huntelaar, Abbiati, Beckham, Bonera, Mancini (all due to injury); Ronaldinho, Pirlo (due to suspensions)
• Milan players who played well today: Flamini, Abate, Antonini
• Strangest quote by the announcer today: "I've just been informed that there is a possibility of the game being stopped for a time due to the fans singing derogatory songs about Clarence Seedorf." (The fans in question were supporters of Lazio.)
• What this match teaches us: Milan may have too many players injured to compete for the Scudetto.

Highlights are below:

Yet another official announcement from AC Milan #2

Below is a list of the players who are and are not available for today's match versus Lazio. If you read carefully, you will see that it is quite a list.

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MILAN-LAZIO: THE CALLED UP ROSSONERI

3/27/2010

MILAN - Here are Leonardo's 21 called up players for Milan-Lazio:

Dida, Roma, Abate, Antonini, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Oddo, Romagnoli (n.53), Thiago Silva, Zambrotta, Ambrosini, Flamini, Gattuso, Seedorf, Streasser (n.51), Borriello, Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Verdi (n.52), Zigoni (n.17).
Unavailable players: Abbiati, Bonera, Nesta, Onyewu, Beckham, Mancini, Pato.
Suspended players: Pirlo, Ronaldinho.

Historically significant baseball games I have attended #3

Who was playing? Baltimore Orioles versus Seattle Mariners

Where did they play? Safeco Field, Seattle, WA

When did they play? July 15, 2005

Did I know this game might be significant before it started? Yes. The only reason I wanted to go was to have a chance to see someone get their 3000th hit.

What happened? Rafael Palmeiro, first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, got his 3000th hit, a double to left field in the 5th inning off Mariners pitcher Joel Pineiro.

What do I remember? The Orioles were in Seattle, and Rafael Palmeiro had 2999 hits. I convinced my daughter that we needed to go see the game. We sat out in the left field bleachers.

In his first two at-bats, Rafael Palmeiro walked and grounded out. At one point, he hit a long foul ball down the right field line, and the crowd groaned in disappointment. Finally, in the 5th inning, Rafael Palmeiro hit a line drive into left field that sliced towards the corner and barely stayed fair. Rafael Palmeiro ended up with a double. Everyone cheered and his team came out onto the field to surround and congratulate him. (Picture below)

One of the important things about sitting in the left field bleachers at Safeco Field is that you can not see the out-of-town scoreboard. At the same time the Orioles were playing the Mariners, the Cardinals were playing the Houston Astros in St. Louis. Throughout the game, my daughter and I took breaks to walk down to where we could get a look at the out-of-town scoreboard. Every time we checked, it seemed like the score was 2-2 - in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. Finally, in the top of the 13th inning, we saw that Houston had gone ahead 3-2, and my daughter and I were very sad. But when we checked a little while later, we saw that the final score was 4-3 and the Cardinals had won. We both were very happy and started screaming and jumping up and down. The Mariners fans around us probably thought that we were crazy. When my daughter and I got home, we found out that Albert Pujols had hit a two-run home run to win the game.

Was there an aftermath? The Orioles won the game 6-3. They finished the season in 4th place in the American League East with a record of 74-88. Rafael Palmeiro had already testified to Congress (in March of 2005) that he had never used steroids. However, in August, 2005, he was suspended for ten days by Major League Baseball for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. It is now unlikely that Rafael Palmeiro will be elected to the Hall of Fame, even though, with his career numbers, he certainly deserves it.

Below: Rafael Palmeiro testifying before Congress: "I have never intentionally used steroids."

The St. Louis Cardinals finished in first place in the National League Central with a record of 100-62. They beat the San Diego Padres in the first round of the playoffs but ultimately lost to the Houston Astros in the National League Championship Series. Albert Pujols continues to play first base for the Cardinals. He has not been implicated in any steroids-related scandals.

Albert Pujols watching a home run he hit against the Houston Astros, just not the home run he hit on July 15, 2005.

I have a Mike Cameron bobblehead doll

I am not sure when or how or why this Mike Cameron bobblehead doll came into my house. All I know is that for many years I have dusted my Mike Cameron bobblehead doll and re-attached his head when it fell off and moved my Mike Cameron bobblehead doll to ever-more obscure locations in my house in the hopes that he would not be noticed by the enemies* of Mike Cameron or of Mike Cameron bobblehead dolls. (Most recently, I moved my Mike Cameron bobblehead doll from the window over the kitchen sink to a cabinet in the corner of the living room where he hid behind a lamp and a plant and some family photographs and a turtle ashtray that came from my grandparents' house).

* By "enemies," I mean my wife, who, despite her recent attempts to impress our eight year-old nephew from New Zealand by telling him that it was "her" Mike Cameron bobblehead doll, usually only refers to the Mike Cameron bobblehead doll in such sentences as, "What are you going to do with that Mike Cameron bobblehead doll?" or "When are you going to get rid of your Mike Cameron bobblehead doll?"

Here are some statistics that only a true owner of a Mike Cameron bobblehead doll would know:

• Mike Cameron has played for six major league teams - the White Sox, Reds, Mariners, Mets, Padres, and Brewers.
• Mike Cameron once hit four home runs in one game (on May 2, 2002 for the Seattle Mariners against the Chicago White Sox). This ties him with fourteen other major leaguers for the most home runs in one game.
• Mike Cameron is an excellent outfielder and has won the Gold Glove Award two times.
• While playing for the New York Mets, Mike Cameron had a terrible collision in the outfield with teammate Carlos Beltran.
• Mike Cameron was suspended by Major League Baseball for the first 25 games of the 2008 season for using a banned stimulant.
• Mike Cameron's book, It Takes A Team: Mike Cameron, is ranked number 1, 754,340 on Amazon's sales rankings.

Crisis on the Turkish side?

With all the injuries and suspensions, the Turks are having trouble putting together a complete team for Wednesday's semi-final against Germany. They may even have to ask their third-string goalkeeper, Tolga Zengin, to play as a position player.

Click here to learn more.