WWE Extreme Rules

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Still having Wrestlemania hangover? Well we get WWE's next pay-per-view installment Extreme Rules.

This show originated in 2005 as the rebirth of ECW in a magical show in New York that saw the Dudley Boyz beat Tommy Dreamer & Sandman. In the 2006 show RVD finally won the WWE title, this was the last show that trully had a ECW feel to it. The 07 show was a forgettable one, but 2008 was a solid one that gave us a great ladder match between Edge & Undertaker that I had the chance to see live at the San Diego Sports Arena.

I have always been impressed and interested what WWE offers us in relation to the production and setup for the show. Stages used to be unique for every show and not the same one every month with different logos. This is a picture of the stage from my seat

The ladder match had some awesome spots that ended with Edge throwing Undertaker off the ladder to the outside of the ring through 4 tables. This is one of the final extreme matches Edge had, he unfortunately had to retire this month because of his recurring neck injuries (for a Edge tribute blog go here)

The stipulation was that if Taker lost he would be banished, so we didn't get to see him for a few months until SummerSlam

So lets get into the matches announced for this Sundays show

Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross vs Michael Cole & Jack Swagger
I'll start off by saying that I'm sick of this feud, I have no interest whatsoever in Cole and usually end up changing the channel; the only good thing to come put of this is to have Jim Ross back on commentary, even if it is for a couple of months. Also finally Swagger is getting some TV time which hopefully gets him a further push after this ends.
I have no idea how this will end as I expected this to be blown off at Mania but noooooooooo, we get another month of it. I don't care who wins as long as it end; I expect King and JR to pick up the W with help from Swagger who in the process will turn face.
Lawler and JR pick up the win.

Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio (Falls Count Anywhere Match)
I've been a fan of this feud from the get-go and was expecting someone to help get over Rhodes and Rey has been instrumental to get this done. Their Mania Match was a solid one that told a good story with the Dashing One picking up the win, therefore I expect Mr. 619 to get the W in this one to keep this feud going.
I hope they get 15-18 minutes to tell a good story, with Rey getting the win.

---SPOILER ALERT--- This match will be announced on SmackDown!
Michelle McCool vs Layla (Loser leaves Smackdown match)
I'll start off by saying I love LayCool and think they have been great in their role, whether McCool was given a head start because of her backstage relationship or not is irrelevant as she was given the ball and ran with it. Michelle has an injured foot so I guess this is a match that will be used to explain her absence, thus Layla will pick up the win (for the record, I find Layla to be the hottest diva today, her face, her body, her accent, THE WHOLE DAMN PACKAGE)
Layla wins this one in a 7-8 minute match.

Randy Orton vs CM Punk (Last Man Standing Match)
This feud has grown a bit stale even with 2 of the greatest SuperStars around. Orton will be moving to Smackdown and Punk is THE greatest heel in WWE today, bar none. With rumors going around that Punk won't resign with WWE this match may go his way to make him feel good, also a loss wouldn't hurt Orton as the people are really behind him.
I'm interested in seeing how violent the WWE allows this guys to be, no need for huge spots but some use of weapons could help the match and accentuate how sadistic both guys are -in their own way-.
Punk wins in a 23 minute (sounds like a good wish) show-stealing match

Alberto del Rio vs Christian in a Ladder Match for the WHC
This is quite a mystery and hard to call as we have ADR going to RAW because of the Draft and if he wins he would take the title and have both titles on Monday Nights, yet he is so overdue to win this match and the crowd may lose faith in him if he doesn't pick up the W. On the other hand Christian is a solid performer but has never been see as Championship material by the office so -I'd love to see him finally get the title- it's hard to believe they will put the strap on him.
Regardless of the outcome I expect these 2 to put on a clinic -along with the Orton-Punk match- I expect this one to steal the show. I'll go out on a limb and pick a winner
Alberto Del Rio gets the W, not sure how they will manage the title after that but that's for creative to figure out.

John Cena vs John Morrison vs The Miz in a Triple Threat WWE title Match
For some reason I'm not real interested in this match although I like all 3 guys. Cena takes a bunch of crap from most fans but you have to respect his commitment and hard work, I mean the guy is on the road close to 300 days a year, does media appearances left and right, is a great performer and always gets a reaction. Morrison is one of the best wrestlers around, his parkour is amazing, he gets a great reaction from the crowd but for some reason (maybe it's Melina and the stuff backstage with Trish Stratus) WWE decides not to let him be a real top guy. And finally, The Miz; this guys is a perfect example of what hard work and fighting for what you believe in is all about, that package before his Wrestlemania still gives me chills and I think he is a role model for anyone to follow.
With that being said, I don't care for this match. I expect R-Truth (a guy I could care less about) to somehow mess with JoMo, that leaves us with Cena-Miz  which I'd love to end with Miz picking up the clean win but I find it hard to believe they will go with that.
A good thing about this is that the winner is hard to predict, which is a testament to the Miz growing as a believable character. No one believed he'd go past a couple of week as champ, but here he is after beating Orton a couple of times, Cena at Mania (all have been with help, but it means WWE believes in him and makes fans think he can win any match which adds to the product).
Winner: I want Miz, I expect Cena.

The storylines are not that interesting but we have some matches that have huge potential and could be some of the best this year.
Hope we get an entertaining 3 hours and our moneys worth; I'll be back on Sunday night for a review, for now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

Barca-Madrid, Copa del Rey

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Después de vivir el primero de 4 Clásicos en 18 días, el encuentro del sábado sirvió como preámbulo para lo que será el plato fuerte: tanto la Final de la Copa de Rey como la ronda Semifinal de la Copa de Campeones de UEFA. Al igual que en la entrada anterior este post se enfocará exclusivamente en las estadísticas de los partídos Barcelona-Madrid de la Copa del Rey.

• El primer duelo de Copa del Rey entre estos dos históricos se llevó a cabo hace 109 años. Las semifinales de la Copa de 1902 fueron la primera vez que se enfrentaron Barcelona - Madrid en un torneo nacional en Espana -vale la pena recordar que La Liga se estableció en 1929-. El marcador fue un 1-3 que se llevó el Barca a domicilio.


• En eso 109 años hemos tenido 28 enfrentamientos teniendo la siguiente distribución de resultados:




• Real Madrid ha vencido en 9 ocasiones


• 14 triunfos para los Culé.


• 5 empates

• A pesar de tener menor cantidad de triunfos las anotaciones son muy similares:




• 59 goles para el Barcelona (2.11 por partido, mismo promedio del Madrid en juegos en casa en La Liga vs el Barca)


• 54 tantos anotados por los Merengues (1.96 goles por juego).

• La racha más larga de victorias para el Madrid es de 2:




• La vuelta de la semifinal en 1943 ganando 11-1 en casa. Curioso que en un juego donde anotan 11 goles ningún jugador repitió y fueron 11 anotadores distintos.


• La ida de las semifinales del 53-54 con una victoria 1 a 0 en casa con un gol al 86 de Enrique Mateos




• Por su parte el Barcelona tiene una racha mayor, 4 encuentros:




• La vuelta de los Cuartos de final en 56-57 ganando 6-1 en casa con 4 goles de Eulogio Martinez. En ese encuentro ningun madrileño anotó ya que su solitario gol fue un autogol de Ferran Olivella al 75.


• El segundo en la racha fue un 2-4 en los Cuartos de la 58-59


• El tercero fue en la vuelta de esos mismos Cuartos con un 3-1 en el Camp Nou


• La última victoria de la racha fue un 0-1 en la ida de los Cuartos de la 61-62.


• Si bien fueron 4 victorias consecutivas, hay una racha de 5 sin perder ya que hubo un empate en el juego de ia previo al 6-1.




• Un dato que nos favorece a todos los fanáticos del futbol es que nunca hemos tenido empates consecutivos; menciono esto ya que el último Clásico en Copa del Rey fue un empate 1-1 en 96-97, esperemos que esta estadística se mantenga en 0.


• No es que yo sea seguidor del Barca pero las estadísticas están muy en su favor va otra: el Barcelona ha convertido dos hat tricks:




• Josep Samitier lo hizo en 1926 anotando 4. Los goles fueron en el 19, 26, 43 y 64; más aún, esta hazaña fue realizada a domicilio


• El paraguayo Eulogio Martinez se despachó con 4 en una victoria 6-1 del Barca en la 56-57




• El Madrid nunca ha convertido un triplete contra el Barca en la Copa.


• La victoria mas contundente para el Madrid fue el ya mencionado 11-1 en 1943


• Por su parte el Barca tiene un 6-1 como su marcador más abultado, este es el juego del segundo hat trick.


• Los jugadores con más goles anotados en esta rivalidad son:




• Por el Real, Santiago Benabeu con 8


• Josep Samitier anotó 6 por el Barcelona. Algunos años después militó con el Madrid aunque no jugó Copa Rey vs. su ex-equipo.




• El equipo que anota primero solo ha perdido en 1 ocasión, en el 58-59.

Probabilidades

• Los resultados de un partido a otro son totalmente independientes, si tomamos eso como premisa las probabilidades quedan como sigue:




• Barcelona gana, 50%


• Madrid gana, 32.14%


• Empate, 17.86%




• Si tomamos en cuenta los 28 partidos de historia podemos concluir lo siguiente:




• No habrá empate ya que en los 4 primeros empates el siguiente juego tuvo un ganador. El último juego en esta rivalidad fue un empate 1-1 en 96-97


• En 3 de los 4 juegos siguientes a un empate ha ganado el Madrid, es decir un 75% de las ocasiones


• Barcelona ha ganado 25 de 34 finales en Copa del Rey, 73%. Probabilidad conjunta de que el Barcelona le gane al Madrid siendo el juego una final de de Copa del Rey, 54%


• Madrid solo ha ganado 17 de 36, es decir un 47%. Probabilidad de que Madrid gane al Barca un juego que es la final de la copa del rey 23.5%




• Adicionalmente:




• Barcelona se ha coronado 2 ocasiones en Mestalla, en 3 oportunidades


• La ocasión que el Barcelona perdió fue contra el Madrid, que ha quedado campeón 1 ocasión en Mestalla en 1 oportunidad. El titulo fue en 1936.

Para este torneo estamos un poco más limitados en análisis que se puede realizar ya que anteriomente se jugaban dos vueltas en todas las rondas y luego cambió a eliminación directa.

En fin, como lo mencioné anteriormente, podremos hacer mucho análisis pero lo que sucede dentro de la cancha a lo largo de 90 minutos (o posiblemente más en este caso) nadie lo puede predecir. A esperar el miércoles para disfrutar otro capítulo más en esta histórica rivalidad.

Quien es su favorito? Se coronan los Culé, o por fin el Madrid prueba que puede ganarle al mejor equipo del mundo?

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

iPhone 4 iBooks commercial

>Right now I'm watching the Lakers-Hornets game and a cool Apple iPhone4 commercial came up. Apple is known to be great with marketing; heck, they are awesome. They are so damn good they make the iPad seem like a needable product.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNtoJerwV4]

This video I'm talking about for the iPhone4 and its compatibility with iBooks. I find it interesting how they focus on both the smartphone and the e-reader industry. We all know how huge the smartphone market is, and recently the e-reader world has exploded onto the scene (The report from the Association of American Publishers, showed February’s eBook sales were $90.3m (£55.2m), compared to $81.2m (£49.8m) in paperbacks, a leap of 202.3% on the same time last year. For more go to t3.com) so it seems logical that Apple will go all-out and try to conquer that market and beat out gadgets like the Kindle, Nook and to some degree the iPad.

Interesting how Apple pushed the iPhone as an e-reader along with the iPad2. Cross marketing and also competition within the company.

Your thoughts???

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

Barcelona-Madrid La Liga

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Este sábado se enfrentarán en La Liga Español por ocasión 162 (210a. ocasión en total) el Barcelona y Real Madrid, estoy seguro habrá miles de blogs sobre lo que significa esta rivalidad, la cual es posiblemente la mejor en la historia del deporte mundial, sin embargo en esta ocasión decidí enfocarme en los números que nos han dejado estos 162 encuentros que datan del 17 de febrero de 1929.

Veamos que tantos datos podemos encontrar (recalco, son solo datos de La Liga, habrá nuevo blog para Copa del Rey y Champions):

• El sábado 16 de abril que de inicio el juego serán 30,008 días desde que se celebró por primera ocasión un Barcelona vs Real Madrid en la Liga. Esto se traduce en 82 años, 1 mes y 30 días. Más aún 720,192 horas aproximadamente. Sin duda toda un vida de juegos, goles, historias y estadísticas.


• En estos 82 años se han jugado un total de 161 clásicos




• 68 ganados para el Madrid


• 63 para el Barcelona


• Han habido 30 empates




• Los goles se han distribuido como sigue




• 251 goles a favor del Barca (1.56 goles por juego)


• 262 para los otrora conocidos como Galácticos (1.63 goles por juego)




• La racha más larga de juegos empatados de forma consecutiva es de 3, entre 2002 y 2003:




• 17 de marzo de 2002, 1-1 en el Camp Nou


• 24 de noviembre de 2002, 0-0 de nuevo en casa de los blaugranas


• 20 de abril de 2003 con un 1-1 en el Bernabeu




• El Madrid ha ganó 6 juegos de forma consecutiva entre 1962 y 1965, siendo esta su racha más larga de victorias:




• 2-0 el 30 de septiembre de 1962


• 1-5 un 27 de enero de 1963


• El 15 de diciembre de 1963 aplastaron 4-0


• A domicilio un 1-2 el 30 de marzo de 1964


• Su quinto fue el 8 de noviembre del 64 ganando 4-1


• La última victoria de la racha fue el 1-2 en Catalunya un 28 de febrero de 1965




• Por su parte, la racha de victorias consecutivas de Barcelona comenzó en 2008 y sigue vigente:




• Comenzó el 13 de diciembre de 2008 con un 2-0 (el 1-0 fue el último de Eto'o en esta rivalidad)


• Un 2-6 a domicilio fue el 2 de mayo de 2009


• El 29 de noviembre de 2009 Barcelona gana 1-0 con tanto de Ibra


• El 4to fue un 0-2 el 10 de abril de 2010


• La última victoria, hasta el momento, fue la inolvidable goleada de 5-0 el 29 de noviembre de 2010.




• El Barcelona ha convertido 5 hat-tricks en la historia de la rivalidad:




• El 5 de abril de 1931 Ramón se despachó con 3 para el Barcelona


• Ventorla hizo un hat-trick +1 anotando 4 goles un 21 de abril de 1935


• César marcó 3 goles un 2 de marzo de 1952


• Tuvieron que pasar casi 35 años hasta que Lineker metió 3 el 31 de enero de 1987


• Poco más de 20 años después Messi hizo 3 el 10 de marzo de 2007.




• El Real tiene un hat-trick más que el Barcelona y su cuenta llega a 6:




• El primer trio de goles de la rivalidad fue convertido por Lazcano el 30 de marzo de 1930


• Sañudo mete 3 el 3 de febrero del 35


• En ese mismo partido (un impresionante 8-2) Lazcano repite la hazaña, convirtiéndolo en el único en hacer esto más de una ocasión.


• 11 años después Bariana convierte el único juego de 4 goles por un merengue el 2 de enero de 1944.


•  Para repetir la historia del 35 Pruden mete 3 en lo que fue un histórico 11-1.


• El último triplete sucedió 19 años después por Puskas, es el único que se hizo en terreno rival a lo largo de la historia un 27 de enero del 63




• Esto nos deja con que el Madrid hace cerca de medio siglo, 48 años con 2 meses y 20 días.


• El mayor márgen por el que ha ganado el Real Madrid es de 10 goles, llevándose el partido 11 a 1 el 2 de enero de 1944


• El máximo diferencial a favor de los catalanes es de 5, hecho 6 veces




• 5-0 el 21 de abril de 1935


• 5-0 el 27 de marzo de 1945


• 7-2 un 24 de septiembre de 1950


• 0-5 hecho un 17 de febrero de 1974


• De nuevo 5-0 el 8 de enero de 1994


• Y el último y más reciente victoria, 5-0 el 29 de noviembre de 1929




• Los máximos romperredes en esa rivalidad son:




• El histórico di Stefano por el Madrid con 14 tantos


• Mientras que por el Barcelona César esta al tope con 12 goles.


• De los activos por ambos clubes Messi es el único en el Top 20 con 7 hasta el momento (veremos después del sábado ;))




• Un total de 33 jugadores han militado en ambos clubes. 21 han pasado del Barcelona al Madrid y 12 en dirección opuesta

En vista de que el juego del sábado se juega en la cancha del Benabeu, aqui van algunos datos en cuanto a los juegos realizados en terreno madrileño:

• Se han jugado 80 partidos




• Madrid domina con 50 triunfos (62.5%)


• 16 triunfos para el Barcelona (20%)


• Y los restantes 14 han sido empates (17.5%)




• Los merengues tienen 169 goles




• Esto es un promedio de 2.11 anotaciones por partido




• El Barca tiene solo 89 anotaciones




• 1.11 goles por encuentro.




• Han habido 27 marcadores finales diferentes en los 80 juegos


• El final más repetido es 2-1, finalizando 9 encuentros de esta forma.


• De los 80 partidos solo 3 han terminado en empate sin goles (3.75%):




• 1ero de febrero de 1931


• 25 de febrero de 1973


• 12 de abril de 1987




•  El Barcelona ha dejado en blanco al Madrid 13 ocasiones (16.25%).


• Los Madrileños le han devuelto el favor el doble de partidos, 26 (32.5%).


• La victoria con el mayor diferencial para el Madrid ha sido el ya comentado 11-1 de 1944


• El Barcelona ganó 0-5 el 17 de febrero de 1974, siendo esta su mayor victoria a domicilio.


• Como último dato, el más reciente juego en Madrid fue un 0-2 a favor del Barcelona el 10 de abril de pasado año con goles de Messi (33) y de Pedrito al (56).

Como verán hay cientos de números que podemos sacar de esta histórica y apasionada rivalidad, podemos obtener nuestras conclusiones y hacer todo tipo de predicciones sin embargo, cuando el balón comienze a rodar todo puede suceder, es lo hermoso del deporte. Nos da mucho para analizar antes del partido y nos da tanto más al momento del juego mismo.

Quien es su favorito? Que les apasiona del deporte?

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

Liga de Campeones UEFA 2011

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Llegamos a los 4 últimos equipos en la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA, probablemente el mejor torneo de futbol del mundo , y tenemos a 4 grandes involucrados, cada uno sus argumentos para llevarse a casa la orejona.

Schalke 04 vs Manchester United
Después de una notable actuación contra el FC Internazionale Milano, el alemán Schalke 04 sigue siendo considerado el más debil de los 4 restantes. De hecho era considerado de los débiles de los últimos 8 pero se quito ese mote de débil después de arrazar con los Nerazurri por un marcador de 5 a 2 en el juego de ida; y más aún, a domicilio en San Ciro. El partido comenzó bien para el Inter con un golazo de medio campo de Stankovic pero todo fue en picada apartir de ahí y el Schalke tomó el control para llevarse el triunfo por 3 goles.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nE2Zftr0ec]

El juego de vuelta este pasado miércoles en Alemania fue una mera formalidad ya que el Inter ocupaba lo más cercano a un milagro para avanzar a semifinales. Cuando el árbitro dio el silbatazo final y el Schalke obtuvo una victoria de 2 por 1 para un marcador global de 7-3. Para un equipo que, de acuerdo a los expertos, no tenía oportunidad de avanzar más allá de los cuartos de final el Schalke llega sin presión alguna ya que han logrado sobrepasar las expectativas.

Del otro lado del campo tenemos al Manchester United que no ha sido menos que una máquina en el primer trimestre del año. Viene de dos convincentes victorias sobre el Chelasea, la primera a domicilio en Stamford Bridge por un marcador de 1-0 en sólido encuentro, sin llegar a ser espectacular; este marcador puso al ManU en control, además de tener ventaja adicional por el gol de visitante.
El juego de vuelta fue, sin duda, más entretenido; el Manchester tomó ventaja por un gol anotado por el Chicharito Hernández -no que sea sesgado mi comentario por ser mexicano, pero que jugadorazo es, y lo que le fata mejorar. y tomó el control del juego hasta el minuto 77 cuando Drogba venció a Van der Sar con un riflazo de derecha; la cosa se ponía interesante para el Chelsea pero menos de un minuto después Park anotó el gol que puso en la congeladora el partido.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJs3kPHRNK4]

Los sitios de apuestas favorecen por mucho al Manchester United para avanzar a la Final, yo me inclino hacia el mismo lado sin embargo estoy seguro que el Schalke no será presa fácil y peleará hasta el último minuto. Será interesante ver como se desarrolla el juego de ida, a jugarse en Alemania, donde el club dirigido por Raúl buscará a toda costa salir con la victoria, y de pasó dejar en ceros a una de las ofensivas más potentes de Europa.
Yo veo al Schalke saliendo a atacar y buscar establecerle su ritmo al juego, no si sea posible ante un equipo tan fuerte como los Red Devils. Al jugar agresivo y atacar mucho tendrán que confiar en su defensa para detener a gente como Rooney, Berbatov y Chicharito. Dicho lo anterior, creo que en el mejor de los casos para el Schalke sacarán un empate en este partido.
Para el juego de vuelta en Old Trafford creo que el Man U saldrá con la victoria sin mucho problema y avanzará a la Final que se jugará en su país (Wembley Stadium en Londres el 28 de mayo).
Resultado: Manchester United advanza.

Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona
El Real Madrid llega a la instancia de semifinales después pasarle por encima al Tottenham por un global de 5-0. Esta serie se definió en los primeros 15 minutos del juego de ida que vieron al Madrid tomar una ventaja de 1-0 después de un cabezazo de Adebayor y la subsecuente expulsión del delantero Peter Crouch al 15 por doble amarilla. El resto del partido los merengues hicieron los que quisieron y anotaron 3 goles más.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3BQj2ZJfk]

Como fue el caso del Schalke-Inter, el juego de vuelta fue mera formalidad y el Real tomó ventaja de 1-0 después de un gol de Cristiano Ronaldo que llegó en un tiro no complicado que el portero Gomes erró por completo y selló en definitiva este par de juegos. Al final el Madrid blanqueó en ambas instancias al Hotspur y ganó por marcador global de 5-0.

Los galácticos se medirán a su eterno rival, con quien han caído en sus últimos 5 encuentros (habrá dos más antes del juego de ida), el FC Barcelona quien viene de un par de juegos contra el Shakhtar de Uncrania a quienes venció sin mayor complicación. El juego de ida se realizó en el hermoso Camp Nou, casa de los Blaugranas, que se llevaron la victoria con un convincente 5-1; el primero fue de Iniesta al minuto 2 y se llevaron una ventaja de 2-0 al descanso. Después de un gol de Piqué los Ucranianos mostraron señales de vida con un gol al 60, sin embargo fue lo más cerca que estuvieron y el Barcelona se llevó una ventaja que no dejaría ir en la vuelta.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6uZlA6_Z4Y]

Me pareció extraño que solo en 1 de los 4 juegos de vuelta se jugaba algo (Manchester-Chelsea). Como en los otros 3, el Barcelona solo esperaba el pitazo final para asegurar su lugar en las semifinales. El Shakhtar no puso mayor resistencia y perdió 0-1 después de un gooooooool de -el mejor jugardor del mundo- Messi al 43.

Con esta semifinal de Champions tendremos el placer de ver 4 Madrid-Barcelona en un plazo de dos semanas (el sábado 16 en el Bernabeu en La Liga, el miércoles 20 en Mestalla, Valencia para la Final de la Copa del Rey, además de la ida y vuelta de Champions). La ida será en el Bernabeu y veo un partido extremadamente parejo, las casas de apuestas pagan lo mismo por ambos equipos, y dificil de predecir; me cuesta trabajo decidir quien ganará (se que quiero que el Barcelona gane) y creo que el resultado de este juego se verá influenciado por el resultado de los dos encuentros que sostendrán antes. Para la ida me inclino por una victoria del Madrid de 2 a 1.

La vuelta, a jugarse el 3 de mayo en el Camp Nou, será un juego sólido sin ser el más espectacular ya que -si mi predicción de 2-1se hace realidad- el Madrid saldrá a defenderse y el Barcelona a atacar buscando los goles del empate y victoria. Al cumplirse los 90 minutos el Barcelona se alzará con una triunfo claro de 3-0, llevando el global a 4-2.
Resultado: Barcelona avanza.

Una predicción para la Final de la Champions League? Tendremos que esperar a ver que sucede en las semifinales (coff coff Barcelona campeón coff coff) y comprobar si mis predicciones fueron las correctas.

Quien crees que ganará? Quien quieres que gane?

Por ahora

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

UEFA Champions League 2011

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We are finally down to out last 4 teams in the UEFA Champions League, arguably the best football tournament in the World, and we have 4 great teams involved all of them making strong cases to take home the big trophy.

Schalke 04 vs Manchester United
After a dominant performance against Italian Stallion FC Internazionale Milano German Schalke 04 is considered the weakest of the 4 teams left. Heck, they were underdogs entering the Quarter-finals but put that status to rest as they took Inter to the woodshed behind a 5-2 victory at San Ciro. This game started off in favor of the Nerazurri after a near midfield goal by Stankovic but it was downhill from there as Schalke took complete control of the match that they ended up winning by 3.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nE2Zftr0ec]

The return match this past Wednesday in Germany was a mere formality as Inter needed nothing less than a miracle to advance. When it was all said and done, Schalke pulled off a 2-1 victory for a 7-3 aggregate.
For a team that, according to the experts, had no chance of making it passed the Quarterfinals Schalke comes in with no pressure as they have exceed expectations.

On the other side of the field will be Manchester United that been nothing short of a machine in the first quarter of 2011. They come of two convincing victories over Chelsea, the first one coming at Stamford Bridge by a 1-0 score in what was a solid, yet not very appealing match; the 1-0 win put ManU in the drivers seat and they had an extra advantage by virtue of the visiting goal.
The return match was much more entertaining and saw Manchester take advantage on a goal scored by Chicharito Hernandez -not that I'm totally biased because I'm Mexican, but this kid is the real deal and has a ton of upside and potential- and took control of the match until the 77th minute were Drogba scored on a laser that Van der Sar could not keep out; things were looking up for Chelsea but less than a minute later Park scored what proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Chelsea

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJs3kPHRNK4]

Most betting sites are heavily favoring Manchester United to move on to the final stage of the Cup, I'm also picking them to move on but the Schalke will not go down without a huge fight. It will be interesting to see how the 1st leg works out since they will play in Germany where the club led by Raúl will have to pull out a win and in the process try to shut-out one of the most potent offenses in Europe.
I'm looking for Schalke to come out attacking in the 1st match and try to establish their style on the match, not sure if that will be possible with a team as strong as the Red Devils. By playing aggressive and attacking a lot they will heavily rely on a solid defense that can cover Rooney and Chicharito or Berbatov mostly one on one to free up people in midfield and on the other side of the field. With all that being said I expect, in the best case scenario for Schalke, a tie in this game.
For the match at Old Trafford I expect Man U to come up with the big W and thus advancing to the Finals which will be played in their country (Wembley Stadium in London on May 28).
Result: Manchester United advances.

Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona
Real Madrid comes into this semi-final stage after emphatically beating Tottenham by a 5-0 aggregate. This was pretty much in the books after the first 15 minutes of the match that saw Madrid take a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute via a Adebayor header and Hotspur forward Peter Crouch shown a red card at the 15th. For the rest of the match Real did what they pleased and managed to score 3 more goals.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3BQj2ZJfk]

As was the case with Schalke - Inter, this game was a mere formality and Madrid took the match 1-0 after a gol by Cristiano Ronaldo following a shot that was brutally mishandled by Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes. In the end the better team won both matches by shutouts and we ended up with a 5-0 total

Madrid will be opposed by longtime rival, and a team they have lost to the last 5 meetings, FC Barcelona who is coming of a couple of matches with Ukrainian Shakhtar which they easily won. The first leg was at beautiful Camp Nou in Barcelona taken by a 5-1 result after a quick goal in the 2nd minute by Iniesta, and took a 2-0 lead to halftime. After a goal by Piqué, Shakhtar showed some life by scoring a goal at 60. In the end Barcelona took a commanding lead they would not relinquish in the return match.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6uZlA6_Z4Y]

Seemed weird that only 1 of the 4 return matches was interesting (Manchester-Chelsea). Like the other 3, Barcelona came in just waiting for the final whistle to assure their spot in the semi-finals. Shakhtar didn't put up a fight and lost 0-1 after a 43rd minute gooooooooooool by, the best player in the world, Messi.

So this semi-final match will give us a total of 4 Real Madrid - Barcelona matches in a two week span (1 for La Liga, 1 for la Copa del Rey, and these 2 games). In the Champions League matches the 1st leg will be at Santiago Bernabeu were most of the betting sides are calling it right down the middle and I can't really decide on who will win (I know I want Barcelona to win), the result for this game I think will be heavily influenced by the result of the previous 2 games (Saturday the 16th at Bernabeu, and Wednesday the 20th at Mestalla, Valencia). I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Madrid with a 2-1 victory.
The return match to be played May the 3rd at Camp Nou will be a solid game but not spectacular -if my 2-1 prediction comes true- where Madrid will come out defending and Barcelona looking for the tying goal. In the end I see Barcelona picking up a 3-0 victory for a 4-2 aggregate.
Result: Barcelona advances.

A prediction for the Final of the UEFA Champions League? Well, that will have to wait for after the semifinals (wink wink Barcelona wink wink) and after making sure my previous picks were correct?

Who do you expect to win? Who do you want to win?

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

NBA Playoff picks

>Now that if finished my first round predictions I give you my playoff bracket where I pick put the teams I picked in the next round and so on and so forth until I predict my NBA Champion for the 2011 season.



For more detailed breakdown on every matchup check out My Eastern Conference blog and my Western Conference blog.

On next NBA blog I'll compare my predictions to what happened and lets see how it goes.

Who are your favorite teams to win it all in 2011???

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

NBA Playoffs Western Conference

The NBA season is finally over and it's time for the playoffs. For any NBA fan this is the best time of the year as we are down to the best teams of the year get to show their skills against the other best teams in games that actually mean something. I'll take a look at each Western Conference playoff series, the teams, players, injuries and what I expect the outcome to be. (to check out my my Eastern Conference blog click here)

#1 San Antonio Spurs vs #8 Memphis Grizzlies 

In my opinion the Spurs have been, by far, the best team in the NBA this season; that being said they aren't the favorite to move on to the NBA Finals, mostly because the have to go through the Lakers to get there and they aren't 100% healthy. Still I see them as favorite to take this series against the Grizzlies who have been a nice surprise this season; heck they are the 8th seed and are 10 games over .500 so they aren't a bad team yet they don't have that one great player that can take over a game. I expect the Spurs to take it in 5. And really hope they move on deep into the playoffs, more into that in a bit.

#2 Los Angeles Lakers vs. Now Orleans Hornets

If you have read other blog entries you know I'm a Lakers fan so there is not much secret who my favorite will be in this series. Right about now I'm pretty scared as to how far the Lakers can go in the playoffs, it all depends on Andrew Bynum's knee; when the Lakeshow had their amazing run after the All-Star break Bynum was playing to his full potential and better than at any point in his young -albeit injury-filled- career and the Lakers were leaps and bound ahead of everyone else. While LA's doctors said Drew's injury was only a bone bruise I'm not sure about that as he has had a history of right knee issues;that being said, if Bynum can be effective the Lakers are the top title contenders. New Orleans is a solid, discrete team lead by Chris Paul and David West, their problem this series is their lack size to take on the Lakers, who even without Andrew are far bigger than the Hornets.
I really want the Spurs and Lakers to go deep into the playoffs for 2 reasons: first, this could be one of those epic historic series that people will talk about for years to come; and second, I would have the chance to go up to SA and watch a couple of games live. I'm not a fan of the LA crowd as it's mostly composed of Hollywood starts who are there more to get on camera than because they care about the team, on the other hand the San Antonio crowd is amazing, every game they play seems like a playoff game (you can check out my to blog on the Miami Heat - San Antonio game or the Los Angeles Lakers - San Antonio Spurs where I get more into depth on that topic.)
I'm taking the Lakers in a 4 game sweep.

#3 Dallas Mavericks vs #6 Portland Trailblazers

This is a pretty interesting series, I enjoy watching both teams as they play some pretty exciting ball. The Mavs are led by Dirk Nowitzki while the Blazers rely on a team of young players led by LaMarcus Aldrige along with Brandon Roy who was a superstar in the making that could never live up to full potential due to bad knees. While both teams are entertaining I don't see them making it deep into the playoffs due to a lack of depth. This series is kind of a toss-up since they are pretty evenly matched up and both teams play really good at home, therefore I expect the Mavs to take this in 7.

#4 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #5 Denver Nuggets 

This is, by far, my favorite matchup of the 1st Round in the West. While I root for the Lakers the Thunder are a favorite of mine to watch, they are a young team that has grown a lot the last couple of years and still have a ton of potential to grow more; you've got Kevin Durant, who doesn't get enough praise and publicity for the great player he is, along with Serge Ibaka, Russell Westbrook, Kendrik Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha and a bunch of great young talent, they are a great team that will only get better. On the other hand we have the Denver Nuggets who have been, in my opinion, a big surprise after the Carmelo trade; I know they got some great players in return but I did not expect them to fit in George Karl's system so fast. Both teams are quick, score a lot, shoot well, have an average defense and have great crowds that always make the games that much hotter. This series is really hard to pick but I'm taking the Thunder in 6, this pick is based on my desire for OKC to advance and nothing more.

Who are your favorite teams to win it all in 2011???

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference

The NBA season is finally over and it's time for the playoffs. For any NBA fan this is the best time of the year as we are down to the best teams of the year get to show their skills against the other best teams in games that actually mean something. I'll take a look at each Eastern Conference playoff series, the teams, players, injuries and what I expect the outcome to be. (to check out my Western Conference blog click here)

#1 Chicago Bulls vs. #8 Indiana Pacers

So we have the best team in the East led by Derrick Rose taking on the Pacers who frankly have no players I know by name, still the must be doing something good enough to get to the playoffs -well not really because they ended the season 37-45 and to have a team with 8 more losses than wins have a chance to win the Title is bullsh*t, I'm all for a change in the NBA and reduce the number of playoff teams to 4 o 6 (a la NFL) but that is for another blog-. Chicago has been dominant all season led by Rose -my MVP pick- along with Noah, Boozer, Brewer and other guys and will easily take this matchup in 5 games, still I'm not totally sold on the being a championship team although I'm pushing so much for them because I enjoy watching them play and Chicago was so much overdue for a winning team.

#2 Miami Heat vs #7 Philadelphia 76ers

Miami taking their talents into the playoffs is no surprise, heck it was an obligation for a team with that much talent and all of the acquisitions they made. Philadelphia is another of those teams that makes the playoffs because of the system and really has no chance to win this series. LeBron, Wade -THE most important player for the Heat-, Bosh will prove to much even if they underachieve as they have done a good part of the season. I've got the Heat taking it in 5.

#3 Boston Celtics vs #6 New York Knicks 

This is the most intriguing match-up in the 1st round of the East. The Knicks (ever since the Carmelo Anthony trade) have been a tough riddle to decipher; some games they seem like a Title contender and other games they seem totally lost. A truth is that even in the game that they have won their defense is lackluster, heck even I think a could drop 25-30 on them any given night. On the other hand the Celtics have a ton of experience so they have an advantage in that aspect, my doubts start after the Perkins trade and their faith on a old and injured Shaq. Both teams have been inconsistent the last couple of months so picking a winner will be hard but I will take a risk and pick The Knicks in 6 games.

#4 Orlando Magic vs #5 Atlanta Hawks

 

This is another tough series to predict. For me the Magic is a team with lots of problems, it basically consists of Dwight Howard and 4 other midgets; while the Hawks are just a team I'm not sold on in any way. But both teams have done something right to earn a spot at 4 & 5. Not to interested in this series as I don't see any these teams going past the next round, for blog sakes I'll take Atlanta in 6.

Who are your favorite teams to win it all in 2011???

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

Edge retirement Speech

To go right along with my Thank You blog, here is the Raw part from this Monday where Edge retired.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GsO5KCHDiM]

The following is a fan shot speech Edge gives during Smackdown, not sure how much of it will air but it is a touching moment from one of the great performers of our generation.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp_WRWReKb8]

A couple of really touching moments that any real fan will enjoy... no more words needed, just

THANK YOU EDGE!!!

Mr Khakbaz out!

Edge - Sayin' goodbye to a Legend

So tonight on Raw we get the unexpected retirement of Edge. Being the pro-wrestling industry you get that a lot, angles like this come and go but from what I'm reading this is legit. Here a couple of reasons it think this is true:

• After his match at WrestleMania vs Alberto del Rio he destroyed his car in order to further their feud.


• This past Friday on SmackDown a rematch for Extreme Rules was set up.


• This does no fit into any storyline with ADR not making an appearance.


• They went behind the proverbial curtain as a goodbye to Edge.


• Nodq.com reports that everything that Edge said in the promo was legit.

In any case, if this was to be true this a sad/happy day for me as a wrestling fan. Sad because we won't see one of the true greats of my generation perform for us, he will be truly missed. Happy because, if he said is true, he found out in time to be able to live a healthy life; he made a ton of money, is still young so he will be able to enjoy a great life.

I was fortunate enough to meet Edge during the WrestleMania X7 weeked in Houston (bare with my look, this is 10 long years ago and I was only 14)

The guy was a real class act and took time to greet the fans. He was coming back from the gym and was all sweaty, he kept telling fans that he'd be disgusted to take a picture with a guy as sweaty and smelly as him. He took time to ask every fan where they were from and who was their favorite wrestler (could I really lie by the t-shirt I was wearing?) I talked about Mysterio being one of my favorites and he said it was a dream of him to wrestle with him (that became true a couple of years later when Rey joined the WWE). Met a lot of guys that weekend but Edge was truly one of a kind.

Besides meeting him I was lucky enough to watch some of his greatest matches live. I've got 3 that really stand out:

• TLC Match at WM17. This match was the next day after the picture was taken; Edge said he was pretty scared as they were going to try out some crazy stuff, and boy he was not lying! This 3-way tag team match, Dudleys vs. Hardys vs. Edge & Christian was amazing and still one of my favorites 10 years after it happened

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k7tmTWQUFs] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7KnFGuSh8Y]

• My second favorite match is Edge vs Eddie Guerrero in a No DQ match at Smackdown in September of 2009. They had a PPV match the previous Sunday that was OK but nothing spectacular, but this match was something else. The crowd in San Diego was hot the entire night, but this match made them go overboard, it was about 15 minutes of intense action. Edge picked up the win after a huge DDT from the top of a ladder; after the match everyone gave Eddie a standing ovation and, I believe, this was where his huge rise to the top of the WWE started.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_2jhD-yDJo]

• My final favorite match is a TLC Match for the World Title vs The Undertaker at Extreme Rules. This was an awesome match that saw the Undertaker be fired from WWE, the match was amazing and words can't do justice to what these to men did that summer night in San Diego

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ZXf6_gIg4] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RqTOJacNZQ] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc14ElYwcPA]

If this is the end of line for Edge, I am really happy for him, I hope he gets healthy and lives a full life and is as successful in anything else he does as he was in the WWE.

Thank you Edge.

Mr Khakbaz out!

1st iPad2 TV Ad

Interesting 1st TV ad for the Apple iPad2



Interesting new focus that Apple takes, on how technology is not the most important thing. “Technology alone is not enough,” the voice says, “Faster, thinner, lighter — those are all good things, but when technology gets out of the way, everything becomes more delightful, even magical.”

Visually it’s very similar to Apple’s first iPad ad, as it featured a close-up of a finger launching new apps by touching the device’s screen. Yet the approach is really different

Apple sold out of the product on the weekend it was released, March 14, according to reports.

Thoughts???

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

Mets season over?

NCAA Final Four

So we are winding down March Madness, should we call it April Madness? Name is irrelevant, the fact is we have gotten a awesome NCAA Tournament for the last couple of week. Before I get deep into the topic, let me state that I have the 68 team field, those 4 previous games are absolute crap and no one gave two chunks of monkey crap for them.

Being from SoCal I've been rooting for SDSU who got to the Sweet Sixteen until they were ousted by UConn, there went my pick for National Champion, still we got their best performance ever in the tourney. Speaking of the Huskies they are still alive and well playing in the Final Four against Kentucky. This seems to be better game, at least on paper, of the 2 semifinals. On one hand UConn has been playing amazingly well, winning -I believe- 9 games in 19 days which is nothing short of impressive, along with the fact that they have such a young and inexperienced team; and on the other hand we have Kentucky who is just solid and has some great coaching by John Calipari. Most betting houses have the Wildcats a 2.5 point favorite, personally I'll pick UConn to win a pretty tight game that will not disappoint.

The other game, which actually comes before (6:09pm EST), pits Butler vs VCU in a battle of a couple of underdogs. VCU who many "experts" believe shouldn't have been in the tournament (don't really share an opinion if a team should or shouldn't have been, I focus on how teams have played the last 2 weeks) but they have won their way to this point and there is no denying they deserve to be here. Butler, still called an underdog, but who is actually looking to return to the Title game which they nearly won on a last second shot by, now Utah Jazz player, Gordon Heywood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDjUob6LRqU&feature=related), so I can't call the real underdogs. In this matchup Butler clearly has the experience advantage along with having a better team. Betting sites have Butler a 3 point favorite, and I am going to have to go with them and pick Butler to win and advance to the title game.

If my predictions were to be correct we would have a Butler vs UConn title game and my money would be on UConn to win it all, but that is a topic I'll touch upon in my next blog on Sunday Morning.

All in all, I hope we get some great games tomorrow live from Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas (that is a beautiful stadium by the way), hope the crowd is really hot and we see some high quality basketball.

Editors note: the Women's Final Four is also going on this weekend. Semifinals will be played Sunday and I'm picking my Alma Mater Stanford to win along with UConn. The title game would clearly pit the 2 best teams in recent memory and the result is something I would not dare to try and predict as it will clearly be a tug-of-war -still hoping Stanford gets it done-.

For now, all I can say is enjoy the games and if you don't have access to CBS you can watch them online at this link http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2010-12-19/ncaa-march-madness-demand. Enjoy

Mr Khakbaz out!