Z/Web

Incredible game, one of the best ever. Cameroon came in as the underdog to skillful Spain (the best team in the tournament, IMNSHO), and proved it quickly by giving up a free kick just outside the box less than two minutes in. Spain scored, and then just a minute later, were awarded a penalty kick on Jose Marie’s take down in the box. But Cameroon’s terrific 16-year-old keeper stopped the shot! Spain finally got another goal seconds before the half and went into the locker room safely up 2-0. But African teams are exciting to watch because they are so unpredictable, and a different Cameroon team came out. Within seconds they’d had a shot on goal, and push after push soon brought them their first goal (a lucky deflection off a Spanish player). More perseverance brought them a second, tying the score. Then Spain’s Gabri was red-carded for a bad foul and had to play with 10 men. Everything was going Cameroon’s way. With just seconds left in the game, Spain’s best player, Jose Marie, fell down in the box in an obvious dive and received his second yellow to be kicked out of the game! We go into overtime with Cameroon up two men (an odd coincidence, since Cameroon beat Brazil in overtime while down to nine men themselves).

In the first 10 minutes of overtime Cameroon put an incredible 5 or 6 point-blank shots on goal, only to by stopped by Spain’s quick keeper. Amazing turnaround for a game that started with Spain as the heavy favorite. But Spain played overtime intelligently — wasting time and slowing things down. Cameroon’s 120th minute goal should have counted, but a blind linesman called it offside and so it didn’t count. Spain got what they wanted: for the first time, an Olympic gold medal match would be decided by penalty kicks. Like most, I’d have given the edge to Spain on PKs, but Cameroon kicked coolly and calmly like pros. When Spain’s third kicker missed, it was all in Cameroon’s lap, and Wome’s finish put it beyond doubt: Cameroon beats Spain on PKs, 5-4, and wins the gold medal! It’s Cameroon’s first Olympic gold medal.

Terrific game! A slow first half put Spurs up by one on Rebrov’s goal, but spunky Leeds came out in the second half and in the span of one minute Australian Mark Viduka put in two goals! Then prodigy Alan Smith put in two, followed by Rebrov’s second. The last ten minutes were especially hairy for Leeds as they fought to maintain a 4-3 lead, but they did it. What a game with six goals in second half!

Losing the first game 3-0, New York was in a must-not-lose situation. For inspiration, they brought back injured All-Star keeper Mike Ammann, who’s been out with terrible injuries (broken ribs, punctured lung) since his August 16 collision with league-leading scorer Mamadou Diallo. Ammann was supposed to be out for the season, but he was ready to play. His teammates responded with a terrific goal by Mark Chung late in the first half. He got two chances: the first blast was blocked by his own teammate, but the rebound went right to his foot and he put it away with a second powerful blast. In the second half, things were tighter, and though New York poured it on initially, and Chicago came back with chances of their own, the two keepers kept the score the same. Finally, after missing or having his shots saved, “El Tran” Valencia was able to increase the Metrostars lead and finish off the Fire. Who goes to the MLS Cup final on Oct. 15 will therefore be decided in the third game next Friday in Chicago.

Like most people, I had the impression this was a story about an underground fight club. I’d put off renting a number of times, simply because I wasn’t sure I wanted to see that, though I’d heard it was a good film. Surprisingly, it’s barely about fighting at all. I mean, yes, there’s fighting and lots of blood, but the film is really about existential angst. The main character (the narrator, played by Edward Norton), is caught in the rat race and hates it, and then he meets a guy named Tyler who’s everything he’s not. Tyler’s an anarchist, preaching against the ownership of anything, the kind of guy who’d tell his boss to jump in a lake (or something like that ;-). Together they form something called Fight Club: a secret club where ordinary people can bash each other’s brains out. There’s no money in it — it’s just for the experience, and the pain makes you feel alive. Good so far, right? But then, gradually, the story goes a different direction as Tyler forms his own army, Fight Clubs spring up all over the country, and soon Tyler is the head of a terrorist organization ready to spread anarchy across the country. The strange ending doesn’t take away the power of this film, but brings up more questions than it answers. A bit uneven, and the surprise “twist” isn’t that much a surprise, and though it makes sense, it feels gimmicky, like the movie-makers are toying with us. Fascinating, surprisingly deep. I’ll have to watch it again sometime to see what I really think — I wasn’t expecting anything intelligent and it caught me off guard.