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The 2011 FA Cup final: Manchester City v Stoke City – live! | Scott Murray

May 14, 2011 No Comment

• Hit F5 or use the auto-refresh tool for the latest updates • Send your hot soccer chat to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • It’s a No Premier League zone here. But not here! 7 min: Stoke haven’t put a thing together up front yet. I’m not sure they’ll be too bothered about that, the team look happy enough to find their feet, while snapping repeatedly at Manchester City’s heels. “I wonder: will Man City have the Sheiks here today?” asks Mark Judd. “I’ll get my coat.” And there ends the stand-up boom. 5 min: Manchester City enjoying the lion’s share of the possession. Tevez tucks inside from the left and takes this final’s first shot in anger, sending a very decent effort from the edge of the area sailing towards the right-hand side of the goal. It’s at a good height for the keeper, though, and Sorensen palms confidently out. The ball’s hacked clear. “All this talk of how the FA Cup has lost it’s shine, ruined by money, blah-der-dee-blah – you English are just spoiled with an embarrassment of riches, yearning for the past and not seeing how fantastic it is that you can’t throw a rock without hitting a fantastic football match,” opines Linda Howard. “There. I said it.” 3 min: Manchester City earn the first corner down the left. The ball’s swung into the box towards Richards at the near post, but the defender fails to connect properly. 2 min: All at bit scrappy at the moment, both on pitch and off. Both sets of fans suddenly sound a bit nervous, and the volume’s dropped dramatically. You can’t blame them. They’ll get their gamefaces on again soon. “Here in Scotland we don’t even get the FA Cup final live on telly, being saddled with a Kevin Costner movie instead,” reports poor Ryan Dunne. “Given that people play excessive TV coverage for the decline in the FA Cup’s prestige, will this mean a resurgence in its popularity north of the border?” 3pm, a traditional kick-off time for the FA Cup final which the suits in charge would be STUPID BASTARDS to change : Tony Pulis has changed out of his fancy suit, and is now sporting his usual tracksuit-and-cap ned combo. And we’re off! Stoke set the ball rolling, Walters bombing down the inside-right channel and into the box, but Hart is out quickly to pluck the long ball the striker’s chasing from the air. 2.58pm: Shakety hands, swappity pennants. 2.55pm: The teams wait in the tunnel, Manchester City zipped up in their retro tracksuit tops, Stoke City in their red-and-white-striped shirts, a sign maybe that they’re not planning to fanny about. Like anybody expects Tony Pulis’s Stoke City to fanny about. And then, with spectacular jets of fire blasting at them from pitchside, and wild cheering rolling down from the stands, the teams take to the pitch. It is on! 2.50pm: Time for the traditional FA Cup final hymn: Nice to abide with him, to abide with him, nice. And tonight’s the night the darkness deepens. 2.45pm: The atmosphere at Wembley is fantastic. Half of the stadium a sea of powder blue, the other bathed in red and white. There are a lot of flags floating around. These are two sets of fans who are really grabbing the opportunity to enjoy themselves with both hands, and are squeezing every drop out of it. Of course, for one of them it won’t last, with bitter misery awaiting, but at the moment that’s not the point. 2.30pm: “Has anyone named Rory ever won a trophy?” wonders Tony Campisi. Of course, if we’re looking for ridiculous omens, it’s not good news for Mr Delap and pals, 2011 not having been the best of years so far for Rories chasing glory . I don’t know why I keep talking about these preposterous omens. Oh yes, that’s right: it’s because I’ve got nothing else to say. Don’t worry, teams are out soon. 2.15pm: In the Premier League (and yes I know I said I wouldn’t mention it) Blackpool are currently leading Bolton Wanderers 4-3. It’s a facsimile scoreline of arguably the greatest FA Cup final of them all, the 1953 Matthews final. Could this be a sign that we’re in for a classic today? Well, no, obviously it has no bearing on events whatsoever. But to hell with logic! Could this be a sign that we’re in for a classic today? All signs point to yes! Matthew Etherington starts for Stoke City: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Pennant, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Walters, Jones. Carlos Tevez starts for Manchester City: Hart, Richards, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, De Jong, Barry, Yaya, Silva, Balotelli, Tevez. Today’s final promises to be: A cracker, as both teams are desperate to end their major trophy drought. Not for them the snooty attitude of the big clubs. It’s the FA Cup Final! Stoke City’s previous FA Cup finals: None; this is their first. Before this season’s romp to the final, their roll of honour in the competition amounted to three semi-final defeats: to Derby County in 1899, and to Arsenal in 1971 and 1972. The 1971 run was perhaps their most famous: only a last-minute Peter Storey penalty denied them a place at Wembley, they lost the replay, but beat Everton 3-2 in a third/fourth place play-off in front of a whopping Selhurst Park crowd of 5,031. Manchester City’s previous FA Cup finals: There have been eight of them. City beat Bolton Wanderers in 1904, Portsmouth in 1934, Birmingham City in 1956, and Leicester City in 1969. They lost to Bolton in 1926, Everton in 1933, Newcastle in 1955, and Tottenham Hotspur in 1981. Anyway, one thing that remains traditional (for now at least) is the kick-off time: 3pm. But a new snook to tradition appears to have been cocked this year, with the match being played on the same day as regular league fixtures. This shouldn’t cause too much heartache to traditionalists, however: back in the pre-war era, it used to happen all the time. When Manchester City were getting spanked 3-0 by Dixie Dean’s Everton in 1933, for example, in the first-ever cup final to feature numbered shirts (Everton wore 1-11, City 12-22), the First Division classifieds read: Arsenal 2-2 Huddersfield Town Birmingham City 0-4 Leicester City Blackburn Rovers 0-5 Aston Villa Blackpool 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers Derby County 3-2 Newcastle United Leeds United 0-1 Middlesbrough Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Bolton Wanderers Sunderland 0-3 Portsmouth West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Liverpool Man City fans may like to note that, in the Second Division, Manchester United lost 3-2 away at Lincoln City. Stoke’s rivals Port Vale won 4-1 at home to Plymouth Argyle. I’ve gone well off piste here already. Welcome to the 130th FA Cup final, contested at Wembley Stadium between Manchester City and Stoke City. Now, don’t listen to the haters talking the big match down. It’s the Cup Final. The Cup Final!!! THE CUP FINAL. No matter what indignities the clowns at the FA have visited upon this event over the years – the abolition of replays, the imposition of penalty shoot-outs, exclusive terrestrial transmission rights for ITV – the old trophy’s lustre lingers on. And there’s the proof, in that burning you’re feeling right now, wishing for all the world that your team was competing today. FA Cup Manchester City Stoke City Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

The 2011 FA Cup final: Manchester City v Stoke City – live! | Scott Murray

May 14, 2011 No Comment

Obama Announces Steps to Speed US Oil Production

May 14, 2011 No Comment

President Barack Obama is directing his administration to ramp up US oil production by extending existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska’s coast and holding more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska. (May 14)

Health Insurers Collecting Record Profits, Yet Demand Double-Digit Rate Increases. You’ll Never Guess Why!

May 14, 2011 No Comment

Astounding, just astounding. They have to raise the premiums because people might eventually be able to buy gas, or afford the co-pay? We are a society where the corporate monsters have no shame at all. We live in the wealthiest country in the world, yet we can’t manage to create a system that allows everyone to see a doctor when they need to — you know, like the rest of the civilized world. Just amazing: The nation’s major health insurers are barreling into a third year of record profits, enriched in recent months by a lingering recessionary mind-set among Americans who are postponing or forgoing medical care. The UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest commercial insurers, told analysts that so far this year, insured hospital stays actually decreased in some instances. In reporting its earnings last week, Cigna, another insurer, talked about the “low level” of medical use. Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care. Even with a halting economic recovery, doctors and others say many people are still extremely budget-conscious, signaling the possibility of a fundamental change in Americans’ appetite for health care. Yes, because using healthcare is just a bad habit, like smoking or doing drugs. If only health insurance companies can drive people to the point where they’re afraid to ever use their insurance at all, why, everyone will be happy!

May 14, 2011 No Comment

In Annia Ciezaldo’s April 1st article in the “New York Times Magazine,” she asks, “Does the Mediterranean Diet even exist?” She suggests that since half of Spain, Portugal and Italy’s populations are overweight — with Lebanon rapidly following suit — then, contrary to popular belief, the Mediterranean people now have the worst diets in Europe. She states that the Greeks “are the fattest: about 75 percent of the Greek population is overweight.” From Ciezaldo’s perspective, the Mediterranean Diet research, which spanned over 50 years, was in fact — flawed. Research on the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet has been well-documented and includes the Harvard School of Public Health and many esteemed medical researchers. Among them are Ancel Keys and Paul Dudley White, who later became Dwight D. Eisenhower’s cardiologist. Shortly after World War II, Keys and his colleagues set out to examine whether or not the Mediterranean dietary and lifestyle patterns were directly connected to improved health outcomes identified in Crete, Greece and southern Italy during the 1960s. These outcomes recorded the lowest rates of chronic disease in the world, and the life expectancy of adults in these regions was among the highest. This was particularly remarkable given the limited amount of medical care and services that were available to this population and the poverty these regions experienced. Keys then began the long running Seven Countries Study and monitored the lifestyle and dietary habits of 12,700 middle-aged men in the U.S., Finland, the Netherlands, and then Yugoslavia, Italy, Japan and Greece.When the data was examined, the people who were the healthiest ate a diet where fruits and vegetables, grains, beans and fish were the basis of daily meals and valued vigorous physical activity and high social interaction. At the top of the list were the residents of Crete. Scientists have intensely studied the eating and lifestyle patterns characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet for more than half a century. And with dozens of research studies, the evidence is that this way of eating and living results in an across-the-board reduction of chronic disease and increased longevity. This evidence confirmed that certain Mediterranean lifestyles and dietary patterns were connected with good health. As a result, in the 1990s, Old Ways, an internationally respected nonprofit organization, joined in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health to provide global education and information on this important disease-preventing evidence. What the article has apparently overlooked is that the Mediterranean Diet is not just about what people eat. It is about the values, habits, relationships, quality of how food is grown and the quantity of how food consumed by these particular groups — not just how or what they eat. A point that is often missed by the media is that health is not isolated to one’s diet. The whole health of an individual is about the physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and even spiritual components that create our overall state of health. Our dietary choices and habits can be seen as a metaphor of what the overall or whole picture of that individual’s health is expressing. We eat how we think, feel, work and behave, all of which are influenced by our environment, values, age, financial and education levels and even by our gender. Beyond just nutritional health, the Mediterranean Diet promotes a way of living that includes the following components, which could explain the positive health benefits. Intense physical activity that includes work and all its forms of movement; farming, building, planting, gardening, dancing, sports, house work, child care or any activity that provides a non-sedentary daily routine. Consuming many types and varieties of food in moderation as a form of nourishment — both physically and socially, as well as sharing with others. Meals are a part of the social and family fabric and are not taken alone. Time spent eating is relaxing, nourishing and pleasurable. Foods choices often include fruits, vegetables, whole grain bread and other cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds. Olive oil is an important monounsaturated fat source in the diet. Dairy products, fish and poultry are consumed in low to modest amounts, and little red meat is eaten. Eggs are consumed zero to four times a week. Wine, a component of social family sharing and bonding, is a dietary staple this is consumed in low to moderate amounts. Is it any surprise that Europeans, who now have McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, electronic messaging that is replacing relationships and high credit card debt (none of which were there when the Seven Countries Study began), are becoming as obese and unhealthy as Americans are? What is missing from many “nutrition books of the week” is the organic, common sense understanding that the food we eat is just part of a multi-faceted set of choices we make in how we choose to live and behave. Many of these choices are based on our personal and collective social values. I was recently asked, in a conversation with an advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General, what I thought was the solution to health care cost reduction. I stated and firmly believe that until we as a nation return to the values we embraced and lived by up until the mid-1980s, a time when the “The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous” became the national obsession, we will remain a nation of countless individuals who feel in many ways marginalized from contributing our skills and talents — who are hungry to be seen, heard and valued. This lack of belonging leads to poor nutrition and behavior choices, which serve in our efforts to self-sooth and self-medicate, as the world we inhabit continues on its trajectory of financial and societal misdirection. Yes, the Mediterranean Diet does exist, but the values that make it a healthy way of life are rapidly fading.

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