League Round Up

Welcome sports fans! It's been an exciting two rounds of Champions League action. Apparently we can't get enough of fantasy soccer and JT acting as commissioner has started a score prediction CL fantasy league. Response was luke-warm during round 1 but has since heated up with everyone from the fantasy experts to the couch pundits taking part. Rules are simple, predict the scores of CL games and get points based on accuracy. All points are decided by the commissioner and there is no impartial referee. Points will never be double-checked and the commissioner cannot be questioned. Points deduction and tabulation is subjected to anything the commissioner decides. All fantasy players have to do is submit their predictions via OPEN email to the GY mailing group before kickoff of each night of CL action.

Let's get done to the action. Round 1 saw little surprises as the big guns came out blazing. Plucky performances by the underdogs did see Rosenborg draw Chelski at Stamford Bridge and Fernerbahce hand Inter Milan an opening night defeat at the Sukru Saracoglu. Results as follows:

Group A
FC Porto 1-1 Liverpool
Marseille 2-0 Besiktas

Group B
Chelsea 1-1 Rosenborg
Schalke 0-1 Valencia

Group C
Olympiakos 1-1 Lazio
Real Madrid 2-1 Werder Bremen

Group D
AC Milan 2-1 Benfica
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 Celtic

Group E
Barcelona 3-0 Lyon
Rangers 2-1 Stuttgart

Group F
Roma 2-0 Dynamo Kiev
Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Manchester Utd

Group G
Fenerbahce 1-0 Inter Milan
PSV Eindhoven 2-1 CSKA Moscow

Group H
Arsenal 3-0 Sevilla
Slavia Prague 2-1 Steaua Bucuresti

The first round of fantasy picks saw the commissioner race off to a good start. Surprises included usual fantasy stud Kok at the bottom of the table and fantasy dud Rui coming in a close second. Round 1 standing as follows:

1. KT 36 pts
2. Rui 34 pts
3. Gor 30 pts
4. Beng 25 pts
5. Poh 24 pts
6. Kok 23 pts

* top spot to be crowned World Champion.

Round 2 of CL action provided some surprises with European finalists Liverpool crashing to Marseille at Anfield and plucky Celtic pulling a fast one over defending champions AC. Chelski got their campaign back on track as English teams dominated with the exception of Liverpool. Results and standings as follows:

Group A

Besiktas 0-1 FC Porto
Liverpool 0-1 Marseille

Marseille 6 pts
FC Porto 4 pts
Liverpool 1 pts
Besiktas 0 pts

Group B

Rosenborg 0-2 Schalke 04
Valencia 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea 4 pts
Valencia 3 pts
Schalke 04 3 pts
Rosenborg 1 pts

Group C

Lazio 2-2 Real Madrid
Werder Bremen 1-3 Olympiakos

Olympiakos 4 pts
Real Madrid 4 pts
Lazio 2 pts
Werder Bremen 0 pts

Group D

Benfica 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Celtic 2-1 AC Milan

Shakhtar Donetsk 6 pts
Celtic 3 pts
AC Milan 3 pts
Benfica 0 pts

Group E

Lyon 0-3 Rangers
Stuttgart 0-2 Barcelona

Barcelona 6 pts
Rangers 6 pts
Stuttgart 0pts
Lyong 0pts

Group F

Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Sporting
Man Utd 1-0 Roma

Man Utd 6 pts
Roma 3 pts
Sporting 3 pts
Dynamo Kiev 0 pts

Group G

CSKA 2-2 Fenerbahce
Inter Milan 2-0 PSV

Fenerbahce 4 pts
Inter Milan 3 pts
PSV 3 pts
CSKA Moscow 1 pts

Group H

Sevilla 4-2 Slavia Prague
Steaua Buacharest 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal 6 pts
Sevilla 3 pts
Slavia Prague 3 pts
Steaua Buacharest 0 pts

The second round also saw the start of the Championship League. Latecomers to the fantasy game were given a reprieve by the commissioner with their points counting for 1.5 times as much. Promotion and relegation will take place after each CL round. Standings after round two as follows:

Premier League

1. KT 55 pts
2. Beng 52 pts
3. Poh 49 pts
4. Gor 49 pts
5. Rui 49 pts
6. Kok 40 pts (relegated)

Championship

1. Roy 31.5 pts (promoted)
2. JW 25.5 pts
3. Alvin 22.5 pts
4. Des 21 pts
5. Meng 21 pts

* top spot to be crowned World Champion.

A tight race at the top with fantasy stud Kok taking the plunge for after 2 rounds. The race continues. Remember to submit latest predictions by October 23rd. Till the next update, good luck punters!

This One's for Beng

As everyone knows, my "busy" schedule doesn't allow for much time when it comes to editing the blog. But at Beng's persistence in seeing the inconsequential pictures taken during our last GYFC outing, here it goes.

There's nothing much to add except we won the match 2-1 (technically a 2-0 win since the opponents' goal came from an outside recruit, hence technically the first clean sheet for GYFC in 2007) with goals from Yixiang and Yongsheng. First a panoramic shot of Tanglin Pitch 2. It would be amazing if you could actually spot where the ball was. Unfortunately, the zoom function wasn't ultilised hence the "panoramic" view.

Next is the all important picture of the equalising goal, or rather, the corner before the goal. But hey, the photographer ain't perfect. Notice the gaffer topless by the side line, whom later went on to do a Micheal Owen by injuring himself without anyone laying a finger (or leg) on him. The injury has probably ruled out any chance of a proper testimonial match for him before he heads to UK to further his managerial career. Way to go, gaffer/idiot...

Still on the topic of sporting news, fans of wrestler Chris Benoit are in mourning. Apparently, he has committed suicide after taking the lives of his wife and daughter. Never thought of him as someone who would snap just like that. But then again, after recent news of a certain ex-schoolmate commiting several bizarre acts in a certain girls' school (sorry not gonna provide link), one never knows what lies beneath.

Might as well ramble on a little more since I've started. Upcoming activities in July would include another GYFC match at Kranji Secondary this coming Sunday on the 2th. Admission is free for all spectators as part of GYFC's continuing efforts to give back to the community. Also the start of the official smoking ban in all clubs/pubs here in Singapore, which incidentally, also has been listed as the 14th most expensive city in the world, ahead of even New York. Way to go PAP, we're surely on our way to becoming a first world country now... GYFC also welcomes back it's long-serving defender Yeo from his loan spell in UK (club unknown). Sources put his arrival date at the end of July. It is yet unknown if he will be as "popular" as Edge when he returned from his loan spell in Shanghai.

There's no stopping me now. In line with the theme of this entry, which is about absolutely everything that comes to my mind at 3am in the morning, I highly recommend the french movie "Hors de Prix" staring Audrey Tautou. Long the darling of french cinema, this must be her best film to date. The film is good in the sense that it's totally un-french. None of the artistic cinematography or abstractness that characterise all things french. Just a good solid storyline with strong acting.

Right I'm running out of steam, so this shall be it. Beng remember, this is for you.

GY Match Review

On the backleg of a 7-0 whipping by the samba boys, the GYs were naturally in slight trepidation during the build-up to the match. The gaffer made significant changes and made a slightly surprising lineup, pushing JINGmie Carragher and HENGry to the middle of the pitch. A new ultility player, signed 24 hours before the match, was also revealed before the kick off. HUBERTo Silva started the match between the posts but soon moved to a more familar defensive position.


The opponents WAAFC (weak ass airforce FC) never had a chance right from the start. Fueled by the new changes and the determination to end the year on a high note, the GYs opened their scoring account early on with a rare strike from JINGmie Carragher.

Halftime and the boys took a deserving lead into the break. Talk of the first clean sheet in two and a half years were rife in the air. Surprisingly the number one, Adrian, was nowhere to be seen. Rumours of a January transfer were picked up by the tabloids.

Second half did not start off as brightly as the first, due perhaps in part of the aging team of GYs who never had much fitness to start with. Good goals from AkinbiYI, POHdolski and XaVIN AloHO effectively killed off the game and left WAAFC in shambles. 4-0 to the GYs.

The beautiful game was however marred by the sending off of 2 WAs (weak asses) and ROYnaldo (the fat one), in a shoving and spitting incident. Match official Dave is currently considering opening a police investigation. In a swift act of discipline, GYFC officials released a statement at press time stating that they do not condone such acts of violence from their players and ROYnaldo has been fined 1 week of wage amouting to GBP0.00 (approximately SGD0.00) and will start the next match between the posts regardless of who the 11th man is.

ESPN play of the day: HUBERTo Silva actually producing a pair of spare boots when KOKnavarro asked for it.

Man of the match: HUBERTo Silva for the exact same reason.

Winter break beckons and the holidays are calling. Have a good holiday season GYs all over the world and keep yourselves safe and out of trouble. See you all at the next gathering.