North Carolina Tar Heels

[Ron Mexico]

Because I don't care about the barbecue question and the mascot fight question is no longer properly posited. Might as well have elephant or hippo options as well (although admittedly that isn't the best analogy since those two options would defeat both the big cats and bears, but that's neither here nor there in light of the fact that no extraneous animals or groupings were part of the original debate). And what have you got against the Panthers?

Agree though that it will be interesting to see how Madrid comes out, an early goal for them could make thing interesting but obviously they can't press too hard for it. I suppose they "could," but not a Mourinho team. The other issue is how the teams will respond, if at all, to the widespread criticism from leg 1. In that regard, Madrid probably has more to lose since it will be the indelible image of their season, even surpassing Ramos dropping the Copa del Rey under the bus, while Barca can brush it aside for the most part if they go on to take Man United apart in the final.

[The Talent]

aTm:

I concur re EPL, but short of that, I'm rooting for the epic ManU collapse.

Ron Mexico:

I concur re mascot fight -- the addition of the croc option is a fucking disgrace. I think the better analogy is the addition of raccoons or wolves or some other mid-tier predator.

Madrid probably do have more to lose, though Barca took a well-deserved bashing. I actually don't blame The Special One for his hatred of Barca. He's dealt with his fair share of red card issues with Barca, not the least of which was in last year's tie in Barca. And he was right about the Chelsea fixture, too, the previous year.

That said, if his side came out and played like Inter did at the San Siro, then he'd catch no grief. Surely his side is on par with that Inter side, so there was no reason to play so negatively, tactics or not. if they had played attacking football, then the red card looks even more significant and particularly unjust. As it is, it just cost Madrid a dour 0-0 result.

[Jungle Rat]

Suckers

[Ron Mexico]

I blame him because most of his red card issues against Barca have been of his own doing, to the extent that there's a somewhat logical progression from tactics that emphasize fouling to the inevitable sending off of players. That Pepe was unjustly sent off is almost beside the point, when fouling is such a big part of your strategy it's much more likely to get the ref in the state of mind to send someone off, even wrongly. He's somewhat right about Chelsea two years ago, but there's also some level of revisionism at play with the English media alleging Chelsea were denied "4 clear penalties" when two of them weren't penalties and the third (foul on Drogba) was borderline. The only clear penalty of the bunch was the handball on Pique. In any case, it's true Chelsea was more aggrieved than Mourinho has ever been against Barca, but his problems are his own and distinct from Chelsea's.

Good comparison for the mascot debate, I half expect ATM to add "dire wolves" to the mix given his affinity for Game of Thrones.

[Jungle Rat]

Why are these two boys afraid of the Mighty Croc?

[BigRedMan]

Mexico needs to choose a BBQ or kindly STFU.

Agree with the Croc option. I feel it is there to point out the retards, drunks, or riff raffs that make the choice so as a group, we can be easy on them at first.

As far as Panthers goes, I was always under the impression it was the big cat family. I consider the big cat family kinda like the old NWO.

Tigers = Hall and Nash

Lions = Hogan

Bobcats, Panthers, etc = Konan, 1-2-3 Kid, Buff Bagwell, Dennis Rodman

Sure they are there, but don't do much.

[Jungle Rat]

Mexico needs to choose a BBQ or kindly STFU.

Agree with the Croc option. I feel it is there to point out the retards, drunks, or riff raffs that make the choice so as a group, we can be easy on them at first.

EFZ

[The Talent]

Did BRM just poor-mouth 6-pack? Regardless, the big cats are far more akin to the likes of Tito Santana and Ricky Steamboat whereas the bears are akin to, say, the Brothers Anderson or perhaps Piper. I suppose the most succinct analogy is this: Big Cats=Stunning Steve Austin; Bears=Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Ron Mexico:

Sure, playing more aggressive football tends to lead to more cards, but the question still remains whether the cards are deserved. What I've come to believe is that the current version of Barca seem to think they have a god-given right not to be tackled and that any hard challenge is a crime against humanity, or at least UNICEF. I'll grant you the cynicism of Madrid's play in the first leg, but as for as the Special One goes, I'll again point to last year's Inter-Barca tie where Inter destroyed them in the San Siro. Perhaps the only time in recent memory where Barca were soundly thrashed. In the return leg, Inter played predictably defensive, but it wasn't overly cynical -- and they were still given a shitass red.

[Ron Mexico]

I'll concede the point about last year and to some extent the point about Barca demanding calls (although I don't really think Messi is as bad as most of the others--he usually tries to stay on his feet if possible--and Cronaldo is worse individually than any Barca player save perhaps Alves), but I still think it's a bit of bootstrapping by Mourinho because they were overly cynical in the first leg of this tie. I think there's a line between playing aggressive, physical soccer and deliberately fouling to disrupt the opposition and while Inter didn't cross it, Real did in the first leg, and that makes his complaints about Chelsea and Inter mostly irrelevant. In any case, it's game time, let's hope for something better.

[Ron Mexico]

Electric atmosphere, could barely hear the Champions League song.

[The Talent]

Unsuprisingly, Real lose a goal.

Of course, Carvalho has been flirting with a 2nd yellow all night -- perhaps more than flirting.

[Jungle Rat]

They need Tressel coaching them up

[The Talent]

Man, if it finishes 1-1, that red card in Madrid will really eat up Josie. Heh.

[Ron Mexico]

Poor Mourinho. 1-1 really flatters Madrid after the way the first half went but it really doesn't matter at this point. At least it wasn't an abysmal display like last week.

[Ben Washburn]

I thought the otter did away with the croc long ago. Don't tell me there are still some croc fans posting unsupervised again.

[Jungle Rat]

Shut your face

[Ron Mexico]

Super Caley go ballistic Celtic are atrocious.

[CAT]

Hey RAT--my cat beats your croc!!!!

[The Talent]

Super Caley go ballistic Celtic are atrocious.

Heh. Nice, Ron Mexico. That's my favorite result of the week to date.

[aTm]