TheUNInterrupted:A Sports Odyssey

                  HAPPY 32nd  LIONEL MESSI!                 The man, the myth...the legend of his own making, the dominating force of our time, the freak of nature who defies science, logic, gravity and our general sense of all that is normal : Lionel Messi has defeated the trappings of his own body from birth, battled and overcame debilitating muscular injuries at the beginning of his career, and triumphed over unceasing doubt from the day he decided to kick a ball to the current juncture at which we stand.           After 687 appearances, 603 career Barcelona goals and 308 assists, 68 international goals and nearly 50 Argentina assists, 4 Champions League titles, habitual domestic dominance and 4 international finals (3 in 3 years from 2014-2016), a plethora of individual awards, broken records no one may ever touch....and yet somehow the man still can't seem to catch a break.               On the occasion of his 32nd birthday, we celebrate the greatest of all time by sim

                                    After watching Argentina play for the last five years, it is quite evident this is the rarest of occasions in human sporting history: the actual act of a player having to play against two teams...in one game.                    Such is the surreal oddity of watching this Argentina team that has mulled about with the same squad members for the last decade (until Scaloni sprinkled in a few newcomers this tournament), a team stuck in a nostalgia act of the past, hoping and waiting for Di Maria, Otamendi, Armani and other old flames to get their shit together.                  From the rotating cast of managers (from Sabella to Tata Martino) there has never been any consistency in the selection process, this was management completely devoid of identity or integrity and an uncommunicative, vaguely bored manner between the all-star European veterans and wanna-be prospects on the pitch.                   To say the state of play for Argentina has impr

NEYMAR: THE RESURRECTION STORY?   OR THE REPTILIAN MEDIA-CORPSE COMETH?             LIONEL MESSI NEEDS HELP              Lionel Messi wanted blood in the aftermath of the 2nd leg collapse at Anfield, where a veteran Barcelona team allowed a Salah and Firmino-less Liverpool to come from behind 3 goals, all while Messi orchestrated numerous unfinished point blank scoring chances on Alisson's goal....               ...The Anfield catastrophe was too much for even Leo to bear, the man in the middle of so much last second drama and heartache on the international stage was now put in the disgraceful, isolated position to witness his own club hitting critical mass.                Messi could deal with the incompetence of Ernesto Valverde, he could still override the hapless, slapstick manager with his sheer greatness, he could put on a smiling face for every photo opportunity with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, he would travel the world to and fro for marketing and ad