What's up my dawgs? To start things off, I just want to say Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. So, to continue my "Valentine's Day" trend in my opening piece, here are some facts about the Day of Love. The holiday is actually named after two early Christian martyrs named Valentine, not one. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. The two Christian martyrs it was named after were, Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Terni, and The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of 14 February. The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer. This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. In Chaucer's poem, he was actually talking about May 2nd, the saints' day for Valentine of Genoa, not February 14th. So, technically, we are celebrating Valentine's Day on the wrong day. Cheers. Here's your daily fix. (Or love note/box of chocolates/dozen roses you bought from CVS for $19.99, ten minutes before dinner. You don't think she'll notice when their dead 5 minutes later. Idiot. But it's the thought that counts, right?)
----> Massimo Moratti is praying for El Fenomeno . I will be doing the same. I understand that this is an Inter blog, and Ronaldo is from the different set of colors, but respect is due. There's no need for me to ramble on about how great of a player he was and how great of a career he had, that's sort of obvious. But I will say one thing, if Ronaldo truly is done, it is a terrible day in the football world. So I guess all I can say is, bravo Ronaldo, bravo.
----> The Great One would love a Milanese final. "It would be a great game, an honour for the city and for the whole of Italian football. It would be a dream." That would be a terrific thing for Italian football, it doesn't have to be both of the Milan giants, it could be any two Italian teams. However, it would be a just a bit sweeter if we got a chance to beat Milan in the finals. Hmmm, I can just taste it now.
----> Is Figo actually done? On numerous occasions he has stated that he will retire from football at the end of this season. However, recent comments to the Gazzetta dello Sport have me thinking otherwise. "Will I stop playing in June? At the moment I see that. But even then, you never know." He's basically leaving the door open for the possibility for one more year. I hope he takes that option, because we haven't seen much of him this year, and when he has been on the pitch he was terrific. Please Figo, all I'm asking is for one more year.
----> Gigi is loving every minute of it. "I’m loving every minute of it. You don’t know how frustrating it is to have question marks put next to every victory as people ask whether you won because of some sinister reason." Not sure which way to take this. Is he loving it because Inter are getting hammered in the media, or is he loving it because things are just starting to become a joke. (Different standings in the newspapers.) I feel that it's the latter one, and if so, I'm on the same boat Gigi.
----> Another goal.com tall-tale. They basically say that Diarra's agent Frederic Guerra met with Marco Branca to discuss a possible transfer. According to Frederic, Inter doesn't have the money now, but feels that in June a deal may put on the table. I'm not a huge fan of Diarra, especially with Este stepping up his game this year, and Diarra only being one year younger than Este, I don't really see the need. Spend money elsewhere, maybe pick up a high profile winger. C-Ron?
Video Of the Day
Since I'm always looking out for you guys, here's a little help for Valentine's Day. Don't ignore it, we all know you need it.
So till' I see ya', see ya'.
P.S. I'll have the match preview against Livorno up tomorrow.