Let's say hello to some Champions League Soccer

Well, this is my first of hopefully thousands upon thousands of blog entries in my journalism career. Let me start off by telling you a bit about myself. My name is Steve Schenck and I'm a journalism major at Mizzou with a minor in Spanish and I am currently working on a minor in theatre. So, what am I going to do with such a diverse degree you may ask? Sports writing. Yeah, they don't offer that at any school, so I'll have to stick with what I listed above. 

I'm a die hard fan of the St. Louis Blues and hockey in general.I post on the stltoday forums as tigerman550. I also love playing and watching soccer (football for those across the pond/fútbol para los países de habla en español). I'm also a fan of the Cardinals and I follow the Red Sox. Ok, that's enough about me. I don't have any credentials, but I hope to soon change that.

For those that haven't heard (America, that's you), the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Semifinals start tomorrow with Manchester United facing Arsenal at 1:45pm CDT. The gunners are down 1-0 in the aggregate, but hope to move on and face the winner of the Barça/Chelsea match up (aggregate at 0-0). In all honesty, I'd rather see Manyoo or Arsenal face Chelsea in the final to set up an all EPL championship because my view of Barcelona hasn't been the same since the Miami MLS fiasco. I don't know why I don't like them. I just don't. 

The real final I want to see is Arsenal and Chelsea. Arsenal reminds me a lot of my St. Louis Blues hockey club as far as the injuries are concerned. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger made a total of eight changes to the lineup after the first leg of the semis at Old Trafford due to the injuries of defender Mikaël Silvestre and leading scorer Robin van Persie. Sounds like Andy Murray changing his lineups a bit, doesn't it? The story would be great if Arsenal could come from the 1-0 deficit and win the Champions League. I'd have a lot of fun watching that. I also like the Heineken ads with the choir singing "Champions!!!" after every great beer moment. It looks so cool on tv that so many people have probably tried it and made complete morons of themselves. Nothing is ever as good in real life as it is on television. That's why we have stupidity.

Anyways, I want to see Arsenal win. I want to see them overcome their injuries and make the finals in front of their home fans. I want to see them take it to Chelsea and hold that trophy high in the air. You know why? Because it gives me hope. It helps me keep that fiery passion alive for my Blues. I think of all the fans that have waited so long for something and have never given up. I want that feeling that the New York Rangers had in 94 when they won the cup. The feeling of finally getting something you've wanted forever. That would make me feel so amazing. Just think of the moment that Harold and Kumar finally took their first bite of those delicious, steam grilled White Castle sliders. I want that. And Arsenal winning would hold me over for the moment. So will some Extreme Buffalo Wing Pringles and a Pepsi (I hope I get some compensation for all the product placement, too).

Finally, I'm going to leave you all with a question of the day in each entry: What is your own most cherished moment in sports history?

- tigerman550