FC Barcelona v. FC Bayern Munich: A Preview

   This year, the UEFA Champions League will feature one of the most even games in the competition's history. The semifinals will feature a game between FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich.  The contest is between the teams that most agree have been the two best in Europe this season, and that is just one of the storylines going into this match.  One thing that will affect this match is Bayern's injury problem. Bayern will be missing star wingers Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. Bayern may also lose players like Lewandowski, Thiago, and Alaba. Meanwhile, Barcelona will be able to play their first choice squad.  The scariest thing about that for Bayern is the front three of Barcelona composed of Neymar, Luis Suarez, and Lionel Messi.  Between themselves the three have scored over one hundred goals, and each one is playing excellently.  Another fact that makes this match-up even more enticing is the fact that it sees Pep Guardiola return to Barcelona.  Pep is the legendary coach of Barcelona who upon resigning as manager joined Bayern.  There will be many conflicting emotions as Barcelona attempt to achieve success by defeating the coach that gave them so much success in the past.  Finally, one more storyline for this game is the revenge Barcelona will certainly be looking for.  This is because two years ago, Bayern Munich beat Barcelona on an aggregate score of 7-0.  However, things are different now.  Lionel Messi had been injured for that game.  Last week, he scored twice.  Also, this is a much different Barcelona team, as Neymar and Suarez are new signings.  Despite the adversity, Bayern will be sure to give Barcelona an incredible game.  The most anticipated game of the season will surely pay off

    

Boston Sports in the 2000's

            Since 2000, the city of Boston has become the most successful city in sports in terms of winning titles in the four major leagues of NHL, NBA, MLB, and the NFL in which their teams have won nine total championships.  After years of citizens of Boston hearing about things like "The Curse of the Bambino" and the mediocrity of the New England Patriots, people of Boston most likely never imagined they would live in a time with such success.  However, in the past ten to fifteen years, Boston has been a superpower in almost every sport.  It all started the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl in 2002 and the miraculous nature of it.  Most thought the team would amount to nothing, and when Drew Bledsoe went down, people thought it would be even worse.  No one thought that the back up quarterback would turn out be arguably the best of all time.  Despite the complete unlikeliness of that happening, it did happen, and the Patriots also incredibly won the Super Bowl.  That extraordinary event was necessary to start a sports dynasty in Boston.
        The Patriots did not stop winning.  They took a year off from winning titles, but the next season they came roaring back with two consecutive titles.  Three Super Bowls in four years was already almost unprecedented success that saw Boston become a football superpower.  However, the titles were only being won in football.  Next up for Boston was "The Curse of the Bambino."  Since 1918, Boston had been denied a World Series Championship.  The common opinion was that the Boston Red Sox were cursed.  In 2003, that belief was validated, as the Sox were beaten by the Yankees off a walk-off home run to go to the World Series.  In 2004, the Red Sox seemed cursed again, as they lost three games straight only to win four in a row to win a trip to the World Series.  It was the largest comeback in baseball playoff history.  Once in the World Series, the Red Sox made no mistake and won four straight to break the curse.  In 2007, the Red Sox repeated the feat, and in 2013, they performed miraculously to recover from a last place finish the previous season to go from worst to first.
        In 2008, Boston claimed another championship.  This time it was from the NBA and their Boston Celtics.  Although the Celtics had always been the most successful basketball team that had done Boston proud, they had yet to strike in the 2000s.  That all changed when the Celtics rose to the NBA Finals to meet their great rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.  Led by Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo, the Celtics beat the Lakers in the finals and bring Boston another title.
       In 2010, Boston won their NHL Championship, as the Bruins triumphed over the Vancouver Canucks.  It was a series that the Bruins were the underdogs in.  The Patriots cemented Boston's legacy as a sporting superpower with a fourth Super Bowl ring.  In the 2000s, Boston has nine Championships.  The closest competitor which is Los Angeles has seven.  In the past fifteen years, Boston is unrivaled when it comes to winning in sports.

A Reaction to "Some things you just don't forget" by Matthew Berry

         "Some things you just don't forget" is a powerful article written by Matthew Berry about the bullying incident between the NFL players, Richie Incogito and Jonathan Martin, and how it relates to his personal bullying struggles as a child.  This article is emotionally written, and you can tell that Berry means every word he writes.  It will strike most people close to the heart, and there is few who can not relate to the topic.  the article also does a fantastic job relating to the sports topic.  Matthew Berry uses his own experiences to cast a new light onto the situation.  He makes it clear through his own experiences the true nature of what Jonathan Martin had to deal with.  He also shows us that what Martin did was arguably the bravest thing of all.  Another thing that Berry does in his article is to teach about the bullying problem.  Some of his experiences are horrifying to hear about such as the abuse he went through in the vandalism of his property and home.  However, it is also an encouraging message to victims of bullying.  After telling the story of his past, he is still Matthew Berry.  Even though he may have been a bullying victim, he has now become successful.  this is an inspiring article that changes the way many will view the harrassment of j
Jonathan Martin.