That Was Anfield!!!!

WOW!!! What a day. Today will go down as one of the most spectacular days of my life. I absolutely loved every minute of the experience. I don't have the energy to write now, so I will just post a few pics and follow up with the game report later.

Painting of Bill Shankly in the museum. Shankly was one of Britain's most successful and respected managers. "Liverpool was made for me - and I was made for Liverpool".

"Old Big Ears". This is the European Cup won by Liverpool over AC Milan in 2005. It was Liverpool's fifth time winning the trophy so the original rests forever in the Anfield Museum.

Game Ball from Istanbul!!!

My jersey waiting for me in the away dressing room.

Standing in front of the famous "This is Anfield" sign.

The world famous Kop end, as seen from the center spot!!

Anfield Road End, as seen from the center spot.

Centenary Stand from just outside the players tunnel.

How about this for an inspirational story!!!

Um, it's 3:47 AM.... should I be awake???

Well, this is the trouble with travel to far off lands, sometimes you wake up at the most unusual hours. As I am checking email and typing I am trying not to panic as my games kicks off in just under 6.5 hours. Anyone have any sleeping pills????

Just Over 12 Hours to Kick-Off

The constant sirens of downtown Liverpool are just enough to keep me from drifting off to sleep. My journey has been a long one. Having said that, I slept pretty good on the plane thanks to my first class pod seat....so sweet.

My arrival in England was better then expected. The customs officer actually thought that I was coming to play for Liverpool... How poor is that dudes judgement and ability to read people? No wonder the terrorists "slip in".

I took my time with the drive and made a few stops along the way. I pulled into Liverpool around dinner time. I thought it would be wrong if I didn't take a swing by the stadium on the eve before the match, so here are a few pics.

It doesn't look like much from the street, but this is Anfield. Hmm there are normally hundreds of fans hanging out looking for tickets for the big matches....weird.

This is a statue of Legendary manager Bill Shankly. He has one of the all time greatest football qoutes: "Football is not a matter of life or death, no no, it's much more important than that".

By the time all of you roll into work, the match will be over......

Ok kids, that's it. My next match will be the post game match!!!

The Last Days Before the Match

Kickoff is less then 36 hours away! I am presently sitting in Air Canada's International Maple Leaf Lounge in Toronto awaiting my flight to London.

It's been sometime since I last posted on LiverDog's Anfield Dream. The days and weeks since my last post have been an absolute blur. Two weeks of the time was spent on vacation in Japan which was documented in the blog http://thefroginthewell-japan.blogspot.com/

When I last posted I had just found out the date for the game. At that time I started to panic. My commitment to fitness for the match had been random at best. The month prior to our Japan trip I really buckled down and made a concerted effort to be active doing something 5-6 days a week. It was hard, but I had dig deep on days to find the motivation to do something. Over that month I was a regular at yoga and used our Room Hog (the elyptical) to work on cardio.

The Japan trip actually threw a wrench into my progress....however, with my picky eating habits, barfing up sushi and the monster daily walks, I managed to drop 7 lbs.....sweet.

When we returned from Japan I started back at yoga and set up some one on one training sessions with Chris Haygarov, a former professional soccer player from Bulgaria. My sessions with Chris were fantastic, the first half hour was spent on cardio and footy related movement, and the remaining time was spent with the ball. We worked on various scenarios (defender at your back when you have the ball and scenarios where you have the ball and are attacking the defender). I learned a tonne an loved every session. What a treat it was to have that one on one time with someone of Chris's caliber.

The Wolves have had two friendlies over the last few weeks, so I have at least had a chance to get some touches on the ball in a game situation. I also joined my friend Anne's floor hockey team, I have only played two games, but it has been a blast. All in all my fitness level has improved dramatically and I think I am ready for the match!!

The crazy thing about this trip has been the timing of it. As luck would have it, we had the first part of our corporate strategy meetings in Omaha this week. I flew out to Omaha on Monday and today fly Omaha-Chicago-Toronto-London....sweet. Fortunately my request for an upgrade from Toronto to London was successful!

I am scheduled to arrive in London at 8:35 Thursday morning. After a quick shower at the AC arrivals lounge I am going to scoop up my rental car and head for Liverpool.

One of the recent developments for the game was the silent auction for the right to wear the captains armband. Unfortunately for me and my team, I won the auction. I am only half kidding... It is going to be a huge honour for me to lead my team out on to the pitch on Friday morning.

The next post will be from Liverpool!!!

Cheers,

Dog

The Date of the Match

Well, I just checked the Football Aid website.... GAME ON!!! the date of "the Match" is May 7, 2010. No time to write, I have to go throw up my dinner....

The Olympics & 3DMagic

It seems like ages since my last post. I have been meaning to get to it, but somehow the time slides by. Every time I say to myself "tonight's the night", somehow the night vanishes, and I find myself exhausted and dragging my ass up to bed.

I was hoping with the big break in between posts that I would be able to report how great I have been doing with my fitness.... Well, i've got nothing. Some weeks I do great, and others I am terrible.

But really, I shouldn't be surprised. This is a problem that I have struggled with for a long time. Making the time for regular fitness is something I have done a poor job of over the years. When I am in the heart of soccer season I am in pretty decent shape. But once soccer is over, everything falls apart. There are weeks were I get some good momentum going (say 4 days of yoga and a couple of soccer of scrimmages), but sadly those weeks are few and far between. Where things seem to get derailed is when my travel schedule kicks in. I have NEVER been good about bringing workout gear with me on the road. It all comes down to priorities and I have never made it a priority.

Luckily for me, the 2010 Olympics have come at a perfect time.

I have always been a sucker for the Olympics. I find it so inspirational to watch athletes that have chosen to dedicate their lives to being the best they can be in their sport. What I love is that everyone of them has a story. Everyone of them has had to fight through some form of adversity to get where they are, be it injuries, personal loss, depression, financial issues, there is always something. So if they can fight through these things to become Olympian's, why can't dudes like me find a way to get a 45 minute workout in 5 times a week?

What is it that these Olympians have that the rest of us don't? Sure they are amazing athletes, thats a given. But all of us know people who are fantastic athletes. What stopped them from athletic glory? Personally, I think all of these Olympian's possess what I am going to "3D Magic".

To practice 3D Magic you must have the following:

1. a Dream

2. Desire

3. Determination.

In 3D Magic you dream of the possibility, those dreams lead to a desire to turn that dream into reality, and we all know that to get what you really want you need a lot of determination and hard work. I heard a great quote last week during the Olympics, Alexandre Bilodeau the Freestyle skier who became the first Canadian to win an Olympic Gold Medal on Canadian soil said "I trained for four years for a :23 second race". He had a dream, he desired to achieve it, and his determination over the last 4 years put him in a great position to achieve his goal. I think he was working a little 3D Magic. Without 3D Magic how could he find his way to compete in the Olympics games?

You don't have to dream of being an Olympian to practice 3DMagic. You just need a dream, a desire to achieve it and some determination.

CANADA VS RUSSIA OLYMPIC HOCKEY

On February 24, 2010 I was fortunate to be able to scratch another item off of my "Master Dream List". I went to Vancouver with 3 buddy's to watch team Canada's Mens Hockey team play in the Olympic Quarter Finals agains the Russians. Canada won 7-3 in spectacular fashion. The first period was one of the most exciting periods of hockey that I have ever watched. Here's hoping they go on to win the Gold.

Some form of Canadian Super Hero outside the arena before the game

The Competition fuelling up before the big match.

Corn, Robbie, Dog and Fish

Minutes from puck drop!

Canada celebrating one of their goals in that amazing first period.

Well, that's if for now. It's time that I began working at little 3D Magic of my own...