Root for Tito and Root for Barça.

The news about Tito needing to take some time off from coaching to treat his cancer medical problem caught us all by surprise. Nevertheless, we all need to root for Tito. At the same time, we also need to root for Barça. This is a tough situation for the club but it’s not the first time. Barça went through this before during Cruyff and came out as winners and nothing should change that as these current players strive to win titles this season.

Barça’s Tito is going to take some time off to deal with his medical condition. It is a dangerous condition. Cancer is one of those words where you really stop in your tracks whenever you hear it being uttered by anyone. We all are worried about Tito and his health. This is a serious medical problem that unfortunately Tito has to face again. Everyone will be and should be rooting for Tito to beat this again. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. What’s important is that he beats it and is fully recovered for his and his family’s sake. Football is secondary.

Nevertheless, us Cules still love our football and the show must go on. The club did the right thing by allowing Tito’s right hand man, Jordi Roura, to take over in the meantime. There was no need to start panicking and hire another manager such as Pep or Luis Enrique. This is still Tito’s team and unless otherwise, it will be his team when he returns in six weeks if the medical predictions go through. Tito still needs to take his time with his recovery and not rush it.

As for Jordi Roura; I highly doubt this is how he envisioned managing Barça someday. With that said, he is now the man in charge. Fortunately for him, he’s not the first to take the hot seat following the manager’s illness. Back in the 1990-1991 season, Johan Cruyff had to undergo an emergency procedure on his heart that ruled him out for the remainder of the season. His right hand man, and also club legend, Carles Rexach took over in February and took the team all the way to the league title. Just like today’s team, that team back then were also league leaders after 16 matches and never relinquished their spot atop of the standings.

This is not the time to panic and lose hope. The team is full of players who are also leaders so I don’t expect a dip in performance from this bunch. This players will want to win for Tito. This is the time when the team needs its supporters. This is when we need to show our love and support for the club more than ever. This club has been in a similar position before and overcame the difficult situation. It won’t be easy without the watchful eyes of Tito but the leaders on this team won’t squander this great lead that they have over Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid. We still must support them and this is a stern reminder that no one is invincible so don’t put off seeing your doctor or changing your diet or unhealthy lifestyle. Life is too short to throw it away, especially when you’re a Barça fan and have many reasons to follow what this team is on the cusp of accomplishing.

 

Messi - Caution v Obsession

Messi finally did it. 86 goals in one calendar year is truly a remarkable achievement by the 25 year old player who keeps finding ways to astonish us with his record breaking feats. However, perhaps it’s time for us to be cautious now and focus on what is best for Messi and the team. The obsession for this record might have affected Messi and his teammates' style of play. Now that the record is over, there should be a shift to caution.

Messi should not play today. He would be making his fourth appearance in two weeks. There is no need to play the Copa match against a side that is not in La Primera. This game should be used to give players who are going through a tough spell in terms of performance or ending their goalless streak. Pedro, Alexis and David Villa should be playing these minutes. They need some goals to give a boost to their confidence.

Some would argue that their goal scoring is down because of injuries or bad luck. Perhaps, they were also too focused on making sure Messi broke that record. The obsession for this record might have somewhat affected his teammates but now that is over with, it’s time for others to step up. I would prefer to see the likes of Pedro, Villa and Alexis scoring 15-20 goals a season to Messi’s 50 than seeing him score 86 while David Villa and Alexis only have close to 10 goals each in all of 2012.

The injury scare against Benfica made us all second guess Tito’s decision to bring on Messi. He shouldn’t have stepped onto the pitch, record or no record. This was a meaningless game against a team desperate to advance to the next round. Sure, he wanted to break the record. Lovely! Imagine if he was gone for the next 6 months with an injury in a meaningless game. Sure, he could have been injured against Betis but if you want to get down to it, which game do you prefer a player to get injured in? In a game that counts or not? Let’s not forget how Eto’o got injured and how David Villa got injured. One was in a friendly and one was in a serious fixture. Injuries happen but if the game doesn’t mean much, then rest the player and decrease the chances of wear and tear which could lead to fatigue. Thus, rest Messi today, Tito.

 

Blame the Owners for the NHL Lockout.

Christmas is almost upon us and we are still waiting for the NHL owners and players to reach some sort of agreement so that we hockey fans can enjoy some hockey again. As is customary whenever there is a lockout in a professional league, fans are often asked to pick a side; owners or players. Some fans would pick neither and blame them altogether for what has happened. However, I put the blame squarely on the NHL owners.

We had a lockout a few years ago and when both sides reached an agreement, the NHL owners were declared the victors. They got their way in terms of salary cap, salary reductions and the sharing of profit. Well fast forward to now and the owners are back to asking the players to give up more because the current deal isn’t good enough.

Just like I mentioned here during the NBA Lockout last season, the players have every reason to object to conceding more power to the owners. It’s not about greed but about principle. How many times can you keep being forced into accepting bad deals? The owners cannot have my sympathy when they overspent and failed to remain fiscal. It’s hard for me to sympathize with them when a team signs players to $100,000,000 deals that most of the public wouldn’t recognize if they stood in front us at the Wal-Mart checkout lane.

Sadly, the players will have to sacrifice some more again. The good news, it will be on their terms.  For the love of this sport, they have to reach an agreement. However, one of their conditions should be that Gary Bettman must step down. It’s high time this league got a worthy commissioner.  Any new deal would be worthless if that man is allowed to return and be commissioner of this league.

Hopefully a deal can be secured and we’ll have a half season like we had back in 1994-1995. If not, then the owners are the ones who will be killing this league. Us hockey fans have other ways to get over the absence of the NHL via minor league hockey, college hockey or busting out with the NHL ’96 on the Sega Genesis (yeah, fighting is one reason why I picked ’96 over ’94). Get it together NHL Owners and reach a deal with the players this time and then dump Gary Bettman. I want to see my beloved Tampa Bay Lightning back in action.