I can second that as I have had the same thing happen to me. I was seriously ill as a young child. I needed to have an operation but the surgeon suggested that I did not have it immediately as the chances of surviving it at my then age were slim, and would be better if I was a year or two older before going under the knife.
That meant I had to take medications for the next two years, and they affected my adult teeth when these sprang up. They've never been white, but rather a stained yellowish colour. I know that it's one of my physical defects, and why for many years (especially during my teens) I avoided smiling and laughing out loud.
Sure, people who don't know me will automatically assume I don't brush my teeth (I do brush them twice a day regularly mind), and has put off certain women from dating me, but it's something I've learned to live with.
Mancini's a good coach tactically, but his relationships with players has always been stormy at best. Despite his 3 league wins with Inter he wasn't certainly a fan favourite either.
It will also be interesting to see how he will behave with Fabio Capello when/if the latter calls up City players to the national team.
There was a famous clash between them a few years ago during a Rome derby (Capello coaching Roma, Mancini coaching Lazio), where they traded quite a few insults in the tunnel at each other, and Mancini had to be restrained forcefully not to lunge at Capello. As far as I know, they have not been on speaking terms since (this happened circa 2000/01).
Actually both Man. Utd. & Liverpool have been revealed to be deep in the red as well, but they still got millions to spend in the last transfer window.
Italian clubs are facing financial difficulteies as after the successful domination they enjoyed during the 90's, they failed to make the necessary developments which the English clubs have done, ie. newer better stadiums, better television rights deals etc. Also, sadly violence in and around stadiums is a common occurrence as the 'ultra' fans are untouchables with the current laws. The Italian clubs & laws need a shakeup like the British did regards hooligans in the 80's in that regard.
Re-the English clubs' foreign owners, they're currently spending plenty of cash bringing in the best foreign players and coaches, which explains their recent successes. Before the big money started to roll in the English Premier, the quality wasn't that high. Most English coaches can't go beyond a basic 4-4-2 system or adapt tactics during the game, which explains why the English top clubs all have foreign coaches at the helm nowadays.
Same goes for the English players, with the sole exception of David Beckham (up to a point), all have failed to leave their mark when playing abroad. Michael Owen was a star at Liverpool, but only a substitute at Real Madrid for example.
Also, what goes around comes around, one day the foreign investors will leave the EPL as Spain, Italy & Germany adapt and up their game, no dominance is ever set in stone (this doesn't apply only to football by the way, just take a look at how many empires have risen throughout history only to fade away once their era had passed).
Well, to quote Conan the Barbarian, the purpose in life is:
'Destroy your enemies, trample them under the hooves of your horse, and hear the lamentations of their women'
I guess his outlook would seem a tad eccentric today
Well jokes apart, the purpose in life is to find the thing/occupation that gives you most personal satisfaction. It's different for each one of us, so any answer could be right, and be wrong at the same time. Good luck in finding yours though.
Yes the ftira is really yummy, and to think that it in the past it was considered to be the poor man's lunch here!
I agree with you that Italy offers lots of temptations as regards food. Whenever I go there on holiday I do tend to stray from my usual diet, but then again, since I like to walk instead of using public transport when abroad, I compensate that way.
I wouldn't say the English aren't passionate about the game, but the Italians take football (and all other sports) with an intensity that makes them achieve better results in general.
From personal experience, I used to be part of Malta's national fencing team during my early 20's, and participated in training camps and tournaments in both the UK and Italy.
I'm talking in general here, and I realize that it is a different sport, but I see the attitude mirrored in football as well. The Brits liked training and treated it as fun, and win or lose after a tournament they'd go have a party the same evening.
For the Italians, training is a much more intense affair, and unless the result is achieved during a tournament, you'll see a lot of gloomy faces and no party mood either.
Sportsmanship and fairplay are also more often encountered amongst the Brits than the Italians. Most British fencers would acknowledge getting a hit against them in the case of a dubious decision, whilst most Italians would bicker and protest with the ref till the latter gets pissed and shows them a yellow card.
Both approaches have their pluses and minuses, if we're considering sports as an educational/entertaining activity, I'd go for the British approach, if its results you want (and with the money involved, football is all about results nowadays) it's the Italian way.
I think the United/City situation is very similar to the Juventus/Torino one in Italy.
In Turin actual, the split is roughly equal, but Juve have a lot of support outside of Turin, especially from Sicily. This is due that from the 50's-70's, many Sicilians 'emigrated' to the more industrialized north to work in the FIAT factories (owned by the Agnelli family, the same owners of Juve).
When these people moved back home, they took their support for Juventus with them. Also, till very recently (last 10 years or so), there were no Sicilian teams in Serie A (currently there are Palermo & Catania), so many Sicilian kids didn't have a 'home' team to support in Serie A.
In fact a joking pun made to Juve is that during their away fixtures in Sicily, they have a bigger 'home' crowd than in their proper home games!
Hehe, interesting fact there! We do eat raw tomatoes a lot over here, as well as use them as spreads on bread with tuna salads.
Returning back to the what Smoky was mentioning earlier, sweet corn has a high protein content for a vegetable. In fact it was often used as a food supplement to race horses back in the days before more 'illegal' means developed to make them stronger & faster.
I agree with you re-Hughes. He was there before the new ownership took over, so he wasn't really 'their man' from the start.
Re-Capello, he does seem to have that magic touch about him. Before he coached Roma, they'd always have pre-season expectations of being league challengers, and then struggling to get a 4th or 5th place (a bit like Liverpool), and when he came over, he won the Serie A on his 2nd season, and lost the title by a single point the following year.
He's not usually loved by his players, but he sure gets the job done. He's the type of coach the Italians call 'Sergente di Ferro' (Iron Sergeant) which means he's a tight disciplinarian, but gets the job done.
Raw veggies are a part of the Mediterranean diet as well, so we do get to eat them on a regular basis here too. Amongst my favourites are carrots, broad beans (a particular favourite amongst the Maltese in summer), as well as pumpkin.
I've never tried raw potatoes as yet, though I've heard they're good.
Sorry Smoky but protein intake doesn't work that way exactly. Protein is mainly found in meats, with beans being the main exception as regards vegetables.
Protein content in greens is extremely low, but on the other hand they are high in fibre & other vitamins. So you don't get protein '2nd hand' as that doctor stated.
Re-the milk digestion, I'm partially in agreement with him. As we get older our bodies become more lactose intolerant, up to a point where you can actually get sick from having too much milk/dairy products.
We're still able to digest milk after 3 years of age though.
Wenger also has a talent which puts him way above all other managers. He manages to find talented kids from all corners of the world and turn them into world class players with an uncanny regularity.
The fact that Arsenal haven't won any trophies lately is more due to the fact that they always play with 'kids' and once they mature into complete players they are sold off; a bit like Ajax Amsterdam used to do in the 90's.
I agree with you here mate. Sadly, I think that the English Premier League is losing (if not lost already) that unique factor that a manager was allowed years in which to build his team.
Sacking managers after a handful of games was more a characteristic of Serie A & the Liga. The advent of the big money spenders is having the positive effect of brining in the world's best players to the EPL, but at the same time the pressure to deliver results immediately is also mounting.
I sincerely doubt whether Sir Alex Ferguson could do a repeat of his career if he was starting his career today for example. If I remember correctly, in his first 5 years leading United, he didn't win a single trophy.
You're right about the 1st title, Inter got handed that to them after Juventus got relegated (but that's hardly Inter's fault that Juve cheated).
The 2nd title was a close battle to the finish. Roma made a great late season comeback, and till 30 minutes from the end of the last match they were virtual champions. Inter won the title as Ibrahimovich found a late brace to give them a 2-0 win away at Parma, enabling Inter to win it by a 1 point margin; so it was hardly a walkover season.
The 3rd title Inter were pretty much the class of the field. Juve kept pace for most of the season, but their form faltered in the last couple of months, enabling Inter to win the league with a couple of games in hand.
I agree with you that Mancini wouldn't set my enthusiasm alight as a coach. During his 4 year stint as Inter manager, he won the leagues 3 times with Roma always finishing a close second. Despite the fact that Inter's transfer & wage budgets were always 4 or even 5 times that of Roma, Inter also usually lost the direct encounters against Roma, but they used to edge Roma in the league due to the fact that Inter had enough players to field 3 class squads, while Roma just had to do with 14 good players with the rest of the squad not being anything special. Hence the grind of season injuries, bans etc would see Inter edge forward.
Re-Mancini not speaking English, this is not such a handicap as it may seem at first sight. There have been plenty of managers who have led teams successfully despite not speaking the local language (though if he's there for the long haul, most managers do make an effort to learn the language).
Just to cite some famous examples, Bobby Robson coached Sporting Lisbon & Barcelona (especially in the latter, English is not spoken widely by the locals); while Capello's English wasn't exactly up to par when he first coached the England national team.
wulfen Forum Posts (810)
RE: would you date somebody with dentures?
I can second that as I have had the same thing happen to me. I was seriously ill as a young child. I needed to have an operation but the surgeon suggested that I did not have it immediately as the chances of surviving it at my then age were slim, and would be better if I was a year or two older before going under the knife.That meant I had to take medications for the next two years, and they affected my adult teeth when these sprang up. They've never been white, but rather a stained yellowish colour. I know that it's one of my physical defects, and why for many years (especially during my teens) I avoided smiling and laughing out loud.
Sure, people who don't know me will automatically assume I don't brush my teeth (I do brush them twice a day regularly mind), and has put off certain women from dating me, but it's something I've learned to live with.