Arsenal v. Barcelona

I can barely stand the agony of "watching" the Arsenal/Barcelona Champions League final on ESPN's Gamecast, but that's the best I can do from the office. A horrific start saw goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, the hero of Madrid, sent off after 17 minutes, leaving Arsenal with only 10 men against Barcelona for more than an hour of soccer. Yet beyond all hope, we've gone into the half with the lead, thanks to Sol Campbell!?! The erstwhile stalwart of our central defense has seen his place in Arsenal's first team disappear this year, but he has returned with a vengeance in place of the injured Phillipe Senderos and certainly all will be forgiven should Arsenal hold onto this lead for 45 more minutes. Expect unbridled joy or unconsolable anguish to appear on this page within the hour.

UPDATE: Oh, well. I'm actually not too upset, since I think Arsenal put on an impressive display with a backup goalie and 10 men on the field. It would have been nice to see how these two teams would have fared had there actually been an 11-on-11 match, but sometimes that's not to be. Frustration and sadness will be felt all around the world by Arsenal fans tonight, and the wound will surely fester should Thierry Henry make the much-discussed move to Barcelona this summer. But there is much to be hopeful about, not least that there was no reason to believe at the start of this season that Arsenal would even be in this match today, and it is only the tremendous growth shown by our youngsters, from Fabregas to Flamini, Toure to Eboue, that got us this far. That gives something to look forward to after the move to Ashburton Grove. Thanks for the ride, boys.