I Love Rap – You Might Have Missed Edition

Because of popular demand (that is, like, two people) I am turning I Love Rap into a semi-regular series. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks or so. Add the blog to your favorite RSS feed and keep up with the hip hop goodness. Ever since I stopped adding pictures of famous people, my stats have been going way down, puncturing my hopes of providing for myself and any future family with a hyper-monster blog. So bring the love.

This time around, I highlight some of the songs you might have missed – those tracks that are buried deep within an artist or group’s catalog. I can’t pretend that any of these songs will be your cup of tea on the first or even the tenth listen. For me, most of them resonated after I listened to an album countless times until I could taste their greatness outside of the shadow of the immediately tasty tracks. Without further ado.

The Roots – I Remain Calm (Do You Want More?!!!??!, 1995)

The Roots are still making records. Sometimes I give them a whirl but don’t pay too much attention. The magic just isn’t the same. A lot has changed for the Roots since the early days but I wonder if one of the main reasons for their relative decline is the lack of Malik B. Black Thought was always the deserved lead performer but the straightforward performances of Malik B provided a wonderful balance – without him the rapping is a little monotone.

Pete Rock (f Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Prodigy) – Tha Game (Soul Survivor, 1998)

It’s really the beat that does it for me on this track. It feels epic even though not much is going on. Far from the typical Pete Rock sound but still brilliant to my ears. I can’t get enough of it. It doesn’t hurt that one of my all-time favorites and hands-down the best Wu member (Ghostface) is a guest. He’s in dada verbal calisthenics mode for this one. Great stuff. And yet another classic beat snippet at the end of the track.

Jay-Z – D’Evils (Reasonable Doubt, 1996)

There’s no doubt Jay-Z is the most successful rapper in history. Certainly not the best but definitely the most successful. In the 10+ years since his debut, he’s had countless great tracks but as far as albums go surely Reasonable Doubt is his finest. So little has changed – the flow is the same, the lyrics the same brand of bragadaccio and his producers the cream of the game (this track produced by Primo). But there’s something I can’t quite place about Reasonable Doubt that sets it apart – maybe a hungriness for success that’s missing from his later albums? Whatever it is, this is one of my favorite tracks off the album. Using samples for the hook never gets old.

Busta Rhymes – Turn it Up (When Disaster Strikes, 1997)

What’s great about this series is the fruit of my research into these songs. For example, I had no clue DJ Premier produced D’Evils and was shocked to see that Busta himself produced this track. I feel like the two main singles from this album – Dangerous and Put Your Hands where My Eyes Could See – haven’t aged too well. This cut on the other hand, is the only song from this album I ever put on playlists. It’s not Busta at his craziest but the Al Green sample is just too much soul to pass up.

OutKast (f Cool Breeze, Big Gipp) – Decatur Psalm (ATLiens, 1996)

Andre 3000 – one of the best rappers ever in my opinion. But he’s not on this track. Big Boi, however is, and he’s flanked by two guys who sound like 400-pound offensive lineman that could snap your neck with the flick of the pinkie – Cool Breeze and Big Gipp of Goodie Mobb. In reality, judging from a quick Google search, both of them seem to be of reasonable size and weight. Both of them have flows that are, well, rudimentary but their styles fit the dirty funk beat of this track. Add the awesome hook and soulful fade-out and I’m sold.

PS I am willing to argue that ATLiens is OutKast’s best album.

Dr. Dre (f Lady of Rage, Kurupt, RBX) – Lyrical Gangbang (The Chronic, 1992)

What? No Snoop? No G-Funk beat? Surely this is a throw-away track on one of the all-time classics? Nah… This is just three hard rappers taking advantage of a hard beat. The main draw might be the microphone presence of Lady of Rage. Hands down, the best female rapper ever. But it diminishes her talent to classify her in terms of her gender. It’s a shame that her legacy is composed of some (great) guest spots and Afro Puffs. I feel like it should have been so much more. Trust me when I say I played this at high volume in a residential area many a time.

PS A great Rage guest spot is on the You Know My Steez Remix. Not sure what album it’s from but it is on Gang Starr’s Full Clip retrospective.

Making Granola

How good is granola? So good. And how easy is it to make? So easy… Why bother buying simply okay granola from the store and pretending it’s delicious when you can make your own for cheaper. An even greater appeal to making granola than the economy is the fact that you control the ingredients. You like it sweet – make it sweet. You like cashews and cranberries? Put them in. Make a lot, make a little… Well, go ahead and make a lot because it’s so good and it keeps so well. It’s great for breakfast when mixed with yogurt (make yogurt at home too!) or as a snack any time of the day.

Granola with yogurt

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown. It’s a good start though a little too sweet for me. See my notes for how I customize.

3 cups rolled oats (Rolled oats are the basic oatmeal oats. Steel-cut oats do NOT work well in granola.)

1-2 cups nuts (I always put sliced almonds in combination with walnuts, hazelnut or pecan pieces. Saltier nuts like peanuts and cashews would certainly work too. I would stay away from whole almonds.)

1/4 cup + 2tbsps maple syrup (This is the only pricey ingredient. But one jar is good for about five batches of granola.)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup + 2tbsps brown sugar (I think this is waaay too much. Last time I made granola, I only put in 2 teaspoons brown sugar. That’s right teaspoons. The coconut and drizzling with honey provide enough sweetness.)

3/4 cup shredded coconut (You can definitely leave the coconut out but I’ve found that even a little bit is a great addition to granola).

Anything else you can think of – the purpose is to customize the granola. For example, I love putting some broken-up banana chips in my granola.
Mix the maple syrup together with the vegetable oil and a dash of salt. Mix everything else together in a bowl then add the oil and syrup. Mix until well incorporated. Spread on a baking pan (I put wax paper on the pan for easy cleanup). At this point, I usually drizzle with a good amount of honey. Bake at 250 F for about an hour and definitely mix everything up every 15 minutes so that all the oats get browned.

Granola is extra delicious straight out of the oven. Add dried fruit if desired and store in an airtight jar.

Granola close up

The Sailing Experience

By the way, I went sailing for the first time recently. And because I’m hardcore I went sailing when it was raining and cold. That’s because I’m a man and real men have a bit of hardcore sea dog in them. But enough horn-tooting and let me tell you what it’s like to go sailing if you’ve never been before. I do hear that it’s better in fair weather but even with the elements conspiring against us it was a marvelous blend of the miserable and exhilirating.

Dressed halfway with the boat in the background

I got a random call from my seasoned sailor buddy Rog Mahal asking me if I wanted to fill an open spot on a boat, knowing full well I’d never sailed. This came with the caveat that I make a weight limit. I was immediately suspicious because other activities that involve weight limits – like boxing and wrestling – come packaged with broken faces or nasty diseases. In any case, the weight limit didn’t matter nor did the drive to Annapolis at 8 in the morning – on daylight savings day no less, the best day for sleeping in the entire year. On my way over, I kept giving dirty looks to the heavens with their dark clouds showing no sign of letting up the downpour. But I gallantly strode on cause, you know, I’m hardcore like that.

Lesson Number One of sailing is to stay as dry as possible. Which means don’t wear jeans and a t-shirt. Thankfully, I was provided some slick gear but had to make do with my old Adidas, leading to an uncomfortable lack of feeling in my right foot halfway through the first race. Borrowing some fancy waterproof socks fixed the numbness and made me confident I would be keeping all of my toes at the end of the day. My Big Bad Wolf (the rollercoaster) hat (with ear flaps) was looked upon with disdain so I had to use alternative headgear. Gloves would have been useful but my hands got used to the cold eventually. PS – chap stick comes in handy.

That's me to the right by the mast holding the boom in position

The races themselves were exciting because half the time I didn’t know what was going on. Sitting on the side of the boat, I look out at a sea of other boats and had no idea how we were doing until the very end. That makes things more interesting. The near-crashes, the mid-race course changes and angry skippers get the old hemoglobin flowing as well. Maybe if I were a little more experienced it would have been even more fun but there was a definite element of enjoyment in two basic principles I followed: don’t fall off and don’t mess up.

Waiting for the magic words - "Heartily!"

Another great aspect is the camaraderie. It’s just great having the skipper curse your name and desecrate your gods during the race and then be all chummy when all is said and done. And, hey, he got me a t-shirt so I must have done something right. After all, the day I raced we finished 13th and 9th – which, by the way, was the best the boat did all weekend. I’m not sure if I did anything positive that was statistically significant or if I have the God-given gift of providing ballast, which, by the way, was my main job. One of three, as follows:

1. Provide ballast

Basically, the boat is tipped over to one side so precariously that everyone has to be on the other side to prevent the boat from falling over. When the skipper decides to tack – which just means turn right or left – he says some jargon to prepare you and then something like “Heartily.” Upon that Pavlovian keyword, the idea is to duck so as to avoid the big-ass boom pole swinging toward you, scramble to the other side and sit your ass back down. Doing that about 30 times in a couple of hours and you’re covered in bruises the next day. When you’re going with the wind it’s called jiving (I think it’s with a ‘v’ but might be ‘jibing’) and you have to loosen some random rope.

The blue sail is the spinnaker - soon it and I become one

2. Push the boom pole

This part sucks. When you go with the wind, the spinnaker sail comes up and then the unlucky Number Five (which is what I call my position – I can’t remember the real name but it was dumb) has to make sure the boom pole stays forward. This means keeping your arms up for a long time cause you still have to be sitting. Boring and tiring.

3. The Human Pole

Great name and definitely an exhilarating experience. When it’s time for the spinnaker to come down, the bowman detaches the metal pole that connects it to the mast. But while that’s happening someone has to act as the pole for the spinnaker. That someone is Number Five. Being the Human Pole entails grabbing on to something on the boat, leaning most of your body off the boat and holding the end of the spinnaker so that 1) it doesn’t fly away and 2) still catches wind optimally. It’s really a lot of fun balancing the concepts of staying on the boat and keeping your shoulder from separating. You keep doing that for a few minutes until someone yells more jargon at which point you throw yourself back on to the deck and start pulling the sail back. At least that’s what I did.

You might be shocked at how I think any of this is enjoyable especially when considering that the weather was pretty much mixed rain all day long. But it was enjoyable. It’s taxing on the body, it’s precarious and it was effing cold but there’s a constant adrenaline rush and flurries of pure undistilled excitement. Despite the fact that at least 10% of the sailors out there were female, it made me feel like a man. If I were married, I would have gone home, ordered the wife to make me some meat and potatoes and bacon, cracked open a six-pack and watched football the rest of the day. Right after I stopped shivering.

Rocking the adidas and providing ballast

I Love Rap – You May Not Know Edition

My friend Dave has started a blog called I Love Rap which I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in rap music.

Now I love rap as well and I know a lot of random stuff that the average fan probably misses. I may not know as much as Dave though. He’s the ultimate crate-digger – in all genres, not just rap – and uncovers hidden gems all over the place. And thankfully he’s not a snob at all about it. I’ve been browsing The Tipping Point recently and, using the terminology of that book, I could label Dave a Maven of rap music.

But enough about Dave. This blog is about me me me. And while I’m not trying to start a rap blog I have been wanting to put a few songs out there for a while. And I didn’t get this idea from Dave. Serious. Here’s the timestamp to prove it:

 

The reason it took me so long to get this up here was work and the fact that I have to convert the mp3s to .doc files to get past WordPress upload limitations (you need a premium account to upload mp3s). Without further ado, here are hip hop artists and songs you might not have heard. The purpose is for you to explore further.

MC Solaar – Prose Combat (Prose Combat)

This blog isn’t called LE BLOG for nothing. French hip hop has many high points and Solaar is the best. Prose Combat – the song and the album too – is a wonderful example of throwback hip hop with jazzy beats and effortless flow. It was made in 1994 after all.

Blackalicious – It’s Going Down featuring Lateef the Truth Speaker and Keke Wyatt (Blazing Arrow)

Blackalicious might be most famous in indie circles for that lyrical exercise Alphabet Aerobics. But Blazing Arrow is a delightful album and shows Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel (the producer) have much more to offer. Kind of a J5 feel. I just looked up the credits to the song. It was co-produced by Hi-Tek. Vocals by Keke Wyatt, whose career, according to Wikipedia, “experienced a temporary halt in 2002, however, after she allegedly stabbed her road manager-husband.”

Hieroglyphics – Oakland Blackouts (Third Eye Vision)

Most people know Del tha Funkee Homosapien – he was on Gorillaz I think. And some people may know the uber-classic Hiero cut “You Never Knew.” But this “supergroup” from the West Coast is no one-hit wonder and has a bunch of solid cuts on their album. “Oakland Blackouts” is my favorite and features Opie and Del.

OC – Hypocrite (Jewelz)

I don’t know much about OC. I think he was part of the DITC. But I’ve had this album for a long time and originally picked it up cause every track is produced by DJ Premier. Honestly, OC is not a very good rapper and his lyrics are pretty standard but sometimes you just need someone to get out of the way of Premier’s beat. I mean, if Guru can’t ruin his beats, is there anyone who can? I chose this song because it’s such a different beat – it reminds me of Blade Runner for some reason. The album has some good joints and features Big L and Organized Konfusion.

A.D.O.R. – Let it All Hang Out (The Concrete)

I can’t remember how I learned about this guy but it was pretty recent. I think the album was recorded in 1994 but only recently released. This song screams Pete Rock because he produced it. Classic Pete Rock. Other tracks on the album include production by Clark Kent and Diamond D.

Jedi Mind Tricks -Trinity featuring Louis Logic and L-Fudge (Violent By Design)

I really dig this group. I love the beats. The flow, the style and the lyrics are over the top. A lot of people have problems with rap because of the lyrics. I could care less. It’s not like I’m supporting the views of rappers. I just don’t care what they say. Clever lyrics and good stories can add to a cut and dumb lyrics can take away but at the end of the day it’s the beat and how the rapper uses the beat that makes the song. Anyway, that’s just a long way of saying that these guys have some of the most hateful lyrics I’ve ever heard. It’s almost comical and I would think it was a joke if it wasn’t a common motif through all their songs and albums. If you care.

Middle Virginia

I had occasion to drive into some random parts of Virginia a couple of months ago. My destination was Lake Rawlings and I started out from Norfolk. I did a round trip past Emporia on my way there and took the Petersburg road on the return leg. Initially, I wasn’t too thrilled about a two hour trip at oh-dark-thirty but there’s something immensely peaceful and gratifying about driving along empty backroads in the countryside on a chilly morning. About half an hour or so away from Rawlings, I stumbled across this little gem of a post office that seems a relic from a bygone age:

The road back wasn’t as pretty. Not only was there more traffic… peanut country doesn’t exactly make for beautiful vistas. Thankfully, I stumbled across a great BBQ joint on the way. Cowlings in Waverly, VA.

They have a wonderful chopped pork sandwich. So good I demolished one with great relish and got another to go.

Making Yogurt

I love yogurt. I don’t mean fruit-on-the-bottom cups or that Activia junk that fixes your colon. I mean good old-fashioned plain yogurt. I eat a lot of it and I buy a lot of it. And I’m an idiot for it. There’s no reason to buy yogurt except once because it’s incredibly easy to make. In fact, I don’t even know the right way to do it and it still comes out right every time. Here’s what you need:

- Yogurt

- Milk

You need a spoonful of yogurt as a starter to turn the milk into yogurt. I heat a quart of milk – you can play around with amount of milk but I always use whole milk because it tastes so good – in a big pot until it gets a little warm. My mom told me that the best way to measure when to take it off to heat is to stick your pinkie finger in there and if it’s almost hot it’s ready. While that doesn’t sound very scientific in practice it works. Then you can let it cool down or, if you’re like me, forget to let it cool down. It doesn’t matter. Mix a heaping spoonful (a soup spoon) of yogurt with some of the milk in a bowl. Then add the rest of the milk. Cover with some foil or plastic wrap, put a towel around it (I don’t know why) and stick it in the oven. Leave overnight. Or if you’re like me, forget about it the next morning and take it out after 24 hours. It doesn’t matter. Then put it in the fridge until chilled and enjoy.

The yogurt comes out creamy but not that thick. It’s not runny either but it’s not going to be as thick as what you might get in the grocery. Don’t worry – this is the way yogurt is supposed to be.

Some tips: If the oven is a little warm it helps the yogurt. I try to make yogurt when I’ve used the oven earlier in the evening. The yogurt will be of the same general quality and taste as the starter. If you use Dannon you’ll get Dannon-like yogurt so use a yogurt you like. For the yogurt in these pictures, I used that trendy Greek strained brand that’s all the rage. The quality of the milk is pretty important too – obviously. And use the yogurt you make as the starter for the next batch.

Now… what to do with all that yogurt? Well… usually I just eat it cause I love plain yogurt. But if you’ve been brainwashed into thinking plain yogurt can’t be good – blend it together with some fruit. Add it to some granola – preferably home-made because it’s so much better that way. Make ayran – Turkish yogurt drink. That’s about 1 part yogurt to 1.5 parts water and salt to taste. Make lassi by using mango juice instead of water (and salt). Add chopped cucumber, dill and a bit of water to make a summer soup (drizzle with olive oil and top with an ice cube). Lose the water and add garlic to make a sauce. Marinate chicken breasts with yogurt and garam masala. Strain the yogurt with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and use it like spreadable cheese. Use your imagination.

Yogurt is great.

Winning isn’t Everything

I stumbled across this interesting list of the greatest football/soccer teams in history. I think it was conceived a few years ago and I don’t know who actually came up with it but it was published in a magazine so it’s fun to discuss. The most fascinating aspect of the list is how many teams never won anything. Come up with a list of the top 10 football, baseball or basketball teams in history and tell me if any of them were ever lovable losers. Granted football/soccer is different – national teams have something to play for only once every two years (World Cup every four, continental tournament every four). Still, it’s a great measure of the sport that teams are remembered for how the play and the memories they create as much as for their results.

Two of the top three did not win a title. There was no tournament in 1953 but the Hungary team lost – controversially – in the World Cup final the next year. Holland in 1974 were also losing finalists and in 1978 as well. The fantastic Brazil of 1982 didn’t even make the semi-finals. Even the early 1990s Barcelona side – winners of five straight La Liga titles (I believe) and a European Cup – were humbled 4-0 in another European Cup final (by the number four team in the list, Milan). The #16 team – Denmark 1986 – were bounced in the second round of the World Cup and that very fine team were semi-finalists two years before in the European championships.

The list is as follows. I got it here: http://www.worldsoccer.com/greatest/teams.php .

1 Brazil 1970
2 Hungary 1953
3 Holland 1974
4 Milan 1989-90
5 Brazil 1958
6 Real Madrid 1956-60
7 Brazil 1982
8 Barcelona 1991-94
9 Italy 1934-38
10 France 1998- 2000

11 River Plate late 1940s
12 Ajax 1971-73
13 Bayern Munich 1974-76
14 Celtic 1967
15 France 1984
16 Denmark 1986
17 Real Madrid 1998
18 Totttenham 1961
19 Liverpool 1977
20 Manchester United 2000

I don’t have too many complaints about it. The Ajax and Bayern sides of the 70s seem a little low. A slight British bias might be in effect for 11-20 but to be fair I don’t know much about those Celtic and Tottenham sides. German fans might be a little peeved that their national team – three times winner of the World Cup, four times runners up – don’t show in the list but it would be hard to pick any of those teams. And while the 1999 United side won the treble there were other teams that decade – European champions Ajax and Juventus come to mind – that were arguably better. But that’s what lists are for…

Movies – Summer 2009

Here’s a recap of the films I’ve watched in the past couple of months.

Scent of a Woman – Part of the Al Pacino’s transition from acting to shouting. It’s a happy medium in this film.
Milk – Fairly interesting biopic. I know it’s about Harvey Milk but they really downplayed the mayor getting shot at the end.
The International - Feels like it takes place in an alternate universe. Awful.
Defiance – James Bond as a Jewish resistance fighter. Straddles the thin line between pedestrian and entertaining.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – I barely watched half of this. Definitely should have been a straight-to-DVD release.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – I really dislike John Cusack as an actor. I think it’s the way he dresses.
Point Break – I didn’t expect much but it was much more entertaining than I expected. Keanu delivers again.
Basic Instinct – Sharon Stone and her amazing body.
Enemy of the State – I’ve always loved this movie. Just a solid thriller with a lot of random semi-famous people in it. Apparently the guy who did this – Tony Scott – is the younger brother of Ridley Scott.
Dragonlance – Laughably bad animated movie. I read these books when I was a kid but I’m not sure why I kept watching this.
Casino Royale – Stands up pretty well to rewatching.
Bourne Identity – The Bourne movies are the standard when it comes to action movies in the past decade.
Bourne Supremacy – Typically considered the weakest of the trilogy but it’s like the ribeye to the filet and strip steak of the other two.
Vali – Decent Turkish movie about a governor trying to protect his region from an evil multinational corporation. I doubt there’s an English translation out there. Don’t worry. You’re not missing much.

Ahmeds and Mohameds oh my

There’s a legend that says George Foreman named all of his children George. Who knows if it’s true and I don’t feel like looking it up. But if it’s true a dark nightmare lies in the simple parental process of identifying an individual. Who comes running when you say George?

The manager of the Egyptian national football team has a similar problem as the great boxer/entrepreneur. He manages a squad of 22 where two names are shared by fourteen players. It is one thing to juggle all of them in practices and kickarounds but divulging instructions during the course of a game must be a task impossible.

In Egypt’s final game in the Confederations Cup, the African champions were walloped by three goals to none by the United States. Their named squad of 22 players had nine Ahmeds and five Mohameds. Seven of the 14 were in the starting 11 and two further Ahmeds joined the game as substitutes – although an Ahmed gave way for each new one. They were also missing their top player Mohamed Zidan (which may explain their lack of goals if not the result) so there was a tantalizing potential for 15 Ahmeds and Mohameds in the team! If nothing else, we can safely conclude Ahmed and Mohamed are the two most popular names in Egypt.

For your perusing pleasure, here is a full list of the Ahmeds and Mohameds.
——————
Ahmed Fathi (started)
Ahmed Faraq (started)
Mohamed Aboutrika (started)
Mohamed Shawky (started)
Ahmed al Muhamadi (started)
Ahmed Eid (started)
Ahmed Abdelghany (started)
—————–
Ahmed Hassan (substitute – mistakenly identified as Hassan Ahmed on some reports)
Ahmed Saidi (substitue)
—————–
Mohamed Sobhy (unused substitute)
Ahmed Kairy (unused substitute)
Mohamed Homos (unused substitute)
Ahmed Raouf (unused substitute)
Mohamed Abougrisha (unused substitute)

How the Turkish Super Lig was Won

In case you haven’t heard, Besiktas are champions of the Turkcell Super Lig this year. You probably haven’t heard unless you have some Turkish blood in you because, well, 1. The Turkish league isn’t that high profile, especially in the English-speaking world and 2. Besiktas don’t make as many headlines as Fenerbahce or Galatasaray do internationally. No worry for fans of the team with the black and white stripes as the club won its first title in six years and the first of beleagured chairman Yildirim Demiroren’s tenure. The league success was coupled with a triumph in the Turkish Cup to make this a great double for a team with perhaps the most passionate fans in Turkey.

The league was still in doubt on the final day with three teams theoretically in with a shout though only Sivasspor had a realistic chance of overhauling Besiktas. Besiktas played away to relegation-threatened Denizlispor and won a potentially tricky game rather comfortably despite conceding a late goal to make it 2-1. Sivas had a difficult match away to Galatasaray who needed a win to guarantee a berth in the Europa League next year. A win for Sivas and a loss for Besiktas would have meant a spectacular title celebration in small Sivas but the exact opposite occurred as Sivas lost in an entertaining game. In fact, the top six all stayed in the same places as Fenerbahce beat Trabzonspor with a last-second goal to condemn the Black Sea side to third (a win by Trabzon would have seen them into the Champions League) and retain Fenerbahce’s advantage in fourth place over rivals Galatasaray due to goal difference. Bursaspor in sixth place were denied extracurricular activities in the upcoming season despite being the best side (in terms of points) in the last 15 games.

Add the scrum at the bottom for the last relegation spot and you have a fascinating end to the season. Konyaspor went down despite finishing level on points with Genclerbirligi and Denizlispor and having a better goal difference. But the deciding a three-way tie requires looking at the matches among those teams and unfortunately for the city of the whirling dervishes they had poor results against the wrong teams this season. Konyaspor joins Hacettepespor and Kocaelispor, both of whom had known their destiny for several weeks, in the Bank Asya 1. Lig next year. Diyarbakirspor will join the Super Lig to give south-eastern Turkey some representation. Manisaspor (champions of the 1.Lig) and Kasimpasaspor accompany them.

As for Besiktas, it’s no secret why they won. They simply had the best manager. I personally thought it was a poor and classless move to bring in Mustafa Denizli early in the season to replace Ertugrul Saglam (who later masterminded Bursaspor’s incredible late-season push). The early results showed little change in fortune but a terrific 2009 earned Besiktas the league and allowed Denizli to add an incredible accomplishment to his CV: he has now managed Besiktas, Fenerbahce AND Galatasaray to titles in his career. He brought in a couple of new players in the transfer period and began to mold his own squad. Fabian Ernst was perhaps the key to the equation as the German, sacked at Schalke, had a great half-season and lent solidity to the spine of the team. And honestly, though Besiktas never played that well, they earned the results and that’s how they won the title.

Interestingly, Besiktas played poorly against the rest of the top five. Seven points (and one win) in eight games is a terrible return and if you add sixth-placed Bursa they earned only nine points in ten games. It’s difficult to read into this but I think it shows a relative lack of quality in the squad (as evidenced by their inability to win against other good teams) as well as a terrific coaching job (as evidenced by the fact the team were motivated to play hard and beat the ’small’ clubs). One and half years removed from a humiliating 8-0 loss to Liverpool (although they had beaten them 2-1 the week before) Besiktas will need a facelift to compete in the Champions League next year. Denizli has already demanded a raise and the power to enact that facelift and surely Besiktas will fare better with him in charge than anyone else at the moment.

If the league were the top five teams

Joining them in the Champions League (at least in the qualifying stages) will be tenacious Sivasspor. While it may be difficult to swallow the lack of a title this year, it was still a tremendous season. The team seemed on the verge of imploding when manager Bulent Uygun did everything but physically attack a referee at the end of a game about ten weeks back. In the finest tradition of Turkish football, he followed it up with a scathing and unwarranted rant during the post-game interviews and every pundit thought that his team would lose the plot just as their manager had. But Sivas kept grinding out results and the Champions League is their reward. Imagine the excitement if they actually make the group stages. Even if they get drawn against the fourth place team of one of the top leagues, it is not beyond their reach. Sivas are virutally unbeatable at home (13 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss this year) and few teams would relish a trip to the foothills of Anatolia.

Trabzon, Fener and Galatasaray will have to content themselves with the bloated experiment known as the Europa League. It’s no secret why Trabzon failed to reach greater heights. Zero wins against the top five teams and a truly pathetic five points from eight games. Ersun Yanal has been shown the door and it’s difficult to see them improving next year despite some exciting talent in the Brazilian Alanzinho and youngster Baris Memis. Still, like Sivas, third place cannot be seen as too great a disappointment for such a thin squad and they were close to the top for much of the season.

Meanwhile, Luis Aragones has been shown the door at Fenerbahce. He achieved the exact opposite results as Mustafa Denizli. A single loss (at Sivas) led to 17 points in eight games against the top five including a double over Besiktas. However, awful results against the rest of the league and a loss to that same Besiktas team in the Cup final saw him meet his doom. Dani Guiza, tipped by many as the most disappointing player of the season, hit late-season form which may see him leave Fenerbahce for the right price. Aragones is not the first high-profile manager too last a single season in Turkey and he won’t be the last. The board have brought back Christoph Daum, architect of recent Fener success, in an attempt to right the ship.

As bad a season as Fener had, Galatasaray had it worse. It’s confusing how this squad squandered so much talent – even with its many injuries. There was a distinct lack of concentration under both Michael Skibbe and his eventual replacement Bulent Korkmaz. At no time during the season did the team put together the type of display expected of their squad. The high point of the season was a last-minute victory against Bordeaux (who were without Gourcuff) in the UEFA Cup but the only reason they needed a last-minute performance was because they squandered a 3-1 lead at home. A 4-1 defeat away to Fenerbahce and a 5-2 loss at home to mighty Kocaelispor were only two of the many lowlights. Next season should see them stronger although there may be concerns if Arda Turan, Servet Cetin and Mehmet Topal decide to try their hand in other European leagues. Frank Rijkaard has been brought in to lend some profile and hopefully some management nous but the construction of their new stadium is taking place at exactly the wrong economic time.

And so a fascinating Turkish domestic season had drawn to a close. The national team disappointed after a magical run in Euro 2008 and the clubs disappointed even more on the European stage. Still, the league this year had an additional sparkle with the type of deep competition that few leagues see in the modern age. Fifteen years ago, Turkish football had the quality of provincial kickabouts but since then the national team has reached the semifinals of two major tournaments, Galatasaray has won the UEFA Cup and Fenerbahce has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League. While disappointing on face level, seasons like this show deep promise for the future. More clubs are developing more quality and it is sooner than later that Turkish clubs will be consistent and lasting impact in international competition.