Date: March 2002

“Arsenal v. Sunderland; 10am EST; Saturday, March 30 “

Mar 29, 2002 by

“Arsenal: 3rd (63 points)

Sunderland: 15th (35 points)

TV: 12:00PM ET; SDD (Same Day Delay) FOX Sports World – US Feed

Radio: arsenal.com

Chief scout and all-around good guy Ken Bradley previews our opponents:

Something happened in North England prior to December 29 2001, and it has changed the season for the Black Cats. What that something was is anyone?s guess but it quickly showed itself in a 5-0 thrashing to Ipswich Town. Since than the Cats are 2-3-8 and have dropped to 15th in the table, only 3 points from relegation. Their drive is slipping away and an “”unhappy dressing room”" is all that makes news in Sunderland.

During this “”funk”" the Cats have only scored 8 goals and have given up 23. They only have two real scoring threats. Niall Quinn has been out for some time and it is believed that his absence is the problem. Not only do they miss his goal-scoring ability but his emotional charge; something the team has none of. The other threat is Kevin Phillips. The self-professed Gunner fan was unstoppable last year. Without a partner he has been lost and defenses can key on him, virtually stopping the attack.

Sunderland line-up in a 3-5-2 and must have possession to fuel their attack. The American International, Claudio Reyna, is now the General. He pushes up the central midfield and supports the attackers. He holds the ball for long periods of time, looking to feed Phillips or find a midfielder to line up a shot from 18-22 yards. The rest of the Midfielders; Kilbane, Arca, McCann and McAteer are all capable and a threat to shoot. The problem still remains that there is no conviction to play and no inspiration. Reyna was brought in from Rangers to solve the problem but thus far has been unsuccessful. (Note ? Reyna did not play in this weeks U.S. ? Germany match and may not play this weekend. Ed.)

To stop the Black Cats, Arsenal need to keep possession and work the glorious strings of passes that we have seen at Highbury before. Though Sunderland have played 3 defenders in the past, making the counter attack a legitimate weapon, it is very possible we will see 5 or more. Sunderland need only one point from this game as they inch towards 40 and salvation, we need all three as we work towards that precious silverware we dream of at night.”

And the Iron Balls Award goes to – March 28

Mar 28, 2002 by

“Three cheers to our captain, Tony Adams. Here?s a guy with nothing left to prove. His place in Arsenal history is secure. Terrible, morale-killing injuries this season and he had every right to say, ?That?s enough, I?m through.? But instead he continued to rehab and work his way back. Just as the team is reeling ? FA Cup draw, two Champs League losses ? Big Tone comes back to inspire us to a 3-nil defeat of Newcastle.

The Urban Legend that inspired this feature:

Every sailing ship had to have a cannon for protection. Cannons of the time required round, iron cannonballs. The master wanted to store the cannonballs such that they could be of instant use when needed, yet not roll around the gun deck. The solution was to stack them up in a square-based pyramid next to the cannon. The top level of the stack had one ball, the next level down had four, the next had nine, the next had sixteen, and so on. Four levels would provide a stack of 30 cannonballs. The only real problem was how to keep the bottom level from sliding out from under the weight of the higher levels. To do this, they devised a small brass plate (“”brass monkey”") with one rounded indentation for each cannonball in the bottom layer. Brass was used because the cannonballs wouldn’t rust to the “”brass monkey”", but would rust to an iron one. When the temperature falls, brass contracts in size faster than iron. As it got cold on the gun decks, the indentations in the brass monkey would get smaller than the iron cannonballs they were holding. If the temperature got cold enough, the bottom layer would pop out of the indentations spilling the entire pyramid over the deck. Thus it was, quite literally, “”cold enough to freeze the balls off a “”brass monkey.”"

So, when an Arsenal player shrinks in the face of pressure, he is awarded an Brass Monkey. When he steps up and makes a solid contribution, he gets the Iron Balls Award.”

New Arsenal Kit Revealed! – March 27

Mar 27, 2002 by

“New stadium, new crest, new kit? Sure, why the heck not! Many of you have sent us notes on this the last couple of days, and we were waiting for something a bit more official. Next time will go with our members. Here’s link to a story about what type of replica will be available to fans and when we can get our grubby little paws on them as well as a picture. No sponsor logo shown so it’s tough to know what it wil eventually look like, but it has a rather old school, traditional look to it.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/html/sport.html”