May 15, 2012

Messi helping a boy with pituitary dwarfism


Lionel Messi is not just a great footballer but he is a great man too. Barcelona's top striker since now is paying medical bills for 12-year-old boy suffering from pituitary dwarfism. It was the pituitary dwarfism that Leo was suffering from too and now he decided to help someone in a similar condition. Mesi came to Barcelona because it covered the cost of the bills for the growth hormone. The boy suffering from pituitary dwarfism is Kashasha Waleed, he is from Morocco and he dreamed to be a footballer but his family could not afford the hormonal therapy. Therefore, his mother decided to write a letter to Leo asking for help, and he decided to help the family paying 208 euros every two weeks for the growth hormone treatment for Kashasha (till the age of 18). Messi often engages in the UNICEF actions and has his own foundation.

photo by Christopher Johnson

May 13, 2012

Hartlepool United fans at their best


I wanted to write this one so much but I had no time, so it's finally here. Most of you have probably seen fans of Hartlepool supporting their club at Charlton this month, but for those who have not - stay a while and read!

The army of 171 Hartlepool supporters painted their faces blue and donned blue jumpers and white overalls, beards and hats to support their club on the final match of the season against Charlton in League One. The smurf invasion was quickly the talk of Twitter after photo of Hartlepool supporters descending an escalator at London’s Kings Cross Underground station was posted and was viewed more than 13,000 times in 24 hours. Some fans were also dressed up as super heroes. Organiser John 'Papa Smurf' Pearson said: 'It’s good craic and helps the day along" and the Hartlepool manager Neale Cooper stated: 'The fans were fantastic. I got a message on my phone saying, "The Smurfs are invading Charlton", and that was from someone in Scotland. Then I saw the pictures. The support on the day was brilliant.' At half-time, mid-table Hartlepool were leading 1-0 against League One champions Charlton but by the final whistle they were 3-2 down. Last time the Hartlepool supporters were dressed up as Oompa Loompas (Video on the bottom). 


Hartlepool itself is beginning to be one of the most creative clubs in the League One, and its supporters nickname is kinda funny too. The Monkey Hangers. According to local folklore, the term originates from an incident in which a monkey was hanged in Hartlepool. During the Napoleonic wars, a French ship was wrecked off the coast, and the only survivor was a monkey wearing a French uniform. After finding the monkey locals decided to hold an impromptu trial, but the monkey was unable to answer their questions and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman may look like, they concluded that the monkey was a French spy. Later, the monkey was hanged from the mast of a boat. Hartlepool United FC's mascot is a monkey called H'Angus the Monkey. An interesting story, isnt it?


May 8, 2012

Carles Puyol will miss Euro 2012?

Spanish defender Carles Puyol will most probably miss out event in Poland and Ukraine because of a renewed knee injury that requires arthroscopic surgery and will be out of the game for around six weeks. It means that the coach of Spain National Team - Vicente del Bosque will have to succeed without the services of the best defender in his team. The 34-year-old featured for the full 90 minutes in Barcelona's 4-0 La Liga win over Espanyol at the weekend, but complained about knee problems after the game. He underwent a number of tests on Monday to determine the extent of the knock and as officially stated by Barcelona he will have to undergo knee surgery. The knee surgery will take place on Saturday May 12 and will be performed by doctor Ramon Cugat.

photo by Gerard Reyes from Reus, EspaƱa