The two sides of the Ryder Cup coin
Celtic Manor, Wales (CNN) A week that started with everyone sheltering from the pouring rain, ended with a European team being showered with champagne.
This was one of the tightest ever Ryder Cups and the nail-biting drama re-affirmed the event as one of the best competitions in team sport.
But in sport every story has two sides, for every champion there is a defeated opponent, for every figure who grabs glory there is another who must deal with despair - and very often the margins between the embrace of victory and the cold, company of failure is slim.
And so it was that while the European team were posing for their winning photos, the Americans were sitting before the press, trying to put a brave face on what had been a crushing loss.
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Is the Ryder Cup the ultimate in team sport ?
Forget the rain delays or the row over ticketing arrangements for the final unexpected day of play at Celtic Manor, the Ryder Cup has cemented its status as the biggest and best one-off team event in world sport bar none.
It brings together a collection of multi-millionaires, who spend their whole year in pursuit of individual glory, to play for their country, or in Europe's case their continent, with no prize money at stake.
Liverpool low: Can the once mighty Reds rebuild?
Just when Liverpool fans - supporters of the once mighty powerhouse of European football which is now saddled with debt, suffering misfiring players and with no league title win since 1990 - thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.
As hosts to top-flight new boys Blackpool and in desperate need of a win, Liverpool unbelievably lost to the orange-clad minnows of English football 2-1 in front of the Anfield faithful. Considering the Reds have won only two of nine games in all competitions so far this season and were eliminated from a domestic cup by fourth flight Northampton recently, I can't remember a time when they have been so low. What’s worse, I don’t see improvement anytime soon.
I will be honest with you. I grew up a huge Liverpool supporter. My first love was Benfica, my hometown club in Lisbon, but in my early teens I admired the Anfield club from afar. I was impressed by their quick passing game, their winning mentality and by the passion of their fans. My favorite player was Ian Rush, because at the time I played as a striker myself, but their group of players in the Eighties was phenomenal. The decades that followed were tough. The Nineties were poor by club standards and with the exception of the 2005 Champions League victory, the next decade was disappointing as well.
