Quote of the Day- Boris Becker

Today, we continue our quotes from famous Germans with a quip from the tennis great Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon when he was just 17. Today, Becker turns 44, and here is his quote:

"Does anyone ask their parents how they are conceived?"

SIDBAR: I want to congratulate my good friend Chris Tilley, who is highly regarded as a local playwright in Greensboro, NC, for the second anniversary of his blog:
my-naked-blogspot.com

SIDEBAR 2: Since we discussed English soccer yesterday, I thought I would relay from scores from today's UEFA Cup games played across Europe. It was not a particularly good day for English teams as Manchester United tied the Portuguese team Benefica 2-2 and their cross-town rival Manchester City, a team that currently leads the English Premiere League, feel to Italian power Napoli 2-1.

But, arguably the most misreable soccer player in Europe is Vasili Berezutzky who headed a ball into his own net, paving the way for the French team Lille's 2-0 win over CSKA Moscow. For the French club team, Senegal national Moussa Sow scored the other goal.

Meanwhile, Ajax Amsterdam and Lyon played to a 0-0 tie.

Things We Learned on Google Today- Bayern Munich Has Won Four UEFA Titles

This is the seventh entry in our series of looks at professional soccer teams. So far, we have looked at teams from two continents: Europe and North America.

Today, we turn our attention to the German Bundesliga where Bayern Munich has reigned supreme over the decades. The two has four UEFA titles, including three in row from 1974-76, and another title in 2001. The team was runner-up in 2010.

In addition, Bayern has won 22 German titles, and 15 domestic cups.

Yesterday, Bayern beat their long-time rival Kaiserslautern 3-0, a week after they destroyed Hamburg SV 5-0. Yesterday's game started at 9:30 a.m. yesterday, east coast American time.

We are featuring an image of Mehmet Scholl, who was a star player for the team in the 2000s, and he was among the first players of Turkish heritage (Germany has the largest Turkish population outside Turkey) to become a soccer superstar in the Bundesliga.

The team's most legendary player is Franz Beckenbauer who played during the '70s and helped Germany dominate world soccer internationally (well, there was also Brazil which featured some guy named Pele) during his career.

Bayern's current roster includes German players Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez as well as Dutch star Franck Ribery, who once played for Turkish soccer power GalataSaray (a team we featured earlier in the series).

SIDEBAR: Yesterday, in the English Premiere League, Didier Drogba of Chelsea, one of the star player in the league, suffered a 30-minute concusion in the 71st minute of play in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Norwich City.

SIDEBAR TWO: Our congratulations go out to American tennis player John Isner, of Greensboro, NC. The 'local boy' won the Winston-Salem Open over Julien Benneateau of France in a match that somehow did not get rained out due to Hurricane Irene, which battered the North Carolina coast yesterday.

Bonus Road Trip- Manteo to Murphy (To Flee Irene)

In North Carolina, the term "Murphy to Manteo" is used constantly for entities which serve the entire Tarheel State whether it be "Our State" magazine or North Carolina Public Television.

But, with Hurricane Irene now hitting the shores of the Outer Banks around Kill Devil Hills, it seems that right now travelers are more likely to head west, which would be from Manteo to Murphy. The route goes through Chapel Hill where the University of North Carolina Tarheels play. Given that Hurricane Irene is expected to be a devastating storm, one has to wonder if the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game perhaps should have chosen a different nickname.

For those who did not major in North Carolina geography in college or live in Wyoming or Uzbekistan, let me explain that Manteo is a town in the Outer Banks whereas Murphy is in 'Deliverance country' near the borders of Georgia and Tennesse in the far west, mountainous part of the state.

We imagine that it has been a slow Friday night for such Outer Banks establishments as Front Porch Cafe, Stripes Bar and Grille, and Chilli Peppers Coastal Grille, assuming they were even open at all.

So, for this Bonus Road Trip, we examined the distance between the town hall of Manteo and Daily Grind and Wine, a cafe in Murphy which has the motto: 'Life is too short for bad coffee and cheap wine."

Thus, we ask you the blog-reader how far apart these two towns are.

Is the answer:

A) 8 hours, 30 minutes

B) 8 hours, 50 minutes

C) 9 hours, 10 minutes

D) 9 hours, 25 minutes

We will give the answer over the weekend.

SIDEBAR: "The News-Observer," the newspaper for Raleigh tweeted tonight that downtown Wilmington was a mess even though it is a few hours south of the eye of the storm. But, there are lots of sporting events in North Carolina which are still on, as of press time.

The Winston-Salem Open, a tennis tournament in (where else) Winston-Salem will have a final featuring American star John Isner and French tennis player Julien Benneteau tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 local time. The game, if it is played, will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

And, tonight, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (they are the Spartans, not the Tarheels) opened their season at home against Duke University, which was ranked 12th in the country. The Spartans were able to pull a 3-2 upset thanks to two goals from Turkish-German player Hakan Ilhan.