Liverpool Should Be Given The Title

Image from FIFA.com

Let me rephrase that: If the 2019/20 Premier League season can't be completed due to the coronavirus, Liverpool FC deserves the title. They've earned it.

Just look at the current table. After 29 matches played, Liverpool have won 27, tied 1, and lost 1. With 82 points, they are 25 points ahead of Manchester City with only 9 matches remaining. City has a game in hand, but that makes no difference. Liverpool would essentially have to lose the rest of their matches and City would have to win the rest of their matches for City to take the title. No other team is in contention.

Liverpool is also on track to break Manchester City's point record from the 2017/18 season. City accumulated 100 points that season. If Liverpool win out, they would have 109 points. Even if they drop a few points, they'll still have the record.

Not even the Arsenal Invincibles team of 2003/04 was this dominant in arguably the best league in the world. That team finished on 90 points with 26 wins and 12 ties. Yes, they were unbeaten, but they had 11 more ties than the current Liverpool team. Liverpool took those ties and put them in the win column.

I'm not here to debate which team is the best Premier League team of all-time because there are some Manchester United and Chelsea teams that would have to be part of the discussion. I'm just here to say: give Liverpool the Premier League title. They deserve it.

The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has already decided that Celtic will be crowned champions if the season cannot be finished.

The cherry on top? The two teams share a common bond. Even if the seasons aren't completed, it would still be a near-perfect end to the season.

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A Silver Lining to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Image from European Space Agency.

Air pollution levels in parts of the world are dropping dramatically due to the coronavirus outbreak. This is a good thing.

The reduced economic activity as a result of stay-at-home orders has led to a significant reduction in levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants. This shouldn't come as a surprise. We're going to use less fossil fuels when everyone is hunkering down at home.

Researchers at Columbia University collected data on traffic and CO2 levels in New York in the early days of the pandemic. The data suggest that social distancing measures have led to a 35% decline in traffic levels from one year ago. The data also show that emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) have fallen by about 50% on certain days. There has been a notable drop in methane (CH4) as well.

According to one of the researchers, Professor Róisín Commane, this is the cleanest the air has ever been. "It is less than half of what we normally see in March," he said.

The findings in New York are very much like what is being seen in China and Italy. An article on climate website Carbon Brief, suggests that energy use and emissions in China dropped by 1/4 over a two week period. It's estimated that China's overall carbon emissions will drop by 1% this year.

Levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), another common air pollutant released when burning fossil fuels, have also fallen significantly in both China and Italy. With airplanes and cars around the world grinding to a halt, these trends will likely be seen in many other countries.

Image from NASA.

Some experts believe the global shutdown will impact overall CO2 levels for 2020. It will depend on when we get control of the virus, but Prof Corinne Le Quéré from the University of East Anglia says that "most likely I think we will see something in the global emissions this year."

What happens with emissions later this year-and our longer-term relationship with the earth-will depend heavily on how governments boost economic activity once the virus is controlled. In the coming months, leaders will have an excellent chance to change course.

We should use this opportunity to rethink our relationship with the natural world, including how we use energy. It's time we take climate change and other environmental issues more seriously. Stimulus money should incentivize things like building and transportation efficiency and the use of renewable energy.

In the near future, I predict that governments will prioritize economic performance over environmental performance yet again. Then only when things get worse, like what happened with COVID-19, will we begin to act. It's human nature. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

I suspect, however, one change that will be embraced sooner rather than later is working remotely. If studies can show that productivity is maintained, or even improved, while working remotely, I think companies will be on board. This will be great news for air quality, the climate, and, more importantly, us.

I have a feeling this virus will be the catalyst for some great change. We won't see massive change overnight, but I think we'll begin to redesign our economies with nature in mind. We have to.

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My 7 Rules for Looking and Staying Young and Healthy

Image by Photo Mix.

Let me preface this post with the following: I'm not what most would consider a health and wellness expert. I don't have any related degrees or certifications. I studied environmental science. However, I did grow up with healthy habits and I've carried those habits into adulthood. I also read up on the topic in my free time and have experimented with different ideas over the years.

I like to think I've successfully navigated all of the information out there. It can be really confusing and, at times, conflicting. Add to that the people trying to make a buck from all of the fad diets out there. I hate fad diets. You should too.

If there is one "diet" I do like, it's the Blue Zone diet. People in the world's blue zones are the healthiest on Earth. They often reach their 100th birthday while maintaining a good quality of life. The lessons from those lifestyles heavily influenced my advice below.

You'll notice that the list isn't very long and the information isn't very cumbersome. Just like everything else in life, I like to keep things simple. Less is more. Am I right?

1. Eat when you're hungry. Your body will tell you when it needs nourishment. Listen to it. Eat. But before you do, see numbers 2 and 3 below.
2. Eat the right things. Avoid the crap. You know what it is. So avoid it. Well, do your best. I have an insane sweet tooth and treat myself from time to time. I think it's okay to cheat once in a while. Check labels and avoid bad fats, sugars, and chemicals. Eat lots of plants - fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc. I personally put garlic and extra virgin olive oil in everything I cook. Drink lots of water. Moderate everything else. The best general advice I can give is to pay attention to how foods make you look and feel. I personally notice a big difference in my skin and energy levels when I avoid wheat and dairy.
3. Don't eat too much. Eat one plate of food then wait and see how you feel. There's usually a delay between eating and satiation. Nibble throughout the day. Avoid that large meal right before bed.
4. Move your body. Our bodies were meant to move. So move it. Get your heart rate up every day. Push yourself a little too. Go run. Play sports. Clean your house. Mow the lawn. Take the stairs. Anything. Do it in the sunshine for added benefits.
5. SLEEP. Don't forget this. I'm not going to tell you how much you need. Everyone is different. Again, listen to your body. Sleep or nap if you're tired (if it's an option).
6. Be happy. Your mindset is very important. Do what you love. Surround yourself with people you like. Do things for them. Do anything else that makes you feel good.
7. Don't focus on your weight. This one might be a bit controversial. Obviously, being overweight is unhealthy. I'm simply saying focus on being healthy and the weight will take care of itself. Throw away the scale. This is good for your mental health too.

That's pretty much it. No need to overcomplicate things. Like I said before, keep it simple. Don't confuse yourself. Don't stress yourself out. You know your body better than anyone else. Listen to it. Unless it's that sweet tooth!

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5 Reasons Cats Love Boxes

My cats (Brother and Sister) in a box in Saudi Arabia.

In case you didn't know, I love cats. A lot.

The cats I have now I saved from the streets of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I brought them back to the US with me and it's been non-stop cuddles and entertainment. One way in which they entertain me is by hiding inside bags, boxes, and sheet forts!

I wanted to know why my cats love hiding in these so much, so I did a bit of research. Here's what I found out:

Reason #1: Apparently, when cats stalk prey - or each other in our household - they like a place to hide. And what better than the Chewy boxes or grocery bags I usually have laying around my apartment for them?

Reason #2: Cats are territorial by nature - and boxes provide them with their own territory. Have you ever seen a cat sit inside of a square marked on the floor? It's pretty funny.

Reason #3: They're solitary. Cats spend a lot of their time alone. Most of this alone time - about 15 to 20 hours per day - is spent sleeping. Boxes provide a safe and cozy place for them to sleep.

Reason #4: Hiding in boxes calms them down. This probably doesn't apply to my cats, as they feel safe in the apartment, but to a feral cat, it can really help.

Reason #5: Boxes provide warmth. Cats usually prefer a warmer than average room. You'll often find mine sleeping on the radiators during the winter. If those aren't on, I'll find them in a box or hiding under covers.

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My Scottish C License Experience

Me and Andy Smith.

In October 2019 I spent one week in Glasgow attending the Scottish FA C license course. I thought I'd write about my experience in case I can help future candidates.

My first piece of advice is to go with an open mind. This is the most important part of being a coach. As with anything in life, you will only get better at what you do if you are humble and are open to new ideas. Take the ideas you want and form your own coaching style, but keep an open mind.

The second piece of advice I'd give is to get a couple years of experience before you go. You'll be running sessions and shaping a team on a topic chosen for you, and you'll be doing so in front of former professional players who know what they're talking about. Our instructors, Andy Smith and Jimmy Bone, were former professionals and have years of coaching experience under their belts. It can be a bit intimidating.

If you sign up for the one-week intensive course, like I did, then you'll definitely want to go with some coaching experience. On Monday, the instructors demonstrate what you need to do, then the rest of the week all of the candidates run their sessions and are evaluated. You can also sign up for the less intensive course, where you are allowed to return to your club to practice what you learned before returning to be evaluated.

I think the final bit of advice I'd give is to get in shape before you go. They might have younger players ready to perform the sessions that coaches run from Tuesday to Friday, but if they don't, the coaches have to participate - and it can be a lot of running around. Our class had younger players on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I participated all day Monday, Thursday, and Friday. I was quite sore by the end of the week. You're there for about 8 hours each day.

What I loved about the course was that it had minimal classroom time - about 30 mins each morning and a quick debrief Friday afternoon to round out the course. We were out on the pitch the majority of the time learning from some great instructors and doing things ourselves.

I also really liked the instructors. Jimmy Bone speaks his mind and isn't afraid to do so. He'll tell you what he thinks - even if it hurts a bit. But I appreciate the honesty. He's also quite funny! I also liked Andy Smith, but I didn't get to interact with him much as he was with the other group of 20 coaches.

There were about 40 candidates in total and we all formed great relationships during the course. Some of us kept in touch and have signed up to do the UEFA B course together in May 2020.

The trip was such a wonderful learning experience and you'll probably make lifelong friends in other parts of the world, which is always cool.

Below are some pictures I took while there.

Contact me if you have any questions!

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A post shared by Bobby Khaksari (@bobbykhaksari) on Oct 25, 2019 at 2:14pm PDT

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Johan Cruyff Player Profile

Image from FIFATV.

If you're a soccer/football fan and haven't checked out FIFATV on YouTube, then you're missing out.

You can find full matches, match highlights, success stories, and individual player profiles like the one below on Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff is hands down the most celebrated Dutch player ever and one of the best attacking players to grace the pitch. His vision and technique were second to none.

He was the star of the Ajax and Dutch teams of the 1970's and their free-flowing "total football." He dominated the 1974 World Cup finals, where he introduced the world to his famous "Cruyff turn," a move still taught and used around the world today. Unfortunately, Holland lost to hosts West Germany in the final. After disagreements with the Dutch FA (KNVB), he pulled out of the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina, where the Dutch again lost to the hosts in the final. Cruyff is often considered the best player to never win a World Cup.

Most of his club career was spent at Ajax and Barcelona. After hanging up his boots, he went on to manage both of these teams and is credited with reinventing the game at Barcelona.

Johan Cruyff is arguably the most influential footballing mind ever. Both Ajax and Barcelona have modeled their youth academies after his coaching philosophy. He has influenced so many great managers and players including Arrigo Sacchi, Sir Alex Ferguson, and Pep Guardiola. He is often credited with Ajax's success in the 1990's and Spanish football greatness from 2008 to 2012.

Sadly, he passed away at the age of 68 on March 24, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Although he is gone, his ideas live on through the Johan Cruyff Institute, the TOVO Academy, and in almost every football match you watch :-)

There is no doubt he has left a lasting legacy.

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Ajax Star Nouri Awakes From 32-month Coma

Image from Orange Football Club.

There's good news in the football world today: Abdelhak Nouri has awoken from his coma. He was asleep for more than two years.

The Ajax star was playing in a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen in the summer of 2017 when he suffered a cardiac arrest. He collapsed on the pitch before teammates and doctors rushed to his side. He was put into a medically induced coma at the hospital before doctors realized he had sustained severe brain damage.

Ajax has since admitted that their response in the moments after he collapsed was inadequate. A defibrillator should have been used sooner according to Ajax Chief Executive Edwin van der Sar. The club with arguably the best academy in the world eventually released their team doctor.

The Dutch midfielder was a top prospect in the academy and worked his way up to the first team in 2015. Sadly, he only made nine appearances for the senior squad before his career was tragically cut short during their pre-season tour in 2017.

Although Nouri is now at home suffering from permanent brain damage, his brother did offer some positive news:

He sleeps, he sneezes, he eats, he burps, but it’s not like he gets out of bed. He’s very bedridden and still very dependent on us. On his good days, there is a form of communication, for example, confirmation with his eyebrows or a smile. But you notice that he can’t last that very long. We talk to him like he’s not sick. We take him into our conversations and we watch football with him in the living room, for example. Then he watches. You notice that he likes that very much. He often shows emotions. Sometimes he is emotional, but often there is also a smile.

Current Barcelona star, Frankie De Jong, who played for Ajax, revealed in an interview with Dutch TV that Nouri was influential in De Jong's move to the Catalan club - and his initial move to Ajax from Willem II.

As an avid football fan, I'm all too familiar with this type of incident. I can recall a handful of similar stories over the years. These players are as healthy and as fit as can be, and even with all of the medical testing these players undergo, these things can still happen. It's cruel. It's sad. It's unfair. My heart goes out to him and all those affected by this.

Peace be upon him.

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Unseen Enemy: A Global Pandemic Documentary

Image from Amazon.com

I was looking for something to watch the other night and came across a very interesting and scary documentary. It's called "Unseen Enemy" and it's about infectious diseases and how they infect humans and wreak havoc. It originally appeared on CNN but I was able to catch it on Amazon Prime. Given the current pandemic we're living through, I immediately began watching it. I wanted to know more.

Here's some of what I learned...

Nearly all new viruses come from animals. In the 21st century, 75% of all new infectious diseases have come from them. A prime example is bats. Their habitats are being stressed by climate change and humans. This is affecting their ability to find food. As they begin to starve in their natural habitats, they start looking elsewhere for food, including in our agricultural fields. It's not hard to see how they might transmit a virus to us.

We have dramatically increased our contact with animals through deforestation, industrialization of agriculture, and by eating more of them. As a result, we've increased the risk of one of these viruses that they carry jumping to humans. We've already had swine flu, SARS, and MERS in the 21st century. It's not if, but when.

Other viruses discussed in the documentary include HIV/AIDS, which came from a few monkeys and chimpanzees in Africa to infect millions worldwide, SARS, which jumped from a bat, then to a cat, and finally to a villager in China and to more than 30 countries in a matter of weeks, and the Zika virus, which originated in Africa, then migrated across Asia, then to the South Pacific, and finally to Brazil in 2013. It's suspected it arrived when fans went to Brazil for the Confederations Cup the year before the World Cup. The major Zika outbreak in South America occurred in 2015 and 2016.

The film also covered smallpox. It was the first infectious disease to be eradicated, but not before it killed up to 500 million people during the 20th century.

Finally, there's the flu, which so many of us have compared to the current coronavirus, perhaps as a way to put ourselves and others at ease. It's true, the flu is pretty deadly. It causes worldwide epidemics every year. Globally, 3 to 5 million people per year are hospitalized and 200,000 people die from it. Most of those who die have a pre-existing condition such as a weakened immune system or diabetes. However, it can also kill a perfectly healthy, young, strong person in a matter of days. New strains of influenza are of particular concern to experts.

The documentary has so much more information that I didn't cover here. Watch it. It will open your eyes and probably scare the shit out of you. We were due for a global pandemic. The experts knew it - and they knew it would change life more than anything we currently face. Climate change is probably a close second.

If there was just one take-home point from the movie, it would be this: we are all on the front line of battling these diseases - not just the infectious disease experts and doctors. Educate yourself. Practice good hygiene.

If you ask me, our greatest enemy is not the virus - it's ignorance.

Check out the trailer below or you can watch the full documentary here.

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The State of the Planet

Image by Robert Jones.

What is the state of our planet? We can look to a study conducted at McGill University which summarized our current situation as a so-called environmentalist's paradox. In short, over the last forty years, our standard of living has increased rapidly while the health of the planet has decreased rapidly - and the decline in the planet's health is leading to a decline in human health.

In the paper, the authors suggest the following:

• The way we measure human well-being is flawed; our standard of living is actually declining
• Being able to produce food, which we've enhanced through technology, outweighs the effects from declines in other ecosystem services
• Technology makes us less dependent on ecosystems
• There is a delay between ecosystem decline and a decline in our well-being - it will get worse

Let's look at four global trends as we keep these four points in mind:

1. Population Growth: Human population growth over the last two centuries has been staggering. The world population increased from 1 billion in 1800 to about 7.8 billion today. We've grown by 2 billion over the last 25 years. Although the rate of growth is slowing, we should expect between 9 and 10 billion of us by 2050. Most of the increase will be in developing countries. All of these people will need energy, food, clothes, housing, and employment and/or income. In other words: everyone, now, and those who follow, will need resources from the earth to survive and will have an impact on the health of the planet - and thus will impact the health of themselves and other people. Our individual lifestyle choices and consumption patterns will matter.
2. Ecosystems: Ecosystems support our lives and economies. They provide us with a wide range of goods and services to do this. They provide us with food, water, materials for shelter, and energy. They also break down waste, regulate the climate, and manage pests. They are crucial, but we haven't fully appreciated their importance and have therefore not managed them as well as we could. We are depleting groundwater resources, ruining agricultural soils, overfishing the oceans, and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at alarming rates. Which leads me to the next concerning global trend...
3. Climate Change: Our global economy depends on fossil fuels. Without coal, oil, and gas, the world - and our lives - would be much different. Whenever we extract, refine, and/or use these fossil fuels, we release greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, etc.) and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. We release about 80 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere per day. Carbon dioxide levels have increased from a pre-industrial level of between 180 ppm and 280 ppm to over 400 ppm today ("ppm" means parts per million). Carbon dioxide is a natural part of the atmosphere and is necessary for life. However too much of it is a bad thing. It produces a strong greenhouse effect which traps heat from the sun and warms the earth. Warming the earth too much is a bad thing. More on this topic in a separate post. In my opinion, the relatively stable climate pattern that began about 10,000 years ago is the main reason we have such a successful global civilization today. We don't want to destabilize it.
4. Biodiversity Loss: Biodiversity is the variability among terrestrial and aquatic living organisms. This includes variety within species (intraspecies), between species (interspecies), and within ecosystems. Our rapidly growing population and our increasing appetite for natural resources is proving detrimental to biodiversity as we degrade habitats, pollute, and kill species in search of food, water, energy, land, and other resources for our economies and lives. This isn't good because having a variety of plants and animals improves our ability to produce food and helps to stabilize natural systems that we rely on. The services these systems provide make life possible. See #2.

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To Turin and Back: A Juventus Experience

Last year, I began coaching at the new Juventus Academy in Washington, D.C. The club was just getting started and I was hired to coach two under-10 boys teams. One of the perks of coaching at the DC academy is the option to travel to Italy for a one-week coach training course. I jumped at the opportunity and in February 2020 I traveled to Turin to learn from coaches and staff at one of the top academies in the world. (In case you were wondering, I was there from February 15-22 and left just before the coronavirus outbreak struck Italy. That's a story for a separate blog post. In the meantime, let's wish everyone who is affected by the virus the best.)

Back to the course. It was an incredible experience. I met Juventus Academy coaches from all over the world - from Russia to Columbia - from Bahrain to England. We spent our mornings in the box suites at Allianz Stadium overlooking the pitch. There we watched presentations from Juventus coaches and staff and enjoyed tasty breakfasts and lunches. In the evenings, we took a bus to one of their national academies where kids train and play in the hope of being selected for their main academy. We also visited their Vinovo training center where their selected youth train. We even got to watch Cristiano Ronaldo's son train with his team.

In addition to the time spent in the classroom and out on the pitches, we were able to watch the first team train as well. Being so close to players like Buffon, Dybala, and Ronaldo was pretty surreal. This was open to only a small number of people and was a much more intimate setting than watching them play at the stadium.

Here are some pictures from my trip:

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A post shared by Bobby Khaksari (@bobbykhaksari) on Feb 19, 2020 at 12:33am PST

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A post shared by Bobby Khaksari (@bobbykhaksari) on Feb 20, 2020 at 12:09am PST

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