Didier Yves Drogba Tébily : Introduction

Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (French pronunciation: [didje dʁɔɡba]; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team. He has scored more goals for Chelsea than any other foreign player and is currently Chelsea's 6th highest goal scorer of all time.
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans. A late bloomer, he signed his first professional contract aged 21; it was not until the 2002–03 season that he realized his potential, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances in Ligue 1 for Guingamp. During the same season he made his first international appearance for Côte d'Ivoire, in September, and scored his first international goal the following February. He moved to Olympique de Marseille in 2003 for £3.3 million. His scoring success at Olympique de Marseille continued, finishing as the third highest scorer in Ligue 1 with 19 goals and helped the club to reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
Drogba moved to Chelsea the following season for a record breaking fee of £24 million, making him the most expensive Côte d'Ivoire player in history. In addition, he scored decisive goals in the 2005 Football League Cup Final and in the 2005 FA Community Shield and helped the club win their first ever Premier League title. Drogba came to prominence as one of the world's foremost strikers in 2006 as he won the league title with Chelsea again and captained the national team for the first time. In the 2006 World Cup he scored Côte d'Ivoire's first ever goal of the competition and he was chosen as the 2006 African Footballer of the Year. The next season he finished as top scorer in the 2006–07 Premier League with 20 goals and also scored the winning goals in the 2007 Football League Cup Final and FA Cup Finals. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the equalizer in the final. In the 2009–10 season Drogba proved instrumental in Chelseas winning their first double in the club's history. He won his second Golden Boot with 29 goals, and scored the only goal in Chelsea's victory over Portsmouth in the 2010 FA Cup Final. This goal makes him the only player to score in 6 English Cup finals.
Drogba is credited with playing a vital role in bringing peace to his country After Côte d'Ivoire qualified for the 2006 World Cup, Drogba made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down their arms, a plea which was answered with a cease fire after 5 years of civil war. Drogba later helped move an African Cup of Nations qualifier to the rebel stronghold of Bouake; a move that helped confirm the peace process.His involvement in the peace process lead to Drogba being named as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine.
Drogba also holds a French passport.

Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba

Personal information
Full name	Didier Yves Drogba Tébily
Date of birth	11 March 1978 (1978-03-11) (age 32)
Place of birth	Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	11
Youth career
1996–1997	Levallois
1997–1998	Le Mans
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2002	Le Mans	64	(12)
2002–2003	Guingamp	45	(20)
2003–2004	Marseille	35	(19)
2004–	Chelsea	181	(91)
Total		325	(142)
National team‡
2002–	Côte d'Ivoire	71	(45)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

A couple of things that make me happy

1. My father, outreach minister at Edgemere Church of Christ, was asked to speak at Sacred Heart Catholic Church's annual World AIDS Observance Day Service on Wed night on behalf of the Circle of Hope. This wonderful organization offers hope and support to those living with the disease who are so often discriminated against. I will never forget being so moved by Ryan White's biography when I was a girl. His speech was about examples in history where people faced discrimination because of race, religion, orientation etc. and how ignorance leads people to have this hate for those who are different than them. If more and more people were educated about AIDS, maybe people wouldn't be so afraid of people who are living with this disease. I was moved to tears by my father's beautiful speech on how we must always have compassionate hearts. That is exactly how my father raised us. Always to have open hearts and open minds.

The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it.- Harvey Milk

2. My sweet Lauren's happiest birthday surprise - She's ENGAGED! :) Congratulations to Lauren and her Leevi :) Thanks to Leevi who planned the perfect proposal that included her sister Mehle and her closest girlfriends. I'm SO glad I got to be a part of such a beautiful & special moment! :) Just a couple weeks ago as Lauren was helping Micaela with her viel we kept saying how we couldn't wait until it was Lo's big day :) Sweet Lo - you were such a big help at both Micaela's and my own wedding day, I can't wait to return the favour! Cheers xoxo

3. At the gym they held a contest for the month of November. At the beginning of the month everyone got a star to put their name on. For every group class you attended you got to put a star sticker on your star. The top five people with the most stars at the end of the month won a prize. And guess who won?!?!?!
Yep, yours truly! I don't know why their sign says Holiday Giveaway because it was not a giveaway, I had to work really hard to win that contest! :) I feel very proud to think I attended the most classes. I love that the gym does fun things like this to motivate you esp. during the holidays when you're prone to get off track. It's such a basic rewards idea with the stickers, like the things teachers do for their elementary students :) But it worked sooo good because you wanted to work hard for that star :) And it kept you accountable - actually seeing how many stars you had up there made you see your progress. I even made Micaela and my brother's girlfriend go work out with me at the Turkey Buster the day after Thanksgiving and Micaela's WEDDING DAY just so I could get 4 more stars for two hours at the gym. I'm SO excited I won a 30 min massage and three months of free membership! I booked my massage for Dec. 18th and I cannot wait. It's been WAY too long since I've had one.

4. My little sister Madeline's fiancee Matt is an aspiring filmmaker. Him and his brothers are going to be the next Coehn Brothers. A couple year ago they made their own version of Batman called "Batman: Dark Tomorrow." They rented out one of the local theatres for a world premiere and had such a great turn out they had to do another showing. It was SO awesome to see the community support for local, independent filmmakers! Well I'm proud to say they've done it again!

If you are like me, then your childhood consisted of this show:

I love Zack Morris forever!!! :) I think you'd have to be a hardcore fan of the show like I am (I remember EVERY episode I sware!) to remember a certain character that was on one episode, Mr. Belding's hip younger brother Rod -

Do you remember Rod Belding who was supposed to take the class on a white water rafting trip? Matt and his brothers wrote and directed a short 22 minute film on this character. What's so neat is that it started out as just a joke and grew from there. They actually contacted the actor who played Rod and the actor who played Mr. Belding and after a series of emails etc. both agreed to act in their feature film :) So the crew flew out to California and filmed! How cool is that?!? :) And so it was so awesome to see all their hard work in last night's world premiere of "Saved By the Belding."
You can see the trailer here. They held it at my alma mater and had two showings. The price of admission was a toy or donation for Toys for Tots. How sweet is that? :) They ended up filling two big boxes of toys and over $500. Here's a pic I took before showtime:

I'm SO proud of Matt and his talent. I admire that he pursues his passion wholeheartedly! Remember the name Matt Hamilton - he's going to be famous one day I'm telling you :) To see a story they did on him on our local news go here. I'm so happy to have him as part of our family! He makes our little sister Maddie SO happy :)

5. The Cowboys win over the Colts in OT!!!

Talk about a nail biter of a game!!!! WOWZA! :) My mom and I were at the edge of our seats and screaming in happiness when they made the field goal for the win! We KNEW our boys could do it :) I love how into football my mom is - it's just so darling!

6. A clean house. I FINALLY had a chance to clean today, REALLY clean and I am so happy for it!

Just a couple of things that have been going on in my world :) I hope you had an amazing weekend!

Giggs hints at 'scary' retirement

 

Ryan Giggs admits that this season could be his last for Manchester United, though the veteran does not know what he will do when he retires.

Giggs, who recently turned 37, is on the brink of making his 850th senior appearance for the club and has regularly viewed December as decision time regarding his future.
The Welshman will mark the 20th anniversary of his United debut next March, but having just made 10 appearances this season due to a hamstring injury, he admits it is by no means certain he will make it that far.
Giggs told The Daily Telegraph: "For me, where I'm at right now is the thought that I've had a stop-start season, so I just want to get back playing.
"I'm not going to play every week, but I want a consistent run over a couple of months to see where I'm at.
"But it gets closer every year, the thinking that, 'This could be my last season'.
"I'm closer this season than I was last season, but that's probably because I haven't been playing regularly.
"If I have a run in the team and play well, then I will probably want to carry on. If I don't, then I'll have to assess it.
"But I think I have a relationship with the manager where, if I really wasn't enjoying my football or I didn't think I was being effective, I could just sit down with him and we would both be honest to each other and say, 'Right, that's it'."
Giggs, who is the only player to have played and scored in every single season of the Premier League since its inception, admits that he has yet to grasp the thought of life after playing.
"I've been doing this for 20 years, so it will be strange and weird when it stops," he said. "It's a scary thought, but not one that I am too worried about, although I've no doubt that I will be bored.
"I'll have to find something to do because I get bored when I have a couple of days off. What I'll do, I just don't know.
"You speak to players who have finished playing and they just say that you have to play as long as you can and enjoy it. That's what I'm doing at the moment."

Drogba heads award shortlist

Reigning African Player of the Year Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast heads a five-man short-list that was named on Saturday for the 2010 award.

The Chelsea striker is part of a trio of Premier League players in the running for the continent's top individual prize, with countryman and club team-mate Salomon Kalou also named.
Ghana's Asamoah Gyan, who moved to Sunderland in the summer, is another contender, as is 2003, 2004 and 2005 winner Samuel Eto'o from Cameroon and Seydou Keita of Mali.
The list will be narrowed down to three players on December 11 before the winner is crowned at the final awards ceremony in Cairo nine days later.
Winners are decided by votes from national coaches of Africa's 53 countries affiliated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Drogba, who also won the award in 2006, will be looking to join Eto'o as a three-time winner.
Both played leading roles to help their respective countries qualify for the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year - the first ever finals on the African continent.
But they were overshadowed by Gyan, whose goalscoring exploits in the tournament took the Black Stars to the quarter-finals where they were eventually beaten on penalties by Uruguay.
Amongst the other major awards to be handed out in Egypt will be Young Player of the Year, with Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese and Ghana), Ryad Boudebouz (Sochaux and Algeria) and Moussa Maazou (Bordeaux and Niger) all in contention.
Algeria, Egypt and Ghana are vying for National Team of the Year, while the Coach of the Year award will be contested between Lamine N'Diaye, who led TP Mazembe to the African Champions League title, Milovan Rajevac - the man who masterminded Ghana's World Cup campaign - and Egypt's Hassan Shehata.
Alain Dioko, Mohamed Gedo and Ahmed Hassan (both Al-Ahly) are nominated for best African-based Player, while CS Sfaxien (Tunisia), FUS Rabat (Morocco) and TP Mazembe will be aiming to win best club side of 2010.

Happy One Week Anniversary!!!

It's been exactly one week since my twinkie married her Chip in a beautiful and intimate ceremony at the church we have grown up in. Just as when Philip & I got married, our father married them. There is something so special to have your father perform you marriage ceremony.

Micaela was the most beautiful bride! Her vintage dress was so perfectly her. She decided not to have the traditional bridesmaids or groomsmen, but one tradition she had to uphold was to have me stand up there with her. She even joked with my dad if I could walk down the aisle with her haha what can I say? We've been in the womb together! :) Even when Chip proposed he wanted me there because he knew she would want me to be a part of such a special moment.

I have dreamed of this moment my whole life! Almost even more then my own wedding day I have dreamed of hers. Because that day meant that she was truly happy and that she would always be taken care of. As twins you always are very protective of each other. Her happiness is my whole world. For that reason I could not stop the tears from coming down my face as I watched them exchange their vows. I cannot put into words what that moment meant to me.

I've gained the most AMAZING brother-in-law. He's so right for twinkie. He loves her unconditionally and so purely. And his parents...the most wonderful people. I just fell in love with them. Watching the Maxhams (his parents and the newly Maxhams!) drive away the day after, I felt such a sense of contentment knowing what an amazing family Micaela married into. I know she is taken care of and truly has made a home there in Virginia.

I wish you many more weeks lol, months, years of wedded bliss!!!! :) I love you Mr. and Mrs. Maxham!!!

It's my girlfriend's birthday!!!!

Wishing my girlfriend Brit Brit a very Happy 29th Birthday!!!

Thank you for being one of the great loves of my life! You've given me hope and you inspire me. Thanks for getting me through four 5K's to date and numerous gym sessions. Your music has helped me out so many times and it's what always gets me moving. And it's what's getting me though this crazy work day at this very moment!

Love your BIGGEST fan,
ME! :)

I have been such a busy little

lately that I haven't had a chance to post in what feels like AGES and there is SO much to catch up on! I'm still playing catch up from the short work week last week and it's been CRAZY! But we'll talk soon I promise. Missing all of you!