Jeff Buckley and Bassie & Schippie

I wanted to rant about Jeff Buckley. The son of Tim Buckley, he is one hell of a musician, has influenced lots of artists (Radiohead, Coldplay, Starsailor, just to name a few) and made one awesome album before he drowned in the Mississippi river. But strangely enough, even though Grace has been quoted as one of the best albums all time (always included in whoever's list of Top 50 albums) it didn't sell a lot. Not even today after it has been named in the Top Albums of all time. And I'm just curious why that is. But then again, there are much more ignorant people who prefer Britney Spears, 50 Cent, or even Phil Collins over Jeff Buckley.

Never heard Jeff Buckley? If you've seen Vanilla Sky, then the moment Tom Cruise walks out of Penelope Cruz' appartment before he had that accident there is a song accompanying Cruise smug smile. It's Jeff Buckley's Last Goodbye, a cheerful song about a relationship that has just ended. For the movie it was also a sign that even though Cruise is happy with Cruz, the relationship has just ended (but none knew it) and they will never meet again.

Go on, go listen to Grace. One of the best albums in 1994.

But after thinking about it, maybe I should rant about Marco van Basten and Johnny van't Schip. These two are now tipped to become Holland's national football coach. A move I will cheer! Both are part of the Dutch Golden Generation, the ones that won the 1988 European Cup. Both these players started their careers with Ajax as well and are now coaching Jong Ajax. Last year they won the reserves league and the reserves cup and gave Ajax a couple of players as well (Daniel de Ridder, Nicolae Mitea, Thomas Vermaelen).

Every football fan should know who Marco van Basten is. He was voted among the Top 10 best European Footballers ever, he is the second best Dutch player ever (after Johan Cruijff). He's the one who scored the best European Championship goal (2-0 against Russia in the 1988 final). He won several cups with Ajax and AC Milan and was voted European Footballes of the year. He had to retire at the age of 29 because of a niggling ankle injury. After taking some years of from football, he came back coaching and last year coached Jong Ajax together with Johnny van't Schip. He's the best candidate to take over the Dutch team. Oh, and he's my hero/idol as well. In my room back home there's still a poster of him hanging.

Johnny van't Schip is probably a bit less known than van Basten. He started his career at Ajax as well, playing right wing. He was in the squad that won the 1988 European Cup. After Ajax he ventured to Genoa and some other clubs. He's a typical Dutch right winger and Andy van der Meyde seems to have learned a lot from him (they're basically the same type of player). He tried coaching at Twente but got fired after two seasons. He then came back to his old club, where he took charge of Jong Ajax. It's been much better, especially after van Basten's arrival. And now he will be joining van Basten as Dutch national coach.

I have a lot of faith in Bassie & Schippie and I'm sure these two will help this generation of players win something. Even Cruijff agrees.