THE MILK'S GONE BAD!

I don't know how, but I had forgotten about the Rick James skits. I don't really see how TV can get any funnier than this.

I like the south park parody of lebron's thing, but i dont think it steals any of nike's thunder. better is their mockery of BP and the "we're sorry" naked on the bear rug in front of the fire place, that is classic.

what should i do?

i've never liked lebron, and not just because i'm a contrarian by nature, but it was actually his game that i never/still dont really like. his personality was always kind of whatever for me, so sure i was happy to hate him after his whole south beach fiasco. but i have to say, his new commercial is one of the best i've seen in a while. one that made me say, "oh shit..."
its no mj and larry playing horse, but it beats the hell out of tiger and earl's sit down. well done nike.
and god, can another undeserving shitty NL team just go ahead and beat the tigers/rays/rangers already. i guess thats better than the yankees winning though, but only just.

jets suck yankees suck knicks suck

if its rangers vs giants, what an odd day that would be for your disgruntled ny sports fan to find the namesakes of their favorite hockey and football teams in the world series.

you've gotta mostly like the AL team to beat the Giants though don't you? mostly?

van persie's injury curse?

out of his way

Is Roy Halladay That Good?

Or are the Reds and the rest of the NL just that bad? At least Ramon Hernandez got to see some playoff action though, he's just as deserving as the next guy...

Henry's Second Fall from Grace

I don't know if you saw what irish public enemy number one has done in the MLS, and if you weren't paying attention you probably didn't because the MLS gets less coverage than an ACC prevent defense in the final 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter. For whatever reason all the circumstances and oddities of the actual incident intruigued me, so I couldn't help but write something about it.

Anyhoo, Thierry basically put the Dallas "feel the slow" Burn keeper out of commission for some time by needlessly kicking a ball into his foot whilst the game was stopped. Here's a pretty opinionated piece on it here, and I'm not rushing to Henry's defense, not in the least, but I figured I could at least talk out what actually happened and then we'd go from there.

So now that you've watched it, is Henry to blame? Obviously. Should there be repercussions? Probably, (in fact there already have been, Henry was fined a laughable 2,000 dollars). But I think what matters most in assinging guilt and what you have to account for in these situations is intent. No one can argue that it was Henry's intention to injure the player. Compare this to LaGarrette Blount's infamous haymaker last fall, and it's night and day. Where in all the Boise State player got for his troubles was a sore jaw, this poor keeper is facing up to a year on the sidelines, not to mention seriously hindering his team's playoff chances and potential revenue. That's where Dallas' lawsuit comes in.

It isn't such a preposterous idea that they should be entitled to some type of financial compensation for their misfortune, but if I were in charge, I'd simply shrug my shoulders and tell them tough luck. This did happen after all, on the field of play, during a game.

But what is so strange, is that this happened in a deadball situation which are so few and far between in soccer, that no one really knows how to handle it. I've seen hundreds of worse ankle-breaking Joey Barton type tackles go unpunished and yet Henry's albeit pointless kick wouldn't have hurt a fly if it weren't for a flukish happenstance of the keeper's foot being in the way.

I don't know how Theirry's really getting on the MLS, because I don't follow it at all, and the fact that this wasn't even picked up by espn, or soccernet just tells you how miniscule the amount of attention soccer gets when compared to american football, especailly in September. But I cannot help but look at Henry at the end of this video and assume by his body language that he's gotta be wondering why the hell he ever came to New York, to play soccer.

best goal celebrations i've ever seen

http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/sarcastic-backlash-to-stjarnans-goal-celebrations-in-iceland.html

best goal celebrations i've ever seen

http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/sarcastic-backlash-to-stjarnans-goal-celebrations-in-iceland.html

most people will go midback, ehh...

start with the original

Champs League Simulcast

Ever watch it? Probably not, because we don't exactly have such a thing at our poor setanta-less disposal in the land of plenty. But Champions League Simulcast is your Redzone Channel for UEFA. With 8 games going on last night and about 40 goals, I saw them all, basically in real time, and learned some German too. As much as I would have loved to suffer through Rangers Man United, I was quite happy to see spurs squander their early lead and cling on for a point in Bremen.

And of course with real college football and the NFL back again, its hard not to fall under its spell and let the hoopla distract away your weekends. But wait, before you get too lulled in, just let this be a warning, it could happen to your team...



or these

an admission of guilt

its not going to un-ruin the nfl for me, but this at least making the front page of espn has to be worth something.

oh and the premiership starts next weekend.

blech

i know its a little late, but this is the best thing i've read about the whole lebron fiasco.

http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2010/07/lebron_react_never_has_being_a.html

bravo!

Well done Spain, I think everyone with half a football brain can agree that the best team of the tournament (and the past 4 years) won, so we can't really have any complaints. And thats what they were too, a team. Reina helping Iker, everyone putting aside their Real Barca squalls to play together, kudos. And as for Holland, with all their total-fotballing reputation, that to be fair, is more of a product of the press than anything else, they approached the final like a Birmingham of sorts. And when u come into a game like that, well, you've got no one to blame but yourselves. You just sensed that Robben's miss was it for them. You knew they were going to get their chance, and that was it. Fair play to Iker though, he came up with the goods against Paraguay too.

I thought Howard Webb could have given more cards if anything, and Robben was lucky not to get sent off for kicking the ball away, if you want to talk about consistent yellows. People want to point fingers at Spain for overreacting, well fucking everybody does that. hello? you dont just play to play. its part of the game. I shouldn't even have to write that sentence. I could live without the players appealing for cards though, that does annoy me, and perhaps the Spaniards are a little more guilty of that than others, but thats beside the point.

The point is, for all the talk about German efficiency, (which at this point has turned into my #1 most overused european cliche and is the equivalent of hearing nails on a chalkboard) it was Spain who were the model of efficiency this tournament. They stuck to their guns and did it, grinding out results. Just as Barca triumphed over Chelsea in last years Champs League Semi, passing wins again. Even if you don't like Spain, you have to appreciate what they've done.

my best 11: Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Sergio Ramos, Casillas, Robben, Forlan, Ozil, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Sneijder.

le finale

Lets hope it will be as entertaining as the third place game.

Deyan - Netherlands vs Spain is the dream final for soccer purists out there. Both teams play the game the way it is supposed to be played, with skill, timing, and precision. Even though both squads like to play with possession, Spain is arguably the best team ever at controlling the ball and pace of the game and will dominate possession in this one. The Netherlands are capable of playing with a defensive shell and use their speed and technique to score on the counter. Even though Spain is better in every position on the field and are heavy favorites entering this match, I chose Netherlands over Spain before the tournament started and I will not change this prediction now that my predicted final is finally here. The only advantage the Dutch have is rest, with their whole squad having one more off day then Spain to rest their legs, and two starters, De Jong and Van Der Viel, going into this match with a full week of rest. This will benefit the Dutch in the later stages of the match and potentially maybe even in extra time. Van Persie finally needs to step up to the level he is capable of playing and put the ball in the back of the net. I believe that will finally happen. While Spain is a much better squad (arguably the best of all time) and this match has 1-1 written all over it, I will stick with my original prediction from a month ago, Netherlands win the title over Spain 2-0.

Sam- Hold the phone! Honestly, I've been more impressed with the dutch in the build up to these finals than in the games in this actual tournament. It will be interesting to see how well they adapt to chasing the ball for the first 60 minutes, and whether they can stay disciplined. It seems like everyone is supporting the dutch for whatever reason. I'm not talking about pundits, I'm talking about tourists, and Europeans, and people that don't know anything about football everywhere. Everywhere you look theres some orange balloons floating around. My dutch friend told me that of the 16million of their population, they had 12million tune in to the semi-final. This kind of hysteria is something that we don't see in any other event in the world, apart from a world war.

Anyhu, there's nothing stopping Spain from sticking to their passing guns and persevering for one more game. Again, whoever scores the first goal is likely to win, because Spain will have to open up if they concede. Holland will have to get a little luck and take their chances. But Spain are even money right now to win in regulation and 1:2 to lift the trophy, that feels like a pretty good bet. Spain 1-0.

deyan's 3rd place game

Germany vs Uruguay has as much importance as every other third place game in history. Both teams are pissed they didn't make the finals and the only thing that really matters are the players vying for the Golden Boot. With Forlan and Klose in contention for the Golden Boot and the match having little other significance, I see a high scoring affair. Uruguay will not play in the same defensive shell they have been doing all tournament and Germany will capitalize on the counter. Germany wins this one 3-1.

sam's note*
also, Klose who is rumored to miss out with a bad back, has a chance to catch and pass ronaldo as the leading world cup scorer of all time. not bad for a polock.

reds phillies thursday night

if you feign any sort of interest in baseball at all and you have 14 minutes on your hands, i'd encourage you to check out the condensed game of reds phillies from last night.

not to mention a botched suicide squeeze, blown save, and a walkoff homerun, this game had three plays in particular happened in this game that you might see once a season, . let alone in the same game. the first of the three is in the bottom of the third:

victorino hits a hard ground ball to 1st baseman, who knocks the ball down but into foul territory, who flips to pitcher covering only to have his glove knocked off his hand by the oncoming runner and the ball spills away. the runner starts for second, but thinks better of it, and is dead to rights, but only the pitcher can't catch the flip for the second time from the first baseman, because he doesn't have a glove. and jimi rollins scores and johnny cueto's ego is bruised, awesome.


the second is in the top of the 8th, w/ runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, brandon phillips strikes out, has time to take off his helmet and set his bat on home plate before he realizes he should run to first base. meanwhile the pitcher has started for the ball in a freakout, allowing the alert runner to come all the way around from 2nd to score.

but the best and most unheralded might be in the bottom of the seventh. with jayson werth (who i've come to hate) on first, somebody hits a little flare towards phillips. instead of catching the ball in the air, he lets it drop at his feet and throws to first to eliminate the force. and werth is sitting there inches off the base with his thumb up his ass. beautiful. in all my years at second base i never got to do this and always wanted to. the only other player i've seen do it was robbie alomar back in the early nineties when the orioles were respectable.

oh, and why do they play a third place game? why not a 5th place game? or a 7th place game? what about horse socks?

SPAIN V GERMANY

Just got back from Vienna a couple of hours ago. Enjoyed the first Semi-final with some pretty strong enthusiasm for the dutch team among the viennese. who knows if they meant it or not. Anyway, the dutch were always going to win that game as deyan predicted.

But now on to the real deal holyfield. Germany vs. Spain a rematch of 2008's Eurofinal. Take it away Deyan...

Deyan- Spain vs Germany is a matchup of the best team in the world, Spain, against the team playing the best at the moment, Germany. It has all the makings to be a classic. Both squads have star strikers in form, the best midfielders in the world, and intimidating defenders who are also good on the attack. Germany will let Spain dominate possession and try to score on the counter attack. Spain knows this so they will be cautious in bringing too many men forward and will try to not lose possession in the middle of the park. Even though the tactics of this matchup heavily favor Germany and Germany is playing far superior to Spain right now, I believe Spain will win this one because of one thing. While Mueller is out for Germany, Spain has their whole squad to choose from and a far superior bench. I see a very tight tied game til the end and Spains bench leads them to a late victory, maybe in extra time. Spain take this one and heads to the finals, 2-1.

Sam- Germany have surprised even themselves with the way they've played this tournament. I dont think they will feel the loss of Muller too much. I mean heck, he's only 20. They might have met their match here. Ozil and Bastian will have to have another incredible game for the Germans to knick it. But the difference for the Germans might be Podolski, he is kind of their wild card, and he can unleash a hell of a shot with that left boot of his.

Watching Spain try and break down Portugal and Paraguay reminded me of those agonizing second halfs of Arsenal matches. 0-0, tons of possession and nothing to show for it. Except Spain actually does win in the end.I still like the Spainards like the rest of you, but I have to say, we are all a little crazy for picking against this German team, they've looked all but unstoppable. 1-0 Spain, Fabregas does it and joins Barca next week.

stars of the quarters

diego forlan - never really been THAT impressed with him for atletico or villareal, but boy did he bring his A game this world cup. dont count our uruguay against holland either, they could win that game.

xavi/iniesta- if there are four quicker feet out there, who know how to keep the ball and weave their way out of trouble i'd like to see them. their interplay that lead to the goal was incredible.

schweinsteiger- wow, he's really come into his own in central midfield this tournament. you've got to be mentioning his name among the top 10 players in the world no? that 3rd goal where he just held his cutback pass was maybe my favorite goal of the tournament.

iker - "iker again man." In the 5 minutes of madness, it looked for a second like spain were in deep trouble, but Iker ate that penalty for breakfast, and made a huge save to stop a nonchalant roque santa cruz in the dying moments. well done sir.

louie suarez- will live forever in uruguayan folklore, even if they lose tuesday.

SATADAY

Dont look now, but deyan's creeping up on me. Yesterday was incredible. Suarez is a legend.

Deyan- Argentina vs Germany can go either and anyway possible. Both teams are pretty much even with speedy, dangerous attackers and slow, suspect defenses. I am hoping for a high-scoring epic encounter and I believe there is a strong possibility that it will happen. With Messi playing, anything can happen. Hopefully for all of us, that “anything” will be goals and scoring chances in abundance. Breaking news coming from South Africa is saying Messi is sick and could potentially miss this vital encounter. However, I don’t believe he will let that happen. Im going with Messi cementing himself as the best in the world, and Argentina winning an epic encounter, 3-2.

Sam- Wow, finally we are getting into some good games here. Before the world cup you'd have to think Argentina were stronger, but Germany have looked as sharp as anyone since their first game. Maybe Messi is a little gassed. It wouldn't kill them if he came off the bench, because Tevez and Higuain are doing just fine. Anyway, it failed me yesterday, so I'm gonna stick with history today. Germany or Brazil has been in at least the semis in every single world cup but the first one in 1930. It is up to Mesut Ozil and the new look Germany to carry on that tradition. 2-2 and Germany moves on in penalties.

Deyan - Spain vs Paraguay is the most one sided affair in this quarterfinal. Excluding Torres, Spain seems to be hitting their stride at the perfect time and will look to put this game away early. If Paraguay can stop Spain from scoring early, they can hit them on the counter and cause a huge upset. This is not going to happen. Unless Paraguay can score a set piece goal to take the lead early or someone on Spain loses his head and gets a red card, Spain are just too skilled for Paraguay to handle. Spain takes this one 2-0.

Sam- I'm holding on to the thin chance of a Uruguay Paraguay final. But Paraguay doesn't have half the players that Uruguay apparently does, and have only managed to beat Slovakia in normal time. Spain have got to like their chances. 3-1.

friday

Deyan- Netherlands vs Brazil is technically the highest quality game of the tournament so far, and one of the best of all time. Both squads are completely stacked and possess star players in their prime playing in top form. Months ago when the draw came out I said that these teams would meet in the quarters and whoever wins this game will end up beating Spain in the final. At that time I chose the Netherlands to win it. Before the WC started I chose the Netherlands. So now, even though Brazil has looked far superior to the Netherlands in this tournament, I will stick by the Dutch for three reasons.

The first is that the leading playmakers of each team, Kaka and Sneijder, Sneijder is in better form and is more capable at this point in their careers of creating something extraordinary out of nowhere. The second is that the starting CDMs of the Netherlands, De Jong and Van Bommel, are simply better than their Brazilian counterparts, Gilberto and Melo. Gilberto is years past his prime and Melo was in horrible form all year for Juventus. The third reason is injuries/suspensions. For the Netherlands, arguably their best player, Robben, is back from his thigh injury giving them a complete squad to choose from. For Brazil, Elano is out, Ramires is suspended, and Melo will either not play or be playing with a minor injury. What scares me the most is in right back where Maicon can cause the Dutch all sorts of problems and Van Der Wiel is young and inexperienced. I’m sticking with my original prediction, Dutch win in extra time/shootout after a 1-1 tie, so 2-1 to the Dutch.

Sam- This is the pick of the weekend's ties along with Argentina/Germany. Its hard not to talk about the defensive resurrection of Brazil. I know everyone's been saying it, but its too difficult to ignore that this just isn't your granddaddy's Brazil. Lucio and Juan anchor the back, and they are almost disciplined even. Gilberto and Melo kind of play well together somehow. I think the Dutch will be able to hold their own too, but its hard to go against history with this match. You've got the Brazilian every other world cup theory coupled with the fact that no Euro team's ever won outside their continent. I think its Brazil and Argentina on a Crash course to the final. Brazil win. 2-0.

Deyan- Uruguay vs Ghana is an intriguing matchup that can go either way. Uruguay is the huge favorite because they are injury/suspension free and have been playing solid football throughout this tournament. However, Ghana has the entire continent behind them and could potentially use this home-field advantage to pull of this upset. I do not see this happening. The game against the USA drained them and I do not believe speedy striker Gyan can pull off the magic two games in a row. If Essien was playing it would be a different story, but he is not so I don’t think Ghana has enough in it to make it to the semis. The spectacular combination of Forlan and Suarez, combined with the solid play of their midfield and defense, makes Uruguay extremely difficult to beat. Uruguay will take this one by the hair, 1-0.

Sam- I'll be rooting for Ghana, but Uruguay have looked the better side. Neither of these teams have been that impressive though really and can both count themselves fortunate to have made it this far. But that is the way the tournament works, and whoever wins will be only 2 more games away from history. I'll go with Ghana. 1-0.

late sweet 16 predictions

Deyan - Netherlands vs Slovakia is the most one-sided match in the round of 16. Netherlands haven’t preformed spectacularly so far in this tournament but their offensive firepower should be too much for the Slovaks to handle. While Slovakia was able to upset the overrated, aging Italian squad, the Dutch are a completely different beast. Sneijder will run the show and the Dutch will coast to victory 2-0.


Deyan - Brazil vs Chile is a mouth watering affair that sets up very well for the Brazilians. While Chile is my #1 rated underdog squad going into this tournament and have played brilliantly so far, this match up suits up too perfectly for Brazil. While Chile will be missing three players, and their two central defenders, through suspension, Brazil is getting Kaka and Robinho back. While Elano and Melo are out with injuries, Brazil’s squad is so deep their substitutes are seen by many experts as better players. Additionally, Chile loves to play with possession and on the attack, and Brazil is the best counterattacking side in the tournament. The only way for Chile to pull off the upset is if they get the ball to Sanchez on the right wing as much as possible because Bastos cannot defend him one on one. However, Brazil will put too many men behind the ball and Robinho will take advantage on the counter. I would love to choose Chile in an upset if they were at full strength but they are not, Brazil wins this one 2-1.

Deyan - Paraguay vs Japan is easily the worst game in this round. I don’t want to waste my time on this match because whoever wins this will lose the next one. Honda will have to put up some magic to win this one and I don’t see this happening. Paraguay win possibly in extra time 1-0.

Sam - Credit to Japan for proving me wrong and righting the ship in the group stage. They really looked like shit in the run up to the world cup. I was underwhelmed with Paraguay in what was clearly the softest group apart from their first game, so I'll go with the Japanese to keep on scoring 2-0.

Deyan - Spain vs Portugal looks like a low scoring game that can go either way. Spain is the best team in the world but have not looked like it all tournament. Torres has looked a step slow, Fabregas has barely played, and Xavi hasn’t dominated the midfield like he’s accustomed to. This match suits up well for Portugal because Spain will dominate possession and Ronaldo will be able to cause problems with his speed on the counter attack. If Ronaldo plays alone up top, which I think he should, he will have to get behind the defense and score a breakaway goal in order for Portugal to pull off the upset. However, I see Fabregas being the difference in this win, Spain win 2-0.

Sam - Which Portugal are we going to get? They are an intriguing team, and they showed what they are capable of albeit against the north koreans. Spain just keep the ball so well, that yes, their only chance will be through Ronaldo's speed on a counter, and if there is any man that can do it himself on a counter it is pretty boy serpentine Christiano. I think whoever gets the first goal in this game will win. And just to be Deyan's opposite number, I'll say Portugal 2-0. (i've been cleaning him out this WC, so I figured I'd throw him a bone)

4 players who've caught my eye

Mesut Özil - germany - The Werder playmaker has probably caught just about everyone's eye at this point. Player of the tournament in my humble opinion.

Alexis Sanchez- Chile- Chile's honorable exit at the hands of Brazil shouldn't spoil what was a solid tourney from them. Even down 3-0 they still kept going and stuck to their guns. I thought this winger was the most impressive of their lot. He plays for Udinese

Fabio Coentrão- portugal - the benfica left back was a bright spot in portugal's otherwise uninspired team. You can't blame a left back for not scoring goals, and he really was a terror flying down the left flank.

Clemente rodriguez- argentina - He probably wont get another game because he's stuck behind Heinze, but Clemente Rodriguez is the case and point of how deep countries like Argentina are. They probably have about 20 more world class left backs on the streets of buenos aires that would take poor old johnny borenstein's milk money on the way to sunday school. He plays for Estudiantes.

our round 2 weekend predictions

Deyan - Uruguay vs South Korea are two squads that are very difficult to beat because they do not beat themselves. Uruguay, who luckily made it out of South American qualifying, are compact defensively and led by the skillful Forlan, control possession extremely well. South Korea, while lacking in size, are quick on the ball and know how to force turnovers in their offensive end as well as anyone. Based on current form, Uruguay has been one of the best squads in the tournament and should win this game with no trouble. However, something about the way South Korea plays together intrigues me and this game will come down to the wire and could easily go either way. I want to say S Korea will pull off the upset, but based on the superb form of Forlan, I have to go with Uruguay 1-0 victors.

Sam - I really like Korea, and I do think that the South American bubble is going to pop in the next couple of days, however, Uruguay just look really solid at the back, something I can't say about Chile, Mexico, etc. I'll take the Uruguayans 1-0 as well.

Deyan - USA vs Ghana has everything going for it to be a classic. There is the recent history of Ghana knocking the US out of the tournament four years ago which is still in the minds of many of the US players. Both sides like to get on the attack and can use the speed of their forward lines to make this potentially a high scoring affair. Then there is the way US progressed, with the last minute goal by Donovan, and the fact that Ghana is the only African team to progress which means they will have the backing of the entire African continent. The fans will be going crazy and I will too. I believe the US will ride the momentum of the Algerian victory and win this one by a hair in extra periods 2-1.

Sam - Something not many people are talking about is the recovery time. The US has to have expended a little more energy, at least emotionally coming off that Algerian game only 3 days ago. But let's not forget the Ghanaians played even later that night, and had plenty to play for as well. I dont really like how the US matches up with Ghana, because they are disciplined, and loads more athletic than us. We'll need to hope for some more woeful African finishing, something this tournament's had plenty of, and for the big calls to go our way, which you have to think is in the back of referee's minds. I think this will go to extra time as well, and I hate to do it, but I think Ghana will outlast us. 2-1.

Deyan - Argentina vs Mexico is another match that is closer than people think. Based on form, Argentina has been the best squad in the tournament, and while he hasn’t scored yet, Messi, has been hands down the best player. He has finally replicated his stellar club form for his national squad, and more and more it is shaping up to be the tournament where he cements himself as one of the best players of all time. However, he needs to win the World Cup for that to happen and Argentina has far too many question marks on the defensive end. The key to Mexico pulling off this huge upset is getting the ball to Dos Santos alone on the wing to use his speed and beat Heinze 1 v 1. I do see this happening to good effect once or twice but not enough for a Mexico win. Signs all point to a dominant world class performance by the best player in the world, Messi, and an Argentina victory 3-1.

Sam- Mexico? Get real. 3-0 to the Argies!

Deyan - Germany vs England is a second round game soccer fans drool over. While both squads have underperformed, especially England, they both made it out of two tricky groups. Knocks to key players on both teams will probably decide who wins this game. For England, Wayne Rooney is playing with an ankle problem that has been continuing to bother him. His form needs to get back to what it was all season for Man U and quickly for England to win this game and eventually what was expecting from them, the tournament. For Germany, Schweinsteiger picked up a knock at the end of their last game against Ghana which has ruled him doubtful for this clash of European titans. He has been the rock in the center of the pitch for them all tournament and if he is playing hurt, or not able to play at all, then Germany will find it extremely difficult to hold on to possession. This game is so close to call that I will have to go with experience- England to squeak out a victory in a hard-tackling, intense encounter in penalty shootout. (and yes I know I just put England winning in a shootout I’m insane I know)

Sam- Aside from Messi, the best player in the tournament so far has been Mesut Özil. With the face of a 35 year old, even though he's only 21, the Bremen man has done it all. I really am not immediately put off by this German team as I am to most. No asshole captain Ballack, and the ethnic diversity make this Germany almost likeable. England can keep their wimbeldon and Emile Hesky. Germany in penalties.

best 4 days in sports?

sorry mach madness, but i think you might have met your match. In about 4 hours, until friday 10:30, all sorts of history will be written as 16 teams try to book their place in the next round. It's kind of amazing to think that only North Korea and Cameroon are eliminated at this point. The big question on my mind though is whether or not they are going to have to flip any coins to determine places. It doesn't even seem that unlikely.

meanwhile for those of you scoring at home, i'll give you mine and deyan's predictions for the group advancers. mine on top. gotta like my chances.

A-uruguay, mexico
A-uruguay, france

B-argentina, s. korea
B-nigeria, argentina

C-england, usa
C-england, usa

D-germany, ghana
D-germany, serbia

E-netherlands, denmark
E-netherlands, cameroon

F-Italy, Paraguay
F-paraguay, italy

G-Brazil, Portugal
G-Brazil, Ivory Coast

H-Spain, Switzerland
H-Spain, Chile

Koman Coulibaly

I remember Mr. Dozier in 9th grade history asked us if we wanted to go to hell? Puzzled, we just said, "ummm." Well, if you can't get to hell these 4 countries are pretty close, Mali, Chad, Niger, and Mauritania. So Mr. Coulibaly you can go straight back to hell where you came from. hell. or mali.

The worst thing he did, apart from disallowing the goal. Was to give Findley a yellow for the ball hitting him in the face. And then, he laughs in Findley's face. Thanks.

deyan's g and h and stuff

Group G

Brazil is the #1 ranked team in the world. They are so good that their D squad is better then 90% of the teams in the world. However, there are question marks up top and in the center of the pitch. Fabiano and Kaka were hurt at the end of the season, and Robinho and Elano where eventually shipped off by their club teams because they couldn’t cut it in the premier league. Additionally, Melo had a horrible first season for Juventus, and Gilberto Silva is years past his prime. Nevertheless, with their strong defense, goalkeeping, and bench, they should win this group. Portugal has the second best player in the world, Ronaldo, and talent all over the pitch. The injury to Nani is a huge blow because as a team they lack the ability to score goals. They key is if Deco can play like he did in his Barcelona days and create some goals, because if he doesn’t, Ronaldo will not be able to do it all by himself. Ivory Coast seems to be everyone’s sexy sleeper pick to go far in the tournament. In the Toure brothers, Kalou, and arguably the best striker in the world, Drogba, combined with playing in their home continent, it’s hard to argue against them progressing. The key is if Drogba can come back from his shoulder injury and lead this team to glory. N Korea is the whipping boys in this group. They will sit back against these other powerhouses and hope to somehow score a goal or two in the counter attack. They may squeeze a tie against Portugal or the Ivory Coast but that is about it.

Brazil, Ivory Coast

Group H

Spain is the #2 ranked team in the world and the favorites to win it all. Coming off winning the Euro championships, and with unarguably the most talented squad in the world, it would be a failure if they didn’t at least make it to the finals. Like Brazil, they have so much depth on their squad that their fourth string squad could potentially win the world cup. However, the USA showed in the Confederations Cup that they are beatable if a team can play well defensively and on the counter. Chile are arguably the most underrated team in the tournament. No one talks about them going far, but they are very dangerous on the attack and have a good defensive structure. They can play well in possession and on the counter which gives them a chance to beat any type of squad in the tournament. The key is if the wingers Sanchez and Gonzalez can use their creativity on the ball to create good chances for the rest of the squad. Switzerland is a dangerous squad because of their strong defense. They like to get nine men behind the ball and make it as difficult as possible for the other team to score on them. However, they lack the firepower up front to cause any problems for the opposing defense. Additionally, there are injury problems to their leader, Frei, and their dangerous midfielder, Behrami, which will make it even more difficult for them to create goals. Honduras, like N Korea, look like the whipping boys in this group. Except for hardworking center midfielder, Palacios, they don’t have another world class player on their roster. Their defense isn’t very good and their offense lacks any type of player who can create magic out of nothing. I would be surprised if they even score one goal in any of the three games. Look for them to end the tournament in last place. This group comes down to who wins the Chile Switzerland match.

Spain, Chile

Golden Boot Winner- Van Persie

Finals- Holland 2-0 over Spain

worst and best

i keep seeing games and thinking, boy, this is the worst game yet, but then another game will come along "top" uruguay france.

well, here they are, in list of "descending" order, the worst of the bunch yet.

4. uruguay france - count me as one of the casualties of this match. i passed out in the awful two and a half hour hiatus that is 6-830 pm, and the dreaded dinner time break for your next two weeks. It was a little excessive and overexuberant drinking welcoming the world cup with south africa and mexico and by the time I had recovered it was the 88th minute and I was in my bed with 8 missed calls, and wondering what the hell happened. heard the game was a snoozer though.

3. japan cameroon - well, at least there was a goal in it, but come on, cameroon? seriously? without alex song i have absolutely no interest in this team. japan are intruiging, but not as much as the south koreans. waiting for a honda cracker.

2. portugal ivory coast - the worst thing about this match was that i realized that this is the pitch that the final is going to be on. paulo ferreira was taking chunks out of this turf like charles barkley on the golf course. and most of the time the ball was just scooting away from everyone. i still say the ivory coast is wayyy overrated, and what the hell happened to ricardo quaresma? porto 2008 he was top 5 players in the world for my money.

1. slovenia algeria- more so for the result than anything else, but slovenia aren't exactly pleasing on the eye, oh, but algeria play some nice football don't they? hope we beat both these clowns.

hon mention goes to the slovaks for conceding late and letting the italians and paraguayans breathe easy.

italy paraguay was a cracking game, good atmosphere, two good teams. so was usa england, neither of these really had any good goals to speak of, and I think the best goal is still the first one of the tournament.

group uffff

This is easily the worst group in the tournament. Italy, while defending champions, contain mostly old players many years past their time. They lack the speed and creativity of the other top teams in the world. However, because of the lack of quality of the other teams in the group, they should coast into first place and allow Pirlo to come back healthy for the knockout rounds. They key to Italy reaching the finals again, is not Pirlo, but rather excellent winger Di Natale showing the top form he played all season for a poor Udinese side.

Paraguay has faith on its side. Their top striker, Cabanas, was shot in the head but somehow survived. He obviously will not be taking part in the tournament though which is a huge blow to their squad. The key to their squad is their captain and goalkeeper, Villar, and whether he can handle crosses the other teams fire in.

Slovakia is in their first ever major tournament. Their star offensive player, Hamsik, and star defender, Skrtel, both have the talent and experience to lead this squad to the next round. The key is if the hardworking Sestak can score some goals up top because they do lack firepower in the final third.

New Zealand is regarded as the worst squad in the tournament. However, their size up top can potentially cause many problems on corner kicks. With a 3-4-3 formation, they should end up scoring a goal or two in the tournament. If they can somehow win one game, it will be regarded as a huge success. I do not see that happening though.

Paraguay, Italy

deyan's group E preview

good to see someone finally playing well, but unfortunately its everyone's least favorite reich. at least they are getting a little more ethnic. poor old australia, at least they've got their aussie rules. here is deyan's group e take, below the vid.



Group E
Based on the form of each national side in the past year, the Netherlands are clear and away the best team in the world. During WC qualifying, they were unstoppable. In the friendlies since them, they have been even better. With stars such as Van Bommel, Sneijder, Robben, and Van Persie, their midfield play and strike force up top is as good as any side in the world. Not to mention the versatile Van der Vart, the hard working Kuyt, and the continually underrated De Jong, they can be impossible to defend. However, they are not one of the favorites to win it all because of their shaky back line and unknown goalkeeping. The key to them winning it all is if 27 year old, unfamiliar goalkeeper Stekelenburg can play as well as his mentor Van der Sar has played throughout his career. If Stekelenburg can play above average, they have the talent and experience to win it all.

Denmark is a dangerous and defensive minded side that has talent all over the pitch. They have a mixture of young stars, Bendtner and Agger, and quality vets, Tomasson and Sorensen. The key is if Bendtner can come back from struggling groin problems and regain full match fitness. If he can, then look for Denmark to claim second place in this group. If he cannot, then look for Cameroon, and their superstar, Eto, to take full advantage. On paper, with Spurs duo Ekotto and Bassong in defense, Arsenal star Song in midfield, and Eto up top, they have better players then Denmark and should advance. However, the game is not played on paper and in their recently friendlies, they have not played well together as a team and generally have looked atrocious. The key is if Song can dominate the center of the park like he is able to.

Japan has more talent than people know of. They have a strong midfield with many creative spark plugs that have the ability to turn the game in any second. However, they play poorly together and never seem to know how to play well off of each other. They key to their squad is if their star, Honda, and his wicked left boot can score or create any goals.

Netherlands, Cameroon

deyan's c&d preview

with a day of draws in the books, we can only hope tomorrow will be more exciting. should be with 3 good looking games. here is a tidy write up for groups c and d.

Group C

With quality all over the pitch and enviable depth in every position, England should dominate this relatively weak group. Their star striker, Rooney, is back from injury and is one of the favorites to win the golden boot for good reason. He has improved his heading ability drastically this season and now has become arguably the most complete striker in the world. However, the key for this squad to progress to the finals is the return of top form of Gerrard. Either deployed in central midfield with Lampard or in the “free” role on the left side of midfield, Gerrard has the opportunity to be the catalyst on this squad. If he returns to the fantastic form he was showing the last couple seasons, England, with their solid defense, is as good as any squad in the world. The question mark remains in how their goalkeeping will fare and whether they will ever win a penalty shootout if it comes down to that. USA, on the other hand, has question marks everywhere except for goalkeeping. If Davies was playing, and Gooch was 100%, as they were during the Confederations Cup, they have the potential to beat any side in the world. However, they are not which makes them vulnerable to not making it out of the group stages. They key to the squad is the two star wingers, Dempsey and Donovan, to not only produce goal scoring opportunities for their teammates, but also score goals themselves.

Slovenia come into the tournament as somewhat of a surprise team, but because they play well together as a team and are extremely well organized, they have as good as a chance as USA in progressing to the knockout round. Their best player is their goalkeeper, Handanovic, and with a solid back four, should be extremely difficult to score against. They play a similar 4-4-2 system as the USA with the striker system being the classic big, Novakovic, feeding balls to the small, Dedic. The key player to their squad is the left-footed right midfielder Birsa, who is a dangerous free kick taker. In order for Slovenia to advance, they must take advantage of their size and convert free kick opportunities.

Algeria is one of the worst squads in the tournament. They are known more for their red cards recently then their goals. Additionally, their best player, Meghni, is injured for the tournament and will not play. The key to there is their dodgy keeper, Chaouchi, because he must perform miracles for them to advance from this group. However, I do not seeing this happening as I predict they end the tournament with zero points to show. Essentially, this group should come down to who wins from the USA Slovenia match on the 22nd.

England, USA

Group D

Germany comes into this tournament the same as they usually do. They seem to lack imagination, don’t have any superstar quality like the other top teams, and do not seem that threatening to do much in this tournament. However, this is Germany, and they always seem to exceed expectations in the big tournaments. Arguably their best olayer, Ballack, is out for the tournament with ankle ligament damage. Their top striker, and reigning golden boot winner, Klose, couldn’t even crack the starting lineup on his club team. They do possess quality depth in attack and midfield to make up for the loss of Ballack and the lack of form of Klose. The dangerous player on their squad is attacking fullback and captain, Lahm, but the key to their squad is whether Podolski can play the way he plays for his nation and not his club team. If he can score crackers with his cannon of a left foot, they have the ability to make a deep run. However, I do not see that happening this time around.

Serbia is the best team no one talks about. They have quality in attack, with the vastly underrated Krasic able to score from anywhere. Combine that with one of the strongest defenses in the world, including stars Vidic and Ivanovic, and they potentially go deep into the tournament. The key to their squad is whether erratic goalkeeper Stojkovic can stop allowing weak goals past him.

Ghana is arguably the most complete African side in the tournament. Even though their superstar, Essien, is out of the tournament, they still possess one of the top midfields in the world. Normally with their gifted midfield, I would have them making a strong run in the tournament. But with Essien out, Muntari hobbled, and the weak form of Appiah, their midfield drastically weakens, and I cannot picture them progressing from this “group of depth.”

Australia is easily the “best worst” team in the tournament. By that I mean out of the weakest teams in each group, they are the best of the bunch. With any team featuring Cahill, they are very dangerous on corner kicks and should be able to score the ugly goals as well as anyone. The key to them progressing is whether Cahill can score goals, because they do lack firepower up front. Any one of these teams can progress, but with every team dangerous in the air, scoring goals off corner kicks may be the key.

Germany, Serbia

deyan's A&B take

World Cup 2010 Predictions

This World Cup is the hardest to predict for many reasons. The tournament is being held in Africa for the first time ever. Because Africa is in the southern hemisphere, the WC will be played during the winter time which will mean chilly conditions throughout. Additionally, no European squad has ever won the WC outside of Europe ever, and with most of the best squads European, this makes predicting the knockout rounds even trickier. With my WC predictions, I have thrown WC history and popularity of the players completely out of the window. What matters most is the form of the players on the squads, injuries, and that the tournament is being played in S. Africa.

Overrated- Germany, Italy, Brazil

Underrated- Chile, Serbia, S Korea

Group A
This is easily the toughest group to predict. The best squad on paper by far, France, has a clueless coach who uses zodiac signs to choose his squad and is unable to determine the shape he wants to play. One day it is a 4-2-3-1, another it’s a 4-3-3. The squad, while talented everywhere on the pitch, do not play together well as a unit and don’t seem to want to play for each other. The perfect example was the two legged playoff tie with Ireland, also known as the Henry hand ball game. What people seem to forget though, is that Ireland thoroughly outplayed them in the two games and it was actually Lloris’s goalkeeping that saved them from crashing out of the tie. The key to their squad is the form of Gallas, because if he is 100% and on form, their defense can be extremely difficult to score on. Uruguay comes in with a very aggressive style of play, and a different system teams are used to playing against. With a 3-5-2 formation, the wing backs play an important role pushing the tempo up field and tracking back defensively. With Suarez and Forlan up top, they do hold firepower up top and could beat any side in the world. With Forlan dropping back between the opposition’s midfield and defense, Suarez essentially plays up top by himself. This makes Suarez the key to the squad. If he takes his chances they will progress into the knockout stages, if not they wont. Mexico, like Uruguay, play an extremely unusual formation, a 3-4-3 if one had to call it, where their star defender, Marquez, plays CDM to block out supporting strikers such as Forlan. Mexico features a good mixture of young studs and intelligent veterans with a good amount of depth in every position. The question lies who is going to start, Guardado or Vela, on the left-wing? Personally, I would choose Guardado, due to his form throughout the year was far superior to Vela, but we will have to wait and see. They key to their squad lies in Dos Santos, the fiery and elusive right winger who one game can seem like one the best young players in the world, and another he looks like the player Barcelona so quickly got rid of. The worst squad in the group, South Africa, of course, has home field advantage. No home team has ever gotten knocked out in the first round. With only one star player, Pienaar, on their squad, most experts believe this year will be the first the home team doesn’t advance to the knockout stages. They key to their squad is not the reliable Pienaar, but rather, and sadly, the referees. If the referees allow the home support to get to their head (think S. Korea) and the home country gets some vital calls go their way, they may advance out of this extremely tricky group. With a group this even, I forecast some 1-1 draws.

Advance- Uruguay, France??

Group B
This is another tricky group. With a coach like Maradona leading the headlines, what else would people expect. Argentina has more star forward options to choose from then LOST has storylines they never explained. This still pales in comparison to the number of different formations and players Maradona has used since he became manager two years ago. But what matters most is who he uses when the WC starts. Besides inexplicably not including Zanetti and Cambiasso in his squad, I believe he got his lineup correct. With underrated Jonas hugging the right touchline and using three center defenders, this allows freedom roles for Tevez and Messi, which is when they are at their best, and Higuan up top alone. With the best player in the champions league, Milito, and Aguero, able to come off the bench they should be unstoppable on offense. The key to their squad is whether the best player in the planet, Messi, can play like the best player in the planet. If he does, then good luck to everyone else. Nigeria has speed all over the pitch. If the coach is smart enough to keep old man Kanu on the bench and use the speed they possess up top in Martins, Obinna, and Odemwingie, combined w the poacher mentality of Yakubu, they will score goals. With a strong defense anchored by Yobo and Shittu, the real questions lie in their weak midfield. The midfield’s ability to protect their defense and create half chances for their speedy forwards will determine if they advance or not. The key player to watch is Fulham’s Etuhu, and whether he can control the center of the pitch will little to no help. South Korea work together as a team better then any squad in the tournament. Their endurance and able to pressure teams into errors makes them a hard team to beat. Their problem is their size, or lack of, which makes them extremely vulnerable to set piece goals. And while they have way more creativity in midfield then Nigeria or Greece, with JS Park on the left and CY Lee on the right, they lack firepower up front. The key player is their main striker is CY Park, who must put his chances away for S. Korea to advance. Greece pulled off the biggest sports surprise in my lifetime by winning Euro 2004. That is about all there is to say about Greece. They play a boring brand of football where not conceding is all that matters. The problem is that their defense isn’t as good as it was, and their only true offensive threat, Gekas, only recently scores on weak opposition. However, with underrated Karagounis picking up the creativity, they may cause a few surprises. He is the key to their squad, because without him on top form, their offense will create no sizzle.

advance - Nigeria, Argentina?

espn blog

they had some good stats over at espn about teams who lose their first game being in some trouble.

i was only half joking about blanco still being in the mexico side, i didnt realize that he still is.

anyway, tomorrow, im going to be busting my ass to get down to the pub by 4, i get off at 330.
in what might be the most open group for the taking, i'll be looking for a score draw in the first game, and for france to lay a 1-0 stinker to the uruguayans. domenech might be clinically insane, and all the ingredients look to be there for another disaster for the french this tournament just like in euro2008. and yet somehow i still want to root for them, just to silence their critics, their own critics...

espn's murals

espn released this collection of murals, 1 for every squad, pretty cool.

the 16 advancers

group a - uruguay, mexico
the french team is in shambles, they were lucky to qualify, they have their best striker watching at home, a mad scientist of a manager who somehow still has his job, what else could go wrong.

group b - argentina, south korea
i dont know, i think people tend to look past the asian teams, and not without reason, but the koreans are solid all around, it will be interesting to see if argentina has problems with anyone in this group, nigeria are decent, but i like the koreans to advance. and i'll give the greeks 1:1 odds of scoring. this tournament.

group c - england, usa
i keep saying write of slovenia at your own peril, but check out the highlights of algeria v egypt..yikes


group d - germany, ghana
i hope to god that it doesnt happen, but i get the feeling that germany might be poised to make a deep run into this thing again. ballack out, expectations are low, you know how it goes...

group e - holland, denmark
i'm just not impressed with cameroon at all, and japan are god-awful. probably the worst group.

group f - italy, paraguay
how is it that italy is under the radar? they're the f-ing holders. slovakia has as decent a chance as paraguay i guess, just less experience. actually, perhaps this is the worst group.

group g - brazil, portugal
the ivory coast might be the most overrated team on the east side of the mississippi. gervinho certainly has the highest hairline on that side of the equator. north korea could be just terrible, but they could steal a draw somewhere couldn't they?

group h - spain, switzerland
its tough to predict which one of the south american teams is going to do it, but you know someone's gonna make it to the quarters at least. it probably won't be chile though.

Group D Closeup

I thought it would be a good idea to look a little bit closer at Group D, seeing as that's the group we'll play in the knockout round in the case that we progress. This is the real group of death if you ask me, and we all know what the Germans are capable of, so I dont really want to talk about them. I'll say that the absence of Ballack might actually help them, although he is a good player, that's just not the kind of character I want strapping on my captain's armband. Sorry.

So let's start with the Ghanaians. I was really impressed with them in the cup of nations, and just recently in their friendly with the Dutch. Don't be fooled by that scoreline, nobody would stay with the Dutch right now. (let's just hope for their sake they aren't peaking too early like in Euro 2008). Ghana have a handy uncharacteristic ability that most African teams lack, they keep their shape, and are comfortable defending, something that goes a long way in tournaments. It has to be mentioned that they will be playing without their talisman Michael Essien, who is one of the best players in the world in his own right.

I actually like them to progress, home field advantage of sorts can't really hurt them.

Now, on to the Serbs, impeccable qualifying and shit show under the limelight last WC. I'm actually expecting a similar unfortunate showing. I don't care what the pundits say, this is the real group of death for me. And Serbia just lack that certain spunk, or whatever you want to call it to come out of this group for me. I know thats shit for analysis, but Marco Pantelic isn't getting the job done for me at the end of the day. Maybe if they get the Serbian Peter Crouch Zigic involved then they could get some results, but despite them being the chalk here to advance, I don't see it happening for them. I'd actually like to play them from an American perspective.

And finally the Aussies. Heartbreak last world cup, they were jobbed out of the tournament against the Italians in what was probably the most forgotten game of the tournament, overshadowed by Zidane's headbutt. The Italians really could/should have been out. But this time around, they'd be lucky to find themselves in the same position, and although I'm glad they're not in our group, I dont see them getting out of Group D either.

blood doping anyone?

with the recent floyd landis escapade coming out, and my lifelong fascination with blood doping, i thought i could connect them with the world cup via the one big issue that nobody's talking about. No, not the jubilani. Even Skip Bayless is throwing in his two cents on the ball. (which I can't see how it can be worse than the 2006 ball, the most badass ball i've ever touched & or played with).

No, lets talk about the altitude. I've got a Scottish colleague who's been telling me for literally months now that England won't be able to handle the altitude. The Washington Post did a good article on some of the teams preparations, and it could be a real issue. There isn't that much time to recover from games, especially in the group stage, so we'll see how good of shape Cuathemoc Blanco is really in. (oh, he's not still Mexcio's best player?)

I always have to chuckle at professionals who start to cramp up, because they are too stupid to keep themselves hydrated. I'm sure somebody will be feeling a little tight in the 80th minute in some match. Anyway, just a little something to keep an eye on.

no sammy, you shut up

i really used to like eto'o. i remember when cameroon came out with the sleeveless jerseys, lauren, the old song, i thought they were badass.

now, i saw the article, 5 men who have to carry their teams on their backs. ronaldo, steven pineear, and i kind of smirked at drogba's name mentioned, but at least those 3 were somewhat justified. but Eto'o? that made me laugh out loud. i guess he used to be pretty good at barca, but hell, i'd be pretty good with that front line too. but he was atrocious for cameroon in the cup of nations. he isn't carrying that team anywhere fast. and his reaction to this mila's comments show how sensitive a character he is, and why else would he be so defensive unless it were true? remember when cameroon didnt qualify for last world cup? because eto'o was afraid to take the penalty? so sorry sammy, you should be the one keeping your mouth shut and enjoy whatever career you've got left over there as a european champion before you find yourself in the MLS w/ titi and becks.

watch out for chile.

world cup run up

So you say you want to play Germany huh?
You want to taste the sweet nectar of Ballack's tears as he watches helplessly from the sideline as we make amends for that 2002 handball?
well then, you might want to hope to god for a 0-0 algeria slovenia scoreline. nothing could help us advance out of our group more.

lets face it, england are going to boss us, they might have some trouble with algeria, but i see them taking all 9 points quite easily, assuming they dont take their foot off the gas in their last game against the slovenians.

so it doesnt really matter who makes the squad. we all know what our lineup is going to look like with maybe the exception of edu/ricardo clark. im not so sure about leaving poor jozy up there on his own though. if we're going to play counterattack (cough cough) then we need a charlie davies to go run some stuff down. nobody we have is faster than glen johnson out there, so 4-5-1 kind of makes sense, but not with jozy, who isn't the best at holding up the ball.

usa czech republic kicks off at 2am local time, so i had to settle for england mexico tonight.

i really dont see how we beat england. its actually terrible luck that we have to play them first. they look damn good. and so did arjen robben, and sneijder gosh, they've got some players. but dont jump on the dutch bandwagon just yet, i've got a funny feeling about them...

oh, and in case you need any reminding...

head to toe

this guy's pretty awesome, it sounds like the indians and o's have shared pretty similar starts to the season, wait until this guy starts going on peralta..

"okay okay"

East meets West

Has there been a more overlooked, underappreciated man in baseball in the past decade than Ichiro? Well, probably, but lets just assume its him for the moment. He's probably one of the happier victims of that East Coast Bias, neatly tucked away in his little northwest cubby of Safeco field with the fairly toothless Mariners. And you can't help but get the feeling that he likes it that way. But if you enjoy baseball, or any sport for that matter, you can't help but appreciate the man for all that he brings to the field. What I'm sure is more commonplace in Japan, Ichiro has countless nuances and a completely different personality than any other major American star I can recollect. More insights into this and others in this interview here.

I think because Ichiro was the first of his kind, we kind of assumed that all Japanese players would be like him. But there may not be a more truly unique player in the league. Let's savor him while he's still around.
And I'll never forget that Terrance Long throw. Back when the A's were at the height of their Moneyball run.

The Bear Hug Heard Round Mecholoupy

I'm posting the match report I wrote for yesterday's league game. i wouldn't normally put this here, but this wasn't just any old match, enjoy.

It would be a memorable Saturday morning mostly for the wrong reasons on match day 20 in the PFL. Partisan would have remembered their 3-2 loss at the hands of Bohemians earlier this season, so we knew not to take these wily elder statesmen lightly. There were some notable absentees from the decorated veterans. The fabled “grey fox”, who singlehandedly beat partisan with his hat trick back in the fall was traded in for a humpty-dumpty version of a striker (more on him later), and a certain one armed right back also didn’t make the trip out east.

Partisan were looking sharp early, creating a couple of chances through some nice passing through the middle. Pj, Shaz, Dave and myself all had decent shooting opportunities, but none of us could make it count. It was an encouraging start and once Partisan were able to slow themselves down and play disciplined, it would only be a matter of time before the breakthrough would come. Radek and the rest of the defense didn’t have much to do in the first half, and Bohemians weren’t giving Partisan much trouble at all with the center back pairing of Garrett and Theo looking especially comfortable. There was one nice diagonal ball played through which gave humpty half a chance to lob the keeper, but Radek made himself big and saved well and humpty went down in a heap as if he’d been knifed by Radek’s flailing hand.

The opening goal finally came around 30 minutes with Dave sending a nice through ball for Dammy who showed his teammates how to finish, rifling his low left footed shot just inside the far post from a tough angle. 1-0 Partisan.
Just before half time the entire complexion of the game was changed. After the referee had given a few yellow cards for some fairly innocuous looking fouls, Partisan were shocked to find themselves on the right end of a controversial decision. PJ and their big capitan of a centerback were both going for a ball inside the Bohemians’ penalty area, when PJ got there first and was shoved off the ball illegally so deemed the referee. Despite a certain number 8’s best effort to put Garrett off by moving the ball after he had already placed it, (stay classy praha) old man parker coolly dispatched the penalty into the top left hand corner leaving the magenta-flowered clad keeper no chance, (his shirt was never going to escape this match report) 2-0 halftime.

The second half started similar to the first, and just 5 minutes in partisan had their third. After taking countless goal kicks short, their center back decided to go for the long one and kind of scuffed a low line drive, which Dammy headed straight to Shaz who was left unmarked right at the top of the box. He had more than enough time to pick his spot and deposit his shot safely into the bottom left-hand corner, the third in a trio of excellent finishes on the day. Unfortunately there wouldn’t be any more finishing or anything for that matter, because what would come next would be a footballing or should I say sporting first for everyone in attendance.

After a fairly routine contest between Shaz and their center back trying to see the ball out for a corner, the ball went out for a goal kick. There were some protests perhaps as to whether Shaz committed a foul, should have been booked, or what have you. Humpty who was now the active linesman had seen enough, and threw in the proverbial towel for his team, by flinging his linesman’s flag in the general direction of the referee. On humpty’s nonchalant stroll back to the bench he uttered a no-no word, to which the ref told him to hit the showers, showed him a red card. Humpty didn’t take very kindly to that. Before we knew it, the supposed former Olympic bronze medalist weightlifter champion (maybe special Olympics because Wikipedia disagrees) had cling-jerked the poor ref into a bear hug and hoisted him high over his head and was calculating his next move. When he first picked him up, it almost seemed comical, but the look on the ref’s face told a different story as he went limp as a fish and was making a concerted effort to not fight back presumably as he’d been trained to do in such circumstances. Anyway, much to Christos’ disappointment, the ref wasn’t suplexed, but rather placed carefully into the undersized waste bin, and sort of shoved into the netting there.

Understandably, the match was immediately abandoned with little protest, especially from the bohemians players who seemed relatively amused by the entire episode.
This was a new low, even for this sorry excuse of a league. Things like this make me glad that I grew up with proper coaches and role models who taught me how to play the game the right way. Where the Prague league can go from here is anyone’s guess.

Special mention to Endre who went above and beyond the call of duty and escorted/drove the ref back to his home where could only try to get on with his day.

should fans that run on the field be tasered?

no. they ought to be shot.

i lold at these eric byrnes .gifs

lets not forget he was an oriole for an unbearable stretch of what? 2 months? And then he somehow had a nice year for the d-backs. after this debacle of a weekend the M's are turning him loose. stay the hell in the NL byrnsie.

buster olney said he left the clubhouse on his beach cruiser bike after he was released. pshycho

and try watching him lay down a suicide squeeze before they take it off youtube, point shaving anyone?

still doing it overseas

remember when this guy was the next best thing since sliced bread, making cameos in jay-z videos, and hell, at georgia tech?
what the heck happened to stephon marbury? i guess his already big head, just got a little too swole. I remember him on the classic t-wolves teams, just shredding some people apart, with the high shorts of course.
well, this isn't quite that, but still a pretty badass thing that you'd never see in the nba, not even in an all-star game have i seen anyone try, let alone pull off something like this...

maybe if dirk kuyt worked a little harder...

then liverpool would be in the uefa cup final, but for once it looked like the loveable dutchman lost his marbles, and when pepe reina was taking throwins, you knew that liverpool were done. have not seen the fulham highlights yet, but what an incredible run that is for them. come on fulham!

pretty soft red there

sergi busquets just went down in a heap like he'd been knifed down the back of the calf by carl spackler, ala arbeloa v adebayor last year. but just when i thought i might become an inter fan for the rest of the night, thiago motta had to go ahead and ruin things by acting like a clown before hitting the showers. anyway, i definately wasn't rooting for them before, and i only kind of am now...

oil~!

there is an ounce of guilt i feel posting this. but these guys are able to laugh at themselves, which makes it ok, right?

ty wigginton: professional hitter

need i say more?

...they came bounding over

early, and i mean early world cup talk

will argentina finally man up?

With the O's off to their worst start since 88, and the arsenal season coming to a proverbial close wednesday night, i figured i might as well start to look ahead to the marquee event of every four years, (no not the lost finale) THE WORLD CUP.

One thing that a lot of casual people somehow dont realize is that the bracket is already set, to an extent. You can already see which groups are matched up with each other, A&B, C&D, E&F, and G&H for their first knockout round game. What cannot be determined is anything after that, because everything hinges on whether a team either wins or comes in second in their group because that places them on opposite sides of the bracket since the winners and runners up of the same group couldn't meet again until the final. got it?

Ok, so with that being said, I thought I'd take a look at who has the nastiest and softest potential roads to jo'burg (keep in mind that there sure to be a few surprises that will probably render this whole post worthless)

Right, so if someone asked me who the 5 teams I thought would be the most likely to lift the trophy I'd say England, Argentina, Spain, Holland, and Brazil. Then there's a small drop off for me on to the next tier of Italy, Portugal, Germany, and France. Suffice it to say that it would be a shock if the winner did not come from any one of these 9 teams.

Of the 9, you'd have to say Spain have the most undesirable path. They're sure to get a difficult first game whether they win their group or not facing either Brazil, Portugal or the Ivory Coast, (who i feel will stink it up at this world cup), and then likely play the holders, Italy in the quarters, and the Argentines in the semis, (assuming they both win their groups and progress). Thats a hell of a road to get to the finals.

On the other side of the coin, you really have to like the way this is shaping up for our beloved three lions. All internal demons aside, I think they have the easiest path on paper by far, long as they TCB in their first match, (which could be tricky mind you) against whoever comes out along with germany in what I think is the real group of death of this tournament. So assuming that the Germans win their group, England wont have to play any of the aforementioned frontrunners until the semis. Their first game is likely to be tricker than their quarterfinal date where they might face the experienced but ailing french (still dangerous, especially with low expectations as we saw in 2006), jayjay okocha's nigeria perhaps (yeah, they're not scaring anybody), or maybe the dreaded mexicans, (i know just hearing the killer B's of blanco and borgetti sends chills down my spine, and i'll never write a good thing about a mexican footballer, ever).

That's why Im thinking this might be the indian summer that the brits get it done. England over Argentina in the final. Rooney wins the golden boot, and as long as we take revenge on the Germans I'll be a happy man.

no ceilings

genius?

i dont profess to have been following rap, hell, i can't even honestly say that i listen to rap anymore. but even with just casual ears, what lil wayne is doing on no ceilings is hard to ignore. he's like a stand up comedian just cracking oneliner after one liner. i love all the name dropping, obscurity, and especially when he uses his white man's voice. i've only listened to about half on the way to work today and here are a few of my favorites.

Uh, I’ma bout to go planters,
I’m still in my prime, Dion Sanders

...now women kicking it with me like i'm nomar garciaparra,

I’m in the way you can’t pass like Aaron Brooks,

we are fine n-gga, like Amber Rose,
we ball n-gga, like Jalen Rose,

Yo flow never wet, like grandma pussy,
I'm always good, like grandma cookies,

New Orleans nigga, I get superdome

the way I’m eating n-ggas wish they had my appetite,
straight up out of Texas and I’m major like apple white
(not lilwayne)

Weezy Baby aka your highness, I just killed this shit
Moment of Silence, Uh

COME ON POMPEY

look at you avram. firing yourselves into europe (almost) at the expense of heartspur hotel. love it. i also love real getting their asses handed to them on a pupu platter but on to the nba.

too bad for the raptors and rupaul busted his/her face, but the playoffs are about to start, and i'll take the hawks over the lakers.

blatche's comedic attempt at a triple double

jianlian's all over the place
earl watson's been in the league way too long to let that happen.

and it looks like dwade's feeling a lot of pressure in the final minute of this riveting encounter with the sixers
eddie just sits there and takes it.

masters observations

k.j. choi has a sweet swing, love how he holds that follow through, but what is he doing putting just the korean flag on his hat? unless this is the olympics or the gov't is giving him some serious yen (sorry korea, i dont know what your currency is) that is just a bonehead move on k.j's part. i dont think anyone is going to forget that he's from korea with a name like k.j. and he's basically just flushing money down the toilet. look at lee westwood, he's got more sponsors than john daly crawling all over his collar.

people stand way too close to golfers trying to hit, especially when they are in the woods. i couldn't hit a ball with someone 2 feet away from me like that. reminds me of how the camera men sit too close to the baseline in the nba.

as i'm writing this mickelson just birdied 12 and kjs in the greenside bunker in 2 on 13, im gonna go with the lefty to get it done, but only because of that stupid hat, and because kj uses graphite shafts on his irons.

un"sung" hero

the engine room of the arsenal defense is married and has 2 kids


It was a hell of a Wednesday night at the Emirates. When a mouthwatering champions league tie actually lives up to the pre-match billing it can be something special and this was one of those nights. In one of the most entertaining games of the decade (3 months) Barcelona somehow didn't score in the first twenty minutes due to the heroic efforts of Almunia, (just manny being manny). But despite all of Arsenal's "fighting spirit" and "character" to get something out of the game, there not likely to have anything more than fond memories of this year's champions league campaign after the return leg in the camp nou next week. I don't see any reason to believe that we can beat barcelona with a nicklas bendtner-led front line, i'm sorry.

And what a costly night it was. As Cesc Fabregas cemented his status as an Arsenal legend, by converting a penalty with a broken leg. Arshavin was busy sidelining himself for 3 weeks, and big willy will miss the remainder of the season after coming back too soon. And the pundits are all licking their chops at seeing sol campbell get a few more games. But one man we dont have to worry about losing is good old Alex Song. He's appeared in almost every game this year when available, and along with tommy v, i dont think there's anyone who's meant more to the team aside from fab.

What an asset it is to have a player who can just tuck in to central defense if needed and not miss a beat. The assumption was that song would eventually move full time to central defender, but i hope this doesn't happen anytime soon. His efforts at defensive mid have been tremendous and I hope that all the post-viera era critics have taken note. Diaby was the man lauded as viera's heir apparent due to their physical resemblance, and he is a similar sort of player, but more careless and inconsistent than sir alex. Song values his possession and is super confident on the ball, especially with a man on his back. I can't remember him having a bad game this year, he was easily cameroon's best player in angola, and I hope that he gets all the accolades he deserves.

best april fool

he even claps himself after the deed is done. just awesome.

gutted

not a good day to be an arsenal supporter. after disappointingly opening up the second half of our prague league campaign with a 1-1 draw to the 4th place Kolovraty in the morning. i was eager to get home and watch arsenal get that bad taste out of my mouth. and by golly, it was nearly out. but then kevin phillips, praised be he, got in the way, and old flutter face almunia could only bundle his own pathetic self into the net along with the late-late equalizer. This was ironically how we conceded our equalizer albeit with 9 men earlier, with our keeper flailing at a ball that he failed to deal with whilst it sputters into the net.

huge, huge dents to arsenal and partisans hopes. butler has one more chance to salvage the sporting sense of this day tonight, if they can handle k-state and move me that much closer to my $1,000 monthly prize on covers. knock on wood.

meanwhile..."i've never been called that before"

game of the tournament?

by all accounts it appears that ksu-xavier is the pick of an already outstanding group of games in the NCAAs this year. but what the hell is that guy doing fouling at the end of regulation? was he trying to foul before the shot? college teams really love to mess up when to foul/when not to foul, when to miss a free throw/when not to miss a free throw, anyway, enjoy gus taking you through the classic moments of this one before youtube takes it down.



i'd love to see a mid-major actually win it this year, and there are 3 teams that actually have a realistic shot. don't change the BCS though...

lots to look forward to

(stolen from camdenchat)

in case you needed any cheering up, here are last years stats for starters in the AL East, hide your eyes.



at least we're not walking a lot of guys?

crazy thursday

can't remember there being that many close games in 1 day. watch this texas fan for a good laugh, (stolen from truehoop)

and the real gus johnson fort minor remix!



i kind of like him more in football personally.

lolz!

had to copy this from the 5th official, watch the highlights if you haven't.

Taxi for Caldwell

We all have bad days at the office, but thankfully, most of us don't embarrass ourselves in front of an admittedly sparse crowd at the Reebok, or the millions watching around the world. Gary Caldwell did on Saturday, after he was responsible for ALL FOUR of Bolton's goals. It's enough to make you wonder if fellow Scot Owen Coyle slipped him a bag of unmarked notes before the game.

Caldwell's shocker was made all the more funny by the fact he was wearing cycling shorts, as if he was a finely tuned like an Olympic sprinter and not an average duffer. All it seemed to do was make his legs behave like a 15 minute old foal. He danced round the ball for Bolton's first, hacked Tamir Cohen down to give away a penalty, took longer to turn than the Titianic as Fabrice Muamba befuddled him for number three, then shanked a clearance straight to Matt Taylor for the fourth.

Perhaps Caldwell should have stopped in Scotland, where similar mistakes rarely go punished. It's easy to look like Bobby Moore when you're playing Hamilton Academicals and Falkirk every week.

its madness

i've been having as good a time as anyone following along with the bubble watch and bracketology, etc. but then i read this article and i realized how much of a sham the whole bubble thing is. in a way, it seems that lunardi is more of an authority than the committee itself. since all we're ever watching is espn, and they spoon feed us, who's in and who's out, we've got no reason to be surprised selection sunday.

its all about the big10, big 12, acc, same old same old. i'll never forget when uta state didn't get in a few years ago when they were like 29-3. oh well. go spiders.

oh and here's a laugher. end is the best

yayyuhyayyay hohohahahuh

trolololo!

Introducing...

16 year old Wayne Rooney!

happened to turn on the england egypt friendly right as they were walking the teams out. besides being shocked that walcott was in the 11, i couldn't help but noticing how all england players were singing along with the anthem as if they were clearly under big brother's watchful eye, and would be castrated in the media if they didn't.
All but 1 man that is...



bad ass

karma capello?

nice tevas

well michael ballack you were right on cue sir. just as soon as i put your big ugly mug up you go on ahead and lose your cool and try to injur poor little carlitos tevez who was by far the best player on the field at the bridge yesterday. that should have been a straight red in itself and he remains the forerunner for biggest bastard in the premeirship. still like villa for 4th though.

i didn't/don't want to see the tackle on aaron ramsey. its a wonder that more people don't brake their ankles in the premiership, but i guess its now a much safer place with joey barton and alan smith and newcastle's shenanigans out of the league. but i'd trade newcastle for bald man pulis' joke city any minute. stoke are just that, a joke. their basically not even playing football up there, but credit to them, the style of the prem is built for these big barging sides to just basically beat the shit out of each other and then bundle in a goal out of a rugby style throw in courtesy of some rory bloke who has less foot skills than dan ritter/greg o'brien.

but what the hell is fabio capello trying to pull here calling up shawcross? just a big fuck you to arsenal fans? is he trying to endure himself to the potter faithful? doesn't he need a left back? i don't get it.

goal of the day belongs to leo messi, those barca highlights are worth watching. check out the pass from xavi to dani alves to messi for the deciding goal. doesn't get any sweeter than that.

fingers crossed for usa hockey tonight, which could salvage what would otherwise be deemed the most succesful olympics ever by are ever-more annoying nother neighbors. where the hell are they coming up with these speed skaters and gold medals? i use to subscribe to the belief that most cummulative medals is worth more than golds. not so sir, at least not in the ROTW, out of the american media's grasp. And i can't tell you how much i've enjoyed watching the olympics on eurosport where not every 10/11 events you see doesn't have to contain an american.