Boss, I'm gonna be sick today, I have World Cup Fever.
NBA Finals: Nowitzki leads Mavericks to 2-0 series lead
Yes, the Mavs are up 2-0, but there's something going on here that may be ignored in all the talk about Shaq's free throw shooting and poor play.
I think we're beginning to see a change in the perception of foreign-born players. At first, they were regarded as either complementary shooters or post players with no grit. Even last year, as France's Tony Parker and Argentina's Manu Ginobli were pacing the Spurs to a championship, the media was very quick to point out that "American" Tim Duncan (ironically born in the Virgin Islands), was the team leader and go to player.
Now with Dirk Nowitzki's performance this year, this is the first time that a foreign born player has been recognized as a team leader and a star who sets the tone for his team with his play. Granted, he was always this for Dallas, but it took an NBA Finals run for everyone to notice.
Big XII Baseball: Oklahoma the sole survivor
Only 2 Big XII teams were left on the road to Omaha after last weekends' regionals: Missouri and Oklahoma.
Missouri had the misfortune of facing powerhouse Cal-State Fullerton. Naturally, they went down in straight games. Neither was close.
That leaves Oklahoma, who won Game 2 of their Super Regional with national power Rice to force a deciding game 3 today (Noon, ESPN).
If Oklahoma needs any inspiration, however, they need look no further than last year's Texas squad, who, like this year's OU team, dropped the opening game in it's super-regional on the road, but came back to win the next 2 to advance to, and eventually win, the College World Series.
World Cup
Aside from Germany going ape and dropping a 4-spot on Costa Rica, the World Cup finals have been marked by a lot of shots on goal, but not a whole lot of chances converted. So the offense is there, it's just that teams are not finding the back of the net. Which means it can only go up from here. Hitting the highlights...
Sweden 0, Trinidad and Tobago 0
All the credit in the world goes to former Howard University keeper Shaka Hislop, who basically made up for Trinidad's lack of offensive punch. Sweden should have won that game because they were the more aggressive team, but Hislop kept them in check and the "Soca Warriors" got a gift point.
Not to rain on Trinidad's parade (or Tobago's for that matter), but if you want to make good on Stern John's guarantee, you need to give John some more help when the ball's in your attacking third. He can't do it himself.
England 1, Paraguay 0
Speaking of gift points...
A win may be a win, and England may be the most nit-picked club in the world, but let's face it, they won it on a flukey goal that skidded off the defender's head and into his own net. They did not convert their opportunities, they had crosses where no one was home, and they almost let Paraguay back in the game on several occasions.
Mexico 3, Iran 1
Think Mexico wanted to get off to a good start? Led by Omar Bravo's 2 goals, Mexico absolutely blitzed Iran into the ground. At halftime, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mexico "the new Great Satan" and threatened to continue his nuclear enrichment program if Mexico continued to score on them.
Interesting that a country whose leaders have so famously denied the Holocaust went down in defeat in Nuremberg, the very city where many of the Holocaust's leaders were tried and convicted after World War II.
Netherlands 1, Serbia-Montenegro 0
Apparently, the Dutch can get offense from sources not named Ruud Van Nistelrooy. While the Serbian defense was concentrating too heavily RVN, Arjen Robben stuck one in. And that's all it took.
Ecuador 2, Poland 0
Probably the first real "shocker" of this World Cup as Ecuador wasn't expected to do much, they pushed forward more times than the Poles did, and were rewarded with victory.
Argentina 2, Ivory Coast 1
This one really could have been 3-1 except the Ivory Coast keeper either just stopped a ball from completely crossing the the line or yanked one out of the goal (depending on your point of view) early on in the game. Still Argentina showed the kind of playmaking and offensive ability we've come to expect from them over the years.
Today's Group E Matches:
Ghana-Italy (1:55 PM, ESPN2)
This could really be a breakout game for Ghana, Many of the Ghana players are familiar with the Italian side since they play in Italy, so they know what to expect. Plus, their midfield is better and their team is more athletic overall.
Czech Republic-U.S. (10:55 PM, ESPN2)
There's one thing I forgot to mention about the U.S. side that I like: Attitude. Everyone from Bruce Arena down to the 25th man is saying their goal is to win it all, and anything else would be a disappointment. They feel like they can win.
They're not playing the politically correct game that a lot of players and coaches play when it's World Cup time. They're not "happy to be there" like a lot of past U.S. teams. They want it badly.
I know some players articulate it(Terrell Owens) and some don't (Peyton Manning), but you don't become a champion by being politically correct all the time. You have to believe you can win deep down in your soul. That's what I mean by attitude, and this U.S. team has it.
Now, let's see if they can translate that attitude into goals.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
World Cup Preview
With the Major League's credibility as a sport hanging by a thread no thanks to steroids and unchecked free agency, the Texas Rangers basically on cruise control in the NL West, and the Houston Astros blowing up before Roger Clemens even throws a ball, it's time to look elsewhere for summer sports to write about. (Yes, we're going to talk NBA Finals, but I'm saving that for tomorrow)
Thankfully, this summer, we at least have the World Cup to follow.
That's right, the World Cup, the only time in the U.S. sports calendar where one can actually watch soccer and not have to feel shame for doing so.
For my generation, I know that a lot of our parents signed us up for soccer when we were between 7 and 10, so even though we don't play anymore, the World Cup conjures up images of happier times for a lot of us.
Plus, it's a big worldwide event.
Most people in the U.S. may not know how offsides works, or what it takes to get a foul called in soccer, but then most people don't know what a "Yurchenko" or "triple lutz" is either, yet we watch the Olympics every 4 years.
The Big Stories
Overt Racism at Soccer matches. Much has been made in the press here in the U.S. about the overt displays of racism at European soccer matches, which I think comes as a shock to most Americans, because Americans seem to regard Europeans as either "enlightened" or "overly politically correct" depending on which side of the political fence you land on.
But it does happen, particularly because Europe has been homogenous for so many years of their history, and have suddenly had to deal with the mass influx of people wanting to enter rather than leave. Of course it doesn't help that facist parties in Europe appear to be on the upswing.
FIFA, the soccer bigwigs, have promised to deal with racist behavior using a range of penalties, including stripping a team of points. It remains to be seen how they will enforce this, and whether or not the penalty applies to similar cases, say, Iranians making any sort of anti-Semitic signs or chants. (German officials have already let one prominent anti-Semite from Iran into the country, who knows how many more could arrive? Hopefully the Iran crowds will have enough Iranian-Europeans to mitigate this sort of thing.)
Plus, to a certain degree, there's an issue of freedom of expression involved. Players of all races get catcalled for poor performance. If that player is of color, will that cause a team to lose 3 points? Will teams get docked points for making noise about a referee's call if that referee is not of European descent.
Should be interesting to follow as the tournament progresses.
Non-European teams in Europe - Just as European teams never seem to win when the tournament is played in the Americas or Asia, only one team from outside Europe has won a European-hosted World Cup (Brazil in 1958).
However the second could happen this year, as many of the traditional European powers (England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France) have serious questions going into this World Cup, whether from injury, lack of chemistry, tactical issues, or disappointing results. Also, many top leagues in Europe have tried to get talent wherever they could, and as a result, the development of native-born players has suffered.
South America and Africa have been huge beneficiaries of the European talent importation, as they not only have their best players playing against the best in the world, there is more space in their national leagues for development of young talent. It's also made it easier for their national teams to adjust to European styles of play.
Also, the CONCACAF region (the one the U.S. is in) managed to place a record 4 teams, and 3 of Asia's biggest soccer powers, Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia managed to qualify. Both Japan and South Korea, mind you, are coming off great results from the last World Cup.
That said, certain factors may work against the non-European nations. Second-tier soccer nations in Europe (Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal, and Serbia-Montenegro) are also benefitting from the international search for talent by top European leagues in the same way that South America and Africa have been. So while the top teams may be suffering, the European contingent is still deep.
Also, thanks to upsets in the African qualifiers, Africa is probably fielding it's weakest contingent of teams ever. No offense to fans of Angola, Togo, or the Ivory Coast (whom, as Bono likes to remind us in the ESPN ads, enacted a cease-fire so everyone can watch the national team play), but they're not South Africa, Nigeria, or Cameroon and they don't scare people. (Ghana and Tunisia, with rosters that have European-based players, are a different story).
The U.S.A. and Group E
Many long time members of Sam's Army are looking at this group and probably having bad flashbacks. Back in 1990, when the U.S. began qualifying for the World Cup on a regular basis, the U.S. was placed in a group with Italy and Czechoslovakia. Needless to say, the U.S. did not fare well.
This time, the U.S. has a chance to extract a measure of revenge.
The Czech Republic, whom the U.S. faces on June 12, has been plagued by the injury bug and several of it's stars may be out. And while they did beat the host Germans recently, Italy is one of the oldest teams in the tournament, they are lacking in depth, and the last anyone saw the Italians in a World Cup, they were finishing second to Mexico in group play and getting beat by South Korea. It also doesn't help the Italians mentally that Italy's soccer federation is in the midst of a gambling scandal. Plus, the Italy-U.S. Game is in Kaiserslautern, home to the largest concentration of U.S. citizens in Europe thanks to nearby Rammstein AFB, making it the closest thing the U.S. will have to a home game in Germany.
That's not to say those games will be walkovers for the U.S. They're both going to be very difficult games for the U.S., and neither is going to go down without a fight, but those games are very winnable.
And then there's Ghana, who is younger, faster, and more athletic than any team in this group.
But the U.S. has one of it's best teams it's fielded since 1990, and Bruce Arena has this team better prepared mentally for a World Cup in Europe than his predecessor, Steve Sampson, did. In 1998, Sampson, like many coaches who worry too much about big game pressure, completely switched his tactics right before the start of the World Cup, and isolated his team from family, friends and injured team members. Naturally, the players were tight and the U.S. finished dead last. Four years later, Arena didn't make disruptive strategy changes, allowed the players to bring family, allowed injured team members to travel with the U.S. team, kept the team generally loose, and the U.S. actually made the quarterfinals. Arena plans to keep that same policy this time around.
The problem is the U.S. needs to win this group, not finish second, if they intend to make a serious run at a World Cup and finally stake a claim for soccer in America. Second place means playing Brazil, likely the champions of Group F. First place means playing either Croatia, Australia, or Japan and avoiding Brazil until the semifinals. While that still means playing Brazil, there's a huge difference in perception between making the second round and making the semifinals in terms of winning over the American public at large.
While second place in this group is likely, first place may be out of their reach. Ghana is most likely going to be the star of the group based on pure talent and athletic ability, and they can out hustle the U.S. and a depleted Czech Republic. Plus many of the "Black Stars" play in Italy and won't be intimidated by facing the Italians.
Group E Projection:
1. Ghana 2-0-1 (7 points)
2. U.S. 1-0-2 (5 Points)
3. Italy 1-1-1 (4 points)
4. Czech Republic 0-3-0 (0 points)
The rest of the field
Group A
Yes, World Cup hosts Germany have a rookie coach in Jurgen Klinsmann, and an inexperienced international squad, and they've been less than impressive in their runup against World Cup qualifiers Japan and Italy, but the Germans have been placed in a pool of teams that have their own issues, so a group win should be no problem at least.
If anyone has a chance to unseat Germany, in this Group, it's Poland. They were one of the highest scoring teams in the preliminary matches, and they're a little more than motivated after a disappointing 2002 Cup. They've got four years of pent up frustration to take out on the rest of the world.
Costa Rica comes in with one of the oldest rosters in the tournament, and a 3-match losing streak. It's doubtful they will improve on that come tournament time.
Ecuador, making it's second straight World Cup appearance, qualifield largely because they held serve at home in high altitude and won it's only road game in the high altitude of La Paz, Bolivia. Sadly, Ecuador is not scheduled to play in the Bavarian Alps once.
Group B
I'm picking Paraguay to be the surprise winners of this group. While Jose Luis Chilavert is no longer in goal for Paraguay, Justo Villar could very well be the next great Paraguayan netminder. Plus, this time the Paraguayans have something that previous Paraguayan teams didn't have: talent, depth, a bona fide scoring threat (Roque Santa Cruz), and a playmaker, (Nelson Valdez).
England, probably the most scrutinized and second-guessed team in the world, has waited with baited breath to see if striker Wayne Rooney has recovered enough from a hamstring injury. While he's "fit to play", that doesn't necessarily means he's 100%., and that first game against Paraguay's going to be brutal if he isn't at full strength. Still, they should make the second round.
While Sweden looked very impressive in World Cup qualifying, they went 0-1-2 in their warm up matches, all against non-qualifiers. As with any championship, you have to be playing well at the right time, and the Swedes need to turn it up a notch.
While Trinidad and Tobago will probably get waxed in all 3 games, MLS fans will probably recognize the name of Trinidad forward Stern John, who played 2 seasons with the Columbus Crew, and combined with Brian McBride to form one of the MLS's most effective forward duos in the league's early years.
Group C
When this group was assembled at the World Cup Draw, many labeled it the Group of Death. Now it's looking more like Argentina's group to lose.
Argentina is fielding it's youngest squad in recent memory. Aside from Hernan Crespo and Roberto Ayala, there aren't a whole lot of household names. At least not yet. Juan Riquelme inherits the #10 jersey, and while he's not Mario Kempes or Diego Maradona, he's a playmaker to be reckoned with. Riquelme's midfield mate Javier Mascherano helped Argentina win a gold medal at the Athens Olympics and is considered one of the best young players on this squad. And Lionel Messi is already drawing comparisons to Maradona.
This is the last World Cup for Serbia-Montenegro, as the last remnants of the former Yugoslavia are parting ways. But they may just get a parting shot in. On the pitch, they're a strong defensive team, which makes them dull to watch, but tough to play if you are facing them.
The Netherlands looked like strong contenders a week ago, then they lost 3 of their key players in a warm-up match against Australia, and are now on very shaky ground. Even if Philip Cocu, Wesley Sneyder, and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst return, their leg injuries will linger throughout group play.
The Ivory Coast has been a terrific "feel-good" story for this World Cup. We'd all like to see them do well simply because of all the internal strife that country has gone through. But, more than likely, the first-time participants are going to finish last because of a lack of "big game experience"
Group D
Mexico or Portugal, basically, that's what Group D boils down to. Slight edge goes to Mexico because this team can really light up a scoreboard, and this group will come down to Goal differential
After a disappointing 2002, where they were posterized by Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley on the way to a disappointing finish, Portugal feels like it has something to prove. They were the second-leading scorers during Europe qualifying and are peaking just at the right time, winning all 3 warm-up matches.
While Iran was one of the strongest sides during Asian qualifying, they're really outclassed by the top 2 teams in this group.
Angola, I'm sure, would like to be known for something other than it's basketball team being on the wrong end of a Charles Barkley dunk. Sadly, the only thing people will remember about Angola's World Cup experience is that they got to play their former colonial masters, Portugal, once.
Group F
Brazil: 5 time World Cup champs, defending World Cup champs, defending South American champs, defending Confederations Cup champs, current world player of the year in Ronaldinho, stars at every position... How many more reasons do you want?
Out of the other 3 teams, Japan, the current Asian champions, are poised to follow up on 2002's second round appearance with experienced Europe-based players like Hidetoshi Nakata, Shusune Nakamura, Shinji Ono leading the team.
Croatia has been something of a disappointment since 1998, when they made it to the semifinals and Davor Suker won the scoring title. Most of the key players on that team have retired, so it's up to a bunch of new faces to return the Croats to glory.
Australia has been accused of using rough tactics after 2 yellow cards, 1 sendoff and 3 injuries to Dutch players in their 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, which is not the best way for the Soccerroos to start their World Cup, because now the refs will be watching more closely. Besides the chances of them improving on their 0-fer in the '05 Confederations Cup are a long shot at best.
Group G
France was a disappointment in 2002 after winning it all in 1998, but you can't keep Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry down for long. Les Bleus have been on fire in their warm-up matches.
South Korea blew through the last World Cup like a tornado, winning it's group, making the semifinals and leaving Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain in their destructive wake.
Switzerland was thought to be a threat to move on, but they have had disappointing draws against the Ivory Coast and Italy recently.
Togo's chief tribal priest is predicting that his nation's squad will make the second round. Apparently they play soccer very differently in the astral plane.
Take that prediction with the same grain of salt as you would if Pope Benedict XVI made any sort of prediction about his native Germany.
Group H
Spain is the perennial bridesmaid of international soccer. They are always strong contenders in whatever competition they enter, but they never seem to win. Still, they've been blessed with a weak group and should win it outright on pure talent.
None of the rest of the sides have been all that impressive, but the Ukraine gets the edge because of their qualifying run and recent match results. And because of Andriy Shevchenko.
Tunisia and Saudi Arabia will be battling to stay out of the cellar. I leave it to you to figure out which is the worse of the two
Knockout stage
2nd round
Germany over England
Argentina over Portugal
Paraguay over Poland
Mexico over Serbia-Montenegro
Ghana over Japan
France over Ukraine
Brazil over U.S.A.
South Korea over Spain
Quarterfinals
Argentina over Germany
Mexico over Paraguay
France over Ghana
Brazil over South Korea
Semifinals
Argentina over Mexico
Brazil over France
Third Place
Mexico over France
Final
Brazil over Argentina
Thankfully, this summer, we at least have the World Cup to follow.
That's right, the World Cup, the only time in the U.S. sports calendar where one can actually watch soccer and not have to feel shame for doing so.
For my generation, I know that a lot of our parents signed us up for soccer when we were between 7 and 10, so even though we don't play anymore, the World Cup conjures up images of happier times for a lot of us.
Plus, it's a big worldwide event.
Most people in the U.S. may not know how offsides works, or what it takes to get a foul called in soccer, but then most people don't know what a "Yurchenko" or "triple lutz" is either, yet we watch the Olympics every 4 years.
The Big Stories
Overt Racism at Soccer matches. Much has been made in the press here in the U.S. about the overt displays of racism at European soccer matches, which I think comes as a shock to most Americans, because Americans seem to regard Europeans as either "enlightened" or "overly politically correct" depending on which side of the political fence you land on.
But it does happen, particularly because Europe has been homogenous for so many years of their history, and have suddenly had to deal with the mass influx of people wanting to enter rather than leave. Of course it doesn't help that facist parties in Europe appear to be on the upswing.
FIFA, the soccer bigwigs, have promised to deal with racist behavior using a range of penalties, including stripping a team of points. It remains to be seen how they will enforce this, and whether or not the penalty applies to similar cases, say, Iranians making any sort of anti-Semitic signs or chants. (German officials have already let one prominent anti-Semite from Iran into the country, who knows how many more could arrive? Hopefully the Iran crowds will have enough Iranian-Europeans to mitigate this sort of thing.)
Plus, to a certain degree, there's an issue of freedom of expression involved. Players of all races get catcalled for poor performance. If that player is of color, will that cause a team to lose 3 points? Will teams get docked points for making noise about a referee's call if that referee is not of European descent.
Should be interesting to follow as the tournament progresses.
Non-European teams in Europe - Just as European teams never seem to win when the tournament is played in the Americas or Asia, only one team from outside Europe has won a European-hosted World Cup (Brazil in 1958).
However the second could happen this year, as many of the traditional European powers (England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France) have serious questions going into this World Cup, whether from injury, lack of chemistry, tactical issues, or disappointing results. Also, many top leagues in Europe have tried to get talent wherever they could, and as a result, the development of native-born players has suffered.
South America and Africa have been huge beneficiaries of the European talent importation, as they not only have their best players playing against the best in the world, there is more space in their national leagues for development of young talent. It's also made it easier for their national teams to adjust to European styles of play.
Also, the CONCACAF region (the one the U.S. is in) managed to place a record 4 teams, and 3 of Asia's biggest soccer powers, Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia managed to qualify. Both Japan and South Korea, mind you, are coming off great results from the last World Cup.
That said, certain factors may work against the non-European nations. Second-tier soccer nations in Europe (Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal, and Serbia-Montenegro) are also benefitting from the international search for talent by top European leagues in the same way that South America and Africa have been. So while the top teams may be suffering, the European contingent is still deep.
Also, thanks to upsets in the African qualifiers, Africa is probably fielding it's weakest contingent of teams ever. No offense to fans of Angola, Togo, or the Ivory Coast (whom, as Bono likes to remind us in the ESPN ads, enacted a cease-fire so everyone can watch the national team play), but they're not South Africa, Nigeria, or Cameroon and they don't scare people. (Ghana and Tunisia, with rosters that have European-based players, are a different story).
The U.S.A. and Group E
Many long time members of Sam's Army are looking at this group and probably having bad flashbacks. Back in 1990, when the U.S. began qualifying for the World Cup on a regular basis, the U.S. was placed in a group with Italy and Czechoslovakia. Needless to say, the U.S. did not fare well.
This time, the U.S. has a chance to extract a measure of revenge.
The Czech Republic, whom the U.S. faces on June 12, has been plagued by the injury bug and several of it's stars may be out. And while they did beat the host Germans recently, Italy is one of the oldest teams in the tournament, they are lacking in depth, and the last anyone saw the Italians in a World Cup, they were finishing second to Mexico in group play and getting beat by South Korea. It also doesn't help the Italians mentally that Italy's soccer federation is in the midst of a gambling scandal. Plus, the Italy-U.S. Game is in Kaiserslautern, home to the largest concentration of U.S. citizens in Europe thanks to nearby Rammstein AFB, making it the closest thing the U.S. will have to a home game in Germany.
That's not to say those games will be walkovers for the U.S. They're both going to be very difficult games for the U.S., and neither is going to go down without a fight, but those games are very winnable.
And then there's Ghana, who is younger, faster, and more athletic than any team in this group.
But the U.S. has one of it's best teams it's fielded since 1990, and Bruce Arena has this team better prepared mentally for a World Cup in Europe than his predecessor, Steve Sampson, did. In 1998, Sampson, like many coaches who worry too much about big game pressure, completely switched his tactics right before the start of the World Cup, and isolated his team from family, friends and injured team members. Naturally, the players were tight and the U.S. finished dead last. Four years later, Arena didn't make disruptive strategy changes, allowed the players to bring family, allowed injured team members to travel with the U.S. team, kept the team generally loose, and the U.S. actually made the quarterfinals. Arena plans to keep that same policy this time around.
The problem is the U.S. needs to win this group, not finish second, if they intend to make a serious run at a World Cup and finally stake a claim for soccer in America. Second place means playing Brazil, likely the champions of Group F. First place means playing either Croatia, Australia, or Japan and avoiding Brazil until the semifinals. While that still means playing Brazil, there's a huge difference in perception between making the second round and making the semifinals in terms of winning over the American public at large.
While second place in this group is likely, first place may be out of their reach. Ghana is most likely going to be the star of the group based on pure talent and athletic ability, and they can out hustle the U.S. and a depleted Czech Republic. Plus many of the "Black Stars" play in Italy and won't be intimidated by facing the Italians.
Group E Projection:
1. Ghana 2-0-1 (7 points)
2. U.S. 1-0-2 (5 Points)
3. Italy 1-1-1 (4 points)
4. Czech Republic 0-3-0 (0 points)
The rest of the field
Group A
Yes, World Cup hosts Germany have a rookie coach in Jurgen Klinsmann, and an inexperienced international squad, and they've been less than impressive in their runup against World Cup qualifiers Japan and Italy, but the Germans have been placed in a pool of teams that have their own issues, so a group win should be no problem at least.
If anyone has a chance to unseat Germany, in this Group, it's Poland. They were one of the highest scoring teams in the preliminary matches, and they're a little more than motivated after a disappointing 2002 Cup. They've got four years of pent up frustration to take out on the rest of the world.
Costa Rica comes in with one of the oldest rosters in the tournament, and a 3-match losing streak. It's doubtful they will improve on that come tournament time.
Ecuador, making it's second straight World Cup appearance, qualifield largely because they held serve at home in high altitude and won it's only road game in the high altitude of La Paz, Bolivia. Sadly, Ecuador is not scheduled to play in the Bavarian Alps once.
Group B
I'm picking Paraguay to be the surprise winners of this group. While Jose Luis Chilavert is no longer in goal for Paraguay, Justo Villar could very well be the next great Paraguayan netminder. Plus, this time the Paraguayans have something that previous Paraguayan teams didn't have: talent, depth, a bona fide scoring threat (Roque Santa Cruz), and a playmaker, (Nelson Valdez).
England, probably the most scrutinized and second-guessed team in the world, has waited with baited breath to see if striker Wayne Rooney has recovered enough from a hamstring injury. While he's "fit to play", that doesn't necessarily means he's 100%., and that first game against Paraguay's going to be brutal if he isn't at full strength. Still, they should make the second round.
While Sweden looked very impressive in World Cup qualifying, they went 0-1-2 in their warm up matches, all against non-qualifiers. As with any championship, you have to be playing well at the right time, and the Swedes need to turn it up a notch.
While Trinidad and Tobago will probably get waxed in all 3 games, MLS fans will probably recognize the name of Trinidad forward Stern John, who played 2 seasons with the Columbus Crew, and combined with Brian McBride to form one of the MLS's most effective forward duos in the league's early years.
Group C
When this group was assembled at the World Cup Draw, many labeled it the Group of Death. Now it's looking more like Argentina's group to lose.
Argentina is fielding it's youngest squad in recent memory. Aside from Hernan Crespo and Roberto Ayala, there aren't a whole lot of household names. At least not yet. Juan Riquelme inherits the #10 jersey, and while he's not Mario Kempes or Diego Maradona, he's a playmaker to be reckoned with. Riquelme's midfield mate Javier Mascherano helped Argentina win a gold medal at the Athens Olympics and is considered one of the best young players on this squad. And Lionel Messi is already drawing comparisons to Maradona.
This is the last World Cup for Serbia-Montenegro, as the last remnants of the former Yugoslavia are parting ways. But they may just get a parting shot in. On the pitch, they're a strong defensive team, which makes them dull to watch, but tough to play if you are facing them.
The Netherlands looked like strong contenders a week ago, then they lost 3 of their key players in a warm-up match against Australia, and are now on very shaky ground. Even if Philip Cocu, Wesley Sneyder, and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst return, their leg injuries will linger throughout group play.
The Ivory Coast has been a terrific "feel-good" story for this World Cup. We'd all like to see them do well simply because of all the internal strife that country has gone through. But, more than likely, the first-time participants are going to finish last because of a lack of "big game experience"
Group D
Mexico or Portugal, basically, that's what Group D boils down to. Slight edge goes to Mexico because this team can really light up a scoreboard, and this group will come down to Goal differential
After a disappointing 2002, where they were posterized by Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley on the way to a disappointing finish, Portugal feels like it has something to prove. They were the second-leading scorers during Europe qualifying and are peaking just at the right time, winning all 3 warm-up matches.
While Iran was one of the strongest sides during Asian qualifying, they're really outclassed by the top 2 teams in this group.
Angola, I'm sure, would like to be known for something other than it's basketball team being on the wrong end of a Charles Barkley dunk. Sadly, the only thing people will remember about Angola's World Cup experience is that they got to play their former colonial masters, Portugal, once.
Group F
Brazil: 5 time World Cup champs, defending World Cup champs, defending South American champs, defending Confederations Cup champs, current world player of the year in Ronaldinho, stars at every position... How many more reasons do you want?
Out of the other 3 teams, Japan, the current Asian champions, are poised to follow up on 2002's second round appearance with experienced Europe-based players like Hidetoshi Nakata, Shusune Nakamura, Shinji Ono leading the team.
Croatia has been something of a disappointment since 1998, when they made it to the semifinals and Davor Suker won the scoring title. Most of the key players on that team have retired, so it's up to a bunch of new faces to return the Croats to glory.
Australia has been accused of using rough tactics after 2 yellow cards, 1 sendoff and 3 injuries to Dutch players in their 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, which is not the best way for the Soccerroos to start their World Cup, because now the refs will be watching more closely. Besides the chances of them improving on their 0-fer in the '05 Confederations Cup are a long shot at best.
Group G
France was a disappointment in 2002 after winning it all in 1998, but you can't keep Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry down for long. Les Bleus have been on fire in their warm-up matches.
South Korea blew through the last World Cup like a tornado, winning it's group, making the semifinals and leaving Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain in their destructive wake.
Switzerland was thought to be a threat to move on, but they have had disappointing draws against the Ivory Coast and Italy recently.
Togo's chief tribal priest is predicting that his nation's squad will make the second round. Apparently they play soccer very differently in the astral plane.
Take that prediction with the same grain of salt as you would if Pope Benedict XVI made any sort of prediction about his native Germany.
Group H
Spain is the perennial bridesmaid of international soccer. They are always strong contenders in whatever competition they enter, but they never seem to win. Still, they've been blessed with a weak group and should win it outright on pure talent.
None of the rest of the sides have been all that impressive, but the Ukraine gets the edge because of their qualifying run and recent match results. And because of Andriy Shevchenko.
Tunisia and Saudi Arabia will be battling to stay out of the cellar. I leave it to you to figure out which is the worse of the two
Knockout stage
2nd round
Germany over England
Argentina over Portugal
Paraguay over Poland
Mexico over Serbia-Montenegro
Ghana over Japan
France over Ukraine
Brazil over U.S.A.
South Korea over Spain
Quarterfinals
Argentina over Germany
Mexico over Paraguay
France over Ghana
Brazil over South Korea
Semifinals
Argentina over Mexico
Brazil over France
Third Place
Mexico over France
Final
Brazil over Argentina
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Big XII hanging on by a thread in baseball regionals
You'd think a conference whose geographical territory covers much of Texas, where College teams frequently outdraw the Texas Rangers, the baseball hotbed of St. Louis, and a number of other places where State U. is the only baseball game in town, the Big XII would be much better at this college baseball thing.
Especially since 7 of the 10 baseball playing schools in the Big 12 made this year's NCAA baseball tournament, and 3 actually managed to land regionals.
Yet the Big XII finds itself barely hanging on as the regionals come to a close
The carnage started on Friday. TCU, like they did in football last fall, upset Oklahoma.
As if that wasn't surprising enough, Nebraska lost to Manhattan College. Manhattan College! Not only is the school misnamed (it's actually in the Bronx), the school is best known for launching the coaching career of ESPN hoops analyst Fran Fraschilla and his starch-sprayed hair.
Then the eliminations began. Texas lost to Stanford and NC State and Baylor lost twice to Rice, which wasn't so bad, but Kansas was eliminated by Hawaii, a state who's best baseball product is Sid Fernandez. Then Nebraska suffered it's second loss to the University of San Francisco, who would only be a baseball threat if they cloned Bill Russell and taught the clone to throw a curveball instead of block shots.
The worst ignominy: Oklahoma State was beaten by cross-state opponent Oral Roberts not once, but twice.
Thankfully Oklahoma and Missouri managed to save face. Oklahoma managed to fight its way through the losers bracket and beat Gene Stephenson's Wichita State Shockers twice to advance. Missouri fought through a brutal Malibu regional against UCLA and Pepperdine to advance.
But neither faces an easy opponent in the regionals. Missouri takes on Cal State-Fullerton and Oklahoma faces Rice.
So it's concievable that the Big 12 could wind up with no teams in Omaha for the first time in it's history.
Especially since 7 of the 10 baseball playing schools in the Big 12 made this year's NCAA baseball tournament, and 3 actually managed to land regionals.
Yet the Big XII finds itself barely hanging on as the regionals come to a close
The carnage started on Friday. TCU, like they did in football last fall, upset Oklahoma.
As if that wasn't surprising enough, Nebraska lost to Manhattan College. Manhattan College! Not only is the school misnamed (it's actually in the Bronx), the school is best known for launching the coaching career of ESPN hoops analyst Fran Fraschilla and his starch-sprayed hair.
Then the eliminations began. Texas lost to Stanford and NC State and Baylor lost twice to Rice, which wasn't so bad, but Kansas was eliminated by Hawaii, a state who's best baseball product is Sid Fernandez. Then Nebraska suffered it's second loss to the University of San Francisco, who would only be a baseball threat if they cloned Bill Russell and taught the clone to throw a curveball instead of block shots.
The worst ignominy: Oklahoma State was beaten by cross-state opponent Oral Roberts not once, but twice.
Thankfully Oklahoma and Missouri managed to save face. Oklahoma managed to fight its way through the losers bracket and beat Gene Stephenson's Wichita State Shockers twice to advance. Missouri fought through a brutal Malibu regional against UCLA and Pepperdine to advance.
But neither faces an easy opponent in the regionals. Missouri takes on Cal State-Fullerton and Oklahoma faces Rice.
So it's concievable that the Big 12 could wind up with no teams in Omaha for the first time in it's history.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
When R.D. is bored at work.
Anyway, Because I was bored on a workday, I messed around on the internet and found my way to one of those quizzes on "Blogthings.com", tried the quiz, and here was the result
I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
You Are Austin |
 A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You're totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick |
I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
BlogPoll Roundtable: Spring and Post-Spring editions
OK, enough movie chat, let's get back to sports.
Let's catch up on the BlogPoll Roundtables, shall we?
Spring Roundtable (hosted by Schembechler Hall)
1.It's early, but thus far, which off-season change or changes in college football are you most excited about?
I think the biggest think I'm excited about is that next year's title is really up for grabs, which is great for those who like seeing the BCS blow up in the faces of the people who made it.
There's a lot of great teams, but none one could really consider "dominant." We may end up with 4 or 5 one-loss teams competing for those 2 spots in the National Championship game.
As this is the first year of the new TV deal, I will be watching with interest to see how Fox handles the BCS. Say what you want about ABC and ESPN, they were willing to be critical of the BCS when necessary, and Fox Sports (Fox anything, really) has a reputation of promoting rather than addressing serious issues.
2. With spring practice underway, what are the three concerns about your team that are causing you the most anxiety?
First, the impact of injuries on spring drills. A lot of starting defenders got hurt in the offseason, and while it gave the young guys a chance to step up, the coaching staff seems to pick positions based on seniority, and the older guys didn't get a chance to improve
Second, who takes over the Safety and Running Back positions? Vince Meeks, Dwayne Slay, and Taurean Henderson all graduated and the replacements aren't exactly looking like world beaters.
Third, if the young defenders who played most of the spring are really as good as the coaching staff says, how come none of them are getting a serious look at starting jobs.
3. Care to take a stab at a preseason top five?
Hell no. I need my preseason mags first.
Post-Spring Roundtable (hosted by Burnt Orange Nation)
1. Which off-season story are you most tired of, and on the flip side, interested in? (e.g. Reggie Bush's house, Jimmy Claussen, etc.)
I'm tired of stories about '08 recruiting verbal commitments. I hate recruiting stories in general, but verbal commits are the worst because they are completely unverifiable. Nothings official until a player signs on signing day, and even then you have to put him through Spring drills to see what you got.
Plus, a school should never have a player verbally commit prior to his senior year. There's too much time for a guy to get injured or change his mind.
2. Your head coach comes down with a mystery illness and has to step aside. You get to hand pick the replacement for the 2006 season. Who gets your vote?
The same guy it would be if Mike Leach got canned: Mike Price. The guy's learned how to recruit Texas in a short period of time, there's not a whole lot of transition in between Leach's offense and his, pro scouts might actually notice our QBs for once, and he actually coaches defense once in a while.
3. Lastly, we'll mix the football and the blogging together here. If you could have anyone switch allegiances and start covering your team, who you gonna pick?
Probably, Matt from My Opinion on Sports, since he's probably taken over the mantle of "Best Big XII Blog"
Let's catch up on the BlogPoll Roundtables, shall we?
Spring Roundtable (hosted by Schembechler Hall)
1.It's early, but thus far, which off-season change or changes in college football are you most excited about?
I think the biggest think I'm excited about is that next year's title is really up for grabs, which is great for those who like seeing the BCS blow up in the faces of the people who made it.
There's a lot of great teams, but none one could really consider "dominant." We may end up with 4 or 5 one-loss teams competing for those 2 spots in the National Championship game.
As this is the first year of the new TV deal, I will be watching with interest to see how Fox handles the BCS. Say what you want about ABC and ESPN, they were willing to be critical of the BCS when necessary, and Fox Sports (Fox anything, really) has a reputation of promoting rather than addressing serious issues.
2. With spring practice underway, what are the three concerns about your team that are causing you the most anxiety?
First, the impact of injuries on spring drills. A lot of starting defenders got hurt in the offseason, and while it gave the young guys a chance to step up, the coaching staff seems to pick positions based on seniority, and the older guys didn't get a chance to improve
Second, who takes over the Safety and Running Back positions? Vince Meeks, Dwayne Slay, and Taurean Henderson all graduated and the replacements aren't exactly looking like world beaters.
Third, if the young defenders who played most of the spring are really as good as the coaching staff says, how come none of them are getting a serious look at starting jobs.
3. Care to take a stab at a preseason top five?
Hell no. I need my preseason mags first.
Post-Spring Roundtable (hosted by Burnt Orange Nation)
1. Which off-season story are you most tired of, and on the flip side, interested in? (e.g. Reggie Bush's house, Jimmy Claussen, etc.)
I'm tired of stories about '08 recruiting verbal commitments. I hate recruiting stories in general, but verbal commits are the worst because they are completely unverifiable. Nothings official until a player signs on signing day, and even then you have to put him through Spring drills to see what you got.
Plus, a school should never have a player verbally commit prior to his senior year. There's too much time for a guy to get injured or change his mind.
2. Your head coach comes down with a mystery illness and has to step aside. You get to hand pick the replacement for the 2006 season. Who gets your vote?
The same guy it would be if Mike Leach got canned: Mike Price. The guy's learned how to recruit Texas in a short period of time, there's not a whole lot of transition in between Leach's offense and his, pro scouts might actually notice our QBs for once, and he actually coaches defense once in a while.
3. Lastly, we'll mix the football and the blogging together here. If you could have anyone switch allegiances and start covering your team, who you gonna pick?
Probably, Matt from My Opinion on Sports, since he's probably taken over the mantle of "Best Big XII Blog"
Sunday, May 21, 2006
So dark the con of Lee Harvey Oswald?
I actually saw the Da Vinci Code movie today, having never read the book. But, I do like a good conspiracy theory, even if it is just that. I have several conspiracy theory books. I was also intrigued by all the codes and symbols, plus the idea that symbols can change over time.
For those who are still clueless about the Da Vinci Code, or, you're bothered by the religious symbolism of the story here's an analogy that might help explain the story:
The year is 3963. The area we know as the United States, at some point, has collapsed and gone through 700 or so years of dark ages, and later re-emerged as several successor countries that each speak a vaguely English-sounding language, but just different enough that the different countries still has to translate each other's language. The ideas that are regarded as "liberal" in our time have coaleced into a religion that revolved around the man we know as John F. Kennedy, and this religion is the majority religion of the successor states.
Suppose however, that a great council was convened at one point before these dark ages to settle the matter of a holy book for this religion. Obviously such a book would include all sorts of writings on doctrines the founders agreed on: equal rights, freedoms, feminism, and so forth. But when it came down to writing the history of Kennedy himself, the same debate that has puzzled historians since November 22, 1963 comes up: Was Kennedy shot by a single assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, or was there a group of people who conspired to kill him?
The faction that believes in the single assassin theory wins out, and the history section of the holy book is framed around this theory. The resulting religion goes to great lengths to conceal any evidence contrary to the single assassin theory
The losing faction that believes that Kennedy was killed by a grand conspiracy does not give up, concealing themselves in a secret society and the proof of their theories over time in a mixture of symbols and codes.
Anyway, in 3963 a leading university professor, along with the help of the granddaughter of the head of the secret society somehow stumbles on to these codes and symbols and unravels the mystery of the conspiracy that killed Kennedy, all the time being pursued by another secret society dedicated to eliminating any evidence that contradicts the accepted single assassin doctrine.
That's basically the Da Vinci Code in a nutshell.
Anyway, I didn't see the point of the whole "controversy". Maybe it's because I'm a non-Catholic Christian, maybe my theology's off, but the whole idea of Jesus marrying and having kids doesn't change the central message of Christianity: that Jesus, the Son of God, died for all our sins to atone us to God and re-establish the relationship between God and humanity. Besides, it's a work of fiction.
As for the actual movie, my biggest complaint is that Tom Hanks barely showed any emotion throughout the film. His acting was kind of stiff and robotic.
For those who are still clueless about the Da Vinci Code, or, you're bothered by the religious symbolism of the story here's an analogy that might help explain the story:
The year is 3963. The area we know as the United States, at some point, has collapsed and gone through 700 or so years of dark ages, and later re-emerged as several successor countries that each speak a vaguely English-sounding language, but just different enough that the different countries still has to translate each other's language. The ideas that are regarded as "liberal" in our time have coaleced into a religion that revolved around the man we know as John F. Kennedy, and this religion is the majority religion of the successor states.
Suppose however, that a great council was convened at one point before these dark ages to settle the matter of a holy book for this religion. Obviously such a book would include all sorts of writings on doctrines the founders agreed on: equal rights, freedoms, feminism, and so forth. But when it came down to writing the history of Kennedy himself, the same debate that has puzzled historians since November 22, 1963 comes up: Was Kennedy shot by a single assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, or was there a group of people who conspired to kill him?
The faction that believes in the single assassin theory wins out, and the history section of the holy book is framed around this theory. The resulting religion goes to great lengths to conceal any evidence contrary to the single assassin theory
The losing faction that believes that Kennedy was killed by a grand conspiracy does not give up, concealing themselves in a secret society and the proof of their theories over time in a mixture of symbols and codes.
Anyway, in 3963 a leading university professor, along with the help of the granddaughter of the head of the secret society somehow stumbles on to these codes and symbols and unravels the mystery of the conspiracy that killed Kennedy, all the time being pursued by another secret society dedicated to eliminating any evidence that contradicts the accepted single assassin doctrine.
That's basically the Da Vinci Code in a nutshell.
Anyway, I didn't see the point of the whole "controversy". Maybe it's because I'm a non-Catholic Christian, maybe my theology's off, but the whole idea of Jesus marrying and having kids doesn't change the central message of Christianity: that Jesus, the Son of God, died for all our sins to atone us to God and re-establish the relationship between God and humanity. Besides, it's a work of fiction.
As for the actual movie, my biggest complaint is that Tom Hanks barely showed any emotion throughout the film. His acting was kind of stiff and robotic.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Do they really need a scoreboard that big?
An Austin American-Statesman rendering of the new scoreboard.Apparently the University of Texas decided to do what most guys do when they redo the living room, put a better HDTV in it.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, UT is kicking in $8 million in Audio/Visual improvements to DKR-Memorial Stadium, including what will soon be the largest high-def TV screen in the world in the South end zone.
No info on whether or not the scoreboard will be named after Joe Jamail, Red McCombs, Jim Bob Moffett, or one of UT's other wealthy contributors.
Which begs the question, I know everything is supposed to be bigger here in Texas, but why does that have to extend to the scoreboard?
(More and funnier commentary on the subject at Every Day Should Be Saturday)
As if the entire tenure of Gary Barnett and Ward Churchill wasn't enough, CU is in trouble again.
Two separate investigations, one into racial allegations, another into sexual allegations have recently been launched by the CU athletics department against the basketball team.
Most people will hear these stories and think "Here we go again."
However, there are several noteworthy differences
First, the sexual allegations involve "a former employee" of the men's hoops program at CU, not the players. One thing for a player to be involved, quite another for a paid employee of the university.
Second, the racial allegations involve a person that many thought was the one above-board person in CU athletics, Ricardo Patton, who told and African-American player he should be tougher because of his race. Even if Patton is African-American himself, there's really no reason for him to perpetuate any racial stereotype, even if to motivate his players.
(Story courtesy My Opinion on Sports)
Casserly resigns as Houston's GM
I'd like to say I called this one, but I'm pretty sure others were thinking it, I just haven't done a Technorati search to confirm it.
The only surprising thing here is the timing. Guess Charlie saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get out of Dodge.
R.I.P John Kimbrough 1919-2006
John Kimbrough, the Haskell, Texas football star who has basically done everything in his life except climb Mt. Everest, died this week at the age of 87.
Kimbrough first made his name with the Texas A&M football team, leading them to wins in the 1940 Sugar Bowl (capping an undefeated season for the Aggies), and the 1941 Cotton Bowl (back when a Cotton Bowl win meant something).
Kimbrough also starred in Westerns, piloted a fighter during World War II, played pro football, and served in the Texas Legislature.
Not bad for a person's life.
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