I feel as if I have been overtaken by a higher power.
After spending a few hours reading through Phil Steele's 2006 College Football Preview (thanks, Barnes and Noble, for having it in stock so I didn't have to go on a three-hour search around the Duluth area), I am primed and ready to talk some college football.
I want to invite my fellow college football bloggers to join me for a roundtable discussion of a few preseason issues. I'll post a few questions, provide some answers, and I'll go digging for responses and post a few nuggets sometime in the next week or so. Copy and paste my questions, if you will, and post them on your blog. Leave a comment here to link to your post, or send me an e-mail with the link.
Which preseason college football magazine is your favorite?
Plenty to choose from. Lindy's, Sporting News, Athlon's, Phil.
I think my answer is already obvious.
I'm not going to trumpet Phil's predictions as being OMG THE MOST ACCURATE, because I don't care. For me, it's not about the predictions. I could skewer anyone over predictions. Phil's magazine is just plain more informative. Stats, scores, trends, rankings. Actual detail in the depth charts and solid positional analysis on every team.
Of the rest, I'd rate the Sporting News as the best.
What team is being supremely overrated in the preseason rankings?
Try to make your case. There are plenty of candidates for this honor. Among last year's favorite targets in the preseason was Tennessee, who failed to qualify for a bowl game, along with Texas (so we're not always right around here).
I saw Oklahoma rated #1 by Phil Steele, and they become an immediate target as a result. That offensive line might have trouble opening enough holes for Adrian Peterson to have a big season, and protecting developing young QB Rhett Bomar could be a problem. And, by the way, it's not like defending champion Texas is going to experience a HUGE drop-off, especially now that Mack Brown has officially removed that "HAHAHAHA YOU NEVER WON THE BIG ONE" monkey from his back.
Another obvious target, at least to me, is Miami. Most will pick the Hurricanes to win the ACC Coastal Division, citing a relatively soft schedule, along with motivation from last year's disapointing finish. However, the 'Canes were up and down much of last year, struggling with the likes of Virginia, Georgia Tech, and even North Carolina. Miami got lucky in a win against Clemson, and they held Florida State to 170 yards of offense but lost because of turnovers and poor special teams. And, oh yeah, they lost their bowl game 40-3. Yes, I said 40-3. Got outgained 368-153. I think Miami has a shot to win the division because it is so weak, but I don't buy for a second that Miami is a legit contender on the national stage.
Honorable mention should be given to Ohio State and Notre Dame, who will try to win national championships without playing defense.
Turn the tables. Who is underrated?
I really like Michigan (sorry, M bloggers, I know this is a kiss of death). They were strikingly unlucky at times last year, both with injuries and crappy on-field bounces. With a top-notch QB, potentially great RB, and one of the best linemen in the conference (Jake Long), along with tantalizingly talented WRs Steve Breaston and Mario Manningham, Michigan should be able to score with anyone this year. And the defense, which was okay last year, returns eight starters. No way Michigan loses even half as many games as they did last year, unless they are equally unlucky this year.
I also think Nebraska is in for a big season. The Blackshirts are back, having seven starters returning from a defense that had some high spots a year ago. Zac Taylor is only going to get better, and as much as I may dislike Bill Callahan, he's done a great job amid heavy criticism at the start of his Nebraska tenure. Expect great improvement from the running game, and continued development from Taylor. If Nebraska can come out of USC alive (in other words, if they don't lose by 40), they have a shot at a ten-win season, or better.
Which conference will be the best in 2006?
Please keep in mind: It doesn't matter what happened last year. It doesn't matter what happened in 2004.
Get out your crystal ball and dust it off. Who's going to be the best this year and why?
I am obviously biased toward the Big Ten, but I like the Pacific Ten this year.
I expect USC to come back to Earth a bit, but the rest of the league is going to do their part to catch up. California is better, with Marshawn Lynch poised for H*i*m*n candidacy if they can find a quarterback. Arizona State is a defense away from being a legit contender. Oregon and UCLA have a chance to be pretty good, and Arizona could be poised for a breakthrough.
You're looking at the possibility of as many as eight or nine teams in a ten-team conference being at least on the cusp of bowl eligibility. Only Washington doesn't appear to have much of a case for a bowl run, though it's hard to imagine the Huskies going 2-9 again (and not just because they're playing 12 games this year).
(The Pac-10 also deserves props for this reason...with schedules now expanded to 12 games for everyone, the conference has gone to a nine-game league schedule. I'm sure some coach in the league will whine about how it's unfair for some teams to get five home games while others only get four, but it's exceptionally fair to have every team play everybody in the conference once each.)
Which "non-BCS" conference will be the best in 2006?
In case you're wondering, your options here are Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and WAC.
The worst of the group will be the Sun Belt. Unless we have a goofy year like 2004, where no one was bowl-eligible, the Sun Belt will get their champion into the New Orleans Bowl. That team will probably be lucky to go 7-5 in the regular season. They'll have three or four teams at the bottom of the league that are among the worst in college football, and their champion will probably be beaten decisively by a Conference USA team in the bowl game.
I'd rate the MAC as being the fourth-best in the group, though they're much better than the Sun Belt. The MAC West Division is good, with Northern Illinois and Toledo expecting challenges from Central and Western Michigan. But the East is brutal. Miami (Ohio) and Akron are the best of the bunch, with Ohio trying to break the door down.
Conference USA comes in third in my view. It's an improving league that didn't lose as much as people thought it would when Louisville and friends left. In fact, teams like UTEP, Houston, and Tulsa appear poised to have big seasons, and Central Florida is coming off a storybook campaign. Don't sleep on Southern Miss, either.
I'll put the WAC just ahead of CUSA. Not only do Fresno State and Boise State have tough teams...again...but Hawai'i has the personnel to make a run at the league crown, led by rubber-armed QB Colt Brennan. And Nevada, coming off a surprising season where they tied for the league title, won't fall off that much. The Wolf Pack have that unique pistol offense, and their defense will be among the WAC's best.
The best non-BCS league is the Mountain West. TCU was awesome in their league debut. Utah finished strong and will be better this year. BYU continues to get better under Bronco Mendenhall (this gave me a great excuse to type the name "Bronco Mendenhall"). San Diego State has a new coach, Chuck Long, and might actually figure out this "offense" thing in 2006. And UNLV, Air Force, New Mexico, and Wyoming may all bring up the rear in the league, but all four have a realistic shot at a winning season.
Which non-BCS conference team will have the best season?
I pegged UTEP last year. Close, but no cigar.
I like Navy this season. A lot.
I even liked Navy before I got the Phil Steele preview, which ranks Navy 30th (!) in the nation.
This Navy team has 16 returning starters, a favorable schedule, and a great chance at a ten-win season. I'm not sure their undersized defense can hold up for a twelve-game run, nor do I think they'll be able to topple Notre Dame, but the Middies have a realistic shot at a huge season for Paul Johnson.
Adam Ballard did a nice job trying to replace Kyle Eckel last year, and they have dynamic athletes at halfback in Karlos Whittaker and Reggie Campbell. Navy has a bigger offensive line than in past years, too.
Let's get your first read on this one...who will win the H*i*m*n? Oh, by the way, players whose last names begin with the letter "Q" are ineligible.
I know I took some shots at the Sooners' offensive line earlier, but I'm picking Adrian Peterson. He's a great inside/outside running threat, and even with Bomar being improved at quarterback, Peterson is the key to OU's offense. If they beat Texas or even stay competitive and then run the table against everyone else, the Sooners will be visible enough for Peterson to be a real candidate.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Randomization: 06/13/06
OMG PHIL STEELE!!! It's out. And it's time to cram. 328 pages of college football. For crying out loud, Phil writes two pages on EVERYBODY, including I-A stalwarts like Florida Atlantic, Buffalo, and Temple. You'll know more about every team in college football than you'd ever care to know, and his predictions are, annually, better than any other preview magazine on the market.
If this sounds like a shameless plug, it is...kind of. I don't work for Phil. I've never met Phil. However, I've been on board with Phil and his magazine since 2000, before the current groundswell of support for Phil's work among college football bloggers nationwide. I've interviewed Phil on the air, given away copies of his magazine, and it's the only magazine that I will enthusiastically endorse on the radio or on this blog.
(Full disclosure: I usually will pick up the Sporting News book, and I bought the Lindy's preview this year for the first time. After reading Phil's book, any other pales in comparison, and I usually only buy them to track predictions and look at pretty pictures of football games.)
Phil's book is everything a college football junkie could ask for, and it also satisfies those who are into betting on games, as Phil covers betting trends pretty thoroughly, too. He has complete depth charts for everyone, full schedules, results from the past five years, and offensive and defensive statistics from every game in 2005. It's simply an incredible season-long resource, and it's also a great bathroom read for, you know, the next two months.
Go buy it. And enjoy.
Can we get the World Cup banned from Europe forever? I'm not into old history playing a role in present-day stuff, especially stuff like the World Cup, where there is severe roster turnover all the time. So I don't buy that our soccer team just sucks in Europe. I don't think that guys like Eddie Johnson and Josh Wolff really care that this team has had virtually no success in Europe over the years, because they weren't part of those teams.
But with that in mind, let's stop having World Cups in Europe so we can remove any doubt about it. In fact, I'm fully in favor of moving the rest of this year's event to, say, Chicago. Let's just make sure this isn't a Europe problem.
In all seriousness, this isn't a Europe problem. It's a character problem. The Americans played like they should have been handed the match on a silver platter, and the Czechs took advantage of the poor effort from start to finish, punishing every mistake and making the American team look every bit like the Trinidad and Tobago outfit that everyone expected to be the worst side in the tournament.
Where the hell was Landon Donovan yesterday? Watching the first half a second time later yesterday, I was horrified to see Donovan basically disappear after drawing a rather hard foul from a Czech defender (who was carded on the play). I didn't bother to watch the second half, as the game was over, the pressure was off, and I'm sure that, as a result, Donovan played just fine.
Donovan wasn't the only one. Oguchi Onyewu, as already pointed out, was terrible. Claudio Reyna didn't have a lot of help in the midfield, but he wasn't very good outside of the early shot that clanked off the goalpost.
And Bruce Arena is to blame, as well. It looked like Arena set his team up to try to win 1-0 against a team that is too powerful to shut out, no matter how good the defense is. The team isn't built for that kind of philosophy. They're at their best when they are attacking, but when they are more focused on defense, it seems as if they are less creative when they do get the ball in the midfield. Arena seemed to take them right into that weakness yesterday, and the offense lacked spark the whole match.
That said, this is on the players first. They simply have to bring a better effort Saturday to avoid being labeled another US disappointment. And as of late, it seems like we've had too many disappointments on the world stage (hockey, basketball, baseball, and now soccer).
If this sounds like a shameless plug, it is...kind of. I don't work for Phil. I've never met Phil. However, I've been on board with Phil and his magazine since 2000, before the current groundswell of support for Phil's work among college football bloggers nationwide. I've interviewed Phil on the air, given away copies of his magazine, and it's the only magazine that I will enthusiastically endorse on the radio or on this blog.
(Full disclosure: I usually will pick up the Sporting News book, and I bought the Lindy's preview this year for the first time. After reading Phil's book, any other pales in comparison, and I usually only buy them to track predictions and look at pretty pictures of football games.)
Phil's book is everything a college football junkie could ask for, and it also satisfies those who are into betting on games, as Phil covers betting trends pretty thoroughly, too. He has complete depth charts for everyone, full schedules, results from the past five years, and offensive and defensive statistics from every game in 2005. It's simply an incredible season-long resource, and it's also a great bathroom read for, you know, the next two months.
Go buy it. And enjoy.
Can we get the World Cup banned from Europe forever? I'm not into old history playing a role in present-day stuff, especially stuff like the World Cup, where there is severe roster turnover all the time. So I don't buy that our soccer team just sucks in Europe. I don't think that guys like Eddie Johnson and Josh Wolff really care that this team has had virtually no success in Europe over the years, because they weren't part of those teams.
But with that in mind, let's stop having World Cups in Europe so we can remove any doubt about it. In fact, I'm fully in favor of moving the rest of this year's event to, say, Chicago. Let's just make sure this isn't a Europe problem.
In all seriousness, this isn't a Europe problem. It's a character problem. The Americans played like they should have been handed the match on a silver platter, and the Czechs took advantage of the poor effort from start to finish, punishing every mistake and making the American team look every bit like the Trinidad and Tobago outfit that everyone expected to be the worst side in the tournament.
Where the hell was Landon Donovan yesterday? Watching the first half a second time later yesterday, I was horrified to see Donovan basically disappear after drawing a rather hard foul from a Czech defender (who was carded on the play). I didn't bother to watch the second half, as the game was over, the pressure was off, and I'm sure that, as a result, Donovan played just fine.
Donovan wasn't the only one. Oguchi Onyewu, as already pointed out, was terrible. Claudio Reyna didn't have a lot of help in the midfield, but he wasn't very good outside of the early shot that clanked off the goalpost.
And Bruce Arena is to blame, as well. It looked like Arena set his team up to try to win 1-0 against a team that is too powerful to shut out, no matter how good the defense is. The team isn't built for that kind of philosophy. They're at their best when they are attacking, but when they are more focused on defense, it seems as if they are less creative when they do get the ball in the midfield. Arena seemed to take them right into that weakness yesterday, and the offense lacked spark the whole match.
That said, this is on the players first. They simply have to bring a better effort Saturday to avoid being labeled another US disappointment. And as of late, it seems like we've had too many disappointments on the world stage (hockey, basketball, baseball, and now soccer).
Monday, June 12, 2006
EMBARRASSED
I don't know how anyone who follows US Soccer could be anything but.
A 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic has everyone thinking back to a dark day of American soccer: 1998.
Maybe one or two guys played well. Landon Donovan...where were you? Looked so promising until you took that hard foul in the first half. Did you think the match was over after that?
And poor Oguchi Onyewu. He played like an inexperienced kid who was scared to death, and he was beaten for all three Czech goals.
More tomorrow. Time for the "reset" button if you're Bruce Arena. Whatever you tried today...well, it failed. Miserably.
Good luck picking up the pieces, because the bandwagon just got a lot lighter in the States.
A 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic has everyone thinking back to a dark day of American soccer: 1998.
Maybe one or two guys played well. Landon Donovan...where were you? Looked so promising until you took that hard foul in the first half. Did you think the match was over after that?
And poor Oguchi Onyewu. He played like an inexperienced kid who was scared to death, and he was beaten for all three Czech goals.
More tomorrow. Time for the "reset" button if you're Bruce Arena. Whatever you tried today...well, it failed. Miserably.
Good luck picking up the pieces, because the bandwagon just got a lot lighter in the States.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Randomization: 06/09/06
Crickets chirping. Imagine being NBC. Imagine having to pay your NHL on-air talent and production crew to beam a game broadcast back from Edmonton, when color bars and a loop of "Rainbow Connection" would draw a higher rating out of pure curiosity.
As pointed out by USA Today today, NBC is facing the prospect of having the lowest rating in the history of prime-time television on Saturday, when it does Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals in Edmonton.
Even the slighest possibility of a competitive series drawing more viewers appears to have gone by the wayside, as the Hurricanes enter Game 3 having scored ten of the last 11 goals in the series. NBC is trying to put a positive face on all of this, saying that they believe in the NHL. But they apparently don't believe in it too much, because in two hours of prime-time programming I watched on NBC last night, I didn't see one promotional spot for the NHL playoffs. There isn't a single mention of the NHL playoffs on the front page of NBC.com, where they are choosing instead to promote "Saturday Night Live" and select stupid prime-time shows that don't air anytime soon.
So we apparently have two different ideas on how to promote the NHL. OLN saturated their programming with hockey during the playoffs, and no one watched. NBC is giving the impression that these games are nothing more than a burden for them, and no one will watch.
Tell me again why ESPN was so bad for hockey. The argument, that they ignored hockey, isn't valid anymore, because you can't blame ESPN's treatment of hockey for the sport's poor ratings on the network. Maybe it's time for everyone who follows the sport to stop worrying about the ratings and start admitting that it is what it is. Let all these other people miss out on the fun.
Oh, yeah. Basketball. See? I forgot about the NBA, and I'm sure it didn't affect their ratings (of course, I'd have to have readers for something like that to happen). The Finals started last night, as Dallas defeated Miami 90-80. The Mavericks showed why they will probably win this series, as Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard were horrible, but they won anyway. Instead of Nowitzki and/or Howard carrying the team, Jason Terry scored a game-high 32 points. The Mavericks were very good defensively, holding Dwyane Wade to just 15 points after a huge first quarter, and they were helped by Miami going just 7-for-19 on free throws.
In the end, I think Dallas is deeper. They have Howard to smother Wade as much as possible, and Terry and Devin Harris will really make Wade work defensively, which will keep him from maintaining a high energy level. Meanwhile, the Mavericks' secondary scorers can carry the team at least once in a while. Who do you trust more, Jason Terry/Josh Howard/Jerry Stackhouse or a broken-down Shaq/Antoine Walker/Jason Williams?
I know who I'd pick.
As for Shaq, he'll have one or two 30/15-type games, and that's about it. The Mavericks can keep running Erick Dampier (motivated by Shaq's well-publicized "WNBA" bomb earlier in the season) and Desagana Diop at Shaq, and they can always throw Keith Van Horn out there if they need the extra six fouls for some reason. The Heat won't go to Shaq in crunch time, especially after his 1-for-9 free throw performance in Game One. And Shaq can't keep up with the likes of Nowitzki and Howard in a seven-game series.
First, it was steroids. Now, it's HGH. Not good for baseball. Even though names haven't been publicized yet, Jason Grimsley has named them. Grimsley, a veteran relief pitcher with a sparkling career ERA of 4.77, has apparently been cheating. Grimsley admitted to investigators that he used steroids, human growth hormone, and amphetamines, three no-nos in baseball, even though baseball has no means of testing for HGH.
There are a number of meaningful things that develop out of this story.
Jason Grimsley sucks. How is he cheating? Seriously, how is he cheating and still not pitching well? Doesn't this change your view of this story in baseball? If a player with a 4.77 career ERA is cheating, who else is cheating and not getting anything out of it?
He named names. Who are they? Something like ten names were thrown out in Grimsley's affidavit. When it was released publicly, the names were blacked out. Let the speculation begin. In fact, it already has. And if this is true (I've never read anything on this site, and I have no idea if this is at all credible, so don't shoot the messenger...I just provided the link), baseball might be dead as we know it. Baseball can handle Barry Bonds being implicated, because nobody likes him. Baseball can handle Jason Giambi being implicated, because enough people hate the Yankees that it doesn't matter what Giambi does or has done. Baseball can't handle two people being implicated, and one of them is Albert Pujols, named in the above-linked story (the other, by the way, is David Ortiz). If Pujols is on something, everything that is good about this baseball season becomes questionable.
Where do we go from here? If Grimsley is right, and the use of HGH is rampant among baseball players, what exactly is baseball going to do? There is no reliable test for HGH at this time.
One thing is certain: With how hard baseball has tried to improve their public image when it comes to steroid use, this is that last thing they need. A crappy relief pitcher admitting that he has been cheating.
As pointed out by USA Today today, NBC is facing the prospect of having the lowest rating in the history of prime-time television on Saturday, when it does Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals in Edmonton.
Even the slighest possibility of a competitive series drawing more viewers appears to have gone by the wayside, as the Hurricanes enter Game 3 having scored ten of the last 11 goals in the series. NBC is trying to put a positive face on all of this, saying that they believe in the NHL. But they apparently don't believe in it too much, because in two hours of prime-time programming I watched on NBC last night, I didn't see one promotional spot for the NHL playoffs. There isn't a single mention of the NHL playoffs on the front page of NBC.com, where they are choosing instead to promote "Saturday Night Live" and select stupid prime-time shows that don't air anytime soon.
So we apparently have two different ideas on how to promote the NHL. OLN saturated their programming with hockey during the playoffs, and no one watched. NBC is giving the impression that these games are nothing more than a burden for them, and no one will watch.
Tell me again why ESPN was so bad for hockey. The argument, that they ignored hockey, isn't valid anymore, because you can't blame ESPN's treatment of hockey for the sport's poor ratings on the network. Maybe it's time for everyone who follows the sport to stop worrying about the ratings and start admitting that it is what it is. Let all these other people miss out on the fun.
Oh, yeah. Basketball. See? I forgot about the NBA, and I'm sure it didn't affect their ratings (of course, I'd have to have readers for something like that to happen). The Finals started last night, as Dallas defeated Miami 90-80. The Mavericks showed why they will probably win this series, as Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard were horrible, but they won anyway. Instead of Nowitzki and/or Howard carrying the team, Jason Terry scored a game-high 32 points. The Mavericks were very good defensively, holding Dwyane Wade to just 15 points after a huge first quarter, and they were helped by Miami going just 7-for-19 on free throws.
In the end, I think Dallas is deeper. They have Howard to smother Wade as much as possible, and Terry and Devin Harris will really make Wade work defensively, which will keep him from maintaining a high energy level. Meanwhile, the Mavericks' secondary scorers can carry the team at least once in a while. Who do you trust more, Jason Terry/Josh Howard/Jerry Stackhouse or a broken-down Shaq/Antoine Walker/Jason Williams?
I know who I'd pick.
As for Shaq, he'll have one or two 30/15-type games, and that's about it. The Mavericks can keep running Erick Dampier (motivated by Shaq's well-publicized "WNBA" bomb earlier in the season) and Desagana Diop at Shaq, and they can always throw Keith Van Horn out there if they need the extra six fouls for some reason. The Heat won't go to Shaq in crunch time, especially after his 1-for-9 free throw performance in Game One. And Shaq can't keep up with the likes of Nowitzki and Howard in a seven-game series.
First, it was steroids. Now, it's HGH. Not good for baseball. Even though names haven't been publicized yet, Jason Grimsley has named them. Grimsley, a veteran relief pitcher with a sparkling career ERA of 4.77, has apparently been cheating. Grimsley admitted to investigators that he used steroids, human growth hormone, and amphetamines, three no-nos in baseball, even though baseball has no means of testing for HGH.
There are a number of meaningful things that develop out of this story.
Jason Grimsley sucks. How is he cheating? Seriously, how is he cheating and still not pitching well? Doesn't this change your view of this story in baseball? If a player with a 4.77 career ERA is cheating, who else is cheating and not getting anything out of it?
He named names. Who are they? Something like ten names were thrown out in Grimsley's affidavit. When it was released publicly, the names were blacked out. Let the speculation begin. In fact, it already has. And if this is true (I've never read anything on this site, and I have no idea if this is at all credible, so don't shoot the messenger...I just provided the link), baseball might be dead as we know it. Baseball can handle Barry Bonds being implicated, because nobody likes him. Baseball can handle Jason Giambi being implicated, because enough people hate the Yankees that it doesn't matter what Giambi does or has done. Baseball can't handle two people being implicated, and one of them is Albert Pujols, named in the above-linked story (the other, by the way, is David Ortiz). If Pujols is on something, everything that is good about this baseball season becomes questionable.
Where do we go from here? If Grimsley is right, and the use of HGH is rampant among baseball players, what exactly is baseball going to do? There is no reliable test for HGH at this time.
One thing is certain: With how hard baseball has tried to improve their public image when it comes to steroid use, this is that last thing they need. A crappy relief pitcher admitting that he has been cheating.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Randomization: 06/08/06
Is Edmonton done? Sure looked like it last night, as the Oilers came tantalizingly close to packing it in, losing 5-0 to Carolina and not putting up much of a fight after a late second-period goal made it 3-0. Edmonton needs to battle back and at least show some pride in Game 3 on Saturday night, or this series will end quickly (something NBC might not mind, since the broadcasts on NBC will be very low-rated). With an extra day of rest, the Oilers won't have any excuses if their effort is similar to the putrid performance we saw last night.
And before I move on, credit to Carolina. It's easy to get lost in being critical of one team or the other, but the Hurricanes are hitting on all cylinders right now. It's actually quite incredible to watch. Their passing has been sharp, their goaltending great, and their defense has been solid, blocking shots and keeping forwards away from Cam Ward. And Carolina has outscored Edmonton 10-1 since the Oilers took a 3-0 lead in the second period of Game 1. Ouch.
World Cup Preview...Part Two. I'm going to examine the other four groups today (covered Groups A-D on Wednesday).
Group E
Czech Republic
United States
Italy
Ghana
--> More on Team USA in a moment. The Czechs might be overrated a bit in the overall scheme of things, but they're good enough to run the table here.
Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan
--> Duh. Australia might be able to claim second, but I think Croatia will hold them off.
Group G
France
South Korea
Switzerland
Togo
--> I think the Koreans will give France a run for first. I see Le Bleus as being somewhat overrated. This isn't as good as the side that won the 1998 Cup, but it isn't nearly as bad as they looked in 2002, either. France could run to the quarterfinals, but probably nothing more.
Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
--> Spain is a perennial underachiever internationally, but they should survive group play. Ukraine will live and die with striker Andrii Shevchenko.
Team USA preview
Those who follow the sport closely (and some of us who don't) know that you can't put too much stock in the FIFA rankings, though it is nice to see Team USA ranked fifth. The Americans came out of CONCACAF qualifying with a 7-1-2 record and a better goal differential than Mexico. The success in 2006 will likely be held up to the quarterfinal run of 2002, even though that is insanely unfair to this year's group.
The American team has elite goalkeeping, led by veteran Kasey Keller, who will play as long as he's healthy. The defense isn't elite, but it's pretty good. Eddie Pope and youngster Oguchi Onyewu key the central defense. Eddie Lewis is one of four projected starters in the back (including Keller) who play professionally in Europe (Pope, who plays in MLS, is the only one of the five who doesn't play in Europe).
I love our midfield. Captain Claudio Reyna is apparently healthy after suffering a hamstring injury during a warmup friendly. Reyna is joined by World Cup veterans John O'Brien and DaMarcus Beasley, along with the creative Clint Dempsey. Young star Landon Donovan, who is inconsistent but often brilliant with the ball, joins steady veteran Brian McBride up front.
In a sport that is often considered a "young man's game", you still need some experience. And the United States has started to reap the benefits of their hard work at the youth level to build a respectable national team. Donovan, Dempsey, Onyewu, and Beasley have played together for a long time, and will continue to be the rocks of Team USA for at least a few more years, long after Reyna and McBride (two guys, by the way, who have made an unbelieveable impact on the growth of US Soccer) are gone.
Unlike some teams that lack bench depth, you can expect to see most of the 23-man roster to see at least some action in this tournament. Manager Bruce Arena, the longest-tenured coach for any World Cup side, knows his players and knows how to exploit matchups, and he isn't afraid to change up the lineup.
With Arena, a good motivator and tactician, running the show, the United States has a money chance to move on out of a tough group. Italy isn't as good as they've been before, and the Czechs are not unbeatable. The Americans have a dismal history on European soil, but they have never been this good before.
Round of 16
Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Portugal
England over Costa Rica
Netherlands over Mexico
Czech Republic over Croatia
France over Ukraine
Brazil over United States
South Korea over Spain
Quarterfinals
Argentina over Germany
Netherlands over England
Czech Republic over France
Brazil over South Korea
Semifinals
Argentina over Netherlands
Brazil over Czech Republic
Final
Argentina over Brazil
And before I move on, credit to Carolina. It's easy to get lost in being critical of one team or the other, but the Hurricanes are hitting on all cylinders right now. It's actually quite incredible to watch. Their passing has been sharp, their goaltending great, and their defense has been solid, blocking shots and keeping forwards away from Cam Ward. And Carolina has outscored Edmonton 10-1 since the Oilers took a 3-0 lead in the second period of Game 1. Ouch.
World Cup Preview...Part Two. I'm going to examine the other four groups today (covered Groups A-D on Wednesday).
Group E
Czech Republic
United States
Italy
Ghana
--> More on Team USA in a moment. The Czechs might be overrated a bit in the overall scheme of things, but they're good enough to run the table here.
Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan
--> Duh. Australia might be able to claim second, but I think Croatia will hold them off.
Group G
France
South Korea
Switzerland
Togo
--> I think the Koreans will give France a run for first. I see Le Bleus as being somewhat overrated. This isn't as good as the side that won the 1998 Cup, but it isn't nearly as bad as they looked in 2002, either. France could run to the quarterfinals, but probably nothing more.
Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
--> Spain is a perennial underachiever internationally, but they should survive group play. Ukraine will live and die with striker Andrii Shevchenko.
Team USA preview
Those who follow the sport closely (and some of us who don't) know that you can't put too much stock in the FIFA rankings, though it is nice to see Team USA ranked fifth. The Americans came out of CONCACAF qualifying with a 7-1-2 record and a better goal differential than Mexico. The success in 2006 will likely be held up to the quarterfinal run of 2002, even though that is insanely unfair to this year's group.
The American team has elite goalkeeping, led by veteran Kasey Keller, who will play as long as he's healthy. The defense isn't elite, but it's pretty good. Eddie Pope and youngster Oguchi Onyewu key the central defense. Eddie Lewis is one of four projected starters in the back (including Keller) who play professionally in Europe (Pope, who plays in MLS, is the only one of the five who doesn't play in Europe).
I love our midfield. Captain Claudio Reyna is apparently healthy after suffering a hamstring injury during a warmup friendly. Reyna is joined by World Cup veterans John O'Brien and DaMarcus Beasley, along with the creative Clint Dempsey. Young star Landon Donovan, who is inconsistent but often brilliant with the ball, joins steady veteran Brian McBride up front.
In a sport that is often considered a "young man's game", you still need some experience. And the United States has started to reap the benefits of their hard work at the youth level to build a respectable national team. Donovan, Dempsey, Onyewu, and Beasley have played together for a long time, and will continue to be the rocks of Team USA for at least a few more years, long after Reyna and McBride (two guys, by the way, who have made an unbelieveable impact on the growth of US Soccer) are gone.
Unlike some teams that lack bench depth, you can expect to see most of the 23-man roster to see at least some action in this tournament. Manager Bruce Arena, the longest-tenured coach for any World Cup side, knows his players and knows how to exploit matchups, and he isn't afraid to change up the lineup.
With Arena, a good motivator and tactician, running the show, the United States has a money chance to move on out of a tough group. Italy isn't as good as they've been before, and the Czechs are not unbeatable. The Americans have a dismal history on European soil, but they have never been this good before.
Round of 16
Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Portugal
England over Costa Rica
Netherlands over Mexico
Czech Republic over Croatia
France over Ukraine
Brazil over United States
South Korea over Spain
Quarterfinals
Argentina over Germany
Netherlands over England
Czech Republic over France
Brazil over South Korea
Semifinals
Argentina over Netherlands
Brazil over Czech Republic
Final
Argentina over Brazil
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Ann Coulter makes me shudder
You all know Ann Coulter. Conservative commentator, author, general witch.
She has a new book coming out, which means she'll be showing way too much of her desperate-for-a-trip-to-White-Castle body on national television as she tries to rope you into buying her newpile of crap book.
(This is an aside to my point here, but people like Ann Coulter, who is convinced that I want to look at her bones protruding through her skin, really drive me nuts. It's a miracle of the human body that her legs don't snap in half when she walks.)
Anyway, her book, "Godless", doesn't need to be plugged here. But I am confident that most of you are capable of thinking for yourselves, so I'm not worried about you being stupid enough to spend money on this trash. It'd be like buying a "Best of American Idol" CD, and you know you're above that.
Coulter appeared on the Today show on NBC this week (yes, the show is still on the air even with Phony Miss Katie gone). Host Matt Lauer, not known for hard-hitting content in his interviews, at least had the guts to bring up some of the more ridiculous passages in Coulter's published diatribe, like this one about some of the 9/11 widows who had spoken out in favor of the 9/11 commission:
But let's focus on one line.
This is ridiculous in about 3,279 ways. And while I probably shouldn't respond to any of this, I'm going to anyway.
Do you honestly believe, Ann, that these women enjoyed watching their husbands burn? Do you honestly believe that they enjoyed trying to explain to their young kids that their Dad wasn't coming home?
Unfortunately, there are enough sheep in the herd to allow someone like Coulter to continue to spew her hatred towards basically anyone who would dare have a different point of view from hers. These are the same sheep that go crazy whenever Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh take a vacation, but Hannity and Limbaugh are exponentially more tolerable than Coulter. Her book will sell in the millions.
Too bad, because a sanctimonious, self-righteous, hateful skank like her shouldn't ever be able to sell millions of books.
She has a new book coming out, which means she'll be showing way too much of her desperate-for-a-trip-to-White-Castle body on national television as she tries to rope you into buying her new
(This is an aside to my point here, but people like Ann Coulter, who is convinced that I want to look at her bones protruding through her skin, really drive me nuts. It's a miracle of the human body that her legs don't snap in half when she walks.)
Anyway, her book, "Godless", doesn't need to be plugged here. But I am confident that most of you are capable of thinking for yourselves, so I'm not worried about you being stupid enough to spend money on this trash. It'd be like buying a "Best of American Idol" CD, and you know you're above that.
Coulter appeared on the Today show on NBC this week (yes, the show is still on the air even with Phony Miss Katie gone). Host Matt Lauer, not known for hard-hitting content in his interviews, at least had the guts to bring up some of the more ridiculous passages in Coulter's published diatribe, like this one about some of the 9/11 widows who had spoken out in favor of the 9/11 commission:
"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I have never seen people enjoying their husbands' death so much."There's also the fact that Coulter personally attacks these widows. The women are Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza of New Jersey. Not only does she call them "broads", which I'm guessing isn't designed to come across as "respectful", but Coulter also refers to them as the "Witches of East Brunswick," the New Jersey town where two of them live.
But let's focus on one line.
I have never seen people enjoying their husbands' death so much.
This is ridiculous in about 3,279 ways. And while I probably shouldn't respond to any of this, I'm going to anyway.
Do you honestly believe, Ann, that these women enjoyed watching their husbands burn? Do you honestly believe that they enjoyed trying to explain to their young kids that their Dad wasn't coming home?
Unfortunately, there are enough sheep in the herd to allow someone like Coulter to continue to spew her hatred towards basically anyone who would dare have a different point of view from hers. These are the same sheep that go crazy whenever Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh take a vacation, but Hannity and Limbaugh are exponentially more tolerable than Coulter. Her book will sell in the millions.
Too bad, because a sanctimonious, self-righteous, hateful skank like her shouldn't ever be able to sell millions of books.
Randomization: 06/07/06
What a ripoff. The world didn't end yesterday. I feel more used than I did with the Y2K crap.
Apparently, only illegal immigrants watch the World Cup. I'm pretty sure St. Paul Pioneer Porn columnist Tom Powers was, in all likelihood, kidding. Well, I hope he was.
"Mind-numbing". "Boring". "Both scoring chances".
So clever, Tom. And so, well, 1986.
Is it really the place of a sportswriter who covers the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Wild, franchises that could advertise themselves as cures for insomnia, to talk about the level of excitement in a particular sport? I didn't realize that the only way for something to be exciting was for there to be a lot of scoring. I guess this guy hates no-hitters, perfect games, and shutouts.
Then again, when you're forced to regularly watch guys like Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser pitch, and you spend your Sundays watching E.J. Henderson and friends miss tackles and blow coverages, you don't see many shutouts.
You don't get three timeouts per half. You can't stop the game by throwing the ball down to the other end of the field to get a whistle. You can't call five timeouts in the last two minutes of regulation time. You don't get to change players every five minutes to get a stoppage. And there are no television timeouts.
That means that guys like Powers can't get up during a timeout to relieve themselves without risking missing a goal. They can't go hit the media buffet line and get back to their seat before play resumes. And they can't stand it.
Response: So?
You mean it's not primitive to drop the gloves you're wearing and punch another grown man in the head, which happens to be protected by a helmet? Look, I love hockey, but this is just one example of really stupid things that we do in other sports.
And since you brought it up, Tom, there is possibly nothing more boring and un-exciting than watching a bunch of middle-aged men smack a little white ball around the woods for four hours on a Sunday. It's really not a good idea to bring up golf when trying to make fun of soccer. Tennis isn't too far behind, either.
As for the second paragraph above, read a message board, Tom. Read a newspaper article, Tom. Hell, read some of the stuff in your own paper last fall, because no one whines about officiating like the Minnesota Vikings, who act like the zebras are out to get them whenever they lose. Not a game goes by these days where fans, coaches, and/or players don't go on a "that #$%^&ed (name of referee/umpire)".
Honestly, is "whining about officiating" really an activity exclusive to soccer? And since soccer isn't hockey, where guys are prone to taking the occasional run at someone who isn't anywhere near the puck, does soccer really need multiple referees running around? Maybe, but it's not as urgent a problem as Powers tries to insinuate.
Judging by the ratings for the NHL playoffs, which will be worse than those for the World Cup in the States, there are a lot of people who feel about hockey the way you feel about soccer. And I'm not asking them to apologize for that, either. The fact that you think soccer sucks doesn't make you a good American, just like the fact that I think golf sucks doesn't make me a good American.
Just try to stay out of the way.
As for the games...The World Cup does start on Friday, despite Powers' protests. They're not going to cancel the event because some hack in St. Paul thinks it's boring.
As I said on Monday, I think this year's field is more wide open than it's been in a while, so these predictions were difficult to draw up. It was a process made more difficult by the fact that I really don't know much about soccer. That said, I'm going to be watching with great interest, so I figured I'd try to draw up some picks.
As an aside, Brazilian star Ronaldinho is already working the officials, and the tournament hasn't even started yet!
Anyway, here are my picks for Groups A-D:
Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador
--> Costa Rica-Poland will be a fun match. If anyone has a chance to knock Germany off their perch, it's the high-flying Ticos, but they'll have to settle for second.
Group B
England
Sweden
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
--> Sweden edges Paraguay, probably via goal differential in the end, for the second spot in the round of 16 for this group. T & T will not be overly competitive. England makes noise, but not as much as they would if Wayne Rooney didn't have that dag-nabbin' thing on his foot.
Group C
Argentina
Netherlands
Côte d'Ivoire
Serbia & Montenegro
--> There is actually a law in Côte d'Ivoire that mandates their country be called "Côte d'Ivoire" instead of "Ivory Coast", which is the English pronounciation. Since I am a law-abiding blogger, I will follow. I like the Ivorians to beat out S&M for fourth, while Argentina edges Netherlands at the top of the table.
Group D
Mexico
Portugal
Iran
Angola
--> Newsworthy item in this group: Iranian president Ahmadinejad might go to the matches. Should tell you how exciting this group will be. I think Canada could finish third here. It's a group that makes the 2005 National League West look formidable. It's so bad that I had to pick Mexico, which is as painful as picking the Cubs to win the National League. Portugal is too inconsistent to trust, and Iran and Angola aren't competitive here if you combine the sides.
Apparently, only illegal immigrants watch the World Cup. I'm pretty sure St. Paul Pioneer Porn columnist Tom Powers was, in all likelihood, kidding. Well, I hope he was.
If the government really is serious about identifying illegal immigrants, it soon will be provided a unique opportunity to record their whereabouts.Um...OK. Did someone kick a soccer ball really hard and hit you in the groin when you were a kid? Did Pele once stiff you for a post-match interview?
All the Department of Homeland Security has to do is monitor the city-by-city television ratings of this month's World Cup soccer tournament. Agents should be dispatched to any area in which the ratings reflect an unnaturally high level of interest. That likely signals a concentrated pocket of illegals.
No one who actually is from here cares about the most over-hyped, mind-numbingly boring event in the world. Nevertheless, ABC and ESPN will combine to broadcast all 64 games live and in high definition starting on Friday. High definition means that over the course of a 90-minute contest, both scoring chances can be viewed with crystal clarity.Here we go again.
"Mind-numbing". "Boring". "Both scoring chances".
So clever, Tom. And so, well, 1986.
Is it really the place of a sportswriter who covers the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Wild, franchises that could advertise themselves as cures for insomnia, to talk about the level of excitement in a particular sport? I didn't realize that the only way for something to be exciting was for there to be a lot of scoring. I guess this guy hates no-hitters, perfect games, and shutouts.
Then again, when you're forced to regularly watch guys like Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Carlos Silva, and Boof Bonser pitch, and you spend your Sundays watching E.J. Henderson and friends miss tackles and blow coverages, you don't see many shutouts.
There's no word yet on whether any of the games will be presented "commercial free." The networks usually make a big deal out of doing that. It's their way of telling us how important the World Cup is.Call me picky, and I don't expect a blockhead like Powers to know this, but all televised soccer matches are commercial-free. I've never seen an ad during a match on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, GOL TV, or Fox Soccer Channel. You see, and this is part of why so many media types HATE soccer, it's a sport that hasn't been Americanized yet.
You don't get three timeouts per half. You can't stop the game by throwing the ball down to the other end of the field to get a whistle. You can't call five timeouts in the last two minutes of regulation time. You don't get to change players every five minutes to get a stoppage. And there are no television timeouts.
That means that guys like Powers can't get up during a timeout to relieve themselves without risking missing a goal. They can't go hit the media buffet line and get back to their seat before play resumes. And they can't stand it.
The first paragraph is the closest Powers comes to a rational anti-soccer argument. It's primitive.Look, Americans are an industrious people. We use our hands. We catch footballs. We throw baseballs. We hit golf balls and tennis balls by gripping a piece of equipment. It is unnatural for us to put our hands behind our backs and try to "pass" a soccer ball to a teammate by bouncing it off our heads. We aren't circus seals, and no one is going to toss us a fish if we do it right.
It also offends our sense of fair play to watch a lone referee try to police an area the size of Rhode Island and then get blamed for the outcome by whichever team loses. And regardless of how passionate we are about our sports teams, we draw the line at pipe bombs.
Response: So?
You mean it's not primitive to drop the gloves you're wearing and punch another grown man in the head, which happens to be protected by a helmet? Look, I love hockey, but this is just one example of really stupid things that we do in other sports.
And since you brought it up, Tom, there is possibly nothing more boring and un-exciting than watching a bunch of middle-aged men smack a little white ball around the woods for four hours on a Sunday. It's really not a good idea to bring up golf when trying to make fun of soccer. Tennis isn't too far behind, either.
As for the second paragraph above, read a message board, Tom. Read a newspaper article, Tom. Hell, read some of the stuff in your own paper last fall, because no one whines about officiating like the Minnesota Vikings, who act like the zebras are out to get them whenever they lose. Not a game goes by these days where fans, coaches, and/or players don't go on a "that #$%^&ed (name of referee/umpire)".
Honestly, is "whining about officiating" really an activity exclusive to soccer? And since soccer isn't hockey, where guys are prone to taking the occasional run at someone who isn't anywhere near the puck, does soccer really need multiple referees running around? Maybe, but it's not as urgent a problem as Powers tries to insinuate.
As the World Cup rolls around again, I refuse to apologize for saying I'd rather have a colonoscopy than watch a minute of it.And no one is going to ask you to.
Judging by the ratings for the NHL playoffs, which will be worse than those for the World Cup in the States, there are a lot of people who feel about hockey the way you feel about soccer. And I'm not asking them to apologize for that, either. The fact that you think soccer sucks doesn't make you a good American, just like the fact that I think golf sucks doesn't make me a good American.
Just try to stay out of the way.
As for the games...The World Cup does start on Friday, despite Powers' protests. They're not going to cancel the event because some hack in St. Paul thinks it's boring.
As I said on Monday, I think this year's field is more wide open than it's been in a while, so these predictions were difficult to draw up. It was a process made more difficult by the fact that I really don't know much about soccer. That said, I'm going to be watching with great interest, so I figured I'd try to draw up some picks.
As an aside, Brazilian star Ronaldinho is already working the officials, and the tournament hasn't even started yet!
By "our style of playing", Ronaldinho obviously means "flopping and diving whenever a defender sneezes on us". And with FIFA still talking tough about diving, it's probably not a good idea to say anything that draws attention to such behavior."All the teams are waiting for us and will be doubly alert in paying attention to our attack. It's vital the refereeing is rigorous because of our style of playing. Every team we play regardless of their normal style of play defend against us."
Anyway, here are my picks for Groups A-D:
Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador
--> Costa Rica-Poland will be a fun match. If anyone has a chance to knock Germany off their perch, it's the high-flying Ticos, but they'll have to settle for second.
Group B
England
Sweden
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
--> Sweden edges Paraguay, probably via goal differential in the end, for the second spot in the round of 16 for this group. T & T will not be overly competitive. England makes noise, but not as much as they would if Wayne Rooney didn't have that dag-nabbin' thing on his foot.
Group C
Argentina
Netherlands
Côte d'Ivoire
Serbia & Montenegro
--> There is actually a law in Côte d'Ivoire that mandates their country be called "Côte d'Ivoire" instead of "Ivory Coast", which is the English pronounciation. Since I am a law-abiding blogger, I will follow. I like the Ivorians to beat out S&M for fourth, while Argentina edges Netherlands at the top of the table.
Group D
Mexico
Portugal
Iran
Angola
--> Newsworthy item in this group: Iranian president Ahmadinejad might go to the matches. Should tell you how exciting this group will be. I think Canada could finish third here. It's a group that makes the 2005 National League West look formidable. It's so bad that I had to pick Mexico, which is as painful as picking the Cubs to win the National League. Portugal is too inconsistent to trust, and Iran and Angola aren't competitive here if you combine the sides.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Randomization: 06/06/06
06/06/06. Ooh. Scary. I'm sure it's going to be a hell of a party in Hell, Michigan, tonight. And someone will falsely claim that the world is going to end. And if ESPN lets John Kruk be on Baseball Tonight, he will probably say something stupid about baseball. Really, it's going to be a normal day for most of us.
Ty Who? Conklin. And now he's Edmonton's only hope for a Stanley Cup.
Sorry, Oilers fans. Luckily for you, there are already a goodly number of Stanley Cup Champion banners hanging in Rexall Place, because you're probably not adding another one.
Counterpoint...This has been a weird year for goalies. There's been virtually no rhyme or reason to anything. Carolina is living proof of this, as their established starter, Martin Gerber, flopped badly in the first two games of the conference quarterfinals. Whoda thunk that Gerber would give way to Cam Ward after two games, and Carolina would find themselves in the Finals? Whoda thunk that Ilya Bryzgalov would take over for Jean-Sebastien Giguere and lead the Mighty Ducks to the conference finals? How about Ray Emery (!) leading Ottawa to the conference semis?
(WARNING: Run-on sentence ahead)
In a year where unknowns like Bryzgalov and Ward, along with young goaltenders like Ryan Miller, Vesa Toskala, Cristobal Huet, and Tomas Vokoun became stars, and a journeyman like Dwayne Roloson can find his way to the spotlight, all while established studs like Martin Brodeur, Marty Turco, Nikolai Khabibulin, and Ed Belfour busted out the golf clubs early, who's to say that Ty Conklin can't get hot and help his team win four more games?
(END run-on sentence)
Congrats to Carolina on a stirring comeback win in Game One, but here's hoping they take Conklin (or Jussi Markanen) lightly, because I don't think Edmonton is dead. And they'll respond to any life they can get at this point.
Congrats to ESPN. The "Worldwide Leader in Hype" has again shown their true colors. I'm not an ESPN hater, but there is little doubt that the powers-that-be refuse to acknowledge the existence of anything they don't have a working relationship with. The NHL isn't on a level with the NFL, MLB, or the NBA, but they certainly deserve better treatment than they got last night on SportsCenter, when it was 45 minutes into the show before there was any mention of the Stanley Cup Finals starting. Some 16-year-old brat trying to play in a tournament she shouldn't be allowed to play in, the 1000th Yankees-Red Sox game of the season, a recap of Sunday's NASCAR race, highlights of the spelling bee from last Thursday, and a rerun of a piece with Dwyane Wade that aired Sunday were all more important than Game One of a major professional sports championship series.
I will give credit where it is due. ESPNEWS aired some good coverage during the day on Monday, with analysis from MulletMan and some stories from the teams' morning skates. That was cool. Too bad that I was probably the only person watching.
How does this happen? How do two teams play a match without anyone knowing what happened? Furthermore, how does this happen on the eve of the world's biggest sporting event, the World Cup? The US and Angola played a friendly match yesterday in final preparation for the World Cup, which starts on Friday. Despite the fact that numerous media types are assembled to cover the event, and fans are making their way to Germany from points across the planet, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED, except that our boys won 1-0 on a goal by Brian McBride. An Angolan spokesperson says that Claudio Reyna, who has been hurt, was impressive, but a US spokesperson wouldn't even confirm that Reyna played, and the Americans played without jersey numbers or names.
Seriously, in this era of information, how does this happen? I'm impressed!
The World Cup is more wide-open than people think. Everyone thinks that Brazil is a heavy favorite, or so it seems. While I don't think it would be smart to place a monetary wager on anyone else, I also don't think that Brazil is a slam-dunk to win.
I think that, like in other sports, international soccer is gaining some parity. I think it's a result of a few things.
Defensive schemes are more elaborate. Like in hockey, but without all the clutching and grabbing and stick-holding. Teams are finding more ways to slow down more skilled opponents.
Federations are becoming more committed to the sport. US Soccer is a prime example. They got serious about being competitive after the embarrassment that was France 1998. They started reaping the benefits of that seriousness when Bruce Arena led them to the quarterfinals in 2002, and hope to take another positive step this year, though it will be tough for them in this group.
There's more skill out there. I think this is true of many sports. It's not meant as a knock on past eras. I just feel that you have a greater number of skill players, and they're more spread out than they used to be. Combine this with the increased ability of teams to play good, sound defense, and you are bound to have more teams that can be competitive at the international level.
That said, soccer isn't at an NFL level of parity yet. Brazil, England, and Germany are the top dogs, and it would be a great surprise if at least two of them don't make the semifinals.
More World Cup picks coming later this week.
Ty Who? Conklin. And now he's Edmonton's only hope for a Stanley Cup.
Sorry, Oilers fans. Luckily for you, there are already a goodly number of Stanley Cup Champion banners hanging in Rexall Place, because you're probably not adding another one.
Counterpoint...This has been a weird year for goalies. There's been virtually no rhyme or reason to anything. Carolina is living proof of this, as their established starter, Martin Gerber, flopped badly in the first two games of the conference quarterfinals. Whoda thunk that Gerber would give way to Cam Ward after two games, and Carolina would find themselves in the Finals? Whoda thunk that Ilya Bryzgalov would take over for Jean-Sebastien Giguere and lead the Mighty Ducks to the conference finals? How about Ray Emery (!) leading Ottawa to the conference semis?
(WARNING: Run-on sentence ahead)
In a year where unknowns like Bryzgalov and Ward, along with young goaltenders like Ryan Miller, Vesa Toskala, Cristobal Huet, and Tomas Vokoun became stars, and a journeyman like Dwayne Roloson can find his way to the spotlight, all while established studs like Martin Brodeur, Marty Turco, Nikolai Khabibulin, and Ed Belfour busted out the golf clubs early, who's to say that Ty Conklin can't get hot and help his team win four more games?
(END run-on sentence)
Congrats to Carolina on a stirring comeback win in Game One, but here's hoping they take Conklin (or Jussi Markanen) lightly, because I don't think Edmonton is dead. And they'll respond to any life they can get at this point.
Congrats to ESPN. The "Worldwide Leader in Hype" has again shown their true colors. I'm not an ESPN hater, but there is little doubt that the powers-that-be refuse to acknowledge the existence of anything they don't have a working relationship with. The NHL isn't on a level with the NFL, MLB, or the NBA, but they certainly deserve better treatment than they got last night on SportsCenter, when it was 45 minutes into the show before there was any mention of the Stanley Cup Finals starting. Some 16-year-old brat trying to play in a tournament she shouldn't be allowed to play in, the 1000th Yankees-Red Sox game of the season, a recap of Sunday's NASCAR race, highlights of the spelling bee from last Thursday, and a rerun of a piece with Dwyane Wade that aired Sunday were all more important than Game One of a major professional sports championship series.
I will give credit where it is due. ESPNEWS aired some good coverage during the day on Monday, with analysis from MulletMan and some stories from the teams' morning skates. That was cool. Too bad that I was probably the only person watching.
How does this happen? How do two teams play a match without anyone knowing what happened? Furthermore, how does this happen on the eve of the world's biggest sporting event, the World Cup? The US and Angola played a friendly match yesterday in final preparation for the World Cup, which starts on Friday. Despite the fact that numerous media types are assembled to cover the event, and fans are making their way to Germany from points across the planet, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED, except that our boys won 1-0 on a goal by Brian McBride. An Angolan spokesperson says that Claudio Reyna, who has been hurt, was impressive, but a US spokesperson wouldn't even confirm that Reyna played, and the Americans played without jersey numbers or names.
Seriously, in this era of information, how does this happen? I'm impressed!
The World Cup is more wide-open than people think. Everyone thinks that Brazil is a heavy favorite, or so it seems. While I don't think it would be smart to place a monetary wager on anyone else, I also don't think that Brazil is a slam-dunk to win.
I think that, like in other sports, international soccer is gaining some parity. I think it's a result of a few things.
Defensive schemes are more elaborate. Like in hockey, but without all the clutching and grabbing and stick-holding. Teams are finding more ways to slow down more skilled opponents.
Federations are becoming more committed to the sport. US Soccer is a prime example. They got serious about being competitive after the embarrassment that was France 1998. They started reaping the benefits of that seriousness when Bruce Arena led them to the quarterfinals in 2002, and hope to take another positive step this year, though it will be tough for them in this group.
There's more skill out there. I think this is true of many sports. It's not meant as a knock on past eras. I just feel that you have a greater number of skill players, and they're more spread out than they used to be. Combine this with the increased ability of teams to play good, sound defense, and you are bound to have more teams that can be competitive at the international level.
That said, soccer isn't at an NFL level of parity yet. Brazil, England, and Germany are the top dogs, and it would be a great surprise if at least two of them don't make the semifinals.
More World Cup picks coming later this week.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Randomization: 06/05/06
Who gets Stanley? The NHL Stanley Cup Finals begin tonight in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Carolina Hurricanes will host the first two games against the Edmonton Oilers. The series starts later on the calendar than usual this year for two reasons: 1) the Olympic break set the NHL back a couple weeks, and since the season didn't start early, and 2) some Sesame Street show was booked at RBC Center in Raleigh over the weekend. And, hilariously, it's not the only potential pre-emption of the Finals due to an arena booking, because Dora the Explorer, a show that already interrupted the Buffalo-Ottawa series in Ottawa, is booked for June 17 at Rexall Place in Edmonton. Apparently, that conflict will get worked out.
As for the hockey, I've broken down both teams before, and won't waste a lot of your time doing it all again. Here are three factors that will sway the series, along with my prediction.
(By the way, I went 6-1 in the East playoffs, missing only the conference finals. I went a more modest 4-3 in the West, where I didn't miss a series after the first round. And of the 14 series, 11 have been won by the team I was rooting for.)
Can Edmonton break the "extra rest leads to failure" trend that we have seen in these playoffs?
There's a side effect to earning a few extra days of rest by winning your series decisively while the other team has to play a six- or seven-game series to move on. Edmonton saw this first-hand, beating a more rested Anaheim team in the conference finals. Anaheim had swept Colorado quite decisively, while Edmonton had to battle through six games to get by San Jose.
Carolina has also seen the effect of extra rest, as they pounded a rusty New Jersey team 6-0 in Game One of the East semifinals, on their way to a five-game series win.
In this series, Edmonton has to deal with the extra rest. They ended their series against Anaheim in just five games, wrapping it up on May 27, and they haven't played since. Carolina, meanwhile, has only three days of rest after their conference final win over Buffalo, which wrapped up on Thursday. That would lead the lay-person to believe that Carolina is set up for a series win here.
The flip side of the argument? The three most prominent examples of a more rested team being more rusty than rested involve New Jersey in the East semis, Colorado in the West semis, and Anaheim in the West final. All three teams were either completely healthy or very close to it, and the rest was just that. Rest. There were no bumps or bruises that needed extra time to heal. There were no illnesses that guys needed time to recover from. Nobody was able to play in their team's next series that wouldn't have been able to play without the long rest.
Edmonton is a different animal. The Oilers had to deal with a nasty flu bug during the conference finals. A number of players were very sick, and a couple guys missed time because of their illnesses, losing significant weight in the process. There were rumblings that the Oilers were using this "flu outbreak" as a way to hide actual injuries suffered by some of the guys on the roster.
Either way, it could be argued that Edmonton will benefit from the rest, because it allows them to get healthy. They traveled East late last week, which was a smart move, because it allowed them to get acclimated to the heat and humidity they'll experience outside, and it allowed them to get away from the frenzied atmosphere of Edmonton. The Oilers have question marks, though, as a result of the rest. Can they get back to the frantic pace they were playing at on both ends of the ice? Can Dwayne Roloson stay sharp in goal?
We'll start getting answers later this evening.
Does Carolina have anything remotely resembling an answer for Chris Pronger?
Pronger is teetering on the edge of Conn Smythe contention entering this series, and the favorable matchup that awaits may push him up many voters' lists. I have nothing against Carolina's players. They have smart defensive forwards up front, and their defensive corps is a quick group that can really move the puck. But they don't have an answer for Pronger's physical play, puck-handling, or power-play prowess.
Pronger is guaranteed to be on the ice for upwards of 31 minutes a game as long as he's healthy. And he is healthy, by the way. He'll probably be matched up a lot with Eric Stall, and after seeing what Pronger has done to Teemu Selanne and Joe Thornton in the past two series, this is probably not a favorable matchup for the Hurricanes.
Will the goaltending battle go to the grizzled veteran or the relatively unknown rookie?
Cam Ward: 22.
Dwayne Roloson: 36.
Two first-time finalist netminders and two guys who no one could have figured would be where they are now. Ward entered the playoffs as the backup to Martin Gerber, who had a strong Olympics and looked poised to lead his team on a long run in the postseason before he fell apart in the conference quarterfinals against Montreal. Roloson is the starter for the eighth seed in the West, a team that was dismissed as a contender by most before the playoffs even started. Yet Roloson has posted a .931 save percentage in the postseason, and Ward has a 2.07 goals against average.
Neither goaltender has any obvious weaknesses, but Edmonton's defense has done a much better job of keeping pressure off their goaltender than Carolina's has. The Oilers may allow more shots, but it seems like, in most games, the Oilers have more quality scoring chances than their opponent. That's a huge advantage for Edmonton.
My pick?
I'm riding the underdog train. I have nothing against Carolina. (I'm not one of these snobs who thinks that St. Louis is almost too far south to be playing NHL hockey. And I don't hate the Hurricanes for moving out of little ol' Hartford, either.) But I'm rooting for Edmonton, and I think the Oilers will ride Roloson to another win. This one comes in six games, and it will set off quite a celebration on Whyte Avenue.
By the way, one last plea here to NBC. Please air the singing of the national anthems in Edmonton before Game 3 on Saturday. I don't want to be forced to listen to it in CHED out of Edmonton again because you guys are too lazy to reconfigure your pregame format to show it to us live.
This week...World Cup stuff starting tomorrow. More baseball all week. More hockey all week. And I might even preview the NBA Finals, which start Thursday night.
As for the hockey, I've broken down both teams before, and won't waste a lot of your time doing it all again. Here are three factors that will sway the series, along with my prediction.
(By the way, I went 6-1 in the East playoffs, missing only the conference finals. I went a more modest 4-3 in the West, where I didn't miss a series after the first round. And of the 14 series, 11 have been won by the team I was rooting for.)
Can Edmonton break the "extra rest leads to failure" trend that we have seen in these playoffs?
There's a side effect to earning a few extra days of rest by winning your series decisively while the other team has to play a six- or seven-game series to move on. Edmonton saw this first-hand, beating a more rested Anaheim team in the conference finals. Anaheim had swept Colorado quite decisively, while Edmonton had to battle through six games to get by San Jose.
Carolina has also seen the effect of extra rest, as they pounded a rusty New Jersey team 6-0 in Game One of the East semifinals, on their way to a five-game series win.
In this series, Edmonton has to deal with the extra rest. They ended their series against Anaheim in just five games, wrapping it up on May 27, and they haven't played since. Carolina, meanwhile, has only three days of rest after their conference final win over Buffalo, which wrapped up on Thursday. That would lead the lay-person to believe that Carolina is set up for a series win here.
The flip side of the argument? The three most prominent examples of a more rested team being more rusty than rested involve New Jersey in the East semis, Colorado in the West semis, and Anaheim in the West final. All three teams were either completely healthy or very close to it, and the rest was just that. Rest. There were no bumps or bruises that needed extra time to heal. There were no illnesses that guys needed time to recover from. Nobody was able to play in their team's next series that wouldn't have been able to play without the long rest.
Edmonton is a different animal. The Oilers had to deal with a nasty flu bug during the conference finals. A number of players were very sick, and a couple guys missed time because of their illnesses, losing significant weight in the process. There were rumblings that the Oilers were using this "flu outbreak" as a way to hide actual injuries suffered by some of the guys on the roster.
Either way, it could be argued that Edmonton will benefit from the rest, because it allows them to get healthy. They traveled East late last week, which was a smart move, because it allowed them to get acclimated to the heat and humidity they'll experience outside, and it allowed them to get away from the frenzied atmosphere of Edmonton. The Oilers have question marks, though, as a result of the rest. Can they get back to the frantic pace they were playing at on both ends of the ice? Can Dwayne Roloson stay sharp in goal?
We'll start getting answers later this evening.
Does Carolina have anything remotely resembling an answer for Chris Pronger?
Pronger is teetering on the edge of Conn Smythe contention entering this series, and the favorable matchup that awaits may push him up many voters' lists. I have nothing against Carolina's players. They have smart defensive forwards up front, and their defensive corps is a quick group that can really move the puck. But they don't have an answer for Pronger's physical play, puck-handling, or power-play prowess.
Pronger is guaranteed to be on the ice for upwards of 31 minutes a game as long as he's healthy. And he is healthy, by the way. He'll probably be matched up a lot with Eric Stall, and after seeing what Pronger has done to Teemu Selanne and Joe Thornton in the past two series, this is probably not a favorable matchup for the Hurricanes.
Will the goaltending battle go to the grizzled veteran or the relatively unknown rookie?
Cam Ward: 22.
Dwayne Roloson: 36.
Two first-time finalist netminders and two guys who no one could have figured would be where they are now. Ward entered the playoffs as the backup to Martin Gerber, who had a strong Olympics and looked poised to lead his team on a long run in the postseason before he fell apart in the conference quarterfinals against Montreal. Roloson is the starter for the eighth seed in the West, a team that was dismissed as a contender by most before the playoffs even started. Yet Roloson has posted a .931 save percentage in the postseason, and Ward has a 2.07 goals against average.
Neither goaltender has any obvious weaknesses, but Edmonton's defense has done a much better job of keeping pressure off their goaltender than Carolina's has. The Oilers may allow more shots, but it seems like, in most games, the Oilers have more quality scoring chances than their opponent. That's a huge advantage for Edmonton.
My pick?
I'm riding the underdog train. I have nothing against Carolina. (I'm not one of these snobs who thinks that St. Louis is almost too far south to be playing NHL hockey. And I don't hate the Hurricanes for moving out of little ol' Hartford, either.) But I'm rooting for Edmonton, and I think the Oilers will ride Roloson to another win. This one comes in six games, and it will set off quite a celebration on Whyte Avenue.
By the way, one last plea here to NBC. Please air the singing of the national anthems in Edmonton before Game 3 on Saturday. I don't want to be forced to listen to it in CHED out of Edmonton again because you guys are too lazy to reconfigure your pregame format to show it to us live.
This week...World Cup stuff starting tomorrow. More baseball all week. More hockey all week. And I might even preview the NBA Finals, which start Thursday night.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Randomization: 06/01/06
Game Seven, baby. Even Jay Mariotti has to get a little jazzed for this. The Eastern Conference representative in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals will be decided tonight, as the Buffalo Sabres take their team of four defensemen to Raleigh to play the Carolina Hurricanes. The winner hosts Game One of the Finals on Monday night against Western champ Edmonton.
The Sabres have been decimated by injuries to their defensive corps, as they've lost Henrik Tallinder for the playoffs, and Teppo Numinen has not been able to play through a hip pointer. That leaves four guys manning the area in front of Ryan Miller, and those four guys could all easily log close to 30 minutes of ice time tonight. Brian Campbell, Rory Fitzpatrick, Toni Lydman, and Jay McKee are healthy, and they'd better be ready tonight. The Hurricanes will try to run the Sabres out of RBC Center tonight, and they'll be successful if the Sabres can't find a way to score early and put the pressure on the 'Canes. Buffalo's biggest flaw the last two games hasn't been Ryan Miller. It hasn't been the defense, despite the staggering lack of depth. It's been the offense.
The Sabres have missed on a large number of golden scoring chances, and it's a trend that they have to reverse if they are to survive this series and get one step closer to a championship that would invigorate the city of Buffalo and all of western New York, where the fans have suffered through those four straight Super Bowl losses with the Bills, along with the Sabres' 1998 Cup Finals run, which ended on a somewhat controversial goal by Brett Hull. If Buffalo wins tonight, it will be because they cashed in on Carolina's defensive zone mistakes and turnovers, which were happening left and right in the first period of Game 6, yet Buffalo only scored once prior to overtime.
I'm sticking with Buffalo, who I picked to make the Finals before the playoffs started. But it should be known that Carolina has to be considered the favorite to win tonight. Buffalo is too short on defensemen, and Carolina has too much speed anddiving ability skill.
Please, Ryan Miller. Please play the game of your life tonight.
32-5? To the PIRATES? The Brewers have apparently decided to suck. Hopefully, this is a short-term deal. Because good teams don't lose three straight to the Pirates by a combined score of 32-5.
Roger Clemens is back. Anyone surprised? Clemens signed another one-year deal with Houston on Wednesday. He'll make about $3.5 million.
A month.
The Astros get an ace pitcher who won't break down late in the year like Clemens did last year. And they get him at what will be a relative bargain if Clemens pitches like he has the last two seasons.
Clemens gets to play in the same organization as his son, and he gets tosweep that secret 50-game steroid suspension under the rug stay close to home.
This latest conspiracy theory (Bud Selig told Clemens to stay away until June because they caught him using steroids) is somewhat interesting. Obviously, it has merit in that Clemens is, you know, 43 and still pitching like he's 23. And with the exception of late last season, he's really never been injured in the last few years of his career. However, he signed on the day of the Astros' 54th game, and he still isn't going to play for Houston until at least June 22, which will be around Game 70 for the Astros. Why would Clemens or the Astros want a 50-game "suspension" to really last closer to 70 or 75 games? And why would Selig, even if you think he's the biggest idiot on the planet, risk something like this getting out and destroying the credibility of the "new" steroid policy at a time where Congress is still watching over baseball like I watch over my four-year old when he's riding his bike on the Lakewalk?
The Sabres have been decimated by injuries to their defensive corps, as they've lost Henrik Tallinder for the playoffs, and Teppo Numinen has not been able to play through a hip pointer. That leaves four guys manning the area in front of Ryan Miller, and those four guys could all easily log close to 30 minutes of ice time tonight. Brian Campbell, Rory Fitzpatrick, Toni Lydman, and Jay McKee are healthy, and they'd better be ready tonight. The Hurricanes will try to run the Sabres out of RBC Center tonight, and they'll be successful if the Sabres can't find a way to score early and put the pressure on the 'Canes. Buffalo's biggest flaw the last two games hasn't been Ryan Miller. It hasn't been the defense, despite the staggering lack of depth. It's been the offense.
The Sabres have missed on a large number of golden scoring chances, and it's a trend that they have to reverse if they are to survive this series and get one step closer to a championship that would invigorate the city of Buffalo and all of western New York, where the fans have suffered through those four straight Super Bowl losses with the Bills, along with the Sabres' 1998 Cup Finals run, which ended on a somewhat controversial goal by Brett Hull. If Buffalo wins tonight, it will be because they cashed in on Carolina's defensive zone mistakes and turnovers, which were happening left and right in the first period of Game 6, yet Buffalo only scored once prior to overtime.
I'm sticking with Buffalo, who I picked to make the Finals before the playoffs started. But it should be known that Carolina has to be considered the favorite to win tonight. Buffalo is too short on defensemen, and Carolina has too much speed and
Please, Ryan Miller. Please play the game of your life tonight.
32-5? To the PIRATES? The Brewers have apparently decided to suck. Hopefully, this is a short-term deal. Because good teams don't lose three straight to the Pirates by a combined score of 32-5.
Roger Clemens is back. Anyone surprised? Clemens signed another one-year deal with Houston on Wednesday. He'll make about $3.5 million.
A month.
The Astros get an ace pitcher who won't break down late in the year like Clemens did last year. And they get him at what will be a relative bargain if Clemens pitches like he has the last two seasons.
Clemens gets to play in the same organization as his son, and he gets to
This latest conspiracy theory (Bud Selig told Clemens to stay away until June because they caught him using steroids) is somewhat interesting. Obviously, it has merit in that Clemens is, you know, 43 and still pitching like he's 23. And with the exception of late last season, he's really never been injured in the last few years of his career. However, he signed on the day of the Astros' 54th game, and he still isn't going to play for Houston until at least June 22, which will be around Game 70 for the Astros. Why would Clemens or the Astros want a 50-game "suspension" to really last closer to 70 or 75 games? And why would Selig, even if you think he's the biggest idiot on the planet, risk something like this getting out and destroying the credibility of the "new" steroid policy at a time where Congress is still watching over baseball like I watch over my four-year old when he's riding his bike on the Lakewalk?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)