Just got back from the old Irish Pub were I had spent the evening for some hot teen action...in soccer. My enthusiasm was still going strong from last Friday's showing against Brasil, BRASIL!!! but really I was looking forward to the hot new hairstylez that have been popularized by the boyz from the barrios of the other U. Well, maybe not. But I did find it interesting that Hugo Chavez's goofy brother Ralf was coaching his brother's neighboring country's top youth team. Explained a lot about the rest of the match.
Ah, the match. The match was a bit appropos of my viewing setting. It was a lot like drunk sex: it took a while to get going, it got pretty messy, and when we got the desired result, it was all worth it. You even had the equivalent of a post-hookup squabble. To beat this simile into the ground like Barbaro (oh snap!), the first goal was a drunken mistake, the second was a 5 bagging an 8, and the last one was like a supreme hatefuck (I am praying to God so hard that my parents don't read this). All in all, a pretty satisfying experience.
I'm not going to the gimmicks this time to assess this win, because it's late and I have work early tomorrow, but I'll spend a little space, and put on my Dr. Tobias Funke analrapist cap and get to analyzing this key match.
Definitely not as strong a showing as the Brazil match, but a bit of an emotional letdown was to be expected after such a tremendous showing, and not too surprisingly the Gringinhos came out a little flat at the start. Fine. Also, Chris Seitz, goalie prodigy, was injured on one of the 8,000 saves he made against Brazil, meaning some dude who looked shakier than Lindsay Lohan in rehab was starting what is probably the most important position on the pitch. As I said to the budding futbol fan my (and MT and Lil Bro's) Dad, the guy played pretty well for being completely overmatched.
The Uruguayans came out with a cheap as Rodman's gameplan to throw our Gringinhos out of sync by playing like a bunch of Medellin thugs (wrong country, I've just been watching a lot of Entourage recently). It worked. They knocked Jozy Altidore out of the match with a cheap foul. Actually, the U'ers were really, really good cheap shot artists. They were much more discrete then the runners up, Mexico, and more effective, knocking out one of the U.S.' best players. It was like Slapshot on grass, all was missing was Michael Bradley doing a mock burlesque show at centerfield.
Freddy Adu, who along with Ryan Zimmerman badly needs a good nickname, played Isiah Thomas for the U.S., even though the U(2!) was doing a collective Bill Laimbeer impression. He made a couple good runs, gave his teammates a number of good setups, and was all in all the best playmaker for the U.S. even if he did overshoot every corner he took. He even seemed to be a good captain, though it's hard to tell from a distance how guys respond to that kind of stuff.
Obviously Bradley was good as well, scoring the winning goal and telling that Uruguayan who charged up after the game to check out that scoreboard. Beck or whatever the surfer dude backup goalie's name was actually did end up stepping up towards the end after gaining some confidence. Despite looking a lot like this guy in the beginning, he ended up playing like my blogsake, Ollie the Short kid from Hoosiers. The defense, especially No. 14 (I am totally mailing this post in right now to get some sleep). Anyway, all ended up going well. You have to like a day in soccer where the U.S. wins and Mexico gets embarassed on a major stage.
Freddy Adu, USA forward: "We played a great game tonight. It was a tough one for us and we had to fight our way back into it...and we did exactly that. A champion team has to find ways to win when the chips are down. No team can win a world championship without winning one of these ugly games." via fifa.com Sums it up pretty well. Also, match highlights: here.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
New Olympic sport
I propose a new Olympic sport for Beijing 2008: paintball.
Wait, before you scoff, do you deny that millions would tune into the gold-medal match between Russia and the U.S.?
Miracle on Ice, bah! We'd have a Miracle on Grassy Field, with tires and steel drums and, uh, other fake war shit.
And maybe, just maybe, if the countries of the world could resolve their anger through trading balls of rainbow-colored paint, we'd have no more Iraqs.
But we'd need a good ref. No Kofi Annan. The Dali Lama wouldn't accept. Tony Blair already has his hands full referring somewhere else.
Ah, got it!
Ref-for-Life Marion Barry!
Wait, before you scoff, do you deny that millions would tune into the gold-medal match between Russia and the U.S.?
Miracle on Ice, bah! We'd have a Miracle on Grassy Field, with tires and steel drums and, uh, other fake war shit.
And maybe, just maybe, if the countries of the world could resolve their anger through trading balls of rainbow-colored paint, we'd have no more Iraqs.
But we'd need a good ref. No Kofi Annan. The Dali Lama wouldn't accept. Tony Blair already has his hands full referring somewhere else.
Ah, got it!
Ref-for-Life Marion Barry!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
WizNuggets
Here are some WizNuggets to chew on, perhaps with some real meat hidden somewhere in the breaded flotsam.
First, the analysis of the Wiz draft by Real GM:
"Washington Wizards
Round 1: Nick Young (16th)
Round 2: Dominic McGuire (47th)
Nick Young could have easily been a top ten selection in any of the past five NBA Drafts. With little depth at shooting guard, expect to see a deadly starting backcourt of Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young by the All Star break. Washington also gained another incredible athlete to back up Caron Butler at the wing position. The only reason the Wizards do not land an overall grade of an ‘A’ is because they failed to address their drama and deficiencies at the center position.
Talent Selected? 5
Addressed Team Needs? Mostly
Steal or Bust? If McGuire can gain a strong jump shot, this tremendous athlete could be a steal."
Some nice possibilities there. Still puzzled why we are throwing a reported 15 mil/4-year offer at DeShawn with Nick Young and JCN in the mix. Depth is an underrated commodity, but DeShawn is imminently replaceable. I'd be curious to see if that offer goes OFF the table if Nick Young lights up the summer league. With JCN, how smart would it be to hold out for the maximum offer from the Grizzlies, who want to pair him with Pau Gasol, his longtime homeslice? Not that they have players we want, but at least JCN would be going to the Western Conference. Hmmm. Any chance of getting Gasol here? When does his contract expire? JCN and Gasol clearly want to play together.
The second vein of nuggetry are the words of Agent Zero in his blog, where he pointedly tried to reassure Bullets fans that his opting out was not attempt to leave the team. He wants max money and years -- but understands the Wiz need to sign other players, then him with Bird exception. Gil writes that he does not want a situation like the one the Heat got into years back, signing Juwan Howard and preventing themselves from resigning Alonzo Mourning. We all know how that turned out.
The key here is that Abe Pollin needs to ante up. Resigning Gil may involve getting into the luxury tax, and Pollin has proven over the years to be one of the cheaper NBA owners out there. Gotta step up to play with the big boyz, Abe.
Based on summer league play, I'm really glad Chicago passed on Spencer Hawes, who seems to have offensive game... Hopefully our guys can get it going in game 2...
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Viva Los Futboleros
As for futbol, the U-20 World Cup Grout Stage match the US had against Brazil the other night was somewhere between the Miracle on Ice and a solid DC United win. When you think about US beating Brazil, it's pretty awesome; but when you think about the fact that this alos happened in 1989 and that group as a whole didn't end up making much of impact other than Alexei Lalas making more ridiculous claims than when the guy at my college who says he got a fullride to play polo at UVA but turned it down to pay an obscene amount of tuition at my small liberal arts college, Brian McBride (niiiiice), and Eric Wynalda (uhhhhh....), who also makes some really dumb claims abut U.S. soccer. And this Brazil team lost to U-20 soccer superpower South Korea sooooo, let's relish this as our young'uns outplaying a more talented team due to superior chemistry and coaching, and having some tremendous individual performances. Actually this deserves a bit of a breakdown, Dean's List style:
FREDDY ADU---Holy Crap, this guy had a helluva match, despite bitching WAY too much to the refs and other players (though the refs were mediocre and the Brazilians were taking some obvious cheap shots, like running into guys after a whistle...so it wasn't exactly unwarranted) though he is expected to do some of that as the captain for that match, which I was surprised-pleasantly, in the end-to see. He did a lot of the dirty work in creating both goals, ultimately setting both up, though he arguably committed a foul when he stole the ball on the first goal. But his move to get out of Brazil's (right?) corner past two defenders with good position on him to dribble around two other dudes and take a hard, quality shot whose rebound went straight to Altidore for an easy put in. I mean, he only juggled the ball over his head, past the Brazilian defender who was right on him, passing it to himself. Amazingly, ESPN didn't show a single replay of him doing this, just what happened after one of the sickest moves I've ever seen. If you consider yourself a U.S. soccer fan, or just a soccer fan in general, you have to see this goal, about 6:50 into this quality hihglight reel of the match:
I mean, as far as moves go, that was pure Cristiano Ronaldo, and really fucking sick. He also took some pretty good free kicks, though he over shot a few corners. Totally lived up to his potential in this match, great stuff. GPA: 4.3 A+
CHRIS SEITZ---Also, even though he gave up a goal, he made so many outstanding saves that he was easily as much of an impact player in this match as Adu. The defense for the U.S. wasn't too bad, it's just that they happened to be playing more of an offensive strategy with the wing defenders coming up more as midfielders. More on that later, but this dude was absolutely incredible. You could see he actually did a pretty good job of calming down that defense after some close calls and erasing just about every mistake made in front of him. After that performance, and even though it was a 'junior' Brazilian team, it had offensive talent that would already be starting on just about every other national team in the world, and they put together a LOT of quality attacks, most of which Seitz, a Maryland guy, stopped like Brad Friedel in the '02 World Cup. Dude did his best impression of Petr Cech throughtout this match. The Brazilian goalie had some great saves as well, but had less pressure put on him. The difference was the US finished better and Seitz played out of his mind. I'd definitely take him over the vastly overrated Kasey Keller and a struggling Tom Howard on the regular national team. Here's a quote about him, from the Brazilian coach, via Steven Goff's Soccer Insider blog: "Chris Seitz was huge in critical moments of the game, no doubt." GPA 4.3
THOMAS RONGEN---Solid strategy for this match, which to me looked a bit like the beautiful Argentinian deliberate passing method (I doubt they invented this, but it reminded me of a watered down version of their national team in this past World Cup) incorporated with an aggressive Dutch-esque total football, bringing up interchanging defenders and midfielders. The US U-20 team also has some obviously good chemistry, something the coach usually has something to do with, and they played about as hard as they possibly could, definitely something the coach has a lot to do with. If Bob Bradley doesn't work out, this guy deserves a shot. 4.0
JOZY ALTIDORE---Two goals, was in the right place/created the right situation for me at least a couple other times but couldn't finish. Obviously scoring twice is fantastic, though Adu deserves a lot of the credit for those put-ins. Still, Jozy looks to be part of a trend among young US players of being taller than the average Smurf. I'm really sick of the US bringing that put-it-in-the-mixer mentality to the World Cup when they clearly don't have a height advantage against a lot of European teams. Now it looks like the US is starting to have more and more guys who are taller, and Jozy is a part of that trend. He's only listed at 5'10'' on the US Soccer site, but he looks like he could be 6'1'', 6'2''. As Jay Bilas would say, dude's long. Maybe we can finally win some headers against teams like Germany or the Czech Republic. 3.7
SAL ZIZZO---This guy I have never heard of, like everybody on this list but Adu (who should start going by Fredito or Fredinho if he keeps playing like this), but it looked like Joe Cole was wearing his jersey the first half. Guy had some great on-ball possessiions, sick crossovers, and a quite little back pass once or twice. Looked like he faded some in the second half, but also looked to be playing more of a fundamental, passing role instead of trying to create for himself. Biggest thing he brought to the table though is that his name is S. Zizzo. I think we should change his name to Kingsley, and some red knit caps. Word is he quotes the Life Aquatic before every U-20s match. He is now my favorite soccer player, based almost entirely on his name (even if it is spelled differently, it's the pronunciation that counts, baby!). 3.0
ROBBIE ROGERS---And this is another solid name for a soccer player. He had a solid shot on goal that was the Brazilain goalies best save of the game. I think he did something else too. In the end, it's the alliteration that matters. 3.0
HONORABLE MENTIONS---Michael "Nepotism" Bradley, good job doing at the CDM position, Nathan Sturgis, probably the best defenseman for the US in this match, he was good down in our own box and played a bigger than usual offensive role with that aggressive gameplan.
FREDDY ADU---Holy Crap, this guy had a helluva match, despite bitching WAY too much to the refs and other players (though the refs were mediocre and the Brazilians were taking some obvious cheap shots, like running into guys after a whistle...so it wasn't exactly unwarranted) though he is expected to do some of that as the captain for that match, which I was surprised-pleasantly, in the end-to see. He did a lot of the dirty work in creating both goals, ultimately setting both up, though he arguably committed a foul when he stole the ball on the first goal. But his move to get out of Brazil's (right?) corner past two defenders with good position on him to dribble around two other dudes and take a hard, quality shot whose rebound went straight to Altidore for an easy put in. I mean, he only juggled the ball over his head, past the Brazilian defender who was right on him, passing it to himself. Amazingly, ESPN didn't show a single replay of him doing this, just what happened after one of the sickest moves I've ever seen. If you consider yourself a U.S. soccer fan, or just a soccer fan in general, you have to see this goal, about 6:50 into this quality hihglight reel of the match:
I mean, as far as moves go, that was pure Cristiano Ronaldo, and really fucking sick. He also took some pretty good free kicks, though he over shot a few corners. Totally lived up to his potential in this match, great stuff. GPA: 4.3 A+
CHRIS SEITZ---Also, even though he gave up a goal, he made so many outstanding saves that he was easily as much of an impact player in this match as Adu. The defense for the U.S. wasn't too bad, it's just that they happened to be playing more of an offensive strategy with the wing defenders coming up more as midfielders. More on that later, but this dude was absolutely incredible. You could see he actually did a pretty good job of calming down that defense after some close calls and erasing just about every mistake made in front of him. After that performance, and even though it was a 'junior' Brazilian team, it had offensive talent that would already be starting on just about every other national team in the world, and they put together a LOT of quality attacks, most of which Seitz, a Maryland guy, stopped like Brad Friedel in the '02 World Cup. Dude did his best impression of Petr Cech throughtout this match. The Brazilian goalie had some great saves as well, but had less pressure put on him. The difference was the US finished better and Seitz played out of his mind. I'd definitely take him over the vastly overrated Kasey Keller and a struggling Tom Howard on the regular national team. Here's a quote about him, from the Brazilian coach, via Steven Goff's Soccer Insider blog: "Chris Seitz was huge in critical moments of the game, no doubt." GPA 4.3
THOMAS RONGEN---Solid strategy for this match, which to me looked a bit like the beautiful Argentinian deliberate passing method (I doubt they invented this, but it reminded me of a watered down version of their national team in this past World Cup) incorporated with an aggressive Dutch-esque total football, bringing up interchanging defenders and midfielders. The US U-20 team also has some obviously good chemistry, something the coach usually has something to do with, and they played about as hard as they possibly could, definitely something the coach has a lot to do with. If Bob Bradley doesn't work out, this guy deserves a shot. 4.0
JOZY ALTIDORE---Two goals, was in the right place/created the right situation for me at least a couple other times but couldn't finish. Obviously scoring twice is fantastic, though Adu deserves a lot of the credit for those put-ins. Still, Jozy looks to be part of a trend among young US players of being taller than the average Smurf. I'm really sick of the US bringing that put-it-in-the-mixer mentality to the World Cup when they clearly don't have a height advantage against a lot of European teams. Now it looks like the US is starting to have more and more guys who are taller, and Jozy is a part of that trend. He's only listed at 5'10'' on the US Soccer site, but he looks like he could be 6'1'', 6'2''. As Jay Bilas would say, dude's long. Maybe we can finally win some headers against teams like Germany or the Czech Republic. 3.7
SAL ZIZZO---This guy I have never heard of, like everybody on this list but Adu (who should start going by Fredito or Fredinho if he keeps playing like this), but it looked like Joe Cole was wearing his jersey the first half. Guy had some great on-ball possessiions, sick crossovers, and a quite little back pass once or twice. Looked like he faded some in the second half, but also looked to be playing more of a fundamental, passing role instead of trying to create for himself. Biggest thing he brought to the table though is that his name is S. Zizzo. I think we should change his name to Kingsley, and some red knit caps. Word is he quotes the Life Aquatic before every U-20s match. He is now my favorite soccer player, based almost entirely on his name (even if it is spelled differently, it's the pronunciation that counts, baby!). 3.0
ROBBIE ROGERS---And this is another solid name for a soccer player. He had a solid shot on goal that was the Brazilain goalies best save of the game. I think he did something else too. In the end, it's the alliteration that matters. 3.0
HONORABLE MENTIONS---Michael "Nepotism" Bradley, good job doing at the CDM position, Nathan Sturgis, probably the best defenseman for the US in this match, he was good down in our own box and played a bigger than usual offensive role with that aggressive gameplan.
Wizards yada yada Spanish dude yada yada
Actually, I'm completely for keeping Navarro. I almost swallowed my tongue when I saw the JCN for Jeff Posey rumor going around. I think all this stuff about Cleveland or Miami being interested in him is kind of funny, since they have virtually nothing to offer in return except a gift certificate to Good Guys (Guys Bucks? Good Times Pence?) and some new cake recipes for Abe. Of course, nothing is going to get done until they figure out the DeShawn situation. It's starting to look like he's pricing himself out of any contract he might want again (I still refuse to call a $3 million dollar a year contract to play basketball "reasonable"), seeing as his name hasn't come up in any free agent talks except when mentioned context with the 'Zards. $3 mil a year would be a good deal for Ernie, and probably give them enough space to get JCN. It would probably help if they got rid of Brenda and Basketball's Poet Laureate. They're most likely stuck with what they've got at center in O-PEC and 32 Cent as is, and frankly, I prefer seeing what those two can do as opposed to overpaying the for next Jerome James. I think trading Haywood for a couple of dirt cheap, bust or boom players (like I've suggested before) packaged with an expiring contract, or a guy who might retire (like a Darius Miles, though that's a crapshoot). It's the best they're going to get for him, seeing as him and Predator Lite's sparring sessions have forced E-Grun's hand.
Seeing as JCN is a combo guard, they could also get rid of AD to a team that figures to make the playoffs, since he is pretty money there (his stats for this past season's brief first round appearance are pretty awesome, even though they didn't really have another legit point guard with Agent 0 out.) Seems like JCN might be a cheaper replacement, and he is supposed to a be a good clutch player as well. Not saying it would be ideal to get rid of Daniels, especially since that whole bench is already quite possibly the weakest in Association, but it would clear up more of that ever valuable cap space. They'd be building for the future for that, since they'll have to do some major re-signings and next year looks like it could be the biggest free agent crop ever, though that phrase gets thrown around a lot. One guy they could think about, not to look ahead way too far or anything like that, is Elton Brand, who might not get re-signed by Los Clippos now that it looks like Donald Sterling has stopped his loose and wild owning and gone back to being a cheap, bitter old bastard again. It'd be as close as the team could come to re-doing the 2001 draft and Jordan trading the #1 pick for Elton Brand, like they should have done in one of the weakest drafts ever.
Seeing as JCN is a combo guard, they could also get rid of AD to a team that figures to make the playoffs, since he is pretty money there (his stats for this past season's brief first round appearance are pretty awesome, even though they didn't really have another legit point guard with Agent 0 out.) Seems like JCN might be a cheaper replacement, and he is supposed to a be a good clutch player as well. Not saying it would be ideal to get rid of Daniels, especially since that whole bench is already quite possibly the weakest in Association, but it would clear up more of that ever valuable cap space. They'd be building for the future for that, since they'll have to do some major re-signings and next year looks like it could be the biggest free agent crop ever, though that phrase gets thrown around a lot. One guy they could think about, not to look ahead way too far or anything like that, is Elton Brand, who might not get re-signed by Los Clippos now that it looks like Donald Sterling has stopped his loose and wild owning and gone back to being a cheap, bitter old bastard again. It'd be as close as the team could come to re-doing the 2001 draft and Jordan trading the #1 pick for Elton Brand, like they should have done in one of the weakest drafts ever.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Holy Shooting Guards, Batman!
Just as the Wizards offer close to the mid-level exception for DeShawn Stevenson, the news breaks that FC Barcelona is ready to release Juan Carlos Navarro from the carbonite and into the waiting arms of Ernie Grunfeld. That potentially gives us Gil, DeShawn, Nick Young, Antonio, and JCN in the backcourt logjam. I agree with the folks over there at BULLETSFOREVER; the canny move is to keep JCN if you can keep him, not trade him away for the dream of a starting center. And no, Ollie, they won't be able to trade Navarro, Roger Mason, Wes Unseld and a gift certificate to Jaleo to Minnesota for Garnett. Don't even try it -- you'll just jam up the ESPN Trade Machine trying to stuff the gambas al ajillo into the USB port.
Keep JCN. He is a proven winner who'll give some needed experience and moxie to this fun-lovin' bunch. Give Haywood away for a bag of chips if you need to make a move. Thomas, Songaila, Pecherov, Blatche can rotate at the C. The top NBA teams have guys like Young, Antonio, JCN coming off the bench to keep the scoring hot while the starters sit. Less action for Gil, Caron, and Jamison means they have a better chance of staying healthy down the stretch.
Questions now are:
Does DeShawn take the offer?
What will JCN ask for?
Will Pecherov, Young, Blatche light up summer league?
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
In Defense of Futbol
Here is a guest blog from SHADOW, the Sandy, Baby intern who covers the world game:
My friends sent me a link to their DC sports blog. As I clicked the
link
and began to read, I searched for my favorite sport. Fútbol. [soccer
as
it is known in the United States). Much to my dismay, I could not find
anything. I thought to myself, "I know DC United is from DC. I go to
the
games at RFK. I know they must be considered a DC Team. Even though the
Redskins do not even play football in DC any more they are still
considered a DC Team. What gives?!"
DC United is a Washington DC area sports team. There. I said it. Just
in
case there was any doubt. Go to a game. You will be a fan too. the
energy there is outstanding. There are songs, chants, rants, and a
spirit that infuses you with the energy of the sport.
The grace of the moves. The deftness of the touch. You can see the big
plays develop as you hope for that lucky strike (not the cigarette but
a
goal). There is that anxiety that hangs in the air as you wait for your
keeper to make the save or your team to take the shot. You find
yourself
yelling out loud. "Shoot it!". It is all about the beautiful game.
No timeouts. No breaks for commercials. No play stoppage while they
review the play and see if it should be overturned. you take the good
with the bad. The controversial calls are as much a part of the game as
anything else. But it is about the game. No pause so that they can tell
you about the latest car models. Even half time...the mighty mites
(youth soccer teams), take to the pitch (field). The pitch is split in
half as two youth games go on. And yes, the fans cheer their play as
well.
As I said before, "what gives?". I hear the comments on TV about how
soccer is not as big in the US, or we just don't care as much. Well, I
care. The other fans care. Don't fool yourselves, there are a lot of
us.
At the recent Champions League final (look it up) which started at 3:45
the place was packed. standing room only and and no one else gets in.
The bar opened at 1 PM and there was already a line by the time I got
there at quarter till.
There is a bit of a catch-22 here. Many of the big games are not
televised so we can not watch them. If they do not show them how can
people follow their teams and get new fans to join them? Do they not
show them simply because of the what they think the audience numbers
would be? Or, it is because you cannot show enough add during the game?
Simply put, the television studios make more money showing a bowling
match because of all the commercials they can put in versus a soccer
match.
If they did not show all the Redskins games on TV or the Nationals
games
on TV would you care as much? if you could not see them and could not
read about them in the paper and there were no sports extras with
highlights, after a while, would we be saying those sports are just not
as popular as bowling?
MINOR THREAD here again. As a avid fan of both track and field and sumo, I know how frustrating the disrespect of lesser-known sports can be. SHADOW points out that coverage and popularity often have a reciprocal relationship, making ESPN not just an objective lense on American and world sports, but a determiner of what receives attention. Some of my favorite sports moments have involved the US national soccer team, although I have yet to attend a game in person. Ollie, Lil Bro and I do get some soccer street cred cuz our uncle named the Rowdies, though, right?
My friends sent me a link to their DC sports blog. As I clicked the
link
and began to read, I searched for my favorite sport. Fútbol. [soccer
as
it is known in the United States). Much to my dismay, I could not find
anything. I thought to myself, "I know DC United is from DC. I go to
the
games at RFK. I know they must be considered a DC Team. Even though the
Redskins do not even play football in DC any more they are still
considered a DC Team. What gives?!"
DC United is a Washington DC area sports team. There. I said it. Just
in
case there was any doubt. Go to a game. You will be a fan too. the
energy there is outstanding. There are songs, chants, rants, and a
spirit that infuses you with the energy of the sport.
The grace of the moves. The deftness of the touch. You can see the big
plays develop as you hope for that lucky strike (not the cigarette but
a
goal). There is that anxiety that hangs in the air as you wait for your
keeper to make the save or your team to take the shot. You find
yourself
yelling out loud. "Shoot it!". It is all about the beautiful game.
No timeouts. No breaks for commercials. No play stoppage while they
review the play and see if it should be overturned. you take the good
with the bad. The controversial calls are as much a part of the game as
anything else. But it is about the game. No pause so that they can tell
you about the latest car models. Even half time...the mighty mites
(youth soccer teams), take to the pitch (field). The pitch is split in
half as two youth games go on. And yes, the fans cheer their play as
well.
As I said before, "what gives?". I hear the comments on TV about how
soccer is not as big in the US, or we just don't care as much. Well, I
care. The other fans care. Don't fool yourselves, there are a lot of
us.
At the recent Champions League final (look it up) which started at 3:45
the place was packed. standing room only and and no one else gets in.
The bar opened at 1 PM and there was already a line by the time I got
there at quarter till.
There is a bit of a catch-22 here. Many of the big games are not
televised so we can not watch them. If they do not show them how can
people follow their teams and get new fans to join them? Do they not
show them simply because of the what they think the audience numbers
would be? Or, it is because you cannot show enough add during the game?
Simply put, the television studios make more money showing a bowling
match because of all the commercials they can put in versus a soccer
match.
If they did not show all the Redskins games on TV or the Nationals
games
on TV would you care as much? if you could not see them and could not
read about them in the paper and there were no sports extras with
highlights, after a while, would we be saying those sports are just not
as popular as bowling?
MINOR THREAD here again. As a avid fan of both track and field and sumo, I know how frustrating the disrespect of lesser-known sports can be. SHADOW points out that coverage and popularity often have a reciprocal relationship, making ESPN not just an objective lense on American and world sports, but a determiner of what receives attention. Some of my favorite sports moments have involved the US national soccer team, although I have yet to attend a game in person. Ollie, Lil Bro and I do get some soccer street cred cuz our uncle named the Rowdies, though, right?
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