We are almost at the make or break point for ALL teams in the World Cup at this point. A few teams (almost all the African teams) fate has already been decided either positively or negatively as it relates to advancing to the next round. The U.S. is still in good shape needing just a win to advance to the elimination rounds. The elimination round will be your standard playoff bracketed format. Win and advance, lose and go home. No more ties (they will play extra periods if need be and go to a penalty kick shootout after 2 extra periods if still tied). The last games of the group play will be played simultaneously in each group as to not give any team an advantage of "knowing" what they need to do to advance. As a result I will be in full 2 tv mode during the US/Algeria and Eng/Slovenia matches. Is it too early to drink beer at 830 a.m. local time?
To clear up a point from the last entry. Being that you can't return after getting subbed out, some players buy a little extra time rolling around on the ground to assess their injury when they aren't THAT injured. Don't confuse this with the 80% of players who are being exposed by these super slow mo replays in HD for taking dives when another player gets within a foot of them. It's passed the point of irritating already with the number of fouls/cards/ejections awarded for these players channeling their inner Vlade Divac.
One good thing about the ref who disallowed (wrongly) a potential game winning goal by the U.S. against Slovenia is the fact that he did it, well, against the U.S. Clearly this country is not behind soccer to the intimate levels as other countries or he may have already have needed to be placed in a witness protection program. When a Colombian player accidentally scored on his own goal (against the US) back in '94...someone decided to correct his mistake a month later...with his life.
While we're dealing with Africa, shout out to Manute Bol who passed away over the weekend. First and foremost he was quite the humanitarian for his homeland, also the tallest player (or 2nd depending on who you ask) ever in the NBA. Has also been reported he was accidentally the originator of the phrase "My Bad". Have fun with that pointless bit of information!
I'd be remissed if I didn't quickly address Kobe being almost as good as Michael Jordan. Kobe is now 5 for 7 in NBA Finals with 2 Finals MVPs and 1 regular season MVP. Jordan was 6 for 6 in the finals with 6 MVPs and 5 regular season MVPs. Jordan would never have been on the absentee ballot for 3 quarters in a game 7. For my 2 cents, he's the best thing SINCE MJ...but he ain't.no.michael.jeffrey.jordan.
That Kobe/MJ conversation reminds me of how we assign hall of fame status to good to above average players over a given period. Are we required to say, "well, he was one of the best over the past 10 years so he HAS to be hall of fame" Just because you make me choose from limited options of whether I'll eat pigs feet, day old bread, or drink spoiled milk doesn't mean they are equivalent to food at a five star restaurant. Of course I'm not speaking of Kobe's merits regarding the hall of fame....but I am pointing a long uncle sam's finger directly at you Ray Allen.
Signing off with a video of the fastest 90+ year old in the world. For my money that's like being the person with the least body fat weighing over 300 lbs but we all know I'm an idiot.
6/19/10
6/14/10
Points of Interest
We are now fully entrenched into World Cup 2010 and judging by the number of people who've asked me questions about it and soccer in general since it kicked off Friday, I figured I'd take the opportunity to point out a few things of interest. I won't go complete soccer 101 but most questions center around these:
The World Cup format does a round robin group play initially. Each group consists of 4 teams and everybody within the group plays each other once. 3 pts. for a win, 1 for a draw (tie), 0 for a loss. Top 2 from each group move to a single elimination tournament. By all accounts the US should advance out of group play to the elimination tourney. Winning the whole thing, well not so much.
Offsides is when an offensive player is behind the last defensive player (not counting the goalie) before the ball is passed towards him.
There are no timeouts (45 minute running clock for 2 halves) and if you get subbed out you can't get subbed back in...which is why you see players rolling around on the ground like they got shot.
The cards...yellow card is a warning (similar to a technical in basketball except you don't get a free kick) and a red card (2 yellows also equal one red). If a player receives a red card, his team must play a man down for the remainder of the match, he's suspended for the next game, and he's responsible for doing the team's laundry that night (or maybe just the first 2).
Do not adjust your television sound. That constant noise that sounds like a swarm of bumblebees descending upon you is the un-ignorable (80% certain I made that word up) sound of fans blowing on there Vuvuzelas (not a double entendre). I'm no fan of it but when in Rome....(or Africa)
Vince Young found himself on the offensive end of a scuffle in a strip club in Dallas over the weekend. My issue with this is that a starting qb (most of the time), for an NFL team, who gets heckled constantly on the road.....could not refrain from fighting when someone insulted his alma mater of the University of Texas by flashing the hook'em horns symbol downward??? Do better VY...do better.
This video could be entitled one second changes everything. It (hopefully) bids farewell to Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time who's at the end of a storied career. To quote Tony Reali..."He got knocked the career out"
By the time you read this, the Celtics may have repeated history from 2008 in winning a championship against the Lakers in game 6, only this time on the road. I like their chances infinitely better at winning game 6 in LA than I do them winning game 7 in LA. My biggest concern at the moment though is why nothing more was made of Big Baby referring to himself and Nate Robinson as Shrek and Donkey.
The World Cup format does a round robin group play initially. Each group consists of 4 teams and everybody within the group plays each other once. 3 pts. for a win, 1 for a draw (tie), 0 for a loss. Top 2 from each group move to a single elimination tournament. By all accounts the US should advance out of group play to the elimination tourney. Winning the whole thing, well not so much.
Offsides is when an offensive player is behind the last defensive player (not counting the goalie) before the ball is passed towards him.
There are no timeouts (45 minute running clock for 2 halves) and if you get subbed out you can't get subbed back in...which is why you see players rolling around on the ground like they got shot.
The cards...yellow card is a warning (similar to a technical in basketball except you don't get a free kick) and a red card (2 yellows also equal one red). If a player receives a red card, his team must play a man down for the remainder of the match, he's suspended for the next game, and he's responsible for doing the team's laundry that night (or maybe just the first 2).
Do not adjust your television sound. That constant noise that sounds like a swarm of bumblebees descending upon you is the un-ignorable (80% certain I made that word up) sound of fans blowing on there Vuvuzelas (not a double entendre). I'm no fan of it but when in Rome....(or Africa)
Vince Young found himself on the offensive end of a scuffle in a strip club in Dallas over the weekend. My issue with this is that a starting qb (most of the time), for an NFL team, who gets heckled constantly on the road.....could not refrain from fighting when someone insulted his alma mater of the University of Texas by flashing the hook'em horns symbol downward??? Do better VY...do better.
This video could be entitled one second changes everything. It (hopefully) bids farewell to Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time who's at the end of a storied career. To quote Tony Reali..."He got knocked the career out"
By the time you read this, the Celtics may have repeated history from 2008 in winning a championship against the Lakers in game 6, only this time on the road. I like their chances infinitely better at winning game 6 in LA than I do them winning game 7 in LA. My biggest concern at the moment though is why nothing more was made of Big Baby referring to himself and Nate Robinson as Shrek and Donkey.
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