Pretty Geeked Up

I am feeling Carolina-game anxious about the pending USA-Ghana match.  I'd feel much better if the U.S. could suit up Tyler Hansbrough or Ty Lawson, a great soccer player in high school.  

Even without a Carolina Ty on the pitch, coming off of the exhilarating win over Algeria I expect the US to come out aggressive against the Black Stars from west Africa's most successful democracy.

At least I hope they do.  If we can avoid an early mistake I'll feel great about our chances.  As I've blogged before, I would love to the see the U.S. win the World Cup.  Sure, it's a longshot but Ghana is a winnable game, and our side of the bracket is doable.

Go USA!

• So our pre-game preparations include listening to the Jackson 5 and popping popcorn.
• For the third game in a row, the US plays an incredibly tiny country.  How soon till the world press starts urging US to pick on someone our own size?

Americans Never Give Up

Not much more to say other than that headline - though I would add 'Yes We Can' to give our national team and our President a shout out.

What a phenomenal finish.  The U.S. clearly out played Algeria (still weird to think about such small countries as Algeria and Slovenia as rivals) and we deserved to win that game.  

But man was that a nerve-wracking win. And many Washingtonians, at least the ones at The Beer Garden on H St., were literally sweating it out on a sweltering day until the 92nd minute.

Luckily, persistence and effort - yes we can! - almost always win in the end. Yesterday, in South Africa that was personified by Landon Donovan and an exhilarating 1-0 win to send the United States into the knock round of the World Cup.

However

Many in Washington know that effort and persistence can only go so far. Welcome to Washington, Steven Strasburg.

For six innings against Kansas City Strasburg was once again pretty impressive. Not masterful, but still an A+ performance. Unfortunately, due to anemic hitting from the Nats, Strasburg picked up his first loss as a major leaguer, and finished on the losing end of a 0-1 score.

Many will focus on his 9 strikeouts, but I was most impressed by his ability to compete once he ran into trouble.  He fought his way out of multiple jams yesterday.

The shut out versus Kansas City - how embarrassing is that? - underscores the need to shake up the top of the line up. 

I'd bench Morgan and Guzman ASAP, and insert Bernadina in center, Morse in right, and Kennedy at second base.  Doing so would upgrade three positions - in one way or another - and strengthen the line up, too.

Bernadina is hot, and is a great fielder too. Morgan has been neither of late.

Morse is not much of a fielder, but has shown signs of developing into the kind of power hitter a team craves in a corner outfielder.

And unlike Guzman, Kennedy gets on base and would be perfect in the 2 hole of the lineup.

So I'd go: Bernadina, CF; Kennedy, 2nd, Zimmerman-Dunn-Willingham, Morse, RF; Rodriguez, and Desmond, with Morgan getting a start or two a week, maybe more for Guzman at SS and 2nd.  

And for good measure I'd give Landon Donovan some starts, too.

A Loss, But Went Out on a High Note

Though Ellas lost today, 0-2, to Argentina, at least our Ethniki went out fighting.  

We played Messi and company tough - in fact, played them even for 75 minutes or so - and even had a few scoring opportunities that simply did not pan out.  Though it was a loss, and a loss that eliminated Greece from the World Cup, at least they went down fighting.  

That is a worn out cliche, especially when it comes to sport, but for a team that embarrassed a nation and worldwide diaspora in their opening match versus South Korea going down fighting is an improvement.

Followers of Greek football have to say that the 2010 World Cup was a huge step forward.  One could assume that a country that won one of football's most important championships as recently as 2004 (though 2004 is a long time ago; for perspective Carolina has won 2 national basketball championships since then) would have higher aspirations than going 1-0-2 (3 points) in a World Cup.  But for a nation that was totally embarrassed in their only other appearance, in 1994, scoring 2 goals and getting a win is progress.

Almost more important than the win and the goals is the incremental changing of the guard. Unlike in 2006 or 2008, this team shed some of the old stars from 2004 and introduced some younger talent.  

Hopefully, qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and winning a game is simply a step in the right direction, a direction that will see Ellas routinely qualify for future European championships and World Cups. Remember, this is only Greece's fourth international final (1994 World Cup, 2004 and 2008 European championships are the other three) so let's hope this is the start and not the waning of a golden era of Hellenic football.

USA

Speaking of soccer teams on the rise, we can take a huge step forward with a win over Algeria tomorrow. This group has been unpredictable so we should not take Algeria for granted. But that said, you got to like our chances.

A win would move the US into the knockout round, but more importantly give this team some serious mojo.  If we can avoid giving up an early goal tomorrow watch out.

So another big sports today tomorrow - USA versus Algeria, and Strasburg back on the mound for 2-game winning streaking Nationals.

Unsatisfying

What an unsatisfying DC sports day.

Normally, coming back from an 0-2 halftime deficit to earn a tie would be satisfying, but not yesterday.  If there's been one theme this summer it's been bad calls, from Jim Joyce to Joe West to the referee who called a phantom red card against host South Africa to the Malian referee in yesterday's game.  The knee jerk American reaction is 'instant replay' but for me the solution is simply more professionalism from referees and umps, something that seems to be lacking in every sport.

Of course, the silver lining for the US is that Algeria managed a tie versus group rival England.  If we defeat Algeria, certainly doable, or a tie against the north African nation coupled with a Slovenia win over England sends the US to the knock out round.  

But we deserved to win that game yesterday, which stinks.

Speaking of ties, the best the Nats could manage against the lowly White Sox was a 1-1 tie after 9 innings, including seven stellar ones from Steven Strasburg.  The White Sox were lucky to score one, but that lone run was enough to stymie the inept Nationals offense on the way to an eventual 1-2 Nationals loss in 11 innings. 

Strasburg had at least 3 pitches working at a magnificent level.  All his pitches - but especially his change up - had a tremendous amount of late movement, and President Obama's favorite team swung at numerous pitches in the dirt on their way to 10 strikeout versus Strasburg.

I've blogged this before, but the Nats need to find some hitters to get on base in front of Zimmerman, Dunn and Willingham.  Guzman has always been an 8th placed hitter masquerading as a top of the order guy.  He never walks, and needs to bat 8th in games he starts (though I'd also like to see Adam Kennedy get more starts, too).

And Nyjer Morgan has reminded us why the lowly Pirates gave up on him last summer.  His defense has suffered this season, and he's never been good at getting on base.   Though speedy Morgan never seems to bunt for a base hit and also fails to walk much.  And to put the cherry on top of this mal-tasting sundae, he gets caught stealing as often as he's successful.  So other than being a mediocre fielder, bad hitter, and lackluster base stealer, he's having a great season.

Manager Jim Riggleman needs to give folks like Roger Bernandina, Ian Desmond or Kennedy a chance to hit at the top of the order, an idea that is picking up momentum on the blogosphere (at least).

Ellas Did!

Did not see that coming, but a red card changes everything.  Zito h Ellas!

Clearly the red card against Nigeria, one that was deserved since the players were out of bounds AND he showed his spikes, changed the momentum of the game after Greece gave up another early and weak goal.  But the best part of the game for me was that Greece attacked.  

Red card or no red card, Ellas deserved to win that game.

My soccer high is muted by the horrible foul/off sides/whatever call versus the U.S. late in their game versus Slovakia.

The U.S. came out with purpose in the second half - and unlike Greece did not need a red card to wake up the team's competitive spirit.  We took it to Slovenia (which sounds weird considering we have 300 million people and Slovenia is the size of Connecticut) in the second half and deserved a win instead of a tie.

As folks know, the frustrating thing about the Greek team is their fatalism and inability to fight back.  For the U.S. the flat starts are equally vexing.  How a team playing on a stage like the World Cup can come out flat is beyond me.  

Perhaps it's as simple as the line up.  At halftime coach Bob Bradley replaced Findley and Torres, and the U.S. was much better with Feilhaber and Edu in the lineup.  I guess we'll see next week when we play a critical match against Algeria, who surprisingly tied England today.

Our group is still wide open.  The good news is the U.S. controls its destiny.   A win over the former French colony means we advance to the knock out round.  

Greece, as it is with its huge debt, needs help to advance. But Ellas can still make it out of the group stage.  Best bet for Greece is that Ellas ties Argentina (doable since the Albicelestes may rest their best players after clinching their group with the rout of South Korea), and a win by Nigeria, playing for pride, over Korea. That would leave Argentina with 7 points (assuming a tie), Greece with 4, with Korea and Nigeria with 3.

So go USA, Greece, and Nigeria!

Do or Die for Ellas

Tomorrow's game versus Nigeria - Thursday at 10 am eastern time - is a do or die game for Ellas.  It will be interesting to see how Greece responds after a lackluster performance versus Korea.  Hopefully Rehagel will make some long overdue changes to our line up, and Greece shows some thrasos versus Nigeria.


Specifically, I hope King Otto inserts Sotiris Ninis, the young and speedy Panathinaikos player and Liverpool's Sotiris Kyrgiakos, neither of whom got off the bench versus South Korea, into the starting lineup.  Greece could really use Ninis' energy and creativity and Kyrgiakos' presence (anyone is better than Louis Vyntra who really stunk versus Korea).  Finally, Rangers's Antonis Samaras needs to play as energetically as Fanis Gekas did.  Those two, along with Ninis, need to pace the Hellenic offense against Nigeria.


And we desperately need offense.  In four World Cup games Greece has yet to score, let alone lead or sniff a win.  But it's still doable.  Nigeria is no big deal, played a lackluster game versus Argentina, and are without their leading scorer.


But the real Greek key is if Ellas fights rather than display the annoying fatalism that has held us back, at least in Europe but not in the United States, since the fourth Crusade of 1204. Seven minutes into the game versus South Korea the fatalism took hold, and the game was over despite 83 minutes being left on the clock.  I think Ninis and Kyrgiakos can help hold the fatalism at bay, at least long enough to pick up 3 points.


Greece has to win versus Africa's largest country if they hope to even think about advancing out of their group.  Best case for Ellas is to defeat Nigeria and somehow tie Argentina next week, and finish with four points.  Even then, Greece needs lots of help to advance.  Korea has to lose to both Nigeria and Argentina.  If that happens Argentina will finish with 7 points (2 wins and a tie versus Greece), Greece with 4, Korea with 3, and Nigeria with 3 (their win over Korea).  


Of course, if Greece manages to defeat Nigeria AND upsets Argentina they should be home free with six points.  Looking at that scenario leads me to one logical conclusion: GO USA!

• If our goalkeeper, Tim Howard, is healthy I like the US's chances to make a deep run in the World Cup. A hot goalie can take a team a long way.
• A couple of Slovenian players have been talking a little smack prior to the game versus the U.S.  Note to Slovenians: I know we don't care about soccer, but invent rock and roll, jazz, baseball and basketball; have a Bill of Rights like ours; and develop TV shows like The Simpsons and Seinfeld before talking smack to the United States. 

Speaking of the United States, the baseball team representing our nation's capital seems to have hit a wall.  Prior to Straburg's call up, starting pitching was a strength of the Nationals.  But Lannan, Livo, and Atilano are in a collective funk, and J.D. Martin has not make anyone forget Scott Olson (how damning is that?).  The only good news is that after leaving Detroit the Nats host the White Sox and Royals, so a 6-game winning streak, potentially kicked off by Strasburg on Friday night, could be around the corner.

In addition to improved starting pitching I'd feel better about the Nats if Manager Jim Riggleman dropped Guzman and Morgan down in the order (to seventh and eighth, respectively).  Neither get on base enough - a real problem when you consider that Zimmerman, Dunn and Willingham have great on-base-plus-slugging numbers in the 3, 4 and 5 spots on the order. 

I say give Desmond and Bernardina a chance at the top of the order. 

Simply terrible game from Ellas

Greece's 2004 European championship has to be one of greatest upsets in sports history.  That unlikeliest of championships raised expectations, expectations that were once again dashed this morning against South Korea.

Greece's defense is supposed to our strength; the Greek strategy is to bottle up the other team and score off of set pieces. But seven minutes in, Greece's defense committed a silly foul deep in their end and gave up a goal on a sloppily defended corner kick from Korea.

Then, seven minutes into the second half Greece's Louis Vyntra got beat twice on the same play, resulting in a 0-2 deficit and effectively ending the game with 38 minutes left to play.

Actually, it looked like the game ended after Greece got down 0-1.  Ellas was incredibly passive in the first 45 minutes, and played with no passion or urgency - played very unHellenic.   

At halftime Greece's German coach, Otto Rehagel, substituted liberally and replaced arguably his three best players: Karagounis, Charisteas, and Samaras.  The tactic worked in that Greece was much more aggressive and at least took a number of shots in the second half, primarily due to the play of reserve Dimitri Salpingidis, whose goal against Ukraine sent Greece to South Africa. Leading scorer Fanis Gekas got some shots, too.

But despite the improved play Greece could not score - they have yet to score in the World Cup, ever - and are now in serious trouble of advancing out of the group.

As bad as losing, there are two more disturbing take-aways from this game. 

One, the lack of fight in the Hellenic squad after they fell behind 0-1. One essential trait of American teams, people, anything really, is the willingness and determination to fight back. Greece is the opposite; when things get bad too often the initial Greek reaction is to give up. That happened in the first half of today's game. 


Rehagel is the greatest coach in Greek history, but one wonders if he has sacrificed too much Greek passion in exchange for not enough German precision.  Both were lacking today.

Two, as it did in the 1994 World Cup, Greece played as if it was simply happy to be here. I shouldn't take for granted that this is the golden age of Greek football. For a team that rarely qualified for international competitions, in Europe or worldwide, to appear in the 2004 and 2008 Euros and the 2010 World Cup is a huge accomplishment. You would think after winning the European championship in 2004 Greece would strive for more than simply showing up. But in the first half it appeared that they were simply happy to be in South Africa.

Another American trait that Greeks do not often possess is looking on the bright side, and looking forward instead of backwards (to the fourth Crusade, to the catastrophe in Asia Minor, etc.). There ARE some positives for Greece:

• at least we lost to a democracy! Koreans are often compared to Americans in their temperament and fought like Americans and won the game;*
• the reserves played well in the second half, especially Salpingidis; he should start so perhaps it's time to bench Charisteas, the hero of 2004;
• Fanis Gekas was active; his energy was high and he'll hopefully break through against Nigeria;
• defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos, coming off a great season at Liverpool, should be back for the next game against Nigeria; no news on if he's injured but he did not even get off the bench;
• Nigeria's best player is hurt, so getting 3 points is NOT impossible, and if, IF, Argentina has six points after 2 games they could rest their stars and Greece can eek out a tie; that would give Ellas 4 points and a chance to qualify.

It takes a Greek-AMERICAN to write that last bullet. A lot has to go right for Ellas to advance, but it is still doable. The key will be if Greece fights, and resists the urge to resort to the infamous Hellenic fatalism that was on display seven minutes into the game.

Elate tora pedia!

The other good news for today will hopefully be supplied by Evan in his baseball game, and by the US versus England. A US tie or win would wash the bad, stale frappe taste out of my mouth from this morning's 0-2 loss. 

* Coincidentally enough, Korean-Americans are often compared to Greek-Americans, not just Americans.  Not to dwell in stereotypes, but some of the parallels are interesting:   

• in New York City, Greek immigrants were famous for owning flower shops; now Korean-Americans predominate;
• until recently Greek-American shops could be found in most inner cities; in many US cities Korean-Americans have replaced those formerly Greek-owned inner city businesses and grocery stores;
• we're both supposed to hot heads, a trait that could have come in handy this morning in Greece's 0-2 loss to Korea.

Big sports weekend

A good sports week keep rolling this weekend, with Greece playing South Korea and the US taking on England in the World Cup tomorrow, Evan's Tigers playing for third place (unfortunately at the same time the US is playing), topped off with Strasburg's second start of the season. Oh yeah, game 5 of the NBA Finals, too.

I'm excited about the World Cup.  If Greece hopes to advance out of their group they have to beat South Korea.  Getting 3 points in the biggest meeting of Greece and Korea since the Private Charles Lamb episode of M*A*S*H is a must for Ellas.  Well, not really a must - a win over Nigeria is doable, too - but getting points tomorrow certainly is.  If Greece loses advancing will be very difficult.  Either, it's a mega game for Ellas.


The game is on the big screen in DuPont Circle, but a 7:30 kickoff likely means I will watch it from home (of course, if anyone is definitely going to DuPont tomorrow let me know).


But Greece Korea pales compared to US v. England.  I think we've got a chance of tying the Knights of Saint George, primarily due to our better goal keeping.  Tim Howard plays in the EPL so that should help.  


The US can lose and still advance out of their group; we're better than Algeria and Slovakia. The tilt versus the 3 Lions will be a great measuring stick for the US team even if we don't pick up points.  But here's betting that we pick up a point in a very exciting tie.


I didn't see much of the two ties today, between South Africa and Mexico, and France versus Uruguay, but the first one was a good game to watch and the second one made me a fan of Uruguay. Really hard to root for France this year despite their excellent national anthem.


Evan's last game of the season is tomorrow.  We thought his Tigers could win the Minor League title this year, but the team really stunk up the joint on Wednesday night so it's on to the consolation game.  The good news is that Evan had fun playing baseball this season, and was called up to the Majors twice.  


Finally, can't wait for Strasburg's next start on Sunday versus the Indians.  And now, after tonight's humbling loss to Manny Acta's Indians, taking the next 2 games of the series is even more important.  Adding insult to injury tonight was Austin Kearn's two homers against the Nats.  When a Jim Bowden Reds reject beats you it's a tough night.


On to the World Cup!

Best Nats Night Ever

I don't think it's a stretch to call tonight's 5-2 win over the Pirates - behind Steven Strasburg's 14 strikeouts - the best Nats game ever. 

The only comparable games are probably the first game in 2005. Or perhaps the first game in Nats Park, won by Ryan Zimmerman's walk off homer.  

But after both of those games the horizon for Washington baseball did not look as promising as the one you could see from this game.

Strasburg was almost better than advertised.  It's hard to imagine how you keep your emotions in check and stay in control on a night like tonight.  Not only is it your major league debut, which is intimidating enough for many players.  But to debut with so much hype, attention and hope - and still excel - is very impressive.  

Strasburg was as emotionally cool as his pitching was hot. And he was very hot.  His fast ball was clocked at 101 miles an hour.  His change up was clutch, and his pitches had so much late movement.  Tonight Strasburg was like a cross between Nolan Ryan's speed and aggressiveness with Greg Maddux's late movement and command.  Heck of a combo.

Finally, his numbers tell the story: 14 strikeouts, 0 walks, 2 runs in 7 innings; one win.

How cool was it to see the Nats best young hitter, Zimmerman, remind folks that he's still the teams best (position) player, getting 3 hits, scoring 3 runs and going deep in his first at bat.

It was a great win and a great night.  Strasburg dealing, and 3 bombs from the Nats bats.

But more importantly, it was tangible proof that we may actually have a real baseball team in town.  How cool is that?

Suprisingly and not so surprisely emotional weekend

It was an oddly emotional weekend for me.  

Friday was Evan's birthday, with his party at Nationals Park before we hosted a sleepover that night.  The party was fun, Evan had a great time with his buddies, the Nats, we were able to post a 'Happy 11th Birthday Evan Manuel' on the scoreboard, AND it was fireworks night.

All day Friday I kept thinking how lucky I am to have a son like him.  I'm obviously quite biased, but Evan is an outstanding dude (now know, by the way, by a new nickname 'K Smooth' which I think is short for Karagounis).  It was great to celebrate him on his birthday, but everyday with him is great.

We justifiably have celebrated Ariadne for handling her diabetes, making the honor roll at her new school, etc.  But we need to also celebrate Evan. He's fantastic. I'm equally proud of him and equally lucky to have him as my son.

But I got oddly emotional thinking about John Wooden's death.  I've always been pretty ambivalent about UCLA, but I'm old enough to remember how dominant they were and still remember when NC State beat them in the final four in 1974, and when Notre Dame ended their winning streak early that season.

I think Wooden resonated not just because he was successful, but that he was humble and decent AND successful.  He was a model American, and a reminder that if you excel the accolades will come to you even if you don't beat your chest or speak in the third person or whatever.

The morning of Wooden's death - and the morning after the sleepover - I woke up early to catch the US-Australia football game, the final tune up prior to the World Cup next weekend. I watched most of it taped, but right after the match ESPN broadcast an episode of 'Outside the Lines' entitled 'Robben Island: A Greater Goal.'

Robben Island is the infamous site of the apartheid-era prison that housed Nelson Mandela among others. The amazing part of the story is that in a place where TVs, newspapers, and radios were prohibited prisoners were allowed to play football (the black sport in South Africa, with rugby the white sport, as depicted in the film "Invictus.").

The political prisoners eventually organized the Makana Football Association, complete with a schedule, player stats, uniforms, and even a written constitution. The prisoners never lost hope that they would one day get out, and more importantly that apartheid would eventually crumble - and when it did it was up to people like them to build a new, multi-racial South Africa based on reason, justice and fair play.

The constitutionally-guided football league worked so well - in a prison - that when Mandela and his fellow political prisoners were freed they consciously used it to inform the drafting of the new South African constitution.  In fact, the drafter of the MFA constitution drafted the national version, and he is now the chief justice of the multi-racial nation's Supreme Court.

As you can tell, it's an incredible story, one that made we tear up as I reflected on what these men had endured and accomplished. They never game up, never let prison make them cynical or feel defeated. Instead, they defeated apartheid.

Persistence, whether you are the Colorado River making the Grand Canyon, or a political prisoner fighting apartheid, always wins. It's the only thing that does.

Finally, in my last blog I questioned whether holding the World Cup in a nation built by an apartheid regime is really a celebration of Africa.  I was obviously quite wrong. Men like Nelson Mandela built South Africa, a feat worth celebrating when the World Cup starts on Friday. 

Anyway, Evan, Wooden and Mandela kept me weepy all weekend.

Completely random notes:

• On a more ridiculous topic I also stand corrected on Rob Dibble, who I criticized in my last blog post.  I've changed my tune after hearing him rag on Joe West all weekend. Dibble and others like Ozzie Guillen are correct - West acts as if fans pay to see him umpire. At Friday's game West, who was the first base umpire, came all the way across the field to call Ian Desmond out at third. And when Desmond apparently complained West threw him out of the game to boot.
• Terrible loss for the Nats today, who now stand a season-worst four games under 500. But this will likely be the biggest week in Washington baseball in a long, long, very very long time. Steven Strasburg makes his major league debut on Tuesday. And the day before, the Nats are expected to draft Bryce "Baseball's LaBron James" Harper with the number pick. Pencil the Nationals in for the 2012 World Series. Great article on Harper, from the perspective of former bonus baby Matt White, by brother John Manuel here.
• Instate replay is not the solution to the spate of bad umpiring lately.  They need better trained, less-arrogant umpires who are held accountable when they display a pattern of bad calls. 
• Obviously very tough to lose a perfect game, but did anyone have a better week than Armando Gallaraga? He pitched a perfect game, and when it was officially taken away from him he handled himself with class, dignity, and incredible grace. He would have been a baseball legend with a perfect game, but now he's a folk hero. Congrats to him for pitching a great game and being a great guy. 
• And congrats to the Detroit fans who cheered empire Jim Joyce the next day. Classy displays all the way around. Perhaps some fans had screened 'Robben Island?'

Blogging Locally AND Globally

This summer is shaping up to be a good one, at least in the non-oil spill world.  
I'm not talking about the NBA Finals, which features two unlikable teams.  How unlikable is the Celtics franchise?  Even with Ra playing a prominent role I STILL can't root for the Cs.  


But can I really root 'for' the Lakers?  No.  

James Worthy played for the Lakers, so I guess I'd rather see the Cs lose.


But my summer will be spent following our resurgent Nats - with Steven Strasburg in town next week - and the World Cup - with my two favorite countries playing.


Nats Notes


How nice to have a real baseball team.  A 26-26 record one-third of the way into the season is cause for celebration enough, even better with Strasburg on the horizon.


For comparison, the Nats were 26-61 last year.  61 losses! 


The irony of Strasburg charging up this season is that the Nats' pitching has been pretty good. Livan Hernandez has been rejuvenated, John Lannan and Scott Olson (though his is currently fighting off shoulder problems) have turned their seasons around, and unheralded Luis Atalano has been above average.  Strasburg will likely take Craig Stammen's place, giving the Nats a pretty impressive starting rotation.


The bullpen, at least Burnett, Clippard and especially Matt Capps, has been excellent.  


The Nats' offense and defense have been bigger issues.  The middle of the order has been solid offensively, but Nyjer Morgan has been pretty weak at the top of the order, and has been equally bad in the field of late.


Manager Jim Riggleman dropped Morgan to second last night - with Guzman leading off - and the Nationals scored 14 runs, so maybe the batting order reordering will get the offense on track. 

But I'm not crazy about either of those guys, neither of whom walk much, at the top of the order. Instead of just flip flopping Guzman and Morgan, I'd move rookies Roger Bernandina and Ian Desmond to the top of the order and see how that works.

Finally, look for the Nats to go on a few more mini-winning streaks once Ivan Rodriguez returns from the DL. As great as Strasburg's arrival will be, getting Pudge back will probably be a bigger deal in the won-loss column. 


A few more Nats notes:

• I like the Nats' radio guys a lot.  Both Charlie Sloss and Dave Jaegler do a nice job.  On TV, Rob Dibble is not good; he doesn't do his homework and talks about himself a lot.  Rob Carpenter is a competent play-by-play man.  He's a little clichéd, but did make a surprising Simpsons reference the other night.
• The dude I love listening to is Ray Knight. He mainly does the pre- and post-game shows, but when he's in the booth as the color man he's excellent.  He doesn't hold back on the praise or the criticism.
• One snarky comment:  Manny Acta, who led the Nats to their 26-61 mark last year, is currently managing the Indians to a 19-31 record. So he's 45 and 92 in the last two seasons, a year after a 102-loss season for the Nats.  He must be really charming in the interview.

World Cup Fever 

I'm surprisingly geeked up about the pending World Cup. Maybe it's the fact that both the US and Greece are in, the spectacle, the event being in Africa, or the cool Bono-narrated ads, but either way I'm excited.


Both America and Ellas should advance out their group.  We have a very doable and exciting group.  The US kicks off with a potentially intriguing match versus England.  If we can hang with Knights of St. George it should give the US squad quite a bit of confidence.  But no matter what happens versus England the US should handle Slovenia and Algeria, and advance to the round of 16.


Greece has a tougher group, with Argentina the favorite.  Greece has been pretty uninspiring since running the table and winning the 2004 European Championship in one of the biggest upsets in sports.  Greece will get outclassed by Argentina, but I bet Ellas will defeat both Nigeria and South Korea (or at least win one and tie one) to advance out of their group.  

Neither of those nations play an attacking style of football, so look for Greece's defense to keep both Nigeria and South Korea from scoring.  Conversely, as we did in 2004, Greece will do enough from set pieces to win/ties, and pick up 4 to 6 points and advance.


One cynical note. Having the World Cup in Africa, especially South Africa, is a tribute to Nelson Mandela.  And holding the event in Africa for the first time is also recognition that the continent is making strides towards stability and progress. 


But is it really a celebration of Africa when the World Cup is held in one of the two countries that used to be ruled, and an infrastructure built, by a racist, apartheid regime? On the other hand, South Africa has faired much, much better since majority rule was established than Zimbabwe has, a testament to the confident, wise, and strong leadership of Mandela.  

However, an event like the World Cup will truly be a celebration for Africa if it's held in Addis Ababa (my favorite since Ethiopia is the only African nation never to be have colonized by Europeans) or Abidjan (home of Didier Drogba and probably the most prosperous city in west Africa) or Lagos (largest city in what should be the wealthiest country in west Africa) - or Harare - rather than South Africa.