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).

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.

On to Presbyterian

I never like to blog after a loss, especially a loss to a team like Kentucky and a coach like Calipari. Say what you will about Krzyzewski, but Calipari makes him look like John Wooden.  As obnoxious as Duke's students and players are at least they run a clean program and have some integrity - something you can't equate with a school that has featured coaches that range from racist - Adolph Rupp - to corrupt - Eddie Sutton - to scumbags - Rick Pitino and now John Calipari. I'm glad in the depths of the post-Dean wanderings Carolina never got that desperate. 


Give me 8-20 over Calipari or Pitino any day.


Anyway, back to the game. The Heels' 66-68 loss did have some silver linings.  For me, the best part of the game was Larry Drew. He didn't play a perfect game but he continues to improve, and looks more and more comfortable running this team.  His decision making and shooting continue to improve, so much so that at one point in the second half I asked Evan 'why does Roy still have Drew on the bench?"


The second-half defense was also a highlight.  Amazing that a Carolina squad that only scored 66 points almost won a road game, so kudos to the second-half effort especially on the defensive end.


As it was against Syracuse, the Heels looked young during parts of the game - and Kentucky and John Wall took advantage. Questionable shot selection, and a failure to get back on defense - more to the point, a failure to stop Wall - killed the Heels.


Shot selection especially hurt us during their run. Kentucky's defense of our second unit - plus their transition baskets - made us look unathletic. And for a while in the first half, Kentucky out-Heeled the Tar Heels as the Wildcats rebounded and fast-breaked to a 19-point lead.


As I blogged after losing to Syracuse, that kind of stuff happens to a young team. 


The loss means the Heels are 2-2 against quality opponents (Ohio State, Syracuse, Michigan State, Kentucky), with a December 19th game at Texas (in Cowboys Stadium) wrapping up the meat of their non-conference schedule.  Has anyone played a tougher non-conference schedule than the Tar Heels?  Carolina fans should appreciate what this young team has done so far, especially if the Heels go on the road and down number 2 Texas in two weeks.

• Not many freshmen are as good as the hype, but John Wall is.  He was pretty impressive in the first half.
• Carolina  hosts Presbyterian on December 12th.  They really stand out on the schedule: Ohio State, Syracuse, Nevada, Michigan State, Kentucky, Presbyterian, Texas.  Only one of those teams did not play in the NCAA tournament last year.
• After a great game versus Michigan State, the freshmen really looked the part against Kentucky.  John Henson had two dunks blocked against the Wildcats, though Dexter Strickland had a nice dunk and overall good game.

Soccer Dynasty Continues


Carolina's womens soccer team won their 20th NCAA national championship (and 21st overall) on Sunday, 1-0 over Stanford. The Heels scored early,in the first 10 minutes, then clamped down on defense. Besides being their 21st overall, it is Carolina's third championship in the last four years, and the second year in a row they defeated an undefeated and untied team for the title.


As Dean once said, Carolina "is a women's soccer school."


World CUpdate


The U.S. got a great draw and should advance out of the group stage at next year's World Cup.  The U.S. is in the same group as England, Algeria, and Slovenia.  The U.S. and England should advance, and I'm going to predict a mild upset, picking the U.S. to tie England in their first game.


Greece got a tougher group but should still advance - a major accomplishment if they do.  Ellas is with Argentina but also with manageable foes South Korea and Nigeria (FIFA says Greece is ranked higher than both of those squads).  Look for Greece to lose to Argentina, tie Nigeria and defeat South Korea, and more importantly advance to the sweet 16 next summer.



More Good Nats News


Finally, I like the Pudge Rodriguez signing by the Nats.  A perfect mentor for Jesus Flores and our young pitching, and a more than adequate stop gap in case Flores is not ready for spring training.  It's not saying much when talking about a team that lost 103 games, but the Nats' off-season is going much better than their regular season did.

Watched Way Too Many Games On TV Today

Thanks to TiVO, two games played in Europe, a late afternoon start, and other factors I ended up watching 4 sporting events today - in their entirety - in between regular Saturday/parenting gigs (getting a hair cut, raking the front yard with Evan, going to dry cleaner and hardware store, buying a birthday present at Politics and Prose, and driving Ariadne to two events).  


In the end, two were worth watching and two weren't.  In order, I watched:

• The U.S. men's soccer team lose a snoozer of a friendly against Slovakia, 0-1.  I know, Bratislava in November is a tough place to play (tell me something I don't know).  The U.S., playing without Landon Donovan (busy with the MLS playoffs) and injured players Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onweyu, looked listless and unorganized as coach Bob Bradley mixed in some new players.  It was a boring loss and a pretty bad game to watch.  But it was only a friendly, though it does give all my Slovakia friends the right to talk smack at work on Monday.
• That firecracker was followed by Greece's 0-0 tie with Ukraine - in Athens - in a very important 2010 World Cup qualifying playoff game (shown live at 1 pm via Setanta Sports).  Ellas looked tight and tentative while the Ukraine was content to - successfully - play for the tie.  The Hellenic squad succumbed to their serious and stern Byzantine Greek side instead of being ruled by their active and happy-go-funky Classical Greek side.  And I think we all agree, in sports, it's better to play happy-go-funky than stern, and it showed today in a lackluster tie.   So in order to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Greece needs to win in Ukraine on Wednesday, or tie and win on away goals (for instance, a 1-1 tie means Greece advances since they would have scored more away goals that Ukraine).
• Things picked up at 4:30 when I started watching Carolina host Miami.  The Heels led 20-7 at half time thanks to a 77-yard interception return by Kendric Burney.  However, in the third quarter Miami came back and every Heel on the planet - even Bratislava! - felt another FSU-style collapse was eminent.  As it has all season, once again the defense bailed Carolina out as Burney picked off another pass that was eventually returned for a touchdown by Melvin Williams; Burney fumbled on the run back but Williams caught it in mid-air and ran 44 yards for the score.    The defense was the story, but give some credit to the offense too.   When Carolina needed one more drive to ice the game the offense drove 60 yards on 11 plays while eating up more than 5 minutes to ice the game.  It's Carolina's 5th straight win over a ranked team - third overall - and continues the post-FSU loss renaissance.  And the Heels are now bowl eligible.
• Finally, wrapped up the night with the Wizards losing to John Kuester's Detroit Pistons.  Behind newly signed Earl Boykins the Wizards roared back from an 8-point halftime deficit to lead for most of the second half.  But down the stretch Ben Gordon and Will Bynum (who played against each other in the 2004 National Championship game - vote in the poll please!) got hot and Gilbert Arenas of all people had two big turnovers.   The Wizards have now lost 6 in a row, and it appears that Arenas' timing and touch are not back after missing most of the last two seasons.  The Zards also need Star Heel Antawn Jamison back in the line up.

That's enough now.  I'm tired from all the time spent on the couch. 

World Cupdate

More football news to blog about.

Though Greece continued their winning streak against utterly inconsequential countries by defeating 'Luxembourg' 2-1 today in Athens, Ellas did not automatically qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Switzerland - hardly inconsequential due to inventing the cuckoo clock AND their compliance with the Nazis during World War II - won the group after tying Israel in a battle of nations with internationally-known flags.

The silver lining is Greece did finish second in their group (final tally: inventors of cuckoo clock, 21 pts.; inventors of democracy 20 pts.) and thus qualify for the European playoffs. Greece is one of four seeded teams, along with France, Russia, and Portugal, and will play one of the four unseeded teams - Ireland, Bosnia, Slovenia and Ukraine - in a home and home series on November 14th and 18th. The draw is Monday, October 19th.

The U.S. has already qualified but still played an exciting game tonight against Costa Rica here in DC. Team USA tied with Costa Rice 2-2, and scored the tying goal in the 4th minute of stoppage time on a dramatic header in the 95th minute. The win eliminated Costa Rica, the only nation in Central America without an army, and put Honduras into the World Cup playoffs versus Uruguay.

It was a dramatic goal, but the U.S. celebration seemed oddly over the top. It was tie, at home, and you would think by the celebration the U.S. had WON the World Cup. I like soccer more than I ever thought I would but some parts of the football culture, such as celebrating a tie, A TIE, is still odd and kind of stupid.

Finally, one day after I blogged about Rush Limbaugh buying his way into the socialist NFL the big-fat lier was dropped by his partners in the ownership group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams.

The power of the Internet is strong.

Cornucopia

It's a cornucopia blog this holiday Monday - lots of different sports topics to cover including a new one! I know, cornucopia is more of a Thanksgiving thing, but they both involve indigenous peoples so why not?

Baseball playoffs

The Twins did not deserve to win their series against the Yankees. The Twinkies had multiple chances to win games 2 and 3 and could not make a play, or plays, when needed. The Yankees did the opposite; even players like A-Rod stepped up. From Nick Punto to Joe Nathan to 17 left on base Minnesota had chances but simply did not capitalize.

Jonathan Papelbon caught some of what Joe Nathan had in giving up a two-run lead on Sunday as the BoSox were swept by the LAAofA. But unlike the Twins, who were in two of the three games they lost, you never got the sense that the Red Sox had a chance against Anaheim. The game one shut out by John Lackey seemed to sap the strength from the Sox, and their offense never recovered.

It should be an interesting ALCS. Petite and Sabathia will make the Yankees tough to beat. If those two start four of the seven games it will hard for the Angels to match up with New York.

In the NL, in sweeping St. Louis the Dodgers reminded everyone why they were the best team in the Senior Circuit for much of the summer. Andre Ethier, rejuvenated starting pitching, and timely relief pitching and hitting did in Tony LaRussa's squad.

Vicente Padilla's start, where he dominated the Cardinals in game 3, is making me believe that the AL may be that much better than the NL. In Texas, Padilla had an ERA of almost 5 (4.92 to be exact) before getting cut by the Rangers. With the Dodgers he went 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA, then pitched 8 innings of shut out baseball against Albert Pujols and company. In the playoffs. On the road.

Finally, the Phillies look like they will pay back the Rockies for the 2007 playoffs after winning game 3 last night. I still think the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL.

Change ups in Little League

Evan's Major League Little League team (majors is 10-12 year olds) lost a scrimmage game on Saturday 7-3. He went 1-3 but struck out in his final at bat. He was way ahead of the pitch he struck out on, and I thought he just was anxious or he simply struck out.

Then two batters later, one of his teammates struck out on the same pitch. I was coaching third base, near the other team's dugout, and asked one of the coaches if their pitcher was actually throwing change ups. The coach said yes, he was throwing change ups but only in certain situations. This is a 10-year old kid mixing up pitches and using a change up - in Little League - as his out pitch.

Quick Soccer Update

The U.S. went on the road to defeat Honduras on Saturday to clinch a spot in the 2010 World Cup. Any road win in Latin America is big. Not only was it a road win, but it was a come-from-behind road win. I'd write more, but the game was not shown on cable or free TV so I only saw highlights. The U.S. TV rights were held by a company that only offered the game via pay-per-view ( a la boxing and ultimate fighting).

Similarly, Greece dominated Latvia in the second half in a 5-2 comeback win. Fanis Gekas, the 2007 Bundesliga scoring champ who has been a non-entity in European soccer ever since, netted four goals for the Hellenes. Greece trails Switzerland by 3 points as both teams head into their final qualifying matches. Press reports say Greece can win their group outright if Ellas wins (at home versus Luxembourg) and Switzerland loses (at home to a surging Israel team). That would leave each team with 20 points. However, Greece lost to Switzerland twice so I can't see why Greece would advance unless the tie-breaker is goal differential and not head-to-head competition.

FYI, Greece's game over an obscure team and nation like Latvia sent me to the Internet. I could only find one Latvian restaurant listed in the entire U.S., the 'King of Latvia Deli' appropriately located in the great American melting pot of Brooklyn. And wikipedia lists Buddy Ebsen as the most famous Latvian-American of all time. That's right, Jedd Clampett/Barnaby Jones's mom was Latvian.

BOXING in the blog!

Great article on Sugar Ray Robinson in Sunday's Post. It's a mini-boxing boomlet here, as in addition to the Sugar Ray article I watched the Mike Tyson documentary over the weekend.

I've always found Tyson fascinating. He's very introspective and unsentimental about his failures in the movie. And only 20 minutes into the film he starts to cry when discussing his former manager Cus D'Amato, who discovered Tyson in a state juvenile facility when he was 14-years old.

Sad to see what has happened to boxing, how a simple and elemental sport can become so vulgar and grotesque and buffoonish. How can a sport turn fighters - serious, skilled, sober men - into cartoons? Is it Muhammad Ali's fault, who acted more clown than sober champ after regaining the title from Joe Frazier? Most of the blame rests with promoters like Don King, who shunned free TV in favor of pay-per-view, and multiple governing bodies and the alphabet soup of associations handing out titles.

Boxing, along with baseball and horse racing, used to rule the roost in the U.S., and being heavyweight champ was like being the king of the world. Boxing used to be great and the Sugar Robinson article, excerpted from the book "Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson" by Wil Haywood captures both the era and the tactics and challenges that were the reasons boxing used to be called the 'sweet science.'