Another bad day in Washington

We've had lots of bad days in Washington since the Tea Party came to town in November, but today was a particularly tough one for our  sports teams (as the nation's capital we claim the national teams as ours).  Eerie to note the parallels between the U.S. women's national team and the Washington Nationals.

• Both teams played finals today - a World Cup final, and the final game of a 3-game series versus the Braves; granted the women's final was much, much bigger, but they were both finals.
• Each squad lost the lead twice in their games (the Nats led 6-2 and 8-7; the national team was up 1-0 and 2-1).
•  Both teams lost their lead late and in the eights; the 8th inning for the Nats, and the 81st minute for the women's national team.

There are other parallels I'm sure that perhaps involve Ichiro, but those 3 are enough. 

A tough couple of games.  But for the World's Cup the only comfort is that we lost to a team that relentlessly made plays.  The U.S. did pay for a sloppy clearance by Ali Kreiger late, but we lost mainly because of what Japan did - especially their goalie - rather than mistakes or errors by our team.

It was a great tournament to watch, and fantastic to watch Abby Wambach play, too.  Hope she can wait four more years for the 2015 World Cup (the year Ariadne graduates from high school, by the way!) and get another shot at a championship.  Wambach deserves it.

Excellent Sports Weekend on Tap

I don't think it's hyperbole to call this weekend's series between the Nats and Braves make or break.   Our hometown Nationals are only 8 games back of the Braves in the wild card race. 

An Atlanta sweep would practically put us out of contention.  Being 11 games out could THEN lead to GM Mike Rizzo turning the page to the 2012 season and trading veterans like Jason Marquis or Jason Coffey or Tom Gorzelanny. 

Come to think of it, no matter WHAT the Nationals do against the Braves, I'd trade those 3 in a heartbeat if given the chance.  With Jason Peacock (just called up to Triple A Syracuse), Ross Detwiler and even Chein-Ming Wang available or on the horizon those guys aren't worth keeping if the Nationals get a decent offer.

But back to the Braves.  It will be mano a mano, with our top 3 starters - Livo, Zimmermann, and Lannan - versus theirs - Hudson, Hanson and Jurrjens.

However, if the Nats take 2 of 3 from Atlanta it would be HUGE.  One, they'd pick up a game on a rival. Two, Washington would bolster their confidence by doing so on the road. And three, winning the series could provide some positive second-half ju-ju for first half flops like Jayson Werth. 

GO NATS!

Of course, the second half of this potentially excellent sports weekend is Sunday's Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan.  The U.S.'s wins over Brazil and France were riveting, as should the final.

We're supposed to be there but Japan has been a surprise.   However, they are not to be taken lightly, having clearly earned their berth in the final by taking down hosts and favorites Germany in the quarter finals before rolling over Sweden - a team that beat us in group play.

I like our chances mainly because I love Abby Wambach.  What a great competitor and teammate.  I love the casual way she describes her accomplishments - which have been significant and game-changing - in contrast to her more animated and excited descriptions of her teammates and team.   She's a leader AND a play maker.  Her skill - and height as she has scored two impressive headers in our last two games - have been key, and will be again against Japan.

Go National(s) team!

Best and worst

Today's win by the US women's soccer team was an incredible event.  How incredible?  Of all the bloggable topics - our vacation visits to Fenway, the baseball AND basketball halls of fame, Boston and Vermont; the Nats being 500 at the all-star break despite Jayson Werth(less)'s terrible return on their investment; Greece's on going crisis and the parallel one here in Washington on the debt ceiling - I have to blog on that stirring win on penalty kicks.

The game was the best and worst of soccer.  Watching soccer is always kind of tough; there is so little scoring that you don't want to turn away in case you miss an actual goal.  All that tension is magnified in an elimination game against a rival like Brazil in the World Cup.  

And the tension was even higher and crazier this afternoon when the referees blew call after call, and as a result the U.S. was down 1-2 to mighty Brazil AND were down to 10 players.  

One of those goals and the player deficit were both the result of a questionable call against Rachel Buehler that resulted in a red card AND a penalty kick goal. Of course, things got even worse when Brazil was awarded a second penalty kick by the referee after Hope Solo blocked the Samba Queens' first attempt.  Predictably, Marta nailed the do over and the U.S. was tied 1-1 and a player down with 40 minutes of soccer left.

The U.S. defense finally cracked in overtime when Marta scored again after the referees missed a possible off sides call on Brazil.

The calls on German soil were so bad, especially the penalty kick do over, that they reminded me of the 1972 Munich Olympics basketball game against the Soviet Union. In that game an Olympic official, not the referee, ordered a do over for the Soviet basketball team, a chance they converted with a basket to defeat the U.S. for the gold medal.

Despite trailing by a goal with only a few minutes left and only 10 players on the field, the U.S. was determined to go down swinging and displayed that epic American trait - for better (men's and women's world cup) or for worse (Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan) - of never giving up, and assuming that one way or another we will figure out a way to win.

And they did.  First Abby Wambach scored a dramatic-is-an-understatement goal with 2 minutes left in overtime to send the game to penalty kicks.  Then goalie Solo and the U.S. squad won it 5-4 on penalty kicks.

It was an exhausting and dramatic couple of hours, and put on display the best of the American spirit and the best of high-stakes soccer. 

But it also displayed the worst of soccer: the terrible referring which seems to crop up with shocking regularity, the diving and flopping athletes  - most sports value and reward toughness; soccer rewards acting, flopping and theatrics - trying to kill time late or fool the referees, and of course the stupid and inconsistent off sides calls.  

I would love to ref a soccer game. 

One, I would only say two words to any player who is not bleeding or does NOT have a bone sticking out of their skin, yet falls to the pitch: "get up." Or "get up you flopping ass hole; I'm not calling that a foul unless you are bleeding or have a bone sticking out of your skin.  Soccer is a physical game sometimes, so buck up!"

Brazil whined and complained and  flopped and stalled so much that the crowd booed Marta most of the game and was clearly on the U.S.'s side as the contest progressed.

Two, I would never call off sides.  Why is that even a penalty? Isn't there a goalie back there?  If an offensive player is behind the goalie it's off sides.  If they're not, then it's not.

Three, one rule change world football should adopt is prohibiting backwards passes once the ball has crossed the midfield line.  Once you cross midfield you have to stay on offense, period. When George Mikan and other big men entered the NBA in the 50s scoring plummeted as teams were afraid to go inside, so they passed the ball around the perimeter for minutes at a time (learned that at the Hoops Hall of Fame this weekend!).  That prompted the use of a 24-second clock.  A shot-clock in world football is impractical, but forcing teams to stay on offense would help increase the action and scoring.

Then again, the current rules produced a tense and taut game, so maybe we don't need THAT many rules changes.  But better refs would help keep the focus on the players, who were pretty fantastic to watch today.  

GO USA!

More there there than I thought

Like most of the hundreds of Nationals fans in Washington, I've gotten excited by their recent hot streak.  Though they have a talented roster, I thought that it was merely a hot streak on the backs of surging players such as Michael Morse, Danny Espinosa and pitchers like Jordan Zimmermann rather than proof that this year's squad is a talented and legit team. 

But something in today's Post is making me rethink that position.  Adam Kilgore reports that the Nationals have outscored their opponents 26-6 this year in extra inning games.  And yesterday, as the Nats - the Washington Nationals - played on national TV in the Fox Game of the Week a graphic showed that 11 percent of Nationals games have gone into extra innings, the highest percentage in baseball in almost 50 years. 

Not sure if the extra inning-games percentage means much: it could be that our bullpen is NOT as good as we thought, blowing leads too often; or it could mean than this team never gives up and has a talent for late-inning comebacks. 

Either way, I think outscoring your opponent by 20 runs in extra inning games is impressive. It demonstrates both physical talent - making plays on offense, defense and the base paths AND making pitches - and mental toughness and confidence. 

A young, talented roster AND confidence - and now Davey Johnson?  Go Nats!

A few more notes:

• I love the Davey Johnson hire, in theory.  He's a great baseball man with an impressive track record.  But it has been 10 years since he managed.  But of all the potential managers available it's hard to quibble with a hire like Johnson.
• Also hard NOT to root for Equatorial Guinea in the women's World Cup.
• One potential concern for the U.S. team - not enough Tar Heels (or less there there than usual). Historically fellow alums have made up half the roster, but this year only 3 of the 21 players on the U.S. team are from Carolina: Tobin Heath, Heather O'Reilly, and Lindsay Tarpley.