If it weren't for bad luck

Sometimes a person, but in this case an entire country, simply can not catch a break, has absolutely no luck.  


That's true of the Greek state, a nation battered by bad leadership, bad economic problems - and even worse solutions.


Sports is one potential reprieve.  But whereas Friday's spirited fight and 1-1 tie with Poland was inspirational, today's depressing defeat to the Czech Republic was just 'throw up your hands' sad. 


What more can happen to the motherland?  We came out sloppy on defense, victim to a new back line made up of transplanted midfielders and a new goalie. The Czechs immediately took advantage of Greece's awkward back line to score two quick goals within the first seven minutes (a EURO record, BTW).


Our back line was weak, our goal keeper Halkias even weaker. The second goal in particular simply and sloppily squirted right past him.  Bad luck defense, bad goal keeping.


Like they did versus Poland, things proceeded to get a little worse. With five minutes left in the first half Ellas scored, but the goal was negated by another bad call - this time a terrible offsides call.  It's soccer's worst and most inconsistently called rule, and it stung the inventors of civilization today.


Greece did admirably fight back in the second half, and Fanis Gekas punched in a misplayed ball by Czech goalie Peter Cheh to cut the lead in half early in the second period. Despite outplaying the Czech Republic squad for the final 50 minutes Greece could get no closer, and lost a crucial game today.


All is not lost.  If Greece manages to defeat Russia and if the Czechs defeat the Poles the motherland could advance to the knock out round.


Greece miraculously won EURO 2004; no one expects a repeat of that improbably championship. However, it would be nice to see Greece win a game or two, or at least not run into so much bad luck, bad goal keeping, and tough calls from the refs.   But I guess when you are on a country-wide losing streak, complete with double digit unemployment, a 3-year long recession, record deficits, and a mean spirited and ineffective austerity plan' that's simply too much bad juju and bad karma for the Greek soccer team to overcome. 


Our Ethniki has admirably shown some fight at EURO 2012.  Let's hope the team - and of course the nation - is rewarded for that effort against Russia on Saturday.

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.'