Sun, 29 Jun 2008
Euro '08
The finals will be on in a bit. I'm actually looking forward to the game. Spain/Germany should be a good matchup. Germany's favored, but Spain has a lot of momentum coming in. I'm just glad I don't bet money on soccer. This tourney through out all the old rules on betting. I would have lost on Holland losing to Russia and I almost always bet on Spain losing-- even though I like them. Betting against Spain is like betting with "the house" in Vegas. The math and stats are usually against them. Hopefully they buck that trend for good. 29 Jun 12:24 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
Sun, 04 May 2008
Fulham Safe?
I have this little text file where I save short drafts and/or ideas about blog posts. I had planned on this longer one about how I've been bummed out about following the EPL and I'm finally getting around to it as the season's winding down.
Before "cable" it was difficult for me to follow foreign games (that weren't in Mexico), especially the EPL. My brother has always liked Arsenal, and for a while, I kind of did too- but I wanted another team to follow. I knew it'd either be Liverpool or Chelsea and wound up following Chelsea games and news when I could- especially when Zola (more | more*) was there.
But over the past few years, Mourinho, Abramovich, and the playing style made me start looking for another team. For non-soccer folks, it'd be like being a Cowboys fan from afar pre-Jerry Jones.
Anyway, due to some American players getting contracts, Fulham started showing up on TV more- so I decided to pay some attention to them as I was already trying to follow American players abroad - Keller, McBride, Dempsey, Friedel, and Jay Demerit . . . (following players abroad is also why I'm not a fan of Landon Donovan).
Fulham had been doing okay, they were never that great the past few years, but they did alright. But this year, they fired their coach early on and started to slide down the table. They're in danger of being relegated (being kicked down to the lower league) and I was about to write them off and start looking for another team (they also have an owner I'm not a fan of . . .).
It's not that I'm abandoning the players, it's just that if they get relegated, the teams usually have a fire sale and the players flee anyway (unless they're Buffon in Italy).
The other thing is that I hope Fulham doesn't get criticized for having too many American players- that's not why they started to slide.
But anyway, Fulham won 2-0 yesterday and with one more game left, they can stay in the Premier League for another season. It's going to be a nailbiter. I hope they make it, and I hope they stop firing their coaches. . .
In other news, why would Messi go to Chelsea? (Other than for money). If he goes there, I predict a broken ankle in 4 games inflicted by some goofball defender from another team. Either that, or he shines and becomes the next Zola, but . . . that's a long shot.
04 May 13:11 | /futbol | 2 comment(s)
Tue, 29 Apr 2008
See? I wasn't that far off
Even though I was kind of joking with this post, it wasn't that far off from some plans. (and yes, I know I didn't edit my table with a non-coference bias):
Ever been anxious to see the San Antonio Spurs against CSKA Moscow, when they are really playing hard?more here and here. 29 Apr 23:05 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
Allegedly, that could be on the way.
Fri, 18 Apr 2008
If the NBA were like Soccer
If the NBA were like Soccer, Boston would have locked up the NBA Cup weeks ago on points alone. Here's this year's RESULTS TABLE. And yes, the Spurs would be above NO. 18 Apr 15:32 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
Tue, 26 Feb 2008
Pan Pacific Soccer Thoughts
I tried watching some of the Pan-Pacific soccer tourney that was played in Hawai'i last weekend. I wound up getting really annoyed that the whole thing was on astrotruf and I wound up changing the channel because it was driving me bonkers watching the ball skip around from errant passes. Shocking, I know- I usually will watch almost any game, and I even had a cold. It turns out I wasn't the only one that was annoyed- check it:(from cnnsi.com in turn quoting the LaTimes)
The artificial surface at Aloha Stadium was another contentious issue. "We are very disappointed with the field surface," Garber said. "Our players said it was perhaps the worst surface they had played on."The weird thing was that as I was watching the game I thought- of all places, why would Hawaii have turf? They have ideal growing conditions? Am I wrong about that? Or maybe it's a budget thing. 26 Feb 14:30 | /futbol | 2 comment(s)
Wed, 07 Nov 2007
More 'Quakes
I'm still on the Quakes/MLS email list and have been getting update about them returning to SJ. Today's email was a link to a "funny" site: Cure Futbolitis. According to their last marketing email, the Quakes will be playing the majority of their games at Buck Shaw (in Santa Clara). Hopefully they will release something soon that counters the previous rumor I had heard about them playing a lot of games up in Sacto. Oh, and Yallop will be back as coach- that's good news. He had a bum rap down in LA. Maybe he can get some of the Houston players to come back too. 07 Nov 14:42 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
Mon, 22 Oct 2007
Bye Bye GR
Okay, so originally I had guessed "1 week" - but it took almost 4:
Greg Ryan, criticized for goalie switch before World Cup loss, out as US women's coach22 Oct 16:29 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
via yahoo!
Ryan was 45-1-9 since taking over in early 2005, but that one loss -- in his only major tournament -- overshadowed the rest of his tenure.
Fri, 28 Sep 2007
There's Always Hope
I started to write about this earlier, but got caught up in work and then deleted my ranting draft. But c'mon - 4 - 0 ?! Good lord.
... there's more to read here ...
28 Sep 16:04 | /futbol | 1 comment(s)
Wed, 29 Aug 2007
Donde Quakes?
Not great news about the Quakes return to SJ (granted, this is off a rumor site):
The team will not be playing in Spartan Stadium, which opened in 1933, on the campus of San Jose State University.Sacto? Yuck. I'm not driving that far for a game. 29 Aug 12:10 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
...Instead it is very likely that the new, new Earthquakes will split their games for the next two seasons among Santa Clara University, Oakland and Sacramento.
Sat, 18 Aug 2007
Thoughts on Soccer
Another reason that my dvd watching has slowed down a bit is due to watching more soccer. And I had a quick little thought while watching a pre-game and line up. This is going to sound a bit mean, but one of the things I like about watching Beckham play for LA is that he took the captain's armband from Landon Donovan. I like that. 18 Aug 18:47 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)
