Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Back to World Cup
Quite a bit has happened since my last World Cup post...
Brazil is starting to look a little more like themselves. As soon as the pressure is turned up, they are always able to pull their game up a notch. Quite unfortunate for the competitors. Ronaldo now has the record for most world cup goals scored and he did quite nicely... there's nothing quite like setting a goalie on his rear before finishing. But Ghana did play well, and Brazil still has some big defensive problems to solve. With France picking up speed as well, their quarter-final match will be a great rematch of the 1998 finals.
Portugal 1 Holland 0. That was quite a game. Unfortunately for Holland, the only thing they had going for them were their cool flag-colored jerseys instead of their usual royal orange. I still don't think that the ref did as bad a job as everyone is saying he did. If the players break the rules, (intentional handballs, cheap shots, time wasting) he HAS to give them cards according to the RULES! Obviously there were some calls that he got wrong, but I could only tell after the replay.
Ukraine went nuts. I heard stories from what happened at 12:40 a.m. from the central square, outskirts of the city, villages, and from our own apartment when Rebrov scored the winning penalty. And how about two saves from the penalty spot for the keeper? Wow... Ukraine went nuts. Cars honking their horns everywhere, fireworks... in the village (where it is quieter than in the city) there was an audible general shout. We'll see how they do against Italy. Ukraine is in great company... Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Portugal, France, Brazil..... and Ukraine. Before this World Cup, Ukraine was never mentioned in the same sentence with those teams. World Cup #1 for Ukraine is already a success.
Brazil is starting to look a little more like themselves. As soon as the pressure is turned up, they are always able to pull their game up a notch. Quite unfortunate for the competitors. Ronaldo now has the record for most world cup goals scored and he did quite nicely... there's nothing quite like setting a goalie on his rear before finishing. But Ghana did play well, and Brazil still has some big defensive problems to solve. With France picking up speed as well, their quarter-final match will be a great rematch of the 1998 finals.
Portugal 1 Holland 0. That was quite a game. Unfortunately for Holland, the only thing they had going for them were their cool flag-colored jerseys instead of their usual royal orange. I still don't think that the ref did as bad a job as everyone is saying he did. If the players break the rules, (intentional handballs, cheap shots, time wasting) he HAS to give them cards according to the RULES! Obviously there were some calls that he got wrong, but I could only tell after the replay.
Ukraine went nuts. I heard stories from what happened at 12:40 a.m. from the central square, outskirts of the city, villages, and from our own apartment when Rebrov scored the winning penalty. And how about two saves from the penalty spot for the keeper? Wow... Ukraine went nuts. Cars honking their horns everywhere, fireworks... in the village (where it is quieter than in the city) there was an audible general shout. We'll see how they do against Italy. Ukraine is in great company... Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Portugal, France, Brazil..... and Ukraine. Before this World Cup, Ukraine was never mentioned in the same sentence with those teams. World Cup #1 for Ukraine is already a success.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
WHAT?!
Hate to diverge attention away from the World Cup... but I just saw this article about a 20-year-old guy who spent 48 hours in a Wal-Mart. Apparently, this was a news grabbing event in the states...
"Skyler Bartels' 15 minutes of fame were supposed to be up a long time ago. Fifteen weeks later, the clock is still ticking.Pick up the June 26 edition of People magazine. There he is, standing before a row of TV screens, gripping a Slushee, taking up a full page...
Bartels, almost 21 now, is the young man who spent 41 hours of his spring vacation at the Windsor Heights Wal-Mart. He wanted to write about the experience."
THAT WAS OUR IDEA! WE COULD HAVE BEEN FAMOUS! About six years ago, camping out in a Wal-Mart was going to be a 'Mans With Plans' event. Jack, Jared, Matt, Ben, Noah, and I planned a Wal-Mart campout.
Now this kid is FAMOUS! Granted, I doubt any of us ever planned to write about it, but still. That was our idea!
I think it is also noteworthy to mention that the moms turned this idea down. I won't mention any names... because I'm pretty sure it was all of them. Oh well... we love them anyway.
Please tell me I'm not the only one that remembers this...
We were way ahead of our time.
"Skyler Bartels' 15 minutes of fame were supposed to be up a long time ago. Fifteen weeks later, the clock is still ticking.Pick up the June 26 edition of People magazine. There he is, standing before a row of TV screens, gripping a Slushee, taking up a full page...
Bartels, almost 21 now, is the young man who spent 41 hours of his spring vacation at the Windsor Heights Wal-Mart. He wanted to write about the experience."
THAT WAS OUR IDEA! WE COULD HAVE BEEN FAMOUS! About six years ago, camping out in a Wal-Mart was going to be a 'Mans With Plans' event. Jack, Jared, Matt, Ben, Noah, and I planned a Wal-Mart campout.
Now this kid is FAMOUS! Granted, I doubt any of us ever planned to write about it, but still. That was our idea!
I think it is also noteworthy to mention that the moms turned this idea down. I won't mention any names... because I'm pretty sure it was all of them. Oh well... we love them anyway.
Please tell me I'm not the only one that remembers this...
We were way ahead of our time.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
This is the crowd (don't know how well you can see it, I was in a rush on my way to work) that gathered to watch Ukraine beat Tunisia 1-0 in the last game of the group stage on the big screen in the central square. Their parting gift from group H is a meeting with Switzerland on the 26th. Not too bad of a draw... although if they win, they'll be going up against Italy (most likely) or Australia.The group stage is now over and the knockout round is already underway. Germany looked most confident out of everyone in the group stage and are already looking quite good in the knockout round. They've already booked a date in the quarter-finals with Argentina or Mexico (to be determined later this evening).
England was looking great in their last game against Sweden in the first half. It was the England that I fell in love with however many years ago. Joe Cole played extremely well (what a goal!). Ashley Cole was all over the place. But, the second half was another story... I hope it was in their strategy to rest and look pretty poor. Poor Michael Owen is finished for this World Cup. But he's not the only Englishman to be finished in Germany... Graham Poll, England's most famous match official is likely to be on a plane for home soon after giving Croatia's Josip Simunic THREE yellow cards before sending him off.
Poor USA... what else can I say. Four years, down the drain... but it's not like they would have gone all the way anyway.
The best is yet to come!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Ukraine on Fire
Well, well, well...
Mrs. T appropriately noted after the first games that 'U' stands for underachiever... But after game 2, 'U' is for uber-elite.... (sorry, not a whole lot of good 'u' words). Ukraine pulled off an easy victory and did it looking pretty good.
France has turned to mush although they are still in it... Barthez says that everything is still in their hands. Togo shouldn't be a problem for them... but then again, Switzerland and South Korea shouldn't have been problems either. And considering that they are basically the same team from the last World Cup (only four years older) that didn't score a goal, there isn't much hope.
Brazil has won both their games but still look like mortal men. Which is odd considering that they are all soccer gods. There doesn't seem to be a single team that is really confident in themselves. Basically, whoever scores the first goal wins... mainly because the other team deflates like a balloon as soon as they see the ball in their own goal. No one has impressed me with being able to bounce back and fight (except the US against Italy).
Spain did well to come back from a 1-0 first half and showed that they were the better team... they would do better if they could figure out if they wanted to be the bull or the matador.
Mrs. T appropriately noted after the first games that 'U' stands for underachiever... But after game 2, 'U' is for uber-elite.... (sorry, not a whole lot of good 'u' words). Ukraine pulled off an easy victory and did it looking pretty good.
France has turned to mush although they are still in it... Barthez says that everything is still in their hands. Togo shouldn't be a problem for them... but then again, Switzerland and South Korea shouldn't have been problems either. And considering that they are basically the same team from the last World Cup (only four years older) that didn't score a goal, there isn't much hope.
Brazil has won both their games but still look like mortal men. Which is odd considering that they are all soccer gods. There doesn't seem to be a single team that is really confident in themselves. Basically, whoever scores the first goal wins... mainly because the other team deflates like a balloon as soon as they see the ball in their own goal. No one has impressed me with being able to bounce back and fight (except the US against Italy).
Spain did well to come back from a 1-0 first half and showed that they were the better team... they would do better if they could figure out if they wanted to be the bull or the matador.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Ah, the Frenchies
'Collectively the sauce hasn't thickened yet.'
-Retired frenchman, Lizarazu, on his former teammates.
We'll see today whether the French thicken into a nice Rémoulade or just turn to mush....
-Retired frenchman, Lizarazu, on his former teammates.
We'll see today whether the French thicken into a nice Rémoulade or just turn to mush....
WOW!!!
THAT was a team to be proud of. The amazing thing is not only did the hold Italy off for that long, but that they should have WON the game with that goal getting called back.
They surely silenced their critics (including the Ukrainian commentator who kept saying things about how the states just doesn't have the skills to play against Europe and how if Italy had a free kick like the US did they would have scored, etc. etc. etc.) By the end, the commentator said that Kasey Keller and Bruce Arena were absolute genius'.
Landon Donovan was incredible... Convey was great... Beasley did what he came on to do and got it stolen from him... Kasey Keller wasn't playing like the old bald man in goal against the Czech Republic... and Claudia Reyna did a good job at keeping everybody together.
The only thing I am afraid of is our tendency to play only as good as the other team... Ghana looked great today, but if the States play like they did today, they shouldn't be a problem.
Time will tell.
THAT was a team to be proud of. The amazing thing is not only did the hold Italy off for that long, but that they should have WON the game with that goal getting called back.
They surely silenced their critics (including the Ukrainian commentator who kept saying things about how the states just doesn't have the skills to play against Europe and how if Italy had a free kick like the US did they would have scored, etc. etc. etc.) By the end, the commentator said that Kasey Keller and Bruce Arena were absolute genius'.
Landon Donovan was incredible... Convey was great... Beasley did what he came on to do and got it stolen from him... Kasey Keller wasn't playing like the old bald man in goal against the Czech Republic... and Claudia Reyna did a good job at keeping everybody together.
The only thing I am afraid of is our tendency to play only as good as the other team... Ghana looked great today, but if the States play like they did today, they shouldn't be a problem.
Time will tell.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
Marriage Advice
To Pat and Jack:
Here are a few tid-bits that will make your life easier. Don't make the same mistakes I have!
1. Go on NO special trips
2. Buy NO clothes for her
3. Do NO laundry
'Why?', you may ask? Because when you go on that special trip, buy her a special WHITE souvenier T-shirt and then put it in the washing machine with your BLUE jeans... it sure is a pain getting the blue out.
Here are a few tid-bits that will make your life easier. Don't make the same mistakes I have!
1. Go on NO special trips
2. Buy NO clothes for her
3. Do NO laundry
'Why?', you may ask? Because when you go on that special trip, buy her a special WHITE souvenier T-shirt and then put it in the washing machine with your BLUE jeans... it sure is a pain getting the blue out.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Well, there wasn't much to shout about for Ukraine or the US. It's actually been a long time since I have since the US do NOTHING worthwile for 90 minutes. There was NOTHING good about that game...
Ukraine got beat partly by the weather (90+ temperatures definitely favor Spain), partly by the refs (the red card being the worst call so far in this World Cup) but mostly by the fact that Spain is actually a pretty good team.
Anyway... those who care watched the games and saw it for themselves... this post is mainly for the picture.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Something Fishy
I've been trying to post for a while now... but I can't get pictures to load. Oh well... you're stuck with words.
But hey... the World cup has started and tonight is the big opener for the U S of A. It's nice being so close to Germany... I've watched all or some of every single game this year. So that's been nice... But you can't really consider any World Cup 'open' until they bring out the big guns... Tomorrow the hot rivalry of South Korea and Togo will be taking center stage.
I have enjoyed some of this year's headlines though. Including: "First chance to shine for Ghana's Black Stars". Who knew that capital letters could make such a difference? "Iran aim to leave with more than honor"... fine with me, as long as they're not aiming with a nuclear weapon. "Serbians are strong in tackle and spirit"... too bad they're not fishing. "Switzerland's international bright young things"... I have no idea what that is about.
Anyway...
USA! USA! USA!
But hey... the World cup has started and tonight is the big opener for the U S of A. It's nice being so close to Germany... I've watched all or some of every single game this year. So that's been nice... But you can't really consider any World Cup 'open' until they bring out the big guns... Tomorrow the hot rivalry of South Korea and Togo will be taking center stage.
I have enjoyed some of this year's headlines though. Including: "First chance to shine for Ghana's Black Stars". Who knew that capital letters could make such a difference? "Iran aim to leave with more than honor"... fine with me, as long as they're not aiming with a nuclear weapon. "Serbians are strong in tackle and spirit"... too bad they're not fishing. "Switzerland's international bright young things"... I have no idea what that is about.
Anyway...
USA! USA! USA!
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