n c a eh?

it's pretty weird for me right now. this is the first year since probably around 1991 or so that i haven't filled out a bracket. and, i don't even have any desire. usually, i would've printed out a bracket as soon as they were out on sunday and have been deciding if i was going to do more than one. and, i know i would've had a little $ in a pool.

for some reason, it's not happening this year. i haven't even looked at a bracket, although i did halfway listen to a podcast that was talking about it. i'm sure i'll watch some games, but i won't be feverishly following it on my iphone while i'm away for track on friday.

so, as i thought about this today, i tried to figure out why i don't care this year. i mean, i really don't watch college basketball except for the tournament every year.

i'll be honest, i think it's soccer. yep, soccer. i'm busy thinking about the world cup, even though it's still like 85 days away. it's great following members of the usmnt abroad as well as watching the usmnt prepare for the cup through friendlies (even though stu holden got his leg broke - effin nederlander). i'm following the knockout rounds of the champions league (watched chelski take one on the chin today and get eliminated - and the game affirmed my belief that john terry is a piece of crap). the epl is in full swing and arsenal has worked their way back into the hunt for some silverware. i'm stoked. and, i'm even starting to think about the impending mls season, and hoping there is no lock out. will landon be in galaxy gear? how will our team do without beckham? or will becks rehab here in the u.s.?

soccer, you're my only friend. oh wait, that's abba zabba.

u.s. vs honduras 1/24?

here's an email i received and thought i'd pass onto you with giddy hope:

"If this story is true then we are on (it's in Spanish) for January:

http://www.diez.hn/Sintesis/Lo-mas-comentado/Ediciones/2009/12/06/Noticias/Honduras-Estados-Unidos-el-24-de-enero

Rough translation:
"Already we're working on dates and the first one will be against United States on Sunday January 24th at the Home Depot Center", confirmed yesterday by the president of the Fenafuth (Hounduran Soccer Federation), Rafael Callejas.

--
John
Los Angeles Chapter A.O"

mls cup 2009

i've been waiting with great anticipation for the mls cup 2009. you see, i am an l.a. galaxy fan, and have been since their inception. i've gone to games when they played in pasadena, and even have been to a mls cup game (we bought tix when it looked like the galaxy would make it but they didn't). the galaxy completed a very good season and played well throughout the playoffs. when they qualified last friday night i was ecstatic. not only was the team i loved capping off a enjoyable year, it was made even better knowing that the team didn't even make the playoffs the last three years.

i started off my day in normal fashion for the average american male, watching american football. i enjoyed the games, but i knew that i was saving up all my nervous energy for the mls cup this evening. i didn't have any plans for the game, other than watching it. as the afternoon wound on i texted some friends and invited them to come over and watch with me. i didn't even think about trying to go to sequoia or hero's or some other sports bar because i doubted i could secure a tv away from sunday night football, even if it was a crap matchup (imho - bears vs eagles). sadly, no one was available so i watched the game by myself. that's fine, i'm focused on the game. i just wouldn't have anyone to shout with on shots or saves, no one to ask questions to when people made terrible passes, and no one to celebrate with should the galaxy win.

as the game was starting, i was impressed by the noise generated by the seattle crowd. what an amazing soccer city seattle has become. honestly, i would love for fresnans to also do things like have a march to the stadium before fuego games. i'd love to see the fuego fans become more passionate, develop chants, or even show up for games. however, it did bug me that they were doing seattle chants. i know you're seattle fans, and it's in seattle, but your team isn't there. pick a team and cheer for them. i don't care if you all choose to chant for real salt lake, just stop cheering for your side that isn't there.

the first half was a bit choppy. the galaxy dominated possession, but there wasn't that much offense generated. however, their possession and play was eventually rewarded by a very nice goal from mike magee. a nice string of passes were finished off by a well place shot. a few minutes later the half ended and the galaxy led 1-0. i was elated.

the second half was a much different affair. real salt lake dominated possession, moved the ball all over, and started putting a olot of balls into the box. on one play, a collision occurred between findley of rsl and the galaxy's keeper, ricketts. it's never good when your goalkeeper's hand is injured, but he pressed on. a few minutes later findley found himself with the ball after a scramble in the box and he slotted it home. ricketts immediately left the field and after he removed his glove you could see how swollen and jacked up it looked. and on came a replacement goalkeeper.

seven minutes of stoppage time. that is a huge amount, but there were several injury stops and substitutions. would we see a winner now, or would we head to added periods? added periods. man, i sat on the edge of the couch for the last twenty minutes of the game (+ stoppage time). that galaxy rallied back, and the play on the field was much more end to end and wide open. it was tense, and neither team could finish it out, so more time to work on my ulcers (or to start one). anything could happen in with another 30 minutes on the clock. who would step up? myself, i feel like the galaxy need to score in the first fifteen. we don't want penalty kicks as rsl has a keeper with a sick knack of blocking pk's. but hey, the back up keeper for the galaxy may be secretly dope.

the majority of the first fifteen minutes were dominated by real salt lake. they put two in the side netting, and both times the galaxy were lucky it wasn't in the back of the net. i felt like the galaxy escaped the first fifteen without surrendering a goal.

both teams looked exhausted in the second overtime period. there were flashes but not a whole lot of sustained offense. real salt lake did have a nice bit of pressure but the galaxy managed to hold them off. with ten seconds left rsl pressed for one more shot, but couldn't quite get a foot on it at the end and the match headed to penalties.

round 1:
beckham vs rimando - beckham scores
mathis vs saunders - mathis scores
1-1

round 2:
berhalter vs rimando - berhalter scores
findley vs saunders - findley scores
2-2

round 3:
kirovski vs rimando - rimando save - oh crap
beckerman vs saunders - saunders save! freakin yeah!
2-2

round 4:
donovan vs rimando - donovan shanks it over the bar.
grababoy vs saunders - grabavoy scores
2-3 rsl

round 5:
magee vs rimando - magee scores
williams vs saunders - saunders save! holy isht, 2 saves from a keeper that doesn't play!
3-3

round 6:
klein vs rimando - klein scores
wingert vs saunders - wingert scores
4-4

round 7:
buddle vs rimando - rimando saves
russel vs saunders - saunders scores

5-4 real salt lake, your mls cup 09 champs. now, i'm saddened that my team didn't win. but, you gotta love rsl's story. they qualified for the playoffs on the last day in near miraculous fashion. they beat the defending champs in a home/away series. they won last week in pk's and their keeper blocked 3. and this week, they came back from 1-0 to tie and eventually win. their keeper had 2 saves + a shank and they slotted enough home to win. congrats to them.

congrats to the galaxy on an enjoyable season. i hope donovan doesn't have any lingering mental issues from that miss, we've got a world cup to win next summer. and really, they accomplished a lot on the field. maybe next year.

maybe next year i'll watch the final with a crowd as we cheer on the galaxy to a victory.

*cross posted @ wide world of fresno sports.

road trip reflections: slc and the usmnt

warning, this post is going to be long. but, it's mainly photos and description of my road trip to salt lake city to see the u.s. men's national team play vs. el salvador.

we stopped somewhere to get a coffee and use the restroom, but the mini mart didn't have public restrooms so we went across the street to wienerschnitzel. i saw this sign and wondered if i was?



this little kid was drinking mountain dew





be careful, eating at wienerdude may cause a reaction. usually, my reaction is a full belly.



we stopped for gas, and i thought this was a pretty cool sign. it's up near grass valley, ca.

we stopped for lunch @ the black bear diner, which was somewhere in nevada. i didn't realize black bear was a chain, but that's not a big deal. i think it's sorta fun to hit up obscure joints on the road.



you don't quite get the scale of the chicken fried steak. it was as big as my hand, which is 8". i didn't finish it or the hash browns. too much food.



maybe i'm six, but it cracked me up to think that there was a big bm on that mountain.



trust me, that sign said "deeth starr valley." the darkside is strong in nevada.



nevada is also home to post apocalyptic beverly hills.



in utah, there are some creepy gas station signs. you clown, scare me.

let's talk about friday nights in salt lake city. friday night we hit up a bar called the republican. i learned about the place via twitter, as someone notified me of a usmnt supporters party there. it was a cool little dive bar. and republican refers to irish, not the political party. it was definitely an irish dive bar, but it was also full of hipster types. who knew salt lake had hipsters, and that a lot of people have tattoos. or at least the people at bars had tattoos. we walked down the street from the republican and had tacos from a street vendor. they were amazing, and that's not just because it was close to midnight and i had consumed a few "pops." it was weird that they had all kinds of little roadside taco stands set up, but it makes sense in an area with a bunch of bars. 4 tacos, and $3 later i was back in my seat at the republican. we saw a bar, called the woodshed,that seemed to have cool music going on, but my tab was still open at the republican so we headed back there. even though there wasn't live music, it had a nice vibe and the drinks were pretty cheap ($4 beers, $3.50 for a mixed drink!). since we had been on the road all day and still had to drive like 5 miles back to the hotel, we called it a night before it got too late.



this is the garlic burger w/garlic fries @ the bohemian brewery. a brewery in utah you say? i thought they were a dry state. nope, they do sell booze. it seems that the beer sold in bars/restaurants is regulated down to 4%, which actually helped the taste of some beers. we had a delicious microbrewed amber beer here. the burger was delicious. and the decor of the place was sorta ski lodge, but they had hops hanging all over, which was an awesome touch.

and now onto the game. outside the game we were befriended by some usmnt supporters that were tailgating. we were just wandering in early, and these guys offered us hot dogs. we were still full from lunch, so we declined the hot dog but asked for a beer instead. they were cool, and freely gave us a beer. since we were having beer i chatted them up about beer & alcohol in salt lake. essentially, beer sold at bars and restaurants is a little lighter, but booze is the same as everywhere. we walked into the game behind one of the supporter groups that was chanting, singing and playing instruments. they were organized, and it really felt like a real soccer crowd. it also makes me want to try and organize a better fuego supporters group.



sam's army the american outlaws are filtering in. they were seated next to a big crowd of el salvador fans. u.s. soccer supporters need to learn to play a bass drum or a tom. a snare just doesn't cut it. btw, we walked in behind a bunch of these folks.

a couple more photos from before the game.



see how friggin close we were?



i will not do anything during the game that will cause security to come into the crowd for me.



landon and the boys came out to warm up.



the team during the anthem & introduction. now, i'm not a guy that usually sings along, or would chant usa or even call myself really patriotic. but it was awesome singing alongside my countrymen & women as we support our nation side. and, i really think this was the first time i'd ever entered a usa chant.



the team huddles up before the start



tim howard kicking it in goal. you can get a good idea how awesome our seats were from that picture. we were about 18 yards out from goal, seated in the second row. awesome. and rio tinto stadium was very nice. makes me wish fresno had a soccer specific stadium, and a pro team. the only real drawback to our seat was that the u.s. was shooting on the other goal in the first half, and didn't offensively press much during the second, when they would've been shooting in front of us, because they were ahead.



just after kickoff

el salvador scored first due to some sloppy defense, a failure to close down on open men on loose balls, and poor clearance. i've seen this a bit lately from the u.s., and while i realize we were missing some of our key defenders, it's something we must fix before next year's cup.



dempsey's equalizer was awesome. i took video of it happening, but knew the replay video board would be a little better.



and then jozy altidore, who is definitely my favorite u.s. player right now, put us ahead. again, i've got live video, but replay is a little better. jozy is such a talent, but he looked a bit winded in the second half and seemed a bit lackadaisical. he also had a sick goal in the second half that was called back for seemingly no reason. everyone around us was confused. i asked the guys behind us if they say any signal. i checked twitter and the ussoccer feed was baffled but certain it wasn't offsides. the espn story afterward said the ref claimed altidore "nudged a defender." bs.



celebrating the win with the fans.

some thoughts on the game: everyone gripes about refereeing, so it shouldn't be a surprise that i'll bitch about it here. it sucked. seriously, the linesman on our side was terrible, blowing several offsides calls. and the head ref, well, i already mentioned his terrible fake foul against altidore, but he was missing calls all night, going both ways. he made up a foul against altidore, and when charlie davies was kicked in the knee in while driving in the box, no call. another thought, it was also great to see landon donovan look back up to fitness and delivering very good balls on set pieces.

after the game, we went back and rested at the hotel, and then hit up salt lake city's night life. i already discussed saturday's lunch at the bohemian, but let me tell you about saturday night. we drove by the republican but decided we wanted to try some place different. we were going to go to the woodshed, but there was nothing happening there. seriously, no bands, and about 4 people at the bar. so we drove to the heart of the downtown and looked for a bar that was jumping. we saw several and looked for parking. salt lake has a very nice looking downtown, and is very walkable. in addition, they have a muni-rail that seems very easy to use. we could have stayed downtown, taken the rail to the game and back. next time. so, we wandered by a few bars looking for what would be a nice spot. we saw a piano bar, but didn't venture in. the pianist was playing the hookie pokey while some girl did it on stage. these mormons know how to get down! all jokes aside, it looked like a fun place, but was jammed to the gills. so we kept on, and settled in at...another irish place. murphy's wasn't as dive-y as the republican, but it was nice. and, a patron (a chef from a nearby restaurant) brought in like 4 trays of food, but we were full and didn't have any. we did have a fun time people watching while having several drinks.

sunday morning we got back on the road.



this part of utah was pretty. it was definitely better looking than our route 80 trip.



i think this is in just as we entered arizona.



traffic slowed a bit due to an accident. a trailer had flipped over and the people were gathering their belongings from the wreckage.



the remnants of the trailer.



more arizona.



again, pretty arizona shots.





i didn't take any photos in nevada. i sort of just was in drive fast and get done mode so i pretty much just did that. one thing i wish i had taken a picture of was the view coming into las vegas. it's interesting to come around a bend and see vegas, even in the daytime. but, it was also sorta gross because so much smoke from the southern california fires.



i knew this photo probably wouldn't come out as good as i hoped. as we were driving on highway 58 you could visibly see the line of smoke and where it ended. it was like smokey hazy sky/no smoke clear sky. crazy.

eventually i made it home. both routes (rt 80 going, rt 15 coming back) took about twelve hours. the route 15 path seemed a little nicer looking, but both get monotonous. one bonus of the rt 15 path was that stretches of utah had a speed limit of 80! that means i wasn't speeding as much.

overall, this was a great road trip. i'd do it again, although i'd love for the destination city to be a little closer.

vacation's all i ever wanted

so, i'm on vacation right now, for a few weeks anyway.

what that means for you:
-more posts

what that means for me:
-more soccer. seriously. vakay hit right before the champions league final, today the u.s. is playing england (starts in 30!) and euro cup action starts next week. i won't catch all that tourney, but i'll get my fill.
-more internets. 'nuff said
-more jim rome listening. man, i hate it when i can't listen to the show.
-more mario kart. umm, yeah. at least i won't get wii elbow from this game.

mls championship game

take heart, dana. i know they're not the san jose squad you used to love, but sort of are. houston has repeated as champions of major league soccer. and, for the second year in a row, they've beaten new england.

it was a game of halves. new england controlled the first, and went up 1-0 on sweet header by taylor twellman. the revolution had a ton of chances and i knew that if they kept at it they would score. and they did.

but, there are two halves in every game. and the second belonged to houston. the dynamo completely reversed things and controlled the pace and all the shots in the second. houston equalized on a low, driving shot. then dewayne derosario had his own sweet header to put them ahead in the 74th minute.

down 2-1, new england threw everyone forward for the last fifteen minutes in an attempt to equalize. one of the defenders had a point blank, diving header that should have gone in, but somehow pat onstad had a kick save reaction.


so, congrats to houston. back to back champions. and, you kept the new england area from winning every professional championship this year.

fire 1 galaxy 0

dang. it all worked out. final game of mls regular season. everything fell into place. galaxy win, they're in the playoffs. the fire were in the same position. decent match, and both teams had a lot of good chances. and, the galaxy keeper came up huge over and over. until the last 30 seconds. in stoppage time, chicago had a breakaway and their player was able to loop it over the charging keeper. goal.

game over.
season over.

dang.

but we still have 4 more years of beckham to build on.
thanks for keeping it interesting down the stretch fellas.

never count your team out

so, i remember during the fuego's season, i watched them blow a match and it looked like they had also slipped out of playoff contention. a few matches later, everything had been righted, and the fuego rolled all the way to the pdl finals.

in similar fashion, i'd pretty much given up on the galaxy's chances of making the playoffs. i harbored slim hopes that they could repeat their feat of last year and hit stride late and sneak into the playoffs. but, realistically, i figured we were dead in the water. especially after we continued to lose after i'd already given up.

but last night, the galaxy moved closer to realizing the dream. they have quietly snuck back into contention. they beat columbus, and are now only 4 points behind the final playoff spot. and all this without that beckham fellow. who, by the way, is healing nicely. initial thoughts would be that he could be back for the oct. 13 but i haven't heard any official news on that front. but, there are 4 games left. we'll see if becks makes it back, and if the galaxy can sneak in the playoffs. one problem, 3 of the 4 games are against the top teams in the league. here's to hoping that they'll be resting their guys for the playoffs and field soft teams against the galaxy.

superliga semifinals day 1

tonight i watched houston vs pachuca in the semi-finals of the superliga. for those of you who are unfamiliar, the superliga is a tournament between mls and mexican league teams. the winner of this match will face the winner of the galaxy vs dc united.

anyway, the scoring got underway quickly, as dwayne derosario scored an ugly goal. it was a great cross to the canadian international with the spanish sounding name, but he totally muffed it. i think it hit off his shin. fortunately, it took the weirdest bounce i've ever seen. straight up to his head and then into the goal.

then, in the 16th minute one of houston's players got ejected. i thought it should have been a card, but was surprised it was actually a red, especially since it wasn't like it had been a particularly rough game in the first 15 minutes.

at some point in the half, pachuca equalized. nice goal. but overall, it seemed that houston really dominated play despite being man down.

the second half was a different story. houston came out very flat, or perhaps were tired. the rarely had the ball and were constantly giving up chances. it was no surprise to me when they gave up the go ahead goal. good set up, nice shot, keeper a bit screened, defense didn't do enough, back of the net.

what did surprise me was when houston equalized with about ten minutes left. free kick from quite a ways out, sent in to around 8 yards, header goal. beautiful stuff.

then, with about 5 minutes left, one of the pachuca players got his 2nd yellow (red). sides equalized, score equalized, let's see what happens.

overtime. five minutes in, pachuca bends a really nice ball around the wall on a free kick, and it skips just wide.

eleven minutes into the first overtime, on a very odd play, houston gets a second player ejected. it also resulted in a pachuca guy getting a yellow. the houston player was lying down, injured somehow. the pachuca player came over and grabbed his leg, maybe to stretch him out, or to tell him to get up. and the houston player kicked him. gonzo. so, now, it's 9 vs 10. should be plenty of open space on the field now. and a lot of tired guys. and, despite several penalties and an ejection, there was no stoppage time added to this overtime. you have to love referees.

six minutes into the 2nd overtime, a houston guy about rips off the jersey of a pachuca player. yellow card. man, if houston manages to make it through, they're going to have a lot of guys with accumulated yellows. of course, it would be the final so i'm not sure how much that matters.

something odd/funny to note, every time they said brian ching's name, they really emphasized the nature of the word, as if ringing a bell. these spanish announcers sure are interesting.

it looks like houston is playing for pk's. or maybe just a perfect counter-attack opportunity. they really aren't trying to do anything but defend. with 9 men, i can't say i blame them.

and time runs out. pk's.
barret takes the first for houston and buries it. 1-0 houston
pachuca doesn't have names on the back of their jerseys but their guy buries his, too. 1-1
houston's second ricochets off the crossbar but drops in 2-1.
pachuca slides in their next, 2-2.
mulrooney hits, 3-2 houston.
pachuca equalizes 3-3.
brian "ching" doinks it off the woodwork. he had the keeper beat terribly, and just missed it. still 3-3.
ching is redeemed because his keeper just came up with a phenomenal stop. still 3-3.
but ngwenya can't do any better and chips it softly right to the keeper. still 3-3.
onstad must be hating his guys right now, because he's got to come up big again.
and can't. pachuca hammers it home for the victory in pk's 4-3.

tomorrow night: galaxy vs. united. and guess who's coming to dinner: beckham. and, it sounds like he thinks he'll be playing around a half (which is twice as much as last game he played)

weird

so, i subscribed to fox soccer channel the other day. today, i'm scrolling through the guide and see that the fox channel (fsn) i already had is showing soccer right now. i flip it over, and it's manchester united vs reading. i knew that fsc also had on a premier league match, fulham vs arsenal. both of these games took place already. right now, as i type and they show taped matches, there is a premier league match happening, tottenham vs everton. and fox sports espanol, they're showing highlights of this week's matches...in argentina.

well, at least it's not a flavor of love marathon.

brief thoughts on soccer

oh demarcus. i'm glad you're playing for the rangers. i'm sorry you had to face racist taunts. but i'm especially glad you're scoring goals. hopefully you'll keep it up, and bring that back next time you play for the national side. and keep up the good work with the gers. it makes me happy, in a minor, i follow your team from a long way away sense. good luck wednesday in belgrade.

on an interesting note, that game had 11k people listed as attendance for a tuesday uefa champions league match (last tuesday). the galaxy's match againt dc last thursday drew 45k. and they say there's no market for soccer in the us? it's not every game, but still. and sadly, as i click through other espn soccer scores, that stat is frequently left off. i'd like to see how mls compares on a regular basis.

finally, i find it strange to encounter so many soccer stories about race. this is no naivete on my part. i know that we have race problems in the u.s. and, the rest of the world is nothing different. i also know that fifa has worked hard to really eliminate racism, especially through punishing clubs for the misdeeds of their fans. but really, what are the large groups of fans doing, chanting the taunts? who thinks this is alright? cheer for your teams, cheer against the other club, whatever. but dropping racist blasts? stupid. especially considering that your team probably isn't all one race.

sorry heather

tomorrow the premier league starts up. today, i added the sports entertainment channel package, which includes fox soccer channel. it also includes a few other sports channels.

fresno fuego over tacoma tide

on to the finals! tonight, the fuego are playing byu's team in the pdl western conference championship.

here are some photos from last night






anyway, the game was pretty good. we led 1-0 @ half, but the game was equalized in the 2nd. there was a foul in the box, which led to a penalty kick. the fuego keeper continued to be unimpressive. not only did he guess right on the direction, he also guessed that the shot was going low. he timed it right, yet somehow he still missed it. lame. so, the game went to overtime (heather and kasey weren't happy to have to sit through two 15 minute o.t. halves). our side scored two in the first, and one in the 2nd. 4-1 final.

i'm hoping we have a similar score tonight, but in regulation.

fuegificent

while i was out of town, the fresno fuego not only clinched a playoff spot, but they vaulted into first place! we host the playoff tournament on july 27-28.

now i know what i'm doing this weekend. i hope that we'll win friday night, and saturday i can bask in a championship for our side.

quick hit

tomorrow i'll have a full post about this weekend, featuring some pictures. but, in the meantime, i just wanted to briefly reflect on soccer in the u.s. this weekend.

the other day, i mentioned that the mls allstars beat celtic 2-0. well, they also played chicago fire. that game ended up being 1-1. cuauhtemoc blanco, mexican international, scored for chicago and just missed another. this result impresses me because chicago isn't an allstar team, and i wonder if their combined salaries are equal to 1/3 of celtic's.

sadly, the galaxy were unable to come up with a similar result against chelski in beckham's debut. but, they did play well on both ends of the field, especially in the first half. i didn't get to watch the second half, but have it taped for later. i hoped beckham would play a little more, and figured he would be on for about thirty minutes. he only played 17, but it's a start. and, as they drilled it into our skulls during the game, no one wants to aggravate an injury in a friendly match. but, like my chicago assessment, the overall salaries lag far behind chelski's. they are a freaking allstar team. if you take away beckham's endorsements, he's getting signed for less than many of the chelski players. now, you can make an argument that these high played players are @ a different point of their careers, like malouda who recently signed for 35 million.

i may not think everything alexi lalas says is gold, but i think he's right, you could take mls teams and drop them into the premiership. they would finish middle of the pack, and with time and wide open checkbooks they could compete.

fuego game july 14

hey fresno! your soccer team has clawed back into playoff contention. they're 2nd, with only two games left. if they win out, they should get into the playoffs for the pdl, who takes the top two teams.

let's all go out to chuckchansi stadium this saturday @ 7:30 and cheer on the fuego. as an added bonus, we're playing bakersfield! let's keep our little brother to the south down!





*cross posted @ fresno famous

us vs paraguay

well, today yields another chance to watch soccer, another chance to root for the national side, and yes, another chance to be disappointed. we'll see what happens.

9th min - olsen has a great cross into the box and klestjan misses the easy header. but, just before this, the u.s. had looked pretty good, a lot of movement just outside the box. could bode for a good start.

10th min - long ball sent into the box, sorta high, eddie johnson just can't get an outstretched boot on it.

29th min - had been somewhat uneventful and i dozed off. i awoke to hear gol and sadly it was a paraguayan celebrating. replays look like bad marking in the back. but, it also looks like keller should have made the stop.

32nd min - eddie johnson has a great run, low cross into the box, nice shot by bornstein and a fabulous save by the keeper.

40th min - clark gets his first goal for the u.s. (i think). good passing around the 18, hammered home by clark. i think the assist goes to twellman.

half time - 1 - 1. i was glad to see the u.s. not give up, but really work back from the small deficit. they came back, played good football, and their pressure resulted in a goal.

51st min - paraguay's keeper takes a goal kick and hurts himself.

55th min - again, paraguay has a guy wide open. keller cuts the angle to something difficult, but the paraguayan is still able to slot it in. 2-1. it also looked like keller was expecting his defender in the area to do something, anything, which didn't happen. i'm pissed.

72nd min - free kick to eddie johnson header, just doesn't get turned enough to get on goal. but good effort.

74th min - great run up the side by the guy subbed in for ben olson. chips it over the keeper, and just over the cross bar, too.

last ten minutes - good flurry of action from the u.s. several decent chances, including two really nice headers that the keeper managed to snare.

91st min - u.s. gives up free kick just outside the box. 5 man wall. back of the net. went right over the wall.

and it's over.

mexico vs brasil

so, the other night i actually caught a replay of mexico vs brasil from the '99 copa america. it was interesting to see the much of the same brasilian team, but oh so much younger. ronaldinho had a shaved head, but the same jacked up teeth. ronaldo was young and fit. it was also cool to see some of the mexican players that i remember, but had forgotten about. guys like luis hernandez and jorge campos. blanco was on the team then, and he still is now, although he's lost a step. still very good, but he's aged. brasil won that game 2-0, and it put them in the finals where they beat uruguay.

(the game i'm watching right now was actually played yesterday. but, i'm watching a replay of it, so who cares? but, as i was looking around stuff, i stumbled on the final results. so, at half time of this game i knew the final. but i'm still watching.)
early on (not sure minute) brasil scores, but it's called back on a terrible offsides call. replays show that brasil was clearly onside.

24th minute - nery castillo scores for mexico.

holy crap, i'm writing about the '99 game, looking up rosters, not really paying attention and all of a sudden...goooooooooooooooooooooooooollll! mexico 2-0. off a nice set piece ramon morales buries it in the back of the net in the 29th minute. sick bend from outside the box, over the wall. positively nasty stuff.

so, it's 2-0 mexico @ medio tiempo.

54th minute - nice shot from brasil, but also a nice save by the mexican keeper. this is the 2nd good shot of the half, although neither has found net.

55th minute, mexico almost finds net again. but, it was a great save on what turned out to be an offsides shot.

61st minute - brasil has an amazing chance in the run of play. great shot and an amazing save. ochoa is really showing some skills here. he's turned back several really good attempts, but this one was awesome.

74th minute - brasil cornerkick, perfect header down, foot save by mexican defender. wow.

92nd minute - mexico has wide open breakaway and misses badly. but, this turns out to be the final play of the game. mexico wins 2-0.

chelsea vs liverpool

second verse, same as the first: uefa champions league.

"didier drogba unsheathed the dagger and joe cole plunged it into the heart of liverpool"

29 minutes in, chelski 1, liverpool nil.

chelsea is owned by roman abramovich, mentioned in this link (see the story on rich russians)



the wisdom of a fortune cookie, from the lunch i ate while watching footy.

so, we're to half of a relatively mild game. been some flashes, like cole's goal, but otherwise not too much happening. although, to be truthful, i did miss the first 20 minutes of the game while i was getting a haircut.

in the meantime, i thought i'd show you that lady from yesterday's fresno famous link myspace page. yeah, i think she may have some issues. to illustrate my point, i want to show you pictures she uses to "prove" her case about buildings being moved, and some guy that is secretly behind so much of it



this one is my favorite. remember, this is supposed to show a real person who is behind it all.


i sort of feel bad about highlighting this stuff. but, the lady is all over the place. she posts this stuff on fresno famous, on the tower district myspace group, anywhere she can.

i was really excited to watch a good bit of this game and to catch the result later. i've been a long time bulls fan, this may be the first playoff series win since jordan left.

hey, not that we care, but rosie is leaving the view.


so, maybe you've figured out by all the other sideline comments that the game isn't very interesting. you'd be right. yesterday's match had much more drama (at least so far). neither side seems to be playing very inspired soccer.

another brit, banksy, is doing very well for himself right now.

inside the final minute, chelsea still leading...oh wait, two minutes stoppage time...during which nothing happened.

chelsea 1, liverpool 0.

ac milan vs manchester united

ah, time for another post that only dana, nick and my brother may care about. (but i'm sprinkling in other junk to make the rest of you read too!)today's semifinal match up in the champions league. i'm getting to watch ac milan vs manchester united. i may even be able to watch tomorrow's match of chelsea vs liverpool. sorta crazy that 3 of the four remaining teams are from the premiership. it can really stake the claim as the top notch league of the world.

4:52, man u just scored a ridiculous goal on a set piece. and i don't mean ridiculous in a good sense. well, the corner was good, and christiano ronaldo had a nice header into the keepers neck/shoulder. then it just sorta flew into the air and dida tipped it into the net. kinda ugly. of course, gabriel heinze was there as well and probably would've put it home had dida not.


(btw, i'm surfing the net while watching the game. from sports gal's review of bachelor last night, "What qualifies for a connection these days? Sharing a drink over 10 minutes of awkward conversation as 12 other girls lurk in the background? This show continues to make women proud." that's just awesome. and, "When they arrived in Tahoe, the women shrieked with excitement when they saw their suite at Harrah's. It's a bed covered with cigarette burns! Woo hoo!" hey, i made a joke about how these tramps are so excited to enter a room.)

"and with blinking of an eye, ac milan have that priceless away goal!" kaka just buried an absolutely sick goal, low to the back post. disgusting.

and @ the 36th minute kaka doubles up with another sweet goal. three manchester defenders in the area, two collide, the other one didn't really have much of a chance, and he sends it past van der saar.

so, over on fresno famous, there's this lady that always puts up crazy posts like this one. i am constantly restraining myself from responding.


59th minute, rooney scores his for the third game in a row. came off of some good team work, chopped it in.

69th minute, scoles fouled about 20 yards out. free kick. giggs bends a sick ball around the wall...just wide.

it's been a tail of two halves. milan definately looked better in the first, manchester in the second. even the fouls matched up that way. 1st, milan got all the calls. 2nd, manchester.

christiano ronaldo just had such a sick play that resulted in a corner. 83rd minute. i literally dropped my jaw open on that. he worked it around several players, ripped a fierce shot towards the near corner that was just touched by dida. it still ended up in the outside netting. wonderful stuff.

just inside stoppage...giggs long run...feeds rooney...who drives it home! his second of the night. what a strike.

and man u has won every single home game during this champions league season.