US victory vs. Egypt and Spain match

Alright, let's not get too riled up about our victory against an Egypt team that came out extremely flat. Yes, we played better than we have in a good while, and there were quite a few promising performances by certain players, but in no way shape or form does this victory mean that we are moving forward into higher levels of world soccer.

First, let's point out some of the good performances from the game. Jonathan Spector has been a revelation throughout this tourney. While he doesn't possess an overabundance of pace at the right back spot, he positions himself well, gets forward when needed, and as shown with Dempsey's goal, he can provide a great ball into the area. His training at West Ham reveals a quality that the US does not have at right back and that is good delivery into the box. I believe his spot as a starter has been solidified.

Brad Guzan also had a solid day in goal. He handled all shots pretty easily, distributed the ball well and was pretty calm throughout. He does need to be more decisive on crosses and corners, but his uncertainty on balls in the area can be attributed to his lack of match play. All in all it was a good performance.

Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, and Oguchi Onyewu showed in this game that they are the pick of the litter for the US. Bradley was all over the place. He tackled well (minus one harsh challenge), broke up play in midfield, his passing was crisp, and he made timely runs forward and was rewarded with a goal. Donovan showed why he should be the full time captain for this team. While he may not be the vocal leader that Bocanegra is, players should be inspired by his tireless effort throughout the game. The dude must have ran 20 miles. He burst forward whenever given the opportunity and he would track back to defend if the ball was given away. He also got an assist when he teed Bradley up for his goal (it was a beautiful sequence by the two). My only criticism is that he should have been more aggressive in and around the area. He should have had one goal and probably 3-4 shots on goal, he tries to set his teammates up too much. Finally, we come to Onyewu. He seems to have a better understanding of the game now than he used to and he and Demerit communicate very well together. Gooch was an absolute monster in the air and he stepped in to intercept passes very frequently. He looks primed to improve on his first stint in the premier league.

Now we get to the odd situation of Clint Dempsey. One minute the man looks like the only player on the field with an attacking flair (there is no denying that he's capable of be quite creative) and the next he looks like a 4 yr. old in a waiting room at the doctor's office, just bored out of his mind. In the first half he showed glimpses of brilliance before he made a dumb pass or dribbled himself into the entire defense. After he gave the ball away he was always to slow to track back. The second half is another story. Bradley brought in Feilhaber and moved Dempsey up front with Charlie Davies. This proved to be a wise decision. Dempsey didn't have to start play from midfield, rather he could get the ball closer to the box where his abilities are better suited. Another positive fro this move is that he didn't have as much running to do in order to properly defend. Dempsey has shown on the club level that he can defend, I don't know if he lacks proper motivation with the National Team or if he is just tired from the long season in England. Regardless, he should play up top against Spain. I believe Altidore and Dempsey can play well off of each other and Dempsey requires tight defense outside of the box because he can shoot from distance. It also creates mismatch problems as both players are more than capable in the air.

OK, on to the problem areas. First is central midfield. Clark had a decent game, but I don't think he is the answer. He provides nothing going forward. When Jermaine Jones come into the squad in August I think he should start right away. Until then Feilhaber should play along side Bradley. I know he isn't a holding midfielder, but he has an undeniable ability to distribute the ball and he certainly has a flair for the dramatic. Putting him in the middle means a right or left sided midfield option should be open. Who should play opposite of Donovan? It has to be Adu or Torres, as Beasley's career seems to be done now. I prefer Adu. Let the kid get some run.

The worst problem area in the team has to be left back. Bornstein is terrible, so is Beasley, and so is Pearce. This spot has been at fault for quite a few of the last 20 goals given up against the US. My recommendation is this: If Bocanegra is healthy put him at left back, Demerit and Onyewu stay in center with Spector at right. Bocanegra has played left back for his club. While he provide much going forward, the idea is to provide better cover on the left side. And it's not like Bornstein and Beasley have been whipping in awesome crosses lately. I honestly think he could give better service than those two and he would definitely look 10 times better in defense. This has to be the move, Demerit and Onyewu are playing very well together and Spector might end this year as our best player in the back line.

Some may argue that Charlie Davies deserves another start. I prefer the setup mentioned above, but Davies did impress against Egypt. He needs to do a little better when he gets the ball in his feet outside the area (he doesn't pass out of pressure well), but he is a work horse and he has tons of pace. So, I can't argue too much against including him, but Dempsey has to be up top. I hope Bradley goes with something similar to the lineup that I threw out there.

An open letter to US coach Bob Bradley

Dear Mr. Bradley,

After watching the last two performances by the United States National Team it is clear that some major adjustments need to be made in the team's starting lineup. While some pundits point to the goals we conceded against Italy and Brazil and they say that are defense was torrid on these particular plays, I don't believe that this is the problem. What is more disheartening is our inability to compete on the offensive side of the ball, in particular, our lack of creativity and technique. Benny Feilhaber has shown that his technical ability is better than any of the other players competing for the second CM spot and he has to be on the field against Egypt. Another change I would make is removing Beasley and putting in Freddy Adu or Fransisco Torres.

I would prefer Adu get the nod. He has more attacking flair than any other player on the roster. At some point in time you have to put him out there. Yes you are going to take some bumps with his poor defense and his untimely dribbling into traffic, but the upcoming game against Egypt has nothing on the line. My recommendation would be to play him as an attacking mid or second striker in the slot behind Altidore. The two have shown that they have a good understanding while playing together. Then you can put Donovan and Dempsey on the left and right sides. Both had decent games against Brazil, but when either one ran with the ball they had little support. For this reason I would put Adu in as second striker and give him the freedom to roam about the field. As long as he has the will to run off the ball I think our attack will show a different dimension.

In conclusion, we have to have Feilhaber and Adu in the lineup. Feilhaber will provide service from the center spot and Freddy simply adds a dimension we haven't had in the last few games, actually he adds something we have never had, you have to start throwing him into the fire just to at least see if he can live up to his billing. If not, then, well, it will be a short World Cup for us. Bob, for God's sake, take a risk once in a while.

Yours Truly,
A disgruntled US soccer fan.

Jermaine Jones chooses US

27 year old Schalke midfielder has decided to switch allegiances from Germany to the US. He can do this because of the new rule saying that if you play 3 matches or less for a national team that are friendlies you can still switch to a nation if you have a passport.

I understand that his decision is primarily based on whom he will get more playing time with, but adding him to the team is great for the US. He is a strong holding midifielder with arguably more ability than anyone else on the squad at that position. Starting him would allow Michael Bradley to play a more offensive minded game. In my opinion this is great. While Bradley won't wow you with his passing or technical ability, he has shown a knack for being in great positions to score goals and he can also shoot from distance. Simply put, by strengthening the defense in the midfield the US can become a better attacking team.

Fun with sample sizes and bad stats

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I have been thoroughly enjoying the start of the MLB season. So today I have decided to take a look at some of the performances of players and just point out who are this year's Chris Shelton and Esteban Loaiza. This should be fun.

Raul Ibanez- Phillies
Ok, Ibanez is a decent player, but what he is doing right now is way too good for him. His line goes something like this .344/.408/.700. That is awesome and pair that with the fact that he has 8 home runs already, which means he's on pace to hit 56. If anyone honestly believes that 854 year old Ibanez can hit 56 homers they should be shot. Realistically his average, obp, and slugging percentage are going to drop as well considering his career line is .287/ .347/ .486. I would also like to point out the fact that his home ops is 1.374 and away it is .748. This old fella has to stop hitting like this at some point and it will probably start with a big road trip. Really, he's not this good, he actually isn't very good at all.

Benjie Molina- Giants
I hope that no one thinks his current numbers are all-star worthy, but I am using him to point out the awfulness of using batting average to quantify whether or not a player is good offensively. Molina is hitting .295 with 4 homers. Ten years ago people would've assumed that those numbers were good enough to be an all-star, well not true. Let's say, hypothetically, that he hits .295 and keeps up his pace to hit 27 homers, is that all-star worthy? Well, maybe, because Dioner Navarro was an all-star last year, and he seems completely inept at hitting baseballs. Alright, Molina is hitting .295, but he has like the greatest on base percentage ever....... a staggering .286. This guy is the epitome of a patient hitter, walking an amazing zero times this year, good stuff. So what this tells me is that more than 71% of the time that Molina steps in the batters box he is going to have absolutely no chance to cross home plate. Benjie, my friend, you are a f*cking beast.

Alberto Callaspo- Royals
His current line is .378/.435/.561, career line .285/.340/.368. Granted he is fairly young, but he hit his first home run this year and he has had over 400 at bats. Maybe he does hit .300 and his OBP hovers in the high .300s (unlikely), it still won't make him all that good because he is very fond of singles and not much else, I think this guy has about as much power as Rey Ordonez.

Derek Jeter- Yankees
Jeter has been scrutinized by sportswriters and statisticians for his perceived inability to play shortstop. Well, for the first month he ranked in the top ten among shortstops for range factor and zone rating, this proves that Jeter worked his butt off in the off season and he has improved vastly, right. Wrong, Jeter is a terrible SS and should be playing elsewhere, but I don't think he has enough range to play anywhere, but maybe first. He is not good and if you don't believe me check out his DT card on baseball prospectus.

Stupid NBA stuff

Last night I was at the local hangout and I started talking to one of my friends about the NBA. I am not a big follower of the league, but I do have an idea of what's going on. He asked me who I thought should win the MVP award and I said that it's Lebron James, without a doubt. I mean, all of the stats point towards him, and looking at his efficiency rating he is having one of the best seasons ever, like his sh*t is Jordanesque right now. Well, I told him my pick and he called me a dumbass. He said that Dwayne Wade is far and away the more valuable player, with absolutely no statistical evidence to back it up. He was like, "Wade has carried them the last month and he's hit big shots at the end of the game." OK, that really pisses me off. I didn't argue too much because, one I was fairly inebriated, and two he is a much bigger man than me and he can be quite the frightening individual. Here's what makes me mad about a statement like that, Wade has really carried his team the last month. That's awesome, but to my understanding the season is more than a month and the games played two months ago still count in the win loss column. So, because the Cavs have racked up wins all season it makes LBJ less valuable because he hasn't "carried" his team recently, that is a F**KING stupid damn argument. Also, Wade has hit big shots at the end of games. Really, this is truly great, it's important for the team, it helps them gain momentum, and all of that great team spirit stuff......super. Well, the Cavs keep winning and LBJ puts up monster numbers every damn game. Just because Wade hits an important shot at the end doesn't mean he was worth more. Seriously, if that's how you measure value we would think that Robert Horry and Steve Kerr are the best players ever, EVER. LBJ puts up big numbers and most nights he doesn't have to hit a game winner because the game is already won.

Wade is having a great season, he has great numbers, and his value for his team can't be understated, but he's not Lebron. People argue that Lebron has better players around him. I say it's about equal. If you take Wade and Lebron off of their respective teams who would have more wins? I think the Heat would have more. They would both suck, but the Heat would have more wins. The Cavs would really have like 15 and half wins. Yes they would manage to get a half in there. I don't know how that happens, but it would. Ilguaskas would be drunk by half-time and the two teams would agree to split the win, simply because Big Z might kill everyone if he's drunk. It would be inadvertent, but imagine how clumsy he would be hammered, scary. I understand the Mo Williams and Big Z are solid players, but without Lebron creating for them, they would turn into Brad Miller and Jamaal Tinsley. Lebron is better, he's MVP, He's awesome, I'm not a Cavs fan, and just shut the hell up about Wade, Lebron is the MVP.

Baseball Season is Here

First of all I would like to point out that the new triumvirate of Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips, and John Miller on Sunday Night Baseball is going to be hilarious all year. Morgan's crazy talk has rubbed off on Miller, in Sunday's game John Miller said "slidepiece," a nonsensical term used Morgan to describe a slider. I cracked up, he sounded like a friggin' idiot. Needless to say I quit watching after that. I just hope Phillips and Miller don't say consistent 100 times every broadcast like Morgan does.

More importantly, let's talk about some of the actual games. I will start with my favorite team, the Cardinals. I was absolutely disgusted at Tony LaRussa's lineup yesterday. Brendan Ryan always sucks, Chris Duncan sucks most of the time at the plate and all of the time in the field, and Jason Motte shouldn't be in the bigs. Yes, I am overreacting after one loss, and I am fine with that, but when you have a stud prospect like Colby Rasmus sitting on the bench in favor of Chris Duncan, then there is a problem. By the way Duncan reminds of that big lumbering idiot from "Happy Gilmore" with the nail in his head, I swear to god the run exactly the same. Jason Motte throws hard, that's great, a lot of guys throw hard. It doesn't matter too much when your fastball is flat and your slider has no break, that's a recipe for lots of hits and homers. Give the job to Chris Perez right now. He'll have his bumps in the road, but at least he can throw more than one pitch. Wainwright did pitch well, but his command got shaky later in the game, I was still happy with his performance. Pujols hit, as he always does, and Ludwick did well to hit his bomb. I don't think Ludwick does what he did last year, but I do think he will have a decent year.

Other games of note: Sabathia got rocked in his first start for the Yanks, and yes he's still fat. Verlander got smacked around too, I don't know if he'll ever get back to his 06' form, he must have some kind of lingering injury.

I was very impressed with Jordan Schafer, the rookie center fielder for the Atlanta Braves. He has a good swing, he's a very good fielder, and it looks like he has enough power to be at least a 20 home run guy. Add that to above average speed and he could be a 20/20 guy very soon. Much better than what they had last year.

USA qualifier vs Trinidad

Ok, I have to admit, I was thoroughly disappointed with the US team's performance on Saturday night vs. El Salvador. We didn't control the midfield as we should have and the starters up top didn't provide the offensive spark that was necessary to win the game. The defensive was also very poor, especially on the flanks. Pearce and Hejduk were consistently outmatched on the edge, but at least Hejduk provided some offensive spark in the second half. With all this being said I would like to give some input on what I think the roster should look like on Wednesday night.


Howard

Hejduk Onyewu Bocanegra Spector

Donovan Bradley Torres Dempsey

Ching Altidore

Everyone knows that Howard will play this game. I don't think Guzan was as terrible as some people do, but his leadership isn't as strong as Howard's. On the back line I would keep Hejduk. He hasn't been all that impressive, but the other options aren't that tempting. The only thing that I can think of is to put Spector on the right and Beasley out left, but not sure if a position change is the right thing for a qualifier. That being said, Spector is the most talented fullback in the pool and he can play on either side, so he should start over the much-maligned Heath Pearce.

The midfield is where the biggest change should be. Kljestan did not do enough to cement himself as a starter and Francisco Torres looked vastly better than he did in the second half. With Bradley and Torres in the center the US should do much better in controlling possession. I would also drop Donovan from the second striker role and put him on the right. While I don't think this is his best spot, Bradley needs to pull him back into the midfield to get more touches. This would move Dempsey to the left, a role he plays for Fulham pretty frequently. Donovan and Dempsey could switch sides throughout the evening, I think this would provide more offensive creativity.

Ching should stay up front as his ability to hold the ball up helps maintain possession. I would add Altidore as a strike partner. His talent is undeniable, and with Ching doing the post-up work, he should be able to make runs all night to get behind the defense.

As for the substitutes. I would definitely have Beasley on the bench to come in as a fullback or a midfielder. The most intriguing option is Freddy Adu. I know he isn't seeing the field at Monaco, but he could provide some much needed wizardry on the ball as a sub. I would sub him on for Ching, if needed, and have him play in the hole in front of Jozy. He and Donovan could switch off to give the defense fits. Jay Demerit also needs to be on the bench over Califf, Califf was poor on Saturday.

My changes are probably more aggressive than what Bradley will do, but I think it would work. I understand the importance of three points here, and Bradley will take a conservative approach to lessen the risk of counter attacks. Our talent is vastly better than Trinidad's and with more aggressive, offensive-minded tactics we could dominate them, but our coaching staff is a little too afraid sometimes.

Baseball Tonight is Back

This is great news everyone. I know it's been on for like two-three weeks now, but I have been ignoring it so I don't get angry at the stupidity of some of the analysts. First stupid commentary of the year has to be Eric Young.

He was talking about the Phillies and how they have replaced Pat Burrell with Raul Ibanez. The first argument he had was that Ibanez plays better defense, true, but how many players don't play better defense than Burrell. Here's where he gets dumb. Raul Ibanez will play more games than Burrell, hinting that Burrell didn't last the whole season last year. While this is essentially true, Burrell only missed six games, stupid.

Ok, I need a new paragraph for this bold, yet simpleminded argument. Ibanez hits right handers and left handers well, while Burrell does not. EY didn't provide any stats to back this up (surprised?), but I am assuming he was referring to the batting average splits. While this is true,( Ibanez hit .305 against lefties and .288 against righties, Burrell hit .279 against lefties and .238 against righties) it might be the worst way to look at it. Let's look at some more important stats.

Burrell Ibanez
OBP- .367 .358
SLG- .507 .479
OPS- .875 .837
VS RHP
OBP- .351 .353
SLG- .492 .479
OPS- .843 .837
VS LHP
OBP- .406 .368
SLG- .545 .497
OPS- .951 .865

Ok, these stats tell me that Ibanez doesn't lose too much against lefties or righties, but by no means does he provide better offense against either one in comparison to Burrell. Burrell slugged better and OPSed better than Ibanez on both accounts. So that argument is completely nullified. While Ibanez might be considered better for the Phillies because he slightly better in left field (he still sucks), this shouldn't be a major deciding factor. One thing that EY didn't point to is the fact that Raul Ibanez is more likely to decline in the field and at the plate. He is 37 years old for christ's sake. Pat Burrell is only 32. For some reason analysts feel a need to man crush on the team that just won the world series. How do you overlook that, Raul is old.

Ok that was just a tidbit of what we are going to do with TV personalities. I will start watching BTN on a regular basis. John Kruk and Steve Phillips are next.

Top Five Soundtracks

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but the marketing campaign for the movie "The Watchmen" is friggin' insane. The movie is everywhere. I read the comic book and it's pretty good, not as good as its critical acclaim, but good nonetheless. I think the movie will be very cool, that's probably because I have seen the previews like six thousand times (great advertising). But the one thing that is more exciting to me is the soundtrack. The previews have songs by The Smashing Pumpkins and Muse, which got me extremely excited. This made me think that all of the music was going to have a dark kind of alternative dream pop/metal feel, with a little electronic stuff mixed in. I looked up the soundtrack online and, much to my dismay, not only were the two aforementioned bands not on there, but the what is listed on the CD and my expectations are completely different. At first, I was disappointed, but I look at some of the tracks and it includes a lot of music that is mentioned in the comic. It has some very good songs by good artists, such as, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, etc. It looks like a good soundtrack, but way off from what the previews lead you to believe.

Anyways, my efforts weren't completely unfulfilling as this search for the "Watchmen" soundtrack has prompted me to come up with my top five favorite movie soundtracks of all time. I was looking online for some critics' lists, just to remind me of ones that I liked, and it prompted me to lay down some rules for this particular list. First, it can't be a movie that is made by a band ( i.e. "A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles or "Purple Rain" by Prince), it's just too easy to name those. Second, I am not going to list musicals or film scores, this is going to be a list of compilations. Here it is.

1. "Singles"- This movie is set in the early 90s grunge scene of Seattle, so I guess the music is expected to be good. Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and The Smashing Pumkins are all members of alternative rock's royalty,. and they all contribute on this CD (Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam are in the movie!). Their songs are great, but there is much more. "May This be Love" by Jimi Hendrix is track number eleven, this is one of his best songs in my opinion and it fits well. The very underrated Mudhoney also makes an appearance on the soundtrack. The real gem of the album is the song "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" by Mother Love Bone. This song has never gotten old to me. It's an eight minute love song that leaves you feeling like you've been in an ethereal unconsciousness for the better part of ten minutes with its beautiful musical arrangement and the harrowing story it tells. I can't say enough about that song and that soundtrack, it's an absolute keeper.

2. "Almost Famous"- Not surprisingly, two Cameron Crowe movies are in the top five. the guy obviously likes good music. This one features tunes by great bands of the 60s and 70s. It's highlight by songs like "America" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. the CD also features an original song by the fictional band Stillwater called "Fever Dog". I'm not sure who actually performs it, but it's a really good tune. My favorite song is "That's the Way" by Led Zeppelin. It's an acoustic song that is one of their softer melodies, but it is one of my favorites by them and this is one of the few times that Zeppelin has allowed one of their songs to be on a soundtrack.

3. "The Crow"- This soundtrack features music from some of the bigger artists of the time. This is one of the few soundtracks in which the tone/style of the music fits perfectly with the movie. The theme song of the movie is "Burn" by the Cure. It's no secret that this is my favorite band and this is a great song that coincides with the tone of the film. The album moves from goth and grunge songs that represent the depressing darkness that the main character goes through. Then the tone of the soundtrack changes along with the film. When the main character comes back and begins to take his revenge, the music gets much heavier to go along with the increased action in the film. My favorite song in this mold is Pantera's "the badge." The film's intensity manifests itself in the overpowering guitar and electricity in the song by this heavy metal great. Those aren't the only two songs of note on the album. Stone Temple Pilots' the "big empty" features as well. There are also tunes by the Violent Femmes, Helmet, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, and the Rollins Band. It's a great mix of industrial metal and goth grunge, an eclectic mix that coincides perfectly with the movie.

4. "High Fidelity"- This is one of my favorite movies and the idea of top five lists came from it, so its only right that I include the movie in one of my lists, and the music on the soundtrack is definitely worthy. The first track is by a band called the 13Th Floor Elevators. They are an older band that is considered the pioneers of psychedelic music. The song "Your Gonna Miss Me" has a psychedelic instrumental feel, but the vocals are very much sang in the mold of 70s punk rock, and the lyrics go great with the angst of the character. The soundtrack also features popular songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground, the Kinks, and many more. My favorite song on the album is "Shipbuilding" by Elvis Costello. It's kind of a jazzy song, but Costello's vocals are what make it great, his range is fantastic and you can sense a sort of mellow emotion in his voice, but it is still very powerful and heartfelt. Another great track is "Dry the Rain" by the Beta Band. Their style is very different to the rest of those on the soundtrack as they do sort of an electronic folk/indie sound. The song has very good beats that reoccur. It starts out very slow and then builds up to culminate with great melody and powerful lyrics. The final chorus goes something like this "if there's something inside you wanna say, just say it out loud it will be ok..... I will be your light." Great stuff, and it introduced me to a band I would have never known.

5. "Garden State"- Any compilation that includes Nick Drake needs to be praised. Many people haven't heard of him, but he is a folk singer from the 80s that has a soft melodic voice, I could fall asleep listening to him. This soundtrack also introduced me to the Shins. The have two songs on the album, "Caring is Creepy" and "New Slang." Both are very good and the band kind of resembles a modern version of the Beach Boys. The CD also includes my favorite song by Simon and Garfunkel, "The Only Living Boy in New York." My favorite song in the album is "Fair" by Remy Zero. If you haven't heard this band you have to check them out. The singer has a voice very much like that of Thom Yorke of the Radiohead fame. The song itself is very slow to begin with light acoustic guitar and he sings in a whispy tune. Then the chorus picks up and he cuts loose with uncontainable emotion, and it is at the climax of the movie when the guy gets the courage to kiss the girl.....really good stuff.


Honorable Mentions: I Am Sam, Trainspotting, Easy Rider, Godzilla (1998), Dracula 2000, and Say Anything.

Top Five Albums of the 80s

Over the weekend I went out and had some drinks with some of my friends. When I hang out with these guys we always end up having this discussion, if you were stranded on an island what five albums would you want to have if you knew that is all you could listen to for the rest of your life. You aren't allowed to pick soundtracks, greatest hits, or compilations either. It can be very difficult to pick and I always find myself picking three albums all of the time and then I throw in a couple that have been on my play list recently. Well, Saturday we broke it down by decade and I would like to throw out my list from the 1980s and see what kind of reactions I get.

1. The Cure "Disintegration"- My number one favorite album of all-time, so it obviously merits inclusion for me.

2. The Smiths "Meat is Murder"- Another one of my favorite bands and this is their best effort in my opinion.

3. Metallica "And Justice For All"- This was a tough choice. They had three albums from the decade that I could put on this list, but this is the one I am into right now so that's why it's here.

4. Faith No More "The Real Thing"- The album is much more than their first commercial hit "Epic." "From Out of Nowhere" and "Falling to Pieces" are great tunes as well. This album was a precursor to the 90s rap-rock crossover phenomenon that made bands like Rage Against the Machine popular. Definitely worth a listen if you haven't heard it.

5. Prince "Purple Rain"- Great album by a great musician. Whether you are a fan of his music or not there is no denying how inordinately talented he is, both vocally and instrumentally. I love this album.

Please send in your list, especially if it is a lot different. Hopefully I see some things I have never been exposed to.

AL East Preview

AL East Preview
First of all, I would like to introduce my partner in crime for this post, Luke. He’s going to be contributing on baseball stuff with me, as well as anything else we deem funny enough to publish. The format of the previews is as follows. We will each pick a different team that we think will win the division and list their strengths and weaknesses. Then we will pick who we think is going to be the MVP of the division. After that we will argue until we are no longer humorous.

I’ll go ahead and let Luke bat lead off.

Tampa Bay Rays
The defending AL Champs should be even better this year, but then again so should everyone else in the division. Tampa’s key to maintaining their divisional edge will be the continued development of their young staff. David Price is the best left handed pitching prospect since –well ever. As a starter this year he’ll be able be able show off an assortment of tools matched only by a young Jenna Jameson (pre-cock free on film). The rest of the staff should continue to get better. Kazmir should soon be considered a perennial Cy young candidate-Victor Zambrano should not (way to go Steve Phillips)!

Evan Longoria is an absolutely filthy stud. In my humble opinion the only thing Mike Schmidt had over him was his glorious female tickling porn-stache. Don’t be surprised to see him win his first MVP this year. Yes, I have a huge man crush. Pat Burrel has the greatest follow thru in baseball-which Rays fans will get used to seeing after one of his 150 strikeouts. I don’t think this is as big a pickup as many think. The key to solidifying their lineup will be the development of RF Matt Joyce. A young bat with huge upside that should produce 20hr/80RBI. BJ Upton is good and has a Mohawk that makes him even better.

Joe Maddon has a Mohawk too, but he is old and not as good a manager as Upton and his Mohawk are as a player. Seriously, I could manage their pitching staff. We’ll see how he does this year trying to juggle their inept bullpen. The names Isringhausen and Percival don’t exactly exude confidence or talent anymore. Howell and Wheeler each throw about as hard as Freddy Prinze Jr. What I am trying to say I guess is that their bullpen sucks and could ruin their season. By the way as I am writing this paragraph I just used the phrase “Stedman is a horse” So, yes my focus is strong right now.

In conclusion there’s no way the Rays should not continue to thrive and win another AL East crown. The team formerly known as the “sweaty nut-sack of the AL East” has now handed that moniker off to the Orioles and given hope to cellar dwellers everywhere.

My Turn
Well done Luke, I am big fan of the Jenna Jameson reference, but Matt Joyce and huge upside probably don’t deserve to be said in the same sentence. Yeah it’s possible he hits 20 hr and 80 RBI’s, but seriously RBI’s are probably the overrated useless stat in the history of statistics, really it’s right up there with errors, not good Luke. While I think the Rays have a great shot I’m going to go with the New York Yankees. The Yankees spent as much as the federal government did in the stimulus package this offseason and they should actually see legitimate results this time around. While I am not as high on the AJ Burnett pickup as some, I do believe he will provide a very solid contribution to the staff. Not much needs to be said about Sabathia and Teixeira, they are huge upgrades and perennial all-stars. Word has it Sabathia is in much better shape, I doubt that, he is a fat lard, but he is still frickin’ nasty. The starting pitching is obviously the strength of the team with the top three pitchers in the rotation are Sabathia, Wang, and Burnett. The former two have both won Cy Young awards in the past and Burnett definitely has the stuff, but a questionable makeup and injury history. The fourth and fifth starters could be Andy Pettite, who is passed his prime, but certainly a serviceable 4/5 starter, and either young Phil Hughes or Joba. I think they will use Joba in the set up role and Hughes in the 5 spot, which will add strength to a weak bullpen.

The middle of their lineup is a strength as well. They have Tex and Juice-Rod batting 3 and 4, two of the best hitters in the game. Jeter will get on base in front of them and they have Posada back who is a huge upgrade over the anemic combo of Molina and Pudge. Swisher had a bad year last year, but he will definitely be closer to his 2007 stats barring injury. Nady is an average corner outfielder, but he does bring some power to the table. Also, look for Cano to be better than last year; he played way below his abilities, kind of like Greg Norman in the final round of a major.

The 2009 version of the Yankees is not without weakness. Their infield and outfield defense will be bad. When your first baseman is your best infield defender then there is a problem. And don’t get me started on Derek “gold glove” Jeter’s ineptitude at shortstop. He has less range than Shaq does on his jump shot. Seriously, I think it’s more likely that Shaq makes a three than Jeter actually makes a play to his left. A-Rod is average at third, at best, and if he keeps that orange tan then look for him to be even worse. This defense will be very discouraging to the talented pitching staff, but the offense should score enough to make up for it and win the division.

Luke’s MVP: First of all in case all of you haven’t picked up on this fact. Corey is a huge Cardinals fan and completely incapable of being unbiased. Anyhow, without further ado your AL East MVP….Matt Joyce. Just kidding, how could I go with anyone else besides Evan Longoria. Seriously, he has the talent, the body, the contract, and yes I love him.

Corey’s (AKA Thackzilla) MVP: Yes I am biased, but I still think the Yankee’s pitching and offense will be strong enough to cover up their defensive inadequacies. But I have to agree with Longoria for MVP. He won’t put up A-Rod numbers offensively, but he’ll be close and he plays the best defensive third base in the AL. He’s a close second in the entire league behind Zimmerman defensively.

Alright we were going to argue our choices, but Luke had to mention Jenna Jameson, so that gave me a new idea. Let’s pick our favorite porn stars. Mine has to be Miko Lee, I have a thing for well-endowed Asians, and she is certainly that.

How about you Luke? What was that chicks name from family matters? Corey: I don’t know be she can choke one down, phenomenal throat.

Alright this is getting way too x-rated and I’m starting to get excited. We’re out. Enjoy and leave comments.

Tiger Woods Defeated

Tiger Woods lost in the second round of match play on Thursday, to Tim Clark. Obviously, Tiger isn't quite up to his own lofty standards just yet. But his return this week has made me ponder something about him and the PGA Tour in general. Is Tiger's dominance good or bad for golf? Yes, when he plays and when he plays well ratings are higher for the events and the galleries are much bigger. Everyone wants to see how often Tiger can win and how much he can win by. I believe that this isn't necessarily a bad thing for the sport, in actuality Tiger has made the sport bigger than it has ever been, but there is a way it could get even bigger. If someone rises up in the sport, like Anthony Kim or Camillo Villegas (no, not Sergio), and is capable of challenging and beating Tiger on a more frequent basis, then more people will be entertained. While Tiger's recent dominance over the field is always going to be a storyline, I think that if he has a true rival, like Jack did in his heyday, then the sport will become massive. And his rival can't be someone that has already tried and failed, they are old news. So, Phil and Ernie you're out. Sergio Garcia seems completely incapable of being a force in major tournaments, I'm not saying he won't win one, but he will never be anything close to Tiger in terms of what he does in the majors. It has to be a young, fearless player who has the determination to take the leap. It needs to be someone like Anthony Kim, Villegas, or even young Rory Mcilroy. But I wouldn't expect any of this to happen, Tiger is just that much better.

Led Zeppelin Top Five

So I have been listening to Led Zeppelin a lot lately which has prompted me to do a top five list of my favorite Zeppelin songs. Here we go.

1. Since I've Been Loving You- The bluesiest song by them is extremely powerful and emotional. You can hear the pain in Plant's voice. And then you get an amazing solo by Jimmy Page, what a song.

2. When The Levee Breaks- It starts out slow and the first few times I listened to it I didn't finish the song, but near the end there is a killer hook. It's the epitome of a rock song.

3. Over the Hills and Far Away- One of the best opening guitars ever.....no more needs to be said.

4. Achilles Last Stand- Completely different than anything by them. I thought it was Rush the first time I heard it. One of the best progressive rock songs ever, by a regular rock n' roll band, it just shows their versatility.

5. The Rain Song- Again this shows how versatile they were. They were able to make one of the best love ballads ever, even though that type of music is not their MO.

Any thoughts? Please post your list.

In a sport shrouded in scandal, who will rise above and become the symbol of baseball's current generation?

All I can hear right now is sprinkler heads watering the green grass, the pop of a baseball hitting a mitt, and the sound of a wooden bat cracking a ball in batting practice. Spring training has started, which means that the next season of our great pastime is just around the corner.

Unfortunately, the stories that surround our fabled sport are primarily negative. This era of Major League Baseball has been tainted by the so-called steroids epidemic that is supposedly running rampant in the sport. While I don’t doubt that many of our favorite players have been in some way involved with performance enhancing drugs, I believe that the current media circus is taking away from what we love. Do I think that the negative news has to come to an end, NO, but our media has to find something more than just the steroids problem to write about.

Baseball is starting to lose its title as America’s Pastime, because of the nature of the news that is being reported. We no longer have the fabled heroes of the past like Mickey Mantle, Joe D, and Stan Musial (to name a few). Is it because of the sportswriters, or is it simply the nature of our populace. The truth is negative news sells. This is true in every section of our society, politics, business, and especially sports. To be more forthright about the situation, baseball players are no longer seen as great outside of the game, we can no longer see our favorite players as “bigger than life” simply because of the fear that they were doping or they are criminals. What I am proposing is that we continue to publish these stories, but also there needs to be more of an emphasis on the great things that some of our baseball icons do, not just the bad.

In baseball’s earliest days we had protagonists and antagonists of the game. Babe Ruth was the quintessential heroic athlete of the time. He was the best player of his era (probably ever too) and the American public followed his every move outside of the game. I love to see the documentaries that show just how much of a celebrity Ruth was. Sure, he wasn’t the exact guy that you wanted your children to idolize, because of his vices outside of the game. He was more than likely an alcoholic, a glutton, and a womanizer. None of these traits are the most admirable, but I don’t believe any one at the time characterized him as a bad person. He was noted for his reckless drinking binges, but at the same time he was a well-known philanthropist. Babe was a celebrity on the field and off, but it wasn’t simply because of his tumultuous lifestyle.

Ruth’s antagonist at the time would certainly be Ty Cobb. Cobb was a player that everyone hated. He was one of the greatest ever, but he was a dirty player and a dirty person. I doubt there were any positive things said about Cobb outside of his play on the field. He was the player everyone wanted to hate and everyone wanted to love Babe Ruth. We don’t have any stories like that today.

In a different era Stan Musial was a player that you didn’t hear much about off the field, Mickey Mantle was definitely the man that takes that title. But Musial’s exploits didn’t go unnoticed. Musial’s career statistics show that he was one of the greatest to ever play the game. He’s also recognized as one of the best sportsman to play, he won “Sports Illustrated’s” sportsman of the year award in 1957. He never argued a call and never complained. Former MLB Commissioner Ford Frick said about Musial, “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.” There are numerous stories about Stan Musial’s ideals, personality, and just his honest hard-working spirit that the players of today should take note of. He has never been thrown out of a game. When his numbers started to decline as he got older, he asked Cardinals management for a pay cut. In 1951 he went as far to help an opposing player, Chuck Conners, of the rival Chicago Cubs, with his swing. This is the type of man, hero, that we as a people need to start noting and writing about.

In hearing these great stories of past heroes, who do we, as sports fans, believe should be anointed as our great generational hero? Considering his current circumstances it is surely not Alex Rodriguez. Albert Pujols has been noted for his generosity with charity and there is no argument that he plays the game the right way. But, with the steroids situation, almost everyone out there is probably skeptical about his history with PED’s. I firmly believe that he is clean, but there will always be skepticism. Media and common fans alike have a guilty until proven innocent attitude when it comes to players with great hitting numbers, especially home runs. That leaves out power hitters like Pujols and Ryan Howard, so who can be our hero? One player that immediately comes to mind for me is Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox. The youngster threw a no hitter last year and was dominant from the end of the season on. And he did all of this after recovering from cancerous lymphoma in 2006. He was awarded with the Tony Conigliaro award in 2007 for his amazing recovery. In my opinion a player like this, who overcomes adversity and does great things is the type of player that needs to be talked about more often than the scandals that run through the media. Jon Lester is not a hero on the level of Babe Ruth, but he is the type of player that our media and fans need to look at for inspiration. We don’t have a true knight in shining armor for our generation, but it is up to our media to find someone that can be a hero, then the people will ultimately follow. Who would your hero be?

MLB Divsional previews

I am coming out with previews for each division in Major League Baseball. I will pick division winners, division MVPs, and I will give a complete breakdown of the team I think wins the division. It will all start on Friday February 27, with the monstrous AL East. The schedule is listed below.

Feb 27-AL East
Mar 1-NL East
Mar 3-AL Central
Mar 5-NL Central
Mar 7-AL West
Mar 9-NL West

I am so excited about baseball season.

Braves sign Anderson

Ok, terrible signing number 2 in the last week. The Mariners signed Griffey Jr. last week and I think that was terrible, but the Braves signed Garrett Anderson, wow good move. Last year Anderson's BA was .293, I hate to use batting average, but it was his best statistic last year. His OBP was only .325 and he slugged .433. These numbers are not good enough to be a regular on a major league ball club and he is more than likely going to regress even more this year.

I am certain that some of the big network analysts will call this a good move, primarily because they will consider Anderson a "veteran presence" that will add "clubhouse leadership." Horse poo. I don't even think he is capable of playing an average left field. He's done.

Another reason this is a terrible move is because you are going to block a very good prospect in Jordan Schafer for a guy who is going to be a below average corner outfielder in all facets of the game. If they use him as a platoon guy or a pinch hitter then fine, but don't take at bats away from the young guys. The organization needs to understand that winning this year is not priority as their farm system is stacked and 2010/2011 are years that it is more likely for them to be successful. Another bad deal for a "crafty vet." Jesus, how overrated is that whole veteran presence/leadership thing, isn't that what you hire good managers for?

Essays

I will be writing my first full length essay in the near future. This section will also include critical movie, music, and book reviews. I will post them on the regular part of the blog and after a few days they will be moved to the Essay Section.

World's Most Overrated Team

First of all, I need to set the parameters. To be included in this team the player must either play regularly for a traditional club powerhouse, be a supposed key member of a national team, they have big price tags on them in the transfer window, or they are hyped prospects. Alright, I know people will completely disagree, but here we go.

GK Manuel Almunia- He is obviously the worst goalkeeper out of England's big four teams and I would argue that he is not even a top ten keeper in the Prem. He is one of the reasons Arsenal is not in the top four right now. Lehmann got a lot of grief, but he is a much better keeper, even at this stage in his career.

RB Alvaro Arbeloa- He is prone to lapses defensively and he isn't much of a threat going forward. Not good enough to be a starting right back for Liverpool.

CB Kolo Toure- He is loads of physical ability. More pace than most centre backs, he is very strong, and good in the air. But when watching him it seems like he doesn't want to mark anyone, he lets his man by too easily, especially when playing against someone who runs well off the ball.

CB Rafa Marquez- Not playing for Barca as much as he used to, but still captain of Mexico. He is a talented defender, but he is susceptible to big mistakes and he is very undisciplined.

LB Ashley Cole- The self-proclaimed "best left back in the world" is definitely not. He's very good going forward, but his marking is lax too frequently to have any claim at that title. He's also capable of big errors.

CM Momo Sissoko- The holding mid for Juventus. At his best he's a fierce tackler that controls the midfield. He tackles well most of the time, but in most matches he gives the ball away with atrocious passing, not consistent enough to play regularly for the Old Lady.

CAM Ronaldinho- Still shows glimpses of brilliance at Milan, but let's face it, his best days are behind him.

LM Florent Malouda- The wide player for Chelsea has great pace, but his crossing is usually poor and he's a bad finisher. The only reason he gets playing time is because they have few wide players, and no left footers.

RM Quaresma- This is based on his time at Inter (I think he will be very good with Chelsea). He dribbles into trouble too much and tries to be too flashy. He has the talent, but a bad mentality.

ST Adebayor- Sure the Arsenal man banged in like 30 goals last year, but that number hides what he really is. He is a poacher, nothing more. He might score a couple of nice ones, but he doesn't offer as much to the squad that his scoring record and price tag indicate. Eduardo and Van Persie should start over him every time they are available.

ST Santa Cruz- He is a good striker, but is he worth what Rovers were asking, absolutely not. He holds the ball up well and he's great in the air, but he doesn't have the pace or the trickery to beat defenders one on one. Not worth his reported 20 mil price tag. There are plenty of strikers just like him out there and they are much cheaper.

overrated team

After seeing Adebayor win African Player of the Year last week, that has prompted me to put together a most overrated team in the world. He will probably be included, but I will need some time to work on it.

World XI

I commented on another blog last week that had shown their dream team for world soccer, it's over at twofootedtackle.com. I agreed with him with the exception of a couple of players. Well, I have now changed my mind and would like to show my dream lineup.

GK Casillas

RB Maicon CB Vidic CB Chiellini LB Lahm

CDM Cambiasso

CM Xavi CM Iniesta

RW Messi ST Ibrahimovic LW Ribery

I have quite a few differences now. First, I have Chiellini instead of Carvalho. I think Carvalho is a smarter player, but Chiellini is more physically imposing. Also, seeing Juventus without him last weekend against Sampdoria just shows how important he is to their back line.

I have Lahm instead of Evra. I personally believe that Evra is very good, but he benefits from having great centre backs. Lahm is smaller, but I think he is a better marker and he is a great finisher when going forward.

I excluded Steven Gerrard (my favorite player), who I think is the best attacking mid in the world, and Alexandre Pato. I put in Xavi and Iniesta in two central midfield spots and let me give my reasoning. I don't think they are the best at the position, but seeing how well the play together for Barcelona and Spain, they have a connection that can't be overstated. They also have great chemistry with Messi.

I opted for one striker to put both Xavi and Iniesta in, and I also took out Ronaldo for Ribery. I don't think Ronaldo is on the best of form right now, and in a squad like this you don't need sulking ball hogs like him. Ribery is as dangerous as anyone and he is on great form.

I sincerely believe that Ibrahimovic is more than capable of playing as a lone striker, especially with Messi making runs all over the pitch. He can hold the ball up and find Iniesta, Ribery, Xavi, or Messi darting around the field. I think this team would provide killer through balls to any of the attacking players more often than not.

Reserves:
GK Buffon
RB Sergio Ramos
LB Marcel Jansen
CB Carvalho
CDM De Rossi
CM Gerrard
CAM Hamsik
LW Robben
RW Ronaldo
ST Benzema

Top 5 before I die

Here is another top five list, but this one has a different flavor to it. I watched the movie "The Bucket List" the other day. It is about two terminally ill guys who befriend each other in their waning moments of life. They come up with a list of things they want to do before they die and they go and do them. Well, I am going to do something similar, but my list is going to be sporting events. So, here is my top five sporting events that I want to go to before I die.

1. The Masters- This is the most prestigous golf tournament out there. It has a great history, it's a great golf course, and the event isn't as overly crowded as a U.S. Open.

2. The World Series- I would be ok going to a World Series no matter who the teams are, but I would prefer to see my beloved St. Louis Cardinals in the big one. Baseball is my favorite sport so this is a must.

3. The World Cup- I would love to go to this event at any time, but if I could go and the U.S. National Team was at least a mid level contender then it would be perfect. I would also prefer to go in an English speaking country, that way I could have more fun outside of just going to the games.

4. AC Milan vs. Inter Milan- To me this is the biggest rivalry in club soccer. They play at the same stadium, San Siro, and it is supposedly one of the best venues around. This game is steeped in tradition, it's an extremely heated rivalry, and from what I have heard, Milan is a great city to visit. This game is all about atmosphere.

5. The British Open at St. Andrews- The second biggest major championship, in my opinion. To see this event played at the most famous golf course in the world would be immense. Plus, after the round is over each day I could go enjoy a Guinness in the homeland.

Honorable Mentions
Super bowl, the Olympics, and Liverpool vs. Manchester United.

There's my list, you guys tell me yours.

Guilty Pleasures in Music

The other day I found a CD I got when I was real young. This was the first CD that I ever owned, I got it when I was like 8 after I had my tonsils out. The CD is Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club. I guess I really liked that song "All I Wanna Do" when I was a kid, it was extremely popular at the time. Well, I found the CD a couple of days ago and popped it in. I realized that there is a song on there that I love. "I Shall Believe" is a killer tune. I know it is a sappy song that girls would like, but I can't help the fact that I really enjoy it. In coming across this I decided to come up with a list of guilty pleasures that most of my friends would make fun of me for liking. Here's my list.

1. Anything by Hall and Oates. I don't know what it is about them, but they have like 10 songs that I dig and all of them are really catchy.

2. Skid Row. I only like two or three songs by them, "I Remember" in particular. I will get on these strange kicks where, for some strange reason, I just want to listen to hair metal and power ballads. I know it is bad music, but again it's a guilty pleasure.

3. The Pretenders. This isn't as bad because they are a very respected band, but my friends will rip on any music with female singers. I love everything by the Pretenders and she is hot in a weird kind of way.

4. The Cure. Most people make fun of this because Robert Smith wears makeup and looks like a scary clown. Also, the music is very depressing, but they are my favorite band.....ever.

5. Dido. I like her voice. I know I probably just lost half of my masculinity, but it feels good to get it out. I am going to get burned up for posting that one.

USA v. Mexico Recap

USA beat Mexico 2-0 on Wednesday night. Both goals came from the Coach's son Michael Bradley.

The game got started quickly with Gio Dos Santos missing out on a golden opportunity in the box. Bocanegra had a poor clearance after dispossessing Castillo in the box, it fell right to Dos Santos and he shot it right at Howard.

After that the U.S. settled down a bit and started to control possession a little more. Bradley narrowly missed the goal on a 20 yard screamer and Donovan shot just wide on a free kick right outside the box. The first goal came late in the half as Beasley hit a corner to the far post. Donovan headed back in the middle to Onyewu. He headed on goal only for the shot to be parried by Sanchez. It fell right to Bradley who nailed it in. The defenders were lazily ball watching. Mexico has no one to blame for the first goal but themselves.

The second half was fairly uneventful. The U.S. held possession well and was doing a great job tackling in the midfield. Mexico started to go forward around the 60th minute and they had a golden opportunity off of a corner only to have Dos Santos miss twice. Rafa Marquez received a red card for hitting Howard with a spikes up kick. Marquez clearly wasn't going for the ball and he had no chance at getting it. It was a good call.

Mexico was at a big disadvantage and they weren't working very hard on top of that. USA tackled well and they got the second goal in the 90th minute. Altidore took the ball and ran for about 15 yards. He laid it off to Donovan, who saw Bradley running up field. He passed Bradley the ball who then shot from about 20 yards out. He hit it solid, but it was right at Sanchez. Sanchez let it slide right under him to put the game away.

Player ratings

USA

Tim Howard- 7 Did well when Mexico came at him, didn't have to save much though. Loses points for picking up a yellow for delay of game. He'll miss the next game.

Frankie Hejduk- 6.5 Was the most consistent defender on the day. Got forward well and didn't really let his man have much room. He is still going to be hampered by his lack of physical ability, not enough pace or skill to be a real threat on the flanks.

Oguchi Onyewu- 6 Not a great game for the big guy. He defended his man fairly well, but had some shaky clearances and let an untalented Ochoa slip by him once, but handled him the rest of the game. He stepped up to intercept a lot of balls late in the game though.

Carlos Bocanegra- 5 Very bad performance for the vet. Didn't communicate well with Gooch and looked very nervy when clearing the ball under pressure.

Heath Pearce- 5.5 Did nothing to separate himself from the left back field. Did ok covering Dos Santos, but he always looked as though he was going to get beat, even when he didn't. Got forward some, but as usual his crossing was atrocious.

Sacha Kljestan- 5 His worst performance in the shirt. He played as the second center mid. His defense was poor throughout and Bradley had to give extra effort to make up for it. His passing was surprisingly poor. He was never a threat offensively, he looked anxious throughout and was taken off late in the game.

Michael Bradley- 9 Immense! Early on he was a little untidy with his passing, but that proved to be just nerves. He is at his best when games a scrappy in the midfield. The game got scrappy and he became a bull in midfield. Tracked back very well to cover for the invisible man, Kljestan. Tackled very well, only giving up one foul. And obviously he scored twice.

Clint Dempsey- 6.5 You can tell his time playing for Roy Hodgson has improved his game. He is a much better defensive player because of it, he covered well on the flanks. He didn't try to do a whole lot offensively, I would lie to see him demand the ball more. Had a half chance in the first half. He seemed uninterested at times.

Demarcus Beasley- 6.5 Isn't quite in form yet as shown by some bad touches and shots, but played better than expected. Defended very well as usual and that's big considering the problems at left back. Hit the corner that scored the goal, even though it wasn't a very good one.

Landon Donovan- 7.5 Floated in and out of the game. Wasn't a threat enough of the time, but he had a hand in both goals and he was the biggest threat for the U.S. He required more attention than any other player.

Brian Ching- 6 Held the ball up well, but really didn't do anything else. He is simply doing a job out there, but I don't think it is enough. He did do his job though, so you can't really take much away from him.

Reserves

Jozy Altidore- 6 Didn't have too many touches. He caused more trouble than Ching because of his pace and his willingness to make runs. Gave the ball up to easily early on. He created the second goal though and if he didn't lay the ball off to Donovan he would have won a free kick and it was a tackle worthy of a yellow card. His physical attributes are too good to keep him off the field.

Ricardo Clark- 3 Not on the field long enough to give him a true rating, but he was bad in his time. He tackled ok as usual, but as usual his passing was off the mark and the game was always one step ahead of him. He shouldn't win many more caps in my opinion.


I am not going to do ratings for Mexico, but I will say that Marquez gets a 2 for being very stupid. He cost his team a chance at points in this game, and he hurts them for the next game. Also, why is Eriksson playing Oswaldo Sanchez and Carlos Ochoa. Sanchez is obviously not good any more and there are better keepers behind him. And Carlos Ochoa was never a threat, he looked awful, they need Carlos Vela and fast. I'm starting to think that Eriksson is not a good manager.

Pre post match analysis

Ok I am working on the reviews of USA's dominance of Mexico and the UNC Duke basketball game, but before I do that I have to get this off of my chest. People always say that soccer will never be very big in the United States and before I thought that they were wrong. I have always thought that if it gets enough air time and better, more recognizable players come to play here then it could happen. I saw something last night while watching the qualifier that really hurt soccer's chances in the US. For some damn reason our television networks have no understanding of how to cover the sport. First off the announcers are god awful, but that is expected as I hate most announcers in all sports. The main issue I have with the coverage is the camera work. The network always switches to camera close ups on the man with the ball so you can't see exactly what's going on. Ok, cool I can see really closely what the ball is doing on the guys feet, but I have no idea how close he is to actually having a chance at goal. Another thing that pisses me off is when they do close ups of a players face when something is happening thirty yards up field. I don't give a crap about Onyewu's facial structure, where is the ball for Christ's sake. Finally, the unnecessary game breaks in the middle of the action. They will show other things that happened in sports that day that are old news, and they put the live game on a mini screen, as if you could actually make out what is going on in a 3 by 3 centimeter picture.

I don't know why the networks do this to the game, but they need to watch the coverage of the English Premiership to get some pointers. It can be extremely frustrating to watch.

Adebayor Player of the Year?

Emmanuel Adebayor was just pegged as the African player of the year for 2008. He did bang in 30 goals last year, but I personally think he is vastly over rated. He is a younger version of Kanu. He will put in some goals, but what he offers after that is minimal. He is a product of Arsenal's free flowing style of football and I don't think he is the type of player that can carry the load up front.

My pick for African player of the year would have been either Michael Essien or Sulley Muntari. Essien has been injured as of late so it is understandable that he missed out. But he seen as a deep lying midfielder with great tackling ability. While this is all true, he provides much more to his team offensively than he gets credit for.

I see Muntari in the same way as Essien. A defensive mid that provides more offense than given credit. The only difference is that Muntari played more games last year. His contribution to Portsmouth can't be overstated as he dictated the games in the midfield for them. It's no wonder why Mourinho brought him to Inter Milan, where he has done a great job playing along side Cambiasso. His energy level is immense and if he can tidy up his passing and finishing a bit more he could be very similar to Cambiasso.

Muntari would have been my selection for African Player of the Year. Adebayor is one dimensional, he floats in and out of games, and he's bad for the chemistry of the squad with all of his transfer issues.

USA vs. Mexico

After the game I will roll out a review that includes player ratings, manager ratings, and the men of the match for both teams. I can't describe how excited I am for this match. I haven't decided if I'm doing play by play, I don't think I want to have my laptop on at a bar, that could be disastrous.

annoying commercials

I just wanted to get this out of my system. Those free credit report commercials are the most annoying commercials ever. Once I hear them I can't get that damn song out of my head. I guess that's what they're going for though.

UNC vs. Duke Preview

This has been a storied rivalry for some time now. I live in North Carolina so I have to deal with the completely biased fans from both sides. I wish it were possible for both teams to lose, but that can't happen so I am going to give my prediction.

North Carolina

Key Player: Ty Lawson. I think that Lawson is key for the Tar Heels. In Carolina's two losses Lawson is averaging 9.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 4 turnovers. Compare this to his average of 15 points, 6 assists, and only 1.7 turnovers for the season. It's obvious that he is a main factor in big games for them. While Duke doesn't have the ability at point guard that BC and Wake Forest have, it is still essential for Lawson to play smart and run the offense. The game starts with him for the Heels and if he has a game like he did against Wake then the Tar Heels will lose.

Defensively: The Heels have an athletic advantage over Duke that can't be understated. While I don't think they are that strong on the defensive side of the ball, they can clamp down on a slower, smaller Duke team. The key here is for UNC to defend the three ball, as it is Duke's bread and butter. If they put pressure on the shooters then they will win. The only real slashing threat Duke has is Gerald Henderson and I think Danny Green is capable of shutting him down.

Offensively: Again it starts with Lawson. If he has a bad game you can forget about UNC scoring 100. The one thing Duke always does under Coach K is apply immense pressure. It will be imperative for UNC to get the ball inside to Hansbrough. Carolina has an advantage down low, but they don't have the depth that they did early in the season, so if he gets into foul trouble it will take that advantage away. The perimeter shooters need to shoot well and Wayne Ellington is certainly capable. They need to use their inside-out game that they have with Hansbrough and Ellington. Carolina is also better in transition due to their athleticism.

Duke

Key Player: Brian Zoubek. Look, Zoubek is not good, by any means, but he is vital to the success of the Blue Devils tonight. If he can at least stand his ground and play tough defense on the inside it will be a major help to Duke. He isn't good on the offensive end of the floor, but if he can manage to get 10 points or so it would help alleviate the pressure that the shooters have to deal with. This guy has to come up big, but don't expect it as he has been an underachiever throughout his career.

Defensively: This is where Duke is good. Again Zoubek is key. He has to be able to contain UNC's post game at least a little bit or all is lost. Duke will apply a ton of pressure on the back court and I expect that to work in their favor, but if Hansbrough man handles Zoubek they will lose that advantage.

Offensively: It comes down to how they shoot the ball. Duke relies on the three as Gerald Henderson is their only true slashing type of player. The good thing is they have at least three players that are capable of getting hot in Sheyer, Singler, and Paulus. Singler is also capable of mixing it up inside and he has a good mid range game, but he doesn't score points in bunches, so don't expect the offense to rely on him. They have to find a way to get open looks and if they can they have a good shot of winning this game.

Prediction:
The home court advantage for Duke is huge. If the start making buckets early Duke will win, but I don't think that will happen. I think UNC will play good enough D early on to hold their shooters at bay. UNC will lead by double digits at some point, but Duke will bring it back very close with some timely threes. UNC wins by 5, but the game will be closer than that down the stretch.

USA v Mexico Preview

This is the first of two game previews that are being unveiled today, the second being the UNC v Duke college basketball game.

I expect this game to be very similar to previous match ups. I expect the US to try and control possession, primarily deep in the midfield. In doing this they will also attempt to make the game slow and terrible on the eye, but they don't want Mexico to get going offensively because they have a ton of technical ability. The US will have to find someone willing to take defenders on, in past games between the two this has been difficult and as a result the US has an obvious reliance on set pieces. To be said more plainly Donovan and Dempsey have to go right at the Mexican defense.


I think the lineup will consist of this:

Howard

Hejduk Onyewu Bocanegra Pearce

Dempsey Bradley Kljestan

Donovan Beasley

Ching

I think Bradley will play it safe considering the importance of the game, but here is what I think the lineup should be.

Howard

Wynne Onyewu Califf Bocanegra

Kljestan Bradley Torres

Dempsey Donovan

Altidore

Obviously I have quite a few differences. On the back line I added Marvell Wynne over Hejduk. I know Hejduk isn't as shaky defensively as Wynne can be at times, but Wynne has amazing pace, so much so that he can recover from most mistakes. This pace also makes him more of a threat going forward. The knock on him right now is that he doesn't produce much at the end of his runs forward. I personally am ok with that, the runs alone might unsettle the defense and if he does put in a few good crosses it's an added plus.

I put Califf in the middle and Bocanegra on the left. This isn't anything against Bocanegra at centre back, as he has been in good form there for the national team. Bocanegra has played left back for his club in France and I think he would add a lot of stability over there in comparison to Pearce and Bornstein.

In the midfield I have put Beasley on the bench and added Jose Fransisco Torres, there are a few reasons for this. First, Beasley hasn't played for his club, Rangers, in forever, so he is probably not in good form. Second, Torres has been playing a lot for his club Pachuca. Torres also has Mexican heritage and he plays in Mexico, I think he would be pumped up for this game and it would add a lot of energy to the side. Finally, Torres is more versatile than Beasley, he can play wide, in the middle, he is a very good passer, and he can shoot from distance. On top of all that I think Torres is better technically.

Up front I took out Ching and threw in Altidore. The last time these two clubs played Altidore completely owned Rafa Marquez. He may not be consistent throughout the game, but Altidore adds a size, power, pace, and technical ability combination that Ching has never had. I think if Jozy plays up to his abilities he would give the defense fits.

For Mexico, I think they will lose this game simply because they will lose possession as described earlier. If they can come out early and play fast then they have a chance, if not it will be a slow defensive affair, and personally I don't the Eriksson is a very good coach, so it will be difficult for them to make the right adjustments.

Final - USA 2 - Mexico 1
Kljestan and Donovan get goals and Guillermo Franco gets a late consolation goal.

top five lists

I recently watched the movie "High Fidelity" for the 600th time. If you haven't seen it, it's great. But in the movie the characters have top five lists for everything musical. So, I am going to roll out my first top five for music. The top five most overplayed overrated tunes ever.

1. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zepplin.
2. "Paint it Black" - Rolling Stones
3. "My Generation" - The Who
4. "Layla" - Derek and the Dominos
5. "Sittin' at a Bar" - Rehab

Ok, don't get me wrong "Stairway to Heaven" is a tremendous song, I love it, but I hear it all of the time on the radio. Also, for some reason this is the song that always comes up when you talk about Led Zepplin with people that don't really listen to Zepplin, I guess that's because it is their biggest song. Another thing that pisses me off is the fact that every amateur guitar player will either tell you they can play Stairway or show you they can, like it is the know all end all of guitar playing, just friggin' stop already it's annoying.

"Paint it Black" isn't the Stones biggest song and it might not be the one that is played most on the radio, but I hear it all of the time. People also play this song at parties and always bring it up like it is that one song by them that no one knows... alright people everybody knows about it, stop already. On top of that it is really annoying after the first few times you hear it, there just isn't much to the song.

"My Generation" is an awesome tune. The one thing that overrates this song is the fact that big music networks and music critics point to this song as the anthem of a generation. Well, I just don't think it is, so shut up about that garbage. I don't think anyone from the 70s will point to that song as the one that defined the era, no one you hear me no one.

"Layla" is the most overrated song ever. It is all over the place, it is played all of the time, it is covered all of the time, everyone seems to like it for some reason. I might get blasted for saying this, but it just isn't that good. Yeah, the opening guitar is awesome, but after that the song does absolutely nothing for me, I usually just hit next. I'm at the point now where I don't even like the guitar anymore I'm just like "Damn this song again."

Finally, "Sittin at a Bar" by Rehab. This song isn't very popular on the radio, so some may think it doesn't merit inclusion on a list like this, but you have to understand where I am coming from. I live in the south, so for drunk rednecks this is some kind of damn theme song. Every time I am at a bar some drunk ass hillbilly has to play it on the jukebox and more often than not they play it twice, back to back. This song damages my calm and all I can think about is drunk rednecks leaving their 18 kids back at home unsupervised while they're out getting hammered at some dive. I will hear it again I'm sure of that and I might just slit my throat next time I do. That song sucks.

Steroids and Schilling

There has been a lot of fallout from the A-Rod taking PED's story. One of the most interesting things I saw was Curt Schilling saying that all 104 names should be released. I happen to agree with him. I understand that legally I don't think this can happen. This was a private survey that the MLB did in 2003 and I believe the players union would go bananas if the league did release the names, but I think the fans have a right to know.

Baseball has a lot to gain by making this public. I have no doubts that it would be detrimental to many players if this did come out, but the more we know the better. Steroids will hang over the head of every major player until we know that they are clean. What can be gained is trust and respectability. I believe, if this is released, we can truly say who was great from this era and who may not have been as great. I think A-Rod is great without the steroids, but he admitted to taking them. We may never know if his numbers were inflated by PED's or if his numbers would have been the same without them. I believe that the names should come out and each fan has the right to reserve judgment on any player in question. This is a major step for baseball to regain its image.

I hear sportswriters say all of the time that baseball gets a raw deal when sports like football get a free pass on steroids. They might be right, baseball does get a harsher stance than other sports, but I think that it should. Baseball is without question America's Past time, that is indisputable. It is so ingrained in America, it is in the fabric of our being. If it is to be continued to be held in this regard I believe that the standards of our professional baseball players and our league should be that much higher. It is up to the league and the players to regain our respect and to start living up to their lofty standards. I personally do not care if less home runs are hit, I want to see who is truly great, who can measure up to the storied names of baseball's past without cheating.