- Let's start off with the biggest game of the weekend - defending Patriot League champions Bucknell @ Minnesota. The Bison have three really big non-conference games this year: Minnesota, Vanderbilt and Syracuse. Out of the three, this was certainly the most winnable game, but you never know what will happen in the first game of the season - either team could lay an egg. After 34 minutes, it was looking like Minnesota was going to be that team as they trailed the Bison by 7. Even after a 6-0 run over the next 2 minutes, the Bison still led by 1 with 3:28 left. I'm not sure what happened over the remaining time, but the Gophers outscored the Bison 20-7 to walk away with a 12 point home win. How does one team score 20 points in three and a half minutes? Man, what a choke job by the Bison. I had really hoped we could get the win. Ok, I know that is obvious, but besides getting a road win against a major conference team, I was just hoping to see them bounce back from their crushing loss to UConn last March.
I didn't get to see any highlights, but in looking at the box score, a two things are apparent. First, they have no depth. Their starting five looks very strong, but after that, there is not much to be said. My boy Timmy says that sophomore Ryan Hill might be a nice surprise after coming off an injury, but I legitimately have never heard of 5 of the 6 guys on the bench. Second, Muscala, who shot 2-10 from the field, can still get his points and rebounds (12/11) even on off nights. I think he will definitely win the league POY award. - On to my other alma mater, UW, who started the season as usual, with two cupcakes at home. Their non-conference schedule always amazes. Besides heavyweights georgia St and Florida Atlantic, the Huskies have Portland, St Louis, Houston Baptist (!), UC-Santa Barbara, South Dakota St and Cal St Northridge on the schedule. Ok, ok, they also have Marquette and Duke, but still...
The boys escaped against FAU with a 6 point win. It wasn't impressive, but they got the job done. I think this is definitely going to be an up and down year. They definitely have tons of talent, but in losing Isaiah and MBA, they lost a lot of leadership. I think all the talent will take a while to gel and I think it will take awhile to find out who the alpha-dog is (my guess: Terrence Ross). They should enter league play 9-2 but we will definitely find out more about the team in the two losses than in any of the wins. One thing I do know: they will again be a super fun team to watch. - Ok, on to baseball, where rumors are swirling that Jose Reyes is ready to sign with the Miami Marlins (no, that is not a typo. They changed their name, team colors and logo. I know teal and black might be early 90's, but I don't think this is any better...) for what some are saying will be a 3 year, $60 million contract. It would obviously be sad to see Reyes go to a division foe, but I think the writing is on the wall. If he really wanted to stay in NY, he could have done so. He had every opportunity to negotiate during the season (even if Sandy said he wasn't going to), but maintained that he wanted to test the Free Agent markets. Look, I get it - some people want to see if they are missing anything. Reyes has been in the Mets system since he was 17 - he liked it, but maybe there is another city that is even better. I get that, but at the same time, we all know it comes down to money with these guys, so it often seems shallow. I fully expect him to be someplace else and hope that at the very least if the Marlins do become a player in the division (um, hello...the division could be ridiculously difficult with a few moves by Flordia and Washington) that they can continue to afford their players and not have Fire Sale #3.
- The Georgia Bulldogs continued their resurgence with a 45-7 win over Auburn on Saturday. With a 6-1 conference record, they are one win against Kentucky from making the SEC title game...a huge turn around after starting 0-2. (enter commentary about how they missed playing LSU, Alabama, Arkansas this year) An amazing stat I saw during the game: the Eastern division was 5-15 against the Western division this year, with all 5 wins coming against the two Mississippi schools. With the win, Georgia gave the East it's first non-Mississippi win this year.
- The last few weeks of the college football season should be amazing. Right now, it is looking like a LSU-Oklahoma st showdown is on the horizon, but both teams still have HUGE games in front of them. For LSU, it's 6th ranked Arkansas in two weeks and then the SEC title game a week later. For OK St, it's their cross-state rival OU. If either should slip, Alabama and Oregon will be waiting. Oregon again looks nearly impossible to stop on offense, but as with all rivalry games, they need to not overlook OSU in a few weeks.
- I got to watch the entire Devils game on Saturday. After going down 2-0 in the first, they battled back to win 3-2 in shootout. I was super stoked to see them for the first time this year. The big takeaways - they still have NO scoring, even with Parise back, AND they turn the puck over WAY too much. I was honestly shocked over the number of times they made an errant pass in their own zone, only to have it stolen by the Caps. That is not the way to win games. I'm hoping it was just the rookies reaction to playing their first home-and-home series (and thus, being a little fatigued).
- I picked up Reggie Bush in fantasy this week and joked with a buddy that I hoped I was getting the Kardashian Bump. He had no idea what I was talking about (good for him - he apparently is not a terrible person like me who knows this sort of shit) and so I reminded him of the list: Kim dates Reggie - he wins a Super Bowl. Khloe marries Lamar Odom - he wins the NBA Title. Kim dates Miles Austin - he has the season of this life (ok, I looked up the dates and really they dated in the 2010 offseason after his big year, but who cares..). Kim dates and marries Kris Humphries - he goes from 4.5/3.7 over his first 6 years to 10/11 last year. Finally, rumors are spreading that Kim and Reggie were seen together before the divorce and over the past three weeks, Reggie had back to back 100 yard games and then 2 td's yesterday. I 100% believe in this. Date a Kardashian and excel at sports.
- Finally, a word on US Soccer. I am trying to give Klinsmann a long leash...I really am. I love that he is trying new guys out and I REALLY love all of the big name friendlies that he is booking. At some point though, the team has to start looking better and finishing chances. I am curious about his love for Kyle Beckerman and Orozco Fiscal, neither who I think should be playing. I just don't get why Michael Bradley isn't playing and I don't know why Mo Edu looks so bad. We have talented guys in the center of the pitch - Bradley, Edu, Jermaine Jones - but none seem to be getting a solid shot. I know Klinsmann knows more than me, but I think this has to change.
Luckily, we play in a weak confederation, so if his system does need a few years to implement, we shouldn't be hurt too much. Look at our initial qualifying group - Guatemala, Jamaica and Antigua & Barbuda. I'm sorry, but I could coach them two a second place finish in order to advance to the Hex. This should give plenty of time to experiment with the newly found players (aka Germericans) Timmy Chandler, Jermaine Jones, Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and Alfredo Morales. I have not lost hope.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday Morning Brain Dump
Another great sports weekend has passed and instead of having a longish entry about something that has got my attention, I am going to post another list of my random thoughts. Sometimes I really feel like I should be on Twitter as most of my thoughts are no longer than 140 characters long. However, I'm fairly certain that would be a disaster, so I am going to continue with the list format. Hope there is something in there for ya.
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Here is my thoughts on uniform design. Adidas, Nike, or who ever designs them should fire their entire staff and hire the people who write Budweiser or Miller (or any American Light Lager except Coors) commercials. That would bee a cool uni.
ReplyDelete-East Coast JWill
Yeah, pretty jealous that my best friend back home is heading to the game on Tuesday night at the Aviva, should be a great party. Very very very excited about Ireland playing on the big stage next summer.
ReplyDeleteBTW, did you hear about the LA Galaxy requesting Robbie Keane to skip the game tomorrow night? Unsurprisingly he told them no, but that is a lousy call on their part. Although the tie is done and dusted as a contest, it still has to be played and to ask the Irish Captain to miss the game (BTW we have never qualified for a tournament in a home stadium, it has always been away from home) is a bit cheeky from my perspective (I would be pissed with Hanauer if he did with an Irish player too). Representing your country should not challenged, its the greatest honour.
I did not hear about the Keane situation, but I think it is definitely an interesting one. Here is the thing - I understand both sides of it.
ReplyDeleteObviously helping Ireland qualify for Euro12 as Captain on home soil is the ultimate honor. Keane HAS to play even if it is pretty much wrapped up. However, the Galaxy have their biggest game of the year in a week. While in the grander scheme of things, Euro12 is sooo much more important, for the Galaxy it's not. If Keane gets hurt, then they are SOL (of course, they should still win with the squad they have AND being at home).
When it comes to friendlies, I tend to agree with clubs for wanting to keep their players from competing. I mean, it's not like the national federations are paying the salaries. No, it's the club that has to honor the salary of a player who gets hurt playing for another club.
This is clearly a different situation, but in the end, I think I am ok with the galaxy requesting it. It's not a mid-season game or even a first round playoff game - it is a title game. They are doing what they need to do even if it a bit cheeky.
I think it puts the player in an unnecessarily uncomfortable situation. Galaxy fans (who are not Irish and don't care about the success of the Republic) are notorious for questioning loyalty (see Beckham over the years), Keane has just joined their team so this could cause unnecessary tension (especially if he gets injured tomorrow night). Although the game is pretty much won, its not over and we 'should' not lose, but also 'should' not be complacent (we made RSL sweat for their win after losing 3-0 away), so its not officially over, and we have to finish the job. I guess thats what Im pissed about more, if it was a friendly I would say fair enough but the rules are there for every club in the world, as much as they may moan about it, competitive internationals trump domestic competition. They aren't playing for another 'club' but is more of an insurance issue that FIFA needs to sort out (I feel the clubs do get the raw deal in that regard).
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to see if the Galaxy would ever make such a play on Donovan or Beckham (if he plays for Team GB at the Olympics) with an important game for their respective countries. It seems this is more of a case of the Galaxy trying to bully the player and a small national association (FAI).
As trivial a league MLS might be, this isn't just any other game. Again, it doesn't compare to Euro 2012, but it's not like it's amid season game. This is the championship game of the league. I think you are overlooking this. I think they have every right to ask him to skip the game.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the MLS schedule doesn't account for this. You wouldn't have this problem in other 'lower' leagues like those in Scandanavia because they build around the international calendar.
Thats not the argument I am making, I would be the same if the Glazers of Man Utd did the same for an Irish player. Club teams don't have the right in my opinion to ask a player to not represent their country in a competitive international. Its not about the relevant importance of the league (and its championship game), its about the fact that international representation for me is a higher importance than domestic professional leagues.
ReplyDeleteI think the MLS made a mistake in scheduling their final a week after an international calendar date (which are set by fifa - http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/calendar/events.html).
The Galaxy don't seem to agree, which I think is wrong, and short-sighted, the last thing they should want is Keane wondering if he should go 50-50 for a ball with a defender tomorrow night, as hesitation can lead to injuries.
Fair enough. As long as you are ripping on all club teams and not just an MLS team.
ReplyDeleteAgree that international competition is higher, but again, they get no pay for it. So as long as the club team has to deal with losing a guy who they are paying a lot of money for, then there is gonna be an issue.
I've been a huge defender of the MLS in terms of importance, I will criticize the standard of refereeing, fields they play on and overall position as a league from quality of the play (par with Scotland from my perspective as both Rangers and Celtic have declined recently), but from an importance level, I have always thought it important and not trivial to say the least. Its a professional league that has a few top players, and some excellent up and coming players. I'm not sure if it will ever truly compete with the established European leagues (and the UEFA champions league) but it is growing and has been for some years now.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, if you asked me whether I would want a choice of:
a) Ireland to win a major championship
b) Manchester United to win the Champions League
Answer a) 10 times out of 10.
The part I do have sympathy with the clubs is that most national associations don't have insurance payouts for their players injuries and the effect it can have on their employers (the club), its up to the clubs to get that (which can be hard in certain economies). FIFA need to sort that out but since its FIFA, I'm not expecting much progress there.