Basketball!

Now there are a number of different ways I could go with this topic, but now that we have had the opportunity to see a number of the college teams past their first couple of games I think we should start with the rankings.
1. Kansas
2. Texas
3. Kentucky
4. Purdue
5. Syracuse
6. West Virginia
7. Duke
8. Villanova
9. North Carolina
10. Connecticut

These are the main teams that by just about anyone's standards have the best chance of winning the tournament. All of them are traditional powers, with at least a couple experienced players. On a side note, what happened to the Pac 10 (more specifically UCLA) so far this season. I mean normally they get better as the season goes on, but they are looking terribly weak so far.
Kansas: This teams is stacked and in my opinion has the best chance to win it all. Well duh, they are ranked #1 and have been all season. Here is why, they are an older team, these guys have been around for a couple of years. Their leaders are almost all upperclassmen, plus one outstanding freshman in Henry. Now in college basketball any one with more experience than a freshman is considered older. If you look back on the bast few national championship teams they all had similar makeup. A number of older guys maybe one great young player, but enough experience to handle the pressure when times got tough. The same thing goes for the team at #2. Texas, is a force to be reckoned with, which was shown by the their performances against other top teams with good big men. There are not going to be too many teams who can compete physically down low with these big men.
#3 Kentucky, they are probably the most talented team in the conversation for championship teams this year. Calipari does it again putting together another set of super talented freshmen, not that anyone is very surprised now with the name of Kentucky behind him I wouldn't be surprised if he got the top ranked person at every position some years. Here is the reason why the team will not win it all in my opinion; the team while it has proved that they can play down the stretch and win against some of the best teams in the nation, this team will struggle against a team like Kansas or Texas who is loaded with good upperclassmen. The main difference between freshmen and the rest of the players in the NCAA is the fact that the older players will play hard for the entire game. From what I have seen in some of Kansas' games is they are better than their opponent but they don't keep the team down once they get the lead. I think Calipari will likely run into the same problem he did in Memphis. Having the most talented team but too young to win it all. Now I am by not means saying they can't win, but until a Calipari team with a bunch of younger players does win, I will remain a skeptic.

(thought this pic was interesting)

#4-#8 I don't mean to disrespect these teams but to be honest they are all similar in a number of ways, and all the more dangerous because of it. They are loaded with more experienced teams and all of them have one freshmen or less in the top 6 contributors on the team. (only Syracuse has more than one sophomore) This is dangerous because these guys all know what to expect in the tournament situations. The determination and resolve from these teams will make them all tough to be come tournament time. The biggest change in these teams from last year is Syracuse. Last year they would just try to outscore you, watch out for the improved defense this year. I haven't seen much of Purdue, but their big men are all talented and persistent defenders and re-bounders. Tough to keep them off the glass. Duke is relying less on the outside shot so far this season, which will help them score more consistently throughout the games. (I haven't seen enough of West Virginia or Villanova to make a comment on their situations yet)

#9 North Carolina: Now I am a UNC fan so make sure to keep that in perspective but, I think the team is struggling in the aftermath of losing so many great college players. The people who are trying to fill the shoes this year are doing a good job but they just haven't shown the same determination going late in games against other good opponents this year. The big men are talented and so are the guards, but so far I haven't seen the same quality (again lost a ton of players) from this team. However they have played a number of good teams so far, and are gaining experience. Come tournament time I would not rule them out, but they need to find the Tyler on this team, the person who is going to push them in tough situations. Ginyard also needs to stay health for this team to have a hope, which doesn't look like it is going to happen.

#10 Connecticut: This team has the potential in my opinion to win it all, yes they have lost a number of important people to the team the last few years, but they have yet again a couple of great seniors. Most prominent of them in my opinion is Robinson. This guy has a number of pro like physical capabilities, and athleticism. So far they have only lost to Duke and Kentucky, and put up a good battle in both those performances. The only question so far is their center. While he was a McDonald's all American last year, he has not shown me yet that he can keep up with the college pace and level of play just yet. We will see as the season continues, but as usual Uconn will have a chance late this season.

Bowl Season

Well the games have started, and I have been disappointed. First let me begin by letting you know that I have been in many heated discussions which people about which conference is the best. Well I was wrong, for all of you who I argued with the conferences I argued for have done terribly, and the ones I argued against have done well. Why is the Pac10 look so uninterested in every game they play. Do they really think that since their regular season was so difficult these other teams are not going to try to come out and prove how good they were all season by beating you? Or are you all so disappointed that you didn't take advantage of the fact USC had their fist bad year in anyone's memory to get to the Rose Bowl. Let me just tell you now, that window probably isn't going to be open next year. The offense was young, the defense was even younger, get ready for some experience to be there next year. Taylor Mays can't make every single play for the team.The Mountain West conference is looking tough as usual and I still don't understand why teams don't give this conference more respect they are easily the best total conference outside the BCS every year. Yes BSU is the best team every year outside the BCS but they are simply one team and the competition for much of their regular season is in one word terrible. Now for all of you TCU fans who just reacted to that last sentence they have been the most consistently ranked team outside the BCS for the past 5 or 6 years. Yes you beat them last year, and have a great chance at doing it again, but they have done this over a couple of different recruiting classes, you have not been at the top that long... yet. I think you have a great chance at staying up there after the recognition over the last few years, but lets be perfectly honest, there are too many really good programs with in your own state to compete with.
P.S. I will not talk about the selections for the major bowl games selection because I am tired of that whole conversation.

Who is the best team in the NFL?

Well right now there is no question to many people who is the best team in the NFL.
THE COLTS!!!!!
They have the very best offense in the NFL. Forget stats forget the numbers the Saints are putting up. The colts have the best offense. They score when they need to and they have a different gear, you can shut them down for every drive (minus the first which they score on a ridiculous rate) but once it becomes crunch time at the end of the half or game you will not stop them. The only thing that will stop them is themselves. Their defense is performing as well as they need to, they have been getting key stops towards the end of games. The way they are playing I don't know if they know how to lose anymore, and when their next one will come most likely depends on how much their starters play in the next couple weeks.
Before this week many people thought the Saints were able to compete. I am not arguing that their offense is not good, my problem with saying they are the best team in the NFL is their defense. There are not many team catagories in which they rank in even the top half of the NFL. This poses a huge problem when you look at who has won the last number of Super Bowls.
Steelers, Giants, Colts (whose defense shut people down in the playoffs for once), Steelers, Pats, Pats, Bucs! proves my point right there, but we will continue, Pats, and the RAVENS!!!! Before that was the Rams, and they are about the only team with out a shut down defense ever to win.
The Vikings.... oh boy do people love to talk about Farve! I don't really understand why yes, he lets you know how he is feeling, interacts well with the crowd, and has funny touchdown celebrations, but other than that? To be honest i am tired of talking about him. I do have one thing to say about the reports that he has been checking off running plays..... I have news for you Farve, you are playing with the very best offensive player in the NFL they are going to load the box on you! His nickname is All Day for a reason, hand the ball off to him and eventually he will beat the living snot out of the defense until they give up a big run. You are taking a pounding from defenses because you won't do your job! Yeah you are tough, that isn't going to get you anywhere, hand the ball off. In fact I don't care if Peterson isn't in the game hand it off to Taylor who would start on any team right now besides the Titans, 49ers, and his own. If the Vikings can do as well as they did with Jackson in the game, they really don't need you to try and win every time, let the two guys behind you do what they do. Your old and the only reason you have all the records you do is because you have played so many games, please go away!
If there is a team that people need to be talking about besides these three it is easily the Chargers, watch out they have flown under the radar until now, but they are the second hottest team in football, and have a knack for beating the Colts.

Rules

Spending recent time in the stands of a couple sporting events and listening to many different people not know the rules of different sports has made me realize the desperate need to educate people on the important rules and educate involved in watching different sports. I will try and cover in a running series of blogs. I will simply address things as I spot them in the stands of different events. Seeing as how there is not much more football to watch in person and the basketball season is just about to start the majority of occurrences will likely be from basketball, but there are a number of things which can be applied to many different sports across the way. Also I know the rules and edict of golf like the back of my hand so I will have to throw a few helpful hints in when I get down to Colorado, California, and Arizona to play over the next couple months.



We will start off with a couple football items.

1) When your team is on offense shut up! Yes it is exciting when your player makes a run for 30 yards, but if you are still celebrating so loud no one can hear the snap count of the next play you are hurting your own team. (Snap count: for each play the offense decides on a predetermined number of huts or a certain word which will let them know when to start the play. This way they only have to hear the quarterback and can keep their eyes on the defense. Also makes the defense have to react to the snap of the ball.)

2) Seems to me to be more common at schools which have not had good teams in the recent future, therefore causing them to not have any faith in their team. If your team is down at half by less than 30 do not leave. At least not in college in the pros you are probably safe, but think about how that will impact the players. If they don't think you have faith in them and thus leave does that inspire confidence not just in the rest of that game but the next few? I didn't think so. It may be painful for you to watch but how do you think the players who put their hearts souls and bodies on the line feel when no matter what they do the other team is pounding their brains out? Stay and show some support! you can resume drinking in 45 min it won't kill you!



Basketball-
1) Don't cheer for your players when they are shooting free throws. If your girlfriend doesn't understand this and is continually yelling for them to try hard and make it in the otherwise silent gym shut her up! (blew my mind when I saw this at a game about a week ago. I understood that the girl didn't know the edict but for the guy to sit there and let her keep making a fool of herself not a good move buddy! First of all everyone in the stands is not going to be fond of her at the end of the game if the loss is in single digits, secondly you don't look like a very caring boyfriend to keep her from that embarrassment.

2) Parents sit in the parent section if you don't want to stand during the whole game! I had a couple, they were elderly, sat right in front of me. Now it is important to explain I was in the section of students who stood during every second of running clock, and shouted our displeasure at every call now matter how correct it was. I noticed the problem right away, and knelt down to warn them about the rowdiness of the fans in this section and that they may be happier watching from another part of the gym. They said they were happy here, and were sure they could handle it. Halfway through the first half they started tapping the students in front of them on the shoulders and asking them to sit down so they could see. The students wanting to be friendly said this was how they supported this team, and if they sat down they also would not be able to see. (the 10 rows in front of them where all standing) The husband and wife got all upset and stormed out of the gym telling everyone that the student section and "kicked" them out of the game! Frustrating to watch!
On this same topic parents it is probably not a good idea to take anyone under the age of 17 into the student section. There is an abnormal amount of swearing and it is likely more than one student has snuck a flask or two into the gym.

3) When your player makes a block and their hands only get ball, but their momentum causes their body to smash into the player sending them flying into the first couple rows of seats; that is not a clean block! I am tired of people yelling for calls such as this you are only making yourself and your fans look ignorant to the rules.

same topic

Take my post about media timeouts and make that double for college football. makes watching the games so much less exciting on T.V. and in person.

Coach of the Year?

I was recently on the Coach of the year voting website to as you can probably guess based on my allegiance and the school I attend to vote for Rob Akey who it is tough to argue with as doing great job this season. Even if the schedule hasn't been very difficult we have taken a huge first step, and I know Akey winning would give University of Idaho some national attention, which would great for our program.

The current standings are as follows:
1) Nick Saben- Alabama
2) Mack Brown- Texas
3) Kirk Ferentz- Iowa
4) Paul Johnson- Georgia Tech
5) Paul Rhoads- Iowa State
6) Rich Rodriguez- Michigan
7) Rob Akey- Idaho
8) Pete Carroll- Southern California
9) Brian Kelly- Cincinnati
10) Mike Leach- Texas Tech
11) Joe Paterno- Penn State
12) Steve Starkisian- Washington
13) Glen Chizik- Auburn
14) Randy Shannon- Miami (Florida)
15) Mark Richt- Georgia

Now bearing in mind my opinion may have a slight amount of bias in it, I for the most part agree with these rankings. Saben and Brown currently have undefeated teams, impossible to argue they aren't doing two of the best jobs in all of college football. However if that is what this voting is going to be based on, where is Urban Meyer? Are we seriously going to give all the credit to Tebow. I absolutely hate Florida for their domination within college football recently, but I would say you have to put to head man in Florida on this list.

How in the world did Paul Rhoads get on this list his team has four losses, and really isn't going any place spectacular. What happened here? Also I think it is great the state of Michigan is supporting their head guy, but you are still only 5-5, for the history behind your program this is really still a disgraceful season, and with the talent on your team not one of the top coaching jobs in America. Pete Carroll that high? Now I know he has shaped this program into a perennial power, but we can't give him a pass on this season, just because of the building of the program he has done. Freshman quarterback okay, we will give him some room because of that small feature. In my opinion he has not done a great job this season though.

How about some coaches that have been left of this list that should at least be mentioned? Since we just mentioned Pete Carroll, what about Chip Kelly, they guy who just absolutely thrashed Carroll's team last week, only loss to Boise State who is looking pretty tough so far.

I will have more to say on this topic as we get closer and closer to the end of the season.

Media and college sports

As I have said before I am currently a student at the University of Idaho, therefore I will start this blog by saying last night I went to the Vandals preseason exhibition game. I know these are always games the bigger team should win by 30, which we came close to doing. I think they are a great way to get fans involved test out transfer or freshman students and see who is going to play well with who. In other words this game is basically for the fans!

Why then do we still have the media timeouts. Why is there media timeouts in college sports at all!? I must say I am tired of going to college sporting events and having one team get on a roll start making 3's and getting stops only to have the ball go out of bounds and thus a media timeout. I understand the need in the professional sports area where the game is all about marketing, and making money. However I don't think it is at all correct to have media timeouts in the middle of college games. All this does is take away from built up momentum for one team or another. It also gets the fans of the home team out of the game because there are stretches where nothing is going on even though neither team wanted or needed to call a timeout.

College sports like no other area of sports the fans are crazy, they will not sit down or shut up even if their team is down by 20 with 6 minutes to go. They will not go quietly, they are going to take the other team down as much as they can, yelling on every free throw chanting defense every time down the floor.

By putting media timeouts into the college game away from the people who really matter in college sports, the fans. Those people who bleed their teams colors, and that isn't a joke the people who when they cut themselves their blood as a tinge of blue in it because they have painted their entire bodies for every game in the last two months!

Other people will argue that by using media timeouts the athletes themselves are being taken advantage of, and this may or may not be true. In my opinion by putting the athletes on TV you are giving them exposure, and thus the college arena becomes similar to tryouts for the professional game it their future. I don't believe this is or should be the spirit of the game however it is hard for me to argue that college athletes are being taken advantage of.

My argument has to do with the pace and intensity of the game. When the athletes are out there playing hard constantly the fans get into the game there is less interruption for the players, it also makes depth and endurance more key factors. There is no need for media timeouts the coaches get enough normal timeouts as it is, if they feel their players need a break make them call the timeout, and get things back to what they need. In my opinion college basketball is hurting itself by having as many timeouts as they do.

The Presidents Cup

Once again the U.S. dominates in the presidents cup! While we have had some trouble with the Ryder Cup, our Presidents Cup dominance has continued. Tiger had a perfect tournament, but the supporting cast was also on fire! Steve Stricker went 4-1-0 granted he played with Tiger, but still, great to see the number two player in the money list put in such a good showing for this tournament was exciting to watch. Phil Mickelson played well not losing a single match and winning four times. Anthony Kim played to his potential losing only one match during the play. All in all people are going to say Tiger won the tournament for us, when I am trying to point out the fact that everyone one the team contributed!

Vijay was the only person on the international team who didn't give up a full point in a match, his supporting cast however was not near the strenght Woods had behind him. Those who won a couple of matches seemed also to lose just as many with out being able to scrape draws in matches they couldn't win.

I will take just one shot on any person who played in the tournament, because I can't beat any of them on my best day vs. thier worst; What the heck happened to Villegas this weekend, didn't win a single thing!

Oh College Football!

For those of you who don't know. I currently go to the University of Idaho, I have grown up on the west coast and have a bit of a west coast bias. Therefore read this part of the blog with a grain of salt.

USC- one of the best teams every year who loses one bad game every year. If they had been able to hold it together for one game every year they would have been playing in the national championship game. I personally feel that minus last year this the absolute best football conference from the top to the bottom. All the way through, not just the top 5 or top half every team in the conference is a tough game. Well minus WSU the last couple years, but that school in the past has had a great football tradition.

Florida- The best team in the nation, not a question in my mind, they don't have Tebow, but to be honest they have so much talent on that team they really don't need him. If you try to tell me the back up quarterback at that program is untried and doesn't know what he is doing, I'm going to tell you to wake up! A school with the recruiting power of Florida in Tebow's last season is going to have some stud waiting to come in and play. No there probably isn't going to be another player like Tebow for a while, but most starting quarterbacks in the NCAA could win with the assets Florida has.

Standford- Has anyone noticed that Stanford has quietly got off to a very good start and is tied with Oregon for leading the Pac-10. Now they have lost to the only ranked team they have played but they are not going to be someone to walk over this year either. On the same note Oregon has got a lot of bad press about the Blount, but they have beat a lot of good teams so far this year. This is one of the strongest programs every year, but they just can't put it together for the entire season. They have both USC and Oregon State at home, which is a brutal place to play. I would keep a look out for this team later in the season. USC vs. Oregon is going to be one of the few games I will watch from start to finish regardless of the score.

Cincinnati- This is one team I watch and wonder how people aren't pumped up about what this team can do. The offense is obviously the strong point of this team, but I have seen the defense put up a number of good stands so far. They are going to have their toughest test of the season coming up but if they get though South Florida this team could go undefeated. I would vote for Pike in the Heisman right now, or at least consider him. (look at the numbers)

To conclude this post I have to throw in a personal note. The University of Idaho one of the perennial bottom 10 team over the last 15 years, is currently ranked number 50! Akey is loved by the crowd here. During the last game when it was locked up the crowd was chanting not a player's last name but "Akey's Army!" if we can get him to stick around I like the way the program is moving! Not saying we are going to be beating Boise State any time real soon, but we are definitely taking steps in the right direction.

Farve beats the Packers

There were tears all over the state of Wisconsin tonight as Brett fulfilled his goal of coming back and absolutely dominating the Packers tonight. The score was only seven points. If you watched the game you know there really was no hope for the Packers in the second half. While I am on the subject of Farve I have a few things to say.
1) I didn't think this would originally work, he is old and doesn't really want to be in the league any more any way. WRONG.
2) He gets the best of both worlds, Peterson and Taylor take every single teams attention away from Farve. Who are you going to plan you defense around? The best running back pair in the league! Or a 40 year old used to be amazing quarterback.... Not even a contest.
3) The teams are going to be so focused Farve can stand back there for days and find his target to sling the ball into whatever gap he wants. He got 7.5 seconds without any pressure tonight on one play!!!
4) No offense to the Jets receivers but they are not even close to the Vikings receivers.
5) I hope some red neck from Wisconsin does not actually try and kill Farve tonight, although I wouldn't rule this out of the question, he definitely pissed a few of his old fans off tonight.

All in all pretty good move by the Vikings so far, and they even managed to not be the main focus in the media this off season, present yes, focus NO!

Side note Peterson may be the best football player in the league and the Packers shut him down tonight, so props to them. Too bad your old gun slinger burned ever single person in your secondary tonight.

It's been a while

Been without Internet for a while. Things of note that have happened. Contador won the Tour de France as I predicted. The current heat between him and Lance is going to be good for the sport.

Mike Vick is now a Eagle which I think is good for him bad for the team. Donavan is a great quarterback, I don't understand why they would want to change what they have going for them. The team is solid and has worked under Reid, why change things now. Just because you have gotten so close but not actually won? Bad move by the Eagles!

Frave is a Viking!?!?!?!?! No one is really that surprised. My question is why did players like Peterson text call and visit him in order to get him to come play for them? Farve was a always a risky move at quarterback in my opinion. He was successful, but I would rather have my team run by someone who only threw one or two interceptions a game at the worst. Also what effect does this have on Jackson? Instead of having the support of the young and important players like Peterson they are out recruting some old decrebid guy who is a huge gamble. Bad move by the influential players on the Vikings!

The kick off of the college football season. DUCK VS BRONCOS! I am a huge Ducks fan, and go to the University of Idaho. Guess who I am rooting for. However I respect both teams greatly for not schedualing some bum team like the University of Idaho for thier first game. Although we do get the pleasure of decreasing the stregth of schedual for BSU later in the season.

Le Tour

July is here! my favorite time of year, for one reason the Tour de France! I know what you are thinking it has been going for a week already and this is the first time you are writing anything about it. Yes. The first week of the tour is all flat stages intreguing only if you like to watch the last about 10k to see who wins. In my mind we started today, the first real mountain stage. I have but one thing to say to all Americans who think Armstrong is simply going to walk in and win again. He isn't. Yeah I said it, he isn't going to win unless something changes with Alberto Contador. What none of you have been watching the tour since Armstrong stopped competing. He is the captain of the Astana team. Yes he is on the same team as Armstrong. He is the man Lance was six years ago when there was not a competition as to who was the best. He still hasn't won seven. Your right he has won one. He is younger than Lance and when he turned it on today there was no one, not even the great Armstrong who was going to be able to keep up for more than a couple stages. This kid is the real deal. I'm just giving the American public the heads up. Armstrong can win, he has done things beyond what people thought he could do his entire career, right now at this point in time Contador is the better climber.

On another related note, what are the odds on Astana finishing first second and third? The team is beyond stacked, and has a legitimate possibility of pulling it off. Now that would be the talk of the tour!

Wimbleton!!!!!

Anyone who watched the final had two emotions at the end. Relief and sadness. Relief because Roger Federer won his 15th grand slam in possibly one of the greatest matches of all time. Sadness because there had to be a loser. Both athletes fought their hearts out for as long as they could. They went as hard as they could for the longest match in the and championship final. Federer was sensational with his calm collected usual self. Pulling off the big shots when he needed to. One thing many people will look to is the second set tiebreaker. Roddick fell apart for six points. These six points cost Roddick the match. I personally am a huge fan of both players. They are both good guys and good in the media. Roddick charismatic funny and sarcastic. Federer quiet reserved and confident.

The extent of Roddick charisma is outlined by the cheer he received upon beating Murray, the hope of a nation. The dejected look on Andy's face when the match was over let you know how much he cared about getting a Wimbledon trophy. I am going to say this now, don't be surprised if Roddick WINS yes wins the US Open. He has shown he was fit, he has shown that he now has a dangerous backhand. The serve is always tough and he now believes he can win. This change in a mental attitude has made possibly the largest difference out of any of the changes. Watch out there may yet be a couple more wins in the making for Andy Roddick.

Now on to the star of the show; Roger Federer. What is there to say about this guy? He is simply the best to ever play the game. This man has been able to set himself apart from every other tennis player, not just with winning the 15th although that secured it. He leads nearly every significant category for a tennis player. He is still young, I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to put the record completely out of site. I'm saying around 18 or 19. Yes Nadal could come back and take a few away from him, but he has been in 21 straight major quarter finals. The consistency with which he gets deep into the tournaments allows him more opportunities than any other player to win the big tournaments. Congrats Roger! Good luck!

Traitors

This year has provided an extremely active trade season in the NBA. We will start with a few of the blockbuster trades so far this off season.
-Shaq to Cleaveland- this is a good move for Cleveland. I would not give this move any more commitment than that until I am able to see how Shaq does next season. He will be playing a different role as a "bodyguard" this next season. For once he is not the biggest personality of his team. It will be interesting to see him a this role. One thing Shaq will not disrupt is the amount of fun the Cavilers have, with both him and LeBron pulling jokes and having fun with the rest of the team. The Cavs will have a relaxed air about them no team is going to match. My question is what happens to Ilgauskas? Clearly not the same defender or presence inside Shaq is. How will he handle coming off the bench. I am assuming of course he will play behind Shaq.
-Artest to L.A.- The best move of any team in the draft or trade this off season. As far as money on an investment you are getting a brusing deffender and one of the more intimidating people on the basketball court in the current game, and only giving up a good defender who was a decent spot shooter. Now Artest is intimidating if for nothing else other than the fact he is crazy and has the tendency to fly off the handle. If nothing else Kobe isn't going to have to wear himself out both mentally and physically having to deal with him on the opposing team. Now is he going to behave himself. Under the direction of Kobe and the Zen Master I don't think there will be too much of a problem with his attitude. Watch out rest of the league L.A. just got even better than they were.
-Villaneuva and Gordon to Detroit- I think every one is realizing how important Billups was to that team and how with out him the rest of the players are not going to be able to perform at the same level. These two players are not going to replace Billups at all, and they move away from the typical tough defence Detroit usually plays. Bad move in my opinion for the Pistons, and will only move them further down the list in the East.
These are only the big trades so far and there is talk of more and more big names on the move. We will see if Boston or Portland are able to land their big players in the next couple of days. One thing is for sure, with the amount of action other teams are making so far if you don't make a couple of big trades you are going to be in trouble next year.

Experience

Well the USA fell about twenty minutes short of beating Brazil yesterday. Watching the game the amount of confidence the team had at the beginning of the game was awesome. It was fun to watch how good the our team can play when they are firing on all cylinders. The defense was tight and passes were crisp. The world saw how good a USA team can play and if nothing else they will at least be cautious when they play us in the future. Two players I thought played outstanding; Charlie Davies and Landon Donavan. The amount of energy Davies brought to the front line was huge momentum for the USA team. Donavan played some of the best soccer I have seen him play in this last tournament. People will talk about the amount of goals Dempsey scored but the play from Donavan deserved the number 10 on his jersey. However there was one person on the field who without his play the USA would have been in trouble early; Tim Howard. He established himself as one of the best if not the best keeper in the world. Yes he let in a few late goals but who could have stopped the Brazilians and the attack they were putting on for an entire game. Having a clean sheet for a half on that amazing team is impressive in itself. Howard made a couple saves look routine which any other keeper would struggle to make.

This brings me to another point Keller was one of the best keepers in the world when he was playing for the USA. The amount of work he did for the team needs to be congratulated. Howard will be a great replacement, we have been luck with keepers here and hope the skill at this position continues as the rest of the team continues to fill out and mature into what will hopefully become a contender within the ranks of world soccer.

On the NBA Draft

I did not watch much of the NBA draft live. What i did watch of the draft was entertaining. The amount of trades and deals struck on draft day was fun to watch. It was however hard to tell who your favorite players were going to play for. I would see one of my favorite players go to one team only to have an update come across the screen seconds later saying he was playing for a different team. This draft had a number of players who could be good. There didn't seem to be any players who are going to have a large impact on the NBA right away. Blake Griffin may have had the most impressive numbers of any player since Tim Duncan, but with every player in the NBA having nearly the same physical ability his domination seems to me as though it is going to be limited. There do seem to be a number of different very talented point guards. I don't know if any of them are going to be Chris Paul or Tony Parker good but have the potential to start and run the offense for their respective teams.

U.S.A..... U.S.A..... U.S.A.

I am a huge soccer fan. In case anyone lives in a box. The USA soccer team some how pulled off one of the greatest wins in our own soccer history day before yesterday. I understand soccer isn't the most popular sport here in the states. It is one of the major sports we do not even come close to dominating in. However the win verse Spain looks to be the start of something possibly real for American soccer. Two young players scored for the US in the game Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey. Both players are emerging a good players for their respective teams in Europe. While I personally have always felt Dempsey holds the ball for too long too often. Altidore has shown real promise. Being only 19 years old and being build like a typical football running back or db, he could be a turning point in American Soccer. Next year he will be playing his second season in La Liga. With his build and age things could be looking up if a number of players who are our (the USA's) best athletes start to play soccer. Sports such as football, basketball, and track have taken away a number of players who easily would have been great soccer players. Could you imagine having Kobe Bryant in the middle heading the ball on a cross, or opposition trying to cover Reggie Bush streaking onto a ball behind the defense? If Altidore is able to become a force in the European ranks more young kids may see how they can become a world wide star through the sport. The world could be seeing a completely different outlook of athletes they have to face when they see the United States on the schedule.

First Post

I have noticed there are a number of athletes who have their own blogs to keep their fans updated. This has recently changed to tweeting. I plan on using this blog to express my humble opinions to different fans or really anyone who wants to read someone else’s opinion that isn’t getting paid. The topics I plan on pursuing are limited only by the sports I am able to follow at one time. I have played a number of different sports ranging from swimming to soccer to basketball. Hopefully my readers (if there are any of you out there) will at least be amused at the strange topics I follow and my opinions on those topics.