Landon Donovan: Poster boy of US Soccer

Nothing is more true. Landon Donovan is the face of US Soccer and the MLS. No other US player represents the full spectrum of ups and downs that the US has experienced over the last 8 years. He has gone from being a player not good enough for european competition to a potential world class star, back to being the best player on a mediocre team. The ESPN article describes it very well. To his credit Landon admits his play at the World Cup wasn't what it should've been. He made no excuses except to say the US team didn't play as well as it should've or could've. Probably the hardest part is the World Cup only comes along every 4 years. So Donovan and the rest of the US Soccer team will have to wait another 4 years to prove to the world that 2002 wasn't a fluke. That they really can compete with the best in the world on any given day. If what Donovan said in the ESPN interview is true and he really did learn as much as he says he did from the World Cup maybe there really is hope for the US in 2010. Unfortunately 4 years is a long time and a lot of things will chage between now and then.


Sometimes he really is that good.

Another QB to UGA

I'm not really sure how Richt is pulling this off. I can't really remember any team having so many highly rated quarterbacks committing year after year. Of course maybe I'm just tainted from the Jim Donnan era, when he felt the need to run off all other quarterbacks and certainly didn't recruit them unless they were needed. But for the 4th straight year Richt has recruited another top tier QB. Logan Gray is ranked in the top 11 by Rivals, and was highly sought after by a lot of schools, but particularly Auburn. Of course maybe that is part of the strategy behind recruiting so many top tier QBs. If they are sitting on your bench they can't help the other guy beat you. While its really early in the game to be thinking about Georgia's recruiting class for 2007, assuming that nobody jumps ship or fails to qualify it looks like the Dawgs are on their way to landing another top class.

How old do you think I am?

"The Beaneaters keep popping up every afternoon," Cox said. "Way back. I wasn't around then. It's kind of strange to be talking about those kinds of records, at all."

That has to be one of the funniest quotes I've seen in a while. The fact that Bobby Cox felt the need to let reporters know he wasn't around back, when the Beaneaters were setting records in 1897, just strikes me as funny. I'm sure he said it as a joke, but it kind of makes you wonder just how old is Cox if he needs to clarify he wasn't around in 1897.

There can be only one!

And just how long does he intend to be the manager for the Braves and does he use a tomahawk to chop off the heads of his enemies?

Germans are a lot like elephants...

They don't forget. Unfortunately for the German soccer team, their coach hasn't been in America long enough to be as forgetful as they had hoped. Just a few months ago Jurgen Klinsmann could've resigned and very few German fans would've cared. In fact after a 4-nil loss to Italy a lot of people were calling for his head. If the German team had lost to the US in a friendly back in the spring, the odds are pretty good that Klinsmann would've been run out before he even got the chance to coach in the World Cup. He didn't and Germany went on to an amazing third place run. The German press compared the Germans run to the US mircale on ice hockey team. I think thats a bit of a strecth, after all the German team is filled with professionals and has 3 or 4 international superstars, but they are a very young team. Take away Lehman, Ballak, and Kahn and the rest of that German team doesn't really get you excited. Klinsmann had a lot to do with that run too. He changed the way Germany plays soccer. From the sometimes boring and robotic to a more fluid and exciting form. I guess thats surprising considering that would describe pretty well how Klinsmann played the game.

Oh yeah, Klinsmann was a playa.

Klinsmann offically announced that he would not resign to coach the German team yesterday. In a lot of ways it makes sense. That thrid place run meant Germany played way over thier head. The odds of Klinsmann getting them to play like that again in Euro '08 or the World Cup in 2010 aren't very good. Plus with the third place finish come the expectations of "you finished 3rd last time the next step is a championship." Eventhough I think it had more to do with all that talk about canning him back in the spring. Personally I'd kindly give the finger to my critics and walk away a winner too.

Of course all this opens up an interesting scenario for US Soccer. A lot of people have jumped off the Bruce Arena band wagon following the World Cup.

The Bruce Arena Bandwagon is a lonely place these days...

Even the head of US Soccer hasn't said anything definate about Area's future. It was even rumored in the Brittish press that Klinsmann was offerred the US job during the tournament. Obviously Klinsmann and the head of US Soccer both denied that claim, but it would be an interesting combination. Klinsmann who has now had success with an underperforming and under-talented German team would seem a pretty good fit for a US team that may have come as far as it can with its current coach. Klinsmann already lives in California and would have a better idea of how to work with US athletes as opposed to other European coaches. I would think within the next couple of weeks we'll hear one way or another, but if he's willing to take the reins of US Soccer I think Klinsmann could be a good fit, and might be what the US team needs in order to take the next step and be competitive against the world powers of soccer.

The void that is July

Its finally here. The most dreaded month for any sports nut, July. It's time once again to pretend you care about Nascar, middle of the season MLB, or if you really want to stretch it golf or tennis. July has to be the single worst month for sports. Not to mention its freaking hot outside, so who wants to do anything besides sit on couch.

Maximillian is taking your sports fun and throwing it in his Black Hole called July.

Granted July 2006 has had the World Cup to help ease the pain. By the time most of us realize we are in the nothingness of July it will be half over. There's still those last two weeks though when the only thing you can count on to keep you sane until the bliss of August and college football is alcohol and NCAA 2007.


The only thing good to come out of July

Unfortunately NCAA 07 was pushed back two weeks and isn't coming out until next Tuesday July 18. Until then I guess I'll try to fight off the shakes and nightmares that come with sports withdrawl.

Leave Zidane Alone!

At first I was a little suprised to see an article from Dr. Z about the World Cup game. I have to admit I try to find time to read his columns on pro football just because I like the fact that he's different from what you read from almost anyone else. So of course I had to read his article about the Zidane blow up. I was actually suprised to see Dr. Z defending Zidane.


Dude his chest ran right into my head!

Everything else I've read has talked about how his legacy is now tainted and he missed his chance at greatness. You don't acheive greatness by one good game or even one good tournament, and I don't think you cease to be a great player, because you lost your head one time. The ESPN/ABC coverage has been horribly hypocritical (on top of just being horrible for the most part). They'll cry about the sins of diving for 15 minutes and then when, a "star" takes a fall a gets a call it suddenly become a good sale. Sorry to disappoint Marcello Balboa, but maybe you should go back to working on cars or whatever it is you do, when the national team isn't on TV(get a hair cut). Its still a dive even if its Ronaldinho, Henry, or Beckham. You can't call it a dive for Portugal and a part of the beautiful game, when its one of the media darlings. The same rule applys to Zidane's greatness. For the past 3 games its been almost sickening to listen to the commentators climb all over themselves to see who can praise Zidane the most. I was waiting for them to announce that he had been annointed to sainthood by the Pope. Now suddenly he gets mad as he has had a history of doing throughout his career, when he fells like the other team is taking cheap dives or playing dirty and he instantly goes from St. Zidane to some sort of demonic figure who will no doubt bring about the ruin of soccer as we know it.

Heart of a champion

Ah nothing screams champion like the tearful cries of a bunch of soar losers. Which is exactly what the Portugese team is coming off as from the post game interviews of their players. They (and by they I mean Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvallho) state that their team was just as deserving of a win as France, but the Ref called a bad game that unfairly favored the French side.

"But I'm the greatest diver in Portugal. How can you not give me the call?"

I think the Portugese just finally ran into a ref who didn't call every little flop and dive. Granted I'm not sure why. I posted after the US v Italy game that Apu was one of the worst refs I'd ever seen. I guess he read my blog, because he looked like a completely different ref. He made none of the bad calls and never went for a card until it was obvioulsy deserved.

This is not to say the Portugese played bad. They actually played a very competitive game. After all its not like France was ever able to put them away, and Ronaldo in particular was dominant in the game. It was probably his best performance of the tournament. I just disagree that the ref had anything to do with the outcome. Besides he saved us all from the fate of an Itallian-Portugese final and the specatacle that would've resulted...

Nothing says championship soccer like competitive diving!

So here's hoping that Zidane can finish out his amazing run, and maybe just maybe the commentators will give Henry some credit when he can't score on every ball hit to him. I know Zidane is a great player and this is an amazing run, but the dude isn't perfect occasionaly those passes that his teammates mishandle are because it was a bad pass and not the inability of Henry, Ribbery, or whoever else to skillfully anitcipate and handle the gift sent from Zidane.