Keepers of the Truth
This is a place where I will express myself in various ways. It is my hope that my views and art will create dialog which will be fun and informative. I'm always looking for insightful and constructive criticism.Thursday, June 22, 2006
How strong am I?
Ok, today is one of the biggest days in the 2006 World Cup so far. Big matches being played by USA and others in their group to see who will advance to the next round and then Brasil plays a match just to show the world how pretty soccer can be (Since they have already clinched a spot in the next round and I think 1st in their group (I'd look it up but... well, read on)).
Let me explain. I'm an American (I'm sure that won't be a shock for most of you). According to popular belief, we are supposed to strongly support our home team/country no matter what. I have never bought into that. Part of the reason for that is because being the youngest kid in the neighborhood I always got to pick which team I was playing as after the older kids picked their teams. The older kids picked the home team and thus I was stuck picking someone else. In most pro sports that someone else was Pittsburgh because they were the best teams at that time (My thoughts, why pick a loser?). So I jumped on bandwagons. I'm proud to say I haven't fallen off the wagon yet (Well... I'm a little down on the Pirates, they are still my team, but I have adopted a new team who I really follow better (again, more on that later). One of the bandwagons I jumped on was Brasil. They were the ones that everyone watched back then. They were the team to beat. They had Pele! So when it comes to watching world soccer, my heart lies with Brasil. What a beautiful game they play. *Sigh*
Oh wait, I was making a point... Yes, American soccer. So now of course the USA is starting to work their way from being a country that everyone laughed at in the world of soccer to being something of a consistent challenger. I really don't like the style of soccer team USA plays. Too many long balls, not enough control, too much reliance on speed, not enough concentration on skill, too much physical, not enough grace. Because of this, I really don't like USA soccer. I don't think they deserve to do well until they learn to play the game better. Don't get me wrong, I know that most Europeans play the same style, but I'm a fan of the South American style.
This all leads up to today's matches. USA is getting ready to play for their life in the tournament. If they win AND Italy wins then they advance to the knockout round. So of course logic would tell you that I would be rooting for Ghana to beat the USA and Czech Rep. to beat Italy (For those of you who don't follow world soccer Brasil and Italy are pretty big rivals because Italy is tie for second (With Germany my second favorite team) only to Brasil for most cup titles). Well, logic would only be half right or maybe three-quarters right, but not totally. I think that I would really like to see Italy play Brasil. I think it would be fun to watch us beat up on them again. Currently the head to head matchups between the two countries rests at a 2-3-2 tie. I think that Brasil could easily finish off the Italians and thus taking one more step toward showing everyone that they are and always will be the best in the world. To do that I need Italy to get second in the group. So I do want Italy to lose today, but then I need the US to tie Ghana. I think Italy would move to second based on goal differential.
But here's the thing... I'm starting to let a little bit of pride take over. I wouldn't mind seeing the US do well. The better the US does in the cup the bigger the sport will become in the US and then there is a better chance we will become one of great nations of the world. The kids need heroes. I had Lexi Lawless (Still have his old goatee)... Ok, he wasn't really a hero as he took the pitch for the US when I was a little old for hero worship, but I did like him. So I don't know... Do I want them to win? I mean I still like the underdog of Ghana. They did really well when I watched them against Czech Rep. I could be happy either way with this game.
But here is the challenge I have with today. It has taken many hours to get this far in the post between other chores, but I'm trying to make it through the day without discovering the scores so I can watch when I get home. But THE SCORES ARE EVERYWHERE!!! When I go to Yahoo!, I see the box pop up with the scores. When I get in the truck to go home tonight I know the 2 Live Stews will be on and I enjoy listening to them (Even though one of them is on vacation and the brothers aren't as funny when they both aren't there). During the course of the ride home I'm sure I'll hear at least one update. Sure I could listen to some funk on the way home, but it just isn't the same. Not the mood I'm in today. I'll have to see how quick I am on the volume. Then I have to hope my beautiful wife doesn't say anything about the scores before she allows me to settle back with an import and watch me some footie. Oh, it'll be a challenge. It has been hard so far, but I'm up for it. I think I can make it. I hope I can do it. I think I can. I think I can.
Let me explain. I'm an American (I'm sure that won't be a shock for most of you). According to popular belief, we are supposed to strongly support our home team/country no matter what. I have never bought into that. Part of the reason for that is because being the youngest kid in the neighborhood I always got to pick which team I was playing as after the older kids picked their teams. The older kids picked the home team and thus I was stuck picking someone else. In most pro sports that someone else was Pittsburgh because they were the best teams at that time (My thoughts, why pick a loser?). So I jumped on bandwagons. I'm proud to say I haven't fallen off the wagon yet (Well... I'm a little down on the Pirates, they are still my team, but I have adopted a new team who I really follow better (again, more on that later). One of the bandwagons I jumped on was Brasil. They were the ones that everyone watched back then. They were the team to beat. They had Pele! So when it comes to watching world soccer, my heart lies with Brasil. What a beautiful game they play. *Sigh*
Oh wait, I was making a point... Yes, American soccer. So now of course the USA is starting to work their way from being a country that everyone laughed at in the world of soccer to being something of a consistent challenger. I really don't like the style of soccer team USA plays. Too many long balls, not enough control, too much reliance on speed, not enough concentration on skill, too much physical, not enough grace. Because of this, I really don't like USA soccer. I don't think they deserve to do well until they learn to play the game better. Don't get me wrong, I know that most Europeans play the same style, but I'm a fan of the South American style.
This all leads up to today's matches. USA is getting ready to play for their life in the tournament. If they win AND Italy wins then they advance to the knockout round. So of course logic would tell you that I would be rooting for Ghana to beat the USA and Czech Rep. to beat Italy (For those of you who don't follow world soccer Brasil and Italy are pretty big rivals because Italy is tie for second (With Germany my second favorite team) only to Brasil for most cup titles). Well, logic would only be half right or maybe three-quarters right, but not totally. I think that I would really like to see Italy play Brasil. I think it would be fun to watch us beat up on them again. Currently the head to head matchups between the two countries rests at a 2-3-2 tie. I think that Brasil could easily finish off the Italians and thus taking one more step toward showing everyone that they are and always will be the best in the world. To do that I need Italy to get second in the group. So I do want Italy to lose today, but then I need the US to tie Ghana. I think Italy would move to second based on goal differential.
But here's the thing... I'm starting to let a little bit of pride take over. I wouldn't mind seeing the US do well. The better the US does in the cup the bigger the sport will become in the US and then there is a better chance we will become one of great nations of the world. The kids need heroes. I had Lexi Lawless (Still have his old goatee)... Ok, he wasn't really a hero as he took the pitch for the US when I was a little old for hero worship, but I did like him. So I don't know... Do I want them to win? I mean I still like the underdog of Ghana. They did really well when I watched them against Czech Rep. I could be happy either way with this game.
But here is the challenge I have with today. It has taken many hours to get this far in the post between other chores, but I'm trying to make it through the day without discovering the scores so I can watch when I get home. But THE SCORES ARE EVERYWHERE!!! When I go to Yahoo!, I see the box pop up with the scores. When I get in the truck to go home tonight I know the 2 Live Stews will be on and I enjoy listening to them (Even though one of them is on vacation and the brothers aren't as funny when they both aren't there). During the course of the ride home I'm sure I'll hear at least one update. Sure I could listen to some funk on the way home, but it just isn't the same. Not the mood I'm in today. I'll have to see how quick I am on the volume. Then I have to hope my beautiful wife doesn't say anything about the scores before she allows me to settle back with an import and watch me some footie. Oh, it'll be a challenge. It has been hard so far, but I'm up for it. I think I can make it. I hope I can do it. I think I can. I think I can.
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Well, just to let you know, I didn't make it. I tried really hard, but the American media system is just too strong, and I'm just that weak. I saw a picture which drew my eyes to a headline and spoiled my not knowing the results of the USA match. I did however make it home and convince my wife that I needed to watch the Brasil game as soon as I walked in. The bad thing is that my parents called 35 minutes in and I had to talk to them for over an hour. Sort of took away from the game a little, but I still really enjoyed seeing it. So, at least I did get to enjoy the Brasil game without spoiling.
I actually didn't watch the US game since I knew the result.
As far as the US is concerned, it is moot if the PK was legit though. They wouldn't have advanced with a draw. It would be worth commenting only for the confirming of the "The world hates the US, so the World Cup will keep them down" theory. I think the US red cards vs. Italy were a not legit, especially Pope's.
Some of the whining about the officiating is slightly annoying though. I have seen very few matches in my lifetime that were won or lost because of the official. I mean, how many shots did the US take? In the whole Cup? Can't score if you can't shoot.
As far as the US is concerned, it is moot if the PK was legit though. They wouldn't have advanced with a draw. It would be worth commenting only for the confirming of the "The world hates the US, so the World Cup will keep them down" theory. I think the US red cards vs. Italy were a not legit, especially Pope's.
Some of the whining about the officiating is slightly annoying though. I have seen very few matches in my lifetime that were won or lost because of the official. I mean, how many shots did the US take? In the whole Cup? Can't score if you can't shoot.
Ok, I was watching the best of Mike and Mike in the morning last night and I saw the foul that was called for the free kick. It looks to me like the big thug fullback of the US was pressing in and pushing off on the Ghana player. Would I have called it? Most likely not. Many of the refs are calling it strictly by the book this Cup. It means that if it could be seen as a foul, it is a foul, if it could be a card, it is a card. I think that FIFA is really trying to crack down on the physical play which I think is getting a little out of hand.
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