So much for my soccer prediction prowess
Today was my worst performance ever in the World Cup "pool" -- 0 for 4! I have gone from being a contender on the leader board to a total bum. And I must confess to having watched exactly 0 minutes of live action, catching only the occasional highlight reel.
It was a tough day to make the right calls -- even our "pool" leaders went 2 for 4 at best. But those folks aren't going to be able to see me much longer, tiny in their rear-view mirrors.
| Posted at 7:48 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
If soccer is going to make it in the states they will need to make scoring easier as we Yanks need to see some action and we will need lots of time-outs for TV commercials.
Otherwise, we will continue waiting for the highlights on late night news.
Posted by Abe | June 24, 2010 8:30 PM
Soccer doesn't need to change a thing. Okay, lose the horns. But the game is great entertainment when it really matters.
I think the Algeria result won the USA huge support around the world. That was electrifying and Landon Donovan is now one of my favorite players.
I believe we've become a soccer nation in that we are fielding a genuine team that can play with authentic flair.
Up 'til now I thought we were clunky, doing it with will and atheletic chops but not really speaking the language.
How can I put this? Have you ever heard a blues band from Russia? They go along sounding pretty legit then someone does something that exposes them. You can tell they came to it late.
I always thought our soccer team looked like that, but this group? They displayed a lot of skill and threw a ton of great action at this match. They belong on the world stage. The buildup to the goal, with Tim Howard throwing the ball ahead, was world class in every way.
Even getting screwed out of a few goals
makes it feel like we have arrived.
Ghana is going to be tough but the thrill of a match like Wednesday can carry this team for a while. Go USA.
Posted by Bill McDonald | June 24, 2010 8:49 PM
I have to agree with Bill. This Copa Mundial has been a great one, is exciting, and really fun to watch.
Go Spain.....
Posted by Ricardo | June 24, 2010 9:04 PM
Just watched "Invictus" with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Good movie -- and also suggests to me that Americans are much more ready to watch rugby than soccer.
Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | June 24, 2010 11:39 PM
Try to catch the first 30 mins. of Portugal-Brazil match this morning, Jack. Or Chile-Spain later. Should be good shows. Easy to do while multi-tasking at a desk or table. Also, it's early still in pool -- a couple upsets in coming rounds and lots of folks could jump to the front of the pack. With the crazy refereeing (imo - a lot harder than NBA or NFL ref'ing), this could be the year of the underdogs. Bow wow wow!
P.S. -- Will somebody please send a memo to the comics of the U.S. and tell them to lay off the lame vuvuzela stuff, and go back to trying to write a good Lincoln joke. Enough already.
Posted by Mojo | June 25, 2010 2:55 AM
They're just being vuvuzealous.
Posted by Jack Bog | June 25, 2010 2:57 AM
Vuuuuuuuuuuuu. Vuuuuuuuuuu.
Posted by Mojo | June 25, 2010 7:45 AM
Jack,
you haven't been a very good babysitter of this pool. I filled out everything on the fill-in-the-blanks sheet thing on the first day of the World Cup, selecting wins based on the countries I would most like to visit, and then sat back to "watch".
Yesterday I discovered there was a SECOND ROUND, and that I hadn't filled everything out on the first day after all, and that it was too late to do so; I had missed a ton of fill-in-the-blanks and now....I have NO HOPE of winning.
Some of us need HELP here with this stuff. A coaxing reminder email next time would be appreciated.
Posted by gaye haris | June 25, 2010 8:23 AM
Was watching for a few minutes, kids said "Dad, I thought you said it would be 17 years before the Cicadas returned." Man, those horns, they gotta go.
Posted by Grady Foster | June 25, 2010 8:25 AM