Watching Paint Dry

By Bladd Drwg

I have no real love for MLS soccer – the play reminds me of schoolyard basketball, the skill level is marginal compared to watching any European team play and the officiating is downright atrocious. I did recently go see the US Open Cup final between Seattle and Kansas City and was treated to everything I hate about watching an MLS game.

Both teams looked flat and the Sounders looked like they were playing not to lose the game. KC was not much better and the bulk of regulation time was spent with both teams middling around in the middle of the field making bad passes and not really pushing any attacks. It was frankly as exciting as watching paint dry. Both teams had a few scoring chances, but in those cases they were generally created by defensive mistakes rather than offensive skill.

The Sounders managed to get flagged for 4 yellow cards in regulation – and in each of those cases, the card should have been awarded. The Sounders should have only had 3 cards – Alonso was going to be warned early on for an aggressive play but he kept walking away from the ref, and eventually pushed the official away drawing the yellow. There was only one play that I thought KC made that might have warranted a yellow, but the ref did not call it. There were a number of questionable calls on both sides of the ball but I don’t believe the handball that lead to a KC goal was a bad call (unfortunately GolTV refused to show replays on just about every play).

After going 90 all tied, we were treated to another 30 minutes of incipit soccer as KC practically dominated the overtime but could not mount much of an attack. For all you Sounders fans – yes, Ianni deserved his yellow in the 119th minute – he pulled down a guy that had no defenders between him and the goal; that is an automatic yellow.

After watching 120 minutes of uninspired play, we got to witness the soccer equivalent of kissing your sister – penalty kicks. For the sake of the setup – a goalie is supposed to start on the goal line and is not supposed to move until the player taking the kick strikes the ball; a rule that is rarely enforced except on the last kick. If the goalie moves before the ball is struck or does not start out touching the goal line and touches the ball preventing a goal, it is a rekick. If he does not touch the ball, there is no rekick, even if the player kicking the ball does not score. That is exactly what happened at the end of the game, leading to a 3-2 advantage for KC and the win. (Yes – the replay does show that the Sounders goalie did not start out on the line).

If you read Jerry Brewer’s account in the Seattle Times, you will get a very different perception of the game. Some of the “highlights”:

…after a grueling 120 minutes of tense competition, after drama, frustration and five decisive penalty kicks from each team, history succumbed to anger, confusion and allegations of biased officiating.
—
It was a spirited contest, as competitive as you want a title game to be. But when it was over, the Sounders were left miffed and unsatisfied.

If Brewer thought the game was competitive and spirited, I suggest he watch a Champions League final or a Euro tournament.

A slightly less biased article (and a much more realistic view of the game) was written by Jeff Carlisle on espn.com. It’s title? “Hard to watch, easy to love.” I think that just about summed up the game.

Bench Him Like Beckham?

By Blaidd Drwg

How did this action by David Beckham only land him a yellow card (other than it was David Beckham, the only real marketable player in MLS) and a one game suspension that is only the result of multiple yellows this season? This should have been a red and a couple of games banned – there is no question it was intentional.
http://player.espn.com/player.js?&playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:8119152&thruParam_espn-ui%5BautoPlay%5D=false&thruParam_espn-ui%5BplayRelatedExternally%5D=true

On the plus side, his aim from 30 yards out was impeccable.

The Beautiful Game at Its Best

By Blaidd Drwg

Amazing. Just absolutely amazing. If you told me the score of yesterday’s Italy-Germany match in the Euro 2012 semis was 2-1, I would have just assumed that Germany won the game. Italy, shocking everyone, pulled it out in one of the best games I have seen in a long time. If you have not watched this game, watch it. It is the perfect example of why soccer is called the beautiful game.

Italy played brilliantly – they attacked, they were patient and they spread the German defense by working the ball in and then passing it back out. The first Italian goal was one of the best goals I have seen in a long time – Italy works it in to the top of the box, have nothing, send it back out to midfield, long pass to the left wing (who was open) splits the defense and crosses to the middle, header in the net. The score of that game should really have been something like 5-1, but Italy missed 3 goals in the last 15 minutes when Germany was pushing their entire defense up and Italy was just lobbing it down the field to wide open players.

The result was a surprise since Italy has not looked good lately. They limped into Euro 2012 with a ton of uncertainty and very young players. The tied Spain 1-1, and looked pretty good there, but then they tied Croatia by getting too conservative at the end of the game (and nearly losing in the process). They did beat Ireland, but Ireland is the worst team in Euro 2012, so it is not saying much.

On to the quarterfinals, they beat England in penalty kicks, but it should not have been that close. They outshot England something like 35-6 (with 16 shots on goal) and really did dominate but could not convert their chances. Beating England was not really a big deal – England was the “winner” of the weakest group in Euro and were probably the worst remaining team in the tournament.

Italy came out full of fire in the game against Germany, a fire that I have not seen since they played in the World Cup final in 2006. The missed goals were alarming and they need to take advantage of those types of opportunities if they want to beat Spain. Until then, Forza Azzuri.

You Stole Soccer from Us, You Bastards!

By Blaidd Drwg

Dave Richards is chairman of the English Premier League, one of the major soccer leagues in Europe, as well as a board member of the FA, England’s governing body for professional soccer. At a recent conference, Richards had the following to say:

“England gave the world football. It gave the best legacy anyone could give. We gave them the game,” said Richards, who is also a Football Association board member. “For 50 years, we owned the game … We were the governance of the game. We wrote the rules, designed the pitches and everything else.

“Then, 50 years later, some guy came along and said you’re liars and they actually stole it. It was called FIFA. Fifty years later, another gang came along called UEFA and stole a bit more.”

To me, this sounds like sour grapes that England has been mostly irrelavent in the international soccer world since the 1960’s. It makes sense – you can play soccer in some form almost anywhere in the world, regardless of economic standing which has allowed places like Brazil and Argentina to develop world class programs, since frankly, they have a much larger talent pool to draw from. I also think Richards’ rant may have been fueled by a little alcohol:

After the conference, Richards slipped and tumbled knee-deep into a museum pool from which he was rescued by Phil Gartside, the Bolton chairman and fellow FA board member.
“We were walking across to our table in a dark courtyard area,” Gartside told the BBC. “There were three fountain areas nearby, no pool. They had switched off the lights.
“He thought he was stepping on to flat marble, but his foot went down into the water, he fell over and hurt his leg quite badly.”

Both the EPL and and FA tried to distance themselves from Richards’ comments:

“Sir Dave Richards is not representing the FA at this conference and his personal views are in no way shared or endorsed by the FA,” a statement said. “The FA greatly values its relationships with FIFA and UEFA, which it is working hard to strengthen.”
The Premier League also disassociated itself from its chairman’s comments, saying in a statement to The Association Press that, “Sir Dave is attending the conference in a private and personal capacity and his comments in no way reflect the views of the Premier League.”

Internationally, I have had a hard time taking England seriously on the pitch. Now, I am not sure I can take them seriously at all when it comes to soccer.

If You Don’t Like Soccer, You Are Missing a Great Game

By Blaidd Drwg

The Spanish First Division in soccer, better known as La Liga, boasts two of the most dynamic players in the world – Christiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Lionel Messi of Barcelona. The league has played 29 out of 38 games on the schedule and Ronaldo and Messi are tied for the league scoring lead with 35 goals each, a very impressive number. What makes that number even more impressive is that 35 goals is MORE GOALS than 11 of the 20 teams in the league have scored all season. Think about that, one player scoring more points than 11 teams. That would be like someone hitting 150 home runs in a season in baseball. Despite the two high octane offenses that Barca and Madrid poses, they are beatable. Madrid has lost twice and drawn 3 times while Barca has 6 draws and 2 losses.

The La Liga standings are so top heavy because of these two teams that the third place team, Valencia, is 22 points behind second place Barca. Madrid is 6 points ahead of Barca in first place in La Liga, which, with 9 games left, is close to being insurmountable, but they still have one game against Barca which could ultimately decide the title.
I mention this because the quarterfinals of the UEFA champions league matches Barca against AC Milan, the winner advancing to the semi-finals. It should be a contrast in styles between the high scoring Barca and the solid defense of Milan. The home and home is 3/28 at Milan and 4/3 at Barca. If you like soccer at its best, you should watch these two games.

The Stupidity of the NFL Playoff System

By Drwg Blaidd

The NFL really needs to change the way that the playoffs are seeded. We have had 2 consecutive seasons where a team that was .500 or worse got to host a team that was at least 4 wins better than them in the opening round of the playoffs.

I think that the NFL needs to go to an NBA style playoff system – you give the division winners with the 2 best records the 1 & 2 seeds (and the bye) and then you rank the remaining teams based on records. It pisses me off that my team, who was tied with the second best record in the conference, has to play on the road the entire playoffs (unless the unlikely scenario of Steelers – Bengals occurs for the AFC championship game – which is moot), just because they happened to be in the same division as a team they tied with, who also held the tie breaker over them. The Steelers probably would have ended up 14-2 if they played in the West and the point would be moot. If you want to keep the division structure, fine. It happens too often that a team won’t make the playoffs as a wild card while a team with a worse record wins their division and gets in.

The list just over the last 5 seasons:

2011 – The Broncos (8-8) make it while the Titans (9-7) do not.
2010 – The 7-9 Sea Chicks make it over the 10-6 Giants and the 10-6 Bucs.
2008 – The 8-8 Chargers make it over the 11-5 Patriots and the 9-7 Jets.

That 2008 Pats team is the only 11 win team that did not make the playoffs that I could find in the 2 wild card era.

My other problem with the playoff seeding is that in the NFL, since it is a single game, home field means a ton more (it is something like a 65-35 advantage in the playoffs) than the other sports where the multi-game series reduces it to something like 55-45 advantage.

The one thing that I am holding out hope for is the Broncos really aren’t that good and they really haven’t been great at home this year. That being said, the Steelers have a banged up O-line, banged up QB, lost their starting RB, have some injuries on defense and are without their starting safety, who can’t play because the altitude might literally kill him.

While we are at it, could someone please let the MLS know that their playoff system really doesn’t work either…

Note: this was written BEFORE the weekend playoff games were played.

Assorted Sports Thoughts

by A.J. Coltrane

Mike Leach to the Cougars:

To quote Leach – “You can win here and win big, I believe.”

Washington State football just got a lot more entertaining — I may actually make a point to watch a game or two next year. WSU will throw the ball all over the place, and historically that’s what they’ve done when they’ve been good. At the very least they’ll be fun to watch.

The Sounders get a new keeper:

The Sounders signed 6’5″ Austrian keeper Michael Gspurning. From the Seattle Times: “Gspurning’s size lends to a more aggressive approach in coming out to defend crosses, and he is also more comfortable having balls played back to him and using his feet”

The News Tribune has more information about Gspurning, including this YouTube clip of five of his saves:

I’m predisposed to like tall keepers — Kasey Keller would have had a hard time getting to Save #3 on the video, though Keller likely would have been playing another step or two to his left to cover that angle and would have stopped it anyway.

Gspuring is a 30 year-old veteran keeper. I have high hopes the Sounders won’t miss a beat.

Finally, the NBA is dead to me, but:

The Miami Heat signed Shane Battier. I think this is about as important as any signing in the league this year — Battier is absolutely the perfect fit to go with Wade and Lebron. Battier doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be productive, he’s a very good perimeter defender, he’s a good rebounder, a good passer, and he’s a good 3-point shooter. He may wind up being more valuable to the Heat than Chris Bosh. Really, the Heat are the “Big 2 +1” anyway, not a “Big 3”. As Battier approaches the late phase of his career he could basically be Robert Horry all over again. Mike Bibby just signed somewhere else, and if the Heat can get anything besides a corpse to play the point then they have to be heavy favorites to win it all this year. They don’t even need a traditional point guard, it could be a Steve Kerr equivalent and they’d be fine. (Any of the triangle offense non-traditional point guards would work — Kerr, Paxson, Harper, or Fisher. They just need long-range shooting and (ideally) someone to get in the way of quick little guards.)

Bleh.

Relegation in the EPL

By Blaidd Drwg

It seems that the new owners of a bunch of EPL teams are not happy with the relegation system in British Football. If you are not familiar with the relegation system, here is an overly simple way of how it works:

A sport has 3 divisions, A, B and C, with A being the highest division and C being the lowest. At the end of each season, the three bottom teams in the standings in Division A would move down to Division B and the 3 top teams in Division B would move up to division A. The same thing happens with Division B and C.

This is the system that is used by almost every soccer league in the world (I believe the MLS is the only major soccer league that is an exception) and is also used by quite a number of other sports worldwide.
I really like the relegation system – it gives incentive for owners and general managers to build competitive teams and keeps the competitive level of the league higher than it otherwise would be. You don’t tend to get long stretches of team futility like you do in American sports (I am looking at you Pittsburgh Pirates) and it bring new talent into the league on a regular basis that you wouldn’t see otherwise.

The real reason owners are opposed, is of course, money:

“If you look at sports all around the world and you look at sports owners trying to work out how to invest to make money, you will find that most of them like the idea of franchises,” Bevan said. “If you take particularly American owners, without doubt, there have been a number of them looking at having more of a franchise situation and that would mean no promotion or relegation.
“Obviously if I was an American owner and I owned a football club or I was an Indian owner I might be thinking I would like to see no promotion or relegation, my investment is going to be safer and my shares are going to go up in value.”

I really wish the MLS would go to a relegation system. I think it would improve the quality of the game and the skills of US Soccer players in general. I also know that it will never happen for the same reason why some EPL owners don’t want a change – money. The American way of doing it is to create a brand and the possibility of that brand not appearing in the highest level of competition scares the billionaires who use professional sports teams as their playthings. Could you imagine the Yankees being demoted to AAA? Well, it did happen, in 2007 when Juventus of the Italian Soccer League (the team people call the Yankees of soccer) were demoted from Seire A to Serie B due to a scandal. It was only one year and they managed to win themselves back into Serie A, but you are talking about a team that is worth close to a billion dollars getting demoted to a lower league. No one in Italy complained or was outraged; it is part of the game and the Juve squad had to prove themselves to get back to the highest level of competition.

Manchester United and Their US Tour

By Blaidd Drwg

2_8718__45254540_rooney_pa — Wayne Rooney - the man who scored more goals against the MLS in 22 minutes than the MLS scored against ManU in 360 minutes.

Manchester United recently wrapped up their MLS exhibition tour with a 4 – 0 crushing of the MLS All-Stars in New York. In the 4 game series, the Reds outscored their opponents 18 –2, but they still have one game left before they cross the pond – they are playing a competitor that should prove to be slightly more challenging than the MLS teams. They get to play the team that crushed them in the Champions League finals – FC Barcelona. THAT should be a good game.

I watched some of the Sounders-ManU match and, while US soccer has come a long way, it still has a longer way to go. The Sounders held their own in the first half of the game, but I think that had to do more with adrenalin and playing in front of 65,000 people than level competition. They got absolutely crushed in the second half when both teams essentially played their second strings and it became obvious that ManU was easily the better team. Wayne Rooney also reminded everyone that he can still play the game by putting on a clinic, netting a hat trick in 22 minutes and looking like he was Michael Jordan in a pickup game against a bunch of high school kids.

Until US Soccer switches to a system like the Europeans with a feeder program that stresses fundamentals rather than winning, changes the league structure to allow for relegations and promotions, and allows teams to be competitive and sign European and Latin American players in their prime (as opposed to washed up “stars” like Beckham and Henry), we will never be able to compete consistently on either a club level or international level with the rest of the world.

The Patrick Ianni

by A.J. Coltrane

The Sounders scored four goals last Thursday. This was a good thing for me, as 3 or more goals means everybody gets a free haircut, and I was due.

When my haircut was about done a woman came into the shop with two kids, about ages 8 and 9.

The 9 year-old asked her if could have his hair cut “Like Patrick Ianni on the posters!”

It’s another example of the revolution not being televised.