The Changing of seasons

It is that time of year when we living in the Northern Hemisphere start to feel the drop in daytime temperatures and the deciduous trees begin to turn a beautiful shade of either red, yellow, or brown. The same is true of the sports that we watch and participate in. Baseball is slowly meandering to crown its champion along with several other sports that have seasons that run through the summer. More importantly the road cycling season calls an end to its major events with the Giro d'Lombardia, better known as the race of the falling leaves. Today's race, read the recap here, true to the changing weather was cool and rainy, but the competition was as fierce as ever with Phillipe Gilbert winning the race for a second consecutive year. The truth about our society as expressed through sports is that in two weeks I will be watching the first World Cup downhill skiing events of the year. I won't have taken the time to digest the amazing acts of courage and feats of heroism throughout the summer by the world's best cyclists. On a completely separate note the 2011 Tour de France route will be revealed on Tuesday. Their recent route designs have created great value for the fans on the side of the road and watching on TV.

Congratulations to the God of Thunder

With cycling in the news again for all the wrong reasons with the news of Alberto Contador apparently testing positive for Clenbutrol; it was refreshing to watch Thor Hushovd of Norway win last weekends World Road Race Cycling Championships down in Australia. Congratulations are well deserved for winning on a difficult and hilly course in Geelong. It is always good to see the world's best professionals show up and put on a competitive and animated race for the all important rainbow jersey. All cycling fans needed this beautiful sight to get us out of the depressive funk of the contador doping case. I am also going to take this opportunity to congratulate Fabian Cancellara on his impressive fourth world time trial championship victory.

Contador: Positive for Doping at the Tour

In the news this morning was the announcement that Alberto Contador, the winner of this years Tour de France, had tested positive for a prohibited substance. You can read about it here. This seems to be a dietary supplement or other accidental contamination problem due to the low level that was measured and the multiple other tests taken during the tour. The problem is that a presumed clean rider should never be placed in the compromising position of having to defend himself for a substance that he didn't he had ingested. Even with team doctors clearing all supplements and medecine being prescribed there is no sure way to avoid all prohibited substances. In the late 90's when performance enhancing drug use was revealed to be pervasive in sports; the world went about creating a treaty that defined the code of conduct on doping for international sport competitions. We need a treaty that deals with dietary supplements since they are not highly regulated in most countries. If they are properly labeled then athletes will be able to avoid accidentally consuming prohibited substances. Let's all hope that Contador is proven innocent and doesn't have to serve a two year ban.

Concussions in sports

Concussions have become an important discussion topic since it was revealed several years ago that this injury posed a great risk of permanent brain damage if not treated properly. After the initial report and congressional hearings the NFL finally went about implementing a policy that ends players from playing through concussions in games. I applaud the league for having a policy that intends to mitigate any damage from concussions. The end result is that major players have been forced to miss games due to the new policy. I think that we, the viewers and fans, will finally realize the shear amount of concussions that are pervasive in football. There are only so many rules changes that can be used to reduce concussions.
The bigger fear I have is the multitude of young youth who are playing football in pee wee leagues and high school teams. These athletes are undergoing development of their brains and as such brain injuries are capable of more traumatic brain damage. In a New York Times article the quality of medical attention at most high school football games lack certified medical trainers. I understand that this would be an expensive cost for many cash strapped districts and nearly impossible for many rural districts to comply with. In the meantime states should follow the lead of Washington state and pass laws that protect students in high school sports, and mostly football players, from injuring themselves even more when they have a concussion. I think that the end result will be that high schools will be forced to shutdown football teams due to the inherent risk of concussions which may lead to significant brain injuries.

Congratulations to Contador

Congratulations go out from this blogger to Alberto Contador on his third successful Tour de France jersey. He now has two of the four closest margins of victory. Lemond's nine second overall victory after the final time trial in '89 still stands. The Schleck-Contador battle this year will go in the annals of tour history right next to Merckx-Ocana, Anquetil-Poulidor, and Lemond-Fignon. As far as I can see Contador could easily surpass Armstrong's record for the most tour victories barring that the Tour adds a team time trial. The question is whether the Schleck brothers will finally break through and win.
On another note I really liked Jen Caudil's article on the podium girls. I have to thank her for criticizing the ugly attire of the podium, particularly the KOM dress. I feel sorry for the Radioshack team for trying to honor cancer victims with their 28 jerseys. Sadly the UCI rules prohibit the changing of jerseys in a race. I wish they didn't have to be this picky on the rule but that is how they keep teams in line. This was a very appropriate tribute.

The Tourmalet stage redux

Today's stage to the top of the Col du Tourmalet was an epic duel among the best two cyclists in this year's race. It was an entertainment and sporting gem. Andy Schleck and the Saxobank team setting an incredible pace that decimated the entire field and the breakaway. The two contenders for the yellow jersey rode away with Schleck through the fog only to reappear as they approached the finish line. I should point out that all Contador did was ride on Schleck's wheel in a similar fashion to the Courchevel stage of the 1997 Tour. It is also an unwritten rule that if you are wearing the yellow jersey and your opponent has attacked the entirety of the climb then you should gracefully cede them the stage victory in the two man sprint. On another note Garmin-Transitions seems to be a factory of Tour de France GC contenders since they have someone in the top 10 every year since 2008. It is never the same person is what continues to amaze me.

The unwritten rules of cycling

I watched a small portion of SportsNation and one of the topics of discussion was whether Contador's attack when the chain on Andy Schleck's bike failed. Colin Cowherd said that there was no responsibility for Contador to wait for Schleck. For one thing Colin wouldn't care about cycling if there wasn't Lance Armstrong as a competitor. Since his views are that the unwritten gentlemanly rules of cycling don't matter. I am going to go about writing these unwritten rules that I have picked up from my many years of watching the Tour de France. They are as follows:
1. You have the responsibility to slow down the pace if your major opponent crashes or has a mechanical problem. This rule primarily is related to mountain stages and the ascents.
2. No peeing on crowds when you have to go on mid stage.
3. Crashes are part of the race, but when the entire peloton crashes and takes extraordinary amounts of time to get back on the bike then the peloton has the responsibility to neutralize the race.
There have been two different cases of incidents, crashes or mechanical incidents, that have significantly altered the race. The first was Frank Schleck's crash on the cobblestones of Northern France. His fellow teamates attacked on that section of cobblestones and had no responsibility to wait for Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador. The other incident was the chain slipping on Andy Schleck's bike on Monday's climb to Port de Bales. In this case Contador should have stopped his attack until Schleck was able to rejoin the group. The key factor is that it seems Contador didn't know his opponent had a problem.
Today's stage was very interesting with the first climb of the Col du Tourmalet. Also we saw Lance Armstrong in a break for the first time since he lost seven minutes in the Alps. He showed glimpses of the old Lance, but he clearly didn't have the strength and stamina to pull away from his breakaway companions. It is sad to see Lance in his swansong Tour suffer from age creeping in on his amazing talent.

On the Tour de France

The tour de France took the second wheel during its first week to the World Cup, but know it has the full attention of most of the world. This years race has been grueling and trying on the cyclists. There were no easy flat stages to start the race until the first set of mountain stages. Instead the hills of the Ardennes caused the first chaos to the peloton followed the next day by the cobblestones of Northern France. While these are not typical parts of the race route, there inclusion has increased the sporting and entertainment value of this years tour. On the eve of the Pyrenees the race for the yellow jersey is mostly a two man competition between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. These two cyclists should be the stars of a four act, stage, battle up the steep mountains that border France and Spain. The unique ending incorporating the stage finish atop the Col du Tourmalet could provide all the fireworks cycling fans enjoy. I fear that Andy Schleck may leave the Pyrenees with the yellow jersey only to lose it in the time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac to Alberto Contador. As for Lance Armstrong, ever since he lost seven minutes on the stage to Morzine-Avioraz he has taken a real relaxed viewpoint on the tour and even conceded more time. This being his last tour we can clearly see that his best days are in the past though he is still among the better cyclists in the tour peloton at 38 years of age. Enjoy this race because otherwise you have to wait eleven months for another edition.

World Cup Rounup: The Trophy is Presented

Congratulations to Spain for winning the World Cup. The were truly the best team in the entire tournament. They didn't win it by dominant scoring, but by balance across the team with solid defense and potent scoring. They had the most brilliant, smooth, and exciting play of any team in the tournament. In the final match I was disappointed in the Netherlands play. They played overly physical and violent. It was no wonder that they picked up the red card in overtime with the way they had played. I expected a much more matched time of possession between the two teams. It would have likely led to a more entertaining game of attacks and counterattacks. I understand the defensive alignment of the Dutch was based on the American and Swiss successes in the last two years against Spain, but they didn't even try to create sustained scoring efforts throughout most of the first half. I feel sorry for the Dutch as they are now the team that is cursed at the World Cup. Hopefully in four years time the Dutch will be back to make another amazing and deep run at the Jules Rimet trophy.

World Cup Roundup: The final

Sunday's World Cup Final should be tantalizing and entertaining. We will have a new World Cup champion. The Spanish and the Netherlands are both possession and finesse passing teams. If the time of possession is roughly equally split the game could be tantalizing and may require overtime and possibly a shootout. If the Spanish dominate play then I feel that they will come out on top.

World Cup Roundup: On to the semifinals

The semifinals are set with Germany to play Spain and the Netherlands to play Uruguay. The nice part is that all four teams will play at least one more game after the semifinals. We have the possibility to see a new team being crowned World Cup winner if Spain and the Netherlands make it to the finals. We also could see a Uruguay-Germany final which would pit previous cup winners. All the quarterfinal games were rather entertaining although the Germany-Argentina game got boring after a while due to the German scoring plethora. A key aspect of the games will be who is ineligible due to yellow card accumulation and red cards. The list includes: Luis Suarez of Uruguay for the intentional handball (red card), Nigel Dejong for accumulation of yellow cards, and Thomas Muller for accumulation of yellow cards. I sincerely hope that the Netherlands gets to the final and finally wins the World Cup. Adding an eighth winner of the World Cup would be nice.

2010 Tour de France preview

On the eve of the Tour de France I figured it would be appropriate to discuss it on my blog. This years route is fairly interesting in that it starts in Rotterdam and then proceeds to follow the North Sea which will provide a wind that could cause separations in the peleton. Throughout the first week cobblestones and tight streets in the finish cities could destroy a contenders chance at the overall victory. The end of the first week will be history making as Friday's stage ends with a mountaintop finish in the Jura mountains. The race will clearly be won in either the Alps or the Pyrennnes. Alberto Contador is on the record as saying that the Pyrennes will be the deciding factor in this Tour. Let's hope so as this would provide some last minute heroics. It should be noted the fabled Col du Tourmalet, first climbed a hundred years ago, will be climbed twice in three days. Among this years contenders are Frank and Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador, Christian Vandevelde, Ivan Basso, World Champion Cadel Evans, and Lance Armstrong. Those who could be contenders will be Bradley Wiggins, Michael Rogers, Samuel Sanchez, Robert Gisink, Denis Menchov, and Vladimir Karpets of Katusha. The French will once again hope that somebody comes through with a great showing and is competitive. They haven't won the tour in almost thirty years. Alberto Contador is the clear favorite with his excellent climbing and time trialing skills. I believe Contador will repeat as champion again.

World Cup Roundup: The quarter finals are set

The group winners clearly dominated the round of 16 with the exception of the United States. It should be noted that the US-Ghana and Japan-Paraguay games were the most even in quality. Both of these games required more than 90 minutes to be resolved. I feel sorry for the Japanese player who missed the penalty shot that would have kept the shootout alive, but that is how things go sometimes at the World Cup. Spain looks to be picking up the pace and meeting the lofty standards that Spanish fans have for their national side. The results show that soccer is still dominated at the top level by Europe and South America, South America has been very successful. The good news is that some Asian, African, and North American teams are really improving. In the next eight years we will likely see a serious contender from one of these three continents. It is still possible that Ghana could make a run at the World Cup this year, but I have trouble seeing them defeat Uruguay. As for video replay it will likely become in place with all the missed goal calls in both group play and the round of 16 thus far. A good implementation would be commensurate with NHL in its rules, but a key addition would be the ability to review phantom fouls that are called on goals scored, i.e. the US-Slovenia and US-Algeria game.

World Cup Roundup Day 16: The US run ends

The American squad that never stopped playing at full intensity could not make it through a physical Ghanan side. I will be the first one to mention there were some tactical mistakes in the starting eleven. For one Ricardo Clark replacing Maurice Edu is the most glaring. Clark was not very effective in the game against England, not marking Steven Gerrard who promptly scored, and giving up the first goal today. This mistake cost the US a key subsistute in a must win game. The other interesting decision was not starting Oguchi Onyewu. Four years ago I thought he was a horrible player, but this year I think his height and defensive skills really help out the American squad. Many bloggers will blame the coach and ask for his ouster. I will gather these as I see them and provide my two cents, but I think we need to evaluate the way we played in the tournament before making coaching decisions. This squad did not have Charlie Davies who was starting in last years confederations cup run. The striker pair of Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies could be potent with their speed, height, and ability to hold the ball. This does require that Jozy Altidore continue to grow as a player which is likely since he is only 20 years old. The American squad showed the world the American work ethic as applied to soccer and got good results. They achieved a primary goal of getting to the knockout stage and played hard in a tough fought loss to Ghana. I think they played admirably and should be lauded for their efforts. I onaly see an upside for American soccer and soccer fans. Maybe in four years we will be holding the trophy the world covets most at the end of the 2014 tournament.

World Cup Roundup Day 15: The bracket has been built

All group play is over. It is now win and your in, lose and you go home trophy less. The end of group play has produced some very interesting results. Some people will call this tournament wild or wacky, but in truth it just shows that the sport is globalizing at the top level and that the altitude of most of the venues is affecting the ball and players. The group of death did kill a very potent and good Cote d'Ivoire squad. It is sad to say that Africa only qualified one team for the knockout stage. On the other hand the power of South America was on full display as they qualified all five teams that came to the tournament. South Korea and Japan, qualified for the second round showing the progress of Asian soccer since the 2002 tournament. The way that the bracket is laid out the United States could make a deep run to the semifinals if they can beat Ghana and then defeat the likely favorites Uruguay. A semifinal run would be rather great for American soccer and would probably lead to another generation picking up the sport and progressing it further. There is a distinct possibility that the American squad could be even playing in Johannesburg on July 11th for all the title. We already made this run last year in a smaller tournament that no one expected us to win. This all possible only if the defense remains stout and begins to shut down teams more than in the group stage. I should probably make my pick for who will win the world cup at this point. I am going to make two picks since I am an American and believe that we can it all with some luck. If I had to act as an impartial analyst my pick would be Argentina. They have the fire power in Messi to score goals and the emotional leadership of none other than Maradona to guide them through this journey. They have looked unstoppable in group play. The other team that I look forward to watching is the Netherlands; this may be the year they can achieve the goal that has so long avoided them.

World Cup Roundup Day 13: American success

The US pulled off a stunning last minute game winning goal from Landon Donovan. The US should have won this game earlier if it weren't for the fact that another US goal was disallowed for a questionable offside call. In all the group of surprise did provide some surprises and entertaining soccer in the final matches of group play. The end result is that the US won the group and thus avoid facing Germany in the round of sixteen. I have seen in the last three halves a team that is hungry and willing to take their game to the opponent. It should be noted that we played the weaker two of our first round opponents in those games. The US is going to face an uphill battle as we will likely face the African continents last hope in Ghana. The last US-Ghana match up was four years ago in Germany. I must point out that one of the finalists for the World Cup in 2006 started group play with two ties and victory only to gel and make a tremendous run through the rest of the World Cup tournament. Today we saw the hopes of Slovenia, Algeria, Australia, and Serbia end on the soccer pitches of South Africa. Of particular note is that major European powers are due to meet up in the first round of the knockout stages between England and Germany.

World Cup Roundup Days 9-12

I have to apologize to my readers for not posting for the last few days. The US has positioned itself to win group C tomorrow if they beat Algeria. The greater risk is that England may not qualify if they don't beat Slovenia. The group of death has come back to hurt Cote D'Ivoire and the African nations so far. Today Argentina, South Korea, Mexico, and Uruguay qualified for the knockout stage. France finally scored, but it was too late. I don't expect France to have as many scandals and lack of unity and cohesion under the direction of Laurent Blanc. My only hope is that South Africa will be able to become a strong African soccer power in the World Cups of the future.

World Cup Roundup Day 7: Ou est Zidane?

For those of you who don't read or speak French, the title says where is Zidane. The French who had the perfect opportunity to get a victory and all but assure their qualification into the round of 16. Instead they looked like a bunch of good players who were unable to put any offense together. The sum of the players was better than the whole eleven. Raymond Domenech, the coach of France, is leaving the direction of the national team with an undesirable result. It is pretty clear that the France '98 World Cup winning and '06 runner-up generation is retiring and a new group of players is taking their position. The starting eleven of Les Bleus is going to look different in the next few years as young players take over. The key is for them to find an organizer and director of the offense who is similar to Zinedine Zidane. Without him they clearly looked like they had plenty of offensive power, but no one could set the scoring plays in motion. Hugo Lloris is not responsible for either of the goals given up today. He did his best one on one in the first goal, and he dove in the right direction on the penalty shot. The most likely replacements for Domenech as coach are Didier Deschamps or Laurent Blanc both of whom were on the '98 World Cup winning team. Argentina put up a four spot on South Korea which shows that there is still a significant gap between the quality of confederations. Nigeria suffered elimination when Kaita went off for a red card and lost the game 2-1.
Serbia-Germany is an elimination game for the team from the Balkans. A loss to Germany will send Serbia to their second three and out. The match that matters the most to my readers is the US-Slovenia match. This is a must win for America. A victory is critical to put the US into a qualifying position for the knockout stages. This will be difficult with the stinginess of the Slovenian defense. They beat Russia in a knockout playoff. Algeria-England should be a victory for the English. Anything less and Parliament will start an official inquiry. They are already considering being the first country to not go Green.

World Cup Roundup Day 6: Spanish meltdown

Spain and South Africa suffered crushing defeats. The Spanish were highly tauted for their vaunted record in the last two years that came with their offense. Switzerland effectively shutdown the box and frustrated the Spanish forwards and midfield. Switzerland scored on a counter-attack that took advantage of a weak defense from Spain. I believe that Spain will defeat Honduras which was clearly dominated in all offensive categories by Chile. Group H, which contains Spain, Switzerland, Chile, and Honduras, could be decided only in the the final games of group play. South Africa suffered a painful 3-0 loss. This loss has effectively eliminated the host country from the knockout stage, breaking a record. To make matters worse they have lost several of their starters due to yellow card accumulation and the goalkeeper, Khune, getting a red card. The quality of the South African squad is okay, but the non-starters are much weaker than the starters. I just don't see the South Africans beating France and pulling off a miracle to qualify for the knockout stage. Uruguay is a solid squad and could be very dangerous as a first round knockout stage opponent.
Tomorrow's games include South Korea-Argentina which will decide the winner of group B. Nigeria and Greece is effectively an elimination game with the victor still having an outside shot at making the elimination portion of the tournament. In the case of a tie, qualification will be only held a thin strand of hope. The last game of the day is the marque match up between Mexico and France. This match will decide whether South Africa has even a chance to qualify. A tie will be in the best interest of the Bafana Bafana. I feel that France showed it's offense was potent enough to beat a very unconvincing Mexican side. My prediction is France winning that match probably 1-0.

World Cup Roundup Day 5: The Group of Death

Today the infamous "group of death" started play. Group G includes five time winners Brazil, Portugal, African power Cote d'Ivoire, and North Korea. The most highly anticipated match was between Portugal and Cote d'Ivoire. The end result was a draw which was nearly broken up by Didier Drogba in the 90th minute. Portugal didn't look impressive at all and was relying on Ronaldo to create the scoring. They are sorely missing the play of Luis Figo, who is retired, from their Euro 2004 squad. The Ivorians looked like a solid squad that was able to create scoring chances with Drogba on the bench. I look forward to more games with Cote d'Ivoire. Brazil got an unconvincing 2-0 win against North Korea. I was slightly disappointed that Brazil didn't score more goals, but the Koreans were well organized having been playing together as a squad for several years. The Korean defense proved effective to stymie the Brazilian samba style offense. Understandably Brazil has brought a squad that is more defensive in nature, but their offense has been severely hampered in this game and last year's Confederations Cup final against the US. We may see Brazil make an exit from the tournament prior to the semifinals if they continue this quality of play. New Zealand provided quite some excitement by scoring towards the end of second half stoppage time to get a draw against Slovakia.
The most interesting game tomorrow should be the Spain-Switzerland game. Spain is highly touted as a strong contender for the cup due to their offensive prowess. They are also the current European champions which is no small feat. Switzerland were good enough to qualify for the knockout stage in 2006, but is this team as good. Honduras-Chile is an interesting South American-Central American match. Chile was the top qualifier from South America whereas Honduras qualified in the last spot behind the US and Mexico on the last day of qualifying. The US and Mexico have shown in the last few World Cups that they are not cupcake victories in the group stages and have the capability to advance through the knockout stages. The key question is whether there is any other quality sides in our region. If Honduras were to win or tie this would be a major wake-up call that North and Central America are beginning to mature into a strong region for international football. The last match of the day is South Africa-Uruguay. I feel that South Africa buoyed by the home crowd of vuvuzeulas will qualify for the knockout stages, but this match will be important as a victory will put them in the drivers seat to participate in the third week of the tournament.

World Cup Roundup Day 4

The Dutch looked convincing in their 2-0 win. They did get the benefit of an own goal on the part of Denmark. They did get a beautiful goal from Dirk Kuyt which is classical of their flowing style of offense. Denmark is not completely out of the tournament since Cameroon, which was thought to be the other power in this group, suffered a loss to Japan. This is only Japan's fourth World Cup and they looked like a squad that has finally materialized into a significant competitor. This just shows how much soccer has globalized at a top level of play. The afternoon game between Italy and Paraguay was a rather boring affair that ended in a tie. Paraguay should have won this game after scoring late in the first half. The Italians seemed to be lackluster and ineffective. They will not win the World Cup if they continue to play like this.
Tomorrow starts play in the "group of death". The marque matchup is Cote d'Ivoire- Portugal which should be electrifying with the play of Ronaldo and Drogba. The key question is whether Didier Drogba, who broke his arm in a warm up match, will start or even play. Slovakia-New Zealand will be a very good quality match. Brazil-North Korea could be a beat down for the Koreans similar to the Germany-Australia match on Sunday. The Brazilian samba speed footwork should overpower North Korea.

World Cup Roundup Day 3: The goal scoring has arrived

Coming into today the goal scoring had minimal with most games ending in ties no greater than 1-1. Today all that changed. Germany came out and put on a clinic in a 4-0 beating of Australia. This should scare all American soccer fans since they may be the first knockout stage opponent. It must be said that half the goals occurred after Australia went down to ten men. Germany may have a young squad, but they didn't show any World Cup opener jitters. They were dominant in time of possession, which is an attribute I wish the US would pick up. Ghana showed the World that 2006 was not a fluke in winning their opener against Serbia. They are in the best position of all the African nations thus far to play. Yesterday's tie between England and the United States has put both of these teams in a precarious position now that Slovenia has beaten Algeria. This goal was once again a fluke type of affair. The Algerian goaltender could have punched the ball to the side, but instead tried to scoop up the ball. The effect of today's result is that England and the US need to win their remaining games to go to the knockout round. If anyone falters they will be out. The onus is harder on the Americans as Slovenia, a good squad, is the next opponent; while England face an altered Algerian squad due to a red card.
Tomorrow's games include Denmark versus Netherlands and a variant of total football. Defending champions Italy will start their title defense against Paraguay will be an interesting Europe-South America encounter. Japan against Cameroon may mean the next African team to notch a win. Cameroon is a solid squad led by their star striker Samuel Eto'o.

World Cup Roundup Day 2: Disaster Avioded for the US

Today was another exciting day at the World Cup and the opener for the US against the powerful English squad. Greece was beaten badly by South Korea and it doesn't look good for their qualification. This is sadly another bad blow to the Greek psyche as they are already suffering through a significant economic crisis. Argentina clearly looks like it will be a very strong contender in the knockout stages. The won very comfortably without scoring from Lionel Messi who was just off several times. Nigeria put up a strong fight and should look to rebound in their next match. The nightcap, in the afternoon for those of us in the US, was a beautiful game of back and forth action between the US and England. Disaster struck in the fourth minute when Steven Gerrard scored for England when his shot was unchallenged and open in front of the goal. The disastrous start was nullified by Dempsey's goal. The rest was fairly neutralized. The US looked it had some jitters which hopefully were eliminated with this game. Our offense showed some evidence of being very potent with the speed it features, but there was not enough consistent play in England's end to put up more than one goal. This needs to improve if the US has any hopes of advancing in the tournament. The US back line was solid when facing the onslaught in the second half. There is still room for improvement in communication. Other than the one missed header, Wayne Rooney was kept off the score sheet and ineffective most of the game. Of particular concern for me was the unmarked shots from just outside the box that were on goal. As for Gerrard's goal this was not the fault of the US defenders, but a mistake by Ricardo Clark. The key for the US seems to be the first ten minutes of the game. If they can survive unscathed they tend to have success. It was quite obvious that the US squad misses Charlie Davies speed threat on the attack even with Robbie Findley. Tim Howard showed why he is among the best goalkeepers in the world with all of his spectacular game saving saves.The best situation for the US and England is that Slovenia and Algeria end up in a tie. Otherwise one of the favorites will probably be heading home. If the US and England beat the other members of group C and the Slovenia-Algeria game ends in a tie then both teams advance.

World Cup Roundup Day 1

Attention to Mexico, France, and Uruguay. The Bafana Bafana are here to play and the other qualifier for the knockout stage is between the three of you. The opening match of the World Cup was quite a spectacle. South Africa's defense will need to be improved because they gave up too many good chances and a very easy goal. If the opponent is going to score they should have to outplay you in skill rather than take advantage of a defensive mistake. More importantly Mexico needs to realize that its soccer dominance in North America and the world has eroded. They are not as good as they think. The other game was rather boring for the first 75 minutes with Uruguay in a purely defensive formation trying to avoid conceding a goal. The French definitely have the quality of players, but soccer is a team sport and there is a lack of unity of play on Raymond Domenech's squad. I have a feeling that they will come out much more unified as a starting eleven in their next game. Tomorrow has three very good matches South Korea vs. Greece, Nigeria vs. Argentina with Lionel Messi, and the primetime affair between England and the United States. If the US pulls off another upset I think the world will finally wakeup to the quality of American soccer.

World Cup

On the eve of the World Cup we are at the point every four years where anticipation meets reality. The usual suspects Italy, Germany, England, Argentina, and Brazil are around to compete for the exclusive trophy. This is one of the truly global sporting events everyone watches. I have met people whose national team wasn't even in the tournament who cared. Among the teams that can be considered as candidates to win the world cup are Spain, France, Ghana, Cameroon, and the United States. Every analyst who claims that the US and England should qualify from Group C could be in for a suprise. I am calling this group the group of surprise. The US and England with extensive World Cup experience are the favorites, but Slovenia and Algeria are very strong teams and could easily knock one of the favorites out of the tournament at the halfway point. This group in some ways reminds me of the 1998 World Cup for America where it was an absolute nightmare coming off the '94 World Cup. The American squad is a very good team with plenty of good players, but we will be missing the speed of Charlie Davies from last years Confederations Cup runner-up team. Hopefully in four years he will be there to help our title defense. If Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, and Oguchi Oneywu are playing well success should follow. I don't even think we have to worry about Tim Howard in goal as he could easily be the best net minder in the Worlds top domestic league.

RIP John Wooden

coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.
John Wooden

Ability is a poor man's wealth.
John Wooden

Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.
John Wooden

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
John Wooden

Be prepared and be honest.
John Wooden

Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
John Wooden


Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
John Wooden

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
John Wooden

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
John Wooden

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
John Wooden

I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.
John Wooden

The Argument for Instant Replay

Last night was a great night for sports. The Stanley Cup game 3 was being played in Philadelphia while at the same time a perfect game was being thrown by Armando Gallaraga in Detroit. Yet there were stark differences in these two events. Gallaraga was robbed of a perfect game by a badly blown call after 26 consecutive outs as you can see in the video.
Look at the video for yourself and you will see that he clearly made the out before the runner tagged the base.
In contrast the Stanley Cup used instant replay to review two possible goals to make the right call. The first call was proven to be a goal as shown in the video.
This goal was not obvious to the referees or the viewing public, but it is indeed a goal since the puck was on edge. The nice part about instant replay is the multiple camera angles allowed for the referee to see the puck cross the line completely in all three dimensions. The second goal that was reviewed was equally important and ended up being reversed. It was of outmost importance that the winner be the team that legitimately scored the most goals. This policy is in force during the entire season.
The same cannot be said for MLB. Baseball has been particularly slow to adopt instant replay whereas the NHL adopted it in the early 90's. Baseball has suffered recently from some pretty bad calls made by umpires in the right location. Last year in the divisional series the Twins were subjected to a bad call that affected their chance at making the world series. Last night a base runner was called safe when it seems that he was out with the umpire in a position to make the right call. It is time for Bud Selig to institute instant replay on most major calls not just home runs. The only area where instant replay should stay away is on strikes and balls. The system would be instituted very simply by having a war room that would monitor all the games and if a call is blatantly bad the umpires would be called to instant replay. If umpires are not good enough maybe they should be replaced by robots using computer vision to identify the players an the ball. I don't want the game to devolve into a set of reviews for each play because that would destroy the game.
Every time that the expansion of instant replay is brought up there is a discussion of how to institute it. The simplest and fairest method would be to have reviews of calls decided by a war room in the commissioners office. I intend for instant replay to be a method of correcting egregious officiating errors. I don't intend for it verify whether every runner is safe or out. This would make the game too long due to numerous and lengthy reviews. Also the umpires will get the call correct about 90% of the time and a few bad calls are always going to be part of the game. I absolutely abhor a challenge method as that requires strategy on the managers part as to when to use the allotment of reviews. More importantly we, the baseball fans in America, cannot let a squabble over the method of instituting instant replay delay its implementation. If Bud Selig would like I am more than willing to write the press release to announce the implementation of instant replay.

Floyd Landis

The admission of doping by Floyd Landis and his allegations on Wednesday through Thursday are having some major repercussions in the cycling community and in particular in the US. These serious and significant allegations are coming at the time that two big multistage races are going on. Landis will face discreditation since he is breaking the code of silence related to Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service team of the late 90's and early 2000's. Floyd Landis knew this information when he was caught in a drug test at the Tour de France in 2006 and should have revealed it then rather than fighting the charges. The problem is that if you just won the biggest race in the sport you must attempt to protect your financial interests rather than admitting to the offenses committed. If the recent news was released then Landis' credibility would not be under attack like it is today.
It is absolutely necessary that the U S Anti-Doping Authority and World Anti-Doping Authority thoroughly investigate the allegations. This includes interviewing all parties and even trying to get as paperwork to clarify what is happening. For one thing we need to clear up what was happening. This was in the period of cycling where the fight against doping was at its crucial moment. More importantly if the allegations of blood doping by Lance Armstrong are true then we will be understand why it seems to be so ubiquitous in the most recent doping cases.
These allegations put the most scrutiny on Lance Armstrong and his seven Tour de France victories. There have been allegations previously about Lance Armstrong that have never gone very far. In addition many of his former teamates have been caught in drug tests. These include Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton, and Roberto Heras. In my opinion the record books will contain an asterisk just like Barry Bonds because the feat was amazing but the performance enhancing drugs use raises some doubts.

No video of a rainy stage of the Tour of California

I was extremely disappointed with the Versus coverage of yesterday's tour of California stage. They had no footage of the stage because the helicopter could not take off. It was raining yesterday which obviously makes the helicopter pilots job much more difficult, but I can't remember a stage of the Tour de France without any television coverage. They still manage to get the video feed, even if it is broken up temporarily every once in a while. I am not a helicopter pilot, but I can't think of a reason why they could not fly. I will differ the judgement on safety to the Versus team as they probably know better than I why they couldn't fly.

Performance Enhancing Drugs Again

With the news that Brian Cushing failed a performance enhancing drug test last year in the NFL the question has once again become when will American Professional Sports finally be free of these drugs. The real answer is never, but it can be much better. First we the viewing public and the members of congress with oversight have got to make the conscience decision to care about the use of performance enhancing drugs. Then the professional sports will respond and improve their steroid policies.
The most troubling aspects of the recent positive findings in North American Sports Leagues is that the banned substances have been products that are related to medical issues and not a classical steroid or other performance enhancing drug. Manny Ramirez tested positive for a fertility drug that was prescribed to him. The same is true for Edison Volquez on whom I blogged about earlier. From the reports I have read apparently Brian Cushing failed the test since HCG, a female fertility drug, was in his system. I won't speculate on why he had such a drug in his system, but once again the test did not catch him with testosterone or other steroids. The first two incidents can be simplified to the lack of use of the therapeutic use exception. If a doctor with a valid license prescribes a medication to treat a legitimate medical condition then this should not affect the athletes doping controls. The bigger problem that is flying under the radar but has cropped up several times is unintenional ingestion of banned substances in over the counter medicine and nutritional supplements. The nutritional supplements concern me the most since they are absolutely unregulated in the US. A simple solution would be to ban any nutritional supplement that does contain a substance as part of its formula that is on the banned lists of products.
The other thing that really irks me is that Brian Cushing was able to continue to play even though the league knew of his positive test. I understand and fully support the ability of athletes to contest an initial positive test and to even have a hearing to ensure due process to the accusation. In cycling if an athlete is has a positive test for performance enhancing drugs they are immediately suspended by their team. This suspension remains in effect until the second sample is tested and a negative result is returned. This type of suspension ought to be in place in the NFL and other North American professional sports leagues, i.e. MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS. I should point out that cycling has its own performance enhancing drug scandals that after four years are still not resolved. Maybe my next blog post should be about that.

Monday Morning Report

We are at the nexus of the athletic calendar with the winter sports selecting their champions in the playoffs and the spring sports getting into the meat of their schedule. It is important to remember that we are only weeks away from the start of the World Cup in South Africa.
The way that LeBron James played in game 3 and the Cavaliers sounding defeat of the Celtics told everyone that the elbow may hurt but it won't slow him down. This series will probably still go to seven games as the teams are so well matched. Among the other winners this weekend are the Suns who finally got the monkey off their back in beating San Antonio. I love their style of play, but I have a hard time seeing them winning a championship due to their lack of size.
I want to congratulate Bradley Wiggins and Tyler Farrar for winning stages in the Giro d'Italia. I must also point out that stage two was filled with the most crashes I can remember for a grand tour stage. I just hope that this has not affected the final standing with two weeks of racing left. I want to congratulate the Dutch cycling fans for showing up on the sides of the roads in numbers far greater than most flat stages.
The worst news of the weekend is that Tiger Woods hurt his back. I can only assume that at best he will be back in a few weeks after some rest. If he has surgery I doubt he will be seen on a golf course till the end of the summer. This would be really bad for golf since television ratings double when he plays and sponsorships are hard to get and keep in this post recessionary period. The quality of the competition will only be slightly weaker without him since there are still many great golfers on tour.

Monday Morning Report

This weekend was exceptional with all the playoff action in the NBA and the NHL. Among this weekends winners are the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Phoenix Coyotes were exceptional in their 4-1 win in game 6 at Joe Louis Arena which is a tough place to play on the road. I also want to congratulate Alexandre Vinokourov for winning the extremely difficult Liege-Bastogne-Liege Ardennes Classic. I should also take the time to congratulate Cadel Evans, the current road world champion, for winning Fleche Wallone atop the mur de Huy. Among this weekends losers are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. There seems to be trouble with the Lakers without Kobe putting up more thirty points in a game. If they don't get their act together they will be at home watching the NBA finals. The Mavericks are in trouble down 3-1.

On recent Drug Tests

Due to the high number of doping instances in the last week I am being forced to write about this. First Edison Volquez is caught by MLB's testing system for a prohibited substance that is supposedly prescribed for a medical purpose. Then yesterday it is revealed that Lashawn Merrit was caught three times for DHEA, which is a banned substance, which apparently is part of a male enhancement medication. I want to commend MLB for implementing a suspension that is significant and not a puhover, but there is still more that can be done. The issue I want to bring up is that these drug testing programs seem to lack an important aspect of the international doping standards.The therapeutic use exemption(TUE) allows athletes with qualified medical conditions to use substances that are banned for medicinal purposes. This in no way protects athletes who are doping with a similar product. Manny Ramirez, Edison Volquez, and other athletes that have been caught by drug testing are not using TUE's to protect their careers from the impeachment of failing a performance enhancing drug test. I feel that the professional leagues that compete in the US need to follow the rules that are imposed on every other sport with a international sports federation. The banned substance lists from MLB, NFL,NBA, and NHL should be the same as the one used by all other sports federations and administered by the World Antidoping Authority so that international athletes are not going to get caught by a substance prescribed by a doctor that contains a banned substance. This issue affects the future integrity of our professional sports organizations.

Monday Report

This weekend saw the opening of the NBA playoffs and the Stanley Cup. There have been some exhilirating starts to first round playoff series in each. Among this weekends winners are Philippe Gilbert in the bergs of Limburg at Amstel Gold Race and Caleb Fairly winning the tour of the Battenkill. The tour of the Battenkill is becoming a serious spring classic in the US.

Expanding The NCAA basketball Tournament!!!

This whole issue started as a rumor in March as it was discussed on tv and the web several times. Apparently the idea of expanding from the current 65 teams to 96 is gaining steam. The main motivation to make this change is the NCAA's ability to get out of its current tournament tv contract. More games means more money. The problem is that it means more time for student-athletes are going to be away from their campuses and the classroom. I don't want to get into the athletic schedules for some college sports as that is another completely different post. The point is that this change to the men's, and eventually women's, tournament is going to happen. The impact will be making it easier for teams to get into the tournament that are deserving, but don't win the conference tournament. We will be subjected to more games in mid to late March and depending on how the scheduling is devised the tournament may end in mid April.
A whole part of the reason the tournament is called March Madness is the ability for upsets. In a single elimination tournament if a team has an off day they are eliminated. While this will still be true in some sense we can only ponder the number of games that will be defined more by worn out players rather than skill, passion, and teamwork.

The Monday Morning Report

A thrilling weekend of sports. This is a highlight of some of the best action in my opinion. I want to give congratulations to Boston College for winning the NCAA college hockey tournament and proving once again that college hockey is still strong on the east coast. I want to congratulate Tiger Woods for proving everyone why he is the best golfer by being in contention all weekend with all the added media pressure from his personal issues becoming public. We now know that all the off the course tribulations had very little effect on him. The best performance of the week had to clearly be Fabian Cancellara who soundly defeated his rivals at Paris-Roubaix. He had all the pressure to complete the Flanders-Roubaix double and won in convincing fashion.

Why?

The most pertinent question that any reader would ask is why am I, the author, creating another sports blog when so many people already have blogs and articles that they write on the Internet. I am creating this blog because somebody close to me said that I should think of getting a job in sports since I seem to spend so much time talking about it. My rationale was that there was more than enough people who are in that business, and more importantly there was such little broad based demand for the sports I particularly enjoy. This blog will be my off beat take on sports that is not necessarily in line with the mainstream. I will not discuss some sports where I have no interest. This will be a different view than what is found on the web. Please be patient as I develop this blog.