Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Finally feeling composed enough to comment on the Holland - Portugal match and a few other things...

First of all, what was with the blue shorts and white tops? Holland wears orange, and everyone knows that. Obviously a group of impostors. The game itself was a complete embarrassment, and I'll say naught else. (So much for my assertion that I'm able to comment on the match.)

Apart from that, the 8 quarterfinalists are set: 6 European and 2 South American teams. All the usual suspects: Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, etc *yawn* how pedestrian and predicatable. The excitement and intrigue has gone out of it for me. I'll watch here and there, but the obsession is over.
A top-secret training video of both the Italian and Portugese national teams has surfaced! If only the USA and Holland had access to this valuable information before their respective matches!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Saturday, June 24, 2006

It's a roadtrip Carnival of the Recipes! Some good cooler packing tips, but they miss an important one I always remember: a corkscrew...
What to make of this nasty little xenophobic screed? It even comes complete with the hoary old cliche about "men in shorts"...Did I say "xenophobic? Its that at least. Is America not comfortable and confident enough in its endeavors that we still have those that would take gratuitous cheap shots at a sport Americans didn't create?

If a particular sport doesn't strike your fancy, just find one that does.

(What makes it worse is that I'm a regular and avid reader of Weekly Standard.)


So the preliminaries are finished, and we move to the meaningful stages of the competition: win or go home. Of the 16 teams advancing to the knock-out stage, only one can be categorized a true surprise - Ghana - and only 2 others could be considered mild surprises - Australia and Ecuador. All the others pretty much expected to be there.

Regardless, there was certainly some drama on offer over the final days, notably France needing to win and needing a clear winner in the Switzerland - Korea match. Oh, that's right, there was that other bit of drama earlier in the week, and ongoing histrionics about poor officiating. Here's a tip for Americans in Europe: don't expect any help from the referees, and don't believe your own hype. Lean forward, ignore every distraction, and get it done on your own account. The attention and respect will follow.

My first round winners and losers:

Winners: Holland, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Germany.
Losers: Togo, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, USA.
Winners despite losing: Ivory Coast, Trinidad & Tobago, Korea.
Losers despite winning: England (I'm sorry, but can somebody on this team please just smile, FFS. C'mon, Beckham, give the ladies something to cheer about...)

I think we can realistically consider a Holland vs Argentina final.
Remind Me...A day in the life.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Australia vs. Brazil match reporting by Tim Blair. ESPN should hire him for the remaining games, as its about a thousand times better than anything they've produced.
Red's dad passed away a few days ago...Funny thing, that line: "He was a good guy. Loved his Red Sox". That was my dad too.

Saturday, June 17, 2006


Not a disastrous result for the US, but hardly ideal. The quality of the officiating was absolutely shameful. Honestly, Helen Keller would have done a better job...
A simultaneously shocking and stunning performance by Argentina yesterday, as they served notice of their intent to win the Cup. Serbia and Montenegro were the hapless victims, but the Argentines surely got every teams attention with their audacious play. The second Argentine goal - a strike from a back heel pass after a 24 possession-pass buildup of near contemptuous flair, carving open the Serb defenses - may well have been the finest goal scored at this competition in the last 20 years. The only possible danger for Argentina is that they may have peaked: too high, too soon, too far, might they already have seen the whole of the moon?

Holland did just enough to get themselves to the next round, getting through a relentless Ivory Coast team that never stopped coming forward. Holland play Argentina in the last game of the group stage, and I suspect both sides are relieved a place in the next round isn't at stake.

Nothing too exciting on the schedule today...Except...Oh wait, that's right, Italy play today...

Yes, I know, Argentina - but I still like the Orange.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Well, Ecuador are clearly not at the Cup simply to enjoy the experience. Their convincing 3-0 result against Costa Rica, after similarly disposing of a strong Poland side, leave them secure to the next round.

England, on the other hand, still looked crap. Don't let the 2-o scoreline fool you -- they managed an 82nd minute goal through Beckham and Crouch, and added one in injury time, but they just don't seem to be enjoying themselves.

Paraguay are finished. Sweden? Great fans, average team. Lucky to have 4 points at this stage.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

A great day at the Cup today, as the games shook off the hint of lethargy that crept in yesterday. Spain, too long underachievers, utterly thrashed what had looked to be a good Ukraine team. Saudi Arabia and Tunisia played a riveting all-Arab derby (I kept waiting for a beheading: the ultimate red card). And Germany deservedly scored a game winner in injury time to assure themselves a place in the round of 16.

In the meantime, the hooligans finally showed up to cast a shadow over the games, though I suspect it's media hype, as usual, and the actual number of trouble makers is probably pretty small. In an unrelated matter, David Beckham is pissed.

Finally, tragically, we are reminded that the World Cup isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Day 5, and the World Cup finally laid a partial egg, and on a day that Brazil made its debut, no less. Even though I think the Brazilians, and Ronaldinho particularly, can look exciting, they never looked dangerous the way Robben and the Dutch did. The only excitement on the day was the Korean comeback against unlucky Togo.

France? Please...

The biggest under-the-radar story of the Cup? The performance of the four Dutch coaches. If Holland under Marco van Basten do well (expected), and Korea under Dick Advocaat do well (not unexpected), and Australia under Guus Hiddink can get out of the group stages (a reasonable expectation), and Trinidad & Tobago under Leo Beenhakker can take another point (somewhat unexpected), look for Holland and the Dutch system of training and play to expand even further...
Roger Simon asks a very, very good question -- one that will hopefully put the focus of this story back where it should have been all along: on the CIA.

Monday, June 12, 2006

It's The People vs. The Fish. My money's on the fish...
Time for a World Cup update; of the 990 minutes of soccer played so far (11 games), I've managed to watch 642 minutes, an extraordinary achievement for a working man. It helps that my company has about 20 television sets around the offices, and that many important people at the company are quite passionate about soccer. Anyway:

  • Holland looked absolutely wonderful on Saturday. Sure, it would have been nice to get a second goal, but there was no mistaking their quality. Arjen Robben was positively lethal, and he's the best player in this competition so far.
  • England looked crap.
  • To watch Australia's boundless joy in the final 8 minutes of their game against Japan today underscores what Cup play is all about. Superb, even if tactically flawed.
  • Italy and Argentina are going to be scary, as always.
  • Anyone who knows anything about international soccer knew what was coming today when the USA played the Czechs: a full-on face stomp. Leave it to the media to create unrealistic hype about this team, just so you'll actually watch the hideous telecasts. Watching some of the ads in the build-up to today's game you might have thought that all the US had to do was show up. As if. The Czechs are ranked #2 in the world behind Brazil, deservedly so, and I can easily see them as semi-finalists. The USA? They'll be lucky to get a point...

Brazil tomorrow. Gotta like the Orange, though...

Friday, June 09, 2006

A hugely satisfying opening game at the World Cup: 6 goals total (Germany 4, Costa Rica 2), good end-to-end action, great finishing all around. The Costa Ricans are clearly overmatched in this competition, and will be lucky to secure a point. The Germans looked better that I thought they would, but looked plenty shakey at the back nonetheless. Still, one of the Costa Rica goals was clearly off-side, superstar Michael Ballack is scheduled to return from injury, Germany is host nation...they may go deeper in this competition than I thought.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Dilbert creator Scott Adams celebrates his birthday. He describes it, accurately, as a multiple win kind of day...

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Major sigh of relief from moi...Might I yet be Amsterdam bound for a major party on July 9?

I happened to be at my doctors office today (ear issues, again) and the only magazine in the entire waiting room (yes, exactly one magazine) was a major "news" magazine about 6 weeks old. So I start flipping through it anyway and was thunderstruck by how much of the information and news that ended in predictions and prognostication either didn't happen or happened exactly the opposite of what the journalists, editorialists, and editors wrote. And it made me wonder: does anyone ever hold these buffoons accountable for their alarmist quackery?

Happily, yes...

Interestingly, Bill Roggio, who actually does real reporting and so is relatively unknown, files a report from Afghanistan on the bogus false non-story of the kidnapped Canadian soldier that spread through the media like wildfire earlier today:
"An Al Jazeera report, based on an unsubstantiated claim from an unnamed Taliban source, indicated a Canadian soldier was kidnapped in Afghanistan. Reuters repeated the unsubstantiated claim, which later morphed into an unspecified number of Coalition troops. "

Accountability? Naah...

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

I've been hearing all sorts of absurdist blather about how today is the big evil day, the day of the sixes, the mark of the beast...Blackfive (The Paratrooper of Love) reminds us what this day really commemorates.

Monday, June 05, 2006

The charming Sarah K is hosting the latest Carnival of Recipes.

Gotta love that Sarah K...what a babe!


Due respect to Frank J, of course...

Carnival of Career Intensity? Yeah, I can see that...

OK, one more time...

Thought I'd try yet another change, cause I'm going to be somewhat indisposed for the next few weeks.

No, I mean really indisposed...