Question #5: Are the officials against the USA?

Answer: We’ve had 2 goals taken away, and countless other suspect calls. It’s no secret that the rest of the world envies us, and for good reason; we are awesome. But I think this is more bad luck than biased officiating. There will come a time in this tournament, either against Ghana or another opponent if we are able to advance, that we are the beneficiaries of a close call. This will lead to outrage along the lines of “USA gets all the calls so that ESPN can get good ratings”.

Question #4: Do Shakira’s hips really not lie?

Answer: False; they do lie. It’s a money making scheme, through and through. Make no mistake, I’d absolutely destroy this women in the bedroom, but the way she dances is just to sell albums. How is this relevant to World Cup – she sings the official song called Waka Waka. Any excuse to put up pictures of pretty women is a good one.

Question #3 – How fucked are Italy and France?

Answer: It’s a good thing they are not North Koreans. The two squads who made it to the finals last World Cup have been eliminated. Thankfully for the players, their country’s respective figure heads are not fascist dictators. They will live. However, the coaches of the two squads will likely be fired. Arrivederci and Au Revoir.

Question #2 – Waka Waka? (Is this time really for Africa?)

Answer: People generally believe that above the sporting event hangs the political history and future of South Africa. In one hand you have the well documented segregationist history of the nation. In the other, the promise of a better future where the country is seen as a modern 1st world nation. However, as hard as they try, it will take more than 1 event to change the worlds view.

Question #1 – Does the USA actually have a chance to win this thing?

Long-winded Answer: The pessimistic and typical American sports fan is likely to dismiss such a seemingly preposterous notion. Generations of negative perception towards the sport in this country leads many to believe that we simply cannot compete with traditional soccer super-powers like Brazil or Germany. The reality however, is that the US has an incredible draw the rest of the way. If we defeat Ghana today, we would likely play Uruguay, a difficult team but one we certainly could beat. That would setup a semi-final match against Brazil. We had a 2-0 lead on that same team in the Confederations Cup last summer, but fell 3-2. Perhaps this time will be different. And if it is, that lands us in the Finals where anything could happen.

Short Answer: Yes

So I’ve convinced you to tune into ABC at 8:30 on Thursday night. Great! Now, what are some things you should watch for?

How well will Rasheed Wallace play?

In Game 6 regular Boston center Kendrick Perkins sprained his knee and will not be able to play in Game 7. His likely sub will be Rasheed Wallace, a former star on a champion Detroit Pistons team. Throughout the regular season Rasheed underperformed and failed to wow the Boston faithful. He’s had his moments in the playoffs but a strong performance and Boston win would make the fans forget all about that. If he fails to have an impact, it could be a long night for Boston.

Will the Lakers Bench continue to play well at home?

The bench for LA outperformed the Boston reserves in the last game. Most experts agree the Celtics bench is stronger; and they will have to play better than LA’s in order to give Boston a chance. But throughout the playoffs, the Lakers bench has turned in some great performances. If they are able to keep it up, Boston is going to have trouble either chipping away at a lead, or extending it when Kobe is on the bench.

Legacy’s on the line

A win would give Kobe Bryant his 5th NBA Championship and propel him into the upper pantheon of all time greats. If he loses, that would be his second finals defeat at the hands of Boston. And with KG’s injury derailing the Celtics title hopes when Kobe won it all last year, we may view his lack of success against Boston as the only thing keeping him from achieving that level of greatness.

For the Celtics Big 3, but Paul Pierce especially, a win will cement their legacy as great Celtics. Winning in 2008 gave them the ultimate team achievement they all so desperately craved. Adding a 2nd ring to the collection, and Bostons 18th championship would keep them in the converstaion of Russell, Cousy, and Bird.

From FoxNews.com

In a 2005 interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Howard said he has been controlling his tics by using sheer willpower since he was a child.

The fact Howard just suppresses a neurological disorder by using what has to be described as Jedi mind tricks is incredible. Think about the last time you passed up doing something you really wanted to do; buy ice cream even though you’re on a diet for example. The level of self control you exibited is child’s play to Howard who believes it is costing him a tremendous mental strain.

“A lot of people will try to suppress their tics in public and as soon as they get home – they will have a big flurry of tics that could go on for a long period of time,” he said. “But it would take a tremendous effort, as Tim describes, to use willpower to suppress your tics. There’s a mental cost to it.”

This may be common knowledge to the soccer aficionado, but for someone who has just gotten into the World Cup thanks to the outstanding coverage ESPN has done with the event, it’s just another great reason to love this USA squad.

Story from AP by Tom Withers (Courtesy of Yahoo! News)

Coming off a 14-strikeout debut, Strasburg (2-0) allowed just two hits, one a home run by Travis Hafner. He struck out eight and walked five before leaving to a chorus of boos in the sixth as Washington ended Cleveland’s four-game winning streak.

(skip)

Hundreds of fans, some wearing No. 37 replica jerseys and almost all of them toting cameras, lined the stands down the right-field line as Strasburg walked onto the field before the game.

“Good luck, Stephen,” one hollered.

He hardly needed it.

Strasburg played catch in the outfield before heading to the bullpen, where hundreds more fans peered over the wall at the 6-foot-4 San Diego native, who immediately began popping the catcher’s glove. Meanwhile in the Indians’ bullpen, Huff warmed up to an audience of 10.

Aww.  Poor guy.

It’s odd at first, that in the midst of the World Cup, the NBA Finals and the recent ending of the NHL Finals a pitcher can command this much attention in his 2nd Major League start.  But it’s exciting.  People love strikeouts the way they love home-runs, and its been a long time since a truly dominating, strike-out pitcher reigned, the last prominent examples probably being Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.  Personally, I’m hoping the kid makes it big.  Now that he can legally buy a beer and all.

In 1998 McGuire and Sosa captured the nation with their assault on Roger Marris’ home run record. In the 12 years since, that record has been bastardized. After that magical summer “PED” and “Balco” became just as much of our national vernacular as “Y2K” and “Obama”. There were congressional hearings, staunch denials of steroid usage, and a controversial report known as The Mitchell Report. The consensus was that more players took steroids than didn’t.

But it appears the tides are finally turning. With the 2 perfect games in a month (the first time 2 perfect games have been thrown in 1 year since 1880!!) it seems pitchers are regaining their advantage that the game should naturally afford. Throw in a no-hitter this year as well, and you have some of the most dominant pitching in recent memory.

But is it luck or skill? There is no way of knowning for sure at this point, but here are some fun facts courtesy of CSNPhilly.com

In an effort to put a perfect game into perspective, the standard comparison is that more people have orbited the moon (24) than have pitched a perfect game.

From a baseball perspective, more players have recorded 3,000 hits (27), 500 home runs (25), and 300 wins (24) than thrown a perfect game.  From a broader perspective, you have a better chance of being elected President of the United States than throwing a perfect game in the major leagues.

In general, winning the lottery is often used as the foundation for long odds.  Well, 109 people have won at least $10 million in Mega Millions since 2005.  That’s 89 more people than have pitched a perfect game since 1876.

Long odds for sure… but this baseball purist hopes that the balance between pitchers and hitters is on it’s way to being restored.

From ESPN

In my 28 years of public service, I have made a lot of tough calls. But with a federal government unwilling to secure our border for years and years, Arizona is left with little choice. Imagine a sporting event in which rules have been agreed to for 70 years, but the umpires refuse to enforce those rules. It makes no sense.

……

Essentially, our border leaks like a team with a last-place defense. The very same week that I signed the new law, a major drug ring was broken up and Mexican cartel operatives suspected of running 40,000 pounds of marijuana through southern Arizona were indicted.

Of course, the actual message was more political posturing, fact spewing, and playing to the hearts of the citizens. I completely agree with the Governor, but the fact she is reaching out to sports fans just shows how much of a hot button issue this new law is.

Typically ESPN gets lambasted by it’s viewers when it does a piece with the President picking his tournament brackets; it’s seen as too political. The prevailing notion is that politics and sports should be separate. Many fans feel they turn to sports to get away from politics. Yet in this instance, it appears fans are very intrigued by the political statements being made by the Phoenix Suns (wearing “Los Suns” jerseys during game 2 of the Western Conference Semi’s) and a group of MLB players who are calling for a boycott of the 2011 All-Star game (it’s scheduled to be held in Arizona).

Personally, I could care less what a group of players, or an owner of a team wants to do in this regard. But it is disappointing to me as a sports fan to see these people use their platform of sports to campaign for a personal cause. Much like Hollywood actors who feel because they are in a somewhat successful movie their political opinions matter; I just don’t feel it’s right. I felt the same way about Tim Tebow’s biblical messages on his eye-black. There is a time and a place for personal convictions and belives, and televised sports is not one of them.

Story from AP by Nancy Armour (Courtesy of Yahoo! News):

Fans applauded Woods as he made the walk from the practice range to the first tee, and greeted him warmly at the tee. “Make us proud!” one yelled.

It was much the same reaction on every other hole. Galleries that were one or two deep 20 minutes earlier swelled to mob scenes when Woods and his group arrived. No sooner did he finish one hole than a sea of people was on the move, eager to get in position on the next one.

They applauded his good shots, groaned at the bad ones and shouted encouraging cheers.

“It was unbelievable,” Woods said. “I mean, all day. I haven’t heard them cheer this loud in all my years here.”

This all sounds well and good, but mind you there were a few who felt differently.

While he was on No. 1 green a plane flew over the course towing a banner that said, “Tiger Did You Mean Bootyism?” — an irreverent play on Buddhism, the religion he says he fell away from amid all of his problems. A few holes later, another banner — “Sex Addict? Yeah. Right. Sure. Me Too!” — buzzed above Augusta National.

So other than a couple of insult-kamikazes flying around above him, the day was pretty normal.  Oh and if anyone asks me, I’m telling them from now on that my religion is “Booty-ism.”

The one funny thing about the Tiger coverage is that for all the talk about the warm reception and the mid-air jeers, no one mentioned WHAT HIS SCORE WAS.  Am I the only one who cared about this?  I mean, don’t mistake me for a prude, I’d way rather read about pornstars and marital disputes before I watch golf, but shouldn’t the score at least get a mention? Something?

Tiger is currently T-7, with a -4 after the 1st round of play, by the way.  Not bad at all.

From ESPN:

Before Wednesday night’s game, West called the AL East rivals “embarrassing” and “a disgrace to baseball” for slowing the pace of their games to a crawl, according to the Bergen (N.J.) Record.

This is a fair complaint. The games do take on average longer than the rest of the league. According to STATS LLC, New York, Boston, and the Dodgers all averaged over 3 hours per game last year. The league average was 2 hours, 52 minutes. While it doesn’t seem like a whole lot, the difference between the average and the Yankees (3 hours 8 minutes) works out to be an additional 43.2 hours of baseball they play over the course of the season. (Just so im not claimed to be playing biases, the Sox (3 hours 4 minutes) works out to be 32.4 hours additional.)

“They’re the two clubs that don’t try to pick up the pace,” said West, the chief of the umpiring crew working the three-game series, according to the report. “They’re two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest?

Hmmm… does anyone sense a pattern here? The two best teams in the league just happen to be playing the slowest. Perhaps there is a correlation between taking your time in baseball, and being successful.

But lets go back to the numbers above. 30+additional hours of baseball over the course of a regular season. What does this mean? More time for fans at the ballpark to buy hot dogs and beer. More commercial spots available for advertisers on TV. As a result you have the extra money you need to sign the marquee free agents.

As a Red Sox fan, this makes perfect sense to me. Do I like seeing my team be in contention for World Series? If so, I shouldn’t mind sitting through an extra few commercials while we make a pitching change. Plus, no one is forcing me to watch the 9th inning of a blowout, I can just turn it off. Seems like this whole issue is much ado about nothing.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering why I put this picture of Alyssa Milano instead of Joe West… well, I think this speaks for itself.

The service costs a whopping $40 dollars per year. Kevin Durant is making $4,796,880 for playing basketball this year. Something tells me he could easily afford the service.  If this is not the case, someone in the OKC organization should hire him a financial manager immediately. Athletes never cease to amaze me.

I was watching with my dad, a former coach and he said it’s the most uncomfortable moment he’s ever seen between a player and coach. As a one of his former players, I’d be inclined to agree. In fact, in 7th grade, during a game, I got upended and smashed my face on the floor. Blood dripping everywhere, concussion (most likely), and a mouth full of tangled metal (braces were busted). He made sure I was okay, and then went back in the huddle to coach the team. The assistant coaches took care of me until the end of the game when he could become my dad again show the level of affection seen in the video.

The point is, there is a line between how a player and coach act out on the floor. If Huggy Bear wanted to go into the locker room, and embrace his player and hold him close, more power to him. But not on national television. Not with everyone watching and trying not to wonder what the hell is going on between the two.