Tag: sports

This has easily been the most entertaining Euro since I’ve lived in Europe. But as fun as it was to see Wales make their historic run that finally came to a sudden end in two minutes of brilliance by Portugal, it was hard to imagine either team being able to beat the winner of France vs Germany.

The French team is basically a talented African team with a pair of French attackers, plus the most dangerous shooter from outside the box, Payet. They’re very good, but even during the group stage I felt that neither of the highly disciplined major teams, Germany or Italy, would not have much problem with them when they got careless and broke down.

Germany, on the other hand, is still the team that destroyed Brazil, although their inability to score against Italy showed that they miss Miroslav Klose and their three penalty failures demonstrate that they are not the clinical Germans of the Klinsman and Bierhof eras. They also have the best keeper in the world, Neuer, which tends to be an advantage.

I expect whoever wins to win the Euro. And I tend to expect it will be Germany.

To be honest, Germany deserved to win what was a very open, hard-fought 1-1 game, although that was the WORST penalty-taking by both sides that I have ever seen, and I have seen penalty shootouts all the way from the international down to the local scuola calcio. While I’ve seen penalties reach the #8 shooter before, that’s only because both sides were systematically making their penalties, not because both teams had 3 of their first 5 penalty-takers miss.

What on Earth was Antonio Conte doing substituting in Zaza right before the end of the second extra-time period? I would have said it was the worst penalty I’d seen taken in a Euro championship were it not for Bastian Schweinsteiger putting a bizarre lob over the net a few moments later.

The operative theory in the household was that the shooters were intimidated by going up against Neuer and Buffon, the two best keepers in the world. That’s as good an explanation as any, I suppose.

This has been a fun Euro, though, what with both Iceland and Wales upsetting everyone. It’s probably too much to expect Iceland to upset France, even though most of Europe will be pulling for them.

So, the season is at an end, and it felt as if it went by remarkably fast. We started with a bang, defeating the new team 7-1, but we ended it by not only losing to them 3-2, but also finishing in second place behind them.

This was actually a better result than it sounds, since after that first game, they brought in reinforcements consisting of not one, but two, former Serie A players. Now, if you’ve ever competed against a world class athlete, you know that they are not merely better than the good ones, they are as much better than the good ones as the really good players are better than the bad ones. I’ve run track against Olympians and played basketball with an NCAA D1 power forward who made the Elite Eight, and it is just as hopeless going up against professional European soccer players.

They literally scythe through defenders, and pretty good defenders at that. Their technical skill is incredible, and had us back on our heels and defending desperately right from the start.The rest of their team is strong too, with a number of former second and third league players, four or five of whom played with us at one point or another.

I started at right wing, but was moved over to the left to shore up the defense after we went down 2-0, and in the midst of one attack, I could have sworn that we had their attack thwarted with myself and the left defender marking their right wing, and one central defender plus our defensive midfielder tightly marking the attacker with the ball.

He was one of the retired pros; I happen to be friendly acquaintances with him since we played together on an ad hoc tournament team two years ago, and while I didn’t know he was a pro then, I knew he was really freaking good. He wanted to pass to the wing, but I’d closed that option off, so somehow, he managed to create just enough space outside the box to rip off a shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar just inside the right post, then bounced down just inside the line. There was nothing the goalie could have done about it; there was nothing anyone could have done about it. The goalie and I just looked at each other and shrugged. Va bene cosi.

I am proud of our team, though. Even down 3-0, we fought back, with one beautiful 40-meter cross getting headed just over the post before we caught a break when their goalie failed to hold onto a shot and our center mid, following it, tapped in the rebound. The captain moved me up to attacker after that, and about two minutes later, the center mid put a through ball past the defense, I ran onto it, and sent it left as the goalie went right. 3-2.

We almost had a shot at tying it when a long ball went past their defense and I beat their defenders to the ball, except the ball bounced just a little too high and I just missed being able to head it over the onrushing goalie. I was furious with myself, because if I’d slowed down just a little, or trusted our other attacker, who is 6’3″, to beat the defenders, we probably would have scored the equalizer.

Even though I started nearly every game this season, I’m a utility player now, only good enough to fill whatever hole we might have that week, or to come in as a sub when one of the better players runs out of steam. I can only control my wing against perhaps one-third of the opposing wings these days now that many of them are 10 to 15 years younger, but the captain trusts me to have the sense to stay back and help out the defender on my side if I can’t. In 20 games, I don’t think they’ve scored more than three goals attacking up my side all season.

After the game, I was congratulating two of their players on winning the championship when the former pro came over. I told him what a great goal he’d scored, he laughed, agreed, then put his arm around my shoulders and pointed accusingly to one of the defenders, with whom I was also acquainted. “I TOLD you to keep an eye on this guy,” he said. As I am ancient by veteran soccer standards, it’s reassuring to know that I’m not done yet. After all, the mark of a really dangerous team is one where even the lesser players are capable of hurting you.

So, it’s good to know that I can still contribute to the team from time to time. Six goals plus a few assists isn’t a bad finish, although it’s a little disappointing after having scored five of them in the fall half. And second place in the league is a very satisfactory result, if you consider that we finished ahead of all four teams that have been our rivals for the title over the last five seasons. Even though it is not our third title in five years, it very nearly feels like it.

The Vikings select Laquon Treadwell, WR:

COMPARES TO: Dez Bryant, Dallas
Cowboys – Treadwell shows a Bryant-like skillset with his size and
athleticism combination to be a mismatch against cornerbacks on the
outside.

IN OUR VIEW: Treadwell has exceptional ballskills and
catching radius with strong hands to pluck away from his body or scoop
off his shoelaces – if the throw is anywhere within a few feet of his
body, he’ll attack it. He isn’t a sudden athlete, but plays with
athletic twitch and power to be a threat after the catch.

Immediately,
Treadwell should fit in as a possession type of receiver alongside
Stefon Diggs. With improved route-running, though, Treadwell could turn
into a downfield threat, even without top-notch speed.

With Teddy
Bridgewater, the Vikings offense isn’t built around the deep ball.
Treadwell should be effective in the middle of the field and, perhaps
most importantly, in the red zone.

The analysts seem to like the pick, anyhow. We do need another possession receiver; burners are wasted given the limitations of Bridgewater’s arm. I’m a little suprised at Goff going number one, but if you have the chance to take a top QB prospect, you simply have to do so in today’s league.

And word of warning, if you feel the need to comment about how you don’t like/approve of NFL football on an NFL post, I will spam the comment. I’m done tolerating off-topic narcissists who apparently believe anyone cares about their opinion.

While the team is doing great, my season has been a little more down than up. This year is the first time I’ve felt too old at times in practice and I’ve been running out of breath and energy much faster than I think I should. I suspect, however, that it is mostly the unusually cold weather we’ve been having combined with a lack of pre-season stretching and being overweight.

The most recent practice went very well at times. I scored three of my sides seven goals and actually managed to beat a good midfielder off the dribble without using either my speed or strength for the first time in about six years. He was so badly faked-out that he actually spun halfway around and fell down, which inspired no little mocking. I was running out of energy too fast, but I was optimistic that I’d play well in the upcoming game, especially when it became clear that instead of starting up front, I’d play the second half on the wing.

We were up 4-1 when I came in, so the captain told me to hang back and help out our right defender, who normally plays midfield. We were under heavy pressure on that side from two of the other team’s three best players, but despite being overmatched, we managed to keep them from any dangerous chances, although it was repeatedly a close-run thing. Generally, they’d tika-taka past me as if I wasn’t even there, then the defender would slow them down enough for me to get back and help close out the attacker before he could shoot, and they’d either lose the ball to us, put it out for a goal kick, or be forced to pass it back to the middle or the far side. Somehow, we managed to avoid giving up a single corner; I’m not entirely sure how considering how under pressure we felt.

I managed to beat the defender on the right once, but then sent over a horrendous cross that hooked; fortunately it went to our center-mid and we somehow ended up with a corner out of it. The center-mid then promptly headed in the corner, which we thought would suffice to finish off the game. 5-1.

The problem was that our staunch and speedy right defender got hurt on a slide tackle and his substitute, though game, is the only player on the team older than I am. He’s even less technical than I am, so we were pretty seriously overmatched, and the attacker who’d been pressuring us all game blew right by him about 10 seconds after he came in and scored. I couldn’t help, because I’d been forward for our corner kick at the time. 5-2.

That encouraged them to attack hard on the left side, and I got completely beaten, didn’t get back in time, and the attacker sent over a nice ground cross that was promptly buried in the net. That made it 5-3 and they were starting to think they might be able to make a game of it. They also knew that our right side was our weakest link. So, at that point, I quit even trying to go forward and didn’t try to cover their wing much either, I just doubled their attacker every time I didn’t have to break off him to attack the guy with the ball.

That frustrated some of my teammates, who didn’t realize that our defender simply couldn’t stop the guy by himself and that it was more important to shut the guy down than worry about their defender or wing advancing the ball, but the double-teaming sufficed to keep them out of the net for the rest of the game. Fortunately, the captain understood what I was doing, and confirmed afterwards that it had been the right tactic to take in that particular situation.

It wasn’t a very good game for me, but the team played pretty well as a whole. I’ve got to lose more weight – I’ve already dropped seven pounds, but I think I’m going to see if I can lose another 13 to get completely lean and see if that improves my speed and overall performance. I’m also back on the stretching machine and have added 10 degrees to my range, but I’d like to add another 20.

Aging is hard for every athlete, but despite the challenges, I feel very fortunate after running into one of my teammates the other day and being told that he’d just learned, after an MRI, that he was done for good. He was a really good player, a wing with an ability to sneak forward undetected and a powerful cannon of a shot. He’d been out all season already, but I really hated to hear that. I don’t know how much playing time I have left to me, but I’ll do what I can to stay on the field as long as I still have something to contribute.

Florio trolls the NFL world in search of clicks:

No, this isn’t click bait or trolling or whatever other term the cool kids have come up with. It’s a legitimate question given the current state of the Denver roster.

Should they bring back Tim Tebow?

Manning finished the year averaging 6.8 yards per pass and throwing nine touchdown passes against 17 interceptions, with a passer rating of 67.9. In 2011, Tebow averaged 6.4 yards per pass, threw 12 touchdown passes against six interceptions, and had a passer rating of 72.9. He also added 660 rushing yards and six touchdowns; that’s 666 more rushing yards that Manning (minus-6) had this year.

No, it’s not a legitimate question. There is no way that is happening. Tebow did nothing with the three other opportunities afforded to him post-Denver, and hasn’t played in two years. I refuse to even dignify the absurdity with a link.

Elway got rid of Tebow because Tebow’s inability to throw the ball caused the Hall of Fame rifleman genuine psychological pain every time he watched his offense take the field. And while I was genuinely pleased to see Tebow’s unexpected success, particularly in the games against the Jets and Steelers, I can’t blame Elway at all.

But I always took that for a metaphor, not a literal statement. Denver proves otherwise.

Brock Osweiler followed the money when he left Denver for Houston.

According to multiple reports, Osweiler’s contract with the Texans will pay him about $18 million a year. The Broncos were offering about $16 million a year.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Osweiler’s deal with the Texans is a four-year, $72 million contract, or an average of $18 million a year.

Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that the Broncos’ offer was $16 million a year, with more than $30 million guaranteed.

It seems strange to take leave a Super Bowl champion over a 12.5 percent raise, but perhaps there were other factors involved. I wonder how long Peyton Manning will stay retired?

I just thought this account of a taxi ride at the Super Bowl was funny:

My first night here I deicded to skip dinner in lieu of drinking, which yes, its a common theme for me- but you stick with the devil that you know, and with all the foofooraw about E Coli these days I figured it was better to drink brown liquor instead of eating red meat. It was a great meal and then I got a ride home from a cab driver who immedately started talking politics. Guess I just give of that vibe of a professonal political pundent. Lots of folks consider Frisco to be a extremeley liberal city but this guy started in with the “we need to build a wall” stuff and it kiond of snowballed from there untill by the end of the ride he was educationg me about how Bernie Sanders is a pawn by the Jews to install one of there Elite banker friends as the head of the United States so they can take over the world. Went a little to far for my taste in a 10-minute cab ride. Thats more of a 30 minute cab ride conversaton that you break out as soon as you’ve covered the weather, favorite sports teams, and which colleges his kids are thinking about going to. Very cool guy.

It’s both exciting and strange to see the X-Files back. Hearing Mulder go on about a conspiracy of human globalists makes me wonder if Chris Carter has been reading this blog over the last ten years. Anyhow, my thoughts on Denver’s recent Super Bowl victory:

• Manning had less to do with it than Lizzi the cheerleader did. Lizzi was also at the game and she threw for as many touchdowns and one less dumb interception than Peyton did. I’m just glad they didn’t give him the MVP because quarterback.
• Apparently the difference between the #1 defense and the #3 defense was considerably larger than I had appreciated.
• Wade Phillips is probably the best defensive coordinator in the league. He should stick with that; why be a mediocre head coach when you can be a great coordinator? Stacking five on the line to keep the running game in check while trusting the three corners to shut down Carolina’s unimpressive receivers was a great game plan.
• Cam is a frontrunner. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just a reality.  It will be interesting to see how he comes back from this.
• People getting on Cam about not diving on the football forget that a QBs first, second, and third responsibility is to not get injured. Yes, it was the Super Bowl. That doesn’t change the fact that the guy has had it repeatedly drilled into his head that he is NEVER supposed to a) dive into the pile or b) try to tackle anyone. See: Andy Dalton. I suspect that training is why he instinctively started to go after the ball, then checked himself.
• I think Ted Ginn may have cost Carolina the game. For me, the most crucial play was when he burned Talib across the middle, then ran out of bounds for a 40-yard gain instead of a) trying to beat the safety down the sideline, or b) cutting back inside him. Ginn is supposedly among the faster players in the league, and it looked to me as if a) was a legitimate option. That may have cost the Panthers 7 points, given the way Gano missed the subsequent FG attempt.
• If Manning doesn’t ride off into the sunset with his second Super Bowl ring, he’s lost the plot. It’s a great ending… so let it be the ending and retire.

Let’s revisit what I said on Championship Weekend:

New School NFL over Old School NFL for the 50th Anniversary Super Bowl,
thereby symbolically denoting the transformation of America into the New
America. Predictive programming calls for Carolina.

It’s Peyton’s Last Ride rather than the Dynamic Duo’s Last Hurrah, but the symbolic narrative remains the same. Ergo, Carolina.

This happens to be supported by the football analysis: great defense plus good offense beats great defense plus mediocre offense. Considering that Denver couldn’t beat Seattle when Peyton Manning was just as wily but his arm was still good, I don’t see how Denver is going to beat Carolina.

I expect a reasonably comfortable Carolina win, and because I am an old school NFC fan, I would welcome that. But regardless, this is your Super Bowl 50 thread.