July 2004 Archives
Loving an underdog can be such a rewarding thing. The victories don't feel hollow and when the victories come the pride cannot be contained when cheering for a lovable loser. To get to the few moments of euphoria one must endure a lot of disappointment. A lot of disappointment. I am a Los Angeles Clipper fan. I love the loserest losers of all time.
Consistently referred to as the worst franchise in all of professional sports with the worst owner in all of professional sports, The Los Angeles Clippers have never ever come close to success, but the last 5 or 6 years have been full of a lot of hope as so much young talent landed in the Clippers' lap: Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Corey Maggette, Elton Brand, and Quentin Richardson. An overacheiving season in 02-03 brought so much hope to the 03-04 season (along with fact that owner Donald Sterling finally shelled out some money to hold onto Brand and Maggette), which was quickly dashed when team leader Elton Brand broke his leg in the first game of the season in Japan. A season wrought with injuries followed and they didn't perform anywhere near expectations, even though Maggette and Richardson both showed they could both be All Stars in the very near future.
This offseason brought more excitement as the Kobe Bryant free agency sweepstakes came down to the Clippers and their evil stepsisters, the Lakers. Kobe eventually signed with the Lakers after it looked like he would trade locker rooms in the Staples Center (which both the Lakers and Clippers call home). Just the thought of Kobe joining the Clippers gave the team so much legitimacy and made the fans drool, but yesterday saw another setback. The Clippers failed to match a free agency offer by the Pheonix Suns for restricted free agent Quentin Richardson. As a consolation and replacement they did trade for solid veteran shooting guard Kerry Kittles. Kittles will do a fine job, but has nowhere near the upside of Quentin Richardson, and it just feels sorta demoralizing...letting the young talent slip away again as they have done for years and years. Of course, the concept is that Kittles is only under contract for one more year and it will leave the Clippers with maximum cap room available for next offseason to sign a big name, BUT they had maximum cap room this year and have nothing to show for it (they did go after Kobe but didn't make a good attempt after anyone else). I'm afraid they will have another wasted season this year and they will be no more attractive for any free agent to sign with next year, even with all the money they could offer. They had this amazing young nuclues who were, surprisingly enough, proud to be Clippers, and the loss of Quentin Richardson breaks up this nucleus. It feels like a crushing blow to me.
I spent a few minutes this afternoon looking at their roster...it's not a pretty sight as it stands. Sure, Elton Brand, Maggette, and Kittles are all good players but there other two starters will be Marko Jaric and Chris Kaman, two guys who could be good one two but are not at the level where they should be starting for a quality NBA team. I will always love my Clippers, but I will be entering this season with much less optimism than in years past. Sometimes being a true fan = :(
Eight teams have advanced to the quarter-finals of Copa America. "Wait!" you say, "There were three groups with the top two advancing, that makes only six teams." Well, it would be hard to end up with two final teams if only six were in the quarterfinals, so in addition to the top two teams from each group, the two best third-place teams also advanced.
From Group A: Columbia and Peru. From Group B: Mexico and Argentina. From Group C: Paraguay and Brazil (Paraguay upset Brazil in the last game of Group C to take the lead). The third-ranked teams to advance are Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Quarterfinal Predictions:
Peru vs. Argentina
Peru scored at least two goals in every first-round game, but two of the three ended in a draw. Argentina has scored 10 goals in the games, although 6 of them were against Ecuador (the lowest ranked team in the tournament). Argentina last won the Copa in 1993. Argentina's under-20 team won titles in 1995, '97 and '99, so the blue-and-whites had a strong field of players to choose from. Host nation Peru is looking for it's third Copa title (the first two came in '39 and '75). Argentina earned 6 points in group play and Peru earned 5. I predict a close match, but I think Argentina's offensive game will get the better of Peru before the final whistle.
Colombia vs. Costa Rica
Colombia was the highest ranked team in Group A. Costa Rica is the lowest ranked team to enter the quarterfinals. I think most anyone would agree that Costa Rica will need to play nothing short of a miraculous game to knock-out Colombia, who won the Copa tournament in 2001.
Paraguay vs. Uruguay
Paraguay beat Brazil yesterday. Uruguay won only one game in first-round action. Much like the previous match, I think Paraguay will be mopping the pitch with the Uruguay players.
Mexico vs. Brazil
This is a match-up worthy of the final. Mexico and Brazil are two of the most recognized teams in football. Mexico made it to the final match in 2001, and Brazil has six Copa titles (not to mention the most recent World Cup, in 2002). Of all the games in the tournament this is the second most important game to watch (the most important being the final). I'm not going to try to guess who will win this match, but whoever does will likely be seen in the final.
Paraguayan teammates celebrate their July 8 win over Costa Rica.
Group A
There are still two games remaining in this group: Peru vs. Columbia and Venezuela vs. Bolivia.
Columbia is going to the quarter-final round no matter what happens.
Venezuela can't advance no matter what happens.
Peru needs a win or a draw against Columbia to advance.
If Peru loses and Bolivia wins they'll have the same number of points (4 each), and the goal differential will determine who advances. If Peru loses by one goal, Bolivia will need to win by three in order to advance. If Peru loses in a penalty kick shootout, Bolivia will need to win by four. Peru has scored 5 goals in two games, though, so Bolivia's got pretty slim odds to advance.
Group B
Group B also has two games left: Mexico vs. Ecuador and Argentina vs. Uruguay. Every team has a chance to advance (even if it's a slim one).
In order for Ecuador to advance, Argentina has to lose by four goals and Ecuador has to beat Mexico by seven goals. Ecuador lost to Argentina 6-1, so I don't feel bad about removing them from the equation and giving Mexico the W, thereby advancing them to the next round.
With that settled, Argentina needs to beat Uruguay to advance. Uruguay can get by with a win or a draw. Argentina lost to Mexico earlier and Uruguay tied with Mexico, so the advantage goes to Uruguay, but this game could go either way.
Group C
Group C looks a lot like A. The final two games are Brazil vs. Paraguay and Costa Rica vs. Chile. Brazil advances no matter what (big surprise), and there's no situation that will get Costa Rica to the quarter-finals.
That leaves Paraguay and Chile. If Paraguay wins or draws, they advance. In order for Chile to advance, Paraguay needs to lose by one goal and Chile needs to win by two. Chile is playing Costa Rica, so they could pull off a two-goal win. And with Brazil playing Paraguay, it's definitely within the realm of possibility for Paraguay to lose before the game goes to a shootout. Both Chile and Paraguay have a shot, we'll find out who advances after the matches on July 14.
PS: I've only recently begun to follow football, so my analyses are for entertainment purposes only. Please feel free to correct mine or offer your own in the comments.
Although it may not be as recognized as Euro2004, The South-/Central American tournament is now underway in Peru. Copa America contains 12 teams, including multiple-World Cup-winners Brazil.
Columbia leads Group A (Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela), Argentina leads Group B (Uruguay, Mexico, Ecuador) and Brazil leads Group C (Paraguay, Costa Rica, Chile). There are still 10 matches to go in group action, so those standings may change before the elimination rounds.
Greece, 100 to 1 odds before the tourney began, are now the champions of European football. Truly unbelievable, especially considering they beat the host nation, Portugal, twice! Let's recap the final day of Euro 2004.
Josh Berezin joined Euro 2004 regulars Ryan Wise and myself for the final match, and I had a weird feeling I had jinxed the Portuguese by purchasing some port the night before at Trader Joes. (In the semifinals we drank Grolsch and Pilsner Urquell and both the Netherlands and Czech Republic went out.)
The match started out with promise, as Figo looked determined to captain his side to victory.
However, Greece's consistently strong defense prevented the Portuguese attackers from ever getting good scoring opportunities, frustrating the likes of Figo and co. On the Greek's first corner kick early in the second half they took advantage of some slightly lax defending (and poor goalkeeping) in the box, and Charisteas headed home the improbable goal that gave Greece the 1-0 advantage.
Instead of pulling a Ronaldo and taking off his shirt, Charisteas reveals his undershirt, with a picture of his little boy I think. Isn't that precious?
Portugal had about a half-hour to answer the goal, but never seriously threatened to score. Perhaps sensing the lack of Portuguese passion, a Barcelona fan ran onto the pitch and didn't seem to have a clear idea what he wanted to accomplish, until he made a spectacular dash for the Greek goal, throwing himself forcefully into the net. A bunch of security guys detained him while we wondered if that was the best action we would see.
Well, when the whistle blew Greece coach Otto Rehhagel jumped for joy, while Portuguese coach Scolari couldn't believe it.
Final photos:
1. What ever happened to Pauleta? Scorer of a goal every other match for his nation, he went scoreless at Euro 2004. Maybe training with Figo didn't help his confidence.
2. I guess God wanted it this way. Archbishop Christodoulos blessed the Greek team before the final.
3. Greek fans get show their love for Figo.
4. Hey, aren't you the "totally wireless" lady from the semi-final match?
5. Charisteas praises the supporters and those damn golden boots.
6. Even my girl Nelly Furtado singing to her people couldn't inspire the players enough to score in the final.
8. Yep, you totally lost (AGAIN!) to Greece.
9. The last of the ladies. Oh wait, there you are again!
10. Somehow, I don't think Rui Costa enjoyed the confetti or the fireworks.
11. Scolari is totally reaching for Eusebio's ass!
Okay, no more! Hope you enjoyed reading about the last month of matches, now I'm taking a break from the TV for the rest of July.
The July 4th final is set--as unbelievable as it sounds Greece will take on Portugal in an unprecedented rematch of the first game of the tournament.
In order to get to the final Greece had to get past the only true favorite team of the competition, the Czech Republic. Here's how it happened.
The match began with the Czechs going all-out for an early lead, and when Tom�s Rosicky volleyed a cross against the crossbar in the 3rd minute I felt sure Greece's underdog run would soon be over.
Fate smiled on the Greeks when the Czech's star midfielder Pavel Nedved went down with a knee injury in the first half. Nedved voiced his frustration, and eventually made his way to the bench.
Despite the loss of Nedved, the Czechs still dominated possession throughout the game but couldn't find the target, as star strikers Jan Koller and Milan Baros found themselves tightly marked and constantly fouled by the Greeks. Koller rues a missed shot and Baros burries wipes sweat and/or tears from his eyes.
Andrew commented on how negative the Greeks played, and I had to admit I was frustrated at their success in the tournament playing the type of football that I despise--not going for the win, playing incredibly defensive and waiting for just that one slip up in the opposing team's defense. I watched in shock as they defeated France and I just couldn't believe as the minutes advanced that the Czech's hadn't taken the lead. Dread was setting in and regular time ended with the score still nil-nil.
Finally the Greeks seemed to press forward with some consistent attacking play in the extra period, and just before the end of the first OT, they found their winner on this converted corner-kick header by Traianos Dellas. Reverse angle here.
Greece began their celebrations while the Czechs were distraught.
Photos:
2. Greece's German coach Otto Rehhagel is the man responsible for the ugly yet effective tactics.
3. I'm the annoying Greek man Georgios Karagounis who will miss the final after picking up two yellow cards in consecutive knockout matches.
4. Say goodbye to the most respected referee in the world Pierluigi Collina, who is forced to retire from international football due to age (45). However, he may end up overseeing EPL matches in the future. Or, at least that's what some people think.
5. Greek fan wants you to know she's totally wireless.
6. Meanwhile, Czech supporters are crying, deflated, and just not all that happy.
7. Another old fan photo I missed, this lady highlights one of the few attractive elements of the depressing performance by the Bulgarians.
8. On the flipside, the ladies might appreciate this link to Euro 2004 hunks.
9. Find out what Becks wears on his feet.
10. Finally, check out the amazing tee I sported today, courtesy of my awesome footy-mad mate JBA.
Ok, so who wants to celebrate the 4th of July with the Euro 2004 final?! Join me for the Portugal vs. Greece rematch this Sunday @ 11:30 AM. I'll bring the port.
I don't enjoy watching baseball on TV, but the game seems fundamentally different when you're in the stadium watching it live. It's still a slow game, but hearing the crack of the bat and watching a ball sail against the dark sky toward the outfield is very different from the commentated, televised version of the sport.
This was only my second major league baseball game (my first was over 10 years ago: Angels 10, Mariners 2 in the Kingdome), but I could see myself attending more and learning more about the game. Especially if I can sit in the second row, literally arms length from the field each time. I could have carried on a conversation with the on-deck batters if they weren't so intent on getting ready for their at-bats.
Even experiencing the game first-hand, it was still an experience that I value more for the socialization among the party I arrived with than for the game itself. The pace is too slow to pay attention to every detail, especially when there are thousands of other spectators who give plenty of clues if something exciting is happening on the field. And pinch runners? C'mon, these guys are supposed to be professional athletes and they can't even run their own bases?
I won't paint my face or do the tomahawk chop, but if you want to go the game, I'll buy the first round.
Today we watched the first semifinal match between the host nation Portugal and the Netherlands, and were treated to a proud display of talent from the Portuguese, who led their side to a first-ever spot in a final of a major tournament.
I was excited to find out that the Portuguese were starting their previously prolific striker Pauleta, while the Dutch inserted Marc Overmars into the starting lineup. These two players have been able to light up a pitch in years past and was hoping they would do the same again today. Sadly it would prove to be frustrating for these men, as they both missed clear scoring opportunities.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one player who did not dissapoint, scoring the first goal for Portugal on an open header. He then began his celebration by taking off his shirt and ran to the supporters to flex his muscles. Apparently you can't take your shirt off now, or you get yellow-carded.
Portugal looked to have the game in hand but Pauleta had several shots stopped by Dutch keeper Edwin Van Der Sar, and didn't find their second until Maniche connected on a beautiful long-range drive into the upper right corner of the net. Van Der Sar could only watch in shock as the ball sneaked past his long frame. Maniche seemed a bit surprised himself, and so were Ryan, Steve and myself--the TV broadcast missed showing the goal live due to an instant replay running past the quick corner kick.
It was probably the goal of the tournament, and would prove even more important when Portuguese defender Jorge Andrade diverted a cross into his own goal in the 63rd minute. The Netherlands had been given a lifeline, and they desperately fought to find an equaliser, but it was not meant to be on this day.
A distraught Ruud Van Nistelrooy collapsed after the game. He later found his way over to congratulate his Manchester United teammate Ronaldo. I must say I've been pleasantly surprised at how well this "other" Ronaldo has played in the Euros, he seems much more sure of his role than when he plays for Man. U. Comapre the confidence here with that of Ducth captain Philip Cocu's sad, exhausted face
For Portugal it was time to celebrate. Just don't hurt a dude!
Photos:
1. Portuguese street supporters who want to get on True Fan with their english-language sign.
2. "Big Phil", coach of Portugal is pulling off that old classic, scoreboard!
3. So orange, so sad. Catwoman?
4. Happier times with a cardboard cut-out of Ruud.
5. Oh yeah, old man Luis Figo played a pretty damn good match and is one win away from bringing Portugal its first major trophy.
6. Somehow I missed this old photo of cute British ladies saluting their squad.
Tomorrow brings the still surprising Greeks against the powerful Czech Republic. Game viewed @ 1pm.