shnsajax

I personally blame the WSOP for this while the game is going on.

Lalas claiming that MLS is on par with the Premier League. I know he is trying to protect Beckham's signing, but still. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=439873&cc=5901

Canada is probably the most "in-form" team, but talent wise they're the worst of the 4 semifinalists. Their attacking players are pretty good, but their defense is terrible. They sound just like the US but in-form like you said ;-). At least Howard has seemed pretty good so far. I think our mids are better, actually. At least defensively, anyway. Beasley, Feilhaber, Bradley and Mastro at least usually close off the center of the field. Hejduk shouldn't play anymore. He crosses like a high school freshman. Gooch and Bocanegra are a calamity back there. They need to communicate a lot better come qualifying. Bornstein was the tallest midget on Saturday. There's talent in the US pool. Between Cherundolo, Parkhurst, Demerit, Simek, Pearce, Spector, Bocanegra and Oneywu, Bradley should be able to find 4 guys who can not mentally break down 3 times a game. Thats what drives me crazy. There is a lot of talent, but they just play so unorganized at times and the finishing or lack there of just puts me over the edge.

If he never pitches again he can go up in the booth. I don't care how good he is, he loves the Cubs and thats all that matters.

ESPNU, actually Well that kind of sucks. I just switched cable companies and have not gone to digital cable with them yet. Need to see if I can get espnU with them now.

Canada is probably the most "in-form" team, but talent wise they're the worst of the 4 semifinalists. Their attacking players are pretty good, but their defense is terrible. They sound just like the US but in-form like you said ;-). At least Howard has seemed pretty good so far.

Right now I would not be the least bit suprised if Canada won. I actually might be suprised if the US wins. I don't know how much of a difference Klinnsman would make, but I regret every decision they made to not get it done. U-20 WC is just around the corner. I am assuming its going to be on Fox Sports World. I need to look into that.

I watched maybe twenty minutes of it and Hejduk still sucks. 11 cards issued overall. It looked like a brutal game to watch.

What all happened, I missed it. Breif summary will do :-)

I have not been real pleased with the way the US has played so far, but Mexico has been worse. I would love to see Costa Rica knock them out now.

The biggest problem I have seen with Beasley is that he just seems to not have control of his body and pace lie he used to. He just seems very irratic. His first goal was a nice change from that. He may not have gotten the goals, but Dempsey was the most impressive IMO. I was very happy just to see some quality shots from outside the box for the first time in a while. Since Donovan's goal a couple of months ago. Dempsey is the wild card in an otherwise predictable team.

I still think Dunn is very overvalued in payroll, cost in prospects, and it all going in the same division.

Totally agree. Tell me, IF A-Rod opts out - isn't he losing $27 mil a year? He'd really be an idiot to do that. He's got 3/81 remaining. If he opts out and signs a 5/125 he makes $2m less per year for the next 3, but guarantees himself $44m that wasn't guaranteed before. Not to mention he gets to avoid being blamed for everything bad that happens to the Yankees. He'd really be an idiot to not consider the option. It's not like he'll be forced to sign for the minimum if he opts out. ding ding ding. He would gladly take a little less per year for more long term. I really think he is going to be a viable option. One of the keys is the Yanks no making the playoffs ;-).

Even though the Cubs lose, this might be the day that things really unwrap for the Brewers. We can still come within 4 games tomorrow now.

Make that 4 now :-). RANGERS WIN.

A month ago no one would have even cared if Soriano was beaned :-).

I get the fealing we are going to need 8 runs today.

I know Ferrari is awesome, and I think he's with the u-18's or u-21's. H'es the opposite of Gio Rossi, who went to play for Italy despite being from New Jersey. Ferrari will be in the 2010 mix, as will Jozy Altidore. EJ shouldn't be an option anymore. I don't care that he scored against what amounted to a rec league team. He's lazy, and doesn't do anything well at all. First touch? Bad. Passing? Bad. Shooting from distance? Bad. 1 v 1 skill? Nonexistent. Playing with back to goal? Awful. Dribbling? Nope, sucks at that, too. He had a lucky run playing against the weakest CONCACAF teams in 2004. USMNT needs to get over it and realize it was a complete mirage. He's really, really bad. The whole team kinda sucked today. The FSC guys kept yammering on about depth, but this game exposed the US's lack of depth. The back line was meh. Demerit played the best game out of all of them. The mids were ok, but a large part of that was how lousy T & T's mids were. Johnson sucks. Ching is an acceptable target guy, but he's nothing amazing. A better team would have put a couple on our defense today. A better team would have finished the 8 clear chances the US had but didn't cash in on. This team's 2nd 11 is so much worse that the first 11. You could see the difference in quality when Donovan came on. He was a class above everyone on the field. Only Mapp and Demerit really distinguished themselves from the B team. It's good that we won, but a team like ours aspires to be would have demolished T & T today. Instead, I thought we were lucky to win. That's not good. FWIW, I loved Mathis, but he was his own worst enemy. His fitness and focus robbed him of what could have been a stellar career. The US needs more guys like Mathis, which is partly why I like Dempsey so much. You need creative, attacking-minded players who don't back down, don't get intimidated and find themselves in the right spots at the right time. Without question. Ferrari should be at the U20 World Cup in a few weeks. I know he is still in the player pool, but I have not seen a finalized roster yet.

The last I heard, there's a chance Mapp's shoulder injury could cause him to miss the entire Gold Cup. 2-0 the Final. Another pretty boring second half from the US. They play El Salvador at 6 PM central on Tuesday night. Damn, i missed minute 30-70. Didn't see him get hurt.

I really think the US took a step backwards after Clint Mathis fell off the face of the earth (I know he is in MLS). Justin Mapp needs to start a lot more, I like what I have seen from him as he is one of our few players who really know how to run with speed. Does anyone know anything about Jesus Padilla or Gabriel Ferrari?

Eddie Johnson has to be the slowest, fast guy in US soccer history. He is just flatout lazy. Ching has never impressed me either. We have one poacher in Twellman, don't see a reason for another one.

Soriano's on fire, and Pie doesn't even have any RBIs to show for it. Send him back down. Anybody feel like calculating Soriano's #'s with Pie on the big league squad? .800 42 home runs 70 rbi .800 on base .24000 slugging. roughly. If Pie doesn't hit 2nd behind Sori every game the rest of the season Lou needs to be fired.

my god the cubs suck. all they can hit is solo shots.

Whats the fewest pitches a player has seen with 3 straight hr's

Can't we trade him to Japan for a Wii. Then use it as a clubhouse tool to teach the bullpen how to throw strikes.