UMFan83

So with Utah getting invited to the Pac 10, it looks like they will also be setting up 2 divisions. I am assuming the divisions will look something like this: North Division: California Oregon Oregon State Stanford Washington Washington State South Division: Arizona Arizona State Colorado Southern California UCLA Utah I'm guessing the Pac 10 wants to keep the Washingtons and Oregons together as well as UCLA/USC and the Stanford and Cal rivalry. I think ideally they'd rather not have both the new teams in the same division but it works too well like this.

Would this be the first time that the host team didn't advance past group play?

98 days until the next Chicago Blackhawks game. That doesn't seem very far away. That's about 1/2 of a baseball offseason for a team that doesn't make the playoffs.

Dusty Baker, Jim Hendry, a general orginzational indifference towards advanced statistics.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5292732

Hah, in Chicago most cab drivers ask me which route I recommend they take before we get going.

The meaning of household names is pretty vague but you don't think over 50% of casual sports fans have heard of Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan for starters? Especially with the fact that a majority of casual sports fans watch at least some ESPN and ESPN has been hyping (English) soccer like crazy since getting Premiere League broadcast rights.

Can't be worse than the Cubs lineup 1B - .688 OPS 2B - .633 OPS SS - .650 OPS 3B - .517 OPS C - .558 OPS ----------------- LF - .889 OPS CF - .909 OPS RF - .969 OPS I know you said AL lineup but I wanted to take the opportunity to point out how awful the Cubs IF is hitting vs. the Cubs outfield.

Yeah seriously. Some cabbies are dickheads, but never to the point where I've considered assaulting one.

I think it just goes to show you the expectations that some people still have with the USA. Getting out of the group is seen as an acomplishment for many. 94 and 02 not 98 and 06.

Wow...if he keeps pitching like that he'll probably get Luis Vizcaino'd (released despite good results because he's been getting really lucky)

I do hope they have.

What do you think they get when they trade away the Harens and Hollidays of the world?

This makes me feel good because it was blown open by something I actually expected to suck going into the year, the middle relief.

Whoever said the Cubs always give back runs after they score was right in this case. Score 4 give up 3 (so far)

LOL one strike from getting out of it.

Our offense is sooooooooooooooooo bad.

I guess so. But if they tie the standings are still England 4 (assuming they beat Algeria), Slovenia 4, USA 2. With the USA playing Algeria and Slovenia playing England. I guess their best chance is to tie the USA and hope Algeria can tie or better against the USA.

I'm curious of Slovenia's mentality in the US game. Knowing they have England waiting for them, are they going to be really pushing for a win? I hope so, that plays to the US's counter attack and I think that's a huge advantage. Yeah looking it from Slovenia's perspective, I think they will go all out to win this game against USA, who they obviously see as a better opportunity to take points from than England. If they get 0 points from USA and England predictably beats Algeria, we are left with USA 4, England 4, Slovenia 3 with USA playing the weakest team of the group and Slovenia playing the hardest team of the group. Slovenia would have to basically play for a tie with England and hope Algeria pulls off a huge upset of USA. Basically this game is ridiculously huge for deciding who gets out of this group. If the USA loses, they basically have to hope that England loses to Slovenia and USA beats Algeria enough to overtake goal differential. If the teams tie, the odds are a little better...the USA's best shot then would be to hope to win and hope Slovenia loses to England or ties them while winning goal differential. So basically, please win USA. And if you don't win at least tie, although I would be a little upset.

Maybe we should make each goal scored in a soccer game worth 6 points. In this example Brazil beat North Korea 12-6 today.

People that compare soccer to hockey are kind of right in some respects. Both low scoring, although hockey is a little higher scoring. But what's exciting about both sports is the buildup to scoring. If people wanted scoring, sports like lacrosse would be more popular as it is played in a similar fashion to soccer and hockey, but the scores are like 15-12. I've watched plenty of 0-0 and 1-0 soccer games that end up extremely enjoyable. It's the same idea with hockey. Teams might not score much but there are a crapload of great passes that just miss their target, or a player gets some space in their opponents zone, or your team is able to clear a rebound out of their own zone killing a scoring threat. All very exciting stuff. Soccer is a little different but it's the same types of nuances that make keep fans coming back for more, and develop new fans of the sport everyday. Anyways, this is a dumb argument to be having in the world cup thread.

Boers and Bernstein were talking about this yesterday. There's nothing wrong with partying and having fun right now but it sounds like some people are a little concerned. He could probably do without the cab driver and shirtless jokes also. This is what I'm talking about, along with the nightclubs, constant mentions of trying to get laid and being [expletive] at the parade/rally. The cabbie jokes were especially bad though. Yeah definitely poor taste regardless of how overblown that story was. I mean he brings it up indirectly and then immediately snaps at a reporter that makes a followup joke referencing it, and then the very next day gets hammered and makes a direct joke about the incident in front of 2 million people. I'm sure there are a lot of immature young athletes around pro sports that act this way behind the scenes, but very few act this way in public. Kane is one of a kind. I do worry that he's going to come into next season after a summer of debauchery unprepared and unmotivated. What are Kane's motivations? He's starting the first year of a huge extension, everyone he encounters worships him, he's already won the Stanley Cup, etc. I'm being really presumpuous about him here though so I'm not saying he's for sure going to be like this. I just wonder based on the people I know with similar personalities. Like I said before, I've never heard complaints about him on the ice, and obviously he's had to work his ass off to get to this point. Maybe we all think Kane is going to spend his summer in a drunken stupor, when in reality he's in the middle of a 2 week "We won the Stanley Cup!" bender, and then afterwards he's gonna come home to Buffalo and be a normal 21 year old hockey player who alternates between training, hanging out with his friends, and going out at night and enjoying himself. Either way it just boggles my mind to think that the Hawks won the Stanley Cup with a team whose 10 best players are: 21,22,23,24,24,25,26,28,31,and 31

This is what happens when you give a 21 year old built in the frat boy mold power, money, fame, and success. I know a lot of people who would have acted just like him in his shoes when they were 21. I am not saying I agree with it. It's souring me a little bit as a person and it's making me realize how much older I am than younger athletes. Kane seems like my wild out of control little brother, not the star that scored the Stanley Cup winning goal for the team I cheer for. You don't expect someone as young and immature as him to do stuff like that. That said, by all accounts the kid is dedicated to hockey, works his ass off when it's time to work. Since Patrick Kane is not my friend or relative or generally someone I should give 2 craps about personally, I say let him do whatever he wants. If he wants to vomit backstage during a championship rally, whatever. If he wants to order 2 high end call girls up to his room on a random Saturday night in Chicago, I guess. As long as the "assaulting a cab driver" incidents are few and far between, then whatever. As long as he doesn't go off the deep end, he'll mature in a few years time. If he doesn't he'll probably end up Theo Fleurying himself out of the league.

Isn't Nebraska football on the upswing right now? I mean that might be leveled off by going to a more difficult division in a more difficult conference, but I don't see why they couldn't be a powerhouse again. I'm not saying it's a given, but I think if they can somewhat hold onto some of their footholds in the plains and texas, and gain new ground in the midwest/big ten country, they will be fine.

I think the idea is that hockey on the cover probably sells less issues around the rest of the USA, even if it's a big market team on the cover celebrating a title. Like for instance if Ottawa ever won a Stanley Cup, it would be suicide for SI to give them a national cover in both the USA and Canada.