brinoch

My entire staff, including the Congressman I work for, screamed with the goal -- an intern was in the hallway and apparently our screams echoed down the halls of Congress!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I have to think that means Gomez is coming off and Clint is moving up top.

I'd say that there's an 80% chance Marquez gets a red card for a tackle on Messi in the last 10 minutes if Mexico's down at least two, but they're teammates at Barcelona so he might have someone else do his dirty work. It's good that Messi takes most set pieces, because I think they were planning on having Gio Dos Santos cover him otherwise.

It's in line with the straight red shown to the Swiss player yesterday. Dempsey should be on notice for tomorrow...

Go RSA!!! HAahahahaha!

Fabiano totally got away with that. Two handballs on one play. Who does he think he is, Henry?

That explains the phantom call.

It's why I took off this morning.

Great second half by the US. It was tough to break down 14 men, but they did it and pulled out a draw.

I'd love to say we're going to get a draw, but it ain't happening. We're done.

Utterly hideous defending on both goals. Neither should have happened. Just plain terrible.

Yes.

Really pumped. Very excited.

They really look awful. And boring. And awful.

Lot of whining in this game. Shocker!!

I've broken 5 fingers, dislocated both thumbs, been knocked unconscious, broken my nose, dislocated my left shoulder and had my ribs bruised so badly that I could barely breathe for almost a week, and that was just after 3 seasons of playing keeper at a [expletive] high school level. My knee got kinda sore from diving in practice on hard ground. That's about it. Maybe you guys are doing it wrong. You shrink from contact and dive when someone breathes near you. Admit it.

Keepers need whatever protection they can get. I never feel bad about the little padding my gear has or for going in knees and elbows first. Playing keeper I've been injured a lot. Here's a partial catalog: a broken right foot which I played three additional games on before consenting to go to the doctor (me stoopid), cracked ribs, two sprained ankles, a torn rotator cuff, sprained wrist, broken fingers, and a stretched brachial plexus. A lot of these injuries are from playing crappy leagues where the refs don't protect the players... I had the stretched brachial plexus because a player grabbed my arm as I was throwing the ball out to a teammate. It should have been a straight red and a suspension from the league -- no card, and actually no foul was called. It laid me up from playing keeper for about 6 months. But a lot happened on clean plays (like Heskey and Howard), or flukey things.

Yeah, but I think you will see the Hawks bump Bolland up to 2nd Line Center and Sharp return to wing, if he is still here. Which leaves Dowell to center the checking line with Madden gone. Of course, there have been internet reports that the Hawks have signed or will sign Niklas Persson out of the Swedish league.

Versteeg and Byfuglien probably have the highest value among the forwards right now, but Bolland probably has some suitors. Someone will overpay. I don't think we'll see any movement until each team's cap is officially known, and from what I've read, that hasn't happened yet. Once it is, things tend to move quickly.

Kyle, I've seen a couple of pretty respected bloggers indicate that the Hawks will follow the Detroit model and won't rush guys like Lalonde and Beach to the NHL -- which'll save some money. They believe the Hawks will plug in cheap UFA's on one-year deals. In addition, I think that Skille will be gone. I see Dowell and Bickell getting the call. Also, I think Sharp would stay over Byfuglien. I think the Hawks view Sharp as the #2 Center now, with Bolland as the #3.

The gloves help you catch the ball. They are made with a special foam that cushions the force and is a little tacky. Generally, you get them a little wet and with that the foam's surface increases significantly -- helping you catch the ball. Most gloves also have some stiffness (plastic supports on mine) on the backside to help protect your fingers. Soccer balls are fairly slick and hit with a lot of power, and so the gloves are necessary. Your hands are also getting into traffic with feet. Protection is nice. Even with that, jammed fingers aren't uncommon, and as you often see, keepers take few chances with hard hit balls. Rather than potentially fumble a shot and give a rebound, they will deflect it out of bounds.

The singing and chanting is awesome. The horns suck. Much better game so far here. Both teams are trying to play forward.

Champion's League is better, imho It is, but since it's spread out over a season versus the compressed nature of the World Cup, the WC is much more accessible.

To be fair, most of the matches haven't been all that entertaining. To put it in hockey terms, it's kind of like watching Nashville play hockey against New Jersey. Or, in football terms, it's a pre-west coast offense match with two running teams who both have excellent defenses playing a field position game. Watch how the teams move the ball through the midfield and into the other team's side of the field. They'll try one side, pull it back, try the other, pull it back, then maybe up the middle. They might turn it over and then the other team tries. The teams are probing for a weakness or looking for a defender to make a mistake. An effective counter is so lethal because it breaks the static nature of defense and forces them to defend on the run. It's a very effective tactic. Here's a textbook example from last year's Confederations Cup by the US. Rather than obsess over scoring chances and goals, look at each game through the lens of time. 90 minutes. It's a long time and there is strategy involved. Like a pitcher will set hitters up for later in a baseball game, so too will good soccer teams. You might play conservative in the first half -- you try to force the other team to break you down while seeing the tendencies of their defense. Then in the second, you adjust your tactics to take advantage of their weakness. Substitutions are about changing the game, usually. A guy like Clark for the US is a defensive central midfielder, whereas Torres is a great holding midfielder with excellent passing. It's also about conditioning and stamina. Around 65-75 minutes, players are getting tired and what wouldn't work early in the game might work at the end. Think pitcher's duel.