Category Archives: Sports

Despite leading 2-0 early on, our guys could just not maintain it, losing to Mexico 4-2. Clearly, Mexico had the better team, although one wonders how they would have done if they were not allowed to replace five players who were kicked off for drug violations, earlier in the tournament.  A rare example of FIFA largesse.

Adding insult to injury—even if this was hardly unexpected—the Rose Bowl crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Mexico. Less well known is that the title ceremony was conducted in Spanish.  This was rightly called a ” f—–g disgrace” by US goalie Tim Howard.

I would add that the current state of US soccer merits the same description.

Playing well for the very first time in the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, our team scored a solid 2-0 victory over Jamaica.   The Reggae Boyz definitely had some weapons, though, with goalie Donovan Ricketts and speedster attackers Dane Richards and Luton Shelton.

Has the US side finally gotten into its groove?  That’s why they have the games…

Let’s see how they progress.

Disappointing performance by the US team

Sure, some calls went against the side, but when you consider that we still have no strikers who can score goals, Team USA was lucky to win its group. Unfortunately, Landon Donovan can’t have a career game every single time, and even if he did, this would not be enough to win against better opponents.

The sobering truth is that the last time a forward landed a goal for our side in a World Cup was in 2002, when Brian McBride scored against Mexico.

Choice of personnel was puzzling, as well, especially in the final game against Ghana. Starting Ricardo Clark was clearly a mistake, and coach Bob Bradley brought in Maurice Edu around 10 minutes after Ghana scored its first goal.

Furthermore, even though Jozy Altidore was the leading scorer for the USA in the World Cup qualifiers, he was terribly ineffective in the tournament. Inexplicably, he was kept in for the entire Ghana match, when Edson Buddle—with much to prove, and certainly no worse a tournament record—was on the bench.

However, problems with the USA program go beyond this single tournament.

It is quite inconceivable that in a country with more than 300 million people—to say nothing of our “diversity”—we can’t field a stronger team. I can only speculate here, since I have no inside knowledge, that the fault lies in the recruiting.

The USA side is comprised mostly of men who have played for European teams, and a few stars from Major League Soccer. For the most part, these players came up through the ranks of organized youth soccer, and then played in high school and college. Great, but does Team USA look beyond the obvious sources?

In every city you can see organized teams featuring mostly Hispanics, with an occasional superb player. Is Team USA too lazy to check these out? On the other hand, there are programs underway to promote soccer to inner city youth, that should pay off in the future.

As to the sport gaining in popularity in this country, I think the situation is positive. More and more viewers are eschewing the absurd time commitment and the sting of endless commercials that is now NFL football. For every three hour telecast, there might actually be 15 minutes of action—and even this seldom persists for more than 20 seconds.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of soccer is that normal size people, with athletic ability of course, are able to play and even become stars.

We’ve come a long way from earlier World Cup broadcasts that were only available on special pay-per-view.

Officiating

The worst thing about FIFA officiating is that is not subject to replay review, or review of any kind. Thus, a crooked ref can easily change the outcome of a game, with the only punishment being banishment from the rest of the tournament.

I would suggest the following changes:

• Replay on goals
• Severe penalties for diving, with more red cards given. Replays could be used here.
• More severe consequences for poor officiating, with investigations occurring in egregious cases

Other remarks

One interesting aspect of this year’s World Cup is the non-performance of several highly-paid stars, including Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, and Christiano Ronaldo. Beyond pure arrogance and massive ego, the only explanation I can proffer is that within club play, opponents and refs defer to the stars, supposedly for the “good of the game.”

Whatever the reason, the poor showing by the above three may well affect their reputations in the next club season.

There has been some discussion regarding the intentional handball by Luis Suarez of Uruguay (in the game against Ghana). There are those who argue—unctuously—about “fair play,” as if fouls for inappropriate tackles never occur. More importantly, such arguments seem to assume that a supernaturally perfect system of discerning between inadvertent and intentional fouls actually exists.

Suarez did what he had to do. Absent his action, the game was lost. Knowing that his handball would result in a red card and a penalty kick, Suarez counted on the nerves inherent in a big time penalty kick in the World Cup, and he was right. It was a clever play.

Ghana can complain all they want, but nothing Suarez did could have caused them to miss the otherwise routine PK.

Since I’m based in the DC metro area, people from all over the country ask me to explain what has happened to the once mighty football team. Although I’m not as much of a football fan as I once was, I will give it a shot…

First of all, the team has not been any better than mediocre for at least ten years, experiencing several coaching changes, when the real problem is the owner. Simply put, Danny Snyder is running his organization as if it were a fantasy football team. As such, he uses his considerable wealth to snag the “best available talent” at any given time, without any regard for what is needed by the team.

The latest example, of course, is the extravagant signing of defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. The issue is not so much whether Haynesworth is actually worth the $100 million contract he received, rather it is that the team had pressing needs other than defense. In fact, the defense is one of the few elements of this team that is any good.

The offensive line is third rate, and given this problem, the offense is doomed. Far too many of the skill guys on offense are past their prime, so why blame the young quarterback or the coach? Besides, this whole coach thing is mostly a crock.

Joe Gibbs was a genius when he had the Hogs and John Riggins, but in his second incarnation with the Skins—and considerably less talent—he couldn’t build a winner. The same is true for just about any recent “genius” coach, including Bill Walsh. These guys all tend to win with good teams and perform considerably less well with weaker teams. I submit that the coach MIGHT make a difference in high school, but not because he has any particular unique talent of “making the team play better.” Rather, he is a master of playing the system.

A great example is the legendary Steve Grady, coach of Loyola High School’s team (in Los Angeles) for 29 years. Grady is much revered for guiding his Cubs to four Southern Section Division I championships, and playoff appearances in 28 of his 29 seasons. This is a prodigious accomplishment given the sheer number of schools involved and the high level of competition.

How did he do it year after year? Easy. Grady put together a huge offensive line (most of which doubled as the D-line), installed a sturdy quarterback, and saw to it that most of the plays were hand-offs to a sure-handed solid and non-flashy running back. Passes were infrequent, and because of this usually succeeded. His defenses were pretty basic, and took advantage of the fact that most of the dumb jock coaches he played against would try in vain to run his (Grady’s) smash mouth offense against him, and this nearly always failed.

When Loyola lost, which was not very often, it would be to teams with exceptional talent and/or size.

Back to the Skins, there is the matter of play calling. This, too, is overrated, and I will tell you why. Let’s say that it’s third and eight, and I call a play that goes for 7½ yards. If this happens, I’m an idiot and a loser. But, if the same play goes for 8½ yards, I’m a genius. Yet, the one yard difference has only to do with execution.

ANY play properly executed should go for a touchdown, right? Any defensive play properly executed should stop any offensive play, right?

Thus, it all comes down to talent and execution, and no coaching change, or bringing in a guy like Sherm Lewis, who has not coached in five years, is going to make any difference.

You can’t fire the owner or the players, so you have to fire the coach—even if he is not the problem. The only way the Redskins can improve is for Snyder to sell the team, because he will never stop meddling in the football operations.