Mid-Week Wrap
Feeling a bit under the weather, hopefully you get the reference on the pic, so let’s get straight to some random thoughts. And since I’m not feeling creative, I’m stealing Mark’s format.
1. CONCACAF Champions League - First, congrats to the Puerto Rico Islanders. Sure they were up a man for an hour, but it’s no easy task going to Mexico and winning. Just ask every MLS team. And going out on penalties is nothing to hang your head about. Looking at their roster which features a handful of guys who couldn’t make it in MLS -- Bill Gaudette, Kyle Veris, Sandy Gbandi, Nicholas Adderly, Petter Villegas, and newcomer Dominic Mediate -- and you wonder how many GMs are kicking themselves right now. Not to point fingers or anything, but four of them have ties to D.C. United.
2. U.S. Open Cup - It’s crap that not all of the MLS teams are in the tournament proper. I’m guessing it has to do with seeding, but I don’t know why they wouldn’t sort that out. Nevertheless the games go on, though not the scoring. Colorado sent Los Angeles packing on penalties after 120 minutes of scoreless play. Neither side was at full strength, though that didn’t stop Abby Okalaja from giving a straight red in the first half. And to think I needed something to put me to sleep last night.
2a. A Great Image - Not a huge fan of Twitter, but this comment from “fightonusc” during last night’s draw made me laugh:
Bruce Arena almost got off the bench at some point tonight. Someone should get him a Snuggie to keep him warm.
3. Champions League - Man U can’t be happy with the 2-2 draw heading to Portugal next week. The first two goals of the game had a combined three assists from defenders -- just amazingly poor touches at that level. Meanwhile the Gunners head home with a draw as well. Two amazing goals in that one with Marcos Senna’s blast followed by Emmanuel Adebayor’s brilliant chest trap and (near) bicycle. Though I still say Grafite’s on the weekend against Bayern tops both -- that finish reminds me of those slow rollers that always piss me off in foosball.
3a. One of these days I’ll show Bushman how to do hyperlinks.
4. Champions League Redux - Just because they’re fun, predictions for today’s game. Barcelona hosts Bayern and I look for Messi to one up Grafite as Barça cruises 3-0. In the slugfest between Liverpool and Chelsea, not more than a goal should be scored, which means there will be several; either way the Reds will head to the Bridge next week with a lead.
5. Stadium Bid Fail - Back here in the D.C. area, United’s bid for a stadium in southern P.G. County was shot down (pun intended). Senor Goff at the Post keeps joking about a move to St. Louis. I can’t see that, but in this economy I don’t see what leverage DCU has to build a stadium anywhere locally. From a fan’s perspective, I’m as upset that the ACC tourney and College Cup(s) won’t be held locally as they were rumored thanks to the proximity of the University of Maryland. It’s really a shame money was wasted on the Soccerplex in Germantown and couldn’t have incorporated United while being closer to D.C., aka on a Metro line.
6. Two Thumbs Up - Sorta soccer related, and I know I’m a few years late to the party, but if you haven’t seen Green Street Hooligans, it’s worth two hours of your time. Speaking of, Elijah Wood quietly has a damn impressive IMDB page, dating all the way back to Back To the Future II. Who knew?
Non-Soccer Stuff
7. NCAA Hoops - Congrats to UNC for a convincing win after dominating throughout the tournament and holding the banner high for the ACC. Kudos to Michigan State for carrying on the tradition of the Big Ten crapping the bed in a national championship game -- at least this time it was a sport other than football. The UConn women though, man, what else can you say about 39-0. If they just had thirty more games.
8. Fenway Park - Phish is the latest to play in front of the Green Monster. As they’ve done with their other recent announcements, there’s a cool video to accompany the announcement. Of course this is gonna be another quick sellout and most of the tickets will wind up in the hands of brokers. I don’t know that there’s an easy fix, but something needs to be done to stop this, whether it be Phish or Bruce or whomever. That and the fees. I know TM has to make some money, but paying an extra $19 to see U2 at FedEx when Danny Boy will tack on at least $20 for parking is making me think hard about whether I want to see Ireland’s second best export -- behind Guinness, of course, and don’t make me choose between the two -- for the first time since PopMart.
- Pat Walsh
Feeling a bit under the weather, hopefully you get the reference on the pic, so let’s get straight to some random thoughts. And since I’m not feeling creative, I’m stealing Mark’s format.
1. CONCACAF Champions League - First, congrats to the Puerto Rico Islanders. Sure they were up a man for an hour, but it’s no easy task going to Mexico and winning. Just ask every MLS team. And going out on penalties is nothing to hang your head about. Looking at their roster which features a handful of guys who couldn’t make it in MLS -- Bill Gaudette, Kyle Veris, Sandy Gbandi, Nicholas Adderly, Petter Villegas, and newcomer Dominic Mediate -- and you wonder how many GMs are kicking themselves right now. Not to point fingers or anything, but four of them have ties to D.C. United.
2. U.S. Open Cup - It’s crap that not all of the MLS teams are in the tournament proper. I’m guessing it has to do with seeding, but I don’t know why they wouldn’t sort that out. Nevertheless the games go on, though not the scoring. Colorado sent Los Angeles packing on penalties after 120 minutes of scoreless play. Neither side was at full strength, though that didn’t stop Abby Okalaja from giving a straight red in the first half. And to think I needed something to put me to sleep last night.
2a. A Great Image - Not a huge fan of Twitter, but this comment from “fightonusc” during last night’s draw made me laugh:
Bruce Arena almost got off the bench at some point tonight. Someone should get him a Snuggie to keep him warm.
3. Champions League - Man U can’t be happy with the 2-2 draw heading to Portugal next week. The first two goals of the game had a combined three assists from defenders -- just amazingly poor touches at that level. Meanwhile the Gunners head home with a draw as well. Two amazing goals in that one with Marcos Senna’s blast followed by Emmanuel Adebayor’s brilliant chest trap and (near) bicycle. Though I still say Grafite’s on the weekend against Bayern tops both -- that finish reminds me of those slow rollers that always piss me off in foosball.
3a. One of these days I’ll show Bushman how to do hyperlinks.
4. Champions League Redux - Just because they’re fun, predictions for today’s game. Barcelona hosts Bayern and I look for Messi to one up Grafite as Barça cruises 3-0. In the slugfest between Liverpool and Chelsea, not more than a goal should be scored, which means there will be several; either way the Reds will head to the Bridge next week with a lead.
5. Stadium Bid Fail - Back here in the D.C. area, United’s bid for a stadium in southern P.G. County was shot down (pun intended). Senor Goff at the Post keeps joking about a move to St. Louis. I can’t see that, but in this economy I don’t see what leverage DCU has to build a stadium anywhere locally. From a fan’s perspective, I’m as upset that the ACC tourney and College Cup(s) won’t be held locally as they were rumored thanks to the proximity of the University of Maryland. It’s really a shame money was wasted on the Soccerplex in Germantown and couldn’t have incorporated United while being closer to D.C., aka on a Metro line.
6. Two Thumbs Up - Sorta soccer related, and I know I’m a few years late to the party, but if you haven’t seen Green Street Hooligans, it’s worth two hours of your time. Speaking of, Elijah Wood quietly has a damn impressive IMDB page, dating all the way back to Back To the Future II. Who knew?
Non-Soccer Stuff
7. NCAA Hoops - Congrats to UNC for a convincing win after dominating throughout the tournament and holding the banner high for the ACC. Kudos to Michigan State for carrying on the tradition of the Big Ten crapping the bed in a national championship game -- at least this time it was a sport other than football. The UConn women though, man, what else can you say about 39-0. If they just had thirty more games.
8. Fenway Park - Phish is the latest to play in front of the Green Monster. As they’ve done with their other recent announcements, there’s a cool video to accompany the announcement. Of course this is gonna be another quick sellout and most of the tickets will wind up in the hands of brokers. I don’t know that there’s an easy fix, but something needs to be done to stop this, whether it be Phish or Bruce or whomever. That and the fees. I know TM has to make some money, but paying an extra $19 to see U2 at FedEx when Danny Boy will tack on at least $20 for parking is making me think hard about whether I want to see Ireland’s second best export -- behind Guinness, of course, and don’t make me choose between the two -- for the first time since PopMart.
- Pat Walsh
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posted by Bushman @ 9:18 AM
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