Tuesday, June 30, 2009

This week

Haven't written in awhile. Just wanted to say congratulations to the Athletic Director at Saint Anselm College, Ed Cannon. Ed is stepping down today after 35 years at the helm. When I was interning there this past year, Ed was a great guy to me and helped me with a lot.

Well, now it's off to another basketball camp in Concord.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Full time blown

I don't even know what to say. 2-0 at the half. If ever you could say the one the got away, this was it. Patience was clearly lacking in the second half. Brazil possessed the ball for the majority of the half. We all knew if we couldn't keep the ball, Brazil would make us pay, and that was it. Although we lost, we were able to make it this far. This tournament will be great for the confidence of the lads.

Great job boys for making it this far. Lets now lock up that qualifying spot for the world cup.

Heart breaking

UGHHH. Lucio. The USA killer. off of a corner no less. Brazil leads 3-2 in the 83' minute. I'm just glad this isn't the World Cup

ughhh

74th minute. Brazil is level. Luis Fabiano who plays club ball for Sevilla collects his second goal of the match

USA game vxs. Brazil

Entering the 68th minute. Brazil is peppering the USA back line and Tim Howard with shots. It's 2-1 right now.

ANOTHER!

Davies and Donovan seem to be a great combo. 2-0 on a counter attack goal by Donovan's left foot.

WOW!

What a great goal from Dempsey. 1-0 USA. Jonathan Spector. Great ball in.

USA game

Sitting here, waiting for the game to start. Got a couple beers and a bag of chips. LETS GO BOYS!

Not just another Sunday

Today is the day USA soccer fans have been longing for. A chance to win a major international tournament. Although it's not the World Cup, the Confederations Cup is almost the next best thing.

Cracking the bottle:

The team caught a few lucky breaks here and there, such as advancing out of the group stages by scoring just one more goal in the "Goals For" tie breaker. For most fans, beating the number one ranked team in the world last Wednesday (Spain) to advance to the Confederations Cup final is a great achievement, and it is. There is more to it though. Three of the top five teams in the world were in this tournament, two of which the US has already lost to, those being Brazil and Italy. With that being said, we, the US, are 1-2 against these three countries, being outscored three goals to six. So for the fans who think there was a lot accomplished by beating the number one ranked team in the world, remember the team we're matched up with today for the final, Brazil, has already beaten us once in this tournament (three-nil) and will undoubtedly be approaching the game the exact same way.

Last sip:

For the match, the US was out shot 11-6, and Spain put six of those eleven shots on net. For the US to get passed Brazil today, those numbers will have to take a drastic nose dive. Although Spain is the number one team in the world, Brazil has a long history against the US. Overall, the record is 1-13 in favor of the South American country. It will take a lot for Bob Bradley's boys to get this one today.

Just to close out, I want to send out condolences to the Mays family. Many know who Billy Mays is, the pitch man. He was found dead today at approx. 7:45 AM in his Florida home.

Here is the article

First post

Haha. It took long enough. For most that know me, they know I am obsessed with my computer (among many other things) and I am on Facebook (yeah I had to plug it. haha) 24/7. So with that in mind, I felt it fitting to start a blog. Im going to do a beer theme with every post, thus the title being bottom's up, because I am turning 21 soon and I'm very excited for that.

Cracking the bottle:

Anyway, no one really cares about that. I want to start by talking about this last week. A lot of stuff went down, not only for me, but in the world. This last Monday marked the first time I have made money this summer. I was fortunate enough to get a job working at a basketball camp in Concord, which has lifted a slight financial burden.

Again, no one cares, but I felt compelled to share that. Anyway, the two biggest things that happened this last week in my life actually fell on the same day, Thursday; Michael Jackson's death and the NBA draft. I'll start by weighing in on Jacko.

For the longest time, I was creeped out by this guy. That small, unnatural nose was so eerie that I felt like curling up into a ball and crying for hours. Although I was freaked out, I could never take my ears away from the stereo whenever I heard one of his songs. His passion for what he did and accomplished is visible in everything he did. I was watching MTV Friday morning before heading off to basketball camp, and was watching a tribute to the legend. I was shocked to see all of these stars talking about him and sharing thoughts and memories less than twenty-four hours after his death. Just a really cool thing to see. Billie Jean will always be my favorite song by him, with the Thriller video being the best visual.



Now, the draft. I was quite surprised with some of the picks in this years draft, which is sort of strange. The draft was widely considered weak in terms of talent, so many thought the most talented players would go first. Not the case. Here are some of my surprises, in order of earliest picks to later ones:

Round 1, pick 6. Minnisota Timberwolves select Johnny Flynn: After taking internationally known point guard, Ricky Rubio with the pick just previous, the Twolves shocked everyone by taking another point guard, in Johnny Flynn from Syracuse. Pick number six was their original pick, and acquired the fifth pick by trading away starting guard, Randy Foye. It appeared at the time that trading away Foye would result in the Wolves drafting another off guard to replace Foye. The best one available at that time was phenom Stephen Curry. In college, Curry played both the one and two and would have been a great replacement for Foye. I guess the Wolves thought it would be better to draft the same position twice (they would even add another later when they took point guard Ty Lawson from North Carolina with the eighteenth overall pick later on).

Round 1, pick pick 15. Detroit Pistons select Austin Daye: Now don't get me wrong. I am a huge fan of Daye. I love all those kids from Gonzaga, but the Pistons really needed to draft needs, and point guard was their need. You would think they would have, as the point guard was the deepest position in this draft, but they decided to pick a power forward instead. Daye is good, but not top twenty good.

Round 1, Pick 24. Dallas Mavericks select BJ Mullens: For playing at a Big 10 school, Mullens was certainly not a household name. He never started a game for Ohio State in his one year there and in my opinion came out of college a little early. The Mav's and owner Marc Cuban must have changed their minds about him, since later in the draft they traded his rights away to the Thunder.

Round 2, pick 6. Memphis Grizzlies select Sam Young: Man oh man. Did I and the rest of the world think Young was undoubtedly a first round pick, probably even a top twenty selection. Unlike the previous picks mentioned, this one was picked to late, as opposed to to early. Young has THE greatest shot fake from the perimeter I have ever seen, and it allows him to get his huge frame to the rim real easily. Congrats to Memphis for getting the steal of the draft.

Last sip:

I want to close by congratulating Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield on Roger Clemens for most starts by a Sox pitcher tonight. He also collected his 187th career win after the sox won their first 1-0 game in two years.

Also, good luck to the USA soccer team tomorrow as they go for their second all time win against Brazil and the Confederations Cup final tomorrow.

Away from sports really quickly, I want to just say I am excited that the US military are finally beginning to vacte cites in Iraq.

Alright, thats all. Goodnight and I hope i didn't get you drunk.