tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-295543152012-01-26T19:53:19.945-06:00'Tis the story of a man and his chair, watching the world's game and other assorted things.Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.comBlogger671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-68765104073725228122010-06-19T16:52:00.002-05:002010-06-19T16:54:43.870-05:00

Wow - couldn't have said it better. I'm sick of that question, too.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-34059234215463948172010-05-31T21:23:00.003-05:002010-05-31T21:33:22.855-05:00

Funny - my last post on this trusty blog was about how disappointing the Confederations Cup was. Funny how that changed in the few days after that entry. (To Future Todd - we got to the final and had Brazil 2-0 at the half before it all went horribly wrong.)But here we are again - I've got to admit that posting here has long been an afterthought, particularly in light of the key fact that my

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-27289890919884723782009-06-18T18:48:00.002-05:002009-06-18T19:30:03.976-05:00

So much for the Confederations Cup. Maybe I should apologize here - due to my school schedule, I've only been able to watch half of the first two games, losses to Italy (3-1) and Brazil (3-0). I can only assume that I'm the problem, since I could only watch the second half against Italy, where we gave up the 3 goals, and the first half against Brazil, where we gave up 2. My running tally is

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-78014063695136694312009-06-12T18:07:00.001-05:002009-06-12T18:09:40.179-05:00

What must it be like for Eddie, now that his brother is clearly funnier than he is?

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-42866702266877127232009-06-03T23:22:00.002-05:002009-06-03T23:47:25.012-05:00

In hockey, when two guys are going to fight, they typically skate around and at the point where they are within arm's distance of each other, they'll grab the other guy's sweater and try to pull it over his head so he can't see anything. Then, the beating begins. I feel like the 3-1 loss to Costa Rica tonight was a lot like that. Except in this case, the Costa Rican goon grabbed our sweater

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-58945306313456919222009-06-03T20:36:00.002-05:002009-06-03T20:58:23.299-05:00

I promise to never, ever, bring any insight to the world's game. That is my solemn vow.I will talk about tonight's game anyway. First, I love the fact that Alexi Lalas just made some snide comment about MLS being a league where a couple of victories will put you to the top of the table since everyone's so equal. I'd like to know how Lalas knows that - are we to believe that as a GM, he watched

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-13627796369445506172009-06-03T20:31:00.002-05:002009-06-03T20:35:55.532-05:00

I meant well...honest. And since at this point, I'm talking to myself, that seems like a good time to start again.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-28509453838746514332008-07-07T11:38:00.002-05:002008-07-07T11:43:24.303-05:00

Ah, the turn of the new year - it's always a time of reflection, gazing wistfully at what's happened in the last 365 days. Too bad it's already July of the next year, but I just found this today, so give me a break... .

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-40943995552671266912007-05-21T09:02:00.001-05:002007-05-21T09:16:29.374-05:00

Bob Bradley has been (finally) named the real-live U.S. national team coach, and I'm happy about it. Yeah, when we swung and missed on getting Jurgen Klinsmann I was upset and I wasn't happy with the initial appointment of Bradley as the interim coach. But that wasn't really a knock on Bradley, it was frustration at the long, drawn-out process that was occurring that seemed to be going nowhere.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-41720245823271065942007-04-26T16:13:00.001-05:002007-04-26T16:13:21.513-05:00

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-31114874920982916882007-04-19T20:05:00.000-05:002007-04-19T20:18:48.738-05:00

Continuing with the things about MLS that I'm excited about, I present Landon Donovan's recent hat-trick against Ecuador:If Donovan plays league games with the confidence that he's been showing in national team games this year, the LA Galaxy will be a very good team long before Mr. Beckham arrives. He can go a long way toward making people forget about his horrible World Cup and help us all to

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-88879584100076341922007-04-18T22:54:00.000-05:002007-04-19T08:10:55.186-05:00

The sad thing about the Chair's lack of posts is that there is so much stuff happening with soccer in the U.S., in terms of MLS (that's Major League Soccer), the U.S. team, etc. In other words, it's not for a lack of material.I'll just go ahead and say that since the Chair was causing people at the other blog not to comment, I will try to calm the situation.Here's the cool thing about MLS this

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-64926295694516289482007-02-10T11:51:00.000-06:002007-02-07T23:29:17.468-06:00

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-9860954332474081422007-02-07T23:28:00.000-06:002007-02-07T16:13:01.120-06:00

DOS A CERO! (clap clap clap-clap-clap)DOS A CERO! (clap clap clap-clap-clap)DOS A CERO! (clap clap clap-clap-clap)Eat it, Tricolor!

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-29175982975972091012007-02-07T15:37:00.000-06:002007-02-07T16:13:01.746-06:00

The Quest involves finding a place to watch the U.S. vs. Mexico match tonight. The problem, naturally, is that (a) I don't have cable, and (b) no one that I hang around cares about the sport, therefore I can't go to someone's place and watch. One of these days, I'm going to talk about the U.S. vs. Denmark game that I actually attended...

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-67857790555735566392007-01-07T22:26:00.000-06:002007-01-07T23:05:16.130-06:00

Just two weeks from my first foray into the Home Depot Center in L.A., where I'll see the US team play Denmark. Even though I was definitely upset at the loss of Klinsmann as the potential coach, that frustration faded fairly quickly. I'm interested to see what Bob Bradley will do over the next several months as the 'interim' manager, particularly excited to see what young players will step into

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-2862858741126046112007-01-05T10:29:00.000-06:002007-01-05T10:32:01.814-06:00

DaMarcus Beasley's first Premiership goal...let's hope he stays in the first 11 at Manchester City.Oh, one more thing - he's kind of fast.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-12326461731690081782006-12-07T20:08:00.000-06:002006-12-07T20:28:52.911-06:00

Jurgen Klinsmann removed his name from consideration for the US job, apparently over disagreements on how much autonomy he would have in the position.Bob Bradley, currently coach of Chivas USA in Major League Soccer, is going to be the 'interim coach' for 6 months and the search will supposedly continue at that point.To use a British phrase, I'm absolutely gutted. Here's an analogy for you:

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-68052345936626491462006-12-07T15:04:00.000-06:002006-12-07T15:10:15.908-06:00

(a.k.a., blatantly stolen from The Onion)Sports Fan On The StreetOn German Jurgen Klinsmann, The 1990 World Cup Champion, Being Hired To Coach Team USA: "All I'm saying is that one-loss Michigan deserves to go to that game a hell of a lot more than one-loss Florida."(Sadly, that hire hasn't actually happened yet, though there are rumors that it's a done deal. But I found this very funny.)

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-12015696183869916552006-12-06T13:25:00.000-06:002006-12-06T13:50:13.915-06:00

I've been REALLY lax in keeping up with the Chronicles here. Even more alarming (!!) is that there's been a lot of activity in the whirled o' sports that I haven't commented on, and I know you've been waiting.So here goes:Speaking of waiting, we're all waiting on U.S. Soccer to announce the new coach. The team hasn't played since we lost to Ghana on June-something and it's a tad bit annoying.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-58491667478295734282006-11-07T08:15:00.000-06:002006-11-07T08:17:58.856-06:00

Hey, Jay Jackson's back on the team! I had heard that there was about a week or so period that was critical to getting his stuff together and apparently, he did what was necessary and is back with the Red Raiders. Hooray for us! And so much for the 'other guys will get that playing time' theory that crackpots have been talking about.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-28793554971751473452006-11-01T08:16:00.000-06:002006-11-03T15:20:51.848-06:00

First, the bad news:As I was checking my trusty Red Raider basketball news this morning online, I found that Bob Knight has kicked our best player off the team for academic reasons. Jay Jackson was a pre-season All-Big 12 selection and by far our best player last year. Of course, this could be a very good thing. First, as if anyone needed proof of it, Bob Knight takes the whole "student

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-423096379395640842006-10-25T11:17:00.000-05:002006-10-25T14:28:24.554-05:00

A couple of sports items on the brain:I don't have a good feel of how the Tech-UT game will go this weekend. I know we'll lose, but I'm hoping for some Lubbock magic to make it close. I'm sure we've already taken care of paying the officials to keep things interesting during the game. I'm already losing interest in the college football season and looking forward to college basketball. I think

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-15315825980587301492006-10-19T23:17:00.000-05:002006-10-19T23:35:23.843-05:00

Dazzling!For the convenience of all involved (me), I've added some feeds to my favorite soccer websites over to our right (don't look now, they'll know I'm talking about them), so I hope it will suck you in to the gloriousness of the world's game.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1154700872152646632006-08-04T09:13:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:40.367-05:00

Eddie Pope retires from international soccer

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1153950007267388722006-07-26T16:39:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:40.296-05:00

Brian McBride retires from international soccer.Hey Landon, when you want to see what heart is, give Brian a call.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1153250204672916492006-07-18T14:07:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:40.226-05:00

I think I said that right. So Il Bruce is now the coach of the Red Bulls. I was hoping that he'd latch on with some Euro club, but Red Bull New York couldn't have done any better for themselves. They are a club that is in a big mess, though, and their ownership has shown that they are severely impatient, so it will be interesting. If they give Bruce some time, in a couple of years they will

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152913100618080862006-07-14T16:37:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:40.160-05:00

Bruce Arena's contract will not be renewed...

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152717563992121392006-07-12T09:51:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:40.025-05:00

Jurgen Klinsmann stepping down as Germany's coach. Which means that he'll be our coach by the end of the year. TEE HEE!So here's my theory about why I am the person to thank for this development: During World Cup 1994, I went to the Germany vs. South Korea match in Dallas, which was quite exciting. The Germans were up 3-0 at the half in what looked like a laugher of a game. The Koreans

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152629971931442782006-07-11T08:58:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.950-05:00

Alas, the World Cup is over, and just to make it all a little more dramatic, I went to Time Warner and gave them their cable box and modem back. Why do I need the internet or cable channels at home when there's no more glorious international futbol for a while? As for our team, the problem in our region is that there aren't any tournaments like the Euro Championships which happens in 2008.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152497303889261642006-07-09T21:03:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.860-05:00

Well, the Italians won on penalties, and thus endeth World Cup 2006. Sadly, the presentation of the actual trophy was marred when a presenter shook an Italian player's hand and the player dove to the ground, rolled over for 10 yards, and grabbed his head like he'd been shot in the face by a cannon. The ref sent the presenter off with a red card.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152473538348661512006-07-09T14:11:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.775-05:00

1-1 at the half, and the second half is just underway. In the first couple of minutes, there have already been two legit scoring chances, one for each side. What a fun match.Here's the problem with being a bunch of diving wusses, which is what the Italians are. First of all, when you actually really get knocked down for real, you fall like a normal human being, so we know that all the rest of

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152472047620251132006-07-09T13:42:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.673-05:00

The Orange Chair is happily watching the final, yet it is really upset with me at the same time. I've made it suffer through the American broadcasts in all of the other games. At the beginning, I was fine with the main broadcast team on ABC/ESPN. Now? Not so much, and I finally figured out why I don't like it. The play-by-play was just like a baseball game, and that's totally ridiculous.See,

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152109236970253222006-07-05T09:04:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.574-05:00

Italy 2, Germany 0. Amazing, considering that with about 2 minutes left in the match, it was 0-0. All throughout the 30 minutes of extra time, this one had 'penalty shootout' written all over it, but Italy held the eraser. (Yeah, I know.) The Italians deserved the victory, as they took some great shots in the extra time before they collected the 2 goals at the end. God, if you care about the

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1152028926773859942006-07-04T10:13:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.476-05:00

but I've been watching.The obvious surprise of the last couple of games has been France. They completely outclassed Spain and Brazil. I don't know how many they ended up with, but Brazil didn't even have a shot on goal for the vast majority of the match. France completely dominated them. We never saw Brazil really reach their potential throughout the World Cup, but it's still a surprise that

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1151345563269838662006-06-26T13:10:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.397-05:00

Just watched the very end of the Italy vs. Australia match at lunch, and although they were a man down for about 35 minutes, Italy managed to get a penalty called in the last minute of stoppage time to move on 1-0. The Aussies were heartbroken. If Australia had been able to push it to the 30 minute extra time, surely they would have had the upper hand.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1151331832157096282006-06-26T08:50:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.294-05:00

I watched all of the games over the weekend, and here's my extensive, highly uneducated report:1. Germany vs. Sweden - Dang, the Germans beat the snot out of the Swedes. Even when Sweden had a penalty kick because one of their guys flopped in the box, justice was served when Larsson shanked it high. The Germans used to be known for playing a plodding, defensive style, and now their games are

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1151167243003709422006-06-24T11:16:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.214-05:00

Here's my list of American players who need to get the heck out of MLS and over to a challenging league in Europe this minute. I'm going to focus on players who would still likely be good options for the 2010 team. I'll start with players on this U.S. team that's going home way too early:(in no particular order)1. Eddie Johnson, Kansas City Wizards - great talent, needs severe day-to-day

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1151164447961783472006-06-24T10:35:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.131-05:00

The Italian defender who decked Brian McBride picked up a 4 game suspension from FIFA. That means that Italy has to make the final in order for him to be eligible to play again. Even if they do make it that far, there's no way he'd start a match for them after being out for so long. And considering the fact that the Italian press and fans have apparently been calling for his head anyway,

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1151119574120870952006-06-23T20:15:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:39.026-05:00

I'm going to have to break this one down into smaller bite-sized pieces because I've got a lot of ground to cover here. A preview:1. The Chair is back in action (mostly)2. Goodbye, good night3. Donovan ain't Sunshine Superman4. Arena BallHere goes:Long Live The ChairThe Chair has changed locations, and it is good. It has access to soccer programming of all sorts.(Okay, so this section

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150993395386418972006-06-22T11:22:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.559-05:00

The chair is pissed off and will need some time to think about things before putting in a full post.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150916712256156352006-06-21T13:41:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.481-05:00

I missed a day, but frankly, yesterday's games were relatively ho-hum. Of course, I've also been in the process of packing for several days, and last night was another productive day of that nonsense. I didn't really even have time to watch the only match that I was really interested in, that being England - Sweden, which ended in a 2-2 tie after both teams scored very late to make it look like

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150725530047751852006-06-19T08:45:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.410-05:00

Here's what Lippi, the Italian manager, is saying about Daniele de Rossi, his midfielder who was red-carded for his horrible elbow to the face of U.S. forward Brian McBride:"I have left him to boil in his own soup," said Lippi. "He is a fantastic guy, but he must change his computer chip."The Italian players have apparently been highly critical of their teammate and there's 'pressure' by the

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150692291730695302006-06-18T23:19:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.338-05:00

at the end of Thursday:I'm going to go back 6 months here, but first a brief explanation. The World Cup schedule is created by the formation of 8 groups of 4. 8 teams are deemed "seeded" teams, and they are placed in each of the groups. There is a lot of mystery and controversy in the methods used to determine the 8 seeded teams. See, the benefit of being seeded is that you are less likely to

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150690529369624822006-06-18T23:07:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.272-05:00

Other than the U.S. Soccer website (see last entry), the best stuff I've found online about the tournament is a daily article/blog by Michael Davies on espn.com.How can you not love a guy who rates players' performances by what type of pants they deserve? I don't know what Mr. Davies has against pants (I'm sure it's just some British thing), but it's absolutely hilarious.Here's the link to the

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150689618908978942006-06-18T21:56:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.204-05:00

Brazil had some really good moments in their 2-0 win over Australia. They need to replace Ronaldo in the starting 11, though. As soon as he left the field, you could see them at their finest. They are amazing to watch when they have everything working...I'm becoming a fan of those guys. They are so good.The France vs. South Korea match was interesting for a few reasons. France scored its

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150642537108512652006-06-18T09:06:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:37.142-05:00

The first game of the day is Croatia vs. Japan. Given their uniforms (see earlier writing gems), I will refer to Croatia as The Fried Okra (TFO). It's been a match of close calls and great saves. The Japanese keeper stopped a flying Okra penalty shot, another shot ricocheted off of the crossbar, and the Okra keeper has made a couple of nice saves as well.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150590237670902852006-06-17T18:46:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.867-05:00

What a great game for the U.S. Let's talk about it, shall we?Within the first minute, you could clearly see that this wasn't the team that looked tentative, passive, and whatever else against the Czechs the other day. We completely outplayed the Italians for the first 25 minutes of the match, until one of their guys was given a straight red card for being a jackass and intentionally elbowing

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150567027123874132006-06-17T12:43:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.809-05:00

Ghana just slammed in a goal in the 82nd minute. Dang, there's some partyin' going on Ghana, baby.By the way, someone needs to inform JP Dellacamara (the play-by-play guy on this match) that Freddy Adu can't still play for Ghana and that he HAS had a cap for the U.S. So can you get on that for me? It's annoying that he doesn't already know that, since he has broadcast his share of U.S. matches

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150566161621173122006-06-17T12:27:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.752-05:00

It's the 68th minute of this match, and it's pretty exciting. First of all, Ghana is a huge underdog in this one, and based on each team's first game, you'd think that the Czechs would slaughter Ghana. But, just like another favorite sporting event of mine, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the World Cup can be very unpredictable. Ghana is up 1-0 on a goal that they scored just after one

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150558352639760482006-06-17T09:46:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.690-05:00

That's what ESPN is calling today. I guess it's a day of repentance and genuflecting. I'm impressed that a sports network is concerned with our spiritual well-being. You should be, too. In fact, I think it would be a good time to sit down and write ESPN a thank-you note.I watched the first 20-25 minutes of the Portugal-Iran match before doing some fast-forwarding through it. Portugal started

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150407968473976262006-06-15T16:39:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.628-05:00

Good reporting again from The Onion about our loss the other day. They really have their finger on the pulse of America. :-)

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150327343495492482006-06-14T18:14:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.564-05:00

Germany vs. PolandHmmm, I wonder if there would be any bad blood between these two? I can't see why there would be.Say, does a name get any more German than Bastian Schweinsteiger?Fool that I am, I just went to the FIFA World Cup website and saw the score of this match, even though I'm sitting here watching the 53rd minute. Whoopsie. Oh well, not surprised that the Germans pull this one out.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150300814647115572006-06-14T10:57:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.490-05:00

The aforementioned Croatian uniform. Do y'all want mashed potatoes and corn on the cob with that?

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150245314244553962006-06-13T18:41:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.393-05:00

Okay, I've calmed down. A little.The team played like total crap. But, things will change on Saturday against Italy. The lineup will change, I'm confident that the attitude/energy will change, and the result will change. I just saw a clip of Bruce Arena during the match yelling at someone to go forward. That was certainly something we all were yelling.Don't get me wrong, when I say the

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150156836065923892006-06-12T18:48:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.325-05:00

Apparently the U.S. team didn't feel it necessary to actually show up for the game today. The Czechs kicked our asses 3-0. And to think I waited all day for that crap.There were other games today...Australia scored 3 goals in the last 10 minutes to beat Japan 3-1. But so what.The orange chair is not happy.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150133863484560322006-06-12T12:26:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.264-05:00

Okay, so my plan has been to watch the U.S. game after work over at Sean's place. I was originally going to watch it in the model home next to my office, but I was asked to attend the company sales meeting this morning. Oh, the key to this plan is not to find out ANYTHING about the game before tonight. Of course, most people couldn't care less about the World Cup, so I don't expect to

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150118577075232492006-06-12T08:19:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.205-05:00

I told you I was needing to find a picture of Manuel Loco, the defender from Angola. Now you know why.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150071097093136792006-06-11T18:36:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.140-05:00

The U.S. opens up the quest tomorrow morning. Unfortunately I won't be watching it while it happens, and I'll have to avoid any news of the match until I can watch it after work.I'm really trying hard to figure out what our lineup will look like. Bruce Arena, the U.S. Manager, has suggested that there will be 'surprises' as far as that goes. I think all sorts of things are possible. I don't

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150065998020614612006-06-11T17:33:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:36.002-05:00

Portugal vs. AngolaIn yet another interesting political matchup, we've got Portugal and Angola. Like I've said (and will say again), one really interesting thing about the Cup is that you learn a lot about these countries. I didn't know that Angola had long been a colony of Portugal, and apparently the relationship hasn't been lovey-dovey. In fact, the last time they played, which was in 2001,

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150065209328048052006-06-11T17:24:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.943-05:00

Well, Mexico took care of business against Iran with a 3-1 win. It was fitting, they deserved the win, but I just hate seeing them win. Of course, it was a bit of poetic justice. With the Iranian president/lunatic saying recently that the Holocaust didn't happen, it was appropriate that they were defeated in Nuremburg today.

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150047270984719602006-06-11T11:34:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.874-05:00

Okay, so I'm going to watch the Iran-Mexico match in a little while. I hate the Mexican team. Yes, hate. Let me be clear: I like Mexico, I like Mexicans, I hate their team. They are the Americans' most bitter rival, and not just on the field. Their players talk crap about our guys. They've made comments about the mothers of players on our team...you know, really classy stuff. Even when we

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150043588953314402006-06-11T11:18:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.814-05:00

The Netherlands vs. Serbia-MontenegroOne of the great things about the World Cup is that you learn a lot about the countries represented. For example, I just learned that Serbia-Montenegro is no longer Serbia-Montenegro. Montenegro just last month has chosen to separate from Serbia, so there won't be any Serbia-Montenegro from now on. Considering that Montenegro only supplied 2 of the players

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150042496313401292006-06-11T11:11:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.756-05:00

Trinidad & Tobago - SwedenOkay, this was clearly the match of the day. I know that when you think of T & T, you think of sports domination, but in actuality, they are the smallest country to ever get in the World Cup (about 1.4 million population), and this was truly a David vs. Goliath matchup. Sweden is an excellent team with players who play for the best club teams in the world. You know where

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150041756659427632006-06-11T10:48:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.698-05:00

England - ParaguayThe best thing about this generally boring game was that one of the Paraguay defenders, who had called David Beckham "a coward" for the way that he plays, was the guy who actually headed in the goal for England...off of a free kick that Beckham had rocketed toward the goal. It's fun when loudmouths get their comeuppance, isn't it? Hilarious. England wins 1-0.Argentina - Ivory

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150039899009855682006-06-11T10:12:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.631-05:00

A bit of disclosure here: I'm writing this on Day 3, not Day 1. Please don't think any less of me.Opening Match - Germany vs. Costa RicaThe host country played a bit sloppy in the back of their formation, giving up 2 goals to Los Ticos' Paulo Wanchope (who is at least 75 years old), but the normally conservative-playing Germans have become a lot more offensive in style, and managed to knock 4

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29554315.post-1150035566982232182006-06-11T08:56:00.000-05:002006-10-12T09:26:35.565-05:00

It's World Cup 2006 time, and I'm watching at least a part of every single game, thanks to my handy DVR. This is the first World Cup that I've watched like this.I've only caught a few games here and there over the years, with my first exposure being watching the Germany - South Korea match at the Cotton Bowl in 1994. I remember being blown away by the atmosphere there, both the Germans and

Toddzillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15976977898612208504noreply@blogger.com0