Weekend Review? man of the week

USA 0-Slovakia 1
Just a terrible played by the United States. No vision or creativity by the coach or the players. It looked like the frustrating US of old, slow and stubborn. 4-4-2 didnt work, not even once, We should have pushed Dempsey up as a support striker/center attacking mid and played 3 central midfielders(4-3-1-2). It makes me think that the United States are winning despite Bob Bradley's coaching, but im not going to hit the panic button. We were without Donavon and Davies and will be without them tomorrow for Denmark but in saying that we still should have a better showing tomorrow vs Denmark.

Italy 0- Holland 0
Not much to say, the only thing that I have learn is that Rossi should be starting.(Oh and Pirlo tries so much harder for Italy then Milan)

Ok I forgot to do the Man of the week yesterday but suck it, i'm putting it up today
As much as I love Brandon Jennings(On a side note 38% of people still think that him going to Europe was bad idea. Why? so he could be taken advantage of in college, making only money for the school instead of making 1.5 million for himself and getting to live in rome? yea terrible idea.)
BUT! the Man of the Week is.............drum roll..............
MANNY PACQUIAO
he just man-handled Cotto (who is a very respectable fighter) and now he is the first boxer to win seven world titles in seven different weight classes. This is just flat out amazing, I mean I am 5' 6" and I look nothing like that, well maybe just a little bit like that. But Manny is just flat out one of the best boxers of all time and his next fight, hopefully vs Mayweather, I'm gonna drop 70 dollars on.

Week 10/World Cup Qualifiers

My week 10 picks!( i need a new pair of shoes, no really, I need a new pair of shoes, my running shoes are in really bad shape and winning my office pool would be really great)
San Fran over Chicago- I might pick against chicago the rest of the way(oh and i got it right, I promise)
Tenn. over Buffalo-Vince Young is a winner and Chris Johnson is a stud-muffin
NO over St.louis-St.louis is terrible
Miami over TB-Miami could be one of the best 3-5 teams in history
Minn. over Detroit-as much as i would wish harm upon Jared Allen, Detroit is terrible
NYJ over Jax- Ugh jets have burned me so much this year, so i can pick against them
Cinncy over Pitt-Come on cinncy, Who de? who de? we dey!
Denver over Wash.-washington is terrible
Carolina over atlanta-Atlanta has been getting lucky, Deangleo is just a man
Dallas over GB-GB's o-line v D.Ware, nuff said
Ari over Seattle-Ari will start to roll
SD over Philly-Andy Reid.......
NE over Indy-Tom Brady, Well more then that, Belichick vs a first year coach on the colts
Balt. over Cleveland -Cleveland is terrible.

WCQ(just the knock out games)
Costa Rica-Uruguay-URUGUAY, just a better team, Costa Rica are overachievers
Russia-Slovenia-RUSSIA, Guus is great
Ireland-France-sorry i want the irish but FRANCE
Greece-Ukraine-its waaayyyyy to cold in the Ukraine, UKRANIE
Portugal-Bosnia-Herzegovina-complete toss-up, heads portugal, tails Bosnia, Heads-PORTUGAL

Ugh, rough week

This week as been so frustrating with me(I blame it on friday 13th, broken Ipod, broken itunes, and hurt foot)and sports arent really helping me one bit.

The Detroit Tigers are considering trading Curtis Granderson, can we just stop and think about that for a second.....ok enough. Granderson(if traded) is most likely to go to Cubs or...sigh...the Yankees. I know we(tigers) to get rid of some salary but really Granderson at 5 million is on the table. Cause Granderson is not a guy you want around when you are rebuilding, no, he was only the Man of the Year in the MLB this year. I dunno maybe we can just have Miguel Caberea led the team(to the bar). If we do this trade, i'm not watching baseball next year.


Jared Allen(know detroit hater)-I just cannot stand him, now he is talking about mullets and how great they are, please lions win or you know what, even better just hurt Jared Allen

my week 10 picks coming up later today- as well as superbowl and maybe alittle Nba action.

Detroit Pistons 2010

I have never been a big fan of Joe D ever since the trade of Darko( It probably was the correct move tho, and I fault Larry Brown for Darko's lack of development) but I have to say he might be moving in the right direction with the team(i hope).

The Nba salary cap is currently at 57.7 million dollars, the pistons current salary is at 58 million and next year is predicted(subject to to change) 49 million. This does not look good but I promise you there is some hope to be found.

Tayshuan Prince and Jason Maxiell will not be on the pistons roster next year, if we want a big name free agent. If Prince and Maxiell are traded that would free up 16 million dollars next year, taking the pistons cap down from 49 million to 36 million, giving the pistons around 20 million in cap space.

Now with that 20 million in cap space Joe D will(hopefully) go after a big man that scores in the paint. The top 3 in my mind are Chris Bosh(currently making 15 mil), Amare Stoudemire (16 mil) and Carlos Boozer (12 Mil) in that order. And we should sign one of these guys(please not boozer) and I feel that Joe D will.

So this is what are 2010 Detroit Pistons line up should be
Stuckey-Hamilton-Jerebko-Villanueva-Bosh
Bench: Gordon, Daye, Bynum and hopefully another big man

Ps: I'm falling in love with Brandon Jennings, so I will have some posts about him and how the bucks should be alot better then they are.

Weekends cost me too much money/ MAN!

Ron Burgundy was so right, go fuck yourself San Diego, you cost me 45 dollars. another week another loss. I think im gonna start saving 10 bucks a week to try and cover my losses. I just need to to stay warm like this and starting playing golf and tennis with people that will bet, so who wants to play? $10 per hole/set.

I think every monday I am going to name the Man/badass of the week and this guy clearly wins

he take the time to get dress, looking all fashionable, but then he sees he was going to be late to the game so he grabs his toothbrush and kills two birds with one stone. Keeping those teeth clean and watch Man u lose.

speaking about Man U(speaking about an awesome segueway) Chelsea took them down getting a 5 point lead. But, I'm starting to get a feeling that it may be Arsenal year, but then again, everyone gets that feeling this time of year, its kind of like a cold, eventually it will clear up with time.

ROMA-THANK GOD, if we would have lost this game it could have been the beginning of the end of the hopes for any kind of European action next year. Hopefully De Rossi is back in two weeks, only missing the Bari match(i think). But on a positive Mexas is just a man!(second this week only to the tooth brush guy) and MENEZ! Menez played amazing and im gonna give it up to him.

Liverpool(aquliani EPL debut) v B'ham in about 25 mins, i dont care really, go B'ham tho(cant stand L'pool) and maybe if liverpool keep falling Aquliani will make his way back to roma.

Week 9

YAY for blogging before the sundays games: my week 9 picks
Seattle over detroit (detroit is terrible)
Jacksonville over KC ( toss up, put i'm going with MJD)
Baltimore over Cincy (Balt. is gonna start to role)
Indy over Houston (ugh kinda regreting this pick, but i picked it on wed, so i should get a pass haha)
atlanta over washington(washington is terrible)
Gb over TB(Tb is terrible)
Arizona over Chicago(chicago coaching is just sub-par, i never feel confidnet that they are going play well)
NE over Miami(tom brady=dreamy)
N.O over carolina(I'm hoping NO doesnt have a let down game)
San Fran over Tenn. (come on alex smith, i've always loved you!)
NYG over SD(SD going east, NYG win)
Philly over Dallas(waiting for a sub-par dallas to play like they did early in the season)
Pitt over Denver(Denver struggled against a big play D, and will struggle again this week)


I love this girls so much, I would date anyone of these bad ass bitches

Big games today(currently watching Hull v Stoke, coming jozy!)
Inter-Roma-ugh ugh ugh, this is roma turning point, i like when Milan beat Roma, cause if this is not our turning point then I feel that it will be are tale spin. FORZA ROMA

ah oh well

So yea I didnt put up my picks last week but all you imaginary readers can suck it
week 8
Denver-Balti----Baltimore---right
Houston-Buffalo--Hous---Right
Chi-Cleveland-Chi---right
Seattle-Dallas---Seattle-wrong
st.louis- detroit--detroit-wrong
indy-san fran--indy--right
Miami-NYJ---miami--right
Nyg-Philly---NYG--wrong
Oak-SD---SD---right
Jax-Tenn---jax--wrong (and i could have sworn that i picked tenn.)
Minn-GB---GB---wrong
Carloina-Ari---ari---wrong
Atlanta-NO---No--right
7-6 ugh terrible but im still 78-38(?) over all i think but I can seem to just get a big week and win my pool and i need to win, daddy a new pair of shoes

another blog to follow later

NFL/World Series

Ugh.......So lets take a look at my picks for my pool.
There were six 1 o'clock game starts and i went and got all of them right!
then i went on to get the rest of sundays picks wrong. Ugh Ugh, its moments like this that make me hate gambling, well until today of course. Today I put my money down on week 8's picks. But I going to make people wait till friday to post them(joke. I know no one is reading)

I watch Nasa finally launch that damn rocket and it was pretty damn cool. Usually I hate the space program, believe you me, I hate it so much, we can go to the moon but cant even go to the bottom of the ocean. and theres nothing even on the moon, just a bunch of bad cheese. But I will admit this rocket launch was really cool and understand why we still mess around with the space program, its all about prestige.

On to the World Series, Everyone that knows me, knows that I hate pretty much everything to do with Philly and so I going to have a really hard time trying to look at this objectively. But the reason I have to pick the Yankees in 6(please god, do not let Joe Girardi screw me on this) I still think, along with many others, that that AL is just plan better then the NL. Just take a look at Brad Penny playing in the AL and then the switch over to the NL that made him look like Cy Young. So on the basis's that the NL plays softball, Yankees in 6
(Oh and I'm probably more excited about Jay-Z before the game then I am for the game)

Oh and the Pistons have their first game tonight in Memphis.......Thats all I really have to say. (well also just need to push my prediction of Toronto being a good team this year, say 4th in the east?)

Forza Roma(game just kicked off)

UGH.....Roma

Roma 0-1 Livorno
I mean that is really should say it all. People can try and come up with excuses, Livorno aren't going to go winless all seasons, they were bound to break their losing streak sometime, they have a new manager and are experiencing their honeymoon period, no, that is complete bullshit.
Roma, just as of 2008, beat real madrid in the champions league and now we can't even beat livorno at home? really?
I'm sorry the only time, the only time, it might be, might be ok to lose to a newly promoted team at home is if you already have the title locked up in say the 35th round other then that it is complete unacceptable.

Roma are playing waaaaay to lazy, I keep trying to defend Roma and Serie A for their slow style of play, but after the Livorno game, I can no longer say that this is a style of play that can win games, let alone trophies.

I read the Castle di Sangro, and in the book the manager, Jaconi, he did not like foreign players, saying that they would take them too long to learn the system of Serie B(ok, we know this not to be true, Serie B tactics are about a complex as paris hilton). But Jaconi also thought that they did not have the character or toughness and this maybe be true in roma's case.

Ok, not for all foreign players on Roma but maybe for just a few, because I happen to like Faty and Riise, but the two players I have found to be leaving something to be desired from them, Menez and Vucinic.
I hate to say it about Vucinic, I think he is a player of great talent, but he needs to grow up and stop pouting, he misses a chance and its the end of the world, instead of pushing it out of his mind and getting stuck in.
Menez, what to say about Menez. I was never particular fond of him when he came over from monaco last year, frankly, he just dives too much. But this year, he has shown some real talent and promise, the only problem is that he does not seem to care.

I call these players out with the contrast being Stefano Guberti, a player who came on the field sunday and tried as hard as he could to make an impact on the game. But on the same note, not all foregin players did not play their best, Faty and Riise gave their best.

What should Roma do? well the only idea I have to break out of this God awful slump is the play players not on talent but on their hard work, their hustle and the wanting to play well.

NFL Week 7

Ok I promise that this isn't a NFL blog.
But in saying that I gonna give you my week 7 picks

San Diego- KC
KC is pretty terrible, maybe able to make this a game early on, but there is no doubt of this one
San Diego

Indy-St Louis
This game is just awful.
Indy

Cinny-Chicago
ok well i picked Chicago but im having some reservations but Cuter and Forte have to have one good game together and hopefully the chicago proves me wrong and show some competence.
Chicago

Green Bay-Cleveland
another ridiculous game, the gap in the NFL is almost as bad as the rich poor gap in China,
Green Bay

Minn.- Pitt
This is will be the first lost for Minn., Farve in an outdoor game facing a decent D, but a D with Big play opportunity, especially with Polamalu coming back.

NE-TB
the only interesting thing about this game is it is in London
NE

Houston-San Fran
San Fran showed week 5 that they can give up the big play,Houston will finally win back to back games
Houston

NYJ-Oakland
Well well well, i guess people spoke to soon(me included) Mark Sanchize is definitely a rookie and my man love for Nnamdi Asomugha knows no bounds
Oakland

Carolina-Buffalo
ugh awful, just awful, Buffalo cant stop anyone on the ground, and they almost lost to a team were the QB Mark Sanchize threw 5 Ints, that gives hope for Jake Dehlomma(i dont care about spelling his name right, I'll spell his name right when he doesnt suck)
Carolina

NO-Miami
come on wildcat! I think that NO will be the classic case of better team off a big win losing to a team that they should beat
Miami

Dallas-Atlanta
Dallas is bad and banged up, Atlanta really should have lost last week but so it goes, Micheal Turner has a big week
ATL

NYG-Arizona
well this could be an INT-fest(depending on the weather) if there is crazy wind, which neither Warner nor Eli Manning can pass in it well, So I'll take NYG, better D
NYG

Philly-Washington
So we learned today Jim Zorn will keep his job till the end of the year....they are trying to get the No #1 pick, actually not a bad idea
Philly

Fuck you midterm let me blog!

Ok so i finally finished all my midterms and can get this blog up.

Oh and I would like to thank Autumn for finally showing up the day after I tape up my windows, thanks.

On the the NFL: I think its time we look at players such as Orton and Cedric Benson and take the blame off of them for their bad playing in Chicago and look at Lovie Smith and the Coaching staff. Take a look a Cutler and Forte this year, not impressive at all, Cutler has 7 ints and Forte is averaging only 58 yards a game in 5 games this year.(ok maybe Cutler isnt playing that bad but is he just overcoming a bad team/system?) Only time will tell whather or not Chicago coaching is at fault or not, but its just a thought.

I watching Everton v Benfica, it is now 4-0 Benfica 7 mins into the second half, Everton has no heart no fight and no grit and thats why they can never do anything in europe, they have an inferiority complex that they buy into and that will not be easily broken.

Well I guess me talking about the MLB playoffs is a little late, I just have not been watching much because I hated all the cities/teams in the ACLS and NCLS- but it looks like Phillies v Yanks. I hate to say this, go yanks.


I hate Philly so much and this only adds to it, I mean the fans are just awful, awful people and then they get a chance at redemption and running with a situation that could be hilarious but no they cower away like a group of 13 year olds. what a missed chance.

Well im off to class, going to have to avoid the score of the Fulham v Roma game, I am the king of ruining games that I tape. This actually should be a good game, I hate to say it, without Totti, Roma and Fulham are almost equal.

terrible sports weekend

ugh, of course, the first three weeks of the season i dont bet on the games, i get so many picks right, and now that im putting money on it, well thats another story.

Just looking at week 6, Buffalo, Oakland and Atlanta can go to hell. Well maybe not Atlanta, but definitely Oakland and Buffalo.

Buffalo losing to a team the scores 6 points with the opposing QB going 2 for 17 and then they beat the Jets, it seems the honeymoon is over for Rex Ryan.

And Oakland, Oakland? Russell and Cable? yup they beat Mcnabb and Andy Reid.

Andy Reid is extremely overrated as a coach, a coach that can get you their but can't win the big games, or maybe now not even the small ones, but what do you expect when you only run the ball 14 times?!

And then Roma lose to Milan....... yup Milan, I dont care what Milan did in the past they are just plan awful this year. But thats what happens when you dont finish your chances.

Well at least I got crepes and Sushi this weekend, but just a giant fuck you to the NFL this weekend, you cost me many hours of studying and the potential of 100$

Champions league and Europa league

Champions league

can we stop and think about how good pippo inzaghi.......ok thats long enough, this guy is 36 years old and he is still lighting in up in continental play. Now with 69 goals in UEFA club competitions, just amazing for a player born in the offside position.

Nothing much else to write home about, Inter-Barca turned out to be a snore-fest but we can say we did see that coming.

A couple of my predictions look like they could already be on the rocks, my be apologizing to AC Milan, Wolfsberg, and the rest of group H.

But its still early so im gonna stand by my picks-

AC Milan is still a mess from top to bottom, inzaghi is great but you dont want to have to depend on a 36 year old striker to bail you out all the time.

Wolfsberg- just as early as the 06-07 season, they missed relegation by 3 points and dont have the same manager that led them to the Bundesliga last year, so like many German clubs, they will struggle in the CL this season.

Standard- They may have lost yesterday but nearly pulled off a miracle vs Arsenal yesterday, if the manager uses this game right, he can give confidence when they play Olympiakos or AZ, If they can almost beat Arsenal, what can they do to either of those 2 clubs?

Europa League

I'll be honest, I don't know too much about this league, and the only reason I'm following it is because AS Roma is in it this year.

But for the group stage, it pretty much goes like this, if you heard of the club, then they'll probably make it through. Or whatever country has a higher population, the better chance they have of going through.

Group B- Man I feel bad for Genoa, in a group with Valencia, Lille and Slavia Prague. Defiantly the group of death.

Other then this the only other interest thing has to be Lazio-Villarreal.

Roma plays today vs Basel, the only stories is Ranieri second game in charge and the last chance for Juilo Baptista to try and stay in Roma.

Players to watch:

Juilo Baptista-Roma

Streller-Basel

Comment on this post on what you think, and what you would like me to write about

peace

Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus

(forgive the typos, im sure there are some)

champions league real quick

With my beloved Roma not in it this year, my excitement for the tournament is definitely is at an all time low. But never the less I will try and make so predictions for the year.

Winners of Group A

Juve

Bordeaux

B

Man U

Cska Moscow

C

Real Madrid

Marseille

D

Chelsea

Porto

E

Liverpool

Lyon

F

Inter

Barca

G

Stuttgart

Sevilla

H

Arsenal

Standard

more too follow....

Oh What a weekend!!!!

Dally!The Rise of Michigan! The Nfl ! The continued terribleness of the lions! KANYE!!!!

So if you were not in midtown this Saturday, then you missed the best day of the year in Detroit, at least the best day of the year that isn't related to sports, The Dally in the Alley
Loud music, drinking, bunch of crap you dont need to buy, just an all around good time.

But getting back to reality

Michigan v Notre Dame
What a game, really epic, if it werent for the KC-Broncos, it would have been the game of the weekend in my opinion.
I think the Michigan has 6 more wins in them, so Michigan Fanatics put away the holy water Tate is good, but not that good......yet.

NFL
ok with all but 2 teams playing, i'm gonna give you my predcitons for the season( many seem like im being reactionary to what happened in week 1, but just ask Matt(guest writer) he can back up that I was talking about this before the season)
-Joe Flacco will be greatly improved

-The Stars of the 2006 Rose Bowl Game will get to start again
=Kerri Collins and Kurt Warner are both old and havent(to my knowledge) played back to back 16 game seasons in their careers

-The Lions will win one game
=its just gotta happen

Now just some observations I had, The Packers D and Giants D just look out of this World, these teams are ones to keep and eye on for the superbowl, and you have to place the Packers ahead of the Giants as a team just because of the gulf in class of the WRs

Lions
Well, really, nothing has changed since last year. We still have a team that can score a little bit against average D's but still can't stop anyone ever. But this has to be expected when we competle ignore are worse position of at least the last 3 years, The CB.
Like I said earlier, we'll win at least one game, we will beat the Browns

KANYE
oh, Kanye, how I love you.
Yes he was completely out of line and rude but 4 points
1.Without that no one would be talking about the VMA's

2. He was right

3. Swift totally bitched out, come on stand up for yourself woman

4. Didnt we fight a war that said we dont have to listen to country music anymore?

Peace

Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus

The Greatest Gift Ever Given

OK, I'll Admit it. I am freaking out at the start of Football
yea the games are entertaining and I get to rout for the home team(sort of)

But I can honestly say that if it was not for fantasy football, i could probably care-less.
Fantasy football gives people that need to compete at every aspect of life and love having meaning less self-given titles such as" the ultimate Risk or monopoly champ" or #1 at Goldeneye.
And I am proud to be one of those people, and one day when I find people to bet with on it, my life will end.

NFL are just complete geniuses to create Fantasy Football. It gives fanatics ever more of an excuses to follow the NFL and it gets causal fans such as myself, to stay home all Sunday and watch their product.

And whoever thinks the its really lame, hey im sure you do alot of meanless stuff to and if you say you dont then "you lie'!!

Haters gonna Hate

Oh What a Difference two games can make, I mean we beat the Soxs in a one game series and then win the first game of the Royal series in dramatic fashion. WOO HOO!!!! wait, wait what? it was actually a 4 game series versus the Soxs and we lost the first 3? oh, well gotta start a winning streak somewhere right?

We still cant score runs, but Washburn finally got on track, which is huge(got to have a third starter in the playoffs), and we won the game, so people are gonna complain that the Tigers didnt win by enough, But Haters gonna Hate, Let them hate and the Tigers will continue their march toward the playoffs.

Lions first preseason game tomm, and for some reason, honestly I can not tell you why, I am interested in this game and will definitely listen to it on the radio. Wanna make a bet, I think the Lions win this game!

Personally, I like the return of Big Ben( I know that Mason loves it). I mean if he can stay health are you going to try and convince me that he can't be better then Chris Wilcox or Kwame Brown, come on! And hopefully he can take a veteran role and do some mentoring to our young players. Jonas Jerebko can learn a lot from Big Ben, toughness etc. Since Jonas falls in the height range were he is not quite a PF or a SF, Ben can teach him of to play big men better( which Jonas has had trouble with in the past). Ben hopefully can be out motivator, we all know he has the work ethic, lets just hope it rubs off on the team.

And to end this on a sort of sour note, The Eagles signing of Vick is just deplorable to me . Rarely will I agree with PETA but they put it best...http://ow.ly/k39M

Detroit For Life

Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus

So I'll stop being lazy and write, thank Porcello

MAN! I think all Tigers Fan have a new favorite player( well alright, I will always love Granderson), but Porcello dropping Youks was the B.A. moment of the day. Youks did his best impression of Oddjob but Porcello was not intimidated and took Shrek down!

Moving on, if you can even move on from that, there is nothing like playing a team such as Boston. When I actually want to watch, really watch the whole game, instead of flipping back and fourth between monsterquest and the game.

But now back the reality of UFC...umm i mean MLB, Tigers probably couldn't have caught the Red Sox at a worse time, coming home after losing 6 straight(4 to the Yanks), they were bound to break this streak and they have sometime and it just happened to be against us. We really need to take these next two but more realistically lets take one and for the love of god get back to comerica park

Tigers are only 2 games up on the White Soxs, and they just acquired Alex Rios. And yes I know that his numbers have been going down the last 2 years and this year more then ever. BUT! Its a rallying point more then anything for the White Soxs. They want Alex Rios to be their Manny, but in more of a symbolic way then a productive way. Hopefully, Rios will be a bust and hurt the Soxs chances of winning for years down the road with the giant contract, and if he is good, well then we can just send Porcello to go take him out

And We really just need to manage until we get to mid to late August, when some thing like 13 of our last 26 games are either Vs the Twins or White Soxs, the home games are some must attend baseball, well there goes my prospects of saving money, should i just make the check out to Mr. Illtch?

When the mouse ate the cat

The Confederation Cup run was very special for the United States

Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a very patriotic person, usually drawing on my Italian roots before anything else. I prefer being like the ancient Romans and having two home towns -- the town where you were born and Rome (whatever that is so cool and I'm still going to do that).

This tournament has changed the way I follow international soccer. Even at the beginning of this tourny I routed for Italy over the United States, but not any more. I will still route for Italy but United States will always trump if they ever play each other. Italy has won before, but the game is much more then that, it is a religion. Now it's our time to win and for the game to grow here in the States.

Watching the Game in a Toronto bar full of Spanish and Brazilian supports with maybe one or so fellow Americans, these game were a source of pride. No one there respected us and whether they do or not, we have now earned it.

This is only the second time i have been proud to call myself and amercian, the first was Obama getting elected and the second was the USA great showing in the Confed Cup, and i hope for many more to come.

Redbull Air Races!

Well i will admit that i was not quite sure about the sport before had, but i find it very entertaining  and will tune in again when the Races return in Sept. on FSN. 

Detroit shows once again that they can put on a great show when holding a world class event

I really have nothing else to say so just look at these pictures

Confederations Cup

Yea yea, I thought it started tomorrow so that's why I forgot about today's games.

But anyway, I'm gonna give my prediction for all of the tournament's games.

Groups A

Spain, South Africa, New Zealand and Iraq

Iraq 0-0 South Africa

Spain 5-0 New Zealand

I can say I'm not too surprised at these results, South Africa is so young as a footballing nation, not being allowed as a national team until the early 1990s because of the Apartheid, not being part of FIFA until this time.

So Now predictions

Iraq 0-3 Spain- I would love Iraq to steal a goal but it just won't happen

New Zealand 1-2 South Africa-South African get their first win but it doesn't come easy

Iraq 3-0 New Zealand- Iraq will continue to impress and make it to the semis

South Africa 1-4 Spain-SA ride the emotion of the last game, get the first goal but then Spain turns it on

Group A

Spain (winner)

Iraq (runner up)

Group B- Italy, Brazil, Usa, Egypt

Brazil 2-1 Egypt- A new Tactical Brazil will struggle but will over come Egypt

Usa 1-3 Italy, USA will finally get a goal that's not an own goal, but Italy will dominate.

Egypt 0-1 Italy- Egypt will continue to disappoint, Vintage italy

Brazil 3-0 Usa- the group of death just turned into a group of massacres from the big guns

Brazil 2-2 Italy- young guns will shine for both, Brazil wins the group

Egypt 2-2 Usa- yea, not much to play for, never take the pride

Group B

Brazil (winner)

Italy

Semi- Finals

Brazil 3-1 Iraq- Iraq will get a goal but over confident Brazil will make it to the final

Italy 2(P)-2 Spain- Unlike the match up in Euro 2008, it will be full of goals but still goes to penalties, Italy edge it out.

Final

Brazil 2-1 Italy- Brazil show why i Favor them for next years world cup but italy show why they are not just an aging team but still have some fight.

Winner: Brazil

Great Season

Ever since i was really young and all the way throughout high school, I have played in some organized sport. 

Starting at the age of 4 i played countless seasons of sports, Soccer, Baseball, Hockey, Tennis, Dodgeball, Football, Basketball(the last 3 mainly intramural at school). 

I probably only won 3 tennis tournaments, 2 hockey championships, losing in Finals of in all of the sports i listed above. 

So in say about 30 seasons of different sports, at least 10 finals and only winning 3, and i can say i would much rather have made the final and lost then have lost in the first round or never made it at all.

I would like to congratulate the Pens on the game 7 victory 

The Wings played amazingly well and gave us a great run and were only just one game away from winning back to back Stanley Cups, I would much rather lose in the final then never have gotten to the finals at all. 

Congrats Red Wings on an amazing season  

ROMA

Depressed after the wings loss, Im gonna give you the best ever AS Roma team


Hi guys, i have the best AS Roma Squad
Managed by Capello
4-2-3-1
Pruzzo
Bruno Conti Totti Agostino Di Bartolomei
Falcao Giuseppe Giannini
Sebastiano Nela Aldair Giacomo Losi Cafu
Franco Tancredi

With De sisti, Candela, Gabriel Batistuta, Ancelotti, Gudio Masetti, De Rossi, Vincenzo Montella on the bench.

Game 5 live coverage

We are so dedicated to this blog, we decided to go to game 5

What a performance by the Red Wings, all around just dominated game 5, but why? The Pens had all the momentum coming from game 3 and 4, especially 4 when they just destroyed the wings. So to quote Fred Willard in A Mighty Wind, "Wha' happened?"

We know that Pittsburgh is a talented team, they have made to two straight finals, they have the talent, but they do not have the mental capacity. They don't have the bottle, the bollocks, the stones, the balls, or however else you would like to put it, but the Pens just don't have it.

Fleury, Crosby and Malkin can't seem to handle big games on the road.

Malkin only has 2 points on the road compared to 5 at home, and Crosby really hasn't shown up at all, only having 2 points, both being at home.

Most likey the biggest problem has been Fleury on the road, giving up 11 goals in 3 games on compared to 4 goals in 2 games at home.

And why yes, Osgood is on pace to give up more on the road, but Fleury is a repeat offender from last years finals.

The Pens played their best and evened the series, but werethen were just destroyed in game 5. They just don't have the testicular fortitude to win game 6 -- congrats Wings on your 12th cup.

Earth to Red Wings?

Hello, Hello.......Babcock......Osgood....anyone?
Yeah I can't get a response either.

Wings thought that they were already champs after winning the first 2 games at home. In game 3 and 4, i have not seen hossa or franzen, big name players maybe showing their true side, or just riding the success of the rookies. Either way, if the Wings want to win the cup they must prove that they deserve those big money contracts.

Maybe the wings were distracted because they saw the new cover of esquire(http://www.mid-day.com/imagedata/2009/jun/bar-rafeli.jpg) yes its quite nice, but they must get their minds back on hockey. Complete lack of Concentration and just poor poor Defense from the entire team and not so stellar goaltending from osgood leads to 2 losses in Pitt.

In saying all this, Pens have just played amazing. Malkin and Crobsy have gotten the support the Lebron could never get. While Malkin has always been providing, Crobsy and the rest of the team really have not. But in Game 3 the Pens stepped it up and in game 4 Crosby must have gotten a call from Bettman telling Crobsy to stop embarrassing me and win!

I'm sticking with my predicton with wings in 6 but the only thing that worries me is the wings looked really old. But with #13 on his way back for the wings, expect an entirely different team kinda like if jim brown came back(simpsons reference )

OH! i've got it, Matt's great piece on the NBA Finals just got the wings pumped up for Game 1 of the Finals and they couldn't concentrate on game 4, I hear Osgood is a huge Kobe fan.

NBA Finals Preview

Let me first start off by saying thanks to Max for letting me write a guest column (hopefully one of many, depending on how awful this turns out). We talk sports all the time and obviously I thought that the idea of him writing a sports blog would be great because he’s so opinionated and passionate about anything sports related, even snoozefests like cycling and Formula 1 racing (thank God he doesn’t like NASCAR or I might have to throw a pizza in his face).

So anyway, back to what I was supposed to be writing about, the NBA Finals. I decided to write about basketball because he’s already written 3 posts about the Stanley Cup Finals, which is quite understandable (we’re both wingnuts). Returning to David Stern’s playground, at the end of the season, somehow his two favorite playmates, Kobe and Bron Bron, are not the last ones standing. Even though for the entire regular season it seemed more likely than Yao Ming getting hurt, the two puppet buddies are not battling for the title. The Black Mamba and the Lakers (of course one of them had to make it, the NBA can’t stand to have another team like the Spurs in it) will face Superman and the Magic. This is not a bad matchup, both teams have their respective superstars and great role players, but it’s not the marquee matchup everyone drooled over. And you know what, I’m okay with that. When Kobe and Lebron have faced each other, it has never lived up to the hype, it has always disappointed. It’s like a movie you expect to be great and when you finally go, you have such high expectations, it’s never as good as you hoped (anyone remember spider-man 3? seriously why was he dancing?… why?). Every time they play against each other Kobe is sick and they both don’t play well. I think this will be a better series between two good teams, not just two good players. The Cavs are just not a very good team. They had a great regular season, because Lebron has gotten even better, to the point where it’s almost ridiculous. It was enough in the regular season, but the playoffs are entirely different. You need your role players to step up and the Cavs just don’t have the role players to win it all. So enough about the Cavs, they lost, they cried, they’re done (I’m from Detroit, if you can’t tell, I don’t like Cleveland). Let’s move on to the matchups.

1. Point Guard: Derek Fisher vs. Rafer Alston
Neither has been very consistent, but Alston has the ability to have a big game like the one against Cleveland when he scored 26.
Edge: Magic
2. Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant vs. Courtney Lee
Well, I think you already know this one. I’ll go with one of the best guards in history.
Edge: Lakers
3. Small Forward: Trevor Ariza vs. Hedo Turkoglu
This is probably the closest matchup. Turkoglu has been the Magic’s Mr. Big Shot all season long, but Ariza is becoming one of the best defenders in the league (9th in steals this season mainly coming off the bench). I give the edge to Turkoglu because he can shoot from anywhere and he’s been huge all year. Edge: Magic
4. Power Forward: Pau Gasol vs. Rashard Lewis
Pau Gasol is one of the most versatile 7-footers in the league. He may have trouble covering Lewis behind the 3-point line, but he’s been efficient on the offensive end and if he gets the opportunities, he should be able to take advantage. Edge: Lakers
5. Center: Andrew Bynum vs. Dwight Howard
Bynum hasn’t been as good since coming back from knee surgery, but even at his best he would be nowhere near Howard. Bynum has gotten into foul trouble too often and Howard is coming off a dominating performance against Cleveland in game 6 (40 points, 14 rebounds) and is even shooting better from the line (70% against Cleveland). As if it wasn’t already obvious, he’s one of the best, if not the best center in the league. Edge: Magic
6. Bench
Each team has plenty of shooters on their respective benches. I’ll focus on their most important bench players, Lamar Odom and Mickael Pietrus. Pietrus plays good defense and is a pretty good 3-point shooter (40% for the playoffs, 47% against Cleveland), but Odom has the potential to be a game-changer. Odom has averaged 12 points and 9.5 rebounds these playoffs, but he has not been very consistent. He’s had a few big games, but also a few rotten ones. The Lakers are 8-2 when Odom scores 10 or more points. If he has a couple of big games, it will help the Lakers immensely. He is the x-factor. The Lakers bench also has more experience having been here last year. Edge: Lakers
7. Coaching: Phil Jackson vs. Stan Van Gundy
Jackson has 9 rings. Van Gundy’s had a great year, but I’ll have to go with experience. And besides Van Gundy sounds like a mouse with bronchitis (how can you respect him?).
Edge: Lakers

I think this series will be better than last years’, although it isn’t a classic matchup. The Magic won both meetings in the regular season (106-103 and 109-103). However, Jameer Nelson is out, which is a huge loss for the Magic. There is speculation that he may play, but I doubt it. They replaced him with Rafer Alston, but Nelson had 28 and 27 in the Magic’s two wins. He’ll be missed in the finals. The Magic won both regular season meetings, but I think things will go a little differently in the Finals. Everyone loves to compare Dwight Howard and Shaq (they both played for the Magic, they’re both dominating centers, and they both have the same nickname), so I’d like to bring up one point. Shaq led the Magic to the NBA Finals in 1995 averaging 25.7 points and 11.9 rebounds (Howard is averaging 21.7 points and 15.4 rebounds) and they got swept by the Houston Rockets. Like this Magic team, Shaq’s team was young, inexperienced, and made it to the Finals after an early playoff exit the year before. I think the Magic’s inexperience will show in this series. The Cavs team from 2006 is another example. Lebron took them to the Finals, they were hot, they had no experience, and they got dismantled by the Spurs. I just think the Lakers will find a way to get it done. They were here last year and I think they’ve learned from it. How often does a team have to lose first before it can win? Another worry for the Magic is Dwight Howard’s temper. He has 5 technical fouls this post-season and if he picks up 2 more, he’ll be suspended for a game, which would absolutely destroy the Magic. We will have to see if he can maintain his composure on the biggest stage. I think Kobe will be the closer everyone believes he is and the Lakers will win this year. Orlando’s immaturity will show and LA will take care of busy when they need to, but it will be close.

Prediction: Lakers in six

(President Obama picked the Lakers too and hey he was right about the Tar Heels)

I guess it’s the general consensus now that Lebron is the best player in the world, but after this series Kobe will be a better winner (with or without Shaq), and that’s what counts. It should be a good NBA Finals, I’m looking forward to it…as long as Hubie Brown doesn’t call any games (fingers crossed).

Game 1 & 2 and the break down of the new NHL rule

With games one and two we saw very similar games with the same end result and the return of the clutch and grab style of hockey, and I could not be happier.

In game one, it all came down to whose defense was better. After early mistakes by both teams' defense, the Wings were able to hold it down better and weather the Penguins storm. Goals occurred in the first 10 minutes of the second period and the end of the third, and with a combination of good bounces and great defense, the Wings pulled out a 3-1 win.

In game two we saw the Pens push the Wings, getting the first goal and a dominating the first period. The Wings came back to tie and then take the led on the first goal of any amazing skill from Flipullia. They got another from Abdelkader the Alligator, but this was just an insurance goal, as the Wings defense and Osgood thought that the first game was so good that it deserved to be repeated with game 2 ending 3-1 Wings.

This series so far has been characterized by a couple of things -- good defense and goaltending by the Wings and the lack of defense and goaltending from the Pens, as well as the return of the pre-lock out NHL rules.

2 Reason Wings are winning
#1 Osgood > Fleury.
Osgood right now would win the Conn Smyth, while Fleury looks like he belongs playing for the farm club.

#2 Return of the Clutch
Hooking, holding and interference have made a triumphant return to the game of hockey, and, personally, I could not be happier.

We are now seeing two great skilled teams but since the Wings play in the West, they know how to not rely solely on talent and when getting physical is necessary.

Anytime Crosby crosses the blue line with the puck, it seems that the Wings are magnetically drawn to him, and just snuff him out of the play along the boards.

This did worry me in the game one, because who knew what the referees were going to call, but since they seem to be letting most things go, it has resulted in some good old school hockey.

Prediction game 3
We have seen nothing from the Pens and that's why they are going to win game 3. Someone has to show up, and it's their second time in the finals, and the first game at home. Someone please show up for the sake of hockey.

Osgood does not have his backup Zetterberg to make a save today, so I'm predicting Pens 3-2 most likely in over time, but if the scores were reversed it would not surprise me.

Carlo Ancelotti and Spalletti's future

Ancelotti and Spalletti are most likely done with their current clubs, AC Milan and Roma. Well Ancelotti is done with AC Milan, making it official that he is leaving the club after todays win vs Florence. Ancelotti is rumored to go to Chelsea  and Spalletti to Juve and Milan. I would not be surprised if the two just swapped places, putting the footballing world on its head.

Ancelotti played 8 years at AS Roma, and has said many times that he would love to manage Roma.(http://www.insideworldsoccer.com/2009/04/ancelotti-reveals-roma-wish.html)

Spalletti would be a great fit or either Juve or AC Milan but with Milan he would have a very attack team already in place that would be better to adapt to his very free flowing style. 

An even bigger long shot has be Spalletti ending up at Chelsea, which was rumor last summer because of his attacking style. 

Where every these managers end up, they are sure to make their future clubs better.

Quick Thoughts on game 1

Dirty play and "lucky bounces" 

Crosby came out after the game and told reporters that he hit Maltby with a two hander to hist foot after the game. Again we see dirty play from the so call golden boy of the NHL. Critics say that Pitt is better then last year, they have more experience and maturity then last year, well obviously not. After a game, slashing another player is not maturity, neither is Matthew Cooke's run at Holmstrom head after the whistle during a powerplay( an event that all the announcers on NBC thought was going to result in a penalty but did not). If this is the maturity and experience the Pittsburgh Penguins show all series, they will have trouble winning a game, let alone the whole thing.

Yes, the Wings first goal was a bit lucky, but Stuart would have never had the chance to throw the puck at net if Hal Gill had clear the puck properly.

And for the Wings second goal, Zetterberg threw it off the boards and Franzen got control of it and bounced it off Fleury and into the net.  Lets recognize great skill and a heads up play. In game one of the Chicago series, a Blackhawk threw it in front of the net hitting off Ericsson's skate and into the net, that was not lucky, but great skill. 

The world of hockey fans just need to take a step back, breath deep, and not just see it if Crosby does not win its just the luck of the other team and recognize the great skill the Wings showed in game one.

Round 2( whatever I don't feel like being unique)

I would like to congratulate both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings for making the Stanley Cup Finals for consecutive years.

But lets get down to business 

Detroit and Pittsburgh took very similar roads to the Finals

Pitt: 4-2 Phi, 4-3 Was, 4-0 Car

Det: 4-0 Cbl, 4-3 Ana, 4-1 Chi

There are reasons why both teams have the upper hand 

Detroit played less games and when they did lose, they lost by a lesser margin then.

Detroit lost 4 games and lost by one goal each game.

Pitt. lost 5 games,two Philly to by 3, one being shut out.

Detroit has fared better in its game the Pitt, never losing by more then one goal, and never getting shut out in a game.

But the reason Pitt has the upper hand is their bad losses and bad play came early, and they are now rolling 

Goaltending

While some may dismiss this argument, and just say Osgood,(experience, 3 cups, etc) I feel that the Goalies are equal. While Osgoods numbers are better( 2.06 GAA and .943 save % to Fleury's 2.62 and .906) I do not think this tells the whole story. Osgood has better numbers but has had to do less work then Fleury and has a better Defense. Fleury has had to come up with some amazing saves(Game seven 3 mins in vs Ove), saves that Osgood really has not had to made till game 5 in Chi series.  So why Osgood maybe the better goalie overall, Fleury's big save ability leaves this match up at a draw.

Defense (courtesy of yahoo

PITT Brooks Orpik Sergei Gonchar Rob Scuderi Mark Eaton Philippe Boucher Kris Letang DET Enough said, Detroit wins the Battle of D Brian Rafalski Nicklas Lidstrom Brad Stuart Niklas Kronwall Jonathan Ericsson Brett Lebda Fowards Now it gets interesting   Crosby-28 Fraznen-19 Malkin-28 Zetterberg-18 Guerin- 12 Cleary-14 Gonchar-12 Filpppula-13 Kuntiz-12 Lidstrom- 13 Its very hard to separate these teams forward. I know that some people out there may call me crazy" crosby is the best player, Malkin is up for the MVP, Datsyuk isn't playing well if at all,  Crosby is the second coming!" and so on and so on. Crosby is a good player but not even the best on his team, and while Malkin is a very good player, he also is a great magician and can completely disappear from a series( like he did earlier in the playoffs) But in saying that, Crosby and Malkin are amazing players and are in the top 5 of best players in the NHL.  With Detroit, in the big moments, where are the superstars? Helm, Cleary and Samuelsson scoring the big goals? This will simply not do if they want to win the Cup. While Hossa and Franzen have had some big goals in games, they seem few and far between. But at the same time this is a plus, the depth that the wings are showing is amazing, being able to make the finals with out there big names players carrying the team is great. Like Lebron and Kobe, you can only hold superstars in check for so long. Coaching Mike Babcock  vs Dan Byslma Man this is even more lopsided then the Defense match up, Mike Babcock and his third trip to the Finals and Byslma is a rookie head coach. Enough said Taking all this into consideration  Goaltending-push Defense-  Detroit Fowards- push Coaching- Detroit There are points in sports history when one team will just dominate a sport, The Wings will win it this year, second in a row, solidifying the argument that they are a Dynasty  Wings in 6