Quick trip down memory lane.
It was December 2005. The World Cup Draw? Did anyone in America really even care?
Me? I was pissed. Pissed that the U.S. had drawn about as tough a group as possible. Pissed that there wasn't too much, outside creepy message boards, to air my frustrations.
So, what did I do? I blogged.
And my friend Nick send that post to Will Leitch over at Deadspin, and well, the rest was history.
Four years later, it's a little different. ESPN devoted three hours to the World Cup draw -- WITHOUT Tommy Smyth, no less. WFAN is updating the U.S. fate on the 20/20 updates. Nearly every website on earth has something on the draw. Bill Simmons was Twittering.
In short, information overload.
And more importantly, as bad as 2006 was, 2010 looks the complete opposite for the U.S.
Often I've wondered how much the fate of the U.S. in South Africa comes down to the draw. Is the U.S. actually good? Are they the big fish in a small pond? Bluh, bluh bluh.
As the proverbial ping pong balls fell Friday in Cape Town, the U.S. now has no excuses. None.
England, Algeria, Slovenia? Not exactly murder's row.
In fact, when they pulled out Cote d'Ivoire for the group with South Africa, I nearly threw up, since it seemed they would go to Group C. But somehow they went in with Brazil and Portugal and the U.S. got Algeria -- the weakest of the African teams -- followed by European minnow Slovenia.
Can the U.S. still being the U.S. openly dismiss Algeria and Slovenia? Of course not, but in comparison to the other options the U.S. could have gotten its like facing a crafty lefty throwing up slop like Jamie Moyer, as opposed to a 95-mph fireball from Felix Hernandez.
Again, no excuses. The U.S. even gets to play in venues its familiar with from the Confederations Cup. Plus they get England first, so if you take a even a point there, the road to the knockouts isn't all that daunting.
If there is an immediate worry, it's that the U.S. never plays well as a favorite and is much better as an underdog.
We can worry about 1776, 1812, 1950, the health of Onyewu/Davies, Beckham, the inevitable England pre-Cup crisis, later. Today, we can just enjoy that the chips fell in favor of the U.S. for a change.
One more thing before moving on to other stuff, let's not downplay England. Yes, they are capable of self destruction. Yes, the WAGs scenario is a huge joke. Yes, they'll all be tired after the Premier League season. Yes, compared to Spain or Brazil, it's a better match up for the U.S.
But, please, let's not downplay England. Does the U.S. have a player that's a patch on Wayne Rooney's fanny? Or Frank Lampard? Or Jermain Defoe? Is Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey going to chase Aaron Lennon up-and-down the wing? Even at his atrophying state, is Jozy Altidore out-muscling Rio Ferdinand?
And most importantly, where will Martin Tyler's loyalties lie?
Still, I'm absolutely giddy about what transpired today. Now I actually want to get tickets from the USSF lottery.
Draw scenarios:
* Seriously, I don't like it, but if you're looking to make an early bet, put some money on France. Put it this way, England jumped up to 6-to-1 after the draw, France is still in the 12-to-1, 14-to-1 range. Yes, there is the whole Raymond Domenech factor, but there is too much talent here.
* I thought the Dutch had a great draw, but they likely would get Brazil in the quarterfinals. Perhaps they avenge the demons of 1998, but I'd doubt it.
* Spain might have the easiest path to the final, since its toughest competition -- Brazi/France -- are on the other side of the bracket (assuming form plays out). Spain could see Italy and Germany, and we saw how that went at the Euro two years ago.
* Portugal, completely overrated. Sorry Ed Melo. I'm pulling for the Elephants, even with my dislike of Didier Drogba.
* Group D -- Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana -- is the best group for my money. Could the Germans possibly not get through? I'll go against the grain and say this is a tougher group than the much talked about Group G.
* As for Group G. Look at it this way, you have the best team in the tournament -- Brazil -- and the weakest -- North Korea. Then its Portugal and Cote d'Ivoire slugging it out for one spot, just like every other group. And like I said, Portugal's world standing is a little inflated. Can you really have the dread 'GoD' when one of the four teams in a group has less than zero of a chance to even take a point?
* Didn't feel like making picks this far in advance this time around. Too much can happen between now and June.
Misc. ESPN Draw Stuff:
* ESPN said Group of Death roughly 432 times.
* Ruud Gullit will be on ESPN for the Cup. Interesting. Will the words, "Los Angeles Galaxy" ever be mentioned? ... "The Germans, they don't have any talented players." This should be fun. Guess the memories of 1988 heal slowly.
* Cesar from Nevada Smiths, "2006...I don't want to talk about it." ... Agreed.
* Steve McManaman biting his tongue not to slag off Landon Donovan. That's restraint.
* John Harkes is lawst. He gets a handwave for his tournament picks.
* I will listen to this approximately 4,200 times between now and June 12.
It was December 2005. The World Cup Draw? Did anyone in America really even care?
Me? I was pissed. Pissed that the U.S. had drawn about as tough a group as possible. Pissed that there wasn't too much, outside creepy message boards, to air my frustrations.
So, what did I do? I blogged.
And my friend Nick send that post to Will Leitch over at Deadspin, and well, the rest was history.
Four years later, it's a little different. ESPN devoted three hours to the World Cup draw -- WITHOUT Tommy Smyth, no less. WFAN is updating the U.S. fate on the 20/20 updates. Nearly every website on earth has something on the draw. Bill Simmons was Twittering.
In short, information overload.
And more importantly, as bad as 2006 was, 2010 looks the complete opposite for the U.S.
Often I've wondered how much the fate of the U.S. in South Africa comes down to the draw. Is the U.S. actually good? Are they the big fish in a small pond? Bluh, bluh bluh.
As the proverbial ping pong balls fell Friday in Cape Town, the U.S. now has no excuses. None.
England, Algeria, Slovenia? Not exactly murder's row.
In fact, when they pulled out Cote d'Ivoire for the group with South Africa, I nearly threw up, since it seemed they would go to Group C. But somehow they went in with Brazil and Portugal and the U.S. got Algeria -- the weakest of the African teams -- followed by European minnow Slovenia.
Can the U.S. still being the U.S. openly dismiss Algeria and Slovenia? Of course not, but in comparison to the other options the U.S. could have gotten its like facing a crafty lefty throwing up slop like Jamie Moyer, as opposed to a 95-mph fireball from Felix Hernandez.
Again, no excuses. The U.S. even gets to play in venues its familiar with from the Confederations Cup. Plus they get England first, so if you take a even a point there, the road to the knockouts isn't all that daunting.
If there is an immediate worry, it's that the U.S. never plays well as a favorite and is much better as an underdog.
We can worry about 1776, 1812, 1950, the health of Onyewu/Davies, Beckham, the inevitable England pre-Cup crisis, later. Today, we can just enjoy that the chips fell in favor of the U.S. for a change.
One more thing before moving on to other stuff, let's not downplay England. Yes, they are capable of self destruction. Yes, the WAGs scenario is a huge joke. Yes, they'll all be tired after the Premier League season. Yes, compared to Spain or Brazil, it's a better match up for the U.S.
But, please, let's not downplay England. Does the U.S. have a player that's a patch on Wayne Rooney's fanny? Or Frank Lampard? Or Jermain Defoe? Is Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey going to chase Aaron Lennon up-and-down the wing? Even at his atrophying state, is Jozy Altidore out-muscling Rio Ferdinand?
And most importantly, where will Martin Tyler's loyalties lie?
Still, I'm absolutely giddy about what transpired today. Now I actually want to get tickets from the USSF lottery.
Draw scenarios:
* Seriously, I don't like it, but if you're looking to make an early bet, put some money on France. Put it this way, England jumped up to 6-to-1 after the draw, France is still in the 12-to-1, 14-to-1 range. Yes, there is the whole Raymond Domenech factor, but there is too much talent here.
* I thought the Dutch had a great draw, but they likely would get Brazil in the quarterfinals. Perhaps they avenge the demons of 1998, but I'd doubt it.
* Spain might have the easiest path to the final, since its toughest competition -- Brazi/France -- are on the other side of the bracket (assuming form plays out). Spain could see Italy and Germany, and we saw how that went at the Euro two years ago.
* Portugal, completely overrated. Sorry Ed Melo. I'm pulling for the Elephants, even with my dislike of Didier Drogba.
* Group D -- Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana -- is the best group for my money. Could the Germans possibly not get through? I'll go against the grain and say this is a tougher group than the much talked about Group G.
* As for Group G. Look at it this way, you have the best team in the tournament -- Brazil -- and the weakest -- North Korea. Then its Portugal and Cote d'Ivoire slugging it out for one spot, just like every other group. And like I said, Portugal's world standing is a little inflated. Can you really have the dread 'GoD' when one of the four teams in a group has less than zero of a chance to even take a point?
* Didn't feel like making picks this far in advance this time around. Too much can happen between now and June.
Misc. ESPN Draw Stuff:
* ESPN said Group of Death roughly 432 times.
* Ruud Gullit will be on ESPN for the Cup. Interesting. Will the words, "Los Angeles Galaxy" ever be mentioned? ... "The Germans, they don't have any talented players." This should be fun. Guess the memories of 1988 heal slowly.
* Cesar from Nevada Smiths, "2006...I don't want to talk about it." ... Agreed.
* Steve McManaman biting his tongue not to slag off Landon Donovan. That's restraint.
* John Harkes is lawst. He gets a handwave for his tournament picks.
* I will listen to this approximately 4,200 times between now and June 12.
Labels: 2010 world cup, Soccer, USMNT
Aww, Cardillo. I had you pegged as a "World in Motion" guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgxrRWTM0o4
Can't believe I saw this from Gabby Marcotti, maybe he wrote too much today....
Read this.
Don't think Mohammed Zidane plays for Algeria. He's Egyptian, right?
Maybe it's best to retire Group of
Death, like you said. Don't want to be giving North Korea any ideas.
Shit Cardillo, you're prolific as hell today.
It's a somewhat thankless job, but kudos on cultivating an audience. It's funny how things work: Lietch gets a profile in SI, shortly after you are the deadspin "expert" on World Cup 2006. One reader is still here from that chain of events. At least that's how I remember it.
Fuck Algeria.
Looking at pot 2 teams it could be argued only Mexico has a more favorable group. Having said that I think we may not get out of the group unless we do the business against Slovenia. I hate having them play England last since I'm certain if slovenia needs only a point, England will gladly concede a draw if they have 6 points going into the last game. I'm already nervous.
It's just too damned bad that we can't trade a few of our players...for example, the English seem to have resorted to starting ManU's third string keeper. Could they use Brad Friedl or Tim Howard? Of course. Could we use Garrard or Lampard? Is a hog's ass pork? (Especially since the two of them can't seem to play together.) It makes perfect sense to me. Just offer either one of them instant citizenship and send him out there. A trade, as they say in MLB speak, that helps both clubs.