Part of me wanted to save this story until June, or at least May, but it came into play last night.
Tuesday around 8:45 I ran out to get some dinner -- I live alone and hate cooking. I did a quick check to make sure that "Lost" was set to record, that way by the time I got back home I'd be able to fast forward through the commercials for shitty ABC shows with Christian Slater and amazingly, Baron Davis.
Much to my dismay, when I returned and settled onto the couch, the familiar red light of the DVR was off. This was not good. Turns out, I ran out of recording space -- blame a backlog of nearly unwatchable Season Eight "24" episodes. Frantically, I deleted all non-essential stuff -- sorry "Gangland".
Long story short, I missed a segment in the middle, but watched it this morning on Hulu. I'll live. (Maybe it's just me, but so far Season Six of "Lost" has a distinct Michael Jordan on the Wizards vibe to it.)
One item I refrained from culling into digital oblivion is simply titled, "World Cup Soccer". (Mon 6/12 11:55 a.m. 2hr10 min)
Yep, that's the day the 2006 World Cup began and ended within five minutes of game when the U.S. played the Czech Republic. I haven't watched it since I got back from Germany. I don't have to. Maybe I'm hoping that something will help karmatically come June when I finally purge it from the record.
So, of course, Wednesday it was confirmed that the U.S. will play the dreaded Czechs on May 25 at a site to be determined. This game will be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. Trust me. Mark it eight dude.
The U.S. will play four days later in flip, flip, flip-a-delphia, or just plain old Philly against the soon-to-be Guus-ified Turks.
As it turns out, May 25 probably seems like a nice day to finally delete those bad memories from my DVR. Since the game should be played in my home Nutmeg State, I'll be in attendance.
And if there's a memory from that game in Gelsenkirchen, aside from pure and utter disappointment, it's was looking across the Arena Auf Schalke to a see of red-clad Czech fans bopping up-and-down.
It's ironic, or at least coincidental, that both U.S. opponents it'll play before its sent off to South Africa will likely be wearing red jerseys. Although that could change if the new 2010 design by Nike, which will be unveiled when the USMNT plays the Dutch in Amsterdam, on March 3 turns out to be red. (Both the Czechs and Turkey could wear white. We'll see.)
If these two friendlies don't kill off the idea of "wearing red" when attending a USMNT game, then what does?
Admittedly, this was a solid idea when it was spawned by Sam's Army in the mid-1990s, but it's outdated and far too complicated for casual fans.
Maybe this isn't the most pressing issue in the world, but think about it, how many times have the U.S. team actually worn red? That one with the horizon stripe circa France 1998 and the ill-fated "Don't Tread on Me" design by Nike pre-2006. (Here's a good piece, albeit a little old to sum it up.)
Granted the U.S. is a weirdly unique situation, where it's rarely the "home" team when it plays on homesoil. (That shouldn't be the case vs. the Czechs. The Turks? Could be interesting.) Also, the U.S. doesn't have a readily identifiable color that lucky countries like Italy, the Netherlands and Mexico sport.
The easiest way to support and identify the team is by sporting the national team jersey, isn't it? And if you think about national teams, here's my quick list of team who actually wear red.
* Spain
* South Korea
* Turkey
* Czech Republic
* Egypt
* Denmark
* Paraguay (with white stripes)
* Russia
* Chile
* Switzerland
* Costa Rica
* Trinidad & Tobago
Maybe this is just splitting hairs, but it seems like as USMNT team fans we like to overthink anything and everything.
Some of the newer U.S. supporter groups like the American Outlaws seem to have the right idea. They don't seem to tied up in a particular color or anything to that effect. They just want to be loud and show support.
The U.S. flag, whether in bandanna form or draped on the shoulders, should be enough, right?
It shouldn't be that hard. As David Puddy said, "You gotta support the team."
Face point optional.
* * *
* Freddy Adu scored again for Aris on Wednesday. The goal was nothing special, but it was a goal. Seems, at least from the highlights, that Adu is playing much further up the field, which make his prospects of worming his way into Bob Bradley lineup increase every so slightly.
Odds of Adu finding himself on the bench in South Africa? It's inching closer to 50/50 at this point.
Even though it's pretty clear that Bradley and he don't see eye-to-eye, Adu certainly brings more to the table, if only in a 20-minute cameo role that the likes of Kyle Beckerman, Sacha Kljestan, Jeff Cunningham, etc.
On other factor to consider. If you're on Twitter, than chances are you've noticed that there is definitely a clique of U.S. players that includes, Adu, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Stuart Holden and Maurice Edu. So maybe there's a chance Adu brings a little locker room karma into the mix.
Would that actually help him? With Bradley I've given up trying to figure him out.
* What more can be said about Wayne Rooney? He's the man, though he'll likely have to win either the Champions League or take England on a deep run in the World Cup to lay claim to the Ballon d'Or.
* If I'm Arsenal, I'm leaving Łukasz Fabiański in Portugal after today's performance that directly resulted in Porto winning the first Champions League leg 2-1.
Absolutely atrocious. The first goal by Porto was bad enough, when he turned the wrong way to save it into the goal.
The second? An all-time gaffe, though Sol Campbell takes some responsibility for the back pass that allowed Porto to take the quick indirect free kick inside the box with the Polish keeper's back turned, allowing Falcao to run quickly onto the ball and take advantage. (Resisting every urge to make the easy joke.)
As bad as the dual brain farts by Campbell and Fabianksi were, let's credit Porto for being savvy enough to take the quick kick and essentially steal a goal.
It was hard to even wrap your mind around what transpired in real time. Rarely can you say you've never seen something before, but this was one of those times. You have to see it to fully appreciate it.
Suffice to say, those dual blunders will live on in blooper reals and YouTube clips forever. (Here it is, until it gets taken down.)
Beyond pulling a page out of the Jose Canseco playbook and letting the ball bounce off your head for goal, it would be difficult to play a worse game in goal than what Fabianski did today.
* Weird through two days of the Champions League knockout stages we've gotten a season's worth of gaffes. The Evra clearance. Paul Scholes luck o' the Ginger. The Fabianski mistakes. And even Bayern's winner from Miroslav Klose today in the 88th minute vs. Fiorentina was yards offsides. (The Italian broadcast team was apoplectic.)
* Clint Dempsey targeting a return to Fulham before the end of the Premier League season. Sweet.
See you Friday.
Tuesday around 8:45 I ran out to get some dinner -- I live alone and hate cooking. I did a quick check to make sure that "Lost" was set to record, that way by the time I got back home I'd be able to fast forward through the commercials for shitty ABC shows with Christian Slater and amazingly, Baron Davis.
Much to my dismay, when I returned and settled onto the couch, the familiar red light of the DVR was off. This was not good. Turns out, I ran out of recording space -- blame a backlog of nearly unwatchable Season Eight "24" episodes. Frantically, I deleted all non-essential stuff -- sorry "Gangland".
Long story short, I missed a segment in the middle, but watched it this morning on Hulu. I'll live. (Maybe it's just me, but so far Season Six of "Lost" has a distinct Michael Jordan on the Wizards vibe to it.)
One item I refrained from culling into digital oblivion is simply titled, "World Cup Soccer". (Mon 6/12 11:55 a.m. 2hr10 min)
Yep, that's the day the 2006 World Cup began and ended within five minutes of game when the U.S. played the Czech Republic. I haven't watched it since I got back from Germany. I don't have to. Maybe I'm hoping that something will help karmatically come June when I finally purge it from the record.
So, of course, Wednesday it was confirmed that the U.S. will play the dreaded Czechs on May 25 at a site to be determined. This game will be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. Trust me. Mark it eight dude.
The U.S. will play four days later in flip, flip, flip-a-delphia, or just plain old Philly against the soon-to-be Guus-ified Turks.
As it turns out, May 25 probably seems like a nice day to finally delete those bad memories from my DVR. Since the game should be played in my home Nutmeg State, I'll be in attendance.
And if there's a memory from that game in Gelsenkirchen, aside from pure and utter disappointment, it's was looking across the Arena Auf Schalke to a see of red-clad Czech fans bopping up-and-down.
It's ironic, or at least coincidental, that both U.S. opponents it'll play before its sent off to South Africa will likely be wearing red jerseys. Although that could change if the new 2010 design by Nike, which will be unveiled when the USMNT plays the Dutch in Amsterdam, on March 3 turns out to be red. (Both the Czechs and Turkey could wear white. We'll see.)
If these two friendlies don't kill off the idea of "wearing red" when attending a USMNT game, then what does?
Admittedly, this was a solid idea when it was spawned by Sam's Army in the mid-1990s, but it's outdated and far too complicated for casual fans.
Maybe this isn't the most pressing issue in the world, but think about it, how many times have the U.S. team actually worn red? That one with the horizon stripe circa France 1998 and the ill-fated "Don't Tread on Me" design by Nike pre-2006. (Here's a good piece, albeit a little old to sum it up.)
Granted the U.S. is a weirdly unique situation, where it's rarely the "home" team when it plays on homesoil. (That shouldn't be the case vs. the Czechs. The Turks? Could be interesting.) Also, the U.S. doesn't have a readily identifiable color that lucky countries like Italy, the Netherlands and Mexico sport.
The easiest way to support and identify the team is by sporting the national team jersey, isn't it? And if you think about national teams, here's my quick list of team who actually wear red.
* Spain
* South Korea
* Turkey
* Czech Republic
* Egypt
* Denmark
* Paraguay (with white stripes)
* Russia
* Chile
* Switzerland
* Costa Rica
* Trinidad & Tobago
Maybe this is just splitting hairs, but it seems like as USMNT team fans we like to overthink anything and everything.
Some of the newer U.S. supporter groups like the American Outlaws seem to have the right idea. They don't seem to tied up in a particular color or anything to that effect. They just want to be loud and show support.
The U.S. flag, whether in bandanna form or draped on the shoulders, should be enough, right?
It shouldn't be that hard. As David Puddy said, "You gotta support the team."
Face point optional.
* Freddy Adu scored again for Aris on Wednesday. The goal was nothing special, but it was a goal. Seems, at least from the highlights, that Adu is playing much further up the field, which make his prospects of worming his way into Bob Bradley lineup increase every so slightly.
Odds of Adu finding himself on the bench in South Africa? It's inching closer to 50/50 at this point.
Even though it's pretty clear that Bradley and he don't see eye-to-eye, Adu certainly brings more to the table, if only in a 20-minute cameo role that the likes of Kyle Beckerman, Sacha Kljestan, Jeff Cunningham, etc.
On other factor to consider. If you're on Twitter, than chances are you've noticed that there is definitely a clique of U.S. players that includes, Adu, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Stuart Holden and Maurice Edu. So maybe there's a chance Adu brings a little locker room karma into the mix.
Would that actually help him? With Bradley I've given up trying to figure him out.
* What more can be said about Wayne Rooney? He's the man, though he'll likely have to win either the Champions League or take England on a deep run in the World Cup to lay claim to the Ballon d'Or.
* If I'm Arsenal, I'm leaving Łukasz Fabiański in Portugal after today's performance that directly resulted in Porto winning the first Champions League leg 2-1.
Absolutely atrocious. The first goal by Porto was bad enough, when he turned the wrong way to save it into the goal.
The second? An all-time gaffe, though Sol Campbell takes some responsibility for the back pass that allowed Porto to take the quick indirect free kick inside the box with the Polish keeper's back turned, allowing Falcao to run quickly onto the ball and take advantage. (Resisting every urge to make the easy joke.)
As bad as the dual brain farts by Campbell and Fabianksi were, let's credit Porto for being savvy enough to take the quick kick and essentially steal a goal.
It was hard to even wrap your mind around what transpired in real time. Rarely can you say you've never seen something before, but this was one of those times. You have to see it to fully appreciate it.
Suffice to say, those dual blunders will live on in blooper reals and YouTube clips forever. (Here it is, until it gets taken down.)
Beyond pulling a page out of the Jose Canseco playbook and letting the ball bounce off your head for goal, it would be difficult to play a worse game in goal than what Fabianski did today.
* Weird through two days of the Champions League knockout stages we've gotten a season's worth of gaffes. The Evra clearance. Paul Scholes luck o' the Ginger. The Fabianski mistakes. And even Bayern's winner from Miroslav Klose today in the 88th minute vs. Fiorentina was yards offsides. (The Italian broadcast team was apoplectic.)
* Clint Dempsey targeting a return to Fulham before the end of the Premier League season. Sweet.
See you Friday.
Labels: champions league, English Premier League, Freddy Adu, Soccer, USMNT
That Arsenal/Porto clip was taken down post-haste.
Jeez man, how old is your DVR? You've got to take them back to the cable company every couple years. They get new machines in all the time with more space and faster response and will usually trade you a new one without anysort of fee.
I have a similar plan of clearing the 2006 karma. I recorded all the games last year on DVD (I had just been given a DVD recorder for my birthday), I plan on watching all 3 of the Nats games plus all the knockout games just before South Africa starts.
I with you on Sams army wearing red, on the surface it doesn't make a lick of sense. However until the USMNT can keep a theme and a color for more than 2 straight world cups, red makes as much sense as anything else.
The ref didn't make do Campbell any favors by getting in his way right after he put the ball down for the free kick. But Arsenal have only themselves to blame for that game. Really hard to say the ref cost us.
I'm with you on Sam's Army wearing red, but Kevin, I'm not sure I'd want the US to have a set in stone jersey template. Sure it adds a little to the consistency of I know that's the US, but as someone who's got the 96, 02, 04, 06, and 08 versions of the US Home/White jersey, it's kind of cool that I can look at a photo of US Soccer and know exactly what time period that game was played in.
And, it's nice because I can justify, to myself but mainly my wife, buying the kits every two years because they aren't the sam.
College basketball teams all over the country seem to have no trouble getting 99% of the arena to wear a predetermined color. Why can't Nike show the new shirt and let it be known that there will be a 'Blue Out' (or whatever color) at the stadium. Most people in Sam's Amry seem like they are more a fan of Sam's Army than of the US team itself. I'm a bigger fan than you are because I'm in Sam's Army.
Interesting Slate story. I didn't know the USSF had the national team in the NASL. They should buy up some broke English team and inseret as many up and coming nats as possible for the experience and chemistry building. Heck, the FA might give them a team if it ment more TV money in the US market.