USA Soccer Wins in Major Upset!

The United States has long turned out world class athletes that have dominated their respective sports on the international scene. However, in the Sport of Soccer/Football/Futbol, or whatever you call it, the USA has long been lacking in putting together a team that can compete with the best in the world. I believe the problem lies with the lack of quality coaching, coupled with the lack of development teams that, in Europe and dominant Latin American countries, accompany every major team. While players are recognized for their talent at a young age here just as in other countries, often times the elite athlete is lured away to play American Football(which makes no sense because you do not even use your feet, but that is a whole other argument), or basketball, or even baseball. Why would they do this if they have the talent to play elite soccer for their country? It all comes down to Benjamins. The professional soccer league in the United States does not have the capital to lure young athletes into sport of soccer because they do not have the ability to pay the athletes the way the other major sports do, this even includes hockey. So why is the sport that is the most popular among children 12 an under in the United States so lacking among the rest of the world? There is no way of truly knowing, but I do believe that at some point the children are hearing whispers that if they want to make any sort of living playing sports in this country, they need to forget about soccer and move into one of the other four major sports. What they are not being told however, is that they can make just as much if not more playing for teams in Europe, especially England, Spain and Italy. This will be the only chance the United States will ever have to compete for a World Cup title, unless our country can finally embrace soccer, and give it the financial backing that it needs to keep elite athletes in the game.

Yesterday, the United States soccer team did something that they had only done once before in its history ; they beat the number one ranked team in the world. In a Confederations Cup semi-final match, the USA beat Spain 2-0 to advance to the final of the Cup to face the winner of the semi-final match between Brazil and host country South Africa. The United States showed flashes of brilliance in the match, but it was a couple of fortuitous bounces that enables the USA to score those two goals. The match was clearly dominated by the Spaniards, as they controlled the midfield, and created far more scoring chances, and the more dangerous ones. It was the stellar goal keeping of Tim Howard and the strong central defense of Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit that kept Spain of the scoring sheet. While this is not the World Cup, and if the two teams were to play again, I do not know that the result would be the same, but in a knock-out round, the better team does not always win, just the more opportunistic one. The United States showed that they have the athletes to compete, but they also showed that they lack the experience some other squads have, but the result remains the same, USA 2-Spain 0.

Have a great day, and Rock and Roll Sports Fans!!

Pujols the Greatest?

There has been a lot of people debating whether Albert Pujols is the greatest baseball player to ever play the game. Well, after seeing some of his stats, and the fact that he has been the most consistent player the last eight years(he has only been in the league for eight), I do not think that there is anything to debate. While I did not get to see players like Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio play the game, I can only wager that the amount of talented players playing today, outnumber those from back then. That does not mean that the talent was any less, but the sheer number with talent is different. While Pujols is having a "down" year this year, this is what he is doing right now. Heading into today's game, he is 12th in the N.L. in average, first in home runs, second in RBI's, first in OBP, first in slugging, and first in OPS. While these are all gaudy numbers for one player, he is having a "down" year batting only .319. What? Are you kidding me? Yes, .319 is a bad year for a career .332 hitter. Today he went 4-5 and boosted his average to .329, hit two home runs and drove in six runs, and scored three. I find myself taking what he does for granted because I am fortunate enough to watch or listen to games everyday, and as a result lose perspective on the magnitude of what he is doing. I will one day get to tell my grandchildren that I got to see what may end up being the greatest player ever in the history of the game. What a privilege I have. I hope for anyone who has not had the chance to watch him play, that when the Cardinals visit your city, you need to go see a game and witness history in the making. You will witness a man playing the game the way it was intended to be played. He is playing the game in the steroid are, and he did it clean. He loves the game, he loves his team, he loves his teammates, he loves his family, and most of all, he loves God. I will certainly be watching him more closely, and do it with more reverence, as to not take for granted again what this man is doing on the baseball field. Albert Pujols deserves and commands the respect of everyone that calls themselves a baseball fan, no matter what team you root for.



Rock and Roll Sports Fans!!

Hello out There

Hello, is there anyone out there. Does anyone read this thing. Love to hear what you think if you do. Thank you in advance.

Rock and Roll Sports Fans.

Cardinals Come from behind

The St. Louis Cardinals finally got a huge monkey off their backs last night, and for the first time this year (1-21), the Cardinals came from behind while trailing after seven innings to win a game. Lets hope the Redbirds can keep up the winning ways this weekend in Cleveland. After all the poor offensive outings and many losses, The Cards are only .5 game back of Milwaukee.

In the NBA, the L.A. Lakers are on the verge of winning another championship, after taking a commanding 3-1 series lead with a win last night in Orlando. In the finals, the team with a 3-1 series lead wins has won almost 96 percent of the time, so the Orlando Magic are facing seemingly insurmountable odds. It has been done before, but with a player like Kobe on the opposing team, the fate may have already been sealed.

The NHL Stanley Cup Finals finish up tonight with game seven between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit. The home team has won every game in the series so far, and I don't know that Pittsburgh can beat Detroit at The Joe, but they did dismantle the Capitals on the road in the Eastern Conference Finals, so tune in for what should be some incredible hockey action.

Great to see Phil Mickelson back in action this weekend in the St. Jude Classic. Hope to see him do well and play strong in a tune up for next weekends U.S. Open.

Have a great weekend, and Rock and Roll Sports Fans.

NBA Finals Get Started

The NBA Finals get started tonight in L.A., with the Orlando Magic facing off against the L.A. Lakers. While many are asking the question of whether Kobe needs to win this to validate his career, citing that he only won the other three because of Shaq, I believe it is a silly question. I am not a huge fan of Kobe, personally, but I do know that he is one of the best players to ever put on a basketball uniform, and the last time I checked, you do not win any team championship by yourself. You have to have the right pieces in place to make it work. Shaq was just one of those pieces. Now, when people are talking about how he can't win it on his own, they just need to shut up. I look at it this way, could Michael win without Pippin and the rest of his team, or Magic win without Kareem and the star studded Lakers of the '80's, maybe, maybe not, but it is unfair to put that weight on Kobe's shoulders, and make declarations that his career was not exceptional because he did not win "the big one" without Shaq. He is one of five players on the court, and no matter what he does, if the rest of the team does not step up and do their job, then the Lakers do not win, with or without Shaq.

In baseball news, the Cardinals offense is still struggling, and other than Pujols, there just does not seem to be another bat in the lineup that is going to really help them right now. Nick Stavinoha has done a remarkable job off the bench in getting clutch hits, whether he starts or not, but can he keep that up as an everyday player. Who knows? While I do know that it is still the first half of the season, we are only one month from the All Star break, and the Cardinals need a right handed bat badly. I think that Rick Ankiel is a wonderful, feel good story, and I am certainly a fan, and want to see him succeed, but right now, he is not getting the job done. Ankiel is hitting only .223, and that number is sinking daily. I would love to see him do well, but right now he is a liability and a sure out. I don't know what the answer is as far as what to do with him, but playing him everyday is not one of them. The bats need a pick up and Ankiel is not going to be the one to do it.

Those are my thoughts for now. Rock and Roll Sports Fans!!

Sports on My Mind

I'm back sports fans. Been gone for a while, but I'm ready to get rolling again. Last I left you the NCAA lacrosse championship game was about to take place. Most of you may already know, but Syracuse beat Cornell in overtime in an incredible thriller. Syracuse was down two goals with three minutes to play, and scored two, with the second coming with four seconds left in regulation to force the overtime. Then in overtime, Syracuse scored just a couple minutes in to win the game.

In the NBA, the Las Angeles Lakers will be squaring off against the Cleveland, oh wait, the referees in that series must not have gotten the memo. "LeBron gets all the calls his way so that he and the Cavaliers could face off against Kobe and the Lakers." Whoops!!!! Someone screwed up. Someone got the correct memo for game five, but must have accidentally deleted it for game six. Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic destroyed the Cavaliers and will face the Lakers in the finals starting on Thursday.

In baseball news, the fans in Baltimore got their first look at the catcher sensation Matt Wieters. To a standing ovation, Wieters went 0-4 for the day, but certainly showed some poise and promise at the plate, and showed that he could call a good game in a 7-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. He then went 2-4 on Saturday and then 0-3 today as the designated hitter. Although he is only hitting .203, from the looks of things, he is going to be a force in this league for a long time. In other baseball news, how do two teams among the leaders in MLB in team batting average, and runs scored have two of the worse records in baseball, pitching, that's how. The Baltimore Orioles are 8th in team B.A. and 11th in runs scored, while the Washington Nationals are 14th in average and 12th in runs scored. While there are 30 teams, this puts both teams in the top half in both categories for the entire league. So how does a team like St. Louis, which is 20th in team B.A., and 17th in runs scored, both in the bottom half of the league, have a winning record (29-21) and find themselves in second place, only a game back. One word, Pitching! The Cardinals lead the league with a 3.56 E.R.A., while the Orioles are 28th, and the Nationals are 30th. Just a thought for the two clubs, did anyone tell them that pitching wins championships. While I do not know what the Nationals have in their farm system, I do know that the Orioles have some wonderful prospects in the Minor Leagues, and with a strong nucleus of young talent already producing offensively, they have a promising future, but one never knows until they are promoted and get into the real action of the major leagues.

Thanks again for reading, and have a great Monday. Rock and Roll Sports Fans.