Isner Wins

In the match that wouldn't end, John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. The match lasted 11 hours and five minutes and spanned three days; the last set alone lasted 8:11. Isner will now play Thiemo de Bakker in the second round. who was pushed to the usually grueling score of 16-14 in his final set. In another interesting side note, Mahut won his second round qualifying match by a score of 24-22. Isner even found time to look like the late Touchdown Jesus after winning.

In other Wimbledon news, according to an article written by Kamakshi Tandon, leggy blonds are more likely to play Centre Court matches than Serena Williams and Dinara Safina. Many seemed perplexed that third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki was scheduled to play on Centre Court today for the Queen over Williams. While they both seem equally deserving this time around, if the most attractive players on the tour are really given court preference, the All-England Club might want to encourage their spokespeople not to mention it.

What a Day

I don't know if I have anything particularly insightful to add, but what a day. First Landon Donovan scores in the 91ST MINUTE off of a Clint Dempsey, allowing the US to advance to the knock-out round of the World Cup. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are tied at 59-ALL in the fifth set at Wimbledon. The match has lasted 10 hours total; the fifth set has gone on for 7:06 alone. The second longest match in tennis history was only 6:33. And I think the guys only took one bathroom break today.

I'm excited. I'm exhausted. And I didn't participate in any form of international sport today. Let's hope tomorrow is just as fun.

International Skill Level

Should there be a cut-off for major international gymnastics competition? A couple of bar routines, Sarah El Dabagh from Denmark and Meenakshi from India, have made me think about that question.

Those routines, along with the floor routines performed by gymnasts from Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Championships, help to facilitate an interesting discussion in the gymnastics world: Should their be a skill-level cut-off? Compulsories (which I really do miss) used to take care of this question. While the elimination of those exercises might have expanded the number of countries that can compete internationally, when is the skill level just too low? Are these girls benefiting from representing their countries and competing on a large international stage (which is undeniably a huge honor)? Or do they feel embarrassed to be competing at this skill level when their routines are being compared to those of gymnasts such as He Kexin?

This issue affects other Olympic sports as well, most famously, Eddie the Eagle and Eric the Eel. Though Eric the Eel was undeniably inspiring, should the Olympics be the showcase for these types of performances? Or should they only show the best in the sport?

Personally, I think it is great to see athletes from non-traditional countries compete internationally. I do question at times if the World Championships and Olympics are the right place to showcase these routines. However, if competing in those events is what motivates the athletes, then I support it. I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue, so please comment below!

ESPN for 2014

I know I have blogged about this before, but I really hope ESPN gets the rights to cover the the 2014 Olympics in the United States over NBC. After two days, I am already very impressed by their World Cup coverage and think they are handling the time difference very well. I would love to see this type of packaging for the Olympics.

I live in the Mountain Time Zone. Games are broadcast live at 5:00am, 7:00am, and 12:00pm. They are then re-broadcast at 4:00pm, 6:00pm, and 1:00am. Everything is also online. This gives die-hard fans the opportunity to see everything live while allowing those of us the prefer to sleep a chance to see the games as well.

ESPN has seven TV stations to work with as well as internet broadcasting. Even if they decide against re-broadcasting events, they could still easily show everything live, put everything on the internet, package something easily digestible for prime-time, and sell lots of advertising. This is how I want to experience the Olympics. NBC needs to wake up and realize that people know what happens in the sports world before they tell us what happens.

Death of the All-Around Gymnast

I miss true All-Around gymnasts. By this I mean gymnasts that were competitive in both the All-Around and in all event finals. It was fairly common for the top All-Around gymnasts to be threats to qualify for all event finals in the past.

Let's take a look at the routines of the lovely Mighty Mo (yes, I know that she never pulled it together enough to dominate competitions, but I still love her, her routines, and her potential).











She could do everything and do it well.

I know that changes in the sport have facilitated the demise of All-Around gymnasts beyond what the gymnasts can control. The 6-6-5 format has not been around since 1992. The fact that not everyone has to compete on every event has led to the specialist movement. While this is advantageous for gymnasts with a particularly glaring weakness, it hurts the heart of the sport, the All-Around.

The last time a gymnast was really a threat to make every event final was in 2000. Jiang Yuyuan probably had the most potential to do this in 2008. Let's make everyone train two vaults again. Let's have a code that encourages looking awesome while preforming, as opposed to throwing the hardest skills you can kind of do. The winner of the team final should truly be the best, most well-rounded team instead of the team that messes up the least. Let's go back to 7-6-5 or 6-5-4 instead of 6-3-3 or 5-3-3. I want to see more gymnasts that can do it all and look clean and confident while doing it.

Stress Management

It's the 89th minutes. The score is 0-0. The whistle blows! A foul was committed just five yards outside and slightly to the right of the 18 yard box. You have about 30 seconds to prepare. First, you run to the right goal post and begin yelling furiously at four of your teammates to line up in a wall. Second, you are exact about where you want them set up. So exact that you will tell them to move half an inch in the direction you want. "Hold there!" 15 seconds gone. Quickly you must move to where you want to set up in the goal mouth. Favoring slightly more to the left of the goal, leaving the right side wide open, you hope and pray the wall stands their ground, protecting the right side. Six players from the other team plus the same amount of your team line up just inside the 18 yard box jostling for position, anticipating the shot, and ready to crash the goal. You're blind due to the all the traffic in the box.

You must be ready, bouncing on your toes, knees slightly bent primed to pounce in any direction. The ref blows his whistle signaling the player to shoot or pass. The players run up to the ball, he's going to shoot! A split second before he shoots you notice twelve players running hard in your direction, ready to capitalize on any mistake you make. But you can't pay attention to them. Right now you have less than a second to react to a ball flying in your direction at over 70 MPH. For this split second all eyes are focused on you. 60,000 fans in the stadium staring at you, millions watching television are fixated on you and what you do now. The ball clears the wall it looks like it will be coming right at you, but there is so much spin it curve and dips 4 feet to the right. You spring to the right diving four feet off the ground lying almost perfectly horizontal in the air and stretching your arms as far as you can. Two of your fingers get under the ball just enough to tip it away from the net.

You crash into the ground and get up, you heart is pounding and you're in the middle of an incredible adrenaline high. That split second just felt like running a 50 yard sprint. You did it! You stopped them from scoring! The game is still tied. But wait! No time for a breather or a silly celebration. Instead, there's another 30 seconds of stress as you set up your defense for a corner kick. Oh yeah, and that amazing save you just made? The save that required almost every muscle in your body? The save that may have won the game for your team and your nation? That save will be forgotten shortly, because someone will score. Whether you get scored on or one of your teammates scores someone will and that is what will be remembered. Only goals and goal scorers are remembered. Goalies don't do it for the fame and fortune. Goalies are slight masochists in my personal opinion. But they have to be for the constant blame and stress that is put on them. The best goalies in the world will feed off the stress and anxiety that comes from being the last line of defense.

I believe the words of Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger sum it up best. "Goalkeeper is a position that is guided by fear more than any other. You have only negative stress. A striker has a positive stress. He thinks, 'I can be a hero,' but the goalkeeper thinks, 'I don't want to be a villain today.'"

So who will handle the stress of protecting the goal for the largest sporting event in the world? There are some amazing keepers in this World cup. My top 5 to keep an eye out for are...in no particular order:

Iker Casillas-Spain

In 2008-2009, FIFA named Casillas Goalkeeper of the Year. He holds the record for most appearances for a goalie with Real Madrid at 454. He was captain of the 2008 Spanish team that won the 2008 European Championship. I think he is the best goalie in the 2010 World Cup. If you want to see quick acrobatic saves watch Spain.

Tim Howard-USA

The United States has a knack for producing world class keepers. Tim Howard is no exception. In 2003, Howard signed a contract with top English Premier League team Manchester United, an amazing feat for any U.S. born player. In 2004, Howard made a stunning save against Arsenal to help Man U win the Community Shield. Howard also collected a Winner's Medal making him the only American player to do so. He currently plays with Everton. Howard has been the USA's top goalie since Casey Keller's retirement from international play in 2006. Howard will be tested a lot this World Cup. Not only is he capable of making acrobatic saves, but he is one of the smartest goalies out there. He knows where to be and has a commanding presence inside the 18 yard box.

Gianluigi Buffon-Italy

Buffon has been playing for the Italian national team since the age of 19. Now 32, he is an experience keeper who is looking to repeat as the world champion. In the 2006 World Cup only 2 goals were scored on him. He posted a 453 minute scoreless streak. One of the goals scored was an own goal while playing the USA in group stage play and the second came from France on a penalty kick in the final match.

Julio Cesar-Brazil

Fresh off winning the UEFA Champions League with his club team Internazionale (Inter Milan). Cesar is now ready to take the reins as Brazil's number one goalie. Like Casillas, Cesar is known for making breathtaking acrobatic saves and has some of the fastest reactions among goalies. Brazil is known for their flamboyant style of play; however, that is not the case for Cesar. He is a mature goalie who has played in many big games and will be ready to help Brazil compete for their 6th world title.

Oswaldo Sanchez-Mexico

This was a tough decision. I wasn't sure who to add for my final position as top 5 goalies to watch. While I definitely believe the first four goalie mentioned are the four best in the 2010 World Cup, I can't say that about this one. That being said, if you want to see some amazing Superman diving saves and quick reaction saves then watch Mexican goaltender Sanchez. He has a style of goalkeeping I personally am not too fond of. He is very flashy. He will dive for balls he doesn't need to. One reason a goalie is forced to make an amazing save is because he is in the wrong position and Sanchez is known to be in the wrong position a lot. But if you want to be entertained then he is the goalie for you, just look at the picture. That guy can fly!

World Cup Tidbits

This is the official song and music video for the FIFA World Cup 2010. K'naan is a Somalian singer/songwriter; he has quickly become the leading voice for the World Cup.

Team USA officially arrived in South Africa yesterday in order to acclimate to their surroundings and hopefully perform at their best. England has had roughly a 66% winning average in international play. Fabio Capello announced his 23 man roster yesterday and we have a good shot at beating England. Yes, I just said we could beat England. My fingers are crossed and I'm nervous, but we can do it.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/05/31/football.world.cup.terror/index.html?hpt=Sbin
South Africa is playing down the latest World Cup terrorist threat. Plus they absolutely smashed Guatemala 5-0. Well done Bafana!



The stunning visuals inside rolling leopards sent shivers down my spine in this World Cup commercial. 8 more days!!

England's final 23 man roster was announced yesterday. Surprisingly Theo Walcott was NOT included, not surprisingly David Beckham WASN'T included, and VERY surprisingly Emile Heskey was included. England's squad is similar to ours in that they have core players like Gerrard, Terry, Lampard, Rooney, Wright-Phillips, Ferdinand, and Crouch. Yet their defense lacks on the wings other than Ashley Cole. Ferdinand is like Onyewu in terms of international performance (though Ferdinand is more consistent and has more sparked when compared to Onyewu). The difference between our two squads is that even though Landon Donovan can be deadly, Rooney, Crouch, Lampard, Gerrard, Terry, Barry, Carrick (my FAVORITE player of all time), AND Defoe can all score their little butts off from ALL over the pitch. The midfield could border on the surreal even with Joe Cole fairly off form this past season at Chelsea. The keeper David James has experience, but he's not as good as Tim Howard.

Now this isn't an impossible squad to beat. In fact, the experience of England at the World Cup is one where almost all of the players are outstanding on their own, but asked to play on a team together, things get very interesting. It will be a good first group stage match on June 12th. Go USA!

History of the World Cup trophy and the ball

Ok so you may be reading this and thinking to yourself, um, what's so cool about a trophy and a ball? Each ball is constructed specifically for each World Cup and the trophy has a mysterious past of its own...

The trophy is officially named the Jules Rimet Cup after the FIFA president who served the longest term, 33 years and was president for the very first World Cup in 1930. Curiously the first Cup was named Victory, made of lapis lazuli & sterling silver, and contained the goddess of victory, Nike. The original trophy was awarded to Brazil in their 1970 victory, later stolen in 1983, and never recovered. Starting in 1974 a new trophy was commissioned, The FIFA World Cup Trophy. This trophy is officially in the possession of FIFA. The winning team receives a replica made of gold plating instead of the solid 18-carat gold of the original. Italy must give it back to FIFA before the start of this year's World Cup. The bottom of the trophy contains the dates and winners of each World Cup winner. The plaques will not be filled until 2038 so who knows if the trophy will be retired at that time....

As German legend Ure Sweeler said about the Beautiful Game, "The secret of football is the ball." He couldn't be more right. Adidas has been in charge of manufacturing the official match balls since 1970. In the very first World Cup in 1930 a different ball was used each half because the countries insisted on using their own football. After 1930 the host country was allowed to supply the match balls. The ball generally consisted of 12 or 18 parts until 1966. For each cup after 1970 people tried to invent the perfect ball. Various names were given such as "Azteca" "Fevernova" "+Teamgeist" and this year's "Jabulani." Construction pushed the ball to be more round, more accurate, and more durable. Ok does all this work pay off? Yes, the 1998 World Cup saw the most goals ever scored in a World Cup at 171 all thanks to the little sphere. The least goals scored in a World Cup? Yep, 1930 and 1934 with 70.

Hungry for more records?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup_records

Enjoy!

USA 2-1 vs. Turkey!

Yay! Finally some exciting news about the US men's national team! After being down 0-1 at halftime by a very, we're talking VERY, fast Turkish side, we came back to win it 2-1! Thanks to the efforts of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore (my two favorite players) we were able to contain the speed of the Turks. Now you may be asking, well what happened on that first goal? I'll tell you. Thanks to the lack of mental preparation by Jay DeMerit and his inability to shift over when Jonathan Spector made his spectacular streaking run forward, Turkey scored. Ok ok I admit maybe Spector shouldn't have shot up field, but being a defender myself for 5 years I can tell you I love it when defenders take chances like that. How was Spector supposed to know that his teammates including Bocanegra wouldn't shift over for him? He wasn't. Also um, hellllooo DeMerit, any 14 year old girl can tell you that when a defender runs up you pull your midfielder back and you SHIFT OVER. It's called the "banana." Or the boomerang, depending on who taught you. And who was in the right midfield spot that should've come back? Yep, Donovan.

Other than that hiccup and the tight, complex passing style that eased into simplicity when Torres was substituted into the match in the 2nd half, the USA looked like a solid and a formidable opponent. They need to use the entire width of the field, but that will resolve once Donovan and Feilhaber stop trying to drift to the inside. Donovan's problem is that he still thinks he's a central forward....oops.

As for defense, Oneywu may be in trouble with fast midfielders like Ashley Cole who love to make crazy runs and dribble straight at defenders. Oneywu's going to have to MOVE. Personally I'd prefer Spector, Bocanegra, Goodson, and maybe DeMerit. Bornstein does not need to be anywhere near that back line unless he chills out and fast. Oneywu does not factor into my lineup though Bradley seems to love him. And yes, he can body up when necessary. I think he's still playing scared, though a crucial injury can do that. We'll see.

Next game is vs. Australia on June 5th in South Africa.