Update on the blog

This week is crazy for me so Im not posting anything until next week.  And Ive got all the important games recorded so no worries (Ill post all the scores like Im following it live) and Ill preview Champions League then too.  But basically dont tell me about scores to anything or what-have-you.  Thank you. 

On the bright side Manchester United is in the FA Cup Quarters beating Derby County in the 5th round 4-1 and Ill just make a ManU post next week with all three games I missed posting.

USA tops Mexico

Last night the United States continued its winning streak over Mexico on US soil winning 2-0 in the first game of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying in Columbus, OH.  US National Team's coach's son (Michael Bradely) scored both goals at time expired in each half.  Then in the 65th minute Rafael Marquez laid a nasty challenge against US keeper Tim Howard and was shown straight red.  Marquez "went for a header" after Tim Howard claimed the ball in a nasty defending spell by the US.  Howard grabbed the ball and then Marquez barrels through him kicking him in the inside of the knee with the studs up.  Following the incident there was a scrum of players in white and green with the ref in the middle.  It was a despicable tackle and that is the very reason keepers are protected, because of scum challenges by enforcers on unsuspecting players.

Lone Star Showdown Rant

Ok, why on earth is the basketball game between UT and Texas A&M not featured during rivalry week?!?!  Granted until a few years ago, this was not an exciting basketball rivalry because A&M basketball was garbage, but as of late, both games have been heated and real rivalry games.  Instead this game is on Monday, 16 Feb, but is featured on ESPN and we all know Aggie Athletics is media-whore this year.  So one of the oldest rivalries in college sports and the third most played in college sports isn't good enough for rivalry week when A&M and Texas started squaring off in football in 1894, and a continuation of the rivalry still isn't good enough for ESPN or even ESPN2/U?!?!  Has Aggie Basketball tanked so much this season to not be featured as a real rivalry?  Is ESPN giving the game to UT but just putting on ESPN because they know Aggies will watch anyways?  Bill Byrne and DeLoss Dodds should be outraged that this game was not featured and should both have pushed to have it played during rivalry week.  As an aggie athletics fan, I'm offended that the both of them did not work harder to spread our reputation.

England Loses, Beckham Ties Record

Today David Beckham matched Bobby Moore's England caps record at 108 in a Spain Loss 2-0.  Capello was definatly knocked down a peg by the reining European Champions when David Villa and Fernando Llorente scored goals to hand England their first loss in nine matches on the trot.  Once again England, fall short when it matters.  This was a real test for the three lions and has the possibility of negatively impacting upcoming qualifying.  The British Press labelled Capello's team as ruthless, but England hardly seemed like a ruthless team in a lackluster performance against Spain.  Thankfully this was just a friendly and England lost nothing in their quest to partake in World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Scolari Sacked at Chelsea

It seems Chelsea are writing off this season and hoping to build for next season, because yesterday they fired former Brazil and Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.  Scolari won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and only took over at the Bridge in July following Portugal's exit from Euro 2008.  This is Chelsea's third manager in under a year and Chelsea will have to buy out the rest of his hefty three year contract.  Currently the club is talking with Russian head coach Guus Hiddink to take over the position until the end of the season (Guus has promised the Russian Federation to stay with the national team until after World Cup 2010 in South Africa).  Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich wants to win titles and according to BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose "... Abramovich has put in a lot of money and what he wants is to ... win trophies."  

I think this is the worst move Chelsea could make.  Skipper John Terry was "shocked" and I think the last thing Chelsea need right now is a major system change.  However, Chelsea were not playing well as of late even with quality players like Lampard, Drogba, Deco, and Ballack.  Chelsea is still in the hunt for Champions League (but came up runner's up in the group stages), FA Cup and Premier League (even sitting in fourth behind United, Liverpool and Villa). We'll see how this plays out but I am predicting it will hurt Chelsea more than help them.

United Take the Top

Manchester United are once again table leaders with an emphatic win in true championship form against West Ham United.  Ryan Giggs scored a BRILLIANT goal in the 62nd minute, shaking two defenders before unleashing a screamer that nut-megged a defender and flew past the keeper to the far post.  United controlled most of the game, but the hammers had a lot of quality possession and a few good shots on goal.  But in the second half the game was definatly dictated by United's pace and in the last ten minutes of the game, United strung several passes together teasing the hammers.  

The title race seems to be down to two teams, Liverpool and Manchester United and United seem to be firing on all cylinders.  Van der Saar continued his record winning clean sheet record to an amazing 13 games.  Today, just before half he set a British record, beating an old Rangers record and this amazing defensive streak is still alive.  Van der Saar puts the streak on the line against 18 Feb against Fulham.  But their next match is in the FA Cup against Derby County on the 15th of Feb.

My Day of Aggie Athletics

Today I went to four Aggie Sporting Events: Equestrian v. Baylor, Softball v. Tulsa, Basketball v. Kansas State, and Softball v. UTSA.  Actually today was not a good day for Aggie Athletics (Really similar to their year, this year).

For Equestrian, I dont really understand the sport.  I watched the horsemanship section, which to me seems like a giant dog-show, but the jumping seems like fun?  Unfortunately, A&M lost to #4 Baylor 13-10.  

Then in softball, they lost to Tulsa in the bottom of 7th 3-2 to the Golden Hurricanes in the Honey-baked Ham Aggie Classic.  A&M fell behind Tulsa in the bottom of the 6th, but came back to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh.  Unfortunately with one out away from the win, an error at plate scored a run and then off a single the winning run scored and sealed the game for Tulsa.  However, I dont understand why A&M was not the home team on our field.  Had A&M been the home team they would won the game.  Number 4 in the nation falls to the unranked Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in a pre-season tune up game.  

Then at Aggie basketball, A&M falls (yet again) to Kansas State 65-60.  The refereeing in this game was worse than Ive seen in a while.  So bad that the crowd was ready to explode at the slightest provocation.  At half time, the score was 23-21 and there were 17 total "fouls" committed by both teams.  Coach Turgeon looked like he was about to throttle the Line Ref if that half lasted any longer.  

For the final event on the Aggie ticket today, Softball rallied after their first loss this season to crush UTSA (again, after beating them yesterday 4-1) 8-0.  A&M run-ruled UTSA in the fifth with a powerful 6-run fifth inning and emphatically captured the Aggie Classic Crown (wahoo?).  Congrats though for making the only home win on the day (Women's swimming beat Florida State 170-121, but lost to Auburn 126.5-170.5).  

Overall Aggie Softball looked strong this weekend but you could tell they missed having the two All-American pitchers in Gibson and Scarborough deeply.  Pitching was ok, but the team seemed very young and not quite the cohesive unit from last seasons National Runners up.

Aggie Scoreboard of the Day 2-4.  Tomorrow there are two home events (Women's Tennis and Basketball); hopefully tomorrow is better.

Chelsea is Out of the Title Race

I am calling it today, that Chelsea FC are out of the title race, because of today's poor performance against the previous year's third place finishers in the Coca-cola Championship.  Chelsea has picked up only 8 points from their last six matches (18 possible), while rivals Manchester United have picked up a maximum 18 points, Liverpool have picked up 12 and big four crashers Aston Villa have picked up 16.  Of the top four Chelsea has picked up the fewest points total in the last six games.  

Credit to Hull City AFC, they have performed spectacular this year, but recently have slid from their highest position on the tables at 5 to currently at 13.  In the second half, most of the play was in Chelsea's half and Chelsea had few and far between decent chances on goal.  I can hardly remember a shot that had any promise besides John Terry's first minute miss. 

Liverpool took back control on top of the table today by beating Portsmouth, but United have two games at hand and only trail by one point.  United face West Ham tomorrow and could take a two point table lead. 

Lakers-Celtics

Currently, I am watching the dying seconds of the 2008 Finals rematch between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers in Boston and this is just a little rant about how much I dont like the Lakers.  First of All, Kobe is an amazing player, could be the best ever.  But on the court he is a tool.  And whatever happened to the girl he might have raped?  Seriously?  Have we all forgotten that press conference where his wife had a massive new diamond and Kobe just begged us to forgive him?   Have we?  Next Phil Jackson, how shady is it that you are dating the owner's daughter?  Talk about Job security.  I mean times are hard, but we need not resort to sleeping with the boss' daughter.  And why at the Staples Center (only when the Lakers play mind you) are the lights off except for the floor?  Is that not annoying to anyone else?

Ok anti-Laker rant over: to the actual game.  Its actually kinda interesting.  Personally Im not much of a basketball fan; Ill watch a few games here and there or play some hoops with friends but its not a passion.  First of all I cant believe KG got his sixth foul on such a weak call as that, Ive seen more physical warmups.  And of course to the delight of TNT this game goes into overtime.  Im not going to watch overtime, because I dont want to.  So Ill post the score later.  

Wednesday Was a Bad Night ...

Wednesday was a bad night for Aggie Hoops, as both the men and women fell.  Granted the men were supposed to lose, but not after taking a lead on the road, in Norman, against the number 2 Sooners.  But then again, the number 2 Sooners are supposed to come back, at home, against an unranked team, and win.  So yay them.  However the Aggies were supposed to beat the Iowa State Cyclones, with being ranked number 4 in the nation and all.  However, keeping with tradition (since us Aggies like that and all) Gary Blair has yet to win at Ames.  So there you go.  Wednesday blew for Aggie Athletics.  But baseball is a preseason Number 1 and the National Runners-up softball take the field for the first time Friday (they're only ranked number 4... so low).

Gerrard Out 3 Weeks

Once again to Liverpool's dismay, Captain Fantastic is out for at least three weeks with a torn hamstring picked up Wednesday against Everton.  This is NOT what Liverpool needed, especially after just crashing out of the FA Cup.  Gerrard is their only consistent playmaker who can honestly save a game in the fleeting moments.  Luckily Torres is finally starting to find form, but with Keane just being sold back to Tottenham (for a Liverpool loss mind you), Liverpool are really lacking some goal support.

Everton Oust Liverpool from the FA Cup.

Liverpool depart the world's oldest tournament in the Fourth Round at the foot of a 19 year old boy from their cross-town rival Everton 1-0 in extra time by a header from second half sub Gosling (Plymouth Argyle Academy product).  The goal was a beautiful piece of individual skill, but this game was very physical and boring, honestly I could hardly watch.  Neither side created too many chances and even the commentators doomed the match to be decided on Penalty Kicks.  The only excitement in the match came from the intense physical battle that resulted in seven yellow cards and Lucas being sent off, all as you would expect in a derby match.

An even bigger blow to Liverpool, other than losing to Everton in the Merseyside Derby for the first time since September of 2006, was Captain and all around game saver, Stephen Gerrard, left the match in the 15th minute with a hamstring problem.  Both commentators and all four halftime announcers thought he would be out at least three to six weeks.  There seems to be a spot on Liverpool's team that only Gerrard can fill; he is the only player that consistently comes through in the clutch.  This is even harder for the Anfield faithful after selling back back-up striker Robbie Keane to Tottenham Monday.   Liverpool are now only up for two trophies this season (the Champions League and the EPL) and are currently in a trophy drought dating back to their 2006 win of the FA Cup.  This is compared to arch rivals Manchester United, which are up for five trophies and have already claimed two this season.

Steelers are "World" Champions

Now Im going to be honest, I dont really care about pro-football.  I love college football, but pro not so much; however, I did root for the Arizona Cardinals last night.  What a story it would be that the first time in franchise history the team makes it to the super bowl and wins it with a forty year old bag boy as their quarterback.  But the steelers played WAY better than the Cardinals, who knew when to turn over the ball at just the right moment.  And did anyone see number 92 for the Steelers have a heart attack after he ran 100 yds?  He passed out on the field and needed Oxygen!  Hes supposed to be a professional athlete shouldnt he be able to run 100 yds without dying at the end?

Now this part of American Sports frustrates me to no end.  Our sports teams are not World Champions after they win a league with at most ONE international team from Canada.  There are other football leagues in the world and their are other baseball and basketball leagues.  Why do we just assume that because an American team wins it all over here, that they would win it all in the world without even a competition.  In fact I do believe the US went out in the first round of the last International Baseball Classic.  Why not have something like FIFA set up for soccer with other sports?  The winners of each country's baseball/football/basketball League play each other in a tournament, then the continent winners play in a tournament and a real world champion is crowned.  Instead of our current ethnocentric assumption that we would just win it anyways so we are World Champions

Nadal edges Federer ... Again.

Once again Nadal beats Federer in a Grand Slam Title Final in an epicly thrilling five sets.  Now, I am a Roger Federer fan, but the Spaniard really seems to have his number on all surfaces and the world's former Number 1 needs to overcome this latest, never-ending obstacle that is Rafa to break Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam Titles, at which one point he seemed to ease through.  However Federer can use Nadal to push him to be the greatest of all time.  But Nadal has Title wins over Federer on Clay, Grass and now Court.  At the moment all hail King Rafa.

Torres Double Dooms Chelsea

Chelsea may have very well lost the title today with Torres' two late goals in the 89th and 90th minute.  The game was every bit as intense as it should have been with several scoring opportunities by mainly Liverpool.  The first half left Pepe Reina bored practically but Chelsea controlled possession ... in their own half.  Then in the second Liverpool rallied and controlled possession all over the field 70%-30%.  Then at the hour mark Chelsea's star Frank Lampard was sent off for a "reckless" tackle and skipper John Terry picked up a yellow card in the protest.  This means Chelsea's next match against Hull City (the recently promoted shock of the EPL, but who are on a skid from their highest 4th place) will be without Chelsea's two best fixtures of the squad John Terry (Yellow Card accumulation) and Frank Lampard (serving the mandatory one match ban after picking up a Red Card), not only but reverse action could be taken on Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa for kicking over Liverpool's Benayoun in the corner late in the match.  Granted Mike Riley really got Lampard's sending off wrong, because Xabi Alonso was mainly to blame for the contact.  Lampard did win the ball first and his boot was off the grass because of the ball's bounce, then Alonso kicked Lampard's leg and fell over as if he'd been tackled.  If anything Lampard should have been cautioned about a high boot and Alonso booked for a dive.

This could be just the momentum Liverpool need to allow them to capture a record 19th EPL title, especially with Torres finding the back of the net for the first time since his return from the Euros in Austria/Switzerland.  However Manchester United (who are looking to tie Liverpool's 18 titles this season) are finally firing on all cylinders and most of the squad are finally becoming healthy again.  Also to the dismay of Chelsea supporters, dropping two goals today allowed rivals Manchester United to pass them in goal differential (Chelsea +29, United +30) as well as allowing Liverpool to leap frog them into second place in the tables.