As I mentioned in my last post, I am proud of Hope Solo.
I am disgusted, however, with her coach's decision to not let her suit up for the final game, and also with her teammates.
Her coach talks of sticking together and putting the 20 best players out on the field who've stuck together through thick and thin. What a bunch of bullshit.
Solo should be happy she is not on this team anymore. This is a team of cowards. They are afraid to speak their mind, to voice their opinions, to let their coach know what they're feeling. Why didn't the U.S. captains speak up to the coach after his decision to bench Solo? Solo shouldn't even have had to make the remarks she did because the team should have stuck behind Solo. The team should have stuck with the best goalie. The team should have stuck with the one who was with them through the thick and thin of the 2007 World Cup. But they didn't. Cowards.
And now, after Solo has apologized to Scurry, her coach has benched her, which chances are has effectively ended her run as U.S. goalkeeper. What a brilliant public relations move by Greg Ryan. With one move he has moved all the attention off himself for making possibly the worst decision in U.S. women's soccer history by kicking Solo off the team. He frames Solo as being the distraction and not the team player. Who was really the distraction here? How about the coach who benched the starting goalie in a semifinal match for someone who hadn't played in 3 months? Why isn't he the biggest distraction? And her teammates? Team players? Not one came to Solo's defense, even though they agreed with her.
Run and hide, Team USA. Leave Solo out in the cold. But don't give me this bullshit about sticking together through "thick and thin" and having the best players out on the field when not two days ago you did none of it.
Fucking ridiculous. I applaud you still, Hope Solo.
What a long week. School kicked my fucking ass all over the place. Apparently in Maryland they give out mid-quarter progress reports. Basically students get to see their grades and have a list of all the assignments that they've done with each individual grade and percent. And basically that means a lot of extra work for me preparing them for all the little kiddies. Bleah. I think my favorite part of handing out the progress reports is the questions I get from the kids. "Why did I get a 3/12 on this assignment???" Well, because you got 3 right out of the 12 problems. What do you want me to say??? "How come I don't have a grade for this homework???" Because you didn't do it. Duh. You turn it in, you get a grade. Simple. I'm scared for the youth of the future.
~I just realized that the Redskins play the Lions next week, which means I get the game! I'm so excited! (How excited are you?) I'm SO excited that I plan on watching the game even if my penis is lit on fire and there are deadly parasites going up inside my pee-hole. It will almost feel like an old football Sunday. Not my penis being on fire, watching the Lions.
~So Stephen A. Smith and Mike Tirico took over Dan Patrick's old radio time slot on ESPN Radio. When I get out of school, I get treated to the Stephen A. portion. I listen to him because I love sports talk, but I find myself flipping to other local sports talk radio stations (and these are terrible, let me tell you) because he's so fucking annoying. Also, I don't mind debating topics and giving opinions and arguing and all, but Stephen A. loves to gives his opinion, but he will not listen to what others have to say. I believe in a good argument or debate you have to respond to what the other person says, you just can't keep repeating your opinion over and over.
For example, Stephen A. tried to defend Michael Vick being busted with marijuana. He said that although he doesn't agree with pot smoking, he understands why he did it. He said what's the big deal if he's going to prison for years? What's pot smoking have to do with dog fighting charges? Why would he have to take a drug test if he was up on dog fighting charges? Stephen A. felt that the courts were just piling on Vick, and that they should just leave Vick alone.
Smith's co-host merely pointed out that as a condition of Vick's bail, he was not to do drugs, and that he'd be tested. If that's the case, how can you sit here and defend Michael Vick's actions? Doesn't that tell you right then and there that Michael Vick is the biggest fucking idiot on the planet?
But Smith continued to repeat his opinion...over and over...and with each valid and logical counter argument ("he broke the law"..."he violated the terms of his bail"...things that are not debatable!) he had nothing. I suppose it'd be one thing if he argued whether drug testing should be a part of the bail process, but he didn't argue that! He argued that Vick should be left alone, and his pot smoking was not a big deal because he was going to jail for something more serious anyway.
As you can see, it annoyed me to no end. Hey Stephen A., what if I was going to jail soon for murder? Is it okay for me to rape a woman since I won't have the chance to have sex for a long time, and not get in trouble? I mean, I'm going to jail for something more serious anyway. Seems like it follows your line of thinking...
Tool.
~As evidence that I don't understand soccer still, the U.S. benched my favorite player, Hope Solo, for no reason. Literally no reason. It's like benching your star quarterback that's led you to the playoffs for the backup that beat the team you'll be playing three years ago. It's like sitting the ace of your staff for the old veteran who once did well against a team ages ago. It just doesn't add up in my head how you can possibly do that. Solo was 3-0-1 in World Cup play. She had 300 minutes of scoreless play. What more could you want?
And did you hear Solo's comments afterwards? Everybody is ripping her for being a terrible teammate and the such, but I COMPLETELY AGREE with her and she is now my favorite soccer player of all-time. Everything she said was practically spot-on and was everything that we were thinking. We were all thinking what she said. Admit it. Even as you watched the highlights of the game, and you watched some weak goals go past Scurry, you probably said, "Man, she should have had that one..." Could Solo have stopped them all? Probably not. Brazil was definitely the better team (Marta's goal was freakin' amazing). But I have ZERO problem with what she said and am glad she did.
I really hate it when we rip on athletes when they give us honest answers. We all complain when athletes give us the generic sports interview, and then we rip them for being honest. Hope said what everybody was going to write and say in the paper the next day. Give her a break. And don't think practically everyone on that team isn't behind her (okay, maybe not Scurry), because I guarantee they were all thinking it too. Props to you Hope Solo.
~Good article on ESPN.com about the Tigers. Interesting quotes from Jim Leyland. I like the part where Leyland was asked about why he didn't ride his team more (get on them) like he did last year when they played poorly. He said, and I paraphrase, that there wasn't anything he could say to the team. What could he possibly say to Granderson, Guillen, Ordonez? Play better when they all had career years? Polanco? Shef before the DL? I liked how Jimmy Leyland says he was happy with his teams performance. After looking at this year, and seeing how we were decimated by pitching injuries, pitching inconsistencies, rookies being thrown into the mix, and under performing players (Monroe, Inge, 2nd half Pudge, Casey), we are still 15-20 games above .500. Not too bad, especially with everyone in the league gunning for you. I think it'll be good for the Tigers to get the rest this offseason and come back fresh, prepared, and with a vengeance. I expect it.
~Who's the front-runner for the Heisman? I'll tell you who in my eyes. It's not John David-Booty. Not Colt Brennan. Not Darren McFadden. It's actually a freshman...from Texas Tech. That's right, a freshman from Texas Tech. His name is Michael Crabtree and he is going to obliterate receiving records this year- as a freshman. Take a look at his stats through 4 games:
52 Receptions
775 Yards
14.9 Yards per Catch
0 Fumbles
11 Touchdowns
Michael Crabtree has more touchdown catches than all but 10 quarterbacks in Division I football. He is projected (and yes, it is hard to think he'll keep this up) to have 156 receptions, 2,325 yards, and 33 TDs. Insane.
Front runner for the Heisman? Michael "Fucking" Crabtree.
~Hoping to get the State game this weekend. I've been happy because I've gotten every U of M game down here, and 3 out of 4 of State's games. It's been nice.
~NFL Upset Pick: Arizona over Pittsburgh.
Alrighty, I'm out.
~Mikey D
~The Lions gave up 56 points to the Eagles, and I'm not surprised. McNabb playing with a chip on his shoulder, Westbrook demanding the ball all week, the Eagles coming off two losses, a home game in Philadelphia...oh yeah, and possibly THE WORST pass defense I've ever seen. Even the Browns and Bengals thought that was bad. At least Cleveland got lit up by Chad Johnson and T.J., and Cincy by Braylon and Winslow, we got lit up by Kevin Curtis. Kevin fucking Curtis.
~So I should be down this week since the Lions lost, right? Actually no. Is there a more perfect week to catch the Bears? We get them at home, our defense has something to prove (obviously), division rival, and most importantly, Chicago looks bad. Their defense hasn't clicked yet, and their offense is stuck in the mud. We can go two games up on the Bears if we can take this one. That would be huge. 3-1 with a two game lead on the Bears would be a mighty impressive start to the season. It might actually make me forget about this past weekend's game. Kevin fucking Curtis.
~Fantasy football this year has reached a different kind of frustration for me. In years past I would always try to tweak my team and pull off trades because I would always have one glaring weakness that I couldn't stand. This years team is just under performing. I think about what I would have done differently in the draft, and without the knowledge I have now, I wouldn't have done anything different. I like Brees and Bulger. I like Tomlinson, Portis, Jones-Drew, Benson. I like Wayne, Fitzgerald, Evans, and Walker. I like Gates at tight end. Really, who has a team with more under performing players? Bulger, Brees, Fitzgerald, Walker, Evans, Tomlinson- that's 6 guys! And if you didn't notice, that's both my QBs, all my WRs, and supposedly the best back in the NFL! For the first time in years, I feel like there's no moves I can make. I feel like I just have to stay on board and hope the ship rights itself...judging by the way it's tilting right now, the bottom of the ocean is pretty close looking.
~I still think Stacey has the most balanced fantasy team. She's going to be tough every week, especially if Brady keeps playing lights out. 900 yards and 9 TDs in three games? Wow. And Barber is a fantasy beast. Even with the coaching change, he's still the man in Dallas.
~Let's compare the numbers of Harrington and Schaub against Carolina:
Joey Harrington: 31-44, 361 yards, 2 TDs, 0 ints
Matt Schaub: 20-28, 227, 2 TDs, o ints
Fairly comparable, yes? I want to reiterate that Atlanta trading away Schaub was not the worst move of the offseason, especially if you want to say it was by comparing Harrington and Schaub. Joey has faced much tougher defenses than Schaub (his first came against Indy, and he failed), but when it comes down to it, an easy pass defense is easy to throw against for anybody, even Joey Harrington. Now Schaub will have the better year, but that's mostly because he has a better team around him. I honestly can't picture him doing that much better than Harrington if he was still in Atlanta.
~Speaking of Atlanta, DeAngelo Hall apparently got the shit kicked out of him by his own teammates for getting into it with Bobby Petrino. Fucking awesome. Don't think those players are behind their head coach? They just kicked the shit out of their all-pro corner!
~Grace and I went to the Phillies-Nationals game in D.C. this past weekend. I bought the cheapest seats I could find, and low and behold they were in the Phillies' fans section. Everybody around us was a Phillies fan. Let me just tell you, this was the most fun I've had a ball game in a long time. Rooting for the Phillies these past couple of weeks has been a blast. Everybody knocks Philly fans for being rude and such, but they are the most passionate and loyal fans I've ever been around. Sure they'll boo you if you're playing like shit, but that's only because they care about you so much. Tough love.
Anyway, this whole section of Philly fans was so loud the entire game. They made sure they were heard throughout the stadium. Philadelphia fans migrated from all parts of the stadium to be near our section. The Philly fans had chant after chant ready, from "Expos Suck" to "This is our house!" to "M-V-P" every time Jimmy Rollins stepped to the plate. They were all done in good fun, and none of the fans were out of control.
Yet, security was brought to our section. They yelled at the entire section and told them to shut-up or they'd be kicked out. It was kind of ridiculous. Since when couldn't you root for your team? One of the security guards reminded me of the cop in Harold and Kumar. You know the one, "Kumar, how do you spell that, with like four o's and two u's?". Well remember when Kumar gives that whole speech about how the only reason he was a cop was so he could push around people still? Well that cop was there that night. And he was an ass.
During the Philly fans' rendition of "D.C. sucks" the cop tried to pick on a guy that was bigger than him. He told the guy to "say it again" and he'd kick him out. The guy just looked him in the eyes and shouted it louder. Priceless. Of course the security guy didn't do anything, because he only pushes around those that are smaller than him. He just left mutter, "I'll get you", whatever that means.
Anyway, throughout the 9th and 10th inning it was non-stop cheering and clapping from these fans. They were so into the game! As a baseball fan you wish every fan of your teams was into the game like these fans. It made being at the game memorable (because that stadium, RFK, was not...what a fucking dump). Being around those fans made me want to be a Philly fan. Those are some die-hards.
Anyway, that was a top-5 game I've ever been to. Right up there with the Tiger's playoff game from last year and catching Jimmy Rollins' home run in Philadelphia. It was purely based on atmosphere alone, as the stadium was shit. Totally unique and fun baseball experience.
~Mikey D
~Did anybody catch the New England/San Diego game last night? Holy shit. I have not seen a team dominate like that at the pro level in quite some time. San Diego is supposed to have a decent defense the last time I checked, and New England ripped through it like they were playing the Lions. It was amazing/ridiculous. Anything they wanted to do, they did. They ran each of their plays to perfection. All those people that picked New England to go to the Super Bowl look pretty damn good right now, as that was an impressive display of football last night, offensively and defensively. How do you stop that team???
~Of course the Lions would start winning right when I move away. I moved to Michigan at the end of the Scott Mitchell-Herman Moore-Barry Sanders playoff runs (by playoff runs, I mean first round and done teams) and as soon as I move they start winning again. Looks like I was the bad luck charm. Watch out Redskins and Ravens...
~Speaking of the Lions, I want to watch a game more than you know.
~My top 5 teams in the NFL:
1) New England Patriots
2) Indianapolis Colts
3) Pittsburgh Steelers
4) Dallas Cowboys
5) Detroit Lions ( just cause)
~The top 5 picks in the 08' NFL Draft:
1) Kansas City Chiefs
2) Atlanta Falcons
3) New York Giants
4) Cleveland Browns
5) Oakland Raiders
~Stacey looks like she has the team to beat in fantasy. Yes she gets the early season nod in my book. She had a lot of "ifs" coming into the year, and they're all being answered. Steve Smith and Tory Holt are touchdown machines at wideout, Delhomme has returned (thanks in part to Mr. Smith), and Tom Brady is an unstoppable force right now. Oh yeah, throw in Shaun Alexander and the New England defense, and you've got yourself a machine for a team. Good thing I play her next week and all her match-ups are sweet. Yeah...lord have mercy on my team.
~My top five in college football:
1) USC
2) Oklahoma
3) LSU
4) Florida
5) Penn State
I really only wanted to do a top-four, because it seems like everyone after Florida is a joke. Every Big East team in overrated. West Virginia...it's only a matter of time until your maker comes calling. I really can't find that fifth best team, so I'm going with my pre-season Big Ten title winner, Penn State. Showing the Big Ten some love. Oh, and my number six team? MSU. Just cause they're undefeated.
~I liked seeing all the old MSU basketball players on the sideline during the MSU/Pitt game. It made me excited for MSU basketball season, and made me realize how frickin' sweet we've been. We had some damn good player come through this program, and whether they've made it or not in the pros is irrelevant to me, really. Just seeing a guy like Shannon Brown again, and remembering his dunk against Kentucky (where the guy got a facial of his nuts) in the tourny made me smile. Welcome home, boys.
~It seems like the Tigers are doing everything right, yet they can't make up any ground. You would think the Yankees would slip just a little, but it doesn't look like they're going to. How big is this series coming up with Cleveland? A sweep puts us within a game and a half of first, and hopefully closer in the Wild Card. Time just keeps ticking away though.
~My baseball pre-season predictions were the Yankees, Twins, Angels and Indians (wild card), and Braves, Reds, Diamondbacks, and Mets (wild card). I once again look like a fool, except for the Diamondback pick. The Reds? I justified the pick by saying, "hey, someones got to win it," and I was right in a way. The division is anybodys really...just not the Reds. The Braves floundered late on me, and the Mets just had too big a lead. And the Twins pick? If I had to do it all again, I pick them to win it still. They have the AL Cy Young (Santana), AL MVP (Morneau), AL Batting Champ (Mauer), Gold Glove defense (Hunter), one of the best bullpens (Nathan), team speed, veterans, and a great manager. The starting pitching depth is what killed them. Their veterans didn't pan out and their young guys didn't develop quick enough. Other than that, sweet team. Oh well. There's always next year to be wrong.
~Only 11 more races left in the Nascar season. Let the countdown begin! God I can't wait till that shit is over with. I hate that Sportscenter devotes even a second to it. I'd rather have more coverage of Michael Vick than Nascar. Stupid ass hicks and their race cars. Oh wait, Adam likes that Indy Car stuff. Sorry Adam, I hope I didn't offend you =).
~Mikey D
I feel like I never have time to post, but dammit I'm still going to try when I can!
~ Grace and I went to the Orioles-Angels game last night with a guy and his girlfriend I met at new teacher orientation in August. It was a good time, but I cannot believe how little support the Oriole's have right now. Grace and I planned on buying upper deck seats to the game for cheap, but when we got to the ticket window we were approached by scalpers. Well not really. We were actually approached by two people that gave their seats away. They had extra tickets (just like the Oriole's box office! Ooo burn!) and said we could have them. So we paid zero dollars for our tickets. We got in, and instead of going to section 347, we decided to go down to section 67 on the third base line. The usher didn't even check our tickets, but instead walked us down and wiped off two random seats close to the field. Cool!
I just remember the place being packed every single night, and it's just sad that so few people come to the games anymore, even if it was a Wednesday night. Grace and I walked through the concourse, and it felt like we were all alone. People were so far and few between. There were more concession stands closed than open. It was just weird.
If I was the owner, I would be embarrassed beyond belief, and I would do anything and everything in my power to fix that dismal situation.
~I got my first writing assignment from the local sports paper here in Baltimore. They want me to write an article about tennis, giving it a local angle. I'm still debating where I want to go with this one, but I'm leaning towards the decline in popularity of men's tennis, and how clubs and programs in the area are trying to promote interest in the sport. Just a thought. Anywho, this will apparently be my "free piece", where if they publish it in the paper I won't receive any sort of compensation. If it's good though, they'll put me on a schedule where I can write regularly for the paper and I can get some money for my writing. So I guess I better make this first one good.
~I had my first observation in school the other day. The principal, math department chair, and my mentor all sat in my classroom as I taught a 100 minute lesson. It was scary as hell the first twenty minutes. I was nervous beyond belief (Before class I actually was so nervous I had to rush to the bathroom to piss...otherwise I'd probably have pissed myself during my lesson. Thought you'd like to know that.). But I made it through, and the last half of the lesson I'd forgotten completely that people were even in the room. I think I did well, and I will find out Friday what they wrote up about me during my post-observation conference (gay).
~Here are some pics for you folks!
This is me at the Orioles-Yankees game. During this game the stadium was packed...with Yankee fans. It felt like the Orioles were the visiting team. It was a fun game to watch (O's won), as I was focused on all the action with my hands together the entire time.
Here's Colin and I in Ocean City. This was actually the first time I've been to the Atlantic, or any ocean for that matter. We had a gay old time. Pun intended.
We swam in the ocean...
...And the waves made me scared...
Here's Kev and I in front of the capital. Didn't you know we were Chinese??? God we look goofy in this picture.
This is Grace and I at her birthday dinner. She is glowing because she gets to be in a picture with me. Yeah, that's it...
Here's Me, Grace, Anne, and Bobby. Apparently they smell like poop because I'm not really that close to them. Or maybe I'm the one that smells because they're not close to me. Hmmmm....
Jimmy Rollins' home run ball. One-handed. Left hand. No glove. 400 feet from home plate. Booya mother fuckers. You can still see me, Grace, Amber, Anne, and Bobby celebrate on the Phillies homepage if you click the 9/8 game and find the "Phillies 4-run eighth" highlights. National TV baby, ooooh yeah.
In front of the legendary Pat's. This is where Rocky got his cheesesteaks in the movies. This place is really cool. Wiz wit, Wiz wit mushrooms. That's how you order cheesesteaks in Philly. It was my first too. I got immediate respect from the cooks after they found out that I caught J-Rolls home run ball. Thank you Grace for mentioning that everywhere we went that night =).
Delicious. Philly was really fun that day. It is a damn cool city. There's so much to see/do/eat. I loved our trip there. Grace was on TV twice that night, once during the home run ball, and later from the bar where her, Anne, Amber, and Bobby were doing the "Fly, Eagles Fly!" cheer for the news cameras. We watched the news at her mom's house that night, and it was a lot of fun seeing our faces all over the city. I got a lot of first in that day. My first Phillies game. My first home run ball. My first cheesesteak. My first national television appearance, haha. Good times; can't wait to go back.
~Mikey D
This morning I woke up to play my first Madden game in a week, and I'm quite ecstatic right now.
I played a guy online who was 5-2, and playing with the Colts against my 49ers. I could not pass, I could not run, but dammit, I played defense like a motherfucker.
I won 10-3, and picked Peyton Manning three times. I shut down Adaii completely. It was kind of a thing of beauty.
It was 3-3 into the 4th, when I made my third and final pick of Manning. I switched up a few of the running plays, running some counter weaks for the first time all game, which got me down to the goal line. After getting absolutely stuffed on my first run, I stuck with it and called the goaline pitch, and Mr. Gore did the rest for me.
Video games make me happy. Madden makes me happy. Beating the Colts with an inferior team makes me happy.
~Mikey D
