2022 World Cup

France 4-3 (PKs) France

Weird game, probably the most lopsided 3-3 tie I've ever seen in any sport. Put it this way: France had 3 goal scoring chances and they scored all three of them, while Argentina had four million chances and scored three of them. Mbappe had a hat trick and came up big when the time was right, but Messi controlled the game and moved the ball forward for 120 minutes. Argentina more or less dominated the first 70 minutes or so, then France got a PK and a quick follow up (mirroring Argentina's scores from the 1st half) and the game got tight. But, even still, Argentina was the better team, had the better midfield control and was more dangerous around the goal. 

Fun game, the last 40 minutes or so of game time was gripping stuff, but Argentina was clearly the better side throughout and Messi the indisputable MVP.

2022 World Cup (Final)

Semifinals

Argentina 3-0 Croatia

This game was as wide open unpredictable as any match I've seen in ages, maybe like an NCAA Final with two great teams or a Masters where everyone is balling out. I had no idea what would transpire, so when Argentina was up 2-0 at the half, I still figured Croatia could win 3-2--I would not have been shocked. But, man, Messi was so fuckin' good in the 2nd half, just owned the game, took it over like Nikola Jokic: he just did whatever needed to be done like a boss. That third goal was pure Messi, thing o' beauty. I thought the PK that kicked off the scoring in the 1st half was 50/50: there was clearly contact so a replay isn't gonna change anything, I'm just so used to the keeper being given more leeway than everyone else that I'm surprised they called that contact, I thought it was even; Messi nailed the perfect finish (the one Harry Kane couldn't put away against France). Then soon after that Croatia gave up a video game goal: you're playing FIFA, you start thinking about getting an oil change or something, the computer's got the ball but he's not doing anything, you expect the ball to get poked away, it never does, now you're down 2-nothing. It was one of those, not a brilliant play but Argentina, just good ol' persistence kept the possession and went coast to coast with it. Nice work by Argentina, Messi played great, Croatia just never got lucky, made a coupla bonehead plays and that was that. 

France 2-0 Morocco

When Morocco gave up an early goal (5th minute) to France, I wasn't that worried; I knew Morocco wasn't gonna change anything about their game, though maybe they had a chance to get an equalizer. Well, Morocco really did control possession for the most part, but France's counter was pretty good. So even though Morcco held the ball and moved it well for the most part, the French still seemed more dangerous around the goal. When France got that 2nd goal (in the 80th minute), it finally let off the tension, because Morocco really could've tied that game up. Morocco was good at all phases of the game except shooting, they never really get one decent rip in the whole game, even though they held possession well and were sneaky in the offensive mid. But, France was able to overcome the chaos, got two kooky goals out of it and they're moving on. France has the home run potential of Brazil but more confidence in the midfield like Portugal or Spain, they're a good team; but if Morocco had a little more shot making up front, France might be playing the consolation game. 

3) Morocco (legit top notch defense, loved the keeper, their attacking midfield was effective against a lot of different teams; but they're goal scoring just wasn't effective enough; they deserved this run, this is a good squad, though I didn't get a feel for how old/young they are and the African teams are notoriously up and down, so not sure if they'll be nearly as tough in 2026)

4) Croatia (good team, savvy veterans, classy footballers, but they needed some luck and they did not get any against Argentina; Croatia is definitely on the map, their recent success is not a surprised, but I'm not sure this team makes it back in 2026)

Final

Croatia - Morocco

Could be a fun match. Morocco is sturdy, good in defense (though they get stretched on the counter), pretty good holding the ball. Croatia is a veteran side, patient, opportunistic but I think a little more geared toward making the big play than they ought to be. Also, gotta factor in who actually wants to play another game after losing in the semis and who is ready to just go home; I think they'll wanna play and should be rather conservative. I think I like Morocco to find the goal (maybe in OT) and I think Croatia fails to counter. I'll take Morocco.  

France - Argentina

My pre-tourney prediction was Belgium over France in the Final. Belgium did not live up to my expectations--even after they were gifted an opening game W against Canada, a team that more or less dominated them for 89 minutes and 55 seconds. But I'm not shocked to France here in the Final. They've got a ton of talent all over the field, Mbappe has been pretty great and has plenty of speed and moxy to the outside to make plays even at the highest of levels. I've been sandbagging Argentina all the way through because they didn't look special to me and I'm more used to see decline in the older teams; but then again this is the era of Lebron and Tom Brady, Federer and Nadal and, well, Messi. This team is and has been much better than I've given them credit for and their big man is feeling it. I like Argentina, I expect Messi to play the game of his life and while I expect France to be good, they look kinda half-ass to me, like they're waiting for the miracle instead of putting in the work. I think France has the better, younger talent, but I think Argentina is in it to win it like nobody I've seen in a while. I like Argentina (they're playing like they really fucking want it).

2022 World Cup (Semifinals)

Quarterfinals

Brazil 1-2 (PKs) Croatia

Brazil really let this one slip away. If they had put their effort into a for-real half court offense, controlling possession and pushing toward a ball control attack, I'm frickin' positive they would've scored goals. This would've left Croatia no hope but a searching counterattack, which I just don't think would've worked. Brazil scored first in OT but they couldn't parry the final Croatian push and then missed PK after PK (which is pretty un-Brazil, no?).  Croatia is a nice team, loads of veteran savvy and pride and while they don't have the depth of talent that Brazil possesses, Croatia was able to put together a cohesive game plan and Brazil didn't. 

Netherlands 2-3 (PKs) Argentina

Thought it was notable that all that Dutch youth wilted in OT and the Argentines dominated the attack late. Felt like the Dutch had their chance to establish the tempo early (nope) and still they could have come on late (got an equalizer, but I was thinking of a game winner or at least a dominant possession attack), but they didn't do either of those things, nor did they do anything in OT. So Argentina is moving on, the veteran savvy still getting it done (though I'm still dubious of how good they actually are). 

Portugal 0-1 Morocco

Not the most exciting game. Morocco got their goal (nice header off a long cross) and they made it hold up. I thought Portugal was old and that Morocco was underrated and that's how this match played out. 

France 2-1 England

Man, France was the better team with the deeper talent but England had their chance to extend the match but Harry Kane missed a late PK (ouch, that one's gonna hang in English lore for a long long time) and France is moving on. France has so much talent all over the field, Mbappe still has another level to get to (watch out, Morocco!), and that offense can score a ton real fast. France is the best of the remaining sides, not a slam dunk, but I'd say they're the team to beat. 

5) Brazil (this is disappointing, this team could've won it all and they didn't even score on Croatia in 90 minutes nor did they keep their advantage or shine out in PKs; Brazil has been weird for, like, 20 years now, they still got the talent, but are they ever going to find the coach that pulls it together?)

6) England (loaded with stars (but is that the same as 'talent'?), feels like they had a disappointing run but I'd say top 8 is a pretty good result; this could be one the old head teams in 2026)

7) Netherlands (good young squad, definitely could've bested Argentina, they just didn't; I'm guessing they'll still be good in 2026)

8) Portugal (one last run with the old guard, feels like this team will totally different in 2026)

Semifinals

Argentina - Croatia

Two oldhead squads that shouldn't have made it this far--and one of them is to going to the Finals! I dunno, man, this match could go in any direction, I can see either team getting hot and winning big, I can see either team stealing it late, I can see either team winning in OT or PKs. This one is wide open, I suspect the Man of the Match will be someone unpredictable. 

France - Morocco

France is the better team, Morocco's goalie has really been kinda great so far, if he can keep them in the match, then Morocco can certainly pull off the upset. But I don't think that happens, I think (unlike Brazil), France will concoct the proper game plan and will execute it to victory. Feels like France might drop bombs on the Moroccans late, we'll see, but this could an onslaught for the French.

2022 World Cup (Quarterfinals)

Round of 16

Netherlands 3-1 USA

Man, the 1st half that the Netherlands played was about the most perfect half of soccer you will ever see: they scored early, they scored late and in between they did virtually nothing and it kept the Americans running in circles. The lattice-work defense bottled up the middle and for some reason the Americans just could not shift it to the wings. The Dutch basically had two nice chances on counter attacks and they finished them both. Game over. The Americans hung around, scored a goal to make it close for a little bit, but the Dutch slammed the door soon after and that was that. The Americans have good talent, much more depth than I've ever seen in my lifetime and I'm pleased to report that the 2026 team looks well in place; that's nice, but in 2022 this was a top 16 team not a top 8 team and we all know it. As for the Netherlands, hey, man, they're better than I gave them credit for. They did so little in the group that I just kinda forgot to pay attention to them, but I was impressed with their size and speed all over the field, they're gonna be a tough out. 

Argentina 2-1 Australia

Yeah, Argentina was just better, man. The Aussies put up a game effort but they were never in this game and while this is probably the best Australian team I've ever seen....yeah....that's not saying much. There's always one team that's too old and I thought Argentina might be that team (still got my eye on Portugal and Croatia, too), but so far they've used their veteran savvy to get by. I don't think that's gonna work against the Netherlands, but we'll see. 

France 3-1 Poland

(I missed this game) Kinda seemed like the Netherlands-USA game: France was in control throughout, Poland added a late PK to make it look like a game, but I don't think it was. France is good, man, they're still in the sweet spot of their greatest generation and Mbappe is the MVP up to this point, I'd say (Messi has been pretty damn good, though). 

England 3-0 Senegal

I thought this match had some upset potential, but Senegal just never could find the upper hand. Then when England scored and then scored quickly again, Senegal was deflated. This scoreline looks like all the other round of 16 matches, but I think Senegal is better than this and I'm not convinced England is as good as they've looked so far: they caught Iran in a bad moment, couldn't get over top USA, easily pushed aside little brother Wales and got the chances they needed against Senegal. Yeah, they've won so far but I don't see them as favorite going forward. I could be wrong. 

Croatia 2-1 (PKs) Japan

Is Croatia the too-old team? Could be. But they didn't fall apart when Japan got the lead on them, Croatia stuck to their game, parried Japan for an extra 30 minutes and then handled their business in the PK round and that is impressive. I like Japan, they're smart, they play hard, they're like a really good Vanderbilt team: you know you've got more talent and that becomes your weakness because these guys will make the most of your lackadaisical mistakes. Japan is steadily improving and I wouldn't be surprised to see them as a regular fixture in the round of 16, but they've got a ways to go to reach the quarterfinals (just ask Mexico!). As for Croatia, well, I think they're getting by on guile and we'll see how long that lasts.

Brazil 4-1 South Korea

Yeah, Brazil took it easy on them in the 2nd half. Does the score look like a blowout? Man, Brazil took a nap for 45 minutes--that's how much of a blowout this game was. Does this suggest that South Korea sucks? Not at all. They are disciplined and well coached, they're good athletes and that goal they scored was fuckin' shweet! No, this is indicative of Brazil's resurrection. They've been kinda out of it for a while now, but they're gonna be tough to beat from here on out. South Korea did not suck in this game and Brazil smacked them around mercilessly before getting bored. Brazil is in it to win it this year. 

Spain 0-1 (PKs) Morocco

Not a shock. Of the eight "lesser" teams in the round of 16, Morocco is arguably the best side, they were really good in group. Spain is solid, nice mix of youth and vets, but they're not back to the 2000s form and losing to Morocco might normally seem like an upset, I thought these two were evenly matched. Indeed, it was clear fairly early in the match that it was gonna take a PK or a fluke play for either team pull it out, this had overtime written all over it. In PKs, I was little surprised that Spain missed their first three shots, felt like they'd have the veteran savvy to pull it out, but they didn't. Hey, man, not an upset, Morocco is solid. 

Portugal 6-1 Switzerland

Not surprised that Portugal laid the smackdown on Switzerland but I'm a little dubious of their overwhelming offense. They strike me as one of those teams that's too old to get it done but if they can keep this level of attack up, then they can definitely move on. Switzerland just couldn't hang; once they were forced into full attack mode, their defense got shredded on the counter, Portugal just plucked goals as if from a grapevine. 

9-16

9) Spain (Netherlands, England, France, Argentina, Brazil and Portugal all got up by 2 goals and then smothered their opponents; Croatia was able to weather the storm and get to OT but Spain couldn't get the lead and couldn't find the equalizer. They're not at their 2000s peak but the influx of young talent might be tough to beat in 2026)

10) Japan (Good team, man, they flat out beat Germany, should've beaten Croatia--Japa could easily still be in play. Japan is steadily producing better and better athletes each year, they'll be around in 2026)

11) USA (Not bad, one of those squads that forever oscillates between underrated and overrated. A nice showing against England, but should've finished off Wales, should've handled Iran and they did get housed by the Netherlands (though I suspect Netherlands is really good). So...nice tourney, not a failure but I'd like to see more confidence and looking more dangerous at the next level. USA is the host team in 2026, is USA's time finally on the horizon? 

12) South Korea (got housed by Brazil but otherwise competed well and South Korea for a while now have been passing the bus test: yeah, they look badasses getting off the bus. They're producing more athletes, they're on the up right and they'll be dominating Asia, along with Japan, for the foreseeable future. They'll be around in 2026)

13) Senegal (Senegal has a spicy offense, they produce solid athletes, just a matter of having a raft of young badasses at the same time. If they could've held off England's early offense, they might've taken that game (a mix of thinking Senegal is underrated and England is overrated))

14) Poland (They've got Lewandoski so they've definitely got for-real world class talent up front. But...there's not much beyond that. Otherwise they're just....Australia)

15) Australia (Yeah, if they had Lewandowski, I'd put them at #14. I think they're getting better and it is worth remembering that Australia is a deceptively small country, so the amount of talent produced is maybe about right)

16) Switzerland (I've been complaining about the "old" teams and frankly that's what Switzerland was. They had a coupla nice players but not nearly enough depth to even come close to Portugal (a team I'm not even that into))

Quarterfinals

Netherlands - Argentina

I'll take Netherlands, they're big and fast at every position. Argentina has the savvy but I think the Netherlands can pierce that defense, which might make the Argentine offense go haywire. 

France - England

I'll take France, they're just better. 

Croatia - Brazil

Brazil is rolling, man. They kinda haven't done anything since 2002 but this team meshes together in a way we haven't seen from Brazil since the 1990s. Throw in that Croatia is clearly one of the "old" teams and this could be a boat race. 

Morocco - Portugal

I like Morocco, if they can keep Portugal out of the box, then it can be the Moroccan counter that gets out on the break. I don't like Portugal that much but their offense has been effective, if they keep it going, they can roll up on Morocco. We'll see.

2022 World Cup (Round of 16)

Netherlands - USA (The Dutch have the pedigree but USA is producing players now that don't know they're not supposed to win; Netherlands is nice but not that great and they're coming in with the expectations; we'll see; I'll take USA (but obviously because I'm a homer))

Argentina - Australia (I thought this Argentina side might be too long in the tooth to get it done and when they got stung by Saudi Arabia in the opener, it felt like the end was neigh; but they're righted the ship and look pretty damn good again; Australia, on the other hand, is big and tough with not a lot of skill on the ball; I'll take Argentina)

France - Poland (France looks good, Poland looks okay; France has world class talent on the bench, Poland has Lewandowski up front; France is the better team but if they falter and Poland can get the ball forward, this has upset potential; but I'll take France)

England - Senegal (Senegal isn't bad while the English aren't as good as they think they are; this is toss-up, the English probably fancy themselves the favorite but I'm not sure; I'll take Senegal)

Japan - Croatia (Croatia is another team that looks old to me, Japan is sneaky and they just keep working; Croatia should have more talent, but that might doom them; I'll take Japan)

Brazil - South Korea (I like South Korea but they're not Brazil; I'll take Brazil)

Morocco - Spain (Hey, man, Morocco has played well to this point, but they may have just been in a disappointing group; Spain has moments of looking like the old magic, but I feel like they haven't played a complete game yet; I'll take Spain)

Portugal - Switzerland (I think Portugal played above themselves in group, I can see them crashing back to earth at some point; on the other hand, I don't think Switzerland has enough spice to really put in on them; I'll take Spain)

Bottom 16

17) Tunisia (man, they were good, thought they'd advance, kinda surprised they didn't; really solid on both sides)

18) Cameroon (beat Brazil, competed well against weird Euro squads, little more luck and they could've moved on)

19) Ecuador (good scorers, they were dangerous, just got unlucky down the stretch)

20) Germany (fell asleep against Japan, got lucky against Spain, finally busted out at the end of the Costa Rica match; flashes of German-ness but not enough to get it done)

21) Uruguay (still kinda scary up front, almost made it through; didn't love them but they weren't bad; last rodeo for the Suarez-Cavani combo, I presume)

22) Costa Rica (weird run, not a bad team but never got going) 

23) Saudi Arabia (beat Argentina, didn't do much else, but they beat Argentina)

24) Iran (gave away the first match but still played hard for two games; strong turnaround)

25) Mexico (just couldn't score, never seemed dangerous around the goal)

26) Ghana (nice team but didn't make the most of their chances; really should've been better, which is kinda promising)

27) Serbia (weird team, weird energy, weird group)

28) Wales (one PK was almost enough to fuck up the World Cup for USA, but otherwise they were non-existent on the pitch)

29) Denmark (I dunno, they did nothing)

30) Belgium (my pick to win it all, biggest disappointment of my lifetime; these guys sucked when they could've won the whole thing; something is seriously wrong with this team)

31) Canada (Yeah, outplayed Belgium for 90 minutes (well, 89 minutes an 55 seconds) but two games later, that seems like a major disappointment instead of a rallying cry; Canada was never particularly good on either side)

32) Qatar (Oh man, they sucked at everything! Shocking, too, because I thought they'd be kinda good and...they were not)

2022 World Cup (after 2 games)

Top tier (France, Brazil)

These two are gonna be hard to beat. Right now, I'd say this is your final (or semifinal, at least). 

Pretty good (Ecuador, Senegal, England, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal)

I was impressed by Ecuador's scoring ability, they are legit dangerous around the goal. Likewise with Senegal--that's gonna be a good match! Winner is in, loser is almost certainly out. 

England must have felt pretty good about putting the wood to Iran (who looked listless in that match), but must've felt pretty awkward about their lackluster draw against USA (thought USA was better but they each walked away with a point). Will there be nerves against Wales? I doubt it but they could really use the W. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from Spain and while I was reasonably impressed with them running it up against Costa Rica, I took that result with a grain of salt. They were better than Germany and if they'd held on to the W, they'd be riding high. As it is, they look good to move on but they need a positive outcome with Japan and that won't be a gimme. 

Switzerland showed off a solid defense against Brazil and pretty good offense against Cameroon. They need a positive result against Serbia to move on, so what's their plan? I think they're a solid team but they'll need to take control to be dangerous going forward.

Portugal is already through to the round of 16 and they look pretty good, but I haven't been blown away by them. Not sure if they'll bring maximum effort against South Korea.

So far so good (Netherlands, Iran, Poland, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Costa Rica, Croatia, Morocco, Cameroon, Serbia, Ghana)

Netherlands are nice, not blowing me away but they're on their way to the next round. 

Iran has had a rugged run in this tourney, reflecting the political unrest back home. Their performance against England is arguably the worst anyone has played so far. But they bounced back with a good W against Wales and are staring down a win-and-in match against the great Satan (well, I don't know that USA is that great). Iran's legacy has the widest variance at the moment, they may look back on the 2022 World Cup with great pride or great shame. We'll see.

Poland is nice, competent, the more they get the ball to Lewandowski the better off they are. Not completely sold on them but any team with Lewandowski has a shot at moving on. 

Argentina's opening L to Saudi Arabia will go down as one of the great upsets of all time in the World Cup group phase. But they righted the ship against Mexico--well, sorta: two moments of brilliance netted them two goals but honestly the other 89 minutes were pretty even. My initial thought was that Argentina was the team that brought the old squad one year too long, but it could be that this Mexico crop is just kinda disappointing. I'm not sure I'm in on Argentina just yet, it is very possible that they are too old. 

Saudi Arabia snuck two quick goals (both beauties, incidentally) to shock Argentina, so this team has pretty much already earned a lifetime of blow jobs regardless of where they go from here. These guys are playing on house money, not sure if they're any good at all.

Japan is a nice squad. When they tied up Germany I thought they earned their draw, but when they got that 2nd goal, I was impressed at their ability to stand up to a (hmmm...."better"....let's say "more talented") side. I thought they were merely unlucky against Costa Rica and now even after a full-on shocking upset, they're still playing for their lives against Spain. They'll need another big steal to keep going.

Costa Rica got shell shocked by Spain, but I think they just had a bad day (I like Spain but even I was like, 'they're not this good'). They rebounded nicely against Japan and have to face a German side that's been backed into a corner--a match that will be a fun one because both teams got nothing better to do than fight to the death. (I can totally see Costa Rica sneaking through)

Croatia is another in the 'are they too old?' discussion. I haven't made up my mind. They looked sluggish against Morocco and exposed Canada as possibly the worst team in the tourney. So are they any good? Will Belgium finally show up and play or can Croatia go ahead and make their plans for the round of 16? Not sure. 

Serbia is nice but let's be honest: they're Poland without Lewandowski and that's not so sexy.

Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana: three African representatives have had good moments and bad moments. They've shown that they can hang and possibly score, each of them has a solid W. Not sure which ones move on, though. 

Lucky to still be alive (USA, Mexico, Denmark, Tunisia, Germany, South Korea, Uruguay)

USA played well against Wales and England but couldn't outscore either opponent, now they must--MUST--beat Iran to move on. I think the Americans are in the top 16 but we'll see if they actually make it. 

Mexico just doesn't have much scoring threat in that lineup, which is odd because they're always kinda spicy. They should beat Saudi Arabia but they need to score some goals (and get lucky) to move on. 

Denmark just couldn't find the goal against Tunisia (who isn't bad) and got beat by a better team in France. They've got to beat Australia, which they are capable of doing, to move on. 

Tunisia is a hard working side but I'd be shocked if they got a worthwhile result against France. Nice team but not superlative. 

Germany got unlucky against Japan and lucky against Spain. I don't recall ever seeing a German side that needed "luck". Where is this team? They've clearly got the talent but they have yet to pull it together. 

South Korea is a nice team, though not particularly dangerous up front. I wouldn't be surprised to see them snag a W against Portugal but that might not be enough. 

Uruguay just couldn't take control against Portugal or South Korea and I don't see them beating Ghana, either. There's always at least one team that brings their old stars back one time too many, looks like Uruguay could be one of those teams. 

Not good (Australia, Belgium, Wales)

Australia is like bigger tougher Canada: they play hard but they're just not particularly good at soccer.

Belgium was my pre-tourney pick to win it all and...uh...that ain't happening. They had one brilliant moment against Canada and made it hold up (got lucky many times in that match) but never did anything at all against Morocco, who legit outplayed them for 90 minutes. Belgium is still alive but unless DeBruyne and Wittsel get it going, this team will be one of the biggest disappointments of recent years.

Yeah, yeah, I get it: it was a penalty, there's no overturning that call. (*) Fine. But getting fouled in the box that one time is all they've done in this tourney so far. 

Bottom of the barrel (Qatar, Canada)

I was surprised how bad Qatar was, they looked pretty good to me in last summer's friendlies, but, man, they stink at everything.

Canada outplayed Belgium for about 89 minutes and 55 seconds but couldn't find the net and then just ran out of gas after an early strike against Croatia. Canada has never been particularly good at soccer, just being here is their peak. 

(*) All I'm saying is Zimmerman was playing the ball, while Bale was just looking for a foul. Not overturning the call, I get that, but it was a lame play. 

2022-23 NFL (Week 1)

Games I saw (some of):

Bills 31-10 Rams

As a Bills fan, I was a little nervous early on, where I thought Buffalo was the far superior team but could only muster a draw at halftime. But I was pleased to watch the Rams sputter into nothingness while the Bills moved the ball at will. Whew! The Rams looked rusty, not bad but not quite ready to play, though I assume they will pick up as the season goes on. The Bills looked good, that pass rush looked better than last year and even the running game looked to be improving (though I'm already done with watching Josh Allen stretch out for a 3 yard gain when they're up by three TD's with four minutes left--pick your spots, Josh!).  

Niners 10-19 Bears

Wow, what a slopfest of a game. Torrential rains pretty much through out that really picked up after halftime made it hard to judge the quality of the squads. Trey Lance was making his first start and the 1st half was....fine...but the 2nd half was kinda nothing. The Bears was able to scramble around and make two plays and that was the ball game. The Niners D was mostly fine but let the game get away from them while the Bears D was good enough to fustigate a rookie QB in the rain. Weird game, good W for the Bears.

Steelers 23-20 (OT) Bengals

Reminded me of last year's match when the Packers came to Cincy and the missed FGs were plentiful. Here the Bengals long snapper was injured which made for an adventure that led to a missed PAT (that would've won the game) and an OT FG (that also would've won the game). Instead, the Bengals played as bad as they've played in years and the Steelers were still insanely lucky to even be close to a W. Disappointing L for the Bengals, fluke of the year for the Steelers (who lost TJ Watt for the season, so pyrrhic victory at best). The Bengals O-line still has trouble keeping Burrow upright (which is kinda half his own fault) and the Steelers are not likely to win a lot of games this year.

Giants 21-20 Titans

Fun game! NYG going for the 2-point conversion to steal the W was a thing of beauty. The Giants might not be awful, I like that pass rush and the running game is legit, so if they can avoid turnovers, they might be better than you think. The Titans, I think, overachieved last year and that might not happen again this season (though their division is weak). 

Chiefs 44-21 Cards

The Chiefs offense was humming throughout, the Cards D was flatly overmatched. I'm not yet ready to crown the Chiefs (is it rude to point out that they've only won 1 Super Bowl though appearing in four straight final fours? If they're so unbeatable then why did they get beaten three of the last four years?) but they definitely can still move the ball. As for the Cards, I dunno, man, this game got away from them so early that it's kinda meaningless. Chiefs are still good, Cards are still kinda sputtering. 

Bucs 19-3 Cowboys

Bo-ring! Neither team moved the ball effectively, partly because these are two good defenses but also partly because these are two not so excited offenses. The Bucs D is legit but Brady doesn't quite seem like Brady yet ("Stepford Brady"?) and the Cowboys have a nice D but I think they're offense might be terrible (oh, and Dak Prescott broke his thumb and will be out for 6-8 weeks). 

Broncos 16-17 Seahawks

Just kept waiting for the Broncos to get going and they just never did. I was more impressed with the Seahawks on both sides of the ball than I expected to be (though I'm not yet ready to say they're in the mix in the NFC West). The Broncos just kinda...meh.

The rest of the slate:

Saints 27-26 Falcons. Falcons led throughout, blew it in the 4th quarter (we'll see if that is a running theme in Atlanta this year). 

Eagles 38-35 Lions. Eagles had a big lead throughout, Lions came back and made it look close. Are the Lions a backdoor cover team again this season?

Pats 7-20 Dolphins. Feels like the Dolphins didn't even play well and still dominated the Pats. (This is the year--RIGHT?--when the Pats finally suck?)

Ravens 24-9 Jets. Yeah, sounds about right. 

Jags 22-28 Commanders. I really thought the Jags were gonna take this but the Commanders stole this one late. So the takeaway is the Jags are good but young, the Commanders are veterans but not deep on talent....yes?

Browns 26-24 Panthers. Seems like the Browns stole it late, nice W.

Colts 20-20 Texans. Yeah, feels like the Colts might be truly awful. The Texans clearly aren't good but they're gonna bust ass (the kinda team that's gonna cover spreads). 

Packers 7-23 Vikings. Early on, Rodgers hit one of his rookie WR's in the hands with a gonna-be-a-TD pass...and the dude dropped it. If he makes that catch this might've been an entirely different ball game. That said, the Vikings are probably the better team and definitely look better right now. 

Raiders 19-24 Chargers. Chargers would seem to be the better team. 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 2)

Games I saw (some of):

(1) Alabama 20-19 Texas

I was impressed with Texas's pass rush and pass defense in general; on the other hand, I'm not nearly as impressed with QB Brice Young as the general consensus (what does he do that's really good?). Yeah, he had two good drives to close the game but there were many times (many times!) throughout the first three quarters where the replay showed he had pass options that he just didn't see (or over threw). I dunno, man, Alabama doesn't seem quite as crisp as usual on the O-line, QB or in the defensive backfield. Of course, I thought that last year and they were in the championship (in a game that was closer than the score would indicate), so I guess I'm just overreacting again. Texas came away deflated but they looked pretty good, I expect them to be ranked soon enough. 

(10) Southern Cal 41-28 Stanford

USC did whatever they wanted, Stanford mostly just sucked. The Cardinal tacked on some points late to make it look close, but it was not close. I think, though, I was more un-impressed with Stanford than I was impressed by USC, so not sure what to think of this result. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Georgia, (3) Ohio State, (4) Michigan, (5) Clemson, (7) Oklahoma, (10) Southern Cal, (11) Oklahoma State, (13) Utah, (14) Michigan State, (15) Miami, (16) Arkansas, (18) North Carolina State, (20) Kentucky, (21) Brigham Young, (22) Mississippi, (23) Wake Forest

Won but did not impress

(1) Alabama. Barely stealing a victory from an unranked team with a 2nd string QB....hmmmmmmmmm....

Bad beat

(9) Baylor. I was expecting Baylor to come up bigger, but BYU is a good team that can sling it around. Tough L but not an embarrassing one. 

(12) Florida. Losing to Kentucky for the second straight year used to get coaches fired in Florida (and, well, most everywhere else, too), now it's just a bad beat. 

(17) Pittsburgh. Pitt and Tennessee made for a close match, I thought UT took better advantage of their opportunities before halftime. A loss to an SEC squad isn't the end of the world.  

(25) Houston. Losing on the road to a solid Big 12 squad is not a bad L, though it does probably push them out of any championship talk. I'm still in on Houston being a good squad, though. 

Not so good

(6) Texas A&M. Oh man, when are the big bad teams gonna learn to stop scheduling Appalachian State? A&M, we hardly knew ye. 

(8) Notre Dame. Just never got the offense going, I thought after a tough L to Ohio State, the Irish would be ready to bust out but they did not show up. Bad, bad loss. 

(19) Wisconsin. I've been hearing the skepticism about Wisconsin coming into this season and it seems to be justified. Washington State isn't some cream puff but you schedule them because you were planning on beating them. 

Next week's intriguing matchups:

(12) Brigham Young @ (25) Oregon (curious to see how Oregon bounces back from that UGA thrashing and if BYU can keep the winning going)

(22) Penn State @ Auburn (not as juicy as previous years, the Nittany Lions could really use a throwdown W here)

Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (SEC West matches are always a good time, even when both teams are down)

South Florida @ (18) Florida (curious to see if the Gators can get back on track)

UT-San Antonio @ (21) Texas (if the Longhorns can throw a beatdown on San Anton, that would be a head-turner)

(13) Miami @ (24) Texas A&M (oh, A&M, the game you had circled on the schedule is just an afterthought now...tsk tsk)

Fresno State @ (7) Southern Cal (Fresno always plays the Trojans tough, we'll see if they can't sneak an upset here)

(6) Oklahoma @ Nebraska (jk, lol! Remember when this was must-see TV?)

2022 Champions League (semifinals)

1st Leg

Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid

Sometimes the offense is ready to play before the defense, I guess, because Man City scored in the 2nd minute (nice header from deBruyne on a perfect cross, while Real's defense was still warming up). Then when they scored in the 11th minute (another defensive lapse, felt like), seemed like Real Madrid was not gonna have enough to get back into the match. Well, there was still plenty more action, though Man City pretty well dominated the 1st half. Well before halftime Benzema was able to get Real on the board (Benzema is ballin'). Then Man City got another goal soon after halftime (another good header off another good cross--you would expect Real to shore up their defense at some point!). But Vinicius getting by the defense at midfield, off to the races, and the nice sneaky finish as the keeper was cooked and, well, it was a reminder that Real still has scoring power. Man City countered soon after (killer rip in the box) to put the lead back up to two goals. A weird handball in the box gave Real a free PK and Benzema buried it. The final score makes it look like a close game, but it really wasn't. Real had two beautiful chances that they converted and a fluke handball but for the vast majority of this game, Man City was by far the better squad. You'd expect Man City to finish this off back in Madrid, but this Real squad gets lucky, so it's not over yet. 

Liverpool 2-0 Villareal

Liverpool was the better team, kept up the attack for most of the game, really pretty much dominated the whole 90 minutes. Villareal did well to parry the Liverpool attack for 52 minutes, but once Liverpool got their first goal (bit of a fluky deflection), then quickly added another (sneaky pass from Salah to Mane in the box to poke past the keeper), it was kinda over. Liverpool had two more goals called off for offside (both correct calls), just to highlight the fact that Villareal was never in this match. Villareal needs to find some offense in the return match or this is over. 

2nd Leg

Villareal 2-3 (agg 2-5) Liverpool 

Villareal needed 2 goals to even it up and when they opened the match by scoring on their first possession, felt like we had a for-real barnburner. Villareal pretty well dominated the 1st half as Liverpool stayed sluggish at best (kinda lazy really), and added another goal right before halftime (nice header off a lovely cross) and the 2nd half was set to be must-see entertainment. But, then Liverpool showed up and straight dominated (throw in that Villareal's goalie had a nightmare of a game) and the aggregate score does not look competitive at all. And, on second thought, Villareal had one solid half of soccer but pretty much sucked in the other 3/4 and there you go, Liverpool is moving on. 

Real Madrid 3-1 (agg 6-5) Manchester City

Wow! I thought Man City was generally the better team, had better chances throughout and when they scored early in the 2nd half to give themselves a two goal lead in the aggregate, felt like this one was over. But, no, Real Madrid has been doing it the weird way all through this tournament and they managed to net 2 goals in extra time to send the match into OT. I still thought Man City was better and had better opportunities, but it was Real that got the PK (good call) that sent them on to the Final. 

Final

Well, this probably should be Liverpool-Man City, but Real Madrid prayed to all the right gods and find themselves here instead. On the Madrid side, Benzema is arguably the MVP of this whole tournament and Vinicius has played well, but, honestly, that's pretty much it. This Real side is not that impressive as you get away from the forwards up front. But, they have been lucky as hell and they do have two great forwards and that's not bad. Liverpool is a more complete team: they have the more reliable defense, I'd say better in midfield, too (love ya, Modric, but little past the prime at this point) and, like Real, they have good forwards, too. Obviously soccer is a low scoring game, upsets are certainly possible--and Real Madrid is as good at surprises as anyone!--but Liverpool is clearly the better team and in a 2-game set, I think they'd be a heavy favorite. But there's only one game and this Real Madrid has more lives than a curious car. I'll take Liverpool to pull it out, but I'm no longer shocked by anything Real does. Okay, we'll see.

2022 Masters

Scottie Scheffler -10, Rory McIlroy -7, Shane Lowry/Cam Smith -5, Collin Morikawa -4

Thursday was kinda easy-going, everyone was watching Tiger and no one really stood out on day #1. Then on Friday, just as I thinking to myself, 'Well, no one is gonna run away with it this year', that was right about the time that Scheffler went hognutty on the back nine and took a stranglehold on the lead for the rest of the weekend. A hell of a performance: while everyone else was figuring out the wind and the greens, Scheffler was just making plays. 

Saturday was all about wind and the tightness around the holes (man, can't remember so many near-miss putts that just skittered over the hole). Scheffler was able to withstand the elements, hold his big lead and that was exactly the right play. Going into Sunday, everyone was gonna need Scheffler to seriously falter to have a shot at a win, but a top-5 finish was on the table for a lot of dudes. Turned out to be McIlroy going -8 on the final day to streak up the board (though at no point was he a real threat to Scheffler). 

Two holes on Sunday made the difference. On #3, Scheffler and Smith both yanked the ball into the woods, then both just missed catching the green and rolled back down the hill right next to each other. Scheffler chipped in for bird, Smith two-putted for bogey. That was a major tone-setter early on.

Then on #12, Smith (like so many before him) went for the big play on Amen Corner, went in the drink, dropped a +3 and that was it for Smith. Game effort, for the most part Smith hung with Scheffler but couldn't make the big move on the back nine. I was impressed with Smith almost as Scheffler, I expect both of those dudes to have monstrous seasons.

The big story (sorry, Scheffler) was the return of Tiger Woods. He played damn good on Thursday, kinda sucked on Friday, was not bad on Saturday and then kinda sucked again on Sunday. He was clearly laboring, but it was impressive the way he gutted out a tough set. He wanted to play four rounds and he did it and the audience loved every second of his performance. He limped a lot, dipped his shoulder on his drive and never looked dangerous to win anything, but he's gonna slip right into the Arnie/Jack fan favorite role that Golf features so prominently. (So....Tiger will just be playing the Majors from now on, right?)

Another element overshadowing Scheffler's coming out party was a load of really good highlights. This one was my fave of the final round, McIlroy and Morikawa both chipping for birds on the 18th.

I love the Masters, pretty much the only golf I watch all year, the way it nestles between March Madness and the NBA playoffs is perfect early spring comfort food. Some might be disappointed that Scheffler so firmly clamped down this touney, but I don't mind a dominant performance--dude was awesome! Ice cold, knocking down shots, recovered from mistakes very well, Scheffler did it all, a great performance. 

2022 Final Four & Championship

Games I watched:

(8) North Carolina 81-77 (2) Duke

Ohhhhhhhhh! What a pleasure to watch! Hell, yeah, I even left my house and went to the local Regal Beagle because I had to see this one. I'm a total sports nerd, watch sports of some kind just about every day, but it's been a while since I've felt this level of anticipation for a game. And the Tarheels did not let me down. I come not to praise Coach K but to bury him. (*) I would've preferred watching him lose to Kentucky, but, hey, a 2-game losing streak to UNC when he's got a team of 5 lottery picks was schadenfreude enough for me. As for this game, it was tight all the way through, Duke had moments when it looked like they might pull away but that never lasted long. UNC had a nice run right at the beginning of the 2nd half and though they weren't able to build a lead and hold it, it was enough to sustain them down to the final minute. And in the end, well, UNC got hot and Duke went cold. So long, Coach K, glad to see ya go (**). 

Other results:

(2) Villanova 65-81 (1) Kansas

Kansas scored the first 10 points and that was pretty much it, they carried a double digit lead for most of the rest of the game. When Villanova almost kinda came close to making a run, KU shut 'em down and closed it out. This Kansas team is strange: there is nothing dominant about them at all, this is not one of the more talented Jayhawk squads and there's cloud hanging over them (re: they're not likely to be allowed into next year's tourney). But they play good team defense and shoot well and they persevere, which has carried them all the way to the Final where they are the favorite (and were my pick to win it all). Nova made a good run, but this was not a classic Nova team by any means, either. Weird year in college b-ball, kinda makes sense that the semifinal was blue bloods, I reckon. 

The Final:

(8) North Carolina 69-72 (1) Kansas

Kinda bittersweet as a Kentucky fan: the Wildcats whomped the shit out of both of these teams this year, but they're here and the Wildcats aren't. To be fair: UNC is a totally different team now and KU just had a bad shooting night. (Oh, and on the Ladies' side, dominant champion South Carolina suffered only two losses all year long, the last one being to Kentucky...damn, so close and yet neither the boys nor the girls went deep this year)

Despite a 15 point lead at the half, the Tarheels could not keep the momentum going and the Jayhawks steadily pounded away and finished it off even after some dubious play down the stretch. Hey, I picked 'em to win so I can't be shocked that Kansas finished the tourney strong, but I still think this is one of the weirder champions after one of the weirder seasons that I can remember. 

(*) Blogspot wouldn't let me publish this post initially. Yes, I expressed my lifelong disdain for Duke but I wasn't in any way advocating any harm to anything Duke-related. But, well, I did perhaps go a little far in expressing a similar disdain for Bobby Knight and, yes, well, there was an anecdote that was probably worthy of being excised (all the darlings come and go). So, a coupla days later, I gotta say kudos to you, Blogspot. You were (probably) right and I was (probably) wrong but hey, man, college sports just brings it out of me in ways that the rest of planet Earth does not. Thank you, Blogspot, for curbing my weaker tendencies.

(**) Here's how I will always remember Coach K and his dukies. 

2022 NCAA Tournament (Day Four)

Games I saw (some of): 

(5) Houston 68-53 (4) Illinois

Toss up of a game. Houston's wing scoring was ultimately more effective than Illinois's inside bully ball (why isn't Kofi Cockburn higher in the mock drafts? This kid is a monster that can obviously bang with big bodies). Illinois just didn't have the balance in their attack and Houston was pretty successful at swamping Cockburn down low. Houston had a nice offensive onslaught before the 8-minute timeout to pretty much finish off this match.

(7) Ohio State 61-71 (2) Villanova

Buckeyes kept pace for a while but Nova was just better. 

(7) Michigan State 76-85 (2) Duke

Fun game! Every time you thought Duke had taken control, the Spartans would come roaring back and this game was close into the final minute. State actually took the lead late but couldn't sustain it and Duke slipped away. This Duke squad has a lot of talent but they're young, on any given night they could get taken out. 

Other results:

(11) Iowa State 54-49 (3) Wisconsin

There were whispers of Wisconsin's overrated-ness all season long, looks like it finally got to them even though they were close to home. Good luck to Iowa State, so far so good. 

(11) Notre Dame 53-59 (3) Texas Tech

Tech has been a top ten team for most of the season, are they gearing up for a deeper run?

(10) Miami 79-61 (2) Auburn

Auburn has a lot of talent but not a lot of energy, looks like it caught up with them here. Miami is having a nice tourney and they're up against Iowa State next, some Cinderella-on-Cinderella crime is about to go down.  

(6) Texas 71-81 (3) Purdue

I haven't been as impressed with Purdue as I feel like I'm supposed to be, we'll see how far they get. 

(9) Texas Tech 80-85 (OT) (1) Arizona

Saw none of this, looks like a top seed got pushed to the limit. TCU had a nice little run in this tourney, wonder if it's something they can build on. Is this an indicator that Arizona is vulnerable or do they have renewed confidence?

2022 NCAA Tournament (Day Three)

Games I watched (some of):

(8) North Carolina 93-86 (OT) (1) Baylor

Fun game! The Tar Heels jumped out to a mighty lead thanks to a bust out performance from Manek (yipes! That kid was doing everything!). But when he got booted (meh, it was clearly a foul worthy of a technical but I thought a straight red card was not warranted), even though they were up by 25 (67-42, if I'm not mistaken) with less then 10 mins to go, UNC suddenly lost all shape, had no intensity on offense, kept getting unlucky calls, and Baylor stormed back to take the game to OT. But then, for whatever reason, Baylor couldn't keep the momentum. It's not uncommon to see a team come back, come close and then falter, but Baylor had this game won, I don't understand why they couldn't seal it. But great W for North Carolina. 

(9) Creighton 72-79 (1) Kansas

Good game, but I never thought Kansas was in any real danger. Creighton shot well and kept pace, pushing Kansas all the way. But Kansas had more talent, minimized turnovers and got it done. Actually, an impressive win for the top seed, I'd say, the kind of game that reminds the big dog that they need to keep working to win. I picked Kansas to win it all and I'm sticking with that. 

(11) Michigan 76-68 (3) Tennessee

Tennessee struck me as the better team but Michigan kept the scoring up and the Vols' offense became unreliable late. Good W for the Wolverines (5th straight Sweet 16). 

(15) St. Peter's 70-60 (7) Murray State

This was an even more impressive performance to me than beating Kentucky. I've watched enough Kentucky this year to know their weaknesses and I just assumed St. Peter's just settled on the right game plan. But St. Peters' ability to keep the lane open allows them to drive to the basket at will, while on the other end they clog the lane so effectively--they control both ends of the floor by doing the exact opposite, they're really pretty amazing. They make their opponents take hard shots and give them no chance at second chance opportunities, while opening up their own attacking options on the other end. If they can do this four more times, they can beat anybody (probably not Duke or Gonzaga but everyone else needs to be worried!). Good season for Murray State but they just couldn't get enough easy buckets to keep up. 

Other results:

(12) Richmond 51-79 (4) Providence

Looks like Richmond was never really in this match. 

(5) St. Mary's 56-72 (4) UCLA

UCLA played a well balanced game, kept the scoring up throughout, good W. 

(12) New Mexico State 48-53 (4) Arkansas

Hmmmm....not a lot of scoring in this one. Not sure what that portends for Arkansas. 

(9) Memphis 78-82 (1) Gonzaga

Tigers really made the Zags work in this one. Drew Timme took over down the stretch and sealed this for Gonzaga. This was a good test for the Zags and they overcame it, that's a good sign for their chances. 

2022 NCAA Tournament (Day Two)

Games I watched (some of):

(10) Loyola Chicago 41-54 (7) Ohio State

Ohio State didn't blow me away but Loyola just didn't have enough offense to keep up.

(15) Delaware 60-80 (2) Villanova

Took Nova a little while to get going but a nice run before halftime got them going and they dominated the second half.

(15) CSU Fullerton 61-78 (2) Duke

Fullerton made them work for while but Duke was never really challenged. Getting free samples of Banchero before the draft made it worth watching. 

(10) Davidson 73-74 (7) Michigan State

Fun game! Back and forth, every time it felt like someone was gonna take the upper hand, the other team would come charging back. Even down to the end, the Spartans had to sweat it out.

Other results:

(15) Jacksonville State 61-80 (2) Auburn

Auburn is a problematic squad but they definitely have enough to hold off the fightin' Deions.

(14) Montana State 62-97 (3) Texas Tech

Look like Tech brought the gun to the knife fight.

(14) Yale 56-78 (3) Purdue

Purdue is shaping up to be the dark horse, right?

(10) Miami 68-66 (7) Southern Cal

Looked like a fun one. 

(11) Notre Dame 78-64 (6) Alabama

Bama was weird all year long, a lot of talent but no consistency. Looks like the Irish drew the right opponent. 

(11) Virginia Tech 73-81 (6) Texas

I don't know either of these teams, so I have no way to judge UT's W.  

(13) Chattanooga 53-54 (4) Illinois

Saw none of the game but the highlights were intriguing: Illinois didn't get their first lead until the final minute and sweated out a final shot that could've won it for the Mocs. Game effort from Chattanooga but just a bit short. 

(11) Iowa State 59-54 (6) Louisiana State

LSU had their moments this year but faltered into controversy going into the tourney (for some reason I had them going to the Sweet 16, not sure what I was thinking, this one looks pretty obvious in hindsight). No idea about Iowa State.

(16) Wright State 70-87 (1) Arizona

Yeah, sounds about right. 

(12) Alabama-Birmingham 68-82 (5) Houston

I think Houston could be ready to make a run.

(14) Colgate 60-67 (3) Wisconsin

Feels like Colgate probably should've pulled this one out but went cold late. 

(9) Texas Christian 69-42 (8) Seton Hall

Looks like Seton Hall couldn't generate much offense.