2023 World Baseball Classic

Japan 3-2 USA

Damn! I love baseball, only caught snippets of this tourney, would've loved to see more. (Indeed, I'm ready for this to be a much longer tournament that periodically interrupts the MLB season culminating in a final after the World Series....but it'll be a while before that happens, I reckon)

Ohtani v Trout, 2 outs, bottom of the 9th, 1-run game....no way MLB does anything this awesome this season. Hate to say it, but it's just a fact! You know it, I know it, the American people it and Jomboy knows it, too. 

2021 Gold Cup (final)

Mexico 0-1 (OT) USA (117th)

Fun game! Good back and forth action all the way through . Kinda what I thought it would be: Mexico was more confident in midfield and got to goal more regularly, but their chances weren't really any better than the USA's. USA was getting quality rather than quantity, but I still expected quantity to win out in the end. Around the 70th minute, Mexico kinda slacked, USA finished strong but couldn't find the goal before OT. I thought Mexico kinda dominated the 1st OT period then kinda disappeared in the 2nd OT. 

Set play from about 40 yards out, nicely dropped at the spot, Robinson got up, caught the keeper out of position and guided it home in the 117th minute. Nice finish. Hey, I thought the Americans were capable of stealing it but until the 2nd OT, I still expected Mexico to figure it out. 

Good W for USA. This isn't their top squad, still a level up this team can go. That may well be true for Mexico, too. I thought they handled themselves well, the relationship between USA-Mexico has always been based on the border: games in USA tend to see the Americans winning, games in Mexico City are just death to the Americans, as brutal a homecourt advantage as any I've ever seen (think Duke at Cameron Indoor against non-conference opponents). I would've thought Vegas was kinda neutral territory at this point, but USA stayed with it and got the late win, always nice to bring home the trophy. 

I think both these teams are gonna be strong next year in Qatar. The world is a suddenly weird place, USA challenging at a World Cup is not something anyone's ever seen before, I wonder if we're there yet. Ditto for Mexico, they compete well internationally but seem to sputter in the same spot, weird world, man, a bust out Mexican performance might be on the horizon. 

I feel like Mexico and USA have been through a weird reality the last 15 years or so: the individual talent keeps getting better and is vastly better compared to 15 years ago but the team play is not any more cohesive or threatening or likely to win games. I understand that the rest of the countries of the world are going through a similar thing but I still feel like USA and Mexico are positioned to develop more talent at a more reliable pace than any other country (until China figures it out). But why doesn't that translate to more wins? Why doesn't that evolution of talent bring a similar evolution of successful application of talent? What is USA soccer missing? And can Mexico significantly challenge for a World Cup before USA? Qatar is the next place we'll find out.

2021 Gold Cup (final)

USA 1-0 Qatar

As in their previous match against El Salvador, Qatar kinda dominated the 1st half with cool possession and more chances around the goal than the Americans. Both squads were exhibiting hockey style offense: just create chaos in front of the net, then fling the ball toward the goal. Qatar almost got an OG (sweet touch save by the keeper) and then just a few minutes later a flailing pass found an open striker with a clear view from the wing (another sweet touch save). The Americans had a coupla similar moments but nothing as memorable or dangerous in the 1st half. 

In the 2nd half Qatar had their chance to take control: foul in the box in the 60th minute (looked like a good no-call live and even the first coupla reviews didn't win me over, but the final replay where you could see clear contact to the left leg, as opposed to the right, and I think it was the right call), but the dude missed, beat the keeper but put it over the bar, which left the door open for the Americans. I liked bringing Zardes in around the 60th minute, I like the idea of full throttle Zardes to close out a game. Fresh legs in general won out. The Qataris just kinda ran out of gas around the 80th minute. Americans had a long stretch of pinning the Qatari defenders deep and then stealing long balls around midfield, had a handful of quick touch possessions before finally finding the goal in the 87th minute: defender lost his balance in the box, (dude) just found himself open on the wing, makes the sweet pass back to the middle to find Zardes. Nice finish, nice goal, the Americans closed really well. Qatar was the better team (probably) for most of the game, but they hadn't played a real 90 minute game yet, wasn't sure they could do it and, well, they did not. They missed their best chance to ice it and that late American goal that should've tied it up, instead sent the Qataris packing. Since they are the 2022 host country, they will be around for another year and half, may as well get used to them; they looked pretty good to me, confident in midfield, capable of a few moments of magic up front, they play like a veteran, probably won't have any major upsets, but they'll be a tough out in the World Cup. Good W for USA, especially considering this is the 2nd string. 

Mexico 2-1 Canada

Canada is playing feisty and physical in both backfields. I like it. I don't think it's gonna work but I like their aggressiveness. Mexico is fine, they're not really lighting it up but they seem more likely to score. And when they took the lead right before halftime on a late PK (I thought it was the right call), that seemed about right. 

Pretty early in the 2nd half, Canada tied up the game off a nice finish off a breakaway (I dunno, man, he looked offside to me), good rip. Mexico came back a few minutes later with a PK (I thought it was the wrong call, there's not much contact and it's barely in the box at that), but the Canadian keeper saved it  (man, that sneaking up on the ball thing dudes do is pure show and doesn't really accrue any advantage in trying to convert the shot) and the game stayed tied up. Mexico was probably better but never took control, Canada hanging around, felt like it was going to OT, where it would be anyone's game. Then, OMG! A 90+9 goal to ice it. Wow, that was fuckin' baller and a sweet goal. Mexico waited til the final second, but they made the big play, snatched the victory, weren't waiting around 

Very chippy game, lots of shoving and pushing and hold-me-back-istry at work. Normally that's not my thing but hey man, World Cup is next summer, this int'l season is probably gonna be even more elbow-y than usual, so I liked the feisty from both teams. Canada and Mexico both are normally quite reserved on the field (as are the Americans), so watching them get up in each other's grills gave it a tough guy feel that should build up to a killer World Cup 2022. I've never been as impressed with Canada as I was in this Cup, their attack was as confident as I've ever seen, good pace, clever D, pugnacity on the field, this is a new Canada. Mexico is a nice team, they always compete well with the Europeans and Brazil, they're gonna be tough out for the next coupla years.

Finals (Sunday)

Mexico v USA

I dunno. With both of these squads the offense just sorta appears, there's no real consistency to either, though both teams are confident on D and in the midfield. I dunno. I guess I expect Mexico to be more likely to get scoring chances, whether to finish a corner or just find a good shot in the run of play, indeed I'd even favor Mexico in a shoot out, so I really don't see USA taking this. And yet I wouldn't be surprised if it was USA that got lucky on a set play and stole it. An early goal might make for the maximum amount of excitement: like the Euro Final, an early goal puts the other team in hero ball mode a lot sooner than planned and that often translates to more goals in a Final. I think it'll be a fun game, USA is not at their best but they can hang with Mexico, but Mexico strikes me as more likely to get the Cup.

2021 Gold Cup (semifinals)

Qatar 3-2 El Salvador

2 mins in El Salvador has an unfortunate giveaway in the midfield, offense turns to defense, Qatar has two guys going forward, they cross up the defense, leaving a lane for a 3rd guy streaking through, who gets himself all alone inside the box and finishes a nice rip past the diving keeper. A few minutes later, Qatar scored from 20 yds out (one of those cold blooded upper 90 shots you'd see in old Brazil highlight videos), just nasty, just completely outta nowhere, gets himself a bit of space and rips the upper 90, just a thing of beauty. El Salvador was shellshocked and Qatar just took it to them for about 60 minutes and when Qatar goes up 3-0 on a PK early in the 2nd half, El Salvador finally woke up and balled out for the last 30 mins. Fun game! El Salvador gets on the board in the 63rd min, after a nice overhead pass sneaks inside the offside trap and the dude up front got a nice shot and he ripped it. A coupla mins later, they came right back down and drilled another and it was a game for a while.  The Salvadorans had the tying goal waived off for offside (correct call), but they attacked and made it a game. But that first 60 mins, man, Qatar looked like a hit squad. 

Honduras 0-3 Mexico

Yeah, Mexico was just better. They attacked better, defended better, countered better, controlled better...they were just better. It was only a matter of time before they found the goal and when they did, they piled on quick and were up by 3 goals at halftime. The 2nd half, as you might imagine, was a snooze. I watched Honduras in the group play and they looked all right to me, so I'm thinking Mexico is really rounding into shape and is planning on winning this Cup. 

Costa Rica 0-2 Canada

Canada looked in control in a way that Canada normally does not, but I suspect Costa Rica is not at their best. Canada is a nice squad but I don't think they're gonna give Mexico much of match. 

USA 1-0 Jamaica

Jamiaca always has blazing speed and good athleticism and they used both in their full court press that kept the Americans on their heels for long stretches of the match. I thought USA countered it pretty well, held possession and moved forward effectively and for the most part kept Jamaica away from scoring chances. When USA finally got the lead in the 2nd half, they held it by maintaining effective possession down the stretch. I know that this is not USA's 1st team, I'm not sure if the other countries brought their A-team or not. This feels like a good W for USA.

Semifinals

Qatar v USA

If Qatar comes out blazing the way they did against El Salvador, USA is gonna be in some trouble. And they might still be. As dominant as Qatar was in the 1st half of that quarterfinal, I thought they whiffed on a lot of good chances...so are they the kinda team that whiffs a lot or are they they kinda team that gets up early and then farts around? I dunno. I would suggest that USA not find out. I think USA bunkers in, counters to a fast break offense, and generally just tries to keep Qatar away from goal. I could see a match where Qatar dominates possession, only for the Americans to steal the game late with athletic play...or I can also see penalty kicks. I'll take USA 1-0 in regulation (but its anyone game in OT).  

Mexico v Canada

Mexico is built for tournaments like this, Canada has already looked better than I've ever seen them in my life. Could it be that Canada is ready to announce itself in the Gold Cup world? I doubt it. I'll take Mexico 2-0. 

2021 Gold Cup Quarterfinals (predictions)

Qatar v El Salvador. Uhh....no idea. Qatar (the 2022 World Cup host) is a team worth getting to know, you will definitely see them next summer (next summer?) at the World Cup. But I didn't see any of their group games, so I got nothing. El Salvador seems like a pushover squad, but they've always got one pain in the ass dude that will steal your game if you left him. So I'll go ahead and say El Salvador 1-0. 

Mexico v Honduras. This one should be fun. I caught Mexico's draw with Trinidad (even contest, both teams had chances and whiffed) and Honduras 3-2 Panama was a fun one, lots of action all over the field. Over the years, as I've gotten ever more impressed with Mexico's on-field talent, I get less impressed with their overall team play; the steady accretion of talent has yet to make the team overall better (just like USA). Mexico is surely the better team at probably just about every position, but I doubt the talent gap is wide enough that Honduras can't snatch a W. I'll take Mexico but I expect this to be an old fashioned tussle. I'll say Mexico 2-1.  

Canada v Costa Rica. Canada's talent has steadily developed over the years but Canadian soccer has never struck fear into anyone. Costa Rica beat Guadeloupe, Suriname and Jamaica to get here, not the most overwhelming lineup but they knocked down everyone put in front of them. I gotta go with Costa Rica 2-0. 

USA v Jamaica. Like Mexico, USA had steadily improved its soccer development infrastructure over the last 20 years but I don't feel any grand shift in strategy or tactics, if the talent is so much better, why aren't we seeing it on the field? Jamaica always has speed and surprise but USA should be able to outlast them. I'll say USA 1-0.

(*) Pretty basic observations. I watched all the USA group games and a handful of others, but I'm not back on my soccer game just yet. How is World Cup '22 going to happen? Is the Sport schedule back on track...or did I celebrate prematurely?

2019 Gold Cup (Group Play)

I hadn't planned on recording my thoughts on Gold Cup group play but I have watched all the games (each team has played once), so I might as well.

A
Mexico 7-0 Cuba
Canada 4-0 Martinique

Mexico is clearly the best team in the entire field. Cuba is not the worst but easily in the bottom half of teams. Martinique is probably the worst team in the field, Canada looks good now but I suspect they're not good at all.

Mexico will destroy Canada and Martinique and easily win this group.
Canada/Cuba will battle for 2nd place (Canada is probably better but Cuba seemed a little more dangerous around the goal; Cuba has a puncher's chance but I'll take Canada).
Martinique is going to get destroyed--DE-stroyed--by Mexico and Cuba will likely lay a pasting on them, too.


B
Haiti 2-1 Bermuda
Costa Rica 4-0 Nicaragua

Bermuda dominated the 1st half but Haiti had more big play potential; sure enough Haiti scored on two set plays and left Bermuda behind. Neither of these squads are particularly noteworthy in the long run, though.
Costa Rica handled Nicaragua without much trouble; Costa Rica is generally among the best in CONCACAF so this was a predictable result, meaning I'm not sure how good Costa Rica actually is. Nicaragua is not good.

Costa Rica should beat Haiti and Bermuda and easily win this group.
I don't think Haiti is very good but they are probably better than Nicaragua, so I reckon they'll finished 2nd.
Bermuda was fun to watch, possessed the ball well at times, I think they'll beat Nicaragua.
Nicaragua is not good.


C
El Salvador 1-0 Curacao
Jamaica 3-2 Honduras

El Salvador got the dagger goal right before halftime and made it hold up; El Salvador is savvy and they're good with the ball, usually not a great side but you don't wanna fuck with them. Curacao is roughly the size of Springfield, Missouri, hard to expect them to have a plethora of world class footballers.
Jamaica is always fun to watch, always great athletes, sometimes they're actually good at soccer; hard to tell here because I thought Honduras played with some spunk. I think they're the two best teams in this group.

I think Jamaica beats El Salvador and Curacao, finishes 1st.
I think Honduras beats El Salvador and Curacao, finishes 2nd.
I think El Salvador finishes 3rd.
I think Curacao sounds like a helluva place to visit.


D
Panama 2-0 Trinidad
USA 4-0 Guyana

Personally I kinda thought Trinidad was better than Panama; Panama got two good chances and they finished both of them. But Trinidad's attack felt more dangerous for the most part and they just seemed better with the ball and on the ball. I think both of these squads are gonna be tough for USA to beat.
USA should've won 4-0 and they did, so what does that tell us? I dunno. They did what they should've done so while they have performed the first step, I think the next steps are gonna be tougher and I have no idea if they're ready. Guyana is not good, they play hard, I was impressed that they were still bringing it late in the game, but they're not good.

USA should be better than Panama and Trinidad but I'm just not sure. I beat we draw with Trinidad and then need a result against Panama to move on (because Panama and Trinidad are both gonna use and abuse Guyana). My guess is that we'll draw with Panama, too. So Panama goes through as #1, USA as #2 and Trinidad drops the 3rd (Guyana will be 4th, I am convinced).


In the quarters I got:
Mexico-Haiti (I'll take Mexico)
Costa Rica-Canada (I'll take Costa Rica)
Jamaica-USA (I'll take USA)
Panama-Honduras (I'll take Panama)

(Would that put USA-Mexico in the semis together? I think so but I'm honestly not sure)

Mexico-USA (I'll take Mexico)
Costa Rica-Panama (I'll take Costa Rica)

Mexico-Costa Rica (I'll take Mexico)


Rank them in tiers:

Easily the best team so far
1) Mexico
I guess they could win
2-7) Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, USA, Panama, Trinidad
Long shot
8-10) El Salvador, Canada, Cuba
No
11-13) Haiti, Nicaragua, Bermuda
No chance they even win a game
14-16) Guyana, Curacao, Martinique


Okay, USA is closer to the top than the bottom but they're in a tough group, so it still might not work out for them. We'll see, still can't tell about this team.

USA Soccer (*sigh* No World Cup)

Trinidad 2-1 USA
That loss sealed the fate for USA last night, as they failed to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1986. This qualifying season has been one of extreme ups and downs for USA. After losing the first two matches (Mexico 2-1 USA; Costa Rica 4-0 USA), coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired and former coach Bruce Arena was brought back in to guide the squad through qualification. (I haven't seen the news yet but I assume Arena will be fired today--if 'fire' is even the term, he was simply brought in for this World Cup cycle so his presence is no longer required) At the time I was all for that move: Klinsmann had long shown me that he wasn't the man for the USA job and given the circumstances I thought Arena was the perfect choice. Arena's mission was clear: get the USA back on track, get through the Gold Cup and into the World Cup.

Arena's return to the Hex got off to a good start: USA 6-0 Honduras. This was one of the "ups". Clint Dempsey had a hat trick and USA seemed to have their feet under them again. The 1-1 draw in Panama was a good enough result, and though the defense was wobbly at times, Pulisic and Dempsey had some good interplay up front and it felt like USA finally had some identity to its game going forward. USA 2-0 Trinidad and USA 1-1 Mexico were also positive signs that the team was moving in the right direction. You've got to your win home games and a draw in Mexico City is a notable achievement (Mexico's home field advantage is pretty staggering). Two home wins (and piled up some goal differential) and two road draws are good results.

Then came this past summer's Gold Cup. (Hmmm....why didn't I write about this at the time?) I watched most all of the tourney and I'm pleased to report that USA was clearly the best team from beginning to end. Yes, Mexico didn't bring their top squad nor did Costa Rica, but USA's performance on both sides of the ball and with a wide variety of lineups was impressive throughout. And though it was Jamaica that USA beat in the final, I thought Panama, who tied USA in the first game, was probably the next best team. (Jamaica has a lot of impressive athletes but none seemed particularly good at soccer)

USA was finally ready to dominate, they had their identity, they had their form and they had good depth at all positions. Bring on the Hex!

Unfortunately, their next game was another one of the "downs": Costa Rica 2-0 USA. USA was listless in, couldn't seem to find in shape in the attacking half and were prone to dumb giveaways in the back that led to a disappointing--and shocking!--home defeat. Suddenly the team that had looked so convincing against the same opponents in the Gold Cup was in disarray all over again. This single game as much as any other was the back breaker, a win here would've made everything easy, instead this made everything hard.

The next match (USA 1-1 Honduras) featured another bad giveaway and, frankly, a lucky goal was the only thing that saved any shred of hope for the Americans. Honduras is not an easy place to play and never has been. The idea that this was where USA would right the ship was pretty much always doomed.

USA 4-0 Panama brought back some hope and put USA back into 3rd place in the Hex. Pulisic had a great game and cemented his status as the leader of this team. I was struck by Panama's funky attacking shape: when they pushed forward, they left a huge gaping hole in the middle of the field--dude, you could play Frisbee in the hole at midfield!--that USA was able to counter through again and again. (Kind of felt like Panama had a specific game plan in mind that they abandoned almost immediately because of Pulisic's early goal)

Then came last night's loss at Trinidad. The commentators for the game were quite upbeat about USA's chances (I believe he said USA had a 93% chance of qualifiying going into the game), but I was less sanguine. The nightmare scenario (USA losing, Panama and Honduras both winning) was hanging out there to be had. And it was had. It was another listless performance, another Omar Gonzalez mistake (and, oh man, how he wasn't called for the penalty a few minutes later is a mystery!), no one moved the ball forward, Trinidad stuck with their game plan, bogged down in the middle and road the early goal all the way to a W (only their second win in the Hex).

Okay. Where do we go now? Well, Coach Bruce Arena is not coming back. He was never the man for the future, only for now and...well....now is over. I've said a few times already that Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard have played their final games for USA but this time I have to believe that everyone else agrees with me. To my mind one of the downsides of Arena's "now"-ness was not moving on to Brad Guzan earlier. Personally I've seen enough of Omar Gonzalez, never understood why Arena kept going with him: he doesn't hold the off-side trap well and regularly gets beat when strikers attack him directly.

On defense, I liked the Brooks-Cameron line up the middle, not sure why Arena abandoned that. I kinda liked Villafana and Yedlin on the wings both of whom are young enough to be back around. I'm not sure about Brooks and Cameron coming back (Cameron in particular seemed quite salty about being left out of Arena's plans, not sure he'll want to be back). I like Matt Besler and Tim Ream to provide bench depth. Not sure which youngsters are in the pipeline.

Pulisic and Nagbe are clearly the core of offense for the foreseeable future. I assume Michael Bradley will be too; I've long had that love-hate thing with Bradley: I appreciate that he's confident and sure with the ball, that he's a leader in the middle; but I wish he'd push the ball forward more, he seems intent on settling when getting into the attack is crucial. If he steadily drifts back to a defensive mid, maybe even a sweeper role, I'd be okay with that. I'd like the see more attack in the midfield, let Bradley become a defender if need be. I was generally pleased with Bedoya, Arriola and Kellen Acosta in the midfield. Fabian Johnson is young enough to deserve another shot, I suppose, but I was never blown away by that guy (he doesn't look like his heart in the game). Again, I'm sure the Under-17 team will produce another 4-5 guys to throw in the mix (at least I hope so!).

Altidore and Wood are big strong guys that can rip the ball when they get a chance and they're veterans now I assume those forward spots are theirs to lose. That said, I was never terribly impressed with their ability to create chances and if there's some USA youth out there that can compete, I say bring 'em on.

As for coach, I suggested a while back aiming for Didier Deschamps, who will either be canonized or fired by August 2018. The Klinsmann experience did not turn me off the European coaches, quite the contrary--I think Klinsmann just sucks at being a coach. I watch a lot of soccer but I'm not that immersed in the coaches, the culture, etc., to know who the next coach should be. But my gut is there aren't any South Americans ready for this job. And I don't see any North Americans out there ready to take on this task (unless you want to follow retread Bruce Arena with retread Bob Bradley, which I don't) so I think its back to the continent. Again, Deschamps will either be available or he won't and though USA soccer is itching to move on, we kinda have to wait until the Cup is over to see who the next coach will be.

And what about Sunil Gulati? I don't think he's the problem. His only mistake was sticking with Klinsmann for so long but (arguably) that was a mistake that anyone would've made. I understood bringing Klinsmann in, I understood keeping him through the 2014 Cup, and while doubling down on him after Summer 2014 was not what I wanted, I can understand that within USA Soccer there would've been a faction in favor of it. And I kinda like him in a public persona kinda way. So while Gulati will undoubtedly face more competition the next time his seat is up for election, I don't think getting rid of him now advances anything (or is even possible to do...?).

I am disappointed to not be going to the World Cup. Not because I think we were gonna win this time (ha!) or because its the only thing getting me interested in the Cup (hell, no! I've quit jobs to watch the World Cup before! USA impacts nothing on my interest in the Cup), but because USA's natural progression should include always making the Cup. Dude, our hemisphere gets 3 bids and a chance for a 4th--there's no way USA should ever not be in the top 4! Ever! Under any circumstances! (Mexico, too, should never be out of the top 4)

So how did this come to be? You know my answer: Klinsmann was good at developing the youth game in America but not good at dealing with the players once they got to the national level. Klinsmann set this team back a whole four years, while simultaneously producing a deeper collection of talented players. I thought there was still enough time and talent for Bruce Arena to get it done (kudos for USA's dominating performance in the Gold Cup) but he was never able to fully get a grip on where this team needs to go. Now its up to Gulati (or Gulati's replacement) to get the program back on track.

2016 US Elections

I'm a student of American history but not a political person. Indeed, I think politics is wildly overrated and we'd all be better off just ignoring it. But this year I was kinda fascinated by the rise of Bernie Sanders and the lingering odor that is Donald Trump. This year's race had some excitement to it...which faded for me about ten minutes into the first debate, which I found to be even more anti-climatic than the third Dark Knight movie. Just wanted to take a second to make one last prediction.

I think Hillary Clinton wins by a sizable margin. I have no interest in picking out each state and nailing down a specific electoral vote count so I'll stay fairly general. Normally the Achilles' heel of the Democrats is that their most enthusiastic supporters within the culture are not the most vigilant when it comes to actually voting. No love for the party, just the after-party. But this time around I think Trump will inspire the liberal hordes to rise up and vote. I think they'll turn out not for Hillary but against Trump (hey, that counts, too). I suspect the race is called well before the west coast polls close and that there's never really any doubt that Hilary wins. Just for trivial value I'll take Evan McMullin to win Utah.

But I think they'll have minimal effect on the down ballot races. I'll take the Republicans to easily hold the House (which I don't think is a bold prediction) and to narrowly hold the Senate (most popular commentators are saying it'll be 50-50 giving the White House the tiebreaker). I think the buzz is that if Hillary wins, Obama will immediately rescind the nomination of Merrick Garland (kinda of a shame, I think I really like him) meaning we won't have a proper 9-person court until shortly before the end of the term. And since this campaign has featured zilch discussion of actual policy, I have no idea who Clinton would nominate, even though that's gonna be the first thing she does.

All I know is I'm ready for this to be over. I hate elections, I find they bring out all the worst in the American people and absolutely none of the best. So by Wednesday at least there is the hope that as a a people we can be good again (though hopefully not great).

Copa America Semifinals

I wrote that USA losing 2-1 to Argentina was an optimistic prediction and, man, was I proven right about that. I would love to look back at that game and see a 2-1 loss for USA.

Imagine you're playing a match against Roger Federer, you've got solid groundstrokes, a world class backhand, fantastic footwork but you can't serve worth a shit and your return isn't very good. (Do you see where I'm going with this?) If a rally breaks out, you'll have a chance--you might even win a majority of points...but a rally isn't going to break out and you're gonna get smoked. Likewise, USA put 11 soccer players on the field, they wore uniforms and cleats, they ran around like world class athletes...but they didn't control the ball for more than 15 seconds at a time. Thus, USA was never in this game--never even close to getting within shouting distanace of being in this game. Some complained that the USA players gave up but I didn't see it that way. Look, man, when everything you've tried has failed for 60 solid minutes, what are you gonna do in the last 30? Dude, nothing worked, nothing at all. It isn't that they didn't try, they didn't succeed and by the end there was no success even imaginable.

I watched the post-game press conference, where the reporters asked a lot about USA's nervousness and deference to a superior Argentine squad. (Let me just say this: reporters live in a bubble where they invent their own news, where the convenient storyline is what they considered the 'news' rather than what actually transpired. *smh* The reporters totally missed the point of the game and, frankly, wasted Coach Klinnsman's time, made him answer dumb questions and never bothered to ask worthwhile ones. Like, what was the gameplan tonight, Coach? Were we bunkering or pushing forward? Looked like we were trying to do both and didn't do either. My suggestion going into the game was a 3-6-1 where the defenders are locked in front of the goal and the midfield is swamped with counterattack opportunities, which is kinda what USA ended up with by the end. While a semi-final appearance in the Copa America is a good result, USA's crushing defeat when the pressure was on is still quite disconcerting.

Okay, time to move on. Colombia beat USA 2-0 in the very first game of this tourney but I'm expecting a much better result tonight. I'd love to see a win, wouldn't be at all surprised if USA hung a shocker on Colombia. But that requires USA picking up its game. Suggestions: I'm ready for Nagbe to start, I'm ready for Bradley and Wondolowski to exit the rotation, and I can live with Pulisic off the bench but I wouldn't mind seeing him for 90 minutes (in Jermaine Jones' spot). I look forward to seeing Dempsey up front, wouldn't mind seeing Tim Howard in this game becuase I think this might (should) be the last time we see either of those guys in USA uniforms. Bradley was always a bit overhyped but still better than anyone else at that spot but now I'm not sure what he does anymore that can't be done by some youngster with more fire (I'd rather go down fighting rather than going down by passing backward). Push the ball forward aggressively against the Colombians because there's a decent chance that Colombia has already checked out and won't be bringing their A+ lineup. The easy call is to say this game goes to penalty kicks, where anything can happen, but I want to see USA win and I think they can.

Argentina reminded me of that dominant run Spain had recently: dominated possession, no bad passes, solid on-ball defense, pounced on every mistake and had plenty o' shots. Chile, too, is steady balling right now, this is going to be a balls-out final. Can't wait. I'll go with Argentina to take it in PK's (Higuain will be the star).

Costa Rica 0-4 USA

Soccer is a wacky game, man. It looks like a sprawling, timeless sport but really it is a game of specific moments. You look at the scoreline and figure that USA dominated the game. They were the better team, easily. But I'm still convinced USA only played marginally better than in their 2-0 defeat to Colombia a few days earlier. The significant event in this game was identical to the Colombia game: an early PK that devastated the losing team. Against Colombia USA was on the losing end of that incident, against Costa Rica USA received the benefit. And it made all the difference. Does this mean Coach Klinsmann has solved the mystery of USA soccer? Or did USA just get a lucky call in the box?

I expected Costa Rica to come out in a defensive shell, to bunker down, work the counter attack and bog down the USA attack. Not at all! The first few minutes Costa Rica attacked without hesitation, pushed the tempo to an insane rate and tried to make USA fall apart. It almost worked. But instead...it didn't. They gave up the early penalty (easy call, it was a foul), found themselves down in a must-win game and struggled to get any offense going. Instead, Costa Rica left a gaping hole in the middle of their defense and USA was able to put the punishment on them.

Jermaine Jones added a sweet goal, Bobby Wood added another right before halftime and sub Graham Zusi tacked on a late goal just to rub it in. USA should've scored a few more, Zardes and Bedoya each had golden opportunities that failed to materialize. Costa Rica is looking down and out going forward, only a big time upset over Colombia even gives them a chance of moving on to the knockout round.

USA needs a draw against Paraguay to advance, a win would be great but a loss would absolutely wreck them. The hope is back in USA soccer...for now.

Colombia 2-0 USA

Not a good result and not a good performance by USA. But at the same time, it wasn't that bad. Its easy to look at that score line and say Colombia is clearly a better squad and dominated the game but I don't think that's accurate at all. Indeed, I kinda USA dominated the possession and though USA never looked dangerous around the goal, neither did Colombia.

Colombia basically had three decent chances all night and they converted two of them (put the third off the crossbar). The corner kick was a perfect pass, a brilliant shot and defense that was only a half-step out of place; great strike, well played, but the kind of play that usually results in no goal, so we can credit Colombia's inherent awesomeness or we can just chalk it up to right place/right time. Their 2nd goal was a PK, can't fault Guzan's effort, not too many people gonna stop a James Rodriguez PK these days. (As for the penalty itself, I guess the ref could've let it go but it certainly wasn't a bad call: Yedlin's hand clearly changed the path of the ball, whether it was intentional or not, it was bad defense and it had an effect on the play. And if it'd been a Colombian defender on an American pass, I'd have expected the call) Colombia's only other moment of real expectation was when their forward broke loose at midfield and got to Guzan all by himself; the shoot was a bit too hard and it thudded off the crossbar. Personally I thought the guy was off-side; yes, the defenders made a late, weak attempt to off-side trap Colombia but it looked to me like he was already behind the D when that late shift happened. Oh well, he didn't score, so no harm, no foul.

So did Colombia run roughshod over on outmatched USA squad? No. Not at all. No way. Frankly, outside of the three plays I mentioned above, I didn't think Colombia did much of anything in this game. And while they got the positive result, I didn't see anything that leads me to think they're going to destroy Costa Rica or Paraguay. Especially if Rodriguez's shoulder really is hurt (I kinda thought he was jaking it, he knew USA wasn't gonna score, just felt like taking the rest of the night off). I figured Colombia would win this group and I still figure that but I wasn't blown away by last night's performance.

As for USA, I thought Guzan did pretty good. Colombia's three aforementioned chances were not at all Guzan's fault, thought he did as well as he could on all three and generally handled himself pretty well in the back.

I thought Brooks and Cameron were both great, USA's only unbridled shining stars. Felt like Brooks was gonna get himself a card by the end but he managed not to. And Cameron was slightly out of position on that first goal but, again, that was a perfect shot off a perfect pass (and still lucky enough to squeak by Guzan), I can't put too much fault on him, indeed, I feel bad for the guy.

Yedlin still has the problem of too much pace, not enough skill. You'd like to think Yedlin bombing up the wing is gonna pay dividends one day but when is that day gonna come? There were a few occasions in this game where he got forward and then couldn't do anything with the ball once he got it. And his handball that led to the PK was unfortunate but it was still bad defense. If he's a liability in the back and unhelpful up front, then what does he provide? Okay, that was too negative, he's still got plenty of talent and plenty of speed and he needs to be in there to provide a threat on the outside. But he needs to hit the jackpot one o' these days.

I gotta admit: I hardly even noticed Johnson in this game. The good version of that: well, like I said, Colombia never really seemed dangerous around the goal so Johnson didn't have to do anything too showy to be effective; the bad version: dude disappeared instead of contributing. I'm not sure which side I'm on. I think he played well but I'm not sure.

Bradley struggled badly . For years now Bradley has been that rock in the midfield (steadily sliding from offensive to defensive mid) and while he has moments of looking in control, just as often he looks over his head. More and more he reminds me of the later years of Claudio Reyna: confidently, assuredly settling the ball...so he can pass it backwards. His forays into setting up the USA attack never seem to work out and his defense is kinda raggedy back there. Not sure what it is he does any more. If Bradley can just be the guy he was always supposed to be USA could be a really dangerous squad.

Jones is like that old man that used to be good but now he hangs around the playground wearing his Kareem goggles and knee high socks and yelling at kids who are better than him. That's a little harsh, Jones still has good skill on the ball and solid instincts on the pitch. But, man, he is slow as Christmas out there and when he struggles its like watching a turtle flipped over in the sun. He can still provide some magic, that moment of inspiration that rallies the troops but I think I'm ready to see more of Nagbe in his spot. Maybe Jones could be the spark plug guy for the last 25 minutes of the game rather than Nagbe.

I thought Bedoya generally played pretty well. He had an ugly yellow card and he volleyed a shot into the 20th row late in the game, but otherwise I thought he played good on-ball defense, disrupted the passing lanes and did well to push USA forward when he could. Like Brooks, he probably needs to chill a little if he expects to make it through this tourney without sitting out a game. I think he's USA's best midfielder right now.

Dempsey is a conundrum: he's the one most likely to make the perfect pass to set up a teammate and he's the one most likely to ignore the perfect pass and try to force some crappy shot on his own. He has the best instincts on the whole team and yet the most hubris, as well. He needs to be out there, even with his faults he is still USA's best hope to stand up to a superior opponent. Last night he seemed bothered by the lack of friendly calls from the ref more than any time I can remember. He made a few nice plays but left a few others on the table.

I've been encouraged by Wood's recent performances but last night I barely even noticed him out there. The ball spent a great deal of time mired in the midfield, perhaps he just didn't get enough service. But I'm struggling to remember any high- or low-lights from Wood. My gut is he needs to be out there but I wouldn't mind seeing Zusi get more playing time.

Zardes had a few infuriating fumbles but he also made some interesting runs and got himself some space that was promising to see. Zardes needs a lot of service but he looks capable of doing something with that service. Last night he didn't get many opportunities and he didn't make the most of them, but I think the opportunities he did get were of his own making and I liked seeing that.

Nagbe, Pulisic, Zusi came in as 2nd half subs and while none of them did anything awful, none of them really wowed last night either. I'm ready for Nagbe to enter the starting lineup. And I think I'm ready for Zusi to be on the starting side of the Zusi-Wood platoon. But I think I'm still in on the idea of Pulisic as a spark plug off the bench but I wanna see as least 30 minutes out of him every time out for now. I suspect we'll see Besler and Beckerman but only off the bench. And I don't guess we'll ever see Tim Howard playing for USA again, this feels like Guzan's team now.

Curious to see that Costa Rica-Paraguay match (those are words you don't hear every day!) to get a feel for USA's chances in the next two group matches.

July Sports

I was diligently following the daily machinations of the NBA til I was overcome by some household duties. The duties were of the pleasant variety (as opposed to the oh-fuck-emergency kind) but they unfortunately appeared right in the middle of Summer League and the early signing period. I did catch some Summer League but of the signings: I'll do a team by team retrospective of the Summer movement some time in August. Til then I have turned my attention to other things. Like:

FIBA U-19 World Cup: USA 78-71 (OT) Serbia. Oh man, Serbian kid had 2 free throws to win it with under 10 seconds, makes the first, misses the second, USA runs out the clock, then dropkicks the Serbs in the overtime. The Americans probably were the better team but they underperformed from the beginning of the game til that last foul that handed Serbia the match. But give the Yankee kids props for the laying the beatdown in OT and getting it done when the chips were down. That said: feel bad for that Serbian kid, had the whole frickin' Cup on his racket and couldn't sink the game winner. (Those games may still be available on ESPN3, maybe other places)

Women's World Cup: USA 5-2 Japan. Just missed the kick off, USA already up 1-0, up 4-0 before I was even comfy on the couch. Japan made a game of it, way more exciting than most four-nuthin' soccer matches I reckon. Still somehow couldn't shake the feeling that USA underperformed. Germany, England and France were more lackluster than anticipated. Hate to be that guy: I don't much care for the women's game of football. I'm probably gonna regret not watching any rugby this year or not seeing more tennis rather than feel good about watching USA half-heartedly drub all the other countries of the world in a sport that's usually kinda dull to watch. Oh well. Go America!

Wimbledon: Djokovic over Federer, Serena over Muguruza. Totally thought Federer still had enough to take Djokovic...then the match started...oh yeah, Djokovic is a step better than everyone else on the planet. You think you can make that shot and you can't, Djokovich is like Spiderman or some shit, he just seems to teleport to the proper spot, much the way Federer used to. Nadal is the supreme hustle player, dominant on the soft surfaces, game based on pure athleticism, quickness, and a Boris Becker-ish tenacity to return every shot. But Federer and Djokovic (Wawrinka, as well) are mathematicians who know all the angles, the inflection points, all that Beautiful Mind shit that allows them to move with greater efficiency thus saving wear and tear on their bodies. Federer is still better than most everybody else in the world but Djokovic is the best at this point. Didn't see any of the ladies' final though I did watch some of Serena's earlier rounds. Yup Serena is still better than everyone else at tennis.

British Open (St Andrews): Johnson (-15) in a playoff over Leishman and Oosthuizen. Final Sunday got rained out, I watched most all of it on Monday (lucky to be me). Wide open field, lotta sweet final day action. Thought Spieth was gonna sneak in there, just didn't have it down the stretch. Johnson looked more ready for 3 more holes than the other two; dude's won at Augusta and St. Andrews now, pretty rare company.

Gold Cup: Mexico 3-1 Jamaica. (USA loses bronze medal game to Panama (PK's)). I only watched the USA matches (not sure I could've seen the others even if I had made the effort). I was not overwhelmed by USA's 2-1 victory over Honduras, I was even less whelmed by their 1-0 win over Haiti (dude, if Haiti could shoot worth a shit, they would've won comfortably), enthused but still not impressed by the 6-0 thumping of Cuba (teams that lose that bad are always bad, teams that win that good are only good maybe half the time). And I was not at all surprised they got bounced by Jamaica. Jamaica really only had a 10 minute flurry where they punked USA, otherwise USA was maybe the slightly better team but they didn't score. I kinda dug the furious 2nd half action but USA just didn't have enough to get it in the goal til even the furious action devolved into old timey long-ball-and-chase-after-it that USA has never been good at. Suddenly Jurgen Klinnsmann, the golden boy of USA soccer is hearing rumblings about his job. I was disappointed at last summer's World Cup: thought his grasp of our squad was lacking considering his crazed micromanaging of the entire talent pipeline. And honestly the Gold Cup doesn't mean that much to me, any North American competition is basically USA-Mexico with an occasional upset (like this summer). This doesn't prove much of anything going forward, personally I can't imagine Klinnsmann getting das boot.

Pan Am Games (Basketball): Brazil over Canada, USA over Puerto Rico for bronze. I avoided the Pan Am Games because honestly I can't stand the Olympics* (*more below). But I do like watching the up and coming talent. The only two games I watched were Brazil throttling USA in group play and Brazil over Canada in the final. Brazil was better than either of the NorteAmericano squads. Brazil brought not the A team but the B+ team while USA and Canada were rolling with B/B-. I've always thought these kinda of competition should be on an age range or big enough to invite the pros, but this falls in the middle so the squads are weird amalgam of older journeyman vets (like Anthony Randolph) and random NCAA players (I know everyone loves Karaczewski but does anyone think he's in the top 500 USA basketball players out there? So why does he have USA written across his shirt?); Canada's squad was similar. I suspect in Brazil their basketball culture is a bit more unified and the older guys stay in better touch with the places the young kids come from so when fielding a team like this, the vets and youngsters have already played more together. I dunno, maybe not, but they had good talent at every position and better team play than anyone else I saw.  

Pan Am Games (Soccer): Uruguay 1-0 Mexico. Thought the game was evenly matched as any contest I've watched in ages. The only thing separating the squads: Uruguay hit one sparkling free kick and Mexico...did not. Not must watch soccer by any means, but enjoyable enough.

Tour de France (Froome, UK). I watched not even a smidge of a highlight of a second of the Tour this year. Some years I really get into it, other years it glides right by me. This installment apparently even had controversy and shenanigans. But then again, I was already assuming this guy Froome's downfall is imminent.

MLB Trade Deadline. I ought to be buckling back into NBA duties but suddenly the trade deadline is bewitching me like no time in recent memory. I love baseball, it is my first sport and still my favorite. But I spend so much more time with basketball and even soccer or tennis these days that I sometimes forget all about baseball. I can imagine a world where I literally just watch baseball all day every day.

NBA Summer League (Spurs over Suns in the Final). Didn't get to watch much but I was impressed with Okafor, Towns, Porzingis, Aaron Gordon, Seth Curry, Kaminsky and...a bit of a reach but Dakari Johnson (Thunder): I think he was overthinking everything at UK, Calipari howling at him, all the spotlight and none of the playing time, not necessarily the best environment for his game, I think he'll defend just fine, if he can score he might actually be a pretty good baller (think Carlos Boozer but more fun to watch), its early but I was impressed with his flow in the Summer League. Also I was impressed with Becky Hammons, thought she willed the Spurs to the victory in the Final: there was a great moment where the Spurs had a coupla hot dog plays, one successful, one not successful, and we got to see the video of her in the huddle locking the dudes down, I thought it was a brilliant moment, I was totally impressed. The Suns were probably the better team, man, the Suns are gonna score, score, score this year, wave after wave off the bench of dudes that can drop 30 on any given night.

Make no mistake: Summer League is practice basketball. Its about raw talent, athleticism and instinct; its not about winning ball games or developing a team concept, its not a preview of what's to come. Players are "talented" when they are not yet "good". No one thinks of Kobe Bryant as "talented", dude, he's the one of the best to ever play the game, he has long since transcended mere "talent". Summer League is a showcase of "talent" not of the best of all time. So extrapolating anything out of Summer League is a fool's errand, but its fun to watch.

(* Olympics....yeah, I kinda hate the Olympics. I'm actually kinda pleased that the whole thing seems to be financially imploding. Boston made headlines when the Mayor personally removed Boston from contention for the 2022 Olympics. Good for him. I was living in the Bay Area when they were trying to get the 2012 Olympics (went to London) and, dude, nobody--NOBODY--wanted the goddamn Olympics coming to San Francisco. That would've been such a horrible obnoxious nightmare for everyone involved. Now is the time to get rid of this notion that all the athletes have to be competing in the same place: equestrian people can perform in France, cycling activities could be in Brazil, track and field can be at the Rose Bowl, ice hockey can be in Finland and they can be all be scheduled around each other for TV. Break all the games into their own separate Olympic-sanctioned entities and create a steady stream of events that goes on in 4-year cycles. The IOC is corruption personified, get rid of the life-sucking corruption and get everyone all over the world to love sport, to love games, to love international competition that doesn't require tank divisions or jingoistic propaganda campaigns. The Olympics can be useful...they just aren't)

USA Men's Roster update

Still need to cut 4 more players.  So who's out?

Derek Rose, Steph Curry, James Harden, Kenneth Faried, Anthony Davis seem locked in as the starting five.  Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are first off the bench.  Those seven strike me as guaranteed to play the big minutes going forward.

Rose (1) is set up to be the star of the team, the focal point, the leader, the alpha dog, etc.  I think George would've led in minutes played and Durant probably would've led in scoring (or at least FGA's) but even still Rose would've been the captain of the ship.  He looks fantastic!  Better than he's looked in a long, long time and that's great to see because its not set in stone that he'll once again be the badass he once was: the last time we saw Rose truly ballin' out in the NBA so was Danny Granger, the guy that got shuffled out of 3 cities in six months last year.  As a fan of Team USA I'm happy to see Rose looking his old self while wearing my flag on his chest.

Steph Curry (2) is the anointed filler-upper now that Durant is gone.  Curry will stretch the defense, make plays for his teammates and only needs to get hot once or twice a game to be an MVP.  He'll settle things down, right the ship when need be, rev up the engines when given the chance, whatever the game dictates Curry will provide.  

Anthony Davis (3) is ready to blossom, get ready America you're gonna get close-up view of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.  He's gonna have many killer highlights, he'll be the defensive stopper, and he'll score with an efficiency that's gonna blow you away.  And because he plays for the lame-ass Pelicans in the hard-ass West, a World Cup is his ticket to glory.  He's good at everything on the court and he's getting ready to really shine out.  This is his first big chance since NCAA 2012 to show everybody just how freakin' good he is.

Kenneth Faried (4) is the necessary guy.  He is perhaps the best rebounder in the world, a solid defender and reliable with the ball.  He's the next generation PJ Brown: all the toughness and dirty work with more scoring and less frowning.  And most importantly for this team, he'll play his ass off without demanding the ball.  Indeed, my only complaint with him in the Brazil game was too many bad shots, he's got to pass out of the double team!  My man, when you're playing with Curry and Harden and Davis and Gay and Thompson, you need to be passing always.  Dunks, layups, free throws, all yours; anything else, look for Rose.

Okay I'll say it: James Harden (5) is the new Dwyane Wade.  His game is basically dribbling into people and going to the foul line.  Boring.  And he's gotta be a prima donna to make sure he gets the calls.  Boring.  I know Harden is a badass and I should be grateful he's on my squad.  But his game bores me.  That said, I expect he'll lead in minutes played (and ball hogging) now that George and Durant are out.

Kyrie (6) looked great against Brazil.  Pesky defender, so quick with the ball, good finisher, good shooter, looks to make plays, great basketball IQ.  He's the perfect 6th man for this team.

Klay Thompson (7) is going to be a regular player on this team, could start if the int'l refs don't dig Harden's brand of jive, but even off the bench he'll play a lot of minutes.  He's got chemistry with Curry, he's a top notch wing defender, good shooter that can get hot (especially when he's the 4th scoring option) and he's in the hungry stage of his career where he sees the Cup as an opportunity rather than a burden.

Those seven strike me as untouchable, they are the heart of the roster.  Of the next five, I'm not at all sure.

I suspect Rudy Gay (8) is in.  The fact that he was invited in during a time of winnowing down the team indicates to me that they already had a plan for Gay.  With George and Durant out, Gay gives them wing scoring, veteran presence and good size for his position; he ain't no Durant and he ain't no George but Gay should still be better than whoever Angola will be trotting out.  So I reckon he fits on this team.

I suspect Chandler Parsons (9) is in.  When you're looking to round out your bench, you want guys that will give maximum effort in minimum appearances.  Parsons is probably the best candidate for that.  Parsons is a good shooter, good ball handler, plus defender and he's got enough ego to sustain himself when he's playing 4 minutes per game.  And he's got the skills and the moxy to step and be a hero if need be.

I think Demarcus Cousins (10) is in.  I get it: he's an annoying baby but, dude, he can play.  I think he'd be great in the int'l context, I think opposing fans will remember him the most, worldwide I think he's the one who stands to become an int'l sensation from this team.  And like Davis, he plays for a crappy team that is never getting anywhere near an NBA championship.  So until he gets into the gritty 'trade me' portion of his career, this is his best chance to win something and be a bigshot.  Personally, I would start Cousins with Davis at the 4 but nobody else seems to think that's a good idea.  And if you're not gonna start him, then you don't need a pain in the ass on the bench, that's annoying, that detracts from the team concept and is a freakin' nightmare for the coach (Jurgan Klinnsman didn't think twice about cutting Landon Donovan and there's no way Coach K would think any more of Cousins).  I get all that.  But he's really good, man.  He does everything on the court well and he wants to win.  I'd start him or at least sub him for Davis or Faried.

I think Kyle Korver (11) is in.  Like Parsons, he is a guy that will gladly come off the bench and contribute as much as he can.  He's a pretty good defender and a terrific 3-baller, which could become important late in the game.  He is one-dimensional but on your bench its great to have complements to your core rather than guys that could come in and shake things up.

For the last spot I would take Damien Lillard, I just think he's real good and in small doses could be deadly and/or a game-changer.  But perhaps he is too much of a star to accept coming in behind Rose, Curry and Irving.  I dunno, I think he's the young and hungry type that relishes any opportunity to shine out.  But perhaps the coaches fear his underwhelmed ego getting in the way of his production.

So I suspect they'll go with Mason Plumlee (12).  The talk was that Plumlee had supplanted Cousins but I reckon he supplanted Drummond as the 3rd big.  Plumlee would only be there to cover foul trouble for Davis (who is a very active defender) and Cousins (who rubs refs the wrong way like nobody's business) and he probably will get some playing time in that role.  He's Coach K's boy and though he is one-dimensional, he is predictable, constant, should make a minimum of mistakes.  He won't be called on to do much but I expect to excel when needed.

That leaves Gordon Hayward, Demar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, along with Lillard, off the team.  DeRozan requires too much service offensively, he's not a trusty one-dimensional guy off the bench, he's a well-rounded scorer who's gonna want the ball and the focus and I don't think there's enough of the to go around on this team (perhaps Olympic 2016 but not now).  Andre Drummond is (by all accounts) not exactly a student of the game so its not hard to imagine that Coach K won't be a big fan of the guy, indeed I don't reckon he sticks with the national team (Nerlens, Jabari will be overtaking him shortly).  I don't know about Gordon Hayward, I think Chandler Parsons is just a more well-liked player at this point, but I can see Hayward being back for the next big USA tourney.  Lillard, too, and Beal and John Wall, as well.  Those guys are worth keeping around even if they're not the blueprint right now.

Victory is not in the bag.  USA has a lot of talent but traditionally USA doesn't take this competition seriously, preferring the high profile Olympics (it is an opportunity to appear in the homes of Americans that prefer the Olympics to actual sports), while the rest of the world thinks little of the Olympics and really gears up for the Cup (nee World Championships).  Personally, I'm with the rest of the world on this one: the Olympics suck (there I said it).  The World Cup is the place to truly find the best of the best, leave the Olympics to the kids (seriously: put an age limit on the team sports).  USA should dominate the basketball World Cup for years to come but to do that, we have to take it seriously.  Colangelo and Coach K have done a marvelous job instilling an on-going nature of Team USA, I wish hockey and baseball would follow suit and each build up their own proper World Cups and instill that same culture to it.

I think USA beats Spain in the Final.  But Spain is gonna be stacked and USA better bring it if they think they're gonna win it.

Thoughts on Team USA

I think I believe something controversial: the problem with USA's soccer team right now is Jurgen Klinsmann.  I think he had a poor tournament.  Here's what it comes down: do you believe Klinsmann made the best he could of sub-standard talent or do you think he had enough talent and could've done better?  I'm going with the latter.

I think I understand why Klinsmann left Donovan off the squad: he needed Donovan to be a nice supporting veteran to settle things down from time to time (a la Demarcus Beasley) but Donovan (a la Kobe) still thinks of himself as the star of the team and would thus be a divisive force within the locker room.  That's fine, I get it.  If Donovan is gonna act like your best player while actually being your 6th best player then that's a hassle for a coach (especially in soccer) because it takes time and effort away from the overall mission.  I get it, that's fine.  And when its all said and done it was Green and Brooks that scored the goals, so no guarantee at all that Donovan would've had that joy.  I get it, that's fine.  I'm not here to argue that USA failed to advance to the quarterfinals because they didn't have Donovan.

But, damn, I can't count all the times in 4 games when I thought, 'Sure would be nice to bring in Donovan right here.'  He's not the best player on the team any more, he's not the focus, but, dude, he's still plenty good enough to be out there and even with him being a pain in the ass, he still could've helped a lot.  How can you leave a guy off your roster that can help you even if he is a pain in the ass?  Klinsmann clearly had no faith in his squad, all we did was play defense!  There was no attack whatsoever, no consistency in possession, and in the last two games, it seemed to be the plan to just play forever until a draw happens.  Donovan would've at least given the Americans some hope of possessing the ball upfront or shifting into a counter-attack.  The Bradley-Jones-Dempsey combo was never in tune and not terribly effective.

I can understand going into a defensive shell against the onslaught of Belgium or even the timing of the German attack.  But that was our posture against Ghana and Portugal, too.  I mean, it wasn't merely a tactical move, it was the ONLY strategy that Klinsmann was ready to employ.  Now, you tell me: how you gonna beat Germany or Belgium without scoring any goals?  Not gonna happen.  You feel more comfortable taking penalty kicks against Belgium?  Why?  That roster is filled with scorers!  Every single Belgian player today took a shot!  Each Belgian DEFENDER took at least two shots.  Dude, it was target practice out there today for Belgium.  And we withstood that for 90 minutes with, what seemed to me, no help from the coach.

Tim Howard was absolutely brilliant today.  Beslor, Beasley and Gonzalez were all terrific too, top effort from all of those guys.  But 30 more minutes of no American attack doomed that back line to give up 2 tough goals.  Feel bad for Howard--that guy left it out there today and now he's hanging an L on his resume.  Too bad.  But Klinsmann did nothing to alleviate that.  Indeed, he did everything to keep piling it on.  I get that Howard is the best player and you want to feature your best player, but come on, man, you can't just beat a goalie like he's a Persian rug and expect that to hold up.

I have decided I don't like Jurgan Klinsmann and, more than that, I don't think he's a good fit going forward.  What improvements will he bring about before 2016?  What could he improve?  What he needs is better talent, but I don't think he has any magic elixir for that, I think the American talent has been developing nicely for 20 years now.  Go back and look at the 1994 team--we're light years ahead of that team!  And I think the bulk of that development was before Klinsmann got here and its got its own momentum going forward that I would suggest has little or nothing to do with Jurgen Klinsmann. (Every time you see a story about concussions in the NFL, soccer and lacrosse are the big winners)  If Klinsmann is trying to increase the talent pool, then how can he be so unforgiving to his top players?  He wants better players but at some point he's got to have some player's-coach in him.  And it appears he simply does not respect the American youngsters to score goals.  And what's up with all the injuries?  Altidore, Beslor and Johnson all pulled hammies?  I'm calling out the coach.

I think I'm ready for Team USA to go out there and find a coach that sees good things in America's future instead of coach trying play soccer by stuffing 11 men into our own goal.  I have no idea who that coach is.  Is anyone interested in bringing back Bob Bradley or Bruce Arena?  I dunno.  Are there Europeans or South Americans or NCAA coaches that look at coaching USA as an interesting opportunity?  I bet there are.  I bet there are a lot of dudes that want this job.  And I suggest we try one of 'em out.