Fantastic win. Poor Brad...probably went to bed mad.
__________________
George McPhee....The Teflon GM. 15 years of failure and counting....
6 - Number of playoff series the Capitals have won since George McPhee took over as General Manager in 1997 (which makes him the third-longest-tenured GM in the League), three of which came in McPhee's first season on the job.
US Womens soccer team is in good spirits but I thought they looked better in the World Cup Final than this match. This one they could have easily lost, in my opinion it was very unfair that they lost in the WC - this one seemed more like a shootout match to me, Japan missed a lot of chances similar to the US a year ago.
I think the formation needs to go to a 4-3-3 similar to the one Madrid and Portugal play with Ronaldo, where Morgan plays that Ronaldo role. This is the formation I would prefer to see them in until Wambach moves to the bench.
Frankly it seemed to me that some of the US players were braindead. Instead of possessing the ball and killing the clock, they kept attacking and turning the ball over. They dodged a bullet. Luckily the US had a clear athleticism advantage. Size and speed difference were apparent.
Japan didn't play extra time in their last game, and Japan didn't have to travel immediately after. Those are both big things that helped the US. When both teams were running on pure adrenaline, the US dominated the first 15 minutes, but once the US's extra tired legs set in, you could really tell.
As far as formation, the rumor is that when Sydney Leroux is ready to play full time they are going 3-4-3.
Japan didn't play extra time in their last game, and Japan didn't have to travel immediately after. Those are both big things that helped the US. When both teams were running on pure adrenaline, the US dominated the first 15 minutes, but once the US's extra tired legs set in, you could really tell.
As far as formation, the rumor is that when Sydney Leroux is ready to play full time they are going 3-4-3.
Three in the back is a bad idea for this team. Such thoughts suggest that they are aware of their deficiencies regarding quality defenders and thus will rather lean towards having the best players on the pitch than the right positional players out there.
On a side note, it was interesting to go over the the Canucks board and read some of their comments about the Olympics and more specifically the US/Canada match. Understandably they were none too pleased with the outcome and the refereeing. What suprised me most though is the lack of knowledge and understanding of the laws of the game by those commenting. Vancouver I would think would have some knowledgeable folks about the game, they did have a team in the NASL sometime ago. But to be fair, most players/coaches and spectators have never read the laws of the game. A few years ago I was the center referee for a U-19 girls game in a tournament. When I had the captains come out for the coin toss, one of the ladies noticed the brand name on my jersey (LawFive). At the time Law Five was a maker of soccer referee uniforms along with the likes of Official Sports and later on Addidas (believe the have the MLS contract). The captain for this U-19 team (which was a show case team of players who just about all were going on to play Div. 1 soccer) asked what Law Five was. I was a bit taken back and asked her along with the other captains how many laws were there in soccer. None of them had any idea and they all had been playing the game since they were age 6. I explained that Law Five was the Law that specifically dealt with referees and their responsibilities. I also recommended to them that they all should become certified referees as they would be able to earn some money on the side as well as it would make them better players as they would have a better understanding of the game and what referees are looking for.
Going from 4 in the back to 3 alone isn't going to a killer when you are choosing from a pool of female Jonathan Bornsteins. The full-backs can't go forward to begin with. The problem is replacing that extra defender with an another athlete instead of a soccer player.
They might as well wear Oakland Raiders jerseys if that's the strategy going forward.
At some point Handball (the type they play in the Olympics not the slapping the ball against the wall) has to catch on here in the States. The game just looks too good not to attract interest.
Looks like a combo of soccer/baseketball/hockey/water polo all rolled in to one and it could be easily played on a basketball court or something similar whether indoors or outside.
At some point Handball (the type they play in the Olympics not the slapping the ball against the wall) has to catch on here in the States. The game just looks too good not to attract interest.
Looks like a combo of soccer/baseketball/hockey/water polo all rolled in to one and it could be easily played on a basketball court or something similar whether indoors or outside.
Have to politely disagree watching that today..I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what that sport was and then after finding this out wondering where the hell it came from and how it is an olympic sport.
Spent a bit of time in elementary school in Canada playing European handball. It's a ton of fun to play, I have to say. It was part of the regular rotation of sports they'd have us play during the year. Maybe two-three weeks or so.
All that said, it's not a great spectator sport. It's just one of those sports that will never catch on in the US. Very popular within its Scandinavian and other northern European niche area, not a lot of growth potential.
Evidently indoor volleyball is a game that is growing quickly in pockets. It should be a big sport at Rio.
Spent a bit of time in elementary school in Canada playing European handball. It's a ton of fun to play, I have to say. It was part of the regular rotation of sports they'd have us play during the year. Maybe two-three weeks or so.
All that said, it's not a great spectator sport. It's just one of those sports that will never catch on in the US. Very popular within its Scandinavian and other northern European niche area, not a lot of growth potential.
Evidently indoor volleyball is a game that is growing quickly in pockets. It should be a big sport at Rio.
I was amazed at how rough and dirty Water Polo was...
Solo comes across as selfish and someone who unashamedly works the press. She also come across as pretty cunning, because she knows that she is the prettiest and most marketable member of the team (her and Alex Morgan), and when push comes to shove they would never forceably remove such a popular and charismatic player. I think her recent feud with Chastain kind of demonstrates that.
Solo comes across as selfish and someone who unashamedly works the press. She also come across as pretty cunning, because she knows that she is the prettiest and most marketable member of the team (her and Alex Morgan), and when push comes to shove they would never forceably remove such a popular and charismatic player. I think her recent feud with Chastain kind of demonstrates that.
Interesting read. I have two comments. Ryan screwed that team with his choices and women love their drama
I will be buying Hope Solo's book tomorrow, I know that.
And her feud with Chastain is more than meets the eye. Remember that Chastain hardly said a bad word about her. If I had to guess, I'd suspect that Rachel Beuhler was really upset with Chastain, and honestly Beuhler doesn't command the type of microphone to strike back. It was very clear from Chastain's comments that Chastain was waiting to go after Beuhler from the kick off of the first game, and Solo was was upset and struck back for Beuhler. If you listened to a lot of the coverage from NBC in the studios, both Cat Whitehill and Christine Lilly both went out of their way to shower Rachel Beuhler with compliments after the whole thing, and while Brandi Chastain never said anything nice about Beuhler, she said many nice things about Solo when she wasn't busy ruining the broadcast with her commentary.
And . . . I just finished Hope Solo's book. Pretty good for an athlete's book. The stuff about her father and his death was far and away the best stuff.
