I base this on less than one half of a preseason game against the Jets, but Adrian Peterson is going to be phenomenal in Minnesota. I rarely watched him in college because, you know, fuck the Sooners. But against New York, Peterson could not be tackled by just one defender. He gained most of his yards after contact. He used the Madden juke move to hit the hole behind left tackle with no loss of speed. I would be scared...but the Vikings' passing game instills so little confidence that I'm willing to bet Minnesota will complete no passes farther than 10 yards downfield during the game in Chicago. Every team the Vikings face is going to put eight in the box and let Tavaris Jackson pretend like he's going to throw downfield. Peterson is still going to get plenty of yards -- and unless this preseason game is grossly misrepresentative of running ability, AP will be starting by October -- but the Vikes should have sent their QBs to Rex Grossman's Sex Cannon Training Camp in the offseason. There's only so much enjoyment you can get out of a 6-10 season that hits the under 12 times.
One area in which ESPN is still miles ahead of its competition: highlights background music. Fox's music tries too hard. One area in which Fox has the chance to separate itself from its competition: getting Pam Oliver more quality reps during the regular season. Pam has looked like an all-star on the sidelines during the preseason. I'd like to see Fox given the opportunity to have Pam interview the players that just sit on the bench when their unit is off the field, as well as starters that have been pulled late in blowouts.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Rui Costa 2, Copenhagen 1
Thanks to the liveblog at Portugoal, I got to witness (sort of) Freddy Adu's debut for Benfica. Adu came on as a sub in the 36th minute after Luisao was injured (not totally unrelated to Copenhagen's goal, I gather). Fortunately for Benfica, Rui Costa dominated the game, scoring both of his team's goals in the 2-1 victory. Unfortunately for Adu, Rui Costa plays Adu's favorite position, central attacking midfielder. It's great that Adu is playing in Europe, and in a Champion's League qualifier, but I'm guessing he played as a wing forward today. Seems like he had one somewhat dangerous flick header, one overly ambitious bicycle kick, and little else of note. Quite the unconvincing team effort today, it seems
In other UCL qualifying/USA news, it was DaMarcus Beasley's sub that scored the late winner as Rangers edged Red Star Crvena Zvezda (should I have heard of them before?).
In other UCL qualifying/USA news, it was DaMarcus Beasley's sub that scored the late winner as Rangers edged Red Star Crvena Zvezda (should I have heard of them before?).
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Premier League Week 1: West Ham - Man City
The Premier League is underway! Who knows how long I'll keep this up, but Week 1 is like the first day of school -- I arrive way early, drenched with enthusiasm, trying to do every last thing I think I want to do. Eventually, I just do what I have to do. So we'll see.
Breakfast: Three-egg omelet with dill, prepackaged ham slices, orange bell pepper, and organic tomatoes. I'm learning as I go -- eggs by themselves should be cooked over low heat, but I think omelets demand higher heat because the rest of the ingredients are cold, and it would take for-freaking-ever over low heat. With kickoff less than five minutes away, up goes the heat, baby. Oh, and Twinings English Breakfast tea.
First Half
City starts out dominating the midfield. While I detest the lack of attacking possibilities that a lone striker offers -- think France playing two holding midfielders at last year's World Cup -- playing five in midfield when your opponent insists on four is a sure way to control possession. West Ham plays rather carelessly, giving away the ball at seemingly every opportunity. Petrov takes several shots from distance, and they're not bad shots, they're just not on goal. I'm impressed by how well-timed almost every challenge is and by how dangerous almost every cross is -- the Gold Cup and MLS have lowered my expectations. After a well-timed tackle on Boa Morte, the ball pops straight to Hamann, who releases Elano down the middle of the pitch with space to run at the West Ham defense. Elano directs Bianchi to his left, then simply runs around the defense to the right, plays a firm, curving ball perfectly back across between the keeper and Ferdinand for Bianchi to slide home from three yards out. 1-0 City. A rather simple goal, and poor defending by Upton to let Elano get around him, but watching Elano on the ball here was like watching Jason Kidd run a fast break.
West Ham looks to have settled. Bellamy is spending way too much time on the left wing, and any advantage he may have over Corluka in speed is more than compensated for by the Croatian's size. I used to think Bellamy was tall, but that could be because he's just insane. Bianchi clearly doesn't speak any English, and I have to wonder how team chemistry overcomes a language barrier. I can't think of an office job in which fluency with the predominant language isn't absolutely required, so I really don't know what it's like to be able to do your job without perfectly understanding your coworkers. Some chances for West Ham, some nice dancing in the box by Boa Morte, but it must be frustrating for the West Ham supporters to watch each attack wasted without a quality attempt at goal. Surely enough, they boo at the halftime whistle.
Halftime beer: St. Peter's English Ale. I'm a huge fan of St. Peter's Cream Stout, but in keeping with today's theme, I'm going with this English pale ale. My first thought was, "This smells like MGD." Seriously, this is a beer that should not be served directly out of the refrigerator. Much better aroma after it warms up a bit and other flavors have a chance to contribute. Decent beer, but I'm not spending $3.49 a pint to drink decent, so no repeat purchase on the horizon here.
Second Half
Live-blogging takes commitment. This is in no way live blogging. Beer + open laptop = less attention on a not-totally-enthralling game. West Ham uses all three subs at the break, and creates better chances in this half, including a great diagonal, lofted pass to the endline by Zamora to...some guy...who rifles the ball across the face of goal, just missing Ljungberg, who really just had his weight on the wrong foot to be able to react in time. City get a second goal after some great work by Onuoha sets up Giovanni in the right side of the box to bury a low shot inside the far-post. Wow, I have no tolerance. This is ridiculous. Cheaper this way, but still ridiculous.
Checking other scores...whoa, Spurs lose late at Sunderland. Hey, it's Week 1, I'm motivated, I'll stick around for the highlights. And Derby gets a point! At home, but still, it's Pompey, so not bad. Ohhhhhh...Tottenham, that is a weak goal. Four minutes into stoppage time. Way not to mark the guy right in the middle of the box.
Well, fun start to the Premiership. It's a rare Saturday that I've had a good breakfast and gotten tipsy before 11:00a.m. We'll see how long I can keep this up.
Breakfast: Three-egg omelet with dill, prepackaged ham slices, orange bell pepper, and organic tomatoes. I'm learning as I go -- eggs by themselves should be cooked over low heat, but I think omelets demand higher heat because the rest of the ingredients are cold, and it would take for-freaking-ever over low heat. With kickoff less than five minutes away, up goes the heat, baby. Oh, and Twinings English Breakfast tea.
First Half
City starts out dominating the midfield. While I detest the lack of attacking possibilities that a lone striker offers -- think France playing two holding midfielders at last year's World Cup -- playing five in midfield when your opponent insists on four is a sure way to control possession. West Ham plays rather carelessly, giving away the ball at seemingly every opportunity. Petrov takes several shots from distance, and they're not bad shots, they're just not on goal. I'm impressed by how well-timed almost every challenge is and by how dangerous almost every cross is -- the Gold Cup and MLS have lowered my expectations. After a well-timed tackle on Boa Morte, the ball pops straight to Hamann, who releases Elano down the middle of the pitch with space to run at the West Ham defense. Elano directs Bianchi to his left, then simply runs around the defense to the right, plays a firm, curving ball perfectly back across between the keeper and Ferdinand for Bianchi to slide home from three yards out. 1-0 City. A rather simple goal, and poor defending by Upton to let Elano get around him, but watching Elano on the ball here was like watching Jason Kidd run a fast break.
West Ham looks to have settled. Bellamy is spending way too much time on the left wing, and any advantage he may have over Corluka in speed is more than compensated for by the Croatian's size. I used to think Bellamy was tall, but that could be because he's just insane. Bianchi clearly doesn't speak any English, and I have to wonder how team chemistry overcomes a language barrier. I can't think of an office job in which fluency with the predominant language isn't absolutely required, so I really don't know what it's like to be able to do your job without perfectly understanding your coworkers. Some chances for West Ham, some nice dancing in the box by Boa Morte, but it must be frustrating for the West Ham supporters to watch each attack wasted without a quality attempt at goal. Surely enough, they boo at the halftime whistle.
Halftime beer: St. Peter's English Ale. I'm a huge fan of St. Peter's Cream Stout, but in keeping with today's theme, I'm going with this English pale ale. My first thought was, "This smells like MGD." Seriously, this is a beer that should not be served directly out of the refrigerator. Much better aroma after it warms up a bit and other flavors have a chance to contribute. Decent beer, but I'm not spending $3.49 a pint to drink decent, so no repeat purchase on the horizon here.
Second Half
Live-blogging takes commitment. This is in no way live blogging. Beer + open laptop = less attention on a not-totally-enthralling game. West Ham uses all three subs at the break, and creates better chances in this half, including a great diagonal, lofted pass to the endline by Zamora to...some guy...who rifles the ball across the face of goal, just missing Ljungberg, who really just had his weight on the wrong foot to be able to react in time. City get a second goal after some great work by Onuoha sets up Giovanni in the right side of the box to bury a low shot inside the far-post. Wow, I have no tolerance. This is ridiculous. Cheaper this way, but still ridiculous.
Checking other scores...whoa, Spurs lose late at Sunderland. Hey, it's Week 1, I'm motivated, I'll stick around for the highlights. And Derby gets a point! At home, but still, it's Pompey, so not bad. Ohhhhhh...Tottenham, that is a weak goal. Four minutes into stoppage time. Way not to mark the guy right in the middle of the box.
Well, fun start to the Premiership. It's a rare Saturday that I've had a good breakfast and gotten tipsy before 11:00a.m. We'll see how long I can keep this up.
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