I have regained faith that there is karma in soccer. After seeing Greece show zero interest in playing in the first half - they spent minutes passing the ball around the back with no attempt to go forward - Sweden punked them with a pair of goals, one a screamer from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Here's hoping that Russia and Spain pound them into oblivion...speaking of pounded, Spain got off to a roaring start with a 4-1 win over Russia. Spain is looking like a legitimate threat, but we've all thought that before early in a tourney. Is there anyone better going shoulder to shoulder with a defender than Fernando Torres? Not bad when you can pull off Torres in the 53rd minute and put on Cesc Fabregas as a sub. Oh, and #11 had far more impact than #8...the LA Lakers finally played themselves a solid game, building on the strong close in Game 2, and took Game 3 to make the NBA final a series. 2-1 Celtics, seemingly a long way to go. The Celts big three shot 16 of 48. That's not good...the Spurs Robert Horry has never missed the playoffs in all 16 years he's been in the NBA...I've played soccer for close to 30 years and had no idea that the offside rule says that Ruud Van Nistelrooy of Holland was 100% onside for the first Dutch goal against Italy. I'm shocked the refs knew how to correctly apply this obscure, almost-never-happens element..stop me if you've heard this before: Donovan McNabb is hurting...Tim Donaghy is turning into the Jose Canseco of the NBA, piping up about playoff game fixing in the middle of the NBA final. If I'm Mark Cuban, I'm looking for a refund..the Euro account - based on a $100 wager per game on the money line at Pinnacle - sits at +$175 on a 5-3 record after a 1-1 day. Clearly, the 0-2 picking draws is not panning out, but value is value. Today's picks come from the second Group A games. I've got Portugal (-120) to down the Czech's, and Turkey (+253) to down Switzerland, that's great value there...Mike Milbury called Tiger Woods "Tiger Wuss" for his sideswipe of the NHL when he said nobody watches hockey anymore. Solid quote, really, though he might have mentioned that golf is what hockey players do for a more leisurely pursuit. Milbury might also have done some homework and realized that when it comes to the U.S., despite their ratings spike that still put them about a mile behind darts and bowling, Tiger is right. Of course, Tiger changed his stance now that he's taken some stick...Toronto FC coach John Carver says "no mas" to international duty for his players unless it is for required FIFA release dates. Amen to that!...have a great Wednesday.
9 comments:
i like porto today but given theirs and czechs opening-game performances it almost looks "too easy."
Porto are the first to advance. Wasn't always easy, but still a pretty comfortable win at 3-1.
watching swiss-turks on a drenched field and in pouring rain sure is fun!
Ah my first 9-5.....err 8-4 full day job started today. Time to pop open the booze.
Some Giants lost their Superbowl rings in a robbery....thank the ones who jacked those rings...would look better on anyone BUT the Giants.
unless i'm mistaken, if the czechs and turks finish tied, they draw lots to see who moves on?
TSN was NO HELP on this matter. even though vic rauter was pretending he was.
he was explaining their goal totals etc...then craig forrest corrected him and said all is tied...then vic goes, "Well then whoever wins advances."
obviously -- they'd have more points.
we need to know what happens if it's tied, dip.
here it is:
* Number of points earned in matches between the teams in question;
* Goal difference in matches between the teams in question (in cases where there are more than two teams equal on points);
* Goals scored in matches between the teams in question (in cases where there are more than two teams equal on points);
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* In cases where exactly two teams are equal in all previously listed critera and play one another to a draw in their final group match, kicks from the penalty mark will be conducted in lieu of the remaining criteria;
* The number of points obtained by the teams in question divided by the number of matches played in the qualifying competitions for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008;
* Fair play conduct of the teams in the group stage;
* Drawing of lots.
question--> how does anything stay tied after the PK part?
Just UEFA/Fifa wasting paper I guess....England is currently ranked the #1 country with regards to Uefa standings so who knows what these dickheads think of.
Maybe I missed it, but no mention of Ron Wilson taking over as coach of the Leafs? Have you leaf fans just given up?
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