How the hell is Pronk not an All Star

An unbiased statistical look to how Travis Hafner compares to the other American League All-Star 1B/DH.

Hafner: R-67 H-86 2B-17 HR-24 RBI-70 BB-69 K-56 OBP-.461 SLG-.656 OPS-1.117 AVG-.319
Ortiz: R-60 H-84 2B-15 HR-27 RBI-76 BB-53 K-64 OBP-.381 SLG-.586 OPS-.967 AVG-.274
Konerko:R-65 H-78 2B-10 HR-27 RBI-69 BB-56 K-84 OBP-.415 SLG-.628 OPS-1.043 AVG-.290
Thome: R-53 H-95 2B-16 HR-21 RBI-67 BB-34 K-54 OBP-.384 SLG-.572 OPS-.956 AVG-.313

(The stats in bold signifies which player leads each category with respect to the other 1B/DH)

As these stats clearly show Travis Hafner is clearly having a better season than all of the other 1B/DH candidates, yet for the third straight year in a row he is getting screwed out of the All-Star game.

Four More Years

Fuck dwelling on the past. Bring on South Africa!!!

Howard-GK
Cherundolo-DL
Onyewu-DC
Spector-DC
Gibbs-DR
Convey-ML
Adu-AMC
Donovan-MC
Dempsey-MR
Rossi-FC
Johnson-FC

Sub:
Beaseley-ML
Ngyuen-MR
Seitz-GK
Wynne-DR
Michael Bradley-MC

What a game!!!

The United States Soccer team outplayed the Italian Soccer team. It's as simple as that. Though the red cards might have been harsh they weren't horrible calls; just very 'iffy' ones. Especially the red card on Mastroeni. Though, by itself it might have looked like a red card there have been numerous tackles in this tournament that were just as bad that were only given yellow cards. On Eddie Pope's second yellow even though it was harsh it was just a matter of time before he was going to be sent off with the way he was playing defense. The worst call of the game might have been the free kick that led to the Italians goal after Totti's dive.

That still shouldn't take away from the fact that of the players on the field the US played better than the Italians. It is essential that they keep up their intensity and tenacity going into the next game against a very very good Ghana team. By playing the way they did against the Italians the US has given themselves the chance to save face in a tournament that previously seemed lost.

Fuck You Tomas Rosicky

And I say that with as much respect as possible. It's gonna be sick watching you in the EPL next year. Now just do to Italy and Ghana what you did to America and you will be my favorite player.

The Dave O'Brien Drinking Game

Finally, I have found a way to prevent me from turning the television to the Spanish channel when I watch the World Cup. Instead of getting angry at all of Dave O'Brien's mistakes lets drink to his inability to understand the beautiful game.


1. Every time he mispronounces the name of a player (It's not Michael Beckham dumbass): 1 Drink.
2. Every time he mispronounces the name of a country (I think he said Iran at least 5 different ways): 2 Drinks.
3. Every time he calls England Germany: 5 Drinks.
4. Every time Marcelo Balboa has to correct him because he has no clue what he is talking about: 2 Drinks.
5. Every time he uses a bad analogy from another sport to describe a play (I'm sorry the "Box and 1" is not a soccer play): 3 Drinks.
6. Every time he repeats a story (I heard you the first time when you said that a Paraguayan called David Beckham a coward and that the Mexican goalie's father died) : 1 Drink for the first time, 2 Drinks for the second time he repeats the story and so on.
7. Every time he talks about how the US is ranked 5th in the world or that the Czechs are ranked 2nd without following up that the FIFA rankings are bullshit: 2 Drinks.
8. Every time he refers to something that has nothing to do with soccer: 3 Drinks.
9. Finally, my ultimate pet peeve, every time he calls Kasey Keller the best goalie in the world: 5 drinks for Cassilas, Cech, Buffon, Van Der Sar, hell even Robinson who took his place him at Tottenham.

And this is just after he has called 3 games of the World Cup. Please feel free to add any more suggestions.

EPLTalk
The Sports Frog

I hate to say it but...

I do not believe that the US Men's National Team will do well in Germany. In fact, I would not be surprised if they lost every game. Like France 98 the US is in for a letdown for many reasons.

1. The US has a dismal record, as most non-European sides do, playing against European teams in Europe.
2. The US does not match up well against the Czechs and Italians. Both of those countries play very good defense and have world class goalkeepers. The inability for the US to score goals in their send-off tour will be magnified against these two European sides.
3. Ghana, the wildcard, has just as much talent as the US and could be the surprise of the group.

Even if the US do not succeed it would not be the end of the world. This is not the tournament that the US will truly break out to become a world power in soccer. That year will be 2010 in South Africa. In that tournament not only will the US be seeded so they would not be put in a "group of death." There will also be no team, except for South Africa, that will a have a homefield advantage since even the African countries that qualified for this years world cup are very far away from South Africa. The US will also finally have enough talent to compete with any team in the world without relying on luck.

US vs. Venezuela

After attending the match between the US and Venezuela at Cleveland Browns Stadium I came to the realization that there are two main issues concerning the US national team's success heading into Germany. First, it is essential that our defensive lapses come to an end. If the US is to beat either the Czechs or Italians they cannot allow the two European teams to have any chances that they do not deserve. The other main issue is that the US has to do a better job of finishing their chances. Too many times in the Venezuela game and even going back to the Morocco game the US would do well to set up a scoring opportunity but then flounder it away in front of goal. Against Cech and Buffon the US must take advantage of the opportunities because their chances will be few and far between.

Two players who were very impressive during the game were Oguchi Onyewu and Bobby Convey. Onyewu was very successfully in organizing the defense. His size and speed gives the US the presence at the back line that it has been lacking in past World Cups. Convey was very dangerous with his crosses. His set pieces were also well taken. With DaMarcus Beasley as the established left midfielder Convey should be used as a super-sub being used to create chances for the US at the end of the game.

Two players who still need to impress me, however, are Clint Dempsey and Brian Ching. Though Ching and Dempsey were the only goal scorers their respective performances were overall disappointing. Dempsey disappeared from play too many times during the match. Other than one nice run to get by his defenders in the first half and his goal in the second half his performance was too quiet on the wing: especially juxtaposed to Bobby Convey. Ching's problems stemmed from his inability to create chances on his own. Many times with the ball he looked lost and gave away possession.

Overall, the match was a possitive performance for the US Men's National Team. The US was the dominant team throughout the whole game and had goals to show for their opportunities; unlike the game against Morocco. The match was one more step torwards the US's preparation for Germany.