tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39975132009-11-22T16:33:54.698-05:00Don't blame us, we voted for Ricky for Sunnyvale Trailer Park Supervisor.Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.comBlogger1041125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-14488779615546747532009-11-20T10:00:00.004-05:002009-11-20T15:17:34.874-05:00

Holy Zombie Jesus, did a lot go down since the last time the Premier League kicked off a fortnight ago. First and foremost, my assumed title chase between Chelsea and Arsenal got thrown a wicked Barry Zito circa-2002 curveball. (Ok, for Brits, a wicked Googly.) Chelsea is going to have to play at least a couple matches -- and almost certainly the Nov. 29 match with the Gooners -- without midfield

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-41315008134046563822009-11-18T17:33:00.004-05:002009-11-19T00:52:41.516-05:00

... But Ireland got absolutely robbed in that game against France today. Thierry Henry with the "main d'un dieu" to set up William Gallas's winning goal. Oh, and both players were offside to start the play, too.In all honesty, not to pull a Sir Alex Ferguson, but that was arguably the worst non-call I've ever seen. Even the French broadcast dug into the Angophile dictionary to use the word, "

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-18003278732282561102009-11-18T16:30:00.001-05:002009-11-18T16:30:00.297-05:00

No ramblings. No preamble. No time. Have to run out for work, so not too much time to marinate on the USMNT/Denmark game. You're getting bullet points. Enjoy. * Danish Tex Mex? Who would have figured? I'm sure salted cod and salsa make an excellent burrito combo. * Missed the first 15-odd minutes watching the ends of the Algeria/Egypt hate-cast and the Ukraine/Greece snooze-fest.* Thank you

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-80967131226429245602009-11-17T16:24:00.001-05:002009-11-17T20:09:42.773-05:00

How about those Danish Van Houtens?What, you're telling me you didn't stick with 'The Simpsons' through season 19?Guess I'd have to call that a cromulent decision. If you read those last three seconds and your brain didn't turn into a puddle of chocolate pudding, you were probably able to deduce that I don't have a whole lot to offer for Wednesday's USMNT friendly against Denmark in Aarhus. (

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-1866135000205150412009-11-14T13:00:00.000-05:002009-11-14T13:11:08.307-05:00

Well, turns out Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey & Co. have about as much drawing power in Eastern Europe as Anvil. For whatever the reason Friday night I decided to stay up through multiple power outages for the MLS Western Conference Final between the Galaxy and Dynamo. During the match the thought drifted into my head about Saturday's USMNT/Slovakia friendly -- why wouldn't Bob Bradley simply roll

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-72408771262661649932009-11-13T10:04:00.005-05:002009-11-13T10:04:00.299-05:00

For whatever the reason, the term "friendly" can be lumped together with diving (i.e. David Ngog) and the quantum physics intricacies of the offside rule as primary reasons why mainstream media types prefer to mock soccer, as opposed to caring about it. What exactly is a "friendly" anyway? Why not call it an exhibition? Does it matter? Are we just splitting hairs? By the same token, can we put

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-87678806196632891142009-11-09T14:30:00.000-05:002009-11-09T14:30:40.323-05:00

This morning when I woke up and checked my email, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets (think the 1:06 mark of this classic clip) when I read the U.S. Soccer Federation missive about the roster for the upcoming USMNT friendly against Slovakia. (Saturday, 10 a.m., FSC)As the old saying goes, don't blog angry, so I took a little time to collect myself and my shock that Edgar Castillo, et al,

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-55508885248940139662009-11-09T10:00:00.001-05:002009-11-09T10:00:00.249-05:00

It's weird, isn't it, that the same player could be hailed as both "Lionheart" and the "Bionic Woman" in the same breath? Maybe it's not so strange if that player is John Terry. On the one hand, if you're English -- particularly in the media -- you have to love Terry's grit and even if you hate Chelsea, he is sorta the captain of the National Team, after all. At the same time, you'd probably get

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-27162669582770440962009-11-06T10:03:00.004-05:002009-11-06T13:20:45.204-05:00

We could probably spend a day listing all the difference between our traditional North American sports leagues (MLB, NFL and NBA) with the way European soccer clubs are run, or in fact almost all leagues around the world are run, aside from MLS. For me, one of the key differences is roster construction. Let's not get into the issue of salary caps for the time being. As it stands, a MLB active

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-18665535153824111702009-11-04T18:30:00.001-05:002009-11-04T19:07:44.036-05:00

Sorry Merseysiders, the Red side at least. As you know I'm not usually Senor Champions League, but today I was actually home for a change and watched the 1-1 drawn between Liverpool and Lyon in central France, a result that went down as a simultaneous stomach punch and kick to the groin region, for fans of Liverpool anyway. Ouch. Liverpool had the match all but won thanks to Ryan Babel, yes Ryan

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-65251324997834005772009-11-01T10:00:00.001-05:002009-11-01T23:37:55.845-05:00

Not exactly the best weekend in the Premier League to be a coach with a goatee. In fact, the noose is all but hanging around the neck of Phil Brown and all that we're waiting for is the Hull City directors to pull the lever and drop the floor out from under him. Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez remains on death row, but due to some savvy law papers (or his past glory at the club), the Spaniard has a stay

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-84849013243281962572009-10-30T09:46:00.001-04:002009-10-30T09:46:00.480-04:00

Before delving into a couple odds-and-ends, let me first issue a major apology. If anyone out there in Inter-nets Land actually takes my Premier League picks to heart and bets them, well, last weekend I'm massively sorry. Going 2-and-8 is frankly, unacceptable. If this were a reality television program, I'd have been asked to take my laptop and go. Everyone is due a clunker, but batting .200 for

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-14816762163439338562009-10-27T12:30:00.004-04:002009-10-27T12:30:01.212-04:00

For better or worse, I am a gamer.There I said it. In fact, video games will probably outgrow me -- maybe a cerebral implant -- before I outgrow them.The following is going to be my thoughts on the latest EA soccer release, "FIFA 10." Maybe you don't game, but I'll go out on a limb and say that "FIFA" has been as important as spreading soccer and ingraining it into Americans sports fans brains as

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-7237821985373500072009-10-26T10:00:00.000-04:002009-10-26T10:00:28.710-04:00

Rafa Benitez. Even if you follow the Premier League with the most passing of interests, chances are you have an opinion on the goatee-d Spanish coach of Liverpool, who has seemingly been at the hot seat at Anfield since before the world knew who Hannah Montana was. Just the other night I was chatting with a friend over XBox Live during a game of "FIFA 10" (shameless plug, review/thoughts coming

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-61658308341982192672009-10-23T10:00:00.007-04:002009-10-23T14:06:21.606-04:00

Believe it or not, after this weekend we'll be past the quarter post in the 2009-10 Premier League season. With that in mind, I figured it would be time to assess where the 20 clubs stand. While at first glance it might look like a giant glob, there are some mild strains of separation. Again, I'm knowingly cribbing a Bill Simmons popularized trope, so deal with it.Enjoy. * * *As a little preamble

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-1092710073929999212009-10-19T14:38:00.004-04:002009-10-19T15:07:24.349-04:00

Nothing better than when someone, or in this case, a monolith hell-bent on global sports supremacy, learns from it's mistakes. Monday Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch is reporting ESPN has hired Martin Tyler to announce next summer's World Cup for the network. Well, nothing more to say than halle-freaking-llujah. I'd even go as far as to say, it makes tolerating Tommy Symth seem more

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-41244396248184157352009-10-19T10:00:00.003-04:002009-10-19T10:00:04.796-04:00

So yeah, after this weekend slate of action from the Premier League over in England, maybe it's best to stop making bold declarations of any sort. Nothing makes sense anymore. When the one fundamental truth -- Chelsea is a shade better than everybody -- gets shattered, what are we left with? In fact, gun to my head, the only thing we might be able to count on week-to-week is that Arsenal isn't

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-59389480900332025682009-10-16T10:00:00.002-04:002009-10-16T10:00:03.100-04:00

Not going to waste anybody's time on a preamble, as we ease back toward club season. Crazy day Thursday left me with little time to write. Let me just say, it would be nice for the Premier League to have some consistency in its scheduling. For example, why no noon-ish game on Saturday? Doesn't make sense. If you want to emulate the NFL, at least be consistent with the games each week, no?Saturday

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-60254305638031376742009-10-14T22:45:00.001-04:002009-10-14T23:52:53.506-04:00

Well, Costa Rica, you just got owned by Jonathan Bornstein. Marinate on that for the next four years. Maybe that's karmic readjustment for playing your home games at Saprissa on artificial turf. Either way, that is about as sour a result as you could possibly have in the final minute of an intentional soccer game. The sight of the dazed Tico trainer who had to take over in the final minutes and

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-47715667859836688772009-10-14T10:00:00.001-04:002009-10-14T10:00:03.535-04:00

As soon as the final whistle sounds Wednesday night at RFK Stadium, everyone associated with the U.S. national team ought to let out a sigh of relief. There's one way to look at the whole qualifying process. An ordeal. No, it's not as technically from a soccer standpoint as difficult as UEFA, but which other Federation is? Look at it this way. If you're part of the U.S. team, nobody in your home

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-46769654077931112342009-10-13T15:56:00.002-04:002009-10-13T22:03:56.691-04:00

":( :( :( :( :( :( :(" -- Jozy Altidore's Twitter account. Guess in today's day and age, that says it all. In case you hadn't heard, U.S. forward Charlie Davies was involved in a fatal car crash early Tuesday morning, which left one person dead. This is probably the accident. Judging by the photo of the cut-in-half car, Davies is lucky to be in what the USSF deemed "stable condition" during

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-25984621343364659232009-10-11T14:08:00.001-04:002009-10-11T14:15:49.522-04:00

So I woke up Sunday morning after this weird dream. Something about the U.S. national team beating Honduras 3-2 mixed with me being chased by Carlo Costly and Carlos Pavon in something straight out of the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' video. Odd. So odd I decided it was worth breaking my 10-month old self-imposed ban from Dunkin' Donuts coffee. There was also something about guys named "Jonathan

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-91564492063127481892009-10-10T23:58:00.010-04:002009-10-11T02:58:34.254-04:00

Well, final score: Conor Casey 2, Inter-nets 0. Seriously, how on earth is the one U.S. national team game that nobody could watch from the comforts of their living room turn out to be one of its best efforts, and most entertaining soccer games in a recent memory?A more fully composed game break down Sunday morning, but really, wow. The U.S. fell down 1-0, rallied to win 3-2 and punched a ticket

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-53114243008068157612009-10-09T09:00:00.014-04:002009-10-09T16:34:16.783-04:00

If a soccer game falls down in the woods does it make a sound?As outlined earlier in the week, when the U.S. travels to hostile Honduras Saturday night's for the penultimate 2010 CONCACAF World Cup qualifier it will have a nice 1982 vibe to it for the fact that it's only available in select closed circuit establishments. (And if it were 1982, a U.S. soccer match wouldn't be televised and the

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997513.post-65106913414781202612009-10-06T14:45:00.001-04:002009-10-06T14:45:00.058-04:00

"Can't it be that it was all simple then..." -- Wu Tang ClanLately, for whatever the reason I've felt old, well not so much old but out of touch. Not to sound like the old man with knee-high socks yelling at kids to get off his lawn, but the ever increasing world of social networking sites and constant Twitter updates has my heart panging for a simpler time. A time when you actually had to find a

Cardillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14367359718628992293hoopscardillo@yahoo.com6