World Cup 2018

Who is going to win?

Show me the numbers!

The stat heads over at 538 say Brazil, Spain, and Germany are the favorites.

The FIFA world rankings have Germany, Brazil, and Belgium as the top three.

If the Bovada odd's makers know anything, they have Brazil, Germany, and Spain listed 1-2-3.

If history is any guide:
2014 winner Germany (no one has defended a title since Brazil won 1958 and 1962)
2010 winner Spain (won 1 time so far)
2006 winner Italy (they didn't qualify this year)
2002 winner Brazil (won 5 times so far)
1998 winner France (won 1 time so far)

Looking further back into history, the only other nations to ever win a World Cup:
Argentina (1986, 1978)
England (1966)
Uruguay (1950, 1930)

From listening to sports people, Brazil, Spain, and Germany are the clear favorites. But in breaking news today, the manager of Spain has just been sacked.

Getting some mention are Belgium and France for having a collection of solid top level players.

Also mentioned are Portugal and Argentina since they respectively have a GOAT (greatest of all time) level player on their squads.

Am picking France, Brazil, Spain, and Germany in the final-four with Brazil winning the whole thing.

UPDATE: France won the whole thing! Germany didn't even get out of the group stage. Spain got booted on PK by Russia in the round of 16. Brazil lost to Belgium in the quarter finals.

Other quick observations:

1. Could Uruguay have dealt with France in the quarterfinal if they didn't lose Cavani to injury Probably not but it would have been more interesting.
2. Portugal and Argentina with one GOAT player each lost to teams with solid players across the starting XI. Yes, soccer is a team sport and a transcendent star needs some supporting cast members.
3. Brazil's Neymar has become a bit of a joke with his flopping.
4. Mexico's win over Germany was the highpoint but in the end they still couldn't get past the round of 16 and so the page will turn on their "golden generation" that carried their hopes of glory.
5. Russia had a magic carpet ride as is often the case of the host country. They took down Spain in PK and took Croatia to PK but came up short in a match of high drama! Not the greatest soccer but certainly the most dramatic!
6. Sweden showed what a group of modest talents can do when they play with a plan and play their game. If you had said they would get to the quarter finals before the competition started you would take it.
7. Columbia with James Rodriguez might have beaten England.
8. England to the semi-finals was a surprise. Unlike past England teams that wilted under the expectations and off-field/on-field controversy, this group went out there and had fun and played to their abilities. In the end, their youth and inexperience came up short against Croatia. Croatia had a few of those wily veterans who simply know how to win on their club that edged out the young lions of England.
9. How far would team USA have gotten? Well, CONCACAF didn't do much in the tournament. Panama and Costa Rica went without a win. In qualifications the USA lost TWICE to Costa Rica and beat Panama once and drew once. So maybe NOT making the World Cup spared them an embarrassing showing?

Dodgers vs. Astros by the numbers

Looking at the statistics from the regular season ......

Fielding:
Dodgers 88 errors = error ever 1.84 games
Houston 99 errors = error every 1.63 games

That is not a large difference spread out over 162 games. Very slight edge to Dodgers.

Pitching (ERA):
Dodgers 3.38
Houston 4.12

ERA is probably the best metric of a pitching staff as it removes the impact of a poor fielding team. Since the fielding ability of the two clubs is pretty even, the ERA stat appears to be informative indicating a Dodger advantage on this.

However, you might think the AL with the DH means higher scoring in the AL thus they may have ERA inflation. The average number of runs in the AL was 763 runs compared to the NL 743 runs. This is only 2.7% more runs. The league ERA differential is almost non-existent (4.37 in the AL 4.34 in the NL). The differential by ERA between the Dodgers and Houston is a whopping 22%.

Thus, strong edge to the Dodgers in pitching.

However, Houston did win 101 games that made them 3rd best (Cleveland was 2nd best with 102 and Dodgers were number 1 with 104) in the MLB this year. Houston won with offense. They were #1 in 9 of the 12 sortable batting categories. The Dodgers made the top 10 in just a few of the sortable categories.

Thus, strong edge to Houston for hitting.

As such, this appear to be shaping up to be the classic match-up between a team with powerful hitting against a team with strong pitching. When an irresistible force encounters an unmovable object who wins?

If you go to the stats limiting the data to the post-season what do you see?

Houston hitting has struggled. However, they faced good pitching in the form of the Yankees and still beat them over seven games. The Red Sox had better regular season pitching than Houston and were defeated in four games.

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I am rooting for them.

As a sports fan dedicated to looking at what the number say, the advantages of each club reside in different areas of the game making predictions difficult. Houston's hitting eventually wore down the pitching advantage (relative to Houston) of the Red Sox and the Yankees. On the other hand, Dodger pitching wore down the stronger offenses (compared to the Dodgers) that Arizona and Chicago had.

Go Dodgers!

How does MLS compare with other leagues?

With the increasing popularity of soccer, the team at 538 have now included their stats analysis on various leagues in world soccer.

Since teams within a continent can play across club lines in things like the Champions League or Europa League, some head-to-head comparison is possible. However, how strong is a league in one continent compared to another?

The 538 people make an attempt. Not surprisingly, traditional soccer powers and their leagues are at the top of their charts.

Looking further down, you eventually can find the MLS.

One should note that the "market value" of a league is based on salaries. By that metric, the English Premier league is highest due to "wage inflation" that is possible with the rich TV contracts they have throughout the world. The same notion of "wage inflation" is true for MLS in the USA since Designated Player salaries are probably inflated for the level of talent that is obtained.

Yet, despite the monetary strength of MLS, note the weakness of MLS in direct competition! MLS is below many lesser priced leagues including Sweden! Of course, these are based on math models. In practice MLS teams never play head-to-head with anyone outside of MLS. The only exception is MLS teams that make it to CONCACAF champions league where they usually beat everyone except Mexico Liga MX clubs.

What to make of the analysis?

In Sweden, there is only so much money available from TV contracts and funds from local fan support. Good Swedish talent eventually transfer to more lucrative salaries available in other parts of Europe. If one looks at the Swedish national team roster that are striving for a spot in the World Cup, almost all play outside of Sweden. Nonetheless, some solid talent remains in country in the club system. On average, they earn less than MLS on average.

The MLS wage structure is not a strictly free market system. There are high priced players who are Designated Players earning 7-digit salaries. Teams are limited to a maximum of three such players. The rest of the team is comprised of mid-priced players picking up 6-digit salaries and players at or just barely above the league minimum with 5-digit salaries. 

Thus, how strong would an MLS club be against second and third tier European clubs? 

The 538 data would suggest that MLS would not fare well. 

I suppose the average Swedish player is paid more than an MLS player at the league minimum?

As for talent, would those Swedish club players be comparable to the typical mid-priced MLS player? If so, it is possible that overall, a Swedish team might have more players at this level than an MLS club and thus would win in a head-to-head match? Or would those 3 Designated Players push an MLS club over a Swedish club in an on-the-field match-up?

Who knows!?

Bracket Picks

Of course, I'll make a bracket even though my Bruins (UCLA) and Anteaters (UCI) aren't in it! Have Kansas winning the whole thing. KU, UNC, Mich St in the Final Four with Texas A&M as the long shot. First round upset winners: VCU, Michigan, So. Dakota St., and Iona.

International vs. Club Soccer?

Being relatively new to watching soccer, one thing I did figure out was that in the men's game, the best clubs could probably beat the best national teams.

Reason #1, the highest levels of the top clubs have hoards of cash to buy the best players from around the world and are essentially forming something of an international all-star team. The national teams can only draw upon, obviously, only those who are passport holders of that nation so the talent base is simply not as big.

Reason #2, the clubs play a long schedule and get good at playing together while national teams train in fits and starts so they never get totally used to each other.

This item over at ESPNFC by Michael Cox gives those reasons and more.

I wonder if that is true for the women's game?

I suspect not.

1) The international competitions probably hold higher prestige value than club level achievements at this time.
2) I am guessing that club level women's soccer just doesn't have enough cash in it to have the same international all-star team effect as in the men's game.

From what I gather, the UK women's national team has gained a lot of public affection because of how well they are doing and the level of passion of their play. Meanwhile, the UK men's national teams are known for early flame outs and fans saying they play with no passion because they are saving their energy for where they get their paychecks - the clubs they play for.

The US Women as a group and as individuals have been rock stars because of their success, interesting personal stories and admittedly a very well oiled PR machine.

In the US Men just a few individuals have been breaking through to become the "face of the team" but nowhere near the US Women. Also, I think the USMNT has gained a following more as a collective group due to national pride reasons rather than great successes and compelling individual stories. I'm sure US Soccer would like to see the USMNT get farther in the World Cup and find some marketable "faces of the team" to further its popularity.

It is Soccer Night in Sweden - What you need to know in 59 seconds

The top soccer league in Sweden is the Allsvenskan.

The strongest team historically and recently is Malmo having won the league crown 21 times since the founding in 1924. If one looks at recent history (since 2008), Malmo has won 3 of the last 7 titles and are currently vying to win their third in a row.

Tonight, Elfsborg, the last team other than Malmo to win Allsvenskan (in 2012), has a showdown with Malmo.

UPDATE: It is a final, 2-2! Sadly, the high profile game was marred by disruptive fans late in the second half. Elfsborg fell behind 1-0 but leveled before the half. Malmo got a 2-1 lead late (76 min) in the second half. Unfortunately, some Malmo fans set off fireworks in the stands and the game was halted while officials decided how to proceed. After a lengthy stoppage, the game was resumed and 20 minutes of extra-time was added. Elfsborg got the equalizer at 90+16 minutes.

Sadly, fan misbehavior remains an occasional issue in Swedish soccer. I do hope someday to see a match in Sweden but would probably not attend a contest in a large city arena where drunken fan violence and misbehavior tends to be more common.

Sports Roundup - Final Four

Well, UCLA got to the Sweet 16 but Gonzaga was too much for them.

Anteaters got to the last possession and a no call finished them.

Thus, as a fan of both programs, they got farther than I could have hoped.

In the end, the big upsets were in the first round but that was pretty much it. By the end of the first weekend, only UCLA was a double-digit seed still playing. And by the Final Four, it was three one-seeds (Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky) and one seven (Michigan State). For all the talk of parity, it really still does come down big names from the big conferences that make the Final Four.

Went back to the history books:

If you look at the last 10 years (2006 to 2015), how many "surprise" teams made the Final Four?

2006 George Mason (Colonial, 11 seed)
2010 Butler (Horizon, 5 seed)
2011 Butler (Horizon, 8 seed)
2011 VCU (Colonial, 11 seed)
2013 Wichita State (Missouri Valley, 9 seed)

5 out of 40 spots (87.5%) in the Final Four of the last 10 years came from outside the big conferences. The rest went to big conferences teams often teams with a history of doing well. On might argue that some big conference teams with a 7 or 8 seed is a surprise team. But in the era of one-and-done players and teams less likely to have seniors, a talent laden 7/8 seed from a big conference finally getting its act together doesn't count as a true surprise team.

Anyway, who wins tonight?

Duke or Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has an experience advantage over Duke that relies on more freshman talent.

Wisconsin has defeated UNC/Arizona/Kentucky to get to the finals while Duke's only top seed (1-4) opponent was Gonzaga.

On the other hand, Duke probably has more future NBA talent on the team and Coach K on their side of the court. Not to say Bo Ryan isn't a good coach but Coach K has been on the big stage number of times.

So its clearly a toss up game.

If Wisconsin gets to run its deliberate offense (71.9 pts/game) then they win. If Duke can get the scoring higher (80.6 pts/game) then they win.

My guess:
Wisconsin 69 Duke 68.

UPDATE:  Hats off to Duke for the win 68-63. Wisconsin slowed the game down as they wanted but in the end Duke guard play delivered big in the second half and their defense forced Wisconsin into bad shots.

Super Bowl XLIX - New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks

Vegas has New England a one-point favorite.

Both teams are 12-4.

New England has more offense scoring 468 points for the regular season compared to Seattle's 394 points. Seattle's has the better defense allowing 254 points compared to 313 for New England.

Given that defense usually wins, the edge has to be given to Seattle.

But what about performance against teams that made the playoffs?

In the regular season Seattle beat Arizona (2x), Carolina, Green Bay, and Denver. Their only loss to a playoff team was Dallas, thus, they went 5-1.

New England beat Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Detroit, and Denver in the regular season. They lost to Green Bay. All told, they went 4-1.

Based on common opponents, both beat Denver but Seattle beat Green Bay while New England lost to Green Bay. And of course, Seattle beat Green Bay again in the playoffs. Based on common opponents, give Seattle another edge.

Looking over the season, New England tends to beat people by running up the points. Very few of their victories (2) occurred when they scored 21 points or less and all their defeats (4) they scored 21 points or less. In sum, if New England is held to 21 points or less, they are 2-4.

Using the same 21-point rule, how did Seattle do?

If they gave up 21 points or more, they are 1-4. But what happens if they only score 21 points or less? They went 4-1.

What does all this mean?

New England will need more than 21 points to win. Seattle can win with less than 21 points.

Low scoring scenario: Seattle 17 New England 14.

Higher scoring scenario: New England 28 Seattle 20.

UPDATE: Final score NE 28 Sea 24. That was a crazy final 2 minutes of emotional whiplash! But in the end, Brady had the time to pass throughout most of the game and even with TWO interceptions he got FOUR touchdowns. Seattle will be second guessed but that interception by Butler was spectacular. He doesn't make that pick, Seattle gets the TD on that play or on third or fourth down and the victory. Seattle got 162 yards on the ground which was below their season average of 173 and they lost the time of possession battle 34 to 26 minutes.

The keys to watch:
Keep tabs on the pass rush against Brady; give him time, he wins.
Track Seattle's running game; if they chew up clock, Patriot offense is off the field and they lose.

My forecast: Seattle 17 New England 14.

Sports: Looking back on the 3 Final Four runs of UCLA under Howland

Three Final Fours (2006-2008) and Coach Howland was viewed as having a job for life at UCLA.

Well, things went downhill rapidly and by 2013, he was fired.

Those three great runs were of course fueled by talented players who have made for themselves a place in the NBA and by Coach Howland's emphasis on strong man-to-man defense. Of course, some fans second guessed that he didn't allow the team more freedom on offense which may or may not have kept them from the NCAA Championship.

The reality, looking back, is that the difference between victory and defeat is often very slim and UCLA and Howland's fortunes could have been much less.

Turn the clock back to 2006 and what basketball fan will every forget the epic collapse (if you are a Gonzaga fan) or comeback (if you are a UCLA fan) in the regional semi-finals? That first Final Four and Championship game appearance could easily have ended as a "mere" Sweet 16 finish.



In 2008, UCLA was down for almost the whole game against Texas A& M in the 2nd round. UCLA took the lead with hardly any time left. A&M had the final possession to tie the game and their guard drove to the basket but missed in what replays would later show was lots of contact where a foul could easily have been called. Perhaps, he would have missed one or two of the free throws or UCLA would have won in overtime but the game remains one of the more controversial "no calls" in NCAA Tournament history. Thus, the 2008 Final Four run with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook and Aaron Afflalo could have ended ignominiously in the second round.



Am pretty surch Coach Howland will find a new place to coach and get a fresh start with a new fan base. And hopefully, Coach Alford will be able to grow further as a coach and bring UCLA back to competitiveness.

Fans had hoped for a bigger name coach but I think UCLA hasn't gotten a big name coach since Larry Brown.
Coaches since Brown:
Larry Farmer - prior assistant coach experience with the UCLA job being his first head coaching position
Walt Hazzard - UCLA job first head coach position
Jim Harrick - UCLA job was second head coach position after modest success at Pepperdine
Steve Lavin - UCLA job first head coach position with prior assistant coaching jobs
Ben Howland - successful head coach at Northern Arizona and Pittsburgh prior to leading UCLA
Steve Alford - some successes as head coach of Southwest Missouri State, Iowa and New Mexico before coming to UCLA.

Sport: UCLA vs. Minnesota

Everyone is saying UCLA will lose even though they are a "6" playing an "11."

There are good reasons:
1) Jordan Adams was injured at the end of the Pac12 semi-final and needed surgery on his foot and is out for the rest of the season. His scoring and crafty steals were a big part of the success of this year's Bruins and were sorely missed in the defeat against Oregon in the Pac12 finals.
2) Rumors swirl around the impending firing of Coach Howland.
3) And now, a report surfaced that Shabazz is actually one year older than he has been claiming furthering the circus atmosphere around the burning ship that is the Bruin's basketball program.

Keys to tonights game:

1. First 5 minutes - if the team is in disarray they will be down double digits and they will either fold or be in a hole too big to dig out of.

They got off to a slow start.

2. Shabazz maybe the star but Larry Drew II is the key. His leadership keeps the team calm and he can pick his moments to score.

Neither had a good game.

3. Ware twins need to hit the open shots since the defense is going to key in on Shabazz.

10 and 4 points from them was not enough.

4. Shabazz needs to play within the flow of the game taking it to the hoop when he gets the chance but also giving up the ball when they close in on him.

Poor shooting until later in the game.

5. Anderson will get his points but UCLA really needs him to get rebounds to keep UCLA in the game since Minnesota is a rebounding monster.

Led Bruins with 11 rebounds but only 6 points.

6. Powell needs to be a defensive stopper. Bruins have scorers in others but need someone to be a pest to Minnesota's offense.

5 steals!

7. Look for Parker to get some minutes as they need his big body to deal with Minnesota's size. If he can give 12 effective minutes UCLA has a shot.

7 minutes, 5 fouls but 9 points.

8. Be alert to the officiating. UCLA has too few players to be playing with foul trouble.

T. Ware 4 fouls, T. Parker 5 fouls.

9. Howland needs to be smart in substitutions to sneak rest for his players.

The team was in a daze.

10. Will it be UCLA's defense on the last possession that preserves the win or UCLA's offense that gets the last bucket lifting them to victory?

If the Bruins had most of the 9 above keys, they win. As it was, they had almost none of the 9 and were blown out. Howland was fired on Sunday.

UCLA 69 Minnesota 68.

GO BRUINS!

Politics: Celebrity Look-Alike???

Mitt Romney

Steve Lavin

What do you think?

Mitt Romney and Steve Lavin as twins, har har!  Yup, only here at RR can you get such amazing observations about the political scene (not!)!!

I have noticed the media often picks the photos for their news stories where the person is "in action" or something and it is often with a slightly goofy look.

Maybe that will be a future feature of this blog:  finding examples of this phenomena?

Sports: Pac12 and March Madness

It is a down year for the Pac12.

The question on the minds of Pac12 fans (and in my case a UCLA fan) is how many teams the Pac12 will get into the tournament?

As of today, Lunardi has three teams in:  Stanford as a 9 seed, California as an 11 and Colorado a 14.  Lunardi has Colorado in only because it is currently atop the Pac12.  If that were not the case, I think he would only have two Pac12 teams in.  However, he has Arizona sitting in the first four out group; thus, Arizona could get in under the right circumstances bringing the Pac12 invites back up to three.

The winner of the Pac12 tournament automatically gets into March Madness.  

I would guess that if the Pac12 tournament winner is not the regular season champion, the regular season champion would get in as an at-large.  This would be the best path for UCLA.  I suspecting for UCLA to finish number two in the regular season and lose in the Pac12 tournament might be risky unless the loss is in the Pac12 championship game against the #1 seed.  UCLA has no quality wins in its out-of-conference record and two terrible losses (LMU, MTSU).  Thus, UCLA needs a dominant performance within the Pac12 to have a shot at an at-large if they don't win outright.

The worst case scenario for the Pac12 is if the regular season champion has five or six losses and loses in an early round in the Pac12 tournament.  If this is the case, could the selection committee opt to take only one Pac12 team?

Sports: Being an LA Sports Fan

Well, what can you say?

The Ducks and Kings were bounced from the NHL playoffs.

Of the six games the Kings and Sharks played, three went into OT indicating the two teams were pretty evenly matched. Not bad considering how the Kings had some late in the season injuries and pretty much limped to the finish line. Wait until next year!

Dodgers have been doing better on the field and perhaps with MLB trying to wrest control of the team from McCourt, things will get better off the field. Nonetheless, the Dodger brand has been badly tarnished.

Meanwhile, the Lakers could be nearing the end of their run with Kobe injured and the Lakers seemingly unable to summon the will to play a full 48 minutes against the upstart Hornets.

Sports: Go LA Galaxy!

The Galaxy defeated the Sounders!

They now advance to the next round against Dallas.

Last year, the Galaxy got to the championship but lost in penalty kicks.

They started off the season strong had a stretch where they were dismal but finished up strong.

Some experts were picking against them because they do have some older players.

But their surprisingly easy win against Seattle might get them some renewed attention.

Go Galaxy!

Sports: Will Bob Bradley's Team USA Coaching Contract be renewed?

The LAT has this item recapping Coach Bradley's thoughts on Team USA's run at the World Cup.

Excerpt:

A couple of errors led to the round-of-16 loss to Ghana, which scored on its first shot in the game and on its first shot in overtime, but there were two factors, above all, that characterized the Americans in South Africa.

The first was the inability of the forwards to score goals. The U.S. netted five in total, all of them by midfielders, including three by Landon Donovan.

Forwards Jozy Altidore, Robbie Findley, Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez did not find the back of the net.

The second identifying characteristic of the team was its habit of yielding early goals. In two of its four games, the U.S. was scored upon within five minutes of the start and in another it was scored upon within 15 minutes. In a rather startling statistic, over the course of four games, the U.S. held a lead for a total of barely three minutes.

On Sunday, Bradley talked about both issues.

"Goals decide matches," he said, "and I think anyone who follows the game around the world knows that that's still the greatest challenge in the game -- to be someone who can consistently score goals. So it's an area where we do need to improve."

As for the early defensive miscues, Bradley said it was a matter of experience and maturity in knowing how to manage a game.

"The second part is that that's just how the game works sometimes," he said. "I can watch the game at the highest level and see the same things happen, whether it's Barcelona or Manchester United or Brazil or Spain. That's the way the game works."

Yup, sums it up. Pretty much in any sport what separates the top level championship teams from the teams that fall short is capitalizing on opportunities on offense and minimizing mistakes on defense.

Every goal the USA gave up this tournament happened on a defensive miscue.

But even with the opening blunder against Ghana putting themselves down 1-0, Team USA could have won if they capitalized on their offensive chances. One can question Coach Bradley's choice to start Clark who made the mistake leading to the goal and hesitancy to give more minutes to Feilhaber, but in the end, the team had its chances and the talent level to capitalize on those chances simply wasn't there.

Here is an ESPN summary of the USA effort.

Will Coach Bradley be kept? ESPN dissects the situation.

Sports: Memo to FIFA - Instant Replay on Goals

There is no perfect system to make calls in sporting events of any type.  Replay can't be done on everything.

In futbol/soccer where goals are so rare, mistakes that could be easily corrected with replay on when to rule a goal is a goal is ridiculous.

FIFA's governing body has its head in the sand by not even considering replay on goal rulings.

This item in SI.com makes the case for replay quite well.  Excerpt:

In a sport where a score of, say, 5-2 is considered an offensive onslaught of massive proportions, a legitimate goal must be counted. If the ball bounces over the line, it's a goal. End of story, no debate, case closed. True, other sports are not perfect when it comes to scoring. A mistaken non-call on goaltending might take away a legitimate field goal in an NBA game, for example, but that's two points out of 200. And replays are now allowed to determine if a shot counts for two points or three. In major league baseball, a sport that takes to change the way a sea lion takes to the Sahara, umpires are now allowed to consult replay cameras to determine whether a home run is fair or foul or whether a ball did in fact go over the barrier into the seats. And it goes without saying that the NFL replay system all but guarantees that a touchdown will be counted as a touchdown.

But even if there were no replay in other sports, disallowing a legit goal in soccer, a sport in which offenses work so hard for even a great opportunity to take a crack at the goal, is indefensible. Even the most tradition-bound purists must agree that a goal should be a goal. So when referee Mauricio Espinosa mistakenly disallowed Frank Lampard's goal on Sunday, a score that would've enabled England to tie Germany 2-2, it was a very big deal. And when FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke all but ruled out the use of video replay that would correct such situations, it exposed a sport crying out not just for visionary leadership but for leadership with some grasp of reality. Not counting a goal for fear of dehumanizing a sport with replay is not in the tradition of anything besides the tradition of ignorance.

The fact that Germany was the superior team and probably would've won the game anyway is irrelevant.

Lampard put it across the goal line.

Give the man a goal!

Sports: 2010 NBA Championship!

Woo Hoo!

Sports: "A Goal, A Ghost" ESPN Outside the Lines

The story of Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian immigrant, who scored the lone USA goal that beat England in 1950's World Cup match. Sadly, Haiti came under a brutal dictatorship and Gaetjans died as a political prisoner.  ESPN followed the tale of his son's return visit to Haiti to be reunited with relatives, see the prison his father was held and hear that his father was remembered for that shining moment in 1950.

Sports: England vs. USA

Okay, so the hype is a little (ok, a lot) over the top!



According to the SPI ratings at ESPN.com, the USA (#15) isn't in the same tier as England (#3); thus, the USA is not expected to win.

But in rivalry games, you never know!

For trivia fans, the voice-over narration in the commercial is an opening passage from Thomas Paine's "The Crisis" published December 23, 1776. Excerpt:

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

I wonder if the English will fire up their fans with a little Henry V St. Crispin? Excerpt:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

In the end, it was 1-1!

Below is the Lego recap of the game that was posted at the Guardian newspaper...

Sports: NCAA Men's Basketball Round-Up

Congrats to Missouri State for winning the CIT!

VCU faces St. Louis in game two of the CBI. VCU leads 1-0.

Dayton will take on UNC for the NIT championship on Thurday.

I think everyone who doesn't have a team in the Final Four will probably be rooting for Butler. West Virginia vs. Duke is probably considered by most to be the "championship" game. Duke appears to have the goods this year to win it all.