Big Dunc

Badgers

2012-01-04T22:04:00.002-06:00

Check out my latest Badgers Basketball post at The Bucky Channel.

Survivor South Pacific So Far

2011-11-29T21:52:00.005-06:00

I'm glad to say that Survivor South Pacific is a good season. Not a great season, but maybe pretty good. This is much more than you can say about the previous two seasons. That is for sure. We'll see how it ends.

Big Moves - This has definitely been a season of big moves. First it was Jim, Cochran, and Dawn getting rid of Elyse to weaken Ozzy. Then it was Ozzy letting himself be voted off and sent to exile. Then Cochran flipping to join Coach's tribe. Then it was Albert and Sophie joining Cochran and Dawn to change the game. Oh wait, that one didn't happen.
The episode with Ozzy at Redemption and then the possible 6-6 tie was one of the best episodes in the show's history. The last one I can remember that compelling was the 5-5 tie on Heroes vs. Villains. Unfortunately, things haven't been as interesting since.

Redemption Island - I'm against the idea of Redemption Island. It makes getting voted off, and especially blind sides less important, less soul shattering. If you get voted off, you should be done! But both last season and this season, it has actually helped out entertainment wise. Last season would have been EXCRUCIATINGLY boring without Redemption Island. Even though it didn't really do too much, at least it held out the possibility of changing the game. This season it is similar, plus you have the Ozzy wild card. He is still in the game and can conceivably make it all the way to the end. Bring him back in the final 4 or 5 needing only to win one or two immunity challenges, wow. That definitely keeps things interesting.

Cochran - Cochran is definitely the star of this season. He made the big move. I'm usually one to root for the underdog, but I think Ozzy got this one right. You call a spade a spade. You call a wiener a wiener. Cochran is a wiener. I think Jim and Dawn have the biggest reason to be pissed at him. They saved his butt multiple times. Cochran has obviously never played team sports. Didn't 80's movies teach him anything? You get back at the bullies and popular kids by beating them at their own game (usually sports) not stabbing them in the back!

Little Hantz - I think the rest of the season will turn into the Brandon show. Most of the season has centered on Ozzy's tribe and they have been the obviously more compelling people. But remember how crazy Brandon is? He's taken a back seat with all this other stuff going on, but you know he's holding it all in. When things get shaky, it's all gonna come out. Things are gonna get weird!

Coach - Coach is playing a good game. He's put a nice little team together. It just goes to show you how important those first few days of team building are. Pretty quickly Coach changed from the guy who was on Survivor twice before to a valued, necessary member of a team and an alliance. Can he win it all? I don't see why not. If it's him and Brandon, Edna, Cochran, or Rick, he definitely should win.

Cowboy and Edna - Pretty lame, pretty boring. This is the problem with a very strong alliance. People stick around that really have no business being there, that have contributed nothing to the show. See Palau for the prime example of this.

Sophie and Albert - At least these two are playing the game. They see a road without Coach and have at least flirted with the possibility of sowing it. They actually make a good team. Albert is a bit gung-ho at times, but Sophie is there to reign him in. Did they miss their chance? I think so, but at least they'll go down guns blazing. I'll be rooting for Ozzy and these two, but I'm guessing Albert will be voted off next with the ultimate cop-out from Coach, saying they need someone that can beat Ozzy. Cop-out yes, but also the right strategy.
Hoping for more big moves!

Survivor 23

2011-09-27T17:05:00.008-05:00

Just like the changing of the leaves, the beginning of the NFL season, and high school soccer, the beginning of fall brings us a new season of Survivor. From what I remember, none of the fall seasons were All-Stars, so fall is always a fresh beginning. I'm not gonna lie, the last two seasons of Survivor were pretty weak. They do need some freshening up. And how will they do that? By bringing back Ozzy and Coach of course. I am on board with this. As I said last season, having a couple new people allows you to jump into the season right away. There is less of a feeling out period, but there is still the cool newness of all the other contestants. Neither Coach or Ozzy are my favorite players and they don't have a history together, but I like the choices. Coach is very entertaining and Ozzy a good physical player trying to become a good strategist as well.
Let's take an initial look at the cast.

Coach - 3rd time playing, definitely will give us lots of great sayings and stories and talks about honor and dignity. I like him.

Brandon - Russell's nephew. Coach really hit it on the head - "He's got demons". This guy is weird. He's only 19. I get the whole redeem the family name thing, but the whole not lusting after women is crazy. Did he not expect women in bikinis on Survivor? Is he going to rape someone? I don't get it. I cannot read this guy at all.

Mikayla - The object of Brandon's desire or anti-desire. I don't get it man. I mean she has a nice body, but isn't anything too ridiculous. Cover of Playboy? Lingerie football? Big ears.

Albert - The (token) black guy. He seems smart and looks strong, but might talk too much at tribal. I see him making the merge then going out as a threat, but redemption island may change that.

Christine - Hope she goes home soon. She really brings nothing positive to the table.

Edna - Coach's only friend for a while. She was quickly replaced when Coach settled in with some stronger players. Even with Coach's backing, I don't see her staying around too long.

Rick - The Cowboy. He played it really close to the vest by not saying a single word last episode. Nice one. I hope he sticks around for a while.

Sophie - Could play an interesting roll as the lone female in Upolu alliance. I see her being a strong player. She seems to have already read Brandon correctly, seems smart. We'll see how she fairs in challenges. Not attractive enough to create lust in Brandon.

Stacey - "Boom." She already has a catch phrase, so she has that going for her, but she is on the outside of her tribe and won't people around for long.
Ozzy - Dude is a beast out there in the challenges and actual surviving in the wild, but can his social game match?

Keith - I think I saw this guy last season when he was called Grant. Really, he will be Ozzy's best bud and then get back-stabbed. Bet.

Dawn - A bit emotional. I don't think she'll be around long.

Eylse - Hottest contestant this year? Maybe. I'm hoping to see more of her. I could see her playing the flirt card pretty good. I see a devious look in her eye too. I'm intrigued.

Jim - It's a shame players get the stigma of "playing too hard". See Jonathan Penner and Marty from two seasons ago. That shouldn't be a bad thing, but is. Looking at his team, I feel he'll be on the right side of the numbers and should stick around til the jury.

John (Cochrane) - Aah, a self given nickname, that is never a good start. He's funny, but will soon be seen as a liability and won't bond with Ozzy, Keith, and Jim.

Mark - See above about self imposed nicknames. Papa bear? C'mon man!

Semhar - Big tits. Horrible at basketball. And I never really liked spoken word. I think Christine will beat her tomorrow.

Whitney - The hot, silent type. I'm not sure if I've heard her utter a word. I wouldn't be surprised if she's actually a mermaid who made a deal with an evil sorceress octopus to gain legs. I will have to wait until a water challenge to confirm this. She's hot, and I could really see her coattail riding with the alpha male Savaii alliance.

There you go, I like to judge people. Mostly I'll be wrong, but with Coach, Ozzy, the weird Hantz kid, two self-given nicknames, and Boom, I see this being a good season.

Live at the US Open

2011-09-07T20:21:00.003-05:00

So the title is a bit of a misnomer. I'm not currently Live at the US Open, but I was..........a week ago.
Anyways, I'd like to review my experience at one of the biggest sporting events in America.

Now, this was my first time at the Open. I spent 3 days at Wimbledon (days 2,3, and 10) in 2005, so I do have something to compare it to. Oh, and one of my life goals is to make it to all four Grand Slams. Half way there! And this is saying something, because I really only have 3 life goals. Big day!
I headed out to Flushing Meadows on Thursday, day 4, with 4 friends of mine. We had a the grounds pass - allowing us access to all courts but Ashe Stadium. After getting my bearings, we headed to the side courts. The side courts are truly the beauty of first week Grand Slam tennis. Many times you can sit in the first row. You instantly know these are professionals. The best is getting between two courts so you can move back and forth between the two. Let's take a quick look at the matches I saw.

Match 1 - Michael Llodra vs. Kevin Anderson - Court 6 - I wanted to see this match because Llodra is a serve and volleyer, but he was overmatched by Anderson, so we quickly turned around and walked about 5 feet to court 7.

Match 2 - Kaia Kanepi (23) vs. Silvia Soler-Espinosa - Court 7 - Kanepi made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the US Open last year. She is a large Estonia with some power, but inconsistency. I had never heard of Soler-Espinosa before, which is not surprising. It was a good match. There were probably only about 20 people watching when we got there and we took u seats in the 2nd row. It's one of those "Yes I am here" moments. You can isolate the player's coaches. You can hear the players and even better, they can here you. You see the power, the pace, the spin, the sweat, the difference between the 1st and 2nd serve. You can't get this stuff on TV. SS-E, as we'll call her from now on, is pretty fit, a nice looking young Spaniard and her guest was sitting next to us and she wears Joma, so we were in her corner. The first set was close, lots of good points. SS-E broke late in the set and was able to hold her final two service games. She won the match and made her furthest progression in a Grand Slam.

Match 3 - Carla Suarez Navarro (32) vs. Simona Halep - Court 4 - The best part of early round tennis at a Grand Slam is the court hopping. I thought I'd check out another match and walked to the next court over. This match probably had the best points we saw all day. Both players were fast, good recoverers, and had real clean groundstrokes. Lots of nice long, back and forth points. Halep was a grunter, pretty loud and long in fact. Navarro was stone cold silent. Halep, a nice looking young Romanian, beat 6-seed Na Li the previous match, took the 1st set, lost the 2nd in a very close set, and kind of lost it in the 3rd. Court 4 was kind of odd. It had a large section of bleachers on one side which were pretty empty. We could talk loudly, walk around, drink gin and also see the practice courts from our high vantage point. We saw Serena, Sharapova, Hantuchova, and Radwanska warming up.
Oh, one last note, apparently Halep is best known for getting breast reduction surgery. It kid you not. This comes straight from wikipedia - "In a bid to boost her game, Halep underwent breast reduction surgery in the summer of 2009, which reduced her cup size from 34DD to 34C". You can't make this stuff up! Google "Simona Halep before and after" if you don't believe me!

Match 4 - Tommy Haas vs. Alejandro Falla - Court 13 - By this time of the day it was getting busier and we had to wait a bit to get onto court 13. We were rewarded with Legend Tommy Haas. He was looking strong and fit, impressing the ladies with a few shirt changes. We got to see the second and third set and sit in the first row and it was pretty cool. First serves from these guys are huge. Tommy was on his game and won easily as the clear crowd favorite.

Match 5 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (17) vs. Petra Martic - Court 17 - We were able to catch the last half of the third set in this match. I was hoping for a 3rd set tiebreaker, but Martic could not break back. Pavly looked good from what I saw.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, this is actually the first year of court 17. It is a nice lowered court with a bowl of stands around it, seating 2,500 and eventually 3,000.

Match 6 - Marin Cilic (27) vs. Bernard Tomic - Court 17 - I was excited for this one, hearing good things for Tomic and Cilic, but it turned into a snoozer. Multiple people fell asleep. Tomic looked horrible, ill-prepared, even scared. Stayed for the first set which lasted 21 minutes. Boo.

Match 7 - Marty Fish (8) vs. Malek Jiziri - Louis Armstrong Stadium - Yes, we stepped are game up in the evening. I did not realize how much of Louis Armstrong is open for general admission, at least 4/5 of the stadium. So we got to see the American #1. It was cool being in the big stadium. There is a buzz about getting in there after queuing up for a while. Again, you feel like you are at a big event. Unfortunately, the match did not match the buzz. Easy 3 set win for Fish. Some nice cheers and some nice points. He was looking good.

Match 8 - Victoria Azarenka (4) vs. Gisela Dulko - Grandstand - Another unfortunate was that this match was moved from Armstrong to the Grandstand due to match times. By the time we got to the Grandstand it was already the 2nd set. This was the last match of the night, so lots of people were trying to get in. It's a cool atmosphere, especially at night. Azarenka won the first set and the crowd was totally behind Dulko, hoping to extend the tennis. She was up 0-40 midway through the set on serve until now, but could not get the break. You kind of knew it was over then, one of those tennis things, and on cue, Dulko was broken the next game. A few notes, Dulko is very hot. Vika isn't a bad drink of water either, but she has got to cool it with those screams.

Alright, there you go, a nice full day of tennis. A great time. I recommend it for everyone. I wish we would have been able to see a great match, but we saw a lot of very good tennis. The only player still alive that I saw is Pavlyuchenkova, so I got root for her now. But you don't get a ground pass to see the best of the best. You go to get close up views of great athletes. Best bang for your buck in sports. You see a few ranked players and some young potential. At Wimbledon I saw a young Ana Ivanovic and an unranked Gael Monfils. Who knows, maybe in 5 years we'll be talking about the time we saw Simona Halep and Silvia Soler-Espinosa?

English Premier League Fantasy Recap Part II

2011-08-15T19:04:00.006-05:00

Check the post below for part I.

Now is the time where I get to praise and rib people for their picks. I'm pretty good at the ribbing part.

Good picks:
Martin Skrtel - 6th Round - A nice pick up here in the 6th. He is one of the most consistent defenders in the league and always gets the start for Liverpool.
Gabbi Agbonlahor - 8th Round - Not a top level striker, but this guy was a probably a 3rd round striker just a couple years ago, should continue to work well with Bent.
Dimitar Berbatov - 7th Round - Last years joint leading scorer in the 7th round. I don't expect another 20 goal season, but good value this late.
Seamus Coleman - 7th - Coleman would be a top class defender if not for his injury, still good value in the 7th round for an Everton that will start slow anyways.
Carlos Tevez - 8th - Similar to Berbatov, but much more uncertainty about his future. Still high reward pick for the 8th round even if he only stays until January
Mark Schwarzer - 10th - Last quality 'keeper on the board. A steal considering Given went in the 7th and Howard in the 4th.
Roman Pavlyuchenko - 10th - Tottenham's best striker right now, strong end to last season, finally in good graces at Spurs.
Stephane Sessegnon - 12th - Strong attacking midfield option at Sunderland
Ramires - 12th - Seems to be settling in the starting XI at Chelsea, especially with Essien injured.
Leon Osman - 13th - Great run at the end of last season, should get lots of starts as Everton are lacking wingers.
Alan Hutton - 13th - Should be the starter at right back for Spurs
Romelu Lukaku - 16th - Not sure how much PT he'll get, but a good shot with your final pick

Not so Clever Picks:
Malouda 1st Round, Kalou 4th Round - Good players, but drafted too high especially on a Chelsea team with loads of attacking options.
Bobby Zamora - 4th - He'll get lots of games, but too high at the 4th round
Scott Sinclair - 5th - This pick got a number of laughs, but no, it wasn't a joke. Maybe he thought it was the 15th round.
Alex - 5th Round - Didn't you learn from taking Alex too high before Junkie? He is not first choice at Chelsea and has been heavily linked to a move to Italy.
Gareth Barry - 9th - Gareth Barry used to be good. Then he moved to Man City.
Phil Neville - 15th - Listed as a midfielder, not a defender. Ouch.
Morten Gamst Pedersen - 8th - A bit high at the 8th round.
Grant Holt - 9th - Obviously early for a Norwich striker. Mort, did you know he is fat? Here are some of his facebook groups - "Grant Holt is a Fat Prick", "Get off the ground you fat cunt! Nan please, that's Grant Holt", "Grant Holt is a diving scum". Despite what it appears, I have nothing against Grant Holt. I hope he does well.

Teams
Carlo - 1. Rooney 2. Vidic 3. Cech
A strong start for Carlo. His first half of the draft was great, but then he started picking a slew of defensive midfielders - Gareth Barry, Lucas, Alex Song, Whitehead - spelling fantasy disaster.
Prediction - Strong foundation and good picks with Coleman and Taarabt in the 7th and 8th, but the second half of the draft will see Carlo languish in the mid table.

Andy - "TheWengerBoysAreComing" - 1. Van Persie 2. Baines 3. Yaya
Took Samba (4th) and Henderson (6th) too early. With defenders from Everton, Wigan, Newcastle, and Fulham, I'm not sure if his defense will be strong enough. Lots will depend on Van Persie's health.
Prediction - Should be a marked improvement from last year, but won't challenge for the top spots.

BJ - "There's something about Gabi's smelly cunt" - 1. Bent 2. Walcott 3. Dempsey
BJ sticks to his morals and does not select players from Chelsea, Man U, Man City, Liverpool, or Tottenham. Despite this hindrance, he finished second in the league last year. He got Dempsey and T. Cahill 3rd and 4th and Gibbs and Koscielny 6th and 7th.
Prediction - Despite his limitations, BJ should again challenge for the league. A lot will depend on Arsenal's defense, and how well Villa and Fulham perform this season.

Serg - 1. Malouda 2. A. Cole 3. Gyan
Serg left after round 10 of the draft. His team got better once he left.
Prediction - Relegation

Rory - "My dad wasn't really elected" - 1. Lampard 2. Chichirito 3. Gervinho
Rory had our first ever proxy drafting for him. He had a pretty detailed list, but I think his absence from the draft will hurt him early on.
Prediction - Overall his team is good, but not flashy - mid table

Junkie - " The fantasy team formerly Jobless for Life, formerly Down for Brown" 1. Drogba 2. Nasri 3. Evra
Good start to the draft for Junkie, then a quick decline - Alex, Chamakh, Riise, Gallas, David Dunn. He has a solid midfield, with the potential for more depending how Nasri settles in.
Prediction: Relegation battle

Jerry - 1. Suarez 2. Bale 3. Reina
Good draft for Jerry, but a lot will depend on who gets playing time. Jerry pick a lot of players who are not guaranteed starters - Lescott, Adam Johnson, Phil Jones, Tevez, K. Toure, Fabio, SWP
Prediction - Should challenge for a European spot, but not the title

Bryan - "Pippa Middleton XI" - 1. Van der Vaart, Kuyt, N'Zogbia
I don't see any of Pippa's first three picks performing as well as last season. Bryan does have a strong but not flashy squad, though, with stalwarts like Kenwyne Jones, Kevin Davies, Shay Given, Jamie Carragher and a couple nice later picks like Osman, Moses, and Enrique
Prediction - I see Bryan putting together a side that will see him achieve his best position ever. But that isn't really saying much.

Dustin - "I hate Eric Ellsworth for ruining our fantasy draft by running his restaurant into the ground and forcing us into Raubert's super sweaty living room Wanderers" (FC) - 1. Silva 2. Terry 3. Gerrard
Dustin is strong at all positions, with the exception of striker. Good value picks with Smalling and Brunt 8 and 9.
Prediction: Dustin is a proven EPL fantasy manager and should challenge for the title

Worth - "It takes a Man to Raise a Man" FC - 1. Carroll 2. A. Young 3. Modric
A very solid start for Worth, getting Dzeko in the 4th and Valencia in the 5th. He has a good squad. Some questions with Zabaleta, Richards, and Anelka and basically threw away his last 2 picks.
Prediction - Worth's best ever finish was 2nd two seasons ago. Can he best that? I don't think so, but he should finish near the top

Mort - 1. Aguero 2. Sniejder 3. Vermaelen
Some questionable picks by Mort as I mentioned earlier, but some nice ones too - Dawson, Adam, and Distin 6th-8th rounds. I see a very inconsistent season for the newcomer.
Prediction - It will be a rough first time out. Look for some good weeks and bad weeks. I see a low midtable finish - but not last place.

Raubert - "Cos's Cavernous Condoms" - 1. Nani 2. Hart 3. Ivanovic
Very strong D for Raubert. his mid is a bit lacking other than Nani. His strikers should be just good enough to allow him to challenge for a finish in the money.
Prediction - Near the top of the table

Tony - "Gia's Afterbirth Sack-lunch" - 1. Torres 2. Arshavin 3. Kompany
Prediction - I'm not as confident as last year. A repeat will be tough, but I should still finish in the top 3. I know fantasy soccer.

There you go kids. Feel to add to the fodder in the comments section below.

English Premiership Fantasy Draft Review 2011

2011-08-10T20:10:00.006-05:00

Time for another English Premier League fantasy draft. As you EPL fans know, there are no good fantasy English leagues out there. They are all salary cap based as opposed draft based which we like here in America. Also, they have stupid scoring systems where you get points for starts, substitutions, shots and a different number of points for goals depending on what position you play. It doesn't take an expert to know that in soccer, all goals count for the same number of points.
To rectify this situation, my friends and I created our own draft league. We keep it simple - points for goals, assists, team of the week, negative points for own goals, goals against, and red cards. Each team drafts 16 players and starts a 4-4-2 every week with a captain having their points doubled. The draft totally changes strategy. Only one team gets Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and the like. There are a finite number of strong defenders and scoring midfielders. Do you go with offense or defense first? You also have all the transfer uncertainty before the season. Big decisions.

Let's take a look at this years EPL Fantasy Draft.

Round 1
1. Wayne Rooney - Striker - Manchester United - This was the right pick. I took Rooney first last year. He is the most reliable, most consistent player. He may not lead the league in goals, but he will get his points. There is no such certainty with any other player.
2. Robin Van Persie - Striker - Arsenal - Van Persie tore it up at the end of last season. He is a top striker, but can he stay healthy?
3. Fernando Torres - Striker - Chelsea - A bit of a risk here. Torres has not had a good year. He has shown the pedigree in the EPL and seemingly should turn things around at Chelsea.
4. Darren Bent - Striker - Aston Villa - This pick might be a bit of a surprise this soon, but if you look at the stats over the past few years, Bent is a top 3 Premier League striker. Also, due to moral reasons, the manager picking here does not take players from Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Man United, or Man City.
5. Florent Malouda - Midfielder - Chelsea - The first midfielder taken. I would not have expected Malouda to be the first taken. Malouda does get his points, but really tailed off during the second half of last season. I question this pick.
6. Frank Lampard - M - Chelsea - Lampard has been one of the best fantasy players over the course of the league. He didn't do as well last year. There is a lot of clamoring about him getting old, but if you look at the games he played, he put up high points.
7. Didiger Drogba - S - Chelsea - Drogba is another player who used to be a certain top 3 pick, but has a few question marks due to injuries and age.
8. Luiz Suarez - S - Liverpool - Interesting choice between Carroll and Suarez. Either could have a break out year or a disappointing year.
9. Rafael Van der Vaart - M - Tottenham - Van der Vaart was a revelation last year, full of goals and assists. He fell off a bit at the end of the year. Can he repeat?
10. David Silva - M - Man City - I like this pick. Silva came on strong last season and is the play maker on a talented city side. He'll have loads of assists and a few goals to match.
11. Andy Carroll - S - Liverpool - See pick #8
12. Sergio Aguero - S - Man City - New players to the EPL are always a risk, but I like this pick. Plug in Aguero for Tevez do you have 20 goals again? We shall see.
13. Nani - M - Man U - Nani I think was the second leading midfield scorer last season. He gets assists and goals. His benching by Sir Alex in the Champions League final does raise some questions.

Round 2
14. Joe Hart - Goalkeeper - Man City - With no Van der Sar and the lack of a true number 1 at Arsenal, 'keepers are at a premium. I think this is a bit early, but you can't really question it.
15. Wesley Sneijder - M - Inter - Wow. Earliest pick for a non-premier league player ever. Lots of rumors, but a HUGE risk this early in the draft. Wow.
16. Ashley Young - M - Man U - A perennial early round pick with Aston Villa. Now at Man U. That raises his value in my book. Nice pick.
17. John Terry - Defender - Chelsea - Terry is the only player to make the fantasy league team of the year all 4 years of the league. First defender taken and rightfully so.
18. Dirk Kuyt - M - Liverpool - Always under rated at midfielder. Kuyt will play as an attacking midfielder every game. Good pick.
19. Gareth Bale - M - Tottenham - Bale is a good player, but maybe not a top 20 fantasy player. He needs some consistency to become that. Maybe this will be another break-out season, with the stats to match the hype.
20. Samir Nasri - M - Arsenal - Time will tell on this one. If he stays and Fabregas goes, great value at 20, but if he goes to City, where does he fit in?
21. Chicirito - S - Man U - A bit early at 21. I'm not sure if he can match his success of the previous year.
22. Ashley Cole - D - Chelsea - Good pick - a certain starting defender for a top team and he gets forward.
23. Theo Walcott - M - Arsenal - With Walcott you can count on a few great games, frequent poor crosses, loads of speed, and a couple injuries each year.
24. Andrei Arshavin - M - Arsenal - See 23 but with less speed and less injuries
25. Leighton Baines - D - Everton - Baines gets forward, takes great free kicks, will get loads of assists and a few goals. But how many clean sheets can he get with Everton?
26. Nemanja Vidic - D - Man United - A rock in the Man U defense. He is a sure starter and throws in some set piece headers as well. Strong pick as the final one of the second round.

Ok, I'm only giving you the first two rounds. I can't have this blog be too epic. Now I'll take a look at my picks, followed by selected good and bad picks and a brief rating of each team.

My picks:
Round 1: Torres
Round 2: Arshavin
Round 3: Vincent Kompany - D - Man City - Like I mentioned earlier, there are only a handful of defenders you can pencil in every week for the Big 5 (Man City joins as well). I would put this list as Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Terry, Luiz, De Gea, Evra, Vidic, Reina, Skrtel, Johnson, Hart, and Kompany. This is a short list. These players should be at a premium. Last year, Man City and Chelsea were tied with the lowest goals against. And Kompany is the only sure starter on D for Man City. That's why I took him so early.
4. David Luiz - D - Chelsea - Very happy to get Luiz here. He was number 16 0n my big board and I got him with pick 50. Nice.
5. Mario Balotelli - S - Man City - Head case. High Risk, hopefully high reward.
6. Brad Friedel - GK - Tottenham - Maybe a bit early, but I needed a goalie, and it was him or Given.
7. Mikel Arteta - M - Everton - Good value at round 7 barring any more injury issues.
8. Rafael - D - Man U - If Rafael gets the majority of starts at right back, I'm feeling very good about my team.
9. Marouane Fellaini - M - Everton - Ready for a bounce-back year. Good value in round 9.
10. David "Junior" Hoilett - M - Blackburn - This was my sleeper pick. I probably took him a round or two early, but I did not want to lose him. He is listed as a mid and should start a lot of games as a striker. Break-out year baby.
11. Louis Saha - S - Everton - Getting a starting striker for a top 7 team in the 11th round is great. Injury issues, though.
12. Ryan Shawcross - D - Stoke
13. Youssouf Mulumbu - M - West Bromwich Albion- Good back-up midfielder, another break-out candidate.
14. Ryan Giggs - M - Man U - The old man still has it. But how do you know when he will start?
15. John O'Shea - D - Sunderland
16. Steven Taylor - D - Newcastle - If you can't get a top defender, differentiation in the back is key. This way, goals against are usually balanced out by clean sheets.

There we go, a strong team. A championship team? I am not as confident as last season, but I feel pretty good looking after looking at other teams. Things that will tell the tale are Rafael's starts and if Torres or Balotelli can find consistent form.
Stay tuned for more to come!

Everton in DC

2011-07-25T17:53:00.004-05:00

As I said for the US/Jamaica game, there are some perks due to living in DC. Ok, this perk -Everton vs. DC United - might not be too big of a perk for some people, but it does the job for me. I was pretty psyched when I found Everton was coming to my city. Here is a quick little review of their time here.

Practice - Everton had an open practice Friday morning, and of course, I went. It was 100 degrees and sunny, a bit different than Liverpool. There were only about 100 fans and it was kinda weird. Probably the weather, but most people were pretty subdued. I give a nice "Alright Timmy" as Tim Cahill came out and he sent over a brief salute, maybe more of a wave, or at least some sort of acknowledgment.
The practice was nothing too crazy. Warm-ups, one offense drill with a couple variations and a small sided game. Beckford was probably most impressive, but a small sided scrimmage is where he would thrive. Distin and a few others had trouble with the heat. Props go to Leighton Baines. If you didn't know any better you'd think he was a young kid trying to make an impression on the coaches. He went through every drill at full speed while a lot of the more veteran players took water and stretch breaks and did other stuff. He did not slow down despite the heat.
Oh, and Arteta came out in a walking boot and crutches, not looking good.
The best part about the practice was that all the players and Moyes came over to the fans and signed autographs and took pictures. It was definitely a great way to show thanks for all fans that braved the heat. I know the last thing you want to do after a hot practice is go talk to people you don't know. Much appreciated. Now I'm too mature for that fanboy autograph shit, but I did get some nice pictures. Check them out below with a few player observations.

Game - The game was fun. The upper bowl at RFK was not open. I'd say about 12,000 fans, but that might be generous. Both teams mixed their squads with reserves and starters. Everton scoring twice in the first 15 minutes really made things easy for Everton, but also lacking drama. Everton weren't great, but totally moved the ball better than DC. They had a lot of chances, but DC had some good outside shots too, but it's really hard to glean the big picture from this game. Instead, let's look at a few individual players performances.

Ross Barkley - I didn't know who this guy was at the practice. He is big, like Rodwell, not as strong yet, but tall, more like a defender than midfielder. He got the start on Saturday and looked good - not great, but good. Like most young guys, he worked hard and was trying to do all he could. Best part, only 17 years old. We got to keep this young Liverpool born talent.

Apostolos Vellios - This 19 year old Greek striker might be my new favorite player, mostly because the great picture above, but also due to his strong potential. He was the first player I got a picture with and seemed a nice humble guy, happy to be there. He too got the start Saturday and looked good. He seems to be the strong target man the Everton are lacking. He showed for the ball a lot, showed good control and touches and game IQ. I'd love to see him up top with Saha or Beckford. But will Moyes do that?

Victor Anichebe - Man, this guy is a BEAST in person. Ridiculously strong, maybe too strong for soccer. He scored a nice goal, but still has a few injuries. Pre-season will be big for him. Oh, and he much better at looking at the camera than me.

Conor McAleny - This was another guy I did not know before the weekend. He was probably the most eye-catching at the practice. He worked his ass off and was very crisp. Some are comparing him to Michael Owen. We'll see. Again, though very young and full of promise.

Tim Cahill - Timmy likes the heat. Oh yeah, Timmy's ready! Timmy's got some new moves. He's an Aussie. Tim played much deeper than he usually does, but he said the summer is all about fitness.

Magaye Gueye - Magaye was my new favorite player coming into the weekend, but that spot might be usurped by Vellios due to the pic. Magaye will soon be a stud, though. He has pace and skill. He can play as a second striker, on the left wing or the right wing, all spots we will need people this year. The heat looked a bit much for him, but he did get his 3rd goal in 3 games this summer, which is a huge positive. On the goal in the game, what was most impressive was his great pass to set up Beckford. Excited for more!

Sylvain Distin - A mountain of a man. He was not a fan of the heat, but a beast on the field against DC. Distin!

Jermaine Beckford - Strong in practice, but only got about 20 minutes in the game. I am not sold on this guy. At least twice he took a shot from outside the box when he had open players on his flanks. A nice setup for Magaye, though He is going to have to show better decision making if he is going to become a starter under Moyes.

There you go, just the mostly meaningless preseason, I hope Everton had as good a time in DC as I did. Let's hope it actually contributes to a strong start this season! C'mon you Boys!

My Favorite Literary Characters

2011-07-13T22:13:00.007-05:00

A post about my favorite literary characters? Why not? A bit pretentious perhaps, but I'm by no means saying I'm a literature expert. I have though gotten myself through a good number of books.

A few notes:
- I have not included comic book characters, though I do consider comic books literature. They would dominate the list. Look for a favorite comic book character list in the upcoming weeks. Epic.
- Obviously, characters are only from books I read. I will try not to be influenced by movie versions of books, but sometimes it is hard to separate the two.
- This a truly a list of my favorites, not necessary the "best" literature characters. You will see that I tend to move away from the lead protagonist and move more toward upper supporting characters.
- There will be a large honorable mention. I don't think it is a good idea to have too many favorites of anything.

Honorable Mention:
Dr. Larch - The Cider House Rules - Hard to put an abortionist on the list, but he is a quality character, a quality contrast of character, Very close to making the real list.
Germanicus - I, Claudius
Adah - The Poisonwood Bible - By far the best narrator of the bunch
Nick Carraway - The Great Gatsby - I kind of feel like this everyman quality draws in the reader. You could see yourself as him being introduced to this opulent culture and wanting to be part of it.
D-503 - We - The first dystopian novel. Check it out.
Grand Admiral Thrawn - Star Wars Novels (Thrawn Trilogy) - makes you almost root for the Empire. Super dorky to read, but super enjoyable.
Talon Karrade - Star Wars Novels (Thrawn Trilogy) - another Star Wars character created by Timothy Zahn. Complex character.
Sam Spade - The Maltese Falcon
Jack Burden - All the King's Men - similar to Nick Carraway
Chief - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Randle Patrick McMurphy - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Very Close to making the real list.
Luna Lovegood - Harry Potter

Now on to the real list, BIG DUNC'S FAVORITE LITERATURE CHARACTERS:

Regulus Black -Harry Potter Books- Ok, so I won't be ranking this list, but it is a top 5, and RAB is 5th, and could easily drop down into honorable mention if someone better catches my fancy. The other 4 will always be on my list, no doubt.
That being said, awesome character. Super unique in depiction. He never appeared in the entire Harry Potter series, not even in flashbacks. He was only talked about my other characters. It is wild how intriguing this made him, how this made you focus on all the small mentions of him. This is a great story too, a story of redemption, a story of realizing you are on the wrong side and trying to change that. Nicely done RAB and JKR.

Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird

You can already see my two favorite character types by these picks. The first, RAB and even moreso the third person on the list, is about the journey - a change in outlook, person, relationships, and well, character. The second seen by Atticus Finch is the person who does not change, the person who sticks to their beliefs, their morals, their core no matter what. In fact they stay true even when it would be easier and sometimes beneficial to change or bend or falter a little. But these men will not break, will not back down, will not change for anybody. Their core is true and unchanging.
Atticus Finch is a perfect example of this, pretty much everything that is good about America, humanity, and literature. I do not hesitate to use the picture of of Gregory Peck as Atticus. Gregory Peck is Atticus Finch. Perfect casting, perfect depiction.

Larry Underwood - The Stand -
Yes, the perfect example of the inward journey. King matches it for Underwood with a real physical trek as well, with bridges and tunnels and wrong turns and roadblocks, but in the end, the destination is reached.
I love every step of Larry's journey - from California to the time with his mother to Central Park to the Lincoln Tunnel to his time with Nadine to his time in Boulder to Vegas leading the way. He just seems so real even in the face of the incredible crisis. He reacts like a human. The circumstances change him. He sometimes fights those changes. He sometimes thinks those changes are fictional. He questions his growth, his choices, his place in this whole, epic mess.
In the end, I'm glad to have shared the journey with Larry.

Major Scobie - The Heart of the MatterThis is the same cover to the book that I read, except mine didn't have that stupid quote.
Scobie is somewhere in-between the character types that I mentioned. He is definitely true to his ways, no matter how wrong they might be. There is definitely a journey, an inward journey.
Scobie is the best example I can think of of the flesh vs spirit conflict. That is in a sense the same battle that Larry and Regulus faced, but it is oh so exemplified here. Which one wins? Both? Neither? Selfless to a fault, but still everyone loses. Interesting.

Fingolfin - The Silmarillion

If I ever get a pet it will undoubtedly be named Fingolfin.
Honor. Valor. Bravery. Courage. These words and their ilk perfectly describe Fingolfin, the only Tolkein character on the list surprisingly. The Silmarillion is much different than LOTR. I like it better in fact. You get a lot of characters, a lot of history, and a lot of mythology. The story is complex, but to summarize, Fingolfin stands by his brother after he does something pretty, pretty horrible. His brother then turns his back on Fingolfin, leaves him for dead, but Fingolfin leads his people through some super harsh Middle Earth conditions. Things continue to be pretty shitty for them because of Morgoth, who is like Sauron times 10. Morgoth = Batman. Sauron = Robin. There are attempted battles, but nothing good happens. Fingolfin finally has enough and goes to take on Morgoth single handedly! It's David and Goliath, but Fingolfin is no David. The is one of the most powerful Elves ever. He was so angry and ferocious, onlookers thought him a god. Epic battle ensues. Epic. In the end, Fingolfin falls valiantly. Middle Earth goes to shit for some time, but eventually the valor of Fingolfin was remember and Morgoth was defeated.
Worthy of my pet's name? Yes.

There you go. Awesome literary characters. Complex, transforming, true, a pleasure to read over and over again.

The Tantalizing Frustration of the Summer Football Season

2011-07-05T19:44:00.003-05:00

As a football (soccer) fan, the summer always holds a certain level of promise, but usually provides a much higher level of frustration. The European football off season is a unique experience. It is fueled by rumors and gossip pages and the board media. At times, it is almost as exciting as the real sport. In today's day and age, with blogs and twitter and a desire for instant information, it is probably too much. Pretty much every player out there is linked with someone else at some point in the summer. Lots of times the endless rumors of players and clubs are referred to as "transfer sagas". That is pretty apt as these things sometimes go on for months and months with endless speculation and nothing really happening.
Things are even worse being an Everton fan. You hear these rumors of players you know you are not going to get. You hear rumors linking your team to players you don't want. You most often hear rumors of your players leaving for bigger clubs. Yet you still check everyday to see who you are linked with. It's addicting. So far this summer Everton have sold 2 average players and bought no one. That is pretty normal actually.

Let's take a look at Everton's 2011 summer transfer rumors:
Mirislav Klose: The most unrealistic of the bunch, but fun to pretend
Demba Ba: Strong striker, also free - went with the higher wages offered by Newcastle
Sergio Canales (loan): Would've been interesting, but never realistic
As you can see by the three above, Everton have no money. All these players were free and we still cannot afford them. We must sell to buy, but can what we buy from our sales be better than what we have? Always the question of transfers I guess.

Jay Bothroyd: I'm not interested in him. He's not interested in us
Charles N'Zogbia: This would be a great signing, but I don't see us getting him for less than 8 million pounds
Shane Long: The Ginger has never impressed me. I don't think he's Premiership quality. No way I would pay more than 4 for him
Shaun Wright-Philips: This would be nice and make sense for player and club, but I see his wages being too high
Craig Bellamy: A quality striker, but I don't see him as an Everton man.
Nedam Onuoha: Of this list, Onuoha is the one I would most want - young, athletic, powerful, room to grow under Moyes.
Wes Brown - No thanks. We already got Phil Neville. Going to Sunderland now, though.
Danny Welbeck: I'd take him on loan or sale.

Yeah, nothing too exciting. We just don't have the money.
Out rumors:
I've heard rumors for most of our big guns - Baines, Rodwell, Fellaini, Jagielka. I would sell Rodwell and Fellaini. They just don't add anything that exceptional to the team. I would also love to see Bilyletdinov go. He just does not fit into the Everton system.

No money, our best players leaving, but don't fret Everton fans. Moyes actually does his best work with the mid-level transfers. That is what our team is based on pretty much.
Tim Cahill: £1.5 million
Mikel Arteta: £2 million
Tim Howard: £3 million
Phil Jagielka: £4m
Leighton Baines: £6 million
Jolean Lescott: £4m
Sylvain Distin: £5 million

From the data, we have to trust in Moyes' mid-level buys. He'll find a way to do something.
Unfortunately, every summer is the same. We say we will get players early, but wait until the last days of August. This contributes to our continual poor starts each season. Man.

Either way, I will continue to check the rumor mill each day. It is summer football season after all.

Gold Cup Report

2011-06-20T21:05:00.005-05:00

I was able to attend the Gold Cup Quarterfinal matches yesterday in our nation's capital. It was a nice full day of soccer and a huge perk of living in a large metropolitan area. The games were good, not great, but the atmosphere was high quality.

RFK - This was my first time at RFK. It was, um, unimpressive. I see why the Redskins have a new stadium. It wasn't bad for soccer, though, with lots of new seats brought in closer to the field. The game was a sellout and we had some great seats, around the 40 yard line I'd say, about 30-40 rows back. The first thing I noticed was the huge amounts of El Salvador fans, and this is at 2:30, 3.5 hours before their game starts. The Salvadorians took over that stadium.

USA/Jamaica - This was my first USA soccer game. No US jerseys for any of our group and only a couple make-shift flags, but plenty of Wisconsin gear! I once saw Mexico play Ireland at Soldier Field about 10 years ago, and that was just a friendly. This time you could tell it was a big match. I mean it is only the Gold Cup - huge for Jamaica, Panama, and El Salvador and if the US loses, see you later Bob Bradley.
The US fans were pretty hype, not as numerous or as loud as the Salvadorians, but more consistent. We were right behind Sam's Army and got to stand for the entire game, which I liked. Aside from one great chance for Jamaica in the first 5 minutes, it was clear that the US was the superior team. The first goal, and the second goal for that matter, was more relief than anything. Lots of good chances in the first half and lots of great saves by the Jamaican 'keeper.
I was saying before the game that this was going to be Jozy's re-coming out party, but he only is able to last 10 minutes before coming out injured. Lots of good possession by the US, and an eventual 2-0 victory. The red card helped, and in person, it seemed like an obvious sending off, but I guess on the replay, not so much. It was also the only time I jumped onto the back of the seat in front of me.

All and all, this is the most optimistic I can remember being for the future of US soccer. It was not just Dempsey, Donovan, and Howard. This was by far the best performances in a US jersey I have seen from Jones, Lichaj, Bedoya, and Kljestan. Some of those do not really have a large testing sample, but they showed the can be counted on when needed. And Juan Agudelo, only 18 and soon to be ready for the big time. The US will continue to find players. Great support from the fans.

El Salvador/Panama - One might think that the best part of the day was over, but that would be incorrect. Most US fans must have thought this, as they left immediately after the game. Those that stayed steadily trickled out as the second game went on. I already mentioned the El Salvador fans. The upper deck was a sea of blue. Pretty much all of their fans have some sort of El Salvador jersey. For the first game, the stadium was probably about 40% USA fans 60% El Salvador fans. Even during the US game, their fans were loud and pro-USA. This is America you know! For the second game, it was probably 90% El Salvador and 10% other. I guess the El Salvador fans were just waiting at the entrances for other fans to leave. Good stuff. I really can't impart to you how loud the fans were. The national anthem and players coming onto the field were really something cool to be a part of. They people were into the game too, even if the product on the field wasn't so great. They loved every half trick, every tackle, and every shot. ES was awarded a penalty about half through the first half. The place was ready to explode, but the shot was saved.

Things got more and more testy on the field and in the stands as the game went on. The crowd was affecting the ref so El Salvador was getting some favorable calls. Fans were getting more and more agitated. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Panama was the better team - stronger, bigger, faster, and more organized. Then with about 10 minutes left, El Salvador got another PK. This time it was converted. The crowd went bonkers. The stadium shook. Beer and water flying through the air. I'm pretty sure this is the loudest I have ever heard a soccer stadium. People were rejoicing. A fan in front of us literally broke his seat off whilst celebrating. Our small group was pulled into the euphoria. But alas, as often happens in football, it did not last. Panama scored a controversial goal in the 90th minute. We were not sure in the stand what happened, but I guess it went in. The crowd did not like this. It really turned into Central America - lots of bottles and other things thrown on the field, a fan running on the pitch, more bottles thrown at the refs, two players sent off. Good stuff all and all. Probably for the best that they stopped serving beer right after kickoff. I don't know if I've ever seen such disappointment at a sporting event. It's like they just knew it was over. The fans either got more sad or more angry as overtime went on. Lots of them kept looking at us as US fans for approval I guess. It was interesting.
El Salvador had one good chance in the final minute of overtime, but to no avail. It was on to PKs. The Panama goalie saved the first one and Panama did not miss. Game over. Lots of angry/sad Salvadorians. This was a BIG game for both teams and obviously meant a lot more to their fans than the average US fan.
Oh, and I can't be from Wisconsin without mentioning the efficient public transit system that we were able to use after the game. Crowded, but easy.
A very fine day for us!

Next Up - USA/Panama Wednesday 7pm Eastern, Mexico/Honduras 10pm Eastern, both in Houston. As long as the US plays like the did on Sunday, they should get revenge on Panama. I'm very interested in seeing what the crowd is like as both Mexico and the US are there. That should make things interesting. Until then - America! Fuck Yeah!

English Premier League Fantasy Wrap-Up

2011-05-31T19:16:00.004-05:00

For the forth straight year, my friends and I ran a EPL English Premier League Fantasy Draft-based League. A fantasy draft in an EPL fantasy league is hard to come by, so my friends and I just do the league on our own. It provides for good fun. See the draft review here. Actually, I'm the one running the league, I do all the stats and collect weekly line-ups. This provides me with a huge advantage as I see every play who scores, every player who has a clean sheet, and every player that gets an assist. This come up big in the early parts of the season and in the middle part of the season when players get benched or injured.
Bottom line, I won the league again. Let's take a look at the league.

Defense wins championships. I put together an amazing defense, drafting Edwin Van der Sar, Joe Hart, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jagielka, Silvain Distin, and Robert Huth. Bomb.
I would like to dedicate my championship to my midfield midseason pick-ups. I drafted Theo Walcott, and then a whole lot of nothing - Niko Kranjcar, Stephen Ireland, Shaun Wright-Philips, Steven N'Zonzi, and Mesut Ozil. Wow, pretty horrible. Throughout the course of the season, I picked up Ramires, Stuart Holden, Jordan Henderson, and lastly Thomas Hitzlesperger. Yes! Those midfielders along with my defense won me the championship.

TEAM OF THE YEAR
GK: Joe Hart 38 points (Jerry/Tony)
D: John Terry 62 points (Serg)
D: Ashley Cole 61 points (Tony)
D: Branislav Ivanovic 55 points (Carlo)
D: Vidic 51 points (Junkie)
M: Rafael van der Vaart 119 points (Raubert)
M: Ashley Young 74 points (Serg)
M: Nani 64 points (Dustin/Jerry)
M: Arshavin 58 points (Rory)
S: Carlos Tevez 166 points (Jerry/Dustin) PLAYER OF THE YEAR
S: Didier Drogba 127 points (Dustin/Jerry)
Manager: Carlo Ancelotti 15 points (Bryan)

Bench: Cech (Bryan), Zabaleta (Serg), Baines (Jerry/Worth), Fabregas (BJ), Kuyt (Dustin), Rooney (Tony), Robin Van Persie (Carlo/BJ)

Team-by-Team

BJ - Again, not picking players from Man U, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, and now Man City, yet somehow still challenging for the top spot until the last week, an impressive managerial display. Van Persie's hot streak helped him move up the table, along with Charles N'Zogbia and Asamoah Gyan pick-ups. Led the league in transfers - having everyone from Joey Barton to Landon Donovan to Steed Malbranque at one point.

Dustin - Last year's champ ended up third. Did his mid-season trade of Carlos Tevez for Didier Drogba cost him the league? I don't think so, but it would've put him much closer. Strong attacking lineup with Bent and Kuyt as well, but lack of a true scoring defender hurt him.

Raubert - Raubert, the league's inaugural winner 2008, came on very strong in the middle and end of the season, winning the Cup Competition. His early pick-ups of Peter Odemwingie and Rafael Van der Vaart turned out to be the best ones of the year.

Jerry - Started strong with Drogba killing at the start of the season and then picked up Tevez to keep momentum going. In the end, reliance on Man City players and failure to change his lineup sent him down the standings.

Rory - Rory was another early leader, in first place until about March. His team went the way of his players Berbatov and Kevin Nolan - great starts, but no points after January pretty much.

Serg - Shows if you stick with the same lineup every week, you will get players with a lot of points - Terry, Zabaleta, Ashley Young - but that will not get you enough points to challenge for the title, especially when you count Victor Obinna, Eidur Gudjohsen, and Yuri Zhirkov among those starters.

Bryan - Lack of a premier striker hurt Bryan. Strong midfield with Osman, Cahill, Bale, and Lee, but nothing great up-top.

Worth - Torres, lots of Liverpool defenders, lots of transfers, and too many Birmingham defenders makes for a poor season to go with poor career endeavors for our favorite former restaurant owner.

Andy - Questionable managerial moves not starting Charlie Adam and dropping Charles N'Zogbia. He actually drafted a strong team, but when Jermaine Defoe is your best player, things aren't going to be too strong.

Carlo - Yeah, when Chamakh is your best player, it is a sign you aren't really doing too hot, or playing too hard.

Junkie - Worst team in the history of the league. I actually liked the start of his draft with Gerrard, Vidic, and Vermaelen, but injuries and lack of depth killed him. Started John Pantsil, Paul Scholes, and James Milner all year, ouch.

Ah, I'm sorry that just turned into me making fun of everyone else. But that is what you get Dustin for starting Bolton's Paul Robinson.

Worst Players - Pienaar (Rory), Carrick (Carlo), Barera (Carlo), Zhirkov (Serg) - all started for much of the season but did not score a single point.
Kaboul (Junkie) -2, Warnock (Andy) -3, Kyriakos (Worth) -2, Phil Bardsley (Worth) -2, Aurelio (Worth) -4, Roger Johnson (Worth) -6
And worst player of the season - Wayne Bridge (Jerry) -8. Nice.

There you go folks, another great you. If anyone new is interested in joining, or creating their own league, let me know. Historical stats after the jump.

2009-2010
527 Dustin
492 Tony
464 Worth
455 Serg
435 BJ
436 Carlo
406 Raubert
398 Nik
363 Junkie
359 Bryan
270 Jesse

2008-2009
Tony 511
Worth 471
Junkie 469
Serg 446
BJ 437
Bryan 432
Tyler 364
Joe 328
Jesse 308
Raubert 299
Dustin 299

2007-2008
Raubert: 524
Tony : 490
Jesse: 488
Junkie: 459
Dustin: 415
Nik: 409
Loeser: 381
Worth: 367
Joe: 361
James: 348
Serg: 280

Team of the Year
2009/2010
GK: Cech 43 Points (Raubert)
D- John Terry 100 points (Serg)
D - Thomas Vermaelen 60 points (BJ)
D - Ashley Cole 58 points (Serg)
D - Patrice Evra 57 Points (Dustin)
M - Frank Lampard 198 points (Dustin) PLAYER OF THE YEAR
M - Cesc Fabregas 140 points (Tony)
M - Andrei Arshavin 66 points (Bryan)
M - Steven Gerrard 65 points (Carlo)
S - Wayne Rooney 184 points (Raubert)
S - Carlos Tevez 134 points (Carlo)

Bench: Reina 39, Dunne 53, Malouda 54, Torres 129, Drogba 123

2008-09
GK -Reina 61 points (Raubert)
D - Vidic 84 points (Junkie)
D - Bosingwa 75 points (Tony)
D - Alex 63 points (Bryan)
D - Terry 53 points (Serg)
M - Gerrard 168 points (Worth) PLAYER OF THE YEAR
M - Lampard 130 points (Serg)
M - Ronaldo 129 points (Tyler)
M - Ireland 49 points (Bryan)
S - Anelka 104 points (Junkie)
S - Robinho 95 points (Tony)

2007-08
GK- Reina 51 pts (Worth)
D - Rio Ferdinand 129 points (Joe)
D - Jolean Lescott 73 points (Jesse)
D- John Terry 71 pts (Tony)
D - William Gallas 68 pts (Loeser)
M- C. Ronaldo 242 pts (Raubert) PLAYER OF THE YEAR
M - Steven Gerrard 117 pts (Worth)
M - Fabregas 116 pts (Junkie)
M- Frank Lampard 86 pts (James)
S - Torres 185 pts (Jesse)
S - Adeboyor 132 pts (Nik)

Survivor Redemption Island Review

2011-04-18T22:18:00.003-05:00

Time for a quick review of Survivor 22: Redemption Island, The Good, The Bad, and the Redemption Island.

Good
Boston Rob- I was a fan from the start concerning the inclusion of Boston Rob and Russell in this season of Survivor. Like I said before, they would start the ball rolling episode one and allow you to enter right into the season to avoid the normal first few episodes where you don't really know anyone. And, man, Boston Rob is running this season. This has got to be the most controlling performance ever. He is making all the right moves and not even allowing the other tribe, and more importantly his tribe to make a move against him. They are not even thinking about it. Plus his actions concerning the idol he is in possession of are great too.

Don't eat the fish!

Phillip- Phillip symbolizes the reason why we still watch Survivor. People are weird. People are varied. People are entertaining. And Phillip is very entertaining. Survivor and Jeff Probst are totally pimping him out in all their promotional materials. It's a good thing he's around otherwise this season would all be Rob. Phillip is crazy, but every time you think he is totally crazy and helpless, he says something really smart about the game and you wonder if this guy is playing everyone and can actually win this thing. Then he wears a feather and you remember the faded red underwear and again think he is crazy.

Andrea- Andrea is definitely cute. She has that going for her. She is much more likable than other other remaining girls. I think she is a good player. I think she knows what Rob is up to. I think it was smart to stick with Rob and vote off Matt the second time. I do wonder what would happen if she would have went with Matt over to Zapatera. Well, she'll have to make some moves to really be a good player.

Underdog Tribe- Some of the best seasons of Survivor have the underdog tribe overcoming the odds and winning in the end. The best example of this is Cook Islands, but it can also be seen in Samoa and Tocantins where it was the result of the winning team's implosion. It gives you someone to get behind and be happy with then the tides turn.
This year is ripe for the same scenario, but alas, Rob is too strong to see this happen. At least we have players to root for.

Bad

Domination - Yes, this is the reverse of the underdog tribe. Rob and Ometepi are dominating. He has everyone his wing, in his back pocket, under this control. It was entertaining when Matt came back, but since them it's been a bore. Rob's voting of Matt and Ralph simultaneously using the idol was beyond ideal for Rob. That's what set up this potential bore fest for the next few weeks.

Rob's Girls - I hate players that don't do anything yet stay in the game, and not only that, but act like they are the shit and treat everyone else poorly like it's their God given place to be where they are. Ashley and Natalie fall under the don't do anything category, but aren't as bad as Candice and Danielle from Heroes vs. Villains, Crystal from Gabon, Alexis from Fans, and Courtney from China. They just don't deserve to be there and add nothing to the game.

Russell's Exit - The voting off of Russell was cool, but somehow the Redemption Island part made it anti - climatic. First, there was no finalization with the vote, and second, the Redemption Island challenges are weird. There just isn't the same intensity as immunity challenges. Something about the setup and the placement in the show. The voting off of Russell should have been a monumental moment, but in the end it was just him crying into his stupid hat.

Good and Bad
Grant - I like Grant, but it is sad to see him so used by Rob. Case in point when they found the idol clues. Grant is jumping up and down and literally shaking from excitement, but little does he know Rob already has the idol. You can see this again when he won immunity. He's excited because he won it for the team, but he really just won it for Rob. Rob knows he will have to vote him off at some point.

Redemption Island - The Redemption Island portion of the show has been disappointing thus far. It makes Tribal Council less important. The challenges themselves haven't been too great. And Matt has won them all.

This week has the potential of changing that. 3 people. What will happen? It would be an awesome F You to Rob if all three came back. It would be cool if two came back, but then we'd be in the same predicament as last week. But, for the first time, I am excited for Redemption Island. Should be fun.

ACL Review - She's Out of My League

2011-04-17T22:47:00.004-05:00

As I'm no longer under the influence of drugs, I think it's time for my final ACL Review. See The Proposal and Hot Tub Time Machine for under the influence reviews.
My last ACL review will finally be a positive one. Friday night after the Brewers game, I watched She's Out of My League. I have to say the movie was great. It starred Jay Baruchel as an Average Joe who starts dating a superhot, super cool girl (Alice Eve). Yeah, it's a pretty unoriginal premise, but it works. We love it because we envision ourselves as the main character Kirk. That is pretty much the basics of it. We see it in a move and we think it can happen in our lives. Well, at least I do.
Aside from my perpetual daydreaming, it was a pretty funny, likable movie. Jay Baruchel is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. You may remember him as the main character in the short lived Judd Apatow show Accepted or as one of the friends in Knocked Up. He just comes off in a likable, very realistic way. I would hang out with this guy. He seems like he would hang out with me. I even considered adding the Sorcerer's Apprentice to my queue after watching this one.
The movie was similar to 40 Year Old Virgin and Role Models and all those movies, but aside from Baruchel, had an entirely different cast. Kirk's group of friends was kind of lacking at first. You often times compared them to the group of friends in Knocked Up. It's hard to compete with Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Jonah Hill, and Jay Baruchel. But they really grew on me throughout the movie. Each one of his three friends brought something different. There was a Napoleon Dynamite-esque one, a fat sincere one, and a young blond John Stamos. Lots of shit-shooting and ribbing, but deep down support and caring.
Kirk's family was very out there, quite ridiculous, but very funny and added to the elements of why you root for Kirk.
The plot was pretty formulaic, same as any movie in this genre or any contemporary romantic comedy for that matter - they grow together despite the circumstances, then they get in a fight, then they get back together. No spoiler alert here. You know this is going to happen. Maybe it is because of the super unrealistic person I am, but it all made sense. It felt real and not impossible.
Yeah, so this movie is funny. Guys, definitely check it out, girls, might not like it as much. One thing that might lead you to want to watch it even more - Hall and Oates cover band. Yep, this movie has one. Love it!

ACL Review - Kraven's Last Hunt

2011-04-16T21:24:00.005-05:00

My preparation for my ACL surgery consisted of buying lots of easy to prepare food, setting up Netflix, setting up a bed on the first floor, and buying $100 worth of comics. I thought before hand that comics would be much better to read during recovery than real books. I was kind of right, but TV and movies is much easier than any kind of reading. This is America, right. On my list was Batman: The Long Halloween, The Sinestro Corps War, a bunch of Uncanny X-Men from 150s-190s, Warlocks containing the Magus Saga, and Kraven's Last Hunt, a great Spider-Man story.

Now I'm not a huge Spider-Man fan, but I heard a few things about Kraven's Last Hunt. It's kind of on the late 2nd tier of the best comic book stories ever. I started reading it and I really didn't get into it too quickly. It wasn't too engrossing. Now, though, I am glad I stuck it out and finished it. It was like no other comic story I have ever read. I'm talking about the way it was set up. The first issue was just a straight Spider-Man vs. Kraven battle. Then the second and third were pretty slow, totally just set up for the upcoming issues. Issue 4 was a cool Spider-man introspective, a very quick read, and then the 5th issue, originally Amazing Spider-Man 294 was simply amazing, one of the best single comic book issues I have ever read. This is saying something because I have probably read about 1,500 comics in my day. This is definitely in the top 10 single issues, no doubt. Then issue 6 is good, just good, but you don't really care at that point because the 5th part was so great, the true climax. You see in the end it really wasn't a Spider-Man story, but a Kraven story. It made this background, sometimes even mocked character into a true star.
Great stuff, overall, not among the best stories ever, but the fifth part, yes, amazing.

ACL Reviews Again

2011-04-11T14:51:00.006-05:00

127 Hours - This was one of my DVD queue films. I was worried that it would drag on at points, but the acting of James Franco and the way it was put together by Danny Boyle really made it flow well. I really liked this one, but it is obviously not the type of movie you would want to watch multiple times.

G.I. Joe - This is not how I remember my great toys of youth. This movie was bad, really bad. The action was plentiful and laughable. Apparently Jamie Foxx wasn;t available to play Ripcord, so the part went to Marlon Wayans. Mr. Eko, you left Lost for this? Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christopher Eccleston as the villains? The whole Sienna Miller as Ana/Baroness just didn't make sense. What has happened to your career Dennis Quaid? Lots of questions for this one. I am certain the 80s cartoons were better. This movie did, though, uncover my new Ginger of the Moment, Rachel Nichols as Scarlet. I like.

Toy Story 3 - Surprisingly serious and emotional. Fun, but not as good as the first two.

Shutter Island - This was the Scorsese/Dicaprio crime/mystery/thriller. It was pretty entertaining, good, but not great. It ended up being a wanna be Usual Suspects and, I'm not sure why, but often times reminded me of Minority Report. Great cast beyond Leo - Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Van Sydow, Michelle Williams, and camoe appearances by Patrica Clarkson and Jackie Earle Haley. Definitely worth adding to your instant queue.

Daybreakers - This the perfect instant Netflix, injury recovery movie. It's a movie that you know isn't going to be great or even very good, but it will entertain you. This one was one of the slew of vampire movies that have come out in the last few years. Pretty much being a vampire is the norm, but the earth is running out of humans to get blood from. Ethan Hawke is a vampire looking to return to humanity and meets Wilhem Dafoe, a former vampire now human and a band of humans on the run. Yeah, it doesn't make much sense, but it was good mindless entertainment.

More Than a Game - Four African American Hoop Stars - including Lebron James - test their unique bond when they prep for playoffs at their elite, largely Caucasian high school.
This was the tagline for this documentary following Lebron James at St. Vincent/St. Mary's, but it really has no socio-economic commentary. They never once mentioned the school being an elite, white school or any other facets of inner city black kids going to rich white prep schools for sports. It was pretty much just a documentary about Lebron's basketball team in high school. Cool, but coulda been much more.

More ACL Reviews

2011-04-06T14:47:00.003-05:00

Spartacus - It took me 1 minute to realize this show sucked and another two minutes for me to realize it was utterly unwatchable. Has anyone ever enjoyed a Starz original program?

The Tudors - This one is cool, Showtimes attempt at a Renaissance drama. The one spans the life of King Henry the 8th. I'm not sure how far it goes into the reign of Elizabeth the 1st. Lots of sex. It's cool to see the behind the scenes royal court and political stuff. It goes painfully slow though. I really just want to see Henry's wives. Anne Boelyn is introduced in like the 3rd episode, but doesn't marry Henry until the 3rd season I think. I ended up watching the first 4 episodes then the last episodes of season 1 and 2. It's good, but not totally engrossing. There are probably lots of better TV shows out there to get into.

Billy Elliott - This one might be cheating as I've seen this film before, but it was still funny, fun, and entertaining. You root for this kid and his family.

Exit the Gift Shop - Cool documentary(?) about street art. The first 3/4 of this movie were real cool and gave a nice picture of street art and graffiti. The film then transforms into this weird statement on art and pop culture while focusing on the camera man turned artist. Is it mockumentary or documentary? Is it just another piece of pop art by Banksy? Interesting stuff, worth checking out.

Searching for Bobby Fisher - This movie definitely still holds up. Great story and moral. Amazing cast - Laurence Fishburn, Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Joan Allen, and cameos by Laura Linney and William H. Macy. It's one of those rare films where you find yourself rooting for every character.

ACL Review - Hot Tub Time Machine

2011-04-04T22:42:00.003-05:00

The hits just keep on coming. I mean, I don't really have high standards, especially while on these percocets, but this is another bad movie. This one I was not surprised by. Judging by the previews and hearing reviews from people who saw it and thought it would be good but were disappointed, I knew this one wouldn't be very good.
Lots of problems:
John Cusack is not a comedy lead.
That random bald guy is not funny.
The barely even referenced the 80's. Why go back in time at all.
Oh, and the ending sucked. Doc Brown and Reed Richards would not have agreed with the outcome in this one.
Next time more hot tub, more time machine please.
I guess I should not expect much from my instant netflix movies. Shoot

ACL Review - The Proposal

2011-04-04T19:33:00.002-05:00

Seriously, how the hell did this movie get made? This had the makings of a perfect recovery movie - it was available instantly on Netflix, it had good actors, and low expectations. But those expectations were low for a reason. Just look at the picture. You just know this movie is going to suck. Was there ever on doubt to exactly how this movie would play out? I mean, to call it formulaic would be an understatement. I like Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock, but wow, were they wasted. Some would call Betty White's performance a highlight, but here stuff on SNL was 10x better. What a waste of a talented cast. The only funny thing I can remotely remember was the character played by Oscar from the Office. At least that was unexpected.
I would rather have the lingering taste of my own vomit in my mouth than the lingering taste of The Proposal.

ACL Review - Cheese and Cheddar

2011-04-03T22:17:00.002-05:00

So far the surprising All-Star of my ACL rehab snacking has been Keebler's Cheese and Cheddar Sandwich Crackers. You know the bright orange crackers with the fake cheese in the middle. I'm really loving them. For one, they are were easy on the stomach immediately after surgery. Also, they are not as dry or likely to stick to the mouth as the peanut butter ones and my mouth is still extra dry from the surgery. They are not greasy or too salty like other snacks would be. All and all, the surprising perfect post surgery snack.
Thanks Keebler.

ACL Review - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2011-04-03T15:51:00.002-05:00

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - This was a long one. I probably fell asleep 10 times during the movie due to my medication and the slow pace of the film. To me, it was cross between the Notebook and The Interview with the vampire. I feel the narrative structure has been used a lot before and the themes of have already been tackled in vampire movies. I do like Cate Blanchett, but the movie was pretty creepy towards the end.

ACL Review - The Social Network

2011-04-02T23:22:00.003-05:00

So, I had ACL surgery yesterday. It wasn't too fun. If you can believe it, today kind of sucks. The pain is there, but manageable with drugs. There has been no real nausea, so it could be worse.
Anyways, I anticipate watching lots of movies and TV shows and reading comics books or other less dense reads and I thought I'd share these with my readers through this blog. You'll get a good list of my ACL activities, plus a bit more excitement with me being all drugged up. Surgery recovery is a great time to catch up on all those movies you haven't gotten around to and gives you a could excuse to watch stuff you wouldn't watch otherwise or stuff you were too embarrassed to watch previously.
Here we go.

The Social Network - This was the Golden Globe winner for best picture? Did I miss something here. Much of the movie was just dorky teenage boys acting like adolescent girls, trying to somehow get back at the people that made fun of them over the years. The viewer cannot empathize with any of the characters except maybe the friend Eduardo. The coolest part was probably the beginning with the whole match-book thing or whatever where you voted on the hotter girl. It was kind of like how Big Dunc pitted comic book characters and Lord of the Rings/Star Wars characters up against each other. It was cool seeing how quickly it spread.
Overall, this was an overrated movie. Oh, and Trent Reznor, your music wasn't that great.
It was also my first ever netflix movie. I only hope the rest are not as disappointing. I should have better stuff for you coming up1

Bracketology Part II

2011-03-13T13:15:00.004-05:00

Today is the day the real bracket is revealed, but I thought I'd throw you another Actor Bracketology to whet your appetite.

Today's Bracket..............................Tom Cruise.

Yes. From the looks of it, this bracket is much more even. The top seeds are not as strong as was the case for Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks. In fact, one could make an argument for seeds 1-12 of winning the entire thing. This bracket will not lack in drama. The evenness should bring a fun unpredictability.

Tom Cruise Bracketology

First Round

1. Maverick (Top Gun) vs. Bill Harford (Eyes Wide Shut)
Match: With or without Goose, Maverick shouldn't have any trouble with this one. He doesn't need to serenade any women, wisecrack at any mission briefings, or play any volleyball in this one. Bill Harford will self destruct looking for some wild orgy on the Naval base.
Winner: Maverick

8. Charlie Babbitt (Rain Man) vs. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (A Few Good Men)
Match: A classic 8/9 match-up here. It could go either way. Both characters are bit rough on the edges. You don't quite know their inner motivations until things really go wrong and their true quality shines through. Unfortunately for Charlie, he gets distracted by Rain Man who enters into the courtroom thinking Judge Wapner was in there. This is where Daniel shines, getting Charlie on the stand and bringing out "the truth" that he in fact hates the burden of caring for his brother. All public opinion crashes and the jury gives the win to Daniel.
Winner: Daniel Kaffee

5. Lestat (Interview with the Vampire) vs. 12. Frank T.J. Mackey (Magnolia)
Match: This one has the potential to get dirty. We have the vampire, already pretty homoerotic with Brad Pitt, and the "Respect the Cock" philosophy of TJ Mackey. Lestat quickly sees the insecurities through the brash exterior of Mackey and exploits his Daddy and Mommy issues. He even did his homework and brings in a large number of dogs to further fluster Mackey. Lots of blood at first, but it's all drank up at the end.
Winner: Lestat

4. John Anderton (Minority Report) vs. 13. Ray Ferrier (War of the Worlds)
Match, Cruise was outshone by Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds. In Minority Report, Anderton had his eyes cut out. Damn.
Winner: Anderton

3. Nathan Algren (The Last Samurai) vs. David Aames (Vanilla Sky)
Match: Aames does have a quote from a Kanye West song about him and some nice female costars in Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz, but Algren is pretty badass. I did not want to like this movie, but ended up being pretty drawn in by Japan, Samurais, and Tom Cruise. He's good with a sword.
Winner: Algren

6. Vincent (Collateral) vs. 11. Jerry Maguire (Jerry Maguire)
Match: Not having a last name or even a real name, Vincent is a bit of a sleeper. The sidekicks of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jamie Foxx might be a better matchup. Maguire has some good lines, but really nothing else. GSW to the 8 pound head of Jerry Maguire.
Winner: Vincent

7. Colonel Claus Van Stauffenberg (Valkyrie) vs. 10. Mitch McDeere (The Firm)
Match: Valkyrie is another movie I didn't really want to like. I think the was a huge media inundation of Cruise around this time, but the movie was tight and so was Van Stauffenberg. The Firm was cool too, but the name Mitch McDeere is just not cool enough to advance in this tourney.
Winner: Van Stauffenberg

2. Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible I,II,III) vs. Brian Flanagan (Cocktail)
Match: Flanagan gets the nod of a number of other Cruise 80's characters due to his love interest Elizabeth Shue. The 80's were a great time for Shue. Flanagan really has no chance against Hunt and all his resources and trickery and technology. What is Flanagan going to do, throw a flaming cocktail at him?
Winner: Hunt

2nd Round
So all the hype surrounding the balanced bracket failed to produce a single upset. Will the second round do the same?

1. Maverick vs. 9. Daniel Kaffee
Match: Was Maverick deserving of the top seed? Daniel doesn't think so. He doesn't think he has much of a chance with the odds again so stacked against him, plus his father was a perennial Final Four participant. Luckily Demi Moore and Kevin Pollack come in to give Kaffee a pep talk. Kaffee shows up drunk and even tries to get into a cockpit to take Maverick down from the air. Maverick is very over confident and ends up crashing his plane before even making it to the battle.
Winner: Kaffee

4. John Anderton vs. 5. Lestat
Match: Another hot one here. Anderton begins on the case of Lestat when he learns he is going to commit a future murder. Anderton and his crew actual catch and imprison Lestat, but Lestat has been in worse situations. He bides his time, outliving the precogs, breaking out of prison and feasting on the elderly Anderton
Winner: Lestat

3. Nathan Algren vs. 6. Vincent
Match: History has showed us that guns are better than swords. This is extremely evident in The Last Samurai and will be no different in this battle.
Winner: Vincent

2. Ethan Hunt vs. 7. Van Stauffenberg
Match: Hunt is the heavy favorite in this one, but don't count out Van Stauffenberg. He almost ousted Hitler. But almost doesn't cut it. Ethan Hunt has almost died about 1,000 times, but always comes back to thwart evil in the end. The Eye-Patch will be no match for the numerous fake faces of Ethan Hunt.
Winner: Hunt

Final Four

9. Kaffee vs. 5. Lestat
Winner: Kaffee's luck and charisma have run out. Lestat without trouble.

2. Ethan Hunt vs. 6. Vincent:
Match: Ooh, this is a good one. You have an assassin vs an international spy. This one could go either way. Hunt has taken down many similar to Vincent, but never had to account for the great cab driver Jamie Foxx. Foxx gets Vincent wherever he needs, and despite all of Hunt's technology is always one step ahead of him. GSW to the fake face.
Winner: Vincent

Final

5. Lestat vs. 6. Vincent
Match: This is a battle I would like to see. I'm not sure my imagination can even comprehend how it plays out. I do know how it will end though, with a Vampire Vincent, possible the greatest movie character ever. Lestat will enjoy Vincent and try to turn him. Vincent will throw all his weapons at Lestat to no avail, but you know his guy will come prepared. He'll have a wooden stake in his supplies somewhere. And soon after Lestat makes Vincent a vampire, apparently victorious, Vincent will go all Buffy on Lestat.
Winner: Vincent

Don't underestimate the grey-haired.

Bracketology is Back!

2011-03-09T16:47:00.014-06:00

Anyone remember the bracketology post I did a long while back that pitted Tom Hanks movie characters against each other in a 16 man bracket? No, well, check it out. Either way, it's March, lots of bracketology all around. I'd thought I'd try my hand at it again.

Today's bracket.......Morgan Freeman.

1. Red - The Shawshank Redemption vs. 16. Frederick Douglass (voice) The Civil War PBS
Match: This is a tough opening round for the top seed. Red again misplaces his bet, going for the "tall drink of water" Abe Lincoln instead of Frederick Douglass. Soon, though, Red realizes that despite Douglass's great voice, imposing hair, and large size, he is only a collection of still photographs and narration, not a real character. Red simply tapes Douglas to the wall where he remains for years and years until the Warden throws rocks at him.
Winner: Red

8. Scrap Iron Dupree (Million Dollar Baby) vs. 9. Hoke Colburn (Driving Miss Daisy)
Match: These guys might not have the best pedigrees. One is blind in one eye, sleeps on a dirty old mattress in a gym. The other and illiterate old black man who drives around an old Jewish woman. Both very good characters, but Scrap Iron wins due to his great name.
Winner: Scrap Iron

5. Lucius Fox (Batman Begins, the Dark Knight) vs. 12. John Rawlins (Glory)
Match: Tough match here for Fox. He'll start out well with lots of weapons, but he cannot put away the Civil War vet. Bruce Wayne does not show up and we have an upset.
Winner: Glory

4. Azeem (Robin Hood) vs.13. President (Deep Impact)
Match: Large Sword
Winner: Azeem

3. Ned Logan (Unforgiven) vs. 14. Gen. Billy Ford (Outbreak)
Match: This is the Wild, Wild West son! Ain't no diseased monkeys out here. If you can't catch Dustin Hoffman, you ain't taking down Mr. Logan.
Winner: Ned Logan

6. Nelson Mandela (Invictus) vs. 11. Alex Cross (Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls)
Match: Morgan Freeman on Nelson Mandela "It was the part I was born to play!" But Nelson Mandela is old. It was nice when he put on that Springboks jersey, but Alex Cross was in two movies. A close battle. Cross calls in Ashley Judd to distract Mandela for the upset.
Winner: Alex Cross

7. God (Bruce Almighty) vs. 10. Mr. Clark (Lean on Me)
Match: Maybe God should really be the top seed. But true to form, God gives his power to Mr. Clark. Mr Clark uses it to clean up his school of gangs and drugs, pass the state tests, and shut up the woman from Carmen San Diego. After all that, he defeats God.
Winner: Mr. Clark

2. Detective William Somerset (Seven) vs. 15. Theodore Joadson (Amistad)
Match:Amistad is a great film with some great performances, but Freeman's was overshadowed. Seven was a great film with some great performances, and Freeman's was the best of the bunch.
Winner: Somerset

SECOND ROUND

1. Red vs. 8. Scrap Iron
Winner: Red, easy.

12. John Rawlins vs. 4. Azeem
Winner: English! English! Behold, Azeem Edin Bashir Al Bakir. I am not one of you, but I fight! I fight with Robin Hood. I fight against a tyrant who holds you under his boot! If you would be free men, then you must fight! Join us now, join Robin Hood!

3. Ned Logan vs. 10. Alex Cross
Winner: Ned

2. Somerset vs. 10. Mr. Clark
Winner: Mr. Clark - a big upset here. Mr. Clark gives up his God power to return to the school. Someone sends him Sams' head in a box, things get wild.

Morgan Freeman Final Four

1. Red vs. 4. Azeem
Match: Wow, this could be the final. Azeem is a lot like Xavier or maybe Boise State in football, a great team in a bad conference, or in this case, bad movie,who always gets ubderrated. Azeem is a great character, but not many people look back fondly on Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Red on the other hand is the best character in one of the best movies ever. Sorry Azeem, you are cool, albeit missed placed in Nottingham, but Red is a man who knows how to get things. In this case, he's getting the W.
Winner: Red

3. Ned Logan vs. 10. Mr. Clark
Match: Mr. Clark has come a long way from Eastside High, but does he have what it takes to survive in the Wild, Wild West? Things heat up when Mr. Clark learns "some guy is beating up Kid Ray". Logan rolls in with some guns and the fight is pretty much over before it began. No contest.
Winner: Ned Logan

Final

1. Red vs. 3. Ned Logan
Match: One thing is for sure, Ned Logan's portly Native American wife is going to be pissed! These characters are actual pretty similar. Both make mistakes as young men and mature as they grow older. Both are the moral compass of their respective films without being the main characters. Both bring compassion and goodness to places it is often times lacking. In the end, though, Red uses his roof tarring skills, his getting things skills, his library experience, and his map of Zihuatanejo and defeats the reluctant outlaw.
Winner: Red. There really was no other way anyone else was going to win.

Get busy living or get busy dying.

Survivor 22

2011-02-25T22:25:00.003-06:00

I first off must admit that last season's Survivor was the first season I did not complete. I got a little over half way through and stopped watching. There has been seasons before that I have not watched in their entirety, but last season was the first time I totally bailed. I had to look up online to see how won.

A couple early thoughts on Season 22.
I used to not be a fan of All-Star seasons, but the one last year was great. I wasn't excited for Russell and Boston Rob again, but having the 2 veterans really allows you to jump right into the season. There is no feeling around episodes. Those two are running thangs right away. It makes for good viewing.
This "redemption" format sounds a whole heck of a lot like Real World/Road Rules Challenges, not that I'm complaining. Those things are pretty entertaining. I'm not sure it will add to Survivor, though. We'll see. It is definitely a safeguard to keep Boston Rob and Russell in the game. The previous "redemption" ploy off the Pearl Islands, was kind of lame, bringing back Burton and Lil, not really offering much to the season.
Will there be real water challenges this season?

Alright, let's take an early look at this year's cast.

Boston Rob - I like him, glad he's back, much better without Amber.

Andrea - I like her. She is cute and hot. There's something about her very alluring, must be that Wisconsin up-bringing. I think she could make it far under the right circumstances.

Kristina - Fake boobs, loner, won't be around for long.

Grant - So this guy was an NFL football player. I see him making the jury and then going out as the "threat". On a side note, someone once asked who I would choose to look like if I could look like anyone in the world, ok maybe I poised this question just so I could answer it, but anyways, my answer was James from Survivor, but now Grant is a close second. No homo.

Philip - Yes! This guy is great. Vastly entertaining. I don't think he'll make it far, so take it in while you can.

Natalie - Apparently this chick is 19. I think that is too young. she might go far under someone's wing, but will not be a major player.

Ashley - I like her. She's hot, but not too hot that that's her only asset. I predict she will go far.

Russell - Too cocky, but that was the case last season too, but he still made it to the final. Definitely brings the entertainment value.

Steve - The new Tom - Older, grey, strong. Apparently another ex-nfl player. He should go far, maybe taking over as team leader once Russell is gone.

Julie - she could definitely kick my ass.

Sarita - hasn't really said too much yet.

Stephanie - power hunger young girl on Russel's teet. She's the type of girl that would scan the bar at bar time looking for a drunk guy she couldn't otherwise get, a muskrat or 'skrat, as we called them back in the day.

Krista - Kind of weird, also on the Russel train.

Ralph - Yes, the hairy redneck. I can't wait til this guy pulls one over on Russell

Mike and David - Two younger white guys, don't know much about them. One was in Iraq, one is kinda dorky, but they'll take down Russell and be best buds.

I see the season building to a Russell/Boston Rob Redemption Island showdown in about week 7 or 8 and then falling off after that.

Stay tuned kids!

Where No Survivor Has Gone Before

2011-02-24T21:06:00.007-06:00

Another late winter, another season of Survivor. Those post's title does not refer to the stupid elimination battle which we are yet to see or the "Survivor 2nd Chance/Survivor What If...?" promos. That might be the worst thing ever. Before I delve, into this season, I thought I'd take a look at places Survivor has never been, but should go. I once heard a rumor it was going to be in Jordan, but had to back out before they started due to fear of Middle East Violence. Interesting.
Let's take a quick recap of where Survivor has been.

1. Borneo - cool
2. Australia - cool, but not as cool
3. Africa - eh, sounded cool, but pretty much just desert.
4. Marquesas - super cool, Waterfalls
5. Thailand - don't remember much
6. Amazon - Sounded cool again, but kind of boring. Piranhas.
7. Pearl Islands - Panama, pretty cool. Rupert.
8. Pearls again
9.Vanuatu - Maybe the best scenery
10. Palau - Awesome
11. Nicaragua - I think the toughest conditions ever
12. Panama, again, some real good challenges, though
13. Cook Islands, tied with Vanuatu for best scenery, and better challenges
14. Fiji
15. China - better than expected

16. Micronesia - not bad
17. Gabon - a much better Africa
18.Tocantins - Brazil again
19. Samoa
20. Samoa again
21. Nicaragua
22. Nicaragua again

A few notes: First, landlocked places are bad. It is clear all the best seasons took place on the water. I'd say 80% of the best challenges were water based. 2nd, WHAT THE FUCK happened to the water challenges?!!!! Seriously, I understand there being only fabricated water in Nicaragua, but Samoa, it's an island. Why no water challenges? To tell you the truth, I don't remember an true water challenges - with boats, and swimming, and diving since Micronesia.
Bring back the water. My only guess is that someone died or seriously got hurt in a practice challenge. The truth is out there.

Also, I've often heard people pitch ideas of a cold location, but that would not work. No one would do anything. It would be super boring, and there would be no eye candy.
Ok, since the produces have gotten seriously lazy, I will provide them with the answers of where to take Survivor next.

1.Madagascar - Yes, this would be the best season yet. You got the ocean, mountains, animals that exist nowhere else in the world. This is the season I will be on.
2. Maldives or Seychelles - I hear these are among the most beautiful places in the world. Tons of small private islands would make a perfect location for an upcoming Survivor Season.
3. Okinawa - "Japan here. China here. Okinawa here."
4. Tuvalu - We've had Palua and Vanuatu, let's get another South Pacific, ending in "u" island. It could be the atoll season.
5. Pitcairn - Yes. Following in the footsteps of real life survivors, though the descendants of Fletcher Christian have not fared too well as of late.
6. Easter Island - see Survivor commercialize more ancient ruins

7. Suriname - I don't know why, but I just imagine Suriname as having both loads of rainforests, swamps, and Caribbean Sea beaches.

Let's make it happen Jeff Probst.

More Super Bowl Thoughts

2011-02-09T20:20:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd look back on some of awesome events and circumstances that make this team and this season so special. This group is full of great stories. Of course we all know the Rodgers/Favre story and the Clay Matthews walk-on story, so I'll take a look at a few other stories about the 2010/2011 Packers and Super Bowl XLV.

-Jarrett Bush-

I've read a lot of Super Bowl coverage, but I can't believe how little people have mentioned Jarrett Bush. This guy has been the whipping boy of the media and fans for years. He would get sh** on nearly every time he was on the screen. How he is still on this team, I do not know. The perennial special teamer I guess. He has been burned more times than I know and just looks awful pretty much every time he has been in there. Career Stats: 78 games played, 1 interception. 1 Superbowl, 1 interception. He came through when it counted (I'll ignore his getting burned just a few minutes later for the Hines Ward TD.) I'm happy for him, and I'll lay off him for at least next season.

Week 15 - The Packers were so close to not even making the playoffs. Everyone remembers the Giants 4th quarter collapse to Mike Vick and the Eagles in week 15 that allowed us to control our own destiny, but it was also the week 15 overtime victory by the Lions over the Buccaneers that also got us into the playoffs. This was just as improbable. The Lion, going in with 26 GAME ROAD LOSING STREAK, got the ball back at their own 32 down by three with no timeouts left, 1:39 left, and Drew Stanton as quarterback. Somehow he marched them down the field for the game tying and game winning field goal. Thus the Packers are in the playoffs and not the Bucs.
Thanks Drew Stanton.

Al Harris - This is one regret. I wish Al Harris could've been on this team. It would have been great to see him come in for the injured Charles Woodson and save the day. Anyway, still a great Packer and owner of one of the best ever Packers plays. I'm sure he was watching the game proudly.

Atari Bigby - Despite doing little to nothing this season, it was great to see Bigby leading the troops out of the tunnel.

Rodgers Celebration - A-Rodg had a nice Jim Valvano moment after the Steelers missed their 4th down play to end the game. Running around like a kid, looking for someone to hug. Each time ESPN showed it they cut away right before he finally met someone. I wonder who the first person he hugged was.

Desmond Bishop - This guy was our 4th middle linebacker at the start of the season. Injuries to Nick Barnett and Brandon Chillar make him a starter. He steps up during the season and makes HUGE plays in the playoffs. Kudos too to Frank Zombo for coming out of nowhere to dutifully replace the also injured Brad Jones and Brady Poppinga.

AJ Hawk - Another unsung member of our great linebacking core. He will never have the hair, the speed, the big play ability of Clay Matthews, and I'm sure Clay's girlfriend is much better looking than Brady Quinn's sister, but Hawk was solid all season long, not spectacular, maybe not up to the level of a top 5 pick, but he was a key contributor to the Super Bowl march, especially after all the LB injuries. It was nice to see him on NFL Countdown reflecting on everything.

Howard Green - Huge guy, huge play, forcing Big Ben into the INT. Love his story being castaway by the Jets, then helping beat them the next week. Also, who can forget how little his jersey was in his first game with the Packers?

Shaun Suisham - Cut by the Cowboys, Redskins, Browns, and Rams this guy was then attempting a 52-yard field goal in the Super Bowl. Anyone surprised with the outcome of that kick? Wow.

Johnny Jolly - Lastly,lots of people want to know what Brett Favre was doing during the Super Bowl, but I oh so desperately want to know what Johnny Jolly doing. Did he watch the game? Did he go to Dallas? Did he get arrested? He is from Houston and apparently not yet in jail, so I'm going to speculate it was some sort of liquid codeine binge eventually meeting up with Lil Wayne to celebrate the Packers victory. Lots of purple drank and Styrofoam cups. Yes!

Super Bowl Champs! Even the stories at the periphery are great. Thanks for the contributions guys.

Green Bay Packers 2011 Super Bowl Champions!!!

2011-02-07T21:58:00.008-06:00

The Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl Champions! Yes, we did it. And unlike many teams, we is the proper identifier, not they. The Packers are our team. I'm sure you become even a closer member of the Packers the closer you get to Green Bay. Everyone in the week approaching the Super Bowl was loving Green Bay and the Packers and what they represent, from Rick Reilly to Rachel Maddow. The Packers are unique and WE are champions.

I think the word that best described my post game feeling was content. I wasn't elated or running through the streets, I was simply content. I was happy, but content was the best word. I think a lot of it was the way the game went. The biggest celebration plays were early. I just sat back Sunday night and felt like there were no problems in the world, that everything was just a bit easier. Content.
Also, I wanted to take everything in. I remember the 1997 Super Bowl very well, but remember very little about the season itself. This season I was in for the long haul. My feelings Sunday night and still today were about the culmination of the season, of the journey.

For me, the picture that best tells the story about the 2010/2011 was the celebration after the final kneel down. Aaron Rodgers (of course) hugging Brandon Jackson and Andrew Quarles. What? Yes. Those are the guys in the game. Not Ryan Grant. Not Jermichael Finley. Not Donald Driver. It just showed the devastating injuries the Packers had and that it did not matter to Aaron Rodgers. He worked with whatever was available to him.

Let's look at it again. 2nd youngest team in the NFL. 15 players on the IR. The most games missed due to injury. Woodson and Driver go down. Super Bowl champs!

About the game itself, wow, it was eerily similar to the Bears game and especially the Eagles game. Packers dominate, don't put it away at right before halftime, come out with the ball, 3 and out, other team gets a TD right back in the game, another huge Packers TD, other team scores again, goes for 2, later get the ball back, Packers hold on for the win. Man, holding on! Making you sweat, making it tense. Wow, still feeling it.
Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Preview

2011-02-03T20:23:00.005-06:00

Wow, the Packers are in the Super Bowl! This isn't a surprise obviously, due to the two weeks of non-stop media coverage, but it still doesn't quite seem real. I'm not used to my teams winning.
But we're not done yet! Sunday is the big game.

I have to say I'm feeling pretty good. I feel everything that could have gone wrong went wrong against the Bears. Penalties reared their head again. Rodgers threw a Red Zone interception (Favre-esque) which never happens. And that other interception, that was beyond a fluke; it was just miraculous. And the whole 3rd string quarterback was pretty wild too.
I don't think I see those things happening again.

So, on to Sunday. What do I see? Well, I think the Packers are the better team. Let's take a look at why we will win or why we won't win.

Why The Packers will win:
- Better team - the Pack has amazing depth. I think 1-22 or 1-53, we are easily the better team. I know that does not translate to winning necessarily, but it plays a big role. Just look at how many different guys have stepped up in the playoffs.
- Aaron Rodgers and his receivers - Yeah, I don't really need to say much about this. Rodgers is sick and so are the receivers. He can pass, run, avoid the rush, make the deep throw, make the finesse throw, get big. We have 4 great receivers and big Brett Swain waiting to get his chance in those five wideout packages.
- Stopping the run - this one isn't for certain, but if they can stop the run, they got the game. The big guys inside do pretty well, and the should get at that less than full strength o-line of Pittsburgh.
- Pressure on Big Ben - You know, I don't really think Roethlisberger has had that great of a season, pretty average in fact. We will put pressure on him from the D-line, from the linebackers, and from Chuck Woodson. If we can keep him from escaping, he will throw picks.

Why the Packers will lose:
- Special Teams - this was a huge positive against the Bears, but I'm still not sold. Crosby cannot seem to kick it deep, and a "good" kickoff spot for the Packers is like the 35. Oh, and let's not forget that offensive lineman return against New England.
- Short Yardage Situations - I know all the fans, myself included, love Kuhn, but in my opinion, the Packers have been pretty poor in short yardage situations, especially near the goal line. The Steelers had that big stand against the Jets. Look for this to be key. Getting 3 instead of 7 or having to punt from the 40 or 50 is huge in the Super Bowl.
- Tight Ends - If one put together a list of the best tight ends over the last 5 years, I don't think Heath Miller would be on many people's lists, but the guy is good. The guy is consistent. He's played in big games. And the Packers are susceptible against the Tight End, especially down the middle which is the bread and butter of Miller. If Miller gets going, those safteys cheat toward him, and Wallace is gone.
And, of course, the tight ends for the Packers are not much. Hopefully they will not be a liability.
- Drops - There is nothing like a dropped pass to kill a drive. It frustrates the fans to no end and kills momentum. I don't have to tell you that despite the greatness of the Packers receivers this season, dropsies have been a problem.
- Fumbles - I'm not sure why I put this one in. Maybe because I feel good about Rodgers not throwing an INT, but I'm leery of fumbles. I guess its from years of watching Ahman Green and now Brandon Jackson and Ryan Grant. Hold on to the ball.
- Inability to close - If the Packers let the Steelers stay in the game, they will take advantage unlike the Eagles and Bears. Dominating the game doesn't matter if you don't dominate the score board too.

What won't matter:
Experience - a non issue. These guys have all played big games before. Once you get on the field you just do your thing.

One more thing:
Go Pack Go!

Ranking the Harry Potter Characters

2011-02-01T20:24:00.002-06:00

I was going to write a few more things about the Harry Potter Characters, but I the end, I was going to rank them anyways, so, I thought I'd just skip to that.

I left out Ron, Hermione, Harry, Voldemort, and Dumbledore on purpose. They are the main characters and don't need to be ranked. Hagrid was purposefully omitted because he sucks.

Criteria - Ok, my criteria is always a bit flakey, but usually, we are looking for the best character in the literary sense of the word - Do they add to the story? are the entertaining? do they invoke emotion in the reader? Would something be missing if they were absent? Obviously, if they are likable, they will be higher on the list. You'll see a lot of people from last posts list on this list as well. I think wanting to know more about a character is a key quality.

The Top 35 Harry Potter Characters.

35. Peeves - comic relief, but a bit annoying.
34. Xenophilius Lovegood- An interesting character, told a good story, but sold Harry out.
33. Cho Chang - Cho was very similar to many girls from my teenage years. You were all about her for a short time, but then she really fizzled out quickly.
32.Cornelius Fudge - He was a very present character, but really didn't do all that much.
31. Wormtail - You need a character you hate yet feel some pity for.
30. Narcissa Malfoy - Brought some much needed humanity to Draco
29. Oliver Wood - This mother loves quidditch!
28. Lavender Brown - a bit annoying, but played her role well, and brought Ron and Hermione together.
27. Mad-Eye Moody - I'm conflicted on this one. Moody was real cool in Book 4, but that was actually Barty Crouch Jr. The rest of his contributions were not too substantial.
26. Lucius Malfoy - You need villains. He was a good one, not a great one.
25. Percy Weasley - Another character it was easy to hate, but he had the transformation at the end.
24. The Dursleys - Wow, read #25. Dudley made the biggest chance of the family. That was one of the more interesting parts of Book 7
23. The Gaunts - They added a different element to the series. They were intriguing and showed much about Voldemort's character.
22. Igor Karkaroff
21. Remus Lupin - Lupin is the favorite character of some people, but he was a bit inconsistent for me. He was great in Book 3, but king of tailed off for me. His whole wanting to come with Harry in Deathly Hallows was kind of weird.
20. Barty Crouch - Sr. and Jr.
19. Ludo Bagman - Provided a foil for all the serious, earnest wizards and witches we met.
18. Arthur Weasley - Couldn't you see Arthur as your friend's father? The moral compass for the Weasley family and one of the few that always trusted Harry with the tough truth.
17. Fred and George Weasley - 2 parts comic relief, one part faithful friend and brother.
16. Cormac Mclaggen - As I said in the last post, I wanted to see more of this guy. He reminds me a bit of the Cobra-Kai, but I think he had a good heart. A good supporting character.
15. Draco Malfoy - I'm also conflicted on Draco Malfoy. His portrayal is inconsistent. He at times is just evil for no reason. We get a little better character insight of him in Book 6. There he shows humanity and much more depth, but I feel there was opportunity for more.
14. Sirius Black - Sirius was a cool character, but I feel he could have also been explored more. He was Harry's father figure and wanted to be his friend, but I think the toll years in Azkaban could have been more prominent.
13. Regulus Black - Odd that Regulus makes it here above this brother, but as a minor character, he was the bomb. See yesterday's post for more, but in such an odd role, Regulus was perfectly portrayed.
12. Horace Slughorn - A good mix of teacher and misguided teacher wanting to still make amends. A realistic portrayal I think.
11. Dolores Umbridge - The most unlikable character in the entire series, and that is saying a lot. A very great villain. So misguided, but a great example of what Harry and Dumbledore were up against.

10. Mungundas Fletcher - A great foil to almost every other wizard on the good guy's side. This guy failed in almost every way. You need that presence.

9. Victor Krum - Krum played his role well - foreigner, outsider, friend, ally.

8. Neville Longbottom - Neville showed the most growth in the series. He was originally the screw-up, the one no one wanted to sit next to or work with, but turned into a leader. A great example of how 7 books allow for character growth and of Rowling's message of including all no matter how seemingly unfitting they appear.

7. Bellatrix Lestrange- Another one to hate, but this time you don't really need any further character exploration, bitch is just crazy.

6. Gilderoy Lockhart - A great literary character. His personality and true personality just fit the 2nd book so perfectly. You wanted to hate him and his cowardly ways, but couldn't. One of the first examples of Rowling showing that characters are not always as the appear.

5. Cedric Diggory - The prime example of honor, friendship, fairness. I think even Harry said he couldn't dislike him even when he tried. He may be a bit one-dimensional, but that fits his role. Also, his death was a turning point in the story.

4. Kreacher - I'm a big fan of the journey of the character, of a character changing due to the environment he or she is placed in, of the character learning from past mistakes. This can be seen in Neville, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and in my number one and two choices on this list, and we see glimpses of the downward change in Voldemort. Kreacher is a drastic example, going from one of the most hated and frankly worst characters to one of the best. He really came through for Harry and the good side in book 7, a nice turnaround.

3. Professor McGonagall - McGonagall illustrates the the other type of great character. It doesn't have to be all about change and transforming, consistency works too. McGonagall is the most consistent person in the book. We don't need to know her back story to see what see is all about. She is a caring teacher and role model, but also one you would not want to mess with.

2. Severus Snape - So I think I'm putting Snape number 2 because most people think I will put him 1. He is a great character no doubt. He has the journey. He has the mystery. He most importantly, has elements of good and evil. Even when at his most surly, even when you don't know any of his back story, you still like him, or at least want to see more of him and know more of him. That is the mark of a good character. Snape is again the sign of the complexity that a 7 book (7 year) series allows for. In one book, he never really does anything that great (accept for maybe book 6) and could not show dynamic change either, but as a body of work, is an amazing character.

1. Luna Lovegood - Yes, Luna Lovegood is the best character in the Harry Potter universe. She presents a lot of things that make Harry Potter what it is. She is different and funny, but most importantly sincere. She has this connection with Harry and other characters that makes her super likable, but also super crucial. And like most of my rankings, it is easier to be the favorite when you are a minor character. Luna is just on the fringe of being a major character, but being a minor character makes her free from mistakes. Every time she is present it is important, it adds value, you wait for it, whereas Snape had a few appearances that weren't all that great or even necessary.

There you go Harry Potter fans.

Harry Potter Characters

2011-01-31T21:39:00.004-06:00

Well, I thought about ranking my favorite Harry Potter characters, which I might still do, but after looking at them I instead decided to divide them up into characters 1. I want to know more about 2. character I wish were around less and 3. characters that were porttrayed just the right amount, kinda like a Goldilocks version of Harry Potter characters.
First we'll look at the characters I wanted to see more and want to know more about. In the Star Wars Universe there was once a time where you could make a list like this, but after hundreds of books have added to the official lexicon, you know pretty much everything about every single character who had even a half second of screen time. I'm glad HP is not yet to that point. These are by no means the best Harry Potter characters, just the most intriguing ones.

Most Intriguing Harry Potter Characters

1. Regulus Black - Wow, I want to know everything about this guy. How did he and Sirius get along? Why did he become a Death Eater? Why did he turn away from Voldemort? How did he find out about the Horcrux? How did he get the Locket in the Cave? Yes, I want to know more!
He is also an odd character as he is never really in the books if I correctly recall, not even in flashbacks. He is just talked about by others. Interesting. Regulus would be my first choice for a Harry Potter spinoff, "The Dark Adventures of Regulus Black". A great examination of a tortured soul it would be.

2. The Gaunts - The House of Gaunt was one of the best chapters in the series. Here, shown only in flashback. You get access to a piece of the magical world not yet seen. How did the Gaunts come to this? What did they do before this? How did they interact with muggles? Did they go to Hogwarts?
Are there other wizards like this? Lots more to know.

3. Cormac - I might be in the minority here, but I really like this guy. He was pretty funny in both the book and the movie. Where did he come from? What did he do in all his years at Hogwarts in in Gryffindor that we didn't see him? I wish he would have been used more.

4.Cedric Diggory - The All-American boy, if he was American. What was his life like before the Triwizard tournament, just breaking the hearts of girls everywhere?

5. Professor McGonagall - Mcgonagall has to be the most consistent character in the series, and maybe the most realistic. She never wavers. She fights for good, cares about her students, but doesn't always give Harry the benefit of the doubt when he does something stupid. This would be my second pick for a Harry Potter spin-off, "Young Minerva McGonagall" I imagine it would be like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but sluttier. Tell me she wasn't saucy in her younger years.

6. Professor Slughorn - I only wish we had a few more years with Slughorn. We had glimpses of his past, but I want more.

7. Barty Crouch - Going for Sr and Jr here. I like the prim and proper, by the book Crouch. His story is actually rather touching. With Jr., man there are a lot of unanswered questions. What did he do to go to Azkaban? How did he know so much about Moody? Why was he such a damn good teacher? Why did he do that weird tongue licking thing in the movie?

8. Luna Lovegood - Great character, but where was she in years 2-4? Also, seeing her at Hogwarts without Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Deathly Hallows would have been interesting.

9. Ludo Bagman - Got to love a gambling addict.

10. Victor Krum - This could be another great spin-0ff, "Victor at Durmstrang" or "Krum, the Hungarian Heartthrob".

11. Draco Malfoy - We did get a lot about Draco. Most of the time he was just a huge a-hole. I guess it was his upbringing, but I would like a little more depth.

12. Mundungus Flectcher- I like this dirtbag. He adds something to the Order of the Phoenix and the good guys.

13. Percy Weasley - I'm not sure why I like Percy, but I do. He is definitely a douche, but I can just imagine him going home every night and crying himself to sleep.

14. Xenophilius Lovegood - A good addition to the last book.

15. Aberforth Dumbledore - He did what with goat? A good foil to Dumbledore.

16. Borgin - Dude owns a Dark Magic artifact store. That has got to spark your interest.

17. Igor Karkaroff - What did he do to go to Azkaban? How did he reform? How did he die?

18. Lavender Brown - I'm pretty sure all we know about her is she likes to snog and likes unicorns.

19. Blaise Zabini - Just to prove that there is more to Slytherin than Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle

20. Ernie Macmillan - Hufflepuff!

Ranking the Harry Potter Books

2011-01-24T20:01:00.003-06:00

I'm sure you know that here at Big Dunc we are very fond of making lists. We are also very fond of popular culture (maybe edging toward the geekier side of it), and though we have given a great amount of attention to Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Lost, and comics, I believe there has been only one Harry Potter post, actually being one of the first ever Big Dunc offerings.
Anyways, let's rank 'em.

Ranking the Harry Potter Books.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
There are numerous reasons why I rank Deathly Hallows as the worst Harry Potter book, the biggest being that it was just a rather poor ending to a great series. It was too long, too inconsistent, too all-action all the time - jumping from one crisis to another without much really happening. You just read it to see what happened instead of enjoying all of it. I think being almost Hogwarts-less really led to an absence of magic that was present in all the other volumes. I'm a big fan of reflection, but really, were chapters like the Shell Cottage really necessary? Overall it just felt forced and lacked the sincerity of many of the other books.

Best Parts:
Battle of Hogwarts
7 Harry Potters
Kreacher and Dobby's sacrifice
Ollivander
seeing characters like Luna and Neville come into their own.
learning a bit more about Snape
destroying the locket.

Bad parts:
Harry and Dumbledore at King's Cross
Dumbledore's past revelations
Bathilda Bagshot
all the moodiness of Harry, Ron, and Hermione
The Epilogue
Dumbledore's Will
the long times at the House of Black and the Ministry of Magic
Snapes quick death

6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I know this is the one that started it all, but when compared this the vastness of the next books, it just can't hold up. All the introductions were cool. It was fun to be like Harry and be new to all this stuff, but the story itself wasn't too complex or too exciting.

Best Bits:
Newness - Quidditch, Diagon Alley, Hogwarts
Mirror of erised

Bad bits:
Quirrell
ending - saved by love?
Norbert
Nicolas Flamel - lots of put into the importance of Flamel who really had nothing to do with the story itself

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Order of the Phoenix had some of the coolest parts in the entire Harry Potter series, but also some of the worst. It ranks as number 5 mostly due to these inconsistencies. There is a lot of up and down. Action will happen (see the Dementors in the first chapter) but then will be followed by lots of inaction. The normal story arch is not present. At times it is a collection of events and tales rather than a focused, single story.

Best bits:
Dumbledore's Army - the recruitment and training - one of the best sequences of the entire series, making minor characters relevant.
Dolores Umbridge - maybe the best villain of the series
O.W.L.s - I like the academic stuff
Luna Lovegood - possibly my favorite Harry Potter character
House of Black
Cho - both good and bad - you rooted for Harry, but it contributed to the uneven story
Fred and George's exit

Bad Bits:
The Hearing
Dumbledore not talking to Harry
Harry always being Moody
Occlumency - the Snape/Harry scenes were great, but nothing really become of it
The Prophesy
Grawp/Hagrid

4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
This one might come in 7th place on many people's lists, but I actually like the simplicity. It was a neat story without too much excess. You had the mystery and the ending did not disappoint. It had the classic narrative structure - continual rise to climactic ending. New doors were opened in the Harry Potter World. No super high highs or super low lows. Sincere.

Best Bits:
Lockhart - a fun character
Dueling Club
our first taste of Tom Riddle
the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin
The Burrow

Bad bits:
car in the forest
too much Dobby
Lucius Malfoy's meeting with Arthur Weasley

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This is the favorite of many people, and I can see why, but for me, it is only number 3. This is the first truly great Harry Potter Book and really sets the done for the depth of the series and the darker nature for the latter books. The main story is great. The side stuff like new classes and Quidditch is great too. Unfortunately, it takes a while to get the story started, and after the seeming climax, you have to do it all over again with the Time-Turner thing.

Best Bits:
The mystery - at the root of all the best HP stories for me are questions and mysteries. Books 5 and 7 have little to no mystery and are thus rated rather poorly. Prisoner of Azkaban probably had the best outcome to the mystery in the series.
Harry not being infallible
Quidditch
Marauders Map
Lupin/Snape/Black interchanges

Worst Bits:
beginning
Knight Bus
Time Turner
A bit too much Trelawney

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
To me, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a great combination of what worked in books 3 and 5. You have events going on which may not contribute hugely to the main story, but are still entertaining. You have a cool mystery story. You have Hogwarts as a major player. But with all of these, there is an impending scene of doom, an anticipation that something big is going to happen, and in the end, it does.

Best bits:
Hogwarts and classes at the center again
giving depth to Voldemort, I loved the Gaunt chapter
The potions book
The Cave - maybe the best chapter in the series
Dumbledore's Death - some people don't like that Harry was frozen, but you as the reader really share his sense of helplessness
The scene where Percy came home but only because of work and not to see his family was pretty intense
Also the scene on the train where Malfoy actually defeats Harry was pretty cool too, one of my favorites

Bad Bits:
Aragog and sad Hagrid
Ron and Lavender
lack of big action until the end that it

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Much like Half-Blood Prince, Goblet of Fire has all the elements that make Harry Potter great - the mystery - who put Harry's name in the Goblet and why, great side stories and action, further exploration of the Harry Potter World, a crazy entertaining ending, the feeling of impending disaster, and in this one, the main backdrop story is the awesome Triwizard Tournament! I am a sucker for competition, so Goblet of Fire is obviously number 1. But like I said, it wasn't just the tasks and the tournament. You have the Quidditch World Cup, the new Wizarding Schools, the Yule Ball, Mad-Eye Moody, and the rest of the series is really set into motion from this one. Despite the length, this one is never forced (ok, maybe the house elf thing). Even character like Moaning Myrtle, meant to be annoying, and Trelawney and Hagrid are used to their best ability.

Best Bits:
Quidditch World Cup - This is the best exposition of the entire Wizarding World in the series. We learn there is so much more to it than Hogwarts
The other schools
Tasks - dragons, mermaids, sphinxes, skrewts
The unexpected task - asking a girl to the dance, tough
The Yule Ball - very real, unglamorized
Dropping the Egg- this might be my favorite sequence in the entire series - Harry gets stuck in on of the trap stairs, drops the egg, Peeves and Filch and Snape and Moody come while Harry is helpless under the invisible cloak. The drama and suspense here at its highest. How was Harry going to get out of this one? I remember my heart racing at this one, probably more than even at the end of this book or Half-Blood Prince
The ending - Death Eaters, Priori Incantatem, and the explanation of it all. The ending was great. I could not stop reading, but unlike the ends of Half-Blood Prince, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Order of the Phoenix, which are all awesome scenes, here you are not reading just to see what happens. You truly want to soak in every detail.

Bad Bits:
house elves- drunk Winky
Ron being mad at Harry
Rita Skeeter.

Well there you have it.

Badgers Basketball Report

2011-01-14T17:56:00.001-06:00

Hey readers, check out my Badgers Basketball on The Bucky Channel.
Cheers.

Big Dunc's Best of 2010

2010-12-29T11:06:00.007-06:00

Last year I did my best movies of the decade. This year I will not be so grandiose, but I'll take a look back the year of 2010. As per usual, I will look at movies, sports, and a few other things and let you know my best of 2010.

Best Movies - as you will see, these are not necessarily movies that came out in 2010, as I don't often actually go to the movie theater, just movies I saw in 2010.

First a few honorable mentions:
Lawrence of Arabia - well this obviously is an old movie, and it wasn't even the first time I saw it, but upon re-viewing it, it is a pretty amazing movie. Check it out again or for the first time.
Couples Retreat - Yeah, I watched this movie as part of the free HBO preview. It wasn't too great, but not too bad either. I like Vince Vaughan and it had a pretty attractive female cast.
Dan in Real Life - This is one I saw randomly on TBS or something. It was one of those movies they play back to back and I saw the second half and then watched it again to see the first half. I couldn't change the channel. A great movie, check it out. Steve Carrell was brilliant.
Legion - I know lots of people hate this movie, and although it didn't really make any sense, I did enjoy watching it.

Now on to our Worst Movies of the Year

Valentines Day - Another HBO free preview film. Pretty weak, though the Ashton Kutcher/ Jennifer Garner storyline did rope me in.
The Other Guys - I think I legitimately laughed out loud once during this movie
Robin Hood - I had high hopes, but was disappointed
Angels and Demons - A great book (for the first 4/5), but a pretty disappointing movie.
The Hangover - Not a bad movie, but highly over-rated.

And the winner for Worst Movie of the Year:

The Other Guys - It looked bad from the previews, but I watched it anyways. Don't make the same mistake I did.

Best Movies of the Year

Up - Great from start to finish

Hurt Locker - Very intense throughout. Characterization was a little generic, but you could not take your eyes off the screen.

Near Dark - Finally saw this "vampire" movie strongly recommended from a friend. It was one of those movies that started pretty slow, but by the end, you are glued to the screen and do not want the movie to end.

Up in the Air - George Clooney at his best. This one was much funnier than expected and the serious side worked too. I actually liked Clooney's interplay with Anna Kendrick much better than Vera Farmiga.

Drag Me to Hell - Another HBO free preview movie, but his one was a quality surprise. Some really sick stuff, some kind of fun stuff, not super scary, but definitely entertaining.

And the Winner is:

Up in the Air - it is the only movie on the list I would recommend to everyone.

Best Books of 2010

Again, this is books I have read during 2010, not new books. I don't know if I've ever read a new book before. Also, I'm not a huge reader. I like to re-read old books. Of the 10 or so books I've read this year, I'd say 70% of them I have read before.

I've reread Timothy Zahn's Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy, a must for Star Wars fans. Harry Potter 7 was better the 2nd time I read it.

I've reread 100 years of Solitude and The Silmarillion, both of which now claim a place in my all-time top 10. I would love to have read 100 Years in Spanish (but I don't know Spanish). Garcia Marquez's work is so poetic (almost too much at times at expense of the actually momentum of the story) I can't imagine it in its original language. The Silmarillion to me, maybe because of my history background is better than the Lord of the Rings. It takes a while to get into, and through, but is worth it, much better after the second read.

Any my best new read of 2010:

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Not in my top 10, and not an easy read at first, but definitely entertaining and thought provoking. It's a post-apocalyptic tale of an abbey that preserves all history. If you like Sci-Fi, check it out.

Best Music of 2010:

Ok, some I'm pretty late on the music scene. My stereo got jacked over a year ago, not that KISSfm plays good music anyways. Well here are my picks for music I got into this year.

Regina Spector and from her to a slighter extend Nellie McKay just for this song

B.O.B. - great stuff with Bruno Mars, Rivers Cuomo, Hayley Williams, and his ESPN bowl song. Yes.

Adam Lambert - Ok, this might be odd, but his music is tight. No homo.

Best Sports Moments

Landon Donovan against Algeria

Michael Bradley and the US against Slovenia

Ghana/Uruguay ending

Badgers wins vs. OSU and Iowa

Favre's Int vs Saints

Everton's 2-goal injury time comeback vs. Man U

And the winner is:

Donovan vs Algeria - no doubt. This one should be the top moment of the decade.

Oh, and the Worst Sports Moment of the Year: Wisconsin vs. Cornell in the 2nd round of the NCAA, total torture watching that thing. Argghh.

Lastly, we'll take a look at the best 2010 post by Big Dunc. It wasn't necessarily a banner year for Big Dunc, but looking back it was pretty substantial - we had great World Cup Coverage, our Comic Book Bracket, Survivor Week, and awesome reviews of Lost seasons 1-4. It looks like going for quality over quantity paid off. So without further ado, here are my posts of 2010.

Star Wars Trilogy
World Cup Wrap Up - Definitely my best picture finds of the year. Check it out for a super hot Australian chick and Bill Clinton drinking a beer
Big Dunc's Survivor All-Stars - The definitive list of the best players and characters in Survivor History. This is a must see for Survivor fans and I think my best of the year, and also my Hottest Women of Survivor wasn't bad either.
Comic Book Bracket - I think this one of the Negative Zone region was the best of the bunch.
Best of Lost - Some great reviews of all the seasons, but I enjoy season 2 the best.

Enjoy, and look forward to more in 2011, or '11 as I will call it.

Who wants to go to Russia? How about Qatar?

2010-12-15T16:09:00.003-06:00

Man, Big Dunc is slipping. A cross country trip and a new job and a boring Survivor season has prevented Big Dunc from writing anything new. My news, and this post, is definitely late breaking, as in late breaking, not breaking late. Got it?
Anyways, I figured I'd share my thoughts a few weeks late on the announcement of the World Cup Host for 2018 and 2022.

What? This more of a what??!! than a What: subcategory. This post is very stream of consciousness if you can't already guess. But as I'm sure you know, Russia has been awarded the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 World Cup. to the lay person, this doesn't make much sense. To the soccer insider, this doesn't make much sense. To the media, it is just plain odd.
The favorites a few months ago were UK for 2018 and USA for 2022. Then recently Russia and Qatar entered the fray. The day before the announcement I'm thinking Russia was a slight favorite and the USA was a slight favorite. Either way, the awarding to Qatar and Russia was perplexing.

Analysis: The decisions on their own make sense. There is no way FIFA would put the World Cup in the two most Western nations in the world, two English speaking countries as well. So it makes sense that UK and USA were not a pair. Russia is seen as an untapped market for soccer, a place where lots of people play, but the game hasn't really taken off economically as compared to Western Europe. It puts the Cup in a new place and "opens up" Eastern Europe to FIFA and the rest of the World. Qatar is in the Middle East. It has money. It is the most stable, safe place in the region. With this pick, FIFA is trying to be groundbreaking, trying to be proactive. I'm also thinking Qatar must have promised lots of profits.
But, together, they don't make sense. Why not have one in England or the US. This would be guaranteed to be a money maker and a successful World Cup with little or no money having to be spent before hand. Lots of things could go wrong in either place. Russia has vodka, the mob, cold weather. Qatar has sand, heat, oil. Both places will not be easy to get to or stay in. It will be an expensive trip for all.
So, as most, I can't make total sense of FIFA's World Cup host choices. Both selections have something to offer, something new, something political perhaps, but both also have huge potential flaws. 2018 and 2022 are a long time away, put I am still disappointed in those choices.
But then again, why not travel to Russia or Qatar. It would be quite fun.

Survivor Update: Worst Season Ever?

2010-11-15T22:39:00.005-06:00

So, by the third episode of this season's Survivor I knew it would be a contender for "Worst Survivor Season Ever". In many episodes little to nothing happens. There have been no big twists or changes in the game. There are no super likeable people. There really is no one to root for. Watch out Survivor Fiji, Survivor Nicaragua may be coming for your title of "Worst Survivor Season Ever".

To be fair, it is hard to follow up the great All-Star season and the Russell season, but still, something interesting has to happen. I was pulling for "One-leg Kelly". I liked Alina (Ginger, attractive, played the game, cowboy boots, good at challenges) and Marty was defintely entertaining and one of the people that made the show watchable.

A few other supporting factors. How is Dan still there? When will Kelly Purple contribute something of substance to the show or the tribe? She is cute, but man, lifeless. The Challenges have been good for the most part, but never close.

I guess for the rest of the show I'll be rooting for Jud/Fabio, dude is the only entertaining/likeable one left. But after Marty's attempt to make a bold move, I really don't see the game going any other way. The Sash/Brenda/Naonka/Chase alliance with lackies Jane and Holly and Kelly will just be too strong for Fabio and Benry. It will really take something drastic to make this and exciting, likeable season. Maybe this is what they get for doing Young vs. Old and having Jimmy Johnson on the show, but I'll watch anyways.

Goodbye Elena

2010-10-29T23:13:00.005-05:00

Some news today on the ESPN ticker caught my eye. It was sad news that many of you may have missed. Elena Dementieva has retired from tennis.

I was pretty shocked by this as she is only 29 and still in the top 10. Elena was always the best player never to win a major. She was never the main draw of the WTA, not because of her game, but because of the way she carried herself. She did not want the spotlight or the hype, even though it could have, and rightfully, been hers. She was everything the game needs - intense, honest, honorable, funny, competitive, cosmopolitan. One thing lacking along with the Grand Slam title, a swimsuit issue appearance.

I got to see her in person at Wimbledon, and she is stunning. Even better when she lets her hair down, which she rarely does. You don't think of Dementieva in terms of looks to be up there with Sharapova and Kournikva, but she is. I got a great picture of her serving at Wimbledon on court #3. I even submitted it for a photo contest. Stunning.

Elena, you will be missed. You will be fondly remembered here at Big Dunc. Thanks for what you brought to the game. Maybe teach Brett a thing or two while you're at it.

Great Football Weekend

2010-10-28T10:10:00.003-05:00

I'm doing a little moonlight blogging for another page called The Bucky Channel. I'm sure I've mentioned it on this page before. It's one of my "Friends" on the right.
Here's my first Bucky Channel post - http://www.thebuckychannel.com/2010/10/badgers-vs-packers-great-football.html All about how I enjoyed the Badger victory more than the Packer victory. Not sure why I have to qualify everything, but check it out.
Enjoy.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

2010-10-21T16:43:00.007-05:00

Time for another movie trilogy post. Hopefully you've checked out the Indiana Jones and Star Wars editions. This one will follow the same format.

Best Films

1. Fellowship of the Ring
2. Two Towers (Ents put this one over #3)
3. Return of the King (I'm a fan of the build-up)

Most Attractive females of Middle Earth

This is a tough one. The quality is higher than Star Wars, but all the women on the list are attractive, but not super hot, or really something to fantasize about, unless you have a thing for elves.

1. Eowyn
2. Galadriel
3. Arwen
4. Rosie Cotton - hairy feet?

Best Supporting Characters

1. Treebeard -
2. Saruman
3. Faramir
4. Galadriel
5.Haldir - Came through with the Elves at Helm's Deep. This did not happen in the book.

Best Action Sequences

1. The Bridge of Khazad Dum - Fellowship - Obvious choice here, amazing sequence from all the orcs surrounding the Fellowship and leaving to Aragorn rousing them to continue after exiting the cave. Powerful stuff all around.

2. Ents at Isengard - Two Towers - Angry Ents, yes.
3. Witch King of Angmar vs Eowyn/Merry - Return of the King - Action in the third film came so fast and furious its tough to truly pinpoint what constitutes as a scene. In the Fellowship, there is usually proper build-up and aftermath of the big actions, and I think with the death of Theoden and the later finding of Eowyn and Merry on the battlefield, this scene best couples action with emotion.
4. Mines of Moria - Fellowship - This was the first big action scene and led to #1 on our list. Again, you have this great build up with some tender scenes between Frodo and Gandalf, then a hot battle
5. Breaking of the Fellowship - Fellowship - Huge build-up here, this was the climax of the first film. The battle was rather quick, but contained the end intense of Boromir "My Brother, my captain, my King!" and led to Sam's "promise" to Mr. Frodo. Cool battle between Aragorn and the Uruk leader too.
6. Battle of Pelennor Fields - Return of the King - This is one of the that is hard to distinguish with other action scenes around it. This one I consider to be the Riders of Rohan battle. Would move up to number 3 on the list if you include Theoden's Speech.
7. Helm's Deep - Two Towers - Awesome, but a bit long in repeated viewings
8. Oliphants and Ghosts - Return of the King - great visually
9. Final Battle - Return of the King
10. She-lob's Liar - Return of the King - Sam's moment to shine

Other Best Scenes

1. Opening Sequences - Fellowship - Sets the tone of grandeur, fantasy, battle. Great narration for Cate Blanchette.
2. Council of Elrond - Fellowship

3. Theoden's Transformation - Two Towers
4. Gandalf vs. Saruman - Fellowship - Starts out innocent enough. We get lots of necessary information and ends in a pretty tight wizard duel.
5. Osgiliath/Sam/Frodo - Two Towers - Definitely not from the books, but a good speech nevertheless, and a good tone setter for the final film
6. Singing/Sacrifice -Return of the King - Pippin singing to Denathor while he is rather grossly eating and his son is getting sacked, great juxtaposition.
7. Funeral Pyre - Return of the King - "He's not dead!"
8. River Anduin - Fellowship - Something real majestic about this trip down the river. You know this is the last peace for a while but you really take it in along with the Characters. Some great visuals.

9. Fellowship sets out - Fellowship - Some cool simple scenes here as the Fellowship begins its journey. Love Saruman's voice in the mountain pass, Gandalf's desire not to go to Moria forshadowing things, and Boromir's observations of of the ring.
10. Oliphants/Meeting Faramir - Two Towers - Lots of mystery here with the Southern Men and Faramir's men.

11. Gates of Mordor - Two Towers - I remember my heart pounding as Sam, Frodo, and Gollum first came to the gates of Mordor.
12. Elves come to Helms Deep - Two Towers
13. Palantir - Return of the King - Some cool stuff
14. Stairs of Cirith Ungol - Two Towers

There you go. Great Stuff

Survivor 21

2010-09-29T12:14:00.003-05:00

Well, surprisingly unemployment has caused me to blog much less. I've actually been pretty devoid of ideas lately, as I'm sure you've seen from my lack of post lately.

In need of an idea? Why not blog about Survivor. It's usually hard to tell who you like, who is a good character, who will get far after a few episodes, but I think I've got a few funny things to say about most people. I was even considering putting something on facebook about how wild these people are. Where did they find them? Are they real? Do they know they're on TV? But then I remembered no one really watches Survivor anymore. Well, let's take a look at this season's castaways anyways.

Young Team:

Shannon - Yes, Shannon is a man. The one who got voted off last week. What was wrong with this guy? He seemed incredibly normal until tribal council. He called out his friends, enemies, randoms and called out a dude for being gay. It's no surprise he's gone.

Alina - Pretty much back in the shadows. Hasn't done too much yet.

Kelly B - One leg. I hope she gets far so we can see what happens to that prosthetic leg. I thought she would be afraid of getting it dirty. I guess not. I'm hoping it rusts or gets so full of sand and dirt that it doesn't work properly. I like her, though. Hottest one legged contestant in Survivor history.

Kelly S - She's known on the show as "Kelly Purple". Um, ok. way to make a name for yourself. Hot, but hasn't done much yet.

Chase - Hoes before bros. But the tribal council behavior by Shannon definitely shows he made the right choice.

Brenda - pretty cute and knows how to work it. Men love her, girls don't trust her, the makings of a very good Survivor character. Makes me think of the "I want to hold your hand" girl in

Across the Universe.

Benry - First off, props to this guy for the first name/last name combo. Love it. Second, has this guy said a word yet? I don't think so. When confronted at tribal council by Jeff and Shannon, he just kind of had this dumb look on his face and shook his head. Nice one.

NaOnka - Diva. Is this girl for real? Where did this entitlement come from? This is Survivor. I did like the extreme neck movement when Jeff asked if she was difficult or complicated or something. Good work. I don't see her going to far.

Sash - Jamaican? "If I wasn't from Jamaica then why would I be wearing this hat?" Good thing he is on Survivor so he can live "Right near da beach. Boy-eeee!"

Jud - I like him. You need a surfer on Survivor. I hope he makes it far.

Old Team

Jimmy Johnson - Dude, why are you on Survivor? Go back to the NFL pre-game.

Yve - I think she is pissed she's categorized with the Old People. Thus she has not talked the entire season.

Jimmy T. - I'd like to see more of this guy, but don't see him staying too long. Reminds me of Mickey Rouke

Dan - Gator shoes. I imagine this guy wears track suits most of the time. Too bad he didn't bring them to Survivor.

Holly - Ok, this lady is crazy. Putting sand in Dan's shoes then sinking them in the water, that is just deviant. I guess maybe she's trying to be like Russell or something, but did she think no one will notice. I think she'll be out tonight.

Tyrone - Don't know much about him, but I could see this guy going far.

Marty - Looking good. He seems to know how to play the game. He'll work JJ until he needs to get rid of him. And he has the idol

Jill - Helped Marty get the idol, so that puts her in a good position for a while.

Jane - Started fire, but kina old

There you go. I hoped you enjoyed my observations. Proper responses to this post will be:

Does anyone care about Survivor anyone?

What is this, 2001?

Lame post Big Dunc. Give it up.

Thank You

Original Star Wars Trilogy

2010-09-14T11:30:00.005-05:00

So, time for another movie post, this time focusing on the Star Wars Trilogy. Last time I did Indiana Jones, but I consider myself much more of an expert on Star Wars. Again, it will mostly be just random lists that I compile.

My favorites films:
1. Star Wars A New Hope
2. Empire Strikes Back - I feel Empire is a better film, but I like A New Hope better. I watched it countless times and remember each little detail. I like how it is the beginning of so much

4. Return of the Jedi - such a large drop from the first two, it doesn't even deserve spot 3.

Hottest Women in the Galaxy: (not much to choose from)

1. Leia

2. Mon Mothma - Scoring a victory for women's lib movements and feminists everywhere.

3. Aunt Beru - Long years in the Tatooine suns were not good on her.

4. Sy Snootles - very leggy

Most Instrumental Minorities: (Again, not much to choose from)

1. Lando

2. Darth Vader's Voice

3. Return of the Jedi pilot "She's gonna blow!" ( a young Karl Malone) 4:19 of Battle of Endor clip below

It's interesting how deliberately Star Trek embraces multiculturalness, where Star Wars did not. In the books you get the explanation that the Emperor was very xenophobic and sexist and I guess you have the multi-species aspect instead of multi-race. But an interesting observation.

Best Supporting Characters:

1. Wedge - The quintessential soldier, the only minor character to make all 3 movies, a veteran of Yavin, Hoth, and Endor, instrumental to taking down 2 Death Stars. He saved Luke in the first Death Star run, was the first to bring down an AT-AT with a tow cable, and shot down the power regulator allowing Lando to fire the final blow on the second Death Star.

He is one of the those cinema oddities who was onscreen for probably a total of one minute, having only about 10 lines, but having a small, but vital role in the biggest movie series ever, is loved by all. Can anyone think of a similar character in movies or TV?

2. Grand Moff Tarkin - Played exquisitely by Peter Cushing. He really epitomizes the Empire.

3. Admiral Ackbar - Yes! "It's a trap!" Love the Ole Miss ESPN thing

4. Emperor - a minor character in the original trilogy, taking a large role in the prequels and was one of the most interesting characters in Jedi.

5. Lobot - I'm not totally sure of this guy's deal. Human contacted to the main computer of Cloud City. Not sure if he can talk, but either way, I like his style.

6. Nien Nunb - Just watch the Battle of Endor video and tell me this guy ain't the shit.

7. Greedo

8. Boba Fett - a bit over rated, but cool. I actually like IG-88 and Dengar better, but they really were only in the movie for a second.

9. Admiral Piett - Showed the the Imperial Military wasn't just incompetence.

10. Bib Fortuna

11. Wicket - not a huge fan of the Ewoks, but Wicket was ok.

12. Biggs - nice 'stache

Action Sequences:

1. Battle of Yavin - A New Hope - Nothing really compares to the original Death Star run.

2. Asteroid Field - Empire - Great scene escaping from Vader, negotiating through the asteroid field, Han and Leia's first kiss, then the giant Worm creature.

3. Battle of Endor -Jedi- Talking about the space battle only here. It's interesting that the end of Jedi juxtaposed the space battle, the battle on Endor with the Ewoks, and Luke vs. Vader and the Emperor, and I feel it was the one without any of the main characters that was actually the most interesting and exciting. Check out the Battle of Endor here uncut, not interlaced with the other scenes.

4. Hoth - Empire -I love this scene, but it doesn't totally make sense. AT-ATs? Robot dinosaurs? It provides cool visuals, but the scene is not crafted as well as the space scenes.

5. Luke/Vader - Empire - Pretty cool fight scene on Cloud City. Some nice elements, but it was the revelation, not the fighting that makes this scene most memorable.

6. Escaping the Death Star - New Hope - A lot going on here, stormtrooper oufits, Ben dying, shooting a few TIE fighters, nice.

7. Speeder Bikes - Jedi

8. Luke/Vader/Emperor -Jedi - Really disappointing as an action scene. The psychological stuff is the best part.

9. Endor/Ewoks - Some pretty cool stuff, but kind of cartoonish.

10. Jabba's Barge - Jedi - The Return of the Jedi was really all action scenes rather crudely put together. I loved it as a kid. Sarlaac, wild aliens, lightsaber tricks, but not at all instrumental to the plot.

Other Best Scenes:

1. Rescuing Leia/Trash Compactor - A New Hope -Pretty much flawless. So many good lines, so many great moments. Starting with Han on the Comm to finally getting the mashers stopped - amazing.

2. The Message - A New Hope - Finally hearing the message from Leia to Obi-Wan was amazing. It was so intriguing and so dense. You don't totally know what is going on, but you definitely want to hear more. The start of something big.

3. Dagobah - Empire - This might be cheating as it was actually several scenes, but Luke and Yoda were great. From the amusing first meeting to the hurried parting. Plus you have Luke vs. Vader/Luke in the cave.

4. The Force - New Hope - This is pretty much just a knowledge building scene, but works incredibly well. We learn about Obi-Wan, Luke's Father, and the Force. Again, drawing the viewer in for more.

5. Death Star Plan - New Hope - Nothing too crazy here, just the planning session for taking down the Death Star. Totally gives the insurmountable odds of the situation. Womp rats.

6. Cantina - New Hope -Great Music, amazing aliens, Han, Chewy, this really is the first introduction to the amazing complexity of the Star Wars Universe.

7. Emperor/Luke/Blue shit - Jedi - This is the culmination of the Luke vs. Vader/Emperor battle. The Emperor is just bombarding Luke with his blue force laser shit. He is going to kill him, and then...Vader picks up the Emperor and shoots him down the power shaft. Damn.

Best Inconsequential Lines:

"But I was going to the Tosche Station to pick up some power converters."

"Uncle Owen, this R2 unit's got a bad motivator."

"Stay on Target, Stay on Target!"

"He doesn't like you. I don't like you either. We're wanted men. I have a death sentence on twelves systems!

"Who's Scruffy lookin'?"

"And I thought they smelled bad...on the outside"

"Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?"

"Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level. (high pitched) Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!"

"Bounty Hunters. We don't need their scum."

"Look at the size of that thing"

"May, what an amazing smell you've discovered."

"Intensify forward fire power!"

There you go. The greatness of Star Wars in blog form.

Indiana Jones Trilogy

2010-09-08T11:37:00.006-05:00

Unemployment has its perks. Last week I watched the 3 original Indiana Jones movies in two days. Nice. It got me thinking about a few things - how much the new one sucked, how long its been since I've seen Temple of Doom, and how the Indiana Jones trilogy had many scenes that scared me as a child. But before I get into that, here are a few more Indiana Jones observations.

Films in order of greatness:

1. The Last Crusade - Sean Connery puts this one on top, but just barely.

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark

3. Temple of Doom - can't really compare some lost Indian stones against the Holy Grail and Ark of the Covenant

Leading Women in order of Attractiveness:

1. Dr. Elsa Schneider - Alison Doody - Last Crusade

2. Willie Scott - Kate Capshaw - Temple of Doom

3. Marion Ravenwood - Karen Allen - Raiders of the Lost Ark

Leading Female Characters in order of likability:

1. Marion - She out drank a large Nepalese man, tried to get the French guy drunk to escape,
and did the damn thing with Indy in the snake room. I like her style.

2. Willie Scott - She was often times annoying, but came through a few times in the end. She was a good damsel in distress. The scene with her and Indy in opposite rooms waiting each other out was pretty great.

3. Elsa - Well, you have the fact that she was a traitor for the Nazis, but she also sucked as character. She really did very little in the film and just provided all the female stereotypes.

Best Supporting Characters:

1. Short Round

2. Major Toht - Super awkward and sketchy

3. General Vogel - just for this one scene - works in any language

4. Sallah - Made it alive through two movies

5. Marcus Brody - Lost in his own museum
6. Young Indy - River Phoenix

7. Grail Knight

Best Action Sequences:

1. Leaving the German Castle - Motor Cycle and sidecar - Crusade

2. Airplane and huge German pilot scene in Raiders

3. Bar in Marakesh - Raiders

4. Airplane scene - Crusade

5. Escape from Grail Protectors - Crusade
6. Retrieving Marcus and Henry Jones - Tank scene - Crusade, a bit too long

7. Chasing down the Ark - Raiders

8. Mine scene - Temple - including large guard, voodoo doll, and mining cart

9. Young Indy - Crusade, a bit cartoonish with the snake and the circus animals and the "origin" of his whip and hat

Other Best Scenes:

1. Opening Scene - Raiders - iconic

2. Library/Crypt Scene - Crusade - intensive buildup, really draws you in. You cannot stop watching.

3. 5 minutes scene - Temple - Indy and Willie waiting each other out, turns into Indy finding the secret mine.

4. Shot Contest - Raiders

5. Austrian Castle - Crusade - Tapestries, Fake Ming China, Saying Goodbye, Fire - all great scenes with Connery and Ford

6. Dinner Scene - Temple - "Chilled Monkey Brains"

7. Opening Scene - Temple - Wild

8. Indy and Hitler - Crusade

9. Professor Jones - Raiders and Crusade - Pretty Hilarious both times

2010-08-30T18:17:00.002-05:00

We are now 2/3 of the way through the year. I thought it would be a good time to check out the 2010 predictions I made at the beginning of the year. It will give me motivation for the last 1/3 of the year, and, I'm really blocking on quality writing ideas.

In the year 2010.....
-the Milwaukee Brewers will make the playoffs (starting out bold) Gosh I am stupid. If this prediction makes you stop reading, I totally understand.
- the Lost finale with disappoint (staying bold) Hmm, I think I am correct here. The last episode wasn't bad, actually pretty entertaining, but the last season was weak. And the last 10 minutes kind of lame.
- Brandon Jennings will not be Rookie of the Year I got one right.
- Everton will not win any trophies Yes, some bold predictions.
- Wisconsin Badgers basketball will win either the Big 10 regular season or Big 10 tournament Arggh, I thought this one would be on the mark. I think they ended a game out.
- Wisconsin Football will make a BSC Bowl When Wisconsin has expectations, they seem to fall well short. When they don't, they usually do well.
- The Republican Party will gain lots of seats in the House but only 2 seats in the Senate We'll see
- The Olympics will be somewhat interesting Hockey was fun.
- Tron, Robin Hood, Priest, and Toy Story 3 will be tight I really don't know why picked this films. I haven't seen any of them.
- The A-Team, The Karate Kid, and Little Fockers will suck probably correct
- I will begin writing the Great American Graphic Novel In they year 2011....
- I will go on a date Shit, I still got 4 months left, right?
- I will get a real job or get into a great masters program Damnit! The latter will not happen. Better get myself in gear.
- I will get into great shape Wow, wrong again. Nostradamus I am not.
- I will be on Survivor Ok, they're not taking applications, but I should send one in anyways. Let's put that one on 2011 docket as well.
- The US will make the Quarterfinals of the World Cup Should have
- Three celebrities that might die - Lil Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Winona Ryder Hey, we still got 4 months left. Get off my back!
- chances of me leaving Milwaukee 45% Still here, but chances of living are rising
- purple will be the hot fashion color told you
- Alicia Keys will still be super hot indeed

EPL Fantasy Draft Review

2010-08-19T22:52:00.006-05:00

Time for another fantasy English Premier League fantasy season. This is the fourth year my friends and I are running our own league. This year we are up to 12 teams, one more than last year, with a few dropping out and a few new additions, or promotions and relegations as we like to call them. We do our own league because there is not a draft based EPL fantasy league out there. Everything is based on salary cap. We do a draft. That makes it more fun, more entertaining, more cut throat, and more fragile. Every pick counts. The scoring is pretty simple with goals, assists, clean sheets, and team of the week getting points, and red cards own goals, and goals against getting negative points.

What sets the EPL fantasy draft apart from other fantasy leagues is the high level of uncertainty. Players are constantly moving between European Leagues. It’s possible that one of your top picks could not be in the Premier League in a few weeks time. Just imagine if you drafted Greg Jennings and he only played one game with the Packers before moving to the CFL. There is also a high amount of uncertainty among starting lineups. There are only a few defenders for the top teams that you can be sure will start every game. And unlike the NBA and NFL, for the most part, you do not want players from bad teams. Because scoring is so scarce and bad teams give up lots of goals, there are not players like Stephen Curry or Andre Johnson out there.
Ok, let’s get to the draft.

Round 1

1. Wayne Rooney – Striker – Man United – I had the privilege of drawing the number one pick. I was deciding between Rooney and Drogba, but went with Rooney because I feel even in a down season, he’ll still score 15 goals. Drogba could get 35, but he could also get 7. Rooney was the safer pick.
2. Cesc Fabregas – Midfielder – Arsenal - This manager is a super Arsenal fan and refuses to take players from Tottenham, Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, or Man City. Obviously, he is handcuffed, but Fabregas is definitely a top 5 pick. Speculation of a move to Barcelona has ended, so he should perform this season.
3. Didier Drogba – Striker – Chelsea - Definitely the right pick here. His hat trick in the opening weekend has already proven that.
4. Frank Lampard – Mid – Chelsea- Due to being his fantasy team captain last season, Lampard was the league’s leading point getter. He has performed at a very high level all four years of this league, and there is no reason he should stop now.
5. Steven Gerrard – Mid – Liverpool – Gerrard was last year’s #1 pick, but injuries kept him from reclaiming that honor again. He will get points and will probably be in the fantasy team of the year. The only question mark is how Liverpool will play this season.
6. Robin Van Persie – Striker – Arsenal – Van Persie is one of the best goal scorers, when he plays. He seems to be injured a lot, so this pick has a bit of a risk.
7. Carlos Tevez – Last year’s third leading scorer after Drogba and Rooney, there was a little uncertainty if Tevez would stay at Man City, but now, he seems the only City striker who will get the start virtually every week.
8. Fernando Torres – Striker – Liverpool – Injuries are a concern, but Torres is dynamic when he plays.
9. Nicolas Anelka – Striker – Liverpool – I’d say the top 8 picks are pretty cut and dry – all are clearly in the top 10 and would only move up or down a few picks, but after that 8, things are a bit less transparent. There are a lot of good players, but as you’ll see by the next picks, not of the caliber of the first 8. I see Anelka as a player on the way down, so I would not like him at #9.
10. Andrei Arshavin – Mid – Arsenal – Probably the midfielder with the best upside remaining in the draft, but tailed off last year after an amazing first 4 months in the league.
11. John Terry – Defender – Chelsea – Probably not the player you foresee taking with your first pick, but pretty safe as the Champions will get lots of clean sheets and Terry will start every game despite his World Cup woes.
12. Antonio Valencia – Mid – Man U – This is probably the first pick I truly question. Valencia is a great player, but not a huge goal scorer. I think better midfielders were available.

Round 2
13. Petr Cech – Goalkeeper – Chelsea - Getting the best goalkeeper available is a good move, not sure if he is 13th pick worthy, maybe a bit safer than the last pick.
14. David Silva – Mid – Man City – A big risk here. City has loads of midfielders and Silva is unproven in the EPL, but it could be a stroke of genius before the end of the season.
15. Patrice Evra – Def – Man U – Of the big four, Man U and Chelsea are your surest bets for cleansheets. And on those two teams, there are probably only 4 defenders you can be certain will start every week. Evra is one of those.
16. Florent Malouda – Mid – Chelsea – For my opinion, better than Valencia and Silva. He seems to score goals every season and still be underrated.
17. Glen Johnson – Def – Liverpool – A great attacking defender. He will chip in some goals and assists, but will Liverpool’s defense consistently produce the clean sheets like years past?
18. Darren Bent – Striker – Sunderland – Streaky striker. I like the pick, but I’m not sure if he can match last year’s form, especially at Sunderland, especially without his strike partner Kenwyne Jones.
19. Joe Cole – Mid – Liverpool – A bit high at 19. I don’t recall Joe Call having a strong fantasy season in the four years of this league. Too many injuries. Maybe the new club will help.
20.Thomas Vermaelen – Def – Arsenal – Surprised to see Vermaelen, last year’s top scoring defender fall this far. He scores goals. He defends very well. Arsene Wenger has an eye for talent. Maybe people are not convinced about Arsenal.
21. Pepa Reina – Goalie – Liverpool – Not much about this pick, right place I guess.
22. Aaron Lennon – Mid – Tottenham – Has the potential to be one of the best fantasy midfielders in the league. Seems a little high, but maybe not at the rate midfielders are going.
23. Marouane Chamakh – Striker – Arsenal – I think Chamakh will be a very important player for Arsenal. Look for him to pair well with Van Persie, but I’m not sure that necessarily means fantasy success.
24. Ashley Cole – Def – Chelsea – I was thrilled to get Ashley Cole with the 24th pick. I see him as a scoring, assisting, cleansheet producing defender, definitely a first round talent.

Alright, I won’t bore you with all 17 rounds. Instead, check out my stellar team.
1. (1.) Rooney
2. (24.) Ashley Cole
3. (25.) Edwin Van der Sar – Goalie’s were going fast, and I think Van der Sar was the best bet only the board, especially already having a first choice striker.
4. (48.) Rio Ferdinand – Injury problems and getting old, but I still consider it a steal at 48.
5. (49.) Theo Walcott – Attacking midfielders on good teams are always a good bet. Walcott did not really perform last year, but I’m looking for him to find his best form this year.
6. (72.) John Carew – Good value for your second striker
7. Phil Jagielka – Strong defender, now playing for England. Everton should be good value in round 7.
8. (96.) Niko Kranjcar – With only one midfielder, needed proven goalscoring. Not flashy and not certain to start, but I’ll stand by it.
9. Johann Djourou – Def – Arsenal – If this guy starts even just half the games, this is a steal, but with injury issues, it might be a waste.
10. (120.) Stephen Ireland
11. Shaun Wright-Philips – This was a tandem pick here. I figured one would stay at City and fight for a spot and the other would go to Villa and take the place of Milner. Good picks. Best case scenario, both leave City
12. (144.) Sylvain Distin – Its possible Distin will be on the bench, but I again see Heitinga playing a number of different positions and Jagielka and Distin teaming up in the middle with Yobo the odd man out.
13. Joe Hart – This was kind of a defensive pick here. I know that a few people still had not picked a goalie and I know Hart had a chance of starting at City. If he didn’t he could go to Arsenal, Sunderland, or Fulham, which are not bad alternatives. I won this round.
14. Robert Huth – Stoke defender
15. Steven Nzonzi – a bit of a reach for the young Blackburn midfielder. I saw him score a tight goal against Everton, so I see a bright future.
16. Mesut Ozil – Not really a gamble, no down side, but no upside in the end. Real Madrid?
17. David Moyes – This year we are experimenting with taking managers. I don’t think it will have much effect, but either way, got to go with Everton.

I like me team. This is the most confident I’ve felt after a draft. Late round pieces like Hart and Ireland will make those early round picks even better. I could be derailed by injuries and poor form by Rooney. Other than that, I’m feeling good.

Here are some other draft hits:
Mikel Arteta – 5th pick in the 4th round – 6 goals and 2 assists in 13 EPL games last season
Maruone Fellaini – Another Everton player returning from injury, good value in the late 8th round
Milan Jovanovic – Attacking midfielder on a good team in the 9th round – steal
Johnny Evans – Another 9th round steal, will start a lot for Vidic and Ferdinand
Stephen Pienaar – Ok, I rate Everton players, but you can’t complain with Pienaar in the 10th round
Ryan Shawcross – Stoke defender in the 14th round, scored some nice goals last year and broke someone’s leg
Scott Parker – Good midfielding option in the 15th round
Luke Young – 16th round – should get some starts with Villa’s injury problems
Verdun Corluka – 11th round, nice

Some not so clever picks:
Yossi Beneyoun – Too high in the 5th round. Won’t start. Other players drafted around him much more valuable – Milner, Modric, Cuellar, Dunne, Downing, Saha
Zhirkov- 5th round. Ouch! Manager thought he was classified as a defender. Not a good pick either way.
Maxi Rodriguez – 8th round. 19th appearances with Liverpool. 1 goal.
Jonas Gutierrez – 8th round. Interesting choice.
Daniel Sturridge – 9th round. Probably would have been available in the 19th round
Charles N’Zogbia – 6th round, high even if he does stay in England

Teams – I think Rory did well for a newcomer. Usually there is a tough learning curve for new players. With picks like Evra in the 2nd, Berbatov in the 4th and Downing in the 5th, he seems to know what he is doing.
I expect the veterans Worth and Dustin to again challenge at the top, maybe more due to their transfer prowess than their drafts. For Dustin, I don’t expect Dunne and Gomes to have as good a season as last.
BJ – too reliant on Arsenal. Big surprise.
Junkie – a strong start with Gerrard, Vermaelen, Vidic, and Milner. Not sure if his depth will hold up.
Andy – a mixed bag, no big four defenders will give him inconsistent weeks.
Jerry – newcomer showed his naivety with some picks, but Drogba should help out.
Carlo – If Adebayor and Boateng play well for City, he has a chance to challenge for midtable, if not, he’ll be wishing Jesse were still in the league.
Serg – wishing Jesse were still in the league. Good thing he transferred for Balotelli
Raubert – Similar to Junkie, strong beginning to draft, may have what it takes to challenge the leaders
Bryan – I predict another season of languishing in the bottom half of the table.

A few random notes:
BJ has 7 Arsenal players
By the end of the week, Serg probably will have drafted 3 players who are not in the league
11 of Serg’s players have Italian managers
Bryan love Cahill’s, having both Tim and Gary, I believe Trevor is open for the Oakland A’s
Carlo has Paulo Ferreira and Pablo Barrera

Gomes, undrafted last season, 4th round this season

Bridge 7th round last year, 16th round this year
Robinho 1st round last year, 14th round this year

There you go, mostly random thoughts. Thanks for putting up with my over confidence and ribbing. I will own this league.

English Premier League Preview

2010-08-13T10:16:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is the start of another English Premier League Season. Exciting. I now know what I will be doing most Saturday mornings. This year due to the World Cup, we did not have much of an off season, but I am excited nevertheless. Last year my picks were pretty good, picking Chelsea to win, Tottenham and Man City to challenge for a Champion's League spot (but I predicted it at the expense of Arsenal, not Liverpool), and picking two of the three relegated teams.
Here are my predictions for an exciting season.

I believe things at the top are the most exciting they have been in years. In years past you really only had two or three times that could legitimately challenge for the title. This year, I think there are 5 - Chelsea, Man U, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool. And then you have the second tier of teams that could finish in the top 4 and will consistently challenge the big boys - Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa.
After that top 8, though, there is a large drop off.
You have your comfortable midtable teams - Fulham, Stoke, Birmingham
And them pretty much everyone else is in the relegation battle.

1. Manchester United - I'm really sure why, but I'm not feeling like Chelsea will win it again. Terry is getting old. Lampard cannot repeat his performance of last season. Man United hasn't really added too much, but they always seem to be having lots of young players coming up at all times. Look for Berbatov to finally tally some goals in Man U shirt. I think it comes down to depth, though. Man U has much more than Chelsea. Look at defense - Vidic, Evra, Ferdinand, Evans, Smailling, Raphael, Fabio, Wes Brown, Gary Neville. These are all competent defenders. And the midfield is much of the same.

Player to Watch - Chicharito

2. Chelsea - Took take the title again. Drogba coming back from injury, Anelka getting old, Terry getting old. Chelsea will need a few more additions to fully stake the claim as favorites.

Player to Watch - Solomon Kalou - I'm thinking Drogba or Anelka get injured.

3. Arsenal - One of the few top teams to really better themselves in the offseason. Van Persie will be mostly healthy to start the season. Chamakh provides a reliable 2nd striker. Fabregas did not leave. Gallas, Campbell, and Silveste left. There is a little uncertainty in the central defense, and a lack of a true defensive midfielder, but look to Arsenal to play their normal brand of exciting football - scoring lots, losing the occasional game to a bad team, losing to the best teams, playing well in Europe.

Player to Watch - Nasri - I'm feeling a breakout season for the Frenchman Nasri.

4. Manchester City - Lots of money, lots of players. A few more additions in the weeks to come. Uncertainty among who will actually play, they have so many players. It's kind of ridiculous. Two great keepers, loads of midfielders, strikers for days. I see talent only getting them so far. They will not gel until the end of the season.

Player to watch -Adam Johnson, one of the few unproven players at City.

5. Everton - Might be a bit of a homer pick here, but Everton has their strongest side in years. They have depth and competition for places. Look for breakout seasons for Jagielka and Arteta. Hopefully Everton can consistently beat the lower level competition and keep up the high level of play against the top teams. The lack of European football will actually help them. Look for a FA Cup or Carling Cup final as well as a strong league finish.

Player to Watch - Jack Rodwell - future England star.

6. Liverpool - They have the quality and are bringing in good players, but I don't think their defense is where it was a few years ago. Torres has had lots of injury problems. Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic are good additions, but I think Liverpool are on the way down.

Player to Watch - Jovanovic - Young attacking talent, scored against Germany in the World Cup

7. Tottenham - Champions League will have an adverse effect on Tottenham. They'll be a bit stretched and will not be able to recreate the form of last year. They are a quality team, but not top 4 material.

Player to Watch - Michael Dawson - young(ish) defender, played great last year. Look for him to get better and be the only real rock on that defense.

8. Aston Villa - Loss of coach a week before the season. Their best player will soon be leaving. Things are going downhill fast for Villa. Lucky for them the teams below them are not really strong.

Player to Watch - Stuart Downing - Was a great young English player, but missed much of last season with an injury. He will have to step up with the impending loss of Milner.

9. Fulham - Nothing really excites me about Fulham. Last year the made it to the UEFA Cup final. Wild. I don't think they have a strong enough midfield to really challenge the big boys.

Player to Watch - Andy Johnson - Missed much of last season with injury. Can he return to his Crystal Palace/early Everton form? If so, Zamora and Johnson will be a dangerous combination.

10. Stoke City - Stoke are one of the few teams on the rise. The addition of Kenwyne Jones definitely signals this. Stoke know the brand of football they play, and in England, in the current EPL, it really works (at least against the bottom half of the table.)

Player to Watch: K. Jones

11. Blackburn - Much like Stoke, Blackburn play hard, physical football. Blackburn lack the quality strikers that Stoke have, but hard nosed midfield and defense will have them be a clear mid table team.

Player to Watch - Steven Nzonzi - Young midfield prospect, scored a cracking goal against Everton, so that's how I know him.

12. West Ham - Not too much to get excited for in Avrem Grant's West Ham. Charlton Cole is a quality striker and Scott Parker runs things well in the midfield. Defensive and consistent scoring are suspect.

Player to Watch: Barera

13. Bolton - Another industrious, physical, unimpressive on paper side. Kevin Davies epitomizes this team. They often times give teams like Liverpool and Arsenal problems, yet lose to Hull the next week.

Player to Watch - Matt Taylor - flair for great goals

14. Birmingham - I don't see Birmingham following up on their success from last year. They just don't have enough quality players and some of their best performers from last season are getting old.

Player to watch: Cameron Jerome

15. Newcastle - Back in the top league. I think they will struggle, but ultimately be safe. They want to be a big club again, but that will have to wait a few years while the maintain secure Premier League footing. Oh, and their players don't have the look of a big club, except the Big Sol Campbell.

Player to Watch - Andy Carroll - Exciting young striker, great in the air. Switching from number 39 to 9, though.

16. Sunderland - Some people are tauting Sunderland to challenge for the top 10. I see them barely avoiding relegation. They do have Darren Bent and young talent like Cattermole and Frazier Campbell, but their defense does not measure up and look for their offense, much like their striker Bent, to be dreadfully inconsistent.

Player to Watch: Frazier Campbell - will get lots of chances with Jones moving on.

17. West Brom - West Brom is the ultimate "yo-yo" club, but I think their EPL experience will help them hang on for another year.

Player to watch: Chris Brunt

18. Wigan - I have picked Wigan to go down for about 4 straight years now. I feel this will finally be the year. Rodallega cannot possible have a year like last year and their best midfielder N'Zogbia will be leaving.

Player to Watch: Alcarez

19. Wolves - Lots of bad teams around the league this year.

20. Blackpool - They have about 17 total players.

Player to Watch: Charlie Adam.

There you go. Enjoy the start of the season.

Champions! or maybe not

2010-08-05T14:52:00.003-05:00

The World Cup and the potential for a strong USA run got me thinking about the likelihood that teams I support win a championship. I've chronicled in my Wisconsin Sports Woes entry about the torture that we often endure being a Wisconsin sports fan. In my life time, we've had a grand total of one true championship. I'm not counting division or conference or bowl wins here, I'm talking about a bonafide World or National Championship.
My thinking got me a bit sad, as the likelihood of an oncoming plethora of championships looks pretty bleak. Anyways, I've decided to take a closer look at my teams prospects of winning a championship.

1. Packers - The Packers are obviously number one, the far frontrunner of most likely to win a championship in my lifetime. They could win next year. They could win 3 times in the next five years. They have a great QB, an awesome receiving corps, and a strong young (for the most part) defense. But, even with greats like Favre and White, the Pack only won 1 Superbowl. The playoffs are tough, and the best team does not always end up champion.
Last Championship: 1997
Odds of winning a Championship in my lifetime: 97%

2. Bucks - I don't want you thinking I am on the Bucks bandwagon here. I don't think they have a team that can really compete with the best right now. It's just that basketball in many ways is a fickle game. Things change greatly from year to year. You only have 5 players on the court at a time. A few strong draft picks can totally change your fortunes. Look at the Spurs. They are a similar market to Bucks. They don't have tons of money, but a few draft picks, a strong coach, and a couple great foreigners have totally turned their franchise around.
What might be going against the Bucks, though, is that in the NBA, you truly have to be the best team. No "hot now" or "peaking at the right time" team will win 4-straight 7-game series.
Last Championship: 1971
Odds of Winning a Championship in my lifetime: 8%

3. Wisconsin Football - This one might surprise people. Winning a college football National Championship is hard, but I think the Badgers have all the right ingredients, and in the perfect storm, they could win it all. What are these ingredients you ask? A relatively strong program, killer home field advantage, play in a strong BCS conference, play an increasingly unique brand of football. Call me crazy, but I think they can do it. If the Badgers, as a Big 10 team go undefeated, there is no way the BCS can keep them out of the national championship game. They could do this if they build a strong team and play the right teams at Camp Randall. Get to the National Championship game, and they play a brand of football that the likes of Florida and Texas and teams like that are not used to playing. Just look at the Miami game last year. Again, maybe I am dreaming, but in the right circumstances, I like it.
Last Championship: Never
Odds of Winning a Championship in my lifetime: 3%

4. US Soccer - Team USA is what got my thinking about this list. Most agree the US is getting better at soccer, with the great draw and a potential for a break out tournament, you start dreaming. The problem is, the World Cup is only every 4 years. If it was every year, the US would be ahead of the Badgers and the Bucks, but the World Cup is tough. Spain, who were the favorites going in had to beat Chile, Paraguay, Portugal, Germany, and the Netherlands. Tough stuff. The USA will continue to improve, but will that be enough to be genuine contenders?
Last Championship: Never
Odds of Winning a Championship in my Lifetime: 2%

5. Wisconsin Basketball - The Badgers are a great program, but I don't think they are good enough to win it all. Bo Ryan is a great regular season coach, developing players, getting the most out of his team, but they are just not good enough in the post-season. Their flaws show clearly. With their style of play, they will always be good or very good, but never great. In college basketball, you need freak athletes. You need blue-chippers. Wisconsin just does not get them.
Last Championship: 1941
Odds of Winning a Championship in my lifetime: 1%

6. Everton - For Everton, I only consider the Premier League Title or Champions League title a true championship. The League Cup or FA Cup, though greatly desired, does not really count in these terms. Everton are a good team, but everything in football is currently going against them. There is more money, more foreign investment, more foreign players and Everton cannot compete. The can field a strong side, but the best players will leave to get more money and more opportunities. Since 1995, only 3 teams have won the Premier League. That is a pretty wild stat. To compete Everton need a new stadium and new investors, but even that, does not guarantee success.
Last Championship: 1987
Odds of Winning in my lifetime: Less that 1%

7. Brewers - Baseball. It's unfair. A few teams prey on the rest. Remember when we waited 26 years to make the playoffs and then lost in the first round? We were so thrilled just to make it there. Yes, then did nothing the next two years, and much of the success the playoff year was due to a free agent here half the year. Do you think the Rays won't begin shipping off players after this year? If you don't, you are incorrect. Plus Milwaukee is no Tampa. Maybe I've just been jaded by years of disappointment, but I don't think the Brewers stand a chance.
Last Championship: Never
Odds of winning in my lifetime: much less than 1%

Maybe I have unrealistic expectations, but even these 2 or 3 championships in my lifetime will be much more fulfilling than being a Lakers or Yankees fan.

World Cup Awards/Wrap Up

2010-07-15T13:03:00.006-05:00

Time for my final World Cup post. Sad, but necessary. I've got a few awards and final observations.

Best Game - Ghana/Uruguay - Yes, had to go with this one. You have the stuff you can't make up with the Suarez handball, the Gyan miss, the Gyan make, the Abreu chip for the win, but the rest of the game was high quality too. The second half and overtime were great eb and flow stuff.
The fact that this is the game of the tournament might shed light on the fact that though the tournament had parity, and many close games, there wasn't really many truly great, memorable games.

Runners-up: US/Slovenia - The Algeria game had the moment and anticipation, but as an overall game, US/Slovenia one was much better, better play and entertainment. 2-0 to 2-2, the disallowed goal, and Slovenia unlike Algeria, played pretty well at the end.

South Korea/Nigeria - Most probably forgot about this game, but it was edge of the seat stuff for me. 1-0 Nigeria, 2-1 South Korea, the Yakubu miss, 2-2, then chances at the end to win it. Plus you have the drama of flipping back to the other game, and in the end knowing that all Nigeria needed to do was score to go through to the next round.

Best Moment - Donovan Goal vs Algeria - It's hard to think of a moment that could top this one in any other sport. For 90 minutes the anticipation and anxiousness is growing and growing and just when you think it's over....GOAL!!!!

Best Fan:
Goodness

There were stories about the Dutch porn star who was going to blow all her twitter followers if Holland won and the Paraguay lingerie model that would run through the streets naked if Paraguay become champions, but I'm pretty sure neither has anything on this Australia fan.
Damn.

Runner up: Bill Clinton

Most fun team to watch - Germany - I definitely want to rewatch Germany against Australia, England, Argentina, and Uruguay. Fun young team and it isn't just about their counter attack ability. They are great in possession as well.

Tightest Jerseys (Physically tight, not tight meaning cool or fly) - Llorente (Spain) and France team. Adidas makes tight jerseys. I think Llorente's is painted on. It actually ripped from him just running. And France, well, at least they have one award.

Biggest Surprise - For me it has to be Japan. I had them getting zero points. Not only did they win two matches and make it to the next round, but they played well and made it through on skill not luck.

Last words: Lots of commentators are saying that this wasn't a very good World Cup. They complain about the lack of scoring, the lack of great games, the vuvuzelas and the ball, but I disagree. This is by far the most I have invested in a World Cup. I probably only missed about 5 games and saw a little more than half in their entirety.
I loved it - the passion, the skill, the different styles of play, the shear number of games, the ups and downs and surprises. My only complaint is I now have to wait 4 years for another one.
But all in all, to me, it was a great World Cup. I'll remember the awesome US games and people at home actually caring, the great German team, the African disappointment on the field, Spain's mastery, and much more.
South Africa 2010!

Big Dunc's World Cup XI

2010-07-14T11:31:00.004-05:00

I'm still in denial about the World Cup being over, so I will continue to pound you with World Cup posts. It's now time to look back on the exciting (sometimes) 5 weeks with Big Dunc's World Cup XI

Goalkeeper:
Iker Casillas (Spain) - Picking a best goalie was difficult. This World Cup was marked by a lot of goalkeeping errors. Casillas and Neuer for Germany were probably the only ones that didn't make obvious mistakes and Casillas saved a penalty and saved the Robben one-on-one to win the Cup for Spain

Honorable Mention: Howard - tough to blame Ghana's first goal on him despite positioning that could've been better, amazing otherwise, Steklenberger (NED) - mistake vs Forlan, but great tournament otherwise, Vincent Enyeama (NIG) - lots of spectacular saves in his three games, but one glaring mistake against Greece.

Defense:
Carlos Puyol (Spain) - The World Cup is a short selection of games. Many say Pique was better than Puyol, but Puyol made the huge play against Germany, the one people will remember.
Per Mertesaker (Germany) - Mertesaker was brilliant against Spain. Seriously check out the game and see how many times he intervened in dangerous situations. Great against England and Argentina as well.
Gio Van Bronckhorst - Goal of the tournament? If not, then pretty close. Held it down for the runner-up, but people will remember the goal.

Honorable Mention - Lugano (Uruguay), Pique (Spain), Ramos (Spain)

Midfield:
Thomas Muller (Germany) - Golden Ball winner and Young Player of the Tournament
Xavi (Spain) - Pulling all the strings for the Champion
Iniesta (Spain) - Great tournament, but it was the winning goal in the final that secured his place here
Wesley Sniejder (Netherlands) - Got some lucky goals, but it was his overall play that guided the Dutch to the final.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) - Ballack who? Schweinsteiger was the most instrumental player for the most enteraining team of the tournament. Check out the Argentina highlights if you don't believe me.

Honorable mention: Donovan (USA) - three goals and the driving force of team USA, Ozil (GER) - coming out party for Ozil, was amazing versus Australia, Ghana, England, and Argentina, but faded at the end

Strikers:
Diego Forlan (Uruguay) - Player of the tournament, did more for his team than probably any other player.
David Villa (Spain) - 5 goals, seemed to score them when Spain needed them most.

Honorable Mention: Asamoah Gyan (Ghana) - one penalty away from making the starting line-up, but his goal against the USA really showed America what we are missing, Luis Suarez (URU) - handball saved his team, but the goal against South Korea was pure class, Miroslav Klose - this guy just scores World Cup goals, the opener vs England was sublime, exactly what you want a center forward to do, too bad he missed the 3rd place game.

World Cup - Big Dunc's Players to Watch

2010-07-13T16:02:00.003-05:00

Time to check my predictions. I did not mention in my World Cup Final post that I indeed did pick Spain to win it all and I had 3 of the 4 quarter finalists correct. Not bad, but not great either.

Time now to check on my prophesy skills in my Big Dunc's Player to Watch. Before the Cup began I picked a player from (almost) each team as a player to watch. I tried not to pick the most obvious player, so my picks mostly ranged from young players who could have a break out World Cup to players who were most instrumental in their side's success or demise. Now that the tournament is done, I'm scrutinizing and praising my picks and breaking them down into "Revelations" , "on the money", "off the mark", and "just dead wrong" picks.

Revelations - these are players that very few people had previously heard of or players that people did not expect to make a mark on the World Cup.

Siphiwe Tshabalala - South Africa - This is probably my best pick, scored a cracking goal to start off the World Cup and played well in all three games for the host country. Gotta give myself props for that one.

Luis Suarez - Uruguay- 4 goals, great combination play with Forlan, oh and a handball to save his team.

Mesut Ozil - Germany - Ozil was a revelation for Germany, the man pulling the strings in the German midfield. He did fade out after the Argentina game, though, but still a rising star of this tournament.

Kalu Uche - Nigeria - The prototypical player to watch - missed a great chance against Argentina, then scored against Greece and South Korea

Shane Smeltz - New Zealand - Scored against Italy and help New Zealand be the only team in WC 2010 without a loss.

Justo Villar - Paraguay - Keeper made a mistake against Italy but was virtually flawless after that, shuting out Slovakia, New Zealand, Japan and saving a penalty vs Spain. I've seen him as honorable mention on many World Cup Best XI teams.

Milan Jovanovic - Serbia - Scored the winner against Germany and now signed a big deal with Liverpool.

Asamoah Gyan - I think we all know about this guy by now, but may not have before the Cup began.

On the Money - these picks were correct but less risky or not as influential on games

Spain - I didn't pick a player for Spain because they are all so good. I think they showed I was correct there.

Gervinho -Ivory Coast - For my money, sans Drogba, Gervinho was the best player out there for Ivory Coast. Look for more in the future from this guy.

Maicon - Brazil - Most people already knew about Maicon, but if they didn't, they took notice after his great goal.

Jong Tae-Se - Didn't score, but was North Korea's best player.

Martin Skrtel - Slovakia - Strongly led Slovakia to the next round.

Samir Handanovic - Slovenia - Could have done better on the Donovan goal, but strong overall, wears pants, now being linked to Arsenal.

Ji-Sung Park - South Korea - No brainer there

Georgie Welcome - Honduras - Not much to choose from for Honduras, still has a great name.

Off the Mark

Suazo - Chile - Injury held him back

Pepe - Portugal - also recovering from injury

Van Persie - Netherlands - I said Van Persie would be key for Dutch success. Not really the case.

Christian Poulsen - Denmark - Didn't really do too much

Pierre Webo - Cameroon - Looked good in flashes, but didn't contribute too much to a struggling team.

Gareth Barry - England - When I said that Barry played a large part in the level of success for England I was kind of correct. Barry played poorly and so did England.

Yebda - Algeria

Di Maria - Argentina - Played well, but really didn't make an impact on such an offensive team. Signed a big contract with Real Madrid.

Samaras - Greece

Vela - Mexico - Injured

Altidore - USA - The World Cup has led me to reevaluate Altidore. He is currently not good enough.

Just Dead Wrong

Gignac - France - I guess any France pick would be dead wrong, but Gignac barely played and was not one to watch when he was on the field. Anelka or the fitness coach would have been better choices.

Bresciano - Australia - Not sure if he did a thing.

Gilardino - Italy - Did he take a shot the entire tournament? Man

Alexander Frei - Switzerland - Injury led him to play on 63 minutes in the tournament.

Japan - I didn't pick a player for Japan and instead picked a character from the movie Battle Royale. I did not think Japan would even score a point. I was wrong. I hope the nation of Japan accepts my apology.

Well, looks like I was about 50/50 with my predictions. Not bad I say.

World Cup Final

2010-07-13T11:37:00.003-05:00

The World Cup is over. I am sad. What will I now blog about?
Well, I think I can still squeeze out 2 or 3 World Cup posts.

World Cup Final

In a game that lacked the flow and creativity and disappointed on many counts, at least the better team won. Spain deserved the victory and are now deserving World Cup Champions.
The game itself was not great, but this is expected as the final game. Really no World Cup final has been a truly exciting game since 1986. This one wasn't horrible, with both teams having genuine chances, but it wasn't really fun either. Yellow cards were everywhere.

Neither team really pushed forward as much as they have in past games. There is little you can really point to as key strategic moves or driving forces of the game. Kuyt and Sneidjer were pretty quite compared to previous games. Robben was the only real threat for Holland. They played defensively, but not as much as Portugal or Paraguay. Spain did there short passing thing, but were disrupted often by the Netherlands.
The introduction of Fabregas helped Spain some, but in the end, it was the red card that did the Dutch in. That central defensive pairing was gone and Holland had multiple chances to properly clear the ball before the goal. Great finish by Iniesta. He succeeded where Fabregas and Robben had failed and Spain are World Champions.

I feel for a 116th minute goal it was a bit anti-climactic. But, just like the NCAA tournament and the Champions League, the first rounds of the World Cup are often times far more interesting and entertaining than the last few games.
No real complaints. Make sure to check out the emotions in the pictures. Amazing. Thrill of victory, agony of defeat. The post goal one is best. Iniesta exstatic, Holland desimated. Love it.

Look for more World Cup Coverage to follow.

Semis Review, Finals Preview

2010-07-08T11:24:00.002-05:00

Uruguay/Netherlands - This was a fun game to watch. I thought Holland would take it a bit more easily. Again, the second half adjustments were huge. It's not that Van der Vart did so much, but the attacking style really help. I agree with the no offsides call. The late Uruguay goal made it interesting, but the deserving team is going to the final. Congrats to Uruguay for a greatly played tournament.

Spain/Germany - My pre-match analysis was pretty spot on for this one. Great football was played, but this would not be one that would awe the neutrals. Big soccer fans can see how great Spain plays, but they pass too much to be super entertaining. I do enjoy hard fought 1-0 games, but in actuality, neither team had loads of great chances. I wish Germany would have come out more aggressively. They wanted to counter attack, but needed a goal first to be as affective as they were vs. Argentina and England. Ozil has not looked as sharp these last few games, but Schweinsteiger has looked very impressive.

Final Preview

Spain/Netherlands - We will have a first time World Cup winner, that is cool.
I'm thinking this one will be more fun to watch than the Spain/Germany game. The Dutch will keep the two holding midfielders Van Bommel and De Jong in there to contain the amazing midfield of Spain, but are by natural a bit more aggressive than Germany, Paraguay, or Portugal.
I think the two important battles will be Villa against the Dutch central defenders. Mertesaker and Freidrich stayed very close together for Germany. They cut off many through balls and longer crosses. Holland will need to do the same against Spain. The lack of togetherness of the center D can definitely be blamed for the Brazil goal and maybe the first Uruguay one as well.
The other one will be Capdevila and Ramos against Kuyt and Robben. Will Spain's outside backs continue to push forward and exploit the wings or will the be more worried about the counter attack? This is an important question. With Van Persie being relatively ineffective, the best attacking play from the Dutch has come from the outsides. If Robben and Kuyt have to consistently mark Ramos and Capdevila, then they cannot support Van Persie and Sneidjer.
I think these matchups will tell the tale.

Prediction: 1-1 after 90 minutes, 2-1 Netherlands aet.

World Cup Catch-up

2010-07-06T10:43:00.003-05:00

Well, the long holiday weekend has thoroughly worn me out. Lots of soccer and lots of drinking has prevented me from updating my World Cup thoughts. This quick entry will contain reviews of the great quarter final games and previews of the semi finals.

Brazil/Netherlands - This was one that could have been the World Cup final. Brazil dominated the first half. It was crucial for the Dutch to remain only one down at half time. If they went in 2-0, it would have been pretty close to over, but a few nice saves and some luck allowed them to come out in the second half only down by one. The second half was completely different. The Dutch did not make any personnel changes, but they were much more attacking. The first goal was luck and the second came from a nice corner, but both were created through attacking football. They were deserving of the win.
Melo was super idiotic on the red card. What was he thinking?
Robben can only go to his left and that was evident from the start.
I thought Kuyt played a great match. He was everywhere setting up his teammates, making tackles, and clearing balls off the line. His energy is tremendous, as one of my friends said (referring to his similarities to Sloth from Goonies) "Man, Goonies is everywhere.

Uruguay/Ghana - Wow, the World Cup is great, amazing, awesome. I love it. You cannot write this shit. That has to be the most unreal ending to a game I have ever seen. Most people fail to mention that Suarez cleared the first attempt off the line with his leg before he handled the next one. You have to feel for Gyan, even though he sent out the US. All he had to do was make a PK to become the first African team to get through to the next round. Wow. And then the last penalty, pretty audacious.
The entire game was back and forth, Ghana would be in control for 10 minutes, then Uruguay for 15, then Ghana for 15, then Uruguay for 10. A great World Cup quarter final. Drama.

Germany/Argentina - Germany again got the early goal they needed. I think it was super important for the Germans to keep the Argentines from scoring in the last 15 minutes of the first half. That is when they looked their most dangerous. Germany kept Argentina out and then again made some great half-time changes to hold out for the counter attack. Germany definitely deserved this one.
I think the play of Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been vastly under rated. We've seen lots of keeper mistakes this tournament, but none by the German. He faced a lot of shots from outside and caught them all, leaving no chance for Argentina to get the rebound.
The loss of Thomas Muller will hurt Germany in the semis and it was a super soft yellow card.
I don't know what to say about Miroslav Klose. This dude was just meant to score goals in the World Cup. He is never flashy or even super impressive, but he gets it done.
It looked like Argentina was paying close attention to Ozil and that gave more freedom to Bastian Schweinsteiger. He stepped up and was the one pulling the strings for Germany.
Lots of weapons and play makers on that team.

Spain/Paraguay - First half was dull, but second half was great! Again, I can't remember a more unreal 5 minutes of play. 2 missed penalties, one after the made one was called back. Another that should have been called and a ball cleared off the line. Wow. This is the World Cup! I love it!
In the end, Spain scored and they deserved it, but Paraguay still had a chance through Santa Cruz, but he couldn't tie things up. Either way, it was a great end to a great quarterfinals.

Semifinals

Netherlands/Uruguay - I'm not as excited for this one as I was for most of the quarters. Look for a close, defensive game. I expect the skill players for Holland - Sneijder and Robben - to make the difference in this one. Holland haven't been too impressive, but that did beat Brazil, so they are the favorites in this one. Look for a 2-0 Dutch win. I'm thinking one in about the 40th minute and one in the 90th.

Germany/Spain - A rematch of the '08 European final. I'm not sure how this one will play out. Will Germany sit back and play for the counter as Portugal and Paraguay did? That would make sense as they are so strong on the counter attack, but they have more quality than Spain's previous opponents. Look for Germany to try to disrupt some of Spain's possession. Spain knows that they cannot make mistakes in the midfield. My gut tells me this will not be as open a game as people are expecting. I could see 1-0 either way or maybe even 0-0. I'm seeing a shootout win by Spain.

Fun times ahead. I hope the semis are as exciting as the quarters.

World Cup - Quarter Finals Preview

2010-06-30T15:18:00.003-05:00

Just a few last thoughts on the round of 16 games.

Kudos to Japan. They really exceeded expectations and played some good football. I had them getting zero points and didn't even give them a player to watch. A bit off I was. They belonged in the second round and one could definitely argue that they would not be undeserving of the quarter finals.

Spain - Still not looking like the World Cup Favorite. They are an amazing passing team. They always seem to have at least two or three options when on the ball, but are still having trouble breaking down defenses when they put 10 men behind the ball. Torres was not at all lively yesterday, almost looking uninterested and lazy. The sub Llorente certainly brought something different for Spain. He was the target man that Torres is not, and his height and energy gives Spain another option besides their short passing game. I think Torres will still start, but look for Llorente around the 60th minute if Spain are having trouble breaking down Paraguay.

Quarter Finals

Brazil/Netherlands - Great matchup, one people saw coming pretty much as soon as the World Cup Draw came out. The Dutch are 4-0, but still not hitting on all cylinders. The return of Robben will give Brazil something to think about and I think Brazil can be hit on the counter attack, a prime example being the US game last summer. The defense of Holland needs to be stronger than they have in games past. Brazil will not miss the chances that Japan and Slovakia did.
Big Dunc is rooting for: Netherlands
Prediction: Brazil

Ghana/Uruguay - In probably the least anticipated quarter final match, two teams which I had finishing 3rd in their group. Give Uruguay the edge on the attack front, with Forlan and Suarez, but Ghana could take this one if they control the midfield like against the US. Uruguay's unheralded midfielders will have to disrupt Ghana's flow and feed their strikers.
Big Dunc rooting for: Ghana
Prediction: Uruguay

Germany/Argentina - Probably the two teams in best form in this World Cup. Both have put forth impressive offensive and defensive displays so far. Defense remains the bigger question mark for both. I wouldn't be surprised if both teams come out much more guarded and defensive than in their last games. I think the speed of Messi and Tevez has an edge over Germany's defense. The ability of Germany to counter attack, though, will make this one interesting. I'm hoping for a 3-2 or so game, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a 1-0 with the first team to score setting up shop in the back.
Big Dunc rooting for: Germany
Prediction: Argentina

Spain/Paraguay - Spain is the clear favorite in this one, but I expect it to be another close game, probably similar to Spain's win against Portugal. Paraguay have not given up a goal since their first game. Spain will need Villa to remain in form to break down the Paraguay D.
Big Dunc rooting for: Spain
Prediction: Spain

Some potential great m
atches. From the looks of it, I hate South America, but rate them well.
Enjoy.

World Cup - Round of 16

2010-06-28T16:32:00.002-05:00

With the US loss, I guess I'll again have to pay attention to the rest of the World Cup.

England/Germany - It's a shame all everybody is talking about the Lampard goal that was not a goal and not the great play by the Germans. I know that the call changed things, but let's not overlook the fantastic play by the Germans and the relatively disappointed play by England. Ozil is really the difference maker in this side. Klose and Podalski are for whatever reason, way better at the World Cup than at any other time. They are consistent strikers, something the US and England lack. Germany are still a very young team. Their offense is efficient and fun to watch, but it may be the defense that lets them down in the end.
This is a good time not to be English. Unlike the US, where there were a few key things to focus on that went wrong or were not good enough, England has loads of reasons for the loss. Their reasons - unsuitable formation, poor center backs, lack of width, center midfielders not playing well together, lack of a strong forward - don't make sense though, as they have such great players on the club level. Things won't be pretty across the pond over the next few months as blame will be placed in many areas.
Oh, and about the "no goal goal". That was worse than the US/Slovenia call. The US one was a judgement call. This one was black and white. The ball was in and crossed the line. Why was it not a goal? Why can't soccer have some sort of review?

Mexico/Argentina - Another bad call here that is overshadowing the great play of the winning team. I was not one to jump on the Mexico band wagon and was not suprised that Argentina won this one. They were clearly the better team. So many attacking options and the intoxicating Maradona to boot. Argentina/Germany should be great.

Brazil/Chile - The better team won this one. There isn't much else to say. Like Argentina, Brazil has many options on the offensive side and a defense even better than Argentina.

Netherlands/Slovakia - This one went pretty much as expected. Netherlands still didn't play as well as people are hoping, but they are doing enough. They scored early, gave Slovakia a few chances, then scored again on the counter attack. That is a pretty solid blueprint for World Cup success. Having Robben back helps, but the Orange will need more against Brazil.

Tomorrow
Spain/Portugal should be a great one. Can Torres find his form? Does Spain need him to? Will the Spanish midfield overrun Portugal? Can Ronaldo run at the Spanish backs? Should be a fun one.
Look for Japan/Paraguay to be a close one, but I see Paraguay edging out Japan in the end.

Good, but not good enough

2010-06-26T19:35:00.003-05:00

I think the title sums up the US this World Cup. I was also considering "Good, but not great" as the title, because that really is where we are as a soccer team.
It's super disappointed to lose a very winnable game. I won't say we were unlucky or that the better team won. It was a deserved draw after 90 minutes and then again an early defensive lapse cost the US their place in the tournament. Shit. This will be one rued for a long time, not because of the way we lost, but because of the way the bracket went down. If we lost to a team that was truly better, I would not have a problem. Once again, as it is summer, and I am lazy, I will refrain from creating coherent, flowing paragraphs and just use bullet points to summarize this game.

1.) Heart - I loved the heart the US showed in this game and in the entire tournament. I am proud to be strong supporter of team USA.

2.) Early lapses - This is one I really don't need to touch on, we all know it killed us in 3 out of four games this tournament.

3.) Starting line-up - One will question Bob Bradley's starting XI. Clark made a mistake and again Edu and Feilhaber looked great again. And, as I have said before, and John Harkes actually pointed out well this afternoon, it isn't that Clark is much worse than Edu, Edu just plays a better position for this team. He is a true defensive midfield, giving depth and providing that bridge between the defense and midfield, which is especially necessary with an unproven center defense. His depth allows Bradley to get forward and even the outside defenders. Feilhaber is great on the ball. I only assume it is his lack of defense that keeps him out of the starting lineup.

4.) Post goal play - The US needed to score in the 15 minutes or so after Landon Donovan's PK. This is when they really had Ghana on their backfoot and were really playing their best football. They had Ghana on the ropes, but could not deliver the knock out punch (sorry about the overuse of sports metaphor). After about the 75 minute mark, though, the USA again looked flat. Most of it was fatigue, but they needed to capitalize on their quality play.

5.) Where we are lacking - It is abundantly clear where Team USA is lacking - a strong center defensive partnership and a strong striker. These were the things many were worried about coming into the World Cup. Oneywu's injury hurt is in the end and I really hope he can come back and again be our best defender. I've been a big fan of Demerit's this tournament, but he really fits into that good, but not great category. He works hard and wins a lot of balls, but you can't have any lapses at this level. He could be part of a central defender partnership, but not the main guy.
And, man, was it evident that we need better strikers. All our goals came from the midfield. The loss of Charlie Davies was huge, but I don't think even he would have been enough. We don't need a world class striker, just a reliable one. Brian McBride is a perfect example of this. You know what he is going to bring and you know he is going to trouble defenders. Just look at what Gyan did. He is not an amzing player, but he pretty much created his own goal against two defenders and always puts pressure on, even like that goal out of really nothing. That is what we are missing. Altidore is just not good enough.

6.) Hope for the future - There is much hope for the future, though. Team USA is steadily improving. We can't have another 98 or 06 though. Donovan and Dempsey still have another World Cup in them. I don't think they'll be quite as effective in four years, but they'll have the experience.
Best reason for optimism - Michael Bradley is only 22!
More reason's for optimism - Edu 24, Torres, 22, Spector 24, Feilhaber 25, Stuart Holden 24, Brad Guzan 25, Freddie Adu, still only 21, haha. This team is good, and going to get better. MLS is getting stronger and hopefully that will continue to raise the play of the US. We know that we can beat anyone on any given day, but we need to no longer be a team that can also lose to anyone on any given day.

7.) Missed opportunity - This was definitely a thrilling World Cup for team USA, great come from behinds in 4 games. Exhilarating stuff against Slovenia and Algeria. This was fun and amazing. Lots of new interested people. But in the end, this has to go down as a missed opportunity for the US. Easy group, winnable knock-out games. This was a chance to make it to the semis at least. Man.
And the bad thing about soccer is there won't be another truly important USA soccer game, one that everyone pays attention to, for about 3 years and 50 weeks. Damn. It's not like other sports where you can say "We'll get them next season. We'll be better next year." Nope once every four years. Things could be compteley different by 2014. That is part of the beauty of the World Cup, but ultimately for us, part of the frustration. We'll be hard pressed to have another opportunity like this.
So in the end, some amazing, unforgettable moments, but utterly disappointing.

USA 2014!

USA! USA! USA!

2010-06-24T15:20:00.003-05:00

Yes! America is not dead yet. Things looked grim. I was resigned to defeat, but then, Landon Donovan came through in the clutch. I still cannot believe it. Wow. What a day! Greatest USA soccer victory. So much drama. I'm still too excited to write a coherent entry on the game, so I'll just go with bullet points again.

The goal - Great outlet by Howard (distribution brilliant). Great work by Altidore not to shoot. His angle was too tight and if he would have shot, all that would have resulted would have been a corner or clearance.
How about when the ball was just sitting there? Wow, I feel like it was there for 4-5 seconds even though it was just an instant. You could see the goalkeeper getting up. You could see Donovan coming in. Who was gonna get there first? Landon Donovan! Amazing finish.

Celebration - I watched the game at a restaurant pub, probably out 50 people in a back room watching on a huge projection screen. The celebration was wild! People jumping and hugging, people on the floor, glasses spilled, people running around, children being held up ala Lion King. Very glad to have been there. Such a triumph, pure euphoria.

Donovan - best US soccer player ever, without a doubt, stepped up hugely in these past two games.

Missed chances - oh my goodness, so many chances. The goal called back sucked and was an incorrect call, but it looked offsides, and unlike the Slovenian call, things like that happen often in soccer. Gomez should have scored, Dempsey should have scored. Man. But those misses are no longer lamented with the US victory.

Unsung heroes - Benny Feilhaber brought some great energy off the bench. I like his creativity.
Jay Demerit started slowly and had a real poor mistake that almost cost us, but after that he was again a rock, doing what a central defender needs to do.
Steve Cherundelo- might be the best player for the US over the 3 group games, playing defense and getting forward.
Carlos Bocanegra - switching into the center of the defense, wasn't spectacular, but did what he needed to do and had a pivotal intervention late in the second half on an Algeria cross.

Celebration 2.0 - I watched the goal with friends on DVR at least 15 times, so I got to see the USA celebration a lot. Anyone else notice Stuart Holden was the first one there to celebrate yesterday and last week after Bradley's goal? I like that. Well done Stuart. A few other things from the celebration - great leap by Altidore onto the top of the pile, nice somersault on the pile by Demerit, and I also noticed the guy in the purple vest with a great double double fist pump. Exhilaration, Euphoria. Awesomeness.

Up next - The US won the group and avoids Germany and now plays Ghana on Saturday. Then the winner of that players the winner of Uruguay/South Korea. That is a nice little quarter. I expect the Ghana game to be very close an hard fought. I see a one-nil game, but don't know which way it will go.

Legacy - This is by far the best moment in US soccer history. It beats out anything else because of the drama and agony of waiting 91 minutes to score. It was important and dramatic and really had the interest of the American public. This is one we will always look back to. Advancing in the World Cup in the 90th minute, these things don't happen often.
As for me, I'm not used to my teams winning at all, much less in dramatic fashion. There are only a few plays I can compare it to. I was too young to appreciate the Packers Super Bowl win and was in Montana for the Brewers playoff clinching win, so those two don't make the list. The only two plays that I can remember that can compare to Donovan's goal for me are Louis Saha's goal in the first 30 seconds in last year's FA Cup Final and Scott Starks fumble return against Purdue. This is one I will always remember.

Keep it up USA. We are not done yet! The nation is behind you.

World Cup - Getting to be Crunch Time

2010-06-22T17:49:00.003-05:00

We are now to the point of the excited final group games. Both 3rd group games are played simultaneously to prevent teams from already knowing the result they need. This really increases the drama. It's fun to flip back and forth or watch with the double TV. Pretty nice. Here are a few thoughts on the last couple days and the days to come.

1.) Spain - Eh? - I thought Spain was unimpressive against Honduras. They did get the three points and the goal differential against Chile, but they didn't look like a World Cup favorite. The game was actually kind of boring. Now all Spain need to do is win against Chile and they will certainly progress and probably take first in the group. But, Chile has yet to concede a goal this tournament.

2.) Hosts bow out - South Africa got the win, but the 3-0 loss to Uruguay was too much to overcome. It's a shame, they were fun to watch, but ultimately not as good as Mexico and Uruguay. And I won't really touch on France. Like I said last week, they have great players, yet are a bad team. That is true in many ways.

3.) Bad misses - Ok, the Yak missed a true sitter. I really don't know how me missed that one.( I wonder if the flag would have went up if it went in.) He then made up for it with a goal, so I won't call it the biggest miss of the tournament. Obifemi Martins was also in contention for miss of the tournament. His was worse because it was 2-2 with about 5 minutes left and the goal would have sent Nigeria through. He went for the chip instead of the power. Man. In the end, it was heartache for the Super Eagles.

But the miss of the tournament for me so far has got to be Eren Derdiyok for Switzerland against Chile. It came after a great move in the 90th minutes with his team down by one. (Click on the 90th minute triangle to see the highlight.) He had the entire goal to shoot for, but missed wide. That could be a huge miss for group H. Things would be vastly different if that went in.
4.) Lack of Drama - The games that had teams who knew they were going through were pretty uninteresting. Greece/Argentina and Mexico/Uruguay were a bit dull from what I saw, but I guess that makes sense.

What to watch for:

USA/Algeria - This one is for freedom.
I'm super worried about it. Algeria looked good and holds the ball well and that could be a big problem for the US. It is a good thing they need a win, so maybe that will open things up a bit. The lineup will be interesting and we need Altidore to play strong early and hold it up for Donovan and Dempsey. Big Day!

England/Slovenia - England have looked average at best. Will they break out of their shell? Rooney needs to step up, but his midfield needs to put him into dangerous situations. I still see England progressing. Big Day!

Group D - Germany, Serbia, Ghana, and Australia can all still advance. I'm hoping for a lot of action. I want to see Germany and Australia press the issue and look for the win. I would love to see Australia do it, but I am leaning toward Germany and Serbia progressing.

Enjoy tomorrow, a great day of soccer. This is what the World Cup is all about. Take the day off, call in sick if you need to. This is big. USA!

USA/Slovenia and more

2010-06-20T18:15:00.005-05:00

Here is some brief analysis from the last 3 days of the World Cup.

1. USA/Slovenia - the majority of the post with focus on the wild US game from Friday. It's hard to know where to start.
The thing getting all the attention is the horrible call be the referee. It was BS. There is no other way to put it. It really didn't make sense. Was he anticipating a foul? Was it a make up call? Did he not want the US to win? Was the fix in? Was there something that none of the cameras caught? Lots of possibilities, but none of them really make sense. The ref sucked. Don't forget the handball yellow card on Robbie Findley that actually hit him in the face. Hmm.
It is a shame that the "no goal" is getting all the press when the game was so great. The US fightback was awesome, though they needed that fightback because the first half was pretty poor. Torres did nothing and there was a lack of energy. The roller coaster of emotions was pretty crazy. If you told me at half time that the final would be 2-2 I would have taken it in a heartbeat. I would have been elated. But the way things went down, it is hard to concentrate on the positive. You felt disappointed and empty.
Still all to play for, though. England's tie means all we have to do to advance is win, and we could even go through with a tie.
A few more thoughts-
- Donovan's finish was sick. He finally stepped up when we needed it.
-Bradley's goal was also very nice. I thought it was going over. It is so hard to control your shot when your body is starting to lean back. Awesome.
- Jozy Altidore is not good enough to be a successful international striker. He is young, and might get better with age, but he is just not good enough right now. Not enough pace, not enough confidence, not enough game awareness.
-Oguchi Onyewu was very poor. He has to take the majority of the blame for both goals. It was just his defensive performance either. He was terrible on the ball. All he did was just hoof the ball forward. Very poor. No confidence. I hope next game to see Clarence Goodson, Edu or even Borstein (Bocanegra in the middle) for Gooch.
-Also somewhat forgotten with the bad call and bad play from Onyewu was the great second hald performance from Jay Demerit. He was beasting in the second half, doing exactly what a center back is supposed to do - winning balls in the air, being aggressive and decisive.
-The second half subs helped, but I think it was more of the change in mentality that made the difference.
-Algeria: I'm super worried about this game. They looked good. They held the ball and passed very well. They have not scored yet, but I could easily see Algeria beating the US. We need to bring it from the start on Wednesday.

2.England - Unimpressive. I thought this was a team that could challenge for the Cup. England/Slovenia will be very interesting.

3. Group D - Group D is a fun one and I am glad it will come down to the last day with all the teams still having a chance. Australia looked better and Cahill will come out on Wednesday with loads of energy. Germany were beaten, but I think were the better team even after the red card. They attacked and had many chances, but now are obviously not world beaters. I would like to see an African side in the next round, but I think Ghana could possibly be the odd man out after everything is said and done.

4. Orange Crush - The Netherlands have looked good, not great, but that is all they needed so far and all you really need at this stage of the tournament. They are a contender, but this year, who is not?

5. Kaka - What a bitch! A d-bag for sure. The Ivory Coast player was also at fault, but still why was Kaka acting like that?

6. Drogba - This man has a broken elbow and is playing in the World Cup! Not only playing, but scoring and keeping his team in the mix.

7. New Zealand - New Zealand has the same number of points as England and Italy. Really? That is pretty wild. They have been very deserving as well. It is not luck or a fluke or just sitting back and hoping for a draw. They are a prime example of the parody of this year's tournament.

8. Defending Champs - Defending the World Cup is dreadfully difficult, but even so, Italy are doing a pretty poor job of it. I knew they were not a great side, but I thought they would have a pretty easy time in this group. Not the case. They are lacking creativity and a real goalscoring threat and don't get me started on the weak-ass diving.

What to watch for the next couple days:

Can Ronaldo and Portugal find some offense against North Korea?
How will Spain respond?
And more interestingly, how will Switzerland respond? They could hold the key to the tournament. All they need to get is a win and a tie to top the group and most likely send Spain up against Brazil in the second round. Very interesting.
With all the trouble on and off the field, who will start for France? Will it be all new people? Will they score? Do they still think they have a chance?
How will Mexico and Uruguay come out? Will they be happy with draw? It would make sense to want to win and avoid Argentina, but who knows.
Can Nigeria pull off an improbable turnaround? All they have to do is win and have Argentina beat Greece. That sounds very much in the realm of possibility.

The next two days look like they will continue the excitement. Can't wait!

World Cup - Days 6 and 7

2010-06-17T15:55:00.005-05:00

1. Spain falters - This is by far the biggest surprise of the tournament. Spain are the odds makers favorites in Europe and the odds on number two in the US and Big Dunc's pick to win it all. They looked alright, but couldn't break down the Switzerland defense. What happens if Switzerland gets two wins or a win and a draw in their remaining games?

Spain/Brazil 1st knockout round. Yes! I still stand by my pick by the way.

2. France is bad - Seriously, the French players almost all play at the most elite clubs in Europe, yet they lose to a slightly above average Mexican team - definitely the case of France being bad rather than Mexico being good. That is not good. No creativity, no target man, and no tackle winning defensive midfielder. Where is Claude Makelele when you need him?

3. Argentina - Dynamic on offense, but the defense is still not convincing to me, especially if Samuel is out for a while. But super fun to watch in attack - Messi, Tevez, Higuain, Di Maria - fun stuff indeed. I was hoping for Argentina/France in the second round, but that is not looking likely. I think all the Maradona drama is actually working for the players. All the attention is off them and they can do what they do best.

4. What were you thinking? - Sani Kaita, what an idiot. I understand red cards. I understand losing your cool when badly tackled, or constantly being hit after the whistle, receiving an inadvertent elbow, or even someone calling your mother a whore, but this play was nothing. Nothing really happened to him and he kicks out and pretty much dooms his team. If your gonna get a red card, earn it. Even the Zidane headbutt was better. You really let down Nigeria.

But don't sleep on the Super Eagles. They still have a chance. The Yak is hungry now, very hungry.

5. Host Team - Things are not looking good for South Africa. I think they are just not good enough for this tournament. They have a few fun players to watch, but will probably be bowing out early.

What to look for over the next couple days:

USA! USA! USA! USA! C'mon people, show your support. We need a win against Slovenia. I don't want to make any predictions, but this is one we should take.

Will Germany be as exciting and as dominate as their last game?

Who will start for England in the goal?

Can Ghana remain strong and be the African team?

Can Cameroon show any signs of life vs Denmark?

That's all I got for now. Not sure when the next update will be. Hopefully Saturday evening. Off work tomorrow to support the Yanks! C'mon!

World Cup - The First 4.5 Days

2010-06-15T14:10:00.003-05:00

(I'm writing this before the 6/15 Brazil-North Korea Game)

The 2010 World Cup is off and running. It started off great with South Africa/Mexico. Some games have been good, some average, some boring, but that is what the 1st group game will bring you in the World Cup. Teams will be tentative, not wanting to lose points. It also looks like World Teams are much closer together in skill and overall quality than they have been in the past. But I don't want to make too many conclusions too early. We're only about 1/5 of the way through this thing. Below are some highlights of what I've seen so far.

1.) USA/England - So I actually had a wedding to go to during the USA/England game. Lots of my friends gave me flack for this, but I stick by my decision. I was able to get a small group of friends to watch the recorded game between the ceremony and the reception. I was able to go into not knowing the score at all, though a few of my friends knew it was 1-0 early on.
I don't think this is just because I'm a US fan, but I think this was one of the better games of the tournament so far. There was a lot of back and forth action, and both teams had a chance to win.
Robert Green - Thanks.
Tim Howard - The Man.
Rooney needs to do more if England are going to progress.
USA needs to follow this up with a win.

2.) South Africa/Mexico - T.I.A. This is Africa! Nice start to the tournament, maybe the best game so far even. Good back and forth action. Great crowd. South Africa can play.

3.) Big Dunc's Players to Watch - Mixed results so far. I got Tshabalala right, so that one Player to Watch alone pretty much validates my tournament. I'm guessing not many people heard of him before he hit that beautiful shot. Park scored too, but that is not really going out on a limb. Asamoah Gyan scored a penalty, but played well overall, hitting the post twice I believe. Uche for Nigeria was on the opposite end of the spectrum, missing an easy chance against Argentina. My young players to watch were a mixed bag. Ozil was sick, pulling the strings for Germany. Di Maria was very quiet for Argentina.

4.) African Teams - Nigeria was not bad against Argentina. They were in the game the entire time and had a few chances to tie it near the end. Their keeper was amazing. They gave people a fun game to watch. I think they have a good chance of going through.
Cameroon - looked pretty horrible. No creativity. No real attacking threats. See you next time.
Ghana - Looked pretty similar to the Ghana of recent years, not overly amazing on the attack, but a good solid team throughout.
Algeria- boring

5. Germany - Germany have been by far the most impressive team so far. Great interplay among strikers, wingers, and central midfielders. Great pace and creativity. Muller and Ozil bring some important youth to the side and I think the defense is just as strong as last tournament. But again, it's just one game.

6. France - France looked pretty weak on Friday. I feel they were the better team, but didn't really show it. They have lot of great players, but don't really play together. They give the ball to Ribery and hope that he does something special. I'm still thinking they will go through.

7. Today's Games - Today was not the best football watching day of my life. I missed the Slovakia goal and then decided to stop watching the game in the 89th minute. Arrgghh! Never give up on those Kiwis. And then ESPN3 was not working for the Ivory Coast Portugal game. Man.

Things to watch for over the next two days.

How effective will Torres be? Will he start?
North Korea - will they score?
Group A - everything is well poised in Group A with everyone on 1 point. After the first matches, all the teams look capable of advancing and the Uruguay/South Africa and France/Mexico games look much more appetizing.
Nigeria - They will need to beat Greece to make the game against South Korea super exciting.

There you go. Keep enjoying the cup. Check back for more updates soon.

World Cup - Final Predictions

2010-06-10T11:40:00.004-05:00

Well, you've seen my group previews and players to watch. Now, I guess to humor ,readers I'll give my predictions for the entire tournament. You must realize this is even more imprecise than picking the group winners or even picking the NCAA tournament. One team getting first instead of second totally changes the brackets and the matchups, but we'll look at it for fun anyways.

Round of 16

Netherlands vs. Paraguay
winner: Netherlands

Brazil vs. Switzerland
Easy draw for the Brazilians
Winner: Brazil

Mexico vs. South Korea
Would be an interesting game, maybe decided by penalties
Winner: Mexico

England vs. Australia
Very Anglo game that I think would be closer than people expect.
Winner: England

Germany vs. USA
Rematch of 2002 quarterfinal, again the Germans edge out the Americans
Winner: Germany

Argentina vs. France
Awesome 2nd round match up. For some reason, I see France doing similar to last cup, barley getting out of the group, then bringing it together in knockout play
Winner: France

Italy vs. Denmark
I think the Danes are better than any team in Italy's group. Look for a 1-0 or 0-0 game.
Winner: Denmark

Spain vs. Portugal
The Iberian battle, and a great 2nd round matchup.
Winner: Spain

Quarters

Netherlands vs. Brazil
Well, this is my upset pick. I think the Dutch can take Brazil on the counter.
Winner: Netherlands

England vs. Mexico
Interesting match here, but I think England would take this one rather easily.
Winner: England

Germany vs. France
Great traditional matchup here. I'd be a toss up. Both teams aren't as strong as they were in '06 and have a few holes, but I think the Germans are stronger overall.
Winner: Germany

Spain vs. Denmark
Nice draw here for the Spanish. I see it similar to Italy/Australia in '06
Winner: Spain

Semis

Netherlands vs. England
Fun game for the neutrals. I think the English are stronger player for player and could shut down the Dutch attack
Winner: England

Germany vs. Spain
Another match up of traditional powers. I think Spain has too much strength at every position and will take advantage of the young German team.
Winner: Spain

Champion: Spain
Spain versus England would be fun. I think Torres and Villa would be too much for the England defense, especially with Xavi and Iniesta picking apart Lampard and Gerrard. Might be fun to see England lose on penalties again.

Just one of many, many possibilities.

Analysis of My Analysis:
From the look of my picking it looks like I went with my heart in picking Australia, and maybe the Netherlands and England to do so well, but otherwise, I think I was rather neutral.
It also looks like I have underestimated the South American teams, the second tier ones in the group stages and the top tier ones in the knockouts. It could be due to lack of exposure.
I also do not rate the African teams. I'll be rooting hard for Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast to go through, but I think the injuries to Mikel, Drogba, and Essien are huge.
Lots of stuff is a toss up. I'm not too worried about my predictions come through, more worried about seeing great football and seeing team USA advance.
America!

World Cup Group H Preview

2010-06-08T13:49:00.004-05:00

Group H

Chile – Chile had a tremendous qualification campaign in South America, finishing second, only one point behind Brazil. They are not, though, the type of team that people are scared of. They have a mix of European players and players playing at home in Chile. They do not have any household names. They do play an exciting brand of football. Look for the games against Honduras and Spain to be real exciting ones. In this group, Chile have a real nice chance of qualifying.

Player to Watch – Humberto Suazo – Chile's best striker. It will be interesting to see if he can come back in time from injury to make a difference.

Honduras – Being from the US I am glad CONCACAF gets 3 teams automatically and a 4th goes to a playoff, but are they really worthy of this? I don't know. I'm not sure if Honduras deserves a spot, but I guess they are just as deserving as Norway or Bosnia or someone like that. Maybe. They do play attacking football, which will make things interesting.

Player to Watch – Georgie Welcome – Well, I really just like his name. He probably won't be a starter, but he should bring some needed height and power up top coming off the bench.

Spain – Spain are the odds on favorites to win this group. They really don't have any weak spots – world class goalie, defense, midfield, and forwards. They seem to be getting everyone healthy at the right time and are co-favorites with Brazil to win the whole thing. I would not bet against them. They have won their last 7 World Cup Group games!

Player to watch – Spain – You really cannot mark one person as the difference maker on this team. They are talented at every position and deep at every position. Even other teams like Brazil, you have Luis Fabiano who is a great striker, but if he doesn't perform, where will the goals come from? For Spain you have Torres and Villa, Xavi and Iniesta, Puyol and Pique.

Switzerland – Won their group over France in 2006 and were the first ever team to get knocked out of the World Cup without giving up a goal. Three straight shut outs would definitely get them through again, but their defense is not looking quite as strong, though they did win their qualifying group containing Greece, Latvia, and Israel. Lack of a strong central midfield will hurt them, but Switzerland have been one of the most consistent teams in Europe this decade, making the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and 2004 and 2008 Euro Championships. Look for this disciplined team to use the counter attack effectively.

Player to Watch – Alexander Frei – I have tried to stay from picking the most well known player as a team's player to watch, but when looking at Switzerland, he is the one sure thing. Frei has 40 goals for Switzerland in 73 matches and will be the obvious go to guy for this team and super important for advancement to the next round.

Prediction: Group H is obviously Spain's group. Despite a group that Spain should dominate, it still should be a fun one to watch, with Spain, Chile, and Honduras all playing an attacking style and Switzerland countering that with their strong defense. I'll be surprised if Spain doesn't take all 9 points. Chile and Switzerland should battle for second.

Spain 9
Switzerland 4
Chile 2
Honduras 1