Obligatory “Alexi Lalas and John Harkes” Must Be Fired Post

Alexi Lalas: “I’m going to say it, MLS could and should win.”

Final Score: Manchester United 5 MLS All-Stars XI 2

This is the same man who thought Spain/Holland would be an entertaining affair and end 3-2 to the Dutch. But going back to the original comment Lalas pretty much thought that the MLS All-Stars would beat Manchester United’s 2nd team today. By the 23rd….second of the game Federico Macheda stole a lazy pass and scored and Man Utd never looked back. Lalas takes way too much stock in MLS even in friendlies and needs to be fired.

Lalas is tame compared to John Harkes, who makes my ears bleed.

“[Sir Alex Said] I want to walk away with as many minimum injuries as possible”

“Indecisive decisions.”

He also made a comment about Fabio Da Silva cramping up because it was hot in Houston. Sure let’s ignore the fact that the game was played indoors with air conditioning in the late evening….

He’s getting dangerously close to the “Worse than Marcelo Balboa” level because he can’t string a proper sentence together and adds nothing as analyst. All he needs to do is contradict himself at least 3 times a game and he’ll officially be worse than Balboa.

I praised ESPN a lot during the World Cup, but when you look at their coverage for everything else soccer-related it’s still awful. Please find some new talent and get Harkes and Lalas out ASAP.

EDIT: It’s been confirmed by a few that Harkes on multiple occasions called Danny Welbeck “Wellman”. This is not nitpicking, people. He’s absolutely atrocious in the booth.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: President Obama in Madden ’11

It looks like EA has made an effort to make Madden’s Super Bowl celebrations more realistic instead of the sad looking stuff I’ve seen in the part. After Gus Johnson yells out your team winning the Super Bowl he’ll awkwardly transition into a quiet, documentary-like narration of your journey to the big game with a brief SB highlights package. You continue with the celebratory scene in your city parade before it’s capped off by meeting our current President Barack Obama!

I do find it sort of cool that a President is actually in a video game and I hope Mr. Obama is part of NBA Elite 11 as a playable character. I’ll admit that the graphics look stunning and realistic, but if these videos are anything to go by, EA has once again ignored AI and physics to focus on making their sports games look “pretty”.

MMA Live Review

I’ve watched MMA Live on ESPN every week for the past month or so and I have to say I’m impressed. It’s informative without being dumbed-down, the analysts are very good, and it’s one of the few programs on ESPN actually worth watching!

It’s Happening Again

Toronto FC dropped points late again. Last week they lost in stoppage time to the Union on a penalty kick, and today they failed again on a corner and allowed Milton Rodriguez to score on a header to square the game at 1-1. The final score was 1-1 and while TFC avoided home defeat, they gave up another late goal.

Nick Garcia could singlehandedly capsize this team’s playoff chances. Deep in his own half instead of clearing the ball as far as he can, he passed it (off-target) to Dwayne De Rosario, who can’t cleanly get to the ball, resulting in a turnover and the subsequent corner. I like Preki the head coach, I like how this team doesn’t suck as much as it used to, but if he cannot recognize how bad Garcia is then he should be fired. I cannot stress enough how poorly Garcia plays.

Road game against Kansas City next week. If TFC can’t pull out a win there then this team is in huge trouble. They are barely in the playoffs as things stand and right now they look like they’re ready for another midseason catastrophe.

My Seahawks Team Goals

Personally I feel that Seattle has a minimal shot at making the postseason, especially if Alex Smith and Matt Leinart turn out to be above-average QBs. I think there are only three possible ways for the ‘Hawks to become division contenders:

– Matt Hasselbeck/Charlie Whitehurst becomes an absolute stud and produce a top 10 passing attack.

– The Seahawks play like the Ravens or Jets. In other words, the team matures into a monstrous defensive unit with a strong rushing attack, while the quarterback does the bare minimum to get by on a weekly basis.

– Nick Reed, Brandon Mebane, and Josh Wilson morph into one unstoppable force known as Jickdon Rebaneson and singlehandedly take over the world. Seattle goes on to win the next 20 Super Bowls before President Brian Russell destroys the planet by “pressing the wrong button”.

Those scenarios not looking too high on the probability scale. I am however excited to see how Russell Okung, Golden Tate (my favorite draft pick), Earl Thomas, etc. perform in their rookie season; maybe Aaron Curry can also start developing soon to improve the linebacking corp. As mentioned before the playoffs is unlikely, so I’ve listed some team goals to accomplish in 2010-11 in the meantime.

Toronto FC @ Philadelphia Union Live Blog

…..is over HERE. C’MON YOU REDS!