FIFA U-20 Day 1

Argentina 0 Czech Republic 0: After dominating most of the match, Argentina still couldn’t get a goal. Late in the 92nd minute, a Czech player was on a breakaway, the Argentine keeper was way off his line, the Czech put it past the keeper, but one of the Argentine defenders cleared the ball with 2 yards to spare. One important stat, Argentina had 23 shots at goal (6 on target), compared to 2 (none on target) for Czech Republic.

USA 1 South Korea 1: Here’s the recap.

North Korea 0 Panama 0: Here’s the recap.

FIFA U-20 World Cup Update

Poland 1 Brazil 0: What an upset! Despite playing with 10 men for over 60 minutes, Poland stuns Brazil in front of over 55,000 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The lone goal came on a stunning free kick by Grzegorz Krychowiak in the 23rd minute. Brazil just looked flat throughout the game, and couldn’t capitalize with the one man advantage. Since the U-20’s began, Brazil had lost only one opening game, and now they have two.

USA loses to Argentina 4-1

Okay, so it was their B-team. However, the chances are, that with the A-team, the USA Men’s Soccer Team would’ve lost to Argentina 4-1 anyway. But honestly, this is exactly what I mean about the US not being dominant. England’s B team beat the US A-team in a friendly in August 2005, so it’s definitely possible for the US to do the same. What I saw was an utter disgrace, to think that could possibly be the A-team soon.

Notice that the US will beat the powderpuff teams like Guatemala, Cuba, and Haiti, and boost up the hype that they are really good. But once they face anyone in South America or Europe, they falter. The one thing they have to improve, is that they must stop playing all of their friendly matches at home! The big test is when they go to Sweden in September, to prove that they can beat the better teams outside of the USA.

The final thing that the US has to do, is stop parading around one player. Landon Donovan is not that great. Sure, he’s got 34 goals, and a hat trick against Ecuador, but most of his goals come against weak teams. Once he goes to Europe, he does a faster disappearing act than Spalding Gray. Soccer is a sport, in which you can’t rely on one player to carry your team. Soccer teams always have multiple stars to showcase, the US only chooses one.

I think the US will have to stop playing charades, and show the world what they are really made of.

Quick News

In Soccer News: The USA scored the 1st goal against Argentina in the Copa America tournament. I’m mentioning that because they got creamed 4-1.

In NFL News: NFL Europa folded after 16 years in business. About 3 people care.

In FIFA U-20 News: The U-20 World Cup is tomorrow!! No joke, but here’s the link to the CBC site if you want to watch the game online.

In Tennis News: James Blake got eliminated in Wimbledon today, decreasing the chance of an American making the quarterfinals.

In NBA News: The NBA Draft is over, so you can go back to not caring about the NBA.

NBA Draft Winners, Losers, Quote

NBA Draft Winners: Portland Trailblazers. They have Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and LaMarcus Aldridge. That is a super starting lineup.

Runners up: Seattle Sonics. OK, so I am mega upset that they totally caved in and traded Ray Allen, but they have Kevin Durant and Jeff Green! Plus, there’s always free agency to find more quality players. (Chauncey Billups)

3rd Place: Phoenix Suns. They drafted Alando Tucker from Wisconsin, and got a huge steal in DJ Strawberry from Maryland.

NBA Draft Losers: Boston Celtics. Ray Allen won’t be around much longer, and getting an overweight Glen “Big Baby” Davis is taking a huge risk. So in reality, they wasted their draft.

Runners up: New York Knicks. Wow, Isiah Thomas is asking to be punched. You had Arron Afflalo, Alando Tucker, Rudy Fernandez, and you pick Wilson Chandler? That was their only draft pick, and they messed it up.

3rd place: Los Angeles Lakers. They obviously need another center, and they draft Sun Yue from China. What happened to drafting a Nick Fazekas in the 1st round, or even Aaron Gray in the 2nd round? Javaris Crittenton is just a baffler to me.

And your quote of the draft comes from Jay Bilas of ESPN. When referring to Atlanta Hawks player Acie Law IV, he said “He’s not a great shooter, but he can make shots”. WHAT?!! Anyway, ESPN needs to reduce the number of people covering the draft, and calm Stephen A. Smith and Dick Vitale down. That was a brutal broadcast, and I don’t want to do that again.

P.S: Spike Lee, you’re all over the internet because people think you were drunk.

Quick News

In Soccer News: Mexico stunned Brazil 2-0 in the Copa America tournament. Does this give any hope that the US will beat Argentina tonight? NO!

In NBA News: The NBA Draft is tonight on ESPN. Look for the New York Knicks to actually draft Al Roker.

In MLB News: The Mariners are playing well. Unfortunately, they aren’t the team threatening to leave town anymore.

In TV News: The NBA has extended it’s TV deal with ESPN/ABC/TNT up to 2016. So once it’s 2017, we can only hope that they bring back the NBC music.

In CFL News: The Canadian Football League season starts tonight! This will fill my football fix as we await the NFL season.

Mookie’s Mock Draft #21-30

To read picks #11-20 go here. For picks #1-10, click here.

21. The Philly 76ers select Marc Gasol, C, Spain. Marc, the brother of Pau Gasol, can make an impact as a quality center for a 76ers team that doesn’t have a quality big man. Marc has been touted as one of the top international prospects, and it would be vital for Philly to snatch him right away.

22. The Charlotte Bobcats select Sean Williams, PF/C, Boston College. Sean was cut from the team last year for character issues, and has had his share of run-ins with the law, but so do several of the current NBA players. Williams is a great shot-blocker, who is speedy, and a great help defensively for the Bobcats.

23. The New York Knicks select Al Roker, NBC. The Knicks are somewhat dysfunctional, and after last year’s draft, they’ll pick anyone.

24. The Phoenix Suns select Marcus Williams, SF, Arizona. Williams may have made the wrong decision by leaving Arizona after his sophomore year, but tell that to his potential friends, Ben Franklin, and Ulysses S. Grant. He’s a scoring nut on offense, but not much is said about his defense.

25. The Utah Jazz select Rudy Fernandez, SG, Spain. Fernandez is an outside shooter, and can be a danger in the lane. I’m also looking for foreign players to end this draft.

26. The Houston Rockets select Dominic James, PG, Marquette. He’s a great defender, albeit at 5′11, but that doesn’t mean much. The Rockets need someone who could put them past the 1st round, after last season’s collapse.

27. The Detroit Pistons select Javaris Crittenton, G, Georgia Tech. Crittenton is projected to go midway in the 1st round, but I don’t see much potential out of him. But the Pistons need him as another option now that Chauncey Billups is likely out of Detroit.

28. The San Antonio Spurs select Nick Fazekas, C/PF, Nevada. Fazekas will probably be the replacement for Fabricio Oberto, who opted out of his contract. This is the Spurs we are talking about, so I won’t go into further detail, as I might fall asleep.

29. The Phoenix Suns select Morris Almond, G, Rice. I need to stick a name in there so I can end this post.

30. The Philly 76ers select Marco Belinelli, G, Italy. He averaged 13 points a game, and can beef up the boring 76ers offense.

Any agreements? Disagreements?

Ten Spot #9

The Five Spot is always on the weekends and the Ten Spot is on Wednesday’s only. Send your links to tjxanda@gmail.com to make my job easier.

1. The Shark Jumper Series features the Atlanta Hawks. (A Price Above Bip Roberts)

2. Some of the best benders you’ll ever see. (The Beautiful Game)

3. The Gold Cup Final had higher ratings than the Stanley Cup; and that was just on Spanish channel! (Sports Couch Potato)

4. The 2007 NBA Mock Draftt #1-15: Revised Edition. (The Sports Flow)

5. Another guy who thinks Jon Kitna’s 10 win guarantee is way too much to ask for the Lions. (Just Call Me Juice)

6. This is the funniest Mock Draft I’ve seen in a long time. (The Sports Hernia)

7. The blue-and-white roundtable. (Run Up The Score)

8. The Israeli Baseball League. (Lion in Oil)

9. This is a cool etch-a-sketch. (The Big Lead)

10. Looking into the many number of wrestlers who claim their own lives. (The Serious Tip)

FIFA U-20 World Cup TV Info for Americans ONLY!

For those besides me and the 7 of us Americans who are interested in FIFA’s second largest tournament to be held in Canada this weekend, here’s some important info.

1. If you live in any state that borders Canada, the chances are your cable company provides the Canadian Broadcasting Coroporation (CBC). The CBC will air 20 out of the 52 games on the main network, 21 on CBC Country Canada (which is pretty much CBC 2), and 11 on GOLTV. The ones on Country Canada will be shown only to Canadian viewers, and I believe GOLTV will air their games here as well. If you have GOLTV, good, if you don’t, even better!

2. ESPN U will also air like 10-15 games, but after last year’s disaster of a World Cup with ESPN, I’m not sure anyone is coming back.

3. If you don’t have the CBC or ESPN U, that’s okay! CBC Sports will have all 52 games streaming on the internet, both live and taped. The link to the FIFA U-20 site is here. Also, many Spanish channels like Univision will air games as well.

4. The announcers for the World Cup last year on ESPN were brutal, so it’s important to know your CBC announcers. The main announcing team will consist of Nigel Reed and Craig Forrest, while the second-tier team will have Steve Armitage and Paul Dolan.

5. Reed is a British commentator who is the main voice for Toronto FC, and is like a god to many fans of TFC. Armitage has announced soccer for over 2 decades, and is considered one of the better Canadian soccer announcers. Forrest is a no-nonsense guy who will call it like he sees it, and I’ve never heard of Paul Dolan.

6. Unfortunately, CBC decided to use Stupid Sideline reporters for their games, consisting of Fox Soccer Channel’s Mitch Peacock (how did he get that last name?), and Brenda Irving. The good news is that “human interest” stories aren’t the main attraction for the CBC since soccer has come back to them.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section, or send it to tjxanda@gmail.com.

Mookie’s Mock Draft #11-20

To read the first 10 picks, click here.

11. The Atlanta Hawks select Nick Young from USC. Young is speedy, consistent, and a great help to this team. Besides, it’s like going from one college team to another.

12. The Philly 76ers select Julian Wright from Kansas. Wright is a very good defender, and a little bit under the radar this year because of Brendan Wright. The 76ers need a replacement for AI and Chris Webber, and Wright can fill Webber’s spot.

13. The N.O Hornets select Jason Young from Colorado State. We don’t know much about Young, but the Hornets are in desperate need of a big man.

14. The L.A Clippers select Acie Law from Texas A & M. Come on, the dude was Mr. Clutch this season for the Aggies, and could vastly improve the dry offense of the Clips.

15. The Detroit Pistons select Rodney Stuckey from Eastern Washington. With Chauncey Billups gone, and Rip Hamilton slowly losing his game, Stuckey could help fill that hole in the Pistons lineup.

16. The Washington Wizards select…. anybody. Seriously, they were so bad from the 2nd half of the season into the playoffs, they’ll take anyone at this point, but I’ll go with Aaron Afflalo from UCLA.

17. The New Jersey Nets select Al Thornton from Florida State. Thornton was the star for the Seminoles, who beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and could continue his scoring success with the Nets.

18. The Golden State Warriors select Tiago Splitter from Brazil. Only because I need another foreigner here.

19. The L.A Lakers select Derrick Byars from Vanderbilt. Byars was the key factor in Vanderbilt’s surprise run into the Sweet 16, and were a bucket away from going to the Elite 8. He averaged 17 points a game and was the SEC player of the year for 2006. If they trade Kobe Bryant, here’s your replacement.

20. The Miami Heat select Aaron Gray from Pittsburgh. In the event that Shaq and Alonzo Mourning are retired, this is the guy. He has the fitness at 7 feet and 270 pounds, and the all-around skill to carry his team down the road.