World Cup Soccer vs Power Soccer

The Phillies won yesterday which is always good, but the bad news is that the US World Cup team is tied for second behind Slovenia. Somehow I doubt that Slovenia will be able to hold that top slot for very long with the United States and England right behind them, but it's kind of ironic anyway for the time. I was watching Germany versus Australia yesterday afternoon, and I began to wonder about some of the differences between soccer and power soccer. The biggest difference I noticed is that power soccer is much more dribble oriented while the World Cup match was much more focused on passing. However, I think that this difference can be accounted for by the fact that it is very difficult to lift a power soccer ball. I've only seen it lifted once or twice on YouTube and was only able to be elevated one or two inches. Therefore, power soccer players cannot make runs and try to beat the defender one-on-one while waiting for a pass to come over the top from the midfielders. Any long pass will probably get picked off by some defenseman without ever getting anywhere near its target.

Another difference I noticed was that almost every attack was based with some sort of cross to get the ball into the middle. We do cross sometimes in power soccer, but we mostly attack the middle of the field to challenge the goalie. I think this difference can accounted for because there are many fewer people on a power soccer team, so it is much easier to penetrate the middle. Since only one chair can be playing the ball at a time, why not take it to the goal?

The World Cup continues, a hopeful America can finally live up to the hype that it has brought to the past couple of Cups and put together a nice run.
Photo  by 1Happysnapper (photography) on Flickr

New England Track Championships

Okay, since I'm not behind on anything, I think it is time to talk about track and field for one last time this season. Yesterday, we made a pilgrimage to New Britain, Connecticut not to visit the Iwo Jima Memorial, although we did see it on Route 9, but to watch my sister pole vault at the New England Championships. By my estimate, there were about 500 athletes there, but I obviously did not go and count every single one, so give me some margin for error. I always talk about how basketball players are bigger outside of Vermont, but I know that the now applies for other sports. Unfortunately, I only got to watch a few events, but it was still pretty crazy how far people were long jumping in particular because I saw some of the higher seeds actually compete in that event. Last weekend at the Division II state meet, the longest jump was 19'5". Yesterday, there were only five jumpers out of 31 who went less distance than this. It's kind of crazy. However, it was a lot of fun to see these awesome athletes compete at a huge stage where the best compete in New England. Next year, the meet will be held in Burlington, so that will be fun for all the people who had to drive a long distance today.
Photo by Selective Focus Photography on Flickr

Shady Dealing

I forgot to write fiction yesterday; my bad. So, even though there is still much to write about today, I will backtrack to yesterday and give you a piece of fiction.

Glancing stealthily around the corner, Ben Wolfson wondered why he was even here. What on earth had possessed him to abuse the privilege to access the Commissioner's Office? He knew the answer to that one; he was being paid a lot of money. He knew that that wasn't enough reason to rig the draft, but somehow he justified this in his mind. He knew that what he was doing was a blatant abuse of his position. He was supposed to be there to make sure that the draft was fair and that every team got their appropriate level of first position chances. However, sometimes things change. For Ben, everything changed when he met Joe. Joe, who never liked his last name mentioned, came up to Ben in a bar, offering to buy him a drink and pulling up a chair. Not seeing anything wrong with this guy, Ben humored him and accepted the offer while initiating conversation. They chatted for a few minutes about the perceived common interest of basketball. Gradually, Joe drove the conversation toward the upcoming NBA draft. Feeling comfortable now, Ben talked about the important role he had in determining the eventual outcome. A slight smile came over Joe's face; he knew what he wanted this to go.

Remember, this is total fiction. Names, situation, and everything else is entirely fictional.

Photo by josh.liba on Flickr

Colorado Flips to Pac-10

The Phillies got shut out again last night, but let's forget about that for now. Instead, let's focus on the conference changes in NCAA. Now that Colorado has moved into the Pac-10, I wonder how many other teams will follow suit and bail on the Big 12. It is funny though because I always thought that the Big 12 with a pretty happy conference. However, it appears as if teams want to go to where the money is at; I would assume that the Pac-10 makes quite a bit of money for each of its members. However, the biggest draw for Colorado very well could have been playing football in the same conference as USC because you surely don't leave the Big 12 if you're worried about finding a better basketball conference. That would be like being at the pool and wanting to swim but then leaving to try to find a better place; why not enjoy the best situation that you're in right now? Undoubtedly, the Big 12 is having problems right now, but who knows what will happen as the off-season goes on. Maybe the Big 12 will even find someone to replace Colorado and be able to maintain its reputation as one of the best conferences in the NCAA.
Photo by rdesai on Flickr

Championship Drought Ended

When I heard this morning that the Blackhawks have ended a 49 year drought between Stanley Cup victories, I had to think about that. The reason being that 49 years is a long time for an organization to wait between major victories. As a Phillies fan, I had to wait since 1980 which was before I was born until we captured the World Series two years ago in 2008. I thought 28 years was bad, but I can't imagine another 13 years. I would have been 38 which is far too old to enjoy your team's first World Series victory. However, some people like Red Sox and Cubs fans went their whole lives without seeing a World Series victory which would also be depressing. I guess that tells something about the dedication these fans have, but I am sure that these fans would gladly give up the perception of being dedicated for a championship, but at least we can praise them for something while they wait. Now, I am waiting for October or possibly early November to see another title brought to Philadelphia. Of course, we have to start scoring some runs first, but if we can straighten that out, it will happen.
Photo by Jim Epler on Flickr

My Interview on Blogging

I don't really need to write today because I have something else I want you to read. I was searching the Internet a few weeks ago and I discovered the blog "I'm Not A Famous Blogger." As the name implies, they were looking to conduct interviews with bloggers who are not famous. So, I did an interview with them, and I would love to have you go to their website to read that interview. So, until tomorrow, here's a link, and I'll write again tomorrow!
Photo courtesy of lowjumpingfrog on Flickr

Michael Jordan's Legacy Etched in Stone

I am a little bit behind in reading my newspapers. However, this morning I opened up the Parade magazine from Sunday's paper and read an article about how to save the NBA. To be honest, I think that the NBA has been slipping downhill since Michael Jordan retired in 1998. I know he made a comeback after that, but he was not the legend that he was before that first retirement. During his career, the league essentially became Michael Jordan and a bunch of other players. Don't get me wrong, there are several other players of his era who were amazing as well such as David Robinson or John Stockton. However, I do not know the figures off the top of my head, but I would bet that the amount of endorsements that Michael Jordan received was several times that of any other player of that time. He was the face of several national brands, most notably Gatorade and Nike, he played on the original Dream Team which also received quite a bit of international media exposure, and he became a legend in college basketball first thereby gaining a fan base that Lebron James could never get because he never went to college. We are always looking for the next Jordan for a reason; his personality, obvious talent, and championship success all became major selling points for the NBA. Even people who didn't know basketball understood that he was the best. I don't really see that happening right now because there are so many different players who might be the best, Lebron, Kobe, Wade, or a few years ago Steve Nash. All of this talent is awesome, and I'm glad that all of these players are stars, but it also takes more of an in depth understanding of the game to know all of these players and realize who is the best. At least in the 90s, there was no question.

So, how would I save the NBA? I think mainly I would need a player who'd come in from college with a national championship, be very flashy on the court but have a good reputation off of it, and he would need to go to a bad franchise and turn them around into a champion. Lebron James came in heralded as the next Jordan, but until he can win that championship, he's not on the same level of stardom.
Photo by Esparta on Flickr