Obama Not Perfect: He's A Hammer!

In the avalanche of information about Barack Obama from the last couple of years, I somehow missed this bit of info that the half-sister of the President-elect, who lives in England, is a fan of West Ham. With the news of his election this past Tuesday, the club have now offered him the chance to visit the grounds of the club whenever he makes his first trip to Britain.


Maybe he can somehow manage to view the movie Green Street Hooligans and get Osama bin Laden over to watch Arsenal at a London derby in East London, take out the bin Laden crew with some help from the ICF, and many wrongs in the world might be suddenly righted. In a similar vein of reality stretching, it's been announced that I've become engaged to Yamila Diaz Rahi.


In other Obama-related news, there is touchingly now a craze in Kenya, the land of Obama's father, for parents of newborns to name their children either Barack or Michelle, after Obama's wife, in the wake of Obama's historic win.



OBAMA THE HAMMER , NAMES

Spurs 2 Liverpool 1: Stand By Your Jamie Carragher

So what if the final score doesn't tell the tale of the game? The only thing that matters is the final score, and on a soaking wet night in north London, Spurs had two go into the net for them, whilst the visiting scousers were limited to just one. Even though Spurs were outplayed for large stretches of the match, they got their goals when they needed them most against the league leaders.


Liverpool got on the board early, and fairly easily, in just the third minute as Dirk Kuyt slipped in a close shot amidst a loose Spurs defense and just like that, all of the momentum that had been created in the past week with the win versus Bolton and the dramatic tie against the Arse had been subdued.



It's no secret that Spurs hardly ever challenged to score in the first half, but more than held their own on the defensive end, sometimes by good fortune, to keep the score at 0-1.



Things improved in the second half in terms of offensive movement for Spurs in the second half, but it took an own goal from Liverpool's Jamie Carragher (his third that he's scored for Spurs) to get Spurs level at the 70 minute mark. From that point on, belief that the three points were there for the taking grew amongst Spurs fans and players, and Spurs certainly were the more aggressive team over the last quarter of the match.


It took a shot from Roman Pavlyuchenko on a cross from Darren Bent at the beginning of extra time to give Spurs the lead, causing much enthusiasm amongst the faithful crowd who had endured a long wet night in London, whilst Liverpool certainly looked a bit shellshocked from that point on. After a bit more than four minutes, the final whistle sounded and the Spurs fans rejoiced about their new found luck that has coincided with the appointment of Harry Redknapp, seeing that Spurs have grabbed seven out of a possible nine points to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.



Always pleased to use the "pic" of "scousers" above, twas a great win today. Come on you Spurs!



BBC , GUARDIAN

The Joys Of Fandom: The Arse Vs. Spurs

Got to love the enthusiasm that these two chaps exhibit as the commentators for Fanzone for their respective teams in Wednesday's north London derby between the gooners and Spurs. Here are the video highlights of the two watching the action. Yelps of joy, screams of gibberish, badge kissing.....and topless nudity...it's all there. Well done Spurs man, way to actually get on those arse girls! :laugh:





YOU BEAUTY!

Selita Ebanks

What a lovely vision for the November model in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar. I'd buy whatever it is she's selling. Might be a tough month to concentrate on my writing and spelling rather than staring at her as O ho dnpiy ,u eptl@/

Arsenal 4 Spurs 4 :Shut Up Cesc

Given the nature of a possibly drunken Cesc Fabregas quote in which he replied that current EPL strugglers Tottenham might be lucky to earn a point off the Arsenal ladies team, it was very nice to see the good guys rally to produce two goals in the last four minutes to earn a vital 4-4 draw at the Emirates, shocking gooners the world over.

The quote from Fabregas: "They would do really well. I`m sure they would get a point!" Looks like they did Cesc, I suppose you'll be donning a skirt for the rematch later this season at White Hart Lane, in hopes of getting another point, eh?



Ex-gooner David Bentley (pictured above in post match glory) scored a lovely goal to open proceedings, lofting a ball from 35 yards over the stretched arms of Manuel Almunia, who wound up letting the ball into the net after attempting to knock it over the top (doubtless Jens Lehman would've made the play!)


The play after that for the most past favoured the home side, and ended in a 1-1 draw at the close of the half. Arsenal put two past the always creaky Spurs defense in the beginning stages of the second half, Darren Bent managed to get one in in the 67th minute, but Robert Van Persie immediately replied to give Arsenal the 4-2 lead with just over a half hour left.


Jermaine Jenas pulled one back for Spurs in the 89th minute, and Aaron Lennon knocked in a rebound from fellow Spur Luka Modric in the dying moments of extra time to give Spurs the much needed point. Arsenal may have played better overall for longer stretches of the game, but not when it mattered most, and Spurs made them pay for it, although once again Arsene Wenger continued to bemoan the "inexperienced" nature of his side when it comes to the heat of contested matches. Umm, okay, AW, whatever you say.

With such a rally, Harry Redknapp has certainly demonstrated a new belief in the players for Spurs: play hard and just see what happens. Much as I liked Juande Ramos, I don't thin this comeback would've been possible under him. At any rate, Liverpool visits White Hart Lane this Saturday (thankfully I'll be able to watch this one live), so we'll continue to see what the resurgence under Harry truly means. Come On You Spurs!!!!





CESC: HEY LADIES




BBC , SOCCERNET , GUARDIAN.

Spurs 2 Bolton 0: Spurs Win As Ramos Is Sacked

Plenty of time for fans to sort out who is more to blame for the woeful start Spurs have gone through, with Chairman Daniel Levy and Director of Football Damien Comolli getting a lot of heat for questionable transfer practices, and for coach Juande Ramos, whose playing formations and game substitutions brought puzzlement to many Spurs fans.
The news broke just after midnight on Saturday that Comolli, Ramos along with assistant coaches Gus Poyet and Marcos Alvarez were relieved of their positions by Levy just hours before Sunday's home match against Bolton. Even more stunning was the announcement that Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was to be appointed as the new manager, a real whirlwind of news that contrasted starkly to insignificant things such as replacement strikers for the departed likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.


Harry made it to North London in time for the game, though he did not select the starting lineup, development coach Clive Allen took responsibility for that matter. The game was a vital one that Spurs needed maximum points from, with looming matches at Arsenal and home to Liverpool this coming week providing stern tests as to the true impact of Redknapp on the underachieving side.


I only caught bits and pieces of the match online, but what I saw looked pretty good on the offensive side of things, in combination with the 'hold your breath' antics of the defensive backline and goalie Heurelho Gomes that usually raise one's blood pressure.



Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first EPL goal in the 17th minute on a lovely cross from David Bentley to give Spurs their first lead of the season. Darren Bent scored the other on a second half penalty kick to seal the win, the first of the season for the team.

As noted above, we'll see how the team reacts to the upcoming difficult matches this week, but for the next couple of days, the arrival of Redknapp has certainly given Spurs and their fans some breathing room. Come On You Spurs!



BBC , SOCCERNET , GUARDIAN REPORT ON RAMOS & REDKNAPP

Signs At Work: What Else Are You Gonna Do?

.........at the local roadside bar? Just don't break all of the commandments in one night, tiger.

Stoke City 2 Spurs 1: Screaming Awful Bloody Mess

All four of the adjectives above were useful in describing parts of what happened at the Britannia Stadium Sunday, a match in which Spurs continued to founder at inopportune times.


After an opening period of 15 minutes where the two teams sorted themselves out, Spurs found themselves in hot water when Gareth Bale drew a straight red card for cutting down Tom Soares in the penalty area, and Danny Higginbotham knocked in the penalty shot to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute. Spur goalie Gomes did correctly guess the position of the shot, but failed to slow down the ball as it entered to his left by the post. Of course, the red card on Bale meant an immediate ejection, so Spurs were left to play 10 men for the rest of the match.


Things for Spurs turned around soon after, typified by their good fortune by being a tad bit offside, but not being penalized, as Darren Bent leveled the score just a few minutes later. For the rest of the half, Spurs were indeed the better team on the pitch, moving the ball around nicely and getting a couple of decent shots on goal, all of them being from a distance however, giving their keeper Thomas Sorensen good looks at the shots.


Rory Delap knocked in a beautiful (and well-defended) cross from the right to give Stoke the lead again, and it was at this point that the home side played as if they knew had the man advantage on the pitch. Spurs efforts to score in the second half were similar to the ones in the first half, with nothing particularly close near the goal.

Micheal Dawson made a bookend for Spurs in the red card department by receiving one for a studs-up tackle on the shin of Mamady Sidibe in extra time, and with Spurs having trouble scoring goals with 11 men most of the season, the task of getting one in the final 4 minutes or so was daunting indeed.


As for the adjectives, screaming could have been used for the grimace on Gomes near the end of the first half after a collision on a Stoke corner, but I couldn't quite tell what might have happened to produce such a reaction; after a visit from the physio, he remained in the game and finished strong.


Awful is the word to describe what happened to Spurs defender Vedran Corluka midway through the second half in a collison with Gomes, taking a knee to the head and knocking the defender to the ground, where he remained motionless for several minutes. Corluka was given an oxygen mask and carted off the field, but apparently not immediately taken to the hospital, as the commentator noted that his condition was not of a very serious nature.


Bloody is the fate of Sorenson, the Stoke goalie, after an accidental collision with Alan Hutton left him with his fluid streaming down his face, the injury time for both players were the reasons that there were 11 minutes of extra time, a figure not often seen.


The mess Spurs now find themselves in is dead bottom of the table, with just two points from their first eight games, with fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester United coming up in the very near future. How much further Spurs can sink remains to be seen, but for now, the view isn't a very good one.



BBC REPORT , GUARDIAN REPORT

Oregon 31 UCLA 24:Bizarro Night At Autzen

An underwhelming performance by the Ducks over a determined UCLA team was the end product of Saturday night's encounter in Eugene. For almost the entire game, the Ducks had the lead and held the Bruins at arms length, but could never quite put the visitors away until game's end.


Some of the "bizarro" aspects of the game: Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli rushed for 170 yards on 24 carries to lead the Ducks offensive attack. On the other side of the coin, he connected on just 5 of 19 passes for 42 yards (24 coming on one touchdown pass, 11 on another) for one of the most woeful passing efforts seen at Autzen in a long while. Of course, it didn't help matters when a number of balls he threw were dropped by the receivers, but the lack of consistency in developing drives certainly worked to the advantage of the UCLA defense.


It wasn't just Ducks on the offensive side unable to catch a thrown ball, it seemed like there were at least 5 opportunities there for Duck defenders to thwart UCLA drives, only to let the ball slip through their hands, almost as if they couldn't quite believe that Bruin quarterback Kevin Craft would've thrown the ball straight to them.


More worryingly, the Ducks missed their first two field goal efforts (Matt Evenson made his third) on seemingly convertible kicks, although it seemed to me that the snap on the first one was low.


Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel, seeming to know that he was outmanned for this game, called for a review on the spot of the ball very early on, which he subsequently lost and was charged a time out for, and then attempted an onside kickoff early in the third quarter after the Bruins had scored their first touchdown to cut the Duck lead to 14-7. An offside ruling negated the Bruin recovery of the ball, which lead to a short field for the Ducks to score their third touchdown of the game that made the score 21 to 7.


The Bruins cut the lead to 21 to 14 on their next drive after an interception of a Craft pass in the endzone by Jairus Byrd was nullified and Byrd was given a pass interference penalty instead, replays to the contrary notwithstanding much to the displeasure of Duck fans watching the scoreboard; Kahlil Bell, who had been helped off the field earlier, ran the ball from the two yard line near the end of the third quarter.


Things turned really awkward on the next Bruin possession near the beginning of the fourth quarter; a deflected Craft pass off of Terrence Austin landed in the hands of Byrd, a hit from T.J. Ward on Austin, who was leaping to catch a high Craft pass, created the opportunity for Byrd to make the play. Quite unfortunately, Austin landed awkwardly on his head and laid on the turf for a few mintues, although in the immediate minutes after the hit, he was able to make movements in a significant fashion, it was the hope of those watching that the stillness of his movements once the trainers had arrived were purely of a cautionary measure.


At almost the same time, from my location on the north side in section 13, from the corner of my eye I noticed some activity across the field from me as a couple of bodies were in motion falling down toward the field. A fight between a couple of Duck fans resulted in an unfortunate incident where the two of them spilled over a sideline barrier and one of them landed on his neck apparently; that man was subsequently carted off the field in a brace while the other man was carted off by the police. The combination of events took about 13 minutes as the Autzen crowd, still rightly upset by the blown call at the end of the third quarter, descended into an eerie silence, at first from the fervent hope that Austin was not seriously injured, and secondly trying to figure out what was happening behind the Bruin bench.


As odd as it may sound, in all of my years as a season ticker holder on the north side, I had never really noticed that section of the stadium before, and about half an hour before, for the first time, I had noticed some people running along the length of the barriers behind the vistors bench and wondered aloud why they were allowed to do so, the barriers being at least six feet above the field level below.


The Ducks got a field goal out of this exchange to give themselves a two-score lead, which would prove to be the decisive factor in this game. The teams exchanged punts for most of the rest of the fourth quarter, until LaGarrette Blound broke a tackle and ran down the right sideline for 69 yards to give the Ducks a 31-17 lead with three minutes to go in the game; some lazy defending by the Ducks in the remaining time allowed the Bruins to score their last touchdown, and a final onside kickoff by UCLA was recovered by the Ducks to seal the victory.




ESPN

Signs At Work

Seen at a local ramen joint, a reminder that gyoza babies need their beauty rest.

Here Comes The Rain

Looks like the first significant weather system of the fall will roll into Oregon this weekend, giving us some needed rainfall. Let's hope the owner of this unfortunately damaged vehicle I chanced upon earlier today will find a suitable place to park to keep the temporary repairs for this sun roof in working order. This pic was taken after we had some scattered showers over the area today.

Oregon 63 Washington State 14

Not a whole lot to say about this one, as some early Cougar turnovers were quickly cashed in for Duck touchdowns, and Oregon quickly found itself with a 21-0 lead with about 6 and half minutes left in the first quarter. The rest of the game for the Ducks, given the woeful offensive attack of the Cougars this season, consisted mainly of running, running, an occasional pass, and yet more running of the ball, while the defense was seeking to rebound from last weeks loss to Boise State.



The good part of running the ball so much (53 times for 346 yards, yet no Duck broke the 100 yard mark) is that the game passed quickly, as there was really no doubting the outcome of this one, even after the nice drives led by Cougar freshman quarterback Marshall Lobbestael at the end of the first quarter, which resulted in a missed field goal, and their first drive in the second, which lasted almost 7 minutes and resulted in their first touch down. The Oregon defense buckled down at that point, and the rest of the Cougar drives, save the last one of the game which led to their other touchdown in the waning moments of the game, were limited in terms of number of plays ran and yards gained. Lobbestael was also picked off on successive drives by Walter Thurmond III in this time frame.



USC in Los Angeles is next, on ABC this coming Saturday night. How the Trojans react to having been dominated by Oregon State and whether or not they take their frustrations out on Oregon will be played out on national television. Let's Go Ducks!





R-G STORY , P-I STORY , ESPN RECAP

Portsmouth 2 Spurs 0: Another Mishap From The Mish-Mash Team

You Don't Know What You're Doing!. That's what Spurs coach Juande Ramos heard today as Spurs put on another lackluster performance. Since having won the Carling Cup last year, Spurs have compiled a record of 3 wins, 9 losses, and 7 ties, with a current winless streak of 7 games dating back to the last match of last season.



Jermaine Defoe scored on a penalty in the first half, and Peter Crouch quickly knocked back a missed shot that rebounded into the area in front of the goal before any Spur could react. Give Defoe credit, he said he didn't celebrate his goal because he still appreciated the Spurs fans whilst he toiled at White Hart Lane.



Next up is the away leg of the UEFA Cup, Thursday at Wisla Krakow, Spurs having won the first match 2-1 earlier this month. After that, on Sunday, Hull will pay visit to White Hart Lane, fresh off of their shock dispatch of Arsenal, 1-2 at the Emirates. Pass the bottle quickly please if Spurs lose these two critical games.




BBC


SOCCERNET

Well Worth Anybody's 75 Dollars: Beavers 27 USC 21

(Unless you're a fan of the Trojans, I suppose!). Can't say that I watched the first half of last night's contest at Reser, but that's because I was splitting my time watching three baseball games instead: the Twins comeback against the White Sox, the Pirates/Brewers tilt, which featured a walk off grand slam by the Brewers Ryan Braun, and the Mets comeback against the Cubs 7-6. All of those games ended within 15 minutes of each other, though of course I spent more time on the Mets game. For the record, the winning single hit by Carlos Beltran happened just a minute after the third Beaver touchdown in the first half, because by that time my Beaver brother, who lives in Southern California, had begun texting me about the incredible happenings in Corvallis.


Whilst I have no particular love for the Beavers or many of their fans, the sight of Trojan head coach Pete Carroll befuddled on the sidelines helpless to stop the other side is one that had me laughing out loud. From what I watched in the second half, when the Trojans earnestly began to rally from the 21-0 halftime deficit, they had a very difficult time trying to get a hold of of freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers, who had no problems getting a sizable number of yards on first down running straight up the field for continual short yardage situations. In addition, the Beaver defense stymied the Trojans for a good portion of the game by making things uncomfortable for Trojan quarterback Mark Sanchez, who statistically had a good game but was undone by way too many ineffectual 3 and out drives that failed to balance the time consuming drives that the Beavers used to establish their lead.



Way to go Beavers for a great exhibition of team football, it's nice to see the underdog pull out a decisive win against the favoured opponent, and I certainly don't begrudge the fans rushing the field at the end, it was a big, big win that was well deserved. What this means in the context of this season is anybody's guess, who knows how this team will respond next week away from Reser against a tough Utah team is something that we'll all know more about by next Sunday. As for what happened Thursday, it was an enjoyable 'perfect storm' of an underdog team at home thinking that it could beat the top dog strongly encouraged by its rabid fans.



ESPN RECAP

Spurs 0 Wigan 0

More silly knees-bent running about that amounts to nothing particularly inspiring or organized; the replay on FSC this afternoon was just the tonic to aid me at nap time........I'm sorry to say.





SOCCERNET REPORT



'FORGETTABLE' BBC REPORT

Boise State 37 Oregon 32

The Ducks couldn't overcome a determined Boise State team, watching the visitors grab a 24-6 halftime lead, which was expanded to 37-13 by the end of the third quarter. A strong rally led by true freshman Darron Thomas fell just short in an exciting but tough game that left me with a headache from yelling so much in that critical fourth quarter.



Seeing as how I brought my 14-year old nephew from Corvallis to the game, I was happy to forgo my perch on the 30 yard line in section 13 for some corner tickets in section five next to the students (view above).




I am not under the illusion that Oregon deserved to win this game, the Broncos certainly executed their game plan much better than the Ducks did. Special kudos to redshirt freshman Kellen Moore for keeping his composure, standing tall and spreading the ball around to a number of receivers (including the third string tight end) who often times found themselves wide open. That was one of the biggest factors of the game for me, the strength of the Bronco passing game and the relative lack of pressure that the front seven of the Ducks could bring upon the young quarterback. Even when they did, as I recall a couple of times, Moore would throw the ball to the spot where the receiver was supposed to be just as he was about to be hit, and the receiver would make the catch just as the play was drawn up. The lack of success running the ball with Ian Johnson did not faze Boise State at all as they continued to throw the ball all over the field, especially in the decisive second and third quarters as they built up their insurmountable lead.



The bad news for the Ducks is that they could have been in a position to win the game if all aspects of the game had been functioning "normally (yes, I know, that's why they play the games, mistakes and injuries are part of the game, etc. etc. etc. ). A couple of missed field goals, some botched extra point attempts and some woeful punting, including one of three yards that set up an early Bronco touchdown, were the visible signs of inadequacy from the kicking game. Of course, the lack of being able to defend the pass was where the defense came up short. All of this was compounded by the lack of ability to throw the ball in the first half and keep the Ducks in the game by a reasonable score before the issue was truly well out of hand.


Part of the issue from the last aspect was due to starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli being knocked early on by a blatant late (and cheap) hit from Bronco safety Ellis Powers, who led with the helmet in his effort to knock the Duck quarterback to the ground. Masoli got right back up and continued to play for a bit, but soon exhibited signs of a concussion and was forced to the sidelines. Another freshman, Chris Harper, continued to struggle with his passing, failing to complete any of his three passes save the two that were intercepted by the Broncos. The Ducks, though they ran the ball quite well against their opponents, had just a meager 27 passing yards at the half, a staggering number when considering how significant the pass has been to offenses here at Oregon. This lack of balance of offense is what led the Ducks to play Thomas in the second half, who for the record went 13 for 25 and 210 yards with three TD's and one interception, though it must be said that even as a freshman he threw a couple of ill-advised passes in which was fortunate not to have been picked off.



The other play which has to be mentioned is the late hit (and ejection) of Boise State's Jeron Johnson on Oregon's last touchdown drive, another blatant hit which led to his immediate ejection as he leveled an Oregon receiver (it was on the other end of the field, I couldn't see who ) well before the ball was in the area.



In the end, it was a disappointing loss to be sure, but it's not the end of the world, except perhaps in the macho-posturing world of internet tough guy message boards about whose conference is better, etc., but I'm glad to say that I was proud to have stayed to the end ( in my view, I honestly didn't see that many people leaving at the end of the third quarter); the kids on the field have practiced hard all week, and the least I can do is offer them my support...........even if I was a dizzy as Masoli at the end of the game. At any rate, the Washington State Cougars are next up...........let's go Ducks!!!!!



R-G STORY



ESPN RECAP

Spurs 1 Aston Villa 2: Pressure Drop

Did not watch this one, as I had to work, but Spurs continue their early season blunder run with a woeful home performance to leave them bottom of the league with just one point in four games, and also the only team who has failed to have won a match this season.


Spurs fell behind just five minutes into the game, and on a second Villa goal just after the start of the second half. Darren Bent got one back in the 87th minute, but as with Alex Rodriquez, these stats come at a time in the game when it really doesn't matter anymore.



The only "bright" spots in all of the fandom reports I've read is that this is still a young team that's barely played together for a very short amount of time, and the future is still bright once all of the players chosen by coach Juande Ramos have been fully integrated in his system. It can't get any worse at this point, though, could it? Let's hope we don't find out the answer in the Championship next year. *sigh*







The harsh but fair reads are as follows: GUARDIAN ; SOCCERNET ; BBC.

Richard Wright R.I.P.

The death from cancer of Pink Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright came as a bit of a shock to most fans around the world today. Many, many thanks are due to him for his contributions to Pink Floyd, count me as one of those fans grateful enough for the four members to have put aside their personal grievances enough to have a successful reunion show at Live 8 back in 2005. See you at the great gig in the sky, Richard! :(



BBC OBIT

Oregon 32 Purdue 26 2OT: Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

Games that play out like this one are very hard to watch at home, but the Ducks rallied from a 20-3 first half deficit to force the Boilermakers to overtime. Once there, the Oregon defense stymied the Purdue attack as it had done for most of the last three quarters of the game, and LaGarrette Blount ran in for a three-yard touchdown to give the Ducks the hard fought victory.



The Ducks found themselves in a hole quickly as Kory Sheets ran 80 yards down the right sideline, in front of the Purdue bench, for the score. The second Purdue touchdown came via the oddity of a receiving team failing to cover a kick off after a score; the swirling wind had the kick falling at the Oregon 22 yard line, whereupon it was recovered by Purdue. The touchdown that soon followed at the beginning of the second quarter gave the home side that 20-3 lead, and it became apparent that a lot of hard work was going to be necessary if the Ducks wanted the win.



After that, the Ducks defense played very well indeed, limiting the yards that Purdue could manage, but the Ducks offense sputtered for the most part, with a number of dropped passes killing potential scoring drives. (Purdue receivers had a case of the "dropsies" as well). There were a number of turnovers as well that ended drives, with Oregon unfortunately leading in that stat at 4-3.


It took a spectacular 87 yard punt return by Jairus Byrd toward the end of the third quarter to spark the Ducks, drawing them to 20-13. On their next possession, Blount had a 72 yard run that set up the tying touchdown at the end of the quarter, and Duck fans all across the country were wondering just what crazy thing would happen next. All that did happen was that the teams traded a field goal with each other, although Purdue's Chris Summers did miss a 44 yard attempt into the wind as time wound down to send the game into overtime.



The bad news is that quarterback Justin Roper had suffered a partially torn medial collateral ligament toward the end of regulation time, and it seems he's likely to miss 2-4 weeks at a minimum. Boise State is up this Saturday at Autzen, and I have no doubt that the Broncos would like nothing better than to notch a road victory at a Pac-10 stadium to make their season, the Oregon coaching ties by some of the Bronco staff notwithstanding. I'll be on hand once again to cheer the team on, this time with my nephew from Corvallis, who became a Duck fan just because he couldn't stand the Beaver fans in his town.



R-G STORY


ESPN RECAP



One of the drawbacks to attending Duck games is that, with the travel times factored in, I tend to miss a number of interesting matchups. I started Saturday viewing Cal at Maryland, watching the Bears SLEEPWALK FOR MUCH OF THE GAME, then some of OKLAHOMA'S SLAUGHTER OF WASHINGTON, to be topped off with a liberal dose of OHIO STATE V. USC, and the tense finishes of ARIZONA AT NEW MEXICO and upset of UNLV OVER ARIZONA STATE, as the Rebels blocked a potential tying field goal in overtime to seal the unlikely win. The pained look of Dennis Erickson on the sidelines as the reality of what had just happened was priceless indeed. Oh yeah, there were look-ins at the intriguing WISCONSIN AT FRESNO STATE late game as well, with the Bulldogs giving the visiting Badgers all that they could handle. There was some baseball viewing in there as well, but by the end of the day, I had grown a bit weary from watching all of those games. I was glad that I don't really watch the NFL on Sunday though; I do need some time on the weekend to get something done.

Newcastle 1 Hull 2

Watched this bizarro match in the first of a long line of sporting events Saturday (it's nice once in a while to stay home and do absolutely nothing). With the protestations from the home-side Toon Army about the actions of OWNER MIKE ASHLEY before the game, those actions seemed to have affected what happened on the pitch, as newly promoted Hull definitely earned the victory in front of the stunned home crowd.


Hull got two goals from Marlon King ten minutes apart from the half time break, the first a penalty shot as the Magpies basically fluttered about with no real direction or drive for the game, and it was only when newcomer Xisco knocked back a missed shot with 10 minutes left that Newcastle (both the team and its fans) showed any real life as the possibility of salvaging a point seemed like a realistic one. The Hull defense became disorganized and was battered around for a few more minutes at that point, but rallied sufficiently to quell the meager attack of the home side.


Still trying to work out if the Newcastle fans were more disappointed post match with this one or from the FA Cup match with Stoke earlier this year.




BBC REPORT



ASHLEY'S SUNDAY STATEMENT ABOUT SELLING THE CLUB

Ahh, The Peaceful Life Merseyside: Robbie Keane Robbed

(to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine")



You are a scouser,
An ugly scouser,
You're only happy,
on giro day,
your mum's out thieving,
your dad's drug-dealing,
so please dont take,
my hubcaps,
away.




Ex-Spurs player Robbie Keane becomes the seventh Liverpool player to have been burgled whilst playing on international duty, a lovely statistic that I'm sure won't be mentioned when tapping up other contract-bound players to head to Anfield.




STORY

A Step Beyond 'Beaver Shooting In El Paso

Reading Jim Bouton's behind the scenes baseball book Ball Four at a young age in the early 70's taught me, amongst other things, that others may be looking at you in a way that you're unaware of. Add a few cameras in our world today where just about everything is surveilled and reviewed and the chances of your actions being recorded for posterity have been greatly increased. Such as with the loving couple watching the Texas/UTEP game in El Paso last Saturday night, on a hill outside the stadium. I just wonder what the cameramen at ESPN were looking for when they caught this action.

Oregon 44 Washington 10

Always interesting to have a conference game open the season schedule, and the fact that the opponent was border rival Washington made for an added level of excitement in Eugene on Saturday night.


The Ducks took an early 14-0 lead on two quick scores in the first quarter, but the Huskies eventually responded with a couple of second quarter drives to net 10 points, enough to give the home fans enough pause to wonder if they could manage to find a way to combat the talents of Husky quarterback Jake Locker. The score at the end of the first half wound up being 14-10.

The Ducks defense responded to the challenges of defending a mobile quarterback by sending more men to rush and harass him, leaving the Duck secondary to defend the inexperienced Husky receiving corp in single coverage for the most part( a note must be made here that Washington moved the ball most effectively when Locker was able to complete his passes, I was a bit surprised when I found out that all but one of Washington's completed passes went to wide receivers; perhaps more quick screens to the running back (Chris Polk, in this case) might have alleviated some of the defensive pressure.


Speaking of Polk, and the Washington offense in general, I do believe that almost all of their possessions started with a run straight up the middle, and every possession wound up being a second and long situation, not an ideal place for an inexperienced team to find itself in for too long.


Field position played a big part in helping the Ducks establish defensive dominance in the second half, with a couple of kicks from the special teams resulting in starting Husky field postion starting from inside the 20 yard line. This helped the shuttle of Duck quarterbacks get some game experience (starter Justin Roper got a concussion at some point in the first half, and subs Jeremiah Masoli and Chris Harper did some nice things moving the ball in various capacities, the former with his quick release on a couple of ball, particularly the touchdown pass to Jaison Williams that solidified the Duck lead at 30-10 early in the fourth quarter, and the latter with his running ability, he showed some nice moves and smarts in moving the ball around the field and was rewarded with his first collegiate touchdown near the end of the game, though he did not throw a pass in the game.



Other things that struck me sitting in the stands: Duck defensive end Nick Reed seemed to be playing with a bee in his bonnet early on, yapping at Locker after the Husky quarterback misfired on his first attempt of the game, and for getting the first penalty of the game, by anticipating the snap on another play and knocking the Husky lineman on his butt, drawing the ire of the teammates of the visitors.


Jaison Williams did a very good catching the ball, the only one I recall him dropping was the one where he was cited for ineligible touching early on in the fourth quarter.........only after he had run across the field in the first place to help out a scrambling Masoli.


The hits from T.J. Ward in the second half were certainly noticed by a number of fans.


Their were no balls thrown toward tight end Ed Dickson, not sure if that had more to do with the change in quarterbacks or in the scheme of the offense.


Jeremiah Johnson had a terrific game running the ball, he looked as good as ever, and the way that JC transfer LeGarrette Blount moved the scrum forward to achieve yet another crucial first down helped to put the loss of Jonathan Stewart in the back of the minds of most fans.



The scrambling ability of Locker drew grudging admiration from some Duck fans, but it soon became apparent that without consistent help from both aspects of the offensive game, chances of a comeback were practically non-existant at best, though wide receiver D'Andre Goodwin and tight end Kavario Middleton proved to be a handful at the times when Washington closed in on the Ducks.


In the end, it was a good victory over a bitter rival on a surprisingly chilly August evening, and most Duck fans I encountered afterward were saying that it was just one step in the first of many. With a date in Eugene against Utah State next Saturday, it will certainly be the road game at Purdue on September 13th where the Ducks find out exactly where they stand.


BTW, the new video screen in the stadium; it's too bad that the audio system sounded like crap; I couldn't even hear a word of the J.Stew/Dennis Dixon alumni commercial.



R-G STORY



P-I STORY

Chelsea 1 Spurs 1: Up From The Bottom Of The Table

Certainly not a bad way to earn the first point of the year, a well-deserved draw from all accounts, aided by a bit of luck for the Spurs goal and some more luck (and good goal tending) to hold the Blues to one goal.


I will admit that I got into the house just a couple of hours before the match started here on Pacific time in the early morning and did not follow this one live at any time, so it was a thrill to see that Spurs had finally showed some spirit for an extended length of time. The highlights I did see showed that Juliano Belletti's goal in the 27th minute off of a corner kick was well-taken, but it was Darren Bent's sneaky move off of a misplace Frank Lampard kick that tied the match at 1 just before the end of the first half that began to justify the big price tag Spurs paid for him in the first place.



Still no concrete news on the imminent transfer of the Big Sulk (Dimitar Berbatov) to Manure, and Berbs once again did not travel with the team and suit up for the match, but the longer the SAF and the Red Twats wait for someone they think they can just buy to help them is very good news for the rest of the EPL (and football in general). FTR!




SPURS VIEW



SCOLARI VIEW OF MATCH



SOCCERNET MATCH REPORT

Kevin Duckworth, R.I.P.

Sad news today with the REPORT of the passing of former Portland Trail Blazer center Kevin Duckworth at the Oregon coast Monday night.




Duckworth came to Portland from the San Antonio Spurs in December of 1986, in perhaps one of the greatest trades in Blazer history, a trade in which the Blazers sent the very disgruntled rookie Walter Berry in return. (The subject of Berry in Portland is worthy of a post in its own).


Local TV stations have been replaying one of Duck's greatest moments, returning to play with a broken hand in game seven of a 1990 playoff series with the Spurs ( it was sad to see Drazen Petrovic in those highlights as well), and the local radio shows have been filled with callers retelling stories of their encounters with the big man, the conclusion easily being drawn that we will all miss him not only for being a key cog in those great Blazer teams around the turn of the 90's but for his role in the community, qualities that were sorely lacking just a few short years later with the rise of the Jail Blazers.


Thanks for the great memories Kevin, you will certainly never be forgotten in these parts and, as I'm sure is being done all over the Northwest, one of your Dairy Queen glasses will be used to toast your memory.



KATU STORY



TRUE HOOP MEMORY

Spurs 1 Sunderland 2: A Black Day With The Black Cats

Not a good day by any means today for Spurs fans. Straight off the top, we're greeted by the news that coach Juande Ramos had left the disgruntled striker Dimitar Berbatov off of the team roster today "BECAUSE HE WILL NOT BE GOOD FOR THE DRESSING ROOM".



Follow up that bit of distressing news (inevitable though it may be to some) with the performance today in the season opener at White Hart Lane. The first half wasn't actually too bad, but there was precious little in the way of organized offensive efforts, especially with the home side playing just one striker (Darren Bent) up front; Spurs may have had a number of corner kicks in the half, but there was never a feeling that any connection with a team member was going to happen, the ball was always either going to get knocked away harmlessly or sail over everybody's head.



Sunderland were a bit unlucky not to have taken a first half lead at about the 30 minute mark, when ex-Spur Steed Malbranque took a low-flying shot from about 25 yards; luckily for the slowly reacting Heurelho Gomes, the shot hit the goal post and Spurs were able to defend against any possible rebounds in the action afterward.



Spurs defender Gareth Bale nearly headed a corner in just after the start of the second half, but it was Sunderland's Kieran Richardson who got the first goal of the game in the 55th minute. The White Hart Lane crowd certainly became palpably nervous at that point, given the meager offensive spark shown by Spurs in the new regular season, and seeing that the goal they were credited with was actually an own goal from Boro, the sense that Spurs were ever going to mount a comeback was a very fleeting one at best.


Just after the goal, substitutes Tom Huddlestone and Giovanni Dos Santos did their best to liven up the Spurs attack once they were adjusted to the game, and the team work was rewarded with a Jermaine Jenas goal in the 73rd minute off of some nice footwork after a blocked shot. However, Djibril Cisse created some space in the Spurs back line to knock home the game winner late, creating more frustration for the home team and their fans, who took the chance at the final whistle to voice their displeasure very loudly.



Even a rare Fulham victory versus ARSENAL gave little consolation, and as if things couldn't get any worse, next up is a match at bitter rivals Chelsea next Saturday, to be compounded by the ongoing Berbatov drama. Oh joy......I can hardly wait......unless a lot of soul searching is done in the next week (combined with any form of sorcery you might wish to name).......my birthday next Saturday is bound to get off to a very lousy start.




SPURS REPORT

Boro 2 Spurs 1: Choppy & Disjointed

(That's not just for the description of the feed I watched the match on either, but it certainly fits)


In an off-season that saw a lot of personnel changes for Spurs (almost half of the squad is new to the club, by my reckoning), and with the continuing "Berbatov to Man U" saga, Spurs fans world wide were wondering just what exactly we were going to be treated to today at the Riverside. The answer: the same thing as last year, for the most part in today's EPL season opener.


How in the hell Spurs have possession for 65% percent of the game yet get out-shot on goal by 17 to 8 just goes to show how relatively poor the backline of Spurs are in contrast to the rest of the team. Apparently both Ledley King and Christian Bale were both not starting for who knows what reason, but such crucial absences were compounded by things such as Micheal Dawson having perhaps his worst game ever and Alan Hutton still out with injury.



Boro certainly deserved the win to be sure, and David Wheater, who got the first official goal in the 71st minute, was unlucky not to have had one in the first half,
his goal was taken away for him having tugged on Dawson's jersey, though replays certainly looked like it was the other way round.


To add insult to injury, former Spurs player Hossam Mido finished off Boro's scoring with a goal in the 86th minute, taking advantage of a fortunate rebound to seal the victory.


Spurs got some scant consolation in injury time as Boro defender Robert Huth accidentally headed a clearance past Brad Jones, but that gift certainly flatters the true nature of the match.


A home match versus Sunderland next Saturday might just be the tonic coach Junade Ramos needs (after all, I do believe that Boro has throttled Chelsea the last two years up north), so there is still a lot of time for Spurs fans to feel good about the teams chances this year. A lot, however, still depends on the Berbatov case; if the Bulgarian goes, will a somewhat fairly replacement be drafter in shortly after? (I read some of the reports in the papers and message boards, but at this point, there've been too many "conclusive" statements made by various parties that make it difficult to know just exactly who is right these days.


As always, this type of aggravation is second nature to Spurs fans, we're used to it by know, so we'll just end this with the cry of In Juande We Trust and Come On You Spurs!








SPURS REPORT

Big Ten Network On Comcast This Fall

Just what the college football mad fans in this area (who don't or can't use either of the satellite services) have been needing: a chance to see a lot more quality games via the arrival of the Big Ten Network to the Comcast channel line-up on August 28th.



No official announcement on the Comcast website, just notice it over the weekend via the message function of the cable box, and the associate who answered my call this afternoon had no idea what tier the channel would be put on when it does arrive. Still, this pleased my buddy (a big Ohio State fan) no end when he heard the news; I'm sure a lot of other transplanted mid-westerners will be happy as well.



BIG TEN NETWORK SITE

Mark Stewart: Loner

So maybe the initial impressions I've seen of the new Mark Stewart album EDIT (as in the two Amazon takes referred to) aren't of the "immediate all-time classic" that might have been expected, given the very impressive body of Stewart's work. (This is also his first solo album since the brilliant Control Data was released in 1996.)





The song for the new video Loner doesn't immediately captivate me as many of his songs, such as Hypnotised, Learning To Cope With Cowardice, or The Half (also can't forget his classic deconstruction of Jerusalem, the fact remains that Stewart is the kind of artist that demands some work from the listener, so I've got to take some time to find out what has inspired his latest round of musical missives. The July issue of the UK music magazine Wire featured Mark on the cover, along with the full unedited transcript of the interview found HERE.

Mets At Houston: A Lost Weekend & Kunz Makes His Debut

A totally lost weekend for the Mets in the Lone Star State, with the bullpen blowing leads both Friday and Saturday and the offense failing to show up today when it was needed the most, being shut out 4-0.


Aaron Heilman had the roughest weekend, being charged with the first two losses. On Friday, he gave up a one-out grand slam to Mark Loretta in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the losing runsin the tenth inning on Saturday after closer Billy Wagner blew another save opportunity with the Mets leading 4-2 heading toward the bottom of the ninth.


The Mets offense disappeared after the first three innings on Saturday, making it 16 straight scoreless innings against a Houston staff that has more questions than the Mets do. They did manage a fair number of hits, but typically for the road trip was the fact that they loaded the bases in consecutive innings but failed to capitalize on those chances.


There were some positive things to recall about the Houston series, with Johan Santana pitching very well on Saturday (but failing to get a win for his work yet again) and Pedro Martinez doing reasonably well on Friday in five innings before he got the hook. There were also a couple of major league debuts for the Mets, the first coming on Saturday with outfielder Daniel Murphy doing his best to save the Mets lead in the eighth with a tremendous leaping catch. Murphy caught a blast from Ty Wigginton in front of the left field fence by timing his catch just right, and then doubling off Hunter Pence at second, who was caught in no-man's land between bases trying to judge if Murphy was going to make the catch or not.


Kunz made his debut today in the seventh inning, taking over after a mediocre Oliver Perez performance, with the Mets trailing 4-0. After getting a called strike on his first pitch, Darin Erstad laid a perfect bunt down between the mound and first base, catching Kunz off guard after he'd made the pitch, and Erstad was safe at first. The next batter, Humberto Quintero, put another bunt down the first base line and Kunz, who fielded the ball, lofted the ball over the outstretched arms of first baseman Carlos Delgado. However, Erstad got greedy on the play and tried to make it to third base, where he was thrown out as the Mets quickly composed themselves after the error from the rookie. After falling behind 3-0 to Dave Newhan, Kunz then steadied himself by getting the ex-Met to ground into a double play and end his inning. Wish I had a picture of Kunz walking around earlier in the day with a bubblegum bubble atop his cap, walking around unaware of its presence. Nice little bit of rookie hazing I'd say.


With the news coming out today of injuries to both Wagner and John Maine, the "sooner" aspect of the prospective call up for Kunz was forced upon the team. No doubt the "off" aspect of the Mets erratic bullpen was another issue to consider as well. At any rate, here's to the ex-Oregon State star helping to patch things together in the Mets bullpen until the injuries are healed. In the parity-driven National League East, where all of the contending teams have picked up the habit of imploding at inopportune times, first place is still within reach.




SUNDAY RECAP






KUNZ CALL UP

No Love Lost Between The Reds

Sign spotted today in the Liverpool section at Ibrox today, where the visitors thrashed the home side 0-4. The bad news, I suppose, is that Robbie Keane teamed up with Fernando Torres well.









REPORT FROM SCOTLAND

Oooh........Shrimp On A Skewer!

Yellow boxfish at the Oregon Coast Aquarium doing what they do best........ whatever that is.

One Small Step Of Decency Restored: New Headstone For Ian Curtis

It's been a month since the news came out that some over zealous "fan" (?) had stolen the headstone of Joy Division's late singer, Ian Curtis, from a Macclesfield cemetery. Now his ex-wife Debbie has laid out for a new one, and the local police are still sadly not any closer than they were at the beginning in finding the stolen marker. A pox upon the thief for this most senseless crime.






MACCLESFIELD NEWS STORY

Thanks And Best Of Luck To Teemu And Robbo!

As expected, two players who have contributed to Spurs have made their ways to new locales for differing reasons. Goalie Paul Robinson is now on his way to Blackburn, partly in an effort to help regain the confidence that made him England's number one, and Teemu Tainio is headed to Sunderland in a move that he hopes will bring more consistent first team play.





Though Robbo had certainly made his fair share of mistakes between the posts in the last couple of years, it had certainly become apparent that a change of scenery would be best for both player and team, and Robbo will certainly be warmly received by the fans at the Lane when Rovers pay their visit this upcoming season.


Tainu became a fan favourite be always giving his best and not complaining when things weren't going his way (i.e. maximum playing time on the pitch). He also scored that memorable goal against the Hammers in the 4-3 classic from 2007, a stunning display of passing and movement, which entailed a cross from Dimitar Berbatov to the left side of the box, where Aaron Lennon backheeled it perfectly to the onrushing Tainu, leaving the dazed Hammer defense flatfooted.


There was also this lovely display of time-wasting at the end of the Carling Cup from last February, annoying Chelsea (and Didier Drogba in particular) as he drained a few more seconds of opportunity away from the Blues. Judging from Drogba's reaction, I suppose the whole of the team was feeling the pressure of all of Abramovich's millions directly on their backs. The shots of Tainu pointing to the scoreboard in front of the Chelsea players is one of the little things that will endure him to Spurs fans for a long, long while.



Thanks again to you two, and the best of luck for the rest of your careers (except when you play Spurs of course!)

Why Mince Words? A 'Soccer' Poll That Gets Straight To The Heart Of The Matter

In the wake of the West Ham fans who vainly sought to find the "tea and crumpet" vendors in the middle of a section of Columbus Crew fans Sunday night, the Columbus Dispatch now has a poll on its web site that is seemingly directed to the mass of Americans not yet persuaded by the nuances of the beautiful game. The poll simply asks: Does hooliganism make soccer more interesting to you?. Looks like it's one of those polls where one can only vote once, but thankfully the "no" voters have made themselves known at this time (57% at this time).







DISPATCH STORY WITH POLL QUESTION





ESPN STORY

Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Lied To?: Robbie Keane To Liverpool

The dizzying number of reports in the British papers regard the transfer requests from Spurs strikers Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov (to Liverpool and Man United, respectively) have undoubtedly been the culprit in raising the blood pressure of Spurs fans around the world lately.



The news of Berbatov leaving has certainly been expected by Spurs faithful over the last few months, but even a Carling Cup victory last February wasn't enough to persuade the Bulgarian to give new coach Juande Ramos another season to achieve the status of playing in the Champions League: Berbatov wants to play there now, the erratic play of Spurs on the pitch apparently a significant role in his moodiness throughout the year.


Keane, however, is an entirely different study: in the years that he's been at White Hart Lane, he has been a truly exemplary leader both on and off the pitch, a hard worker who appreciates the recognition from the Tottenham faithful. Many times over Keane has expressed how content he is at the Lane, and even as last year's roller coaster of a season was finishing up, he expressed a desire to finish his career at Tottenham.



Now that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has come out with a stunning statement earlier this week, that reads in part.... I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence. This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively., the question that is burning on the minds of all Spurs fans is: Robbie, how could you and what exactly has changed in the last year to have changed your mind?


Going to Liverpool won't be nearly as unforgivable as when Sol Campbell signed with Arsenal earlier this decade, but it has still been received as a major body shock by Spurs fans. Yes, we know the true nature of professional sports is that it's a business, but when a trusted and admired player such as Keane disavows what he's said before (on many occasions), then the last shreds of imagined integrity and devotion to the team have sadly been cruelly ripped away.



ROBBIE'S LIES, LIES, LIES





LEVY'S STATEMENT






A pox upon both Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez for their actions in these matters.

Nice Move George: Randolph Goes To The All-Star Game

Though I have little love for the Yankees (but will root for them whenever they play the Red Sox), and have even less time for the digs given by the fans of the inter-city rivalry as exhibited in the comments in the linked article, as a Mets fan I must say that it is a very nice gesture of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to invite fired Mets manager (and former Yankee standout) Willie Randolph to tonight's All-Star game.


DAILY NEWS STORY

Bobby Murcer, R.I.P.

Sad news today in that former Yankee great Bobby Murcer passed away after his fight with brain cancer at the age of 62. He had a tough gig in replacing Mickey Mantle, but did a damn good job in doing so, and his mid-career stints with the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs did nothing to replace the feeling that he would always be a Yankee no matter what. I also liked him as an announcer in the time that I've had the ExtraInnings baseball package. Thanks for your efforts Bobby, you will certainly be missed. The card is from the 1970 Topps set, and one of the first cards I ever owned.



ESPN STORY

Groove Armada & Richie Havens: Hands Of Time

Following the great Richie Havens performance in I'm Not There as well as hearing Handouts In The Rain on a recent Mojo magazine CD of some of Paul Weller's inspirational tunes, I went looking to hear something else by the man.


Came across this performance with Groove Armada, a song that's apparently featured in the movie Collateral; I suppose I'd overlooked this gem simply for the fact that it was placed in a Tom Cruise vehicle; with my hand on my heart, I can honestly say that I've never spent a dime of my own money at the box office for a Tom Cruise movie, the last movie of his I saw was Risky Business........and that's when I was working in the theater to start with.


Tom may get some ancillary income from the soundtrack CD sales, but that still won't detract from this lovely tune.

A Sick Symptom Of Fandom: Gravestone Of Ian Curtis Stolen

In a year that's brought about some renewed attention on one of the finest bands ever, some "fan" has resorted to a new low by stealing the memorial marker for Ian Curtis, the deceased singer of Joy Division, who passed away in 1980. The sad BBC news report is HERE.

New Order Your Silent Face Glasgow 2007

One of my fave NO songs, the simple and elegant Your Silent Face, from the brand new Live In Glasgow DVD.

Mariners 11 Mets 0: Yet Another Low

Okay, losing 5-2 yesterday to the worst team in the major leagues, with the majority of the winning runs coming from an unlikely grand slam home run from a pitcher not accustomed to batting in the first place, may have been just another step back after the encouraging signs from the Colorado series. However, the totally ineffectual showing against a career spot starter who entered the season with a grand total of 16 wins in four plus seasons with the Texas Rangers certainly proved without a doubt that the Mets do not possess the ability to produce an offense capable of challenging anybody on any given day. The weak showing against the Mariners relievers after Felix Hernandez went down with an ankle sprain yesterday has had most Mets fans in a testy mood, but there certainly seemed to be little fire up the Mets tonight in another vain attempt to come back from an early deficit, save the fourth inning ejections of manager Jerry Manuel and outfielder Carlos Beltran for arguing a strike call.



Other factors that might be remembered from this game is that David Wright sat out for the first time this year and that the Mariners had a balanced offensive attack as Mets starer Oliver Perez had another 'off' night by giving up two more home runs.



Considering that the Mets are still only four games out of first place at this point of the season with a sub .500 record just goes to show the relative parity of baseball these days; the general consensus of Mets fans is that if the team can't get it together against the celler-dwelling Mariners, how will they manage against teams that hit the ball better, such as the Philadelphia Phillies?




ESPN RECAP; THE GORY DETAILS

Mariners 5 Mets 2: Further Indignities Suffered

Once again, in excruciating manner, the Mets come undone by a couple of things that should never have happened en route to another devastating loss, this time at the hand of the visiting Seattle Mariners (yes, the team with the worst record in baseball and one of the worst pitching staffs in the game as well).


It wasn't a bad game that designated ace Johan Santana pitched, but seeing as how he's given up nearly a home run per game, the fact that the one from this game came from Seattle starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and was a grand slam to boot, took the wind out of the sails of the crowd who came to see if the modest strides made by the team out west were more than just baby steps.


Okay, a team can overcome one mistake (truthfully, there was also an error from David Wright prolonged the second inning, the one where Hernandez came to bat with two outs), but the Mets swung the bat so ineffectually against the depleted Mariners staff that the crowd certainly seemed to have lost the will to cheer the team on to an unlikely come-from-behind victory; show us something, it seemed they said, and then we'll get behind you.



The Mets managed just four hits for the game, two each from Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and made the Mariners staff look damn near invincible, save for a brief respite when Sean Green continually fell behind hitters in the ninth, until Arthur Rhodes came in to slam the door shut on the hope of the Mets.


Hernandez pitched masterfully in his stint, but was unfortunately taken off before he could get credit for a win by covering home plate on a wild pitch. Beltran made a clean slide into home, Hernandez just had his foot in the wrong place and Beltran slid into it; fortunately, Hernandez did not have his foot totally planted, so his leg gave way enough to have "just" sustained what appeared to be a severe sprain.


The fact that the home run by Hernandez was the first ever by a Mariners pitcher, and the first grand slam by an American League pitcher since 1971, pointed out the new manner in which this year's Mets would find another way to lose another ball game. Not to dis Hernandez, for he has certainly had an All-Star caliber year, but even after his injury in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets should certainly have done better than they did against a nondescript Mariners relief pitching staff.


Doesn't matter much if the Mets win the last two series, for they have certainly showed the mettle of a team that can't stand its own prosperity.



METS RECAP

Mets Fire Randolph: It's All Fun And Games Till A Window Gets Broken....

.........or your team seriously under performs for the last year, but this isn't a children's book nor are we talking about monopoly money in a fantasy baseball league, this Mets team has certainly been a cause for consternation during that time span.


Omar Minaya let the word slip out just after midnight PST (3:14 a.m in the east) that Willie Randolph would be let go as Mets manager, just a couple of hours after a hard fought 9-6 win over the Anaheim Angels, though the general manager manager would not make himself available for comment for several hours afterward. The very strange timing of the announcement, announced just after the first day on a six-game western road swing for the Mets, certainly has made the Mets front office look incredibly inept, none of my friends have made positive comments about the way Randolph was let go, nor about the way the rumours kept swirling for the last couple of weeks that any game could be Willie's last.


The game itself was a good one, Jose Reyes conjured up a couple of runs by his base running, Carlos Beltran hit a couple of home runs, and a relatively balanced hitting attack (every starter save Carlos Delgado and Trot Nixon) got a hit along with either a run or an RBI. Starting pitcher Mike Pelphrey did a decent job in securing the win, though he faltered in the seventh inning and was charged with all six runs that the Angels scored.


It has to be said that the job Aaron Heilman did in the seventh was great; as team the Mets pitchers only struck out two batters, but those came at a very critical time in the bottom of the seventh and Heilman recorded both of them. The Angels had closed the Mets lead to 8-6 and had runners on the corners with just one out, but Heilman got both Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter swinging at the third strike to quell that rally, leaving Duaner Sanchez to get the Angles 1-2-3 in the eight. Billy Wagner raised blood pressure around the country by getting two runners on base with one out, but got bailed out when Garrett Anderson lined out to Reyes for an unassisted double play to end the game.


Not many Mets fans are arguing that Willie shouldn't have been fired, nor do they seem to expect a bit turnaround now that bench coach Jerry Manuel has been named interim manager, but the actions of the last 24 hours have left a feeling that Minaya certainly knows his days are numbered if the team doesn't turn it around and soon.



METS GAME RECAP

Troy McClure: We Remember You (And Your Bad Films)

Troy McClure Film or Actual Terrible Movie? Score: 93% (14 out of 15)

Well, most of 'em anyway, a fun little quiz to differentiate one of Troy's fictional titles versus titles of actual wretched movies. Of the non-McClure vehicles, only one was given the MST3K treatment, though most all of them would have qualified after having read the plot details provided at the site.

Diamondbacks 9 Mets 5: Shhh, Trainwreck In Progress

Watching the game tonight, I was beginning to feel a bit charitable along with Gary Cohen when he described the pitching of the Mets relief staff during the Padres series as being good, thinking that if a team holds the opponent to just one run, then a team with the offensive firepower of the Mets should be able to have won at least two of the three 2-1 games.



Silly me for thinking that, as tonight showed that even after grabbing a 5-1 lead after two innings, that thought was just a mirage as the bullpen imploded en route to a devastating loss tonight. It's a peculiar feeling of hopelessness, seeing as how now Mets fans have absolutely no faith of the team holding the lead once they have one, nor of them being able to rally from late inning deficits to win games, I think that total for this year at this point is just two wins, but I'm just too cranky to look it up at this point.


Okay, so the bullpen is iffy at best, and not always to blame for the losses, but tonight's debacle must be placed on the shoulders of Claudio Vargas, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez for their ineffectual pitching tonight. The loud booing by the remaining fans at the end of the brief sting by Sanchez in the top of the ninth, giving up three runs on two home runs to expand on their 6-5 lead, certainly was an unmistakable sign about the discontent with the product on the field; sometimes how you lose a game magnifies that type of aggravation.


On the positive side tonight, it was great to see Moises Alou strike the first pitch he saw back in action after his period of inactivity into left field with a two run, two out single to give the Mets a 3-1 lead after the first inning. Such a shame that those good feelings were long gone by the end of the game, lengthened by a one hour rain delay in the middle of the game.




ESPN RECAP

Padres Sweep Mets, Leave Them Sinking In The Bay

The positive feelings created by the Mets winning their previous three series were crushed in an excruciating four game series with the Padres in San Diego. After losing three consecutive games by a 2-1 score (blowing a lead in the last two), their offense finally showed up today in a manner that should have been effective, barring the unexpected collapse of closer Billy Wagner, who gave up a two-out three-run pinch hit home run to ex-Met Tony Clark to cap an 8-6 loss.


If it's not one leak, it's the other, as one part of the team invariably fails to mesh with the rest to provide the reasons for the latest Mets loss. Failing to get clutch hits in the first three games against the last place Padres were a prime factor for those defeats, but now that Carlos Delgado has found his hitting stroke again, there's been no one behind him to capitalize on those opportunities.


The other bad news is that outfielder Ryan Church, one of the most consistent offensive producers for the Mets this year, did not play in the final three games of the series once he exhibited returned signs of the concussion he received in Atlanta last month, with a trip to the disabled list a distinct possibility at this point.


I know there's still 100 games to play, but this team has not given the fans any kind of confidence to believe that they can produce a comeback this season that equals the collapse of last season. It's definitely 'hold your breath' time when the Mets have a slim lead after six or so innings, and the chances of a late inning comeback are remarkably small for such a talented team. Grrr.



SUNDAY'S GAME RECAP

Off With Their Heads!

Still shaking my head at the reports of a Polish paper running a crudely edited pic of Leo Beenhakker, head coach of the Polish national football team, holding the severed heads of German player Micheal Ballack and German coach Joachim Loew in each hand on the eve of the Euro 2008 match between the two countries on Sunday. Like that'll redress the injustices of history and politics, a story with a pic of the paper is HERE.

Celtics Vs. Lakers: Unclean! Unclean!

Taking a lyrical cue from the live version of The Fall's SPECTRE VS. RECTOR 2, no amount of washing everyday will get rid of that unclean feeling that I've been saddled with in rooting for the Boston Celtics to win the NBA title over the Los Angeles Lakers.


As a fan of the Trail Blazers since the inception of the franchise, it's been hard to ever root for the Lakers, but that has happened on occasion. Some of that was due to their opponent in the finals (cheer for Bill Laimbeer and the Pistons? not bloody likely!), and some times it was down to the style of play, especially when the Lakers and Celtics met in the finals in the 80's. The "Showtime" era version of the Lakers was a spectacular thing to witness when it was flowing smoothly.


The fact that Bill Walton was by then playing for the Celtics was another factor in never being able to embrace the Celtics when it came down to the finals, I suppose the acrimony over the split with the Blazers took quite awhile to subside with me, although the trouncing the Blazers gave the Celtics in the Garden for their only home loss in the 85-86 season was a very small bit of satisfaction to many.



A year ago it certainly appeared highly unlikely that both teams would meet for the championship, with the Celtics being mired in the depths of the NBA draft lottery and the Lakers enduring the "please trade me" game being played by Kobe Bryant.


Both teams and their general managers were being heavily criticized a year ago for the roster changes that didn't produce the on-floor results expected in both markets. I can also recall listening to Celtic fan and ESPN radio man Erik Kuselias moaning on the air about losing the number one lottery pick to the Blazers; he was so sure that Greg Oden was going to be a Celtic that he went ahead and purchased season tickets, and when the Celtics did not get that pick, he was wondering about how his wife was going to handle the burden of tickets for a lousy team.



My brother in Los Angeles was talking with Laker fans a year ago who wanted to trade Bryant to Portland for Brandon Roy (I know, it was just fan talk around the office, but it certainly appeared to some that the enchantment with Bryant had certainly worn thin in a number of places by that time). Also, for the fans of theory conspiracies, there are the rumours that Laker great Jerry West, at one time the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, was somehow invovled in the robbery that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers for some warm bodies, though West has been on national radio twice lately to deny such accusations.


With such fan bases who, more than likely, could not have imagined what would transpire in the forthcoming NBA season, it is indeed hard to get behind either squad for the title. (Forgot to add that a friend of mine went to the Celtic/Blazer game in Portland this past year and wondered to me why Kevin Garnett became such a whiner once he joined the Celtics).


However, the Celtics this year are less odious to me than what transpired in Los Angeles with the Kobe drama, so it was with an unclean spirit that I say......BEAT L.A.!!!!. Actually, that wasn't as painful as I thought it might be, but just to be sure, I'm gonna go take a long hot shower now. ;)

Say Man..............

.......we're really gonna miss ya Bo. R.I.P. to a legend.