6.25.2004
I Hate Greece
Where England failed, the Greeks succeeded. That is, the Greeks played the ugliest, most defensive & boring game ever & just managed to squeak out a goal, hold onto their lead, and win. England couldn't quite do it, against either France or Portugal. The Greeks won, but the game of football lost.
The Greeks man-marked virtually every French flair player--Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet, Pires--and the markers stayed extremely close, and fouled & kicked a lot. Not to mention niggling elbows, jersey-tugging & various other manners of cheap, dirty & cowardly play. They knew the French are better footballers, so they decided not to play football. As a spectacle, the game was just about as exciting as an autopsy. The Greeks just kept hanging around, playing dirty & defensive, waiting to pounce on a mistake & sneak a goal.
Bixente Lizarazu duly provided them an opening midway through the second half, losing out to Greek captain Zagorakis on the right. Zagorakis sent in a perfect cross that Charisteas thundered into the back of the net with a great header--I don't have a clue what Thuram, Silvestre & Gallas were doing, as it was those three against 1, maybe 2 Greek attackers, and none of the French defenders was anywhere near a Greek attacker.
The remaining twenty five minutes saw the Greeks sit back, erect a fortress in front of their penalty area & boot the ball aimlessly up the pitch, & repeat, & repeat. The French just couldn't quite find a way through, although Lizarazu came very close, as did Gallas & Thierry Henry. Henry had a couple more headed chances, and missed them again. This time, though, he at least struck powerful shots & put them narrowly wide.
As stoppage time approached, cue shameful clock-wasting & much rolling around on the ground in 'injury' from the Greek players. Pathetic. I hope the Czech Republic beat them 96-0 in the Semi-Finals.
A couple more things--I don't mean utterly & absolutely to rubbish defensive football. It certainly has its place. But there's defensive football, and then there's really dirty & cynical defensive football. Teams can play defensively & still pose a modicum of a threat offensively, especially on the counter attack. They can also play defensively but cleanly.
Lastly, France really, really missed Vieira. He is the heart & soul of whatever team he plays on. They missed his drive, his tackles, his ability to maintain possession & disrupt the opponent's offense. In the end though, I think France were never going to win this tournament, especially as long as they relied so heavily on Zidane. He's not the player he was, although he is still great. But far, far too often he looked to slow the game down, taking far too many touches in midfield & never trying to find the strikers ahead of him with a through ball. That criticism extends beyond Zidane though. Nearly every French player seemed to look backward first, trying to get a fullback involved & give people more time to make runs into the box.
That's a great strategy & it can work wonders. But it requires A) full-backs who are excellent crossers & B) talented aerial attackers. France have neither. Gallas, the right back, is really a centre half & a very poor crosser. They should have been playing the ball on the ground & looking to press forward quickly. As pretty as all Zidane's neat touches & tricks in midfield are, all they did was slow the tempo. Again & again, I'd see France breaking from midfield, Henry making a smart diagonal run inbetween the two central defenders, but Zidane would twist & turn in midfield & send the ball back to Lizarazu or Gallas. In that position for Arsenal, Pires or Edu or Vieira would thread a ball forward looking to unlock Henry. 30 goals in the Premiership speaks for itself as a testament to the success of that strategy.
Oh well, I should just be happy Santini's going on to manage Spurs. He made a team full of the world's very best look thoroughly ordinary; Spurs are already thoroughly ordinary, but hopefully Santini can drag them into relegation form.
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The Greeks man-marked virtually every French flair player--Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet, Pires--and the markers stayed extremely close, and fouled & kicked a lot. Not to mention niggling elbows, jersey-tugging & various other manners of cheap, dirty & cowardly play. They knew the French are better footballers, so they decided not to play football. As a spectacle, the game was just about as exciting as an autopsy. The Greeks just kept hanging around, playing dirty & defensive, waiting to pounce on a mistake & sneak a goal.
Bixente Lizarazu duly provided them an opening midway through the second half, losing out to Greek captain Zagorakis on the right. Zagorakis sent in a perfect cross that Charisteas thundered into the back of the net with a great header--I don't have a clue what Thuram, Silvestre & Gallas were doing, as it was those three against 1, maybe 2 Greek attackers, and none of the French defenders was anywhere near a Greek attacker.
The remaining twenty five minutes saw the Greeks sit back, erect a fortress in front of their penalty area & boot the ball aimlessly up the pitch, & repeat, & repeat. The French just couldn't quite find a way through, although Lizarazu came very close, as did Gallas & Thierry Henry. Henry had a couple more headed chances, and missed them again. This time, though, he at least struck powerful shots & put them narrowly wide.
As stoppage time approached, cue shameful clock-wasting & much rolling around on the ground in 'injury' from the Greek players. Pathetic. I hope the Czech Republic beat them 96-0 in the Semi-Finals.
A couple more things--I don't mean utterly & absolutely to rubbish defensive football. It certainly has its place. But there's defensive football, and then there's really dirty & cynical defensive football. Teams can play defensively & still pose a modicum of a threat offensively, especially on the counter attack. They can also play defensively but cleanly.
Lastly, France really, really missed Vieira. He is the heart & soul of whatever team he plays on. They missed his drive, his tackles, his ability to maintain possession & disrupt the opponent's offense. In the end though, I think France were never going to win this tournament, especially as long as they relied so heavily on Zidane. He's not the player he was, although he is still great. But far, far too often he looked to slow the game down, taking far too many touches in midfield & never trying to find the strikers ahead of him with a through ball. That criticism extends beyond Zidane though. Nearly every French player seemed to look backward first, trying to get a fullback involved & give people more time to make runs into the box.
That's a great strategy & it can work wonders. But it requires A) full-backs who are excellent crossers & B) talented aerial attackers. France have neither. Gallas, the right back, is really a centre half & a very poor crosser. They should have been playing the ball on the ground & looking to press forward quickly. As pretty as all Zidane's neat touches & tricks in midfield are, all they did was slow the tempo. Again & again, I'd see France breaking from midfield, Henry making a smart diagonal run inbetween the two central defenders, but Zidane would twist & turn in midfield & send the ball back to Lizarazu or Gallas. In that position for Arsenal, Pires or Edu or Vieira would thread a ball forward looking to unlock Henry. 30 goals in the Premiership speaks for itself as a testament to the success of that strategy.
Oh well, I should just be happy Santini's going on to manage Spurs. He made a team full of the world's very best look thoroughly ordinary; Spurs are already thoroughly ordinary, but hopefully Santini can drag them into relegation form.
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England Out
It was a thrilling game, a classic to be discussed & debated for years & years to come. But, personally, I was very happy to see this England team, playing this style of football, crash out.
You simply cannot sit back & defend a lead for 87 minutes. Well, you nearly can & sometimes do, but it's awful ugly. Sven Goran Eriksson apparently has no belief in his team--twice this tournament England have scored lucky early goals against heralded opponents, and both times Sven's men shut up shop, playing 11 men behind the ball & foregoing any thought of offense, simply booting aimless clearances up the pitch. In a word, they played like Houllier's Liverpool. I can think of no more damning an indictment.
Thankfully, both the French & the Portuguese won against these tactics, winning not just those matches, but battles in the war between offense & defense, between attacking & interesting play & defensive & unimaginative drudgery. I very much agree with the assessment from this Guardian columnist--Sven must go. For once, bringing on Heskey would have made sense--hoofing clearances up to Owen or Vassell was never going to work, whereas Heskey's size & strength might have helped England get a bit more possession--and of course, this is the one game Sven decides to keep him on the bench. Liverpool fired Houllier & plundered Rafa Benitez from Valencia, who play a much more fluid & forward-minded system. England ought to learn from their example.
In the end, this was probably the best result for England. Holland (presuming they beat Sweden tomorrow) would have crushed them 3 or 4-0, and it would have been humiliating. Now, they can scapegoat that Swiss (& Swiss-German no less!) referee, when, truly, their tactics were unimaginative & stupefyingly boring, and their team filled with mediocrities. Especially their vaunted midfield, which Sven had amusingly described as 'world class.' I'm sorry, but world class players can regularly string 4 or more passes together, and I don't think I saw England's midfied do that once yesterday in the second half. Watch France today, and you'll see a world class midfield (although that may be less true if Vieira's niggling thigh injury keeps him out).
Lastly, I was tremendously happy to see Sol Campbell & Ashley Cole step up & play like heroes last night. I was gutted for Sol that his goal didn't count, but I think, in the end, the ref's decision was right--John Terry was hanging all over the goalie. It was only a controversy because the decision went against England--had it happened at the other end, the English press would have been praising such a decision.
I predicted 3-2 to Portugal, so I was awfully close. Hopefully my 3-1 prediction for France today will similarly come good. For the record, I'm saying it'll be Holland 2 Sweden 0, and the Czech Republic 2 Denmark 1.
In the semis, I'm backing Holland against Portugal, and I haven't made my mind up about the Czechs & the French (presuming, again, that both win). I'd love to see the French win, but I'm not sure they've got their tactics or their teamwork right--the Czechs clearly do, and in Nedved they've clearly got their own amazing individual talent as well.
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You simply cannot sit back & defend a lead for 87 minutes. Well, you nearly can & sometimes do, but it's awful ugly. Sven Goran Eriksson apparently has no belief in his team--twice this tournament England have scored lucky early goals against heralded opponents, and both times Sven's men shut up shop, playing 11 men behind the ball & foregoing any thought of offense, simply booting aimless clearances up the pitch. In a word, they played like Houllier's Liverpool. I can think of no more damning an indictment.
Thankfully, both the French & the Portuguese won against these tactics, winning not just those matches, but battles in the war between offense & defense, between attacking & interesting play & defensive & unimaginative drudgery. I very much agree with the assessment from this Guardian columnist--Sven must go. For once, bringing on Heskey would have made sense--hoofing clearances up to Owen or Vassell was never going to work, whereas Heskey's size & strength might have helped England get a bit more possession--and of course, this is the one game Sven decides to keep him on the bench. Liverpool fired Houllier & plundered Rafa Benitez from Valencia, who play a much more fluid & forward-minded system. England ought to learn from their example.
In the end, this was probably the best result for England. Holland (presuming they beat Sweden tomorrow) would have crushed them 3 or 4-0, and it would have been humiliating. Now, they can scapegoat that Swiss (& Swiss-German no less!) referee, when, truly, their tactics were unimaginative & stupefyingly boring, and their team filled with mediocrities. Especially their vaunted midfield, which Sven had amusingly described as 'world class.' I'm sorry, but world class players can regularly string 4 or more passes together, and I don't think I saw England's midfied do that once yesterday in the second half. Watch France today, and you'll see a world class midfield (although that may be less true if Vieira's niggling thigh injury keeps him out).
Lastly, I was tremendously happy to see Sol Campbell & Ashley Cole step up & play like heroes last night. I was gutted for Sol that his goal didn't count, but I think, in the end, the ref's decision was right--John Terry was hanging all over the goalie. It was only a controversy because the decision went against England--had it happened at the other end, the English press would have been praising such a decision.
I predicted 3-2 to Portugal, so I was awfully close. Hopefully my 3-1 prediction for France today will similarly come good. For the record, I'm saying it'll be Holland 2 Sweden 0, and the Czech Republic 2 Denmark 1.
In the semis, I'm backing Holland against Portugal, and I haven't made my mind up about the Czechs & the French (presuming, again, that both win). I'd love to see the French win, but I'm not sure they've got their tactics or their teamwork right--the Czechs clearly do, and in Nedved they've clearly got their own amazing individual talent as well.
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6.22.2004
Serena on Soccer
And one of the chief stumbling blocks to its popularity in America--soccer players' tendency to fall over in agony when a defender breathes on them (another version here). Apparently Serena's become quite the Euro 2004/England fan during her down time while playing at Wimbledon, and she had great things to say about England's new wonderboy Wayne Rooney. But she also had a few complaints:
Of course, there are other reasons soccer's been slow to catch on here. Chief among them, in my view, is the lack of TV advertising time. The action in Baseball, Basketball & Football is constantly stopping, allowing for frequent commercial breaks. Such opportunities only exist in soccer during halftime--which is fine if the broadcast commands mass audiences, as soccer games do in elsewhere in the world. The concept of a draw is also rather distasteful & foreign to America sports--we like winners & decisiveness.
Soccer's low scoring is another oft-alleged defect, but I don't think that's a major hurdle. Sure, goals come less frequently than do touchdowns, but near-goals & bits of great play happen all the time. Just think of that slick midfield passing that leads to a saved shot as a TD called back for holding, or a 90-yard drive that stalls on 4th & 1. Those kinds of things are still very exciting to watch, in either sport, but I think many Americans are driven away from the game long before they come to appreciate that. And often the culprit is that kind of sissy play-acting Serena's describing.
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"I just know that everyone falls down. Doesn't seem like they're really hurt, though," she said. "They'll just like take a fall. I'm like, 'Okay. Well, he didn't even touch him.' It's like he fell because a gust of wind when the guy have passed by. I know I'm trying to be an actor - but these guys are doing a marvellous job."This kind of diving really is annoying, and I think it's especially so to Americans. After all, our favorite sport, football, revolves around people trying very, very hard not be knocked over. It's tough to go from watching Emmitt Smith or Priest Holmes bounce off 270-pound linebackers--and stay on their feet--to watching Robert Pires or Michael Owen crumple to the ground when a centre-half merely nudges against them.
Of course, there are other reasons soccer's been slow to catch on here. Chief among them, in my view, is the lack of TV advertising time. The action in Baseball, Basketball & Football is constantly stopping, allowing for frequent commercial breaks. Such opportunities only exist in soccer during halftime--which is fine if the broadcast commands mass audiences, as soccer games do in elsewhere in the world. The concept of a draw is also rather distasteful & foreign to America sports--we like winners & decisiveness.
Soccer's low scoring is another oft-alleged defect, but I don't think that's a major hurdle. Sure, goals come less frequently than do touchdowns, but near-goals & bits of great play happen all the time. Just think of that slick midfield passing that leads to a saved shot as a TD called back for holding, or a 90-yard drive that stalls on 4th & 1. Those kinds of things are still very exciting to watch, in either sport, but I think many Americans are driven away from the game long before they come to appreciate that. And often the culprit is that kind of sissy play-acting Serena's describing.
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France Into Final 8
Thierry Henry ended his six game international scoring drought by scoring 2 goals in France's 3-1 win over Switzlerland yesterday, but still played a bad game. He missed three utterly wide-open headers, and I can't imagine he was entirely happy with his display, even with the two late goals. Indeed, the whole team played rather poorly, much more so than the scoreline would suggest (and this Guardian write-up agrees).
Jacques Santini slightly redeemed himself as manager, ringing in the changes after France's unsteady 2-2 draw with Croatia last Thursday. Of course, he had to be prodded into doing so after Zidane & Desailly requested a closed doors strategy meeting last week. Pires, relegated to the substitute's bench against Croatia, returned to the starting line-up & slotted in down the left, as he plays for Arsenal (Santini had stuck him wide right in the opener against England). Zidane was given a more advanced & central role, & Desailly was dropped from central defence after his horrific miscued clearance gifted Dado Prso Croatia's second goal.
France opened brightly, and after 20 minutes Zidane headed home a Robert Pires corner kick in a near perfect replay of one of his goals from the 98 World Cup final against Brazil. But the lead was short-lived, as Santini inexplicably stuck with Mikael Silvestre, who's probably playing worse than any other player in Portugal, in central defense.
Let's recap Silvestre's contributions thus far:
---Against England, while 'marking' Frank Lampard on a set piece, Silvestre was beaten & Lampard headed home England's goal. Later, his blatant trip on Wayne Rooney gave England a penalty & he could well have been sent off for it. Luckily, Barthez saved Beckham's penalty.
---Against Croatia, Silvestre clumsily bowled over a Croatian player in the penalty area, conceding his second penalty in 2 games. This one was converted.
And, of course, the Man Utd man was directly at fault for Switzerland's goal yesterday. Under absolutely no pressure, Silvestre knocked a pass about 10 yards in front of Claude Makelele, and directly to a Swiss player. Three or four neat passes later, and Switzerland's 18 year-old striker had stroked the ball into the back of the net. Great work Mikael. Of the four goals France have conceded, he's been to blame for 3 of them, + that saved penalty.
Unfortunately, Wily Sagnol and William Gallas picked up injuries yesterday, and they're doubtful for the Quarterfinal against Greece on Friday, so Santini's options are limited & Silvestre may have yet one more opportunity to ruin France's Euro 2004 campaign.
France still aren't playing very well. Pires, Vieira & Henry clearly link up very well with one another, but every time Zidane gets the ball, he seems more intent on playing with it & demonstrating his very impressive & fancy dribbling skills, rather than looking to send a quick ball forward to release Henry or Trezeguet. I remember my introduction to Zidane was reading a little one page feature about him in Sports Illustrated prior to the the 1998 World Cup. He had a quote that struck me, something like, "I try never to touch the ball more than 2 or 3 times, always touch & pass & keep the team moving. I try never to take more touches than absolutely necessary." And he did just that, and his vision was spectacular, perfectly setting up his teammates with brilliant placed passes. But sometime after scoring two goals in a World Cup final, hoisting the Euro200 trophy & scoring a spectacular winner in a Champions League Final, Zidane seems to have forgotten his earlier philosophy.
Repeatedly yestereday I'd see Zidane collect the ball in midfield & I'd spy Henry take off on a diagonal run through the Swiss defence. For Arsenal, Pires, Vieira or Bergkamp would try & thread a through ball into him, but time & time again Zidane would just play with himself in midfield, tormenting his marker with a series of neat tricks & turns, while waiting for a fullback to come forward & join the attack. That's great Zidane, when you've got aerially adept forwards like Ronaldo & Raul at Real Madrid, but when you've got a forward with Olympic sprinter speed ahead of you who couldn't get a header right if his life depended on it, maybe you should try the quick through-ball option.
Regardless, Thierry got his goals & France made it through, topping the group & set to face Greece Friday. The Greeks looked pretty good in their first game against Portugual--but then again, that Portugal side was filled with old, past it players who have since been dropped to the bench. And they lost to Russia--Russia!--on Sunday. France should still probably advance, but I wouldn't necessarily bet on it, as I still don't think they have their tactics right. At the same time, their individual talents might just manage to conjure up enough moments of brilliance to see them breeze past everybody in the tournament. We'll see.
England beat Croatia 4-2 off two goals from 18 year-old sensation Wayne Rooney & finished second in the Group B, drawing the unenviable task of facing the hosts, Portugal, in their Quaterfinal on Thursday. Again, there are loads of interesting storylines--these two sides met in the first match of the Group Stage of Euro 2000, with England jumping out to a 2-0 lead only for Luis Figo to inspire Portugal to a 3-2 victory. Afterwards, England didn't even qualify from their group, while Portugal lost to France 2-1 in the Semi-Finals in extra time. Of course, Portugal's rising young star, Cristiano Ronaldo, plays for Manchester United, and Portugal's coach--Brazilian 'Big Phil' Scolari--coached Brazil to their World Cup triumph in 2002, beating England 2-1 in the Quarterfinals.
Both Quarterfinal matches should be very interesting, although it looks like I might not get to watch them live, but that's no tragedy. And in a prediction update, I'm doing pretty well. Here, again, are my original predictions:
Group A Portugal, Spain, Greece, Russia
Group B France, England, Croatia, Switzerland
Group C Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria
Group D Holland, Germany, Czech Rep., Latvia
Group B was perfect, and I nearly got Group A right--and really, who was predicting Greece would advance at Spain's expense? Unfortunately, with the Czechs already qualified, my Group D predictions were bunk. For the Quarterfinals, I'm predicting France over Greece, 3-1, and Portugal over England, 3-2.
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Jacques Santini slightly redeemed himself as manager, ringing in the changes after France's unsteady 2-2 draw with Croatia last Thursday. Of course, he had to be prodded into doing so after Zidane & Desailly requested a closed doors strategy meeting last week. Pires, relegated to the substitute's bench against Croatia, returned to the starting line-up & slotted in down the left, as he plays for Arsenal (Santini had stuck him wide right in the opener against England). Zidane was given a more advanced & central role, & Desailly was dropped from central defence after his horrific miscued clearance gifted Dado Prso Croatia's second goal.
France opened brightly, and after 20 minutes Zidane headed home a Robert Pires corner kick in a near perfect replay of one of his goals from the 98 World Cup final against Brazil. But the lead was short-lived, as Santini inexplicably stuck with Mikael Silvestre, who's probably playing worse than any other player in Portugal, in central defense.
Let's recap Silvestre's contributions thus far:
---Against England, while 'marking' Frank Lampard on a set piece, Silvestre was beaten & Lampard headed home England's goal. Later, his blatant trip on Wayne Rooney gave England a penalty & he could well have been sent off for it. Luckily, Barthez saved Beckham's penalty.
---Against Croatia, Silvestre clumsily bowled over a Croatian player in the penalty area, conceding his second penalty in 2 games. This one was converted.
And, of course, the Man Utd man was directly at fault for Switzerland's goal yesterday. Under absolutely no pressure, Silvestre knocked a pass about 10 yards in front of Claude Makelele, and directly to a Swiss player. Three or four neat passes later, and Switzerland's 18 year-old striker had stroked the ball into the back of the net. Great work Mikael. Of the four goals France have conceded, he's been to blame for 3 of them, + that saved penalty.
Unfortunately, Wily Sagnol and William Gallas picked up injuries yesterday, and they're doubtful for the Quarterfinal against Greece on Friday, so Santini's options are limited & Silvestre may have yet one more opportunity to ruin France's Euro 2004 campaign.
France still aren't playing very well. Pires, Vieira & Henry clearly link up very well with one another, but every time Zidane gets the ball, he seems more intent on playing with it & demonstrating his very impressive & fancy dribbling skills, rather than looking to send a quick ball forward to release Henry or Trezeguet. I remember my introduction to Zidane was reading a little one page feature about him in Sports Illustrated prior to the the 1998 World Cup. He had a quote that struck me, something like, "I try never to touch the ball more than 2 or 3 times, always touch & pass & keep the team moving. I try never to take more touches than absolutely necessary." And he did just that, and his vision was spectacular, perfectly setting up his teammates with brilliant placed passes. But sometime after scoring two goals in a World Cup final, hoisting the Euro200 trophy & scoring a spectacular winner in a Champions League Final, Zidane seems to have forgotten his earlier philosophy.
Repeatedly yestereday I'd see Zidane collect the ball in midfield & I'd spy Henry take off on a diagonal run through the Swiss defence. For Arsenal, Pires, Vieira or Bergkamp would try & thread a through ball into him, but time & time again Zidane would just play with himself in midfield, tormenting his marker with a series of neat tricks & turns, while waiting for a fullback to come forward & join the attack. That's great Zidane, when you've got aerially adept forwards like Ronaldo & Raul at Real Madrid, but when you've got a forward with Olympic sprinter speed ahead of you who couldn't get a header right if his life depended on it, maybe you should try the quick through-ball option.
Regardless, Thierry got his goals & France made it through, topping the group & set to face Greece Friday. The Greeks looked pretty good in their first game against Portugual--but then again, that Portugal side was filled with old, past it players who have since been dropped to the bench. And they lost to Russia--Russia!--on Sunday. France should still probably advance, but I wouldn't necessarily bet on it, as I still don't think they have their tactics right. At the same time, their individual talents might just manage to conjure up enough moments of brilliance to see them breeze past everybody in the tournament. We'll see.
England beat Croatia 4-2 off two goals from 18 year-old sensation Wayne Rooney & finished second in the Group B, drawing the unenviable task of facing the hosts, Portugal, in their Quaterfinal on Thursday. Again, there are loads of interesting storylines--these two sides met in the first match of the Group Stage of Euro 2000, with England jumping out to a 2-0 lead only for Luis Figo to inspire Portugal to a 3-2 victory. Afterwards, England didn't even qualify from their group, while Portugal lost to France 2-1 in the Semi-Finals in extra time. Of course, Portugal's rising young star, Cristiano Ronaldo, plays for Manchester United, and Portugal's coach--Brazilian 'Big Phil' Scolari--coached Brazil to their World Cup triumph in 2002, beating England 2-1 in the Quarterfinals.
Both Quarterfinal matches should be very interesting, although it looks like I might not get to watch them live, but that's no tragedy. And in a prediction update, I'm doing pretty well. Here, again, are my original predictions:
Group A Portugal, Spain, Greece, Russia
Group B France, England, Croatia, Switzerland
Group C Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria
Group D Holland, Germany, Czech Rep., Latvia
Group B was perfect, and I nearly got Group A right--and really, who was predicting Greece would advance at Spain's expense? Unfortunately, with the Czechs already qualified, my Group D predictions were bunk. For the Quarterfinals, I'm predicting France over Greece, 3-1, and Portugal over England, 3-2.
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6.18.2004
Blogging-Lite
Postings's been a light recently, as work's suddenly become rather busy, but at least interestingly so. I'll be hosting a friend this weekend & into the middle of next week, plus there's that little matter of preparing to move outta here the first week in July & setting off on a month-long European vacation, so blogging will continue to be light, probably until August.
Before I begin my soccer spiel of the day, let me point out the second Supreme Court case in which I attended oral argument, F. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Ltd., et al., v. Empagran S.A., et al., was decided Monday. I blogged the argument here, with a second follow-up here. I'd predicted a 6-2 or 8-0 disposition, and 8-0 it was. Unfortunately I haven't actually had the time to read it closely, otherwise I'd say more about it.
Although blogging will be light, I'll still probably find time to post my thoughts & reactions as I watch Euro 2004. The France-Croatia game yesterday was a pretty decent one, although France really didn't play too well & were probably lucky to escape with a draw. Mikael Silvestre should be dropped from the starting line-up. Immediately (and not just because he's a Man U player). Two games & two conceded penalties is ridiculous. Marcel Desailly should also be dropped, as his blunder directly led to Croatia's goal #2.
As against England, France struggled offensively. The first goal came courtesy of a lucky deflection off Igor Tudor, and the second only stood because the referee missed the ball blatantly hitting David Trezeguet's hand as he controlled the ball & scored. So far it seems much of the France strategy has been to pump long balls & crosses into the box; somebody should alert Jacques Santini that, unlike Trezeguet, Thierry Henry is not a target man. He's actually rather poor in the air, and given his lightning speed, sending him through balls on the ground & transitioning from defense to attack very rapidly, as Arsenal do, is extremely effective. They've got the 2 best players in the world on their team, but their coach seems hellbent on adopting an offensively strategy utterly ill-suited to their star forward.
Glad he's going to be demonstrating his tactical acumen coaching Tottenham next season.
Still, Monday against Switzerland France should secure the point they need to progress to the knockout round. However, if they don't change their style of play, I don't see them advancing too much further.
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Before I begin my soccer spiel of the day, let me point out the second Supreme Court case in which I attended oral argument, F. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Ltd., et al., v. Empagran S.A., et al., was decided Monday. I blogged the argument here, with a second follow-up here. I'd predicted a 6-2 or 8-0 disposition, and 8-0 it was. Unfortunately I haven't actually had the time to read it closely, otherwise I'd say more about it.
Although blogging will be light, I'll still probably find time to post my thoughts & reactions as I watch Euro 2004. The France-Croatia game yesterday was a pretty decent one, although France really didn't play too well & were probably lucky to escape with a draw. Mikael Silvestre should be dropped from the starting line-up. Immediately (and not just because he's a Man U player). Two games & two conceded penalties is ridiculous. Marcel Desailly should also be dropped, as his blunder directly led to Croatia's goal #2.
As against England, France struggled offensively. The first goal came courtesy of a lucky deflection off Igor Tudor, and the second only stood because the referee missed the ball blatantly hitting David Trezeguet's hand as he controlled the ball & scored. So far it seems much of the France strategy has been to pump long balls & crosses into the box; somebody should alert Jacques Santini that, unlike Trezeguet, Thierry Henry is not a target man. He's actually rather poor in the air, and given his lightning speed, sending him through balls on the ground & transitioning from defense to attack very rapidly, as Arsenal do, is extremely effective. They've got the 2 best players in the world on their team, but their coach seems hellbent on adopting an offensively strategy utterly ill-suited to their star forward.
Glad he's going to be demonstrating his tactical acumen coaching Tottenham next season.
Still, Monday against Switzerland France should secure the point they need to progress to the knockout round. However, if they don't change their style of play, I don't see them advancing too much further.
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6.13.2004
Zizou, Je t'aime
Wow. That was one game that thoroughly lived up to its blockbuster billing. Enough incidents & storylines to fill hundreds of pages--clubmate v clubmate (Zidane v. Becks of Madrid, Henry, Vieira, Pires & Wiltord v. Campbell & Cole of Arsenal, Lampard v. Makelele & Gallas of Chelsea, Silvestre v. Neville & Scholes of Man Utd). Indeed, that storyline confused my least favorite announcer, vocal Man Utd fan Clive Tyldesley, who at one point exclaimed "An Arsenal substitution, Pires off & Wiltord on." Idiot--but I did enjoy Sir Bobby Robson in his commentary debut, replacing 'Big Ron' after his little on-air racist outburst earlier this spring.
England executed their gameplan perfectly for 89 minutes. Led by a spectacular Sol Campbell, England dealt with everything France threw at them. They didn't venture forward too much, and scored their goal from a Beckham set-piece--a free kick perfectly delivered into the area, where Frank Lampard just nudged ahead of Mikael Silvestre, sending a bullet header past Fabien Barthez who had absolutely no chance. 18 year-old Wayne Rooney played a hell of a game, strong as an ox & excellent at keeping possession. Ledley King stepped up & did very well to shackle Henry for much of the first half. Pires, deployed wide right by Santini, was not nearly as effective as he is for Arsenal down his preferred left--but that's where Zinedine Zidane, the greatest footballer in the world, nominally 'plays,' although truly he roams across the entire pitch. He & Vieira were massive in the midfield, just outstanding. Nonetheless, the final ball just never made it.
France started the second half on a rampage, Thierry Henry especially. Dropping back & left, as he prefers, he terrorized Gary Neville & should have won a penalty in the 49th minute after Neville blocked a cross with an outstretched forearm at eye level. It was, as they say, more a case of ball-hitting-hand, but still Neville's arm was raised where it shouldn't be--it should have been a penalty.
Instead, England won a penalty in the 71st minute after the teenager Rooney skinned Lilian Thuram at midfield & took off on a galloping run upfield. With Thierry Henry zooming back to cover, Silvestre stupidly stepped across Rooney in the area--instant, rock-solid penalty. The commentators & some columnists I've read couldn't figure out why the ref didn't red card him, as he was the last man, but just maybe he saw Henry streaking in there (fantastic photo here, which shows Henry very close). Who knows, it was a slightly dodgy decision.
Up stepped Beckham, to face his former Man Utd teammate, Fabien Barthez. Becks struck it hard & to his left, but Barthez guessed right & acrobatically parried it away--immediately after, Silvestre gratefully hugged him.
Still, as stoppage time approached, an England victory looked certain. But my least favorite England player, Emile Heskey--whom Sven brought on for Wayne Rooney minutes after Becks' penalty miss--needlessly & stupidly fouled Claude Makelele on the edge of England's penalty area with 10 seconds remaining in normal time (photo of the dumb foul here). Henry would take that free kick for Arsenal, but France is Zidane's team, and Zizou curled an absolutely beautiful free kick just over the England wall, leaving David James, frozen on his line, simply no chance (great photo here).
England were thunderstruck. They kicked off at 91:22--back to David James, who lofted it up to Emile Heskey. Patrick Vieira brilliantly nicked it off him & sprayed it forward to Sylvain Wiltord. Wiltord lost it, & the ball bounced to Steven Gerrard. Gerrard thoughtlessly hit a looping backpass to David James--with Thierry Henry lurking. Bobby Robson was in the midst of saying, "well now we just have to hang on & we just can't lose...oh no oh no oh no." David James rushed forward & cut out Henry just after the Frenchman pushed the ball past him--a clear penalty, at 91:46 (a great photo here). Literally 24 seconds after England had kicked it off at 1-1. That's the image below, yanked from the Guardian.
Teammates at Real Madrid & both captaining their countries tonight, first Becks & now Zidane had a chance from the penalty spot. Zizou smashed his penalty into the sidenetting, sending James right & shooting left (great photo here, and from another angle here). Brilliant, and it was the very last kick of the match. France 2, England 1.
I am so glad I have this one on tape. My first real exposure to football was France 98, and thrilled by Zidane's magic I began following european soccer online when I went to college--my dorm room had no cable & I couldn't really watch much soccer until Euro 2000. And there I absolutely fell in love with the game, and with France, with Zidane, with Henry & Vieira & Trezeguet & the rest. France 98 turned me onto football, but Euro 2000 cemented my love for it.
Korea/Japan 2002 was a disappointment, with injuries to Zidane & Pires, and Henry's perhaps harsh red card early in the second math. I've eagerly been anticipating this tournament, and it's got off to an amazing start. I probably won't catch any more games until Thursday, when I'm taking off work to catch France v Croatia. With a win, France can guarantee progressing to the knockout rounds & relax a bit against Switzerland. And if they top their group, they could well get Greece (they'd be facing the 2nd place team in Group A), which would be a pretty decent match-up.
Meanwhile, my soccer team won our game 7-2 today & finished first in the division. Pretty impressive after starting 0-2. I assisted a goal & even scored one--wrongly disallowed tho for offside on somebody who wasn't even remotely involved in the action. And right now I'm enjoying the Pistons-Lakers game, with Detroit up 2 at the half (although it should be 4, as Shaq clearly goaltended GP's runner, but whatever). I'm on such a high right now though & even if Detroit lose it won't hurt my mood at all.
Vive la France!
Update: Detroit have won, and here's a very interesting article from The Sun, with a bunch of England players whining about the French celebrating their win. Punks--Frank Lampard especially, shouldn't complain, as he'd been clearly gloating & chatting it up with Vieira throughout the second half. Anyhow, great anecdote from the end about Becks' penalty:
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England executed their gameplan perfectly for 89 minutes. Led by a spectacular Sol Campbell, England dealt with everything France threw at them. They didn't venture forward too much, and scored their goal from a Beckham set-piece--a free kick perfectly delivered into the area, where Frank Lampard just nudged ahead of Mikael Silvestre, sending a bullet header past Fabien Barthez who had absolutely no chance. 18 year-old Wayne Rooney played a hell of a game, strong as an ox & excellent at keeping possession. Ledley King stepped up & did very well to shackle Henry for much of the first half. Pires, deployed wide right by Santini, was not nearly as effective as he is for Arsenal down his preferred left--but that's where Zinedine Zidane, the greatest footballer in the world, nominally 'plays,' although truly he roams across the entire pitch. He & Vieira were massive in the midfield, just outstanding. Nonetheless, the final ball just never made it.
France started the second half on a rampage, Thierry Henry especially. Dropping back & left, as he prefers, he terrorized Gary Neville & should have won a penalty in the 49th minute after Neville blocked a cross with an outstretched forearm at eye level. It was, as they say, more a case of ball-hitting-hand, but still Neville's arm was raised where it shouldn't be--it should have been a penalty.
Instead, England won a penalty in the 71st minute after the teenager Rooney skinned Lilian Thuram at midfield & took off on a galloping run upfield. With Thierry Henry zooming back to cover, Silvestre stupidly stepped across Rooney in the area--instant, rock-solid penalty. The commentators & some columnists I've read couldn't figure out why the ref didn't red card him, as he was the last man, but just maybe he saw Henry streaking in there (fantastic photo here, which shows Henry very close). Who knows, it was a slightly dodgy decision.
Up stepped Beckham, to face his former Man Utd teammate, Fabien Barthez. Becks struck it hard & to his left, but Barthez guessed right & acrobatically parried it away--immediately after, Silvestre gratefully hugged him.
Still, as stoppage time approached, an England victory looked certain. But my least favorite England player, Emile Heskey--whom Sven brought on for Wayne Rooney minutes after Becks' penalty miss--needlessly & stupidly fouled Claude Makelele on the edge of England's penalty area with 10 seconds remaining in normal time (photo of the dumb foul here). Henry would take that free kick for Arsenal, but France is Zidane's team, and Zizou curled an absolutely beautiful free kick just over the England wall, leaving David James, frozen on his line, simply no chance (great photo here).
England were thunderstruck. They kicked off at 91:22--back to David James, who lofted it up to Emile Heskey. Patrick Vieira brilliantly nicked it off him & sprayed it forward to Sylvain Wiltord. Wiltord lost it, & the ball bounced to Steven Gerrard. Gerrard thoughtlessly hit a looping backpass to David James--with Thierry Henry lurking. Bobby Robson was in the midst of saying, "well now we just have to hang on & we just can't lose...oh no oh no oh no." David James rushed forward & cut out Henry just after the Frenchman pushed the ball past him--a clear penalty, at 91:46 (a great photo here). Literally 24 seconds after England had kicked it off at 1-1. That's the image below, yanked from the Guardian.
Teammates at Real Madrid & both captaining their countries tonight, first Becks & now Zidane had a chance from the penalty spot. Zizou smashed his penalty into the sidenetting, sending James right & shooting left (great photo here, and from another angle here). Brilliant, and it was the very last kick of the match. France 2, England 1.
I am so glad I have this one on tape. My first real exposure to football was France 98, and thrilled by Zidane's magic I began following european soccer online when I went to college--my dorm room had no cable & I couldn't really watch much soccer until Euro 2000. And there I absolutely fell in love with the game, and with France, with Zidane, with Henry & Vieira & Trezeguet & the rest. France 98 turned me onto football, but Euro 2000 cemented my love for it.
Korea/Japan 2002 was a disappointment, with injuries to Zidane & Pires, and Henry's perhaps harsh red card early in the second math. I've eagerly been anticipating this tournament, and it's got off to an amazing start. I probably won't catch any more games until Thursday, when I'm taking off work to catch France v Croatia. With a win, France can guarantee progressing to the knockout rounds & relax a bit against Switzerland. And if they top their group, they could well get Greece (they'd be facing the 2nd place team in Group A), which would be a pretty decent match-up.
Meanwhile, my soccer team won our game 7-2 today & finished first in the division. Pretty impressive after starting 0-2. I assisted a goal & even scored one--wrongly disallowed tho for offside on somebody who wasn't even remotely involved in the action. And right now I'm enjoying the Pistons-Lakers game, with Detroit up 2 at the half (although it should be 4, as Shaq clearly goaltended GP's runner, but whatever). I'm on such a high right now though & even if Detroit lose it won't hurt my mood at all.
Vive la France!
Update: Detroit have won, and here's a very interesting article from The Sun, with a bunch of England players whining about the French celebrating their win. Punks--Frank Lampard especially, shouldn't complain, as he'd been clearly gloating & chatting it up with Vieira throughout the second half. Anyhow, great anecdote from the end about Becks' penalty:
Just to pile on the misery for Becks, Silvestre revealed: “We had studied tapes of David’s penalties and noticed he puts them to the goalkeeper’s right. So Fabien knew exactly where to go and got it correct. Fabien told me he used to let Beckham score penalties against him in training at Manchester United to help boost his confidence but that he knew how to stop them!”That's hilarious.
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6.12.2004
Quick Euro2004 Predictions
Watching the pre-match banter right now before the whole thing kicks off with Portugal v Greece, I realized I hadn't posted my predictions yet. So here goes:
Group A Portugal Spain Greece Russia
Group B France England Croatia Switzerland
Group C Italy Sweden Denmark Bulgaria
Group D Holland Germany Czech Rep. Latvia
Group D is probably the trickiest to predict, as any of the big three could go through. Group A is another tricky one, as far as who'll finish first (and Greece do have a fair chance of progressing too), but I reckon the hosts will just top the group.
Oh, as for this game: Portugal 3 - 1 Greece.
Update: Er, so that was quite wrong. The Greeks fully deserved their 2-1 win. I'd expected Portugal to benefit from the usual boost of hosting the tournament, along with a push from Porto's Champions League win last month. But instead of imitating their great Euro2000 success (semi-finalists), they reprised their role from the last World Cup as overhyped & overly-reliant on their greatest (but fading) star Luis Figo. They looked considerably better once Cristiano Ronaldo came on in the second half, but Greece were never too troubled.
I also watched the Spain-Russia game, a highly entertaining 1-0 win for the Spaniards. The Russians had their fair share of chances, but the way Spain were waltzing their the Russian defense in the first five or ten minutes, the game looked on its way to a 5- or 6-0 scoreline. But Spain couldn't convert its early pressure & chances into goals, and the Russians settled & began creating a few chances of their own.
Tomorrow is the big one--France v England. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch it live, as my soccer team is playing at the exact same time. If we win the game, we'll finish top of our division, which is pretty exciting given that we were 1-3 at one point. So I'll be taping it & rushing to watch it before tuning into Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Should be an exciting day.
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Group A Portugal Spain Greece Russia
Group B France England Croatia Switzerland
Group C Italy Sweden Denmark Bulgaria
Group D Holland Germany Czech Rep. Latvia
Group D is probably the trickiest to predict, as any of the big three could go through. Group A is another tricky one, as far as who'll finish first (and Greece do have a fair chance of progressing too), but I reckon the hosts will just top the group.
Oh, as for this game: Portugal 3 - 1 Greece.
Update: Er, so that was quite wrong. The Greeks fully deserved their 2-1 win. I'd expected Portugal to benefit from the usual boost of hosting the tournament, along with a push from Porto's Champions League win last month. But instead of imitating their great Euro2000 success (semi-finalists), they reprised their role from the last World Cup as overhyped & overly-reliant on their greatest (but fading) star Luis Figo. They looked considerably better once Cristiano Ronaldo came on in the second half, but Greece were never too troubled.
I also watched the Spain-Russia game, a highly entertaining 1-0 win for the Spaniards. The Russians had their fair share of chances, but the way Spain were waltzing their the Russian defense in the first five or ten minutes, the game looked on its way to a 5- or 6-0 scoreline. But Spain couldn't convert its early pressure & chances into goals, and the Russians settled & began creating a few chances of their own.
Tomorrow is the big one--France v England. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch it live, as my soccer team is playing at the exact same time. If we win the game, we'll finish top of our division, which is pretty exciting given that we were 1-3 at one point. So I'll be taping it & rushing to watch it before tuning into Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Should be an exciting day.
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6.11.2004
The End of a Dynasty?
Possibly a bit premature, but I think it's likely. Detroit has comprehensively outplayed the Lakers for 3 games--minus 47 seconds & a 5 minute OT period. The only Laker playing with any grit or heart is Karl Malone, and his knee is crocked & he'll be but a marginal player the rest of the way.
I'd predicted that the Pistons would quickly erase the disappointment of their Game 2 collapse behind a solid 1st quarter & raucous crowd, and that's exactly what happened. Detroit stormed out to a 8-0 lead & from there the result never looked in much doubt. The Pistons' smothering defense continued to shackle not only the Lakers' supporting cast but even their big two as well, limiting Kobe to a single point at the half. Again, Detroit owned the boards, especially on offense. Shaq whined about how his teammates didn't feed him the ball enough, but maybe he should have tried harder on the boards & picked up some offensive rebounds.
Chauncey Billups once again had his way with Gary Payton, while the Pistons ran their screens & pick & rolls to perfection, creating space for Rip Hamilton to get his catch-and-shoot jumpers off. They also pushed the pace of the game, hustling up & down the court & showing up the Lakers for the out-of-gas geezers they are. Lastly, their domination of the offensive boards provided second shot after second shot. All in all, good solid fundamental basketball.
I thoroughly agreed with the two game announcers' argument that Detroit's game is just like a Randy Johnson no-hitter or the stifling defense of the 1985 Chicago Bears or 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens. Tom Tolbert disagreed, but he's an ass. He claimed the game was ugly & sloppy, and likened it to a football shutout filled with dropped passes & fumbles, claiming Detroit were just inept offensively. They missed some lay-ups, missed open jumpers, blah blah blah.
Does Tolbert know anything about basketball? That's just how the game goes. Scoring baskets ain't as easy as sinking a three-foot putt or something. Look at the stats. Over the whole regular season, the best shooting team in the whole entire NBA, the Timberwolves, shot 46.2%. Detroit shot 43.5%.
That's hardly some monumental difference, and it's worth remembering that even the very best shooting team in the whole league failed to make half its shots. And if Detroit score fewer points, it's clearly because their game is premised on a defensive strategy--hound the other team & force the opposition to really, really work for every point they get, while milking as much of the 24-second clock as they can before finding Rip or Billups for an open J. Or working it into Rasheed to put in a low-post move. And, of course, digging out a ton of offensive rebounds & repeating the cycle.
They execute their strategy exceptionally well & there's absolutely nothing wrong or ugly about it. What's not to like about watching Rip Hamilton scamper around screen after screen, working his ass off to get open for that fraction of a second to catch a pass & fire off a J? So he misses about half of those. So what? I'd like to see Tom Tolbert sink even half as many as Rip does (and of course in the first place, Tolbert would drop dead from doing even one tenth the running Rip does). Yes Detroit shot 40.8% last night (of course, the Lakers shot an anemic 36.5%), but again, that's not exactly some major deviation from the league's standard of excellence, the 46.2% shooting Timberwolves. Detroit plays a slower game, depends more for its points on tough to hit & slow to develop outside jumpers & controls the clock with a lot of offensive rebounding.
It'll be interesting to see if the Lakers can find a way to respond. Right now though, it just looks like the Pistons are outhustling them in all phases of the game--rebounding, defense & offense (& transition in Game 3)--and I'm not sure what the Lakers can do to counter that besides discover the fountain of youth somewhere among the suburbs of Detroit.
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I'd predicted that the Pistons would quickly erase the disappointment of their Game 2 collapse behind a solid 1st quarter & raucous crowd, and that's exactly what happened. Detroit stormed out to a 8-0 lead & from there the result never looked in much doubt. The Pistons' smothering defense continued to shackle not only the Lakers' supporting cast but even their big two as well, limiting Kobe to a single point at the half. Again, Detroit owned the boards, especially on offense. Shaq whined about how his teammates didn't feed him the ball enough, but maybe he should have tried harder on the boards & picked up some offensive rebounds.
Chauncey Billups once again had his way with Gary Payton, while the Pistons ran their screens & pick & rolls to perfection, creating space for Rip Hamilton to get his catch-and-shoot jumpers off. They also pushed the pace of the game, hustling up & down the court & showing up the Lakers for the out-of-gas geezers they are. Lastly, their domination of the offensive boards provided second shot after second shot. All in all, good solid fundamental basketball.
I thoroughly agreed with the two game announcers' argument that Detroit's game is just like a Randy Johnson no-hitter or the stifling defense of the 1985 Chicago Bears or 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens. Tom Tolbert disagreed, but he's an ass. He claimed the game was ugly & sloppy, and likened it to a football shutout filled with dropped passes & fumbles, claiming Detroit were just inept offensively. They missed some lay-ups, missed open jumpers, blah blah blah.
Does Tolbert know anything about basketball? That's just how the game goes. Scoring baskets ain't as easy as sinking a three-foot putt or something. Look at the stats. Over the whole regular season, the best shooting team in the whole entire NBA, the Timberwolves, shot 46.2%. Detroit shot 43.5%.
That's hardly some monumental difference, and it's worth remembering that even the very best shooting team in the whole league failed to make half its shots. And if Detroit score fewer points, it's clearly because their game is premised on a defensive strategy--hound the other team & force the opposition to really, really work for every point they get, while milking as much of the 24-second clock as they can before finding Rip or Billups for an open J. Or working it into Rasheed to put in a low-post move. And, of course, digging out a ton of offensive rebounds & repeating the cycle.
They execute their strategy exceptionally well & there's absolutely nothing wrong or ugly about it. What's not to like about watching Rip Hamilton scamper around screen after screen, working his ass off to get open for that fraction of a second to catch a pass & fire off a J? So he misses about half of those. So what? I'd like to see Tom Tolbert sink even half as many as Rip does (and of course in the first place, Tolbert would drop dead from doing even one tenth the running Rip does). Yes Detroit shot 40.8% last night (of course, the Lakers shot an anemic 36.5%), but again, that's not exactly some major deviation from the league's standard of excellence, the 46.2% shooting Timberwolves. Detroit plays a slower game, depends more for its points on tough to hit & slow to develop outside jumpers & controls the clock with a lot of offensive rebounding.
It'll be interesting to see if the Lakers can find a way to respond. Right now though, it just looks like the Pistons are outhustling them in all phases of the game--rebounding, defense & offense (& transition in Game 3)--and I'm not sure what the Lakers can do to counter that besides discover the fountain of youth somewhere among the suburbs of Detroit.
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6.09.2004
Euro2004 on TV -- Good News & Bad News
So, I was looking at the this handy Euro 2004 Fixture Chart & plotting my pay-per-view & pub-watching options, when I decided I'd take another look over at SoccerTV.com where, to my pleasant surprise, I found a totally new Euro2004 on TV announcement, with far more information than when I last looked. The old April 29 release has been deleted & replaced by one that reads:
Tonight then I called up Starpower to order the full tournament package. Unfortunately, while Starpower will be offering each of the 31 matches individually on PPV, it's strictly à la carte. This is because, I was told, last time (I guess Starpower was around back in 2000), they had a lot of customers who ordered the package, didn't end up watching as many matches as they'd thought they would, complained & demanded refunds.
That strikes me as profoundly retarded. I mean, if you order the full package, you pay for the price of the full fricking package! What do you mean, demand a refund? You're the doofus who ordered it! And what's Starpower worrying about? Tell those idiots to kiss off.
I'm sure they just decided it wasn't worth the hassle of placating irate & whiny customers or perhaps losing their business for denying them refunds. Alternatively, maybe they just figure die-hard fans like me will go ahead & order more than $179 worth of games anyway, in which case they win. I made sure to express my disappointment with their decision not to offer a package, told them they ought to next time, and that if I weren't moving in a month I'd cancel my service & switch. I urge any DC area Starpower Customers to do the same (call 1-877-782-7769). Furthermore, I will be ordering games up to exactly $179, and if I exceed that, I'll take my business to either the Lucky Bar or Summer's.
Back to the actuall football tho, it looks like England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has reconsidered his idea of starting Jamie Carragher if John Terry doesn't recovery from his injury before Sunday, a decision most likely arrived at after images of Thierry Henry terrorizing Carragher in April appeared in Sven's nightmares. Spurs midfielder Ledley King will now most likely be drafted in. King has greater pace, but far less experience. Either way, I wouldn't back either to deliver the goods against Henry, who showed he's at least in top interviewing form yesterday with some interesting & amusing quotes, talking to reporters in English, French, Spanish & Italian.
Asked about Sunday's big match, Henry offered his team selection advice--Lampard is a must, a view I share--and when asked about Michael Owen's praise that Henry has taken the position of striker into a whole new dimension, Henry replied:
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All 31 matches will be available via residential pay-per-view (DirecTV, DISH Network, Globecast, iNDemand, TVN) and closed-circuit TV. Residential pay-per-view will cost $179 for all matches, or $19.95 for each 1st round match, and $24.95 for each quarterfinal, semifinal, or final match. (4 1st round matches will air via 2-hour tape-delay on iNDemand PPV.) Setanta Sport will also offer the telecasts at selected pubs for $20 per person per day.Last time, TVN (Starpower's ppv provider) was not included among the PPV companies who had deals to show all the games, so I was quite happy.
FOX Sports World (US) and FOX Sports en Espanol will air 5 first-round matches live (Denmark vs Italy, Croatia vs France, Italy vs Sweden, Switzerland vs France, Denmark vs Sweden), all 4 quarterfinals and both semifinals via 5-day delay, and the final via 3-day delay.
Tonight then I called up Starpower to order the full tournament package. Unfortunately, while Starpower will be offering each of the 31 matches individually on PPV, it's strictly à la carte. This is because, I was told, last time (I guess Starpower was around back in 2000), they had a lot of customers who ordered the package, didn't end up watching as many matches as they'd thought they would, complained & demanded refunds.
That strikes me as profoundly retarded. I mean, if you order the full package, you pay for the price of the full fricking package! What do you mean, demand a refund? You're the doofus who ordered it! And what's Starpower worrying about? Tell those idiots to kiss off.
I'm sure they just decided it wasn't worth the hassle of placating irate & whiny customers or perhaps losing their business for denying them refunds. Alternatively, maybe they just figure die-hard fans like me will go ahead & order more than $179 worth of games anyway, in which case they win. I made sure to express my disappointment with their decision not to offer a package, told them they ought to next time, and that if I weren't moving in a month I'd cancel my service & switch. I urge any DC area Starpower Customers to do the same (call 1-877-782-7769). Furthermore, I will be ordering games up to exactly $179, and if I exceed that, I'll take my business to either the Lucky Bar or Summer's.
Back to the actuall football tho, it looks like England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has reconsidered his idea of starting Jamie Carragher if John Terry doesn't recovery from his injury before Sunday, a decision most likely arrived at after images of Thierry Henry terrorizing Carragher in April appeared in Sven's nightmares. Spurs midfielder Ledley King will now most likely be drafted in. King has greater pace, but far less experience. Either way, I wouldn't back either to deliver the goods against Henry, who showed he's at least in top interviewing form yesterday with some interesting & amusing quotes, talking to reporters in English, French, Spanish & Italian.
Asked about Sunday's big match, Henry offered his team selection advice--Lampard is a must, a view I share--and when asked about Michael Owen's praise that Henry has taken the position of striker into a whole new dimension, Henry replied:
"I'm not trying to take things to another level," Henry said, "I just play my game. I admire Michael Owen for what he does because I cannot do that. I can't stay in the box, wait around for someone to deliver, I can't - I would die."He went on to describe how he needs to feel involved & active in the game & to have the ball at his feet, but regardless, his phrasing was a little amusing. And hopefully come Sunday, Henry will be plenty involved while Owen waits & waits & waits around for nothing at the other end.
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Multi-Sport Roundup
Football first. The Guardian has a nifty little interactive guide to the history of the European Championships here, filled with all sorts of interesting facts & tales from yesteryear. Meanwhile FIFA returns to doing its best to cock up the world's most popular sport by fiddling with the rules days before a major tournament, issuing a clarification of how to interpret the offside rule (and possibly more on that in a later post). This follows recent remarks from utterly worthless FIFA Chief Sepp Blatter suggesting that draws be scrapped & limits imposed on the number of clubs allowed in each country's top leagues, i.e. cutting the Premiership down from 20 teams to 18, to reduce scheduling congestion, and, of course, conveniently allow far more time for FIFA's international competitions to wrest control of the clubs' players & make money off 'em. And the last bit of Euro2004 news is this amusing preview of Sunday's massive match between longtime rivals England & France (or the 'rosbifs' & the frogs).
In club football news, Barcelona have re-signed Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho to a longer-term & more lucrative contract. Ronaldinho scored 22 goals in his first year at the club, inspiring them on a 17-match unbeaten run during which they surged past archrivals Real Madrid to finish second behind Valencia. I shudder to think what might have happened had Sir Alex Ferguson's efforts to convince the goofy-looking Brazilian to join Manchester United not failed (Real Madrid, meanwhile, famously passed on him because he was 'too ugly' & not nearly as marketable as Beckham. Ha.) I watched Ronaldinho play what I believe was his first game for Barcelona against Milan at RFK last summer, and he was mesmerizing. Probably the finest player I've ever seen in person (watching a 19 year-old Vicente, who I think will be one of the stars of Euro2004, play in Valencia in 2001 is the only real challenger, as watching a washed-up Lothar Matthaeus collect one final pay-day for the Metrostars just doesn't cut it).
Onto the NBA Finals. I'm loving the Detroit Pistons more & more with each game. Great defensive play, great tactical coaching & an offense based on hustle & ball rotation. So much more interesting to watch that the "dump-it-into-Shaq" or the "watch-Kobe-play-with-himself-on-the-perimeter" routines employed by the Lakers. And Ben Wallace is just a stud. Watching him sky to soundly reject Shaq midway through the 4th was just awesome, especially when you consider Shaq has about 4 inches on him. Wallace's hustle & nose for the ball is also interestingly contrasted to Shaq--I mean really, how can you dwarf every guy on the court & yet be out-rebounded by Rip Hamilton? The Pistons, and specifically Ben Wallace, owned the offensive glass & it was sweet to watch Big Ben clean up on the boards & dunk the Pistons ahead in the 4th.
So it was another lovely 47 minutes & about 12 seconds of Pistons-dominated basketball. And then Kobe hit an awfully amazing 3-pt shot, reminding me why I once liked him so much. He was uber-clutch in OT as well, with a couple of great high off the backboard driving lay-ups. I'm sure it was a massive blow for the Pistons to lose that one, having come so close to seizing an insurmountable series advantage. But I'm sure Larry Brown is more than capable of re-motivating his troops for the trio of games at the Palace. After all, they should be suitably proud that they thoroughly outplayed the Lakers in Game 1 & but for some truly astounding last-second heroics in Game 2, did the same. Their limp surrender in OT is mildly troubling, but a raucous crowd & energized 1st quarter of Game 3 will consign that to ancient history. My prediction is the Pistons in 6--Detroit taking Games 3 & 4, with the Lakers pulling out a clutch win in Game 5 only for Detroit to clinch it back in LA. Of course, I will also predict that as goes Game 3, so too the Series.
I can't wait for Thursday night (and not just because it's the start of the weekend, thanks to Friday's Federal holiday/remembrance-thingy here in DC).
Update:Oh yeah, I'd meant to throw in a link to this great Observer profile of Arsenal & England's colossus at the back, Sulzeer Jeremiah (Sol) Campbell, who faces the unenviable task of containing France's Thierry Henry. Personally, I'm backing Henry to bag a goal or two, particularly if John Terry is unable to play, forcing Sol to start alongside Jamie Carragher, whom Henry has simply devastated recently (his fantastic weaving goal to put Arsenal 3-2 up on Liverpool particularly stands out, in which Carragher literally tripped over himself after Henry's bedazzling dribbling display).
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In club football news, Barcelona have re-signed Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho to a longer-term & more lucrative contract. Ronaldinho scored 22 goals in his first year at the club, inspiring them on a 17-match unbeaten run during which they surged past archrivals Real Madrid to finish second behind Valencia. I shudder to think what might have happened had Sir Alex Ferguson's efforts to convince the goofy-looking Brazilian to join Manchester United not failed (Real Madrid, meanwhile, famously passed on him because he was 'too ugly' & not nearly as marketable as Beckham. Ha.) I watched Ronaldinho play what I believe was his first game for Barcelona against Milan at RFK last summer, and he was mesmerizing. Probably the finest player I've ever seen in person (watching a 19 year-old Vicente, who I think will be one of the stars of Euro2004, play in Valencia in 2001 is the only real challenger, as watching a washed-up Lothar Matthaeus collect one final pay-day for the Metrostars just doesn't cut it).
Onto the NBA Finals. I'm loving the Detroit Pistons more & more with each game. Great defensive play, great tactical coaching & an offense based on hustle & ball rotation. So much more interesting to watch that the "dump-it-into-Shaq" or the "watch-Kobe-play-with-himself-on-the-perimeter" routines employed by the Lakers. And Ben Wallace is just a stud. Watching him sky to soundly reject Shaq midway through the 4th was just awesome, especially when you consider Shaq has about 4 inches on him. Wallace's hustle & nose for the ball is also interestingly contrasted to Shaq--I mean really, how can you dwarf every guy on the court & yet be out-rebounded by Rip Hamilton? The Pistons, and specifically Ben Wallace, owned the offensive glass & it was sweet to watch Big Ben clean up on the boards & dunk the Pistons ahead in the 4th.
So it was another lovely 47 minutes & about 12 seconds of Pistons-dominated basketball. And then Kobe hit an awfully amazing 3-pt shot, reminding me why I once liked him so much. He was uber-clutch in OT as well, with a couple of great high off the backboard driving lay-ups. I'm sure it was a massive blow for the Pistons to lose that one, having come so close to seizing an insurmountable series advantage. But I'm sure Larry Brown is more than capable of re-motivating his troops for the trio of games at the Palace. After all, they should be suitably proud that they thoroughly outplayed the Lakers in Game 1 & but for some truly astounding last-second heroics in Game 2, did the same. Their limp surrender in OT is mildly troubling, but a raucous crowd & energized 1st quarter of Game 3 will consign that to ancient history. My prediction is the Pistons in 6--Detroit taking Games 3 & 4, with the Lakers pulling out a clutch win in Game 5 only for Detroit to clinch it back in LA. Of course, I will also predict that as goes Game 3, so too the Series.
I can't wait for Thursday night (and not just because it's the start of the weekend, thanks to Friday's Federal holiday/remembrance-thingy here in DC).
Update:Oh yeah, I'd meant to throw in a link to this great Observer profile of Arsenal & England's colossus at the back, Sulzeer Jeremiah (Sol) Campbell, who faces the unenviable task of containing France's Thierry Henry. Personally, I'm backing Henry to bag a goal or two, particularly if John Terry is unable to play, forcing Sol to start alongside Jamie Carragher, whom Henry has simply devastated recently (his fantastic weaving goal to put Arsenal 3-2 up on Liverpool particularly stands out, in which Carragher literally tripped over himself after Henry's bedazzling dribbling display).
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6.07.2004
Favorite Words & the NBA Finals
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary site apparently has been soliciting entries for favorite words. Unfortunately I just now discovered this, but happily enough, one of my favorite words placed #6 among their thousands of submissions.
Back in high school, I also used to enjoy their #4, but once I heard Bill Walton use it to describe Shaq while commentating on an NBA game, it was instantly ruined.
Speaking of Shaq, I couldn't have been happier to watch the Lakers crash to defeat last night. I was a huge Pistons fan back in the Bad Boy era of Isaiah, Dumars, Vinnie 'The Microwave' Johnson, Rodman, Laimbeer et al (and I detested Jordan's Bulls during their first 3-peat). Plus I'm moving to Michigan next year, and Larry Brown's a great coach. In fact, I think my first basketball memory is his 1986 National Championship for Kansas. I've also been a big UConn fan since I picked them to win the tourney the year Christian Laettner knocked them out with a last second shot, so I was quite a Rip Hamilton fan in 1998-99 when he lead UConn to the championship over Duke. The only drawback is that I really do despise enormous cry-baby Rasheed Wallace, and that I do (or did) really like Kobe Bryant.
Of course, I think a Pistons championship is actually the ideal solution here, given my equally intense hatred of the pompous Big Aristotle (or whatever new ridiculous moniker Shaq's given himself). This way Shaq loses, & hopefully Kobe will skip town. And then he can win a championship on his own, without the blustering big guy & the so-called Zen master coach.
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Back in high school, I also used to enjoy their #4, but once I heard Bill Walton use it to describe Shaq while commentating on an NBA game, it was instantly ruined.
Speaking of Shaq, I couldn't have been happier to watch the Lakers crash to defeat last night. I was a huge Pistons fan back in the Bad Boy era of Isaiah, Dumars, Vinnie 'The Microwave' Johnson, Rodman, Laimbeer et al (and I detested Jordan's Bulls during their first 3-peat). Plus I'm moving to Michigan next year, and Larry Brown's a great coach. In fact, I think my first basketball memory is his 1986 National Championship for Kansas. I've also been a big UConn fan since I picked them to win the tourney the year Christian Laettner knocked them out with a last second shot, so I was quite a Rip Hamilton fan in 1998-99 when he lead UConn to the championship over Duke. The only drawback is that I really do despise enormous cry-baby Rasheed Wallace, and that I do (or did) really like Kobe Bryant.
Of course, I think a Pistons championship is actually the ideal solution here, given my equally intense hatred of the pompous Big Aristotle (or whatever new ridiculous moniker Shaq's given himself). This way Shaq loses, & hopefully Kobe will skip town. And then he can win a championship on his own, without the blustering big guy & the so-called Zen master coach.
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Curious?!?? How About Dishonest & Despicable?
Amid all the media coverage of the passing of Ronald Reagan, it's quite possible that an extraordinarily important development in ongoing military prisoner abuse scandal may slip below the radar. Monday the Wall Street Journal ran an incredible--in its true sense, not-believeable--article detailing a lengthy report from the Department of Defense for Secretary Rumsfeld. This report, a draft from March 2003 that is said to differ very little from the still-secret final version, argued that
a) the use of torture is justified in times of great 'necessity'(despite a 1994 treaty the US ratified & signed into law, which states that "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture").
b) argued that civilian & military personnel charged with torture could defend themselves by arguing they were acting under the orders of superiors--otherwise known as the Nuremberg defense--where, as the WWII tribunal phrased it, no "moral choice was in fact possible" (despite language in that same 1994 treaty which states that orders from superiors "may not be used as a justification of torture").
I guess the lawyers drafting this report flunked their reading comprehension portion of the LSAT. All the quotes in the above bit came from my paper copy of Monday's Wall Street Journal (which I understand has been copied onto the web here.
The NYTimes picked up the trail today, and its article ends on an interesting note. Below is the last paragraph:
And the NYTimes characterizes this utter contempt for the rule of law, for our Constitution, for the Supreme Court, & for treaties ratified & signed into law as 'curious.' Honestly. I understand a need for some measure of decorum & restraint, but surely such conduct demands something stronger than 'curious.' Maybe that kind of a mild rebuke is appropriate when Aunt Millie makes an offcolor remark during afternoon tea at Grandma's Bridge club, but not when the Government talks to the Supreme Court out of one side of its mouth, arguing for a blank check at Gitmo because it falls outside the US, and then internally justifies torture at Gitmo because it's suddenly under American jurisdiction while the anti-torture statute only applies abroad.
Indeed, it's thinking & reports like this DoD memo that create the atmosphere in which the vile behavior the world saw at Abu Ghraib can thrive. If people further down the chain of command were told--hey, we need to get information from these guys & do whatever it takes to get it, and don't worry about the consequences, just say you were following orders--it's not at all surprising that Abu Ghraib was the end result.
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a) the use of torture is justified in times of great 'necessity'(despite a 1994 treaty the US ratified & signed into law, which states that "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture").
b) argued that civilian & military personnel charged with torture could defend themselves by arguing they were acting under the orders of superiors--otherwise known as the Nuremberg defense--where, as the WWII tribunal phrased it, no "moral choice was in fact possible" (despite language in that same 1994 treaty which states that orders from superiors "may not be used as a justification of torture").
I guess the lawyers drafting this report flunked their reading comprehension portion of the LSAT. All the quotes in the above bit came from my paper copy of Monday's Wall Street Journal (which I understand has been copied onto the web here.
The NYTimes picked up the trail today, and its article ends on an interesting note. Below is the last paragraph:
The March memorandum also contains a curious section in which the lawyers argued that any torture committed at Guantánamo would not be a violation of the anti-torture statute because the base was under American legal jurisdiction and the statute concerns only torture committed overseas. That view is in direct conflict with the position the administration has taken in the Supreme Court, where it has argued that prisoners at Guantánamo Bay are not entitled to constitutional protections because the base is outside American jurisdiction.Soooo, we have a report to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld recommending that we just ignore treaties we've signed & torture away, and that to escape criminal sanctions for torture the individuals who carry it out should simply parrot the words of Nazi war criminals & claim "we were only following orders." What's more, when the Supreme Court wants to know whether the Constitution applies to the Gitmo detainees, the Government declares Gitmo is outside American jurisdiction. But in the context of following torture prohibitions that only concern actions committed abroad, then Gitmo is most assuredly under American jurisdiction.
And the NYTimes characterizes this utter contempt for the rule of law, for our Constitution, for the Supreme Court, & for treaties ratified & signed into law as 'curious.' Honestly. I understand a need for some measure of decorum & restraint, but surely such conduct demands something stronger than 'curious.' Maybe that kind of a mild rebuke is appropriate when Aunt Millie makes an offcolor remark during afternoon tea at Grandma's Bridge club, but not when the Government talks to the Supreme Court out of one side of its mouth, arguing for a blank check at Gitmo because it falls outside the US, and then internally justifies torture at Gitmo because it's suddenly under American jurisdiction while the anti-torture statute only applies abroad.
Indeed, it's thinking & reports like this DoD memo that create the atmosphere in which the vile behavior the world saw at Abu Ghraib can thrive. If people further down the chain of command were told--hey, we need to get information from these guys & do whatever it takes to get it, and don't worry about the consequences, just say you were following orders--it's not at all surprising that Abu Ghraib was the end result.
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6.03.2004
Annoying, But It Does Get Results!
Thanks to a link from the Sprorts-Law Blog, I saw this very interesting New York Times article about the sale of 'naming rights' to professional sports stadiums (ESPN also has an handy chart here listing all the teams, stadiums, sponsors & yearly payment).
I used to find these stadium-sponsorship deals annoying--after all, PacBell or SBC Park doesn't have nearly the ring of a Candlestick Park; ditto Cinergy Field vs. Riverfront Stadium or Heinz Field vs. Three Rivers Stadium--but I changed my mind recently. In fact, I can pinpoint the change to mid-March, when Arsenal announced they would be looking into selling naming rights to their new stadium at Ashburton Grove. Arsenal sorely need the cash, and I decided that so long as Arsenal have the resources to build a championship-winning team, I couldn't care less whether I watch them play at Ashburton Grove or at 'The EasyJet Arena at Ashburton Grove' or any other name. Professional sports franchises are, after all, businesses. Plus, I don't think too many fans would select a cool stadium name over a title-winning dynasty.
Anyhow, the whole NYTimes article is interesting, but three bits really jumped out at me. First is just how exponentially this 'naming rights' stuff has grown in the past few years:
I'd say if roughly 1/3rd of the country says 'Coke' every time they're really referring generally to carbonated soft drinks, it stands to reason that a little more name recognition for Pepsi couldn't hurt.
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I used to find these stadium-sponsorship deals annoying--after all, PacBell or SBC Park doesn't have nearly the ring of a Candlestick Park; ditto Cinergy Field vs. Riverfront Stadium or Heinz Field vs. Three Rivers Stadium--but I changed my mind recently. In fact, I can pinpoint the change to mid-March, when Arsenal announced they would be looking into selling naming rights to their new stadium at Ashburton Grove. Arsenal sorely need the cash, and I decided that so long as Arsenal have the resources to build a championship-winning team, I couldn't care less whether I watch them play at Ashburton Grove or at 'The EasyJet Arena at Ashburton Grove' or any other name. Professional sports franchises are, after all, businesses. Plus, I don't think too many fans would select a cool stadium name over a title-winning dynasty.
Anyhow, the whole NYTimes article is interesting, but three bits really jumped out at me. First is just how exponentially this 'naming rights' stuff has grown in the past few years:
"In 1988, there were only three naming-rights deals with a total contract value of $25 million,'' said Dean Bonham, the chairman and chief executive of the Bonham Group, a sports marketing company based in Denver that has negotiated many naming agreements. "Today, there are 66 deals worth $3.6 billion.''Even more interesting was this anecdote about how effective a marketing tool these deals can be, when used appropriately:
Consider M&T Bank of Buffalo. It was about as well known in Baltimore as PsiNet, the Internet company that paid to put its name on the Ravens' football stadium but then went bankrupt. M&T acquired the Allfirst bank chain, based in Baltimore, and suddenly needed to be known there.Just before that anecdote, the article quotes a naming rights guru with a slightly different perspective:
"It's a highly competitive market," said William Mabee, senior vice president for marketing at M&T, adding that his bank was competing with Bank of America, Wachovia, SunTrust and Mercantile. The M&T name replaced PsiNet's last season - at a cost of $75 million over 15 years. Up went the exterior signs for M&T Bank Stadium: two that were 29 feet high and 130 feet long and two that were 20 feet high and 17 feet long.
"In the first four months, we went from zero recognition to third place among 18 banks in our survey,'' Mr. Mabee said. And its customer retention rose. "I'd like to say it's great advertising, but we think the naming rights are a big part,'' he added.
"A lot of these [naming rights deals] make perfect sense, and others you look at, you wonder why did they do it?'' said Jim Andrews, vice president of the IEG Sponsorship Report, a newsletter based in Chicago. "The big benefit is the branding opportunity, but the big 'why' that jumps out is the Pepsi Center in Denver. Pepsi doesn't need name awareness."Well, obviously Mr. Andrews hasn't seen the nifty map below (shamelessly stolen from Kevin Drum's Political Animal blog), demonstrating America's 3-way split between Soda, Pop, and Coke (click on the image to see a bit more detail).
I'd say if roughly 1/3rd of the country says 'Coke' every time they're really referring generally to carbonated soft drinks, it stands to reason that a little more name recognition for Pepsi couldn't hurt.
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Ah, The Beautiful Synergies of Big Media
So just a few minutes ago I turned on the TV & flipped to NBC to watch Scrubs, which is one of roughly four current TV shows worth watching (the others being The Simpsons, King of the Hill & maybe Arrested Development). I caught the last 45 or 60 seconds of Will & Grace, which for sitcoms is normally some mix of credits & outtakes or a promo for next week's episode.
Tonight that time was occupied by a very weird little 'interview' with show star Debra Messing, discussing her role in Along Came Polly, replete with clips from the movie & ending with a reminder of its June 8th DVD release. And as I've been watching Scrubs, each time it returns from commercial break a little banner flashes across the bottom of the screen advertising the movie.
I don't think I'd ever seen anything like it before, but my first thought was--which studio made that movie, and are they owned by NBC? A couple clicks later, and I learned Universal Studios made Polly & that last month NBC & Universal completed their merger.
Not that there's anything sinister about it, it just struck me as a little weird. I've seen networks do very similar promotions for other shows on their networks, say, using those last few seconds of Will & Grace to promote Fear Factor or whatever, but I've never seen promotions for a different entertainment medium.
I imagine I'll get accustomed to it, as this surely won't be the last time NBC does it. Heck, Fox probably already does it, I just never watch them.
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Tonight that time was occupied by a very weird little 'interview' with show star Debra Messing, discussing her role in Along Came Polly, replete with clips from the movie & ending with a reminder of its June 8th DVD release. And as I've been watching Scrubs, each time it returns from commercial break a little banner flashes across the bottom of the screen advertising the movie.
I don't think I'd ever seen anything like it before, but my first thought was--which studio made that movie, and are they owned by NBC? A couple clicks later, and I learned Universal Studios made Polly & that last month NBC & Universal completed their merger.
Not that there's anything sinister about it, it just struck me as a little weird. I've seen networks do very similar promotions for other shows on their networks, say, using those last few seconds of Will & Grace to promote Fear Factor or whatever, but I've never seen promotions for a different entertainment medium.
I imagine I'll get accustomed to it, as this surely won't be the last time NBC does it. Heck, Fox probably already does it, I just never watch them.
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Finally!
Surfing around Amazon.com today, I noticed Season 4 of the Simpsons is finally coming out--June 15th is its release date. I scanned the episode list, and there are some true classics from Season 4: Bart's ban from seeing the Itchy & Scratchy Movie, Homer as Mr Plow, Marge versus the Monorail, Bart gets a 'big brother' after Homer ignores him, & Homer leads a strike at the plant after Burns eliminates the union's dental plan.
Season 3 was released late last August--hopefully it won't be another 9 or 10 months until Season 5.
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Season 3 was released late last August--hopefully it won't be another 9 or 10 months until Season 5.
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6.02.2004
Managerial Merry-Go-Round
It's that time of year again, football's 'funny season,' which always begins a week or two after the season ends. All the top clubs are speculatively linked to all the same hyped up-and-coming stars, and rumors & predictions abound about which underperforming manager is next in line for the chopping block. Usually it takes awhile, but after the first manager is axed, the floodgates open & a massive game of musical chairs follows.
This time around, Gerard Houllier's firing from Liverpool last week seems to have unleashed the deluge. Jose Mourinho then stepped down from Porto days after their spectacular Champions League triumph, conforming to nearly everybody's speculation that he would take over at Chelsea. But first, Claudio Ranieri had to be fired, and yesterday, after months of being, in his own words, a 'dead man walking,' Chelsea finally kicked him unceremoniously out the door. Of course, it's hardly a case of pity poor Claudio, as Chelsea are rightly pledging to pay him the full £6m he's owed on his contract, which had been supposed to run until 2007. Regardless, Chelsea have acted disgracefully, publicly refusing to support him & obviously interviewing prospective replacements for Ranieri as long as two or three months ago. I didn't use to feel strongly one way or the other about Chelsea, even after Russian oil oligarch & billionaire Roman Abramovich pumped millions into the club last summer--if nothing else, I was happy that somebody in England would be able to match, and surpass, Man Utd's financial muscle.
But now I hate them. Ranieri really did a great job for them this year, and he's been treated shamefully. I have a nearly equal desire to see Arsenal repeat as champions as I do to see Chelsea & Mourinho utterly bomb, Abramovich lose interest, extract his money & throw away his pathetic little plaything as Chelsea then slither down to midtable mediocrity.
Anyhow, today it was all finally made official, as Chelsea unveiled Jose Mourinho as their new manager. Close on the heels of that announcement, it appears Ranieri will slide into the recently vacated top job at Valencia--as only yesterday Rafa Benitez tearfully departed Valencia, citing personality clashes with the club's sporting director, but the speculation is he's really leaving with an eye on the Liverpool job.
Whew, quite the confusing little dance. Both Mourinho & Benitez have enjoyed massive success recently, and quickly--in his first season in charge at Valencia, Benitez won their first league title in 31 years. And in the last two years Mourinho has notched 2 consecutive Portuguese league titles, along with the UEFA Cup last year & the Champions League this year. Benitez spent some time in England as an assistant coach & I believe is more familiar with the English game. I'm tempted to say he'll have a better season next year, but a lot depends on whether Liverpool can convince Michael Owen to stick around & sign a new deal. The main task facing eash manager is trimming their squads of the overrated & useless bench sitters--Diao & Diouf (Heskey's already been sold to Birmingham) at Liverpool, and Veron & Petit at Chelsea for a start, but I'd even boot out Geremi & Hernan Crespo.
It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out, & if I can't have my dream for Chelsea above, I'd happily settle for an Arsenal championship repeat & seeing Claudio Ranieri's Valencia knock Chelsea out of the Champions League. That would be revenge at its sweetest.
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This time around, Gerard Houllier's firing from Liverpool last week seems to have unleashed the deluge. Jose Mourinho then stepped down from Porto days after their spectacular Champions League triumph, conforming to nearly everybody's speculation that he would take over at Chelsea. But first, Claudio Ranieri had to be fired, and yesterday, after months of being, in his own words, a 'dead man walking,' Chelsea finally kicked him unceremoniously out the door. Of course, it's hardly a case of pity poor Claudio, as Chelsea are rightly pledging to pay him the full £6m he's owed on his contract, which had been supposed to run until 2007. Regardless, Chelsea have acted disgracefully, publicly refusing to support him & obviously interviewing prospective replacements for Ranieri as long as two or three months ago. I didn't use to feel strongly one way or the other about Chelsea, even after Russian oil oligarch & billionaire Roman Abramovich pumped millions into the club last summer--if nothing else, I was happy that somebody in England would be able to match, and surpass, Man Utd's financial muscle.
But now I hate them. Ranieri really did a great job for them this year, and he's been treated shamefully. I have a nearly equal desire to see Arsenal repeat as champions as I do to see Chelsea & Mourinho utterly bomb, Abramovich lose interest, extract his money & throw away his pathetic little plaything as Chelsea then slither down to midtable mediocrity.
Anyhow, today it was all finally made official, as Chelsea unveiled Jose Mourinho as their new manager. Close on the heels of that announcement, it appears Ranieri will slide into the recently vacated top job at Valencia--as only yesterday Rafa Benitez tearfully departed Valencia, citing personality clashes with the club's sporting director, but the speculation is he's really leaving with an eye on the Liverpool job.
Whew, quite the confusing little dance. Both Mourinho & Benitez have enjoyed massive success recently, and quickly--in his first season in charge at Valencia, Benitez won their first league title in 31 years. And in the last two years Mourinho has notched 2 consecutive Portuguese league titles, along with the UEFA Cup last year & the Champions League this year. Benitez spent some time in England as an assistant coach & I believe is more familiar with the English game. I'm tempted to say he'll have a better season next year, but a lot depends on whether Liverpool can convince Michael Owen to stick around & sign a new deal. The main task facing eash manager is trimming their squads of the overrated & useless bench sitters--Diao & Diouf (Heskey's already been sold to Birmingham) at Liverpool, and Veron & Petit at Chelsea for a start, but I'd even boot out Geremi & Hernan Crespo.
It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out, & if I can't have my dream for Chelsea above, I'd happily settle for an Arsenal championship repeat & seeing Claudio Ranieri's Valencia knock Chelsea out of the Champions League. That would be revenge at its sweetest.
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6.01.2004
The Wal-Mart of the Legal World
Always low, low prices at We The People, a cut-price paralegal company seeking to enjoy the same success in the legal services market that H&R Block's enjoyed in accounting. As the Post article explains:
According to the article, the Justice Department's U.S. Trustees office has brought 10 enforcement actions against the firm, alleging its unfair & deceptive practices often put their customers' assets at risk. Meanwhile, We The People is pressing for state and/or federal regulations to establish some ground rules to help clarify the uncertainty in the new industry.
It's definitely an interesting article. Of course the horror stories sound like absolute nightmares, but on the whole this is probably a good development--I hope that's not sacrilege for a soon-to-be OneL. I've seen some recent cases of rather over-restrictive & silly regulations from various state bars that require a lawyer to be present for all real estate transactions & settlements--even those as simple as a mortgage refinancing.
Such rules are often claimed to be for the benefit of the consumer & to ensure that the property title is properly conveyed, but the regulations don't actually require the consumer to have a lawyer present (and nearly none have one there); they merely require a lawyer to be present. The lawyer present is therefore almost always the bank's/property manager's lawyer, and that lawyer can't possibly be looking out for the other party!
What typically happens is that a State Bar will declare that a non-lawyer physically witnessing a real estate settlement--a function typically performed by notaries or paralegals in some 40+ states--constitutes the "unauthorized practice of law," making it illegal for any non-attorney to provide real estate settlement services. And, of course, jacking up the price for such services.
The DOJ's Antitrust Division has challenged a couple of these regulations (without success so far), arguing they're an unreasonable restraint of trade & that consumers enjoy considerably lower costs for real estate closings in the 40-some states without such silly rules, with very little detriment to those consumers whose transactions are witnessed by non-lawyers. The DOJ recently filed a brief in the West Virginia Supreme Court (available here).
It'd be nice to see both situations arrive at some sort of sensible middle-ground solutions. Clearly some of the things We The People are doing are beyond the expertise of their employees & potentially very harmful to their customers. But they also seem to be doing quite a bit of good. Hopefully the backlash against them won't go quite so far as some of these State Bar rules have against real estate closing services from non-lawyers.
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[I]ts Web site states: "You pay for the forms and documents, not the expensive law school and wood-paneled offices." Wills here cost $99; bankruptcies, $199; uncontested divorces, $349.The article also details various troubles the company & its customers have encountered, including an employee who forged a customer's signature on a legal form & another employee who incorrectly assured a couple that filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy wouldn't put them at risk of losing their home.
The company's do-it-yourself approach to the law attracted 123,000 customers last year to its 123 franchised offices. This year, with nearly 200 offices expected to be up and running, 200,000 customers are expected to pay nearly $50 million to get help with their legal documents.
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We the People executives like to compare the franchise to the low-cost, international tax services firm H&R Block Inc. "When H&R Block came out 50 years ago, accountants and CPAs said you can't train someone in six weeks to help do taxes," said Searns. Last year, Block's revenues were $3.8 billion, with 21 million customers from 11 countries.
According to the article, the Justice Department's U.S. Trustees office has brought 10 enforcement actions against the firm, alleging its unfair & deceptive practices often put their customers' assets at risk. Meanwhile, We The People is pressing for state and/or federal regulations to establish some ground rules to help clarify the uncertainty in the new industry.
It's definitely an interesting article. Of course the horror stories sound like absolute nightmares, but on the whole this is probably a good development--I hope that's not sacrilege for a soon-to-be OneL. I've seen some recent cases of rather over-restrictive & silly regulations from various state bars that require a lawyer to be present for all real estate transactions & settlements--even those as simple as a mortgage refinancing.
Such rules are often claimed to be for the benefit of the consumer & to ensure that the property title is properly conveyed, but the regulations don't actually require the consumer to have a lawyer present (and nearly none have one there); they merely require a lawyer to be present. The lawyer present is therefore almost always the bank's/property manager's lawyer, and that lawyer can't possibly be looking out for the other party!
What typically happens is that a State Bar will declare that a non-lawyer physically witnessing a real estate settlement--a function typically performed by notaries or paralegals in some 40+ states--constitutes the "unauthorized practice of law," making it illegal for any non-attorney to provide real estate settlement services. And, of course, jacking up the price for such services.
The DOJ's Antitrust Division has challenged a couple of these regulations (without success so far), arguing they're an unreasonable restraint of trade & that consumers enjoy considerably lower costs for real estate closings in the 40-some states without such silly rules, with very little detriment to those consumers whose transactions are witnessed by non-lawyers. The DOJ recently filed a brief in the West Virginia Supreme Court (available here).
It'd be nice to see both situations arrive at some sort of sensible middle-ground solutions. Clearly some of the things We The People are doing are beyond the expertise of their employees & potentially very harmful to their customers. But they also seem to be doing quite a bit of good. Hopefully the backlash against them won't go quite so far as some of these State Bar rules have against real estate closing services from non-lawyers.
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The Search for Euro2004 on US TV
I've been a happy Starpower customer for two years now. Not only has the service been good, but it's nice to have successfully avoided the local cable [near-]monopoly--Comcast, who are feuding with Rupert Murdoch & refusing to carry Rupert's Fox Sports World channel, making life difficult for soccer fans. But now with Euro2004 fast approaching, I'm suddenly wishing I'd gone with Comcast.
That's because Setanta, who own the North American rights to Euro2004, have, as far as I can tell, agreed to terms (check the April 29 announcement) with DirecTV, the Dish Network & the iNDemand pay-per-view service (who do ppv for Time-Warner cable & Comcast, among others) to carry all matches individually ($20 each for early round matches, $25 for the knockout matches), offering a complete package deal for $179. But Starpower's pay-per-view service is TVN, who seem largely uninterested in Euro2004.
Indeed, while TVN's homepage does mention it'll be carrying the Euro2004 Semi-finals & the Final in its July highlights, there's no mention of Euro2004 among its June highlights. And when said highlights include such gems as
a) TVN doesn't consider England v France & Spain v Portugal "highlight material," like that sure-to-be spellbinding MC battle between Detroit & Cleveland, or
b) TVN's not carrying any of the earlier games until the Semis.
So with my in-home ppv options looking limited to the Semis & the Final, watching any of the earlier matches would mean heading to either Summers sports bar or the Lucky Bar, or switching to Comcast. And while I like both bars--I spent Saturday morning in the Lucky Bar watching the English First Division playoff final between Crystal Palace & West Ham, and more on that in a moment--I'm not such a fan of smelling like an ashtray afterwards (if only DC were to follow NYC & go smokefree!). For that reason, I've been seriously considering switching to Comcast for my last month here in DC.
Thankfully a call to Starpower this afternoon eased my fears. It turns out TVN will be carrying most if not all of the matches, but offering no complete package. I can deal with that, as I'd rather not go through all the hassle of switching cable TV & modem service just 1 month before I leave town. It wasn't looking good for a while, but all's well in the end.
Back to the Crystal Palace-West Ham match. It was quite an intriguing play-off final; back in December, Palace were looking more likely relegation candidates than playoff contenders. But an incredible five month run of great results brought them to the brink of the playoffs, and on the final day of the season, already-qualified West Ham were trailing 1-0 to Wigan, who occupied 6th place & looked set for the playoffs. But West Ham scored, allowing Palace to leapfrog past Wigan & into the playoffs. Although it was tempting to root for the improbable finalists Palace, I decided I'd root for West Ham, mainly because I've read that Keira Knightley is a huge fan. West Ham looked a far superior side, and I think Palace were lucky to win 1-0.
The Hammers played a much smoother, more skillful & stylish game, whereas Palace, apart from teenage winger Wayne Routledge & striker Andy Johnson, looked thoroughly ordinary. They played well enough as a team & were well organized, but like last year's playoff victors Wolverhampton, I predict Crystal Palace will occupy the bottom of the Premiership table next May.
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That's because Setanta, who own the North American rights to Euro2004, have, as far as I can tell, agreed to terms (check the April 29 announcement) with DirecTV, the Dish Network & the iNDemand pay-per-view service (who do ppv for Time-Warner cable & Comcast, among others) to carry all matches individually ($20 each for early round matches, $25 for the knockout matches), offering a complete package deal for $179. But Starpower's pay-per-view service is TVN, who seem largely uninterested in Euro2004.
Indeed, while TVN's homepage does mention it'll be carrying the Euro2004 Semi-finals & the Final in its July highlights, there's no mention of Euro2004 among its June highlights. And when said highlights include such gems as
HipHopBattle.com: Detroit vs. Cleveland (6/3); De La Hoya vs. Hopkins "On a Collision Course to Make History" (Live 6/5); 2003 Miss Black Nude Pageant (6/6); WWE Bad Blood (Live 6/13); King of the Cage: Unfinished Businessyou've got to figure that either:
a) TVN doesn't consider England v France & Spain v Portugal "highlight material," like that sure-to-be spellbinding MC battle between Detroit & Cleveland, or
b) TVN's not carrying any of the earlier games until the Semis.
So with my in-home ppv options looking limited to the Semis & the Final, watching any of the earlier matches would mean heading to either Summers sports bar or the Lucky Bar, or switching to Comcast. And while I like both bars--I spent Saturday morning in the Lucky Bar watching the English First Division playoff final between Crystal Palace & West Ham, and more on that in a moment--I'm not such a fan of smelling like an ashtray afterwards (if only DC were to follow NYC & go smokefree!). For that reason, I've been seriously considering switching to Comcast for my last month here in DC.
Thankfully a call to Starpower this afternoon eased my fears. It turns out TVN will be carrying most if not all of the matches, but offering no complete package. I can deal with that, as I'd rather not go through all the hassle of switching cable TV & modem service just 1 month before I leave town. It wasn't looking good for a while, but all's well in the end.
Back to the Crystal Palace-West Ham match. It was quite an intriguing play-off final; back in December, Palace were looking more likely relegation candidates than playoff contenders. But an incredible five month run of great results brought them to the brink of the playoffs, and on the final day of the season, already-qualified West Ham were trailing 1-0 to Wigan, who occupied 6th place & looked set for the playoffs. But West Ham scored, allowing Palace to leapfrog past Wigan & into the playoffs. Although it was tempting to root for the improbable finalists Palace, I decided I'd root for West Ham, mainly because I've read that Keira Knightley is a huge fan. West Ham looked a far superior side, and I think Palace were lucky to win 1-0.
The Hammers played a much smoother, more skillful & stylish game, whereas Palace, apart from teenage winger Wayne Routledge & striker Andy Johnson, looked thoroughly ordinary. They played well enough as a team & were well organized, but like last year's playoff victors Wolverhampton, I predict Crystal Palace will occupy the bottom of the Premiership table next May.
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