Sport Report
I meant to write my reflections on the world cup and the first half of the baseball season earlier but I guess there is no better time than now.
World Cup
The World Cup was great to watch and provided me with countless hours of entertainment, even while I was working. I was able to listen to some games while working delivery shifts at Mega on saturdays as well as watching and listening to others while working at the SBDC.
Before the tournament began I had selected The Netherlands to win the tournament, so I was close to getting that right. Germany was one of the bigger surprises of the tournament and a very pleasant one from my perspective, they are the team that my family and I always cheer for apart from the US.
Honestly the US did the bare minimum they needed to do to qualify for the elimination round. I was underwhelmed. They consistently played themselves into situations where they were trailing. The team has trouble not having significant defensive breakdowns. Then coming up with some clutch late goals to equalize or even take the lead. Getting into the first elimination round is not all that impressive to me, others may have been happy with that result, but no one it our group really played all that well and we were just better than all of those weak teams.
Coming in to the World Cup I was not expecting much from Germany, I didnt think Klose would be up to form, I didnt think that the team would be that organized without Michael Ballack, but honestly I think Ballack being hurt was the best thing that could have happened for the team. All of the young players on the offensive end of the ball really meshed well together. Mueller was of course a breakout star, players like Oezil and Schweinsteiger played wonderfully. Schweinsteiger had been a bit wild in his play previously but he had been playing as an outside mid instead of a defensive mid. He was responsible for a lot of their counter attack goals. I am really looking forward to seeing this team play in Euro 2012.
Uruguay was another team that was a big surprise. I had not really known all that much about them coming into the tournament, but they were definitely my favorite team from South America. Forlan was the best shooter from distance in the whole tournament.
The biggest disappointment of the tournament has got to be Brazil, they did just fine in their group and also in their first elimination game, but then they imploded in their game against the Netherlands, more specifically Felipe Melo imploded in that game. That game was filled with diving which was extremely annoying, but the Dutch players were able to score the goals they needed to.
I was very disappointed in Portugal. It was rough that they had to play Spain in the first elimination round, but I still thought they could pull it out. There really is not all that much that I want to discuss about them, I really did think they would be able to make the final though.
I was not disappointed with Argentina, I did not think they would go all that far and they lived up to my expectations. Their win over Mexico was impressive, but Mexico never really got them on their heels. Against Germany they had no answers for the counter attack whatsoever. Every time they would over commit and then they would be caught off guard, this happened for all 4 goals I believe. Of course the German outlet passes were brilliant and very fun to watch.
Neither the Netherlands of Spain was that much fun to watch in the tournament. Spain controls the ball a lot, but kills a lot of time without doing all that much. The Netherlands really did not have all that many spectacular plays, but they got the job done, as did Spain. Spain's defense was ridiculously good.
All in all it was a good tournament.
MLB first half
They Twins have definitely been in a major rut as of late. They have not been getting many quality starts from anyone other than Carl(os) Pavano. I call him Carlos and that mustache definitely makes him look more like a Carlos, as racist as that may sound. The offense has also been very hit or miss lately. Delmon Young has definitely been the most consistent, and it is good to see him doing well.
The Twins missed out on Cliff Lee, but the price for him was very high. We might go out and get some lesser pitcher, but I think that Slowey will come around, we might need to put Duensing in the rotation and Blackburn in the bullpen, but only time will tell on that topic. I am starting to lose confidence in Jon Rauch as the closer, but it does not help that he was brought in with a bigger than 3 run lead. I truly believe that in an era where closers are only put into games in save situations, its sometimes hard for them to get the same adrenaline rush going. I have observed it through fantasy baseball, they just tend to give up runs in that situation. On the plus side though I have a lot more confidence in Jesse Crain. He has been throwing the hell out of the ball.
The Twins need consistency for the rest of the season, and possibly a Right handed bat off the bench. The team really seems to struggle against lefties, partially because we are so lefty heavy. Finding a cheap Righty bat should not be too costly, especially if it is a rent-a-player type of deal. In a fantasy world the Twins would trade for Roy Oswalt, who has been great this season, but has received very little run support. He would not only be here this year, but next year and has an option for 2012. But I have no expectations of this actually happening.
Some Impressive things that have happened in the first half on the baseball season:
Texas with a solid lead in their division, and they just picked up Cliff Lee.
Atlanta is leading the NL East by 5 games now while Jason Heyward is on the DL.
The Padres are leading the NL West.
The Reds are leading the NL Central, but that is only by half a game right now.
Vladimir Guerrero is killing the ball for the Rangers.
Corey Hart is having a resurgent year while hearing his name in trade talks.
Ubaldo Jiminez is 15-1 which is just insane.
Josh Johnson is 9-3 with a better ERA and WHIP than Ubaldo Jiminez.
Robinson Cano had an amazing first half, and has better number for the second half so far in his career.
The all-star game is one of my favorite events to watch. I don't like the need to get every player into the game that the managers seem to have. It hurt the AL this year, not that I can come to the conclusion that it lost them the game, but it hurt them not having anyone who could run for David Ortiz. He was forced out at second on a bloop single. This is something that happened with too many players already on the rosters!
The game was mostly a pitchers duel. It was cool to see Ubaldo Jiminez and Josh Johnson each pitch two solid innings for the NL. The AL just could not get a hit when it needed one.
That all for tonight, I will probably write a personal entry tomorrow.
World Cup
The World Cup was great to watch and provided me with countless hours of entertainment, even while I was working. I was able to listen to some games while working delivery shifts at Mega on saturdays as well as watching and listening to others while working at the SBDC.
Before the tournament began I had selected The Netherlands to win the tournament, so I was close to getting that right. Germany was one of the bigger surprises of the tournament and a very pleasant one from my perspective, they are the team that my family and I always cheer for apart from the US.
Honestly the US did the bare minimum they needed to do to qualify for the elimination round. I was underwhelmed. They consistently played themselves into situations where they were trailing. The team has trouble not having significant defensive breakdowns. Then coming up with some clutch late goals to equalize or even take the lead. Getting into the first elimination round is not all that impressive to me, others may have been happy with that result, but no one it our group really played all that well and we were just better than all of those weak teams.
Coming in to the World Cup I was not expecting much from Germany, I didnt think Klose would be up to form, I didnt think that the team would be that organized without Michael Ballack, but honestly I think Ballack being hurt was the best thing that could have happened for the team. All of the young players on the offensive end of the ball really meshed well together. Mueller was of course a breakout star, players like Oezil and Schweinsteiger played wonderfully. Schweinsteiger had been a bit wild in his play previously but he had been playing as an outside mid instead of a defensive mid. He was responsible for a lot of their counter attack goals. I am really looking forward to seeing this team play in Euro 2012.
Uruguay was another team that was a big surprise. I had not really known all that much about them coming into the tournament, but they were definitely my favorite team from South America. Forlan was the best shooter from distance in the whole tournament.
The biggest disappointment of the tournament has got to be Brazil, they did just fine in their group and also in their first elimination game, but then they imploded in their game against the Netherlands, more specifically Felipe Melo imploded in that game. That game was filled with diving which was extremely annoying, but the Dutch players were able to score the goals they needed to.
I was very disappointed in Portugal. It was rough that they had to play Spain in the first elimination round, but I still thought they could pull it out. There really is not all that much that I want to discuss about them, I really did think they would be able to make the final though.
I was not disappointed with Argentina, I did not think they would go all that far and they lived up to my expectations. Their win over Mexico was impressive, but Mexico never really got them on their heels. Against Germany they had no answers for the counter attack whatsoever. Every time they would over commit and then they would be caught off guard, this happened for all 4 goals I believe. Of course the German outlet passes were brilliant and very fun to watch.
Neither the Netherlands of Spain was that much fun to watch in the tournament. Spain controls the ball a lot, but kills a lot of time without doing all that much. The Netherlands really did not have all that many spectacular plays, but they got the job done, as did Spain. Spain's defense was ridiculously good.
All in all it was a good tournament.
MLB first half
They Twins have definitely been in a major rut as of late. They have not been getting many quality starts from anyone other than Carl(os) Pavano. I call him Carlos and that mustache definitely makes him look more like a Carlos, as racist as that may sound. The offense has also been very hit or miss lately. Delmon Young has definitely been the most consistent, and it is good to see him doing well.
The Twins missed out on Cliff Lee, but the price for him was very high. We might go out and get some lesser pitcher, but I think that Slowey will come around, we might need to put Duensing in the rotation and Blackburn in the bullpen, but only time will tell on that topic. I am starting to lose confidence in Jon Rauch as the closer, but it does not help that he was brought in with a bigger than 3 run lead. I truly believe that in an era where closers are only put into games in save situations, its sometimes hard for them to get the same adrenaline rush going. I have observed it through fantasy baseball, they just tend to give up runs in that situation. On the plus side though I have a lot more confidence in Jesse Crain. He has been throwing the hell out of the ball.
The Twins need consistency for the rest of the season, and possibly a Right handed bat off the bench. The team really seems to struggle against lefties, partially because we are so lefty heavy. Finding a cheap Righty bat should not be too costly, especially if it is a rent-a-player type of deal. In a fantasy world the Twins would trade for Roy Oswalt, who has been great this season, but has received very little run support. He would not only be here this year, but next year and has an option for 2012. But I have no expectations of this actually happening.
Some Impressive things that have happened in the first half on the baseball season:
Texas with a solid lead in their division, and they just picked up Cliff Lee.
Atlanta is leading the NL East by 5 games now while Jason Heyward is on the DL.
The Padres are leading the NL West.
The Reds are leading the NL Central, but that is only by half a game right now.
Vladimir Guerrero is killing the ball for the Rangers.
Corey Hart is having a resurgent year while hearing his name in trade talks.
Ubaldo Jiminez is 15-1 which is just insane.
Josh Johnson is 9-3 with a better ERA and WHIP than Ubaldo Jiminez.
Robinson Cano had an amazing first half, and has better number for the second half so far in his career.
The all-star game is one of my favorite events to watch. I don't like the need to get every player into the game that the managers seem to have. It hurt the AL this year, not that I can come to the conclusion that it lost them the game, but it hurt them not having anyone who could run for David Ortiz. He was forced out at second on a bloop single. This is something that happened with too many players already on the rosters!
The game was mostly a pitchers duel. It was cool to see Ubaldo Jiminez and Josh Johnson each pitch two solid innings for the NL. The AL just could not get a hit when it needed one.
That all for tonight, I will probably write a personal entry tomorrow.
Labels: All Star Game, baseball, MInnesota Twins, World Cup
posted by weckpd | 11:57 PM
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