Friday, February 09, 2007
The Black Stars Shine
Paul Doyle of The Guardian's Sportsblog has a fantastic piece on the Ghana-Nigeria "Derby" in which the Ghanians pasted the Super Eagles, who have held firm control over the rivalry in recent years. This is one of the great rivalries in African soccer and, as Doyle compellingly argues, in the world. And now the world should keep an eye out for the Black Stars, who host the African Cup of Nations next year and which will be looking to make noise in the World Cup in South Africa where all African teams will have de facto home status, especially if Bafana Bafana falter.
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18 comments:
Wait a sec! Ghana and Nigeria just played a soccer game and nobody told me!! And now I've missed it!! What the hell is going on in this world??
Does anyone know if there's any candlestick bowling on this weekend? I'd hate to miss that too!!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzinng!!
You are in Massachusetts, so there may well be Candlepins For Cash on this weekend.
dcat
Speaking as a Super Eagle fan, it wasn't the "pasting" that Doyle implied. In fact, if Doyle watched the same game that I did, it was closer than the final score let on. This is another case of the liberal media trying to quell the masses by force-feeding us the wonderful Ghanians and their versions of Bill Bellichick and Tom Brady. I, for one, will not drink from that Kool-aide cup.
But with Special Agent Chet Desmond on the case, we shall overcome the evil media minions!
Why must you be such a chronic Black Stars hater?
dcat
t CIt's not that I *hate* the Black Stars, but I do despise all the coverage that this team receives in the media. (And yes, there certainly is a media bias here.) We'll see how all of this ends up.
It's Friday Dcat, aren't you supposed to be pursing scholarly activities?
dcat can multitask.
I'm with you Chet. Screw Ghana!! They are so going down in their next match!!!
Soccer?! How can you heartless bastards talk soccer when the world mourns the loss of Anna Nicole??
First, when I want my soccer knowledge like a kid in college, I go to the Thunderstick.
Second, I always find the deaths of 30-somethings to be too creepy to be funny. I guess it touches just a little bit close to home. So thanks, puddin'head, for reminding us of what is truly important. And thanks for contributing!
dcat
Deaths of 30 somethings are creepy, but Anna Nicole was creepy to begin with, so they cancel each other out and makes it normal. Just like how two wrongs make a right.
I was (I thought obviously) just messing around about Anna. It's not saddening to me that she's gone to that big vanity mirror in the sky, but it is saddening, if not downright disgusting, that she's on the front page.
I'm not trying to devalue her death, I mean somebody loved her, just not me. I don't really give a shit. Now, who's the heartless one?
No, I just don't know much about soccer. I was hoping to find a discussion about Wade Phillips or where the top NFL free agents may go, like Asante Samuel, Dominc Rhodes, or even Garcia.
puddin'head -- I know you were kiddin' -- wasn't pickin' on you at all.
You'll find that dcat covers terrain far, wide, and unpredictably.
I'll give you quick thoughts on the football stuff:
I'm turning around on Wade Phillips. In fiev years as a head coach he has been to the playoffs three times, and while he has not won, that's not a huge sample size. He has a winning record as an NFL head coach and his recent coordinator gig in San Diego will only help. He may well be there simply to be Jones' sock puppet, but let's let that play out -- for all of the talk, it appears that parcells lost the power battle to Jones as well. My main qualm with Phillips is how he treated Flutie, who carried that Bills team before Phillips mindlessly benched him for Rob Johnson in the week or two leading up to the Music City Miracle. Dumb, dumb, dumb. But then Belichick once dumped Bernie Kosar in Cleveland . . .
I hope Samuels ends up a Pat again, I hear so many whisperings about Garcia to Chicago that I think there might be something to them, and I have no idea about Rhodes -- the market for running backs is always capricious.
dcat
I must say that I agree with you about Phillips. I doubt that, with Jerry Jones still the boss, no coach (post Johnson) will ever have the 'Boys again in the driver's seat for the division let alone the conference. But aside from the "issues" you noted regarding Phillips (that I agree with), I do feel he was the best choice for this job in particular, and the right choice.
Norv Turner (the front-runner for the job) should stay as Offensive coord., somewhere. That's is forte'.
I know you (Dcat) are a Pat's nut, and the reason I mentioned Samuel's free agency status is that I would REALLY like to see him go the the Cowboys. They need more consistency back there. (Yeah, I'm a Cowboys nut. Actually, I'm Tony Romo, and you're right, the veal is darned tasty).
Although I'm not a Pat's fan, and enjoyed messing with you earlier about that, it is axiomatic that they are a powerful team. And I feel their strongest element is their consistency on both sides of the ball. I'd like to see similiar consistent play with the 'Boys (Like they used to have with Landry, seemingly eons ago, and with Johnson, more than a decade ago).
I have a good feeling about Wade. Parcells, as great as he was [is?], quite frankly, looked burned out. It was time.
By the way, who the hell is Chet Desmond?
Well, I am. Bring back the Tuna.
Special Agent Chet --
Why you always gotta bring up old s&!t for?
The tuna is in the can. You Cowboys fans have the Wade Phillips Era to anticipate. Good times.
dcat
Puddin'head --
It is my longstanding philosophy that teams are way too quick to resort to canning the coach these days. Sometimes it is necessary, but I would estimate that 75% of the time firings are premature -- it is no coincidence that awful programs tend to fire coaches most often. We can get into causality, chicken and egg stuff and all that, but the reality is that oftentimes problems are systemic.
Case in point -- there was actually talk about firing Marty Schottenheimer after he led the Chargers to a 14-2 record and came within one stripped ball of beating the Patriots in the playoffs. That was absolutely insane talk.
My guess is that Phillips will need success soon, especially if the offense is good but the team does not reach the standards so many have for it -- suddenly that young, smart offensive coordinator will look more and more like the real candidate, with Phillips as a placeholder.
Oh-- and Special Agent Chet Desmond is the twinkling eye of every laughing child, the playfulness in every kitten, the crisp air on a fall day. Or something.
dcat
Dcat--I can't argue with a thing you've said, uh, writtin. And my trusty soapbox is always by my side, ready for me to take a stand on and pontificate on the evils of our capricious society. Yes, I said, society, of which the mighty NFL has gradually grown out of like a big red bulbuous pimple.
NFL teams who are too quick to replace coaches, or push players too far (i.e., our previous discussion on head-injury-what's-his-name from the Pats), merely reflect and reinforce an ignorant, "me-first', self-gratifying society that.......well, don't get me started.
It is clear that the Cowboys have plenty of "potential" Super Bowl caliber talent. (Although, one more solid deep back would be nice). And a few years of building consistency on both sides of the ball with Phillips at the helm should briing that talent out.
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