(.)_(.)
Saturday, June 17, 2006
adios
yipes was that a bad game. The poorest I've seen from the US team in a long long time. Losing to a good Czech team is no disgrace but the team showed no urgency or belief in themselves and that was so disappointing.
So today is a chance for redemption, but against a team which is most likley stronger than the Czech team they played on Monday. Even a win here and against Ghana won't ensure a place in the second round, but it would be a redemption of sorts for the team. However I just don't see it happening. The Italians are too strong, and god forbid they score an early goal. However, they do tend to let teams hang around in games so it may end up being close. A strong US performance will depend a lot on Keller's play in goal. He is capable of keeping a team in the match all by himself.
Off to OC, NJ right now for vacation with the family. Have a good week! 0 comments
yipes was that a bad game. The poorest I've seen from the US team in a long long time. Losing to a good Czech team is no disgrace but the team showed no urgency or belief in themselves and that was so disappointing.
So today is a chance for redemption, but against a team which is most likley stronger than the Czech team they played on Monday. Even a win here and against Ghana won't ensure a place in the second round, but it would be a redemption of sorts for the team. However I just don't see it happening. The Italians are too strong, and god forbid they score an early goal. However, they do tend to let teams hang around in games so it may end up being close. A strong US performance will depend a lot on Keller's play in goal. He is capable of keeping a team in the match all by himself.
Off to OC, NJ right now for vacation with the family. Have a good week! 0 comments
Monday, June 12, 2006
8 for 8 (+1)
so I head home for lunch on Friday, just to watch the first half of the fist game of the WC live and am shocked to see no red light shining on the bottom of the TiVo. It's not recording! I get the TV on and start recording. It turns out I missed the first 13 minutes of the game which happened to include the first goal. Looking at the upcoming recording schedule, it looks fine. So I have no idea why the first game got missed. A timely lesson to double check the To Do List each night to make sure I'll have the games waiting for me at home after work.
Finished watching that game on Friday night. And in all honesty I was going to skip the 2nd game from Friday (Poland v. Ecuador..zzzzz) because I was tired and there were 3 more games ahead on Saturday. But at Reen's urging I flipped on the Poland Ecuador match Friday night after finishing the 1st game. Reen proceeded to fall asleep right away but I am glad to have watched it. Saturday brought 3 more games and then 3 again on Sunday, two of which we watched at Mom and Dad's. Soccer is HD is really nice to watch.
So that makes 8 games (minus 13 minutes) plus the Revs game Sunday night for a grand total of 13.3 hours of soccer so far.
Kickoff for the US v. Czech game is in less than 2 hours. The plan has been to just TiVo it and watch after work with Reen. But I'd go crazy. The odds of a mishap are just too great. I'd read or hear the score somewhere, TiVo might get eaten by vultures...anything could happen. So I'll be taking an extended lunch break today.
And I arrived at work today to see this mail from the guy in Denmark I worked with many years ago. We have continued to be in touch maybe once a year.
Hi Mark,
A big day for you today ?!?
Good luck with your team !
Kind regards
Peter
And then when I wrote back saying that I wasn't sure about sneaking away for a long lunch.
Have a nice lunch (you have to go for the extended lunch ! – there is 4 years to the next world cup !).
And he's exactly right. 0 comments
so I head home for lunch on Friday, just to watch the first half of the fist game of the WC live and am shocked to see no red light shining on the bottom of the TiVo. It's not recording! I get the TV on and start recording. It turns out I missed the first 13 minutes of the game which happened to include the first goal. Looking at the upcoming recording schedule, it looks fine. So I have no idea why the first game got missed. A timely lesson to double check the To Do List each night to make sure I'll have the games waiting for me at home after work.
Finished watching that game on Friday night. And in all honesty I was going to skip the 2nd game from Friday (Poland v. Ecuador..zzzzz) because I was tired and there were 3 more games ahead on Saturday. But at Reen's urging I flipped on the Poland Ecuador match Friday night after finishing the 1st game. Reen proceeded to fall asleep right away but I am glad to have watched it. Saturday brought 3 more games and then 3 again on Sunday, two of which we watched at Mom and Dad's. Soccer is HD is really nice to watch.
So that makes 8 games (minus 13 minutes) plus the Revs game Sunday night for a grand total of 13.3 hours of soccer so far.
Kickoff for the US v. Czech game is in less than 2 hours. The plan has been to just TiVo it and watch after work with Reen. But I'd go crazy. The odds of a mishap are just too great. I'd read or hear the score somewhere, TiVo might get eaten by vultures...anything could happen. So I'll be taking an extended lunch break today.
And I arrived at work today to see this mail from the guy in Denmark I worked with many years ago. We have continued to be in touch maybe once a year.
Hi Mark,
A big day for you today ?!?
Good luck with your team !
Kind regards
Peter
And then when I wrote back saying that I wasn't sure about sneaking away for a long lunch.
Have a nice lunch (you have to go for the extended lunch ! – there is 4 years to the next world cup !).
And he's exactly right. 0 comments
Friday, June 09, 2006
memo
I sent this email around the office yesterday.
The World Cup starts tomorrow at noon. So over the next month, if you
happen to learn the score/result of a match during the course of your day,
please do not mention it to me. This is especially important next Monday
when the US plays its first match around lunch time. And on the flip side,
all are welcome to come over after work to watch the day's games.
Your cooperation in the matter is most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Resident Soccer Nerd
And this goes for you blog readers too. No emails or comments about 'I thought Mexico had a good team this year, how come Iran just beat them?' I'd say a 12 hour window is good. If I haven't watched a game by then, chances are I've moved along to the next one.
0 comments
I sent this email around the office yesterday.
The World Cup starts tomorrow at noon. So over the next month, if you
happen to learn the score/result of a match during the course of your day,
please do not mention it to me. This is especially important next Monday
when the US plays its first match around lunch time. And on the flip side,
all are welcome to come over after work to watch the day's games.
Your cooperation in the matter is most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Resident Soccer Nerd
And this goes for you blog readers too. No emails or comments about 'I thought Mexico had a good team this year, how come Iran just beat them?' I'd say a 12 hour window is good. If I haven't watched a game by then, chances are I've moved along to the next one.
0 comments
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
family, soccer and snobs
we had Mike, Amy and Fiona here for a visit last week which was great. Candlepin bowling (check), seafood dinner (check), The Office marathon (check), Amy painting dragonflies, a turtle and a cute cow jumping over the moon on the nursery walls (check), teaching Fiona how to roll a ball along the floor with her nose (check). So it was a pretty complete visit I’d say.
The World Cup starts this Friday and I’m just tickled pink about that. I’ve cleared out the TiVo and set recording options for all the games. I just need to find and print out a group bracket type thingy to record the scores on but that should be easy enough. The plan is to record the 3 games every day and watch them during the evening, although it’s likely I’ll only watch 2 of 3 each day. It’s a true tossup to say if the US will advance from the group stage. My brain says that they won’t but most of the rest of me can be convinced that they will. At any given moment I can make an argument one way or the other, so obviously I’m conflicted. I do feel that they’ll play well and make a good impression either way.
An important social marker among we provincial New Englanders is pronunciation of place names. A slight mistake in saying Peabody, Billerica or Cataumet and it’s instantly revealed that you ain’t from ‘round these parts. While I’m usually insulated from ridicule due to my local roots, I ran into Sesachacha Pond here at work and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I’ve only recently mastered this beast after hearing it said for about a week. Place your best guess on pronunciation below. 4 comments
we had Mike, Amy and Fiona here for a visit last week which was great. Candlepin bowling (check), seafood dinner (check), The Office marathon (check), Amy painting dragonflies, a turtle and a cute cow jumping over the moon on the nursery walls (check), teaching Fiona how to roll a ball along the floor with her nose (check). So it was a pretty complete visit I’d say.
The World Cup starts this Friday and I’m just tickled pink about that. I’ve cleared out the TiVo and set recording options for all the games. I just need to find and print out a group bracket type thingy to record the scores on but that should be easy enough. The plan is to record the 3 games every day and watch them during the evening, although it’s likely I’ll only watch 2 of 3 each day. It’s a true tossup to say if the US will advance from the group stage. My brain says that they won’t but most of the rest of me can be convinced that they will. At any given moment I can make an argument one way or the other, so obviously I’m conflicted. I do feel that they’ll play well and make a good impression either way.
An important social marker among we provincial New Englanders is pronunciation of place names. A slight mistake in saying Peabody, Billerica or Cataumet and it’s instantly revealed that you ain’t from ‘round these parts. While I’m usually insulated from ridicule due to my local roots, I ran into Sesachacha Pond here at work and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I’ve only recently mastered this beast after hearing it said for about a week. Place your best guess on pronunciation below. 4 comments
