Ooooohhhh USAAAAAAA - USA in Olympic Qualifying Finals

After drubbing Canada 3:0, the USMNT u-23 team goes on to face Honduras (again) in the final. Both teams have already qualified for the Beijing Olympics, so this game is almost, but not quite, meaningless. However, it will have an impact on seeding, so winning is still important.

You can see the match live on Fox Soccer Channel (613 on DirecTV) at 2pm PDT / 5pm EDT on Sunday.

Live Twittering a Birth?

My wife is almost ready to give birth to our son. I'm debating whether to live twitter developments from the delivery room. Is this just TMI? Not a good thing to do? I still have a couple of weeks yet to decide...

The streaker, part deux

For those of you who missed it, the above video clip saves for all eternity the "streak" that took place in last weekends Olympic qualifying match between the USA and Honduras.

Someone managed to track down her MySpace page and interviewed her. And of course, the obligatory snapshot:

(above photo Borrowed from SF at The Offside Rules)

USA vs. Canada Tonight on Fox Soccer Channel

For those of you who have had your fill of March Madness for the day, you will want to check out the Olympic qualifying semifinals tonight between the United States and Canada.

If the US wins, they're guaranteed a place in Beijing. If you're interested, the match is on Fox Soccer Channel and ESPN Deportes at 9pm EDT / 6pm PDT.

U-S-A! U-S-A!

I love ankle bracelets

(photo courtesy of Soccer by Ives)

It's official - soccer matches are where streakers come to party. Ok, so she's not a *real* streaker, but close enough for our Puritan value :)

Republicans Voting for Clinton?

So I wonder if this is finally going to get some mainstream press: story on Republicans "spiking" the Democratic primaries in the hopes of pushing Clinton over the top.

Adios, Mexico! El Tri Crashes Out of Olympic Qualifying

Poor Mexico - they sustain yet another soccer disappointment after crashing out of the olympic qualifiers in a wild game against Haiti (they actually won this match 5-1, but didn't make it out of their group due to goal differential).

Mexican arrogance about soccer is almost entirely undeserved - and inexplicable. The fact is, they've always been on the wrong side of Brazil and Argentina and really have not fared better than your run of the mill South American contenders. Yet, from hearing them describe their love affair with futbol, you would think they deserved to be in the upper soccer echelon. They don't.

In many ways, and this will bring a tear to many a Mexican eye, their soccer history really isn't so much further along than the USA. Until very recently, many of their players were just as tactically naive as Americans - everyone knows the craftiest footballers come from the big 2 in South America. Everyone else is just fighting over the scraps. Other than better foot skills, which does count for something, Mexico really doesn't have any better coaching, better soccer IQ, or for the last 10 or so years, a better team.