The "Other" Football
Forever pushing the boundaries, tonight we're going to try something that hasn't been done before here at The Adventures of Yukon Sully: We're going to employ a guest writer.
Ever since this blog hit the 'osphere about nine months ago, every single word has been the labor of love from the feverish mind of one individual voice in the wilderness, namely mine. Oh, except for the comment sections of course. And the block quotes that I occasionally employ, but that goes without saying. And the use of photographs in flagrant violation of international copywrite law, but the less said about that the better. And of course my extensive use of hyperlinks. But everything else is a 100% Sully production. Amazing you say? Well you don't have to tell me.
But as astounding as my work up to this point has been, believe it or not there are certain successes that have eluded me. For instance, if you take a look at my Clustrmap on the left, you will see that I have had very little impact in Central or South America. A few hits from Mexico, a lonely visitor from Costa Rica, a couple netizens from Brazil, and that's about it for this site's Latin Flair.
Well tonight that changes. My brother Tundra Sully, known to some by his Nomme de Guerre "Daniel", is a huge soccer fan. While I can't be bothered to look it up myself, I am told that "soccer" is a game of some sort that is generally played by American grade-school children, and that in some parts of the world it even has a large following among adults. These parts of the world include, apparently, Latin America. So in an effort to broaden the appeal of this blog (and to relieve me from having to think of something to write about tonight) I'm allowing my brother to contribute a short piece about his favorite topic. And for my fellow Americans, don't worry; the next post we'll be back to talking about things that matter.
In World Cup soccer news, the U.S. just missed being one of the top 8 seeds in Germany '06. All top 8 seeds are guaranteed to avoid facing each other in the first stage of the tournament: the group stage. Italy and Argentina both received 44 points in FIFA's seeding process which gave them a 1 point advantage over 9th place United States. If the U.S. were among the top 8 seeds they would have had a much easier road out of the group stage of the tournament and into the knock out rounds. As it is, they will be assigned to the same group as one of the top seeds which means their first round opponents will include one of the following 7 teams: Brazil, Argentina, England, Italy, Germany, France or Spain. The other seeded team is Mexico whom the U.S. will not face in the group stage because they are fellow members of the CONCACAF region. Any of the other top 8 seeded teams will present an extremely difficult challenge for the U.S. especially on European soil where 5 of the top 8 teams will have the equivalent of a home-field advantage. Germany has not had a strong qualifying campaign. However, the host team always makes it out of the group stage so the U.S. wants to avoid them. France is no longer a favorite to win the cup, but any team that can boast the likes of world class striker Thierry Henry is dangerous. Plus, France will no longer have the pressure and expectations that Zinadine Zidan and "Le Bleu" have had in the past two World Cups. Brazil will almost surely samba through their group stage opponents with ease, so the U.S. would love to avoid their group. Brazil's Roberto Carlos, veteran of 2 world cups, is already talking trash saying he doesn't even care who they play in the first round, which comes as no surprise. Since England and Spain are famous for choking in major tournaments the U.S. would have to be pleased to be assigned to either of their groups. Regardless of the top 7 teams the Americans must face in the group stage, they would have to be extremely pleased to finish in 1st or 2nd place in their 4 team group. Since the top 2 teams in each group advance to the next round, the U.S. need not beat any of these opponents in the first stage to advance. Given the rest of the field, the Americans must like their chances to at least place 2nd in their group and move on. Let's hope they can make it happen.
There now, doesn't that make you feel cosmopolitan? Thanks for the contribution Daniel. We'll have more soccer updates whenever the hell I feel like it.
Ever since this blog hit the 'osphere about nine months ago, every single word has been the labor of love from the feverish mind of one individual voice in the wilderness, namely mine. Oh, except for the comment sections of course. And the block quotes that I occasionally employ, but that goes without saying. And the use of photographs in flagrant violation of international copywrite law, but the less said about that the better. And of course my extensive use of hyperlinks. But everything else is a 100% Sully production. Amazing you say? Well you don't have to tell me.
But as astounding as my work up to this point has been, believe it or not there are certain successes that have eluded me. For instance, if you take a look at my Clustrmap on the left, you will see that I have had very little impact in Central or South America. A few hits from Mexico, a lonely visitor from Costa Rica, a couple netizens from Brazil, and that's about it for this site's Latin Flair.
Well tonight that changes. My brother Tundra Sully, known to some by his Nomme de Guerre "Daniel", is a huge soccer fan. While I can't be bothered to look it up myself, I am told that "soccer" is a game of some sort that is generally played by American grade-school children, and that in some parts of the world it even has a large following among adults. These parts of the world include, apparently, Latin America. So in an effort to broaden the appeal of this blog (and to relieve me from having to think of something to write about tonight) I'm allowing my brother to contribute a short piece about his favorite topic. And for my fellow Americans, don't worry; the next post we'll be back to talking about things that matter.
In World Cup soccer news, the U.S. just missed being one of the top 8 seeds in Germany '06. All top 8 seeds are guaranteed to avoid facing each other in the first stage of the tournament: the group stage. Italy and Argentina both received 44 points in FIFA's seeding process which gave them a 1 point advantage over 9th place United States. If the U.S. were among the top 8 seeds they would have had a much easier road out of the group stage of the tournament and into the knock out rounds. As it is, they will be assigned to the same group as one of the top seeds which means their first round opponents will include one of the following 7 teams: Brazil, Argentina, England, Italy, Germany, France or Spain. The other seeded team is Mexico whom the U.S. will not face in the group stage because they are fellow members of the CONCACAF region. Any of the other top 8 seeded teams will present an extremely difficult challenge for the U.S. especially on European soil where 5 of the top 8 teams will have the equivalent of a home-field advantage. Germany has not had a strong qualifying campaign. However, the host team always makes it out of the group stage so the U.S. wants to avoid them. France is no longer a favorite to win the cup, but any team that can boast the likes of world class striker Thierry Henry is dangerous. Plus, France will no longer have the pressure and expectations that Zinadine Zidan and "Le Bleu" have had in the past two World Cups. Brazil will almost surely samba through their group stage opponents with ease, so the U.S. would love to avoid their group. Brazil's Roberto Carlos, veteran of 2 world cups, is already talking trash saying he doesn't even care who they play in the first round, which comes as no surprise. Since England and Spain are famous for choking in major tournaments the U.S. would have to be pleased to be assigned to either of their groups. Regardless of the top 7 teams the Americans must face in the group stage, they would have to be extremely pleased to finish in 1st or 2nd place in their 4 team group. Since the top 2 teams in each group advance to the next round, the U.S. need not beat any of these opponents in the first stage to advance. Given the rest of the field, the Americans must like their chances to at least place 2nd in their group and move on. Let's hope they can make it happen.
There now, doesn't that make you feel cosmopolitan? Thanks for the contribution Daniel. We'll have more soccer updates whenever the hell I feel like it.
posted by Yukon Sully | 10:19 PM
3 Comments:
you better not say that because i'll take you up on it. next time i might even break it in to paragraphs!!! thanks, bro.
I think the Copa Mondial is definitely cool. Something similar to this is going to be played in a few months-- professional baseball is going to have a tournament played at several different sites (eg, Toyko and Orlando) and all the players will be playing for their own countries, like Carlos Zambrano will be on the Venezuelan team, Derrek Lee on the USA team, etc. I know, it will be just another excuse to charge admission and make money. Aren't all professional sports just corporations trying to make a buck or two or three million?
I think the Copa Mondial is definitely cool. Something similar to this is going to be played in a few months-- professional baseball is going to have a tournament played at several different sites (eg, Toyko and Orlando) and all the players will be playing for their own countries, like Carlos Zambrano will be on the Venezuelan team, Derrek Lee on the USA team, etc. I know, it will be just another excuse to charge admission and make money. Aren't all professional sports just corporations trying to make a buck or two or three million?
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