1. The City of Norfolk has a Department of Parks & Urban Forestry. Isn't "Urban Forestry" an oxymoron?
2. When will the agreement on an entertainment complex for the Dome site be completed? We've been on the cusp of closing the deal for months.
3. Who files at the 11th hour for this November's Virginia Beach City Council special election should be interesting. When perennial candidate John Moss first announced, I couldn't have imagined he'd be in a position to still be taken seriously at this point.
4. Meyera Oberndorf is being recruited by the Demonrats to run for the 7th Senate District seat this November. Anyone who has worked a General Assembly race before (and I've done a few) knows standing up a credible campaign just 90 days out from Election Day is virtually impossible.
Therefore, the only rational reason I can see for her running is to boost voter turnout on the west side of Virginia Beach (7th District), which would help a status quo Council candidate but hurt John Moss.
5. My best wishes to the new Republic of South Sudan. Now if they would change the country name to disassociate themselves from the thugs who rule in Khartoum. Maybe a beautiful name in one of the indigenous languages.
6. With zero units constructed through Virginia Beach's Workforce Housing Program, how long until the City takes more forceful measures to get the units built?
7. With Southwest Airlines buying AirTran, and closing their Newport News station next Spring, what - if any - of the Newport News AirTran flights become Norfolk Southwest flights? Conventional wisdom is that Atlanta service is a given, but do we also get Boston and New York - LaGuardia?
8. In his latest blog post, even Bob O'Connor had to admit that Virginia Beach light rail is inevitable. How long before other Kool-Aid chuggers catch on, and end their futile resistance?
9. How much longer can the European Union keep putting out national financial crisis after national financial crisis in the euro zone?
10. Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement (HRCCE) Executive Director (and former City of Virginia Beach staffer) Betsy McBride has moved back to her native Idaho. That led a mid-level City staffer to joke about potato farming. Glad to know I'm not the only one who has quipped about that.
11. What has the Hampton Roads Partnership been doing since the Declaration of Interdependence?
12. Sweating our way through this Summer, only a Flat Earther could continue to deny climate change.
13. The teahadists burned any credibility they had in opposing the raising of the Federal debt ceiling. If they had taken time to notice, everyone in the mainstream knew it was necessary, with the arguments being over what conditions to attach to it. The tea baggers would have triggered a second Great Depression with a Federal debt default.
14. Speaking of such, in a comment on the blog Bearing Drift, Reid Greenmun called raising the Federal debt ceiling "insane". If the Chairman of the extremist VBTA wants to see what is actually insane, all he has to do is look in the mirror.
15. Suffolk has yet to decide on a final proposed option on how to replace Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) bus service come January 1. Stay tuned, as this one could get entertaining before it's over. (Entertaining, unless you're a Suffolk bus rider.)
16. The jockeying is on over the vacant Chief Communications Officer's position at HRT, with its $100k+ annual salary. Two applicants have already spoke to me about the job.
17. In picking up sports from the British, why did cricket have to eclipse soccer in India? With the country having as large a population (read: talent base) as it does, it could have had a great men's national soccer team. (In Asia, even friggin' North Korea has a much better team.)
18. So far, picking a candidate to support in the Republican Presidential field is a case of choosing the lesser of evils. (Yes, I still wish Mike Huckabee was running.)
19. Since the Chilean miners rescue, it seems like the only big story out of South America has been the health of Venezuelan President Huge Chavez. Damn quiet. Then, is quiet preferable?
Showing posts with label Soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soccer. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
More YouTube Soccer Footage
You have to love this one. The Goalie thinks he's stopped the penalty kick, celebrates, and walks away. The camera crew believes the shot was missed, and television coverage pulls off the ball.
Better wait and see what the backspin does on this ball....
Better wait and see what the backspin does on this ball....
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Things You Find On YouTube
Surfing YouTube yesterday, I found a video of Top 10 blown scoring chances in soccer. My fellow soccer fans should enjoy. As a former Center Forward, I winced at some of them. The #1 goof was a well-deserved award. I post it for your weekend fun.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The New Kellam High School
The design looks intriguing. However, one thing caught my eye: soccer is slated to be played on the same field as football.
As a former high school soccer player myself (Midfielder later moved to Center Forward), I know a regulation soccer field is wider than a football field. Many schools around here do play soccer on football fields, but the narrower width doesn't allow normal lateral movement.
Okay, for all the money you're spending on the new Kellam, did you design the soccer field wide enough? I'm betting you botched it.
As a former high school soccer player myself (Midfielder later moved to Center Forward), I know a regulation soccer field is wider than a football field. Many schools around here do play soccer on football fields, but the narrower width doesn't allow normal lateral movement.
Okay, for all the money you're spending on the new Kellam, did you design the soccer field wide enough? I'm betting you botched it.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Blunder After Blunder
The video I embed below is must-see for any soccer fan. Qatar played Uzbekistan in the Asian Games.
The online comments are being aimed at Qatar's Fahad Khalfan for failing to score when he had a wide open goal at point blank. (He could have push passed it in from there!) However, don't overlook how badly the Uzbek goalie plays this ball. Finally, the second Qatari player in simply rushes it and blows a good scoring chance.
The online comments are being aimed at Qatar's Fahad Khalfan for failing to score when he had a wide open goal at point blank. (He could have push passed it in from there!) However, don't overlook how badly the Uzbek goalie plays this ball. Finally, the second Qatari player in simply rushes it and blows a good scoring chance.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
USA Beats Algeria; Ghana Next
Today the USA defeated Algeria 1-0 on a goal by Landon Donovan in stoppage time. I embed the video below for those who haven't seen it.
Next up for the USA will be Ghana in the knockout round.
Next up for the USA will be Ghana in the knockout round.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
USA Ties England 1-1
On Saturday the USA tied England in their World Cup Opener 1-1.
The lone American goal was a fluke. I embed the video below in case you haven't seen it. English goalie Robert Green simply allows the ball to glance off him into the goal! If you catch ABC's footage of the game, over on the American bench they didn't even realize they had scored until they saw their players on the field celebrating.
On the one hand, we're lucky to get the one point with the tie. On the other hand, we could have won had a shot in the 63rd minute not gone off the post. Take the point, and being favored against Algeria and Slovenia, the USA has a good chance of advancing to the next round of the Finals.
The lone American goal was a fluke. I embed the video below in case you haven't seen it. English goalie Robert Green simply allows the ball to glance off him into the goal! If you catch ABC's footage of the game, over on the American bench they didn't even realize they had scored until they saw their players on the field celebrating.
On the one hand, we're lucky to get the one point with the tie. On the other hand, we could have won had a shot in the 63rd minute not gone off the post. Take the point, and being favored against Algeria and Slovenia, the USA has a good chance of advancing to the next round of the Finals.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Preparing For The 2010 World Cup Finals
This evening I've been watching the USA men's soccer team play a friendly against the Czech Republic, which we lost 4-2 in Hartford. The match was a warmup for next month's World Cup Finals in South Africa.
With the final roster cuts to be made tomorrow, it was the last chance for bubble players to make their case for a roster spot. Coach Bob Bradley said 4-6 slots on the 23 man roster were still in flux.
The USA will next play a friendly against Turkey on Saturday in Philadelphia (1:30 P.M. on ESPN2). The last game before the Finals will be an exhibition against Australia (G'day, mates!) in South Africa on June 5.
Tonight our players wore the new kit for the 2010 Finals for the first time. It's essentially a modernization of our 1950 kit. For you non-fans, in 1950 was the biggest win in American soccer history, a 1-0 victory over England in the World Cup Finals in Brazil. Our first opponent in this year's Finals: England. (We're going to curse them with those kits!)
The opening match for the 2010 World Cup Finals will be June 11, with host South Africa taking on Mexico.
For those planning on watching games here in the U.S., the good news is that kickoffs for first matches will be at 8:30 A.M. EDT. That beats the heck out of the times we saw in South Korea.
The official USA soccer website is at http://www.ussoccer.com Also, all World Cup Finals matches will be available online at http://www.espn3.com
With the final roster cuts to be made tomorrow, it was the last chance for bubble players to make their case for a roster spot. Coach Bob Bradley said 4-6 slots on the 23 man roster were still in flux.
The USA will next play a friendly against Turkey on Saturday in Philadelphia (1:30 P.M. on ESPN2). The last game before the Finals will be an exhibition against Australia (G'day, mates!) in South Africa on June 5.
Tonight our players wore the new kit for the 2010 Finals for the first time. It's essentially a modernization of our 1950 kit. For you non-fans, in 1950 was the biggest win in American soccer history, a 1-0 victory over England in the World Cup Finals in Brazil. Our first opponent in this year's Finals: England. (We're going to curse them with those kits!)
The opening match for the 2010 World Cup Finals will be June 11, with host South Africa taking on Mexico.
For those planning on watching games here in the U.S., the good news is that kickoffs for first matches will be at 8:30 A.M. EDT. That beats the heck out of the times we saw in South Korea.
The official USA soccer website is at http://www.ussoccer.com Also, all World Cup Finals matches will be available online at http://www.espn3.com
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Predictions for 2010
I go out on the limb and make some predictions for 2010. (Okay, some of them were no-brainers.)
1. Bob O'Connor will oppose each and every Virginia Beach City Council initiative.
2. City Council enters a public-private partnership for an entertainment complex at the Dome site. Redevelopment of the Dome site had been the top Resort Area priority since 2005.
3. Governor Bob McDonnell's transportation plan is killed in the state Senate.
4. Robert Dean is recognized as a master ventriloquist after Bill DeSteph manages to make it through his (losing) City Council reelection campaign without anyone seeing Dean's lips moving.
5. Governor McDonnell pressures SPSA to finally sell it's operation and privatize, ending Hampton Roads' best political soap opera.
6. In The Shock Heard 'Round The World, the USA beats England in the World Cup Finals opener for both teams.
7. The Virginia Beach Transit Extension Alternatives Analysis (AA) comes out. However, people are so preoccupied with Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) management issues that it isn't half the event that people expected.
8. In the November Federal elections, Republicans take control of the House of Representatives and pickup seats in the Senate.
9. Wally Erb's light rail referendum drive finishes short of the necessary number of legal signatures to put a question on the ballot in November.
10. I Can Do Bad All By Myself wins the Oscar for Best Picture of 2009.
11. After no VBTA City Council challenger gets over 12% of the vote, John Moss resigns as VBTA Chairman. Vice Chairman Reid Greenmun moves up to Chair. In turn, Reid names his friend Harvey the new Vice Chair.
12. Al Wallace runs for the Bayside District City Council seat, making for the biggest electoral farce since...uh...well, Al ran for Mayor in 2004.
13. As City Council neither can de jure order a stop nor defund it, the Virginia Beach Transit Extension Study continues despite frosty relations between the Municipal Center and Victoria Boulevard.
14. In another cost-cutting move by The Virginian-Pravda, Kerry Dougherty is given the pink slip. Kerry then becomes a blogger for Virginia News Source.
15. The VBTA churns out another investigative report/White Paper/whatever they want to call it this time claiming a City economic development initiative is a net drain for taxpayers. Rational residents roll their eyes at the piece of garbage.
1. Bob O'Connor will oppose each and every Virginia Beach City Council initiative.
2. City Council enters a public-private partnership for an entertainment complex at the Dome site. Redevelopment of the Dome site had been the top Resort Area priority since 2005.
3. Governor Bob McDonnell's transportation plan is killed in the state Senate.
4. Robert Dean is recognized as a master ventriloquist after Bill DeSteph manages to make it through his (losing) City Council reelection campaign without anyone seeing Dean's lips moving.
5. Governor McDonnell pressures SPSA to finally sell it's operation and privatize, ending Hampton Roads' best political soap opera.
6. In The Shock Heard 'Round The World, the USA beats England in the World Cup Finals opener for both teams.
7. The Virginia Beach Transit Extension Alternatives Analysis (AA) comes out. However, people are so preoccupied with Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) management issues that it isn't half the event that people expected.
8. In the November Federal elections, Republicans take control of the House of Representatives and pickup seats in the Senate.
9. Wally Erb's light rail referendum drive finishes short of the necessary number of legal signatures to put a question on the ballot in November.
10. I Can Do Bad All By Myself wins the Oscar for Best Picture of 2009.
11. After no VBTA City Council challenger gets over 12% of the vote, John Moss resigns as VBTA Chairman. Vice Chairman Reid Greenmun moves up to Chair. In turn, Reid names his friend Harvey the new Vice Chair.
12. Al Wallace runs for the Bayside District City Council seat, making for the biggest electoral farce since...uh...well, Al ran for Mayor in 2004.
13. As City Council neither can de jure order a stop nor defund it, the Virginia Beach Transit Extension Study continues despite frosty relations between the Municipal Center and Victoria Boulevard.
14. In another cost-cutting move by The Virginian-Pravda, Kerry Dougherty is given the pink slip. Kerry then becomes a blogger for Virginia News Source.
15. The VBTA churns out another investigative report/White Paper/whatever they want to call it this time claiming a City economic development initiative is a net drain for taxpayers. Rational residents roll their eyes at the piece of garbage.
Friday, December 4, 2009
2010 World Cup Draw
Earlier today the draw for the 2010 World Cup Finals was held. Matches begin June 11 in South Africa, with soccer's World Cup being the most watched sporting event in the world. 32 teams were in the field: 31 had qualified through regional matches, plus the host team (South Africa) always gets a berth. For the first round, the 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four teams each. The basic rules of the draw:
1. The 32 teams were divided into 4 pots, based on seed, host status, and geography.
2. One team was drawn from each pot for each group.
3. In turn, a number was drawn for which numerical slot in the group the team was to get.
4. To prevent "continental clashes" in the first round, two teams from the same continent couldn't be put in the same group through the first three pots. (The fourth pot was made up of unseeded European teams.) For practical purposes, that meant in drawing from the third pot, Group A (which had host South Africa) had to get one of the three unseeded South American teams (Uruguay) rather than one of the five African teams.
The draw itself didn't produce the anticipated "Group Of Death":
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, and France.
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, and Greece.
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, and Slovenia.
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, and Ghana.
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon.
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia.
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, and Portugal.
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile.
I watched the draw on ESPN2. Some observations:
1. Pandemonium broke out in the television studio when the USA was drawn to be the second team into seeded England's Group C. Like the cheer after a made penalty kick, things erupted again when the USA drew "C2". That means we play the bloody limeys in our opener (June 12 in Rustenburg).
Anticipation then turned to who would join us in Group C. The next draw was Algeria, a side that barely qualified. Finally there was Slovenia. While Slovenia is the smallest country population-wise in the World Cup Finals, the Slovenians did eliminate the Russians.
Overall, a pretty good group for the USA.
2. Consensus was that the toughest group is Group G. Both Brazil and Portugal are soccer superpowers, while the Ivory Coast was one of two African countries (along with Nigeria) to go undefeated in qualifying.
North Korea need not unpack their bags, as they won't be in South Africa long.
3. Going in, most believed the draw rules benefited host South Africa. Alas, they drew both Mexico and 2006 World Cup semifinalist France into their Group A.
1. The 32 teams were divided into 4 pots, based on seed, host status, and geography.
2. One team was drawn from each pot for each group.
3. In turn, a number was drawn for which numerical slot in the group the team was to get.
4. To prevent "continental clashes" in the first round, two teams from the same continent couldn't be put in the same group through the first three pots. (The fourth pot was made up of unseeded European teams.) For practical purposes, that meant in drawing from the third pot, Group A (which had host South Africa) had to get one of the three unseeded South American teams (Uruguay) rather than one of the five African teams.
The draw itself didn't produce the anticipated "Group Of Death":
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, and France.
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, and Greece.
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, and Slovenia.
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, and Ghana.
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon.
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia.
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, and Portugal.
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile.
I watched the draw on ESPN2. Some observations:
1. Pandemonium broke out in the television studio when the USA was drawn to be the second team into seeded England's Group C. Like the cheer after a made penalty kick, things erupted again when the USA drew "C2". That means we play the bloody limeys in our opener (June 12 in Rustenburg).
Anticipation then turned to who would join us in Group C. The next draw was Algeria, a side that barely qualified. Finally there was Slovenia. While Slovenia is the smallest country population-wise in the World Cup Finals, the Slovenians did eliminate the Russians.
Overall, a pretty good group for the USA.
2. Consensus was that the toughest group is Group G. Both Brazil and Portugal are soccer superpowers, while the Ivory Coast was one of two African countries (along with Nigeria) to go undefeated in qualifying.
North Korea need not unpack their bags, as they won't be in South Africa long.
3. Going in, most believed the draw rules benefited host South Africa. Alas, they drew both Mexico and 2006 World Cup semifinalist France into their Group A.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
"The Miss Of The Century"
It's only 2009, but this blown play by English soccer player Rocky Baptiste has already been dubbed "The Miss Of The Century". Baptiste takes a pass, gets past the goalie...only to have the ball squirm loose on him and hit the outer side of the goal.
I played a couple years of soccer myself in high school: Midfielder later converted to Center Forward. As a Center Forward, you dreamed of having scoring opportunities like this. That Baptiste blew this one is inexcusable!
I played a couple years of soccer myself in high school: Midfielder later converted to Center Forward. As a Center Forward, you dreamed of having scoring opportunities like this. That Baptiste blew this one is inexcusable!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
It Doesn't Get Any Better!
On Wednesday the USA defeated Spain 2-0 in a semifinal of the Confederations Cup, the dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup. For those of you not soccer fans, the World Cup is the most watched sports tournament in the world.
Since some sites have raised the question, I'll give my answer: this was the biggest win in American soccer history. Spain was the top ranked team in the world, and had not lost an international match since November, 2006. The USA's previous benchmark had been the 1950 World Cup win over England in a match played in Brazil.
On Sunday the USA will face either Brazil or host South Africa in the Final.
Since some sites have raised the question, I'll give my answer: this was the biggest win in American soccer history. Spain was the top ranked team in the world, and had not lost an international match since November, 2006. The USA's previous benchmark had been the 1950 World Cup win over England in a match played in Brazil.
On Sunday the USA will face either Brazil or host South Africa in the Final.
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