On the day that Mexico came out and beat the US 5-0 in the Gold Cup, we welcome you LSF fans to a brand new Weekly Football Post that promises to be the start of the WFP's extended editions. Hope you have fun hearing about my favorite football teams, you idiots.
Starting with what Americans call football, we'll touch on the Ramies. Everyone's favorite NFC West cellar team made a trade splash prior to the start of the preseason, grabbing a much needed wide receiver. St. Louis (soon to be Costa Mesa, if you agree with my self-created rumor, now that the fairgrounds are up for sale) traded defensive end Orien "'s Belt" Harris to the Detroit Lions for veteran wide receiver and Hampton, VA native Ronald Curry. Curry is rumored to want the big #0 with the Rams, and all of Rams Nation is hoping that the UNC graduate will bring some much needed help after losing Tory Holt. In 2008, Curry had 19 grabs for 181 yards and 2 TDs for Detroit, averaging 9.5 yards per catch. His biggest day was a 6 catch/73 yard affair against Miami (which ended up being a loss for the Lions, 15-17), but hopefully having Bulger will help him up his numbers. Curry will fall into that much loved "slot receiver" position for St. Louis, and hopefully he is one of the pieces that will get us back to glory. I'm still really pulling for Boller to earn the starting QB job, so we'll see. 2003 was the last year that the Rams earned more wins than losses, but hopes are high for this guy as the preseason starts August 14 against the NY Jets.
The college football season kicks off on September 9, and I wanted to give you my top 3 most anticipate Notre Dame games in the '09 season. #3) Boston College @ Notre Dame: This is what I consider to be one of the more underrated rivalries in the NCAA. The battle between the two Catholic schools is always a fun one, and Notre Dame will definitely be looking for revenge after the 0-17 drubbing of 2008, the 14-27 loss of 2007, the 23-24 loss of 2004, the 25-27 loss of 2003, and the 7-14 loss of 2002. BC has been living high on the horse lately, but it has to end this year. #2) Michigan @ Notre Dame: I always love this game. This will be the second week of the season this time around, the first big challenge to ND's most likely undefeated record at that point. Last year the Irish pulled off the 35-17 win at home with Jimmy Clausen hitting 2 TD passes and Robert Hughes running for 2 TDs as well. That was revenge enough for the 0-38 loss the year before and the 21-47 loss in 2006. With it coming so early here in '09, this is going to be a huge game for Clausen and the boys. #1) USC @ Notre Dame: Is there any other game to pick? Every year we think, "Is this the year?" We've suffered through 2008 (3-38), 2007 (0-38), 2006 (24-44), the 2005 shocker (31-34), 2004 (10-41), 2003 (14-45), and 2005 (13-44) recently, and we've had enough. Jimmy Clausen has some talent behind him, and if he wants to solidify himself in Leprechaun lore, this is the game for him to do it. Week 6 in 2009 is game time.
Up in the CFL, my mighty BC Lions dropped their game to Calgary 10-48. BC allowed Stamp's RB Joffrey Reynolds to run wild for 130 yards and 2 TDs, and the Lions allowed 5 sacks and 2 INTs in the game. My boys were winning 7-4 before getting F'd the heck up the rest of the way (including 34 unanswered points). It was the Grey Cup defending champions' fifth straight win against the Orange & Black, including the CFL West final. Notre Dame standout, and my main man, Jarious Jackson scored the lone BC touchdown on a one yard run in the first quarter, and rookie kicker (in for our injured kicking stud and former XFL standout Paul McCallum) Sean Whyte adding the only other marker on a 45 yard 3 pointer in the fourth. It was not a good night for by Vancouver boys, with boy Jarious Jackson and beloved starter Buck Pierce getting boos rained down on them. Most of the 27.191 in attendance actually headed for the exists before the third quarter was over. Most were thinking, "When do the Canucks start playing?" JJ fumbled a snap that led to a Calgary touchdown, and later threw an interception leading to the same. BC finished the game with just 103 yards in the air and 115 yards in the ground, with Arkansas-Pine Bluff graduate Martell Mallet getting the player of the game nod in the loss (77 yards on the ground and 40 yards through the air). The Lions have now dropped to 1-3 on the year. In the good news category, the last time BC started the season 1-3, the went to the Grey Cup in 2004. The may have lost the Grey Cup, but it was a hell of a year. At least Saskatchewan lost to Edmonton!
Now we're on to what the rest of the world calls football. My Mighty Celts found some glory in the Wembley Cup with an impressive 2-0 against Spurs to capture the inaugural of that championship. It may have been a slapped together Hoops team, missing some solid players, but they looked great and showcased their young talent. The two goals were scored by Chris Killen and Gorgeous Geogrios Samaras, and the Celts earned the Wembley Cup to add to the preseason hardware, after capturing the Translink Cup earlier in the preseason. After crushing the best Egypt had to offer (a 5-0 win against Al Ahly earlier in the week), the Celts got their shot against Totts for the preseason title, and they made things happen fast with a goal after just nine minutes of play. It was nice to see the best Greek player in the SPL get on the board and lead us onward to victory, and it was also really cool to get our newest signing, Danny Fox from Coventry, out on the field as a sub to get his feet wet. The next match for the Bhoys is a UEFA Champions League Qualifier on Wednesday against Dinamo Moscow before we tackle Sunderland on August 1, and it is all leading up to the SPL opener against Aberdeen on August 15. In case you are curious, my Celtic man of the season for 2009, with my main man Shunsuke Nakamura being off to Spain, is Aussie native Scott McDonald. You've got to love Croc Dundee.
My boys from Newcastle had been putting together some special in their preseason warmup so far, but it all came crashing down quickly. The Magpies won their first three matches, included a huge victory over Darlington 7-2 earlier in the month, and then got laid out by Leyton Orient this weekend. Rocking their scrambled egg jerseys, 'Castle got completely destroyed in an embarrassing 1-6 offering at Brisbane Road. Is the loss to a League 1 team a tale of things to come once the Championship season starts? God, I hope not. After falling down quickly 0-2, Newcastle's Joey Barton tallied a goal that split the lead in half in the 30th minute on a spot kick, but goals at 53 and 55 starting to help the Orient pull away. The Barton goal came on a penalty kick after Oba Martins got pulled down in side the area with a huge chance to strike, but it wasn't nearly enough, as the Bar Codes got straight blown out. Tim Krul may not be the answer that we need in goal, eh mates? Also, having Oba as the lone striker may be something that we should adjust prior to the Championship season. If only we had a coach. In case you are curious, my Newcastle man of the season for 2009, with my main man N'Zogbia being off to Wigan, is Nigerian super striker Shola Ameobi. You've got to love the Amoeba.
Following their 7/19 loss to New England, my MLS love affair got the weekend off thanks to the All-Star break. Chivas USA are waiting for 8/8 to take on Colorado, as they continue to hope for better results. At 8-6-3 heading into the break (-5 of first place Houston), Chivas are really in need of some solid outings to make things like they were earlier in the season. Somebody is going to need to step up and help Lillingston and Nagamura, and with Atiba Harris heading off in the recent trade, I'm guessing that man will be Cuban native Maykel Galindo. It doesn't hurt that he's my favorite player.
Somehow, Chivas de Guadalajara started their 2009 Torneo Apertura today with a 3-4 loss to Toluca. What a start to the FMF season, a blasted huge scoring loss! It was a 95th minute goal by Toluca's Israel Lopez that gave Mexico's Red Devils their season opening victory, sending my Goats to defeat. Chivas saw Javier Hernandez Balcazar open the scoring in the 6th minute, only to see Toluca march back with three of their own (19, 36, and 72). In the 77th, however, Toluca star Francisco Gomez got a red card, and Chivas were ready to rock and roll. Still a newcomer, Aaron Gallindo (who is my main man for this season), immediately scored to cut the Toluca lead to one, and was helped out by the classic captain Ramon "Ramoncito" Morales in the 81st to tie the game at 3. When Zinha was ushered off in the 87th, Chivas felt like they had a real chance to squeak out a victory with a two man advantage, but Hector Reynoso saw red in the 90th, and things swung back in favor of the home team in stoppage time. The referees practically put their whistles away and decided to let the two teams finished, with resulted in the Toluca game winning goal 5 minutes into the injury period by Israel Lopez to end the game in defeat for my might Red & White. All 9 of Toluca's shots were on goal, as opposed to just 6 Chivas shots getting through. Our keeper Luis Michel just couldn't hang strong enough to start our season off right, and Chivas are into the summer tournament with a 0-1-0 start. Next up is a battle against UANL, who drew with Puebla in the opening game yesterday. I'm watching Chelsea play Club America right now, and I've never cheered for Chelsea until this moment. Go Blues!
I've finally started following the League of Ireland, with my Sligo Rovers (currently at the bottom of the table) being my love affair. The "Bit O' Red", as they are known, shocked all of Ireland with a win against St. Patrick's today 2-0. It was the Rovers first win in their last seven league games, with thrilling goals from Eoin Doyle and Matthew Blinkhorn that saw them defeat St. Pat's. Big Doyle (who is now officially my favorite Sligo player) fired home the game opening goal just 18 minutes into the game, and striker Blinkhorn doubled the lead at the 60 minute mark. Doyle was handed the start, his first, and immediately made the Sligo faithful around the world proud by racing onto a curling pass and banging it into the net. It is always nice to turn out a win against a Dublin side. The win has actually pulled my Rovers to 5-10-6 on the Irish season, getting them to third from the bottom. In the Ireland league, the bottom team (#10 Bray Wanderers) are immediately relegated, while the #8 (Sligo) and #9 (Drogeda United) teams have a playoff to stay up in the Premier League. Next up for Sligo will be a game against Galway United (7-10-4) next weekend. Another win could be pretty damned huge for the Bit O' Red.
After a disappointing 15-18-5 season in Serie A, my main Italian side Lazio is now trying to prime themselves for the 09/10 run. Lazio, the main A squad supported by soccer fans in Vatican City, is hoping for a better result. That result depends a great deal on the goal scoring ability of Mauro Zarate. The Buenos Aires native had 13 goals in the previous season for the SS, and fans of the light blue are hoping for much more from #10 this year. Lazio has a new head coach, and gets things underway August 23.
I'm not quite sure if I need to focus at all on USA's 0-5 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup finals today. I know that you can say that this isn't the American's top squad, but who cares? Mexico is coming into this game knowing that they needed a win to get their side pumped up for the upcoming August World Cup Qualifier against our boys in Mexico City, and we needed to crush them! Instead, Mexico put up 5 unanswered goals to end an 11 game winless streak on US soil with a convincing victory in New Jersey. For the US, seven players out of the eleven got their first starts, showing that former Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley didn't take this game seriously enough. I don't care that the Gold Cup isn't the most important piece of hardware around, you have to try and pull out all the stops to beat Mexico. The MLS was on break, and Donovan, Klejstan, and Bornstein are sitting at home? What the hell? Mexico opened it up on a questionable penalty kick awarded in the 57th minute. It looked like Torrado actually leaned into the US defender when he fell to the ground and got the call, but either way it opened the flood gates. Just like that, goals came in at 64, 70, 79, and 90, and the US was decisively defeated. I think Bradley needs to be blamed for this one. Troy Perkins in goal? Never trust a Norwegian Premier League player between the posts. Never. As a soccer fan, I can barely show my face in my mainly Mexican neighborhood after this one. Damn.
I told you it would be expanded.
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