We were robbed

Through 45 minutes, it seemed the US Men's soccer team was living up to their reputation as a somewhat talented team that wilted on the big stage. Here was the "underdog" Slovenia leading the US 2-0 at the half. Looked pretty bleak for the Americans.

But, unlike in World Cups past, the US came out and attacked the opposing goal with an intensity that is often missing for this side. Landon Donovan slammed home a goal to cut things to 2-1 and gave the team some hope. After a few squandered chances, Michael Bradley, the son of the US coach, fired home the equalizer, and the match was tied.

This would have been a fine result considering the early deficit, but the US kept pressing, and won a free kick late in the second half. Landon Donovan sent a beautiful ball heading toward the box. The ball found sub Maurice Edu, who seemed to put the possible game winner in the net at the 86th minute. But -- just as the team and announcers started to celebrate, the referee called off the goal. The first thought was that it was an offsides call, but replays showed that all of the US players were, indeed, onside. The call was a foul on the US. I'm far from a soccer expert, but have not seen anything close to a foul committed by a US player in any replay. ESPN's experts have not been able to explain the call, either.

The final match of the day saw England draw with Algeria at 0-0 -- a result that will no doubt have the Brits feeling pressure at home that most of us can't understand. This result was nearly as shocking as the horrible call that denied the US the win vs. Slovenia. The English team looked to be afraid of screwing up the game, and the end result was a game that was ....well, screwed up. The only parallel I can draw to what it must be like to play for England is playing for the New York Yankees. Some players thrive, but many find the white hot spotlight that comes from playing in NY to be too much to contend with, and their game suffers.

The US controls their fate. If they beat Algeria, they are through and advance to the next round. Should the US earn a draw in their next match, and England also earns a draw, the US will likely be through on goal differential. Things are looking up, but the US team can't take Algeria lightly. They held England scoreless, and while you put most of that on England's talented squad, you do have to give the Algerian's credit. Today was the first game in US World Cup history where the Americans came from behind to earn a draw. If we can build on that momentum, then we're moving on to a round that validates the supposed improvement in the team.

Celtics, World Cup and some music

Game 7 didn't disappoint -- unless, of course, you are a Celtics fan. This is the great thing about the 7 game format....I started the series thinking "The Lakers are going to win, just don't get embarassed." After Game 2, I was basically happy because the Celts proved they could hang with the migthy Lakers. Game 3, hung tough, but lost when Derek Fisher decided to be clutch. Game 4 - same as Game 2. But then we get to Game 5, and the Celts take us back to LA with a 3-2 lead and a chance to shock the Lakers on their home court. That was the point where this series changed for me, and I knew that I'd be upset of the Celtics didn't win the title. But they played Game 6 like a team that knew it had 2 shots at winning it all. They acquitted themselves well in Game 7 and played with the heart of a champion -- and for that I'm glad. But I can't help the fact that I have a bitter taste in my mouth this morning because I know the Celtics could be champions right now.

All of that being said -- I really don't care for him, but I have learned to respect Kobe Bryant as a player. I don't think he'll ever be considered the best player ever -- He simply is not as good as Michael Jordan was. What I do think he is, though, is the best player in the game today, and one of the best of the current generation.

Switching gears a bit to the World Cup -- the first round of games have been somewhat boring....and I mean that in the context of someone who DOES NOT find soccer boring. In spite of the slow start to proceedings, though, the week has produced some interesting results. First there was Spain falling 1-0 to Switzerland. The Spanish team played a solid game, but couldn't net an equalizer despite numerous chances late in the match. Thursday saw 3 very compelling matches. First, Argentina took down South Korea 4-1. Argentina's my pick to win it all, and they showed a bit of flair in this match. Then we saw Greece eke out a win vs. Nigeria. Maybe not the most technically pleasing match, but anytime you've got two teams clawing for their survival, it tends to be compelling. The day finished up with Mexico downing France 2-0 in a very entertaining game. Can't muster much love for the French team, even though they are stocked with players that I have followed in the EPL. Maybe it's because of the whole Thierry Henry handball against Ireland that I can't let go of.

Today is off to a good start as Serbia stunned Germany 1-0. Germany breezed to a 4-0 victory in their opening match, so this was a bit of a surprise. As I'm writing, the US and Serbia are just about to get underway. This is a huge match for the US -- much bigger than last Saturday's game against England. True, producing a draw against England gains some respect for an improving US team, but these next two games are against opponents that the US is expected to beat. That's a different kind of pressure to play under, and if the US really wants to prove that it has started to become a power in World Football, then they have to take a minimum of 4 points from these two games. Doing so should get them out of the group stage.

So wrapping up a longer than necessary post with a quick note on music. I heard on WGN 720 this morning that Billboard has determined that Michael Jackson's most popular song of all time is "Say Say Say", which most will remember was a duet with Paul McCartney. Since his death, most have focused on Jacko's talent rather than his...ummm....unique personality. While it is true that Jacko shared writing credits on the song, I find it somewhat ironic that his most popular song was one that appeared on a Paul McCartney album.

How could I write about rookies and not focus on Garcia?

One of my first posts at Spot of Red's new home talked about 2010 being the 'Year of the Rookie', and I focused a bit on the great season that David Freese is having. Well, after the other night's Cards/M's game, I'm finding it hard to believe that I focused on Freese over Jaime Garcia. Of course, Freese is having a great year, but if you had to pick a ROY candidate from the Cards, I'd say Garcia has earned the honor. You figured he wouldn't be terrible, given that he parlayed a strong spring showing into a job as the 5th starter. But I, for one, certainly didn't expect to be sitting here in mid-June with the kid sitting at 6-3 with a 1.59 ERA. Brad Penny was expected to be the "replacement" for Joel Piniero as #3 starter -- but injuries to him and also to #4 starter Kyle Lohse have pushed Garcia to the defacto #3 spot. And he has responded. While I think 'Year of the Rookie' is a more descriptive way to describe 2010 thus far, I've heard/read others refer to it as the 'Year of the Pitcher'. Strasburg and Heyward have garnered most of the headlines, but it just might Garcia who ultimately winds up being rookie of the year.

News and Notes - 6/15

As I mentioned earlier, its been a rough week for the Cardinals. They just finished a 1-5 West Coast road trip which saw them swept at the hands of the Dodgers and losers of 2 of 3 to the Diamondbacks -- including a heartbreaking walk-off loss in the finale on Sunday. The offense continues to be a bit less than what we had expected, as we all wonder when will Albert and Holliday get things rolling. NOTE: Neither has been terrible to date, but aren't producing to the level that we've become accustomed.

A couple of notes -

• Ryan Ludwick has been a bright spot of late on both offense and defense. He's driven in 15 RBI over the last 15 days and is hitting at .297. He fits Tony LaRussa's mindset perfectly, and seems to be at home almost anywhere in the order -- hitting 2nd a few games, then switching to 5th and even making an appearance as the cleanup hitter.
• Speaking of cleanup hitters -- Matt Holliday moved up to the 2 hole and went 2-4 with a base on balls and 2 runs scored. Don't expect this to be his regular slot in the lineup.
• Slightly scary moment during last night's win over the Mariners as Albert Pujols took a Jose Lopez throw off the ear hole of his batting helmet while trying to score on a ground ball. Albert stayed in the game, and it'll likely take more than that to move him to the bench for more than a routine day off.
• Adam Wainwright improved to 9-4 tossing 7 innings of 3 run ball while striking out 6. It was his 9th consecutive start with at least 6 Ks.
• Jeff Suppan makes his return tonight and will face off against M's lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith. Rowland-Smith is sitting at 0-5 with a 6.62 ERA. Suppan's time with the Brewers was somewhat less than successful as he comes with an 0-2 record and a 7.84 ERA. He only started 2 for the Brew Crew and totalled 31 innings pitched before being released on 6/7. The Cards are hurting for starters at the moment, but if all goes well, Suppan is in line to get a second start against Oakland this weekend.
• LaRussa's lineup shuffle worked for at least one night as the Cards put up 9 runs against the Mariners. The Holliday-Pujols-Ludwick combo reached base 10 times and drove in 6 runs. Colby Rasmus homered to drive in another 2 and rookie David Freese drove in the other. A different look is certain for tonight with a lefty on the mound.

USA! USA! USA!

Interupting baseball talk for a quick diversion to the World Cup. I was out of town for the weekend, and aside from a couple of tweets, didn't have the chance to comment on the match between England and the US this past weekend, but was fortunate enough to see most of the match. Obviously, it would have been great to get the win, but a draw was very impressive just the same. The last time we played England in a friendly (exhibition soccer match, for the uninitiated), we lost to the Brits 2-0. So this is an improvement. Plus, England has a fairly talented team, and most British soccer fans see this as a loss. You might think that it was pure luck and that England's Keeper, Robert Green, had as much to do with the draw as anyone from the US, but that is simply not the case. All of the scoring took place before the half, so you had to expect that England was going to come out and pour it on in the 2nd half. Most of the half was spent with England attacking the US goal, but thankfully, Tim Howard was up to the task.

The US had no pressure in this game -- there would be no shame in losing 4-0 to England. That's not the case with the next two matches -- against Slovenia (6/18) and Algeria (6/23). These are matches where the US will be favored, and we must get maximum points if we want to make it out of the group stage. This US team has the talent to do just that, so hopefully they live up to their potential.

One more comment -- saw several of my fellow "Yank" Liverpool FC fans on Twitter and Facebook voice the opinion that they were rooting against the US because of the whole Hicks/Gillette ownership fiasco (Hicks/Gillette are American owners of the Liverpool football club, and in short, they have saddled the club with tons of debt and erased hope that LFC will contend for the Premier League title anytime soon). Honestly, cheer for who you want to -- and I realize soccer is a 2nd tier sport in the US. But I will say that the logic behind this is a bit flawed, as these gentlemen have NOTHING to do with the US National Team. I seriously doubt there are any British Soccer (of course, they'd say football) fans that are rooting against their national team because of what BP has done to the Gulf of Mexico. If you want to root for national teams featuring your favorite club players, then fine by me -- but pretending to be a soccer snob and rooting against your country's team because of two businessmen that own a club -- well, that's just another reason why soccer remains a 2nd tier sport over here.

Thanks for reading -- promise I'll try to keep the soccer talk to a minimum.

Electirc

Originally posted on illinoisemaker.mlblogs.com. Posted on June 8, 2010 at 10:34 PM:

So -- quiet night in baseball, huh? Not much to talk about...

Hard to recall a single season in recent memory where rookie players have played such prominent roles for their teams. But as prominent a role as rookies have played this season, they expectations pale in comparison to what is expected of Stephen Strasburg. He's been the talk of baseball since touching 103 on the radar gun as a college senior. His minor league starts have been available on MiLB.TV and his final start in the minors was also picked up by the VS network -- a decent little coup for a channel dominated by hunting and fishing shows.

All eyes were on Strasburg tonight -- and all seats were full for the first time since Nationals Park opened a few years ago. The atmosphere was electric, and the event was hyped like a Yankees/Red Sox match-up. Time will tell if this kid is truly the "best pitching prospect ever", but you'd have to say he lived up to the hype in his debut. He went 7 innings, only gave up 4 hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out 14. He did surrender a 2 run shot to Delwyn Young, but was lights out aside from that one mistake. Tyler Clippard took care of the 8th and Capps closed things out in the 9th.

Somewhat overshadowed was Mike Stanton's debut for the Marlins. He went 3 for 5, scored 2 runs and struck out once. Not a bad night by any stretch, and while he fell a bit short of Jason Heyward's monster debut with the Braves, still mighty impressive for a kid that's only 20 and hasn't played above AA.

The rookies carried the night - without a doubt (the Mets Ike Davis also downed the Padres with a walk-off blast). 2010 has been the year of the rookie, and with any luck, we're seeing the dawn of the next age of baseball superstars that will take the torch from the likes of Jeter and Pujols and carry us into the next generation.

Rough Road

A 1-5 road trip came to a close as the Cards fell to the D'backs 7-5. The Cards showed a bit of moxie in tying the game at 5 in the top of the 9th, but Kyle McClellan served up a 2 run homer to D'backs CF Chris Young. After getting swept at the hands of the Dodgers, you'd hope that an inconsistent team like Arizona might offer some relief. Sadly, that was not to be the case, and the pitching woes hit the bullpen. Carpenter wasn't spectacular and found himself having to pitch out of trouble a few times during the game -- and did help himself out at the plate by getting on base twice. The final 3 innings were handed to the bullpen, and 4 ERs later, the Diamondbacks took the rubber game of the series.

While it's hardly time to panic in Redbird Nation, you do worry a bit that this Cards team isn't quite living up to expectations as one of the better teams in the NL. The injuries in the rotation are hardly helping, and it doesn't look like the team will be able to make due with reinforcements from Memphis. Suppan's on the way, and you have to think Mozelik's working the phones trying to find more reinforcements (Hey, isn't Looper still sitting around waiting for a call?).

Next up -- interleague play, as the Mariners (speaking of teams that have not met expectations) come to St. Louis. The Mariners' offense has largely been MIA this season, so maybe this is a chance for the Cardinals to wash away the bad taste that the road trip left in everyone's mouths.