The World Cup

This blog was written by my discipler from San Diego, sir Erick Gomez, who knows a ton about soccer, and I know next to nothing. That would be the reason why he;s writing this and not me. He also did an excellent job of writing, as I had to make very few grammatical mistakes. If I missed some, apologies.


OK, so in a few short weeks, the greatest sports tournament begins, the World Cup. Now, I realize here in the states, that soccer isn't a major sport. However, to the rest of the world, it can mean life or death. How so? Countries have ordered cease fires, while their country was competing in the Cup. And in 1994, after scoring an own goal while playing against the USA, Columbian defender Andres Escobar was gunned down and killed in his country...his own goal prevented the Colombians from advancing in the tournament.

There are 32 nations, broken up into 8 groups of 4 (A-H), the top 2 teams in each bracket will advance to the next round, where it becomes single elimination. I will name the teams in the groups, give their current world ranking in ( ), tell you who I'm guessing to move on, who should move on (with a *), along with a few random facts thrown in. My picks are based on nothing scientific, and I will be using my pick, not the * when I get to who will advance to the next rounds.

Group A

South Africa (83)

Mexico (17)*

Uruguay(16)

France (9)*

My picks for group A are Mexico & South Africa. I'm looking for France to be upset, and I hate France. With a few French players facing allegations of hiring prostitutes, who knows where the focus will be. Also, the host nation of the World Cup has never failed to advance to the next round, so hopefully the South Africans can continue that tradition, and lets face it, they have the 12th man, an entire country supporting them.

Group B

Argentina (7)*

Nigeria (21)

Korea Republic/South Korea (47)

Greece (13)*

Based on rankings, it should be Argentina & Greece. However, I going with Argentina & Nigeria. Nigeria plays a fast paced game that the Greeks can't match. The South Koreans have the speed to keep up and they did upset a lot of teams in 2002 to reach the semi finals. However, I'm giving the edge to Nigeria, playing in front of a Pro-African crowd.

Group C

England (8)*

USA (14)*

Algeria (30)

Slovenia (25)

My pics are England & the USA, I agree with the standings, England looked shaky in a recent tune up match against Mexico, but their set plays helped them pull off a win. England's John Terry was stripped of his captain's role after it was discovered he was sleeping with former teammate Wayne Bridge's now ex-girlfriend. Bridge withdrew from the English National Team. With Beckham out of the cup & rumors of Rooney being "worn out & tired," it could spell trouble for them in the later rounds. The Americans are looking to rebound from a last place finish from 4 yrs ago, led by Donovan, the USA has only a handful of MLS players on this years team, most are playing overseas. Which is a good thing as the MLS is a far weaker league than those overseas.

Group D

Germany (6)*

Australia (20)

Serbia (15)*

Ghana (32)

The Germans suffered a major blow with their captain Michael Ballack injured & unable to play in the Cup, as well as their starting keeper & a midfielder. They should have little problem advancing from this round & are one of the hardest teams to knock out of the Cup, as they have a ton of depth. I'm calling for another upset here, as Ghana isn't separated from Serbia by that many points in the ranking system. But, will be without star Michael Essien, due to a knee injury.

Group E

Netherlands (4)*

Denmark (36)

Japan (45)

Cameroon (19)*

My picks here are the same, the Netherlands & Cameroon. The Netherlands are a technical, attack minded team, and Cameroon is the only African team expected to get to the elimination round.

Group F

Italy (5)*

Paraguay (31)*

New Zealand (78)

Slovakia (34)

My pics are Italy & Paraguay. Italy is one of the top teams in the world, and while Slovakia is making its World Cup debut here in 2010, it won't be enough to get out of the 1st round.

Group G

Brazil (1)*

Korea DPR/North Korea (105)

Ivory Coast (27)

Portugal (3)*

Some are calling this the "Group of Death" with 2 of the top teams in the world here, and the 2nd highest ranked African team. All 3 of these teams have some of the top players in the world. Ivory Coast has a lot of European based players and are exciting to watch. However, the Brazilians & Portugese teams are going to be hard to overcome. North Korea is the lowest ranked country in the Cup, and they will face an impossible mountain of talent. So, thanks for showing up. Brazil left aging stars Ronaldhino & Ronaldo (the tournament goal scoring leader with 15), and isn't fielding as flashy a team as in years past. My picks are #1 ranked Brazil, and Portugal

Group H

Spain (2)*

Switzerland (24)

Honduras (38)

Chile (18)*

My picks here are Spain & Chile.

Going off my picks, the next round will be England v. Ghana, Mexico v. Nigeria, Argentina v. S. Africa, USA v. Germany, Brazil v. Chile, Netherlands v. Paraguay, Spain v. Portugal, & Italy v. Cameroon.

The following round will be England v. Mexico, Brazil v. Netherlands, Argentina v. Germany, & Spain v. Italy. I will admit that Argentina & Netherlands are my 2 favorite teams, and Ideally that would be my dream final, which could happen, & I'm hoping it does, but I'm not going that route with my picks here.

The Semi-Finals will be Argentina v. Spain, & Mexico v. Brazil. Mexico has a good chance to get this far, but the Brazilians will be too much. I'm hoping Argentina upsets Spain (after all, the US did).

The finals will be Brazil v. Argentina, with Argentina coming out on top. However, with Maradona as the coach, it's his way or the highway & he doesn't take advice from his assistant coaches. The man who was once Argentina's savior, could end up being their downfall if the players can't overcome his coaching mistakes.

After the 1st round is completed, I'll update it again, or if something major happens before then. and if you don't know who's playing, here's some nicknames used by the anouncers for some of the countries, who may refer to those names instead of the country from time to time.

Algeria - Les fennecs (the desert foxes)

Argentina - Albicelests (white and Sky Blue)

Australia - The Socceroos

Brazil - Selacao (the selection). also Canarinhos (little canary) & Verde e Amarelo (green & yellow)

Cameroon - The Indomitable Lions

Chile - La Roja (the red)

Denmark - Olsens Elleve (Olsen's eleven)

England - The Three Lions

France - Les Bleus (the blues)

Germany - National Manschaft (national team), DFB Elf (dfb eleven), National Elf (national eleven), Die Mannschaft (the team) is only used by non-german media

Ghana - The Black Stars

Greece - To Piratiko (the pirate ship)

Honduras - Los Catrachos

Italy - Azzuri (sky blues)

Ivory Coast - Les Elephants (the elephants)

Japan - Blue Samurai

Mexico - El Tri

Netherlands - Oranje (orange)

North Korea - Chollima

New Zealand - All Whites

Nigeria - Super Eagles

Paraguay- La Albirroja (the white-red), Guarani (an indigenous people)

Portugal - Seleccao das Quinas (team of the 5 shields)

Serbia - Beli Orlovi (white eagles)

Slovakia - Repre

Slovenia - Zmajceki (dragons)

South Africa - Bafana bafana (the boys)

South Korea - Taeguk Warriors

Spain - La Furia Roja (red fury)

Switzerland - Scheizer Nati

USA - The Yanks, MNT (men's national team)

Uruguay - La Celeste (the sky blue)

Stanley Cup Final preview/prediction

OK, after nearly two months, we are finally at the start of the culmination of the NHL season, the Stanley Cup Final, between the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks. A lot of folks picked either one team or the other to reach here successfully, but not many picked both. Everyone can see from the playoffs why the Blackhawks are here, shutting down the plucky Nashville Predators, who have failed to win a playoff series so far in their existence, but I think they will eventually. Then, they played the Sedin twins and Roberto Luongo in the conference semis and handled them in 6, and swept the number 1 seed San Jose Sharks. Plus, it helps that they were fortunate as far as injuries go, not too many to key players throughout the season and they racked up over 100 points to have the number 2 seed in the west, the far superior conference to the East overall.
Then, there are the Flyers, who, in the preseason looked to be favorites behind the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending champions, to come out of the East. But, then the sesaon actually started, and they proceeded to do the following: be pretty horriffic out of the starting blocks, so they fired their coach John Stevens and brought in former Carolina Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette. Laviolette brought a high tempo, high scoring approach to the game, and the Flyers fell even lower in the conference, down to 14th at one point and most everyone had started to give up on them in the Philly market, including this blogger. But, as the Flyers grasped the offense, they started to slowly climb their way out of the cellar and into playoff contention. They eventually got into the playoffs in a winner take all game 82 against the New York Rangers, which ended in a shootout, which the Flyers eventually won. Along the way, the Flyers have suited up 7 different goalies, a record for any team to get to the Stanley Cup Final. They also sufferened key inuries to Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, and Ian Laperriere, who has stepped in nicely for Mike Knuble, who departed for Washington in free agency last summer.
The Flyers then had to go through the greatest goalie of all time in Marty Brodeur, but beat him in 5 games astonishing most experts, then overcame a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 game 7 deficit against the Boston Bruins to win in 7. they then faced 2 possible Conn Smythe finalists in Mike Cammaleri and Jaroslav Halak in the Montreal Canadiens and beat them in 5 games. In those series, they lost Carter, Gagne and Laperriere. All are back now, so the Flyers could be a fitting test for the Blackhawks.
Of note, I'm from the Philadelphia region, so hence why there is more stuff on the Flyers than the Hawks, sorry 'bout that.
I think this will be a very entertaining series, as both teams feature a ton of talent, and great defensemen, and somewhat suspetible goalies. The offense from the Hawks comes from Marian Hossa, Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane, and Dustin Byfluguien, who has been immovable in the front of the net for the Hawks. Give the edge to the Hawks, just because of the name power.
They also have some amazing defensemen who will do just about anything to block a shot. Ask Duncan Keith, who lost 7 teeth, yet came back in the same game to lead them to victory. Then, there is Brian Campbell, who was the prize of the free agent market two seasons ago, and Chicago landed him. The Flyers also have some great scorers, led by Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Carter, and Laperriere. All 8 of the players I just mentioned, scored 20 goals or more, that's pretty good. Essentially, equate that to baseball, where if you hit 20 homers, you're pretty good. The Flyers defense is short 2, as they really only play 4, led by Chris Pronger, who seems to only get better with age, and Braydon Coburn who once played with a broken foot. Give the edge to the Hawks who play 6 solid defensemen, instead of Philly's 4 great5 defensemen.
The goalies, both of whom no casual fan had ever heard of before the season started, Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton. Both have been amazing, partly because their defense has been amazing in front of them. I give the flight edge to Leighton, as he shutout Montreal 3 times.
Overall, I'd say go with the Hawks, but the Flyers have been resmbling the blue collar effort that is pure Philly, so it'll go 7, and go with the Blackhawks and the city will rejoice after 49 long years without a Cup

NHL /NBA Conference Final picks

With all conference finals starting either today (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday), it is going to be fun to see some great hockey and basketball in the next two weeks. Plus, if you are a sports fan, even if you do not like the teams inside of these conference finals, you can always root for the cinderella team, which in the NHL, you have your choice between the Flyers or the Candadiens, as both have gone through some tough roads to get here. Then, in the NBA there is the Celtics, who beat the NBA's golden boy in LeBron James. Or, in the west, you can always root for the Suns who are playing the always hated Los Angeles Lakers.

NHL Conference Finals

West
Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks

In this series, you have the still young, yet very talented Blackhawks going up against the Sharks, who have superstars which you can reel off easily. The 'Hawks youngsters also have a veteran superstar to lead them in Marian Hossa, who you really haven't heard a lot from thus far this postseason, but he is still there and still contributing greatly. The youngsters for the 'Hawks are Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane. While the Sharks already have Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau along with an amazing goaltender in Evgeni Nabakov. All of those players have some great scoring ability as well, and it should be fun to watch. This is also the top 2 seeds in the western conference, which should come down to the wire.

Pick: Since I picked them in the preseason, I can't go back now. Blackhawks in 7.

East

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens

The East is complete opposite of the West in the fact that while the West features the top 2 seeds out there, the East features the bottom two seeds who, like mentioned above are really cinderellas. The Canadiens, who didn't secure a playoff spot until game 81, faced the Presidents' trophy winners in the Washington Capitals and they came back from a 3-1 deficit to win in 7, in Washington. Then, they went on to face the NHL's golden boy in Sidney Crosby, and defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. They then proceeded to beat them in game 7, in Pittsburgh where it didn't seem as if the Penguins didn't even show up to play. Those wins were thanks in large part to their amazing goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, who has had a .933 save percentage. The biggest offensive force for the Candadiens has been Mike Cammallieri , who has scored nearly 1 goal per game, (12 goals, 14 games).
But, the Flyers have also faced adversity. They have had injury after injury to key players. Jeff Carter, their leading scorer is out for the entirety of the playoffs, Ray Emery, whom they signed to a one year deal was lost after an ab tear. Then, they lost Brian Boucher, who was playing amazing in the conference quarterfinals against New Jersey, to a knee injury. Finally, they have a journeyman goaltender in Michael Leighton who was picked up off waivers and has done amazing in the regular season and being plugged in in the middle of these playoffs. But, also the Flyers just barely got into the playoffs in game 82 in a shootout no less. They then proceeded to wipe the ice with the New Jersey Devils and the greatest goalie ever in Marty Brodeur. But, in the conference semifinals, they came back from a 3-0 game deficit, but not only that, in game 7, they were down 3-0 and came back to win 4-3. The Flyers will need to rely on Leighton to be as good as Halak and have the offense be very good to beat Halak. Then, the Candadiens will need Halak to be as good as he has been, maybe even better as the Flyers have had Danny Briere and Simon Gagne really step up and play well. But, in all actuality, this series revolves around Halak and how he does, if he continues to play up to his .933 save percentage, they'll win in 6, if he doesn't, they'll lose in 6. I'm picking the Flyers to solve Halak's puzzle and win in 6.

Now the NBA playoffs. Since I'm not an expert at all upon this, i'll just do the picks here.

In the East, the big 3 of the Boston Celtics (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett) will shut down Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter. They'll also play some very good defense, which is how they won the title in 2008 to win this series in 6.

In the west, Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire will continue to dominate and shut down Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol and continue to run everyone down. The Suns will win in 7.