Recent Comments by juv3nal

MLS Teams Can Now Sign Three Beckhams

That being said, what I perceive to be a lack of quality play, compared to the European and some Latin American leagues, is why I do not watch the MLS.

I can't argue with that, I don't watch the MLS either, but it will be a different matter once I have a home town team to pull for. They will probably be awful (as expansion teams tend to be) even by MLS standards, but they'll be my awful.

posted by juv3nal at 02:14 PM on April 15, 2010

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

Yay for Hank Sedin. First Canuck to get the Art Ross, most points by a Canuck ever in a season, 14 more assists than the next closest player. And gets his 112th point with a totally sick finish from Daniel.

posted by juv3nal at 05:39 AM on April 12, 2010

FIFA opens case against Thierry Henry for handball

He hasn't been punished yet; they are investigating the incident. That seems warranted to me. If FIFA decides he intentionally cheated, he should be punished in some form.

Seems pretty intentful to me.

It may well have been intentional, but unless the investigators have mindreaders, there's no way to know. Henry can come out and claim it was intentional and he could lying. This is why the refs are supposed to be there to make the call.

edit: also, I've been pretty staunchly anti-video replay in the past, but in the case of a goal, I'm coming around to thinking it might be ok since play is stopped anyways.

posted by juv3nal at 03:16 PM on December 02, 2009

Soccer Striker Will Treat Injury with Horse Placenta

I don't care what treatment he uses. I had to sell him and buy someone else instead. Used my damn wild card this week, too.

No kidding. Fantasy EPL-wise, the football playing ability of my picks has almost been irrelevant next to their ability to actually not be injured or suspended.

posted by juv3nal at 01:50 PM on November 20, 2009

Extra Time

I hate this idea. It would just create more incentive to let television horn in with commercial breaks and ruin the flow of the sport like it's ruining the NFL and the end of NBA games.

This. I like the sport for it's own sake but one of the big perks is that you don't get commercial stoppages in the middle of a half.

posted by juv3nal at 03:56 PM on September 23, 2009

Canada Protects Home Advantage at Olympics

Canada has an Olympic team?

Thought this entire Vancouver Olympics deal was simply a means for politicians to funnel taxpayer $$ to their buddies.

The two things are not mutually exclusive.

posted by juv3nal at 03:36 PM on September 23, 2009

Sky Blue FC Win Inaugural Women's Professional Soccer Championship

Sucks that my FC Gold Pride* ended up dead last. But more power to Sky Blue. That was no small feat running the playoff gauntlet and winning against an LA team that had been dominant enough to cinch the season multiple games prior to the end. Particularly impressed with Sky Blue's keeper, Branam, who was getting crashed into on 50/50 balls throughout the playoffs and still soldiered through.

* What can I say? I'm a sucker for Canadian content, and you don't get more accomplished than Christine Sinclair. Plus, they're geographically nearest my alma mater. And 4 Brazilians. You had to figure that would've given them a decent shot at making the playoffs at least.

posted by juv3nal at 07:24 PM on August 25, 2009

Blackhawks' Patrick Kane arrested

LOL

posted by juv3nal at 03:02 PM on August 13, 2009

Bolivian coach quits over fielding 12-year-old son

Well it's not like he was handed a spot on the starting 11, just a sub, and who knows, maybe he was working with a severely depleted bench due to injury/suspension issues. *shrug*

posted by juv3nal at 02:30 PM on July 24, 2009

Bolivian coach quits over fielding 12-year-old son

It's hard to say how to feel about this. On the one hand, if the kid was legitimately the best player available to sub on then kudos to the Dad. But if the kid got the chance to play ahead of even marginally better players because of nepotism...

I mean, I don't follow Bolivian football/Aurora enough to know. Anyone?

posted by juv3nal at 02:15 PM on July 24, 2009

Shaq Challenges YouTube Trick-Shot God to Game of Horse

I don't get the point of a trick shot video like those in the last link. I'm not saying the guy's not actually that good or whatever, but he could have had a billion cracks at each shot before he sinks one and just edits in the one take...

One way around that I guess would be to do a long continuous take with several consecutive successful shots. But they didn't do that.

posted by juv3nal at 01:37 PM on June 29, 2009

Joey Barton's red card to be his last act for Newcastle United

Maybe you can get some money off if you take Alan Smith as well, Owl.

Alan Smith was immense in Pro Evo 5. That is all.
Also, kudos for the bid to reclaim the 'football' category.

posted by juv3nal at 04:09 PM on May 05, 2009

FootballFilter 2.0

It's nice but it's bit of a slog to load on a crappy computer/internet connection. Are there plans for an option to hide/turn off each news source (and save that so it sticks on a revisit)?

posted by juv3nal at 05:50 PM on August 12, 2008

An incredible collection of photos

I thought the Euros had lost their spark after the first half of Turkey Czech last night. I turned the TV off and drove my girlfriend back to London. I've always been a superb forecaster of these things. Ha!

posted by juv3nal at 02:40 PM on June 16, 2008

16 nations vie for Euro 2008 title beginning June 7.

Aw yeah! Just watched Netherlands 3 Italy 0 off my pvr. That Sneijder goal...wow.

posted by juv3nal at 02:03 AM on June 10, 2008

Bourdon killed in motorcycle accident

.

posted by juv3nal at 06:15 PM on May 29, 2008

Steve Downie at it again.

hockey is a sport where the men on the ice handle any issues regarding borderline play I don't think trying to poke someone's eye out or having a go at someone's head comes under the category of "borderline."

posted by juv3nal at 05:42 PM on January 06, 2008

Mourinho for England manager?

Maybe Benitez will be available soon. Agh. I hope not. I really hope the owners see some sense.

posted by juv3nal at 05:30 PM on November 29, 2007

Liverpool bury Besiktas 8-0.

All eight goals. In French. Oo-la-la! In English (crappy audio quality, but what you gonna do?)

posted by juv3nal at 12:46 AM on November 07, 2007

Liverpool inconsistency not caused by Rafa's rotation but by Gerrard's lack thereof.

I can see the argument that you can't build your central midfield with him, but it also seems silly to play him on the right if the expectation is that he's just going to cut-in/roam wherever the hell he pleases because that's just setting yourself up to have insufficient cover on the right. Besides which, true as the arguments made may be, a healthy, in-form Alonso can cover up for a lot of Gerrard's weakness which IMO is the main reason for the current problems.

posted by juv3nal at 04:03 PM on October 11, 2007

Women's World Cup 2007.

ouch. canada v. australia was a heartbreaker. grab the lead with 5 minutes left, only to concede one in f'-in injury time. grrr.

posted by juv3nal at 03:01 PM on September 20, 2007

Mourinho Departs from Chelsea

Not a Chelsea fan at all, but Mourinho was good for them. Definitely their loss, regardless of the lackluster results thus far this season.

posted by juv3nal at 02:41 AM on September 20, 2007

Women's World Cup 2007.

I've been following Canada's group on CBC. Looking at the stats now, those Germans really beat up on poor Argentina, eh?

posted by juv3nal at 12:27 AM on September 18, 2007

Report: San Jose Gets Expansion MLS Franchise

I don't really follow MLS but color me confused. Doesn't New York already have the red bulls? I guess it hasn't stopped them from having 2 teams in other sports, but it seems a little silly given that rarely are both teams ever competitive in the same season.

posted by juv3nal at 11:47 AM on July 18, 2007

In Praise of 'Soccer'

List of countries by beer consumption per capita Rank Country Consumption (L/yr) 1 Czech Republic 156.9 I believe that. I remember being in a supermarket in the Czech Republic and being completely dumbfounded that beer cost less than bottled water. Don't they use water to make beer?!?

posted by juv3nal at 12:56 PM on June 18, 2007

Yashin Laughin' all the way to the bank

Ditto DiPietro in a few years. He's good, could be even be great, but 15 years? Who in their right mind thinks that's a good idea?

posted by juv3nal at 01:40 PM on June 06, 2007

'Hubba Hubba and Other Grunting Sounds'

Is there any hope of avoiding this kind of situation for an attractive female athlete? Pretty much no. Picture the stereotypical construction workers catcalling at passing women. Now replace those construction workers with hormone addled teens with anonymity.

posted by juv3nal at 01:04 PM on May 29, 2007

"We must spend big."

I'd love love love to see Tevez as a red. MGP would be a decent add. Up to me, those two would be a higher priority than the others because you wouldn't be taking a chance on them having difficulties adapting to the English game.

posted by juv3nal at 01:26 PM on May 24, 2007

Leo Messi does a Maradona.

It truly needs to be played competively to be understood and appreciated. I don't know about that. I've played no more soccer than your average american does over the course of elementary & high school, but I certainly prefer watching it over any other sport.

posted by juv3nal at 02:59 AM on April 21, 2007

Devils fire Julien

what. the. fuck. lou?

posted by juv3nal at 02:18 PM on April 02, 2007

Turbulent teammates turn heroes.

nice.

posted by juv3nal at 11:15 PM on February 21, 2007

Coach Sets High School Bad Sportsmanship Record

If I was the opposing coach I would have repeatedly gone for it on 4th down even in his own team's territory. Besides, if they were down by that much they shouldn't bother punting anyway. This kid gained more than 300 yards AFTER the defense knew that nobody else was going to get the ball under any circumstances. When a defense can play 11 men in the box, and the back still goes over 300 yards in a half, there's something special there. Just agreeing with these comments. I have real trouble fathoming how big the gap in ability must have been if having your entire team focusing on just one guy to the exclusion of all else cannot stop him. unless they were not focusing on the one guy. in which case their coach is being willfully stupid.

posted by juv3nal at 04:07 PM on October 06, 2006

"Collymore comeback a joke"

main link article retracted?

posted by juv3nal at 06:36 PM on October 04, 2006

LIVERPOOL vs A.C. MILAN!!

Didn't manage to catch it live, but the rerun just ended. WOW. That was fucking amazing. Liverpooooooooooooooooooooooool! Whoo!

posted by juv3nal at 01:37 AM on May 26, 2005

Liverpool Put the lid down on Chelsea.

that was an awesome game.

posted by juv3nal at 02:05 AM on May 04, 2005

World Jrs. Final Tonight

phaneuf was freaking awesome.

posted by juv3nal at 10:45 PM on January 04, 2005

That was hockey is what that was.

what he said. canada rocks.

posted by juv3nal at 10:06 PM on September 14, 2004

Bertuzzi suspended indefinitely for hit on Moore.

out for the rest of the season and playoffs, sure, but a year? c'mon, there's a huge difference between punching someone and going at their head with a stick.

posted by juv3nal at 02:05 AM on March 11, 2004

Way to go Wild!

6.5 and 4.4 are a little out there for a not-totally-proven quantity in a comparatively money-tight market, but 3.3 base plus incentives sounds like it would be within negotiation range; that is, after all, 3 times his previous base. Strange that something couldn't be worked out.

posted by juv3nal at 03:12 AM on October 29, 2003

Glove - standard practice is to buy a heavy weight gardening glove and cover it with aquaseal (c), shoegoo, or silicone caulking. This prevents the skin on your knuckles from being sanded off as you push the puck along the bottom of the pool and pads your hand when someone accidentally hits your hand instead of the puck. i've actually played this underwater hockey a couple of times. imo the gloves that are typically used are totally inadequate for protecting your hands when someone's hacking away trying to take the puck off you; and while the sport is supposed to be non-contact (and i assume consequently that too-aggressive checking is penalizable) it's darn hard to catch underwater with all the thrashing about causing bubbles and whatnot.

posted by juv3nal at 01:24 AM on October 23, 2003

"This is not a hockey team, it's a cult."

Dallas in 5 - return of turgeon, arnott should be too much for the ducks to handle. Jersey in 6 - brodeur > khabibulin. 'nuff said. Ottawa in 7 - a lackluster leafs showing took philly to 7, but ottawa's not lackluster. Vancouver in 5 - minny's even surprised they're still around; clearly, all other things being equal, vancouver's hungrier. that'll be key.

posted by juv3nal at 09:57 PM on April 24, 2003

Not even a debate.

This could quickly devolve in ugly trash talk. "My sport is better than yours!" my sport is better than yours. Go Canucks!

posted by juv3nal at 04:23 AM on April 22, 2003

Whassup?

detroit's done like dinner! (unfortunately my canucks are just 1 step away from a similar fate)

posted by juv3nal at 12:33 AM on April 17, 2003

Whassup?

yay! my canucks take one back. with macinnis seemingly out and ohlund (and cloutier) back, the forecast is suddenly looking a bit brighter giguere kicking some over-the-hill detroit butt is pretty cool too. off-topic: cbs.sportsline.com/nhl is super cool if you're a stats freak.

posted by juv3nal at 07:35 AM on April 13, 2003

do they only pick players from teams that made it through to the group of eight?

posted by juv3nal at 03:34 AM on June 29, 2002

I don't know whether to be angry or ashamed.

[requisite] america sucks because they don't love *ahem* football. [/requisite]

posted by juv3nal at 03:28 AM on June 29, 2002

So: Will it be Brazil or will it be Germany?

i'd like for germany to win, but they'll be hurting some without ballack. presumably ronaldo is going to be ok to play so i call advantage brazil.

posted by juv3nal at 08:14 PM on June 26, 2002

Korea v Spain

wow. spain sent packing by korea on penalty shots.

posted by juv3nal at 04:10 AM on June 22, 2002

USA v Germany by the numbers.

Germany's stats are just a bit skewed by their match against Saudi Arabia. their goals against is still a fair bit better than the US. i do hope the US win though.

posted by juv3nal at 04:12 AM on June 21, 2002

Italian soccer club Perugia fires South Korea's Ahn Jung-hwan for knocking out Italy.

the chairman's comments are ludicrous, but i too remember hearing/reading(?) well before the game that ahn was likely to be let go.

posted by juv3nal at 08:07 PM on June 20, 2002

Which Footballer Are You?

picked all the mean answers to see what i'd get. apparently that'd be diego simeone. i got batistuta myself.

posted by juv3nal at 04:07 AM on June 20, 2002

Japan v Turkey

arg. italy out. me sad. =(

posted by juv3nal at 08:57 AM on June 18, 2002

US v Mexico

I felt pretty bad for belgium. if that header had been allowed we could well be looking at a different result.

posted by juv3nal at 07:05 PM on June 17, 2002

Japan v Turkey

hmm i agree they're not much fun to watch, but i like italy for all the reasons you don't. That said, i think korea is going to mop the floor with them unless a miracle happens. I'm hoping they start del piero, that might give them a little jump. I call Japan over Turkey as well.

posted by juv3nal at 06:58 PM on June 17, 2002

How are you following the World Cup?

hi, my name is dave and i'm a world cup addict. i've been going to sleep at 6:30am because that's when the last game ends here...

posted by juv3nal at 07:24 AM on June 16, 2002