General Sports Discussion (Be Warned!)

[Magpie Manny]

The last part is so true...:P

[lightningrod]

Originally Posted by Magpie Manny

Every Dutch man's dream (who's interested in soccer) Holland vs Germany in the finals.. That would be awsome... But hey.. we'll see..

That would be this Canadian's dream too.

[AngryIrish]

Hey Turnip....

I don't see any posts about the game last night. Can't take it that the old man stuck it to ya, or that Dirk choked the game away..... :biggrin:

GO HEAT!!!

[tarbrush]

A sports blog (cant remember which one) put it best.

"Its not so much that Dallas lost, more that Dwayne Wade sprouted wings"

Role players and Shaq still arent playing well enough to win twice in Dallas.

[AngryIrish]

Yeah, but 'Tione and J Will are perhaps the streakiest shooters alive. If they get hot, there will be no stopping them. If they can find the stroke, then the Mav's are in a pickle. Double Shaq and get drilled from the outside by Wade, 'Tione, and Williams, or leave Lasagna or Damp-Ear on Shaq and hope Shaq doesn't kill one of them.

If the Heat somehow manage to win this series(which I doubt they will now, I just like to talk smack), my MVP would go to Udonis Haslem for shutting down Dirk. 4-14 in game 1, 9-20 in game three, and Haslem got hurt in game 2, so I don't count that. His 3 point percentage is down, as is his FG% from the Suns and SA series. 10 boards and 7 in games 1 and 3, again, Haslem got hurt in 2. Haslem has 9 and 11 boards.

He's more than holding his own.

[lightningrod]

Germany Won!!! Woooooooooo!!!!!!

[KithKunabi]

Ah.... so ashamed of my Ukranian heritage... 0 to 4!?!?

[IncredibleTurnip]

Originally Posted by AngryIrish

Hey Turnip....

I don't see any posts about the game last night. Can't take it that the old man stuck it to ya, or that Dirk choked the game away..... :biggrin:

GO HEAT!!!

I didn't see the game. I was working until 11:30.

That was sad, though. Wade vs. Dirk freethrow-off, and Wade wins. I wouldn't have seen that one coming. If all of the games come down to Dirk hitting his freethrows, I'll still take my chances with the Mavs winning before it gets back to Dallas.

Coincidentally, does anyone else think it would be awesome if a team started Lasagna Diop and Corey Spagetti?

(For the record, though, I predicted the Mavs would sweep the Grizz, Spurs, and Suns, too ... come to think of it, I haven't predicted a Mavs loss since the 90's... *shudder* )

[Medesha]

Oilers vs. Canes was so awesome tonight! Go Oilers!

[Embrodak]

4-3 Yeah... Go Oilers....

[Loozer]

I'm so mad that I missed the Stanley cup game!

Grrrr.

(oops, wrong thread!

[tarbrush]

Definitely a memorable series for the Oilers. First sucessful penalty shot in the finals, first OT shortie in the finals. Wish I could have watched it.

[Medesha]

Yeah, even if we lose, I'm really happy with the way we played (minus those first two sucky games vs. the Canes). I would love for the Oilers to win, of course, but I think we made a good showing regardless.

[tarbrush]

Good call AI, I am a big Udonis Haslem fan, I think he´s worth more than he´s given credit for, cause he´s prepared to play tough D and rebound without needing lots of shots. Which is pretty rare these days. Still calling Mavs in six. Or seven, if I said mavs in seven earlier, I forget which I said.

[Eddicat]

Well, England are through to the round of 16 in the World Cup after a less than impressive 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbeans were dogged, determined and disciplined all night although they never really threatened seriously apart from a shot by Yorke in the 23rd minute that was brilliantly saved. England seemed to struggle to get into the match. To be fair, there were several missed chances by the English but their finishing was sloppy and it looks like they have some work to do if they are to advance much further in the tournament. One might question why Owen started the match when he is clearly not match fit and maybe it would be wiser to bring him on later like Eriksson did with Rooney. The young English star seemed to benefit from coming on late when the opposition were tiring.

Just to regress a bit and go back to the previous day's matches, Spain demolished first timers Ukraine with a 4-0 drubbing. The match was really over in the first 17 minutes by which time Spain lead 2-0. It was an impressive performance by the Spaniards and despite the weak opposition, their favouritism to go all the way must have strengthened. I thought they were brilliant and probably one of the teams to watch throughout the tournament. In particular, watch for Xavi's corner kicks - they are sublime.

In an entertaining match, at least from what I saw of the highlights package, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia drew 2-2. Tunisia drew the early blood, scoring early in the first half. However Saudi Arabia fought back and scored a goal early in the second half to draw level before nosing ahead in the 84th minute through Al Jaber, a veteran in his 3rd World Cup. Then, just when victory appeared to be in Saudi Arabia's hands, Tunisia leveled 2-2 in the dying seconds after 2 minutes of injury time. With a point a piece now and both teams still to play the hapless Ukrainians, a spot in the final 16 is up for grabs. Personally, I favour the Saudi Arabians since they seemed to be able to really turn it on when it counted.

Then there was Germany who fell in 1-0 against Poland with a goal in extra time. From all reports it was a game in which the Polish keeper performed admirably and the frustration of the fans resulting in many fights in the crowd. The hosts are now through to the round of 16 courtesy of Ecuador's 3-0 win over Costa Rica. The Ecuadorians are also through to the knockout stages and are really emerging as the surprise packet of the competition. I saw them beat Poland and they were a delight to watch. Germany vs Ecuador on June 20 looms as a game to watch, admittedly with only bragging rights up for grabs but I've a feeling the Ecuadorians will take it right up to the Germans.

My predicted round of 16 teams:

Ecuador (already qualified)
Germany (already qualified)
England (already qualified)
Sweden
Argentina
Netherlands
Mexico
Portugal
Czech Republic
Italy
Australia
Brazil
Korea Republic
France
Spain
Saudi Arabia