World Cup Soccer: The Not-So-Beautiful Game

Foto da minha viagem de helicóptero pelo Rio. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From the jungles of the Amazon to the clothes-optional beaches of Rio de Janeiro, everyone in Brazil is waiting with bated breath as the 2014 FIFA Men's World Cup begins.  Because, in the land of Pele, they've had several years to prepare for this and the 2016 Summer Olympics.  From what we're hearing, they're still not ready.

What will greet visitors and a worldwide TV audience are the unfinished stadiums (nothing says unfinished like uninstalled toilets), the possible violence and political unrest, because the government in Brazil was apparently too slow and corrupt to deal with the challenges that came with hosting such an event.

Brazil, being the world soccer power that they've been for decades, is considered the favorite to win this year's Cup.  That's what people thought back in 1950, the last time the Brazilians hosted this tournament, before Uruguay walked off with the trophy.   Should that happen again . . .well, you don't want to know what's going to happen.

As for the United States men's soccer team (also known as USMNT, which sounds like an old Lucky Strike cigarette ad if you say it a few times), coach Jurgen Klinsmann is charged with leading them to respectability and nothing more.  Klinsmann hasn't made many friends doing it, having bounced Landon Donovan (its best-known player) from the team, and suggesting that the U.S. has no shot at winning the World Cup.  It may not be politically correct, but Klinsmann is just stating the obvious for a soccer-indifferent nation.   Oh, and they also happen to play in the so-called "Group of Death" in the first round, facing Germany, Ghana and Portugal.

For FIFA, the governing body that runs the World Cup, Brazil is only the beginning.  In 2018, the tournament goes to Russia, where Vladimir Putin's land grab in Ukraine is a sore spot.  In 2022, it goes to Qatar. 

Most soccer observers believe putting the World Cup in Qatar, a country based near the Persian Gulf, in the middle of summer is a recipe for disaster.  Temperatures hovering near the top end of the thermometer could be dangerous for players and spectators, meaning many matches would have to be be played late at night and early in the morning.  There have also been reports of alleged bribery involving FIFA and Qatar officials, which might have influenced the vote in awarding the World Cup to that country.  Efforts to move the tournament out of Qatar have so far been unsuccessful.

So that's how it is prior to one of the biggest sporting events in the world.  With any luck, what goes on the field during the next month should overshadow anything that occurs off of it.

Is Horse Racing Fading Down The Stretch?

horse racing (Photo credit: micheleart)

It's been 36 years since horse racing has had someone of the equine persuasion win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes--three of the sport's biggest races--in the same year.  California Chrome will attempt to become the 12th horse to do that Saturday at the Belmont in New York.

A brief history of the Triple Crown from the mid-20th century to today:  In the 1940s, four horses--Whirlaway in '41, Count Fleet in '43, Assault in '46 and Citation in '48--accomplished this feat.  A quarter century passed before Secretariat completed horse racing's hat trick in 1973, to be followed by Seattle Slew ('77) and Affirmed ('78).

Then it was nothing, zip, nada for the last three and a half decades.  That doesn't mean there hasn't been horses who have gone two-thirds of the way, but for some reason never got it done at the Belmont.  Maybe it's the length of the track, which is a mile and a half, the longest of all the Triple Crown races.  Maybe the owner or trainer decided to pull him from the race.  Or maybe some other horse had a better day.

Horse racing has changed a lot in the past 36 years.  What was once the Sport of Kings has devolved into something less than that as more states allowed pari-mutuel betting and other forms of gambling (thereby limiting the need to book a trip to Las Vegas or Atlantic City), tracks going bankrupt, and attendance and TV ratings decline.

Drug scandals have also taken its toll, with some state racing associations issuing rules that prohibit horses and jockeys who have certain types of performance-enhancing substances in their system from competing.  Sometimes they border on the ridiculous.  California Chrome would not be racing in the Belmont if the New York Racing Association hadn't rescinded its ban on nose strips, the kind you and I would use to breathe better at night.

Whether California Chrome (or any future horse) wins the Triple Crown or not, the horse racing industry can't count on it to reverse its decline.  Perhaps we're become more enlightened about horses and what they're put through to make it in racing, but it's still something to watch them perform at their best.  Perhaps we've also become sensitive to those who bet their life savings again and again at the track, only to lose them again and again, creating heartache for family and friends.  Or maybe there's just too many other things competing for our attention.  Whatever it is, horse racing is fast becoming a losing bet.

UPDATE (6/5):  The wait continues.  California Chrome finished out of the money at the 146th Belmont Stakes, tied for fourth behind the winning horse named Tonalist.  Well, maybe next year.

UPDATE (6/7/15):  Next year just happened.  American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner of this century, and the first since Affirmed in 1978.  He was the only horse to compete in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes this year--and won all three.  Now all that's left is to retire to stud.  American Pharoah won't save the horse racing industry like a lot of people hoped, but at least he's brought it some attention.

The Vikings' New Stadium Gets a Super Upgrade

The new NFL logo went into use at the 2008 draft. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You really didn't think that the (nearly) billion dollar glass palace of a football stadium, about to be constructed in downtown Minneapolis, was going to be the biggest white elephant in Minnesota's history, did you?

Erasing at least some of the doubts about the new Minnesota Vikings' stadium's ability to land national attractions, the National Football League awarded its 2018 Super Bowl to Minneapolis.

This is Minnesota's second shot at the Big Game, which they last hosted in 1992.  Back then, the since-demolished Metrodome was considered state of the art enough for the NFL to put its championship game in a city that's colder than, let's say, Miami or San Diego in the winter.

This time, Minnesota's competition was Indianapolis and New Orleans, both of whom have hosted Super Bowls in more recent years.  The fact that the Vikings successfully convinced (to put it mildly) the Minnesota legislature to help fund the new stadium was reportedly a deciding factor.

The other factor is that the NFL is no longer averse to putting its biggest game in colder climates, now that the season has been pushed into February.  The success of the last Super Bowl had to do with two things:  It was held outdoors, and it was played near New York City.  The league has yet to announce any more such games, so the move to an indoor stadium in Minneapolis should be considered a hedged bet.  Besides, how often can you get lucky outdoors without a snowstorm or an arctic blast messing things up?

Come February 2018, the Twin Cities will be on NFL lockdown.  Besides all the freebies (also known as "financial considerations") the league is getting from the state just to host this shindig, every hotel and restaurant in the area will be packed with league officials, corporate sponsors, media and other hangers-on.

What's in it for the general public, besides watching the game on the big screen?  Not much, aside from a few bones the league is going to toss them with "The NFL Experience", or something like that.  Only one percent will be able to see the game in person, and that's if you're fortunate to win a special ticket lottery.  For all you stadium haters out there (and you know who you are), the taxpayers' bill for the Super Bowl won't be revealed until after the game has been played, if at all.  That's to avoid rioting in the streets, we suppose?

The people who run the glass palace tell us that they're going to bid for more events in the future, to fill in the time between Vikings games.  Such as a men's basketball Final Four, a Major League Soccer franchise, or a major convention.  Right now, they should focus on what the stadium is going to look like once it's built by the 2016 NFL season.  If it really does become a white elephant, would it be worth going into on a cold day in February?

Wild 2013-14: They Made The Playoffs. Now What?

Minnesota Wild (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another up-and-down season for the Minnesota Wild was redeemed by its most extensive playoff run since 2003.  They defeated the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the first round, only to fall to the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the next round in six games.

The Wild finished the regular NHL season with 96 points, which is good enough for fourth place in the Central Division and a wild card playoff spot.  Once again, they have done just enough to get by.

They did all this despite the lack of scoring, a constant carousel of goaltenders, and the inability to win on the road.

• The efforts of Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and others notwithstanding, the Wild scored 207 goals during the regular season, which is par for the course unless you were expecting more.  Still, there were too many nights where one-goal games were the norm, and almost all of them ended in overtime and/or a shootout.
• There were at least four players who tended goal at various times this season:  Niklas Backstrom, Darcy Kuemper, Josh Harding and Ilya Bryzgalov.  (Did we leave anyone out?)  Because of injuries and illness to Backstrom and Harding, the stretch run and the playoffs fell to a young minor leaguer (Kuemper) and an NHL journeyman (Bryzgalov) who performed very well under the circumstances.  This can't happen again.
• You'll notice that the Wild won only once on the road during the playoffs, and that was Game 7 at Colorado.  That reflects what happened away from the confines of the Xcel Energy Center this past season.

Thanks to the playoff run, coach Mike Yeo will likely get a contract extension.  Should that happen, he'll be under more pressure to produce a winner.  Wild owner Craig Leipold will be more than happy to open up his vault and sign whatever free agent he can get his hands on.  The priorities, of course, are for more scoring and stable goaltending.  But having Thomas Vanek, currently enjoying playoff success with the Montreal Canadiens after having suffered in Buffalo and Long Island, might be too good to pass up for Leipold.

We can't say whether the Minnesota Wild will be a Stanley Cup contender in the near future.  It's more likely that they'll be the Midwestern version of the San Jose Sharks--a perennial playoff team that for some reason never quite got over the hump.  But the self-proclaimed State of Hockey won't mind, just so long as the Wild keep playing deep into the spring every year.

NFL Draft: Passing On Passers

National Football League Draft (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It always happens.  For months, you've seen every Tom, Dick and (maybe a few) Marys give their take on what player their favorite NFL team should draft in every available form of media.  As for the people who do this for a living, their picks seem to change by the hour depending on what kind of information the teams themselves choose to tell them.

Thursday's first round of the NFL Draft in New York showed why many of these so-called speculators would be better off scratching lottery tickets.  In a year where all we've heard about was the plethora of high-value college quarterbacks (i.e. Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville), most teams went for offensive or defensive line help.  Which is fine, because we're told defense wins championships.

The only quarterback chosen among the bottom of the barrel (that is, the first ten teams in the draft) was Blake Bortles of Central Florida, chosen third by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Manziel, Bridgewater and a baffled nation watched as team after team in the first round passed on these passers.  Even the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings, teams that were known to be seeking its latest franchise-saving QB after their last ones didn't pan out, went with defensive help first.

So why did it take until the 22nd pick (and a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles) for the Browns to choose Manziel, or the Vikings with the 32nd pick (and a trade with the Seattle Seahawks) to choose Bridgewater?  Is it Manziel's sophomore status or his baggage?  Was it Bridgewater's reportedly lousy audition that undermined his otherwise stellar collegiate career?

Whatever it was, all the fake drama succeeded in making the ESPN crew covering the draft look like fools after having hyped "Johnny Football" for so long.  But after awhile, it became a bit much to watch analyst Jon Gruden constantly defending his man when the possibility existed that Manziel might not get drafted in the first round at all--until he was.  For a quarterback with two years of college experience, he sure sucks a lot of the air out of the room.

As the draft continues through Saturday, this is only Step One of a long process to see whether any of the players drafted has what it takes to be NFL material.  If not, at this time next year, others will be chosen by either the league or ESPN as the Next Big Thing in football.  That's why we have college football.  Like it or not, they exist to prime the pump for (to paraphrase Joni Mitchell) the starmaking machinery that is pro football.

Wolves 2013-14: Life Below .500

The current Minnesota Timberwolves logo (2008-present) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Timberwolves ended their NBA season with a double overtime loss to the Utah Jazz Wednesday night at Target Center, 136-130.

At 40-42, this is the Wolves' best record since the 2004-05 season.  But they've also gone a full decade without reaching the playoffs.  A lot of us checked out when it became apparent that the only thing the team was playing for was to get to a .500 record.  And they didn't even do that.

So now the Wolves face another off-season of uncertainty.  The most immediate concern is who is going to coach this team.  Unless we hear differently, Rick Adelman has coached his 1791st and last NBA game with a 1042-749 mark to show for it.  During his career, he's worked wonders in Portland, Houston, Golden State and Sacramento.  Coaching the Wolves, however, has proven that his magic only went so far.

Then there's the Kevin Love question.  Should he stay in Minnesota another year before heading off to a contender in free agency, or should he be traded?  The Wolves, given their history, are flirting with disaster on this one.  If Love waves bye-bye, they risk getting nothing in return.  If he is traded, the Wolves stand a good chance of getting some past-his-prime player and/or draft picks that seldom work out.

Is there life for the Timberwolves beyond reaching the elusive .500 mark, and maybe offering its dwindling base of fans some hope for the future?  Only owner Glen Taylor (soon to be a newspaper publisher) and team president Flip Saunders seem to know the answers.  For a franchise that's generally considered to be the worst in the NBA, they'd better be the right ones.

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This is who we think will be playing for the NBA title come June:  Miami vs. San Antonio.

The Husky Basketball Double

English: University of Connecticut head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma during a game against the University of Texas on March 23, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For only the second time, the University of Connecticut's men's and women's basketball teams have won national titles.

The women's team was a bit more expected, completing an undefeated season with a 79-58 rout of Notre Dame (also previously undefeated) at the NCAA championship game in Nashville.  Breanna Stewart led the Huskies with 21 points and nine rebounds as the player of the game.  This was the ninth national title for coach Geno Auriemma, unprecedented in women's basketball and approaching John Wooden territory.

The night before, the men's team defeated Kentucky 60-54 for the national title in Arlington, Texas.  This was the Huskies' fourth championship, and the third in the state of Texas (San Antonio in 2004, Houston in 2011).  Shabazz Napier was the game's best player with 22 points.

You recall that Warren Buffett offered a million bucks to the one who got all the brackets to the NCAA men's tournament right?  Safest bet he ever made.  Absolutely no one got it right as upsets took down the top-seeded teams to the point where the championship game became a matchup of the lowest-seeded teams ever:  #7 Connecticut vs. #8 Kentucky.  Lower seeds with championship pedigree, that is.

The Huskies and the Wildcats both had something to prove Monday night besides the seeding.  For the Huskies, they were coming off an NCAA-imposed one year ban for lack of academic performance--a fact Napier tried to get across in his post-game comments before CBS cut him off.  For Kentucky, coach John Calipari tried to win another title using freshman players who are in college only because they needed a year before NBA teams can draft them.

Yes, basketball rules in Storrs, Connecticut, home to the University of Connecticut.  If they can keep it up in the classroom as well as on the court, they'll be the envy of everyone.  That includes both genders.

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The University of Minnesota men's basketball team couldn't overcome their mediocrity in the first season for coach Richard Pitino, having been passed over by the NCAA again for an invitation to their tournament.  But the Gophers made up for it by winning the National Invitation Tournament in New York, defeating Southern Methodist for the championship at Madison Square Garden.  How much difference it will make for next season remains to be seen.

The women's team has hired Marlene Stollings, who spent three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth (where, not coincidentally, athletic director Norwood Teague hails from), to be its new basketball coach.  Stollings replaces Pam Borton, who was fired after 12 seasons in a case of "what have you done for me lately".  The Gophers haven't seen the NCAA tournament in several years, and is in danger of Rachel Banham (the Big 10's leading scorer) going through her entire college career without a post-season to show for it.  Maybe Stollings can help do something about that.