OT: Team USA Falls to T&T

[kevinfootes]

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8681...r-United-States

Even though they've already advanced, this really isn't a good outcome.

[Taj79]

The Phillies are in the World Series. Now us Phillie fans start wringing our hands, waiting for what is going to go wrong go. Romo says his pinkie is okay now and he's coming locked and loaded to the Edwards Dome. The Redskins signed Shaum Alexander. The Jones boys are down and out in Dallas. The Dallas police lied on their incindent report regarding Pacman. Notre Dame's tight end was arrested. Again. Thrown off team. Somewhere in this country, someone played someone else in a hockey game. One of the Spears girls got laid last night.

A USA soccer match against Trinidad & Tobago? How's that Lance Armstrong comeback going? I know there are folks that pay attention to soccer (skip & box). Me? Where did I put that Spears article? Any pictures? That's an interesting "position." Wonder where McC and Obie "stand" on that one?

[slufanskip]

The Phillies are in the World Series. Now us Phillie fans start wringing our hands, waiting for what is going to go wrong go. Romo says his pinkie is okay now and he's coming locked and loaded to the Edwards Dome. The Redskins signed Shaum Alexander. The Jones boys are down and out in Dallas. The Dallas police lied on their incindent report regarding Pacman. Notre Dame's tight end was arrested. Again. Thrown off team. Somewhere in this country, someone played someone else in a hockey game. One of the Spears girls got laid last night.

A USA soccer match against Trinidad & Tobago? How's that Lance Armstrong comeback going? I know there are folks that pay attention to soccer (skip & box). Me? Where did I put that Spears article? Any pictures? That's an interesting "position." Wonder where McC and Obie "stand" on that one?

Don't forget in the top group whether or not Taj cares about soccer. I know your post is in jest, but getting told how unimportant soccer is (in jest or not) gets old for us fans. The fact is without soccer, SLU's standing in the college sports world is about 5 notches lower. It's the only true succesful program at SLU. It's the one program where if our RPI is 25 much less 49 somethings wrong.

Who saw the game .... I have it Tivo'ed due to the debate.

BTW good to see Philly win, I am not a fan of Torre or Manny.

[Pistol]

Don't forget in the top group whether or not Taj cares about soccer. I know your post is in jest, but getting told how unimportant soccer is (in jest or not) gets old for us fans. The fact is without soccer, SLU's standing in the college sports world is about 5 notches lower. It's the only true succesful program at SLU. It's the one program where if our RPI is 25 much less 49 somethings wrong.

Who saw the game .... I have it Tivo'ed due to the debate.

BTW good to see Philly win, I am not a fan of Torre or Manny.

Just curious, why Torre? He seems like one of the most likeable guys in baseball, and a heck of a manager.

I wish they hadn't picked up Manny because he's probably my least favorite player in the history of baseball. He's everything that's wrong with sports rolled into one. I wish him nothing but the worst.

Obviously, I was torn on the Dodgers this year. Go Rays.

[slufanskip]

Just curious, why Torre? He seems like one of the most likeable guys in baseball, and a heck of a manager.

I wish they hadn't picked up Manny because he's probably my least favorite player in the history of baseball. He's everything that's wrong with sports rolled into one. I wish him nothing but the worst.

Obviously, I was torn on the Dodgers this year. Go Rays.

I used to hate to watch him sleep in the Cards dugout. He's the most overrated person in all of baseball. I'll cheer for the Phils now. Nothing against the Rays, just have to go NL

[Box and Won]

The Phillies are in the World Series. Now us Phillie fans start wringing our hands, waiting for what is going to go wrong go.

Will this be the year that the Curse of Billy Penn is broken?

[SLUBALLS]

Don't forget in the top group whether or not Taj cares about soccer. I know your post is in jest, but getting told how unimportant soccer is (in jest or not) gets old for us fans. The fact is without soccer, SLU's standing in the college sports world is about 5 notches lower. It's the only true succesful program at SLU. It's the one program where if our RPI is 25 much less 49 somethings wrong.

Who saw the game .... I have it Tivo'ed due to the debate.

BTW good to see Philly win, I am not a fan of Torre or Manny.

I saw most of it and its not as dire as some would think. Bradley did not go with his A team as younger, less experienced players were used. The flow wasn't there like you'd expect. Besides Hejduk and Beaseley, the veterans were given the night off. Guys like Adu, Edu, Altidore, Pierce, Klejstan, and Guzan were playing. The second T&T goal was unfortunant because Guzan was on the ball but it bounced back off the post, hit him in the back, and went in.

[Pistol]

I used to hate to watch him sleep in the Cards dugout. He's the most overrated person in all of baseball. I'll cheer for the Phils now. Nothing against the Rays, just have to go NL

In his only 3 full years with the Cards, he managed a winning record with a very weak roster. Go back and look at the roster from 1991-1993; it's nothing LaRussa could win with, that's for sure. 1990, 1994 (strike), and 1995 were all partial years with the team for him and dragged his overall record with the team barely under .500, but we also had minimal talent on those teams, too.

I don't need to go into what he did with the Yankees (4 WS titles, 2 AL pennants, 10 first-place finishes in 12 years, etc.) because those were such great teams. Still, winning 4 championships in 5 years, including 3 in a row, is tough to do anywhere.

Great manager, class act. I like Joe.

Sorry to change the subject from soccer, by the way. I'm surprised to see the US men losing to T&T; maybe they took one off mentally after clinching. I just read the article about the next go-round for the St. Louis area's bid for an MLS team, pretty interesting who they're up against:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...9E?OpenDocument

[davidnark]

Don't forget in the top group whether or not Taj cares about soccer. I know your post is in jest, but getting told how unimportant soccer is (in jest or not) gets old for us fans. The fact is without soccer, SLU's standing in the college sports world is about 5 notches lower. It's the only true succesful program at SLU. It's the one program where if our RPI is 25 much less 49 somethings wrong.

Who saw the game .... I have it Tivo'ed due to the debate.

BTW good to see Philly win, I am not a fan of Torre or Manny.

I watched most of it. We are a totally different team without guys like Donovan, Gooch, Dempsey, and--most importantly--Howard. I thought Freddy played good, but not great. Altidore was arguably the best player on the field; our only goal was scored purely on his strength, athleticism, and effort in the box. (Although we lost the game on a silly, but questionable, penalty call against Altidore in our box.) Edu didn't have a particularly good game in midfield; his passes just weren't on target for most of the game. Generally, the flow of the ball was not good for the US. It was apparent this group of players hadn't spent much time together under Bradley.

[slufanskip]

I watched most of it. We are a totally different team without guys like Donovan, Gooch, Dempsey, and--most importantly--Howard. I thought Freddy played good, but not great. Altidore was arguably the best player on the field; our only goal was scored purely on his strength, athleticism, and effort in the box. (Although we lost the game on a silly, but questionable, penalty call against Altidore in our box.) Edu didn't have a particularly good game in midfield; his passes just weren't on target for most of the game. Generally, the flow of the ball was not good for the US. It was apparent this group of players hadn't spent much time together under Bradley.

I believe the game was irrelevent, so kudos to Bradley for going with the kids. What we need to do though is mix in a little of both, vets and kids.

As far as Torre and the Yanks. I'll defer to the tired but true argument ... Box's tot could win with that payroll.

[Pistol]

I believe the game was irrelevent, so kudos to Bradley for going with the kids. What we need to do though is mix in a little of both, vets and kids.

As far as Torre and the Yanks. I'll defer to the tired but true argument ... Box's tot could win with that payroll.

True, but ego management is the biggest concern at that point. He kept them all happy and playing well for years. That's not easy to do with so many prima donnas, or in a game like baseball with all the streaks players experience in a 162-game season and then playoffs, not to mention in the highest-pressure market in the world. When you look at his time with the Yankees, they let him go for not winning the world series. He was still coming in first in the AL East and getting in the playoffs every year. That's a high standard, and so far Girardi isn't meeting even Torre's worst there.

[slufanskip]

True, but ego management is the biggest concern at that point. He kept them all happy and playing well for years. That's not easy to do with so many prima donnas, or in a game like baseball with all the streaks players experience in a 162-game season and then playoffs, not to mention in the highest-pressure market in the world. When you look at his time with the Yankees, they let him go for not winning the world series. He was still coming in first in the AL East and getting in the playoffs every year. That's a high standard, and so far Girardi isn't meeting even Torre's worst there.

actually, that's not true. They tried to pay him based upon performance incentives. When you are by far the highest paid manager, you should be expected to perform. They were willing to have him remain the highest paid manager as long as he had the results to back it up. Hell even if he didn't he would have remained very near the top of the pay scale for managers.

[Taj79]

I am happy, skip, that you got my main point -- jest. I agree 110% on your SLU relevance point about us and soccer. I believe we would slip more than five notches ---- more like five total levels of relevance. I still think that's sad but agree nonetheless.

Its really pitiful when I admit what my soccer lifetime highlight is. The US women winning the World Cup. Brandy Chastain ripped her shirt off on that last penalty kick. See -- told you I was pitiful. Hopefully, you already knew that.

[slufanskip]

I am happy, skip, that you got my main point -- jest. I agree 110% on your SLU relevance point about us and soccer. I believe we would slip more than five notches ---- more like five total levels of relevance. I still think that's sad but agree nonetheless.

Its really pitiful when I admit what my soccer lifetime highlight is. The US women winning the World Cup. Brandy Chastain ripped her shirt off on that last penalty kick. See -- told you I was pitiful. Hopefully, you already knew that.

This is a perfect reason why posters should meet and have a beer with one another when they get a chance. Had we not met, I'd probably have ripped you (not in jest) and you'd have ripped me back. When you get to know someone even a little, you get a beeter understanding of where they are coming from. Nothing wrong with your soccer highlight being Brandi ripping off her shirt and running across the field. She did the womens olympic games on TV and was very good. I would have preferred Julie Foudy rip her shirt off and run across the field though, I have always liked her.