¡Qué Terrible!

A 35 game unbeaten streak, 15 game winning streak, and a spot in the Fifa Confederations Cup Final were all stripped from away the Spanish Men’s Soccer team as they lost to Team U.S.A 2-0 in Bloemfontein Wednesday. The United States will now move on face Brazil in the finals Sunday.

The game was a hard one for Spanish fans, players, and coaches alike. With arguably the best strikers in the world—David Villa and Fernando Torres, the Spaniards were not able to score on U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard all game, who recorded six saves. The United States put pressure on Spain in the first ten minutes, causing goalie Iker Casillas to urge his team to calm down with a hand gesture. Then at 27 minutes, U.S. Forward Jozy Altidore recieved a pass from Clint Dempsey. He completely boxed out his defender to get a wide open shot on goal, and scored. It was the first time Spain had trailed throughout the whole Conferderations Cup, and they definately were flustered and put into a position it wasn’t used to.  The United States had made it clear they had came to play, making it hard for Spain to establish tempo in the first half. But Spain had many scoring opportunities (four) and corner kicks (7) in the first half that they could not capitalize on.

In the second half, Spain came out more confident and aggressive with a couple of nice shots on goal. But Tim Howard and the U.S. defenders combined to either save the shots or block them away. There were many Spanish possessions that ended with long shots from distance, as a result of poor ball movement. Then at 74 minutes the Americans scored again, in which Clint Dempsey out battled a Spanish defender for a loose ball in the box and kicked it through the nets. The Spaniards then were now taken out of there game, in unchartered territory, with immense pressure building. In the last ten minutes Spain played frantically to try to get something going, but it was never meant to be. Spain underestimated the Americans and just wanted it more. This will forever be a day of embarassment and disappointment in Spanish Soccer history.

March Madness? Not quite…

We all remember George Mason’s improbable run to the Final Four in 2006. We all were watching when they stunned heavily favored Connecticut at the Verizon Center as their players jumped on the scorer’s tables to celebrate. Nowadays, it seems as if the selection committee, and the rest of college basketball, is trying to find the next George Mason. The only problem is nothing like that will ever happen again.

It’s not that we will never have another Cinderella, its a matter of WHO will be Cinderella. Teams like Southern Illinois, George Mason, and Davidson all have had their runs, but behind them, who else is there? Sure, the occasional mid-major school will pull off and early round upset, just to get smoked in the second round. Its more likely for an average team from a power conference to make noise than a mid-major. Therefore, the number of mid-majors in the NCAA Tournament should be lessened, and the number of average power conference teams should be increased.

If you look at last year’s NCAA Tournament, there were five upsets by power conference teams in the first round (Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, USC, Arizona) and only three by mid-majors (Western Kentucky, Dayton, and Cleveland State). Power conference teams like Maryland, Wisconsin, and Arizona, were all on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament and proved they should be in by winning their first round game. There was no reason for them to be compared to the other mid-major teams on the bubble like Creighton, San Diego State, and St. Mary’s. Of those three teams, only San Diego State reached the Semifinals of the NIT, proving that they do not belong. The two teams in the finals of the NIT were Penn State and Baylor, both from Power Conferences.

What it all comes down to is that mediocre Power Conference teams have a better chance of beating the 1’s, 2’s and 3 seeds of the world. This is because they play these high caliber teams all throughout the season and are ready come tournament time. Whereas these mid-majors play maybe one or two decent teams the whole season, and when they do they get crushed. Regular Season upsets like Providence over Pitt, Maryland and Boston College over North Carolina, as well as many others provide support for this theory. In my opinion, the selection commitee should never allow an at-large bid from a mid major conference. They need to win their conference tournaments to get in. Sorry, but in the big world of college basketball, there is no love for the little guy.

Wizards send 5th pick, Thomas, Songaila, and Pecherov to T Wolves for Foye and Miller

New Internet Articles!

I really like this article by Chad Ford on ESPN.com. It has a different and unique perspective on what the Washington Wizards could do with their 5th pick in the NBA Draft. It really gets the reader wondering and come up with his own opinion.

I also enjoyed the angle that this article took about THE TOP OFFENSIVE UNITS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Instead of just saying which teams were the best, it analyzed why and how and becuase of whom these teams will be hard for defenses to stop. It was nicely done.

And this may be sports journalism camp, but why not throw some news your way? Everybody’s got a take a break from sports every once in a while (only 10 minutes though). Here’s an example of bad karma. Always pay for your food people.

College Football Preview

Sure, its finally summer and everyone is relaxed and ready to enjoy his vacation. But that means fall is on the horizon, which means College Football is coming once again for another year. In College Park, fans are not only excited about the new renovations being made to Byrd Stadium, but also the talent and potential of the team that calls Byrd home. The Maryland Terrapins have to replace 30 seniors from last years team, but that does not necessarily mean they are in a rebuilding process. The Terps will have many stars to build around, including Quarterback Chris Turner, Running Back Da’Rel Scott, and Wide Reciever Torrey Smith. On Defense, Linebacker Alex Wujciak will lead the way, as he led the Terps in tackles in 2008 with 10.2 tackles per game. New Defensive Coordinator Don Brown will bring a more aggressive blitzing style of defense to Maryland, and will have an experienced secondary to work with.

 OFFENSE

“Offensively, they’re continuing to learn the scheme and terminology, but hopefully there will be a carryover from last year,”- Head Coach Ralph Friedgen

Quarterback: Grade B
Senior Chris Turner is back for his third year as a starter for the Terps. This is the first year in a while the Terps knew who the unanimous starter was going into the season. Turner threw for 2,516 yards and 13 TDs in 2008, and has a 5-1 all time record against ranked opponents. The big question is what happens if Turner gets injured. Jordan Steffy graduated and Josh Portis transferred, leaving only Jamarr Robinson behind him, who has never taken a college snap.

 Running Back: Grade B+
The Terps are loaded at the running back position. Returning Junior Da’Rel Scott, Sophmore Davin Meggett, and Junior Morgan Green will all get plenty of carries this year to keep each other’s legs fresh. Fullback Cory Jackson also returns to open up holes for these capable backs. Scott is the most explosive and quick of the three, he rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2008 and had a career game in the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl where he rushed for 174 yards and 2 scores against Nevada, in just two quarters. Davin Meggett had a great Freshman season and stepped ug big time in Maryland’s win over NC State when Scott got injured. Meggett is a good compliment to Scott, because he is more of a bowling ball power runner with deceptive speed compared to Scott, who can flat out fly dash.  The Terps should have no problem running the ball this year if the O Line can block.

Wide Recievers: B-
The Terps will no doubtedly miss the depature of Darrius Heyward-Bey to the NFL, but there is a lot of young and unproven talent here ready to step in and fill his shoes. The lone returning wide out is Torrey Smith, who caught 24 passes for 356 yards and 2 TDs in 2008 as a freshman. He also is a dynamic returner, setting the ACC record for kick return yards in a season with 1,089 and scored in the Humanitarian Bowl on a long kickoff return. Behind Smith there are still contributors from last years’ team. Ronnie Tyler, Emani Lee-Odai, and Adrian Cannon all made an impact on last years team. The Terps also have some youthful talents in Quintin McCree, Tony Logan, Kevin Dorsey, and Kerry Boykins. It has yet to be determined if Kenny Tate will see time at Wide Reciever for the Terps this season, but the highly touted recruit played that position at DeMatha before switching to safety.

 

Offensive Line/ Tight Ends: C
The Terps have many holes to fill in the line, with only Phil Costa and Bruce Campbell returning. Costa will make the switch from Guard to center this year to replace Edwin Williams, while Campbell will retain his position at Left tackle. The other three spots will be filled by some unproven youngsters that must step up. Junior Paul Pinegar is the only other lineman to see any action before, and will start out at right tackle, but will have to battle to keep his spot. Sophmore Lamar Young and redshirt freshman Justin Lewis will start at left and right guards respectively heading into the season. It is imperative that these rookies get some experience quickly for the Terps offense to succeed. At Tight end, the Terps lose Dan Gronkowski, whose spot will be filled by Senior Tommy Galt, a blocking tight end. Behind him is Landsford Watson, who is more of a recieving threat.

 

DEFENSE

“We’re going to press people more. It’s a little different concept than what we’ve been doing, but I’m excited about it.”- Head Coach Ralph Friedgen

 

Defensive Line: C-
The Defensive Line looks relatively weak again this year, which could be a problem for the Terps. With the departures of Jeremy Navarre and Trey Covington, the Terps are lacking of any experience in the trenches. At nose tackle, senior Travis Ivey will have to anchor the line with sophmore Dion Armstrong beside him. On the ends, Derek Drummond and Jared Harrell will be counted on to put pressure on the Quarterback. Highly recruited players Masengo Kabongo and Deonte Arnett will also push for time and see the field as well.

Linebackers: B-
Maryland loses Dave Philistin and Moise Fokou, but return arguably their best defensive player Alex Wujciak, who will anchor the middle this year. Beside him at the Sam spot will be Adrian Moten, a good pash rusher who has 7.0 sacks in his career, which leads the team. Freshman Demetrius Hartsfield will start at the Will Linebacker position. There is also plenty of depth behind them with Ben Pooler, Drew Gloster, and Avery Murray pushing for time.

@ California
vs. James Madison
vs. Middle Tennesse
vs. Rutgers
vs. Clemson
@ Wake Forest
vs. Virginia
@ Duke
@ NC State
vs. Virginia Tech
@ Florida State
vs. Boston College

Secondary: B
First year Defensive Coordinator Don Brown will be helped by a very expienced secondary with a plethora of talent. The only key loss is Kevin Barnes at corner, who was injured half of the season anyways. Terrell Skinner will return at Free Safety, with Antwine Perez backing him up. Jamari McCollough, who led the team with four INTs in 2008, will start at the Strong Safety Position this year with Kenny Tate behind him. At the corners we have speedster Anthony Wiseman, a returning starter, and Nolan Carroll, who saw signifcant time last year. The secondary will have a lot of pressure on them this year, with Brown’s new scheme leaving them suseptible to man-to-man coverage. However, this secondary is battle tested and should be up for the challenge.

 

Special Teams: A
The Terps return one of the nations best punters in Junior Travis Baltz, who averaged 41.1 yards per punt last year. We also have Torrey Smith, the ACCs best returner. Obi Egekeze departs at kicker so Sophmore Nick Wallace and Senior David May will battle for the starting kicker position. Tony Logan will take over Punt Return duties for Danny Oquendo, who was very reliable in his time at Maryland.

Here’s how the schedule looks for the Terps:

 

 

The schedule’s Most important game will be the ACC opener vs. Clemson. If they can beat the Tigers and gain some momentum going into the game against Wake Forest, and then pull that one out, It will be smooth sailing until they meet NC State. But If they lose, it will make it very hard for them to scramble to find six wins to even make a bowl. Its very likely the Terps will start out 3-1, so if they could pull off some big wins early in the ACC schedule it will give them momentum for the tougher games vs. FSU and VT late in the season.

Decisions, Decisions

Three Things I learned from Dan Steinberg

This afternoon, we met with the quirky, goofy, whatever superlative one feels necessary to describe Dan Steinberg. Although he may be a nut at some times, the man knows his stuff. Here’s what I took away from our meeting with Mr. Steinberg:

1. People are blogging more and more these days

-Mr. Steinberg told us that his blog posts went up from once every month, to once a day, to once and our, to even three times an hour. He also described how he manages to have time to constantly be thinking of ideas for blog posts and writing them at the same time. It seems like to be a blogger one must always be on their toes ready to crank out a story.

2. Images are important for blogging

-Sometimes people don’t want to read all the text. Text can be boring. What really can catch a reader’s attention are pictures. Just like when we were little kids and our parents would read us stories, we just wanted to see the pictures, not all the boring words. For example, Steinberg’s most famous post was a picture of Gilbert Arenas’ pool. It was leaked to him from a friend and he put it on his blog and little did he know, his site blew up with visits. Normal people always want to see how rich professional athletes are living and how they abuse their money, and for that we hate, love, and envy them all at the same time.

3. Be unique. Know what people would be interested in.

-You have got to know your audience in the world of journalism. The average sports fan wants to know all the Who’s, what’s, and why’s of the world, while others may be looking for something else. You’ve got to find out who your audience is and direct your blog posts to suit them. One always must present the information in a unique manner in which no one has ever displayed it before. Nobody wants to read the same article twice. If they go to another site and find the same information as displayed in your article, you need to spice it up a bit and put your spin on things. One should have their own personality be reflected through each and every one of his blog posts.

Well, that’s it for today. I’m sure I’ll be writing again soon. Peace

Three Favorite internet articles

As I was browsing the internet today, I found some articles that caught my eye. The first one was on ESPN.com by Andy Katz, Ranking the Top 25 College Basketball Teams for the 2009-2010 season. Here’s what Katz thinks:

He ranks the top five as Kansas, Michigan State, Texas, Villanova, and UNC in that order. I definately agree that Kansas should be number one, returning All- Americans Sharron Collins and Cole Aldrich. Then I would put Villanova at number two, because Scottie Reynolds is back and will be the best player in college basketball this upcoming season. Follow that with Michigan State, losing Suton will hurt but returning Kalin Lucas, Raymor Morgan, and Delvon Roe will help fill the void. Finally, after that I would put Texas and UNC. I choose this article becuase it had a unique approach on an interesting topic.

My second article was on Scout.com and about the number one prospect Seantrel Henderson. It talked about what its like for him to be the number one prospect and all the pressure that comes along with it.

Henderson is a 6′7” 310 pound lineman from St. Paul, Minnesota. He is said to have over 50 scholarship offers from Division-1 football programs. He also has two scholarship offers to play basketball as well. For a guy that is weighs 310 and move as quickly as he can on the court, he must be something special. But Henderson has realized his true calling is on the gridiron, and will cut his list down to ten schools soon. Minnesota, Ohio State, USC, Florida State, UCLA, and Oklahoma are all in the running for this blue-chip prospect. Henderson also claims that if he has enough energy in him, he will try to  be a dual-sport athlete, playing basketball as well as football. If he can accomplish this daunting task, and excel at doing so, Seantrel Henderson will be an athlete like none other.

The final post that caught my eye was on the Washington Post’s Terrapin Insider blog, which describes what Greivis Vasquez’s decision to stay at Maryland for his final season means to the Terps. It takes a unique approach by describing what life would be like for the Terps without Greivis, and what the probable starting lineup would be. Then, it compares that to what the starting lineup will be with Vasquez, and how much of a difference there will be. Most Maryland fans and Maryland haters alike will agree that the Terps will be better as long as Greivis Vasquez is leading the way.

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