The Ballpark

The ballpark, to the baseball obsessed, is sacred ground.  We are on a current tour of America hitting 8 ballparks (plus the Field of Dreams and the Negro Leagues museum in KC), 5 national parks, and 2 amusement parks.  At the end of this trip I will have visited 23 ballparks (for Keegan and Reese it will be 18, for Beckett and Nash it will be 13). We love baseball.  We love going to ballgames - going early to try to catch a home run ball in batting practice, trying fun food, sitting in the sun eating seeds, keeping score the old fashioned way, cheering for relish during the ubiquitous hot dog race.  We love it.  The ballpark is as much a part of the team as the manager.  But the ballpark is so much more than just steel and concrete.  The ballpark has a life of its own.  And because baseball is a game, we are keeping score of ballparks.  

We are going to use a scoring system that encompasses more than just architecture.  There are at least six factors we will consider.  

1. History - What are the stories the place tells.

History is disproportionately important in baseball.  This is where baseball hardcores get real romantic (dorky?).  Baseball history is American history, for better and for worse.  It was born out of the Civil War.  Baseball tells the story of race, westward expansion, the economy and capitalism, war, greed, corruption, globalism.  Some teams have more history than others.  The Dodgers have been a team since 1883 and have 7 World Series titles.  The Rockies have been a team for 30 years and have 0 World Series titles.  Many old teams have new stadiums.  The Reds are the oldest professional baseball team (1869), but Great American Ballpark was built in 2003.  The team tells a story of one and a half centuries, but the Reds haven’t done much in their current home.  Fenway Park in Boston, was built in 1912.  Dad’s can point to the foul pole in left field and show their sons exactly where Carlton Fisk’s home run stayed fair, and can point to the other foul pole and talk about Johnny Pesky and why that pole bears his name.  That very field and that very wall tell over 100 years of stories.  And for baseball fans, that matters.

2. Stadium Aesthetic - How is the stadium to look at.

The baseball diamond is a work of art.  And unless you are in Oakland or Tampa, the baseball stadium is a display of beauty and craftsmanship.  One of the things we love about baseball is that the field and the stadium are all different - and often times the stadium affects the way the field is constructed.  Many of the old stadiums had to fit on a city block, so right field, for example, could only be so far from home plate, thus the builders had to make a very tall wall to make home runs not incredibly easy.  Not all baseball fields are symmetrical.  All the new stadiums have interesting and unique features - Pittsburgh building their outfield stands low thus keeping the yellow bridge and the downtown skyline across the river visible.  San Diego adding the old brick warehouse into their left field construction.  Ballparks and ball fields are beautiful, and for baseball fans that matters.

3. Vibe - What is the feel inside the stadium.

Vibe is a difficult one because it is very fluid.  A team in first place is almost always going to have a better vibe in the stadium than a team that has been losing for years.  But some places are going to full and passionate even when the team is struggling.  Ballparks are now attractions in and of themselves so they are full of people who are spending $150 on beer and food and don’t even know the score of the game.  Some people love that.  For baseball fans, it can be annoying.  But also, baseball is different than any other game because each team plays 162 regular season games every year.  It is different than football.  The vibe is different.  It’s more casual, has a different pace, follows a bit of a cadence, allows for peanut eating and beer drinking and conversation.  Baseball fans love the conversation.

4. Location and Surroundings - What is the vibe around the stadium.

Every stadium has a context.  This is a difficult one because there are 2 different categories of stadium - the one that is built in the middle of town and the one that is surrounded by an enormous parking lot.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each.  Coming early for lunch or dinner, staying late for a good time - this is why cities all want to build downtown ballparks.  It adds to the vibe, it enhances the experience, it allows friends and family to make an entire day of it.  

5. Weather

This one is unfair, I know.  The Tigers don’t get to choose the weather.  But weather completely affects one’s enjoyment of a 3 hour ballgame.  The season begins in April and ends in September (weather doesn’t matter in October because the playoffs are a different category altogether).  This can be rough for some northern teams.  It is a summer season, which can be rough for some southern teams.  And here is where we tackle the issue of indoor stadiums.  Phoenix doesn’t have weather, they have air conditioning (and thank God for it).  But, baseball is a game that is meant to be played outside.  In Cleveland the weather is going to stink for much of the season, and that’s part of the deal playing baseball in Cleveland.  In Dallas, the game is going to be played indoors (which stinks), and that’s part of the deal of playing baseball in Texas in August.  Because of this, we are going to score all indoor teams a 5 for this category.    

6. Accessibility - Getting in and out.

There is nothing better than taking public transit to the game.  There is nothing worse than trying to find downtown parking or paying $30 plus to park your car.  Getting to and from the ballgame matters, especially if you are a season ticket holder and do it often.  It also affects the vibe.  Traffic matters (Sorry Dodgers).  Bike paths to the stadium are cool (Bonus Rockies).  We are also going to put cost into this category.   

7. Extras - What else ya got?

 

As some factors carry more weight than others, we are going to weight our scale.  I care more about history than a pool in right field, so the history score will count more.  Each ballpark will scored on each factor on a 10 point scale.  The factor’s number is what we will use to determine a final scale.  We will use, as a formula: 

 (10-factor number) x factor score

For example - San Diego will certainly have the best “Weather” score in the league.  It will get a 10.  Weather is the 5th most important factor.  Therefore, (10-5)x10 = 50.  We will do it 7x and add ‘em up.

We are going to try our best to be objective in our judging.  Full disclosure - we are Dodgers fans and the place includes generations of personal and family history.  We will try and not let that affect our scoring (but it certainly will).  We are on our current ballpark tour as a family so we are going to collaborate on our scores.  So as not to clutter up this blog (consideritrubbish.blogspot.com) I will post our results on my sports blog (limpinggibby.blogspot.com).  We hope you enjoy the results and would love to hear your comments.   

Keep The Trophy

I’ve been a Dodgers fan my entire life. The greatest moment of my sports viewing history happened when I was 10 years old. The Dodgers won the 1988 World Series in a most unexpected way, immortalized forever in fist pump. 

I’ve never had as much optimism about one of “my teams” as I had in the 2017 Dodgers. They won 104 games that year.  Cody Bellinger won the Rookie of the Year, Seager had a great follow up to his 2016 ROY, Justin Turner hit everything, Chase Utley was the quintessential veteran leader, Kershaw was Cy Young runner up. They swept the Dbacks in the divisional series, gave the Cubbies a bare-bottom spanking in the NLCS, and advanced to the World Series for the first time since I was 10. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month then you know what happened next. The Astros and their banging trash cans beat the Dodgers in 7. 

As a Dodgers fan living in North Carolina I’m the only Dodgers fan many people know, so everyone wants to talk to me about the Astros. Anger, for sure. Proud that my team didn’t cheat (and took the best team in the AL who was cheating to 7 games).  But here is my overwhelming conviction:

Keep the trophy!

Every talking head in the sports world is saying that MLB didn’t go far enough in punishing the Astros. I say the punishment is built-in. There is no greater punishment than shame. No, MLB should not give the trophy to the Dodgers. Who’s to say the Yankees wouldn’t have beaten the Dodgers had they not been cheated out of the ALCS. You can’t have a parade 2.5 years later. It doesn’t work like that. That celebration was robbed from my sons and I in our living room and millions of Dodgers fans around the world that October of ‘17. Keep the banner. Keep the trophy. Keep the rings. And here is what will happen for the rest of history; dads will take their sons to Houston to a ball game and they will tell their sons about the banner in the rafters and that they cheated to get it. Many years from now hardcore baseball fans will be talking about Aaron Judge’s 2 MVP awards and it will always be followed with “but he should have had 3 but for the one Altuve cheated from him.”  And my hope against hope is that by the end of their careers these Astros will never win another title. After Carlos Correa has retired, and he is at a swanky function dressed to the nines, and is wearing his World Series ring to impress everyone, people at that function will look at that gaudy ring on his finger and they will all think it, and maybe some of them will even say it, “2017 eh?  Wasn’t that the year...?”  

Keep ‘em all, boys. I don’t want MLB to take them away, I want the Astros to keep them forever; the banner in the rafters as a constant reminder, the trophy in the case that the whole world now views with an asterisk, and those rings in their fingers as emblems of shame. 

Do You Really Want the Cubs to Win?

I love a good story.

I love baseball.

The Cubs' World Series drought is the greatest story in sports.

If the Cubs win the World Series next week baseball, sports, America, all of us, will lose the single greatest story in sports.  So if you love a good story, and if you love baseball, then might I suggest that you don’t really want the Cubs to win the World Series.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 3 weeks, the Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908.  In fact, until Saturday night, they had never even been to the World Series since the month after the end of World War II.  Making the World Series for the first time in over 70 years was certainly a story, but let’s be honest, if they lose this Series to the Indians then just making the World Series won’t mean a whole lot to the Wrigley faithful.

And this story is just too good.

The first World Series ever played was 1903.  There was no Series in 1904, and the Cubs won the Series in 1907 and 1908.  That means that 95% of all World Series have been played since the Cubs last won.  And we’ve all heard the stories of all that has happened in our world since 1908 but I’ll add a couple more.  When the Cubs last won the World Series there were only 46 United States.  No one in the audience was wearing either a bra or a zipper, because neither had been invented yet (both invented in 1913).  We can’t even play the in 1908 gas cost…or in 1908 a movie ticket was…because the Model T was not released until 1908 and there were no theaters.

But here is my favorite part of the story - we should be talking about 1907 as the last time the Cubs won because they never should have even been to the World Series in 1908.  That was the year of the Merkle Boner - possibly my favorite story in all of baseball history.  Here is the story as told in Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary:

The final weeks of the 1908 National League season saw a fierce struggle between the Chicago Cubs and their arch rivals the New York Giants.  With the pennant on the line they met at the Polo Grounds on September 23rd.  John McGraw had to make a last minute change in the Giants lineup.  First baseman Fred Tenant was injured.  Substituting for him was an eager 19 year old rookie named Fred Merkle.  In the bottom of the 9th there were 2 men on and 2 outs for the Giants with the score tied 1-1.  Giant pinch hitter Moose McCormick was on 3rd representing the winning run.  Fred Merkle was the runner on first.  Al Bridewell, the Giants shortstop was up to bat.  He lined the very first pitch past Cubs 2nd baseman Johnny Evers into center field for a clean single.  Moose McCormick lumbered home.  The Giants had won the game and most likely the pennant.  Jubilant Giant fans began pouring onto the field.  At that moment, Fred Merkle was on his way to 2nd.  Alarmed by the oncoming crowd, and convinced the game was over, he turned and ran for the clubhouse.  Johnny Evers saw that Merkle hadn’t touched 2nd.  If Evers could get the ball and touch 2nd himself, the winning run would be cancelled by the force out.  The Cubs would still have a chance.  But first…he had to find the ball.  Joe McGinnity, the Giants third base coach, saw what Evers was up to, won a scramble for the ball, and threw it into the stands.  The fan in a brown bowler caught it and started home with his trophy.  But 2 Cubs chased the man through the mob, knocked him down when he resisted, grabbed the ball, and tossed it to Joe Tinker, who relayed it to Evers at 2nd.  Evers then jumped up and down on the bag to make sure the umpire saw what he had done.

It took Harry C. Puliam, the league president 2 days to make a decision - he disallowed the run and declared the game a tie.  At the end of the season the Cubs and Giants had identical records.  They played a one game playoff at the Polo Grounds at the end of the season.  Christy Mathewson, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game, was having the best year of his career.  The Cubs bested him in the one game playoff and advanced to face Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, who they beat four games to one.

The Cubs' history is different than that of their former fellow drought sufferers the Red Sox in that they haven’t really had a lot to show for 108 years of futility.  Sure, there was the Alex Gonzalez game in 2003 (I refuse to call it the Bartman game as Alex Gonzalez made one of the worst errors in history the following batter - click here to watch that entire inning), and the Leon Durham error in 1984, but other than that there were a couple of years in the late 70’s where they started strong and faded and not much else to show for over 15,000 games of baseball.

All that is history.  The 2016 Cubs are really good - and young.  They look like they could be favored to win the National League pennant for years to come.  So if the Cubs win the World Series this year, and if they make it next year, it won’t be near as fun.  And the year after (see Red Sox recent history).  Imagine if this crop of young Cubbies wins 95-105 games a year for the next 5 years and goes Buffalo Bills on us.  As I write during game 1, game 3 tickets in Wrigley are selling on Stubhub for $2,000…for standing room only ($24,000 for the good ones)!  The story is like a good wine, it keeps getting better with age.

Full disclosure - I am a Dodgers fan, and my father, being a generational Cardinals fan is a Cubs hater.  This has nothing to do with that, it is not about sour grapes.  This is about being a baseball fan.  If you are a Cubs fan then root your face off for your team.  If you are not a Cubs fan, and you love baseball, and you love a good story…do you really want them to win?

Qatar - FIFA's High School Girlfriend

FIFA just announced that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will hold the final on December 18th.

Remember when you were in high school and one of your best friends (FIFA) started dating that girl that you hated (Qatar).  It wasn’t just you that hated her, all of your friends couldn’t stand her either.  Everyone knew it was a bad idea (Human rights abuses, a country that doesn’t serve alcohol, 120 degree summer temps, a national population that would triple during the tournament, a country that has no need for 8 world class soccer stadiums, a team which, if it received the customary automatic bid for the host team would be slaughtered in the first round).  Behind your friend’s back you would all talk about how his girlfriend was making him become someone that nobody (except her) really liked.  Of course, your friend wouldn’t hear any of it - he was smitten (we had a different word for it in high school).  His vision was clouded by his physical relationship with her (corruption?  money?  there has to be something).  He didn’t mind the fact that she treated him like garbage and didn’t let him hang out with his guy friends anymore - he just liked kissing her.  

We all hated that girl.  Maybe your friend broke up with that girl, and after the fact you would all sit around and that friend would say things like, “man, she was such a wench, why didn’t you guys talk some sense into me?” (an unlikely outcome in our World Cup analogy)  Or maybe she got pregnant (changing the tournament to November - December).  And maybe your friend married the hussy because of the baby (Qatar actually hosting the World Cup in 2022).  And you went to the wedding, silently disapproving, because you really like your friend (man, I love the World Cup).  And its possible that they remain happily married to this day (a possible outcome, because the World Cup is that good).  It’s more likely that they divorced 6 months later when they realized they hated each other and their marriage wasn’t just ruining their lives but the baby’s life and their families’ as well (the whole world having to take a 2 month break right in the middle of their seasons, a World Cup final 7 days before Christmas, English football fans reminding middle eastern Muslims why they chose to not drink alcohol in the first place, the world’s biggest party being held in a place no one really wants to go to party).  

It’s a bad idea FIFA.  But now you’ve gotten her pregnant.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.  It’s not too late to change your mind.  We won’t judge you.  In fact, we will respect you even more if you make the right decision now, when its not the easy thing to do.

The Best and Worst of the Opening Round

- Best SNL Character - Miguel Herrera

He looks and acts equal parts bully Nelson Muntz from the Simpsons and any of the numerous jubilant characters from the Chris Farley library.  Roger Bennet from Men in Blazers called him the Rob Ford of world football.  You don’t know wether to cower in fear or give him a bear hug.  He might be the most demonstrative man on earth, and lucky for Mexican fans most of that sideline emotion has been elation.  But what a job he’s done.  Mexico fired 3 managers in qualifying and Herrera (with some massive help from Graham Zusi) led Mexico to the Copa, and now into the 2nd round.  The internet loves him, and his it appears his players do as well.  One of my favorite scenes of the first round was Memo Ochoa, Mexico’s goalkeeper running all the way to midfield to celebrate, not with the goalscorer, but with his coach.

- Best Goal - Robin Van Persie’s diving header vs. Spain.  Tim Cahill vs. the Dutch was a very close 2nd.  I give a slight edge to RVP because of the creativity and invention of the goal.  It was both beautiful and brilliant.  If Cahill gets that same chance 100 more times he might not score it again - which is the beauty of it.

- Best Team - The best team has been the Netherlands.  They have mastered efficient soccer in the first round.  However, I still believe the best team is Germany.

- Best Fans - Columbia

When I watched the anthems and non-stop dance party during the Columbia/Greece match it made me wish I was Columbian.

- Best Performance - Suarez vs. England, Memo Ochoa vs. Brazil is a close second.  England desperately needed a point, Suarez was a month removed from knee surgery, he didn’t even play in Uruguay’s loss to Costa Rica, and he was facing 5 of his Liverpool  teammates in the English starting lineup.  Uruguay looked horrible without him, losing 3-1 to Costa Rica, but he almost single handedly beat England with 2 pure striker type goals.  You can have Messi, for me Suarez is the best goal scorer in the world right now.  Unfortunately, we won’t see another performance from him for a while.

Guillermo Ochoa is not the best goalkeeper in the world, but his performance against Brazil was one for the ages.  

- Best American - Jermaine Jones.  Even if he would not have scored against Portugal he was still the best player.  Dempsey has been incredible.  Omar was great against Germany.  Zusi has had some great moments.  But Jermaine Jones has been our best player.  Be encouraged America, our real best player, Michael Bradley, has had a nightmare tournament thus far, and we still survived the group of death.  Thanks mostly to Jermaine Jones.

  

- Biggest Tragedy - Croatia in the opener vs. Brazil.  

Croatia looked good, Brazil did not.  The PK awarded to Fred was the kind of dive that turns many American sports fans off to the game of soccer.  The Japanese ref made the worst homer call I’ve seen since Hoosiers.  I read one article which said that this Japanese referee spends most of his time officiating J--League matches in Japan where the games are not as intense ... and the players are more honest.  The third goal was an easy foul call at midfield where Brazil dispossessed Croatia which led to the goal.  An easy foul call, of course, unless there are 70,000 yellow clad fans right on top of you, and another 10 million waiting outside the gates.  I don’t think you could pay me enough to referee that match.  

- Worst Hacks - The eyeball test would have given the award to Honduras.  The numbers give the award to Uruguay.  Six yellows, one red, and of course Suarez, who received neither red nor yellow but won’t see the pitch for 4 months.

- Biggest Winner - Brazil.  Not the team, though they topped their group with 8 points, but the country.  Am I the only one who has been sitting in my living room wishing every day I was in Brazil.

- Biggest Losers - Suarez could win all of the worst categories so I will skip him (although maybe the biggest loser is Chiellini’s shoulder - bitten and eliminated all in the span of 30 minutes).  They have the best coach and their team looks great, but I have to say the Mexican fans might be the biggest losers of the tournament thus far.  They have headed south in droves and they have had a lot to cheer about.  But every restart by the opponents being greeted with 20,000 Mexican yelling “P#@%!” at the top of their lungs?  FIFA tried to fine the Mexican federation calling it a gay slur, which of course only made them yell it with more pride.  “Stay classy, Guadalajara.”

- Worst Idea - Qatar 2022.  I know it has nothing to do with the first round and it is still 8 years away but hasn’t watching the heat of Manaus, the beauty of Brazil, and the nation’s love for the game really made you think how horrible an idea Qatar 2022 is?

- Best Player (thus far) - Arjen Robben.  The pace and directness he plays with make everyone watching sit up every time he touches the ball.  

- Golden Boot (thus far) - Messi, Muller, Neymar - all tied with 4.  I put my money on Muller to repeat.

- Most Assists (thus far) - Juan Cuadrado (Columbia) and Daley Blind (Neth.) tied with 3.  As I used to say in high school, counting assists is for those who can’t score goals.  And then I went to college, and I started counting assists.

Feel free to add the list in the comments below.  What are your best and worst so far?

The (Slow) Evolution of Soccer in America

Forgive me if this post sounds a bit like it is being written by a crusader, but I consider myself to have been a part of the generation of U. S. soccer players and fans who have had to fight for the beautiful game.  It has not been easy being a soccer fan in the USA, but the persecution we experienced over the past few decades has only fueled our passion even more.  

There has not been a shortage of American youth soccer players for a long time.  Twenty five years ago, when I was playing U-12 soccer, the sport had the largest number of youth participants of any sport in this country (it is even more so now).  But I also grew up in an era where the first World Cup I watched, Mexico 1986, I watched in awe of Diego Maradona’s ability, but watched without a home team to support.  In fact, soccer fans in this country in 1986 hadn’t been able to support their home team in the World Cup since 1950.  We recorded every match we could on VHS because we knew that it would be the only soccer we would be able to watch on television for a long time.  We wore those tapes out.  My brother and I watched them for 4 years.  

My generation got excited about a group of amateurs who had no domestic league in which they could play professionally scratch and claw their way through qualification for the 1990 World Cup.  ESPN even televised some of those games, our home games almost exclusively being played in St. Louis at some complex which must have had a capacity of less than 2,000.  I’ll never forget Paul Caliguiri’s goal in Trinidad which sealed a 1-0 victory for the USA and qualified us for the tournament.  We were the epitome of “we’re just happy to be here” in Italy (we lost 5-1, 1-0, and 3-1).  We had no business being on the same pitch with most of those players. 

We hosted in 1994.  The bar was raised.  Our players were better.  We tied Switzerland in Detroit.  We then accomplished the unthinkable – beating Columbia 2-1, a team that Pele had picked to win the tournament.  Our loss to Romania didn’t matter – we advanced to the round of 16!  We lost to Brazil 1-0 but WOW.  It was a performance that gave us hope, and a performance that we could be proud of.  This was exactly what our country needed as Major League Soccer was birthed the next year.  I’ll never forget watching that first ever MLS match in 1996  and, as a 17 year old, beginning to dream about what could possibly be.  But just last week I had a 50 something year old casual sports fan ask me, “when do you think we will ever host the World Cup.”  I was a bit surprised by the wording of his question so I reminded him, “Well, since we hosted it in ’94, I don’t think we will get it again for a while.”  He was dumbfounded, “We hosted the World Cup in 1994?!”  

We have come a long way since then, so why is there still a sporting cultural anchor that the sport cannot seem to shed?  I recently heard a sports talk radio host say the words, “I can’t stand soccer.”  I’ve never heard a sports junkie media guys say “I hate tennis” (by the way, the USA is historically bad at tennis right now, especially on the men’s side), or “I hate golf”, or even “I hate NASCAR.”  But "I hate soccer" is still acceptable, even in the sporting biz, because it has been a common refrain of derision and disdain for a long, long time.  Most media folks get it. During this World Cup Colin Cowherd and Dan Patrick are stuck in.  ESPN, even in the midst of a crazy sports schedule (NBA Finals, Stanley Cup, US Open, MLB, College World Series), has gone all in with this World Cup.  ESPN doesn’t do things to drive culture, there is no money in that, they do things that reflect culture.  We are a soccer loving nation!

No, that’s not a typo.  And no, I’m not crazy.  We are a soccer loving nation.  Consider the evidence.  We have qualified for every World Cup since 1990, advancing out of the first round in ’94, ’02, and ’10.  English Premier League games are now shown live in our country, every one of them!  MLS has not just survived, but is thriving, and continuing to expand!  There are MLS players on 8 different teams in this tournament including Brazil (Julio Cesar - Toronto FC) and the scorer of arguably the best goal of the tournament thus far (Tim Cahil - NY Red Bulls).  The ratings for the World Cup, especially when you add the Spanish numbers, have been enormous.  Outside of the World Cup, it is still mostly a niche sport.  It is also much more popular among internationals living here, but the truth is that we are a nation of internationals - ignore them at your own peril (just ask Republicans).  

It has been slow growth, and will continue to be slow.  But it is undeniable that the statements “soccer will never catch on in the US”, and “we stink at soccer”, and “the MLS is not good soccer” are all statements made in ignorance.  Whatever happens tomorrow vs. Germany won’t change that fact that this tournament will be another nice boost for soccer in this country.  I can’t wait.  And even though it is a noon kickoff, I know America will be watching.

How Should We Feel?

The last 24 hours have been, for US soccer fans (and welcome aboard to everyone who has hopped onboard recently, the more the merrier) an emotional spin cycle no too dissimilar from a Gossip Girl episode.  From despair (Portugal goal in the 5th minute, Ghana was a fluke), to hope (we looked fantastic the remainder of the first half), to joy (Jermaine Jones!!!), to euphoria (via Clint Dempsey’s navel), to disbelief (we are going to advance with still one more group stage match to play), to shock (Ronaldo’s one good touch in 95 minutes).  

What is left is confusion - now what are we supposed to feel?  

What you need to know

1.  We are a better team than Portugal.  

Ronaldo was not at 100%, and FIFA world rankings mean nothing (Portugal was 4th in the world entering the tournament), but we were the superior team in this match.  People laughed at me when I said, before the tournament started, that this was called the “group of death” because we were in it.  Ghana looked the superior team on Monday, but we scored more goals than them.  We were the superior team last night - and most importantly, the boys on the pitch believed it as well, and it showed.  

2.  Jurgen Klinsmann has worked a masterpiece.  

I will say the same even if we don’t advance.  He has the boys fit, prepared, and confident.  He had a perfect game plan in Jozy’s absence vs. Portugal.  He has Fabian Johnson in a position that fits him perfectly as a defender who has liberty to run wild.  And oh by the way, he has assembled the squad perfectly.  Jermaine Jones has been the MVP of the tournament for the USA thus far (a player who Klinsmann has supported for a long time much to the dismay of many supporters), and Donovan has not been needed.  My brother asked me in the 85th minute last night, “where are all the people crying for Donovan now?"  My response was, “how does Jurgen say ‘bite me’ in German?”

3.  The tie breaker system.  

The first tie breaker is goal differential.  Number 2 is goals scored.  Third is head-to-head.  Pretty much the only way we don’t advance is if we lose to Germany and Ghana beats Portugal in a way that either a) Ghana has a better goal differential than us (currently we are +1 and they are -1) or if that is equal b) by the end of the day Ghana has more goals scored than us (currently we have scored 4 and they have scored 3).  Portugal would have to beat Ghana by 4 and us lose by 1 or more for them to advance.  If we tie or win, we are through.

So here are the scenarios for us going forward.  The good news and the bad news.  Bad news first:

The Bad News

1.  Ghana is really good - Ghana winning by 2 goals isn’t much of a stretch.

2.  Germany is really good - For my money, Germany is still the best team in the tournament.

3.  Portugal has little reason for optimism - The scenario which would allow them to advance is a bit outrageous and their World Footballer of the Year is hurt and is the kind of guy who looks out for #1 (my friend who was at the game last night told me that he yells for the ball every time they have it, and yells it is his teammates every time he doesn’t get it).  I could easily see a scene where Ghana scores a goal early and Portugal implodes.

The Good News

1.  We looked great against Portugal - Creative, confident, fast, organized, daring, resilient.  Geof Cameron's shank, and Tim Howard's uncharacteristic blunder which saw the ball go right between his hands and bounce of the post were the only 2 flaws in an otherwise perfect match.  

2.  Germany won’t be fighting to the death - The only way Germany doesn’t advance is if they lose to us and Ghana beats Portugal in a way that is combined more than 4 goals.  In fact, if the captains got together and shook hands and Dempsey told Lahm, “0-0 sounds good to us, how about you?” it would be a result that would be just fine with both sides.  If this game is 0-0 in the 70th minute you are going to see the most boring 20 minutes of soccer you have ever seen (unless, of course, you are an unobjective USA supporter and you would be thrilled with a draw).  

3.  The European teams aren’t taking too kindly to Brazil.  With the exception of the Netherlands, Belgium (drawn in the “group of life”), and France (we would have killed to have been in that group), and I would have said Germany until their tie vs. Ghana, European teams have given the appearance that the rules of the game are different in the southwestern quartersphere.  England, Portugal, Spain, Bosnia (though they are the best looking 0 pt. team in the tournament), Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Russia - all have stuggled while teams from the Americas - Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia - have fared well.

4.  Jurgen assembled this team for this match - This team was assembled to beat Germany if it had to.  FIFA rigged the draw so that Jurgen would have to play Germany.  After the Portugal match Jurgen even accused FIFA of wanting the “big teams” to win by giving them an extra day of rest and a lighter travel schedule (his exact quote was, “They played yesterday. We played today. We played in the Amazon. They played in place where you don't have to travel so much. Things are set up for the big teams to move on.”)  This is why there are 4 players on our roster based in the Bundesliga.  We were hoping we wouldn’t need anything against Germany (and we were hoping they wouldn’t need any points against us either) but that’s not the case, but the good news is that we are prepared for it.

5.  This USA team is different than any other.  In our last 26 matches, dating back to mid 2013, the USMNT is 20 wins, 3 loses, and 3 draws.  Our only 3 losses were at Costa Rica in a qualifying match, vs. the Ukraine in Cyprus which fell right in the crux of their political turmoil, and a friendly away at Austria.  Many of the wins in that stretch are against sub-par opponents, but we have never consistently won matches that we are supposed to win.  And oh by the way, one of those wins is against Germany.  Granted, it was week after a Champions League final with included 2 German clubs and none of those players made the trip, but we never used to win those games.  

Bottom Line - We are going through.  We deserve it.  We will earn it.  And even if we don’t, we have lots of reasons to be proud.