Friday, May 02, 2008
Weekend 51.0
I'm kicking off the weekend with a throw-in.
WARNING: The ad contains some mature content.
Ready for Euro 2008?
I lost interest when England failed to qualify and vowed not to watch or blog about the finals (sigh). But I'm a little desperate for quality soccer and since ESPN and ABC are broadcasting every match I feel obligated to watch.
The tournament will start on June 8 with the opening match between co-host Switzerland and the Czech Republic. This is a national team (not club) competition and sixteen teams will vie to be named Europe's best. The teams have been split into four groups and will play in stadia in Austria/Switzerland. The tournament is played every 4 years and was last won by Greece.
Useful Links
UEFA
UEFA Euro 2008 (official site)
ESPNsoccernet
UEFA Euro 2008 Championships
Other Soccer Events/Dates
In addition to playing England this May in London, the US MNT will host† Argentina in East Rutherford (Giants Stadium) on June 8 @ 7:30 PM. These friendlies (Poland, England, Spain and Argentina) are in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (qualifying matches).
†Host is a misnomer since MOST of the fans in that 80,000+ stadium will be supporting Argentina.
The MLS (Major League Soccer) All-Star game will be played on July 24 at BMO Field in Toronto against West Ham United from the EPL (English Premier League). I watched Toronto FC play the New York Red Bulls on MLS Primetime Thursday (ESPN2) and was very impressed with BMO Field. The home team played to a 1 - 1 draw in front of 20,000 fans!
The Red Bulls are going to play in a soccer-only facility in 2009 and it will be a boost for the league/sport/team. There's something a little amateurish (and desperate/dire/pathetic) about watching the Red Bulls play on the turf at Giants Stadium over dimly faded football (NFL) markers. It also doesn't help that the seating capacity at Giants Stadium is 80,000+ and the Red Bulls only draw 10-15,000.
Love 'em or hate 'em?
I hope I appreciate GOOGLE this much when they're providing intelligence to the re-education committee and shock troops that are rounding up conservatives (please, may I bring my copy of Fear and Trembling to camp). A keyword search "wigan fc" yields the following results (see above). The sponsored link is old news but the match score in real time is very cool. It's such a simple idea.
WARNING: The ad contains some mature content.
Ready for Euro 2008?
I lost interest when England failed to qualify and vowed not to watch or blog about the finals (sigh). But I'm a little desperate for quality soccer and since ESPN and ABC are broadcasting every match I feel obligated to watch.
The tournament will start on June 8 with the opening match between co-host Switzerland and the Czech Republic. This is a national team (not club) competition and sixteen teams will vie to be named Europe's best. The teams have been split into four groups and will play in stadia in Austria/Switzerland. The tournament is played every 4 years and was last won by Greece.
Useful Links
UEFA
UEFA Euro 2008 (official site)
ESPNsoccernet
UEFA Euro 2008 Championships
Other Soccer Events/Dates
In addition to playing England this May in London, the US MNT will host† Argentina in East Rutherford (Giants Stadium) on June 8 @ 7:30 PM. These friendlies (Poland, England, Spain and Argentina) are in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (qualifying matches).
†Host is a misnomer since MOST of the fans in that 80,000+ stadium will be supporting Argentina.
The MLS (Major League Soccer) All-Star game will be played on July 24 at BMO Field in Toronto against West Ham United from the EPL (English Premier League). I watched Toronto FC play the New York Red Bulls on MLS Primetime Thursday (ESPN2) and was very impressed with BMO Field. The home team played to a 1 - 1 draw in front of 20,000 fans!
The Red Bulls are going to play in a soccer-only facility in 2009 and it will be a boost for the league/sport/team. There's something a little amateurish (and desperate/dire/pathetic) about watching the Red Bulls play on the turf at Giants Stadium over dimly faded football (NFL) markers. It also doesn't help that the seating capacity at Giants Stadium is 80,000+ and the Red Bulls only draw 10-15,000.
Love 'em or hate 'em?
I hope I appreciate GOOGLE this much when they're providing intelligence to the re-education committee and shock troops that are rounding up conservatives (please, may I bring my copy of Fear and Trembling to camp). A keyword search "wigan fc" yields the following results (see above). The sponsored link is old news but the match score in real time is very cool. It's such a simple idea.
