ACC Soccer Championships

Took my son to see his first live sporting event, which was also my first ever live soccer match. We took in a Wednesday afternoon quarterfinal matchup in the ACC Men's Soccer Championships at the Germantown SoccerPlex. The match pitted two top-10 teams in Wake Forest and North Carolina, and as luck would have it, they played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. While the shootout was exciting (especially with our view from 10 yards behind the goal), it didn't quite make up for the nearly two hours of nothing before then.

Other observations:

The SoccerPlex is a beautiful facility with a great view of the surrounding hills. One upgrade to consider before they host their next tournament would be real locker rooms. At halftime, the two teams retreated to tents set up at the far end of the field. Either that or they were spending the break at a wedding reception.

The best shot in regulation was when a Demon Deacon midfielder cleared the ball to the sidelines with a blistering kick. Unfortunately for the sideline cameraman, that kick was aimed perfectly at his crotch. To his credit however, he refused to go down. When you lose the ability to have children, you at least want to show people how tough you are.

The Demon Deacon goaltender, while talented, is a bit of a jerk. If he wasn't yelling at the officials for possible offsides calls, he was yelling at his left back for failing to clear the ball.

The Road to XLI (and X)

Just a little thing called "Lombardi/Quinn" to rank the top 10 teams in the National Football League striving for the Super Bowl and the bottom 5 teams jockeying for the first selection in the April 2007 Draft. (Previous Week's Ranking in Parentheses)

Due to time constraints, the rankings are all I have for this week

Top 10
#1 Chicago (1)
#2 Indianapolis (2)
#3 New England (3)
#4 New York Giants (10)
#5 Atlanta (7)
#6 San Diego (8)
#7 Denver (4)
#8 Baltimore (NR)
#9 New Orleans (5)
#10 Kansas City (NR)

Bottom 5
#28 Oakland (31)
#29 Houston (NR)
#30 Detroit (29)
#31 Miami (30)
#32 Arizona (32)

World Series Prediction

Let's see how powerful of a curse I am...

With superior starting pitching in Carpenter, Suppan, Weaver and Reyes, the Cardinals are a shoo-in to win the Series in 5.

The Road to XLI (and X)

Apparently this did not post on Saturday when we tried...

Just a little thing called "Lombardi/Quinn" to rank the top 10 teams in the National Football League striving for the Super Bowl and the bottom 5 teams jockeying for the first selection in the April 2007 Draft. (Previous Week's Ranking in Parentheses)

Top 10
#1 Chicago (1) - the players spent the bye week engaging in all their favorite leisure activities... with one notable exception. Quarterback Rex Grossman was kept at the training facility to work on his jersey color recognition skills.

#2 Indianapolis (2) - apparently when you try to snap Peyton Manning in two, it brings you bad luck, as in the three 3rd quarter strikes he threw against the 'Skins. Maybe they should have tried that against a QB who runs the wishbone? Next up: a tough road tilt against the Denver Broncos... when Peyton and his aching body heard of the next opponent, he could only lament "the Denver Broncos?!"

#3 New England (4) - the loss to Denver in week 3 seems to have jolted the Pats from a slumber. The blowout win over the Bills was their 3rd straight dominant victory. Nothing more sobering than to realize you lost to a team quarterbacked by Jake Plummer!

#4 Denver (6) - the defense continues to bail out the erratic play of quarterback Jake Plummer, who has yet to lead the offense beyond 17 points this season. Next up: The Colts bring their high-powered offense in to face the new "Orange Crush" defense. The only question is whether Peyton Manning or Jake Plummer will throw more TDs scored by the Colts.

#5 New Orleans (7) - the Saints marched into their bye week with a 5-1 record after back-to-back nailbiting victories over the Bucs and Eagles. The concept of the bye week isn't well recieved in New Orleans, where it seemed FEMA was on "bye week" for much of September 2005.

#6 Cincinnati (NR) - edged out the Panthers in a titanic battle of the cats. With no other games scheduled between the Lions, Jags, Panthers, and Bengals, Cincinnati will remain on top of the litter box until 2007. Good kitty!

#7 Atlanta (NR) - a thrilling overtime winner that was keyed by the throwing arm of Michael Vick, who tossed 4 TDs for the first time in his NFL career. In a related story, the high temperature in hell that day was a brisk 29 degrees.

#8 San Diego (3) - the loss in Kansas City was made even worse with the revelation that a four game suspension was looming for Shawne Merriman. When told of the penalty, Merriman said "in the immortal words of Socrates... I took what?!".

#9 Minnesota (NR) - the NFC teams met after week 2 and decided to ensure that the Super Bowl curse would continue this season with the Seahawks. First, the Giants took care of Shaun Alexander and his foot. Now, the Vikings, thanks to EJ Henderson's stop/drop/roll technique, have taken care of Matt Hasselbeck. When asked what they did for the cause, Chicago's Brian Urlacher, asked "didn't you watch the game? We emasculated the whole lot of 'em."

#10 NY Giants (NR) - a few teams were battling for this final spot on the list, but the Giants clinched it with the win on Monday night coupled with the hit Brandon Short put on "the player". Next up: Tampa Bay comes to town and Matt Bryant will be lucky to hit from 42 yards with New Jersey's stringent "fire code" laws.

Bottom 5
#28 Tennessee (28) - have had two weeks to prepare for the Texans, so could a two game winning streak be on the horizon?

#29 Detroit (NR) - the good will from the win over the Bills sure didn't last too long.

#30 Miami (29) - this was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender?

#31 Oakland (32) - found a team more sorry than themselves... good for them.

#32 Arizona (31) - the talent, especially at the skill positions, isn't the worst in the league, but when you give the Raiders their first (and likely only) win, you deserve this ranking.

Monday Night Musings

1. Jacked Up #1: My new favorite NFL player is Brandon Short after that lick he put on Terrell Owens. What made it even better is that the play was already over since Owens stepped out of bounds a few yards earlier. I do feel a little cheated though... shouldn't Tom Jackson have amended his Jacked Up list to add that hit to the halftime show?
2. Put up or SHUT UP: So, the best way to shut T.O. up on the sidelines is to throw him a ball and have him drop it. Good to know. My thinking is that if you spend that much time complaining for the ball, you need to catch every "catchable" ball thrown your way.
3. Bledsoe vs. Romo: Clearly, Tony Romo is much more mobile than Drew Bledsoe, but it is also obvious that he has a lot of learning to do. He has had a very uneven performance, sandwiching a touchdown drive between two interceptions. Even so, the Cowboys offensive line situation dictates that he be the quarterback for this team. With the pressure they allow on the quarterback, you need someone who can avoid the pass rush.