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6475. vonKreedon - 4/16/2010 11:48:45 PM We're back from the Easter Bowl an Reid played well, winning two back draw matches before losing to the #14 seed in a very tight 6-3 7-5 match. Unfortunately, in his first match, in the main draw, he was beset by nerves and missed enough opportunities to put balls away that he lost 6-3, 6-4 to a boy he in all likelihood would have beaten in a later match. In between the two loses he had two gut check wins: 6-7(2); 6-3; 1-0(5) and 6-2; 2-6; 1-0(3) (in the back draw they play a 10 point tie breaker in lue of a full third set.)
I'm feeling really bad right now because as a family we missed the deadline to register him for the other national tournament he would have been eligible for as a 16 year old. We misread the time/time zone and thought we had until midnight when the deadline was noon Eastern Time. Bummer. 6476. alistairConnor - 4/21/2010 8:28:47 PM Well! Lyon finally made the semi-final of the Champions' League (European football), having eliminated Real Madrid and Liverpool on the way... and they are playing the Bayern in Munich tonight.
The star of Bayern is French striker Franck Ribéry. He's under a cloud at the moment, having been indicted for relations with an underage prostitute... meanwhile, in the sporting arena, he has just been given a red card for a nasty late tackle.
So Lyon, who are lucky to still be on 0-0 near the end of the first half, are suddenly favourites. 6477. vonKreedon - 4/21/2010 9:48:12 PM But alas, Lyon loses 1-0, losing a man to a Red card as well early in the second. 6478. arkymalarky - 5/2/2010 12:11:19 AM Well, Wabbit, were you happy with the outcome of the Derby? 6479. wabbit - 5/2/2010 9:01:31 PM Honestly, I wasn't one of the people pulling for Borel and I wasn't sure Super Saver would get the distance. Then the track started to dry up and Borel coming out of the gate in the four slot is about as ideal a spot for him as he could have asked for. He was my wildcard pick and he rode a classic Borel race. Great ride, deserved the win.
Ice Box was my come-from-behind pick, and if he stays healthy, will probably be my Belmont pick. I had the filly Devil May Care (#11, couldn't pass that up, but she finished 10th), Paddy O'Prado (finished 3rd) and Lookin at Lucky (finished 6th). I also liked Sidney's Candy and don't know what happened to him. It's a shame all the video is focused on the winner - I'd especially like to see the iso-reel on Ice Box.
On to the Preakness. I don't expect to see Ice Box there, but we'll see what his people decide. Noble's Promise is another horse I'll keep an eye on. 6480. vonKreedon - 6/1/2010 3:21:00 AM I'm happy to announce that our son is the state 3A boy's tennis champion! 6481. wabbit - 6/1/2010 2:25:00 PM Congratulations vonK!! 6482. arkymalarky - 6/1/2010 2:46:32 PM Yay VK fam! 6483. alistairConnor - 6/1/2010 5:55:48 PM Very cool! 6484. alistairConnor - 6/15/2010 3:24:08 PM Allons enfants de la patrie, l'heure de gloire est arrivée!
The country I'm talking about is New Zealand (since I get to choose!) The glorious All Whites have entered history by scoring a last-minute equalising goal against Slovakia, thus earning one (1) point in the World Cup group stage!
(and let's not talk about my other country, and its inglorious scoreless draw against Uruguay.)
And what about you Yanks? None of you watched the glorious draw against England?
It ain't the result, it's how you spin it. 6485. vonKreedon - 6/16/2010 3:23:13 PM Oh yeah, I watched and boy did we (the US) luck out. A draw against England is a very good result, but I can't say that we earned it. 6486. vonKreedon - 6/17/2010 9:33:32 PM Sacre Blue! Mexico thumps les Bleu 2-0! 6487. vonKreedon - 6/18/2010 4:58:36 PM USA pulls out tough nail biting tie against Slovenia. Be watching the England-Algeria match with renewed interest. I'm pretty sure that we must win when we play Algeria or we're out. 6488. alistairconnor - 6/19/2010 12:58:18 PM Anything's possible in your group, vK...
Last night, having drinks on the balcony, we heard a lot of car horns hooting. Did Algeria win something? I thought. Who were they playing yesterday?... England? ... surely not!
England is in mourning, Algeria salvaged some pride... Slovenia being the only one with a win, all four still have some chance of qualifying.
Though Algeria would need to beat the USA...
As for France! If any of you remember 1998... the moment when I decided I was French... well I think I'm a Citizen of the World again. 6489. vonKreedon - 6/19/2010 7:47:59 PM Oh yeah I remember '98, and then the Euro Cup win in '00, which I watched in a hotel bar in Chamonix with a highly motivated crowd evenly split between Italians and French. 6490. vonKreedon - 6/19/2010 8:52:28 PM More bad news for les Bleus:
France striker Nicolas Anelka has been sent home from the World Cup after verbally insulting coach Raymond Domenech during the Mexico game.
From l'Equipe: Anelka : «J'accepte mon exclusion»
6491. alistairConnor - 6/20/2010 3:09:24 PM NEW ZEALAND 1-0 ITALY!
Five minutes into the game.
Won't last long, but let's immortalize the moment... 6492. alistairconnor - 6/20/2010 3:58:42 PM Yeah it lasted about twenty minutes.
Still, 1-1 at half time is very respectable too.
That won't last either. 6493. alistairconnor - 6/20/2010 3:59:51 PM At half time in the NZ-Italy match, they cut to the French training ground, which is apparently the OK Corral.
They are still counting the dead, apparently.
Excuse me while I sneer. 6494. alistairconnor - 6/20/2010 6:05:00 PM NEW ZEALAND 1 - 1 ITALY
This is historic. Easily the biggest result in the history of NZ soccer.
It's true that NZ had both a height and weight advantages, and when trajectories converged, the Italian tended to bounce off (and roll about theatrically on the carpet, of course...)
And without the foolish shirt-pulling in the first half, which gave Italy their penalty, it would have been 1-0. That's right, Italy never managed to score an actual goal.
I was disappointed that the Italians were not creative enough to find their way around NZ's blocking tactics. At first I thought they were being condescending, but they genuinely had no answer. And it's not as if NZ played purely defensive : they had a couple of the better chances in the second half, and 2-1 to NZ would have been a plausible result.
Unfortunately, the symmetry of the group has been upset by Paraguay's win over Slovakia. This means that NZ would have to beat Paraguay to progress, and that looks frankly unlikely. They have been easily the best of the group, not brilliant but pragmatic.
On the other hand... if the last two matches are draws... that makes NZ and Italy equal second on three points. Then it's down to goals scored, I believe. And for the moment, NZ has two, Italy only one.
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