Donovan to the Rescue

I remember in the fall of 2006 when I attended a Northwestern football game and talked to an alum who had attended Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. I asked him what the stadium was like after Endy Chavez's historic catch and he responded to me that dozens of people were hugging him and jumping on top of him, and he couldn't possibly have cared less about it. The euphoria of that moment was simply too strong for him to mind being violated.

I had never quite had a moment like that with complete strangers until Wednesday, when Bert and I saw Landon Donovan save U.S. Soccer in the 91st minute against Algeria to put the Americans through to the knockout stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We were watching at a sports bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn called 200 Fifth, which was not overcrowded, but a decent, and involved crowd nonetheless. By the time Donovan, arguably the greatest American player ever, poked Clint Dempsey's rebound into the net, it was almost entirely full, and while I had begun to accept that the flurry of unconverted opportunities were about to leave us on the outside looking in, in that moment the bar erupted.

Strangers jumped on top of me and hugged me. I had no idea who they were. And I did not care.

This was one of those great moments that make sports worth watching, and while I did think it was a bit odd that one bar patron rubbed my tummy while I was standing on top of my chair screaming with my hands on my head, the excitement of Donovan's score was enough to get me to forget about being personally violated for a few seconds. As someone who follows the U.S. soccer team and has on more than one occasion had to defend his refusal to pick a European nation to support because the Yanks had no chance, this was a moment of joy and redemption when all seemed nearly lost. In short, it was what makes sports great, and when you take a minute to sit back and look at the tournament, that's not even the best part.

The future could be better.

The United States will face Ghana in the round of 16, and while we very nearly got a gift matchup of Australia, it also bears warning that we could have gotten Germany. Excited as I might be to have a shot at vengeance for the 2002 quarterfinals, when Oliver Kahn (and Torsten Frings' left arm...) single-handedly kept the U.S. from a date with the semifinals, Germany is a stiff opponent. Of course, I want to reiterate one thing. I am not looking past Ghana.

I AM NOT LOOKING PAST GHANA.

However, it is only natural to see how the bracket lays and what the path to a World Cup Final might have. At the point of the World Cup's knockout stages there is no such thing as an easy match. Each will be tight and contested and nervewracking for the participants and its supporters. However, if you're searching for as smooth or lucky a draw as you could ask for, the U.S. might have it. If you don't believe me or you just haven't seen the draw yet, maybe you should.

If the U.S. is fortunate enough to get past Ghana, they face the winner of Uruguay and South Korea for a spot in the final four of the tournament. Ghana won't be easy and neither will Uruguay or South Korea, but the first two potential matchups are bereft of the traditional powers. Brazil, Portugal, Chile or Spain can't possibly face the U.S. until the semifinals (and Spain may not make the knockout stages at all if the Swiss have their say), while England, Germany, Mexico and Argentina are all on the other side of the bracket, clear of the United States unless they some how wound up in the Final on July 11th, and at that point all bets are off.

Oh and apparently we won't have to worry about the Italians this time around.

So no, I'm not really ready to crown the U.S. for a deep run at the World's greatest sporting event, but as far as roads can go, this is clearly the best one we could have hoped for, particularly since either the U.S., Ghana, South Korea or Uruguay is guaranteed a berth in the semifinals and the Yanks happen to be the highest ranked of that group according to FIFA. Of course, rankings mean bupkis at this point considering that two top ten teams have already punched their tickets home with a third still possibly boarding its return flight.

But before any of that even begins to be considered, Donovan, Jozy Altidore, Tim Howard and crew still have handle the Black Stars, whom Bert feels a bizarrely conflicted yearning to root for. Evidently the volunteering he did in Ghana meant a lot to him. Or something. Regardless, I know whom I will be rooting for, and though I will be watching from my office, come Saturday afternoon I will be glued to the TV as I live and die with the red, white and blue for 90-plus minutes.

And since he's finally done playing tennis, maybe American John Isner will get to watch, too.

18 Hours Until Geelong's First Bounce

I preface this entry with the warning that 99% will probably not care at all about most of what I write about. Don't worry, there's some basketball later. But sometimes you have to do some things for yourself. You know, artistically. So here we go.

Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of my recent jaunt to Israel was a chance encounter with a group of Australian teenagers at our hostel in Jerusalem. No, not that kind of chance encounter. This was a collection of 18-year-old men who hailed from Sydney, and what made the meeting so exciting for me is that it provided a rare opportunity to talk football.

Not this kind of football, or this kind of football. And, uh, certainly not this kind of football.

I'm talking about footy, AFL, Aussie Rules. This kind of football.

I've made mention before of my affection for the Geelong Cats, and I always enjoy the rare chances to talk shop with a native Aussie or any other AFL fan. I'm far from an expert on the game, but in a year or so I've picked up my fair amount of history, and in this case, given that I had just had one of my rare opportunities to use a computer 15 minutes earlier, I actually had the upperhand knowing Western Bulldogs had knocked off St. Kilda in the final of the NAB Cup, a preseason NIT of sorts for the AFL.

Happy to deliver the news we riffed about Gary Ablett and Leo Barry, names that you surely have never heard of before, and both of us compared our own joy over sportsfandom triumphs, in my case Super Bowl XLII, in his Sydney's nail-biting win over West Coast in the 2005 Grand Final, ending a 72-year title drought for the Swannies.


My favorite moment probably came when he asked me if Tom Brady was a huge celebrity in America. I suppose I would have sounded just as silly if I queried about the Australian popularity of Nick Riewoldt.

It wasn't all positive. Sydney has dealt Geelong a heartbreak or two, including one particularly brutal loss in the 2005 Qualifying Final, when the mercurial Nick Davis scored four unanswered goals in the final quarter. But I chose not to bring it up because a) I wasn't watching footy yet when that happened, and b) I was having too much fun just talking footy at all.

I mention this because, as I'm sure you all know, Geelong opens its 2010 campaign tomorrow at the bright and early hour of 4:40 a.m. ET against the Essendon Bombers. Now, surely I would be crazy to wake up early enough to watch this showdown at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but I never claimed to be sane, and I will be in front of the computer with my navy and white hoops on. If anyone wants to come over to watch the excitement, let me know. There will be beer. And chips.

Surely you're all wondering how you can watch tomorrow. While AFL was dropped from its contract with the premium channel Setanta Sports a year ago, ESPN360.com, or as it will be known next month, ESPN3.com, is showing several live matches every weekend, while ESPN2 will have a few live matches throughout the summer, as well as a live broadcast of the 2010 Grand Final on September 25th.



My Cats are defending champions, as some of you may recall, after topping St. Kilda in a thrilling Grand Final last fall. They're coming off their second premiership in three years and third straight appearance in the AFL's championship match, but there are many issues the team is sorting through as the season begins. For starters, tomorrow's game will be the 200th in the Geelong career of Joel Corey, a man responsible for one of the biggest plays in Geelong history as you can see above. Other topics concern whether or not the young Tom Hawkins is due to break out and become a start, how the team will manage in its first year without captain Tom Harley, who retired this offseason and the always tense saga of whether or not Ablett, last year's Brownlow Medalist and considered by many to be the best in the game, will leave Geelong for a lucrative offer with upstart Gold Coast, which begins play as the AFL's 17th franchise next year. The potential distraction, as well as the aging roster even has some of the Cats players thinking this will be their last chance before the window of opportunity closes to take another title.

So basically, yeah, there's a lot to talk about. Get excited. If you can't be bothered to watch online, your first chance to see footy on ESPN2 comes in 15 weeks when Geelong faces Hawthorn, who no doubt will be looking for revenge after essentially getting knocked out of the playoff race by the Cats a season ago when Geelong overcame a 35-point deficit to knock off the Hawks.

Get excited.

Oh yeah, basketball. That NCAA Tournament thing starts again today, and while I will be watching, I'll mostly be rooting for Cornell to knock off Kentucky, thereby ensuring that none of my Final Four teams make it to the Elite Eight and clinching my worst bracket ever. To be honest, at this point I'm far more interested with seeing if the Nets can win one more game (they defeated the Kings last night) to stave off the sole position as the worst team in NBA history. I feel that if Kentucky does, in fact lose to Cornell today, John Calipari, who ironically never had a team this bad when he coached the Nets, will probably take it with more grace than Nets CEO Brett Yormark.

Say what you will about how mismanaged the Knicks were under Isiah Thomas, and don't get me wrong, they were about as mismanaged as a professional sports franchise can be, but at least Bert and I weren't given no guff when we donned our own paper bags a few years ago. With your team chasing the title of "Not the worst team of all time" perhaps it might be wise to avoid an acrimonious relationship with your fan base. After all, you never know when they'll start protesting that you have a job.

Stay Classy, New Jersey.

A New Project Is In The Works And You Could Be A Part Of It

It's been a momentous week here at ARWSMDAS, and no, not just because we're busy celebrating the fourth anniversary of one of the most hilarious political episodes of our time -- though I do hope that I, one day, can have enough power that I can put someone in mortal danger and have them apologize to me.

No, it's been a big week because Bert and I headed down to Philadelphia on Monday for the Devils-Flyers game at Wachovia, where, in addition to finding out that we're both apparently gay, I was able to cross the Flyers off my list. The Devils blew a two-goal lead to their hated rivals, which was frustrating, but I did manage to get some good fodder and Bert and I were able to sit in the fourth row behind the Devils bench until the people who actually owned the seats showed up in the second period.

Why you would wait until the second period to show up when you've spent $200 on each ticket I can't say, but I won't judge.

In any event, there are just 91 teams left and I will have a story on the trip up as soon as I've written it, though that, um, could be a while. But surely you'll all still be on the lookout for it... right?

The other big story is that I'm considering a new side project. As I told Bert during the drive down, when I was 10 years old or so, I decided to write letters to every team in the NFL -- at the time there were only 30 -- just to see what I got back. I was particularly shameless in asking for anything free and autographs of star players, but I was a ten year old. Who was going to hold it against me?

I have all of my responses in a box somewhere and I need to go to my house in New Jersey to dig it up, but I did get a litany of media guides, newsletters, invitations to team-specific kids clubs and schedule magnets. I remember the Jets, in particular, being awfully giving. As far as autographs go, some teams require you to go through the player himself, which I did, in many cases make the steps to do, also shamelessly. The only two I remember receiving were from former Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Warren and Bills and Packers receiver Don Beebe, who despite being a very solid No. 2 receiver for most of his career, is probably best remembered for making Leon Lett look like a total fool when he prematurely celebrated a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII.

Don Beebe's response I personally cherish mostly because he sent his autograph to me in a hand addressed envelope which had my name as the return address and no stamp. I know Beebe wasn't a superstar, but I feel like he could have afforded what was, I believe at the time, the 32-cent stamp on his salary.

The best part? The autograph was on a pamphlet that Beebe is on the cover of about following the light of Jesus. I feel like there was a disconnect there.

In any event, after discussing this with Bert on the long car ride, I decided that 15 years later, it might be an interesting idea to do the whole project over again to see what teams are sending out now. In fact, I may do it every 10 years or so just to see what changes. Only this time, rather than just the NFL, I think I might write to every team in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.

Bert wants it to be abundantly clear that he initially came up with the idea to re-do the process, but until he starts paying for postage he gets no credit.

The results may not be as exciting as this morning's Bruins-Lightning Preview, but I think it would be very interesting to see what materials I get back and I will post them up here as they come along. The only catch is that since I work in the industry, I don't think I should use my actual name, particularly since I have worked with some people who may be in charge of handling the letters.

This is where you all come in. I want this blog to have a relationship with its readers and I want some feedback from the readers. As well, I want you all to feel like you're participating in the journey. So, for this particular project, I would like submissions for what I should say to teams and, in particular, what pseudonym I should be using.

Please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail with ideas.

Lastly, and on a note of personal pride, this week's story on my early exposure to the NHL and my fandom for the New Jersey Devils has drawn enough visitors to put me over the 1,000-hit mark. I know 1,000 hits isn't a particularly huge milestone, but since I just started this a month ago, I think it's a pretty good start.

With any luck this project will continue to grow and the next 1,000 will come even quicker.

Team No. 31 is Officially On the Docket

I've got some exciting news for all of you, and no, it's not the Blackhawks-Sharks Preview I have up this morning.

Yes, that's right. The next step on the journey is officially scheduled for Feb. 8, 2010, when I and the painfully coerced Bert Wyman will drive down to Philadelphia to see the Flyers face off with the Devils at Wachovia Center.

After all, I figure it's the least Bert owes me after I froze my ass off at the Jets-Bengals game earlier this month with him.

The showdown will be the 31st different team I've seen play a home game and so I'm officially calling it the "Mike Piazza Game", though I'm not sure how comfortable I am associating a hero of my teenage years with Philadelphia. I'll find some way to manage.

It will be my first new team of the year, which is good progress since I'm trying to get to six or so new ones before 2011. Of course, that will all depend on how my schedule breaks down. 2010 is already looking like an awfully expensive and busy year.

Stay tuned, though, a full update and a story will be up.... eventually.

In other news, I think we're going to get a pretty strong indicator of just how powerful Sports Illustrated is soon. And by that I mean the New Orleans Saints officially have no chance of winning the Super Bowl. Yes, the SI Cover Jinx doesn't always come through, but after knocking off the two teams featured on regional covers on Championship Sunday, this irrational superstition looks like it's on a roll. Fortunately for Drew Brees and company, there is still another issue set to come out before Super Bowl XLIV kicks off. I would expect a lot of people in the Bayou to hope their native son, Peyton Manning, gets some cover love before the big game.

When You Desperately Want to One-Up SI

I'm not a particularly superstitious man, but my first thought when I saw this week's Sports Illustrated with a screaming Mark Sanchez on the cover was, "The Jets are not winning the Super Bowl."

Though it should be noted that Sports Illustrated released regional covers this week, the SI cover jinx is a long-known old wives tale, and as the Jets shoot for an unlikely berth in their first Super Bowl since the last days of the Johnson administration, this could factor into their heads. Well, actually, the likelihood of that is pretty slim. But either way, for a group of fans as anxious as Jets fans are, it was just about the worst thing they could have seen ahead of this week's AFC Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Just about.

At least that's what I thought until my buddy Bert, who had been trying to convince me to take a spur of the moment trip to Indy this Sunday, showed me an e-mail that was sent to him and, presumably, other Jets fans today containing the image to the right. Now depending on what you read both teams have done this, and yes they are actually selling this already, but how on Earth could any of them feel comfortable tempting fate this way?

I know I wouldn't.

This is just asking for trouble, and with the second-biggest game in franchise history fast approaching, I think most Jets fans wish the NFL Shop could show a little less hubris. If Rex Ryan and company can't knock off the Colts on Sunday, I think they know where to place the blame.

I guess what we can assume from this is the Colts and Saints will probably be facing off in Miami on Feb. 7th.