White Sox is not in the post season - inspite of winning 90 games, Cubs are down there with one of the worst records.... the lows of chicago sports fans.

But then, the Bears are 4-0.... and by the way, in my first ever fantasy league, I am 4-0 as well. Whatelse is new? The Bulls will start the season soon, and we have high hopes for them AGAIN.
 

White Sox will surely make it into the postseason - at the cost of Red Sox - may be, but will we make it far? I doubt it. Unless the pitchers start giving better performances, like the one Contreras gave against the Tigers, we would not get a repeat of what we saw last year. But the race is getting exciting.

 My favorite player in the White Sox is Joe Crede - of course I like the fact that Konerko, Thome and Dye are there, but I "believe" in Crede.


 

So the AL All Star Team had 7 Sox players and NL had 1 Cubs; but I am not here to talk about the All star. What has me puzzling is the turn around after the All star. Sox is on losing streak, now 2-10 since the break, including 2 three series sweeps. And how about the fact that now we are tied with MN Twins for wild card race, and 8 1/2 games behind Detroit. And I thought we would have a smooth cruise into the post season.

Now, Cubs....that's another story. Honestly I have not been following Cubs closely since a long time, but the way they are playing these days is the reason why I love them, and why Chicago is a Cubs town. I hope they keep playing good... I am sad about Cubs not being in the race, but if the way they are playing continues, I am sure we'll make it to .500

yes....I love both Cubs and White Sox. My dream.... to watch these two in world series. I can see the headline: "Crosstown Rivals vie for the City". I can feel the energy flowing through all city dwellers.....well except those rare breeds.....

I was wondering what I will be doing now that the world cup is over? And here are few things that I could do.

1. Bore anyone who cares to listen with bits and pieces of the games.
   
2. Watch the 2nd half of MLB and wish for the Cubs to get into the .500, and White Sox to get into the world series again.
   
3. Wait for the NFL to start and follow it as avidly as football (or to avoid confusion, soccer). Go Bears
   
4. Hope the Bulls get a good run in the beginning, and Ben Wallace's transfer materialize.
   
5. Follow the Chicago Fire on the MLS.
   
6. Enjoy the rest of the summer of Chicago.
   
7. Follow the Euro2008 qualification, EPL, Italian League and Spanish League. If every news runs out, follow any news that's football related.
   

What's on your plate???

From my previous blog:


Am I happy to see that happen? Yes I am. Congratulations Italy.

He was having such a good game, and in a moment, he disappoints everyone. Both teams were playing with so much respect to the other team, and in a moment Zidane does something really vicious, knocking out Materazzi.... Will we ever learn what happened ?? Anguish gets the better of him, and he gets red carded by Elizondo. Elizondo sure gets his moments, sending out the superstars. Beckham in 2000, Rooney in WC 2006 and now Zidane.....

Is Zidane going to get the Golden ball? I guess not. It's Cannavaro now. I feel sorry for Zidane... I would have loved to see Zidane get the ovation he deserved. I still hope he gets the ovation.

My excitement to watch Germany play Portugal is justified. I wanted to see 4 goals, and I saw them. I wanted a scoreline of 4-0 against Portugal, Klose scoring 2 of them, I did not get it. Rather Schweinsteiger came out on top of everyone, scoring his first WC goal on 56th minute and going on rampage then onwards.

It was good to see Portugal play football for real. They gave Germans a hard time with their ball movement in the midfield. With the likes of Deco, Maniche, Ronaldo and Simao (in place for Figo), they can always do that and create havoc on the opposition's defense line. Germans, sans their midfield general Michael Ballack, played the same game we have loved and expected them to play. Oliver Kahn was on the line up and played beautifully, with the captain's arm band, a respect extended to the veteran. Schweinsteiger came up with beautiful goals, but Figo came up with his skills to get a thorough pass to Nuno Gomes... Did Scolari make a tactical mistake by not having Figo start a game?

For the finals, I believe the teams will have lots of midfield game. Italy has one of the best defensive line ups, and so does France. We will get to see Zizou's art work for one last time. He certainly makes French midfield comparatively stronger, but on the offensive end, it's all Italy. With 10 players scoring their 11 goals in this WC, French defense must feel apprehensive of all Italians on field. Oh and how about the goal keepers? Buffon vs. Barthez??? Are we going to see a blooper from Barthez again??? On the whole a good match on the making - hopefully worth of all the time millions of fans all over the world spent for the WC 2006 fiesta.

Did you watch this one? Is the world against Portugal or is it the way they play the game?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QSHB-AQZ1E>

The last time France lost to Portugal was in 1975, and the fact is still true. Les Bleus overcame Portugal with a contentious penalty. Is it justice or is it tragedy? Portugal, which has been criticized over simulations, went down to a simulation. Justice...yes it is... but it's sad to see players falling to take advantage and pressure referees into bad decisions.

Zidane's wild ride continues, and I am pretty confident the final will be a good match. I wanted to see Germany play Portugal, and I am happy I will get a chance to do that. Ronaldo, who was jeered for diving all the times, was the spark of Portugese football. I would love to see him play a match with his talents in football, rather than in acting. He is a good player, there is no doubt about that.

France and Italy meet for the third time in the last decade. France won 1998 WC finals on shoot outs, Euro 2000 on 2-1. The final will be evenly contended, both teams started slow and overcame all barriers to reach finals. Oh by the way, could it happen that the game will get into the shoot outs and Italy win? Italy has already overcome one of their nemesis: overtime. I believe it's time for them to get into the shoot outs and overcome that fear as well.

It was good to see Zidane and Henry embracing each other after the game. France, however good the team is, lacks the chemistry, and it's nice to see such players putting aside their egos and coming together for the game. It's the beauty of football.

Germany and Italy both came strong into the semifinals. Germany have been playing attacking football, and impressed everyone, even their critics with their game plan (and style). Italy started slow, but their confidence must be ebbing with the match they played against Ukraine. And the last time these two met, Italy won an easy game, but the Germans were experimenting with their team at that time.

Jens Lehmann still has not committed any error, and that kind of makes me nervous. Italy's defense and the German offense will be a good match. But as I said before, the winner of Germany and Argentina gets into the finals. Just so you know, I love Italy; Totti being one of my best players, and in my dream team.

Into the half time, both teams have played some good offensive games, and the game started getting little physical towards the end of first half. At the middle of first half, I was thinking the game is going in to the shoot outs, the defenses getting the better of the offense on both halves of the field. But the later part was different, the offense making shots, promising the second half to be more entertaining.

Into the OT again. I am sure Italy will like to avoid the shoot outs. Here are some facts: Germany never lost a match in this stadium, Italy never lost a match to Germany in WC. Italy has not lost 23 straight matches coming into this game. Go figure.

I am still up for shoot outs.

Italy were definitely the better team in the OT. Two shots hitting the crossbar within a minute was a sign of pushing forward. If you remember the WC 1990, the team which hit the crossbar first always ended losing. It was not to be so today. Italy scored two goals at the last 2 minutes of OT. They have definitely been able to avoid OT with Australia before, and now they avoided shoot outs. May be it's time for Italy (or fans like me: I know I wanted Germany to go through, but I never said I did not like Italy) to get over the fear of OT and shoot outs. How does shoot out sounds in the finals?

I hope I get to see Germany play Portugal for the third place and win by big margin. Honestly I believe out of the four semifinalists, only Germans could play Portugese. So, how can France beat Portugal in the other game? Zizou and his magic....

England was perhaps the team with the most talented players in this world cup - Beckham, Owen, Gerrard, Rooney, Terry, Cole and Cole, Ferdinand, Lampard, Carragher, Hargreaves, Neville... the list could go on to the 23rd man.... I guess that would be Theo Walcott. But they could not combine as a team and played a very dour football most of the times. Gerrard and Lampard, one of the best midfielders in the football, were not able to combine together to bring the best. Beckham was mostly invisible, and when he started playing some football from the knock out rounds, he had to be substituted both times. Rooney was a doubt before the world cup, and when he was fit and in the line, England lost Owen to ACL.

Instead of playing with 2 strikers Eriksson decided to go with 4-5-1, with a lone striker. Of course he had good mid fielders who could score all the times, but still it was frustrating for the striker, specially if the striker happened to be Rooney - the whizkid with a flaring temper. I had a hunch he would get a red card in the match with Portugal. Portugal plays a physical game, and Rooney gets frustrated pretty quick. And then the game was referred by Horatio Elizondo, who gave Beckham a red card in World cup championship in 2000. Beckham later on admitted that he was reckless and lost his temper. There is the connection for you.

We will be talking about what-ifs for a long time. What if England did not lose Owen to ACL? What if England did not lose Beckham to injury at 52nd minute? What if Rooney did not receive the red card? Honestly I think it was a bit harsh on him... getting a red card for pushing Cristiano Ronaldo, after Rooney tangled up with Portugese defender. It was a clever move by Ronaldo. They play together for Manchester United, and they know each other better. Along with the frustration of being a lone striker and not being fed into, Rooney had to fight his natural instincts to fight for the ball in the half. Rooney is infamous for his temper, and Ronaldo took advantage of it. He went to talk to Rooney, and Rooney pushed him away before Elizondo, who gave Rooney a straight red card.

Rooney and Ronaldo - the new stars of the new generation - talented and dangerous, but what a difference. Where as Rooney plays the game with the spirit, Ronaldo is infamous for diving in and does not miss chances to get players ejected. He was successful this time to get Rooney, the dangerous English man in the field, a red card.

Even with ten men, England played a very good game. England was finally playing a very good football, and the next thing we know.. they are out of competition. Portugal is a good team, but they should play more and act less. England has a bad history with shoot outs in WC, and even with the advantage of two portugese missing the net, England lost it again... the credit goes to Ricardo for the saves from Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher, who was brought in specially for the shoot out. That's another what-if. What if Carragher had not taken an early shot (which he scored) before the whistle? Could Ricardo have made the save? He read the players well... in the Euro 2004 and WC 2006 as well.

The fact, inspite of all the what-ifs, is that the strongest English team so far, heralded by so many to win this cup, goes home early. The golden generation of English football is at the end. Only if Eriksson had gone with 2 strikers from the start....And would it have helped if he had read the Churchill speech to his team before the game? Clearly everyone is under the impression that he didnot motivate his players.

I thought of writing a single blog for the World Cup, but of course it would be stupid to capture the whole saga in a single blog. So, here is a bit of cut-paste from the last blog and I will update it as the world cup moves on.

6/29/06:I am nervous about the game tomorrow. I would like to see both Germany and Argentina going forward...but then I would like to see England and Italy in the finals as well. For some weird reason I don't have as much affection for Brazil as I used to. And I like France to beat Brazil and I believe Scolari is able to turn his magic wand on his team again....That leaves Ukraine: my surprise team. It's such a difficult call. Since 1990, Italy has been knocked out in shoot outs for three times and OT once.... I am sure they would like to win the game in the regulation time. Ukraine is more or less one man team, but Croatia was 2 man team in WC2000. I am giving up on Ukraine and going with Italy.... Germany and Italy for tomorrow.

6/30/06 10:45 A.M. : Germany 0-0 Argentina. There is too much midfield possession and both teams are playing with caution, I guess trying to tire the other team, so far not the kind of match everyone hoped it would be.
6/30/06 11:52 A.M. : Germany 1-1 Argentina, and we are into the OT. Argentina scored early in 2nd half and started playing defensive, substituting Riquelme and Crespo. Aimar and Messi are on bench as well. Klose became the first player to score 5 or more goals in consecutive WC.
6/30/06 12:31 P.M. :Germany 1-1 Argentina. It's the penalty shoot outs. I hate it when a game ends in shoot out. Both teams are dog tired, and both teams have 3-0 WC record in shoot outs. Which one is going to get 4-0? I hope it's Germany.
6/30/06 12:43 P.M.:Congratulations Germany...and Congratulations Klinsmann. Jens Lehmann was terrific, reading all the shoot outs and stopping two of them. Germany wins 5-3. I feel sorry for Argentina, and the injury to the Argentina's first choice keeper. They had to substitute the keeper, which is one reason why there was no Messi or Aimar on the field. I would have loved to see them more in the WC. Don't cry Argentina, you were the better team. But this WC would have been bland without Germany in there.

Italy vs Ukraine: Italy will win the game in regulation time. I don't want them going into the shoot outs, what with their history for last 4 finals.

6/30/06 2:50 P.M.:Zambrotta gave Italy a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute. This game is moving fast and both teams are making efforts at the goal. Ukraine already made 2 substitutions because of injuries.
6/30/06 3:53 P.M.:I hoped Italy would win 3-0, and thanks to Luca Toni scoring 2 goals in the 2nd half, the score was 3-0 Italy. The game however were full of opportunities for Ukraine. I am proud of my surprise team... They went down like the brave warriors.

Luca Toni finally get into the score sheet. And Italy has yet to concede a goal from opposing team. The only goal Italy conceded in this WC was an own goal against US. Italy has always had a good defensive team. The trend is still there.

For tomorrow's games, my heart goes to England. As I said earlier, it's a team with great individuals, but they have to play like a team. However, Portugal are playing very strongly under Scolari, and Scolari is a better coach than Eriksson. I didnot like the moves Eriksson made in WC 2002 against Brazil and Euro 2004 against Portugal. England was leading in both games, and with nearly 30 minutes to go, Eriksson went all defensive. I hope (read pray) he would not do that when England leads (yes it will) tomorrow.

Brazil, a team with superstars, will go down against France. My take France wins 2-1 (or 3-1). Hopefully Zidane and Henry will combine for a goal finally, in almost 60 international games they played together, there has been not a single assist from Zidane. They play different games, Zidane likes to slow down, Henry's speed is his lethal weapon. When it comes to team chemistry, Les Bleus sees red.

7/1/06 10:47 A.M.: England is finally playing a beautiful football they are capable of. "Three times is the charm", I hope it's going to be true for England. England lost last two matches with Portugal in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, Scolari eliminated England from WC 2002 quarterfinals with Brazil and again from Euro 2004 quarterfinal s with Portugal. Eriksson should get his glory moment after all these years. Score tied at half time, England 0-0 Portugal.
7/1/2006 11:51 A.M.:England 0-0 Portugal, but England is playing with 1 man down. Rooney was sent off by the same referee who sent off Beckham in World Club Championship 2000. It's all thanks to Rooney's temper, and Cristiano Ronaldo. And England is sans Beckham as well, after he was substituted with injury. Honestly someone should send a memo to Portugese that it's a world cup and not a drama competition.
7/1/2006 12:45 P.M.:Portugal ousted England in the penalty shoot outs: end o####olden generation for England. England fought like the three lions they are, but missed 3 of their 4 shoot outs, actually Ricardo saved all three. Unbelievable. Still more unbelievable is the fact that the misses were by Lampard, Gerrad and Carragher. England is 0-3 in WC shoot outs.

I know I picked France over Brazil, but now I want Brazil to win, so that they can beat Portugal in the semifinals.

7/1/06 2:48 P.M.: Brazil and France are playing a world class football. Both teams making fast breaks and shots on goals. Zizou looks to be in his best and is showing the world what he is capable of - The magic of Zidane. Ronaldinho has been fairly quiet the whole world cup, is this time for him to wake up and show the world why he is the FIFA World Player of the Year for consecutive years now. Brazil 0-0 France.
7/1/06 3:53 P.M.: France wins the game on Zidane's free kick and Henry's goal. Finally...Zidane has an assist in Henry's goal. Zizou was terrific, and Brazil instead of having such an attacking force did not test Brathez until the end. Good work from France's defense. Now Brazil got a new nemesis: France. Brazil's two recent losses in WC are against France.

Today was the day for big names to go down.

I am no football pundit, but being an avid fan of football, I take on this liberty to opine about the greatest football saga, about the results and my picks in the games to come.

Group A: My pick were Germany and Poland, but Eucador came in strong and made the Polish go home early. Germany is playing entertaining matches under Klinsmann, giving the audiences lots of goals to cheer for.

Group B: England and Sweden, although I must say Trinidad & Tobago gave a scare and left some impressions in their debut. Paraguay, unlike Eucador, could not be effective. For Sven Goran Eriksson, it's tragic that he lost Owen to ligament tear before Rooney's comeback was even complete.

Group C: Argentina and Netherlands from the "Group of Death". Ivory Coast and Serbia & Monte#### were good, but Argentina and Netherlands are the teams with the balance and depth, and the real football pundits see them as the contenders for the championship. It was just a matter of who would come out as group winner between Argentina and Netherlands. It's good to see Argentina play like the 3 time champions again. Holland has always been good...but unlucky. Can they change it this time?

Group D: Portugal and Mexico were my teams in this group, and Portugal is playing better than Euro2004, and Luiz Scolari has done a really good work with the team.

Group E: It was a big disappointment. If Group C had not been group of death, then this would have been the one. Italy and Ghana made it through, and my picks were Italy and Czech. United States is unlucky to be in this group, Ghana however pulled the biggest upset. And the Italy-USA match will be long remembered as the worst referred one, at least in this WC.

Group F: My picks were Brazil and Croatia, but Australia came up with a big upset to get into the 16 by sending Croatia and Japan home.

Group G:France and Switzerland...and they are in the last 16 but in reverse order. I felt bad for Zinedine Zidane when he received yellow card in the match against South Korea, ruling him out of last group match against Togo. It could have been Zidane's last match... Thanks to Henry and Vierra, France is in the sweet 16.

Group H:Spain and Ukraine, and Spain looks promising this time around, scoring goals finally. Even though Spain is 12-8-0 since Luis Aragones took over, they had problems with scoring goals and at one time had difficulty qualifying for this WC.

Some of the games I would not like to miss:

1. Germany vs Sweden: Because Germany is playing dominant football and Swedes are fighters. I hope they don't play like the semifinals against Brazil in 1994. I was so disappointed with Sweden that day.

2. Portugal vs Netherlands: Tough tie for Portugal. My pick is Holland, not because it is better than Portugal(which it is),but because this will give us an opportunity to watch one of the most passionate football games: England vs Netherlands: if both make it through to the last 8.

3. Italy vs Ukraine: Ukraine, as I mentioned earlier, is my surprise team, like the S.Korea in 2002 and Croatia in 1998. I believe they have quality players to pull major upsets but I have a soft spot for Italy. Tough one for me.

4. Brazil vs Spain/France: Ghana already pulled few upsets in the group matches (2-0 vs Czech, 2-1 vs USA) and they will need lots of luck and moreover quality to beat Brazil. The Spain/France match will be a good one, since both have good players and are vulnerable as well. At this point, Spain looks like stronger of the two. But the next match with Brazil will be worth watching.... unless Ghana comes up with the biggest upset.

More later... Keep the ball rolling.

6/24/2006: Germany-Sweden was entertaining; although Sweden was a bit out of luck to lose Lucic to yellow cards and to miss the spot kick. Mexico gave the world scare by scoring first goal against Argentina in 5th minute. I thought Mexico would play defensive but Mexico was the better team today, but lost to Argentina in OT. Brace yourself for the Germany-Argentina saga.... I think it's the first time these teams meet after the world cup finals in 1990 (Germany won 1-0). Germany is perhaps the only team entertaining the audiences, just like Klinsmann promised.

Tomorrow another great game is on the making. England has perhaps the best individual players, but as a team they are not performing well. I hope they, specially Beckham who have been a disappointment so far, raise their quality. Holland and Portugal should be highly entertaining.

6/25/06:Another lackluster game for England, at least the first half, against Eucador. Beckham was more involved, but not as much as I would like him to be, however he became the first Englishman to score in 3 consecutive WC finals with a terrific goal from free kick that paved the path for England into the quarter finals.

As for Holland/Portugal match, it set a record for 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards. The game was physical and the referee lost control of the game. I was not expecting physical games from the men of Marco Van Basten and Scolari. Portugal was the better team and deserved to go into the last 8. Holland, once again was unlucky to go home early. The match was a reminder of Euro2004 semifinals. I was more or less neutral, however I felt bad for Van Basten.

It's a England-Portugal rematch, England lost to Portugal in Euro2004 in penalty shoot outs.

6/26/06:Another dull matches, but my teams made it through. Totti converting the penalty to get a win for 10 men Italy against Australia in the injury time (3 seconds before the final whistle), and Ukraine sending Switzerland home (without conceding a single goal in the whole WC) in shootouts. So, it's Italy vs Ukraine. Remember Ukraine is my surprise team... let's see if it can overcome the Italians.

6/27/06:Ronaldo became the all time leading scorer in WC finals with his 15th goal. Ghana could not stop Brazil. Les Bleus on the other side overcame the energetic Spaniards with their experience. Spain, once again turned out to be underachievers. The last time France and Brazil met was 1998 WC finals which France won 3-0. For some reasons, I want France to win again.