Roundhouse Kick To The Face!

So I have to admit....I am struggling with my lack of access to the internets lately with the new job, and I don't want to make any excuses....so what is everyone else's excuse? Does everyone else have limited access to the internets? Is there nothing going on that's worth talking about? What about the Sonics' arena? ...the viaduct/tunnel/hybrid? ...the University of Washington's potential seeding in the NIT? (That's right Jimbo...pushing buttons, just like I always do.) Maybe we are all just wound a little too tightly these days...

All the movie geeks around here and not one comment on the Oscars? Are we all just waiting for 2.0? I'll admit, I'm half afraid to post anything about movies here sometimes, because I look at movies a little less critically than some of my fellow Lodgemates. Was it entertaining? 'check' ...okay, pretty good movie then. The question then becomes...do I try and actually 'review' a movie or should I just stick to my guns and tell everyone that they suck because they don't think that 'American Flyers' was one of Kevin Costner's greatest performances? My answer? C'mon Shawn...stop being a wuss and show some backbone...stick to the guns and flip them the bird. (Speaking of movies...did we ever get to see MCP's top 3?)

Last Monday, as the night wore on and on....we inevitably began discussing the Sonics arena idea. Needless to say, a heated topic after a few pints. I mention this only because the other heated topics included burned out rock stars (a.k.a. - Police Reunion tour), bowling equipment, the hot mom factor and Elvis' hairstyle. Does this mean that we had too many pints? Possible, but for this purpose, no. This tells me that there is a lot of passion in The Lodge, and while the passion is occasionally associated with important stuff....it's usually the less important stuff that is the most fun to talk about. So, let's stop taking ourselves so seriously. Maybe we need to reunite with the less important stuff a little....that might resurrect things a bit. Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? ....that is the whole point.

Just Because

She came in through the bathroom window
protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wonders
By the banks of her own lagoon

Didn't anybody tell her
Didn't anybody see
Sunday's on the phone to Monday
Tuesday's on the phone to me

She said she's always been a dancer
She worked at fifteen clubs a day
And though she thought I knew the answer
Well I knew what I could not say

And so I quit the Police Department
And got myself a steady job
And though she tried her best to help me
She could steal, but she could not rob

Didn't anybody tell her
Didn't anybody see
Sunday's on the phone to Monday
Tuesday's on the phone to me....Oh Yeah

The Greatest $500 Million Dollar Drawing of All-Time

Man, this sure would've been nice for the Re'en.

What is Science?

I'm not exactly sure the answer to the headline question anymore after reading this story. I'm not sure if it was the concept of a remote-controlled pigeon or the 10 minutes of conceptualizing what I could do with a remote-controlled pigeon that bothered me more, but I'm fairly certain it was one of them.

Anyway...happy Dominican Republic Independence Day, without this day Big Papi, Poo-holes, Guerrero, Tejada, Pedro, Sosa and Manny would all be Haitian...

1 down.... 3 to go

CHELSEA 2
ARSENAL 1

Blue is the color and Chelsea is the name. Age over youth in the Carling Cup Final. Drogba scores the winner in the 84th min with a clinical finish. The young men of North London put up a strong fight and should be applauded for their cup run. The game did have a rather violent end which resulted in two red cards and two yellow. Arsenal's Kalou Toure started the fracas with hay makers thrown at Chelsea's John Obi after Obi tugged at Toure's jersey. Then the benches cleared and cards were handed out. This marred a great game which I was able to listen to on BBC London via the internets.


I have to say for large parts of the 1st half Arsenal were the better team and Chelsea defenders were having trouble keeping pace with Walcott and Fabregas. Walcott got the match off to a flying start with a goal in the 12 min but Drogba was able to equalize 8 min later. The game went info halftime 1-1

Shortly after half time Chelsea's john Terry was dealt another injury. After a Shaun Alexander like recovery from an ankle sprain in CL play. He was predicted to be out for up to 6 weeks. He might have thought about staying on the bench this afternoon. In the 56th min he took a boot to the face and was knocked unconscious and had to be stretchered off the pitch. (see below pic)


The games extra time was extended an almost unheard of 7 min as a result of the accident. The picture alone says it all. Later reports on BBC said that Terry was awake at the hospital and had full memory of the game and what was going on. Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery. I am convienced this man is cursed but none the less he is one tough hombre.

The game was tense throughout most of the 2nd half. Chelsea rattled the post with cracking shots from Sheva and Lampard in the final minutes. Chelsea was able to form up there back line and keep Arsenal bottled up. Late in the game Essien was able to pry the ball away from an Arsenal player and passed the ball up to Robben(great game, 2.0 would be proud) who crossed the ball into the box to a waiting Drogba who headed the ball home for the winner.

EPL WEEKEND SCORES

Fulham 1-2 Man U
Blackburn 3-0 Pompy
Spurs 4-1 Bolton
Charlton 4-0 West Ham
Everton 3-0 Watford
Brough 2-1 Reading

Its Been a While

Yes, I'm combining geek and pop together. In a sports filled lodge as of late, we need to wind down with some trivial Britney Bashing.

And yes, I am still flipping out due to work/school/girl.

I thank the gracious sighting of Train this morning as he reminded me that The Black Lodge still exists. (even though he tried to dodge out of the way thinking I was going to hit him with my car.)

NBA trade Deadline Looms Near

Does anyone actually care?

Chewbacca vs. Worf

So I found this pretty cool site (that no longer runs "fights"... apparently after 248 matches, they ran out of ideas) called World Wide Web Fights where they pose imaginary grudge matches with iconic real-life and/or fictional figures. The match linked above pits the Lodge's favorite Wookie against the Trekkies favorite Klingon. The geek factor is uncharted here. Needless to say, the site reminded me of Jimbo's That Guy matchups from Lodge past. Good times.

UEFA CL DAY 1 QUICK REVIEW

CELTIC 0-0 AC MILAN

AC had most of the chances in this game. Celtic will be hard pressed to progress through to the round of 8. They have a mighty task ahead of them. I believe they desperatly needed to capture some goals at home. Playing the next match at the San Siro behind closed doors will be a hard game for players to get motivated but if you can't motivate yourself for the CL then you don't deserve to be there.



LILE 0-1 MAN U

MAN U Pretty much dominated the match and finished off the plucky Frenchies with a Giggs goal in the 83rd. The only real item of note was the apperent uproar over the games safty after altercations with policy and fans escalated. UEFA is currently launching an investigation into the saftey concerns.





PSV 1-0 ARSENAL

Edison Mendez nets the winner for PSV in the 61st min. PSV were on the heels most of the night and in all honesty had no business winning this match verses a superior Arsenal side. In the 65th min Sun Xiang became the first Chinese player ever to play in a CL match.





REAL MADRID 3-2 BAYERN MUNICH (GAME OF THE DAY)

Van bommell kept the German side within sight of advancing with a stunning late goal to bring the away goal rule possibly into play after the second leg match in a fortnight. Madrid got off to a quick start with two goal from Raul. The first was a cheaky flick into the net after a save attempt by Cromagnon Kahn. The Lodge's favorite Dutchman scored off a Beckham free kick to make the score line 3-1 in Madrid's favor going into halftime. After the start of the second half the momentum switched and Munich turned on the pressure and Madrid looked lost. Munich might have done just enough to move on. Away goals are huge in this competition.

The all Lodge Hollywood Football Team

All time Lodge Hollywood Football Team

There is All Madden, All Pro, All World. Now we have All Lodge
I give you the All time Hollywood football Team

I eliminated certain movies like the Waterboy. Adam Sandler’s character wasn’t really realistic. Yes I know that Keanu Reeves wasn’t really a viable QB (Replacements, Point Break), but he at least made an effort for the character without being a goofball.

So here are Gooses picks:

QB

I chose Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe (Longest Yard). Veteran QB with Pro Experience. Also tough as nails and spent time in the Pen. Good leader with good skills

Paul Blake from Necessary Roughness would be an honorable mention

Backup QB
Great athletic skills but a poor leader. Wille Beamon is young. He needs some time to develop behind Crewe. He is QB of the future, and will keep the ladies Creamin…..

RB
I have two tailbacks in mind. My starter is Julian Washington played by LL Cool J in “Any Given Sunday”. My 3rd down scatback is Darnell Jefferson (Omar Epps in the Program). Julian will carry the load 25 times a game. Darnell will be in on passing downs and as a change of pace.

Honorable Mention – Boobie Myles. Friday Night Lights

FB
Don Billingsly. Friday Night lights. 4th down. Late in the game. The kid shows guts.

WR
I had to get past all the stereotype WR’s in football movies that are fast, but cannot catch until the last play of the game.
My two WR’s are
Brian Murphy- the Deaf WR from the Replacements. Once you learned how to communicate with him…he could catch anything.
Rod Tidwell. Jerry Maguire. He learned how to be a pro WR. He showed poise and was able to catch the ball over the middle

TE
I could not remember any real standout tight ends in any movie. This is open for discussion.

OL

My two Beefy tackles are Louie Lastick from Titans and Andre Kim (Sinbad) from Necessary Roughness. Offensive guards are Andre and Jamal Brown (Replacements). These two protected the QB, and shot up a Porsche when Shane Falco was messed with. That’s Loyalty. At Center, you need a big Samoan. I chose Manumanu from Necessary roughness.

On defense my strength was at LB. So I put in a 4-4 with only 1 safety.

DT
This position like TE lacked a standout player. It is open for discussion

DE
This will be a 3 man rotation. Julias Campbell (Remember the Titans) and Ivory Christian are my every down players. Until the last play of the game. When I sub Ivory for Rudy (5ft nothin’….hundred and nothing”)

LB

My 4 Horseman LB’s are as follows
Gary Bertier (Remember the Titans) Captain of the defense and the vocal leader Left Side…STRONG SIDE
Daniel Batemen (Jon Favreau in Replacements) Ex SWAT and full of enthusiasm
Luther “Shark” Lavay (LT in Any given Sunday). He’s my speed and pass rusher
Eric Samurai Hansen (Necessary Roughness) A warrior who takes no crap. He is the toughness of my group

CB

My two shutdown corners are Stefen Djordjevic (Tom Cruise in All the right Moves). Solid #2 corner

My #1 corner is Doctor Death (from Best of times) Yes he got beat on the last play of the game by Jack Dundee. Every good corner gets beat, and I’ll bet Dr Death would never get beat by that move again.

S
Earl Wilkenson (Replacements) Ball Hawking Safety that patrols the middle well

Special Teams Player
Vincent Papale (Invincible) All Heart. No Fear. Willing to light his hair on fire to make the team. Perfect special teamer

Kicker
Nigel Gruff (Replacements) Welsh born kicker that can boot 60 yard field goals. As long as he is not gambling, he is money.

Coach

The toughest call to make but I chose Herman Boone. You need a coach that can handle all sorts of Adversity and still win. Boone had to deal with racial issues and the loss of bertier for the championship game

Well there you have it. any thoughts? Discussion and debate are welcome

This will serve as the last Goose Football post until End of March. Free Agency and Draft talk will begin at that time.

You Know What I'm Gonna' Say...No We Don't

For anyone that can remember, MTV used to be home to things other than...well...I'm not really sure what MTV is now...Anyway...since I'm a little bleary from last night and the Lodge seems a little dead...I thought we could use a little help from Louie...

Thoughts while wondering how we can amend the 43rd President of the United States from this glorious day

While I sit in my empty office pissed off because I'm not going to get any new Netflix until Thursday instead of Wednesday this week, I've been thinking about the following news items, maybe you have too:

*it appears that Michael Irvin's karma might have peaked last month with the nod over Art Monk for the NFL Hall...he can now look for a return to "The Worst F'N Sports Show on TV"...and frankly, in the mind of one disillusioned 'Boys fan...this has been a long time coming...now let's get Sterling Sharpe back...


*in a big weekend in NFL news, looks like the premier butt-faced posterboy had a wtf moment when his ex-girlfriend announced that #12 can now be referred to as..."My Baby's Daddy"...Ron Jaworski is already set to announce and give post-game breakdown of the birth...

*It looks like the ghost of Jimmy Hoffa might actually be buried at Qwest Field afterall!...good news though...if the unions are busted...maybe beers might go down to only $20 bucks for 12oz...(somewhere my industrial revolution ancestors are picketing me out of the family burial site)

*Where the f was this technology when Jerry Garcia was still alive?

*also, in news that I'll never fully understand...44.5 Million?...really?...f'n Ghostrider?... I think I'm ready to give myself over to the Church of Cage...

*didn't watch either the 500 or All-Star Game...however I did see Detroit win the team challenge on Saturday with a pushing 3 bills Laimbeer throwing up half-court shots like Ollie from Hoosiers...I can't imagine either competition could top that...

*Finally...The Champions League is back this week bitches!!!...you know what that means...nothing...except that I have something to do on Tuesday and Wednesday night!!!

An Outbreak, Juiced Up Cars & A Westseatown President's Day Bowling Celebration

Finally! I thought that I would get back to the regular schedule after a few months of getting pummeled by school and a new job....it's The Lodge for chrissakes! Let's get those priorities straight! Seriously though, Mr. & Mrs. Seatown have just spent the better part of the last 2 weeks fighting off a Northeast Seattle outbreak of the Motaba virus. Not to worry though...we were able to get our hands on some E-1101, so the outbreak has been contained.

I think that Tim Hardaway has gotten enough attention in the last 24 hours....so I'm just gonna let him fade away into the abyss of former celebrity types that don't know when to shut the hell up.....right after I make one comment because of something I heard on my way home from school last night. Last night, ESPN radio took a call from a guy that asked "why are people letting Tim Hardaway off the hook on this now that he has apologized? ....I mean, Michael Richards has been condemned by everyone for his comments on African-Americans....since when does race hit a bigger nerve than sexual preference?" Ummm, wow. First of all....no....people aren't letting the guy off the hook. (And how could you after such a quarter-hearted apology) It's only been 48 hours and the frickin' Wikipedia page on Tim Hardaway has been updated with the "homophobia controversy" taking up half the space! Godbless the internets. Do I need to go into why race hits a bigger nerve since, well.....forever?

Now on to the biggest issue that everyone is just blowing off like it's nothing......what the hell is up with steroids in NASCAR? The hallowed ground of Daytona has been scarred! Is no sport sacred? What could be next? Roger Federer is a robot? ...and Tiger Woods is in love with him?? (Tim Hardaway's head explodes). Seriously though, does this really surprise anyone? Shutup about it already. It's called competitive advantage...and these are rednecks, need I say more? Did any of you hear Jeff Gordon's reaction when he found out that his car had failed it's inspection after he won the 150 lap qualifier? He was like "Seriously? ...man, that sucks! ....I'm really angry about that!" Now that is the kind of guy that everyone could use for a dad. "Hey dad....I got busted at school for smoking pot....and my grades are really crappy....so I've decided to just quit school and drive cars for a living" "Seriously? ...man, that sucks! ....I'm really angry about that!"

Now here's a big difference between being an amateur driver and a professional.....because I've been using "the cream" and "the clear" on my ride for a looooong time now, and believe me...it really pays some huge dividends....it really gets right in and takes the dirt right off. But, I have really been looking for something to give me that extra get-up-and-go y'know? Leave it to a redneck to figure out that dumping moonshine into the gas tank has been the missing ingredient all this time. What are we going to do about the NASCAR record books? How do we know that everyone wasn't juicing up their rides? Petty? Earnhardt? Allison? ...and to think, I used to believe you were the greatest.

Now the important stuff...Monday is the official observation of President's Day, and schools are closed (at least mine is). In order to properly celebrate the nation's first landscape architect, lawn bowler and home brewer....there will be a President's Day Beer & Bowling-a-thon on Monday evening. WS Bowl, 8:30 pm. We can discuss the upcoming Lebowski-fest, the newest presidential candidates and of course the demise of the Mariners' season before it begins.

Dwight The Vampire Slayer

I had to give a shout out for tonight's episode of "The Office". Guess why?

A Valentine from our favorite wookie and his special guest

Happy V-Day to the Lodge

The rite of late winter is upon us...although the significance has dwendled a bit...it still beats the hell out of the Grammys...

49th Grammy Awards

The 49th Annual Grammy Awards were last night. Being a big fan of music, the Grammys are probably my favorite awards show. Yep, even more than the Oscars. I usually get pissed about terrible Oscars snubs at least 2-3 times per Academy Awards show, but the Grammy's are consistently fair in their choices, in my opinion. For example, back in 2000, Christina Aguilera beat out Macy Gray, Kid Rock, Britney Spears and Susan Tedeschi. Back in the day, it was an upset. Now, pretty damn spot on.

A brief history on the Grammys can be found here. While you can click here for all of this year's nominees and winners. You can also watch some video highlights at the same site. But I'll give ya'll a rundown of the festivities, from the red carpet to the performances, to the winners. On point, as the kids say.

Best dressed? Well, Scarlett Johanssen was there for no reason other than to look smokin hot. The wife threw a fit that she was there. Although I think we are all winners that she made it out for the event. And since I know the Kennish will demand it, some other fashion "highlights" and other notables of the included... Fergie not looking as trashy as she usually does. Shakira looking hot on stage, but she sported an 80's perm on the carpet. Not good. And I can't stand her music, Carrie Underwood was probably the best dressed overall. Even if she looks like a Barbie. Somebody needs to tell Cee-Lo that polka-dots aren't slimming. And Brooke Hogan "looks like a drag queen", according to Jenny. I kind of agree. Mandy Moore looked like she made her own dress out of a curtain. Jamie Foxx got off his valet side job and made it just in time. And Luda was the best dressed of the guys. He joked later, after winning for Best Rap Album, that he got it because he cut his hair. Not really funny... but the album is pretty good. Easily the worst dressed was Singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, who wore a dress created by a fan who contacted her through her website. Just imagine what it would look like if she was attacked by a plant and lost the fight. It looked worse than that.

The 49th Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles kicked off with a comeback performance by The Police, who are back together almost 25 years after releasing their last album. They brought it with a nice rendition of "Roxanne". Sting even sported a Feyd-Rautha-esque spiked hairstyle. By the way, the sound was terrible in the room they were in. Echoes throughout the night.

JT brought it with my favorite song off his nominated album in "What Goes Around". There was an ongoing "vote" for one of three girls, that looked pretty much identical, on who got to perform with JT at the end of the night. Terrible idea. They showed the 3 of them at least 8,983 times throughout the night. At one point, Jenny exclaimed, "I want to go back in time and lock those 3 in a closet or punch them so they couldn't make it tonight." Wow. She's a hater, folks.

Chris Brown... who? Ya, I said the same thing. But he actually put in a nice performance following legends Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie. Nobody told Smokey that 70 yo dudes should probably button up their shirts apparently. Lionel sung "Hello" on a grand piano in the middle of the crowd. That song is effing catchy even 20 years later.

The aforementioned Christina sang "Man's World" in tribute to James Brown's passing. That girl has some pipes. And a good voice too. Mary J. Blige wore a red one piece for a performance with Ludacris that looked like a giant camel-toe. Yes, it was funny. Jenny didn't like that joke though. "She looks nice," the hater disagreed. James Blunt followed up with my song of the year in "You're Beautiful". Sure, it's been overplayed. But the song is a friggin' hit.

Towards the end of the show, I almost turned off the broadcast when the Red Hot Chili Peppers came out to play a song. Honestly, I wish they would have quit after that "Bridge" song and appearing in the Lodge Favorite Point Break. I am an FBI Agent!

But the big winner of the night was really Rick Rubin. He won for Producer Of The Year. He produced the Dixie Chicks multi-winning album, the Chili Peppers winning album, and the fifth Johnny Cash American V album. If this guy doesn't get a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 20 years, it'll be a travesty. The Chicks walked away with five awards in all, four years after losing tons of redneck fans by criticizing President Bush. Of course, Jenny believes that, "public opinion is so bad right now against Bush that the Dixie Chicks are winning Grammys because of it." She's probably right too. The album is good... but the best of the year? No. Although it was cool to see Al Gore announce the award. [Side note: I finally saw An Inconvenient Truth over the weekend. Wow. Phenomenal documentary. If you watch it and don't go out and at least buy energy-saving light bulbs, instant karma might show up to your front door. I'm just sayin']

I'll end this with a quick note about my Dad. Pops used to be a bi-partisan voter, but then Clinton performed well during the 90's and Dubya came into office. Now my dad is a raving Democrat. He even has a bumper sticker on his truck reading, "Somewhere in Texas a village is missing an idiot". I mention this because dad bought the Dixie Chicks album just to support their stance against Bush. Because, in case you haven't heard, the Chicks aren't ready to make nice.

Switched Sides?

Hey, I'm not saying he's turned on us... but why is Chewy seen here holding a Star Trek magazine? Very fishy, indeed. Looks like Devo might have gotten to him. Or all of this Battlestar Galactica talk has rubbed off on the big guy.

Geek News You Can Use

It’s Baaaaack.

Finally, after what feels like forever “Lost” returns with 16 episodes in a row. Tonight’s episode is called “Not in Portland” and is going to follow Juliet in the flashbacks. The producers have promised that they’re going to start giving some attention to the rest of the cast real soon, but this episode still deals solely with Jack, Sawyer & Kate.




The Gunslinger Returns

Today is the release of one of the biggest comic book events of the last decade, and it doesn’t involve anyone in tights.

Stephen King is continuing his “Dark Tower” series in comic book form, beginning with a seven issue mini-series called “Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born”. If you’re not familiar with the Dark Tower, you should check the series out. It’s definitely not your stereotypical King work.

Well known writers trying their hands at comics is nothing new (Joss Whedon, Brad Meltzer, Kevin Smith, etc.) but to have someone at the level of Steven King, not to mention one of his most beloved series, is a first.

The art is done by a guy named Jae Lee, and what I’ve seen so far has simply been stunning.

Everybody can relax, I found the car. Needs some suspension work and shocks. Brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear-end. Also new rings, mufflers, a little wiring....

If you’ve got $150,000 lying around, have I got the purchase for you! The infamous Ecto-1 is up for sale. It still runs, & all the lights and sirens still work too! How cool would this be to own?

Apparently Warner Brothers wants to go back to making crappy Superhero movies

So over the course of the last week to filmmakers have walked away from comic book properties they were attached to.

First Joss Whedon (You knew I couldn’t go without mentioning this guy) announced he was leaving Wonder Woman. In a letter Whedon stated, “We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work”.

And then literally the next day, David Goyer (writer of Batman Begins & Blade) announced that he was leaving the film version of “The Flash” for pretty much the same reasons.

Both films were being put out by Warner Bros, as they own DC comics and all of their properties, and this news just bums me out. The word on the street is that they want their comic book films to be lighter, more family friendly fare. Apparently they are still disappointed that “Superman Returns” did not do better business (it still crossed the $200 million mark domestically) and think that the serious tone had something to do with it.

To add insult to injury, a replacement for Goyer on “The Flash” has already been announced. Shawn Levy, the director of such masterpieces as “Night at the Museum”, “The Pink Panther” and “Cheaper by the Dozen” is going to pick up the reigns. Now there’s even word that Joel Schumacher (yes...THAT Joel Schumacher) is trying to get his hands on directing duty for the “Sandman” film.

Somebody may be pretty Frakked

Dunno if there are any Battlestar Galactica fans out there beside Train and I, but I’ve got a little bit of scoopage for the coming future.

Creator Ron Moore states that “after the March 4th episode airs, the name of a major cast member will disappear from the show’s opening credits.”

It’s a pretty cryptic statement. It’s not saying death, or even that they’re leaving the show. But whatever happens it’ll be big. The current rumor is that it will be Starbuck, which would just be a damn shame. Apparently she recently said in an interview that she finished her season 3 filming early, even though there are apparently a couple more episodes left to be filmed.

Galactica without Starbuck? I don’t even want to think about that....

Outrageous

Since this collection of words and links needs a boost today, I’m laying it out on the line. The US/Mexico friendly tomorrow is the most important national sporting event of 2007.

Huh?

Yeah, I said it…bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than NBA Finals and bigger than the Oakland Roller Derby all rolled up into one, consider this:

1-This is the first “real” test for new Men’s coach Bob Bradley since the US disappointment in the World Cup 2006. Even though it is technically a “friendly”(translation-exhibition), I believe the future of US Soccer is at hand because:

2-The New Transitionary Period. For the first time ever, we saw a Premiership game last weekend that featured 4, count them 4 prominent US players playing a significant role in two middle-tier Premiership Clubs Fulham and Newcastle United. Except for Brian McBride who is just past his peak, the other three: Dempsey, Gooch and Bocanagra all represent the future of the game in the US and the type of talent we need to continue to develop in the States. The fact that Bradley has asked for:

3-Call Ups from Bocanegra, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and The Gooch show a desire to have a meaningful result in a non-meaningful match. The fact that Mexican Coach Hugo Sanchez has also ordered the call up of his International Club stars also tells you the subtle underlying tone of this friendly and the importance in a decision from both sides. So what's the result?

A meaningless friendly in the beginning of February has taken on Bay of Pigs like consequences for the loser, with both nations trying to find a way to make their sides relative on the International Stage and bring some sort of credibility to North American Soccer. The US has fallen dramatically in skill and reputations from their rise following the ’02 WC where they defied expectations, but since hasn’t shown any signs of developing into a constant International Power.

Mexico on the otherhand, has never received the credibility, especially among other Latin-American and Latin-European countries. They need to demonstrate North and Central American dominance before they can begin to rival long superior South American Countries such as Argentina, Colombia and Brazil.

My take:

I find the whole thing ridiculous, especially considering the current League title and cup races combined with European competition which normally includes the best International players. I’d like to point the collective finger at just Bradley for being the only one to make the call ups, but it is being done by every International manager around the world. Meanwhile, every Club manager in contention for a Cup or Trophy holds their collective breath making sure their investment makes it through a meaningless competition.

That being said, if you are going to go through the motions and bring your players home for the week, you might as well put on a showing, especially in a place like Phoenix were the US team will be lucky if they have 50% fan support.

So why is this exhibition match the most important National sporting event of the year? Because it sets the tone for the future and direction of the Men's National team for either country. Between the increasing number of talented young US players getting top flight experience around the world and the ever developing MLS, the US is at a turning point in regards to its reputation around the world regarding the beautiful game. Do we reflect the failures of the past or do we show the type of American resolve that could make us a top flight power for years to come. We'll find out tomorrow what direction we decide to take.

Who: US versus Mexico
What: The NAFTA Rumble
When: 6pm PST, ESPN 2
Where: University of Pheonix Stadium, Phoenix, AZ
Why: Because they have to!

Many thanks to all those who attended The Mother of all Super bowl Parties VII

I'd do this as a pic of the day but I lost my admin rights...some things just dont need words