EURO 2008 in Beer

While everyone around is debating the outcoming of Euro 2008, the Guardian's Ben McFarland breaks down the important issues surrounding the tournament, which county has the best beer. The next time the tailgating crew goes to a bar, we are going to bring the list of beers with us.

Baseball Draft thoughts and tidbits

While the baseball draft is not on the level of the football and basketball drafts, its still fun. The Only Time Will Tell Scouting Department DVRed the draft while they were working and reviewed it later on in the night and here are a couple of thoughts from the department:

• The Phillies pick of Anthony Hewitt (pictured above) might be one of the stranger selections in the last couple of years. Hewitt is raw and is going to cost a couple of million dollars to get out of commitment to Vandy. The Phillies also took a chance in the third round by taking another player with signability issues in New Jersey prep pitcher Jason Knapp. Knapp has a strong commitment to North Carolina. I hope Pat Gillick knows that he is going to have to spend some money to sign these players and if he does he will have reloaded the system in a hurry.
• This might be one of the best college draft ever. I guess if you are putting that much money in to a pick it's good to know that the product is almost finished.
• Peter Gammons is incredible. His work on the ESPN2's draft coverage was as good as Mel Kipers work with the NFL.
• In this Internet age it's good to see the draft finally getting the due it deserves.
• The Sox and Yankees again show their spending muscle by draft two top ten talents (Cole and Kelly) that fell to the bottom of the first round because of the signability.
• In the end the Only Time Will Tell Scouting Department did not do that well only getting two picks right. Told ya the draft was hard to predict.
• FSU Buster Posey might have cost himself a couple of spots with his $12 million signing bonus.
  
• The Rays hope that they can have Tim Beckham and BJ Upton patrolling up the middle for the next decade or so.
• The Royals are one of the few teams that really do not mind dealing Scott Boras. Over the last three years the Royals have drafted Boras clients: Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Luke Hochevar.

The Champions League in Seven Minutes

United Champions League run in seven minutes, what could be better.

Thanks to footytube.com

Professional Tailgating Road Trip

The Only Time Will Tell Tailgating crew is deep in preparation for their first trip to an international friendly.

The crew, Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump and Endy in the Outfield, will be at the USA vs. Argentina game at the Meadowlands on Sunday night.

The last time we were at a soccer game at the Meadowlands was when Barcelona came over for their game against the Red Bulls, it was the first game in charge for new Red Bulls Bruce Arena and we know that how that ended for Arena. That was long before this project started.

After seeing the destruction that Argentina put on the Sven's new team, Mexico, last night, this might be a tough ask for Uncle Sam's favorite team. Hey maybe Sven will be there checking out the female tailgaters in the parking lot.

Torres, Torres, Torres

Nike is at it again with another great soccer commercial. This time it focuses on scousers lover affair with Fernando Torres.

Thanks to Footyboots.com.

Liverpool could be doomed already

The last time members of the Kop celebrated an English First Division Championship was back in the days of the back pass, 1989-1990. With the new season only a couple of months away, the Kop's dream of a title might be dead already. Liverpool might be one of the major clubs affected by national teams calling up of overage players for the Beijing Olympics. Traditionally Olympic squads consist of players Under-23 years old and three over age players.

If the national associations in Holland and Argentina both have their way, Liverpool would be down Ryan Babel and Javier Mascherano for their countries run for Olympic gold. If both of the players represent their countries it's possible that they could miss more then a month of the season and as Rafa the Rotating Manager's squad sits now there are not enough quality players to cover the holes. The tournament runs from Aug. 7 to Aug. 23.

With Babel gone Liverpool loose most of the speed that they have on the roster, aside from Torres. While loosing Mascherano means that they will have to find another holding midfielder to cover for Gerrard when he goes forward. One of the reasons that playing Gerrard in back of Torres up front is so successful because he has great defensive cover in the tough tackling Argentinian.

The loss of both players for the tournament could mean more time for two of Endy in the Outfields favorite Liverpool players Lucas and Jermaine Pennant, which would mean the title drought continues. That is why the signing of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa is so important.

Portugal loves the drama

Few countries have had the build up to Euro 2008 like Portugal. While other teams are making their preparations, Portugal have had to deal with the same question with two people.

Will he stay or will he go?

The question pertains to Big Phil Scolari and Ronaldo. Big Phil, who has had a successful run with the national team, has been linked with the current opening at Stamford Bridge. During every press conference the question about him managing Chelksi comes up.

While the drama over Ronaldo continues. Will he return to United or head to Real Madrid. Every day its a different answer. It's like "As the World Turns" every day in the Portugal camp.

The country is so small but it has so much drama, let's hope their play in the tournament is as good as their drama.

Three of a kind?

Usually I leave the Phillies talk to my friends at Sox and Phillies, but something is going on in Philly that needs to be addressed.

Could we be seeing three of a kind in Major League Baseball.

For the last two years, Phillies have walked away with the NL MVP, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, and this year that could be no different as Chase Utley has been carrying the Phillies offense.

With Howard doing his best Rob Deer impression and Rollins struggling with a bad ankle, Utley has been the one contestant in offense.

So far this season Utley has a .320 average with 21 home runs, 52 RBIs. The thing about Utley is that he never complains about anything and always goes out there and gets the job done. Utley does not have the flashy home runs that Howard has or the flashy words that Rollins, but some would say he is a leader by example and come October he might be getting an award similar to Rollins and Howard.

Euro 2008 is coming and that means more Ronnie

It's clear that Ronaldo is going to the face of every networks coverage of the Euro 2008. Here are a couple of videos about the best player in the world.

Ronaldo Heart of Portugal


Ronaldo from Boy to Legend

Who doesn't love a mock Baseball Draft??

Out of all of drafts, the Major League Baseball Draft might be the toughest to predict. Sometimes players drop because of the signing bonuses they want, while other times Scott Boras scares some teams away.

So with that spelled out, Only Time Will Tell is going to sticks its neck out there and try to predict the first round of the draft that will be held June 6. For the last couple of weeks the Only Time Will Tell Scouting Department has been reviewing scouting reports and watching the conference baseball tournaments to create his mock draft.

FIRST ROUND
1. Tampa Bay Rays (pictured above): Tim Beckham, SS, Griffin (Ga) High School
2. Pittsburgh Pirates: Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt
3. Kansas City Royals: Brian Matusz, P, San Diego
4. Baltimore Orioles: Aaron Crow, P, Missouri
5. San Francisco Giants: Buster Posey, C, Florida State
6. Florida Marlins: Yonder Alonso, 1B, Miami
7. Cincinnati Reds: Gordon Beckman, SS, Georgia
8. Chicago White Sox: Kyle Skipworth, C, Patriot High School (Rubidoux, Cal.)
9. Washington Nationals: Justin Smoak (pictured above), 1B, South Carolina.
10. Houston Astros: Eric Hosmer, 1B, Plantation High School, (Fla.)
11. Texas Rangers: Christain Fredrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky
12. Oakland Athletics: Brett Wallace, 3B, Arizona State.
13. St. Louis Cardinals: Tim Melville, P, Holt High School (Wentzville, Mo.)
14. Minnesota Twins: Brett Lawrie, OF, Brookswood Secondary School (Langley BC)
15. Los Angeles Dodgers: Shooter Hunt, RHP, Tulane
16. Milwaukee Brewers: Joshua Fields, RHP, Georgia
17. Toronto Blue Jays: Andrew Cashner, RHP, Texas Christian
18. New York Mets (Glavine/Braves): Casey Kelly, SS, Sarasota (Fla.)
19. Chicago Cubs:Jason Castro, C, Stanford
20. Seattle Mariners:Aaron Hicks, OF/RHP, Long Beach Wilson (Ca.)
21. Detroit Tigers: Reese Havens, SS, South Carolina.
22. New York Mets: Gerrit Cole, RHP, Orange Lutheran HS (Ca.)
23. San Diego Padres: Ethan Martin, RHP/3B, Stephens County HS (Ga.)
24. Philadelphia Phillies:Daniel Sclereth, LHP, Arizona.
25. Colorado Rockies:Brett DeVall, LHP, Niceville HS (Fla.)
26. Arizona Diamondbacks: Ike Davis, OF, Arizona State.
27. Minnesota Twins (Hunter/Angels): Jemile Weeks, 2B, Miami.
28. New York Yankees: Alex Meyer, RHP, Greensburg HS (Ind.)
29. Cleveland Indians: Ryan Perry, RHP, Arizona.
30. Boston Red Sox:Anthony Hewitt,SS,Salisbury School (Conn.)

COMP ROUND A
31. Minnesota Twins (Hunter/Angels):Zach Collier, LF, Chino Hills HS (Cal.)
32. Milwaukee Brewers (Cordero/Reds): Connor Gillaspie, 3B, Wichita State
33. New York Mets (Glavine/Braves): Tanner Scheppers,RHP, Fresno State
34. Philadelphia Phillies (Rowand/Giants): Kyle Russell, OF, Texas
35. Milwaukee Brewers (Linebrink/White Sox): Brett Hunter, RHP, Pepperdine
36. Kansas City Royals (Riske/Brewers): James Darnell, 3B/OF, South Carolina
37. San Francisco Giants (Feliz/Phillies):Jody Mercer, SS, Oklahoma State
38. Houston Astros (Miller/Rays):Ross Seaton, RHP, Second Baptist HS (Tex.)
39. St. Louis Cardinals (Percival/Rays): Jake Odorizzi, RHP, Highland HS (Ill.)
40. Atlanta Braves (Mahay/Royals): Xavier Avery, OF, Cedar Grove HS (Ga.)
41. Chicago Cubs (Kendall/Brewers): Dustin Hood, OF, Episcopal HS, (Ala.)
42. San Diego Padres )(Brocail/Astros): Tim Murphy, LHP, UCLA
43. Arizona Diamondbacks (Hernandez/Twins): Kyle Lobstein, LHP, Coconion HS (Ari.)
44. New York Yankees (Vizcaino/Rockies): Tyler Sample, RHP, Mullen HS (Col.)
45. Boston Red Sox (Gagne/Brewers):Jordan Danks, OF, Texas
46. San Diego Padres (Cameron/Brewers):David Cooper, 1B, California