This is Gus Baby

This is not Dave O'Brien at the World Cup, but I was afraid that it would be. Gus Johnson became the voice of soccer on Fox Sports when he called the first leg of the Champions League epic clash between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

For a first outing it was not that bad. I was at work for the game, so I listened to it on Sirius and they used the Fox Sports audio featuring Johnson and Warren Barton. To be honest, I'm not the biggest Johnson fan to begin with. Never been a huge fan of his over the top style.

But to his credit he was a true professional during the game, he seemed to do a great deal of research in preparing for the game and that showed during the broadcast.

My concern about Gus was that he would not let the game breath and he allowed the game to breath, which was good to see. What makes English announcers so good is that they don't talk over everything and Gus did not. Fair play to him.

Gus said a couple of little things that annoyed me, the main one being when he called the ball a "football"

I think that Awful Announcing summed up Gus's performance perfectly.

"Gus didn't sound like a basketball announcer calling soccer, he sounded like a soccer announcer,'' Awful announcing wrote. "The rhythm of his calls and his excitement as the action reaches a crescendo is a fantastic pairing."

Pirlo for Ballon d'Or

The race for European Footballer of the year appears to be a two horse race: Messi and Ronaldo, but maybe there is a third player that deserves a look.

Last season Andrea Pirlo left AC Milan to sign with fellow Italian League superpower Juventus. The move paid off for the Old Lady and Pirlo. During the league season Pirlo was the midfield anchor that helped lead Juve to an undefeated season. That alone should put him near the top of the list for the European player of the year. People have to remember this was not a classic Juve team, which means he had to carry more of the load.

Now Pirlo is leading his beloved Italian national to team to success at Euro 2012. An average Italian team has made the semifinals with Pirlo leading the way. Pirlo has been their best player and his penalty against England will be remembered for years to come.



I know he has no chance but Pirlo should be considered. Anytime a player leads his team to an undefeated league season should be considered for this award.

The Cover Story: The Group of Death

Yesterday the Group of Death of Euro 2012 wrapped up and it was full of drama. Ronaldo, answered his detractors, and shot Portugal into the knockout stages while the Dutch flamed out. The German cruised and won the group, while former European Champion Denmark was sent home. Here is how newspapers in each country covered the events

Netherlands

Denmark

Germany

Portugal

Could Nick Powell be the Ronnie?

Not saying this is a fair comparison but some suggest that newly signed Manchester United player Nick Powell could be the next Cristiano Ronaldo. Interesting to see the similarities, but Powell as a long way to go to live up to that comparison.

EURO 2012 Here We Come

With the European Club season ending, its time for soccer fans to shift their attention to Euro 2102. Here are some of the great promos that are running around the world.

Nike's "My Time is Now" ad




ITV (England) has a great ad campaign asking people to dream



ESPN's promo for Euro 2012



Random promo I found on YouTube and its great



Another great promo I found on YouTube, this one takes a look at some of the tournaments great moments

A new Premier League Transfer Policy

Things are changing in the Premier League, gone are the days of clubs spending $14 million on a 26 year old players, now its all about the kids. The Daily Mail's Matt Barlow takes an interesting look at practice.Clubs are looking at the resale value of a player kind of like what happened with Ronald at Manchester United.  

News of the World says Good Bye

The News of the World is set to close its doors and here are some of the back pages of sports coverage over the years. There are some great headlines and telling stories that mostly ended up being true, including Manchester United selling Ronnie.

Obertan: Maybe he is a bust

After CR7 left Manchester United for Real Madrid two years ago, United brought in a promising french winger named Gabriel Obertan to help fill that void. After a year and a half, I'm really starting to question if Obertan is going to make the grade.

During the season Obertan has had his detractors for his performances, I was not one of them. I thought that he had not been given a fair chance to show his skills, but that all changed on Saturday against Wigan and it had nothing to do with his performance on the field, but rather off of the field.

While watching the game on TV, the telecast showed a shot of Ryan Giggs sitting next to Obertan and Bebe in the directors box. One thing was different about the three of them, Giggs was sitting their watching the game, Bebe was checking his phone, while Obertan had head phones on. I'm not excusing Bebe for checking his phone, but who really knows if he was on during the whole game. I don't care if you are an academy player that has not been used all year, you should not be wearing headphones in the directors box.

If Obertan really cared about his spot or his future at United he would act like a professional and professionals don't sit in the director box wearing head phones, its not acceptable.

Get Ready for Everyone to be a Futbol expert

Every four years it happens, I know what your think, ""yes, I know the World Cup happens every four years,'' but that is not what I'm talking about. Every four years, people turn into soccer experts and talk like they know what a holding midfielder is.

As a person that loves the sports, this frustrates the hell out of me. During the last World Cup, I had to listen to people tell me about how great Ronaldinho was and how he might be the best player in the world, well thanks for the god damn news flash.

During the next six weeks, Joey Six Pack, that roots for the Jets, is going to tell me the importance of having quality wide players during the Portugal/Brazil game or that Ronaldo is a good player, ya thanks shit head I knew that cause he won the Champions League with my favorite club, ya they play soccer in between World Cups. I know not many people know that. Maybe some Guido will come up to me and tell me how good Italy is and how they are going to win. While the World Cup is great its hard to deal with this type of stuff.

So if you know nothing about the sport please don't give your two sense to anyone cause maybe you might be talking to someone who actually loves the game between World Cups.

Soccer takes over Vanity Fair

You know soccer is growing when Vanity Fair decides to put Drogs and Ronnie on its cover and that is what they did for this months issues. The cover story is about a photo shoot that was done with some stars of the upcoming World Cup.

Professional Tailgating: On the Road Again

The Only Time Will Tell hit the road again on Sunday to go to see the most expensive team in the world, Real Madrid. So the crew loaded up the car and headed to DC to see Madrid take on DC United. Here are some of the sites and sounds of the game that drew approximately 72,000 people to FedEx Field.

The grill was cooking some fresh meatsThe most expensive team in the world, Real Madrid, arrives at the stadium

FedEx Field would make a classic World Cup venue in the future

Real Madrid take the field to warm up

Both teams take the field




A moment of silence for Daniel Jarque, the Espanyol captain, who passed away late last week

Our seats were really high up, but were really not that bad

Saying Good Bye in video form

Saying good bye to Ronnie, with great video from Country Football.

Bye Bye Ronnie and Thank You

The hair gel, the step overs, the temper tantrums, and the goals it has been a remarkable run at Manchester United for Ronaldo and that run now appears to be over. Real Madrid have made an offer of 80 million pounds for the Portuguese winger and United have accepted so all that has to be done is personal terms between Ronnie and Real, which will happen really soon. So this is the end.

Some people will say good riddance, but I can not. All I can say is thank you Ronnie. You always said Real Madrid was your dream move now you will be able to live out that dream, and good luck.

During the last six years there have been so many moments of magic from the goal in the championship league final against Chelski, to the goal at Porto in this years Champions League, to the come back against Spurs and Aston Villa, and the thropies. Oh yes the thropies. Premier League Trophies, an FA Cup, League Cups, World Club Cup, Community Shields and Mr. Big Ears it has been a great six years and now we go our separate ways.

But in two decades when people list the best players to ever wear the number 7 at United you are at the top of the list. I have faith that United are not done, but rather this is just the next great team that Sir Alex is building. It was fun while it lasted and again good luck at Madrid.

Its almost game time

The Champions League Final will kick off in less then 20 hours and for one I can not wait for the battle in Rome between United and Barca.

Here is the line up I see Sir Alex going with:
Goal: Van der Sar
Defense: Evra
Defense: Rio
Defense: Vidic
Defense: O'Shea
Central Midfield: Giggs
Central Midfield: Carrick
Central Midfield: Anderson
Wings: Rooney
Wings: Park
Forward: Ronaldo

This is similar to the lineup that Sir Alex used against Arsenal in the semifinals. Rooney and Park will track back enough to limit the wing play of Messi and Barcelona and if things go crazy Carlos and the Berba are ready to be called on.

Let's go United.

Abs by Ronnie

The puppet Ronnie teaches you how to get ready for the summer.

The Main Event: The Champions League Final

The build up for the Champions League final has already started and its clear what the main story line of the show piece event is going to be: Messi vs. Ronaldo. The Daily Mail has hit it right on the head with the photo above. So lets get the hype machine rolling and hope for a great final.

A couple of more to go

It's not even the FA Cup but United claimed another trophy the Carling Cup yesterday in a PK Shootout. So the drive for five continues, if you count the World Club Cup. Lets see this continue.

Highlights below

Love or Hate: Manchester United Number 7

Nike strikes it rich again with another great ad campaign. No player brings up the emotion that Ronaldo does, people either love him or hate him and Nike understands that. The shoe giant has come up with a great ad campaign for Ronnie.

The Next Ronnie

Madin Mohammad is six years old and boy does he have the moves a new Ronnie. I hope that United move quickly for the youngster.

Simply The Best

Shocker Ronnie won the Ballon D'or. Here is the cover from France Football honoring their selection as world player of the year.