Cover Story: College Football Previews

In less then  a week, the first games of the college football season will be over. In honor of that here are the various college football previews magazines from all over from Sports Illustrated to The Sporting News to Phil Steele

OTWT Champions League Predictions

The draw for the 2010/2011 Champions League has been made and there are some tastey groups including Group B, which includes: Spurs, Inter Werder Bremen, and FC Twente and Group G, which features three former winners of the event. Here are OTWT predictions on who is going advance to the knock out stages.

Group H: ARSENAL, Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, FK Partisan: Arsenal and SC Braga
Group A: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, TOTTENHAM, FC Twente: Inter and Spurs
Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel Aviv: Lyon and Benfica
Group F: CHELSEA, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina: Chelsea and Spartak Moscow
Group D: FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan: Barcelona and Rubin Kazan.
Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre: Real Madrid and Ajax.
Group C: MANCHESTER UNITED, Valencia, RANGERS, Bursaspor: Manchester United and Rangers
Group E: Bayern Munich, AS Roma, FC Basel, CFR Cluj: Bayern Munich and AS Roma

Strasburg is a real American

This is a terrible parody song of Hulk Hogan's "I am real America" for Nats pitcher Stephen Strasburg. This might be the worst song in the history of the world.

That Head has its own Solar System

Mench's head is as big as the Capital Buidling

So Strasburg did not make it through his start on Saturday night, but all was not lost, when I found out that we now have Kevin Mench on our roster. Mench's claim to fame is not his baseball skills, but rather the size of his head.

The consensus around Major League Baseball is that he has the largest head in the game,size 8, according to Wikipedia. In fact, his teammates on the Rangers went so far as to create a green Shrek helmet for him to wear, although Major League Baseball would not allow him to do so. Like Al Snow used to said, during his days in ECW: ""Head Head Head Head.''

Professional Tailgating: Strasmas in Philly

As a true Nats/Expo fan, Saturday's game against the Phillies was something that I had been waiting for and when my friends at Sox and Phils let me know that Strasburg was starting it became one of the biggest sporting events of the years. Little did I know that Strasburg would be only going four innings and leave having the rest of his season in jeopardy.

Fans lined up just to get a view of Strasburg warming up in the bullpen before his start.

Everyone had their camera and cell phones out for this warm up session.
Strasburg warms up


Strasburg was not the only top prospect to be playing, Dom Brown was also getting the start

The AB that end Strasburg game and maybe his season

Werder Bremen = Bad Kit

One of the best things about the Champions League Playoff Round is seeing all of the different kits from teams that are not usually on TV.

Sometimes there are great jersey and other times there are terrible one, but of all of the teams I have seen German giants Werder Bremen take the cake for the worst kits. Two shades of green and a lighting blot separating the greens on the front of it, i just do not get it. Usually they have some classic designs and I like them but this one is not up the standards they have set in the past.

Shame on MLB Network

So you have Jonathan Mayo and Peter Gammons, two of the biggest names in minor league and draft coverage, on your roster and what do you show on draft deadline signing day an hour before the deadline, show a program recapping the days games.

While MLB Network continues to grow last night it made a huge mistake in not doing some type of signing deadline specials. For a network that builds itself to be the home of baseball to treat the second biggest day in the prospects calendar, the draft being the first, like this is just not right.

Some years there are few story lines when it comes to signing day but this year there were a ton of them. From Harper and the Nats trying to get a deal done to Lee with the Dodgers to Parker and the Rockies. That does not count all of the sandwich round guys that signed for over slot.

Maybe next year MLB Network will step up and do a late night show tracking the signs. That would be nice for the network that says they have everything in baseball covered.
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No need to make predictions

The Barclays Premier League season kicked off today with a bang, but during the last couple of weeks media members from around the world have been making their predictions about how the final table will look in early May. The predictions that have been made might not mean anything by Sept. 1.

With the transfer window not shutting until Sept. 1, making predictions on how the season will go is not even worth it. So if people picked United to finish second to Chelsea before the season, that may change if United get Ozil or Manchester City might be favorite if they spend another $200 million on an overrated player.

There are two ways to stop this from happen, how about FIFA closes the transfer window after the first week of August. This would allow teams to start the season with the squads that they have and not have to worry about after the second game a player handing in a transfer request. It would also allow people who like predicting the table to have a fair shot and know what they are predicting. The second thing is to allow predictions to be made after the transfer window is closed this would allow predictor to have a better idea of what they are predicting.

People don't bet on horse races until they know the horses that are racing, why not make it the same when it comes t predicting the Premier League.

ESPN Magazine has passed Sports Illustrated

Since I was a kid I always looked forward to Sports Illustrated's College Football preview issue but this year it lacks something when it comes to its competitor, ESPN Magazine.

So yesterday both magazines showed at the home office and boy is there a difference in them. First Sports Illustrated is your basic preview issue with stories on the Top 25 teams and one major feature on college football.

ESPN The Magazine took a different tack with their preview issue. Gone are the previews of the Top 25 teams, which I'm fine with, replacing them are a couple of great features. The features include: a story on coming out of the tunnel, a great feature on Bill Curry starting the Georgia State football program, and a feature on compliance officers at program. These are great stories ideas instead of your basic preview type stories. The issue also includes a photo feature on the numbers of college football including Alabama spending $3,329.95 at a Chick-fil-A in Arlington, Va before their visit to the White House to see the president after their BCS Title.

During the course of the last couple of years, Sports Illustrated as continued to do great work, but when it comes to their college football preview issues SI is starting to look like a lower BCS program while ESPN The Magazine is looking a BCS title contender.
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Randy Shannon to Michigan?

So I was playing NCAA 2011 and led Miami to a 14-0 record and a win over Alabama in the Orange Bowl. At the end of the season the computer asked if I would like to accept an extension or take the Michigan job. Randy Shannon to replace Rich Rod at Michigan, I've heard some weird things and that might be the weirdest thing that I have heard.
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Its ticket day

Went out to the mailbox and had a nice surprise, my Rutgers season tickets were waiting for me. while they are not as nice as last year, it means only one thing, the season will soon be here.
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Madden Covers Through the Years

This was in an ESPN.com story about the Madden video game over the years. Love the ole school covers with just Madden on the cover, talk about an ego crazy person.

Sad News For South Jersey Golfers

I always held out hope that the story would be different, but today I found out different. The Blue Heron Pines East Course (course map above), which was a favorite of mine, is never going to come back. The Press of Atlantic City reported that the course will soon be sold to a developer so housing can be built. Its such sad news. The course has been closed for the last couple of years, but I continued to hold you hope that it might reopen, but that is not going to happen.

Its rare that you see a course that has hosted a USGA event only seven years ago close. The course, which was extremely difficult, hosted the 2003 USGA Public Links. The event included such PGA Tour players as Jeff Overton annd Brandt Snedeker. The event also included countless college stars of the time including Chez Reavie. Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn., triggered by 11 birdies in 27 holes, defeated Dayton Rose, 20, of Stillwater, Okla., 10 and 9, in the 36-hole match play final.

During the last couple of years the golf industry has taken its share of hits and selling of Blue Heron East is a hard hit to take. There are few courses in the area that tested people this much, from its greens to its fairways, it was challenge and now its a challenge that will be gone forever.

Prospects = Merchandise Money

First it was Jayson Hayward, then it was Mike Stanton, then Strasburg, and now Dominic Brown. What do all four have in common. These are arguably the best four prospects in baseball who have made their major league debuts this year, but besides that they have been making a ton of money for their big league clubs since the first day they walked on the field.

While people complain about the Internet, it has been a great marking tool for major league baseball when it comes to getting people ready for the next generation of stars in the game. If there was no Internet would any know about Staton or Brown, but because of it people have been able to check on them on a daily basis, which means when they came up people are wanting any type of jersey or shirt with their name on it.

The first day after Strasburg first start I order a t-shirt jersey of the stud. Despite it being the first day, the shirt was still on back order and came about five weeks later.

Then Brown made his major league debut on Wednesday night and then the fun happened. He hit an RBI double in his first at-bat, scoring Jayson Werth, and scored his first run on a fielder's choice by Wilson Valdez. He notched his second hit with a single in his third at-bat, scoring again on a double by Carlos Ruiz. So I went to the Phillies game on Thursday night and in one of the clubhouse stores there were a bunch of Brown t-shirt jerseys and people where buying them up and at $25 a piece the Phillies were making some coin.

The same thing happened to Hayward at the start of the year. Without the Internet would baseball fans be so willing to fork out money for any minor league player that comes up, I think not, but with people knowing in advance about these players they are a little more willing to spend their money and make a ton of money for their major league teams.

Professional Tailgating: Party like its 1980

Back to the ballpark again, this time as the Phillies took on the Diamondbacks. It was 80's night and boy was it a blast.

Mitchell and Ness had an 80's theme display in front of the one of the club house stores

Kyle Kendrick gets ready for his start, notice the very 80's music in the background

Since it was 80's night at the ballpark, every player had a 80's themed photo. Ryan Howard meets Mr. T.

Dominic Brown gets a huge hand as he pinch hit

For all of the technology on a major league scoreboard, they still have not figured out how to keep all of the innings on the score board when it goes to extra innings.

Trouble from the Start

Arthur Brown (above) was supposed to be the next great linebacker at Miami, and his brother, Bryce was supposed to be the next great running back at Tennessee, but the brothers have proven that neither will happen.

Arthur Brown came to Miami in 2008 as the type of player that would help rebuild the program, but that did not happen. After struggling as a freshman, Brown moved from his normal weak side linebacker position to the inside and flourished. But that did not make Arthur happy as he returned home to Kansas transferring to Kansas State.

Bryce (right) was supposed to join Jamal Lewis and all of the great Tennessee running backs, but that did not happen as Bryce proved to have issues from the start. On February 22, 2008, Brown chose to follow his brother and orally committed to the University of Miami.However, Brown did not sign a letter of intent on National Signing Day 2009, but instead planned to announce his decision on March 16, naming five other "finalists" despite his oral commitment to Miami: LSU, Tennessee, Oregon, USC, and Kansas State, according to wikipedia

At the time ESPN.com′s Tom Luginbill said “If I was Randy Shannon and the Miami staff, I would tell the kid and Brian Butler to go jump in a lake. I got to imagine that deep down, Miami's coaches have to be thinking, ‘This is getting ridiculous,’” according to wikipedia. Prior to his announcement, Brown paid official visits to Oregon and Clemson, and finally took an impromptu visit to Tennessee on March 13Citing an anonymous source, the Associated Press reported the University of Miami would not reissue a national letter of intent to Brown to replace the one that expired Wednesday, February 18. Brown's advisor Brian Butler told AP he was unaware those scholarship offers have an expiration date, but reiterated that Brown would not sign until March 16.According to Palm Beach Post′s Jorge Milian UM coach Shannon called Brown on Tuesday, February 17, and allegedly told him the University of Miami was no longer interested in his services. However, Brown later told Wichita Eagle that Shannon still wanted him to be a Hurricane. Due to NCAA rules, Shannon was not allowed to comment. On March 16, 2009, Brown announced at a press conference at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita, Kansas, that he will attend the University of Tennessee, according to wikipedia.

After leaving Miami in the dark, Bryce has done the same thing to his current school. Bryce texted new Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley to let him know that they was not returning to for this season. Ok if you want to leave, its fine, just meet with the coach like a man and then tell him, but Bryce decided to skip a scheduled meeting and just send a text, which is totally bush league. Its a good bet that Brown will now be joining his brother at Kansas State.

Sure both of these kids have a ton of talent, but sometimes someone has to put their foot down and just say it. This is out of control.

Now that is a squad

How many players are too many player well this is Manchester City squad, according to wikipedia. Now that is a large list and that does not include the possible signings of Mario Balotelli and Torres. I hope there is a plan to off load some of these player. That is just way too many players to have on one team.
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MLS needs to hold on to this man

Over the course of the time, the MLS has produced a couple of players that have gone on to make an impact in different leagues around Europe. The two that come to mind the most are Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley. But over the next couple of years that list will probably include this years #1 pick in the MLS Super Draft, Philadelphia Union's Danny Mwanga.

On Wednesday, I headed to the Linc to see Manchester United take on the Union and the one thing that stood out to me was the performance of Mwanga. In approximately, 60 minutes of work, Mwanga put pressure on the United back four. At over six foot tall Mwanga, is a force both on the ground in the air.

Coming up over the next couple of years, the league will face a choice: sell him or make him a star in this league. So far this season in his 12 appearances, Mwange has scored five goals. Mwanga is going to continue to grow and when he does some team from the Dutch League or another similar league will make a bid for the talented 19 year old and the league is going to have to make a choice. I would try to hold on and with his dual citizenship he could be in Brazil wearing the stars and stripes.

Summer Series Quick Thoughts: Sporting vs. Manchester City

Next up at Barclay's New York Football Challenge is Manchester City vs. Sporting Lisbon.

Here are so quick thoughts:
• The thing with City is very simple, they now have a huge squad. Its going to take a couple of weeks for them to all get on the same page. Which could set them back.
• If Spurs are interested in Sporting Yannick Djalo the price went up a couple of million pounds with his first half performance.
• Jo's purple shoes are a thing of beauty.
• I don't get it, Stephen Ireland needs to play week in and week out for City. He is wasting away on the Citizens bench.
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Summer Series Quick Thoughts: Spurs vs. Red Bulls

Spurs took on the New York Red Bulls in the first game of the Barclays New York Challenge.

Here are my quick thoughts:
• Henry looks like he still has it and will be great in MLS. Nice way to start for him scoring against an old North London rival.
• With Croatia not making the World Cup that should give the Spurs Croatian group a nice rest and allow them to be fresh for the season.
• Nice to see Modric and Henry exchange shirts after the first half.
• The Red Bulls defense is not the best.
• Seen Spurs twice already during the preseason and something is lack. I know its preseason but this might be a concern.
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Professional Tailgating: Glory Glory United

So OTWT Tailgating Crew headed to Philly to see their favorite club team. Manchester United took on the Philadelphia Union. The game was one of the better friendlies I have seen in the last couple of years.

The Linc looked great

United newest signing Obama, it only cost them a couple of billion in stimulus funds.
United start their warm ups

Fred the Red has some fun before the match starts.


5 vs. 5 warm ups for United

The Chips are in Lakewood

The Phillies are struggling and some moves might need to be made. While the Phils might have dealt some of their best prospects away in the Halladay deal, there are still some really good prospects sitting in Lakewood. During the course of the last month, the OTWT scouting crew has had a chance to see them here is a little report on them.


Jonathan Singleton, 1b: Might be the most valuable prospect in the system with Howard being tied to first base for the next bunch of years, Singleton might be part of any deal for a pitcher. The only issue that I saw with him was the fact that he was not the greatest athlete and a move to the outfield might not be in the cards. According to Baseball America prospects book, Singleton was the 20th ranked prospect at the start of the season.




Jiwan James: The outfielder showed great speed and defense in the time that we saw him. Reminds me a little of Eric Davis in his body type, long and lean. A project at this point in time but could be a major part of any deal if a team falls in love with him. Baseball America had him ranked as the 11th best prospect in the system.


Sebastian Valle: currently playing catcher at Lakewood, so that adds some extra value to him. Thought he did a good job handling the pitchers the time I saw him. Baseball America had him ranked as 7th best prospects in the system.


Jonathan Pettibone: This is a guy that I really like during the start that I saw he threw his fastball around 93 mph with good movement. While not ranked by Baseball America, he could be a steal for a team looking for another good arm in a deal.


The BlueClaws also feature pitchers Brody Colvin and Jarred Cosart, who are both ranked in the top 15 in the system, that could be part of any deal. The day we saw the BlueClaws the scouts were out looking hard at all members of the team.

Summer Series thoughts: Spurs vs. San Jose.

Yesterday we focused on United and Celtic, today is Spurs and San Jose.

• Love the Spurs retro jersey look.
• With the gray hairs, Robbie Keane is starting to look like Steven Cohen or World Football Daily.
• Why do I think that I'm watching one of Keane's final games with Spurs.
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Summer Friendly Series Quick Thoughts: United vs Celtic

During the course of the next six week OTWT will be breaking down the as many friendlies as we can. We start with United and Celtic in Toronto.

• Oberton needs to play more. He has the skills but needs more seasoning.
• Love the United kids back line of the de Silva twins, Smalling, and Evans. Now if that is something to look forward to.
• I know its preseason, but Celtic do not look like a good team at all. If I'm Rangers, I'm not that worried in the. SPL.
• Wow Berba actually showed some effort in this one good to see. He showed the skill that he has with several moves during the match.
• Diouf might not get a lot of first team chances but with a loan spell he may be something good.
• On a tv note, I love listen to Kyle Martino on the radio during the World Cup and he did another great job today. He might be a real star on tv.

Tomorrow at some point we will running the microscope over Spurs and San Jose game.
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Falling down

I was driving home from work yesterday, listening to my XM Radio and found a familar voices come on, former ESPN analist and Mets GM Steve Phillips. Instead of working for one of the best best networks on tv or running a major market baseball team, Phillips is now the co-host of a fantasy baseball show on XM Radio's Fantasy Sports Radio, now that is a long fall. After working with the greatest of the game he is now working with such great personalities as Anita Marks and Matt Camps, now that is big time.

The fall from grace started, on October 21, 2009 when it was revealed that Phillips had been involved in an affair with a 22-year-old ESPN production assistant. After an initial suspension by ESPN, Phillips was fired by the company on October 25, 2009.

While some people think Phillips is a hack on TV, I was always in the other camp. I thought that he was a fun to listen to and one of the better ESPN guys. Its just surprising to see fall this far.

Soccer's real kung fu kid?

The World Cup Final is over and it was not the most entertaining game with Spain winning in extra time 1-0. But the one incident that stood out was dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong kung fu kick on Alonso, which got me to thinking, who is soccer real Kung Fu Kick: de Jong or Eric Cantona?

Nigel de Jong on Alonso during the 2010 World Cup Final


Manchester United Eric Cantona kung fu kicks a Crystal Palace fan

They might not be bringing Rooney, but there are still storylines for United

Manchester United have announced their roster for their upcoming tour of the United States and Only Time will Tell will be there for their stop in Philly to play the Union. Despite their being no Rooney and Carrick, there are still some players out there, that I'm interesting in seeing

• Chris Smalling: The young defender was brought in from Fulham. Showed flashes of brilliance last season.
• Gabriel Obertan: People opinion of the french are all over the place, some think that he is trash, while other think that he has a future (I'm in that camp).
• Mame Biram Diouf: Played in five games last season for United and scored a goal to show the promise that he has.

Ian Darke, Twitter Hero

The World Cup has had a huge impact on the American TV viewers from, the games featuring the United States to great games, but one person has become the voices of the tournament in the United States and a twitter hero, Ian Darke. For years Darke has been one of the voices of the Premier League for Sky Sports, this summer he joined ESPN to help with their World Cup coverage and has been hit.

Here are some of the tweets from some of Darke's new fans:

• ArashMarkaz: I can't help but think of ESPN's Ian Darke while watching this NBA free agency madness. "This is stranger than fiction."
• tyduffy: Can we trade Joe Buck for Ian Darke? If England won't accept that, can we just give them Joe Buck?
• JakeAppleman I'll watch the LeBron thing if ESPN incorporates both Ian Darke and horse placenta references into the proceedings.
• illiniman14: I wish Ian Darke would commentate my life

Is the Premier League Coming to ESPN3.com?

During halftime of the Netherlands vs. Uruguay World Cup semifinal yesterday, I was looking at the ESPN3.com schedule for soccer during the upcoming months and one thing that I found surprised me. Listed on Aug. 14 at 7:30 a.m. is the Barclays Premier League, there were no teams listed but same type listing was also scheduled for Aug. 21. Last year, ESPN3.com, then ESPN360 was not able to show the games on their Internet network because of an agreement with FSC, but if they worked this out, it would be a great service for fans. With the Barclays Premier League on board, the streaming network now features the German League, Italian League, Spanish League, Dutch League, and Portuguese League. Now that is a network for soccer.

I don't know if this is a misprint or something like that, but bringing the Premier League would be great for people who don't have access to a tv during the game and have to be by a computer. I was wondering if anyone out there had any further information about this.

A bad weekend for South America

The World Cup quarterfinals featured two glamour South America vs Europe games Argentina vs. Germany and Dutch vs Brazil. The German and the Dutch advanced to the semifinals. Here is how the newspapers in the four countries covered the events.

Dutch

Germany
Brazil

Argentina

Soccer = Bad Things

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
You're Welcome - World Cup
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

I have never been the biggest fan of the Daily Show, but their World Cup Coverage has been interesting to say the least. Why does ever Republican hate soccer, that's right socialized medicine.

The World Cup destroys everything

Since the start of the World Cup, twitter has its issues just like officials at the tournament. Since most of the games are played during the weekdays and I use the social networking site for work, I have noticed something about site, it can not handle the World Cup. As the days have passed I have become very good friends with the "Fail Whale."

I thought weekends would be different, because less people are working and on computers, but boy was I wrong today. Take the England Germany game, twitter was acting like John Terry (not getting the job down). The site kept crashing and when Lamp's goal that was not called a goal happened the site was nowhere to be found.

While people keep complaining about the ball, the real issue with this World Cup has been its affect on twitter.

Candian Cover Boy

For the last few months Canada has been centered on one debate Taylor vs. Tyler and last night the Edmonton Oilers, made their choice by selection Windsor Spitfire Taylor Hall as the #1 overall pick in the NHL Draft. The story was such big news it was on the front of many major newspapers across Canada.

The Windsor Star

Edmonton Sun
Calgary Herald

Edmonton Journal

OTWT NHL Top 10 Mock Draft

The OTWT Hockey Scouting Department has done their work and now its time for our mock draft.
1. Oilers: Taylor Hall, LW, Windsor
2. Bruins: Tyler Sequin, Plymouth
3. Florida: Brett Connolly, LW, Prince George
4. Columbus: Erik Gudbranson, D, Kingston
5. Islanders: Cam Folwer, D, Windsor
6. Tampa Bay: Brandon Gormley, D, Moncton
7. Carolina: Nino Niederreiter, LW, Portland
8. Atlanta: Alexander Burmistrov, C, Barrie
9. Minnesota: Nick Bjugstad, C, Blaine HS
10. Rangers: Jack Campbell, G, USMDT
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This tweet sums up the World Cup

Saw this tweet from a Spurs fan and thought it summarized the World Cup in less then 140 characters.

"This #WORLDCUP is like ww2 the French drop out early the yanks arrive at the last minute and England get stuck with the bleeding Germans!!!"

So true, so true
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So now everyone is on board, right

Around the country this morning, people watched and waited for the United States to break through against Algeria and then finally it happened and the country went crazy, for a minute there it seemed like this was England, Spain or Italy with all of the love for the beuatiful game. The win sends the Red White and Blue through to the Round of 16. Facebook had messages about the game from people that had never watched a game before and on twitter people showed their love for Landon and the crew.

This comment from the New York Times running blog on the game sums up what type of impact the game might have had.

""My window is open here in Manhattan, and when the Americans scored, you could hear the roar in the street. I’ve never heard anything quite like that here, to be honest. I’m sure that’s what it was like everywhere across the US and wherever Americans were watching this game,'' from the New York Times Goal Blog.

So will this be the moment that America becomes a true soccer nation. Will we all look back in a couple of years from now on this date, June 23, and say that it was the start of the main streaming of soccer in the country. I hope so, but as a soccer fan I will also love the game and will watch anything including a Carling Cup game. Before the World Cup started people said that a 1-0 game was not exciting now that they lived through the drama of this epic 1-0 game, it may have changed their minds and if it did, I welcome you to the beutiful game and stay as long as you want.

What a great day

Got home from work and had a box with this inside it. Happy Strasmas to me.
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Glory Glory

In late July, I will be headed to see my favorite club team, Manchester United, play the Philadelphia Union. I can not wait.

Profesional Tailgating: Heading Back to the Citizens Bank Park

Sorry for the delay, but its been busy around the home office with Fathers Day and a graduation party, but here are some of the sights from the Twins Phillies game on Friday night.

Nothing beats pregame entertainment from a group dressed in salmon

Joe Blanton gets ready for start

Jim Thome returns to Philly for the first time since his tradeMaybe I will pick Grady Sizemore, oh right he is going to miss the rest of the season

I don't know if this is a good thing

Wednesday is Sports Illustrated day at the home office and today was no different as I walked out to the mailbox and got my SI. I saw the cover and was very excited and also very concerned. On the cover was Stephen Strasburg and now the question becomes will the SI Jinx hit our prized player, I hope not.
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Red Bulls Mystery

The New York Red Bulls have started to tease the soccer world about their newest signing. Today in the New York Times, the MLS team printed a special section that showed off what the Red Bull company is doing and on the back of the magazine it had an ad for their newest player, which is expected to be TH14.

The add states "100 Rumors. 50 Names. 1 Star." The ad shows a player dressed in a Red Bulls kit with his face blurred out. Oh the suspense. Its a good marketing job by the club and an interesting ad.
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Morning Joe: Rooney = Ball Stamping Incident

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough loves LFC and hates Manchester United. While previewing the World Cup today he referred to Wayne Rooney's incident in the last World Cup as "Ball Stamping Incident" this is the first time that I have ever heard it described as that. I guess Morning Joe will be our World Cup headquarters for the next months.

The Front Page Story: Strasmas

Yesterday was a big day in Washington DC politics with primaries all over the country, but what was the biggest story on the front pages of the some DC Daily Newspapers, Starsburg of Course. Stephen Strasburg made Nationals fans cry in happiness with his performance last night against the Pirates, 7 innings, 2 runs and 14 strikeouts, not bad for your first start.

Washington Post

The Examiner

MLB Draft quick thoughts

I'm a draft geek and I admit that, so here is my quick thoughts on the MLB Draft:
• It was great to see Gammons back making good points, excellent points on why college catchers have not developed because they don't call their own pitches.
• No Strasburg/Harper battery in the future, disappointing but it makes sense. Don't get him killed behind the plate.
• Love Drew Pomeranz. Great stuff and he should be fast tracked to the big league.
• UNC Matt Harvey is a potential ace, the Mets are getting big time arm. Love the picked.
• MLB Network is getting better at the draft but they need to show more of Mayo and Callis. Hart and Reynolds are just not in the same league and bring nothing to the table.
• I would love to see MLB Network take the draft to next level and show Cape Code League games.
• This is why the Rays are so good and have so much talent on the farm, they make the right choices during the draft and they did it again with OF Josh Sale.
• Rockies and Kyle Parker, the second qb the Rockies have taken Todd Helton being the first and that worked out well.
• Gammons: "Parker only 20/20 player in draft 20 hr 20 td passes" great line.
• The Dodgers took a guy they have no intention of signing, Zach Lee. They are not spending the money, take the pick next year in a draft that scouts say is deeper.
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OTWT MLB Mock Draft

After watching hours of tape and reading countless scouting reporters, here is the OTWT Scouting Departments MLB Mock Draft, check on Monday on MLB Network to see if we are correct.

1. Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper, C, College of Southern Nevada
2. Pittsburgh Pirates: Manny Machado, SS, Britto HS (Fla)
3. Baltimore Orioles: Jameson Taillon, RHP, The Woodlands HS (TX)
4. Kansas City Royals: Yasmani Grandal, C, University of Miami
5. Cleveland Indians: Chris Sale, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast.
6. Arizona Diamondbacks: Drew Pomeanz, LHP, Ole Miss.
7. New York Mets: Deck McGuire, RHP, Georgia Tech
8. Houston Astros: Michael Choice, OF, UT-Arlington
9. San Diego Padres: Zach Cox, 3B, Arkansas
10. Oakland Athletics: Chris Sale, OF, Bishop Blanchet HS (Wash)
11. Toronto Blue Jays: Christian Colon, SS, Cal State Fullerton
12. Cincinnati Reds: Gary Brown, OF, Cal State Fullerton
13. Chicago White Sox: Stetson Allie, RHP, St. Edwards HS (Ohio)
14. Milwaukee Brewers: Brandon Workman, RHP, Texas
15. Texas Rangers (for unsigned 2009 draft pick Matt Purke): Matt Harvey, RHP, UNC
16. Chicago Cubs: Karsten Whitson, RHP, Chipley HS (Fla.)
17. Tampa Bay Rays: AJ Cole, RHP, Oviedo HS (Fla.)
18. Los Angeles Angels (for Type A free agent Chone Figgins (Seattle):Dylan Covey, RHP, Maranatha HS (Cal)
19. Houston Astros (for Type A free agent Jose Valverde (Detroit): Brett Eibner, RHP, Arkansas
20. Boston Red Sox (for Type A free agent Billy Wagner (Atlanta): Anthony Ranaudo, RHP, LSU
21. Minnesota Twins: Nick Castellanos, 3B, Archbishop McCarthy HS (Fla)
22. Texas Rangers: Bryce Brentz, OF, Middle Tennessee State
23. Florida Marlins: Delino DeShields Jr, OF, Woodward Academy (Ga)
24. San Francisco Giants: Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State
25. St. Louis Cardinals: Kyle Parker, OF, Clemson
26. Colorado Rockies: Kaleb Cowart, RHP, Cook HS (Ga)
27. Philadelphia Phillies: Justin O'Connor, C, Cowan HS (Ind)
28. Los Angeles Dodgers: Asher Wojciechowski, RHP, The Citadel
29. Los Angeles Angels (for Type A free agent John Lackey (Boston): Seth Blair, RHP, Arizona State
30. Los Angeles Angels: Jedd Gyorko, SS, West Virginia
31. Tampa Bay Rays (for unsigned 2009 draft pick LeVon Washington): Austin Wilson, OF, Havard-Westlake HS (Ca)
32. New York Yankees: Tyrell Jenkins, RHP, Henderson HS (Tx)