Fireworks on the fourth of July!

First off, I think the best player of the tournament so far has to be the Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Kingson. His performance every game for Ghana has been incredible and he has been the biggest reason for their success in the tournament.(Check out his save in the Ghana v Australia match!)

The Netherlands and Germany are a cut above all others right now. Actually, considering how the South American teams barnstormed through the early games, how surprising is it that only one team is in the semifinals-and the one team is Uruguay! No Argentina, no Brazil.

Paraguay played very solid but not attractive football; plain and simple it was about defense and counterattacks. Brazil entered their match with Holland playing the best ball of all the teams, but bad luck and a more determined Holland team dispatched them out of the tournament. I won’t say too much about Brazil, because I didn’t think they would win the tournament anyway. I did think they would make the semis, but unfortunately their lack of a real play maker (not Kaka, the most overrated Brazilian superstar and worst #10 I have ever seen) doomed them as the tournament got tougher and the quality of opposition better. Think Ronaldinho would have made a difference? We’ll never know.

Uruguay and Ghana played what was probably the best match of the tournament; and Ghana was incredibly unlucky to have not made it to the semi finals. Diego Forlan has been a one man wrecking crew, carrying Uruguay on his shoulders and supported capably by Luis Suarez and they are carrying the hopes of South America now.

In my May 17th blog post, I identified Forlan as one of the players to watch in this tournament, and he has not disappointed. Suarez went from goat to hero in an instant, but his red card will put Uruguay at a huge disadvantage against the Dutch.

Argentina went up against a more disciplined team in Germany and got embarrassed. Completely outplayed and seemingly without a defensive scheme, they were exposed by a young, hungry German side. I will freely admit, I did not think Germany was that good, even after they beat England. Right now they are playing full of confidence, poise and scoring goals in bunches they will be a stern test for my favorites, Spain in the semi-finals. I do see a 2-1 game here with Spain advancing but it will be a very tough match. 

The Netherlands, who along with Spain carries the distinction of the greatest nations to never win a World Cup, will have their hands full facing Uruguay. Wesley Sneijder (L) is having a phenomenal year for club and country, Van Persie is coming off an injury plagued season and showing great form, the team is clicking on all cylinders and I see it continuing.

I think the Dutch will win 2-1.

Three years ago Johan Santana (R) was the class of the free-agent crop; a dominating pitcher with one of the best winning percentages in the majors and on a trajectory that was saying Hall of Fame level greatness. 2 Cy Young awards, twice the AL ERA leader and three times the strikeout leader, he was as dominating as any pitcher could be in the early post-steroid days.

Then he signed to play for the Mets.

One good season in 2008, but overall a record of 34 wins & 55 no-decisions in the last two and a half seasons. The Mets have notoriously failed to provide run support for him in many of his starts, and while he has continued to soldier on, the question that has to be on his mind is this: did he blow his chance for the Hall of Fame, not to mention 200 wins, by chasing the biggest paycheck?

His ERA since joining the Mets is 3.02. His ERA in the three years prior to coming to NY was 2.99. His innings pitched, games started, strikeouts and hits allowed are all in line with his Minnesota numbers, factoring in of course his injury plagued 2009 season. The big differences however are these; no shutouts in 3 years. No complete games in 3 years. No season with more than 16 wins in NY, and on a pace this year to reach 12, his lowest season total since 2003. With 127 career wins, Santana may still reach 200, but it’s a long-shot. Did I mention those 55 no-decisions?

As great as he has been in the past, there have been some questions about his fitness. Add in the undeniable fact that the Mets have not been supporting him in his starts, this great pitcher may be doomed to mediocrity the rest of his career. At a minimum his experience should be a cautionary tale to other players; the money is great, but winning counts, and if the dollar amounts are more or less equal, why not go to a real contender? Santana (allegedly) capitulated to the players union-that bastion of integrity-and didn’t accept lesser offers from better teams.

Congrats to Jason Heyward being selected to the All-Star game in his first season. He won’t be playing as he is presently on the disabled list, but it’s nice to see the fans acknowledging his great rookie season.


Serena Williams is the best women's tennis player ever. Yeah, I said it!

Enjoy the hot dogs!

Where we at?

35 days and counting to World Cup 2010.



There are still a lot of Americans who don’t get what it’s all about, who laugh at a sport where six goals is a rarity (meanwhile, the sport it most easily compares to, hockey, averages about the same number of goals per match, but I digress.)


If you don’t get the World Cup hype, that’s okay. You’re allowed to not like it or understand the sport and its popularity. Understand this however; it still is and will continue to be the #1 sport of choice everywhere in the world. A big part of that has to do with the relatively simple gear needed-a ball. Any size ball. Or as we used to do back in high-school in the cafeteria, an empty juice box stuffed with paper. Two kids and a ball and you have a game. Baseball cant do that, American football requires more and the only other sport that is as simple to get started is the second most popularly played sport in the world, basketball.

And to all those who deride soccer in typical smugness, consider these facts: Of all the sports started by Americans-baseball, American football and basketball, the only one that America can win in a truly global contest (unlike the inappropriately named ‘World Series’) is American football, and that’s because no other country plays it. Or cares to.

A fully American team would struggle for a medal in the most apple pie of American sports, baseball and in basketball; we’ve already seen the rest of the world compete with and beat the US regularly. Don’t hate people, participate. My home country, Jamaica did not qualify for the World Cup, but my present home, the US did, and I will be rooting for them to shock the world.

Last summer I laid a Vegas wager on the US to win the Confederations Cup, a WC precursor tournament.

The Confederations Cup had the following lineup: Spain, the #1 team in the world and the prohibitive favorite to hoist the World Cup trophy this year. Brazil, the #5 ranked team, the only 5 time World Cup winner and another favorite to win the title this year. Italy, the title holders who stunned the world at the last tournament by winning it all with a squad of unknowns and the inspired play of the world’s best goalkeeper, Giancarlo Buffon. The other teams were no slouches either; the African champions Egypt, Iraq and New Zealand.

The US squad, after initially losing to Brazil and Italy in the 1st round by an aggregate of 6-1, put on the best run I’ve ever seen of a US team. They beat Egypt 3-0, Spain 2-0 and took a 1st half 2-0 lead in the finals against Brazil before losing 3-2, with Luis Fabiano playing the match of his life for a flat Brazil team.


If this US team can build on that performance, they will be very much in the mix of the World Cup, believe me on that.


I’m working on my brackets and I’ll put out my predictions for the tournament in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out the Vanity Fair pictorial from the great Annie Liebovitz on the stars to watch in the upcoming tournament.


Speaking of baseball, if you haven’t seen Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves play, you need to. I’m not one to heap praise on a player too early in his career, but this kid appears to be real deal. Watching him play he looks like a cross between Darryl Strawberry and Albert Pujols. Henry Aarons has proclaimed him to be the next great star in baseball and he appears to be right on the money. He is big (6’7’, 200+) hits for a decent average, is articulate and intelligent.
It will be interesting to watch him grow as a player, and considering that baseball has the lowest number of blacks playing the sport since Jackie Robinson, I wish him success. Oh yeah, first game of the season first at bat, he hits a 3-run home run. Welcome to the big time, young Mr. Heyward.

Ryan Howard signed a contract extension with Philly that will pay him on average $25 million per year. Now i’m not one of those people that complain/gripe/envy athletes for how much money they make; I think those comments from average folk and sportscasters are generally mean spirited and borderline racist most of the time.

My question is this however; if Howard is worth $25 million, how much is Albert Pujols worth? Pujols in my opinion, is not only the best player in baseball, he is the only legitimate threat to reach the standard that hasn’t been achieved in over fifty year: the Triple Crown (most hits, most RBI’S and highest average.) What price does a team put on that? I think if Pujols hits the open market as a free agent next year, there will be two main suitors for his services-the NY Mets and the Boston Red Sox. St. Louis, unless they pony up some money now to keep him home, will not be able to afford to keep him.

One month in, the two best teams in baseball appear to be Tampa Bay and the Yankees, followed by Philly, Minnesota and San Francisco. I think the worst division in baseball is the AL west, where a .500 record might win the division.

Interesting conversation with Irwin Clare of Team Jamaica Bickle at Penn Relays a couple of weeks ago; his insight into the lack of corporate appreciation for Jamaican sports was refreshingly contemporary and on point. I particularly liked his description of the Jamaican “bauxite” mentality; ‘we allow others to take our ore and leave us with holes.’ True indeed.

I wish him and his organization all the best in the future and I hope they continue to build on the foundation laid over the last decade and a half. Yeah he went to Kingston College, but I wont hold that against him.

I’m out like the Greek economy!