Wednesday, June 4th:
Creamsickles 1 vs. Ben Cup Losers 2
Thursday, June 5th:
TST 1 vs. Energy Drinks 2
Friday, June 6th:
Texas Stripes 1 vs. NERds 3
Saturday, June 7th:
NTOTB 1 vs. Columbus 3
Ben Cup Losers 0 vs. Where There's Smoke... 2
Takin A KC Wiz 2 vs. REAL SALT LAKE 2
Crapids/Cripids 2 vs. LAG 3
Sunday, June 8th:
Streamer Warehouse 1 vs. Creamsickles 2
Last week's results:
Another week, another similar result. Hopefully this week will get me out of the rut!
3 correct (1 exact-the RSL game, YES!), 4 wrong (43%, 14%)
Season Total:
27-43 [4 exact] (39%, 6%)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Game 10: Shakin the Quakes: NTOTB vs. RSL
Wow. Can we take that 20-25 minutes to start the second half and play that way for 90 minutes? Seriously, it makes the bad play all the more frustrating when you see what the team is actually capable of...
1st Half Grade: D
I'm not sure how this was the same team we saw in the second half. RSL was gifted a penalty early after a handball in the box. Javi proceeded to step up, use his body language to tell everyone where he was going, and then weakly kick it directly at Joe Cannon. Honestly one of the worst penalty takes I've seen. The rest of the half was vintage RSL...by both teams. Ugly pinball play in the midfield, few, if any, scoring chances, just very blah. An odd substitution came right before half, with Findley coming on for a fine-looking but apparently injured Espi. It seemed odd at the time, but didn't strike me as being too important. Boy, was I wrong... Halftime: 0-0.
2nd Half Grade: A-
Praise the Lord! Robbie Findley has remembered he is good! After making SJ defender Jason Hernandez look like, well, ME, he thenran to the edge of the box and absolutely blistered home a shot near post, getting it right past the outstretched arms of Cannon. Boom, 1-0. The goal seemed to finally energize the royals, with RSL dominating the next 20 minutes of play. In fact, I don't recall NTOTB making it past midfield on an attack more than maybe once in that whole span. Another brilliant goal came in the 60th, when Javi came screaming upfield. Smartly, he held onto the ball for as long as possible, drawing two defenders, before laying it off to Findley. Sensing the danger, both defenders turned to go at Robbie, who read the play perfectly and put a brilliant one-touch pass forward to a wide open Javi. Morales took the ball, and after a perfect extra touch to pull Cannon off his line, put the ball expertly behind Cannon and into the net. The RSL flurry continued with a couple of possible (but would-have-been-weak) shirt-pulling PKs going uncalled while a suddenly renewed Deuchar wreaked havoc in the box. RSL finally got its second PK, although not from Kenny, in the 73rd after Morales put a perfect ball into the box for Williams who was dragged down from behind by Nick Garcia as he prepped the shot. Smartly, the Reds kept Javi far away from the spot and Kovalenko stepped up, waited for Cannon to commit, and then went the opposite way for the third goal. 3-0 RSL. So why not an A or even A+ for the half? After going up 3-0, RSL got lazy. Meanwhile, SJ pressed, trying to salvage anything from the game. It didn't matter, that is, until John Cunliffe decided to take the game over. He took a brilliant back heel pass at the top of the box in the 84th and blasted it past Little Nicky to dirty up the clean sheet. He nearly did it again just minutes later, just missing the top left corner on another rifle shot. Luckily for RSL, the shot missed and any possible lifeline for the visitors was cut. Final score: RSL 3 - NTOTB 1.
Pros:
-Findley returns to form.
-Deuchar finally showed up in the second half.
-Javier Morales continues to be an assist machine.
-The defense (both on the backline and from the midfield) did well before letting the 3 goal lead get to their heads.
-The team showed better vision in creating attacks.
-RSL continues their home form, something they HAVE to do, given their road woes.
Cons:
-Much of the first half was awful.
-The midfield refused to settle a ball and try and hold possession in the first half.
-RSL quit playing after building the lead.
-Espi left injured.
Game grade: B-
A tough game to grade. When RSL was on, they looked like world beaters (granted, it was against an expansion side, but they still looked THAT good), but for the first half and the last 15-20 minutes, they looked pretty mediocre. Overall, I think it's a solid win, but I'd like to see a better effort over a whole 90 minutes.
Player grades:
Nick Rimando-6 Didn't have much to do.
Tony Beltran-6 See above.
Nat Borchers-6 Did get beat on the goal, but looked good otherwise.
Jamison Olave-7 Solid game by Jamison, although, again, the D didn't have much to do.
Chris Wingert-7 Have to give him credit as every attack seemed to go down the left side.
Andy Williams-7 Active and attacking, earned a PK as well.
Dema Kovalenko-5 Had a goal, but was otherwise nonexistent.
Javier Morales-7 Goal and basically 2 assists, but a missed PK and poor 1st half.
(Matias Cordoba 79)-5 Pretty blah after coming on.
Kyle Beckerman-5 Did better in the 2nd, but never really made his mark.
Kenny Deuchar-6 Bad first half, second half was his best effort in ages.
(Tino Nunez 85)-6 Too little time to really judge.
Fabian Espindola-6 One of the few even decent players early.
(Robbie Findley 45)-8 Almost a 9, just a brilliant game from #10.
RSL Man of the Match:
Robbie Findley - It's gotta be him. The whole complexion of the game changed after he entered and his goal woke up the whole squad. On top of that, his goal was a thing of beauty and he capped it off with a perfect assist to Javi. Is Robbie finally rounding into form?
Assclown of the Match:
Max Bretos - For the last !@#$ing time, it's Robbie FindLEY and WaSATCH not Findlay and Wasottch. Friggin hell.
1st Half Grade: D
I'm not sure how this was the same team we saw in the second half. RSL was gifted a penalty early after a handball in the box. Javi proceeded to step up, use his body language to tell everyone where he was going, and then weakly kick it directly at Joe Cannon. Honestly one of the worst penalty takes I've seen. The rest of the half was vintage RSL...by both teams. Ugly pinball play in the midfield, few, if any, scoring chances, just very blah. An odd substitution came right before half, with Findley coming on for a fine-looking but apparently injured Espi. It seemed odd at the time, but didn't strike me as being too important. Boy, was I wrong... Halftime: 0-0.
2nd Half Grade: A-
Praise the Lord! Robbie Findley has remembered he is good! After making SJ defender Jason Hernandez look like, well, ME, he thenran to the edge of the box and absolutely blistered home a shot near post, getting it right past the outstretched arms of Cannon. Boom, 1-0. The goal seemed to finally energize the royals, with RSL dominating the next 20 minutes of play. In fact, I don't recall NTOTB making it past midfield on an attack more than maybe once in that whole span. Another brilliant goal came in the 60th, when Javi came screaming upfield. Smartly, he held onto the ball for as long as possible, drawing two defenders, before laying it off to Findley. Sensing the danger, both defenders turned to go at Robbie, who read the play perfectly and put a brilliant one-touch pass forward to a wide open Javi. Morales took the ball, and after a perfect extra touch to pull Cannon off his line, put the ball expertly behind Cannon and into the net. The RSL flurry continued with a couple of possible (but would-have-been-weak) shirt-pulling PKs going uncalled while a suddenly renewed Deuchar wreaked havoc in the box. RSL finally got its second PK, although not from Kenny, in the 73rd after Morales put a perfect ball into the box for Williams who was dragged down from behind by Nick Garcia as he prepped the shot. Smartly, the Reds kept Javi far away from the spot and Kovalenko stepped up, waited for Cannon to commit, and then went the opposite way for the third goal. 3-0 RSL. So why not an A or even A+ for the half? After going up 3-0, RSL got lazy. Meanwhile, SJ pressed, trying to salvage anything from the game. It didn't matter, that is, until John Cunliffe decided to take the game over. He took a brilliant back heel pass at the top of the box in the 84th and blasted it past Little Nicky to dirty up the clean sheet. He nearly did it again just minutes later, just missing the top left corner on another rifle shot. Luckily for RSL, the shot missed and any possible lifeline for the visitors was cut. Final score: RSL 3 - NTOTB 1.
Pros:
-Findley returns to form.
-Deuchar finally showed up in the second half.
-Javier Morales continues to be an assist machine.
-The defense (both on the backline and from the midfield) did well before letting the 3 goal lead get to their heads.
-The team showed better vision in creating attacks.
-RSL continues their home form, something they HAVE to do, given their road woes.
Cons:
-Much of the first half was awful.
-The midfield refused to settle a ball and try and hold possession in the first half.
-RSL quit playing after building the lead.
-Espi left injured.
Game grade: B-
A tough game to grade. When RSL was on, they looked like world beaters (granted, it was against an expansion side, but they still looked THAT good), but for the first half and the last 15-20 minutes, they looked pretty mediocre. Overall, I think it's a solid win, but I'd like to see a better effort over a whole 90 minutes.
Player grades:
Nick Rimando-6 Didn't have much to do.
Tony Beltran-6 See above.
Nat Borchers-6 Did get beat on the goal, but looked good otherwise.
Jamison Olave-7 Solid game by Jamison, although, again, the D didn't have much to do.
Chris Wingert-7 Have to give him credit as every attack seemed to go down the left side.
Andy Williams-7 Active and attacking, earned a PK as well.
Dema Kovalenko-5 Had a goal, but was otherwise nonexistent.
Javier Morales-7 Goal and basically 2 assists, but a missed PK and poor 1st half.
(Matias Cordoba 79)-5 Pretty blah after coming on.
Kyle Beckerman-5 Did better in the 2nd, but never really made his mark.
Kenny Deuchar-6 Bad first half, second half was his best effort in ages.
(Tino Nunez 85)-6 Too little time to really judge.
Fabian Espindola-6 One of the few even decent players early.
(Robbie Findley 45)-8 Almost a 9, just a brilliant game from #10.
RSL Man of the Match:
Robbie Findley - It's gotta be him. The whole complexion of the game changed after he entered and his goal woke up the whole squad. On top of that, his goal was a thing of beauty and he capped it off with a perfect assist to Javi. Is Robbie finally rounding into form?
Assclown of the Match:
Max Bretos - For the last !@#$ing time, it's Robbie FindLEY and WaSATCH not Findlay and Wasottch. Friggin hell.
Game 9: RSL vs. FCD Player Grades
Hey, cut me some slack, I'm only a week and a half late! Ha ha! Anyway, I just wanted to post some grades for the Dallas game so that all my season rankings and such still are correct.
Nick Rimando-7
Chris Wingert-6
Nat Borchers-3 Was at least partially responisble for both goals.
Jamison Olave-6 Defense held until he came off
(Matias Mantilla 77)-5
Ian Joy-4 Sadly, RSL's best player going forward in the first half, but can't forget the red.
Dema Kovalenko-5
Kyle Beckerman-4
Andy Williams-4
Javier Morales-5
Kenny Deuchar -4
(Fabian Espindola 54)-6
Robbie Findley-6 Thoroughly outplayed Deuchar, yet comes off instead of Kenny...
(Kenny Cutler 46)-4
RSL Man of the Match:
Nick Rimando - None of the field players earned it, and both goals were not Nick's fault. I have to give it to someone, so I give it to Nick and his 5 saves.
Assclown of the Match:
TIE Bobby Rhine and Jason Kreis - Rhine for his complete overreaction and unnecessary "assault" of Javi Morales. Kreis for his inexplicable substitution patterns.
Nick Rimando-7
Chris Wingert-6
Nat Borchers-3 Was at least partially responisble for both goals.
Jamison Olave-6 Defense held until he came off
(Matias Mantilla 77)-5
Ian Joy-4 Sadly, RSL's best player going forward in the first half, but can't forget the red.
Dema Kovalenko-5
Kyle Beckerman-4
Andy Williams-4
Javier Morales-5
Kenny Deuchar -4
(Fabian Espindola 54)-6
Robbie Findley-6 Thoroughly outplayed Deuchar, yet comes off instead of Kenny...
(Kenny Cutler 46)-4
RSL Man of the Match:
Nick Rimando - None of the field players earned it, and both goals were not Nick's fault. I have to give it to someone, so I give it to Nick and his 5 saves.
Assclown of the Match:
TIE Bobby Rhine and Jason Kreis - Rhine for his complete overreaction and unnecessary "assault" of Javi Morales. Kreis for his inexplicable substitution patterns.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Ye Olde Royal Predictions: Week 10
I know, I know, the week has already started and seems to be about half over, but I promise I made these predictions BEFORE the week started. In my defense, I don't know the finals of any of this week's games so far so I may be posting wrong predictions for games that already happened-yay!
Wednesday, May 28th:
Houston 3 vs. Dallas 2
Thursday, May 29th:
Unitedwagen 1 vs. NERds 2
Saturday, May 31st:
LAG 2 vs. Streamer Warehouse 2
Energy Drinks 1 vs. Houston 2
NTOTB 1 vs. REAL SALT LAKE 3
Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria 2 vs. TST 1
Sunday, June (already?!?!) 1st:
Dallas 0 vs. Crapids/Cripids 3
Last week's results:
About the usual around here these days.
3 right (0 exact), 5 wrong (38%)
Season Total:
24-39 [3 exact] (38%, 5%)
Wednesday, May 28th:
Houston 3 vs. Dallas 2
Thursday, May 29th:
Unitedwagen 1 vs. NERds 2
Saturday, May 31st:
LAG 2 vs. Streamer Warehouse 2
Energy Drinks 1 vs. Houston 2
NTOTB 1 vs. REAL SALT LAKE 3
Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria 2 vs. TST 1
Sunday, June (already?!?!) 1st:
Dallas 0 vs. Crapids/Cripids 3
Last week's results:
About the usual around here these days.
3 right (0 exact), 5 wrong (38%)
Season Total:
24-39 [3 exact] (38%, 5%)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Not Dead
I'm waaaaaaaay behind on the Review this week, in fact, I still haven't even watched the Dallas game. I'm working on getting caught up, but updates will be a bit behind schedule. Sorry!
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Royal Rankings #6
I made the mistake of finally picking RSL to win last week in their bid to take over first place for the first time ever. I was rewarded with that craptacular in Denver. Well done, boys. At least they are back into a familiar place in the rankings (and standings); near the bottom.
14 (14) NTOTB - Expansion woes continue.
13 (12) VW United - A complete and total collapse against a bad TST.
12 (09) REAL SALT LAKE - Already time to pack up the RMC?
11 (13) Chivas TST - Finally a win.
10 (08) Dallass - Absolutely BLASTED by David and the Beckhams.
09 (10) Houston - HUGE win over Chicago, that's two in a row.
08 (11) LAG - Make sure you sit down for this one: Edson Buddle with the hat trick.
07 (06) Kansas City - Handed a point to a ten man Energy Drink squad.
06 (05) New Jersey - Quietly putting together a strong season, only 1 loss so far.
05 (07) Crapids/Cripids - Made RSL look stupid.
04 (04) Toronto Streamer Warehouse - Earned a draw against a good Columbus team.
03 (01) Chicago - Whoops! Lost to one (now two) win Houston.
02 (03) NERds - Took care of San Jose, as they should.
01 (02) Columbus - With Chicago's stumble, they finally take over 1st.
*I'm sure everyone already knows, but just in case, the numbers in parentheses are last week's ranking.
14 (14) NTOTB - Expansion woes continue.
13 (12) VW United - A complete and total collapse against a bad TST.
12 (09) REAL SALT LAKE - Already time to pack up the RMC?
11 (13) Chivas TST - Finally a win.
10 (08) Dallass - Absolutely BLASTED by David and the Beckhams.
09 (10) Houston - HUGE win over Chicago, that's two in a row.
08 (11) LAG - Make sure you sit down for this one: Edson Buddle with the hat trick.
07 (06) Kansas City - Handed a point to a ten man Energy Drink squad.
06 (05) New Jersey - Quietly putting together a strong season, only 1 loss so far.
05 (07) Crapids/Cripids - Made RSL look stupid.
04 (04) Toronto Streamer Warehouse - Earned a draw against a good Columbus team.
03 (01) Chicago - Whoops! Lost to one (now two) win Houston.
02 (03) NERds - Took care of San Jose, as they should.
01 (02) Columbus - With Chicago's stumble, they finally take over 1st.
*I'm sure everyone already knows, but just in case, the numbers in parentheses are last week's ranking.
Ye Olde Royal Predictions: Week 9
So I had an improvement this week, but I'm still not up to where I want to be. I did, however, notice this disclaimer on James Edward's blog on his predictions:
"Note: I'm counting draws in my record, therefore picking 33 percent of the games correct would be considered average."
Mainly I'm just posting this to make myself feel better, as I run on the same rules. By his logic I am still above average! YAY! Ah, lowered expectations, you are a sweet, sweet nectar.
Wednesday, May 21st:
Ben Cup Losers 1 vs. Streamer Warehouse 3
Thursday, May 22nd:
Houston Creamsickles 2 vs. NTOTB 1
Saturday, May 24th:
NERds 0 vs. Columbus 2
Streamer Death 2 vs. Unitedwagen 2
REAL SALT LAKE 2 vs. Dallass 3
TST 0 vs. Crapids/Cripids 2
Kansas City 2 vs. LAG 3
Sunday, May 25th:
The Blanco School of Flopping 1 vs. Energy Drinks 2
Last week's results:
3 right (0 exact), 4 wrong (43%)
Season total:
21-34 [3 exact] (38%, 5%)
"Note: I'm counting draws in my record, therefore picking 33 percent of the games correct would be considered average."
Mainly I'm just posting this to make myself feel better, as I run on the same rules. By his logic I am still above average! YAY! Ah, lowered expectations, you are a sweet, sweet nectar.
Wednesday, May 21st:
Ben Cup Losers 1 vs. Streamer Warehouse 3
Thursday, May 22nd:
Houston Creamsickles 2 vs. NTOTB 1
Saturday, May 24th:
NERds 0 vs. Columbus 2
Streamer Death 2 vs. Unitedwagen 2
REAL SALT LAKE 2 vs. Dallass 3
TST 0 vs. Crapids/Cripids 2
Kansas City 2 vs. LAG 3
Sunday, May 25th:
The Blanco School of Flopping 1 vs. Energy Drinks 2
Last week's results:
3 right (0 exact), 4 wrong (43%)
Season total:
21-34 [3 exact] (38%, 5%)
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