(07-01-2014 01:24 PM)Da.Owl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:09 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:08 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 12:19 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I'm going to go dark on the internet for a while. But, the table should really be set here for a good run by the US. I think Felani and a few other key components are injured at this stage.

I am counting on Chuck Norris > Jon-Claude Van Damme...

And Southern Star Black Crack or 8th Wonder Rocket Fuel > Stella Artois...

Hey ... I can understand if you pour Iron City under the bus, but watch out dissin' Stella. Next you'll be after Upslope Lager

Would you believe pancakes > waffles?

Go Yanks!


'Nuff said.

(07-01-2014 01:27 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:24 PM)Da.Owl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:09 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:08 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 12:19 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I'm going to go dark on the internet for a while. But, the table should really be set here for a good run by the US. I think Felani and a few other key components are injured at this stage.

I am counting on Chuck Norris > Jon-Claude Van Damme...

And Southern Star Black Crack or 8th Wonder Rocket Fuel > Stella Artois...

Hey ... I can understand if you pour Iron City under the bus, but watch out dissin' Stella. Next you'll be after Upslope Lager

Would you believe pancakes > waffles?

pancakes > Belgian waffles

Belgium was impressive. The USA was not, until the final minutes when we finally showed some spirit and fight. I do think the USA will at least advance to the World Cup semis sometime in my lifetime.

OK, now that that's over....
sign up for the Notre Dame trip!

https://www.anthonytravel.com/rice/owls-notredame/

Pretty tense match. I thought US and Belgium were pretty equal through the 1st half. Belgium definitely controlled the 2nd half and the outstanding play of the US goalkeeper was the only thing that sent the game into overtime (or whatever they might call it in this sport). Even with Belgium scoring twice in overtime, the US still had a few other opportunities to tie and just couldn't convert. An exciting game to watch, even in defeat.

(07-01-2014 02:15 PM)Da.Owl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:27 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:24 PM)Da.Owl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:09 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 01:08 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  I am counting on Chuck Norris > Jon-Claude Van Damme...

And Southern Star Black Crack or 8th Wonder Rocket Fuel > Stella Artois...

Hey ... I can understand if you pour Iron City under the bus, but watch out dissin' Stella. Next you'll be after Upslope Lager

Would you believe pancakes > waffles?

pancakes > Belgian waffles

From now on they shall be known as Freedom waffles.

(07-01-2014 06:12 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Pretty tense match. I thought US and Belgium were pretty equal through the 1st half. Belgium definitely controlled the 2nd half and the outstanding play of the US goalkeeper was the only thing that sent the game into overtime (or whatever they might call it in this sport). Even with Belgium scoring twice in overtime, the US still had a few other opportunities to tie and just couldn't convert. An exciting game to watch, even in defeat.

Wow, things must have gone the US's way late in the first half. I watched about the first 30 minutes, and Belgium was just having their way. I've seen bits and pieces in the highlights, but walked away feeling that the US was really struggling to keep Belgium under control in those first 30 minutes.

Tough way to lose (that free kick that almost tied it was a thing of beauty). But they will be back. My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 06:12 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Pretty tense match. I thought US and Belgium were pretty equal through the 1st half. Belgium definitely controlled the 2nd half and the outstanding play of the US goalkeeper was the only thing that sent the game into overtime (or whatever they might call it in this sport). Even with Belgium scoring twice in overtime, the US still had a few other opportunities to tie and just couldn't convert. An exciting game to watch, even in defeat.

Wow, things must have gone the US's way late in the first half. I watched about the first 30 minutes, and Belgium was just having their way. I've seen bits and pieces in the highlights, but walked away feeling that the US was really struggling to keep Belgium under control in those first 30 minutes.

Tough way to lose (that free kick that almost tied it was a thing of beauty). But they will be back. My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Given the number of posts and Rice's international stature, is there any question as to why Rice U doesn't have varsity men's soccer? The interest is there, even as this country's war on men continues.

(07-02-2014 04:22 AM)exowlswimmer Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 06:12 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Pretty tense match. I thought US and Belgium were pretty equal through the 1st half. Belgium definitely controlled the 2nd half and the outstanding play of the US goalkeeper was the only thing that sent the game into overtime (or whatever they might call it in this sport). Even with Belgium scoring twice in overtime, the US still had a few other opportunities to tie and just couldn't convert. An exciting game to watch, even in defeat.

Wow, things must have gone the US's way late in the first half. I watched about the first 30 minutes, and Belgium was just having their way. I've seen bits and pieces in the highlights, but walked away feeling that the US was really struggling to keep Belgium under control in those first 30 minutes.

Tough way to lose (that free kick that almost tied it was a thing of beauty). But they will be back. My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Given the number of posts and Rice's international stature, is there any question as to why Rice U doesn't have varsity men's soccer? The interest is there, even as this country's war on men continues.

Title IX gets in the way.

(07-02-2014 07:52 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 04:22 AM)exowlswimmer Wrote:  Given the number of posts and Rice's international stature, is there any question as to why Rice U doesn't have varsity men's soccer? The interest is there, even as this country's war on men continues.

Title IX gets in the way.

Because adding another non-rev sport is clearly the best way to turn around the financial losses the athletic department has.

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Yes. If there's only one thing the US is good at it is creating top tier keepers.

While I wouldn't necessarily count Howard out by 2018, he'll be 39 years old then and even if he could still perform he'll likely be surpassed by Brad Guzan, currently 29 and the #1 keeper for Aston Villa in the EPL (after winning the spot from former USMNT keeper Friedel). Guzan put up two clean sheets during WC qualifiers last year against Costa Rica and Mexico.

As for the next generation, I'm sure there are others out there but in particular there's Cody Cropper, 21 years old and currently a backup with Southampton. He's played for the US youth squad a few times and was invited to train with the USMNT this spring even though he wasn't on the 30-man roster.

There is half a year left, and it's hard not to have recency bias, but: Jurgen Klinsmann for Sportsman of the Year?

This was very much his team, and it caught the imagination of the nation.

Here is a quick list of some of the past honorees who were coaches, executives, or otherwise non-players at the time of their selection:
Pete Rozelle 1963
Joe Paterno 1986
Arthur Ashe 1992 (he retired from playing 1980)
Don Shula 1993
Dean Smith 1997
Mike Kryzewski and Pat Summitt 2011

The teams that have received the award are:
US Men's Hockey 1980
US Women's Soccer 1999
Boston Red Sox 2004 (really?)

[Aside, there are more than a few past honorees that were subsequently disgraced in one way or another:
Joe Paterno 1986
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa 1998
Tiger Woods 1996, 2000
Lance Armstrong 2002]

I would suspect Tim Howard would be far more likely to get it than Klinsmann. But I don't really think it's going to go that way.

(07-02-2014 09:55 AM)NicevilleWRC Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Yes. If there's only one thing the US is good at it is creating top tier keepers.

While I wouldn't necessarily count Howard out by 2018, he'll be 39 years old then and even if he could still perform he'll likely be surpassed by Brad Guzan, currently 29 and the #1 keeper for Aston Villa in the EPL (after winning the spot from former USMNT keeper Friedel). Guzan put up two clean sheets during WC qualifiers last year against Costa Rica and Mexico.

As for the next generation, I'm sure there are others out there but in particular there's Cody Cropper, 21 years old and currently a backup with Southampton. He's played for the US youth squad a few times and was invited to train with the USMNT this spring even though he wasn't on the 30-man roster.

This is symptomatic of the team's overall success in the world cups - they are generally good enough to advance past the group stage through heroic goalkeeping efforts and passable defense, all whilst being exposed as sub-par (for elite nations) in midfield and attack. I would suspect that if you looked at the history of elimination games, US possession would be no more than about 35% in any of those games (except possibly against Mexico), and you'd hear the same kind of comments in each of the past 6-7 world cups - good fitness/inadequate technical ability, boy, isn't {Howard,Friedl,Meola,Guzan} outstanding.

I think that gap is closing, but it would be refreshing to advance without setting a record for the number of saves. That said, Gonzalez, Yedlin, Bradley all had very good games, and if not for a few poor finishes, the game could've finished 3-4 with either side prevailing.

(07-01-2014 09:10 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:10 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:09 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:09 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  I

I Believe

I Believe That

I Believe That We Will Win

For those with time and interest - here is a news feature that describes the origin of this cheer (Navy football). The ESPN video at the end of the article interviews the Midshipman credited with its start.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/socc...ingtonpost

(07-02-2014 12:11 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 09:55 AM)NicevilleWRC Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Yes. If there's only one thing the US is good at it is creating top tier keepers.

While I wouldn't necessarily count Howard out by 2018, he'll be 39 years old then and even if he could still perform he'll likely be surpassed by Brad Guzan, currently 29 and the #1 keeper for Aston Villa in the EPL (after winning the spot from former USMNT keeper Friedel). Guzan put up two clean sheets during WC qualifiers last year against Costa Rica and Mexico.

As for the next generation, I'm sure there are others out there but in particular there's Cody Cropper, 21 years old and currently a backup with Southampton. He's played for the US youth squad a few times and was invited to train with the USMNT this spring even though he wasn't on the 30-man roster.

This is symptomatic of the team's overall success in the world cups - they are generally good enough to advance past the group stage through heroic goalkeeping efforts and passable defense, all whilst being exposed as sub-par (for elite nations) in midfield and attack. I would suspect that if you looked at the history of elimination games, US possession would be no more than about 35% in any of those games (except possibly against Mexico), and you'd hear the same kind of comments in each of the past 6-7 world cups - good fitness/inadequate technical ability, boy, isn't {Howard,Friedl,Meola,Guzan} outstanding.

I think that gap is closing, but it would be refreshing to advance without setting a record for the number of saves. That said, Gonzalez, Yedlin, Bradley all had very good games, and if not for a few poor finishes, the game could've finished 3-4 with either side prevailing.

Considering the US has only played in 5 elimination games since 1934 and only 4 from 2002 to present that's not much of a sample size, but your intuition/memory is incorrect.

Believe it or not the US had 52% possession against Belgium, 47% against Ghana in 2010 (including 12 shots on target to 7 against), only 34% possession in our 2-0 victory over Mexico (but 10 to 12 shots and both 6 shots on target), and 58% possession in the subsequent game against Germany which we lost 1-0, despite 6 shots on target to only 2 against.

(07-02-2014 01:21 PM)NicevilleWRC Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 12:11 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 09:55 AM)NicevilleWRC Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Yes. If there's only one thing the US is good at it is creating top tier keepers.

While I wouldn't necessarily count Howard out by 2018, he'll be 39 years old then and even if he could still perform he'll likely be surpassed by Brad Guzan, currently 29 and the #1 keeper for Aston Villa in the EPL (after winning the spot from former USMNT keeper Friedel). Guzan put up two clean sheets during WC qualifiers last year against Costa Rica and Mexico.

As for the next generation, I'm sure there are others out there but in particular there's Cody Cropper, 21 years old and currently a backup with Southampton. He's played for the US youth squad a few times and was invited to train with the USMNT this spring even though he wasn't on the 30-man roster.

This is symptomatic of the team's overall success in the world cups - they are generally good enough to advance past the group stage through heroic goalkeeping efforts and passable defense, all whilst being exposed as sub-par (for elite nations) in midfield and attack. I would suspect that if you looked at the history of elimination games, US possession would be no more than about 35% in any of those games (except possibly against Mexico), and you'd hear the same kind of comments in each of the past 6-7 world cups - good fitness/inadequate technical ability, boy, isn't {Howard,Friedl,Meola,Guzan} outstanding.

I think that gap is closing, but it would be refreshing to advance without setting a record for the number of saves. That said, Gonzalez, Yedlin, Bradley all had very good games, and if not for a few poor finishes, the game could've finished 3-4 with either side prevailing.

Considering the US has only played in 5 elimination games since 1934 and only 4 from 2002 to present that's not much of a sample size, but your intuition/memory is incorrect.

Believe it or not the US had 52% possession against Belgium, 47% against Ghana in 2010 (including 12 shots on target to 7 against), only 34% possession in our 2-0 victory over Mexico (but 10 to 12 shots and both 6 shots on target), and 58% possession in the subsequent game against Germany which we lost 1-0, despite 6 shots on target to only 2 against.

Wow, I was pretty spectacularly wrong. Even factoring out the last 15 minutes, possession is virtually even against Belgium, which surprises me because it seems that there were long stretches of time where the US didn't see the ball. That said, Belgium was more direct in attack while the US generally took a long time to build up an attack. As in the other football, I guess time of possession is not as important as quality with the ball.

I guess my perception has been that the US is far more reliant on good goalkeeping and overall fitness than most elite nations are, as weighed against skill with the ball.

(07-02-2014 12:54 PM)CrabCake Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:10 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:10 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:09 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 09:09 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  I

I Believe

I Believe That

I Believe That We Will Win

For those with time and interest - here is a news feature that describes the origin of this cheer (Navy football). The ESPN video at the end of the article interviews the Midshipman credited with its start.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/socc...ingtonpost

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed ESPN's World Cup Tonight quite a bit. They also did a report on the Navy cheerleader guy.

(07-02-2014 02:31 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 01:21 PM)NicevilleWRC Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 12:11 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(07-02-2014 09:55 AM)NicevilleWRC Wrote:  

(07-01-2014 11:24 PM)gsloth Wrote:  My biggest fear right now is replacing Howard - he's been special for quite a while. Is there someone who can possibly fill his shoes by 2018? Or could he really be back and be effective?

Yes. If there's only one thing the US is good at it is creating top tier keepers.

While I wouldn't necessarily count Howard out by 2018, he'll be 39 years old then and even if he could still perform he'll likely be surpassed by Brad Guzan, currently 29 and the #1 keeper for Aston Villa in the EPL (after winning the spot from former USMNT keeper Friedel). Guzan put up two clean sheets during WC qualifiers last year against Costa Rica and Mexico.

As for the next generation, I'm sure there are others out there but in particular there's Cody Cropper, 21 years old and currently a backup with Southampton. He's played for the US youth squad a few times and was invited to train with the USMNT this spring even though he wasn't on the 30-man roster.

This is symptomatic of the team's overall success in the world cups - they are generally good enough to advance past the group stage through heroic goalkeeping efforts and passable defense, all whilst being exposed as sub-par (for elite nations) in midfield and attack. I would suspect that if you looked at the history of elimination games, US possession would be no more than about 35% in any of those games (except possibly against Mexico), and you'd hear the same kind of comments in each of the past 6-7 world cups - good fitness/inadequate technical ability, boy, isn't {Howard,Friedl,Meola,Guzan} outstanding.

I think that gap is closing, but it would be refreshing to advance without setting a record for the number of saves. That said, Gonzalez, Yedlin, Bradley all had very good games, and if not for a few poor finishes, the game could've finished 3-4 with either side prevailing.

Considering the US has only played in 5 elimination games since 1934 and only 4 from 2002 to present that's not much of a sample size, but your intuition/memory is incorrect.

Believe it or not the US had 52% possession against Belgium, 47% against Ghana in 2010 (including 12 shots on target to 7 against), only 34% possession in our 2-0 victory over Mexico (but 10 to 12 shots and both 6 shots on target), and 58% possession in the subsequent game against Germany which we lost 1-0, despite 6 shots on target to only 2 against.

Wow, I was pretty spectacularly wrong. Even factoring out the last 15 minutes, possession is virtually even against Belgium, which surprises me because it seems that there were long stretches of time where the US didn't see the ball. That said, Belgium was more direct in attack while the US generally took a long time to build up an attack. As in the other football, I guess time of possession is not as important as quality with the ball.

I guess my perception has been that the US is far more reliant on good goalkeeping and overall fitness than most elite nations are, as weighed against skill with the ball.

I bet if you looked at where we held possession, vs where Belgium did it would show you why you felt that way. I felt that we had a much harder time holding possession in the attacking third than Belgium did, and we also struggled in the middle third. It's great that we are keeping the ball, but if we are predominantly knocking it around in our defensive third, it isn't going to result in much.