I, along with half of East Lansing, traveled to Evanston Saturday to see the Spartans take on the mighty Northwestern Wildcats.  The day and the game started out yucky and raining, but they both turned out wonderful by the end.

After the game we met up with the Siglers and celebrated the victory as Spartan nation pretty much took over every bar in Evanston.   Dinner was had at a yummy Indian restaurant, after which, I pretty much collapsed in bed from exhaustion.

Everyone keeps calling Clint Dempsey’s goal in the England game lucky.  I’d have to say I disagree.  This just shows that soccer is 11 v 11 and our 11th man is simply better than anything England has to offer.  At first glance it would be easy to dismiss it as a lucky goal, and I’d agree with that line of thinking if this was the first or even second time that this has happened to England.  The reality is that this keeps happening to England over and over and over again, and at some point you have to say our goalies aren’t very good.

You know why England seemed to shoot right into Tim Howard when they were on a breakaway? Because he is a great goalie and puts himself in great positions.  Just like shortstop in baseball or a goalie in hockey, Tim gets his whole body behind the ball so he doesn’t have to reach for the ball.  Green’s mistake on the goal wasn’t that he let the ball slip through his hands.  His big mistake was that he was lazy and didn’t get his body behind the ball for backup.  Look at him reaching to the side in this picture.

And just to show you this is nothing new for England here are some video clips:

England vs Croatia – This goal knocks England out of qualifying in Euro 2008.  Similar goal, same mistake.  Goalie has horrible positioning and tries to reach to the side to catch a bouncing ball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxefXTqeVi4

Robert Green again being lazy and not paying attention. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTV80j-ZAZ4

Robert Green again!  He  gets hurt here, but still it’s another in the list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2xqhDat_yw

England v Croatia – Different game, different goalie, but it happens AGAIN  http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Dmws59X1cNg&feature=related

England’s backup in this tournament, David James, has made so many stupid errors in his career that his nickname is Calamity James.

England’s best goalie is 3rd stringer Joe Hart.  He had a great season with Birmingham, but they’ll never play him because he is “too young.”

I read a lot about soccer on the internet and watch what I can on TV. My TV viewing is pretty much limited to the English Premier League since that is what Fox Soccer Channel primarily shows. I don’t really have a favorite team, although I definitely prefer to watch a team with a nice flowing attack like Aresenal as opposed to someone like Wigan. I mainly watch just to see how the Americans are playing though.

I may have just become a Spurs fan after learning of Sir Bill Nicholson.

“It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory.”

How can you not respect an attitude like that? More great quotes and more information about Sir Nicholson can be found here: http://www.thfc1961.fsnet.co.uk/home.htm

Now they just need to resign Kasey Keller so they have an American on the books again!

I had a decent first week and was a few points here and there from having a huge week.

Standings after 1:

Me: 10-6 (1-0)
Henning: 9-7 (1-0)
Parker 5-11 (0-1)
O’Hara 5-11 (0-1)

Detroit +8.5 at Chicago
Oakland +12 at Baltimore
Houston +13.5 at Indianapolis
Cleveland +10 at Cincinnati
Buffalo +6.5 at Miami
Carolina -1.5 at Minnesota
NY Giants +3 at Philadelphia
Tampa Bay +5.5 at Atlanta
New Orleans -2 at Green Bay
St. Louis -3 at San Fran
Arizona +7 at Seattle
New England -6 at NY Jets
Tennessee +11.5 at San Diego
Kansas City +10.5 at Denver
Washington +6 at Dallas
Pittsburgh PK at Jacksonville

Best Bet: St. Louis

Wow, bad week for me. I end up sitting in the cold rain at Michigan Stadium and then go 5-10. Ugh.

Standings:

Niyo 19-11 (2-0)
Chengelis 17-13 (2-0)
Foster 17-13 (1-1)
Lacy 15-15 (1-1)
Wojo 14-16 (1-1)
Me 14-16 (1-1)

This week’s picks:

Michigan +6 at Notre Dame
MSU +2.5 at Pittsburgh
Cincinnati +29.5 at Ohio State
Syracuse +3 at Illinois
Iowa St. + 13.5 at Iowa
Ball St. +17.5 at Purdue
SDSU +14 at Wisconsin
E. Michigan +17 at Northwestern
Temple +41.5 at Minnesota
Youngstown St. +35 at Penn State
S. Illinois +29 at Indiana
LSU +3 at Auburn
Florida -3.5 at Tennessee
W. Michigan +9.5 at Virginia
Akron +1.5 at C. Michigan

Best Bet: Temple

My pick is in bold, shame on me for taking MSU and U-M again.

Central Michigan +28 at Michigan
EMU +25.5 at Michigan State
Ohio State +2.5 at Texas
Illinois +11 at Rutgers
Miami (OH) +17 at Purdue
Iowa -18.5 at Syracuse
Indiana -3.5 at Ball St.
Penn St. +7.5 at Notre Dame
W. Illinois +27 at Wisconsin
Minnesota +7.5 at California
Clemson -2.5 at Boston College
Georgia -3 at South Carolina
Oregon -4.5 at Fresno State
Washington +16 at Oklahoma
Toledo -10.5 at Western Michigan

Best Bet: Clemson

Experts:

And here are the eagerly awaited NFL picks:

Miami PK at Pittsburgh
Seattle -6 at Detroit
Denver -3 at St. Louis
NY Jets +3 at Tennessee
Buffalo +9 at New England
Baltimore +3 at Tampa Bay
Cincinnati +2.3 at Kansas City
Atlanta +6 at Carolina
Philadelphia -4.5 at Houston
New Orleans +3 at Cleveland
Dallas +2.5 at Jacksonville
Chicago -3.5 at Green Bay
San Francisco +7.5 at Arizona
Indy -3.5 at NY Giants
Minnesota + 4.5 at Washington
San Diego -3 at Oakland

Best Bet: San Diego

Expert Picks:

We all had a pretty decent week and the standings are close so far:

Me: 9-6 Best Bet: 1-0
Chengelis: 10-5 Best Bet: 1-0

Niyo: 10-5 Best Bet: 1-0

Lacy: 10-5 Best Bet: 1-0

Foster: 9-6 Best Bet: 1-0

Wojo: 7-8 Best Bet: 0-1

Okay, I’ll start posting again, and I’ll start with my annual football picks against the “experts.” (Picks in Bold)
Idaho +29.5 at Michigan State
Vanderbilt +26 at Michigan
Minnesota -15.5 at Kent St
Northwestern -4.5 at Miami (OH)
Indiana State +31 at Purdue
Northern Illinois +17 at Ohio State
Wisconsin -10 at Bowling Green
Akron +17 at Penn St.
E. Illinois +26 at Illinois
W. Michigan +6 at Indiana
Boston College -11 at C. Michigan
E. Michigan +4.5 at Ball St.
California +2 at Tennessee
Notre Dame -7 at Georgia Tech
Florida State +3 at Miami (FL)

Best Bet: Penn State

Here are the experts picks: