The Late Late Show with Landon Donovan

Soccer is a boring sport.  I don't know why anyone watches it.  I'd rather see back and forth scoring its far more exciting and holds my attention. 

Allow me to welcome you to the high drama of soccer America.  This is why we watch.  Rare moments like this happen in the sport to change the result in an instant more frequently than any other sport.  1-0 can indeed be exciting. The U.S. are going through as group C winners.  They were minutes from heading home.

Allow me to further my point of playing these matches at the same time instead of waiting until Sunday Night Football on NBC to decide the last team in the playoff.  England-Slovenia, U.S.A.- Algeria were played at the same time with two of the four teams set to advance. England scored an early goal so the United States knew a draw would send them home.  In the closing moments of Slovenia's match they were still pressing for a goal but were set to go through if the U.S. failed to score.  The final whistle blew in Slovenia's match almost simultaneously with Landon Donovan's goal.  Martin Tyler proclaimed at the final whistle of the Slovenia-England match "Well we know England are through, we don't yet know about Slovenia....Now I am getting word that Donovan has scored for the Americans, and Slovenia are on their way out." That is far from boring.

ED:  Lou, I hope you realize this isn't a swipe at you.

World Cup Predictions

Two Teams From Each Group Advance

Group A
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

This is a difficult group to predict. The host country has always advanced although a higher percentage of teams advance in the past.  France are the favorites to win the group but have an insane manager and an underage sex scandal involving a few of their stars. Mexico is playing well since I shared an elevator with Javier Aguirre last summer.  They have won the Gold Cup and finished qualifying strong. Uruguay are a solid team and are more than capable of advancing. I will take history and the hot hand though.
To Win the Group: Mexico 
To Advance: South Africa

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

General consensus throughout the tournament should be to take African teams to advance because they are more familiar with the climate and should have home field advantage even if its just the South Africans backing them. However in this group I am taking chalk. Argentina took it to the final day to qualify but they are still the favorites of the group.  Euro 2004 winners Greece failed to qualify for World Cup 2006 so here is there chance to prove themselves on a big stage again.

To Win the Group: Argentina
To Advance: Greece

Group C
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia

The group that you should be paying the most attention to.  If not I will get INS on you.  Saturday June 12 2:30 England vs. U.S.A.  It may be a bigger deal to us but you can bet England will come out firing.  More on that later.  Algeria beat Egypt in a rare playoff to get here and shouldn't really challenge.  Slovenia on the other hand could ruin a happy ending of the US and England.
To Win the Group: England
To Advance: USA

Group D
Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Another tough group to predict because of injuries to captains Michael Ballack and Michael Essien for Germany and Ghana respectively.  Serbia has been picked as a dark horse to make a run in the knockout stages. Australia probably has the best goalkeeper in the group in Mark Schwarzer and that could be enough to see them through.
To win the Group: Germany
To Advance: Serbia

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

The Dutch always disappoint but they are the overwhelming favorites here.  Cameroon and Denmark should provide a test as well.  Japan may be able to sneak up on some more athletic teams by playing a defensive game.
To Win the Group: Netherlands
To Advance: Japan

Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia

Probably the easiest group.  Italy should easily advance and then it should come down to Paraguay and Slovakia.  New Zealand became the best team in the Oceania region since Australia left is still far away from being competitive on this stage.
To Win the Group: Italy
To Advance: Paraguay

Group G
Brazil
North Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal

It's been called the Group of Death, and not just because North Korea is in it.  In fact, North Koreans will not be able to see their team compete in the World Cup unless they win, then they can watch on tape delay.  So basically North Koreans will not see their country compete.  Even if you take everything else away, this alone makes Kim Jong-il evil.  Other teams will try to run up the score on the North Koreans for Goal differential reasons (the first tiebreaker).  I'm not sure if we should feel sorry for the players on North Korea and cheer for them or root for them to get their heads kicked in. Ummm...heads kicked in. Any of the other three teams can win the group.  It would be interesting in Brazil is eliminated.
To Win the Group: Brazil
To Advance: Ivory Coast

Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

Spain is the the overwhelming favorite after winning Euro 2008.  Any other team is capable of advance but Honduras are probably the underdogs.  A Jonathan Bornstein goal in the final minute of extra time drawing the US level with Costa Rica sent Honduras to the World Cup Finals. Honduras like other countries are enamored with the World Cup.  The country remembers the last time they were in the World Cup in 1986 when they tied Spain.  They talk about it as a great accomplishment for their country.  I wonder what they will say if they get a win this time around. Still I can't pick them to advance, but I'll be rooting for them.
To Win the Group: Spain
To Advance: Chile

Vuvuzela

They are called Vuvuzelas.  I refer to them as atmosphere killers.  If you plan on watching the World Cup in South Africa you better get used to hearing the annoying horns blaring constantly.  Fans have complained and coaches and players hate them.  They make it near impossible to communicate between players and coaches on the field.  It's one thing if its yelling and screaming from the stands that prevents players from communicating it's a another thing when it's the following.



The horns rob the game of creative songs and chants that make soccer unique from other sports in the United States.  And for most Americans that watch the game every four years you wont get a chance to appreciate chants between The United States and England supporters.  Fans watching on Television will have to choose between the prospect of muting the sound or missing out on Martin Tyler calling the match, which is very different from Joe Buck calling a game.

U2 No Longer Sucks

I used to find U2's music unbearable. It was played out on the radio and generally pretty awful. 4 Years ago right around this time I stopped watching wrestling on a daily basis and picked up soccer as my new filler in between college football and basketball season. I became consumed with the World Cup and the ads ESPN ran with U2 had me loving their ads and gasp enjoying their music(in the commercials anyways). No longer did I cringe and change the station on my radio when U2 came on.

It's funny how you can place just about any song and connected it to a good memory it makes you appreciate the music. You identify something positive with the music and therefore like the song. Phillies fans have "High Hopes," a song that without the late Harry Kalas would be either annoying or meaningless. On the flipside when Phillies fan's here "Empire State of Mind" they think of the World Series and the loss to the Yankees. When the lyrics "in New York" come up you think "Fuck New York." So it's amazing how songs you might normally hate or love are attached to memories or emotions that change your opinion of the music.



In no other scenario could this song fire me up beyond belief. It's a perfect video representing what Michigan Football has gone through. Didn't work out so well this year either.