Bob Bradley is Bad Business

     On numerous occasions during the World Cup I voiced my displeasure with Bob Bradley to any within earshot. After the US got knocked out to a less talented but more driven Ghana team, I was sure his time as coach was up. There was no way US Soccer would keep him on after his team gave up three separate pre-15 minute goals... in four games. On top of that Bradley continually fielded the wrong players at the worst possible times. What I gathered from the World Cup was that we had a coach who did not properly motivate and prepare players, made fundamental errors in player choices, and lacked any true tactical insight to the game. What US Soccer gathered was that we had a coach who could lead us to redemption in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. I'm not saying Bob Bradley isn't a decent coach, quite the opposite in fact. Bob Bradley is a decent coach and that's the problem. National teams don't need a decent coach, they need good coaches or better. Brazil failed this year because Dunga is set in his ways and good coaches are flexible. Italy and France failed because while they had all world talent to choose from, their coaches made poor personnel decisions. The reason the US teams were able to even the score in each of the three games they fell behind in was Bob Bradley. He is always the calm in the storm. He doesn't get rattled and doesn't allow his players to get rattled either. However, as I stated before, Bradley is the reason we fell behind to begin with. Even more appalling is the fact that US Soccer had been in talks with Jurgen Klinsmann about him taking over as coach.
    
     After the US was eliminated against Ghana, Jurgen Klinsmann outlined a blueprint that could cause a US soccer revolution. While I'm skeptical that there will ever be a soccer "revolution" here (I see it as more of a very gradual growth), the fact that he took the time to do that on ESPN said a lot. He too clearly saw that Bradley and his team had under-performed, and may have been jockeying for position for the job. In the end US Soccer balked at Klinsmann wanting total control of the team and went with 'ol reliable. The interesting thing here is the only national team job that Klinsmann held was with Germany in the 2006 World Cup. When Klinsmann took over for Germany he completely changed the German program. He decided that a youth movement was in order because he felt the team had gone stale (how's it going Italy). After a relatively poor lead up to the Cup, Klinsmann was facing heavy criticism. The German fans didn't like that he had replaced many of the older staples on the team with younger talent, but they especially were not too fond of him living here in the US while coaching the team. However during the World Cup Klinsmann and his team silenced the critics by making a semi-final run where they lost to eventual champions, Italy.

      I could go on for days about this but I will stop myself here. Basically I feel let down by US Soccer yet again. Rarely is it a good idea to keep a coach on for more than one world cup cycle because it is a long, gruelling process and it is easy to get complacent at the wrong time.  Even worse, they kept a coach that never really impressed. I wish Bob Bradley and our team the best, I really want us to succeed. Oh yeah, one more thing... Screw you Aston Villa, you should have taken him.

Transfer Updates

• Asamoah Gyan (a personal favorite from the World Cup) signed a 13 million pound (don't have the symbol on my laptop) deal with Sunderland. This deal is actually the biggest in the clubs history.
• Robinho transferring from Manchester City to AC Milan is pretty big news. He was unhappy at City (who wouldn't be) and had been asking for a move to the Spanish or Italian league for awhile. It is believed to be around a 22 million pound deal.
• Klass-Jan Huntelaar left AC Milan and is joining Schalke 04. Deal believed to be around 11 million euros.
• Last but certainly not least (okay, maybe), Demarcus Beasley finally got out of a bad situation at Rangers and is joining Hannover 96 and US National teammate Steve Cherundolo. I couldn't find the price anywhere so maybe someone can help with that. Now it's time for Edu to get out of there, if only he was better.

     

Five Subtitled Movies You Should See

5) Red Cliff (theatrical or original version) - Just finished watching this one. It's the reason for this post... First let me say, anyone who has played the Dynasty Warriors video games will like this movie. It is based on the story from those games. Basically, this is the story of the Battle of Red Cliffs in which a numerically superior force led by an overly aggressive warlord, was turned back by two lesser warlords. There is a good amount of impressive fighting scenes filled with blood in this movie, but it also portrays the vast array of issues that war brings: intrigue, battle strategy, resources needed to field an army, benefits/ problems of having an ally, etc. Favorite movie on this list. (China)

4) Dog Eat Dog - Very impressive story told from multiple points of view. Basically the main character "loses" the bosses money and has to get it back, or else. For me it was one of those movies where you take a long breath when it ends and just sit there for a minute. (Columbia)

3) City of God/City of Men - If you haven't seen these, get on it. That's all I really have to say. (Brazil)

2) Innocent Voices - This movie is based on Oscar Torres while he was growing up in El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War. He is 11 years old in a time when the military is forcefully taking children into it's ranks at ages 12 and younger. It is a bittersweet story but it is extremely raw. The facts that scrolled through before the last credits had me shaking my head yet again. Won't give it away though. (El Salvador)

1) Sin Nombre - Long story short. An MS-13 gang member has to leave the gang for a very brutal reason. He catches a train with other immigrants heading to the US, and has a very interesting trip. This is another movie that after it ended, I collected my thoughts. (USA/Mexico)

Albert Hanynesworth and More of the Same

Wow. That's all I really have to say about the current situation in the Washington Redskins organization. When we traded for Donovan McNabb, many in the D.C. area started up the annual "We are gonna make the playoffs" ramblings. For the second year in a row I refused to partake. I was labeled a traitor, a Cowboys fan, and a pessimist. I hope they were right. Unlike the optimists that surround Redskins park every preseason and feed into the circus that is the Washington Redskins, I tried to take a rational approach in evaluating the coming season. Here are my conclusions:

     - The McNabb trade looks better than it really will be in the long run. We gave up a second round pick in this year's draft and a third or fourth rounder next year. Who did the Eagles select with that pick? Free safety Nate Allen. What is the one position in the secondary the Redskins are in dire need of help with? Yep, free safety. Did I mention he is the Eagles starter? No... Well he is. On the flip side of this trade however, we get a much needed boost at quarterback. So it seems. Quarterback is the hardest position to draft for on the field. They touch the ball on every offensive play, so making a mistake in the draft could be devastating. What the Redskins are suggesting is that they will be able to select a replacement for McNabb in one of the next two drafts, because let's be honest, he doesn't have more than three serviceable years left. Well here is a list of the Redskins drafted quarterbacks under Daniel Snyder: Todd Husak, Sage Rosenfels, Patrick Ramsey, Gibran Hamdan, Jason Campbell, Jordan Palmer, and Colt Brennan. Hmm.

     - The McNabb trade is just another case of the Redskins signing past their prime players. So is Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, Rex Grossman (never really had a prime), Joey Galloway, maybe Jamaal Brown, Artis Hicks, Ma'ake Kemoeatu (surgery), and Philip Buchanon. *Shakes my head*

     - Albert Haynesworth was never happy to be a Redskin. While this may seem insignificant, it is not. As a soccer player I have come to understand the importance of not only teamwork, but team harmony. When one player is unhappy it has only negative effects on the team. Football is slightly different because the offense and defense practice separately.  If there is a problem within the defense, it may not affect the offense. Since football is still a team game, if both units are not functioning properly then the team will not win. This is what I fear is going to happen to the Redskins.

Which brings me to my final point. Albert Haynesworth himself. I have not found a single Redskins fan that is willing to even acknowledge that Haynesworth may have a right to be a little upset. Just one time let us try to look at it from his point of view. While the Buccaneers offered Haynesworth more money, the Redskins promised him they would make him the cornerstone of their defense. Imagine to his surprise, when he gets to the Redskins he is asked to eat up space to free other players. So he did what any teenager would do in his situation, he complained. Then he got hurt. Which brought us to the signing of the ultimate no non-sense coach, Mike Shanahan. If I'm Haynesworth (remember, teenage frame of mind), I see this as a personal attack. I was the one player who publicly wasn't happy, that was still on the team. For whatever reason that is well beyond me, he couldn't give up on the idea of being THE star. He hesitated to come to training camp because he wanted reassurances that he would be a key part of the defense. This is his ultimate, unforgivable, failing. He doesn't grasp the basic concept of a team sport: You will get your time to shine, and when it comes you take advantage of it. Until then, you play your role. Unless he changes his attitude he will never be happy on a successful team. Anyway. Haynesworth finally reported to training camp only to be told that he had to pass a conditioning test. Everyone else had to do it, so shut up and get to work. Still, he complained. He eventually passed the conditioning test, only to fall ill. His head coach publicly announced "He felt that his head was bothering him more than it was dehydration, so he wasn't feeling good, basically," Shanahan said. "Just didn't feel very good. More of a headache than anything else." Well that headache turned out to be rhabdomyolysis, an ailment that causes "the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle due to injury to muscle tissue.". Still the D.C. natives were harsh. Many saying that it was because he came back out of shape, but it could easily be from actually playing football as well. He recovered well enough to play second half snaps against the Ravens last Saturday. Still, I feel he has a right to be angry. Mike Shanahan didn't even realize Albert Haynesworth had rhabdomyolysis until the Washington Post interviewed him. Yet he said in a press conference that he thought it was "headaches". Look, this is football. Even if Mike Shanahan thought that Haynesworth was dogging it, you don't throw a player under the bus like that. It shows poor character. Players in the Redskins locker room feel the same way. While some still criticize Haynesworth, more and more are starting to feel that Shanahan is going a little too far. As I said before, a divided team cannot win.

Weekly Redskins/ Football Update

So the Redskins first pre-season game was today. We beat a injury (and talent) depleted Bills squad 42-17. Already I've heard Redskins fans saying 12-4, some even saying that we are going to the Super Bowl. Oh what a lovely breed of fans we are. After nearly two decades of complete crap, I am not quite so optimistic. First, however let me say a few things about the game...

First of all, Rex Grossman. Baller status. Dude went 11 of 18 for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns. Let me stop... I didn't even watch most of the game. This is more for all you delusional Skins fans out there. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Seriously. This means nothing, its pre-season. This is the time of year that you try to figure out how long you can play your starters but still avoid injury. Let me drop some pre-season knowledge on you to calm you down a bit...

In 2001 the Skins decided we needed to make a serious change to be successful. Dan Snyder decided that Norv Turner was too lenient with the players so he went out an got a disciplinarian in Marty Schottenheimer. The Skins went 8-8 that year. Marty was fired. HOWEVER. We started the season 2-6, so even though it all started to click at the right time, Snyder still canned the poor guy. We will chalk that one up to youthful exuberance. Pulling another 180 degree turn, he hired Steve Spurrier to open up the offense. What did we get? Instant success. In his his first pre-season game, Spurrier's Skins put up 38 points in a victory over the Niners. Oh wait... we went 7-9 that year. Look, the moral of the story is this; we are owned by Daniel Snyder, so until he learns how to run a professional organization, there isn't much hope for us. He heavily favors Portis, and loves signing past their prime players to lucrative deals. Both of these things have horrible effects on team chemistry, and in a team game, chemistry is the path to victory. You can have all the talent in the world, but if your players don't mesh (on the field at least), you won't win. Ask the Cowboys...

Important things from games played so far:

- In the Skins-Bills game the Bills suffered two more injuries. Fred Jackson is looking like he will miss the rest of the pre-season after hurting his hand, and Marshawn Lynch has an ankle problem that Coach Chan Gailey says is hopefully "more short-term than it is long-term. Add them to the 13 players already scratched for this game.
-Nothing of note in the Patriots 27-24 victory over the Saints, save for the Saints starting punter hurting himself pushing a returner out-of-bounds.
-The Ravens beat the Panthers 17-12
-The Cowboys lost 17-9 to the Raiders. Yep, Cowboys lost. The Raiders have Jason Campbell and Rock Cartwright so I'm sure they enjoyed that
-Philly beat Jacksonville 28-27. Shout out Michael Vick.
-Finally, Atlanta beat KC 20-10. Curtis Lofton was seen limping of the field, but it seemed to be just a cramp. Shout out Michael Vick.

Reasonable Doubt

No, this isn't about Jay-Z. This is about the fact that I have no experience blogging, and the c-button on my computer gets stuck at times. This is about the fact that I rarely spell or grammar check; even more rare for me is proof-reading. But enough already, the real question is what am I going to be blogging about, and why should you care?

To answer your first question... This blog is going to be about anything really. Anything at all. Most of the time it will probably be music, sports, and whatever current event is annoying me at the time. However, I can assure you it will always be opinionated...

Which brings me to your second question. Why should you care? You shouldn't. But if you are bored, stop by. Check it out, I'll try to update as much as possible. This is a blog, don't take it too seriously, don't be like me.

Feel free to express your opinions, but be prepared to not like what you read sometimes.

Also, if you would like something to be thrown up as a post drop me a line in the comments section or my e-mail which you can find somewhere on my blog. Honestly, I don't even know if you CAN comment. Like I said, I'm new to this here. Let's get this started...