State of Soccer In America

With the World Cup closing up this past Sunday, it is now a time to look at the State of Soccer, in terms of American soccer.  The World Cup to me has always been a weird phenomenon here in the States because it seems Americans back the US team just as much, if not more, than teams they have rooted for their whole lives, but after the team the US gets knocked out it seems the soccer is put on the back burner for another four years.  This brings up the inevitable question; will the 2014 World Cup finally mean a brighter future for the sport of soccer in America?

I'll admit I was a once every four years soccer fan until 2010.  Main reason for this is there was limited access to the sport.  Yes, America has a professional league in the MLS, but as sports fan it's tough to get behind a product where there are very few household name players.  While the MLS has definitely improved, over the last handful of years in particular it has brought over more high profile names, albeit players on the last leg of their careers, to the league, the league still seems to have the perception of being an inferior league to those in Europe. While the MLS may not excite people just yet, this includes myself, one of the benefits we now have living in America is being able to watch numerous games in Europe each week.  ESPN, FOX Soccer and NBCSN have all invested greatly since 2010 to make sure Americans have access to the best soccer games being played throughout the world each week.  NBCSN in particular through their on air network and online network airs every English Premier League game each week.  As an Everton fan this is great because while they have improved (finishing 5th this past season in the EPL) they still don't have the brand name recognition like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have.  Even though Everton may not be a ratings draw to show on TV, as a fan I now have access to every game they play.

Through having this access over the last four years I personally came into this World Cup way more knowledgeable than I have ever been prior to a World Cup.  I knew where majority of the players played professionally and because of that had a better idea of what teams in the World Cup were good and what teams weren't.  Americans can no longer use the excuse that they have no idea who any players are in the World Cup.  I was actually listening to a podcast this past week hosted by Clay Travis of Fox Sports and he mentioned that Americans can watch more soccer games each weekend than someone living in England.  While watching games require some effort, since some start as early as 7:45 on a Saturday or Sunday morning, I have learned over the past couple of years, especially in the fall, that it is a great appetizer before "College Gameday" or all the NFL pre-game shows begin.

As for the game itself, I think this is where we as an American society have the toughest part embracing soccer.  As a whole America enjoys fast paced and action packed sports.  This is why football and basketball tend to dominate sports ratings.  Soccer as we know is a slower sport and you could go 90 minutes without one goal being scored and it leaves many people feeling like they just wasted two hours of their lives. I hope though that people through the World Cup were able to understand that there can be very entertaining 0-0 games, like Brazil and Mexico in the group stage. I will admit however there can be very boring 0-0 games as well, like the one between Argentina and the Netherlands in the semi-finals. I have always said as a sports fan, and in particular a Boston sports fan, one of the best games I have watched was when the Bruins beat the Lightening 1-0 in game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals.  I hope games like that can remind sports fans that a game doesn't need a plethora of goals to be entertaining.  A lot of baseball fans will argue for instance that a 1-0 pitchers dual is far superior to a 11-10 slugfest.

It will take time to see if soccer truly catches on here in America.  I still think judging MLS attendances and ratings is not a valid way to see how popular the sport has become, but I think seeing how ratings are on NBCSN during their English Premier League coverage this upcoming season along with UEFA Champions League coverage on Fox Soccer and FOX Sports are better barometers because it is there where the best teams are showcased, and people can watch many of the names they grew to know during the last month of watching the World Cup.  As a US citizen and fan I really hope that the sport catches on, because the more popular the sport becomes, the more people will want to play it, and if more kids start playing it here, than the better the future will be for US soccer.  If the US soccer team really wants to make the next step, from being glad to getting out of group stage, to expecting to getting out of the group stage and winning in the knockout round, I think we need to get more players playing in Europe against the best competition in the world.  This will also help grow the game here in the States because if fans come to know who players are, then they will be more inclined to watch European soccer games which is a far superior product than that of the MLS.

I do believe the sport of soccer took a big step through the World Cup to being embraced by Americans, but we as Americans now have to take the effort to continue to learn about the sport and the players who play it.  I know soccer isn’t for everyone, it took me 25 years for instance to truly embrace it, but I do hope Americans will take the time this fall to watch a Premier League game or a Champions League game because it is during these games where they will see why the sport is beloved nearly everywhere else in the world.

FIFA Needs To Bring Back The Golden Goal To The World Cup

I'm going to make this Rant pretty quick, but after viewing this past weekend's round of 16 games I think FIFA needs to re-think how they decide games in the knockout stage and bring back the Golden Goal which FIFA started using in 1993 but later abolished in 2004 (this includes other FIFA related tournaments, not just the World Cup).  While shootouts can be exciting, I don't think they should be the way a team's fate is decided in a tournament with the magnitude the size of the World Cup.

The NHL in my mind has the perfect overtime system.  Some argue that the regular season overtime could use some tweaking,  but I think one thing we can all agree on is how awesome the NHL playoff overtimes are.  The intensity of play is off the charts, and the best part is the players decide the outcome, whereas a shootout is more a game of chance than anything else.  I think it's perfectly fine to determine a regular season game with a shootout just because the season is so long, but come playoff time the game should be determined by having the first team to score win, since the playoffs are meant to test a team's will and heart.  The only adjustment I'd personally make to the NHL regular season format is if a team scores in the 5 minute overtime that the winning team should get two points and the losing team zero, and only in the shootout should the losing team be awarded one point.  This way it gives a greater incentive for a team to score a goal, and not just roll the dice and take their chances in a shootout.

Similarly,  I think FIFA should adopt the NHL playoff format for their knockout stage.  Having watched the overtimes this past weekend, one could see that there wasn't much action in the overtime, and it seemed most teams were willing to just play for a shootout.  If the Golden Goal was instituted I believe the play would be a lot more aggressive and would be more entertaining to watch for the fans.  If it was up to me there would be a coin toss to determine what side a team would want to defend, then there would be unlimited 45 minute halves until a goal is scored.  If a goal is scored the game would end right then and there, and if no goal was scored after the first 45 minutes then there would be a standard break and the teams would come out again and repeat the same process until a goal is scored.  While I know fatigue is a factor in why FIFA's limits how long an overtime can last, I would add one addition ruling for overtime in that each team would get one substitution each overtime period. By allowing a substitution each overtime period, even if a team has used all three of their substitutions already, it would allow the team's to stay little more fresh.

I know my ideal overtime is a long shot of ever happening, but I really hate seeing a team who has spent four years qualifying have their fate decided by a shootout.

World Cup Tie-Break Rules, Good? or Bad?

First off, I want to say sorry for the month long break between Rants.  As a Boston sports fan the last month has been tough in terms of content to write about.  With the Bruins being knocked out early in the playoffs and the Red Sox seeming to be in a constant slump of winning 2 games in row then losing 4 in a row, it's been a rough beginning to the summer to say the least.  The World Cup however has shot some adrenaline into my sports fanaticism and given some excitement to what seemed to be a really slow summer sports wise.  This Rant isn't necessarily geared towards talking about the US team and their heartbreaking tie this past Sunday to Portugal or their chances against Germany and advancing to the next round, but rather I am here to Rant about the World Cup tie-breaking rules.

In America it seems that when two teams are tied at the end of season with a chance to go to the playoffs, usually the two teams' head to head records are the first tie breaker in order to determine who gets the chance to advance.  In the World Cup however head to head match-up is the third tie-breaker behind goal differential and the amount of goals scored.  While that seems weird, and at first head scratching, as I began analyze it I think in this case it is actually a good idea, even if it could potentially back fire on the US come Thursday.

To give a better picture of why this is good, let's look at two American sports College Football and Major League Baseball.  As American sports fans, I think something we can all agree on, unless for some reason your team is tanking for a better draft pick, is that we hope our team is in contention come the end of the season.  Nothing is worse knowing your team is completely out of the playoff picture with half the season to go.  Until this upcoming season when the four team playoff will be implemented, one of the knocks on college football was if your team had more than one loss then they were basically completely out of contention of playing for the National Title.  With the playoff however and strength of schedule being weighted, more teams will be apt to play stronger and more exciting non-conference games and having two losses may not be the total end of the world.  As a result fans of teams can still have hope later in the regular season than they used to have.

Similarly, Major League Baseball realized they had a similar problem to college football with teams being completely out of contention come September and because of this fans weren't going to the stadium and watching the games on TV.  Seeing this was a problem, and trying to find more ways to make the end of the season more meaningful and exciting, Bud Selig and Major League Baseball decided to add a second Wild Card team two seasons ago. With this second Wild Card team, many more teams now have meaning to play in September and it gives the fans an incentive to follow their teams down the playoff stretch.

To bring this Rant full circle, I will now say why it is good the head to head match-up being the third, and not first tie-breaker,  is good for the World Cup.  As a US fan, having head to head be the third tie-breaker does actually hurt their chances. For instance, if head to head was the first tie-breaker, then they wouldn't have to worry about what Ghana does on Thursday, since they already beat them.  With goal differential being the number one tie-breaker however, Ghana is still very much a live within the tournament.  By having goal differential be the number tie breaker, it makes the third game of group play have a lot more meaning for the most part.  While there will be games like Spain and Australia yesterday, where both teams were already knocked out prior the playing the third game, by having goal differential be the first tie-breaker it keeps the chances of advancing for many teams alive.

While the tie-break rules may not benefit the US right now, I actually applaud FIFA for their tie-breaking rules since it increases the number of relevant teams and games.  Let's just hope though the US plays strong against Germany on Thursday (or agree to a tie) and that we won't have to worry about the various tie-breaking scenarios.

No Luck For The Irish

Well I guess the lucky tie that Red Auerbach gave Steve Pagliuca wasn't so lucky after all, as the Celtics to the shagrin of many Green Teamers got the 6th pick in last night's NBA Draft Lottery.  While the player the C's could get with the 6th pick will probably be very good, it is well documented that there is a big drop off from the top 3 players (Embiid, Parker and Wiggins) to the next level of players that the C's will be picking from.

Since the C's will most likely be looking to draft a power forward/center, the three names currently being thrown around are Noah Vonleh from Indiana ( a local kid who grew up in Haverhill, MA), Julius Randle from Kentucky and Aaron Gordon from Arizona.  While all these players will provide the Celtics with some much needed size down by the basket, I am not sure any of these guys are players that you build your franchise around.  It is for this reason why I hope the Celtics do whatever it takes to package their 6th overall pick this year, along with other future first round picks, to help trade for Kevin Love.  Thanks to the Brooklyn Nets the C's have rights to the Nets first round pick in 2016 and 2018 as well as the ability to swap their first round pick with the Nets in 2017.  The Celtics also have the rights the Clippers first round pick next year.  Needless to say the Celtics, who will also probably have themselves favorable first round picks for the next couple of years, have many assets at their disposal to use in a potential trade to help land a current proven player in the NBA with the leading candidate being Kevin Love.

The two major hurdles regarding a trade with Kevin Love is 1) he seems to be more interested in going to a team like the Warriors or Bulls who are currently a lot closer to winning an NBA title than the Celtics and 2) He is a free agent after this year so there is no guarantee the Celtics will be able to retain him.  If I was Kevin Love I personally would chose the Warriors or Bulls as well.  Going from the Timberwolves to the current Celtics is in my mind a pretty lateral move that probably doesn't excite him too much.  On the other hand the Celtics are committed to winning (not sure the Timberwolves are that committed), have an All-Star caliber point guard in Rondo and a coach in Brad Stevens who I think would work terrifically with Love's skill set.  With the potential of Love and Rondo, the Celtics would be just one player away from solidifying that solid three player core that so many teams try to achieve.  Getting the 6th overall pick unfortunately didn't help in the Celtics efforts to land Love.  If the C's had gotten a top 3 pick it would have been a lot more attractive to the Timberwolves, but now Danny Ainge will have to be more creative and decide if he wants to rebuild through the draft or figure out a way to use his ample supply of draft picks and become contender through trades.

Needless to say receiving the 6th pick in the lottery last night, combined with the Bruins getting eliminated from the playoffs last week and the Red Sox current five game losing streak, it has been a very tough week being a Boston sports fan.  On the bright side if it makes Celtics fans feel any better, the C's did select Larry Bird with the 6th overall pick in the 1978 draft.

Digesting The Bruins Loss To The Canadiens

So I have had a week to digest the Bruins game 7 loss to the Canadiens and elimination from the playoffs.  While I think I'm officially over the loss, it still stinks losing to your arch rival in a game 7 on your home ice.  Granted the Rangers have been playing great hockey over their last five games, it hurts even more seeing how the Canadiens have played so far in the Eastern Conference Finals.

I think it's safe to say two key ways the Bruins were exposed as a team in their series against the Canadiens was their overall team speed and inability to score goals when down by the net.  While it seems over the past few years that the Bruins flat out don't match-up well against the Canadiens, the B's will now have to maybe build their team in a new way since given the new playoff format they will most likely have to face Montreal most years in the playoffs.  I am not saying the Bruins need to have a complete overhaul.  They were the best team in the NHL during the regular season for a reason, but they need to maybe become more dynamic on offense.

Tyler Seguin was supposed to be the guy who had the combination of speed and ability to finish goals, but unfortunately that did not work out.  While Seguin definitely showed signs of what he was capable of during his time in Boston, he was too inconsistent. Most Bruins fans, including myself, had become sick and tired of hearing Jack Edwards say after a Seguin shot "High and off the glass."  Also, you could tell by the end of last year that the Bruins organization had become sick of his off the ice antics.  I don't blame the Bruins for trading Seguin and I think it's safe to say both the Stars and B's have benefited from the trade, but not having Seguin left that speed/dynamic scorer role vacant in the 2013-14 Bruins lineup.  Seguin was supposed to be the Bruins version of Patrick Kane, and now the B's will have to again begin their search for that style of player.

The player I would like to see the Bruins now go after in free agency is left winger Jussi Jokinen of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Jokinen in many ways was the one bright spot for the Penguins in this year's playoffs, and while I am sure Pittsburgh will do their best job to try to re-sign him, I think Jussi is the perfect guy to fill the Bruins speed/scorer void. If the Bruins decide to not keep Jarome Iginla, Jokinen could immediately come in and enhance either their first or second line.  While I think Iginla is still capable of playing in the NHL for another year or two, Jokinen, who is five years younger than Iginla,  could be a long term asset for the Bruins if they could ink him to a multi-year deal.  Another reason I'd love to see Jokinen become a Bruin is that with the exception of maybe Nino Niederreiter of the Minnesota Wild, he easily has the best name in the NHL, and it would also give Tuukka Rask a fellow Finnish countryman to hang out with on the team.

As I said, the Bruins are still a very good team.  The Bruins will welcome back their second best defenseman in Dennis Seidenberg next season, and there is enough balance of youth and veteran experience on the team that there is no reason why they shouldn't be a force in the NHL next season and for the years to come.  I just hope this loss to Montreal was a wake up call to General Manager Peter Chiarelli that maybe he needs to change the makeup of the team a bit so they can compete with a team like the Canadiens over a long series.

B's Get Knocked Down

The picture above of Reilly Smith getting absolutely destroyed by P.K. Subban pretty much sums up game 3.  I truly thought the B's would come out a lot better than they did yesterday, and a lot of the same problems we saw the Bruins have in games 1 and 2 were evident in game 3 as well.  While last night's loss wasn't the end of the world by any means for the Black and Gold, it does make game 4 that much more important.

I have Ranted many times about the Bruins ability to come back, and while it is definitely a strength, they have to make sure it doesn't become a habit.  The B's have been down in all 3 games to the Habs by at least two goals and last night they were even down by three, which was a deficit they weren't able to overcome. The glaringly disturbing stat so far in the series is in the 3+ games (including overtime in game 1) the B's have only had a lead for 11 minutes.  If the Bruins want to have any chance at changing the momentum of the series, the B's have to have better starts to the games than the ones they have had so far.

 The two main things that really hurt the Bruins last night was their inability to score, which has become an unfortunate trend, and some obvious defensive miscues.Yesterday in my Rant I mentioned how the B's have had more than their fair sure of opportunities to score on Carey Price, and last night was no different.  If there is one thing the Bruins really lack it is having a player who is a pure goal scorer.  When the B's have had their opportunities to score down by the net they have either shot wide, high, whiffed or shot it right into Price's chest like Torey Krug did twice in the 2nd period last night.  In short the Bruins have basically found a way to shoot the puck in every possible way that doesn't result in a goal.

The other thing that has become quite evident is the Canadiens ability to block shots.  Last night the Habs had 29 blocked shots compared to just 20 by the B's.  In fact one of those blocked shots led to a break away goal by Dale Weise, which put Montreal up 3-0.  The Bruins have to somehow figure out a way to find holes in the Canadiens defense.  Add in the fact Montreal has been very physical, as was seen by many of their hits last night, and the Bruins in many ways are getting beat at their own game by the Habs.

The other aspect of the game last night that was really frustrating is all the Montreal goals came by a Canadien player getting behind the Bruins defense.  The first goal by the Habs occurred when Tomas Plekanec was able to sneak behind the entire Bruins defense and receive beautiful backdoor pass by Thomas Vanek  to bury the puck in the back of the net.  The second goal  by Montreal came when P.K. Subban was able to get free immediately after leaving the penalty box.  The Bruins have to have better awareness and communication about knowing when a player is coming out of the box.  Finally the third goal by the Canadiens came when Dale Weise was able to skate by the Bruins defense for another breakaway goal.  When watching post-game shows and listening to sports radio this morning many people were quick to mention Tuukka Rask's poor play last night, but with the exception of maybe the first goal when Rask cheated to the left leaving the entire right side of the goal open, I don't blame any of those goals on Rask.  Yes, a world class goalie should be able to stop a breakaway, especially against a player like Weise who only has 6 goals on the year, but I blame the defense, or lack of defense in this case, more on than I blame Rask.

If there is one thing we know for sure going forward in the series it is the Bruins will now have to win a game at the Bell Centre.  One thing the B's and Bruins fans can't blame last night is the officiating, as each team only had 1 penalty. The Bruins have to find their 5 on 5 game that they were so successful at in games 1 and 2 of the series, as well as pretty much the entire season.  I am not saying game 4 is an absolute must win, but it will be awfully tough to win 3 games in a row against this Montreal team.

In Claude We Trust

So far through two games the Bruins and Canadiens series has lived up to its billing.  The first two games were both extremely entertaining games and it is fitting that the series is tied at one going into game 3 up in Montreal tonight.  While this series seems like it is headed for at least six if not seven games the one telling stat that is in the B's favor tonight is their record under head coach Claude Julien in game 3's in the playoffs. Since Claude has taken over the Bruins, the Black and Gold are 14-1 in game 3's including being 3-0 against the Habs.

While I am always skeptical of comparing teams from year to year since the players on the teams change so often now, one thing that has been consistent under Calude's leadership is the B's never get rattled no matter the score in an individual game or in the score of a series.  The Bruins have overcome a two goal deficit in the playoffs three times so far this year, including the first 2 games against the Canadiens, and have rebounded with wins in game 2 in both series after dropping both game 1's.  While falling behind in a game, especially a multiple goal deficit, is never a good thing I think Claude's cool nature as a coach rubs off on the team.  Claude and the B's never feel like they are out of a game because they truly believe their depth and physical play will eventually wear down the opponent.

Obviously if you watched the first two games of the series the three main things as a Bruins fan you have to take away are: 1) The B's need to defend P.K (I learned this week it stands for Pernell Karl) Subban better at the point 2) The Bruins need to stay out of the penalty box. Local radio host Michael Felger has even gone so far to say that the B's shouldn't even check the Habs for the rest of the series and 3) The B's need capitalize on their scoring opportunities.  Watching overtime of game 1 and almost all of game 2 until the final 10 minutes, the Bruins had so many opportunities to score around the net yet were never able to capitalize.  Whether it was the Lucic whiff in game 1 or Loui Eriksson holding onto the puck for too long in game 2, it is clear the Bruins need to put the puck in the back of the net when they get Carey Price out of position.  Price has made some amazing saves through the first two games, but he has also given the Bruins many opportunities to get some easy goals.  Being in the hostile Bell Centre for the next two games where one can expect few breaks to go the Bruins way, the B's now more than ever need to take advantage of the scoring opportunities when they come their way.

My biggest takeaway from game 2 however wasn't something that happened on the ice, but rather something that took place on the Bruins bench.  For years Shawn Thornton has been a fan favorite, for his toughness on the ice and his persona off of it.  While Thornton may not score many goals, and come playoff time his role as the team's enforcer is greatly diminished, we saw on Saturday why he is so valuable to this Bruins team.  While it looked like Thornton may have suffered a serious leg injury when Subban dove instead of taking a hit, within a short amount of time Thornton was back on the Bruins bench after making a visit to the locker room.  While he barely played any shifts after returning to the bench, if you listened to the telecast Pierre McGuire mentioned multiple times how influential Thornton was in motivating the team as the B's made their epic comeback to win game 2.

While the Bell Centre is arguably the toughest place to play in the NHL, I have enough faith in Claude in game 3's and his ability to adjust within a series that the B's will come away victorious tonight.  I am not saying they will also win game 4, but if the B's can come away with a split in Montreal I think most Bruins fans will take that, as they will have regained home ice advantage.  Either way the atmosphere should be electric tonight in the Bell Centre and I can't wait to watch.

Last Nugget: So instead of writing P.S. at the end of every Rant, I figured I'd just start a new section called the "Last Nugget".  I am not sure it will be in every Rant, but basically it will revolve around a stat or topic that I found interesting that week but maybe not worthy of a full Rant.  This Rant's Last Nugget is in regards to blown leads.  While I touched on it in my Rant last week and also briefly in this Rant above, if there is one major storyline from this year's NHL Playoffs, it is "the dreaded two goal lead."  So far in these playoffs there have been 20 two goal leads that have been blown, and we are only in the early stages of the second round. Also, it looks like blowing multiple goal leads is contagious as the epidemic inflicted itself in the English Premier League yesterday.  Liverpool ,who was in the driver's seat to win the league title, blew a 3 goal lead in the final 10 minutes of yesterday's game against Crystal Palace and as a result will now most likely not win the league.   As an Everton fan, Liverpool's arch rival, I took great joy in this and I enjoyed even more seeing the Liverpool fans and players cry their faces off after the game ended.  Because I could watch video of this all day long, I provided a clip below.  Anyways, enjoy the Bruins game tonight and the other playoff games whether it be in the NHL or NBA.