Lady Jaguars' soccer season comes to an end

Valley Center’s varsity girls soccer team boasted solid play from a team full of underclassmen this season, and the Lady Jaguars took advantage of their youth and skill to dominate their opening round game in the CIF Division IV playoffs this season.
The Lady Jags cranked up the offense and never let up on defense to cruise to a 7–0 win over Mountain Empire on Wednesday in the first round of the post-season.
The Heredia sisters combined for eight points in the game, as Melina scored four goals and had an assist, while Vanessa scored a goal and had two assists.
Midfielder Hannah Sanders added a goal and two assists, while Julia Stone scored a goal and both Kelly Hagadorn and Leina Villamez had an assist.
In goal, Taylor Yates made two saves to preserve the shutout.
But the Lady Jaguars couldn’t find the offense they needed in the quarterfinals, as they suffered a 2–1 loss to Francis Parker on Saturday.
Melina Heredia scored another goal on an assist from Sanders, while Yates made six saves in a valiant effort in goal to finish out the season.
Valley Center ends the year with a 11–7–2 overall record.

Lady Jaguars win soccer season finale, host first round CIF playoff game

Valley Center’s varsity girls soccer team polished off an outstanding season with another win, making it four wins in the last six games for the Lady Jaguars, and earned a home game in the first round of the CIF playoffs this week.
With the win in the season finale, the Lady Jags earned the No. 6 seed in the CIF Division IV bracket, which means they will host No. 11 Mountain Empire (8–6–3, 4–3–2) on Wednesday night at 5 p.m.
The final game of the regular season was a home game against Orange Glen on Thursday, and a combination of consistent offense and solid defense led the Lady Jaguars to a 2–0 win.
Hannah Sanders scored in the first half on an assist from Michelle Nido to put the Lady Jags in front, then Amanda Nealis scored in the second half to put the game away. In goal, Taylor Yates made two key saves to get the shutout and the victory.
Valley Center posted a 10–6–2 overall record and a 4–3–1 league mark this season. The Lady Jaguars play at home against Santana on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the CIF playoffs. The winner of that game will advance to play at No. 3 Francis Parker on Saturday at 5 p.m.

VC Youth Soccer to hold annual election and board meeting

Valley Center-Pauma Youth Sports Organization, Inc. (Valley Center Youth Soccer) will hold its election of officers (executive board) and annual general meeting on Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. at El Rey Restaurant in Pauma Valley.
A regular board meeting will immediately follow the elections and annual general meeting.
The league is set to elect the following positions, and the persons named are presently on the ballot: president—Rick Hall, vice president—vacant, registrar—Patti Wiberg, treasurer—Tom Litchfield, secretary—Ginny Martineau-Davis.
All other positions, such as Directors, are appointed by the president.
Anyone interested in submitting your name for the ballot, should write to secretary@vcys.org, no later than Feb. 25, along with a brief statement of experience and objectives.
Active board members, past season head coaches (may not be parents of players) and parents of players presently registered, in good standing with the league and paid in full are entitled to vote.
The league also extends its appreciation to Todd Maynard, who served for the last two years as president, along with his countless years coaching and always pitching in on the fields with whatever needs to be done.
The league also thanks Christine Maynard, who has served in too many positions for too many years to name them all. To all those who have received uniforms, pictures, awards, or medals, it is guaranteed that Christine was involved!

VC Hurricanes to hold tryouts

The Valley Center Hurricanes soccer team will be holding tryouts for youth soccer players interested in playing competitive soccer at an excellent price.
The tryouts will be held at Valley Center Middle School on four different dates.
For the Youngers Division, which covers the Under 11 through Under 14 boys and girls teams, tryouts will be held on Feb. 26 and March 12 from 3–5 p.m.
The Olders Division, for the Under 15 through the Under 19 boys and girls teams, will have tryouts on March 26 and April 9 from 3–5 p.m.
The season begins on Aug. 1, so in order to qualify for a particular team, players will be eligible for a team based on their age as of Aug. 1.
For more information about the team and the tryout dates, contact coaching director Dale Blasius by e-mail at hurricanes@vcys.org.

Flurry of early goals lifts Lady Jags to win over first place Canyon Crest

Valley Center’s varsity girls soccer team picked up another crucial Valley League win this week, as the Lady Jaguars defeated first-place Canyon Crest on Thursday for their third win in a row.
The Lady Jags took care of the scoring early and held on with outstanding defense down the stretch to take a 3–1 win.
Julia Stone got the scoring started with an unassisted goal, then Melina Heredia scored on an assist from Michelle Nido before Hannah Sanders finished off the offensive barrage with a goal on an assist from Vanessa Heredia. Canyon Crest also scored in the first half, but the Lady Jaguars didn’t allow the Lady Ravens any space in the second half, as neither team scored after halftime and Valley Center held on for the win.
In goal, Kaley Prudham made five saves to earn the victory.
“This was a huge win for us,” said head coach Eric Osterberg. “Now, we just have to prepare to finish our league season and get ready for the division four playoffs.”
The Lady Jaguars are now 9–5–1 overall and 3–2 in league with only two games left on the schedule. Next up is a home game against San Dieguito on Thursday at 5 p.m.

VC Hurricanes to hold soccer tryouts

The Valley Center Hurricanes soccer team will be holding tryouts for youth soccer players interested in playing competitive soccer at an excellent price.
The tryouts will be held at Valley Center Middle School on four different dates.
For the Youngers Division, which covers the Under 11 through Under 14 boys and girls teams, tryouts will be held on Feb. 26 and March 12 from 3–5 p.m.
The Olders Division, for the Under 15 through the Under 19 boys and girls teams, will have tryouts on March 26 and April 9 from 3–5 p.m.
The season begins on Aug. 1, so in order to qualify for a particular team, players will be eligible for a team based on their age as of Aug. 1.
For more information about the team and the tryout dates, contact coaching director Dale Blasius by e-mail at hurricanes@vcys.org.

Jaguars drop a pair of league soccer games

Andres Rizo (12) scored Valley Center's lone goal against Orange Glen. (photos by Ray Flores)

Valley Center’s varsity boys soccer team couldn’t get the goals they needed when they needed them, as the Jaguars suffered a pair of losses in league play this week.
Less than a week after picking up their first league win of the season with a 5–2 victory over Del Norte on Jan. 20, the Jags hosted San Dieguito Academy last Tuesday and couldn’t come back from an early deficit in a 5–1 loss.
The Jags scored their lone goal in the first half, but the Mustangs scored two and held a one-goal lead at halftime. San Dieguito’s offense lit up the Valley Center defense in the second half, scoring three goals to put the win away.
The Jaguars went on to host Orange Glen on Thursday, and after falling behind in the first half once again, couldn’t get a late goal and lost, 2–1.
Orange Glen slowly built up more and more chances in the first half and finally broke through with a goal with 16:35 left in the half. The Patriots were given a penalty kick after a foul was called on the Jaguars in the 18-yard box, but the Valley Center crowd voiced its displeasure with the questionable call.
Trailing by a goal at halftime, the Jaguars responded by tying the game up just five minutes into the second half. On the play, senior Andres Rizo chased down a long pass down the left side and flicked the ball over the goalie’s head into the back of the net.
The Jags nearly scored again six minutes later, but a shot in close went just wide to the left of the post.
Just over five minutes after the near miss, the Patriots re-took the lead off a deep throw-in that was initially saved on a header, but the rebound found its way into the net to give Orange Glen the game-winner.
As the game wound down, both sides played more and more physically, but no fouls were called until a rough challenge by Valley Center’s Eddie Alba suddenly elicited a red card, which put the Jaguars down a man for the final seven minutes.
“The defense really stepped up, and we played a consistent game from start to finish,” head coach JD Dantas said after the game. “Even though we lost, this game is a turnaround for us. That early goal didn’t get them down and they played hard to the end. We’ve got a few more league games left, and we’re looking at maybe having a shot at making the playoffs.”
Valley Center is now 2–12–1 overall and 1–3 in league with four games left in the regular season. Next up is a home game against Canyon Crest on Thursday at 5 p.m.

Another soccer win has Lady Jaguars on a roll

Valley Center’s varsity girls soccer team continued its hot start this season with a clutch 2–1 win over San Marcos last Tuesday.
The Lady Jaguars came out on fire and scored twice in the first half to build a commanding lead.
Melina Heredia scored the first goal on an assist from Vanessa Heredia, then freshman Marian O’Connor scored the eventual game-winner on an assist from Sam Coch. In goal for the Lady Jags, Kaley Prudham made ten saves to get the victory.
Valley Center is now 6–3–1 overall, and the Lady Jaguars play again at home on Thursday at 5 p.m. against Del Norte.

Lady Jags win at home, but fall on the road in soccer

The Valley Center varsity girls soccer team split its two games this week, defeating Escondido Charter at home on Wednesday but then falling to Ramona on the road on Thursday.
The Lady Jaguars started out fast and played outstanding defense to take a 2–1 win over Escondido Charter.
The Lady Jags scored in the first half on a goal by Hannah Sanders, who was assisted by Sam Coch on the play. Meanwhile, the Valley Center defense stymied the Lady White Tiger attack in the first half, giving the Lady Jaguars a one-goal lead at the break.
Both teams scored in the second half, as Maritza Alvarez scored on an assist from Melina Heredia for a goal that proved to be the game-winner for the Lady Jags.
In goal, Taylor Yates made seven big saves to earn the victory.
Valley Center couldn’t keep the momentum going in the following game, and the Lady Jaguars were held scoreless in a 2–0 shutout loss at Ramona.
Despite the lack of offense, Yates played a great game in goal, making eight saves in the loss.
The Lady Jaguars are now 5–3–1 overall, with the next game coming at home on Tuesday against Canyon Crest at 5 p.m.

I Kid You Not: Football, Soccer & Teams With Disasters For Names

If I were 12 years old, I would be pretty upset with the Target Corporation.
To be fair, I’d probably be less than happy with almost all the retailers out there this time of year, because it seems like it gets earlier and earlier every summer that they insist on reminding us that summer is winding down, thanks to a slew of “Back To School!” banners, commercials and ads in the newspaper.
But for as much fun as summer is when you’re a kid, there’s really not much in it if you’re a sports fan. Sure, there’s baseball, but who wants to watch two guys play catch for three hours (unless it’s a Red Sox-Yankees game, in which case it’s more like four)? NASCAR is going strong, but the summer months feature some of the most boring races (Pocono, Indianapolis, Chicago, Michigan twice... yawn) and The Chase is still more than a month away. Things have gotten so bad that I actually watched a Major League Soccer (MLS) game last week. Let’s just say that MLS is not so exciting after you’ve gotten used to World Cup soccer.
But even in a summer when the weather can’t seem to make up its mind (we just went through San Diego’s coldest July in nearly 100 years), I still had a few random thoughts about sports this week that I would like to share with you.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about these, or any, sports-related topic. Send me an e-mail at sports@valleycenter.com anytime and we’ll get a good discussion going.

I’m Sure The Browns Would Still Be Terrible
Watching the World Cup this year was a really fun experience, and I feel like I learned a lot about soccer. If I lived in Europe—or if it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to watch English Premier League (EPL) soccer here in America—then I would probably watch more of the world’s elite soccer players battle it out on the pitch.
One little detail about the EPL that I find fascinating is the idea of relegation.
Basically, the Premier League consists of the top 20 soccer teams in England and is affiliated with The Football League, which consists of 72 clubs split evenly between three divisions, The Championship League, League One and League Two.
I suppose the simplest way of putting it is to say that, at the end of each season, each of these four divisions changes teams. The top three teams in the three lower divisions get to move up to the next division, while the bottom three teams from the top three divisions move down. It sounds complicated, but it makes sense.
The idea is that the Premier League is reserved for the teams that are the best of the best, but each team’s spot in this league is not a guarantee. You have to earn your chance to play in the EPL every season.
I absolutely love this idea for other sports. For one thing, you’re not watering down the competition between the good teams by making them have to play pushovers. For another thing, you’re giving teams in rebuilding years a chance to play meaningful games against opponents who are more closely matched in talent, making for more exciting games. It’s the best of both worlds.
Imagine if this concept were to be applied to the NFL. Right now, there are 32 teams in the league, and honestly, it’s not hard to say that 16 of those teams are legitimate, while the other 16 are middle-of-the-road, at best. Take the top 16 teams (according to last year’s standings, the top 16 teams in the league were Indianapolis, New Orleans, San Diego, Minnesota, Green Bay, Dallas, Philadelphia, New England, Cincinnati, Arizona, New York Jets, Baltimore, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Houston and one of the teams that finished 8-8, which were Carolina, San Francisco, Denver, New York Giants and Tennessee) and separate them into the NFL Division I or something like that. Then put the other 16 teams in Division II and have them play against each other all season. At the end of the year, the bottom three from Division I get sent down, while the top three from Division II move up. It adds more drama to those games at the end of the year, especially for those teams who aren’t going to make the playoffs. More meaningful games are good for all of us.
Of course, the teams that stink wouldn’t be happy about it… at first. But I have a feeling they’d all get used to it, because they’d still be officially in the NFL, they wouldn’t be getting blown out, and they’d have a chance to play for the Division II championship (which could be held the week before the Super Bowl to save us all from the disappointment that is the Pro Bowl) at the end of the season. It’s hard to get excited about a game between the Browns and the Panthers, but if a win meant that one of them got a shot at moving up to Division I, then the intensity gets ratcheted up a notch. Again, how could anyone turn down a chance to see more games that mean something?
The only potential downside I can see is that it’s hard to get better if you’re not playing against better players. But I think the competition level in the NFL, across the board, is such that even the worst teams in the league still have players who are playing at an elite level. Just because the Rams only won one game last year doesn’t mean that Steven Jackson isn’t a talented running back.
And with the way that the NFL goes through cycles (remember when the Colts and Patriots were terrible?), I think we would still see those cycles play out like they have in the past. The NFL would have to tweak the draft rules just a bit—perhaps they would have Division II draft first, going in the inverse order of the standings, then have the Division I teams follow after—but I think things wouldn’t change much. A few good players can turn a franchise around, and it can happen at just about any time.

On The Plus Side, We’d Get To See More Of Brooks Bollinger
Another NFL idea I’d like to see put into action is the concept of a minor league farm system, similar to what we have in baseball and hockey.
Each Major League Baseball (MLB) team has a series of minor league teams in the farm system—meaning that if a player on the MLB team gets hurt or traded, the club can “call up” a player from the top minor league team to replace him. Each minor league team is affiliated with an MLB team so the pro team can develop the talent of young players before bringing them up to the big leagues.
It’s the same in the National Hockey League (NHL), only each NHL team only has one minor league team instead of a whole farm system.
Why hasn’t anyone tried this in the NFL? I guess the popularity of football is still relatively new, and it would be a pretty serious undertaking to get the logistics worked out for the creation of 32 minor league football teams. But I have a feeling that the investment would more than pay off, and I don’t think it takes a genius to get the ball rolling.
Let’s say that we could convince 32 multi-millionaires that it would be totally cool to own your own sports franchise. A stretch, I know, but… we’ll just call it a hypothetical. Anyway, we get 32 rich guys (or gals, there’s nothing wrong with that. Other than still using the term “gals” I mean. I digress.) to pony up enough to pay for players, coaches, uniforms, staff, stadium use and team travel expenses. The league would have to set some kind of a salary cap to keep things reasonable (ideally, you’d want some kind of system that only allows you to pay a certain maximum based on a player’s experience and position on the field), but we’ll skip that for now.
What would be great about the DFL (Developmental Football League)—or whatever it would be called—is that you wouldn’t really have to change much about the structure of the current NFL squad. Each team is allowed to have 80 players on the roster during training camp. Throughout the summer, a series of cuts is made, brining the roster down to the regular season size of 53. Of course, during the season, each team can only have 45 active players dressed for each game. Those eight who are not dressed are the members of the practice squad, or scout team.
If each NFL team had a minor league affiliate, they wouldn’t need to make all those cuts, just a decision about who plays in the big leagues and who gets sent down. Keep those 45 players for the NFL team and you still have 35 left over from the 80 you brought to training camp. And there are always plenty of unsigned free agents out there after the draft, so I don’t think teams would have trouble finding another ten guys who want a shot at playing pro football.
Here’s the genius of the plan, though—because of the popularity of college football, the NFL draft has become a big-time event in and of itself. We want to see where Tim Tebow is going to play his pro ball. We want to know what will happen to Jimmy Clausen, Jahvid Best, C.J. Spiller and Ndomukong Suh.
With a developmental league, these players would all get to play every week, and we’d get to watch their development. Watch Tim Tebow learn to read the cover-two defense. Watch Jahvid Best learn to pick up a pro blitz. It’s riveting.
Plus, if an organization were to be particularly on the ball, you could have a similar system in place for both levels (for example, if the Philadelphia Eagles run a West Coast offense, then their minor league team should also follow suit). It would be a lot like the high school system of varsity and JV, with different coaches following the same system. And something tells me there would be no shortage of coaches who would be more than happy to sign up for this kind of a chance.
Really, the only detail that’s left is to start picking out the names of the minor league teams. I still can’t decide if it would be easier for the teams to play in the same stadium as their NFL counterparts or if they should have their own (nearby) cities. If they used the same stadium, they could just follow the NFL team’s schedule, but reversed (for example, if the Chargers are hosting the Chiefs, then the San Diego Lightning would play at the Kansas City Braves in the minor league matchup).
But, if each team had its own city, we could revitalize some smaller cities and give minor league football its own culture, just like minor league baseball. Each team could come up with something a little wacky (like the Lansing Lugnuts or the Tacoma Rainiers) that’s also specific to that geographic location. Add some crazy logos and you’ve got some fan-friendly football fun ready to take the field.
The other question would be when the minor league teams would play. I say they should play on Friday night so they wouldn’t interfere with college football. You could also make arguments for Wednesday night (a cure for the mid-week, no-football blues) or for Sunday afternoon. I’d be ok with any of these, just as long as we got to see more football.
Of course, the downside is that we’d be over-saturating the talent pool a bit—look at the rosters in the United Football League (UFL) and it wouldn’t be surprising to wonder, “Quinn Gray? Isn’t he dead? I thought he died in 2002. Weird.” And the UFL kind of already has a leg up as far as goofy names and logos (although I’m sure you get lots of street cred for wearing a light blue Florida Tuskers cap in downtown Tallahassee these days).
But I still think that more football can’t help but be fun to watch, especially if we know that it means something (with apologies to the UFL’s championship game, the aptly-named UFL Championship Game…that took some marketing genius). We’d get to see some college stars sharpen their skills before getting tossed into the fires of the NFL. We’d get to see more of the 2009 UFL MVP, Brooks Bollinger, and who wouldn’t want that?
Seriously though, minor league football is an idea waiting to be realized. I just hope I’m given the proper credit when the time comes.

What, Too Soon For A Team To Be Called The New Orleans Hurricanes?
Speaking of team names, and speaking of MLS, I realized something while watching the MLS All-Star Game this week. And no, my realization was not overwhelming shame brought on by watching the MLS All-Star Game.
As the announcers desperately tried to sell the viewers on the merits of MLS, they would talk about the various teams in the league. At some point, I realized that two of the teams are named after natural disasters that happened in that city. The first one I noticed was the Chicago Fire, which I’ll grant is a cool name, and since the Great Chicago Fire happened nearly 140 years ago, I think it’s a safe enough reference to make.
But I couldn’t help but Tweet my reaction, and the follow up thoughts about teams and names that reference disasters. Ever full of sarcasm and wit, I wondered if we would see the San Francisco Earthquakes, or the Seattle Volcanoes, or the Louisiana Flood.
Turns out, as I watched more of the telecast, there actually is a team in MLS called the San Jose Earthquakes.

For one thing, I think a single earthquake is scary enough, but to have to face a team full of earthquakes…that is a contest I’m not prepared to undertake.
Is it just me, or is it a little odd that a team can be named after a disaster that happened just 21 years ago? I remember the San Francisco earthquake of 1989, mostly because it interrupted the World Series, but I still have clear mental pictures of collapsed bridges, chunks of highway uprooted and buildings falling over. This wasn’t that long ago, but it’s open for a team to be named after it?
My Tweets carry over to Facebook, so I ended up in a bit of a discussion about this phenomenon that circled back to listing a whole lot of borderline-inappropriate team names that MLS should consider. Some of the gems include the Oklahoma Cyclones, the Buffalo Blizzard (an actual team in the now-defunct National Professional Soccer League),
the Kansas Dustbowls, the South Carolina Confederates, the Dallas Grassy Knolls, and my personal favorite (courtesy of my friend Rick), the Pearl Harbor Attack.
Just to be clear, none of this is meant in a mean spirit or anything—the point is that if it’s OK to have a team named the San Jose Earthquakes just 21 years after the actual earthquake, where do we draw the line?
I’d like to further explain myself by saying that I honestly have no opinion on the matter, I just happened to find it interesting that a team/league would step out and make a decision like this. I don’t have a problem with it—to me, it’s just a team name, and should therefore be taken as such. I could write a whole lot of pages about my thoughts on people who take themselves and everything else too seriously, but I’ll save that for another time.
I guess my curiosity is such that I wonder why a team would even bother to tempt it by using a name that could have any potential negative connotation? On the other hand, part of me wants to congratulate them for taking that kind of a stand, because, as I said, it’s just a team name, and honestly, why should it be taken as anything more? It’s an interesting situation, that’s for sure.
And as I said before, if you have any thoughts on the subject, please e-mail me at sports@valleycenter.com and I’ll be sure to share what you have to say with our readers.
Just be sure to send it in right away, because (as Target keeps reminding me) summer is almost over, and the sports pages will soon be filled with all the football that’s fit to print once again!

You Can't Surf In A Hurricane

On Monday, the Valley Center Hurricane girls U14 team defeated the San Diego Surf in an overtime penalty kick shootout for their first tournament win this year, behind the slogan, “You can’t surf in a hurricane!” The Hurricanes started the tournament with a 2–1 loss to the same Surf team on Saturday morning. They went on to defeat the hosting Del Mar Sharks 1–0 later that day, then downed the Pumas of Chula Vista 5–0 on Sunday to qualify for the Monday morning final match. Their next action will be in the Dave Shelton Tournament Aug. 13–15.
The Hurricanes are: Sloane Adams, Bianca Bilotta, Brianna Bilotta, Madison Calbert, Raquel Cifuentes, Brianna Darnell, Brienna Dunckel, Brittany Dunckel, Helen Lopez, Annika Odeen, Clara Padinske, Savanna Reilly, Alexis Reyes, Madison Sanders, Emily Tuttle, Emily Venisse, Nicole Venisse and Liena Villemez, with coaches Bill Dunckel and Paul Venisse.

The Best & Worst From The 2010 World Cup

With a single flick of his right foot, Andres Iniesta gave Spain its first world championship and put a fitting cap on the delightful brew of excitement, controversy, and drama that was the 2010 World Cup.
Iniesta’s one-hop goal was mesmerizing — he stayed just onside, locked in on a tough-to-handle bouncing pass, lined it up and sent it past Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg for the game-winner. Neither team played an outstanding game; it looked like they were both too afraid of making a critical mistake that they didn’t take very many chances.
But when they did, the goalkeeping was outstanding. Iker Casillas earned his honorary title, Saint Iker, with this performance, and Stekelenburg stood very tall until Iniesta’s blast got past him.
Honestly, the most exciting play for me, a fledgling indoor soccer goalie when time permits, was Casillas’ save on Arjen Robben early in the second half. Robben took a perfectly-timed pass from midfield, split the Spanish defense, and had a one-on-one chance that all but the poorest strikers would have buried in the back of the net.
But Casillas came off his line, held his ground at the penalty spot, and got a foot on Robben’s shot as he dove to his left. I’m still amazed that Jabulani ball isn’t on its way to the Netherlands as a trophy of conquest.
The big save in the biggest of spotlights was only one of the enthralling moments from this World Cup.
Here are my awards for the best (and worst) the 2010 World Cup had to offer.

Best Goal
This one was a toss-up between three different goals — David Villa’s long-range strike against Chile, Diego Forlan’s knuckleball free kick against Ghana in the quarterfinals, and, of course, Landon Donovan’s heroic, last-second goal against Algeria in the final game for the USA in the group stage.
Villa’s goal might be the most amazing just because it was so unlikely. The Spaniards cleared out a Chilean advance, sending Spanish forward Fernando Torres after the long pass. Chile keeper Claudio Bravo came way off his line to get to the ball first, sliding into it and clearing it away. But instead of sending it out of bounds, Bravo cleared it only as far as Villa, who was following up the play along the sideline. From 40 yards away, Villa curled the ball with his left foot into the vacated net for an astounding goal.
On the other hand, Forlan scored what I consider to be the best technical goal of the tournament. Uruguay pushed up the field on offense against Ghana in the quarterfinals, and earned a free kick to the left of the goal, just outside the penalty area. Forlan took the free kick, sailed it over the wall and past his onrushing teammates and into the top corner of the goal. Other players scored on free kicks in the tournament, but what makes this goal stand out is the fact that Forlan had such complete control over an otherwise uncontrollable Jabulani ball. The replay shows that the ball was dipping and diving in an erratic path to the net, but Forlan hit it exactly where it needed to go. That, and the fact that was the equalizer in an eventual 1–1 tie that went through extra time and into penalty kicks, makes it one of the best goals I’ve ever seen.
But as far as importance and unbelievable timing, Donovan’s goal against Algeria cannot be summed up in words, although I’ll do my best to try.
I’ll start by having you go immediately to your computer and search for video clips of reactions to this goal. You’ll see a series of American fans gathered together to watch the game, hoping for a goal that will send the USA through to the knockout stage. You’ll see the excitement build as the American players push the ball up the field, Donovan in control of the ball. You’ll see the tension build as Donovan sends the ball ahead to the feet of Jozy Altidore, who crosses the ball in front of the net to Clint Dempsey. You’ll see the look of abject despair as the keeper saves the shot. But then — oh my, the goosebumps — you’ll see the eruption of unbridled joy as Donovan sweeps in and drives the rebound into the back of the net.
As far as the skill of the goal, it wasn’t as impressive as the other two I’ve mentioned. But in terms of sheer importance, this goal came at an unbelievable time from the player who most needed to step up in that situation. It was an amazing goal at a critical time in the game which was so important to our team.
Honestly, I can’t decide which of these was the best goal of the tournament. I like them all. If you want to write in and tell me what the best goal was, please do by writing to me at sports@valleycenter.com. You may even have a different goal that you thought was the best. Let me know what you think, and I’ll be sure to pass on your thoughts to our readers.
And now, back to the column.

Best Team
I have to say that Germany had an unbelievable World Cup. After losing starter after starter to injury before the tournament even began, the Germans came up with a series of young replacements that ended up leading the team to an impressive third-place finish.
The talents of Mesut Oezil, Thomas Mueller, Lukas Podolski, Sami Khedira, Jerome Boateng and goalie Manuel Neuer, all of whom are under the age of 26, will certainly make Germany one of the favorite squads in the next World Cup.

Most Fun Team To Watch
I’ll just go ahead and say it — the French. Les Bleus were so otherworldly awful that you just couldn’t look away. It was kind of like watching Megan Fox try to show genuine emotions on the big screen — it could be considered a crime against humanity in some countries, but you just can’t help but watch. France scored a single goal in the tournament, a score that came in the 70th minute of the final game of group play against South Africa. Their top striker, Nicolas Anelka, got sent home for his profanity-filled tirade about coach Raymond Domenech. The rest of the team went on strike because of Anelka’s dismissal, which is exactly what you want to do when you’re struggling to score goals — skip practice. They were so bad, it was comical.
A close runner-up for most fun team to watch would be the Netherlands, who were absolutely rife with infighting and personal grudges amongst teammates. Striker Robin Van Persie nearly broke a teammate’s ankle on a rough challenge — in practice. Nobody wanted to let anyone else take free kicks. Van Persie and midfielder Wesley Sneijder had a feud going back two years. Forward Arjen Robben was visibly incensed when another Dutch player would take a shot because he thought he was the only one who could score. There’s a particular angle on one of the video replays of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s goal against Uruguay in the semifinals where Robben clearly thought he was open. When Van Bronckhorst — the Dutch captain, by the way — took the shot, Robben has a look of absolute fury on his face, quickly replaced by begrudging acceptance when the shot found a tiny opening in the top corner of the net for a goal. These guys really hated each other, and it made their run to the final that much more entertaining.

Most Fun Name To Say
Again, this one’s a toss-up, with some real gems in there. I’m just going to list the names off, you can say them all out loud and decide which one you like best. Here we go: Per Mertesacker (Germany), Kaká (Brazil), Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Greece), Duda (Portugal), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Mexico) and Xabi Alonso (Spain). All of these names make me smile when I hear them, so there is no wrong answer.

Most Unfortunate Name
Hans-Jörg Butt (Germany). Middle school was probably a daily nightmare for this poor guy.

Most Exciting Young Players To Watch
This tournament had plenty of important veterans on the pitch, from the aforementioned Mexican forward Blanco (who was the oldest non-goaltender in the tournament at age 37) to German striker Miroslav Klose (age 32) to goalie David James of England(age 39).
But the youngsters took center stage in this World Cup, from Oezil and Mueller of Germany to Giovani Dos Santos and Javier Hernandez of Mexico, to Keisuke Honda of Japan. So many African players were under age 25, a stat reflected in the fact that Ghana had the youngest average age in the tournament at 24.1. The USA fell right in the middle of the average age bracket at 26.8, showcasing some promising talent, such as Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu, which should come in handy for the 2014 World Cup.

Best Game
It would be hard to find a game more entertaining than the Uruguay-Ghana match in the quarterfinals. The action went back-and-forth all game; one team would get momentum and create scoring chances, but the other team would hold steady and steadily take the momentum back. Ghana scored in stoppage time of the first half on an excellent goal by Sulley Muntari from outside the penalty area. Uruguay countered with the aforementioned goal by Forlan not long into the second half.
The second half and eventual extra time were both exciting, but the most unbelievable moments came right at the end. With stoppage time running out in the second extra period, Ghana attacked with a flurry of shots on the Uruguayan goal as the ball bounced around like a beach ball that fans inexplicably bring to a San Diego Padres game.
After a save by goalie Fernando Muslera, Ghana headed the ball back in toward the net as Muslera scrambled to get back to his feet. Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, standing on the goal line, stuck his hands up and punched the ball away, which resulted in a red card for him and a penalty shot for Ghana.
On the final play of the game, Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan took the penalty kick that was sure to send Ghana through to the semifinals… but he hit the crossbar. Ghana fans, and really all African fans, were absolutely stunned. Uruguay celebrated, knowing that they were still alive for a penalty shootout.
And they cashed in on the opportunity, winning the shootout 4–2 on the strength of some very confident shots (look up Sebastian Abreu’s game-winning shot) and some inexplicable misses by Ghana (look up John Mensah’s weird one-step kick, followed by Dominic Adiyah’s ultra-conservative attempt).
From start to finish, this game had everything you look for.
Worst Game
Any match involving France.

Best Uniforms
Another toss-up, this time between the beautiful sky blue shirts of Uruguay (featuring a very nice watermarked pattern of a sun taken from the Uruguay flag) and the orange or green-and-white jerseys of Ivory Coast. I especially like the green-and-white stripes of Ivory Coast’s change kit, because they were intentionally designed to look hand-painted. Combined with the affinity of the African players of wearing skin-tight shirts, it created a standout look.

Worst Uniforms
Anything with the word “France” on it. Also, why couldn’t they get the same shade of orange for the Dutch jerseys and shorts in the final? That’s probably why they lost.

Best Royalty
Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain. I mean, come on — he married a commoner because he fell in love! He didn’t want to marry for stature or for stuffy tradition, he married a woman who was independent and modern! And that is probably why they won. Let that be a lesson to you, Prince William and/or Harry.

Thing I’ll Miss Most About The 2010 World Cup
I’m going to miss the thrill of watching the best soccer players in the world put everything they have into competing for their country. The drama of hard-fought matches, the way the English commentators make even the most mundane happenings sound like classic poetry, and the skills of the world’s elite players coming to light at the most critical moments. It was a great tournament, and I can’t wait until 2014.
As always, if you have any thoughts you’d like to share about the World Cup or anything about sports, send me an e-mail at sports@valleycenter.com and we’ll get a good discussion going.

More Things I Thought While Watching The World Cup

Spain have the most eclectic collection of hairstyles in the world. I have so many questions...

...when did Carles Puyol last have a haircut? I would wager more than five years ago.

...why does Xavi swoosh his hair up on the sides?

...is Gerard Pique's beard legal?

...is David Villa really just David Beckham in disguise?

...does Sergio Ramos' hair ever get dry?

...does Fernando Torres play better when he looks like this? Or like this? Or maybe like this? Because he certainly hasn't played well while looking like this.

I also have decided that I am not rooting for the Netherlands in the final. The Oranje have been far too dramatic, they seem like whiners, and I really just don't like Arjen Robben and his bald head. Oh look, he's on the ground in that picture. How terribly shocking.

The one Dutch player I can appreciate is Dirk Kuyt, who works hard, doesn't flop (very often, anyway) and is definitely a hustle player. If he plays well on Sunday, the Dutch will be really scary to contend with.

But I'll be rooting for Spain and all the crazy hair they have...or don't have.

Five Things The World Cup Could Do Without

Only four teams are still alive in the quest for the World Cup, and it has been a captivating tournament so far.
We’ve seen so many classic moments that will live forever – or, more likely in our ever-changing kaleidoscope of what’s popular, moments that will live for the next two weeks, tops – and there are certainly more timeless moments yet to come.
But the 2010 World Cup has also had its share of downside. Controversy, disappointment and the never-ending drone of a thousand plastic horns have all combined to leave a scar on the otherwise beautiful face of the tournament.
Or have they? I’ve heard a lot of different opinions about the following aspects of the latest installment of the World Cup, and I have no doubt that there are just as many different opinions about it here in Valley Center.
So here’s what we’ll do: I’m going to share with you some of the things about the World Cup that I really dislike, and (hopefully), you, the readers, will write in to share with all of us what you think. We had some great thoughts from a reader last week, and if you’re at all interested in getting in on the discussion, read on and get ready to send your thoughts to us at sports@valleycenter.com.
With that, I give you the top five things I dislike about the 2010 World Cup.
1. The vuvuzelas
Early on in the tournament, it looked to be extremely likely that this World Cup would be known for one thing: those plastic horns that everyone in South Africa seems to be able to blow incessantly for more than four hours at a time.
Before the tournament even started, we all heard about how annoying they are. Stories came out about injuries resulting from the horns, from blown-out eardrums to a report of a ruptured throat. More stories came out about how annoying they are. Then players started talking about how annoying they are, especially when you can’t hear your teammates on the field. Then comedy shows on TV started seeing just how annoying they could really make them. Turns out that they could get a lot more annoying.
To me, they’re not all that annoying because I’m watching in on TV, thousands of miles away from the source, and I can turn down the volume if I don’t want my apartment to sound like it’s the barber shop at an Army recruitment station.
The reason they’re annoying is because they’re taking something away from the game. We discussed a few weeks ago that one of the reasons I enjoy soccer so much is because of the amazing commentary served up to us by English commentators. For example, I’d much rather hear Martin Tyler explain (about a Spanish player who had to replace his torn jersey with a new one) that, “He now has the sartorial elegance necessary to continue,” as opposed to hearing Tony Siragusa explain that a defensive tackle is effective at stuffing the run because he’s been stuffing his face with pizza.
On a quick side note, my other favorite comment from Martin Tyler was about a Spanish defender getting in the way of another defender attempting to clear the ball from the zone: “That’s a case of too many cooks spoiling the gazpacho for Spain.” How is that not exponentially better than listening to John Madden ramble on about turducken?
Anyway, back to the point – the constant buzz takes away from the game. I agree with the thought that it would be nice to hear the other African cultural celebrations, like singing or chanting or anything else. I remember watching one game in the group stage (I can’t remember exactly which one, but I’m pretty sure it was a game between two European teams) where the African turnout must not have been as prevalent. The vuvuzelas were still buzzing, but it wasn’t constant and on occasion, the singing or chanting of the European fans was able to be clearly heard. It was an odd sensation after the constant droning; I think I actually got goose bumps.
Now, I have heard another side to this argument, from Bill Simmons on ESPN.com. He recently wrote that he doesn’t mind the vuvuzelas because, at this point, his brain automatically connects that sound to the excitement of watching great soccer, like a Pavlovian response. I see where he’s coming from, because it kind of does that for me too. But honestly, I’d be just as excited about the matches without the horns. This has been an excellent tournament in so many ways that it would be nice to have it remembered for something other than an annoying buzz.
2. The anti-patriotism
I listed patriotism as one of the things I love about the World Cup, and I still hold this opinion.
What I’m getting at is that, while most players are honored to play for their country, there are some slightly off-putting examples of players who try to play for a nation that isn’t really their home country.
As far as the rules of eligibility go, a player is eligible to play for a particular country if he was born there, his parents or grandparents were born there, or if he becomes a naturalized citizen of the country. Once a player chooses his international allegiance and plays in a competitive match for a country, he can not switch to another country later on.
This can lead to some kind of shady dealings with the treatment of potential star players, something exemplified by France and their importing of talented African players throughout the years.
One example from this World Cup is Ivory Coast forward Salomon Kalou, who was born in Ivory Coast but tried to obtain Dutch citizenship to play for the Netherlands in the 2006 World Cup. When he failed to make the Dutch team, he opted to play for Ivory Coast leading up to the 2010 World Cup.
There isn’t a lot of wiggle room for these things, but it’s always just a little disappointing to hear that a player was born somewhere but chose to play internationally for a different country.
Unless that player is really talented and chooses to play for the United States. Then it would be patriotic.
3. Disappointing stars
The World Cup is the biggest stage for soccer, and the game’s biggest stars shine brightest in the world’s spotlight.
Except that all the recognizable names over-egged the pudding (to borrow another of my favorite English phrases from the tournament) and been a big, fat disappointment so far.
Brazil’s Kaka, England’s Wayne Rooney, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, France’s Franck Ribery, and Spain’s Fernando Torres have all been shut out so far in the tournament, and all but Torres have been sent home with the goose egg on their record.
And even the big names who scored still didn’t help their teams, from Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal to Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, to Jozy Altidore for the United States. It’s been one big stinkfest for what were supposed to be some of the game’s premier players.
On the positive side, we’ve gotten to see some unsung heroes step into the spotlight, from Diego Forlan of Uruguay (my current favorite player in the tournament, by the way) to Mesut Oezil of Germany to Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands. Even some players who are out of the tournament, such as Robert Vittek of Slovakia, Keisuke Honda of Japan and Gonzalo Higuain of Argentina, earned distinction as players who will be dangerous on the field for their respective club teams.
Still though, when the world is watching, one would hope that the best players in the world would perform as such. So far, we have yet to see it this time around.
4. Cover-your-eyes awful officiating
If you live in American and don’t know who Koman Coulibaly is, you’re in the vast minority.
Just in case you are, Coulibaly is the referee who called a phantom penalty on the United States that nullified a very last-minute goal by Maurice Edu in a near comeback against Slovenia on June 18.
Having watched that game, even the English commentators (who you wouldn’t really expect to be overly sympathetic to the Americans, especially given that England was in the same group and needed some help getting into the next round) were appalled at how poorly the game was officiated. I’m not a soccer expert, but there was a discernable groan from the crowd whenever a call was made, because the overwhelming majority of the calls were not only incorrect, but usually obvious.
More calls were blown in subsequent games, most notably in the England-Germany match and the Argentina-Mexico match in the round of 16.
England’s Frank Lampard took a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and clearly bounced beyond the goal line for what should have been the equalizer, but the game continued because the referees missed the call.
On the same day, Argentina striker Carlos Tevez scored a goal after a bouncing ball was played in to him in front of the net. Replays showed that he was offside by at least two yards when his teammate passed him the ball, but no call was made, and the game went on.
The thing is, we do expect some degree of human error in sports, as FIFA continually drops as its trump card for its ongoing inaction. The governing body of international soccer has been traditionally resistant to using technology to help officials, and this tournament is showing the world why it might be time to reconsider.
But what really gets me is that, even if technology isn’t going to be a part of the game, at least there should be more officials to watch what’s happening to make sure that terrible decisions aren’t made because of a lack of information.
Bad calls will always be a part of sports, and we as fans will always be able to discuss what should have happened. But when it comes to a tournament at this level, at least pay the fans the courtesy of making it look like you actually care about enforcing the rules of the sport.
5. The flopping
This is related to the topic of officiating, because the root cause of all the players sprawling to the ground at the slightest whisper of contact is that, a good percentage of the time, this action will bring about a desired result.
In defense of the referees, there have been a few yellow cards shown to players for embellishing a foul, or diving.
But it isn’t called nearly often enough, and that just leads to grown men throwing themselves to the ground in a show of emotion worthy of its own reality show on E!, the Entertainment Network (which, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, is the home of such gems as Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Leave It To Lamas).
This is another aspect of the game that actually diminishes the quality of the final product presented to the fans. It’s exciting to see a series of great passes set up a player on the run to take a shot on goal. It is not exciting to see a series of passes set up a player on the run to get brushed by a defender and sashay his way to the ground with an expression of horror and dismay that even Hamlet would find a bit dramatic.
I get that it’s a strategy that works, and that it is a part of the game. And you can’t blame the players for trying it; as I said, it works more often than not.
But the referees who don’t put up with all that nonsense are helping the game by instilling a policy of playing hard and earning your chances. And the players who are known for flopping (*cough* Cristiano Ronaldo *cough*) would do well to pay attention to their reputation, because the referees seem less inclined to actually make a call when they know the player is a flop artist.
All it would take is a stricter policy on diving, and more yellow cards doled out before players would get the hint and just keep playing.

Now perhaps you, the reader, will take the hint and join the discussion by sending your thoughts in to our e-mail at sports@valleycenter.com.
There are still four teams alive in the World Cup, and no doubt a thrilling finish coming in the final on Sunday, so let us know your thoughts before the tournament is over and we all move on to something new, like Comic-Con. Just as a heads-up, Comic-Con is coming up in a few weeks, so be prepared to hear all about that. Thanks.
And while we’re at it, feel free to take advantage of the summer months here in Valley Center by sending in any info you have about anything happening in and around the community, especially as it relates to sports. The only way we’re going to be able to tell everyone about it is if you share what’s going on, and we’re always excited to hear what you have to say.
Write in anytime, and enjoy these final matches in the World Cup!

VCHS Needs New Coaches

The following coaching positions are available at Valley Center High School.
Head girls and boys tennis, boys varsity, JV and frosh soccer, and girls varsity lacrosse.
Contact VCHS athletic director Mike Cummings at 760-751-5554 if you are interested.

Reader Response: Thoughts On The World Cup

Hey Dan - enjoyed your article in the Roadrunner regarding the World Cup. As I was reading it some thoughts came to mind:

1. Since there are so many diverse nations represented at the WC, what language are the players speaking when their talking to (a) the ref (b) the opponent? For instance, Japan is playing against, say, Mexico, and the ref is from England. Ok, so as the Japanese player is complaining/shouting to the ref about the Mexican player and vice versa, what the heck language are they speaking to each other? Same when I see the ref talking to players...warning them to stop pushing or something...or even at the start during the coin toss...does the German ref say "heads or tails"...does the Spanish player respond "heads"/"tails"...must be quite a funny scenario.

2. Will the vuvuzelas (loud, obnoxious horns) infect American sports? The closest thing I know of is in Minnesota and the Viking fans. I think they have a loud vuvuzela type of horn they blow there. Hope it doesn't spread to other sports/cities here in the USA. Maybe vuvuzelas can be banned at the customs...no one allowed to bring it in to the country. Did you know that the vuvuzela is banned from Yankee Stadium?

3. Here's something I've always wondered. In the USA we call the sport "soccer", while the rest of the world calls it "futbol". And, as we know, "soccer" is a relatively new sport in the USA...ok with that said, who's the wise-guy that came up with the name "soccer"? And where did the word come from? And why that name? And what does it mean? Seems like our own football is misnamed. Our football is mostly carried in our hands/arms. On few occassions during a game is the foot used (kick-offs, punts, PAT's, field goals)...otherwise most of the time we use our hands...yet we call the sport football. Let's see if I have this right...baseball has bases...handball uses the hand...basketball we throw the ball into a basket...racketball we use rackets...track & field is held on a track and field...volleyball you volley a ball...and football you hardly ever use your foot...huh? Should it be renamed to something like "tackleball" since almost every play involves tackling? Seems like the word "football" aligns better with the sport of soccer/futbol since most of the time the ball is kicked by the foot!

4. Will instant replay (IR) be used in high level soccer (er, futbol) tournaments like the Euro-Cup, or WC, etc. Maybe have a 5th official "in the booth" that can help the center-ref get it right on certain circumstances...like an obvious handball in the penalty box...or an obvious "offsides". The IR would only be available for the refs...no red flag like the NFL. I've told my wife that I don't think this will happen because socc...er, futbol is like baseball...lots of tradition, and very much a subjective sport. Like umps...each one has a different idea where the strike-zone is. However, baseball does use IR for fair/foul balls, homeruns, etc...maybe s...er, futbol could have a very limited use of IR too, like baseball.

5. If soccer is such a popular sport here in the USA at the youth levels, and its growing more at the adult levels, why has it not really caught on at the professional level? I suspect the main reason is commercials! All other popular USA sports are packed w/TV commercials (aka money)...however, there's no commercial breaks in soccer except during half-time...if there are few opportunities for commercials, then there's not a lot of money dedicated in ad budgets, thus, soccer remains a "grass-root" kind of sport.

6. Some day, mark my word, goalkeeper gloves in soccer will become the craze in football. The moment some big NFL star receiver starts wearing them it will catch on with other NFL receivers, then every receiver will be wearing them...college, high school, Pop Warner...you just wait and see. The same thing happened in the NFL with kicking field goals and kick offs. It used to be that every kicker would kick the ball with his toe...then the sidewinder-soccer style kicker came on the seen...at first just a few, then more...now all kickers at all levels kick "soccer-style"...no one toe-pokes anymore.

7. Finally, someone once said that soccer is a gentlemen's sport played by gentlemen, American football is a "animal's" game played by gentlemen, and rugby is an "animal's" game played by "animals"...sure hope our USA "gentlemen" do well!
GO USA!
Cheers (that's how soccer players say goodbye)
Mario Cozzi

-- -- --

First of all, thanks for writing in; I love being able to dissect the many aspects of sports, and it’s so much fun to get a good discussion going. I have a few thoughts in response to your thoughts, so let’s get right to it.

1. I wondered about the language barrier as well, and I’ve heard it referenced a few times in the tournament thus far. I know that when Brazil played Portugal in the group stage, they had referees from Mexico, and the announcers made a comment about being able to communicate a little more easily since Portuguese and Spanish are similar languages.
I have to imagine that the common language for most matches is English, especially when you have teams from different parts of the world with officials from an altogether different area, like when Japan faced Cameroon with referees from Portugal. Sometimes, especially in matches with European teams, you could find a different common language, like French or German, but most of the time I would bet that the middle ground of language is English.
There was also the story going into the USA vs. England match at the beginning of group play, which focused on the referees (from Brazil) taking a crash course on English (or rather, British) slang so that they would know what words were considered profane.
Otherwise, I’ve noticed a lot of gesturing and other basic forms of body language, including the ever-popular “that’s enough” movement of hands from the referees. However they do it, they seem to get the point across. Unless the game involves Koman Coulibaly (more on that later).

2. Unfortunately, the vuvuzelas have already made an impact on American sports. The Florida Marlins had a vuvuzela night on June 19, and a quick online search for “Marlins vuvuzela” brings up links to at least a dozen pages featuring very negative responses to the giveaway. And they only handed out 15,000 of the plastic horns; imagine if the whole stadium of more than 23,000 had been honking throughout the game.
My initial reaction (and sincerest hope) is that the vuvuzela will quickly go the way of the Rally Monkey, the Thunder Stix, and the Snuggie.

3. Most people probably wonder why the sport is “soccer” to us in the USA and “football” (or the equivalent) to everyone else in the world.
I got together with Valley Center soccer guru Ron Norris in the summer of 2008 to discuss the European Cup tournament, and one of the things he mentioned was how the name of American football came about.
He said that football (soccer) was already a popular sport, but when the game started to morph into rugby, that sport became known as “rugby football.” When the game came to America and the rules were modified, the “rugby” part was dropped (because rugby was now its own established sport) and the football was left.
I dug a little deeper (ie, searched Google for “origins of soccer”) and discovered that soccer and rugby officially split in 1863, when a meeting was held in England to decide on the official rules of the game. Those who wanted to be able to carry the ball and play with full contact went with the rugby association, while those who favored the more traditional style stuck with the football association.
Interestingly enough, the term “soccer” also comes from England, as a nickname for football. When the sport began to form associations, the English would abbreviate it as “assoc.” and the nickname “soccer football” was applied to association football. The English are known for creating shortened versions of words for amusement, such as “ruggers” for rugby, “brekkers” for breakfast, and “ciggy” for cigarette.
When soccer started gaining popularity in America, we already had a sport called football, so our national soccer federation went by the name “United States Soccer Football Association” for about 30 years before they just dropped the “football” part and stuck with “soccer.”
So basically, we’re left with a nickname for association as the name for a sport in which you use your foot to kick a ball. And on the other side, we’re left with a sport that split twice, yet kept its original name after the second split, even though it was a completely different sport. And even though it would make so much sense to switch the names, there is far too much advertising invested in both sports to make it realistic.

4. The point you brought up about instant replay is the one that got me fired up the most, especially after the first few games in the round of 16.
For those of you who didn’t see either of the World Cup games on Sunday, there was a no-goal that should have counted and a goal that should have been disallowed, both clearly proven by instant replay, and both having a dramatic impact on their respective contests.
The goal that should have counted came off the foot of England midfielder Frank Lampard, who lobbed a volley over the head of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer that hit the lower half of the crossbar, hit the ground at least a yard past the goal line, then bounced back outside the goal. Lampard and a few of the English players started to celebrate, but none of the officials stopped the action as Neuer sent the ball back down the field. Every angle of the replay showed the ball was clearly over the line, but the officials were all so far away from the goal that none of them saw what happened. England had just scored a goal a minute earlier to make the score 2-1 in favor of Germany, so if the goal had counted, as it should have, the game would have been tied. Germany went on to win 4-1, but the outcome might have been much different had the score been tied at two.
The goal that shouldn’t have counted came in the match between Argentina and Mexico. About midway through the first half, Argentina striker Lionel Messi sent a lovely pass through the Mexican defense to forward Carlos Tevez, who took a quick shot at keeper Oscar Perez. Perez made the save, and the ball ricocheted back to Messi, who sent the ball back toward the goal. Tevez tapped the ball into the net for the game’s first goal. However, replay showed that when Messi sent the ball back into Tevez after the save, Tevez was at least two yards behind the last Mexican defender, which should have been called offside. The goal was initially counted, but the head official went over to talk to the assistant on the sideline, presumably to ask if Tevez was offside. Both teams crowded around the officials and offered their opinions during this little chat, but it did not change the outcome. Argentina went on to win 3-1, but once again, the game might have played out differently had the early goal been properly disallowed.
FIFA is notorious for resisting technology, saying that any technological changes would not be universal throughout the various levels of the sport. Obviously this is not a problem for the other major sports in the world, and some have even pointed out that the FIFA officials all wear microphone headsets to be able to communicate with each other, and that this isn’t universal throughout the sport.
To me, it really wouldn’t be hard to institute instant replay for the big matches; international tournaments bring in enough money to make it easily viable, and it wouldn’t have to take much time at all. They have a fourth official on the sideline who can help the head referee make decisions. Have a replay monitor right there for the guy, give him 30 seconds to watch the replay and make a decision, and clean up the really egregious errors.
But if technology is really the issue, then at least put more officials on the field for the big games. Put a guy by each goal. Put one more guy on each sideline. Put a guy on each corner. Just put more officials out there. In the Major League Baseball regular season, a crew of umpires consists of four. When it comes time for the World Series, the size of the crew goes up to six, as they add one more umpire down each outfield line. How hard would it be to add two more officials for World Cup games, one by each goal? You have to think that both blown calls on Sunday would have been overruled by an official standing right by the goal. If you’re going to resist the answer that gives the most clear result, at least provide a compromise of more pairs of eyes to make the best call possible.

5. Going back to the topic of advertising, I think you’re right on with your supposition that it affects the popularity of the sport here in America.
But honestly, I think the biggest reason why soccer isn’t as popular here is because it is distinctly un-American. We didn’t invent it, we didn’t perfect it, we’re not really even that good at it. To make things worse, the English are the ones who made it into what it is today, and there will always be something about American culture that resists things that come from across the pond. I mean, they drink tea, so we drink coffee; they play cricket, so we play baseball; they have a parliament, so we have a congress. Of course we’re not going to go all ga-ga for soccer, we have our own version, and it’s much louder, nastier, and so very American.
We are starting to see the fruits of the American youth soccer explosion of the late 80s/early 90s, as the kids who were shuffled off to soccer practice every summer are now old enough to compete at the international level. Guys like Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu were all growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, and the talent level inherent in playing a sport all of your life is starting to show up more and more as those numbers from the soccer boom sort out into some really talented American players.
Still though, soccer will always have a distinctly foreign feel, just from the characteristics of the sport. The clock doesn’t count down to zeroes, it counts up to 90. The game doesn’t end with a loud buzzer, it just kind of peters out when the referee decides that enough time has been allowed for stoppages. The game just keeps going, even when a player goes down. The strategy is much more patient; there aren’t nearly as many opportunities for one player to “put his team on his back” and carry them to a win. You have to let the play develop; you can’t force the issue. None of these characteristics are very fan-friendly, especially to American fans who are used to the NFL, where you get time between plays, you get a definitive clock, and you get athletes who can carry the game.
Since soccer isn’t going to change its very fundamental being, there really doesn’t seem to be much hope of it catching on in America the way other sports have.

6. Speaking of catching on, I wonder if your prediction about goalie gloves will ever come true. American football players generally have a thing about looking cool when they’re playing, so it would take a high-profile receiver (Chad Ochocinco, anyone?) to make the attempt. I love the spongy feel of goalie gloves, and they probably would help receivers hang onto a football a little better. I remember back when quarterback Doug Flutie played for the Buffalo Bills, and as a way to keep a better grip on the ball during the cold winter months, he found a pair of glass-cutter’s gloves that he wore with apparent success. They were rather large and a bit unorthodox, but they seemed to work for him.
But, as I’ve seen exemplified in a national sportswriter’s column about the World Cup, the general consensus about keeper gloves seems to be that they make your hands look like giant Twinkies. If a wide receiver ever does give them a try, however, I’ll remember your prediction and I’m curious to see if it will become a trend.

7. I just want to point out that Mario wrote his response before the USA was eliminated from the World Cup, so hopefully we can all understand his optimistic patriotism. Either that, or he’s just really looking forward to 2014, when the World Cup rolls into Brazil. If that is the case, then go USA!
And if anyone else out there has anything to add, or wants to take us to task on anything we’ve discussed, please send us your thoughts to sports@valleycenter.com and we’ll get more people in on the discussion.

Five Things To Love About The World Cup

Two years ago, it was the European Cup.
Last year, it was the Confederations Cup.
This summer, soccer’s biggest event is all the rage, and you’d better believe that I’m right there in the middle of it once again.
You may or may not remember (if you don’t, it’s OK) that I never used to be a soccer fan. I was one of those “typical” Americans who believed that if you can’t use your hands, it isn’t a real sport. Granted, I was also once a fan of the WWF (before it became the WWE) and considered that to be a real sport. But that was back before Hulk Hogan became a parody of himself.
Anyway, somewhere along the way, I started becoming interested in soccer. I think it stemmed from an invitation to play goalie for an indoor soccer team with some friends I met when I moved out here to Valley Center. I had never played soccer before, but I used to play goalie when the kids from my church youth group back home would play floor hockey, so I figured it was pretty much the same thing.
Turns out it was a lot of fun, and the more I saw how exciting soccer is, the more I wanted to see the high-quality, professional version.
And it doesn’t get much better than international soccer, where players are playing for more than just a ridiculous paycheck.
The past two summers have featured some outstanding soccer, from Spain’s big win in the Euro Cup to the thrilling run the USA had in the Confederations Cup last year. When the weather started to warm up this spring, I had June 11 circled on my calendar and I was devouring everything I could find to read about the tournament.
Thus far, the World Cup has fulfilled all my hopes and more. I’m far too lazy – er, busy – to get up at 4 a.m. to watch the matches as they happen, but thanks to the magic of digital video recording (DVR), I’ve been able to watch all but a few of the matches. I’m sure that some people care about matches like Serbia vs. Ghana, but I tend to like watching matches that involve at least some degree of interest.
With one more match for each team in the group stage left to play, I’ve started to appreciate some of the really great aspects of the tournament, while also lamenting some of the downfalls.
Here is a list of my five favorite and least favorite things about the 2010 World Cup so far.

Favorites

1. Patriotism
Like I said, it’s one thing to watch an athlete play a game to earn a bloated salary. Elite athletes are elite regardless of what they’re playing for, but there is a little extra something when a team of individual talents comes together to represent their country together. You see a little bit more heart, a little bit more emotion, a little bit more hustle, and just a little bit more exuberance. I guarantee that every one of the players in this tournament has thought about what it means to represent his country on the field, and it shows in how they play.
And while the focus on national pride brings out a spirit of friendly competition, the tournament can also help bridge a gap that can be otherwise un-bridgeable. The fact that North Korea has a team in the World Cup is a testament to the breaking of barriers that a tournament like this can accomplish. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the North Korean team heading into the tournament, from their players to their tactics to even their uniforms.
But when they’re on the field, they’re just like all the other players. They run, they pass, the fall down at the slightest bit of contact (spoiler alert for my least favorite section), and they look like they’re having fun. Well, except during that 7-0 drubbing that Portugal handed them. Something tells me that I don’t want to ride any subways or visit any tall buildings in Portugal for a while.
See though, that’s what is so great about this tournament – even though there is a very real tension between North Korea and… well, pretty much everyone, the World Cup is a way to help us all see that they are real people. Even if their leader (reportedly) has a secret communication link to the coach so he can talk to him during the games, the players are out there for the same reason as all the other players: to represent their country by playing a game they love.
2. The British commentary
My wife likes to tease me for thinking that I’m English, which I like to encourage by telling her that I consider myself to be English. In reality, my ancestry is English, but I really enjoy the mannerisms, and especially the witticisms, of our neighbors across the pond.
Whether we’re hearing from Martin Tyler, Derek Rae, Adrian Healey, Ian Darke, Efan Ekoku, or Ally McCoist, it’s just fantastic to hear their descriptions of even the most mundane on-field (or on-pitch) activities.
In the last two summers, I’ve noticed that English commentators refer to a country in the plural, as in, “England are attacking with a purpose tonight,” or something along those lines. There are lots of other terms specific to the sport, such as “pitch” instead of “field,” or “boot” instead of “shoe,” or “good ball” instead of “nice pass.”
But the one phrase I’ve been especially excited about this year is the way the commentators talk about a team that is creating some opportunities on offense. You’ll see a player bring the ball up the field and start to make headway, and the commentators will say that the player is “asking all sorts of questions of the defense.” I don’t know why it’s so fantastic, but I love the way they say it. Honestly, a person with a British accent can make just about anything sound cool, but these guys take it to a whole new level.
Another fun thing about international soccer is the informal nicknames given to the teams.
Among the many nicknames out there, the English are known as The Three Lions (because of the three lions on their crest), the French are known as Les Blues (because they wear blue jerseys – leave it to the French to come up with something so clever), the South Africans are known as Bafana Bafana (The Boys, a term of endearment in Swahili), and the Australians are known as The Socceroos. American sports teams have names, some nostalgic but most often fueled by marketing purposes. But there’s something about a name originating with the fans that adds a connection to the team that goes just a little deeper. It’s like when you get to know why your friend John is called Turtle by all his other friends. For the record, I’m pretty sure it’s because he really loves those little chocolates with the caramel and pecans.
3. The flair
Everybody’s got their own set of fashion rules these days, and the players in the World Cup are definitely not an exception.
From frosted tips to bleached braids to a collection of faux-hawks that stretches farther than the eye can see, the players inject their own flair into the proceedings.
But even more impressive than the individual styles are the fantastic uniforms (aka “kits”) worn in the tournament.
From the classic whites worn by the English to the light-blue-on-white vertical stripes of Argentina, to the trademark orange of the Dutch, to the mint-crème green of the Algerians (aka The Desert Foxes), so many of the jerseys this year are fabulous. Some teams even have a watermark-esque design on the shoulders, as seen in the form of a fox on the Algerian jersey, or an elephant on the jersey of the Ivory Coast.
Granted, there are some aberrations, like the beauty-queen-ish sash look on the blue USA jerseys or the cartoonish bright-red-on-bright-blue look the Spanish are showing us this time around.
But overall, most of the kits in this tournament are fun to see, and I think it adds another dimension to the proceedings.
4. The French are awful
I admit it. When I saw that French striker Nicolas Anelka got sent home for a “profanity-laced tirade” against his coach, the soon-to-be-dismissed Raymond Domenech, I chuckled. Then, when the rest of the French squad refused to practice because of the dismissal, I wondered who was sharpening up the guillotines.
France have yet to score a goal in the tournament, and they look old on the pitch. They made us suffer through a scoreless tie against Uruguay on the first day of the tournament, then gave all of Mexico another excuse to throw a party after a 2-0 loss to the Mexicans. The team is in disarray, the coach bases his lineup around the signs of the zodiac (I’m not making that up), and when you do a Google search for their best player, the top three suggested searches are Franck Ribery scandal, Franck Ribery scar, and Franck Ribery prostitute. None of that can lead to anything good.
5. Underdogs
Nothing makes sports more fun to watch than the fact that, as commentators have often said, the games aren’t played on paper.
Whether it’s the 1-1 tie between USA and England, or the 1-0 win for Switzerland over European champion Spain, or the 1-0 win for Serbia over a German team that was coming off a four-goal romp over the Socceroos.
Big-name players are getting lost in the shuffle of unlikely heroes, from Tshabalala for South Africa to Gabriel Heinze for Argentina to keeper Diego Benaglio of Switzerland.
Goals are at a premium, perhaps in part due to the new Jabulani ball that the players disparage so much, but the quality of play looks good so far, and for the fans who enjoy good soccer, it looks like there is plenty more to be had.
Next week, we’ll discuss some of the things I’m not so fond of in the World Cup, which may or may not contain a reference to Tim Donaghy. Stay tuned!
And if you have any thoughts of your own about the World Cup, drop me a line at sports@valleycenter.com and let me know what you think. I’ll even put the good responses in next week’s issue.
Unless you write in French, in which case you should just give up. Like the rest of the French.