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Excuse me if I seem cynical or unpatriotic for what I’m about to say. The US men’s soccer team had no business advancing in yesterday’s Confederation Cup. They had no business celebrating such a hollow victory. Here’s why.

First of all, Brazil did most of the work. They beat down on Italy 3-0 in yesterday’s match, which is one embarrassing beatdown as far as soccer is concerned. Then again, for Brazil, this is business as usual. They’re the 5^th ranked team in the world, and have previously won 5 World Cups, more than any other nation. Granted, Italy isn’t a slacker either. Ranked 4^th in the world, and defending World Cup champions, they really had no business giving up 3 goals in any match. And that own goal to make the third goal for Brazil was just shameful. Without that goal, USA would have had to beat Egypt by 4 goals instead of 3, so Italy effectively shot themselves in the foot. Did they forget to show up, just blindly assuming Egypt or the USA would just win 1-0 or draw? Looking back, that wasn’t a wise decision. They’ve got a lot of work to do before next year’s World Cup if they plan to defend.

It’s beyond me why USA soccer is always ranked so highly. Before I even get to the rankings, consider the fact that soccer has never been one of the major sports in this country. The “big 4” is composed of Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League. If a fifth sport would be added to the list, it would be NASCAR, the fastest growing sport in the country. Major League Soccer is hardly staying afloat, having to stoop so low as to lure away British superstar David Beckham to a team in Los Angeles to try to boost ratings. It hasn’t really worked. Most Americans just don’t care about soccer, and that includes me. Well, American soccer anyway.

There’s no competition, no fighting spirit in MLS. It’s downright boring. The players are likely overpaid, as most athletes are, and they don’t seem to love the game. International soccer, however, is another story entirely. I love World Cup and UEFA Cup soccer. The excitement of watching countries that feature soccer as their national pastime, the teams out there trying to win to bring home some pride for their nation – that’s what sports are really about. Not paychecks, not about the fans even. Sports are about pride, and that’s something team USA just doesn’t have or inspire.

Currently 14^th in the world, when was the last time this team did anything worthwhile? Let me refresh your memory of USA soccer. 2006, they were spanked by the Czech Republic, managed to tie Italy, and were humiliated by Ghana, a team that should have been an easy victory, not making it out of group play. Coach Bruce Arena lost his job over that sad attempt. To be fair, in 2002, they didn’t do half bad, advancing out of group play and eliminating Mexico before being beaten by the powerhouse Germany team. In 1998, team USA lost all three group matches and was ranked 32 out of the 32 participating teams. The 1994 World Cup was hosted in America, and the host team is automatically qualified, a practice I don’t believe in. You shouldn’t get a special entry for just hosting the tournament. I digress. The USA team survived group play, but was eliminated by Brazil in the next round. The previous World Cup, in 1990, had the Americans lose all three games in group play. You get the idea. USA soccer is a mediocre team that only advances by beating mediocre teams, as was the case in yesterday’s match against Egypt, ranked 40^th. It’s not a surprise that USA could score 3 goals against such a relatively weak team.

We’ll see next round how “good” USA soccer really is. In the semifinals, they’re set to face Spain, the highest ranked team in the world. Spain is on a roll, having won 15 straight international matches. That’s right, they won that many in a row. No draws in there, as is common in soccer. 15 straight wins. That’s impressive in any sport. If you ask me, team USA doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance. They’re all hopped up on adrenaline from a freak accident that let them slip by into the next round and the grim reality hasn’t set in yet. Spain is a much better team, and it will show.

This isn’t USA hockey at the 1980 Olympics. There will be no miracle. This isn’t even the World Cup yet and the US team is already getting cocky. Give it til next year in South Africa and you’ll see what I mean. I believe in miracles, but I don’t believe in USA soccer.

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Father’s day is a day to honor and reflect on good times. On a day like today, it brings to mind sports. I remember watching football games with my dad when I was younger, and to this day, we always talk about football regardless of season. Sports are a great way to bond with your father or son, and in honor of the impact sports has on our lives, I’d like to post today about great father-son combinations in sports.

First off, and certainly one of the more prolific on my list, is the Griffey family. Ken Sr. gained fame as a consistent contact hitter in the mid to late 1970s as a part of the Cincinnati Reds and their “Big Red Machine”. His oldest son, Ken Jr., was drafted first overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1987, and due to his success in the major leagues has often been considered as the greatest first overall pick in baseball history. He made his debut in 1989, and was joined in 1990 by his father, making them the first father-son combination to play on the same MLB team at the same time. On September 14^th of that year, they homered back-to-back in a game against the Kansas City Royals.

Overall, their combined statistics and awards are staggering. Between them, they have a regular season and All-Star Game MVP (regular season for Jr., All-Star for Sr.), 16 All-Star appearances (3 for Sr., 13 for Jr.), 7 Silver Slugger Awards (all by Jr.), 10 consecutive Gold Gloves (all by Jr. from 1990-1999), 2 World Series championships (1975 and 76 by Sr.), and 770 home runs (152 by Sr., 618 currently by Jr.). It’s also interesting to note Jr. wore #30 during his first 5 years in Cincinnati (in honor of his father), and hit his 500^th career home run on Father’s day with Ken Sr. in attendance. It also tied them on the all-time hits list for the time being. All things considered, the Griffeys are one of the great father-son teams in baseball history.

I wrote earlier in the week about the Earnhardts in racing, so I’ll talk about the Petty family this time around. The first family of NASCAR, it doesn’t begin with The King. Modern NASCAR fans don’t remember his father, Lee Petty, who began his career at age 35. He was part of the first ever NASCAR race at the old dirt track Charlotte Speedway in 1949, finishing outside the top 10. He would go on to win the championship three times (1954, 58, and 59), and won the inaugural Daytona 500, literally in a photo finish. Lee Petty won 54 career races, but his true legacy lives on because of his son, Richard.

He began racing in 1958, and looking at the numbers is without question the greatest driver in NASCAR history. Richard Petty won 200 races in his career, a record harder to break than Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak (2^nd on the list is his contemporary, David Pearson, with only 105 career wins). He won 7 Winston Cup championships, a record matched only by Dale Earnhardt Sr. He won the Daytona 500 an unheard-of 7 times. In 1967 alone he won 27 races, including 10 in a row. To paint a clearer picture, Bobby and Terry Labonte, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, and the late great Benny Parsons never won that many in their careers. Those numbers are just staggering, and to add further to the legacy of Richard Petty, he and his family founded Victory Junction, a camp to bring joy to children with terminal illnesses. Coincidentally, the camp opened June 20^th, 2004, the same day Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 500^th career home run. Also, Richard’s son, Kyle Petty, and his son, Adam Petty, were NASCAR drivers. Adam died in 2000 during a wreck at New Hampshire, and it was his dream to found the camp that became Victory Junction. He has two other children, Austin and Montgomery Lee, who will no doubt continue the family’s legacy.

Moving the conversation to hockey, the Hull family comes to mind first. Bobby Hull began play in 1957 and is considered one of the greatest left wingers of all time. He finished second in rookie of the year voting, and later became the first player ever to score more than 50 goals in a single season. His slapshot was once recorded at 118 mph and he could skate at nearly 30 mph. Along with Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, he was one of the greatest players of the Original Six era. Hull scored 610 goals and 560 assists over his career, won the Stanley Cup in 1961, won the Art Ross Trophy (most points in a season) three times, back to back Hart Memorial Trophies (league MVP) in 1965 and 66, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (awarded to the league’s best sportsman) in 1965.

His son, the great Brett Hull, may be even better. Brett played in the NHL from 1986 til 2005, scoring 741 goals. Only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe have scored more than that. He has 650 career assists, and is the only person other than Gretzky to score 50 goals in his first 50 games more than once. He has won both the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lady Byng Memorial trophy. He scored 33 career hat tricks, 38 power play goals in the playoffs (which is best all-time), 24 playoff game-winning goals (also best all-time), scored 70+ goals in a season three straight years (86 being his career best in 1990-91), and is the only player in hockey history to score 50 goals in a season in the NCAA, minor league hockey, and the NHL. Not to mention two Stanley Cup victories in 1998-99 with the Dallas Stars, and 2001-02 with the Detroit Red Wings.

Combined, Bobby and Brett Hull hold several hockey distinctions. They are the only father-son combination in any professional sport to both have their numbers retired. They are the only father-son team each with 50 goals in a season and 600 career goals, and the only combo to win the Hart Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy. Brett also honored his father by wearing his number 9 jersey for the last five games of his own career, with the Phoenix Coyotes, formerly the Winnipeg Jets that his father had played for late in his own career. Brett has a young son, Jude, that plays goaltender. Chances are the Hull family name will continue to thrive in the NHL.

I don’t want to make this too long, so I’ll start to wrap it up. Regardless of what sport you bonded with your dad over, whether it’s baseball, hockey, basketball, football, racing, golf, etc, it’s a memory worth holding on to. Go throw the football around, play a game of HORSE, sit down and watch the race. Do something to commemorate today if you’ve got the means to. Make Father’s Day special this year.

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This is what hockey fans have been waiting for. The superstars of the future outplayed the grizzled veterans and defending Stanley Cup Champions. And they did it in spite of only one goal all series from Sidney Crosby, the face of hockey in the state of Pennsylvania, and arguably the league itself. That’s beside the point though. The Penguins came together as a team and beat the defending Stanley Cup Champions in their house. Fleury was a brick wall, Malkin was an unstoppable force, and the city of Detroit just can’t catch a break. Their Lions went winless, their Pistons were swept in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, their auto industry is failing, and their beloved Red Wings fail to repeat. But in spite of how depressing this is to the citizens of Detroit, for a fan of hockey, this is as good as it gets. Ratings are finally recovering from the 2004-05 lockout, and in spite of Crosby’s minimal performance, this series proves there is hope for the up and coming stars like Malkin, Ovechkin, the aforementioned Crosby, and others. And let’s not forget all Pittsburg has gone through. They were close to selling the team and moving. Hockey didn’t need an Art Modell situation of its own. But thanks to Mario Lemieux, the Penguins will be staying put for many years to come.

What may be most impressive about the series itself is how the wins and losses played out. The first six games of the series, the home team didn’t lose. So if you’re the kind of person that believes a series doesn’t really start until the home team loses, well, you missed out. It’s true, Fleury was downright awful in the first three games played in Detroit. And after Game 5 and that embarrassing 5-0 shutout, who really believed the Penguins had anything left? It’s in the locker room after a loss like that, staring elimination in the face, when a team discovers their true identity. Do you lie down and play dead? Or will you stand up, defy the odds, and give it everything you’ve got? It’s the classic underdog story come to life. Who would have guessed Maxime Talbot would score both goals for Pittsburg in their Game 7 win? Who though Evgeni Malkin would get the Conn Smythe Trophy instead of Crosby or one of the Red Wings? After all, they were the heavy favorites. Did anyone think Pittsburg would win the Cup after Crosby touched the Prince of Wales trophy? Legend says don’t touch it, but he said since he didn’t touch it last year and they lost, they’ve got nothing to lose if he touched it this year. You really can’t make any of this up.

So where does it all go from here? Free agency will shake things up, players will retire, and the Red Wings will add a few more stars and try to reach the Finals again, the same things that always happen in the offseason. But next year will have a different feel to it. The new generation of hockey has arrived and the future is looking bright. It’s a great time to be a hockey fan.

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