Sports

Day 190: The Snake

Ken Stabler, Oakland Raiders.

Ken Stabler, Oakland Raiders.

My love of the Oakland Raiders goes back to the 70s, when I would watch the team with my dad. If the Raiders were down at halftime, my dad would tell me not to worry since they were a second-half team. More often than not, the Raiders would come back and win the game, just like my dad predicted.

I was in elementary school when Ken “The Snake” Stabler led the Raiders to all of those comebacks. One of my first memories of football on television was when the Raiders beat the Chargers on the Holy Roller. At that age I had no idea what had just happened, but it was ruled a touchdown and I was excited that the Raiders had won again (the play resulted in the NFL changing its rules the following season).

It’s a shame that Stabler isn’t in the Hall of Fame. He was one of the best quarterbacks of that era and if I was on the NFL committee, I’d propose a new rule: anybody involved in more than one game with a nickname is a Hall of Famer. Stabler was on the winning team in The Holy Roller, the Ghost to the Post, and the Sea of Hands.

Rest in peace, Snake.

Day 188: USA Fan Rally

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“We won the World Cup, baby!” – Abby Wambach

 

That’s Abby Wambach at L.A. Live, the first stop of their victory tour across America. It’s been a few years since I’ve been down to the Staples Center for a championship celebration, so it was nice to be amongst the red, white, and blue-clad crowd paying tribute to the 2015 World Cup Champions.

My wife and I made the hour-plus journey from the Inland Empire to show our support for the team. There were fans from all over and we ran into a few friendly faces on this mild July morning. Making our way to the celebration, I thought about all of the young girls in attendance with their parents, friends, and siblings. Was one of the next national team players here? The sentimental side of me hoped so.

At precisely 11am (just like the game itself, soccer players are prompt), the team made its way to the stage. They thanked us fans, their teammates, coaches, and staff, before dancing away into the afternoon to Queen’s “We Are The Champions.”

It was the perfect celebration for the perfect team.

 

Day 187: The Audience Is Watching

American Outlaws

American Outlaws

I liked Dave Zirin’s piece this morning, “Why I’m Done Defending Women’s Sports,” especially when he wrote, “Frankly, it’s insulting to the athletes involved to even conceive of it as if they need defending. It’s time to go on offense. It’s time to write more about women’s sports and be part of the grassroots struggle to do what the sports networks and sports-radio talking potatoes won’t do, and that’s tell the stories of what is happening in women’s sports.”

The numbers back him up. The final last night drew over 22 million U.S. viewers, which shattered the record for most-watched soccer game (men or women) and put it on the same level as last year’s World Series Game 7 and this year’s NBA Finals Game 6.

While the women’s game worldwide is not as popular as the men’s version yet, the packed bars, private parties, and growing legions of American Outlaws are proof that the audience is there.

Day 186: U.S. 5, Japan 2

USA! USA!

USA! USA!

The first 16 minutes of today’s World Cup final was the reason why soccer is called The Beautiful Game: four goals for the Americans, a hat trick for Carli Lloyd (topped off with an incredible strike from midfield), and the team’s third World Cup title.

It was stunning, unbelievable, and awesome.

Not sure what else I can say about watching my country win the most prestigious futbol tournament in the world. I’ll just end with my favorite hashtag during international play: #OneNationOneTeam

Day 182: Carl Crawford

Dodgers' Carl Crawford DH for the Quakes

Dodgers’ Carl Crawford DH for the Quakes

The last time I caught a Dodger doing rehab with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes was when Andre Either played a few games before going back to the big leagues. Last night I met some local Yelpers for our third Unofficial Yelp Event at the Epicenter (technically Loan Mart Field). It was Recycle Tuesday, so fans who brought 10 CRV cans and/or bottles received a free seat at the game. Spending a summer night at the ballpark is something I love to do, so being able to do so for free (while helping the environment) was a real treat.

The five of us Yelpers were treated to a Quakes blowout, as they took it to the visiting High Desert Mavericks early and often, putting up 6 runs in a few innings. The Dodgers’ Carl Crawford was DHing for the Quakes and while he went 0-for-3, he did have the most important RBI of the game. This season Quakes fans’ lucky number is seven; when the team scores seven runs, everybody gets a coupon for two free tacos at Jack in the Box. When Crawford grounded out while driving in that seventh run, it was one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Day 181: U.S. 2, Germany 0

Carli Lloyd

Carli Lloyd

In a game they were not expected to win, the U.S. played their hearts out and upset the No. 1 team in the world tonight. We watched with our local chapter of the American Outlaws and although the crowd is louder for the men’s team, there was a lot of vocal support for the women’s team. Chants of U-S-A were sprinkled throughout the contest and after the U.S. took the lead, the “I Believe That We Will Win” chant rang throughout the bar.

The semifinal against Germany was billed as the greatest game in women’s soccer, featuring the top two teams in the world and ranked the highest by the Women’s Soccer Power Index. It was the precise attack of the Germans versus the impenetrable defensive wall of the Americans.

This is what I love about The Beautiful Game: the ebbs and flows, the highs and lows. I love how all of the details add up, from a player’s subtle move to the extra pass that leads to a shot on goal. I was so fired up after the first half, in which Team USA outplayed the Germans: the defense was solid again and the offense was generating enough chances that a second-half score seemed inevitable.

The good feeling quickly soured as the second half began and the Germans took their efforts to the next level. I was down in the dumps when Julie Johnston was carded, giving Germany a penalty kick. Johnston had played brilliantly throughout the tournament and for her to make such a crucial mistake seemed like a cruel gesture from the soccer gods.

Then something unbelievable happened: Celia Sasic pulled her penalty kick wide. The roar of our crowd was one of disbelief. Could the Americans take advantage of their new lease on life?

They did. A controversial foul (it looked like Alex Morgan was taken down outside of the box) led to a penalty kick that was converted by Carli Lloyd, then minutes later Lloyd set up substitute Kelley O’Hara for the insurance goal.

From depression to elation in a matter of minutes. I love this game.

Day 180: No Offseason

Fantasy Football Is Almost Here

Fantasy Football Is Almost Here

Even with futbol slowly overtaking my love of football, there is still no sport better suited for the fantasy game than the good ol’ NFL (sorry, old-time baseball rotisserie geeks; weekly matchups are 100 times better than accumulating stats over a season). Just as the sports media like to say that there is no offseason in the NFL anymore, the same applies to fantasy football. Player news, injury updates, team breakdowns, and every bit of football minutia is now available via the Internet 24/7/365.

Matthew Berry is a legend in the fantasy football community. He’s known for his ESPN column and he appears on various fantasy football shows and podcasts. He’s also the author of my favorite book on the game, Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who’s Lived It (my review here).

So, here we are, still in June, and Berry published his first fantasy football column of the year (the first NFL game is September 10th). He’s done this every year for the past decade and it’s a great way for us fantasy geeks to officially begin our offseason planning. It’s a compilation of stats from the previous season, done in a way that will have any fantasy football owner second-guessing themselves on any player or team. Once the NFL news cycle heats up with the first preseason games, we’ll be able to throw away all of the previews, stats, and Berry’s column, in favor of updated previews, stats, and columns.

Once the season is over, though, we’ll all go through the old news and reports we’ve read, trying to find that one tidbit that, depending on our success or failure, confirms that “I knew I should’ve listened to Berry!” or “I can’t believe I listened to Berry!” And before you know it, it’ll be next June and we’ll realize there’s no fantasy football offseason anymore.

Day 176: D’Angelo Russell

D'Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers

D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers

With how awful the Lakers have been the last two seasons (yes, I count a 45-win, first-round playoff exit as awful; Lakers fans are used to watching the team in June), they really couldn’t screw up the second overall pick in tonight’s draft. Most of us thought they were locked into Jahlil Okafor and given the franchise’s history with big men, it seemed a foregone conclusion. At the start of last season, I joked with my fantasy league that the Lakers’ motto for the year should be “Lose More for Okafor” (which eventually changed during the season to “Go Downs for Towns” and “Don’t Hustle for Russell”).

The Lakers surprised everyone and went with D’Angelo Russell, a 6-5 Ohio State point guard, who impressed the heck out of Kupchak. I like the pick. Even though Okafor should make an impact sooner than Russell, the newest Laker has the higher upside. It also doesn’t hurt that the Lakers have a young frontcourt player in Julius Randle, there are All-Star free agent big men available (Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, etc.), and there’s a still a chance that Boogie Cousins could don the Purple and Gold.

It’s the best I’ve felt as a Lakers fan since the last championship banner was raised (five years ago, which is an eternity for Angelenos) and as a sports fan, today was all I ask for: hope.

Day 174: Another First

The Magic Words

The Magic Words

I’ve written two posts about Filipino Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium two weeks ago, so I promise this will be my last. I just wanted to document something I saw that night that was a first for me: a couple got engaged on the big screen.

The moment happened between innings, during the Kiss Cam. A few couples were shown and they kissed, much to the delight of the crowd. After the last couple kissed, however, the camera lingered on them. At first I thought someone forgot to turn off the camera, but all of a sudden the guy got down on his knee and produced a ring box. His girlfriend was stunned and all of us in attendance roared our approval. After she accepted, he placed the ring on her finger and the cheers continued all the way to the start of the inning.

It reminded me of the last time I was at Dodger Stadium, when I was telling my wife that out of all the baseball games I’ve attended — major and minor league — I’d never seen a benches-clearing brawl. Sure enough, just a few innings later, the Diamondbacks threw at Yasiel Puig and the brawl was on.

Coincidentally, it was the Diamondbacks who were playing the Dodgers when I saw my first Proposal at a Sporting Event. I wonder what I’ll see the next time they’re in town?

Day 173: USA 2, Columbia 0

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The first knockout game of the Women’s World Cup for the USA was against Columbia. I thought the Americans would outclass the Columbians and sure enough that’s what happened. Although the US offense continues to struggle, the defense has been outstanding, with its third shutout in a row.

We watched the game with our fellow American Outlaws and munched on pigs in a blanket and loaded tater tots. The local Outlaws group hasn’t been as vocal as they were for the men’s team, but it’s still a passionate fan base. We’ve got our fingers crossed for a run to the finals, but I may have to cut down on the bar munchies if I’m going to fit into my USA gear by the time the final rolls around.