Hearts of Oak

A few weeks ago, I had the unexpected pleasure of catching a mid-week Glo Premier League match at the Ohene Djan Stadium between Hearts of Oak and Sekondi Eleven Wise. Football at the highest level in Ghana appears to be in a bit of disarray (matches were once again recently suspended) and, for the match I attended, there were only a few hundred people in a gorgeous stadium that sits tens of thousands.

The unexpectedly small number of folks in the stands did little to diminish the atmosphere. The level of football played was far beyond what I expected. The match ended in a 2-2 tie that was a further minor setback to the Hearts of Oak's juggernaut season. Both sides featured players with impressive skill sets. Absent any information regarding the players on the pitch, I had no idea of who was actually doing what, but it is not difficult to believe the premise of many news items on Ghanaian news sites that breathlessly discuss the European trials and opportunities of many of the league's young stars.



The lack of local appreciation for the nation's club league is disheartening and the difficult task faced by league promoters was made clear by the greater attention paid to Wayne Rooney broadcast on the stadium's big screen during halftime, as a live feed from the midweek EPL match was broadcast during the break than the actual game.

Encore

I have watched only three of the six games in the first round NBA playoff series between the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics. They have lost all three. I have not enjoyed the experience. When the Bulls pulled off the surprising upset in Game 1 in Boston, I was sitting in a pathetically empty Nationals Stadium on a beautiful day watching Washington's purported major league baseball team blow yet another save against an overrated Marlins team and following the basketball game on my blackberry. When the Bulls evened the series in that ridiculous double overtime game last Sunday, I was at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and following the basketball game on my blackberry. When the Bulls sent the series to a game seven in an insane triple overtime game last night, I was watching the Kills at the 9:30 club and following the basketball game on my blackberry.

And now I am embarrassed. Embarrassed to have to watch on replay some of the most thrilling basketball games that my Bulls have played in my lifetime. I was stressed just watching the highlights of the game after getting home last night. Bill Simmons captures what the series means to Celtics and Bulls fans beautifully in his frenetic recap of the match today. So, while I was ostensibly excited about attending DC United's match against FC Dallas tomorrow night, I will, instead, sit home and, perhaps, go four for four in cursing the Bulls to playoff misfortune.

There is a fifty-fifty chance that the Bulls will get absolutely demolished tomorrow night. And, yet, even if they are beaten badly in Boston, I will count down the time to Pacquiao-Hatton with fond memories of the first six games and what this Bulls team has accomplished. Game seven is, basically the Bulls' encore -- a performance demanded by fans with enthusiastic adulation. I've been to two of The Kills' concerts in the last year. At the Black Cat last year, their performance was incredible and the duo's encore performance had the crowd riveted. Yesterday, their encore matched the mood of the crowd, a little risk taking, a couple covers, but nothing that got the crowd to bounce. Still, through the twenty minute extra set, my mind kept wandering back to a great rendition of "No Wow" belted out thirty minutes prior. If tomorrow is the Black Cat performance, then... perfect. If tomorrow is the 9:30 Club, well, I'm grateful for just a few minutes more on stage by the performers, regardless of what they have on their set list.

Three Nights of Soccer

I was able to enjoy all three local men's professional soccer clubs over the last week: Wednesday night, D.C. United vs. FC Dallas at RFK; Friday night, Crystal Palace Baltimore vs. Bermuda Hogges at UMBC; and Saturday night, Real Maryland vs. Bermuda Hogges at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.

Before pulling off a great escape tonight in Jersey, United put on an impressive display in a U.S. Open qualifier against what would appear to be a poor (or perhaps disinterested) FC Dallas squad. Stouffer's thoughts adequately summarize the match, and what made the game so enjoyable were the contributions from Pontius, Barklage, Jacobson, Khumalo, Janicki, and Kocic. There is far more talent on this United roster than there was last year and it is going to be interesting to see if they'll be enough playing time for everyone. I liked Jacobson a lot at the center defensive mid and loved the way that Barklage converted a nice ball/play from Santino Quaranta. I also was surprised by the low rating that Goff gave Khumalo for his effort on the wing and up front on Wednesday (perhaps because Steven had him slotted for the chopping block with Avery John's arrival?) -- Boyzzz worked very hard in the midfield, got himself into space, and won an inordinate number of fifty-fifty balls for a guy of limited size.

I'd not been enjoying going to United games of late, but after Wednesday and tonight, I'll be counting down the days this week for the next home game.

On Friday night, the nice weather convinced me to ditch out on my family and head up to UMBC to catch my first Crystal Palace match of the season -- because every game is a night game this season, I doubt I'll be able to see many more as my daughter is not happy to be in a car seat after nine pm. But I was pleased to see how well Crystal Palace played, a quality likely attributable to having many of the same players from last year's squad back. Shin Harada (below) is joined by Val Teixeira, Paul Robson, Mateus dos Anjos, Brian Rowland and Pat Healey as familiar faces in the starting XI. dos Anjos merits special mention: the first few times we watched him play after coming back to CP Baltimore from Real Maryland, he seemed to struggle and displayed some questionable decision making. Now, he looks great, and at 25 (shortly 26), looks like someone who should have the opportunity to play fullback at higher levels. In the absence of Mathew Mbuta, now sitting on the bench with the Red Bulls, dos Anjos' athleticism stands out.

The Hogges, on the other hand, struggled. The 2-0 final scoreline belied how much CP dominated the match. We've seen the Hogges play a few times and are conflicted about celebrating wins over the team: the players from Bermuda work hard, are scrappy, and show flashes of speed and skill that might eventually make them competitive. But, in the interim, they face difficult circumstances and must overcome non-sports related obstacles to even compete in the third-division league.



A case in point would be that after having lost their starting goalie on the field in UMBC and being run ragged the night before, the Hogges had to suit up again (in red uniforms this time) to take on Real Maryland on Saturday night. We did not go to any Real Maryland home matches last year, so this was a first, but a six pm start time meant that our ten-month old could join us for the festivities. Real Maryland, unlike Crystal Palace, has undergone an amazing turnover. Former DC United players Jeff Carroll and Ryan Cordeiro were in the starting lineup, along with former Crystal Palace Baltimore's forward Gary Brooks, Cuban defector Yendry Diaz, former Wrexham FC midfielder Tom Taylor, and Charleston Battery's former forward Jamie Holmes. And they, unfortunately, did not play terribly well together. The photo below is representative of the effort for the match and prompted Real Maryland's general manager David Noyes to scream "why are three guys making the same run?" (which caught the attention of all Real Maryland's reserves that were warming up on the sideline, who turned in unison to the stands, forcing Noyes to recover quickly with: "but I like it, I love the effort"). Playing a weakened Hogges squad that also saw its backup keeper get tossed after taking Brooks down, Real Maryland managed a narrow 3-2 victory. The talent level on the Real Maryland side is certainly more than adequate to be competitive in the third division, but they'll need to learn to play as a team and I'll be curious to see when and if that happens.

Otherwise, despite having to play on a football field, Richard Montgomery is a decent venue for a soccer match and is a reasonable ride from College Park. We may find ourselves at more Real Maryland matches this season than CP Baltimore games because of the scheduling, so we've got a vested interest in their improvement.

Dubliner

A trip to Dublin two weekends ago was kicked off by a trip to Dalymount Park to attend a preseason friendly between Bohemians and Shelbourne FC (Feb. 28, 2009). Bohemians eventually prevailed, although well after our daughter decided that it was time for us to head home late in the second half.

The stadium is a great place to watch soccer and the atmosphere for the match was excellent. The perspective from the seats is the closest that I have been to the pitch outside of Ludwig Field:



The soccer itself was enjoyable -- Irish soccer is exceedingly physical and even in a friendly match, bone-crunching tackles were the rule rather than the exception. Players were run down, but would pop back up and get back to business; a welcome respite from the lamentations that follow even the most meager of physical contact elsewhere (the CONCACAF match-up between the Montreal Impact and Club Santos Laguna took this style of play to ridiculous levels).

Most of the players could be adequately described as "honest." Work rates were high, passing was crisp and precise, but their was little creativity on display, only workmanship. So it was particularly remarkable when new Bohemian-signing Joseph Ndo was introduced in the second half. The tone of the entire match changed with his substitution. Although a bizarre curling back pass to the goalie by Ndo from one-third of the way up the field nearly ended in disaster, Ndo controlled the rest of the match (at least for the time we were there). The game became far more exciting, Ndo was clearly dangerous, and Shelbourne redoubled efforts on defense to parry the threat (while, at the same time, giving Ndo a massive amount of space to work). And, of course, Ndo was responsible for the game-winner in Bohemians' first fixture of the season away against Dundalk.

Content

I have thought a bit about sports, the teams I follow, and the disappointment that has flowed from this allegiance over the last several months. I have started, and ultimately abandoned, posts that set out (in a manner so as to instill maximum boredom and disinterest) analysis of this or that problem that besets one of these teams (which are manifest). But all of this is tiresome. It is utterly uninteresting. And when I found myself screaming at another Georgetown basketball fan yesterday -- who knows much more about basketball than I -- about a perceived defensive lapse from Nikita during what seemed like a seminal play, I came to recognize that I have become a bore.

The women's basketball game between Duke and Maryland tonight helped put things back in perspective. I am a fan. Nothing more, nothing less. It helps when the team I am cheering for wins (or destroys the Blue Devils, such as Coach Frese's kids did tonight), but the pleasure derived from watching success is built by experiencing the inevitable frustration of failure.

And, regardless of the results of a game or a season, I have the privilege of watching Kristi Tolliver and Marissa Coleman play basketball. Tomorrow night, I'll walk from my office to the Verizon Center and watch Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, Jason Clark, Greg Monroe, Henry Sims, Julian Vaughn, DaJuan Summers, and Jesse Sapp play that same game tomorrow. The Hoyas may not make the NCAA tournament, but they are a pleasure to watch.

Over 16,000 fans were at Comcast tonight to watch the Duke-Maryland match. It is an incredible spectacle to behold -- families racuously and joyously taking in a game. Not living and dying on outcomes... just watching... just taking in the moment, the event ...

The attendance for the game marked the fourth-largest crowd for an ACC women's basketball game. The OS says that the top ten largest crowds for ACC games have all been at Maryland. There are probably lots of reasons for this, but I choose to focus on one: however twits might deride the quality of women's basketball, you will be hard-pressed to find a more unambiguously positive environment to watch a sporting event. And stripped of all the machismo bs, there is no other choice but to have fun.

Renewed

Much of the last month has left me scratching my head regarding the teams I follow. The seeming collapse of the Vinny Del Negro era in Chicago has left me somewhat pleased that I never got around to purchasing the NBA package. Lovie's decision to throw lower level defensive assistants to the wolves while at the same time keeping Babich but stripping him of play-calling responsibilities is reasonable assurance that nothing will change next season and that Bears fans can look forward to another year of .500 football.

And now Georgetown is unraveling. For the first time during JTIII's tenure, I was unable to understand the strategy employed in Thursday's home embarrassment to West Virginia. That confusion, borne from watching Henry Sims sit on the bench alongside Julian Vaughn while every Hoya not named Monroe jacked up errant three point shots, continued this afternoon during the catastrophic loss to Seton Hall. In the words of a film I care too much for, Georgetown's young team has been weighed, it has been measured, and it has been found wanting. After seeing Sims, Clark, and Vaughn as catalysts in Georgetown's early success in conference play, I am at a loss to understand the severe reduction in playing time that has fallen on them of late. There are probably a lot of reasons why bad teams are now beating Georgetown (whatever else might be said, neither West Virginia nor Seton Hall are good teams), but most of my attention on Thursday night was focused on DaJuan Summers, who doesn't seem to play defense, tends to forget that he doesn't have a very good perimeter shot, and shows apathy bordering on disdain for driving to the basket. After scoring the first basket of each half with a drive to the backboard, Summers went away from that part of his game and settled back to shooting horribly from outside the arc. DaJuan is probably the single most important player on Georgetown's team because of his size and skillset and the lack of any similar type player on Georgetown's roster. At this point, the chance that this season would prove to be another magical run for the Hoyas has all but dissipated, but I still love watching the team and hope that they can right the ship before returning home on February 3rd.

In the interim, there is soccer. I was readying my daughter for a trip to the zoo on Saturday when the radio commentary of Charlton's cup match with Sheffield United alerted me to Chris Dickson's goal. The fact that Dickson was playing coupled with the fact that Dickson did Dickson-like things made me yelp with such fervent delight that I managed to startle her. But the joy of Dickson's meager proof that yes, Maryland, Charlton has a striker dissolved later in the evening upon reading the comments of the twit currently in command of the squad. (Really, Parky? If Dickson continues to play like this as a sub and practices hard he might get a chance to start? -- My apologies but my tolerance for delusional self-aggrandizing bullsh*t from the club's management was all used up by Pardew. Suck it up Park, come to grips with the fact that you were wrong, put Deon back in his box and give Dickson his run beginning on Tuesday against Palace. Otherwise, please shut up).

I'd already renewed our tickets for another season of CP Baltimore, but grappled with reservations about another go as a DC United season ticket holder. Soehn, like Pardew and Parkinson, is a master at wasting talent while throwing his players under a bus for what are largely failures of management. But the club is run well, the players are great, and the fans care... so maybe another run. So when an account rep called two weeks ago to inquire about whether I was going to let the tickets lapse, I was very much on the fence. When they drafted Rodney Wallace, I renewed, but downgraded the tickets from VIP to Premium. It will drive me nuts to watch them underperform for another year, but it sure beats the hell out of going to Nationals games.

PG Pride

So much for Gtown's prowess. Pittsburgh whupped the Hoyas today and greatly impressed. While there was much about the second half performance from Gtown that led to some frustration from our vantage point, the Panthers were simply a better team and absolutely decimated the Hoyas' young squad. Georgetown has two days to lick their wounds before having to take on a humiliated Notre Dame team in South Bend.

DeJuan Blair was the story of the game for Pitt (17 rebounds, 20 points), but I was once again impressed by the play of Sam Young. Since he began playing regularly as a freshman, I've paid attention to Young because, in every Pitt game I've caught, he has been the solid, steady contributor that ends up being the catalyst for much of the team's success. But, for whatever reason, until looking up his statistics today, I failed to realize that he calls Prince George's County home.

Basketball in this county is taken pretty seriously. ESPN's magazine recently had a great short piece on PG County basketball (which, had I read more closely, should have informed me of Sam Young's roots). Starting with a vignette starring Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant, Chris Palmer goes on to note:

Actually, the two most recent No. 2 picks in the NBA draft are just the lead curl in an unprecedented wave of talent that hails from Prince George's County, a predominantly African-American area of 841,315 that shares a border with DC. Nine players with roots in Prince George's (PG to insiders) have played in the league in the previous five years, and though only six are currently on rosters, that number should soon crack double digits. Fifteen locals suit up for BCS conference schools, including UNC's Ty Lawson, Duke's Nolan Smith, Pitt's Sam Young and Georgetown's Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. In the past three years, the county has produced six McDonald's All-Americans—more than any state except California, which has 43 residents for every one of PG's. "This place is unique because of the level of talent and commitment to the game," says Hoyas coach John Thompson III. "People here are highly knowledgeable about basketball, and kids start learning at a very young age."

The full scope of PG County's contribution to Division I basketball today is, I think, even more impressive. In addition to Lawson, Smith, Young, Freeman, and Wright, there are (by my likely inaccurate count) 54 players from the county currently on Division I rosters across the country. There are players from PG County on teams in 18 of the 31 conferences that comprise Division I. There is even a player from Landover on the roster of a D-I independent (Cal State Bakersfield). These players include Siena's Kenny Hasbrouck (Capitol Heights); the same Kenny Hasbrouck that scored 30 points last year in the opening round of the NCAA tournament when Siena upset a ranked Vanderbilt team by 19 points. And another player who was instrumental in Georgetown's only other loss this season, Tennessee's junior guard Bobby Maze (Suitland). And George Washington's leading scorer Rob Diggs (Brandywine), along with fellow A-10 standout Rob Lowery (Forestville) who scored 21 for Dayton in their upset win over Marquette earlier this season. And Iowa's Jeff Peterson (Hyattsville), as well as Nebraska's leading scorer Steve Harley (Temple Hills). And Darryl Proctor (District Heights), the leading scorer for the UMBC Retrievers who beat Nebraska this season and were dispatched from the NCAA tournament last year by Georgetown. And Sam Houston State's Corey Allmond (Oxon Hill), the team's leading scorer this season as a true freshman.

By my accounting (which is more likely than not wrong), here is the full list:

Big East (6):
Austin Freeman, Georgetown, Mitchellville, Maryland (Sophomore)
Chris Wright, Georgetown, Bowie, Maryland (Sophomore)
Sam Young, Pitt, Clinton, Maryland (Senior)
Arinze Onuaku, Syracuse, Lanham, Maryland (Junior)
Augustus Gilchrist, USF, Clinton, Maryland (Freshman)
Maurice Sutton, Villanova, Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Freshman)

ACC (4):
Ty Lawson, North Carolina, Clinton, Maryland (Junior)
Nolan Smith, Duke, Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Sophomore)
Adrian Bowie, Maryland, Greenbelt, Maryland (Sophomore)
Jerai Grant, Clemson, Bowie, Maryland (Sophomore)

SEC (1):
Bobby Maze, Tennessee, Suitland, Maryland (Junior)

Big 12 (2):
Steve Harley, Nebraska, Temple Hills, Maryland (Senior)
Ron Anderson, Kansas State, Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Sophomore)

Big 10 (1):
Jeff Peterson, Iowa, Hyattsville, Maryland (Sophomore)

Pac 10 (1):
Calvin Hampton, Oregon State, Fort Washington, Maryland (Junior)

Atlantic 10 (4):
Rob Diggs, George Washington, Brandywine, Maryland (Senior)
Rob Lowery, Dayton, Forestville, Maryland (Junior)
Jacob Green, Fordham, Clinton, Maryland (Junior)
Rafael DeLeon, Temple, District Heights, Maryland (Senior)

Colonial (8):
John Vaughan, George Mason, Laurel, Maryland (Senior)
Jay Gavin, Virginia Commonwealth, Seat Pleasant, Maryland (Sophomore)
Abdulai Jalloh, James Madison, District Heights, Maryland (Senior)
Kevon Moore, UNC Wilmington, Bowie, Maryland (Freshman)
Isaiah Tate, George Mason, Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Sophomore)
Robert Nwankwo, Towson, Hyattsville, Maryland (Sophomore)
Alvin Brown, James Madison, Fort Washington, Maryland (Freshman)
Tony Durant, Towson, Suitland, Maryland (Senior)

Patriot (2):
Justin Castleberry, Bucknell, Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Senior)
Jordan Nichols, American, Glenn Dale, Maryland (Senior)

A-Sun (1):
Will Alston, Jacksonville, Laurel, Maryland (Freshman)

NEC (5):
Danny Thompson, Mt. St. Mary’s (MD), Springdale, Maryland (Freshman)
Harold Washington, Quinnipiac, Brandywine, Maryland (Freshman)
Mezie Nwigwe, Robert Morris, Hyattsville, Maryland (Junior)
Jason Burns, Robert Morris, Clinton, Maryland (Freshman)
Nigel Lee, St. Francis (NY), Glenn Dale, Maryland (Junior)

American East (2):
Darryl Proctor, UMBC, District Heights, Maryland (Senior)
Desmond Adedeji, Stony Brook, Landover Hills, Maryland (Junior)

Ohio Valley (1):
Mike Lewis, Eastern Kentucky, Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Freshman)

Big South (4):
Jourdan Morris, High Point, Bowie, Maryland (Sophomore)
Martell McDuffy, Radford, Laurel, Maryland (Senior)
Ron Burks, Virginia Military Institute, Mitchellville, Maryland (Freshman)
Raymond Davis, Winthrop, College Park, Maryland (Junior)

MEAC (8):
Brian Chesnut, Coppin State, Clinton, Maryland (Senior)
Neal Pitt, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Fort Washington, Maryland (Junior)
Jordan Brooks, Hampton, Mitchellville, Maryland (Sophomore)
Christopher Tolson, Hampton, Laurel, Maryland (Freshman)
John Ntoko, Hampton, Greenbelt, Maryland (Junior)
Milade Lola-Charles, Hampton, Laurel, Maryland (Freshman)
Sean Thomas, Morgan State, Clinton, Maryland (Freshman)
Marc Hill, North Carolina A&T, Bowie, Maryland (Freshman)

MAAC (1):
Kenny Hasbrouck, Siena, Capitol Heights, Maryland (Senior)

Southland (1):
Corey Allmond, Sam Houston State, Oxon Hill, Maryland (Freshman)

Summit League (1):
Tim Morton, Oral Roberts, Greenbelt, Maryland (Freshman)

Independents (1):
Santwon Latunde, Cal State Bakersfield, Landover, Maryland (Junior)

No players from PG County:
Conference USA; Missouri Valley; West Coast; Big Sky; Horizon; WAC; Sun Belt; Mid-American; Mountain West; Ivy; Southern; Big West; and SWAC.