Euro2008 Predictions, Sort Of

What the fuck do I know about soccer? Well, actually more than this Southlandish guy.

Time for a prediction for the last Euro2008 semi-final. Why not. I'm in a masochistic mood, having just returned from the Disney area of Orlando. In a moment of weakness, I agreed to accompany Mrs. Southlandish to a conference. There are five days of my life I'll never get back. The vile, venomous vitriol I spewed describing the area in e-mails, shocked even some of my hardened friends. The English language is bereft of words to describe just how much I loathe that fucking place.* A single day's experience at Epcot a dozen years ago was enough to tell me that Disney should be avoided at all costs and for 18-plus years I successfully dodged it. As hot, muggy shitholes go, it is worse than in my nightmares. The whole place looks like an architect eating Skittles puked on the plans and some genius declared, BUILD IT! Think of Houston and East St. Louis producing a Technicolor urban love child, minus their respective culture and style. Add $14 hamburgers and $15 martinis. Worst of all, the whole sweltering cesspool is teeming with humanity. The experience left me yearning for a holiday in the slums of Calcutta.**

A water view and penny a pint local grog, you say? I'll take it.
It's already better than the Disney crap heap where I last stayed.

OK, enough of that rant. On to the inevitably wrong predictions. Spain will bring the Russian train to a halt with a 2-1 win. With that established, I'm going to leap ahead and predict a Russian victory over the Germans on Sunday.

*It was appropriate that George Carlin died while I was in Orlando. In his honor, for 120 hours I failed to utter a single sentence that did not include a combination of his infamous seven words.

**Since I am so clearly a glass-half-full kind of guy, I'm always looking for silver linings. In this case, it is safe to say Mrs. Southlandish will not me requesting my presence at Orlando conferences in the near future. Mission Accomplished.

Comments

Early Thoughts on City 2025

There are few things harder to keep track of than an MLS side in their off-season, at least for me. Despite the fact it takes place roughly during the time the MLB Hot Stove season is in full swing, it is nowhere near as easy to follow along with as baseball. Part of it is how disconnected MLS is with the international soccer calendar. St. Louis City SC is still digesting the moves it made last summer even though those players have already played important games for the club. It is all weird and disjointed, and I always feel like I am playing catch-up. Happily, the moves made in the off-season this year were not numerous. German Timo Baumgartl comes over from Europe as an option at center back, which is good because that was a position that was a little rocky for City last season. Given his own troubles over the last few seasons (cancer and uneven play in the aftermath of that), a spell with City can give Baumgartl a chance to have a re-set. Given his pedigree and the fact City si...

Blues Fall Off a Cliff

Hockey seasons will have their ups and downs. For whatever reason, be it injuries, a challenging schedule, an inexplicable loss of form, it is difficult for teams to maintain a good level of compete for an entire season. The good teams just limit their funks. The St. Louis Blues, however, are not a good team. They are a poor team, and poor teams sink under the weight of "here we go again" night after night. I will admit I only watched the first two periods of last night's 5-0 loss to a Colorado team that had been scuffling of late. Two periods were more than enough to get the gist of it. It was also enough to lead me to a diagnosis as to what ails the team. It isn't that they are young and are going through growing pains. No, the reason the Blues are so bad is that the veterans who are being paid to be the backbone of this team are not doing their jobs. I'm talking about Schenn, Buchnevich, Faulk, and even Binnington and Parayko. Over $30M of the salary cap is b...

My Life Amongst the Moguls

It maybe trendy YOLO nonsense, but as I get older I have taken to "experiences" more than I used to in the past. Do not get me wrong, I still love stuff, and I am not unaware that having cash at my disposal opens up the range of possible experiences. However, I must say my mood is often "I'll try anything once," as often as not. To that end I recently became a part owner in three racehorses. Through the website MyRaceHorse.com I have purchased ownership shares in three horses, 1 share each in an as yet unnamed colt and unnamed filly, and 2 shares in a colt named Munny Problem. All of these horses are 2-year-olds who are just beginning their lives as potential racehorses. I say potential because there is no guarantee any of them will ever make it to the starting gate of an official race. The race game is a tough one and plenty of well-bred horses don't make the cut for various reasons; they can get injured, they don't take to the training, they turn ou...

(Get) A Sporting Life

Search This Blog