SoxFan1

I don't see Zidane coming out of retirement to come to the MLS. That would out a big asterisk next to his legacy. Like shipps said, his best years are behind him. If he does sign, I would truly feel sorry for him and for the sport in general. If it's going to come down to dishing out all sorts of millions just to get some names, then it takes a lot away from the tradition and history of the sport.

Poor girl. That must suck completely. Hopefully they can get rid of it soon. I can't even imagine...

1) What format you prefer playing - Head to Head 2) Your relative level of experience - Very Experienced 3) Your league preference - Doesn't matter really (Last year I was in 2) 4) Whether or not you are willing to be a league commisioner - I'd be glad to help

Well, there's 10 minutes I won't get back ever.

Hey, if any of you are interested, TalkBears will be holding it's 1st Mock Draft. Hop on over and sign up if you want to take part. TalkBears Mock NFL Draft

I don't see any logic behind keeping him, then letting him go. Interesting.

Hope you like it...

Make sure to drink lots and lots of water. Stay active and avoid eating past around 7 PM.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 10:21 PM) The biggest issue for the US team right now is ironically what Beckham is. Its a midfielder that can feed the ball. Last night gave me headaches watching either some midfielder try and kick a 60 yard pass in the air, or try to constantly thread the needle. At some point just by accident, you would figure that they would learn how to pass on the ground. The feed on the ground is hard to defend. When you lob it in the air everything slows down and you give the defense too much time to get back on the ball. The US has speed, but they never ever use it Just for the sake of comparison, would you agree that they play like the Bolton team of the last few years. I may be way wrong as I don't watch the US team play much (moreso UEFA) but it seems like they play the long-ball-lets-hope-someone-gets-it type attack. I know in the World Cup, the biggest problem with the US is that they were going backwards more often than forwards, mostly evident vs the Czechs. They've got speedsters in Beasley and Donovan, but they're not instituting the right offensive attack for success. And IMO, Beasley is gretaly underused by the US. They'd play much better if they got it out on the wings more.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 09:49 PM) You are a chat crew member and we are all brothers that wasnt the point of my post. To me I would rather have some bandwagon fan jump up and down, than someone who is claiming to be part of a country that they never plan on going to. It was more of a shot to the 50k Americans of Mexican decent that were in the stadium. Eric Wynalda is horrible. He has no clue. Landon Donovan does this all the time. He looks like the second coming of Ronaldo against concacaff teams, because they play wide open and the marking is poor. The minute he goes up against a physical good marking team, he disappears. I understand what you mean now. And you know I agree with you as far as Wynalda is concerned. QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 10:06 PM) Don't crucify me, but -- realize I'm asking this as a kid who has never played a game of soccer in his life and is an extreme casual fan -- is the term 'marking' defending or is it passing? Marking is defending. Marking is the American football equivalent of covering, the basketball equivalent of guarding. QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 10:14 PM) Marking is akin to playing man to man defense. When a defender marks a man, he pretty much follows him around and tries to deny service which is the ball being fed to the attacking player. Last night a perfect example of bad marking was Chris Albright. The Mexican attack was pretty much picking on him all night long, like a good QB in the NFL would pick on the bad DB. Mmm, beat me to it.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 04:28 PM) LOL. That's not condescending at all... I'm a casual soccer fan, and of course I'm going to root for the USA. And my hopes -- if you want to call them that -- are no higher than they were yesterday. It was a nice 'W', but quite obviously they still have a long, long way to go. I didn't mean for it to be derrogatory at all, and I apologize if you see it that way. But what I meant to say is that the casual fan is getting fed all this garbage about how great the US team can be. I watched the 2nd half of the game and I watched some of the post-game. Eric Wynalda is quite possibly the worst soccer analyst I have ever seen. If he could have crawled into Landon Donovan's shorts, he probably would have. They lack any objectivity at all. When they lose, they should drop all the players and get a new coach. When they win, watch out Brazil and Italy, here come's the US. QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 04:44 PM) I dont know. Here is another thought. What is worse. The casual fan that roots for their country for a show of nationalistic pride. Or someone that was born here, and roots for someone else which is obviously what I see when we watch a US game in America. I never see the red white and blue outnumbering the opponent. So did an army of people here on Visa's or were born in other countries just happen to show up. Maybe. Or is it children of immigrants who seem to love it here, except for when the teams play. I was born in Ireland. However if the US were to play the Irish I would wear my red white and blue and root for the Americans to beat Ireland. This is the only country I have known. I am an American citizen. Its somewhere that I have been since I was one years old. Dont get me wrong if Ireland is playing anyonje else, I root for the Irish. I own a Duff and Keane jersey. But there are plenty of people in this country that seem to identify with another country, even thought they have never been there for most accounts and forget why we all came here in the first place. My father used to get mad at me when people would ask what I was and would say Irish. He told me, you are an American. My comment had nothing to do with that, but I understand what you're saying. And I'm not sure if that's kinda a shot at me and my Serbian-ness or not, but ok.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Feb 8, 2007 -> 02:26 PM) Who is getting false hope. The casual fans who only root because it's their country.

Shame on the American team for giving their country false hope.

Teh bestest...

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:43 PM) Question for Kalapse and Willie, where was all this pre-superbowl? I'm not saying you guys acted as if Rex was the perfect qb, or even a very good one. But why now are you acting as if Rex is a lost cause and will never get better? This is also curious to me as well.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:35 PM) 27 games in and he hasn't shown any improvement on anything I listed in that post and he'll be 27 the next time he takes the field. Like I said, 27 games means nothing. Injuries haulted any progress he was making. He can still get better at his pocket presence and in his abilities to get away from the rush. QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:35 PM) Because Rex Grossman might lose a footrace to John Tait. He doesn't need to be fast. Take a few stops outside the pocket, or step up into the pocket. Anything to buy some more time.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:31 PM) No, he can't improve his mobility. Why not? Peyton Manning certainly did. He was a 100% pocket passer when he came into the NFL. How many plays did he make out of the pocket last night. Especially the throw across his body to Dallas Clark.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:30 PM) Ok, if he is able to get past these things then yes he will be pretty good however he hasn't improved on any of them especially his pocket presence, he still refuses to step up and by his 27th NFL game I kind of expect to see him show some success in these areas. 27th game means nothing. As far as I am concerned, everything past 2005 should be dismissed. He was healthy for about 6 games in his 1st 2 years. QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:31 PM) It was during a press conference following the win over the Saints. You know the game Grossman was pretty good in. I don't recall that one.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:25 PM) It's not just height, it's mobility Vick is one of the fastest players in the game and has insane escapability and Brees has above average mobility and pocket presence as well as the ability to throw on the run. And you don't feel Rex can improve upon those at the age of 26?

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:24 PM) It didn't seem like the coaching staff had much faith in him yesterday with the ridiculously conservative stripped down offense they were running for the entire game including that final defeatist drive they had to end the game. Not to mention Jerry Angelo refusing to call Rex a franchise QB despite having called him one many times in the past. How would Angelo sound saying Grossman is a franchise QB after we just lost the Super Bowl, and knowing the media would be all over Rex? And when Benson went down, the idea of running all over the Colts got shot to hell.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:22 PM) Why the lack of great strides as the season went on? Because more and more pressure was accumlated and put squarely on his shoulders. He's still young. Look how long it took Manning to finally win one. Marino never one. There have been countless QB's who never made it to the Super Bowl, Rex did it in his 1st full season. And for those who say we get there in SPITE of Rex, I advise you to rewatch the Saints game.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:12 PM) I'll say one thing, they certainly didn't get their in spite of Rex but I wouldn't say he lead them their. The run game and defense played larger roles in the team's success than Rex did. So what more do you want from him? He will never be Peyton Manning. Get that through your head right now. Height means nothing. Bring up all the stats you want, but that is not the reason he hasn't succeded. Brees is the same height as Grossman, it's been mentioned many times. Frank Tarkenton and Joe Theismann were both 6 feet tall or under. Vick is 6 feet as well. I'm tired of hearing all this BS about Grossman. He's going to make mistakes. It's his 1st full year as a starter. He will only get better with experience. Like mentioned, 7 games over 100 passer rating is pretty phenomenal. In the first 3rd of the season, he was a leading MVP candidate. We know he has the ability. But no, let's just dismiss him after one season, a season in which his team made the Super Bowl. GMAB. We're so critical of him that we want him to fail, just so we could give him some more s***.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 09:59 PM) Sustained personal success. So your disputing this based on 1 full season of work in which his team went to the Super Bowl?

QUOTE(zenryan @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 08:43 PM) Grossman will never be more than what he is now I strongly disagree. It's all in his head. We've seen him make throws that few in the NFL can. He just needs to get his head straight. Those who disagree either just hate Rex or are still sour over the Super Bowl loss. Or in your case, Hurricanes fans.

I still have faith in Grossman. And we say it every game, but he just needs to make better decisions. I hope he works long and hard this offseason and comes out firing next season. He needs to learn to move around in the pocket and he needs to learn not to force things. When he does check down, its too late or he leads his guy right into the defenders. We all know he has the capabilities to be a realluy good NFL quarterback, he just needs to get some things straight in his head.