danman31

I still like RVP's header for the sheer uniqueness of it, but that Rodriguez hit is unreal.

I love penalties so much.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 27, 2014 -> 04:57 PM) You can probably cross Russia (unless they fix the draw in their favor) and Qatar off that future list (if the WC's even held there at this point, with the bribery scandal) of host teams getting to the knockout round. Qatar could probably beat Maldives, Afghanistan or Yemen? Maybe Eritrea... Not sure what you're saying, but as a host I would expect Russia to advance. You have to remember that as host they get seeded so they won't face any of the other top teams unless the rankings go out of whack (very real possibility).

19-year-old Luis Martinez has 12 strikeouts in 8 innings (2 starts) for Arizona. Could be a prospect.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 24, 2014 -> 01:09 PM) There is absolutely no way he should be permitted to play again in the World Cup. And was I the only one who thought the straight red card against Italy was excessive? Yeah, I thought the Italy red was a bad call. I'm more blown away by how none of the officials saw Suarez. Even if they couldn't clearly see a bite, which was hard without replay, it certainly looks like a headbutt. Then Uruguay scores a minute later. Total BS. We're talking about a player possibly being banned from international play and he didn't even have a foul called against him on the play. If the refs are that bad, you just shake your head and laugh.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 09:08 PM) I think Spencer Adams gave up more hits in the first inning tonight than he did his entire high school season He gave up hits to the first four batters he faced, sounds like nerves. That's also a massive jump.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 23, 2014 -> 10:05 AM) Watch the full 5 second clip here instead of just the screen shot. http://grantland.com/the-triangle/world-cu...at-we-did-draw/ Bradley got a very high pass that is not easy to control with one touch. The screen shot shows the ball on his foot, but the screen shot doesn't tell you that the ball had just come down at a high angle with pace. Now, his first touch got farther away from him than he wanted and that lost him the ball, but it wasn't like he was making a bad decision. The bad decision was not having two guys glued to Ronaldo, with at least one of them fouling him as soon as the ball headed his way. Free kick would have been too far away to be much of a chance to score. Yeah, it was an error of execution. He took a bad touch. Not that bad of a mistake to be honest.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 22, 2014 -> 02:55 PM) ESPN just had a heading on their front page for the Algeria score...something like "sly like a desert fox," wonder if they retracted that one with the possibility someone might make Erwin Rommel/World War II/Nazi references? Wiki lists the team's nickname as Fennec Foxes or Desert Warriors so I don't think it's a stretch really.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 22, 2014 -> 12:48 PM) This article gives good insight into the AZL background http://athletics.scout.com/2/1413302.html Heh, this part was my favorite "Restrooms are usually open. If not, ask someone, usually someone on the grounds crew will have a key to unlock."

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 11:11 PM) Looking forward to that next week for the recaps! It took a while for tonight's box score to be put up for live updates, but I think it finished on time so there's that. Still 9 p.m. Central starts.

I'm discovering that info out of the Arizona League is somewhat slow. The team doesn't have a twitter account or personalized website like the other affiliates. It's the old school milb.com layout. The box scores seem to be slow in updating as well. Hmpf

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 03:29 PM) What an entertaining freakin game. Yeah, this whole World Cup continues to be just unreal. Great game.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) even he looked like he was doing too much out there. seems like he and the rest of the team were taking the extra touch or two today. Absolutely, but Messi is capable of making a goal out of seemingly nothing at any moment so that's all you need to be in a game. Games aren't decided by the number of chances you create or if you take the extra touch or not, it's about goals. He has had mediocre games with great, game-deciding goals in both matches. That's all you need.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 12:06 PM) Is Chris Bassitt ever coming back? I thought he was only going to miss a few months. Well June would be three months so that would be a few. I thought I heard he was on his way back. Can't be too far off.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) The AZL team has a lot of interesting names on the roster that should be fun to follow this season, most notably for me Spencer Adams (duh!), Micker Adolfo (double duh!), Victor Done, Luis Martinez, Barraza, Jake Jarvis, Jeffry Santos & Antonio Rodriguez. Lots of raw talent down there, should be some really ugly games with some really great games to check on. It's clear the shift the Sox took with the team being in the Arizona League now. It's all the younger draft picks and foreign players.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) Having some fun with watchdogs. Which seemed impossible due to the reviews everyone had given it. Where did this narrative come from? It's metacritic is right around 80, which is a game you should have fun with. It definitely has some flaws and everything seems to result in a repetitive car chase, but it's definitely fun.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jun 21, 2014 -> 12:54 PM) Argentina looks like a collection of players, not a team. They've look very unimpressive so far this tournament. But Messi is a game changer. He makes them a threat in any match.

Just want to remind everyone that Micker Adolfo is 17 so temper your expectations. Yes, the Arizona League is built for young players like this, but even with the White Sox being aggressive with prospects Adolfo probably doesn't see full season ball until 2016.

QUOTE (QuickJones81 @ Jun 19, 2014 -> 09:34 PM) 1ip 3h 4r 3er 1bb 5k 1hr 3wp Quite the line right there. He's had no control this season. I wonder if the Sox moved him to the pen because of the lack of control or just because they figured he would end up there anyway. He was a fourth rounder last year so there's some prospect status if he starts throwing strikes.

England still has a good chance to get through. I think Costa Rica gets trucked in these next two games. Maybe they make them competitive, but getting a point from these last two would be as shocking as beating a Suarez-less Uruguay was.

Interesting set of roster moves. I'm quite surprised to see Austin go straight to Kanny. That might be a tough assignment for him. Maybe it's prep to have him catch Rodon when he gets there.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 18, 2014 -> 04:06 PM) Obviously they weren't the power of 4 years ago but still pretty stunning that they just got absolutely destroyed these 2 games. They weren't the power of 2 years ago. They won the Euro 2 years ago. Hard to believe they couldn't perform better, but after the Netherlands game they just seemed out of it against Chile. Chile was fine, but Spain really didn't put forth much effort or quality.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 09:43 AM) Should have been your favorite selection AFTER Adams, lol. Which could be a "sleeper," because by nature anything from the 3rd round on usually tends to be by nature. Except for our back-up option to Rodon. Yeah, that's next.

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 05:04 PM) Supposed to be reevaluated tonight. Besler apparently good to go for Sunday I hope they stick with Brooks. He did fine defensively and should be playing with tons of confidence. Plus, I don't want an injury risk in the back and be forced into another early sub like Monday.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 09:12 PM) Yeah love him. On paper might even be a better option than Jozy but today he was not good at all. The execution wasn't there, but he did what he needed to do. The US wasn't keeping or getting possession much at all, and certainly not forward, so he tried to create chances by himself by going at defenders. It didn't work, but if one of those does it's a clear shot on goal for a team that couldn't create a chance passing the ball. You want someone who was terrible? Michael Bradley. He made several poor passes and that decision to cross to no one instead of going to the corner in the 95th minute clinched what was a totally bizarre game from him. That looked more like the Roma Bradley than the one most USMNT fans love.