3GamesToLove

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 16, 2016 -> 10:10 PM) Gotta hand it to John Brooks. He played a hell of a game again. He's really developed into a nearly world class defender. Chicago blood!

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 12, 2016 -> 09:21 PM) Oh wow. Can't believe Brazil didn't make it through... Turns out Colombia losing actually worked out for them. They avoid Argentina in the semis and get a easier team in Peru than Ecuador. Yup. I'd rather have Peru and Mexico/Chile than Ecuador and Argentina. Ah well. The Chicago semifinal will probably be Mexico-Colombia. Look forward to that.

The Euros get their own thread but Copa stays in the general soccer thread?

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Jun 9, 2016 -> 02:42 AM) I'd like to see former players in the booth they have a lot more to offer with in game commentary and perspective. 1. This is literally all we have had for a decade since Rooney left. Four former players, all of whom should be color commentators. It's been a miserable failure. The radio booth is shambolic. Hawk is bad, and does absolutely NOTHING to bring out the best in Stone. 2. Benetti's not there to "offer in game commentary and perspective." That's not his job. He's there to handle the broadcast and elicit thoughtful commentary and perspective from Stone.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 6, 2016 -> 09:26 AM) Honestly it kind of annoyed me how as soon as Murray won the US Open originally he was suddenly a part of the "Big 4" label. Obviously he won wimbledon shortly after, but nobody named Wawrinka part of the big 5 when he won the australian open and french. Murray was part of the "Big Four" long before he finally won the USO. If you compare his consitency at the majors and especially at Masters events and compare him to the rest of the field he was head and shoulders above them. The Big Four, including Djokovic and Murray, goes back to 2009ish, well before Djokovic became a GOAT contender. I do think "Big Four" would imply that they were all level, even though it was clear that it was the top three on one tier, then Murray on his own, then a giant gulf after that. Murray had I think close to ten Masters titles and a handful of major finals before he finally won the USO. He had a sizable gap in rankings points over 5 as well. Stan's results at the majors have massively improved, but the guy has only 14 career titles. He only has one Masters title as well. Despite having the same number of major titles, Stan is nowhere near the player Murray is. And I like Wawrinka more.

I really don't know what CONMEBOL/CONCACAF/USSF were thinking when they priced tickets SO HIGH for s*** like Peru and Haiti.

Quick, how many titles has Nole won since this board labelled him a choker who fails at the big moments and isn't dominant enough last year? EDIT: Also, Murray is perfectly likeable off the court. He's thoughtful and I like his politics. On the court is a different story.

As far as TV coverage of the sport in the US goes... NBC>ESPN>>>>>>>>>>>FOX ESPN's handling of the World Cup in '10 and '14 was masterful, as is its handling of the Euros (they didn't do a bad job with their PL coverage when they had a match a week back in the day later, being the first PL broadcaster in the US to send their own teams to cover the matches on site). Clearly NBC learned a lot from them, inclulding poaching Rebecca Lowe off their Euro '12 coverage. FOX really does lag behind and it's disappointing to see that they'll have the next THREE World Cups. They have improved, however. Their FA Cup and CL coverage is better than it once was. I didn't really see any of their Women's World Cup coverage last year but heard it was a step forward for them. We'll have to see how they do this summer with Copa America. Thank God ESPN still has the Euros. (I think they already sealed 2020 as well)

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ May 25, 2016 -> 01:44 PM) I'm going to the USA-Paraguay match in Philadelphia. Super excited! That could be a pretty critical match! I've never seen the USMNT in person. I've followed them since early '09 and was SO excited when it was announced they'd play Honduras in a WCQ at Soldier Field that summer...until I learned my cousin was getting married in Kansas that day. Then I was in England when they played the friendly against Poland, and was never brave enough to pull the trigger for any of the Gold Cup semis or finals here. This'll be awesome, though. If anything, better than a WCQ. Should be a hard-fought match with Costa Rica, too. I'm also lucky enough to get to see Messi and Argentina, plus a semifinal........and Jamaica/Venezuela.

International tournament season! Anyone going to the Copa America? Due to a StubHub listing error I was able to get venue passes (tickets to all four matches at Soldier Field) for a fraction of the price. I'm pretty pumped.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ May 25, 2016 -> 08:23 AM) You have to cut through the fat, though. And there's a ton of fat. It's definitely not a site you want to just browse through on your own the way you do SBNation or did Grantland. Know your writers, follow the right people on Twitter, and you'll get the good stuff. Didn't someone recently declare Zach Lowe the best sportswriter in America?

Pretty good first round, all told? I will say, the excitement people showed about getting Beckham, Mitchell, and Sale in consecutive drafts was sobering.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 25, 2016 -> 07:40 AM) "action" Criticisms of soccer straight out of the 1980s are super-cool.

I'm a daily listener to Effectively Wild, so I bought a Stompers t-shirt at this time last year and pre-ordered the book as soon as it was available. Read it in just a couple of days. Great stuff--Sam's writing in particular is perfectly suited to this story.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 24, 2016 -> 03:41 PM) They still matter to me. Last I looked the teams with the most wins in the regular season advance to the postseason and the team with the most wins in the post-season wins the series. This is silly. Nobody is saying that wins aren't important. They're obviously the point of the game. Pitcher wins, on the other hand, are not the same thing as wins, and are not terribly important. The rule is convoluted and arbitrary.

I am not a huge fan of ESPN as an entity, but there are plenty of good writers who work for ESPN.com, people.

Yep, this is why I'm just telling mine to wear black suits and (probably) white shirts. I'll get them the tie.

QUOTE (Nixon @ May 24, 2016 -> 12:55 PM) v. cool that 21st century has seen the resurgence of cooning. ...?

?? Individual tickets are not on sale yet. Subscriptions and group tickets are (though they're currently no longer taking groups), but there are no individual tickets. I was fortunate to get a fairly cheap subscription (Sunday evenings in the middle balcony; about $160 total for five shows) and get in a group so as of now I'm going twice in October. As a history teacher who also directs theatre this show is tailor-made for me, and is a very rare occurrence of something completely living up to the hype and then some. Can't wait.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 07:08 PM) And if that happens, he's winning the 2016 Cy Young Award in a White Sox uniform....YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Nice.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ May 23, 2016 -> 12:33 PM) How long of a break is there between games? I can't remember the last straight doubleheader I saw. There was one last May, and in one June of '13. Those were the last two, I believe. (I was at both)

Yeah, I'm getting married in a couple of months and so far I've gotten mine gifts like event tickets, things relevant to their hobbies, etc. EDIT: Also, buying each of them the matching tie they need. (not having them rent tuxes)

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 23, 2016 -> 05:55 AM) No, it isn't common sense to throw out splits against a pitcher because a guy has changed his batting stance, that is ridiculous. Avi looks the same as he has since the sox acquired him, streaky. And recently he has been trending more towards bad streaky 12 plate appearances is a pretty tiny sample size.

I was at his first home start back in 2012. I also saw him strike out 14 guys last June in Carlos Correa's debut, 15th row between the plate and home dugout. Be telling my grandkids about that, no doubt.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 15, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) Quite the late season fade by Tottenham. They still get the Champions League bid, but fans can't be happy about getting past by Arsenal. I'm not crying...you're crying... Trying to figure out if a summer full of soccer with the Euros and Copa America will make the end of the season easier or tougher to swallow.