"There is only one god, and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: 'Not today.'"- Syrio Forel, Game of Thrones
The US Men’s National Team went into Group G, the Group of Death, and emerged as one of the living.
What's amazing is that, by the end, any other result would have felt unfair and supremely disappointing. The World Cup so far has unfolded almost exactly as we hoped, ignoring the odds and instead plotting a delicate course in line with the United States' wildest fantasies. The U.S. beat Ghana, tied Portugal and kept it close with Germany. That wasn't supposed to happen, not all three at least, and with everything falling into place at the perfect moments.
There is something about that last-gasp equalizer from Portugal that changed the collective national attitude from a gracious, "It would be huge to finish a close third" to a confident, "We deserve a spot in the knockout round." If you told me at the beginning of the month that we'd claim four points going into the final match, I would've been ecstatic. Now, moments away from six but with no team safe, it didn't seem quite fair. There were so many paths to success, if only heartbreak would quit lingering right around the corner.
America, you know now what it's like to be a nation of true footballing fans. The ups, the downs, the nerves, the score checking, the math, the emotional toll of it all is a roller coaster that the rest of the world has ridden for years. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I feel like the public is all in on this team. There's always been plenty of patriotic support rallying around the USMNT, but it seems now that the U.S. know the players and the game, and reveled in the nuances of one of the few sports that's not perpetually focused on the boys out there repping America. It took until the 94th and final minute on Thursday, but the U.S. might finally have the diehard support it needs to build toward becoming a soccer power.
As for what actually happened on the pitch: the football was not stylish (it was never going to be against technically superior Portugal and Germany) but remained tactically sound. The U.S. kept their shape, defended well and benefited from a few well-timed strikes in a trio of matches that were otherwise slugfests. "This is going to be a World Cup of suffering," Michael Bradley said, and the U.S. look like willing gluttons for punishment.
As we've said for months leading up to the World Cup, the USMNT's depth is making the difference. The team's counter-attacking style held up in the face of extreme temperatures and injuries, including the loss of Jozy Altidore. They've managed to adapt, subbing in fresh legs and tweaking the lineup just enough to gain a needed edge. And perhaps because of that depth and resiliency, the USMNT seem to believe in themselves more than ever.
In years past, that late score from Ghana would've sapped the fight right out of the U.S. Taking the lead on Portugal would've made the team more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. An everything-on-the-line match with Germany would've prompted penalties and red cards. But the U.S. never panicked. They stuck to the game plan, standing toe to toe with some of the world's best and refusing to blink. As America fell in love with them, they clawed their way into the round of 16.
The U.S. face even longer odds now. Beating Belgium will take perfection, and Argentina beyond them requires a miracle. But this is a team that can no longer be counted out. They've come this far, so why not just a little further? Why not one more match? Death can wait another day.
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Matt Anderson is Began in ‘96’s Richmond correspondent. Find more of his writing at First and Den.
Previewing Team USA, its formidable pool-play opponents and the chances of moving onto the round of 16.
Just to recap the group: There's Germany, currently second in the FIFA rankings and a favorite to win. The team is loaded with talent from front to back. Manuel Neuer is one of the best keepers on the planet; captain Phillipp Lahm is a defender/midfielder combo and a catalyst for Bayern Munich's recent run of success; midfielder Bastain Schweinsteiger's motor shows no signs of sputtering out as he enters his third World Cup; and the ageless Miroslav Klose sits on the brink of becoming the tournament’s all-time leading scorer.
Next there is Portugal, FIFA’s fourth-ranked team. The joke is that it’s not Portugal, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo and ten other guys. Unfortunately, that’s still a good team. Ronaldo's backup is led by Pepe, who plays as if he were a Bond villain's henchman (Given his red-card headbutt in Portugal's opening match, it seems an apt comparison now more than ever). Joining him are Raul Meireles and Helder Postiga to round out a stable of experienced professionals with just enough left in the tank to make Portugal dangerous.
Lastly, there is the USMNT’s arch nemesis, Ghana. Don’t be fooled by Ghana’s 37th –place ranking. They have knocked the US out of the last two World Cups, and would love nothing more to seal the team's fate from the start. Ghana don’t have a lot of well-known players, but Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan command a steady and well-oiled offense. More importantly, their defense allowed just three goals during the qualifying campaign. Ghana are the only team that can't match the US in talent, but their psychological edge should more than make up for it.
That leaves the odds stacked against this U.S. squad. But the national team is not completely out of it, especially with Jurgen Klinsmann at the helm. The German-born manager brings a total vision for the USMNT that expands beyond this tournament, an uncommon approach given that most are just happy with holding onto their job. As a result, Klinsmann made it clear that no one is safe. He cut all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan prior to the tournament, and raised some eyebrows last summer by tinkering with the US's lineup. The squad responded with a 12-match winning streak that displayed unprecedented depth. That long bench will be crucial in Brazil, where they will play in arenas alternately described as 1) a rainforest, 2) a microwave oven and 3) Death Valley. Any success the USMNT hope to have will depend on how well they manage the constant rotation of players.
When you look at the 23-man roster, it's hard to find a player on there that raises any serious doubts as far as skill. What does raise concerns (and why many questioned cutting Donovan) is the team's overall lack of World Cup experience. The US will lean heavily on keeper Tim Howard, defender DeMarcus Beasley, midfielder Michael Bradley, forward Jozy Altidore and captain Clint Dempsey to provide the poise necessary to push through the group stage. They have all been there before and will need to step up to ensure this young team maximizes its potential.
From a tactical standpoint, the biggest worry is the defense. Howard will certainly keep them organized, but the four in front of him are very young and, at times, undisciplined. Fullback Geoff Cameron will shoulder the bulk of the responsibility as a kind of two-way defenseman, making the crucial decision as to when to help the attack without getting caught too far into the midfield on the counter-attack.
The midfield will go as Michael Bradley goes. He is the rock the attacking foundation is built on, and will be the point man in defending against Portugal and Germany's quick strikes. Attacking options Mix Diskerud and Graham Zusi will depend on him to feed them the ball, while Jermaine Jones helps Bradley out on the back side.
As for an X factor, Julian Green fits the bill. Green grew up in Germany, and plays for powerhouse Bayern Munich. But when the son of an American father and German mother got the chance to choose his country, he sided with the U.S. That is a coup for Klinsmann, and signals the USMNT's evolution into a respectable force on the world stage. Green is just 17, and still a work in progress. But he could provide added speed and energy off the bench.
The final grouping are the forwards. For once, the US goes into a World Cup knowing who will supply its goals. Jozy Altidore's scoring performance in the USMNT's final tune up game showed that his prior struggles were more a fluke than the norm. Clint Dempsey is perhaps the most reliable player on the squad, and will be counted on the split the defense with well-time passes. And there are even goals on the bench with this squad: Aron Johannsson has shown a nose for the net, and MLS veteran Chris Wondolowski is a pure finisher.
So what does all this mean? In any other year, you could say the USMNT have the talent and tactics to walk out of their group. But this year the draw went against them. It's going to take a truly special performance and a bit of luck to get to the knockout round. More realistically, a successful campaign would be a win against Ghana and competitive matches with Portugal and Germany.
If you're an optimist, however, here's the likely scenario for advancing out of pool play: The US start with a convincing, multiple goal win against Ghana. Then, taking advantage of Cristiano Ronaldo’s supposed leg injury, a win or draw against Portugal. At this point, the US need to root for Germany to have beaten both Portugal and Ghana to secure a spot in the next round. A point then against a German side focused more on resting up would secure second place for the US.
That’s the most likely way to the last 16. But once the matches start, World Cup group stages have a tendency to throw in a few surprises. Starting tonight, we'll just have to tune in and find out. And in the words of Ian Darke: Go Go USA!
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Matt Anderson is Began in '96's Richmond correspondent. Find more of his writing at First and Den.
The USMNT kicks off its World Cup campaign without Landon Donovan, this generation's brightest soccer star.
Landon Donovan is the greatest American soccer player of all time.
As a player, Landon has always been somewhat of a contradiction. Tactically, Bruce Arena once famously said that the problem with him was that it didn’t matter where you put him because he’d be your best player in that position. Bruce was right, and during his time with the Galaxy and the USMNT, Donovan played on both the left and the right of a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, as a striker, behind the striker, and even as a central attacking midfielder in a diamond behind two strikers during the 2006 WC qualifiers.
But his versatility isn’t what made him a contradiction--his qualities did. Glancing at Landon Donovan, you would immediately notice his speed, technique, vision, and coupled with his crossing ability led to many believing that he was some sort of tricky winger. He was anything but. Landon Donovan combined all the qualities of a goal-poacher with the elite speed of a sprinter. Jurgen Klopp, the Borussia Dortmund coach obsessed with "verticality," would have loved Landon Donovan. He was at his best when combining quickly with precise passes and making runs behind the defense. He could run at players, exchange a 1-2, and be behind the defense slipping the ball into the corner of the field within seconds.
Landon was also an unbelievable counter-attacking player, essential during so many of the USMNT’s world cup and tournament games. He was arguably the best player of the 2009 Confederations Cup, leading the U.S. to the final and scoring one of the great all-time counter attacking goals against Brazil to put the U.S. 2-0 up. They eventually succumbed to a much better Brazil side than people remember, but he had cemented his position in U.S. lore.
That was until 2010, when he gifted us with the greatest U.S. soccer moment of all time.
The goal against Algeria will live long in the memories of all U.S. soccer fans as the moment that Landon Donovan awoke a sleeping beast. The passion and furor that followed that goal as it rang across all US. news outlets felt like we had finally made it. The broken and sectioned off soccer community in some ways has always felt like a diaspora of sorts. We all share the same love of the game and sense of belonging, yet without any attention from the media, it has always been hard to find one another and create a solidified identity. Landon Donovan’s goal that won us the group in 2010 will forever be in my eyes the day that soccer in America experience it’s “Miracle on Ice” moment. Ian Darke’s spontaneous “GO GO USA” line already belongs in the annals of history as one of the all-time great sports commentator lines.
As a person, Landon Donovan has never lived up to the athlete persona that many fans and pundits expect from a talent such as himself. He moved to Germany at a young age and decided he was better served coming home to build his career. First at San Jose and then the LA Galaxy, Donovan built an impressive record of championships and goals scored, quickly asserting himself as the most successful player to ever play on American soil.
A stint at Bayern Munich under Jurgen Klinsmann was doomed from the start. Klinsmann had already lost the dressing room and the backing of the entire club as a whole, and Donovan became nothing more than another reason to sack Klinsmann. The squad never respected Donovan and perhaps he failed to impose himself. But bigger players than Donovan have failed at Bayern Munich and it has no bearing on his quality or career.
A loan spell at Everton confirmed what many U.S. fans already knew, which was that England would prove a far better home to Donovan than Germany ever would. His familiarity with the language, high-tempo style of play, and choice of club, Everton, all combined to make his spell extremely successful. Phil Neville once even declared Landon Donovan one of the best right-sided players he ever played with.
But Landon Donovan always came home. There was a natural pull to being in the U.S. and representing his country, even when playing at club level. By staying in the U.S., Landon Donovan provided a sort of legitimacy to MLS that no player could have provided at the stage the league was at during his early years. Despite being the greatest American soccer player, Landon never felt the need to leave and play in Europe, and this was his greatest contradiction. He is the man who never left, the one who chose to remain, and this is why we hold him at the top.
Perhaps leaving him off the squad will turn out the right decision, Donovan has certainly not been at the top of his game in recent months, but it will certainly remain a note on this World Cup for years to come. No matter how far the U.S. squad goes, we will always be left wondering how far we could go with Donovan, the man who carried us to the quarter finals in 2002, the Confederations Cup final in 2009, and to the top of the World Cup group stage in 2010.
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Cross-posted through a partnership with The Philly Terrace.
The Knicks are losers again after Phil Jackson failed to land his best and only head coaching candidate.
Steve Kerr just orchestrated a masterful coup, landing his first coaching gig as the head man of the Golden State Warriors.
It's a prime situation, one that will 1) provide the economic security of a five-year, $25 million contract (more than he ever made during his playing career), 2) offer all the firepower of a roster with a strong core and the flexibility of future draft picks, 3) keep him close to his San Diego-based family and last and most importantly, 4) keep him far away from the circus that is the New York Knicks.
I can't remember a time when losing out on a coach felt this disheartening. Kerr represented many things to me, and indeed, an entire franchise struggling to reach respectability. He seemed a perfect fit with new president Phil Jackson, having benefited firsthand from Jackson's coaching philosophies and adopted them as his own. He would have been a winner walking into a franchise of losers, having played for only top teams in the Chicago Bulls and Gregg Popovich's San Antonio Spurs. He had the savvy and connections from his years as general manager of the then-revolutionary Phoenix Suns. Surely pairing him with Jackson would be the first major step in an organizational turnaround.
With those two at the helm, the culture would slowly change. New, better personnel would cycle in. Shrewder strategies would take root. The Jackson and Kerr combo would serve as the base-level infrastructure necessary to rebuild the Knicks and get them back on their feet.
(TIMELINE: The many failed coaches of the Jim Dolan era)
Instead, the Knicks are left in the lurch. And the irony of it all is that Kerr likely wouldn't have garnered so much interest if Jackson hadn't reached out to him so early and often. The courting process between the two started about a year ago, after which Kerr's name started popping up in the conversation over nearly every head coaching vacancy, from the Lakers to the Warriors to the Utah Jazz. Given the attention, he might owe Jackson a finder's fee.
What is certain is that Kerr didn't do Jackson any favors when it comes to credibility. A good executive gets his man and gets the deal done. The Knicks brought their new president on board in large part for his ability to do that, to attract and cultivate talent, only to watch him bungle his first big opportunity. New York now has to launch a full-scale coaching search just two weeks from the NBA combine, with few options and a star free agent, Carmelo Anthony, mulling whether it's worth it to stick with his mess of a franchise and at a discounted rate to boot.
There are no options as attractive as Kerr, especially with X's and O's guru Stan Van Gundy off the board and heading the Pistons. Jackson disciples Kurt Rambis, Tyrone Lue, Mark Madsen and Luke Walton inspire little to no confidence. Jerry Sloan and George Karl are past the headaches the Knicks are sure to give them.
That likely leaves Mark Jackson and Brian Shaw, both interesting options with potential downsides. Jackson might not be on the same page philosophically as Phil Jackson, and does his best work with point guards, which the Knicks are currently without. Shaw, meanwhile, is complicated because he's still under contract with the Denver Nuggets.
There's no simple path for the Knicks from here. Kerr represented the best chance to transform the franchise into a stable, forward-thinking organization. Everything else seems a gamble, another possible step deeper into the drudgery of the Jim Dolan era. Jackson's arrival was supposed to change all that, but even he might be finding that the hole the Knicks dug themselves over the past 15 years is a bit deeper than anticipated.
Donald Sterling is the latest in a long line of rich white racists, and a shorter line of those who were caught being rich white racists.
I was sitting at a bar recently watching the Mavericks close out a win against the Spurs, stealthily eavesdropping on two young black men discussing the NBA’s headline topics.
They started with clarifying that the Heat were the only team to sweep its first-round opponent. Concurred that Indiana was surely falling short of its top seed expectations. Disagreed as to whether Russell Westbrook was shooting too much for Oklahoma City to defeat Memphis. And finally, after a brief silence:
“Man, how about that racist old man who owns the Clippers?”
“That dude is crazy, but what are you gonna do?”
“I guess we just have to wait for him to die.”
I needed every bit of restraint to stop from jumping in. Wait for him to die!? That’s how you think we should punish Donald Sterling? Force the old bigot to issue an apology statement, cut our losses and wait for him to die? I was hoping for something closer to a public stoning, or a marching protest to his house.
I swiveled back and forth in my chair a few times before I realized that these two men weren’t discussing the specifics of Sterling’s potential punishment, but rather confirming their shared attitudes toward the broader issue that lurks behind this whole mess; that no matter how much you punish Donald Sterling for saying what old rich racist white men say, or thinking what old rich white racist men think, or doing what old rich racist white men do, a $2.5 million fine and a lifetime ban from the league isn’t going to change his mindset, or the mindset of any other old rich racist white man.
Even when you call them out for, let’s say, floating phony ideas for helping the Skid Row homeless solely for personal real estate gain, or discriminating against tens of thousands of potential rental clients, or telling their girlfriend not to bring black men to the games, they are still one of thousands of old rich racist white men who will continue to act as such.
(Source: HuffPo/YouGov)
I want to ask Sterling how it feels to finally be a minority of sorts. He’s one of the few who has (finally) been publicly chastised and punished for his (repeatedly and unabashedly expressed) racist mindset and (repeatedly and unabashedly unjust) discrimination against the Latino and Black communities of Los Angeles.
Such shame that you have to shell out $2.5 million and sell your NBA team, releasing you from contracts with a roster full of men you view as inferior humans based on their race. The Los Angeles wing of the NAACP will reportedly forgive your actions if you agree to make a relatively small donation in the thousands as atonement. You’ve got fellow old rich racist white man Donald Trump standing behind you. He thinks you were set up by your “girlfriend from hell,” and writes your behavior off as mental illness. You’re just getting old, Mr. Sterling! You aren’t the scheming, young fellow who could hide his bigotry with charm anymore. You got played by your girlfriend, that ageless, money-hungry, bringing-black-people-to-games devil in a dress, the sole timeless downfall of any old rich racist white man.
Now, we just have to let you die, allowing you to join the ranks of dead racists who fell before you, leaving your legacy to the next generation of rich white racist men who will rule the next generation’s world.
Unless we set out to punish each and every old rich racist white man for financially sustaining a society embedded with systemic racism, this won’t be the last we’ve heard on the issue of old rich white men making outrageously inappropriate racist statements. Until we end the mass incarceration of black youth, until we stop letting CEOs make millions from privately owned prisons, until we end this long-standing tradition of white supremacy, sustained by way of financial hegemony and blatant favoritism, until we stop racial profiling and save our deteriorating education system and end the racially fueled war on drugs, this problem will never die with the old rich racist white men.
Instead, we’ll historicize it. We’ll make documentaries that force the issue into the past, shoving it under the rug of history’s façade. We’ll continue to pretend that having a black president makes America a post-racial society, and Donald Sterling and the rest of his old rich racist white men’s club will live long and prosper.
Such a shame, he can’t own an NBA team anymore.
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Michael Bennett is a contributor for Began in '96 and writes on hip-hop and culture at Poetic Justice.
"Texas is the largest athletic department, earning more than $165 million last year in revenue — with $109 million coming from football, according to Education Department data. The university netted $27 million after expenses."
The full out-of-state cost for a year at UT-Austin — which includes tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, estimated personal expenses and transportation expenses — is projected at $49,842.
Multiplied by the total allowable number of football scholarships (85), that's about $4.2 million a year. Or, 15.7% of the athletic department's profits and just 3.9% of total football revenues.
And that's in the absolute most expensive case, given that players aren't allowed to except anything of monetary value beyond their scholarships, not even pasta.
Tell us again how universities are nonprofits giving their star (student) athletes equal educational value for the millions he brings in. Tell us again how (student) athletes aren't employees.
A primer on who's a contender in 2014, and who isn't, using Fangraphs WAR.
Through six innings on a sunny Opening Day in New York, the Mets kept it together.
They entered the seventh frame up 4-2 on the Washington Nationals, thanks in large part to a three-run homer from left fielder Andrew Brown. Starter Dillon Gee struck out the first batter, allowed a single, but got the second out on a fielder's choice.
Gee allowed a run. Reliever Carlos Torres replaced him and walked the only batter he faced. Scott Rice then spelled him and walked the only batter he faced. By the time his replacement, Jose Valverde, recorded the final out, the score was tied at 4.
Which, in the end, didn't look so bad after three different Mets relievers managed to blow the entire game two innings later.
It would be a 9-7 loss, and despite its ups and downs, perhaps one of the more predictable results from today's MLB slate. That's because the Mets' pitching staff is one of the least valuable units in the game, according to 2014 projections compiled by Fangraphs.
New York's pitchers are projected to contribute just 6.5 wins above replacement, the statistic used to summarize players' total contributions to a team's success above the average level (think of it as the amount of value each player adds above a leaguewide baseline). That's worse than every other team except the Houston Astros, who clock in at a miserable 5.8 WAR.
On the flip side, the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox boast the most valuable pitching staffs. The Tigers, led by Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, project for 21 WAR from their pitching this year. The Sox' staff projects to 20.3 WAR.
Of course, it helps that the Sox and Tigers are considered statistically the two best teams this year. Break down their pitching staffs as a percentage of their total WAR, and you find that they're relatively well balanced.
In fact, the they're two of the most balanced teams out there. The Sox rely on position players for 53.7% of their WAR, while the Tigers' position players are expected to account for 51.5% of total WAR. That means that the teams are nearly equally threatening from both sides of the ball. Other evenly weighted teams include the Yankees (54.02% of WAR coming from position players) and Chicago White Sox (53.2%).
The worst balance? That'd be the Mets again, who are predicted to rely on their position players for nearly 75% of their total value. The Brewers, powered by Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun, could get 72.1% of their WAR from position players.
How about one more that'll come in handy once the injury bug hits. Here is how valuable teams' cores (their four best position players or three best starting pitchers) are to their overall success.
For example, the Brewers' top four position players are projected to supply nearly half of the team's total value this season. The Marlins and Angels (8.9 projected WAR from Mike Trout) are in the same boat, meaning any major injury to that core could significantly hamper their playoff chances. On the pitching side, the Tigers, White Sox and Yankees are particularly dependent on their top three starters.
By this measure, teams like the Red Sox, White Sox and Indians get more of their total value from more sources, making them less vulnerable to significant industries.
So what does all this tell us? First, that the Red Sox, Tigers, Dodgers and Nationals are the favorites in the AL and NL, respectively. Both the Sox and the Tigers have a relatively well-balanced attack, giving them more ways to reliably win games. The Rangers and Yankees are also well-balanced contenders.
But if a disastrous injury hits, the Tigers and Yankees are most susceptible among top contenders to a big dropoff in talent. The Sox and second-tier playoff possibilities like the A's and Cardinals are likely to be better equipped to plug unexpected holes, given the lower amount of WAR tied up in their seven best players.
And for Mets fans, it means that what happened on Opening Day could become a familiar sight. If New York's offense doesn't shoulder its disproportionate responsibility for the team's projected success, things could get real bad, real quick.
But hey, there's always 2015, and the return of Matt Harvey, whose WAR last year (6.1) is nearly equal to the projected value of the rest of the staff.
All data as of March 27.
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Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.
At least 1,200 workers have died and thousands more subjected to appalling labor conditions in preparation for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
"Qatar is a country without a conscience."
At least 1,200 migrant workers have died already, with thousands more fatalities expected. And that's a conservative estimate, given most embassies' willingness to stand by while their own people are killed:
"The ITUC estimates at least 4,000 more workers will die before the start of the World Cup in 2022. The estimation of deaths in Qatar is conservative and based on the tragic statistics collected by two embassies only – Nepal and India – which account for around 50% of the total migrant workforce. [...] Migrant workers make up more than half the population of Qatar — 1.4 million in a country of 2.068 million people. According to diplomatic sources the Qatari government is harassing embassy officials to keep quiet about these deaths in order to keep the flow of labour coming."
The 1,200 recorded deaths are by far the most connected to a major sporting event in recent history. Preparations for the Sochi Olympics cost 60 workers their lives; the 2004 Olympics in Athens killed 40.
(For an interactive map of worker fatalities, click here)
It's hard to imagine that FIFA would allow Qatar to remain the World Cup host, given these statistics. After all, there are still eight years until kickoff, and the news is only going to get worse. But it's also hard to imagine that FIFA would ever give their main event to Qatar in the first place. Money has a tendency to obscure even the most egregious circumstances, and Qatar's $200 billion in planned spending is so far enough that FIFA doesn't blink when it, say, confiscates workers' passports and enslaves them:
"When I take one day off from work, two days pay is deducted from my salary. This is also the case when I am sick. [...] I am fed up with the situation and don't see why I should suffer these conditions. I handed my resignation in, but my employer just ripped up the letter and threw it into the bin. He also told me I wouldn't get my passport back."
(For interactive chart, click here. Ukraine represents the Euro 2012 tourney hosted by Ukraine and Poland. Russia is listed twice to represent its 2018 World Cup (5 deaths) and the Sochi Olympics (60 deaths).)
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Adam Cancryn is a co-founder and editor of Began in '96.
The institutional failures of the Washington Redskins.
Imagine you're Andy Dufresne.
But then you turn around, and there's Warden Norton. Captain Hadley breaks your jaw with his baton, and you're dragged back to the twisted hell where you've spent the last 20 years.
That’s a rough approximation of how it felt to be a fan of the Washington Redskins this season.
It wasn't that 3-13 is a surprising record for this football team, or that it caught fans particularly off-guard. I'm part of a generation trained to hatewatch the 'Skins 16 weeks out of the year. Three-win seasons don't faze us.
Rather, what left me reeling was the so very Washington Redskins way in which that 3-13 season unfolded. It began with RGIII's knee bending sideways in last year's playoffs, leaving the franchise's future little more than a crumpled mass. That final image still affects me the way I imagine old pictures of Bo Jackson affect Raiders fans. And when the 2013-14 season began, it was abundantly clear those health issues still lingered.
Everything devolved from there. The defense regressed, and special teams inspired off-color jokes. There were reports of rifts between players and coaches, coaches and the front office and the front office and itself. Revelations of nepotism and incompetence seemed like just the next natural step.
By Week Nine, it was clear the Redskins were the worst team in the league. Sure, the Houston Texans finished with the worst record. But they're also a functioning football team with a largely talented roster that happened to be hampered by injuries. It's a team that will turn around quickly.
The Redskins, however? They were just depressing.
Griffin, once a magnificent butterfly, spent so much time on the ground it was as if some cruel bastard plucked his wings off. Third-round lineman Josh LeRibeus showed up out of shape and didn't make an impact, except presumably on the training table. Just a handful of players, including Pierre Garçon, Alfred Morris and Jordan Reed, look legitimate enough to deserve an NFL roster spot.
That dearth of talent has less to do with Washington's $36 million salary cap penalty and more to do with the institutional stench emanating from the team's front office. Last year's encouraging signs that owner Dan Snyder and Co. would focus on evaluating talent rather than simply signing aging stars were offset by the fact that those in charge of talent evaluation had no idea how to do the job.
And it isn't going to change.
It isn't going to change even after last season's NFC East championship shook 'Skins fans from their hate-watching stupor, because this year's collapse exposed that division title as a fluke. It's a two-year swing that's left me asking existential questions about my fanhood.
In this era of hard salary caps, what do we root for other than ownership styles? Players come and go, aside from a few superstars. There's little continuity year to year. What truly defines a team is management. Fans are supporting less and less a core group of athletes and a distinct style of play and more how the franchise is run.
There is still a glimmer of hope that Griffin will fully recover and carry the team forward once more. And as Andy Dufresne wrote in a letter to Red, "Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
But are the Redskins a good thing? It's a squad with a racist nickname that might be cursed and is run by an owner who is, by most accounts, egotistical and ignorant and driven to wring every last bit of profit out of the team.
I told my friends that if RGIII doesn't return from this knee injury completely healthy, football will be different for me. We still don't know for sure whether he will, but it looks like football is different for me already. Just not in the way that I thought.
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Jason Bacaj is Began in '96's Out West correspondent and a normally optimistic Redskins fan.
If you live in the United States and have played, watched or even just mentioned soccer, you've heard the lament that soccer is boring.
It's not true, of course, but it's understandable when the alternative is the made-for-TV National Football League. Unlike football, there's a significant gap between understanding soccer and truly appreciating it. Goals are infrequent, scoring chances are squandered more often than not, and a well-executed counter-attack isn't exactly stimulating to the uninitiated viewer.
Walker is the antidote to the common complaint that "things" don't happen in soccer. Get him near the ball, and something will surely happen. The question is whether that something will propel Tottenham to victory or leave fans cringing.
Take the Spurs' Dec. 1 match against Manchester United: Walker snuck an 18th-minute free kick under United's wall and past diving keeper David De Gea to give them an early lead. That was a good thing.
Minutes later, Walker misplayed an opposing player's cross into the box, leaving Wayne Rooney with the ball and a clear path to the back of the net. That was a bad thing.
Fourteen minutes, two goals, and still all you can say about Kyle Walker is that he makes things happen.
That's just how it works so far in his brief career. A former PFA Player of the Year, Walker is equally brilliant and reckless. In that same match against United, Walker would race Nemanja Vidic for a 50-50 ball with the Spurs up 2-1. Vidic just barely beat him and sent Walker flying. Seconds later the ball was downfield and Hugo Lloris was bringing down Danny Welbeck in the box. The ensuing penalty kick made it 2-2.
The next weekend, against Sunderland, Walker would put together a spectacular performance. He picked his spots to join the attack and showed why he could be one of the best all-around fullbacks. Most importantly, he was lethal in defense, sticking close to physical striker Jozy Altidore and essentially hectoring him into giving up.
It's a polarity that fans will have to learn to put up with, at least for the time being. The backlash from his particularly poor performance in a 4-2 defeat to Chelsea last year forced Walker to temporarily take down his Twitter account. But even as he's prone to stringing together several stupid mistakes, his raw talent is unmistakable.
Last year was my first season following Tottenham closely, and so it's no surprise I was immediately infatuated with Gareth Bale. He was a one-man wrecking crew, an amazing talent just removed from his 23rd birthday. Like all great players, it seemed everything he touched turned to gold.
Kyle Walker won't fill those shoes. But there's no doubt that, for better or worse, he's fashioning his own path, and it's wholly, entertainingly unpredictable.
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Joe Schackman is an editor and co-founder of Began in ‘96. He is attempting to turn himself into a European football fan.
Barry Sanders and the legacy of grace and power he left behind deserve many words from us, and perhaps someday we'll summon the courage to deliver on that.
But on this Thanksgiving, the holiday forever synonymous with Barry Sanders, we're just going to leave this right here. Enjoy nine minutes of the best ever to do it.
On behalf of all Lionel Messi fans, a response to the prior article.
In response to Mr. Ricchiuiti's preference for Cristiano Ronaldo (Ronaldo is actually the fat Brazilian who holds the record for goals scored in World Cup competition), I'd like to outline what in fact makes Messi the better player.
Messi is the obvious answer. All the man does is win. He's led a decade for FC Barcelona that includes six La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, three Champions League titles and two Club World Cups. You can sprinkle in FIFA's Ballon d'Or honoring the world's most outstanding player, a personal award he's received every year since 2009.
And don't forgot about Argentina, which is always a favorite to win the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal side, meanwhile, just barely snuck into the tournament this year.
Messi wins and wins, and then wins some more, and that's primarily because much of his time on the pitch is spent getting ready to score. Messi has 223 goals in 257 appearances for Barca, and holds records for the most goals in 1) a calendar year 2) a club season 3) a calendar year for a single club and 4) a European Cup.* Those goals have won him myriad awards en route to becoming the top scorer in Barca's long history.
* Also of note, in case you're curious: Most Champions league hat tricks, most goals in a Champions League game and most consecutive league matches with a goal. Messi is the only player to score consecutively against all the teams in his league and to score in 20 different cities in the European Cup.
The touches that don't end with a ball immediately in the back of the net often set teammates up for a score of their own; Messi is a brilliant passer who has led Barca in assists.
Cristiano Ronaldo's game is built on power and pizzazz. Messi is more pragmatic, more artistic. He flows through defenses, finding seemingly the tiniest space to skip through, or slot a pass or fire off a shot. He is more effective, and at the same time more mesmerizing than his Real Madrid counterpart.
So you can have Cristiano Ronaldo and all his flash. I prefer substance to my superstar. I want someone who will make my team the best, not just the prettiest.
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Matt Anderson is Began in ‘96’s Richmond correspondent. Find more of his writing at First and Den.
Ronaldo is flashy and brash, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
[UPDATE: A Messi fan responds.]
Whenever I tell people that I prefer Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi, I find myself on the receiving end of a few derisive comments about hairstyles, diving and poor attitudes. Messi is the kind of guy who brings flowers when he picks your daughter up. Ronaldo, with his fast cars and jewelry, would drop her off the next morning, disheveled and holding last night's heels. Even FIFA President Sepp Blatter has taken a public stand against the Real Madrid striker, criticizing him for spending too much time on his hair.
That differs from Messi, who seems perpetually too awkward and shy to ever open up to the public. He can be timid and even immature at times, despite his on-pitch brilliance. He hands over most of his media and sponsorship deals to his brothers and agents, effectively letting them run his life. Ronaldo likely has a similar team of agents, but his personality enures he remains in control and the center of attention.
For two players molded so much by their childhood, Ronaldo's and Messi's younger years are rarely put side by side. Messi grew up in La Masia surrounded by youth coaches who sang his praises and tended to his needs. They even pumped him full of growth hormones when it looked like he wouldn't reach a normal height. But Ronaldo came of age in a poverty-stricken part of Portugal, where he spent his days in the street, kicking a ball against a wall. He was shipped off to Manchester at 18, a separation from family that qualifies as a personal tragedy in Mediterranean culture.
He spent the next several years receiving a crash course in English football. Teammates and coaches spent the weekdays toughening him up for Saturday and Sunday matches. He stopped diving, put on muscle and developed his free-kick and finishing skills. According to those who played with him, Ronaldo would spend hours practicing new tricks before and after training, and then spring them on opponents during matches. His time at Manchester United turned Ronaldo from a skinny 18-year-old into one of the best athletes to play the game.
He dumped that comfortable setup for high-profile Real Madrid when the opportunity arose. And since then, he's scored an incredible 201 goals in 180 games across all competitions. Off the field, he's purchased houses for all his relatives, brings his son to every home match and picks up friends' bar tabs as a matter of practice.
So go ahead, you can have Messi. Enjoy his vanilla interviews, tepid fashion and muted temperament. I want my superstars to act like superstars. I want them to hit the gym for hours, stay late at training, change countries if need be and do whatever it takes to reach the tops of their games. I want them to puff their chest and put the team on their back whenever needed. I want Ronaldo every time.
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Zach Ricchiuti is a contributor and resident soccer expert for Began in '96.
It has been a long time since we did one of these. Lets knock that rust off and get into it.
Geno Smith is a terrifying quarterback. He is like Tono Romo but without the talent. Basically he just turns it over.
Eagles haven’t won at home in over a calendar year. That is amazing and pathetic at the same time. Redskins couldn’t be coming at a better time
On one of the first plays of the game Geno Smith goes down hard and is shaken up. If Geno Smith is terrifying I’m not sure what the hell to call Matt Simms.
3rd and 17 and the Jets go to the air to try and convert. Geno avoids a mistake but that is a dumb call. Should be handing it off or running a screen. Know your personnel Marty Mornhinweg.
Jacksonville scores their first TD at home this season on a 62-yard pass to Danny Noble. Ya its been that rough.
Larry Fitzgerald sighting. Remember when we thought Carson Palmer would save him?
So the wind is pretty strong in Buffalo. Nick’s Folk FG gets ripped off course.
Cleveland is reviving careers… Jason Campbell leading the Browns down the field.
Matt McGloin is doing things in Oakland.
There has been a lot of discussion this season about the lack of quality backups in the NFL. Matt McGloin, Jason Campbell and Josh McCown thumb their nose at this.
Antonio Brown is having a monster first half
Ridiculous weather coming through Chicago and postponing that game for the time being
Mike Pettine, the jets former defensive coordinator showing Rex Ryan he knows how to blitz too. Jets defensive line having serious issues keeping Geno upright
Greg Schiano realizing he has nothing to lose because he’s probably already lost his job, attempts an onside kick and his team pulls it off
It is easy to pick on Dee Millner this season but that TD is almost impossible to stop. He had good coverage but the ball is caught by the wind and falls into the hands of TJ Graham.
Greg Schiano is doing insane things
Calvin Johnson is an animal
Buffalo goes from barley leading the Jets to blowing them out. 17-0 after a lucky TD, a turn over and a quick score.
I defend Rex Ryan a lot but the Jets look horrible coming off their bye week, did they even practice or prepare?
The Bills are even without their 2 best WRs
Geno Smith. Terrifying.
Must be nice when you are Matt Stafford and you can just throw it up to Megatron. Who does amazing things on a regular basis.
ACL surgery is obviously very serious and RGIII needs more than half a season to gauge whether or not he is healthy but so far the results are not good.
If you are an NFL player and you are thinking of growing your hair out. Don’t.
The Texans go back to Matt Schaub which makes little sense. At this point your season is basically over. You know what you have in Matt Schaub. Even if he comes in and plays well again, what do you gain? Also Keenum wasn’t even playing that poorly. This is a panic move by Gary Kubiak who fears for his job.
Speaking of Kubiak. The guy had a mini-stroke a few weeks ago ON THE FIELD and he is back coaching. He may fear for his job but I fear for his life.
Organizational stability is probably the most overlooked aspect about good teams It is a chicken or the egg question. Do great coaches have stability because they are great or are they great because they have stability.
Not that it is surprising but Geno Smith is handed a clipboard for the fourth quarter. Matt Simms coming in.
Geno Smith has had just a terrible game. 3 touchdowns and a fumble. His offensive line did him no favors but that is not an excuse. I realize that he is a rookie but after 11 weeks the progress isn’t really there. He makes the same dumb decisions he made in the first weeks that he does now. He also seems to crumble anytime the defense pressures him.
Matt Simms comes in and marches his team down the field.
This is a pointless conversation but I’m curious how the Jets fair if it was Sanchez under center. I do not think they beat the Pats or Saints but I’m confident they could be 5-5 and maybe even better. You have to imagine with Sanchez in the game they don’t get blown out by Cincinnati or Buffalo. Again, pointless discussion but I’m a Sanchez apologist.
So I guess Calvin Johnson doesn’t catch every ball that Stafford just launches into the air.
I don’t want to rip the Lions for that failed field goal because NFL coaches need to be more aggressive but man that call was bad.
The afternoon slot of games is a good one. Only topped by the prime time games this week. Thank you flex scheduling.
Scott Tolzein representing the backups well on his third drive. Hits James Jones down the middle of the field. Looking more and more confident.
Then, in the redzone, the Packers hand it to James Starks twice and settle for the FG.
Maybe it just seems this way but more so than any offense, I feel like Eli and his WRs have way more communication errors than any other team. Half of their interceptions come in situations where Eli throws it one place and his WR goes another place.
I could be really late to this but Ryan Tannehill looks a lot like Tate Donovan
At what point do we criticise the 49ers for trading Alex Smith and sticking with Colin Kaepernick?
I like the timing of this Bears-Baltimore game. Having a game end around 6 o’clock is great. With all the 4 time slot games heading into halftime this has a different feel. Although if the game wasn’t close I wouldn’t care at all so this isn’t really a revelation for the NFL.
Charles Clay just caught a short pass, scorched Manti Teo and trucked some dude on his way to a 40 yard touchdown. That boy can play.
Was just told by Soldier Field employee that concessions were stopped because TOO MUCH beer was being sold.
— Amy Jacobson (@AmyJacobson)
November 17, 2013
Brandon Jacobs vultures Andre Brown and fantasy players everywhere think its 2008.
It is easy to forget how important a rookie contract is to the future earnings of a player when you realize Victor Cruz is still underpaid after signing his extension.
"Aren't you an actor?" he said and then, boom, he hit him.
"Gimme that fucking beer," he said and grabbed Alfonso's beer.
"Rick, this is a kid, you can't hit this guy like that," I protested.
He just took that bottle and swigged from it.
-- In which Rick James hit Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and stole his beer in front of Mike Tyson
Globalization and the shrinking international game
By Zach Ricchiuti
As soccer expands, it is redefining the meaning of "nationality."
All of you who've paid attention to soccer news in recent weeks can go ahead and join me in hammering the final nail into international soccer's coffin. It's been a long, slow slide, but it has now officially been eclipsed by the club game.
That movement of talent throughout the world means that loyalties are increasingly fluid as well. Deco, Pepe, Marcos Senna and Camoranesi are just a few who have traded in their native nations for new ones. Senna and Camoranesi even won titles with those new sides. Choosing between the place you were born and the place you were raised is a fundamental career move for many of these athletes.
Diego Costa has taken that one step further. In choosing recently to play for Spain, the native Brazilian has redefined what "nationality" means within the football world.
The official FIFA rule is that you can play for any nation where you hold citizenship or have a blood relative. However, your loyalty is not established until you play for one country in an official, competitive FIFA match. This has helped the U.S. in a number of instances, most notably with Jermaine Jones. He played for Germany, but only in a friendly, leaving him eligible to switch to the U.S. later on.
What Diego Costa has done is somewhat different. He has not only played for Brazil in a friendly, but was selected to play for the national team in upcoming matches, with the expectations that he would be a main component of the World Cup team. But he rejected that call-up and took up Spain's colors instead, a country whose connection to him is limited to his five years of residency. In essence, Spain bought Costa from Brazil. Fully aware of its limitations up top, it went out and found a top striker much the way Real Madrid would if they needed to replace their own forward, Karim Benzema.
Costa's decision, nor the choices made by New Jersey-born Italian-American Giuseppe Rossi or Senna, Comranesi or any of the others, are particularly right or wrong here. It's just the reality, one created by FIFA's lax nationality guidelines. The organization is extending a convenience to the participants of a global — and globalized — game, but it does so at the risk of losing the nationalistic essence that for so long set the international game apart.
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Zach Ricchiuti is a contributor and resident soccer expert for Began in '96.
