Thursday, June 15, 2006

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The bad: England beats Trinidad & Tobago in another uninspired performance which was not only sub-par, but, it turns out, possibly was won by dastardly means. This is the first loss of the match which has really hurt.

The bad: Watching England beat the Soca Warriors with the other two members of a pretty move, who were both cheering for them. Scribbled in my notes from the game: "I can't believe my compatriots support the empire against the colonized!" I should've met up with Zach instead.

The bad: Lured to check out the City Sportsbar by an ad promising a 159-inch projector screen and $5.95 lunch specials, we arrived to find one rude bartender (terribly put out when I had the audacity to ask if they were going to show World Cup on the big screen when a lacrosse game began minutes before kickoff--okay, perhaps I was hasty, but I asked nicely and it was footie) who doesn't know how to pull a good pint of Guinness anyway--see Thirsty Lion, the good, below. Decent lunch specials, pleasant waitress, but snotty bartender spoiled my mood and turns out, the picture's not sharp on a 159-inch projector screen anyway. Duh! We won't be back.

The bad: A win for Paraguay would make it a bit easier for T&T to squeak through. Paraguay loses to a dull Swedish side.

The good: Thirsty Lion at 9 am. They are owned by a company called Concept Entertainment, which, frankly, makes our skin crawl, but they have complimentary coffee (and their coffee tastes better than Kells'), multiple widescreens, a really nice bartender who was into the match ("I get paid to watch World Cup!") and pulls a fantastic pint of Guinness which costs the same $5 as a badly poured pint at City Sportsbar and is an imperial pint. Also: rather than seeming baffled or annoyed by their enthusiastic World Cup crowd (see City Sportsbar above), this staff started laughing when spectators screamed in horror at momentary loss of picture on screen.

The good: John Terry's amazing save, even if it broke my heart. Steven Gerrard's fantastic goal, even if it broke my heart. Why couldn't England have more moments like that?

The good: Portland Timbers beat Minnesota Thunder tonight in an away match tonight, 2-1. Goals for Mamba Chisoni and Luke Kreamalmeyer (who is fast becoming one of my favorites). We are only one point behind first-place Rochester!

The ugly: Much of the soccer I saw today.

The tally: I am genuinely sad that T&T lost today--or rather, that they lost to a side that has proved to be so disappointing thus far, much in the way I mind how the US lost more than the fact that they did so. And then the already bad taste in my mouth is worsened by the Sancho/Crouch controversy.

So I'm done thinking about soccer till 6 am tomorrow. Fresh new day and three fantastic matches ahead as a balm to my spirit!

3 comments:

Zach Dundas said...

There should be some Saudi justice meted out to Peter Crouch. Wait—there I go being extreme in my rhetoric again.

For some strange reason, I think the Soca Warriors will go through. I don't see Sven letting Sweden win. The Trinis have been getting forward pretty well, and I think they'll break through against boring-boring Paraguay.

John Terry chills me to the marrow.

Anonymous said...

i felt the same way (dissapointment/ heartache) at ecuador losing that late goal to sweden.

this morning, i'm relegated to web audio for the holland/ ivory game. i don't suppose anyone is taping this i could gt my hands on at some point?? thanks.

Anonymous said...

oops. paraguay, not eceuador