{"id":551,"date":"2010-06-02T16:10:15","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T21:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=551"},"modified":"2010-06-02T18:13:54","modified_gmt":"2010-06-02T23:13:54","slug":"please-forgive-me-puckheads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=551","title":{"rendered":"Please Forgive Me, Puckheads"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, it has been brought to my attention that there is something going on in the world of sports that has not gotten any attention from us here at BSB that probably should be getting at least a mention.\u00a0 At first, I wasn’t sure if I could swallow my pride and write about what I’ve called a “niche sport,” but then I thought about it and there were many reasons why I should give at least a rudimentary opinion on a sport about which I know very little.\u00a0 Here’s why I decided to suck it up and do this post:<\/p>\n

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  1. The “home team” to just about everyone on Philadelphia’s Broad Street is playing in the\u00a0world championship of its sport.<\/li>\n
  2. They are not playing just anyone–they are facing one of the oldest, most celebrated, and beloved teams in the history of the sport.<\/li>\n
  3. Neither team has won a championship in my lifetime<\/li>\n
  4. Even more so, despite a rabid fan base, the other team has not\u00a0won a title since the 1960’s.<\/li>\n
  5. Our team is a decided underdog, but thrilling, historic upsets leading up to this championship has given us hope that maybe they can take us through one more\u00a0incredible ride to a title.<\/li>\n
  6. And, finally, as hard as this is to say:\u00a0 while I have criticized\u00a0the sport\u00a0in the past for being a “niche” sport, it really does have a lot more followers in this country than most people give it credit for and…-gulp-…I actually do REALLY enjoy watching it every once in a while.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For all of these reasons, I think that the Broad Street Believers <\/em>blog, a website that prides itself on covering the home teams of Philadelphia, owes its fans and followers this post.\u00a0 I am sorry it has been this long, and I apologize for my incredible lack of knowledge about the sport.\u00a0 So, I will swallow my pride and actually write this blog’s first ever article on…<\/p>\n

    …I can’t believe I’m doing this…<\/p>\n

    …I’m going to lose a lot of respect from a lot of people…<\/p>\n

    …on…<\/p>\n

    …USA SOCCER!!!<\/p>\n

    What?\u00a0 Wasn’t it obvious?<\/p>\n

    Anyway, I think that Team USA has a really good chance to get out of their group and into the elimination round, but they have to get off to a good start in the very first game against England.\u00a0 The other two teams in the group–Slovenia and Algeria–are probably pretty good draws for the two red, white, and blue nations, but they are not to be taken lightly–especially Algeria.\u00a0 Algeria and Slovenia are both solid,\u00a0and either can definitely <\/em>steal a qualifying spot from one of the two powers, if they’re not careful, so getting at least a draw with England in game one is a must for the Americans.\u00a0 Beating them would probably assure themselves of a trip to the elimination round.<\/p>\n

    And, that first game with England remains incredibly important, even if you discount the chances of Slovenia and Algeria of stealing a spot.\u00a0 This is because the way the brackets will be set, getting that C1 spot over the C2 spot could be gigantic, in terms of matchups in the second round.\u00a0 The second round pits Group C against Group D with the first-place team from one playing the second-place team from the other.\u00a0 Well, a quick look at Group D will give you a nice understanding of why winning Group C is very <\/em>important.\u00a0 Germany (one of the kings of the sport) is sitting in Group D and is the odds-on favorite to be that D1 team.\u00a0 Avoiding Germany in the second round is a must.\u00a0 But, furthermore, there is some real intrigue in that second-place team from Group D.\u00a0 Would anyone be surprised if Ghana (an African nation with a history of World Cup success) shocks Serbia and Australia and grabs that D2 spot, despite being outside the top 30 in the FIFA rankings?\u00a0 It wouldn’t shock me, so that might actually be a nice little matchup for the Americans in the second round, if they can win Group C–not that Ghana is a pushover, but to be able to get to the quarters without facing a European or South American power would be nice.<\/p>\n

    Okay, let’s look even further at the bracket.\u00a0 Let’s say the Americans finish second to England in Group C.\u00a0 Then, they head over to face D1, which would presumably be Germany.\u00a0 Now, let’s say they pull off a pretty big upset and beat the Germans.\u00a0 They would then, probably be staring right at yet another of the favorites to win the whole thing in the quarters–Argentina.\u00a0 Again, there would be no shame in a quarterfinal loss to Argentina, but still, let’s not take “moral victories” until we have to.\u00a0 So, to get to the semis after finishing second in Group C, you probably have to beat Germany AND <\/em>Argentina–brutal.\u00a0 Now, let’s look at the probable road for C1–the winner of Group C.\u00a0 As we said earlier, it would be D2, which might be Ghana, but even if it’s not, as long as it’s not Germany, it will be against a team ranked lower <\/em>than the USA in the FIFA rankings (Serbia or Australia).\u00a0 Moving on from there, the quarterfinal matchup would be against the winner of the second round game between A1 and B2.\u00a0 Group A’s best team, France, is the worst of the “top seeds,” while the B2 team will probably be either Greece or Nigeria.\u00a0 So, if Germany and Argentina both win their groups (pretty likely), the hardest quarterfinal matchup for the C1 team would be either France or Greece.<\/p>\n

    Again, let’s compare the most likely roads to the semis of the Group C champion (C1) and the Group C runner-up (C2):<\/p>\n