Shadow

They mentioned that Patrice Evra has had problems with the French National squad. What did he do?

Man it's been just twenty minutes into the game but the refereeing has already been suspect as hell

That was a bullshit penalty call if I've ever seen one

What a save by the Croatian keeper. Wow! How many times is Brazil going to get free on the right side before they score?

Wow could that have been a worse start for Brazil

So what is the barometer for the US to have a successful World Cup? All three teams are pretty tough. Germany is a contender for the title, Portugal is also amazing but hit with recent injuries, and Ghana is a team we are going to have to counter attack to challenge them. I am encouraged by recent play and I would love to see the US play well. Soccer is a fantastic sport and a good showing would continue to help grow the sport here with the casual fans. I think that the US will struggle against Germany and lose but I feel like this is a game where we can show improvement. The defense struggled against Azerbaijan and Turkey in our warm up games to look like a quality side really. What I would like to see is that we keep our form and don't allow as many free runs in the box like did against Turkey. There were at least two occasions against Turkey where there was at least 20 yards between our defenders and a Turkey attacker when the ball was played over the US defenders head. The quality of German forwards will find that ball in the back of the net if that happens in Brazil. The US could easily give up four or five goals if our defense continues to look shaky so to me showing discipline to stay in formation and midfielders putting pressure on the ball and not just sitting back would be a mark of improvement going forward. Portugal is going to look a lot like Germany. Perhaps we can capitalize on some key injuries on Portugal's side. I do wonder if we can pack it in early and frustrate Portugal into making a mistake. I believe that we have the talent to do it. I am not as certain on the execution. One mental lapse, one poor pass, a lackluster clear and the US could be in serious trouble early. http://www.cbssports.com/world-cup/eye-on-world-cup/24582877/the-injury-list-stars-set-to-miss-the-world-cup Speaking of Ronaldo, the global star has been bothered by a thigh injury and left knee tendonitis. The Portuguese FA announced on Saturday that he was back in training, and that's huge for his country. He's capable of carrying Portugal deep into the World Cup, and there is a huge dropoff if he's not in top form. Pepe and Raul Meireles are also dealing with fitness issues. Exciting attacker Bruma (knee) and fullback Silvio (broken leg) are definitely out. I don't feel like Ghana is out of the US reach for a win. In fact I'd say it was a game that they should win. They played their best game in a long time against Nigeria and we'll need that form again against Ghana. Against Ghana I would like to see the midfielders play well as I feel they will be the key in the game. The US will need to counter Ghana and to strike quickly the midfield will need to be disciplined and capitalize on their opportunities. As well as they played in the warm ups there were still several opportunities to connect with our strikers that were missed or balls placed in the wrong area to go forward. Ghana's weakness is in their midfield and left fullback so those are where the US will need to attack. Winning here would give the US a huge lift going into the game against Portugal. http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jun/05/world-cup-2014-ghana-tactical-analysis The long-tested midfield partnership of Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari will be broken up with Mohammed Rabiu taking a defensive midfield slot to offer the energy and pace that the two experienced players can no longer provide. Appiah’s biggest problem is at full-back. His best left-back is a right-back by trade who spends his regular season playing in midfield at Esperance, Harrison Afful, while his other options, Samuel Inkoom and Daniel Opare are nothing if not inconsistent.

Ever wondered why Pop is considered the best coach in the league? I sincerely hope coaches across the country are taping this because this is a clinic. One of the rare times I feel lucky to watch a sporting event. I feel like the Heat will make a comeback but man this is great.

I swear it felt like the Spurs went the entire third quarter and got points every single possession. It probably didn't happen that way but my goodness the Spurs are amazing. For the Heat to be down only one is a testament to Lebron carrying the Heat in the 3rd. If the Spurs lose this series and it's close, those four free throws will be the thing that haunts the Spurs like the missed lay up for Duncan in '13. Also...even Bosh...EVEN BOSH

I've heard a lot about Demon's Souls so I had to pick it up during the flash sale. Considering getting Ni No Kuni as well.

Somebody stop the damn match

ESPN has what I found to be an interesting article on the Spurs. Small excerpt from the intro follows. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10955188/gregg-popovich-tim-duncan-stories We're talking about it again because the Spurs are tantalizingly close to another NBA Finals appearance. Provided they find a way to survive this almighty struggle with their uberathletic nemeses from Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals, it would be the sixth time Pop and Timmy lead the team from the league's fourth-smallest TV market onto the sport's biggest stage, chasing their fifth title together to pull even with Bryant's haul. Kobe, Avery and many others have been asked in recent weeks to talk about the Spurs to help us in our unending quest, after all these years of concealment, to get a better sense of how the man steeped in military intelligence and his own QB for 17 years (and counting) really operate. (Kobe) “I'm jealous of Tim, playing for the same historically great coach for his entire career.”

Spurs bench tonight has more heart than half the teams in the league

These are the only two serious possibilities for major events tomorrow in England right: - Liverpool needs Manchester City to lose. They could win the league with a tie but they'd have to score a shit ton of goals. - Manchester United needs Tottenham to lose and they would need to win to qualify for Europa League.

Kony 2014

Finally a site where I can agree with most of their grading http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2014/05/ksk-nfl-draft-coverage-grading-first-round-picks.html

Well I've been banging the drum for Kelvin Benjamin for a long time so I'm happy with this pick.

I hope the Saints gave up a ton to move up... ...They did not

Did those assholes what Barry Sanders?

I wonder if the Browns are trying to be like Seattle and try to win with dominant DBs

Rippa you were right

Cleveland does realize this isn't Draft Day right?

I'm very glad Atlanta did not get Mack. Having him chase Cam for the next decade was not an appealing thought.

Cleveland finally not acting like Cleveland...what is this strange new world we live in?

Oh here we go

Wow if you had Blake Bortles as the first QB off the board pick up your money at the window