1) Nope, I'm a Anglican. Used to be a Practising Sorbetphite.

2)Thank you. I have <b>so</b> much to learn. <i>Footie</i>, as it's called in England, is my life.

My understanding is that if they play to a draw, the US could still advance, but they'd need the goal differential tie-breaker. So they'd have to beat Ghana by 5 goals. That's incredibly unlikely, obviously, but still that's the possibilities.

Thank you Tony.

<B>Now</B> I'm catching soccer fever!

How you feeling about that now? Bush isn't having a great year, but at least they finally found chemical weapon stores in Iraq. Cubbies look just about dead already. Wood is done with the Cubs for good, is what I hear. His contract is up at the end of the year, and he had to cut short a practice session yesterday.

I'll take Bush in a squeaker.

Whoa.

I need a sorbet float.

You have my attention.

Who said it was slow on this discussion board?

Now I know why they call it the World <b> Cup</b>. Soccer is much more interesting than I had previously thought. :cool:

Z

Whatever floats your sorbet, Martha.....

How am I feeling? I hope Dubya uses those chemical weapons on Ghana. Maybe tell Rumsfeld to dust off a few off those old nukes that are still laying around too that he hasn't sold yet. Give Cheney a new shotgun and <b>whole</b> buncha shells, and send him over there on a hunting trip. We'll show 'em!

I'm devastated! Devastated, I tell ya!

I'm switching my allegiance to Germany and Australia. At least their fans have got nice <i>freds</b>.

No problem, Tony. By the way, if anybody hasn't rated this thread yet, I think Tony has just given them a reason to give it an excellent rating!! :D

I gave it a 38DD.

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5691914_7_1.jpg http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5720384_7_1.jpg http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5694942_7_1.jpg

I'll try to give these to you guys in small doses. I don't want any old farts having a cornary! :)

I'm still fairly young but I do think I'm getting some numbness in my arms when viewing those "fans".

Z

Now that the US is out of the World Cup, maybe we can get back to baseball?

The Orioles tried to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera in the top of the 10th last night. But the intentional ball wasn't as far outside as pitcher Todd Williams wanted it to be. Plus he lobbed it like a slow-pitch softball game. So Cabrera swung and hit it for an RBI base hit.

I've only seen that in The Natural.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260622101

And I almost forgot. Tony's Tarheels are in the championship series!!

Yes they are! And they're sitting pretty too! Three terrific, well rested, starters, which include two first rounders. The third guy? Threw a 6 hit shutout complete game against Clemson Sunday. Pretty tough to throw a complete game shutout as hot as aluminum bats are these days.

Someone should send these pictures to the soccer fans, they can't seem to cowboy up with the local wiminz...

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsar...src=rss&rpc=22

I saw Yogi Berra do it in old Yankee Stadium when I was a kid.

Note the difference right there. Mr. BktBallRef is NOT blaming the umpires for any losses, as a fanboy is wont to do. Mr. BktBallRef is merely cheering on his own, beloved team.

So.....what have we learned today, class?

BktBallRef is <b>not</b> a fanboy.
BktBallRef is an athletic supporter.

So.....what have we learned today, class?

BktBallRef is not a fanboy.
BktBallRef is an athletic supporter.


:)

To the contrary, with these type of CUP fans in the stands, why pay for somehing you can get for free? :p

I bet most of the wiminz in those pictures haven't given it away for free in a long, long time. ;)

To the contrary, I bet they give it away on a regular basis. :eek:

Thank you for posting the photos of the beautiful CUP girls. We have no such thread on the baseball board.:)

Be careful or this could happen to you too...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/23/im....ap/index.html

Pirates have lost 9 in a row, including being swept by the Royals. Too bad the team is so bad in such a beautiful ballpark.

Yeah, I hate it when that happens......

And in College World Series news......

The headline in this morning's Fayetteville Observer-Times reads <b><i>"TarHeels lick Beavers"</i></b>.

It's true, it's true........

And what a licking it was! :p

JR's favorite coach was even there!

:confused:

Break up the Tigers........

Don't they know that they're too young to be doing what they're doing?

Looking good, mick......

Geeze, I flipped over to footy between innings and what do I see? Portugal vs. Netherlands......kicking, kneeing, holding, elbowing, flopping, whining, faking, swearing, punching, grabbing....

Lah me....you go to watch a l'il <i>futbol</b> and an NBA basketball game breaks out......

Don't forget to play the video.....

http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/n...ory?id=2500470

Probably a Maverick's fan still upset at his team's choking...... either that or Mark Cuban switched to <i>beisbol<i> for the summer. :D

I mentioned the Braves a while ago, but what about the other end of that spectrum? The Mets have the biggest division lead in the majors, at 12 games! I know they were supposed to be improved this year, but come on! And of course, they get good just when Pedro is slated to come to town. . .

Also, the Swiss lost in the round of 16 in the World Cup yesterday. They lost in a shootout (3-0) after playing to a nil-nil draw through regulation and OT. The loss makes the Swiss the first team in World Cup history to be eliminated from the tournament without ever giving up a goal.

I never liked the shootout. Play OT till somebody wins.

It seems to be about the manager:

" 'You play this game to the end.' - Jim Leyland
He doesn't demand much.
But he does demand that." Tom Gage [Detroit News]
<!-- EDITORIAL: end body of the story --><!-- ALL: end main story well --><!-- EDITORIAL: begin list of other articles in section -->

It's gotten better, there didn't used to be an overtime. You just went straight to penalty shots.

On the other hand, I thought it was ironic for the Swiss to have a team in the cup anyway. I mean, with their officially neutral stance on everything, it just rubs against their nature to try and win anything. Perhaps that explains losing with no goals :D

Holy cow, did I just post in the baseball thread, that I never read?

How do you explain the French also? Using the same logic, historically they'd surrender before every game. :D

I'm hoping they surrender to the Spanish today ;)

I like the Brazilians or the Argentinians myself. Their fans just seem to have a heckuva lot more fun. They even enjoy themselves when they riot; they do it with a smile on their face. When the English or the Germans riot, they don't look like they're enjoying themselves at all; they kinda look like they're only rioting because it's expected of them. The Koreans and Japanese are too polite when they riot; they almost ask your permission first before giving you a whack upside the head...and they look like they want to apologize after too.

Now if the Aussies hadda won......there's a nation that really enjoys a good riot.

I have to agree about the Brazilians. I was in London for one world cup where they did really well and they, the Brazilian fans, were a big, big story.

While the Spanish may not riot well, the throw a mean Inquisition.

Agree. Torquemado really knew how to throw an post-game party.....and talk about tail-gating before the game...think grilled heretics.

Now those were the days. Any more it's impossible to find poppy-seed buns large enough for a grilled heretic.

10 straight wins for the Sox with Schill, Wake and a cast of minor leaguers in the rotation. And tonight Pedro pitches in Fenway. Gonna be fun.

Nice little comeback for the Yanks tonight. 'Course the Braves bullpen is just awful. Hard to believe it took so long to get the win.

Sox beat up on Pedro pretty good tonight, too. Hope he's not getting ready for his All-Star visit to the DL. 11 straight for the Sox. Longest winning streak in 11 years for them.

Cubbies won pretty convincingly, too. Dusty gonna make it thru the season?

Geeze, are you deliberately ignoring Dee-troit? They won again too; best record in <i>beisbol</i>. They whacked Rog-ah t'other night too. Looked good on him, phony jerk. Looks like the wild card might be coming out of the AL Central instead of the East- for a change.

Where was Billy Buckner last night?

Ignoring them? I'm driving 800 miles to watch them in two weeks.

I don't think they exactly "whacked" Roger, did they? He went 6 1/3 innings and only gave up 1 earned run. If Houston scored any runs for him, he'd be 2-0 now instead of 0-2. He probably would've won 25 games last year, too. (The Astros have been shut out 10 times in Roger's starts since '04, according to PTI.) His ERA was around 1.85 or so, the best of his career. Exactly the opposite of his 2001 Cy Young year with the Yanks. His ERA was 3.51; but he got 7 runs/game in run support, so he was the league leader in wins, with 20.

You're driving 800 miles to Detroit?

Deliberately?

http://www.feebleminds-gifs.com/straight-jacket.gif

Just kidding. New stadium....great young team...wise old coach....what's not to like?

Gotta say though, I kinda miss old Tiger stadium. Saw quite a few games there myself- going waaaaaay back. There was just something about it......

Well we know that he wasn't at the Red Sox/Mets game in Boston yesterday.

And just how do we know that?

[Someone please insert a picture here of the sign hanging on the outfield wall that has the word "interleague" misspelled.]


Chuck would have gone and fixed it or taken it down. No way he is sitting through nine innings staring at that! :D

<b>Question</b>-- <i>"What has 4,000 eyes and an IQ of 24?"</i>

<b>Answer</b>--<i>"The first eight rows at a BoSox game"</i>

I thought about Chuck as soon as I saw that sign. Classic.

How about those Bosox?!?! 2 homers for Manny, 2 more for Papi. Coco Crisp looking pretty darn good in CF. Wakefield improving with every start.

How about those Mariners? At least they had a great start last night. . .

Which is more than you can say for the Big Unit? :eek:

And the Reds keep plugging along, tied for first with the Cards.

And just so JR doesn't think I'm ignoring the Tigers, they lost yesterday, but still have a game-and-a-half lead in the division.

He's trying. Last week, he signed with the San Diego Surf Dawgs.

"Jose Canseco returned to baseball Thursday when he agreed to a contract with the independent San Diego Surf Dawgs, planning to be their designated hitter and -- get this -- pitch.

The Golden Baseball League announced the deal Thursday night, saying the former AL MVP and Rookie of the Year will make his Surf Dawgs debut Monday night on the road against the Chico Outlaws.

Canseco will make his debut at 10:05 ET on July 3."


http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/n...ory?id=2504983

Cubbies over the White Sox 15-11? Wow.

Yankees leading the Mets 13-4 in the 4th? Wow.

Big scores in those subway series tonight.

The key word is "independent". Iow, that team doesn't fall under the MLB drug-testing umbrella.

19-1.

Sigh.......

They're morphing into the freaking Cubs.

The Cleveland pitcher is the same guy who started against them a couple years ago when they beat the Yanks 22-0.

At least you haven't lost the first 2 to the Devil Rays. Sheesh.

I heard something on ESPN last night about the 19-1 score being the worst in the Yankees' history. I knew that just didn't sound right. I remember the 22-0 game.:(

Speaking of those freakin' Cubs...

I was watching the Cubs/Astros game, and Brad Ausmus, the 'Stros catcher, was in the middle of an 0-for-40 slump. It even set an Astros team record for the longest 0-for slump by a position player. I did like his quote: "I've been 0-for-40 before, just not consecutively." He then proceeded to hit one off a diving Ramierez's glove for a base hit, and his "supportive" teammates asked the umpire for the ball. I can only imagine the message that'll be written on it...

I guess being a Cub fan makes me more aware of futility.

Ortiz hits his 30th of the season, which is a franchise record for HRs before the All-Star break. Also just heard that Travis Hafner of Cleveland set the record for grand slams before the All-Star break, with his fifth tonight. And speaking of grand slams. . .

Dontrelle Willis has the first grand slam by a pitcher since 2002.

Yanks win a nail-biter.

This is pretty fun so far. (Of course, I can say that b/c I'm not in Kansas City.)

I see that both Manny and Pedro were again forced to withdraw from the All-Star Game due to their annual, mid-season debilitating injuries. As usual, both will seek the best medical care possible - in the Dominican.

Some things never change.......:D

Hey, if you could afford an annual trip to the Caribbean for some "rehab", wouldn't you go, too?

Factoid
 

Tiger rookies have pitched 28.6 % of the total innings for the team.
The rookies cumulative record is 19-6 and their cumulative ERA is around 2.77.
Next year they get some Tarheel kid, ... if they pay enough money.

Futball...I don't know.

Basketball referee...I don't know.

But biesbol...biesbol been beddy, beddy gud to me.

- Chico Esquela

Hey DJ, what was up with Ichiro last night? Looked like he was doing an imitation of a statue at home plate there. Then later, when the plate actually called a foul tip, Hargrove went nuts and got tossed. Hee-hee!!

(Think the ump saved that one on purpose? Oh, you want me to call a foul tip, here you go. Oh, by the way, that one's strike 3! :D )

BTW, this is post # 8,000 for me!!

Italy win the Cup! Italy's first half goal was a beaut, but the only really interesting story is Zidane, of course. Gets a PK from a dive, then gets a red card in the 110th minute!! What could the Italian have said to him to make him do that? That was just an unbelievably stupid thing to do in such an important game.

Anyway, now we can get back to all baseball, all the time. (Unless Tony has any more hotties up his sleeves.)

Man, there's more diving and faking injuries in <i>futbol</i> than Manny in the week before the All-Star game every year. Almost....

My prediction went out the window early. I had both Italy and France surrendering before the game started.:D

PS.....they gotta be awful small hotties if they can hide inside Tony's sleeve.

[Cosell imitation] Down goes Prior!! Down goes Prior!! [/Cosell imitation]

Nah, I had the whops all the way. When the frogs surrender, they open a bottle of Bordeaux & ask the Germans when they would like dinner served. When the guineas surrender they take to the hills, open a bottle of Chianti & continue the fight. That's what my grandfather told me, who spent most of WW1 & WW2 fighting Germans in the hills of northern Italy.

To answer Chuck's question, I bet what the Italian said rhymed with "Ba Fangul". But he got his moneys worth, that was quite a headbutt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1i_l0OeeMc

But only for a while.....maybe......until the next time.

Of course Kerry Wood is now officially done for the year. Right on schedule. Well, maybe a shade late. And it looks like the Rev. Johnny B. is gonna take the hit for all this too, during the All-Star break if the rumors are correct. I can't believe that the G.M. that put this club together is gonna skate though.

Yo, M&M, if it's any consolation, we're laughing <b>at</b> you, not with you.:D

19 innings for the Sox and Sox yesterday. Trot Nixon went oh-fer-NINE!! First time anybody's done that since '91 -- Rafael Palmiero did it back then. And the reason it went extras is that Papelbon finally coughed one up. (It's actually his second blown save, but the first one was an impossible sitch.) Oh well, it's bound to happen once or twice.

On the plus side, I think Putz picked up the save for the M's yesterday. (Gratuitous "Putz" reference, just to make JR smile.)

Ah yes, the immortal J.J. Putz. Just a great <i>beisbol</i> name, and the kid is a magician to boot. He made Eddie (the Toad) Guardado disappear in Seattle.

Speaking of great baseball names, I was saddened to hear that Minny sent Boof Bonser back to the minors.

Hey, they've won 3 in a row, and that's a season high! Good thing the All-Star break comes up to cool 'em off.

Hell, even <B>I'm</B> laughing at me.

HE CALLED ME A TERRORIST!!! So I....headbutt him in the chest....in public...in front of 2 billion viewrs...but I'm not a terrorist...I'm just sensitive. BTW, did we win??

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...263995,00.html

“It is absolutely not true,” Materazzi said. “I did not call him a terrorist. I’m ignorant. I don’t even know what the word means. The whole world saw what happened on live TV.”

That's the quote from Chuck's article that's interesting. Has overtones of, "Uh, uh, I never touched her!!" Yea, right.

I also noticed it said that Zidane's been sent off 14 times. The commentator on TV after the game said that he'd actually jumped on the back of an opponent who was lying on the ground, already injured. Wow.

My wife and I went to see X-Men III (can't remember the sub-title) tonite. Twice Xers headbutted other Xers. Both times time I turned to my wife and said "He could be a French soccer player". Thank you Zizou for at least a year's worth of bad lines.

Well.....if it's any consolation, Zizou <b>did</b> win the Golden Ball Award.

Personally, I voted for Ron Jeremy.

Does anyone watch the Home Run Derby? Or has it become the equivalent of the Slam Dunk competition?

Anybody gonna watch the All-Star game?

Don't say that - it's <B>not</B> the equivalent. The Slam Dunk "competition" has become just an exhibition because it's judged the same as figure skating, boxing, and synchronized swimming; it's all subjective. Maybe it's just my simple mind, but give me a good, easy way to judge: it's a home run, or it isn't. And if you hit 10 that aren't, you're done. That to me makes it a competition. Not like the Slam Dunk where you get to keep trying till you make it, no matter how many times it takes you.

Yep, it's still entertaining for me, because there are still players that want to be there. And of course, this time it means something! ;)

No.

Yes.

Maybe.

You mean like the Slam-Dunk winner that took 47 attempts before finally making one? The NBA.....Fantaaaastic.....

Back to <i>beisbol</i>.....um, simple-minded, naive M&M, didya ever wonder about Sammy winning the home run contest with a corked bat? Or anyone else, for that matter?:D

Hey, Sammy admitted to using the corked bat for batting practice, and he used a batting practice pitcher for the competition, right? Same difference.
(I may be simple-minded and naive, but I'm not stoopid...)

Speaking of batting practice pitchers, I believe the competitors get to choose who they want to throw to them, and I thought I heard the guy that threw to last year's winner was chosen by 4 of this year's competitors. He probably threw 200 pitches by the time the evening was done. (In fact, as he was walking off the field I saw him asking for the Cubs' team doctor...)

So... Trevor Hoffman... the real All-Star MVP??? :D (Grrrrrrr)

Two strikes; two outs; two on. . . two RBI triple!

Red Sox have home field advantage for the World Series again!! Woo-hoo!! :D

Too much heartburn...

Chuck - I fixed the color of the Sox for you... ;)

You think the White Sox can go back-to-back? Come on. You think these guys are the '98-'00 Yankees?

Believe me, I'm not a White Sox apologist. I cringe when I see Ozzy smiling afer a game. But how can you argue with their pitching staff? You could make the arguement that any one of them could be a #1 on most other staffs. And the offense isn't bad either. No offense to mick's Tigers, but the White Sox have been here before, so they probably have a better shot at not folding in the second half. So, barring the injuries, is there a better team, position by position, out there right now?

I think he was smiling because he had a dinner date with Jay Mariotti.

I would pay real money to sit at that table... :D

And yet another reason to hate, er, I mean dislike, the White Sox:

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9550520

The Yankees sign Sidney Ponson.

Sidney Freaking Ponson.

Just what we need to uphold the great Yankee tradition....one of the all-time great head cases.

Sidney Freaking Ponson.

Lah me......

This is what happens when a team has too much money to spend. They don't care what they buy.
It is bad for baseball.

Spending money is bad for baseball?

Come on. He eats too much, he drinks too much. Seems to me that's a great Yankee tradition. Ruth. . . David Wells. . . and now the beat goes on. :)

Hmmm....these guys were red sox too, no?

But I don't think they were big until they were Yankees, right?

I'll agree.

So, New York City is the Known Apple?