June Thoughts.

When Trying Simply Isn't Good Enough... Don't Try At All   

   I'm tired of the U.S. Men's National Team. I'm tired of their consistent run of form in not only perfecting the ability to half-ass 90 minutes, but also the ability of trouncing on my nationalistic soccer pride. Great win today, but what about the previous four matches? Loss at Costa Rica 3-1. Salvaged win to Honduras 2-1 on home soil. Dismantled by Italy 3-1. Annihilated by Brazil 3-0. Two of the four goals came from penalty kicks. Two costly red cards. The list of detrimental statistics could go on and on, but let me conclude on this: as a supporter of the Yanks, it's suffocating to watch your team continue to play the same uninspired kickball game after game. 2-0 wins over CONCACAF minnows and African, Asian, and European backwaters are not viable victories and should not be applauded. There are numerous players whose national team careers are way past done (*cough* Beasley *cough*) and management whose time should never have been given a chance in the first place (*cough* Bob Bradley *cough*). No matter the result against Spain on Wednesday, I'm fearful for my team's status at next year's zenith of the soccer universe. There needs to be a grave restructuring in the national team system if the United States is to see any results at next year's World Cup.

Facebook Ghosts

   Take a second and think about this: if someone dies and holds a Facebook, Myspace, and/or Twitter account and no one else knows said perished person's password, what becomes of said perished person's networking site? Does the profile just remain in a static state or can you report the incident and have the profile taken off? 

If Ohio Is For Lovers, Then Florida Must Be For Winners (Like Western PA)

   Has anyone ever taken the time to think about the victors over the last few losing Ohio sports teams in major championships? And I don't mean the actual winning teams themselves, but the locations of the winning teams. In 1997, it was the FLORIDA Marlins who beat the Indians in the World Series. In 2007 it was the UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Gators over the Buckeyes in the BCS Championship. Ditto in that year's NCAA basketball championship as well. In 2009, it was the ORLANDO Magic over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Is there a theme to this? 

   I potentially see this coincidental string of events as a potential microcosm for precipitous declines in population and economic activity in Ohio and the increases in both areas in Florida. While that may be nitpicking a little bit too much, it's interesting to see that we're not just losing people, capital, and a decent image of our state to those in the state of Florida, but we're also losing to their sports teams as well. It's a damn shame that we're not only Pittsburgh's bitch but now we're also Florida's. Way to go, Ohio.