The 2010 World Cup was a disgrace for the French National Team. They’ve taken their first step to making the changes in the right direction and they believe that a new coach can help. Laurent Blanc will be the new coach in town and look to bring France back to their winning ways.
He’s started out by making big changes. He’s dropped the entire 23-man roster that was in South Africa for his first game as coach.
He has full support of the French Federation and they’ve approved his punishment on the men. I can’t say all 23 men deserve this, but he wasn’t there so it’s hard for him to pick and choose. They were a team and they’ll be punished as a team.
The team will change. 23 new players will have a chance to impress Coach Laurent. France couldn’t get things right on the field and it was worse off the field. They showed no class as they went on strike. The team refused to practice after some problems came up.
Blanc has a lot of work to do before their friendly match vs. Norway on 8/11. He must select an entire new squad. This is in preparation for the European Championship as they must change things around. Their previous performance at the Euro Championship was also a disgrace as they failed to win a game.
The drama of the French soccer team was publicized by Newspapers and TV during the World Cup. Anelka decided to share his feelings about the previous Coach (Domenech) during halftime against Mexico. France was losing 0-2 at the time that these words were said. The French Federation took action and sent Anelka home.
This is when things got even worse. The entire squad decided to strike and sit out of practice the next day. To make things worse, the captain Evra was caught on camera in an unpleasant conversation with their fitness trainer.
These problems caused concern for many leaders of France. The President was concerned, amongst several other political leaders. Past legendary players even spoke out and one mentioned that Evra should be banned from International football. Blanc clearly has a lot of work to do and deal with drama off the field as well. He’s a great selection to make the changes and it seems he’s starting right away.
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The Buffalo Bills are an interesting team. With so much attention being focused on the New England Patriots and the new and improved New York Jets (not to mention the defending AFC East champion Miami Dolphins – oh yeah, remember them?), the Buffalo Bills are being overlooked.
The Bills improved to 1-1 for the season after this win. Although week 1 was a heart-breaker, it proved to the team that they’re capable of playing with the best.
Trent Edwards looks like a new QB on the field this season. Having had two very effective games for the Bills so far, Edwards has been very efficient in the pocket and is taking full advantage of his new weapons.
Additionally, he made use of new wide receiver Terrell Owens, who caught three passes for 51 yards, which included the likes of a touchdown reception. While Lee Evans only had one catch on the day, this was also a touchdown grab, and it’s clear that the two powerful wide receivers make the Bills’ offense a potent one.
Edwards also made use of wide receiver Schouman, whose 6 catches and 62 yards were both team highs. This 3rd receiver was a nice surprise to have in town.
As far as the running game goes, running back Fred Jackson did a tremendous job filling the void left by Marshawn Lynch (currently serving a suspension) with 163 yards in 28 attempts, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
You have to wonder how the carries will be split once Lynch returns. No matter how they’re split, this could be one of the top duos in the league.
They may not be the favorites to win the AFC East, but there’s no reason the Buffalo Bills should be counted out. Any football fan who remembers what the Miami Dolphins did last season should know this very well.
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This was perhaps the most anticipated game of the NFL football season thus far. The first ever regular season game in the new Cowboys Stadium, a mega dome for America’s football team, and by association, America’s stadium.
With a larger “space ship like” stadium and a party atmosphere comes high expectations for the actual team. Jerry Jones isn’t shy about spending money – hopefully the Cowboys on field achievements can equal that of the new stadium.
The NFC east will be very difficult to win for the Cowboys, the New York Giants look very strong thus far and the Philadelphia Eagles are strong as well.
The Cowboys have, if not the best, one of the best running duos in the NFL with RB Marion “The Barbarian” Barber and Felix Jones, – during the colder months running the ball will become even more important.
While America’s Team hasn’t won a playoff game since 1996 – fans and owner Jerry Jones feel as if the Cowboys are a contender every single season despite their flaws – why wouldn’t they think that?
Tony Romo has excellent targets, the problem is he throws it to other team much too often and needs better ball control. The Cowboys are potentially a 10 win team – which can keep them competing for the NFC East title. With the Giants being the favorites to win the NFC East title, the Cowboys may settle on a wild card birth and make some noise in the playoffs and get that “no playoff win since 1996″ off their back.
The question the Cowboys need to answer is who are the locker room leaders. Romo will need to take the next step, manage the game and make plays when necessary and not be “Tony Turnover”.
Eliminating Romo’s turnovers and running the ball effectively with their outstanding combination should make the Cowboys season very intriguing – as always.
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The Detroit Lions have no expectation for the 09′ season really — just don’t go 0-16 and that will be good enough it seems. The Lions already improved in 09′ winning in week 3 against the Washington Redskins 14-19 — the teams first win since 07′ against the Kansas City Chiefs in week 16. The Lions celebrated their first victory in years by high five-ing the fans in the crowd.
The Detroit Lions have an uphill climb in every sense of the word. The Lions are basically starting from scratch and at 0-16; the entire roster besides Calvin Johnson needed an overhaul.
The most important position in football is the quarterback, the Lions are hoping QB Matthew Stafford will help the Lions reach a 8-8 or 7-9 record — which by Lions standards that would be a great season.
Entering week 2, the Lions found themselves at home in Detroit, against division favorites (and last year’s NFC North winners), the Minnesota Vikings. This, too, was a game they were expected to lose, but a team that goes 0-16 the prior year should be expected to lose just about every game it plays.
The Lions offense must not give away games and hand the opposing teams many turnovers. Rookie QB’s turn the ball over often throwing interceptions, Matthew Stafford must stay calm and make smart decisions, easier said the done obviously.
Hopefully in 09′ the Lions can reach the .500 mark and maybe make the playoffs one year. If any city deserves a winning football team for once its Detroit, they have been beyond patient with their team.
Matthew Stafford can be the only one carrying the team, Calvin Johnson must play like one of the best wide receivers in the game and help make Stafford look good.
The Detroit Lions should do much better in 09′ then in 08′. Matthew Stafford has a high skill set and was drafted number 1 for a reason — while he might not be the “savior” to lead the franchise to the promise land, he is the cornerstone of the Lions now.
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The Cleveland Browns are looking quite miserable. After a very disappointing 2008 season, it doesn’t look like things are much better so far in 2009.
No more Kellen Winslow. Braylon Edwards, depending upon his mood, might be completely ineffective. No shining hope at running back, as Jamal Lewis has aged another year. The defense? Nothing special there either.
The 2007 season for the Browns gave Browns fans some optimism for the future – in sports nothing is guaranteed, especially winning.
After a 34-20 loss against the Vikings in week 1, things didn’t look too much better for the Browns. Granted, the Vikings are a tough team with high expectations this season, but after a week 2 loss at Denver, the Browns look nearly as hopeless as they did in 2008.
The Cleveland Browns lost by 14 points to the Minnesota Vikings in their first game. While the Vikings are a team that may very well with the NFC north, the Browns were still hoping for a better outcome. The team’s second game at Denver against the Broncos didn’t fare much better.
Was this really a new and improved Broncos defensive unit, or were the Browns really that bad on offense? I think it’s a bit of both, but I could easily tell it will be a very long season for the Browns and their fans.
The future has looked dim for many teams in the NFL and remarkably they have turned their franchises around. The Browns have so many problems it’s hard to know where to begin. Hopefully either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson can become what Browns fans thought they could be and acquire some young, explosive receivers.
It seems the Browns will be getting a very high draft pick in the spring time – that can be one of the turning points for their franchise.
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Last year was not a good time to be a Cincinnati Bengals fan. The team, with a high powered offense and high expectations, had a very disappointing season, as they won just four games during the entire regular season. Granted, the heart and soul of the team, Carson Palmer, was out with injury, but this was still a major letdown in Cincy.
Once Carson Palmer went down, we all knew it would be a rough year. Without Palmer, the team was anything but dangerous, and its offense virtually non-existent.
With a new year, much has changed since the ’08 season. The Bengals are off to a very fast start to the 09 campaign. With the loss of WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, one wouldn’t think that was possible.
Chris Henry is making a name for himself in a Bengals jersey, so the loss of T.J. may not seem as bad as Bengals fans would think.
The Bengals play in a very tough, grind it out type division, AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers (defending champs) and Baltimore Ravens. Playing these two teams twice a year is no easy task.
While a division title may be a stretch, those who watch the NFL know that season to season teams change for the better or worse – what you did a season ago doesn’t really matter. For example, take the Miami Dolphins 1-15 in 07′, 11-5 in 08′ winning the AFC East Division.
If the Bengals defense can stay in the middle of the league and not give up too many points – with the Bengals offense – they can compete in every game during the season.
The Bengals lost their first game of the season to the Broncos, but came back with a vengeance during week two, as they visited the Packers at Lambeau field and came away with a win. The passing game was on point, as was their running game, and a new sense of hope was born in Bengals nation.
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Few people thought the Denver Broncos would get off to such a fast start, but it happened.
The 2008 season was a disappointment – while the Broncos have started out well, their strength of schedule is one of the most difficult in the league. If the Broncos go 8-8 it will be a miracle. As good as the 09′ season started for the Broncos, it can sink just as fast.
Denver Broncos Coach McDaniel is the youngest coach in the NFL, and his lack of experience hasn’t seemed to matter so far. The Broncos have looked great through two weeks. Even Broncos fans weren’t happy with the new coach in town.
Sure, their first two opponents have been relatively easy ones. The Browns at home is a game they should be expected to win, and the Bengals in Cincinnati? Well, usually one would see this as an easy one too, except for the fact that the Bengals just marched into Green Bay last Sunday and came away with an unexpected win.
Maybe this team is better than people let on, and maybe the Broncos’ win in Cincinnati was more difficult than people believed it to be. The Bengals looked pretty legit to me with Carson Palmer, Ochocinco and Cedric Benson running the offense.
Regardless of the difficulty of opponents, the Broncos’ defensive prowess simply can’t be overlooked. In two games, the team has given up just 13 points. 8 quarters of football and 13 points is impressive no matter how you look at it, since a handful of teams have given that up in one quarter of football.
The team’s 27-6 win against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday was highlighted by a franchise-high four sacks in one half by Elvis Dumervil.
Let’s watch this team some more. They’re very interesting to say the least.
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The New York Football Giants look to win their second Super Bowl in 3 years in 09′. While the previous Super Bowl win was considered an upset but many – this years Giants will not sneak up on anyone.
This was a hyped up game in every sense of the word. Between the new stadium in Dallas, the Sunday Night Football status, and the fact that these teams have an enduring rivalry that seems to carry on with each season, this was a game that couldn’t be missed.
The Giants are in the NFC which is up for the taking, while there are a few teams that have opportunities to reach the Super Bowl, no team is head and shoulders above the rest this season.
There is much parody in the league and if a team has a bad week and one team plays hard, that team will receive a loss. The Giants must play their game, running the football and Eli Manning distributing the ball all over the field.
This year could provide the Giants with the same opportunity – many favor the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles ahead of the Giants at this time.
After losing both Plaxico Burress (to his gun incident) and Amani Toomer (to retirement), the team saw a gaping hole at the wide receiver position. This is why Mario Manningham was on their radar for the 2009 NFL draft.
The Giants could either make it to the Super Bowl or be bounced out in the first round, they are very unique. After losing to the Dallas Cowboys in week 2, to a lesser team it would seem in the Dallas Cowboys, it is hard to get a read on how good the Giants can be.
The Giants have the potential, like a few other teams, to make it far into the playoffs if they gain some momentum.
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This season has shown us some really good NBA rookies who have definitely started out their careers on the right note. The norm is usually that it can be a lot of seasons down the road until a rookie will do really well, with a bumpy start and many things to learn about this league along the way.
However, some pretty spectacular rookies are playing this season and they have already proved that they possess the qualities that veteran players have. That will go a long way in guaranteeing that they will have a super long basketball career.
Let’s take a look at a few of the top NBA candidates for rookie of the year this season. Here are a few of the most likely possibilities.
If you asked anyone a month or two ago, Brandon Jennings might have been the consensus answer. He came out with a bang this year, highlighting his impact with an incredible 55 point performance in November.
Unfortunately, Jennings has shot around the 30% mark during the course of the last month so he’s fallen out of contention for the moment.
At this juncture, Tyreke Evans, the guard on the Sacramento Kings who changed the worst team in the NBA last year into a great team this year, is being called the #1 choice. His astounding averages of more than 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds do indeed show that he will be quite a star in the NBA.
Another potential dark horse candidate is his teammate, Omri Casspi, hailing from Israel and in the league for his first season. Shooting nearly 50% from the field, Casspi is making a ton of three pointers and playing impressive defense too.
One player who is doing good right now is Golden State’s point guard, Stephen Curry, who has been doing consistently well at that position. This is a good thing for this franchise’s future, but if he doesn’t do better during the second half of the games, then he most likely will not be considered.
And finally, Johnny Flynn, a point guard for Minnesota, is also a possibility. He hails from Syracuse and definitely does not perform like you would think a rookie would. He is surely going to enjoy a long, successful basketball career.
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It was June 23rd, 2010 in South Africa and the U.S. soccer team faced Algeria. It was late into the game and American fans were starting to lose hope as it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen for them. Passionate soccer fans were heartbroken, considering the boys got robbed with a few calls and could have made it through with a few decisions made in their favor. Just when everyone was down, Landon Donovan comes to the rescue!
It was a must win situation for U.S.A. in their final game vs. Algeria. This game had American soccer fans biting their nails and caused many pits in stomachs. I know my stomach couldn’t handle it. They had some incredible chances, but nothing was falling for them. Once again, they even had a poor decision made by the ref which took a goal back from them.
England was playing against Slovenia as the U.S. played Algeria. If England won their match, it would force the U.S. into a must win situation. We all knew that England took a lead early in the game and it was unlikely that Slovenia would get the equalizer with England’s strong and experienced backline. As each minute ticked away, it seemed as if the American boys were going home.
In the 90th minute, the U.S. had another counter attack. But this time it actually meant something. The ball was moved from north to south and this play ended with one of the most theatrical moments in U.S. soccer history.
To no surprise Landon Donovan made it happen. His performance in this World Cup puts him down in the U.S. books as one of the best American soccer players of all time, if not the best.
This game winner meant more than just advancing to the next round. It also meant that we finished the group stage ahead of England and on top of the tables for the first time in the modern era. The round of 16 match will be played vs. Ghana, the team that sent us home in the previous World Cup.
The U.S. squad proved that they never give up. They’ll fight until the final whistle. They’ve showed they can come back and they’ve showed they can score. With a bit of luck on their side and the fight they’ve been playing with, anything can happen in the knockout stage.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed against Ghana and hope that we can get through to the next round. The boys deserve it and it would make a huge impact on U.S. soccer.
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