Who rocks? Iraq!

In one of the more inspiring sports stories of the year, Iraq's national men's soccer team completed a major upset yesterday beating Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup. In their path to the title they beat regional powerhouses Australia and South Korea. The Saudis were favored in this match, but Iraqi captain Younis Mahmoud scored the games only goal in the 71st minute to give the Iraqis a win and also qualified them to play in the FIFA Confederations Cup where they may end up playing against the U.S. Currently Brazil(Copa America winners), Italy(World Cup winners), the U.S.(Gold Cup winners), South Africa(host), and Iraq(Asian Cup winners) are the teams playing in the tournament. There will be three more spots awarded to the winners of the African Cup of Nations, Oceania's Nations Cup and UEFA's European Cup. Confederations cup will be played in 2009 as sort of a World Cup practice for South Africa, hosts of World Cup 2010.

This Iraq team was made up of Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd players. They had to live in neutral countries to train because of the state of war in their home country. In fact, they won't even be able to bring the cup to Iraq because of the dangers they would face. 50 people were killed by car bombers while celebrating the semifinal victory over South Korea.

In any case, congratulations to Iraq for a greatly earned victory. I couldn't be more pleased.

One of my heroes

I do post a lot on this blog about soccer, but I have to confess that my first love in sports was baseball. I played all the way until college, against teams from as close as San Bernardino and as far as Australia. I learned to love the game that is widely proclaimed as our national pastime. However, after the 1994 Major League player strike I lost a lot of my desire to watch the game. Add to that the recent conflicts over steroids and I honestly barely watch baseball any more (except when my Mets knock the Dodgers out of the playoffs).

Yesterday, one of my heroes in baseball was inducted into the Hall of Fame. I have always respected Tony Gwynn as a baseball player. He embodies everything that I think a baseball player should be- he had fun, he always made time for the fans, he worked endlessly to improve his game, and he never sacrificed his dignity. Statistically, he ended his career with a stunning .338 average and 3141 hits. I think his most impressive stat is his batting average stayed nearly the same with two strikes. When he was inducted, there was no question as to what team he would be connected to - he was a Padre his entire career. This simply does not happen anymore.

Living in San Diego for just over 4 years, I was able to see Tony Gwynn play on many occasions. It never escaped me that I was watching one of the greatest hitters ever to swing a bat. And although I don't care much for him otherwise, Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times did a nice story on him yesterday.

I want to end with a quote from his induction speech yesterday. I think it sums up what Tony Gwynn was as a player and remains to be as an ambassador for baseball.

"I think people, we make a big deal about work ethic. We make a big deal about trying to make good decision and doing things right, and you know what, we are supposed to. That is what they pay us for. When you sign your name, I'm a big believer when you sign your name on a dotted line, there's more than just playing the game of baseball. I think if you look out here today, you see all these people out here today, they love the game too and there's a responsibility when you put that uniform on that those people, the people who pay to go watch you play, you're responsible, you've got to make good decisions and show people how things are supposed to be done."

As we wait for Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron's home run record by cheating, its nice to remember that there were - and are - very classy hard-working players in this game.

I am a media whore

Listen to my short appearance on ESPN 710 radio continuing the Beckham hype. Keep in mind that I was in the middle of Guinness #3 during the interview.

That's one handsome devil

Check out these stories from Fox Sports and The Sun (UK News) on the welcoming of Beckham to the Galaxy. There is a pretty handsome looking guy in the pictures doing something on his cell phone. Probably calling one of his many girlfriends. Seriously - one stunning example of a man.

L.A. meets Becks

Yesterday I ditched summer school to attend the "unveiling" of the Galaxy's new player (and savior?) David Beckham. The event was open to season-ticket holders. I also went so I could get my hands on a new jersey - we changed colors and logo to welcome our $250 million midfielder.

Side note: I was once asked why I use "we" and "us" and "our" when talking about the Galaxy when I don't play for the team and am not employed by the team. Well, there are two answers: #1- I have probably given this team somewhere in the area of 5,000 of my hard-earned dollars in the last 6 years or so (season tickets, 6 jerseys, extra tickets, hats, scarves, t-shirts, beer) which I consider a pretty heavy investment. #2- You are obviously not much of a sports fan if you ask that question and shouldn't be bothering me with such quibbles.

Back to the point: So I got to the Home Depot Center, bought two new jerseys (without Beckham's name) and one t-shirt that looks like a jersey (which has a big 23 and Beckham on the back). Needless to say, there are a crapload of people buying this stuff. Yesterday was supposed to be the first day that anybody saw these new uniforms. I saw a leaked picture about a month ago. Someone at Adidas leaked official pictures on Monday. So they released them in Sports Authority (exclusive rights to sell new Galaxy stuff) stores on Wednesday. From Wednesday to Friday there were 250,000 sold. That is how the Galaxy has already made back what we paid for Beckham.

Moving on. It was hotter than a mofo inside since we were seated in the one section of the stadium without shade. I have the sunglass tan only on the right side of my face to prove it. I join my regular gametime friends - the L.A. Riot Squad - and they are already singing and chanting. (also, many of them were in the parking lot before 8am drinking). There are cameras everywhere


This picture shows maybe a third of them.


Then Posh shows up. In case you live in a cave, Beckham is married to Spice Girl Victoria "Posh" Beckham. In any case, she is one skinny-ass chick. As you can tell from the picture, the camera guys like her a lot.

Eventually we got down to business and Becks came out. They showed him on the jumbotron (or whatever you call the giant scoreboard screen) walking out from the dressing room with music blaring. It was all very exciting and I'll admit that I got a little excited and maybe a little emotional (my eyes may have watered up a bit) but I'll explain this later.

Former player and current GM Alexi Lalas spoke, AEG Pres. Tim Liewiki(sp?) spoke, MLS Commissioner Don Garber spoke, and Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop spoke. Finally, they introduced Beckham officially and we all went nuts. They shot out a buttload of confetti and played some loud music while Becks posed with is new kit.

Oh, but it gets better. Of all the people in L.A. that love getting attention, but who should really avoid it right now, guess who showed up? Yep, Mayor Villaraigosa (or maybe its Villar again?). When he is introduced, the crowd boos. Don't believe me? Here's the video. Then, just as it got perfectly quiet, one of the Squad yells "is your girlfriend covering this?" There's no way he missed it. Hell, the comment even made the New York Times. Let me explain. First, obviously most of the heckling was directed at him for being a cheater. However, this douche showed up at the first Galaxy-ChivasUSA game with a Chivas jersey on, which is why most of us were giving him a hard time.

Finally, a comment. You might want to practice getting used to soccer in the U.S. It will take over. The World Cup final got better ratings than the World Series. Soccer is the #1 sport played by American children. The entire civilized world is now watching Galaxy games. The most recognizable face in the sports world plays here in the states.

Will David Beckham save the Galaxy? In a sense, he already has. However, in our last game, only 3 of the starters were with the team last year. One of those three joined in mid-season last year. 5 of the 11 starters were added in the last month. Now that becomes 6 of 11. This is a team that has been struggling. One player won't change that right away. Galaxy may not win the title this year. Beckham is not over-the-hill. He still starts for England. Only after being put back in the starting 11 did Real Madrid come back and win the Spanish title. He may not be in his prime, but he has showed that he can make an impact on a team.

Its going to be a fun ride and it starts Saturday with Beckham's debut against Chelsea. And I will have an extra ticket to three Galaxy games starting on September 23rd. Line up now with your bribes.