Euro 2008 came to a thrilling end yesterday as Spain walked away with a 1-0 victory
over Germany and the Euro 2008 Championship. Spain was no doubt the best team in the tournament, outscoring their opponents 12 to 3. They had not given up a goal since their final group match versus Greece and defeated the surprising Russians twice by scores of 4-1 and 3-0. Even without leading goal scorer David Villa, the Spanish still defeated Germany. Fernando Torres notched the only goal of the game on a nice through-ball from Xavi. For Torres, the goal was only his second of tournament, but could not have come at a better time. Up until Sunday’s final, Torres had struggled throughout the whole Euro tournament, missing huge opportunitiesand blowing golden scoring chances, but he came through when it mattered most. Xavi, on the other hand, had an outstanding tournament and was named best player at Euro 2008 by UEFA technical experts.
For Germany, it was a gut-wrenching loss that makes it 12 years since they last won a major title. After winning a couple of games with well-timed goals and fortunate bounces, the Germans could not squeak out a win versus Spain. It took a massive free kick from captain Michael Ballack for Germany to beat Austria and advance past group play. In the quarterfinals, Portugal had twice as many shots on goal as Germany, had nearly three times as many corner kicks (8-3), and had possession 53% of the time, but could not find the back of the net. Germany escaped with a 3-2 win in that game even though they were thoroughly out played. Then in the semifinals, it took a 90th minute goal from Philip Lahm for Germany to edge Turkey 3-2 and advance to the finals. Unfortunately for Germany, their luck ran out against Spain. German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who had a couple of good free kicks and some nice goals in previous games, could do nothing in the final. He screwed up a couple of German set pieces by blasting the ball out of play and misreading his teammates on Germany’s few scoring chances. Read more…
I am very confused with MLB scheduling. I can’t figure out how any of it makes sense 
and can’t see how it could possibly be fair, especially with Interleague games. The Red Sox, for instance, face NL teams that are a combined 27 games over .500 while the Yankees face teams a combined 20 games under .500. How can that possibly be fair? Or how about the fact that the teams withthe four hardest strength of schedules are all from the American League East, but the Yankees are not one of them (they are 13th). The teams with the 11 highest strength of schedules are all American League teams and the teams withthe 11 lowest strength of schedules are all National League teams. I know the AL is beating up on the NL, but is that what creates this ridiculous difference. Even crazier, of those 11 NLteams with easy schedules, only 6 have records above .500 while of those 11 AL teams with tough schedules, only 4 have records below .500. Thus, the teams with easy schedules are losing and the teams with tough schedules are winning. Wouldn’t that suggest that those 11 AL teams are an incredibly amount better than those NL teams? Amongst those 11 NL teams are all three NL division leaders, the Phillies, Cubs, and Diamondbacks. Are we really supposed to expect the NL to contend with the AL? Read more…
The 2008 NBA Draft is over with some surprises and some trades, but in the end, it was fairly predictable. Up until the Mayo/Love trade at the end of the night, the top 10 picks had all been logical picks by their teams and none of them had been traded. Below I have recapped each teams moves on draft night, briefly analyzed those moves, and graded them. Enjoy!
Atlanta Hawks
No picks. No trades.
An uneventful night in Atlanta. The Hawks proved they had some talent by forcing the Celtics to play 7 games, but this team is not ready for the big-time yet. Not sure if any teams are looking, but I would have liked to see Atlanta part ways with point guard Mike Bibby and try to get younger. There’s plenty of time for that to happen still over the summer.
Grade: C
Boston Celtics
Chose J.R. Giddens in 1st round (30th Overall)
Chose Semih Erden in 2nd round (60th Overall)
Acquired Bill Walker (47th Overall pick) for cash considerations and a future draft pick from Washington Wizards
Interesting night for the World Champions. I can’t find a way to explain choosing the trouble-laden Giddensover Chris Douglas Roberts. As a Celtic fan, I was crossing my fingers that CDR would be one the board at the 30thpick and he was, but Danny Ainge passed on him. Giddens may have talent, but he has had so many off the court issues that I can’t see him playing any pro ball. Plus, Ainge could have traded back 20 picks and still gotten Giddens. Having said that, I love the trade for Bill Walker. He is an extremely talented player and has huge possibilities if he stays healthy. I can’t say I know much about Semih Erden except that ESPN says that he has some work ethic issues as well. Seems like the Celtics were looking for players with issues in this draft. Read more…
over Germany and the Euro 2008 Championship. Spain was no doubt the best team in the tournament, outscoring their opponents 12 to 3. They had not given up a goal since their final group match versus Greece and defeated the surprising Russians twice by scores of 4-1 and 3-0. Even without leading goal scorer David Villa, the Spanish still defeated Germany. Fernando Torres notched the only goal of the game on a nice through-ball from Xavi. For Torres, the goal was only his second of tournament, but could not have come at a better time. Up until Sunday’s final, Torres had struggled throughout the whole Euro tournament, missing huge opportunitiesand blowing golden scoring chances, but he came through when it mattered most. Xavi, on the other hand, had an outstanding tournament and was named best player at Euro 2008 by UEFA technical experts.
