the strange and sometimes awesome things I think about and do

August 20th. Midtown Arts Center. 7pm and 10pm. You better check that farmers almanac and hope there isn’t a full moon. Darewolves.

I’ve been avoiding the blog because I didn’t want to write about LeBron James, thus making his media empire and coverage even bigger. Then I realized that I’d be giving myself way too much credit to say me writing about him would make his empire bigger. So here it is…

1. LeBron didn’t do anything wrong by leaving Cleveland. Athlete’s do it all the time. BUT never under this circumstance, he was the King of Ohio and he threw it all away because he “wanted to take his talents to South Beach.” That was his choice to make and there’s nothing wrong with that. However it does show that he is number one and he feels no pity or love for Cleveland.

2. He is now a sidekick. He is content with being one Dwayne Wade’s team. He doesn’t have the killer instinct of players in the past.

3. Only time will tell when it comes to the LeBron legacy.

4. Check out this great parody.

We will not go quietly without a fight!

The president of Nigeria placed a suspension on his own country’s national soccer team due to their poor play in the World Cup. The Nigerian are banned from international play for two years. Pretty ridiculous right? Well, when FIFA got word of this they decided to tell Nigeria that if they do not revoke the suspension they will ban them from FIFA. That’s right no one is allowed to ban soccer…except FIFA.

The reality of the situation is that FIFA does not allow political interference by the nation on the teams. Teams must not be operated by politicians and Nigeria is breaking a rule. However, the Nigerian President isn’t completely crazy. President Jonathan believes that there is some funny business going on within the organization of the national team. He suspects illegal funds are going into the organization and wants a full investigation. This wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened. (Watch ESPN’s 30 for 30 “The Two Escobars.”) President has till Monday to revoke the suspension or the Nigerian’s are banned.

If Nigeria tries to appeal the ban on the suspension I believe FIFA will only ban them further.

I’ve been a soccer fan for just about a year now. Which is more than most Americans can boast, but for a real soccer fan…is laughable. I’m part of a google group that emails me soccer news almost 24/7. This isn’t a service, these are friends and friends-of-friends who love soccer. I’ll never be on their level. They make my love for football–American football–seem like a faint interest. They’re fanatics. That’s why I feel ridiculous saying I was saddened by the US loss on Saturday. Because it’s nothing like the sadness that some of these guys feel when their teams (Mexico or England) were eliminated this weekend.

The game was gut-wrenching but it seems like we didn’t have a chance. Ghana simply wanted the win more than we did and fought harder and longer. Their defense was amazing. The only goal we scored was a PK by Landon Donovan coming from a foal on Clint Dempsey. (I’m a fan Clint but it seemed like you spent the whole game on the ground. I need to go back and watch it because you were either flopping a lot or you got the snot beat out of you.)

Ghana had the weight of Africa on their shoulders, were the underdogs and beat us. They were younger, faster and hungrier. The goal we gave up in the beginning of the game was the killer. Ghana isn’t a huge scoring threat and when they stole the ball and went in for the kill it broke my heart. I knew that scoring on Ghana would be tough and it was.

Many people are calling for Bradley’s head but to be honest I’m not knowledgeable enough to know if we could actually get a better coach. Bradley made lineup mistakes, that’s for sure, but who could we get to replace him? In the end, I think Bradley didn’t put the right lineup out on the field and that mistake will haunt him. But he’s done a lot of things for the US team. I’m sure someone could replace him but the question is still who. I think the team did well, they could have advanced but weren’t able to strike. I’m proud of them but you have to give credit to Ghana for playing with heart and wanting it more.