March 22nd, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^
Goodness.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:22 PM ^
Was hoping someone would make this thread. Love this weather but not when we need a result as bad as we do
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:28 PM ^
What genius scheduled a game in colorado in the Winter? If this game finishes tonight I'll be amazed. There's gonna be 6 inches of snow before the final whistle. If it does finish, though, we have no excuse for not winning. The Costa Ricans have never even seen snow before.
edit: GOOOOAAALL!!!
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:31 PM ^
Actually, it's spring now.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:39 PM ^
Even worse! We generally get most of our snow in March/early April here. Anyone who looked at any historical records could have seen that there is at least equal chance of blizzard vs. 60 and sunny conditions in Denver in March. Almost makes me think US Soccer was kind of hoping for this kind of weather.
March 23rd, 2013 at 12:27 AM ^
The point was to schedule the match in cold weather. Central America has laser pointers, eggs to throw at the team bus, and terrible pitches. We have weather.
I believe they scheduled it for the altittude factor to prep for playing at Azteca which is at 7,200 ft. Just poor timing that we get one of our worst the same weekend of the pitch. It was 60's and sunny all last week.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^
Nice!!! Deuce!
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^
DEMPSEY!!!!!!
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:30 PM ^
Soccer in the snow! And first goal! (Damn, I was a few minutes behind on TiVo.)
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:33 PM ^
Big, athletic target without great touch. Perfect for nasty conditions. I believe he had the assist on the Deuce goal. Gotta love just pounding the ball in this one and hoping the USA can skip another one off the slush.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:34 PM ^
Screw the cold spray! Just pack some snow on injuries.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:35 PM ^
I always loved playing in the snow, awesome start for us.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:36 PM ^
How about Mexico, blowing that 2-0 lead to end up tied 2-2 with Honduras?
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:36 PM ^
I'm sorry but this is freaking hilarious. Snow soccer? I've seen a lot of fucked-up games in my 53 years but this one has got to be near the top. What's next - outdoor basketball on ice?
So.....if we have a qualifier in July will it be played in Palm Springs California or the Mojave Desert?
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:38 PM ^
The goal areas were cleared, but now you can't tell anymore.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:53 PM ^
Average summer daytime temp: 106 degrees!
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/average-temperature-rain-fall-qatar-1345…
Average Summer Temperatures
This is the desert, so June, July and August see average daytime temperatures of 106 degrees F, though they can surpass 114 degrees at the peak of the noonday sun. Nights are more tolerable at around 84 degrees, luring most of the residents of Doha, the capital, out of their homes for an evening stroll along the main promenade, the Corniche.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^
this was a totally legitimate choice that wasn't influenced by anything shady
Just like Phoenix.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:43 PM ^
Brings back memories of Patriots playoff game.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
I'm amazed how good the touches are.
The Costa Ricans are probably thinking WTF?!
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
Uh, what foul?
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^
If snow keeps on falling like this, it will be very interesting watching them play in 5+ inches of snow n the second half.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:51 PM ^
I'm just worried about someone getting hurt. The last thing we need is another injury.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
Unreal!
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
Dammit, no PK for us.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:55 PM ^
zip after Dempsey gets a mouthfull of snow.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:55 PM ^
The ref is being extra cautious not giving us any advantage at all. Considering we have the perceived homefield advantage.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:58 PM ^
Free hack by Costa Rica.
March 22nd, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^
Just STFU and get to halftime already, guys!
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:01 PM ^
USA soccer sucks. It doesn't matter if it's Klinnsman, Arena, or Bradley, the team will never be good until this country starts to love the game, and that is decades away.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:04 PM ^
I'm really curious what respect/love means? Is it TV viewership, youth participation, style, etc. I think the US has made pretty great strides over the last 5 years (not to mention the last 20).
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:16 PM ^
Known as a "melting pot" of cultures... is increasingly hispanic. MLS has some very passionate fan markets, and draws very well at soccer specific stadiums these days.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^
Fair question. I think it means a few things, including several things you have mentioned. FIirst, youth participation is up, but it's still roughly 1/3rd of what you would find in Brazil and Argentina. That needs to increase. Second, the MLS is simply not going to be attractive to the general population unless you start attracting major world talent and increase exposure. At an average salary of less than 200,000 per year, that isn't going to happen. Third, attracting washed up coaching talent isn't going to put us in the world elite. Klinsmann was a bad choice when he was hired, and he's a bad choice moving forward.
I'm curious why you think the U.S. has made strides in the last 5 years. Personally, I have seen seriuos regression over the last 5 years.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
I think youth participation has always been a strength of US soccer. It's keeping that interest that has been the problem. I agree that I have never been particularly attracted to MLS, but I think that has a lot to do with Detroit's lack of an MLS team. I love the EPL (COYS) and think that there is a burgeoning interest in high level club soccer in this country. That is evidenced by the increased TV contracts paid by NBC sports. The fact that there is a USMNT thread on a college football site should be evidence enough of soccer's increased support in this country.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:32 PM ^
Ok but the numbers tell a very different story. Compared to the major soccer powers of the world, participation in this country is a joke. And are you really arguing that one thread on MgoBlog is evidence of a strengthening soccer movement in this country? Seriously?
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:39 PM ^
Straw man, much? That is not my argument at all. And US soccer has a huge youth soccer pool to pull from. But I'm not wasting my bourbon buzz on this played out argument anymore. If you hate US soccer, peace be with you, and I hope you find solace in wasting your time watching glorious snow bowl II (or III, or IV, I stopped counting after the first few).
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:55 PM ^
Uh how is that a strawman? You argued that U.S participation was a strength of U.S. soccer. I argued that it wasn't. I think you need to look up the definition of a strawman argument.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:11 PM ^
GhostofYost trolling a thread.
Shocking.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
If I'm trolling, please tell me what false/inflammatory statements I made.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:21 PM ^
Saying, "USA Soccer sucks," in this thread is inflammatory.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
Well what is your definition of suck? By any objective measure, USA soccer is poor. Do you prefer that term to "suck"?
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:25 PM ^
Just because it's true doesn't mean it isn't trolling/flamebait. If you went over to a Georgetown board right now and posted the final score of their game, you're trolling. Regardless of whether or not your statement is factually true.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
I completely disagree. Trying to rub the truth in an opponents face is one thing. Simply pointing it out as an example of your own teams inadequacies is quite another.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:39 PM ^
You asked what was inflammatory. I told you.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:56 PM ^
I realize you "told me." You just happen to be wrong.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
Briefly, and probably no one will read this, here is why you are trolling here.
It's not only the inflamatory statement, which is particularly inflamatory in a game thread when people wnat to discuss the game, not engage in a meta discussion about the nature of US Soccer's difficulty ascending from the 2nd or 3rd tier of world soccer (depending on your opinion) to the 1st.
It's that you treat the other people in the threads as if they're idiots with no history of watching soccer. Most people here, I'd venture, know that US Soccer is not likely to make the semi-finals of the world cup in Brazil (and likely not Russia or Qatar). But still, they watch, likely because they're interested in this team and how it is changing over time, whether it's improving, with most knowing all the time what its relative place in the world is. In that context, "sucks" adds nothing to the conversation other than to provoke conflict.
It's as if you dropped into someone's house for a big dinner and the first thing you said was, "this food sucks." And yet everyone else knows the food is not great, but maybe Bill or Ellie or whomever is cooking has been working for a while at becoming a better cook, and the people there eat it not only because they're interested to see him or her get better, but also because they care if they do. That doesn't mean that you can't say, "this would be better with more salt" or "have you considered using chicken broth instead of water" or "these German ingredients don't really suit this Tex-Mex." But you probably shouldn't drop in and say, "God, the problem here is that you haven't trained at le Courdon Bleu" if you don't want people to think you're an unholy dick. That's a solution that's not helpful. Bill's not going to Paris, and the US isn't Brazil. To judge them by the same standards isn't just silly, it's treating the rest of the people there as if they have no history and know nothing about the thing they're interested in. It treats others like idiots.
And of course it is true that, as Larry Summers once began a famous economics paper, "There are idiots. Look around you." But it's best to not put that assumption at the forefront of your communication strategy if you want people to listen to you.
And that you pose this decontextualized belligerence as a form of brave truth telling probably speaks to an outsized sense of your own intelligence.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
sure it wins you a fair hearing, but your often-inflammatory posts don't really, either. About 6 million kids play soccer every Saturday in the US, I once read; that's probably a good start. And there's enough enthusiasm to support a league--and now a women's league--although that's an urban and ethnic thing, to a degree, I will admit.
Personally, I think we're one or two really great players away from blowing up here. Who knows when they will come along. . .