Fracas Espanol

Just watched Barcelona play Madrid in this week's Copa match.  Not as entertaining a spectacle as I would hope.  Alexis seems to be a hack magnet lest Barcelona have a newer and younger talented player to come up the ranks as the legendary players age.  He took many ferocious chops.  Puyol was magnificent in that one moment- the only moment in a match- when he slammed a header into goal to give Barcelona parity.  Was the Abidal goal an offside?  I couldn't tell from the replays but sad if it was.  This Classico deserves to play out with no uncertain elements.  In a thought far from the details of this particular game,  I find myself thinking about the inevitable tide of time and the reality that the players of today are getting older and will someday be legends but no longer competitors on the pitch.  Messi.  C.Ronaldo.  All of this is fluid.  Sometime years from now there will be revivalists who say that Barcelona in this age was the best team ever, Clockwork Orange was the best team ever,.....so it goes.  And I am in no position to judge but willing to sit and watch regardless.  It's the Game.

Kenny Cooper traded as Timbers strategize in SuperDraft.

Kenny Cooper was traded today to the New York Red Bulls in exchange for a high pick next time around and money.  It's not a real surprise.  Cooper didn't show well last year though I think he got a rough ride in the press and it didn't seem clear that the team was using his skills well.  I had predicted, in discussions with my fellow footballer, Mark, that he'd still be on the roster and Eddie Johnson would pass on.   Amateur gawker from the sidelines that I am, I forgot the strategic value of a potentially strong player who still commands good money when it comes to wheelin' and dealin' time.   Based on the cool tone of the Timbers' release regarding the Cooper trade,  I'd guess that there was as much a problem of style and chemistry as of failure to thrive in the transaction.  But again, I might be overreading the cards here.    From a slightly different point of view,  I have to wonder what New York will look to Cooper to do.  Cooper's name is listed on the NY roster right next to Thierry Henry.  And the Red Bull squad has four other forwards.  Two of them are young- Agudelo and Hetrzog- and Cooper isn't likely to be backing them up.  Luke Rodgers is a 'bull' on the field.  He's thirty so maybe Cooper,  slightly younger,  will give Rodgers a breather.  Who knows,  maybe New York feels he's just a marker in their own trade situation.   

Regardless,  I hope we don't see Kenny back on the field here creating problems for our side like the last trade to New York,  Stephen Keel.    

Goal to Goal! Tim Howard chalks one up

Just happened to catch the news that Tim Howard,  playing for Everton, has become the fourth goalkeeper in the EPL to launch a clearing ball that ended up in the opponents' net.   Great stuff for the US keeper.


Tim Howard- Goal to Goal

University of Portland Pilot women

The Pilot women,  whose decades long standing as a Western powerhouse faced a difficult road this past season, were energized to receive an at-large slot in the NCAA tournament despite their won loss record.  And perhaps there's some justice in the selection as the young team may be hitting its stride.  


That being said,  I was saddened through the weeks to see that The Oregonian coverage of the Pilot season shrunk from 'front of the section with photo' coverage to inside bottom notes about the sad outcome of the most recent game with a single column inch.   This approach to journalism is discouraging.  Instead of a constant commentary on the challenges of the season and a respectful reportage,  our town's daily just let go and didn't cover the team.  I guess the theory is that if they're not winning all the folks who followed them lost interest.   Sad really.  The Pilots have a great program and an off year deserves as much coverage as any other.  Danielle Foxhoven and  Hailee DeYoung in goal shouldn't leave their college careers without acknowledgement of their achievements.  


If you think this is simply grousing,  I'd point out that The Oregonian's approach bears risks for our other soccer favorites,  the Timbers.   Will the paper decide that a bad season in the future deserves only marginal attention?  I don't see that happening with the Trailblazers or the Duck n Beaver sport programs.   But the ink this past season for the Pilots makes me wary.  


We'll see.  In the meantime,  the Lady Pilots have a chance to chew their way into a little more memorable place in the annals.  The NCAA has offered them the chance.  My guess is that the women from the Bluff will use it well.