Nerds on Sports

Hey internets, remember me? I’m the webmaster for this site and I was writing on Wednesdays for a while. Well, I have been a bit busy. In my real life I switched jobs and that was stealing most of my free time. I am now a “web development engineer” as opposed to my previous job where I was a “software engineer.” For some of you I basically just said I went from being a “computer guy” to being a “computer guy,” but the truth is I went from being a “MS SQL guy” to an “ASP.NET guy.” Don’t worry, I’m not going to switch from WordPress to a C# software package, I still have to, at least, check out version 2.5 before making rash changes.

Enough of the computer/software talk, on to the sports. Since I’ve finally settled into my new routine, I was able to take in a full weekend (Saturday) of sports.

First event of the weekend was a Rolex Sports Car series race: GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead Miami Speedway (say that 3-times fast). Read more »

I had a dream last night about the end of the world. No joke. I was at a dock in Florida, talking to some people I knew, when we started hearing the detonations of atomic bombs in the distance. A giant tidal wave slammed into the harbor where I was, destroying the boats in the water and homes on the hills. And, in that way you just know things in dreams, I knew this was happening all over the country. Waking up in a cold sweat this morning (or was that ocean water), I was thankful to be alive. I started going through the mental list of all the things that weren’t actually destroyed that I was happy about. Family, friends, hobbies, burritos and the sweet escape of sport.

Scared to go back to sleep right away, I kept my mind occupied by thinking about what I want to see happen in the world of sports, now that I had a new lease on life. I crafted a Wish List that I want to present here to the Gods of Sport, that they may hear and abide. So, mighty and just Gods of Sport, hear me, for I seek only what will make your purview stronger!

Please allow the Spurs to win in four games.

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Have you ever heard of Soccer? Good, then you’ve probably also heard of David Beckham. If you haven’t, he is Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham’s husband. Well, he is set to join the L.A. Galaxy of the MLS in the good ol’ US of A in August. (See this people — West Coast sports stuff! I may even mention the Ducks if they win one more game, but I doubt it) Beckham has gobs and gobs of money. He may even have a large vault filled with gold that he swims in.

He spent his money on advisers and research and he discovered that a move to Los Angeles would make him and his wife even richer. So he made a deal that would pay him a salary of about $9 million a year for 4 years. (About $2 million more than his European team was paying him, and they were being a bunch of little bitches in contract negotiations.) Also, being a major sports figure probably means we’ll be seeing him all over the TV telling us what to drink and wear.

Now, I don’t really know what to think of his joining the MLS. Is this good for a league that was built around being cheep? Will this help other teams sign some big named players? Will Joe Sports Fan watch soccer in the US? I hope the MLS is able to improve somewhat, maybe not to a Premier League, La Liga, or Serie A level, but to something a little under that (like a French or German league). I want to still be able to afford to go to games every once in a while, which means that players salaries can’t reach crazy MLB type levels. Basically, what I’m getting as is that I hope Beckham leads MLS in a good direction, which brings me to the reason I wrote this post. Read more »

No, that’s not a baseball score — That’s the final score of the MLS Soccer game I attended this weekend. Actually since the Revs didn’t win I think the scoreboard should say: Wizards 4 — Revolt 3. Even though the home team didn’t come out victorious, it was a good event.

The Kansas City Wizards fired a magic missile at the darkness and that magic missile was Eddie Johnson. Eddie blew the Revolution away with his first career hat trick. The game winning goal was a pretty sad one from a Rev’s fan point of view — In a horrible back pass between defenders, Johnson comes out of what seems like nowhere going about 100 mph and steals the ball. Catching the defender off guard, Eddie speeds right by leaving him with a one-on-one with Reis. Reis is a pretty good keeper, but Eddie Johnson (who kind of sucked it up last season) was able to score easily.

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Usually this day happens without me noticing, and then late April I wonder when and if MLS started. Usually I discover the Revolution are already 0-1-3 at that point and the loss has come at the hands feet of the New York Red Bulls (yup, terrible name and terrible team). Well this year it’s different because there was actual MLS news during the off-season keeping my brain from completely losing it’s soccer focus.

Those stories were about big name Europeans coming to play in the United States while collecting Social Security. There is the Englishman David “Bend It Like” Beckham who is now on the LA Galaxy. Which also means that his wifey, Victoria Posh Spice, is now in Magical Celebrity Movie Land (LA) and probably soon to be all over gossip blogs. The other rumor was of monsieur headbutt, Zinedine Zidane, in contract talks with the Chicago Fire. That didn’t happen so the soft fragile chests of our American stars are safe for now.

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