The surprising surfeit of response to my last piece on World Cup qualifying leads me to believe I'd be crazy not to (at the very least) lead off with soccer now, if not from now on.
I continue to make no bones about the fact that I am new to the game. Covering different sports can put a writer on shaky ground. I love ESPN's Bill Simmons, but it's obvious after reading his Masters article that he doesn't follow golf too closely. He asked why Pat Summerall isn't calling golf on CBS (I'm sure his health has something to do with it) anymore, and that he'd at least be better than that "British guy who constantly says 'enormous.'"
That "British guy" is David Feherty (and he's Irish, Northern Ireland to be exact), probably the most beloved golf announcer in the game today. So to myself and other followers of golf, it was as though he were to write about college football on television and ask, "Where's Vince Dooley? He's got to be better than that guy who's always yelling, "Whoa, Nelly!" In other words, his ignorance showed, and it was embarrassing.
So in tackling (no pun intended) soccer, chances are great that I will write something that someone who really knows soccer can rip to shreds. My ignorance will show. Might as well be honest about that before I forge ahead.
When I decided to give international soccer a go, I knew I had to pick a team to support in the English Premier League. Legendary teams like Arsenal and Manchester United were out of the question. I need an underdog. I had also heard of most of the other squads via video games. That basically left me with one team that I was unfamiliar with, and so I would be going in cold, as I wanted: Portsmouth.
I have indeed watched Pompey, as they are called by their supporters, as often as possible this year. Most recently, that was at Birmingham.
Portsmouth had recently pulled off a nice win against Fulham, but that was on the heels of a 12-game stretch with only one win. Their offense, in the games I've seen, was particularly lacking.
The losing streak coincided with the resignation of their manager, Harry Redknapp. Details still seem murky, but the bottom line seems to be he had a falling out with Pompey owner Milan Mandaric.
Pompey fans, I have come to understand, credit Mandaric for pulling the team into the Premiere League. The Pompey supporters serenade him with their ditty, "There's Only One Milan." I understand the culture of crowd singing in world soccer, but about the owner?
It now seems that the honeymoon is over between Mandaric and the fans, with good reason. Pompey seems to have no identity, and no firepower. They had these things under Redknapp. Fortunately, they played well enough under Redknapp that their return to the Premier League next season seems assured, more or less, barring catastrophe.
Against Birmingham, their identity-less malaise was sadly glaring in the last 15 minutes, particularly. They were playing to protect a draw, granted, but it was clear that a breakaway surprise scoring opportunity was well too much to hope for.
Only two Pompey players this year have excited me as scoring threats: Diomansy Kamara and Aiyegbeni Yakubu. I have yet to see the two of them on the pitch at the same time. Why? I don't care if they hate each other and will not cooperate with one another, they are two solid scoring threats, and that's what Pompey needs right now in spades. The Portsmouth defense has been impressive, considering how pressed they are.
And yet, they did indeed fight to a draw against Birmingham, 0-0, and on the road with a team with a better record, that's not insignificant. Yet another beauty of soccer revealed: you can still hope for a good result even if you play poorly.
I will be sure to watch them take on their arch-rivals Southampton (now coached by Harry Redknapp, naturally) this weekend, but the sporting event I really can't wait for is my single favorite golf tournament of the year: the Johnny Walker Classic.
How is it that a non-major European Tour whistle-stop is my very favorite tournament?
Well, where to begin? In the March 3rd edition of the Slant Pattern, I explained the concept of co-sanctioned events between the European Tour and lesser tours, and why they are good for the golfers and good for the fans.
Well, the Johnny Walker Classic is the ultimate in that concept, being a tri-sanctioned event: it's run by the European, Asian, and Australasian golf tours.
In that same article, I wrote about Thongchai Jaidee and eight other golfers that I have developed a fandom for that are unknown to most golf fans, even the serious ones. Well, as a result of this tri-sponsoring, six of those nine are in the field, more than any tournament all year.
So I like these guys, so what? A bunch of unknown golfers beating up on each other, why should anyone care just because I carry their torch?
'Cause it's not just unknown golfers beating up on each other. With support from three different tours and a generous title sponsor, the prize money is good. How good? Ernie Els will be in the field. Adam Scott will be in the field. Retief Goosen will tee it up. So will Sergio Garcia and the majority of the European Ryder Cup team. One of them, Miguel Angel Jimenez, is the defending champion. Tiger Woods won't be there, but he won the event in 1998 and 2000.
The tournament is held at a different site every year, and this year it'll be played in China. Events in Asia are usually taped by The Golf Channel and rerun the following morning, but this one will be shown live. That's right, 1:30-5:30 AM Eastern Time, Thursday through Sunday morning. That's four hours, rather than the standard three ... perfect for an incurable night owl like me. Oh, you're not a night owl? Don't worry, their still rerunning it the following mornings, 9 AM-1 PM. You don't even have to sacrifice a bit of the four-hour coverage.
But it's the Prom Meesawats vs. the Ernie Els's that really makes this tournament a dream. It's really the only tournament of the year where the hackers on the unknown tours get a real shot at knocking off of the big boys of golf without having to Monday-qualify or get a sponsor's exemption.
So there's quite a few reasons why this is a fabulous tournament just right off the top of my head. If I've convinced even one of my newfound-invincible throng of readers to tune in, at least for the last round ... color me happy.
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