Bob Bradley

"Movement as a team to attack and defend. The ability as a team to move the ball quickly, play the ball forward and create advantages," he said are what he emphasizes. "In international soccer, the reaction when the ball turns over is really very, very important, so we need to make sure everybody understands as a team how we do those things."

-- Bob Bradley

Now I'm not necessarily a BB fan, we'll see how he does in the upcoming World Cup, but this quote breaks things down pretty well I think.

Wire To Wire

I wanted to get my prediction down for Arsenal's upcoming season, and the EPL season in general. I know this comes after the first game week, but I wanted to get my eyes on the squad so that I could lay down a relatively sane and hopefully accurate prediction. I'm not trying to play Nostradamus here, just trying to test my evaluation skills. For the sake of brevity, I'll confine my musings to the 'big 4'.

First up, Man U. The seem weaker to me, even though they're the team to beat as defending champs. The lost two really important players, which brings them back to the pack in my eyes. They still have quality in the side (I refuse to go into further detail), but they feel beatable now. That and most of their regulars are getting up in age, and the deal they all made with the devil to stay fit this whole time is coming to call. Summary: they look older and weaker, predicted finish 2nd.

Next, Chelsea. I just violently vomited. Even writing their name was harder than I thought. Speaking of deals with the devil, I think he already gutted this club of ever being able to own a soul ever again. This is a team with all the pieces, they just can't seem to be able to put it together. Hiddink at least provided the appearance of a normal club, but I don't think Ancelotti has the same magic. He'll just be the next in the parade of managers rather than the savior they're looking for. The reality is they have too much talent to NOT finish in the top 4, and I see them making a deep run at the CL as well. Lets just hope God keeps up this running joke of tearing their hearts out at just the most tantalizingly right moments. Serves them right for dealing with the devil. Predicted finish 3rd.

Now over to Anfield. My least hated of the other big 4. I might actually like them if it weren't for the insufferable Steve and his unabashed man-crush on Fernando Torres. Yack, I'd rather walk alone. But really, this team like Man U has lost a few major pieces, and did little in the market to improve the team. That may not remain the case for the whole season, because we all know Rafa is schizophrenic, and will by instant water just for the sake of the transfer. Until then, this team relies way too heavily on Gerrard and Torres. They'll save all their might for their coveted run in the CL, and may even have enough to find glory there, but for the league, I see this as the year they recede, predicted finish 4th.

OK, if you've held on this long and done the math, you'll know that I'm picking the Arsenal to with the league this season. I know, I know, shocker. But I dare you to argue with any of my previous analysis (except predicted finishes), and hear me out as to the reasons I think this is the year the young Gunners go from Boyz II Men:

• You could try and argue that the departure of Kolo and Adabayor has weakened the squad. But I counter by saying that Adebayor was coasting as a player and his scoring will be easily replaced by RVP, Arshavin, and Bendtner. Kolo leaving does weaken the defensive corps, but he's on the downward slop of his career and the transfer made good business sense. If Wenger uses the funds to buy another defender, they'll be unstoppable.
• Having Arshavin for a whole season will do wonders. I'm getting wet just thinking of the prospect.
• Most of these young Gunners are a year more experienced, compared to just a year older.
• Cesc as captain from the beginning. I'm still convinced that Gallas' handling of the Birmingham game 2 seasons ago when Eduardo shattered his ankle cost us the title.
• Speaking of 2 seasons ago, most of these same players were in the squad that lead the league for most of the season. A monumental effort from Man U coupled with our own spectacular implosion sealed that demise. Last year saw numerous injuries, the captaincy circus, no Eduardo or Rosiky, and Arshavin for only 1/2 of the year. No such thing happening this year.
• A new formation. Wenger finally coming to his senses and deploying a 4-3-3, much in the style of my other favorite team, RSL. Hahahahaha jk. Barcelona used it to perfection last year, and its the right formation for the players Arsenal has on hand.

These were all my reasons BEFORE yesterday. My unofficial last bullet is the resounding 6-1 scoreline over Everton. I don't want to flatter the team too much, because I do think its not representative of the quality of the Everton side. But make no mistake, they made it look easy, and will continue to do so.

I love the fact that they're officially top of the table after week 1. You can't go wire-to-wire unless you put that first peg in the ground. I'll see you at the other end (counting the 20$ at 15/2 odds I layed down on the Arsenal to take it all!).

The Present

The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called 'the present'.

I'm not quite sure who to attribute this quote to. I first read it in Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, but even in there he states it was told to him. Then I read it in this weeks Sports Illustrated of all places, and realized it must be one of those old time sayings that gets passed down through the ages, attributable to no one.

This quote, and the one I posted from Thoreau, speaks to the importance of being grounded in the present. As I've ventured further down the path of eastern philosophy and religion (Buddhism specifically) I've come to realize that this present moment awareness is one of the pillars of their thinking (meditation being one of the others that I'd love to discuss at some point).

But you don't have to be Buddhist to see the wisdom in the idea: that the past is behind you, and while you can draw knowledge from your experiences, there is no way to change any of it; the future lay out in front of you like a great mystery, but knowing exactly what or how anything is going to happen is impossible; the only thing you have control over is this moment right now.

When put forth that way, it really makes me feel the importance and power of present moment awareness. That's why I love the quote from Thoreau, because it conjures an image of myself standing at the precipice of two eternities (past and future). I too want to toe that line.

Wet Dream

Where is the fucking petition that I sign to get this encoded and distributed in the US?

Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait

This moment

Had this quote rattling around my head lately:

In any weather, at any hour of the day or night,
I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too;
to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future,
which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.

- Thoreau

I especially like the image conjured by the idea of "stand(ing) on the meeting of two eternities" to describe the present.

Coaching Overrated

University of Utah's new defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake:

I think coaching is overrated. My job as coordinator is to organize everything. The coaches on this staff have done a great job recruiting great players. We've got some speed on the defense and that has nothing to do with my coaching. My job is to make sure we've got our guys in good position to be successful and utilize their talents.

Favorite Former Utes (Basketball)

2000's
Johnnie Bryant
Andrew Bogut
Marc Jackson
Tim Frost
Travis Spivey
Tony Harvey
Chris Burgess
Nick Jacobsen

1990's
Trace Caton
Andre Miller
Alex Jensen
Hanno Mettola
Phil Cullen
The entire 98 team
Ben Caton
Keith Van Horn
Brandon Jesse
Ma Jian
Mark Rydalch
Josh Grant
Walter Watts
Paul Afeaki
Jimmy Carroll

1980's
Craig Rydalch
Byron Wilson
Phil Dixon
Jimmy Soto
McKay McGrath

The Art Of Managing

Arsene Wenger, Arsenal Manager, on Guus Hiddink shortly after his promotion to manage Chelsea for the remainder of the 2009 season:

He has a strong knowledge of the game and strong personality. He has big experience and he always gets his teams to play the kind of football he wants to play. This is the real art of a good manager.

I found this quote interesting because its quite lofty praise from one coach to another, with both party's operating at probably the highest level of football in the world. But it was also the specific praise of getting a team to 'play your way' as an indicator of a good manager that I found quite informative.

Ownership and Investment

I just finished watching the Utah-Wyoming basketball game, and there was a featurette on Ute head coach Jim Boylen and his 3 assistants, and a behind the scenes look at one of their practices.

The thing that he said that stuck out to me most is how he delegated responsibilities to his assistant coaches. Now delegating responsibility in and of itself is no great revelation. It was more the attitude that coach Boylen set with those responsibilities, saying that the more he gave them, the more 'ownership' they had in the program.

Now I have to say, I love that shit man. Former Utah football head coach Urban Meyer used to say the same kind of stuff, calling for 'investment' in the program from his staff and players. I even hear it coming out of mouth of BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall, although I think he just stole it from Meyer after he left for Florida.

But you look at the track record of the coaches mentioned: Boylen has (as of this minute) the Utes atop the MWC with a 7-2 record, 16-7 overall with an RPI of 12th in the country; Meyer won 2 consecutive conference championships at Utah, busted the BCS, and has continued on at Florida with 2 national championships in the last 5 years; Mendenhall won 2 consecutive MWC conference championships and turned around a floundering BYU program. It's hard to argue with the results, so maybe we should listen to the common tune these guys are singing.

I think if you have a staff that feels ownership in what you are trying to accomplish, and you have players that buy in to the system and are invested, you'll have a team that is at the very least competitive every single time they step between the lines.

If I Could Do It Again

A few years back I had the fortunate opportunity to coach 9-10 grade boys basketball for my local catholic church in their local catholic league for two seasons. I also had the pleasure of coaching each year with a pair of my closest basketball buddies.

At the time, I was a newlywed living the dink lifestyle. It was quite the commitment to run practice for 2 hours twice a week, and then have games on Saturdays, especially when I had no vested interested in coaching these kids other than a love for the game.

I really did enjoy it, but looking back I don't think I enjoyed it enough. I would kill to have that kind of time on my hands now to devote to coaching those kids, and I would definitely change the my attitude in how I approached the endeavor all together.

Unfortunately, my teams weren't that good, which over the years has been a craw in my side. If I could give it another go, I have some definitive changes I'd make and new ideas I'd try to increase mine and the kids enjoyment of the experience, and hopefully make us a better team.

Ideas to follow. Most will be in the context of 'fixing' these seasons of 9-10 grade catholic school ball, but can also be seen as my overall philosophy that I've developed over the years to basketball specifically, and coaching in general.