the t & t bobsled team

an incredible performance by trinidad and tobago. how could they possibly come in and get a draw against anyone else in their group -- let alone a win? and things went horribly wrong for them and they still made the draw. their main keeper, jack, goes down with injury just before the game starts and shaka hyslop is forced to come in; they lose john to a red card (a second yellow for a two legged tackle) at the beginning of the second half; yet they pulled off the draw.

and what makes it more remarkable is that sweden, although they were trying to be too pretty in the first half, were far and away the best team playing football in group b today.

england were absolute crap against paraguay, and they were just damn lucky that paraguay topped their crapness. england should have won by a 5 - nil scoreline, and the best they could muster was a paraguay own goal and a stupendously boring, barely successful, shutting up of shop. england and their fans should be ashamed, and they should be worried that sven's tactical changes meant setting up the most dour england side he has and removing joe cole, the only england player who showed up for the whole match.

go t & t go.

now it's the cote d'ivoire v. argentina

8 hours away

the world cup is about to start. i've been waiting for this one forever, following the qualifications since euro 2004, and i have never been so excited by a sporting event.

i feel for the boys who aren't going to make the trip: cisse and his broken leg, jerzy dudek getting screwed, guily off canoeing and all the rest.

so now it's time for bed. when i awake...the game is on.

chant of the day

according to The Mirror, england fans have a new chant that goes like this:

He's big, he's mad, he dances like your dad. Peter Crouch, Peter Crouch.

i'm crying, i'm laughing so hard

Flush With Optimism

You can't go anywhere in Germany without reminders of the upcoming 2006 World Cup of soccer. This invitation to hit the net was placed in urinals at Berlin's International Congress Center Monday during a national-team newser.
Photograph by : Alexander Hassenstein, Getty Images