Iron Man 3: Xavi
Does Xavi look a little like Robert Downey Jr.?
Look back at our profile of Uruguayan soccer fan Eduardo Galeano and check how you are doing in our pool.
Beyond the Thunderdome
by the Spectator
One of the ESPN announcers, Adrian Healey, I think, called the knockout stages of the World Cup the “thunderdome.” When he said this, I imagined Tina Turner playing soccer. I think she’d be good. I suppose it’s the legs.
Two teams enter, only one team leaves.
Come watch with us in Brooklyn.
USA v Ghana, Saturday, 2:30
The Black Horse, 16th St and 5th Ave
Probable locations for Sunday
England v Germany, 10:00
The Draft Barn, 3rd ave & 12th st
Argentina v Mexico, 2:30
Loki, 5th ave & 2nd st
Amazing! U.S. Wins
by the Spectator
US V GHANA, BLACK HORSE, 5TH AVE & 16TH ST, BROOKLYN
The U.S. beat Algeria, 1-0.
That’s a simple sentence, but one that leaves me speechless, and crazy, so I’ll let others do the talking. First, Andres Cantor with a cracked voice, then Brian Phillips on happiness, then Josh Dean cursing with joy, and then everyone on video.
On another note, I know my lookalikes are pretty far-fetched (besides Messi-Polanski), but does Diego Millito look a little like Bert?
Plus, Over on Journal, I wrote about the teams with the most foreign-born players.
Who Will Win the World Cup?
by the Spectator
Friday’s schedule
10:00 a.m. South Africa v Mexico (watching at Madiba in Ft Green)
2:30 Uruguay v France
We’ll be watching Saturday’s USA-England match at the Bell House in Gowanus.
Time is running out on the pool! We’re using ESPN.com this year. It’s easy to do: just click here (If you don’t have an ESPN account, you have to register, but it’s painless). Then click the teams you think will win. ESPN provides their FIFA ranking to give you some indication who is favored. To join “The Modern Spectator” group, the password is “tms”. Invite your friends, but do it soon. Games begin early Friday morning. There is also an optional money game. Email Austin for details.
Women and Children First
by Brian Schwartz
Brian Schwartz will be awaiting his first child while his friend Jesse is off in South Africa watching soccer.
The Modern Spectator Relaxes
Dear Spectators,
Please excuse our appearance while we take a break from the world of online publishing. We shall return!
In the meantime, tiptoe through our archives, and send us your thoughts. Congratulations as well to E.J. Murphy who won our basketball pool by picking the devilish Dukies.
Our Belated NCAA Pool
Dear Spectators,
See how you’re doing on our NCAA Pool over on Dawgsled.com.
New writing is still on hiatus here at the Spectator, but we’re featuring some of our favorites from the archives in the boxes below.
Snowboarding Imitates Rodeo
by the Spectator
Watching the Olympic snowboard half-pipe the other day, I was struck dumb. Not by the ridiculousness of the sport – although it does bring out the fuddy-duddy in me – but by the U.S. uniforms. They are on top, fake flannel and on the bottom, fake denim. The “jeans” have phony fading and phony rips. The whole thing is made of Gore-Tex (which I like to think of as a long lost election result, not as a magical fabric) and was created by Burton so ski bums could imitate urban hipsters imitating cowboys.
It’s not surprising really. Snowboarding is the most derivative of sports, as I discovered a few years ago when I wrote about an event in NY: the rail jam.
The Modern Spectator will return with new writing soon. In the meantime, we’re featuring some of our favorites from the archives on the front page. Enjoy.
We're on Break
The Modern Spectator is temporarily on holiday. Please check back on the weekends for the Gambling Gurus’ NFL picks. And soon we’ll return with more fanciful writing on sports and everything else. Thanks, Austin
Week 12 Picks: Oooh... Miami
by the Gambling Gurus
Picking Miami to beat his hometown Bills, Brooke writes, “I read that male sports fans experience a measurable drop in testosterone production when their teams lose, but male bettors experience a comparable spike in testosterone production when they win money. “ Call it even. Read more.
NFL Week 11 Picks: Bills Fire Themselves
by the Gambling Gurus
The Gambling Gurus are back with their weekly NFL picks. Brooke writes of his beloved Bills, “ So far this year Buffalo has fired their All Pro left tackle, O-Coordinator, starting QB (twice), and finally now their head coach. Next up is the GM. The owner on the other hand stays the same, and he is the guy that hired all these other guys. Perhaps he should fire himself.” Read more.
NFL Week 9 Picks: Texans Forget, Lose
by Brooke Costello
Stefan is off this week so Brooke goes it alone. Of the Colts – Texans game, he says, “There is a lot being written about Matt Shaub’s season. He is leading the league with 16 TD’s and his yard per completion stat is through the roof. But more importantly he has Houstonians forgetting to ask themselves why they live in an overpriced underconstructed shack in the middle of one of North America’s biggest swamps. This is what professional sports is all about. Replacing the “Why?” with a “Hell yeah.” The bad news is Indy really is really good.” Read on.
Pic of the Day: Godzilla Strikes
When the Yankees jumped ahead of the Phillies on Hideki Matsui’s third RBI hit of the night, I got a text from a friend and Yankee fan, Matthew McKown. It said, “At least it’s Matsui.” I used to love Matsui. Back in 2003 he came to New York with great fanfare. He hit a grand slam in his first game in Yankee Stadium. And he always looked hilarious. He wore the same determined expression on his face at all times. When he sprinted straight and hard for the ball in the outfield, his hat would fly off again and again. Matthew and I attended one of his first games against Seattle when Ichiro and Matsui drew thousands of Japanese fans to the stadium. We loved it.
But in the end Godzilla is not a lovable character. He is a monster who destroys your village without even trying. He is a nuclear bomb, a disaster. So it was last night when the Phillies succumbed to the wrath of Matsui. In a way, I’d rather have been beaten by Teixeira or Posada, someone without special menace and without special charm. Now I’ll never look at Matsui the same.
The Grudge: The Battle for Porkopolis
by Austin Kelley
This week we analyzed two big grudge matches in the NFL.
NFL Week 7 Picks: Dr. Who Wins
by the Gambling Gurus
Read the predictions of our betting-mad madmen.
NFL Week 6 Picks: Shockey Effect
by the Gambling Gurus
Our gamblers didn’t bet on Shockey & Co. Boy, were they wrong. Review the picks.
Pic of the Day: Argentina At Last
by the Spectator
Argentina, Honduras qualify for the World Cup.
Pic of the Day: Howard's Big Hit
by the Spectator
With two outs in the ninth inning of Monday night’s playoff game between the Phillies and Rockies, Ryan Howard remained as cool as can be and hit a two run double to tie the game. His Phillies went on to win 5-4 and set up a repeat of last year’s NLCS matchup with the Dodgers. Look back at our profile of Howard and his slow march to Scranton.
Week 5 Picks: Races to the Bottom
by the Gambling Gurus
Our gambling gurus are sour on this week’s games including the matchup between the hapless Oakland Raiders and the NY Giants. “Jamarcus Russel,” writes Stefan Tornquist, “has a QB rating of 42.8, which you get for doing the post game interview without grabbing Suzie Kolber.” Read the picks.
And, check out Austin Kelley’s report on international golf, which will return to the Olympics in 2016.
Week 4 Picks: Karma Chameleon
by the Gambling Gurus
Will Favre burn or flame out? Check the picks..
Read More In Our Archives