We're Back! or 2010 for Me and Soccer

It's been over a year since my last blog, for reasons unexplainable. In that time, quite a lot has happened for my world of football. Therefore bear with me, it's gonna be a long one.

In years past, my luck as a fan has never been good by any stretch, football teams whom I support generally getting agonizingly close to titles at best, burning out hopelessly (and early on in competition) at worst. Thus I have developed a fairly healthy cynicism for the prospects of any team I support. Much of the time a season or tournament will start and I will be optimistic about a new addition or strategy change, and as time progresses several things go wrong with the team and they will finish with less than stellar results. Case in point: The Colorado Rapids failed to make the playoffs several years in a row, finishing with a loss or tie to arch-rivals Real Salt Lake in the final match of the season, while also losing out on the season series between the two. For as long as Major League Soccer has been around, the Rapids have survived middle of the table, rarely turning heads but never being totally hopeless either. At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, despite huge amounts of hype and excitement surrounding the US squad, they totally crumbled under the pressure and failed to make it out of round one.

The other major team I support, Liverpool, has an immensely rich history but relatively little in the way of success in recent years. I got my first real glimpse of them in 2005 when they beat AC Milan in the Champions League Final; ironically I fell in love with them during their 2007 CL run which saw them lose a tough final to the same team who they conquered two years earlier. Their style of play under Spaniard Rafa Benitez was captivating, and I was drawn to the Spanish players in the squad (Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, later Fernando Torres). I could go into detail for my reasons to support Liverpool FC, but that's another blog for another day. Point being: they haven't won an ounce of silverware since gaining me as a fan.

My first chance to cheer on the Spanish stars of Liverpool came in the 2008 European Championships, although after the last World Cup I'd have taken anyone but Italy. Watching the boys in red light up the tournament was definitely exciting, but I was anything but certain they would come out on top. Needless to say I was fairly nervous throughout the competition, given my history as a football fan. It was a huge relief and a shot of adrenaline to see Fernando Torres break the tense stalemate against Germany in the final, giving them their first Euro trophy in decades. June 29th, 2008 was when I knew who would be the next World Cup Champions. Fortunately they came through for me, in thrilling fashion against Holland in World Cup South Africa. Despite the absence of Torres due to injury and fitness, La Furia Roja performed excellently. Losing their first match of the tournament to Switzerland was a huge disappointment, but I never lost confidence that they could succeed (A first for me in terms of sports). In this case I didn't mind cheering for a tournament favorite, nor did I support them because they were such. They simply know how to play beautiful, fluid football as a team. Just as importantly, they know how to win when an opponent tries to stifle their game. Spain winning their first ever World Cup was the first time a football team I genuinely supported won anything of significance, and I was damn proud of them.

By July 11th, when Spain were lifting that gold trophy above their heads, the Rapids had done a perfect job of doing what they always do: being average. Their record at that point in the season was 6-4-4, a winning record but not by much. They had scored 16 goals 14 games, and didn't even win a match in July. As mentioned above, it had been years since they made even an appearance in the playoffs. However, the the latter half of the season they showed a life and energy not often seen by the club. September midfield acquisition Brian Mullan made a huge difference, working as hard as any player I've ever watched. Omar Cummings and Conor Casey clicked, and by the end of the regular season (30 matches) the club had 44 goals to its name, tied for second in the league. The matches they lost were tight, and there were several draws that could have been wins. There was a feeling that they were playing well even if the results didn't always fall their way. By the end of October they did just enough to squeak into the playoffs in the 8th and final position with a record of 12-8-10.

Simply making it to the post-season was like getting a monkey off the collective backs of not only the players and staff but fans like me as well. At that point I was happy to see the club where it was, not really expecting much in the long run but certainly hopeful given their recent run of form. After downing Eastern powerhouse Columbus Crew followed by the San Jose Earthquakes (29 degree gametime temperature- hell yes I was there) I felt like they had more than a decent chance. The 120 minutes of play on November 21st were about the most tense and nerve-wracking I've ever experienced, at the end of which I was basically incapable of sitting down. The Colorado Rapids won their first ever title 2-1, after being down a goal in the first half to FC Dallas and tied 1-1 at the end of regulation.

So in the span of five months, two of my favorite football teams won their first major competitions. One could say I had a perfectly decent 2010 as a fan. As of this writing I'm fairly confident of the abilities of both the Rapids and the Spanish National team to keep winning in the near future, and some of that cynicism has faded. Now if only Liverpool hadn't finished 7th in the English Premier League last year...

World Cup Draw

Well it's been a long time coming, but I finally have inspiration for a new post: the draw for the 2010 World Cup that took place on December 4th in South Africa. ESPN had live coverage of the event, and I was lucky enough to view it. In the group stage, each nation of the 4 will play each other once, with the top 2 teams moving on to the knock-out stages. After seeing the 32 teams placed, here are my early predictions on the first round of matches:

GROUP A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

In the host nation's group, as it stands now I'm going to say that France will finish at the top of the group, and despite the energy from the home fans, South Africa will fall to Mexico (as much as I hate to say it for all my dislike of Mexican soccer).

GROUP B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

Despite Argentina's recent form I think they're a shoe-in for the second round, with Nigeria finishing second. The latter seem to be a fairly strong representative of the African continent, and I think they can overpower South Korea and struggling Greece to move on.

GROUP C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

This group (on paper anyway) is fairly easy to call. England are in barring a major meltdown 3 matches in a row, and if the US men can't pull off a win each against 2 of the weakest contenders then they don't deserve to move on anyway. With luck however, USA will tie with England and move through in first place on goal differential.

GROUP D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana

In this group, Germany could have an easy time of it if they play their game and remain disciplined. I think the Aussies can pull through as well, although Ghana could certainly give them a run for their money.

GROUP E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Even though lately the Dutch haven't appeared to be as strong as the last several years, I predict they will win the group this time around. Japan had a strong showing in 2002, but I believe Denmark will pull through in second place.

GROUP F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Italy being another team I strongly dislike, it pains me to say that they will win the group in all likelihood. The battle for second is much tougher to call, but I'm going to say Paraguay will have what it takes to move on.

GROUP G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Brazil is one of the favorites as usual, and I'm not going to argue. Portugal barely made it into the Cup in the first place, and although I'm sure they will try hard, Ivory Coast will be the second African nation to get to the second round.

GROUP H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Spain are my pick to win the whole thing, and as such they will start by winning the final group. Honduras had a decent showing in qualification, however I'm banking on the Swiss to become the 16th team to reach the second stage of competition.

If things go as I predict, the second stage will look as follows (with the winners in parentheses):

France vs. Nigeria (France)

Argentina vs. Mexico (Argentina)

England vs. Australia (England)

Germany vs. USA (USA)

Netherlands vs. Paraguay (Paraguay)

Italy vs. Denmark (Italy)

Brazil vs. Switzerland (Brazil)

Spain vs. Ivory Coast (Spain)

Regardless of whether or not I'm right on the rest of the results, I'm picking Spain to win the Cup and shall be rooting for them along with team USA. As next June draws closer I may change my predictions based on roster changes, injuries to key players, etc. and will write a new post concerning those changes. Until then, all we can do is wait till next summer!

Big Balls Reviews: Inglourious Basterds

Recently I saw Quentin Tarantino's newest film, Inglourious Basterds. The basic premise is that a group of American Jewish soldiers infliltrate occupied France during World War II on a mission with the simple objective of killing as many Nazis as possible. It stars Brad Pitt as the brash, scowling lieutenant in charge of the operation. It is entirely a work of fiction, particularly as in the final bits when (SPOILER ALERT) Hitler, Goerring, Goebbels, and a good portion of the rest of the Third Reich's upper ranks get killed in a cinema.

The movie takes place in several chapters, each featuring only a couple of scene changes at most. This serves to maximize each scene's effect, especially when one considers how much actually goes on in each scene. Much of the time it's entirely dialog driven, with a surprisingly low level of violence given both the premise and Tarantino's past films (Kill Bill, Grindhouse, Pulp Fiction, etc.). It also featured quite a bit of German and French with subtitles, which was refreshing as many movies take the (rather lazy) liberty of assuming every European during World War II spoke English with heavy accents. All of the actors were well cast, and the dialog was excellent. There is also a good balance of tension and release, and the ending felt satisfying.

Despite being a very well-done film, no review would be complete without some criticism. The beginning felt quite drawn out, and felt like it took a while for the story to get rolling. It was also kind of a long movie, but the whole final 15% or so went by extremely fast. A marker of a good movie is if the only critique one can manage is nit-picky things that are easily passed by, and such is certainly the case here. No one should go into seeing it for the first time with the idea that it's historically accurate, as that could only lead to disappointment. It is, however, a good action flic and Brad Pitt pulls his weight as usual.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

Storytelling in Video Games

Recently I purchased and played through a game on my Xbox 360 called Mass Effect. This game is a futuristic action/role playing game, in which humanity has taken its place among several space-faring races and the hero has to save the galaxy. It has garnered several awards since it was released last year, many in response to the storytelling elements like writing and voice acting. Having thoroughly enjoyed the game myself, and it prompted this entry of Big Balls about storytelling in video games as a whole.

It seems like 15 or 20 years ago, very little story was involved in most games. Sure the hope of the player was to rescue the princess or save the world from a megalomaniac at the end of standard-setting games starring Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively. Those two games alone resulted in dozens of cookie-cutter platforming games with a taped-on story with no discernible meaning (Earthworm Jim and Crash Test Dummies help prove my point). For most games of the 80's and early 90's, story in video games was limited to some text scrolling across the screen at the outset and a few simple 8- or 16-bit graphics to move the action along. It seems rather remarkable now, 15 years after I first experienced video games, how far the industry has come.

Mass Effect involved well over 100 people to create, and quite a few of those were solely concerned with how to make it seem as immersing an experience as possible. Needless to say, their hard work was noticed. It was developed by BioWare, a company that has always been about making quality role-playing games. As was mentioned above, the game is set in the future. Humans have encountered several races in the galaxy, and is capable of faster-than-light travel. The developers worked to create a galaxy rich in the various cultures that inhabit it, and the ability to use your ship to explore many different star systems at will make for tons of side content not necessarily relating to the main story. Part of that exploration involves the codex, a library of information that grows as you see what the galaxy has to offer. The level of detail put into making the universe feel alive is quite astounding.

Another aspect that make the story feel deep and immersing is how the story unfolds through the eyes of the player. Much of the time between combat scenes is spent having active dialog with non-player controlled characters. Each time a response is required during the course of the conversation, the player is given several options to choose from which determine where the dialog from that point goes. Often one of the options represents the "Paragon," and another represents the "Renegade." As you choose one of those two, you gain a reputation among the other characters as being more compassionate or ruthless, respectively. From there the main storyline can take multiple different directions, and greatly differentiate one player's experience from another. When every single conversation had during the game can have multiple outcomes, it really makes the player feel like they have more control. The game's writing alone was a huge undertaking in development and makes the game worth picking up. Furthermore, when the sequel to the game is released next year, players will be able to use their characters from the first game to continue the story, and all of the variable events will carry over (i.e. when a player has to choose between saving one person or another).

Mass Effect is just one example of a trend in gaming these days as a result of many players expecting more out of their games than action or platforming. Writing for games is more like that of movies or TV shows than ever. Obviously, some games prove to be more successful in that department than others. However, because content like this has been shown to create quite a deep and entertaining experience, I think many gamers will be calling for this type of storytelling and pushing game designers to find creative ways to oblige the market. Everyone appreciates a good story, and with video games the ability to truly and deeply affect how the narrative progresses really puts the medium on a different level than other forms of entertainment.

New Comic

new strip is now online, as usual at http://www.no-name-creek.blogspot.com enjoy!

Confederations Cup Final

Well on Sunday the final match of the FIFA Confederations Cup was played in Johannesburg, South Africa between USA and Brazil. I was (along with most people watching the tournament) totally surprised to watch USA shut out Spain in the semifinals, 2-0 after an abysmal group stage which saw USA barely squeak into the next round after losing to Brazil and Italy 3-0 and 3-1, respectively. Going into the final, many were optimistic about a confident USA squad even if it was against the defending Confederations Cup champions. Personally I was hopeful, but not totally confident in our ability to pull off 2 huge upsets back-to-back.

As the game began, the US came out strong and limited Brazil's ability to break through our defense, and we managed to have a decent amount of time on the ball. In the 10th minute we were treated with a special moment, as Clint Dempsey put one in the back of the net to put USA up 1-0. We continued to put pressure on Brazil and limit the influence of their stars, Kaka and Robinho. Both of those factors were the reasons why we were able to compete with them actively, and how we managed to go up 2-0 at the half behind a goal by Landon Donovan. Despite my doubts, it was looking good after the first 45 minutes.

Sadly, in the second half my fears came true. We came out with much less energy and drive than the Brazilians, and they were quickly able to find their way through our defenses. Almost immediately after the whistle striker Luis Fabiano managed to beat keeper Tim Howard, changing the game quite a bit. From then on USA had a porous defense, and were not able to counterattack effectively through the midfield. We were made to pay toward the end, with a second goal by Fabiano and the go-ahead goal by captain Lucio coming in the 84th minute. At that point it was basically over, and Brazil were crowned champions.

There was a lot to be proud of, weak second half not withstanding. The USA's run from elimination to the final was admirable, and it showed what heart and ability our players can exhibit. I have only seen 1 or 2 matches in which the USA played better than their win over Spain, back in the 2002 World Cup against Portugal and Mexico. Also, Tim Howard was awarded the Top Keeper of the Tournament. Clint Dempsey also got the Bronze Ball award, given to the 3rd best overall player in the tournament. The pain on their faces was also a form of promise of the future: it shows how bad they wanted it and how they truly believed they could have won.

I'm sure some people will talk this tournament up and hype it to death, saying the USA will be a major contender for the World Cup title in a year. This is probably an overestimation, and I'd hate to see a situation like 2006 when we were so hyped up that it put immense pressure on the team and made it seem worse when we performed awfully and had an early exit. What I hope happens is that we take our performance late in the Confederations Cup as a confidence booster going into qualifying and then into World Cup 2010, but that we don't get overly excited and just play the way we know we can.

No Name Creek #4

As promised, the 4th installment of No Name Creek is now online :)