Who Needs What?

What a bizarre World Cup it's been. An incredible amount of close games, some top clubs (Italy, France, England, Ivory Coast) all struggling to even advance out of group play. Portugal went from zero goals in its first game to seven in its second. Switzerland stuns Spain, then falls to surprise Group H leader (and Allende family favorite) Chile. Unfortunately, the reffing is getting a lot of attention. I felt like refs did a great job early on, but right around Germany's second game, followed by the U.S.-Slovenia game, things started to go downhill.
All the close matches have made these third and final group stage games (starting tomorrow) fascinating. There really are some marquee teams that could fail to advance. A disastrous tournament by African teams could reach its low point if none of the squads advance out of group play, which could easily happen. South American teams have not lost a match, which goes to show where the best soccer is played.
So, I've decided to try to break down, in as simple terms as possible, what each team has to do to advance to the knockout stage. The final group stage games are played simultaneously (for each group) so as to not allow teams to take it easy or conspire to play for a particular result. So, get your remotes ready or find a second nearby TV to monitor action on.
Remember, tie breakers are as follows:
1. Goal differential
2. Total goals scored
3. Head-to-head (if three teams are tied, it's determined by the above two criteria)
4. The mysterious draw of lots

Group A
Uruguay

• Wins the group with a win or tie against Mexico
• Can advance with a loss if France and South Africa tie or if the winner of France-South Africa doesn't make up tiebreakers.

Mexico

• Wins the group with a win over Uruguay.
• Can advance with a tie against Uruguay.
• It can also advance with a loss if France and South Africa tie or the winner of France-South Africa doesn't make up tiebreakers.

France

• Can advance only if it beats South Africa and makes up tiebreakers against the loser of the Uruguay-Mexico match.
• It can not advance if it ties, or if Mexico-Uruguay ties.

South Africa

• Can advance only if it beats France and makes up tiebreakers against the loser of the Uruguay-Mexico match.
• It can not advance if it ties, or if Mexico-Uruguay ties.

Group B

Argentina

• Advances with a win or a tie vs. Greece.
• Will also advance if South Korea loses or ties Nigeria.
• It can advance with a loss as long as South Korea and Greece don't make up tiebreakers.

South Korea

• Advances with a win over Nigeria as long as Greece doesn't either win by a greater margin than South Korea does or Greece and South Korea win by the same margin and Greece doesn't score two or more goals than South Korea does.
• Will also advance with a tie over Nigeria and a tie or loss by Greece.

Greece

• Will advance with a win over Argentina and a loss or tie by South Korea against Nigeria.
• Will advance if it wins by a greater margin than South Korea does.
• Will advance if it wins by the same margin as South Korea and scores two or more goals than South Korea does.
• Will advance with a tie if South Korea loses to Nigeria.
• Will advance if it wins by three or more goals.

Nigeria

• Can only advance if it beats South Korea and Argentina beats Greece.

Group C

United States

• Advances with a win against Algeria.
• Can advance with a tie if Slovenia-England tie and England doesn't outscore the United States by two or more goals.
• Will also advance with a tie if England loses to Slovenia.

Slovenia

• Advances with a win or a tie against England.
• Can advance with a loss if the United States ties against Algeria.
• Can advance with a loss if Algeria beats the United States but doesn't make up tiebreakers.

England

• Advances with a win over Slovenia.
• Can advance with a tie and a United States-Algeria tie if it outscores the United States by at least three goals.

Algeria

• Advances with a win over the United States if Slovenia wins or ties England.
• Advances with a win over the United States and an England win over Slovenia if it makes up tiebreakers against Slovenia.

Group D

Ghana

• Advances with a win or a tie against Germany.
• Can advance with a loss if Australia-Serbia tie if Serbia doesn't make up tiebreakers.
• Can advance with a loss and an Australia win over Serbia if Australia doesn't make up tiebrakers.

Germany

• Advances with a win over Ghana.
• Can advance with a tie and an Australia-Serbia tie if Serbia doesn't make up tiebreakers.
• Can advance with a tie and an Australia win if Australia doesn't make up tiebreakers.

Serbia

• Advances with a win over Australia.
• Can advance with a tie and a Ghana win over Germany.
• Can advance with a tie and a Ghana-Germany tie if it makes up tiebreakers on Germany.

Australia

• Advances with a win over Serbia and a Ghana win over Germany.
• Advances with a win over Serbia and a Germany win over Ghana if it can make up tiebreakers against Ghana.
• Advances with a win over Serbia and a Germany-Ghana tie if it can make up tiebreakers against Germany.

Group E

Netherlands

• Has already advanced. It will win the group if it beats or ties Cameroon.
• Can win the group with a loss if Japan and Denmark tie.
• Can win the group with a loss if the winner of Japan-Denmark can't make up tiebreakers.

Japan

• Advances with a win over Denmark.
• Can win the group if it beats Denmark, Netherlands loses to Cameroon and Japan makes up tiebreakers against Netherlands.

Denmark

• Advances with a win over Japan.
• Can win the group by beating Japan, Netherlands loses to Cameroon and Denmark makes up tiebreakers against Netherlands.

Cameroon

• No chance, has been eliminated.

Group F

Paraguay

• Advances with a win or a tie against New Zealand.
• Can advance with a loss if Italy and Slovakia tie.
• Can advance with a loss if Slovakia beats Italy but doesn't make up tiebreakers against Paraguay.

Italy

• Advances with a win over Slovakia.
• Advances with a tie and a New Zealand loss to Paraguay.
• Advances with a tie and a New Zealand-Paraguay tie if Italy outscores New Zealand.

New Zealand

• Advances if it beats Paraguay.
• Can advance with a tie and an Italy-Slovakia tie if New Zealand outscores Italy.

Slovakia

• Advances with a win over Italy and a Paraguay win or tie against New Zealand.
• Advances with a win over Italy and a New Zealand win over Paraguay if it can make up tiebreakers against Paraguay.

Group G

Brazil

• Has already advanced.
• Will win the group with a win or tie against Portugal.

Portugal

• Advances with a win or tie against Brazil.
• Can advance with a loss if Ivory Coast loses to North Korea and fails to make up the goal differential with Portugal.

Ivory Coast

• Advances with a win against North Korea, a Portugal loss to Brazil and if it can make up goal differential against Portugal.

North Korea

• No chance, has been eliminated.

Group H

Chile

• Will advance with a win or tie against Spain. It will also win the group in this scenario.
• Can advance with a loss if Switzerland loses or ties Honduras.
• Can advance with a loss and a Switzerland win over Honduras if it can maintain its tiebreaker lead over Switzerland.

Spain

• Advances with a win over Chile.
• Advances with a tie against Chile and a Switzerland tie or loss to Honduras.
• Can advance with a loss if Honduras beats Switzerland and Spain maintains its tiebreakers over Honduras and Switzerland.

Switzerland

• Advances with a win over Honduras and a Chile win or tie against Spain.
• Advances with a win over Honduras and a Spain win over Chile if Switzerland can make up tiebreakers against Chile.
• Advances with a tie against Honduras and a Chile win over Spain.
• Can advance with a loss if Spain loses to Chile and Switzerland holds tiebreakers over Spain and Honduras.

Honduras

• Advances with a win over Switzerland and a Chile win over Spain and if it makes up tiebreakers over Spain and Switzerland.

Now What?

I'm not going to talk much about the United States' 2-2 draw with Slovenia in this post, mostly because thinking about the no-goal call gives me a headache. But it was exciting to see the Americans rally and get that point. Without it, they'd basically be done. I was in a great back-and-forth with several friends on Facebook after the game which I'll recount in a later post about the game, but this will focus instead on what happens next.
I've had a few people ask me just what the scenarios are now. What does the U.S. have to do to move on? It's a bit complicated, but I'll try to explain the best I can.
Here's the standings, with points (remember, 3 for a win, 1 for a tie) and goal differential, goals for and goals against:
Slovenia 4 points, +1, 3-2
United States 2 points, 0, 3-3
England 2 points, 0, 1-1
Algeria, 1 point, -1, 0-1

To put it simply, if the United States beats Algeria on Wednesday at 7 a.m., it moves on to the second round. It can move on with a tie, if England also also ties and the United States maintains its goal differential over England, which right now is at +2 (the U.S. has 3 goals, England has 1). That means England can't score three more goals against Slovenia than the U.S. does against Algeria. Make sense?

Here's how the tiebreakers work:
1. Total points (not goals, points)
2. Total goal difference
3. Total goals scored
4. Points between the tied teams (basically head-to-head result)
5. Goal difference in games between the tied teams (also basically head-to-head)
6. Total goals scored between the tied teams (this is the scenario I talk about above)
7. Drawing of lots by FIFA.

What the heck does drawing of lots by FIFA mean? No one really knows (seriously). It's never been said how FIFA determines who moves on in that scenario. It could be a flip of the coin for all we know. Let's hope it doesn't get there, though.

So, here's how teams can move on.

I talked about the U.S.: Either win, or tie, have England tie, and maintain the two-goal advantage over England.
England advances if: It beats Slovenia, or it ties and outscores the United States by three goals (basically, England and Slovenia tie 4-4 and the U.S. and Algeria tie 1-1, giving England a 5 goal to 4 goal advantage over the U.S.).
Slovenia advances if: It beats or ties England, or it loses and the U.S. ties Algeria, or it loses and Algeria wins, as long as Algeria can't make up all the tie breakers over Slovenia, which would be a miracle.
Algeria advances with a win and a win or a tie by Slovenia, or a win and a Slovenia loss to England, if Algeria can make up tiebreakers over Slovenia, which, as I said, would be a miracle.
Don't worry, I won't be testing you, but hopefully it makes sense.
So, the only way England and the United States can both advance is if they both win, which could well happen.
The goofiest scenario would be if the United States and England both tie and England scores exactly two more points than the U.S. So, the U.S. ties 0-0 and England ties 2-2. That would put England and the U.S. even on all tiebreakers, leading to the mysterious drawing of lots. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
So, basically, just hope the United States wins. That would keep everything simple. Whatever happens, it's going to be a fascinating Wednesday.
Oh yeah, both games are at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, so you'll have to have two TVs running to keep up with the live action.

U.S. Must Avoid the Trap

First off, you shouldn't read this because I truly, clearly don't know what I'm talking about. I mean, France? Who thought that was a good idea? Clearly, I'm an idiot. But, if you wish, feel free to read on.
Today's United States game against Group B leader Slovenia has trouble written all over it. There's real temptation to believe that the U.S. got through its toughest game with a huge point and should have smooth sailing into the second round. But slow down. Slovenia is the one with three points, and even though it didn't look very good in its win over Algeria, hey, it did what it had to do and is the driver's seat. The United States can't afford to settle for a tie this time, while Slovenia would be happy enough to walk away with a point. That would put Slovenia and (assuming it beats Algeria today) England with four points and the United States with one. That's no good, as England and Slovenia would have little motivation to go hard at each other in the final game of group play.
So, is this a must-win for the United States? Definitely. Can the United States win today? Definitely.
But it's going to be tough. Slovenia is a strong, physical team with a solid defense and the United States has struggled against teams that are this organized. On top of that, Slovenia relies on an outstanding counterattack, and that's something that could be a real problem for the American defense.
The United States must avoid the temptation to score early and often. It doesn't need an impressive, one-sided victory, it just needs a victory. The Americans have to control the ball better than it did against England, and it won't be easy, as the physical Slovenian defense loves getting tough and breaking up attacks. That means the U.S. will have to send in swarms on offense and needs to take some chances, taking cracks on some long shots and maybe following up the rebounds for easy goals.
On defense, midfielders Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark are going to be especially important in slowing down Slovenia's Robert Koren and Valter Birsa, who lead their team's counterattack.
Maybe most importantly, the United States has to come out stronger than it did against England, and maintain that focus throughout. Bob Bradley has to make the right choices, get the right personnel on the field (Jose Torres, anyone?) and make the right adjustments.
Here's saying that the U.S. rises to the occassion and picks up a huge win, taking a big step in moving on to the second round. I'll take the United States, 2-1. But don't bet on it.

Celebrate Good Times!

I spent the evening watching the amazing celebrations in Chile (www.cnnchile.com/deportes/2010/06/16/chilenos-madrugaron-para-ver-la-roja/), wishing I could have been a part of it and also thinking, "That would never happen in the United States for any sporting event." Which is fine, but it's also too bad. I mean, Chile completely shut down. The entire country watched the game, and the excitement watching the people celebrate Jean Beausejour's goal that gave La Roja a 1-0 win over Honduras was exhilirating. It was exciting in our house (as exciting as things get at 5 in the morning) but the electricity in Santiago and the rest of the country was amazing and inspiring. The country put televisions up everywhere - and I meaen everywhere. On buses, in the middle of cities, in store windows, even a huge screen on the Presidential Palace (can you imagine the Super Bowl being broadcast onto a huge screen on the White House?). There were celebrations everywhere, including in small indian communities, in the Antarctic, on Easter Island. The entire country was going nuts. That doesn't happen here. People get very excited, but it's only if your city team is doing well. A city might go nuts over a Super Bowl win, but you'll never see the country go nuts like Chile did, and that's kind of sad. I know, this is a huge country and it's hard to get that many people connected to one thing, but wouldn't it be awesome if it did? Wouldn't it be amazing if we all got together to watch the United States against Slovenia? How much fun would that be?
Anyway, it was really fun to watch, definitely added to the excitement of a game that Chile dominated in a way few teams have so far in this odd tournament. Honduras was lucky the score didn't get out of hand, as Chile attacked beautifully, led by the spectacular Alexis Sanchez, who was clearly the best player on the field. Chile was fast, creative, better defensively than I expected and just really looked good. I can't wait to see how they do in their next two games.
Speaking of, wow! I figured Switzerland was better than people gave it credit for, but I never anticipated it beating Spain. ...and you didn't either, so don't lie. Spain looked good, but wow what a performance by the Swiss defense. It was also fun to watch future Sounder Blaise Nkufo, who looks like he'll help the Seattle offense. So now, shockingly, there's Chile and Switzerland meeting on Monday for the right to lead the group, with Spain now needing a pair of wins - probably - to move on. I say again, Wow!
The third game of the day was Uruguay's 3-0 win over South Africa. I'm happy for Uruguay as I always like to see South American teams do well, and I really like star striker Diego Forlan. But I feel bad for South Africa. It's going to be the first host country to not advance out of group play, and is the first host to lose by three goals. The country is putting on a great show and it would be nice to see it rewarded with a better showing from its team.
Thursdays games are big, especially the Group A game between Mexico and France. If France loses, it's probably done, which is bad news for me (I picked it to reach the championship game). And it could well lose, as Mexico is good, and it should be a fun game.
Argentina opens by playing South Korea in what should be a really interesting game between the top two teams in the group. I'll be curious to see if South Korea can repeat its performance from its first game, a resounding win over Greece. Speaking of Greece, it looked horrible against South Korea and if it can't be significantly better against a desperate Nigeria team, it could get ugly.

Viva Chile!

Important-Game Eve No. 2 in the Allende household as Chile prepares for its first World Cup game since 1998 and there is excitement in beautiful downtown Mountlake Terrace. The Chileans have emerged as kind of a darkhorse to go a long way in the tournament thanks to its relentless offensive attack, outstanding coach and young, talented players.
It's been a strange World Cup so far. Outside of Germany, none of the favorites have looked particularly dominating. Group A is a mess, with South Africa pulling off a shocking tie with Mexico and France and Uruguay looking crappy to leave the group all even.
Argentina looked OK in a win over Nigeria, and South Korea looked pretty solid and may have a chance to beat out Nigeria for the second spot in the group, which would be a big surprise.
The United States' tie with England was huge, setting the Americans up to potentially win Group C if it can take care of Slovenia on Friday.
Ghana's surprising win over Serbia was one of the highlights of the tournament so far and its game against Germany should be a good one. Serbia needs a big bounce-back against Australia to have a shot in Group D.
The Netherlands did look pretty impressive in a win over Denmark and Japan's shocker over Cameroon really made Group E interesting.
The Italy-Paraguay tie was surprising as well, as the Italians just did not look very good. The path was there for first-time World Cup qualifier Slovakia to take a step toward moving on, before giving up a stunning tying goal to New Zealand in the final minute on Monday.
The Group of Death was not particularly impressive, which was disappointing. Portugal - especially Cristiano Ronaldo - looked like it was playing on ice, falling down every time someone from Ivory Coast even looked at them. I was hoping for a game featuring some great offensive play but there was never really a flow. Brazil looked OK against a North Korea team that is tough to play against because it does nothing but defend. You could tell that the Brazilians are a strong team, though, and we'll see more from them against Portugal and Ivory Coast.
Now, on to Group H. We'll get a chance to see Spain today when it meets Switzerland. It will be interesting to see how well the Swiss hang in against a Spanish squad that has some injury issues.
And then there is Chile-Honduras.
Honduras got some attention after qualifying but has not been good leading up to the World Cup and is a longshot to make it out of the group. It needs to get at least one point out of this match with Spain next up on the schedule. Chile, on the other hand, needs to get a win against what is perceived as the worst team in the group.
One thing about this match is we're going to see some offense. Marcelo Bielsa has Chile attacking constantly with a fast, young group led by Alexis Sanchez, Mattias Fernandez and Mark Gonzalez, though it remains to be seen how much we'll see leading scorer Humberto Suazo, who is recovering from injury. Honduras also goes hard on offense, led by Carlos Pavon. Neither team cares all that much about defense, so the question is, who can better get away with that strategy.
Putting my personal feelings aside, I think Chile should be able to exploit Honduras, which is older and, frankly, not as talented. I see the Chileans going after Honduras early and often and taking a lead. Honduras may strike back, but it won't matter much to Chile, which will have a lot of success on offense and will get a big win.
Let's go with Chile 4, Honduras 2. We'll see is about seven hours!

Northwest Trek Adventure

Jess, Satchel and I spent Sunday at Northwest Trek. It was a beautiful day, sunny, warm and we had a spectacular view of Mount Rainier on the drive there. It was an early Father's Day trip and was a great way to spend the day with my family. Satchel loves the zoo so we figured this would be a good outing for us, though lately, with him, you never know. He's been pretty hit-or-miss in terms of his mood lately (wonder who he got that from?) so you just have to go and hope he enjoys it. And I think he did, plus he napped on the way home, which almost never happens anymore.

For those who don't know, Northwest Trek is an animal park in Eatonville, which is about an hour and a half southeast of Seattle, about 35 minutes from Mount Rainier. It focuses on animals and plants/trees that you would find in the Northwest, which is pretty cool. A lot of the animals are located in a giant natural area with a ton of room to roam, so whether you see animals or not is kind of up to them. The predator animals (bears, large cats, some smaller predators like wolverines) are located in enclosures, but the enclosures are fairly large (though it seems they could be larger for the cats) and well put together. So, basically, it's not like they're in a cage. It's not a cheap place to visit at $16 per adult, but kids 2 and under are free, so we got Satchel there with a couple weeks to spare.

So, here's an account of how the day went:

We left the house a little after 10, Satchel seemed fairly excited, mostly because he got to dress up in a "safari" outfit. He was most excited about seeing bison, so I hoped we'd actually see them. It was a nice drive, especially with the view of the mountain, and we rocked out to The Beatles for awhile before Satch started watching videos on Jess' new phone, a piece of equipment that I'm incapable of operating. We started to get a few "are we there yets" but he handled the ride well. We got to the park at about 11:40, and the parking lot was pretty packed. But the park is so big, that it never felt very crowded, except on the tram ride.

11:43: A little boy is crying passionately in a car near ours. Satchel points out that "he's crying, but I'm happy." We'll see how long that lasts.

11:45: We realize we don't have a stroller. That could mean trouble, especially for Jess. Lately, Satchel wants little to do with me if the three of us are together, so we know she's going to be the one doing the carrying.

11:47: Satchel wants to be carried. Shocked! I offer, get turned down, Jess sighs, lifts him up.

Noon: We enter the park. At the admission booth, we donate $5 to some conservation cause and Satchel gets to pick a stuffed animal from a group of four animals. He picks a bison and seems happy with his new friend, which should be good for at least an hour or two of solid behavior, we hope.
12:10: One of the park workers walks by us and we hear her say, "First the male escaped by jumping out of the tank." Jess and I look at each other, but we aren't alarmed because the worker didn't seem particularly frantic, so maybe it was just a frog or something. But I am reminded of my thought as we neared the park, that it felt a lot like Jurassic Park. I don't say anything, but I begin keeping an eye out for Velociraptors.

12:12: Our first animal is a dud. We look around for the lynx, but see no Lynx. Some people say it must not be here today. We hear this a few other times when an animal isn't spotted. Where do the people think it is? It's not like these are clowns and they get the day off. We do see a child's shoe floating in the water inside the enclosure, and I wonder if maybe the child and lynx are together. Probably not, but we keep a closer hold on Satchel.
12:15: Our first animal! The cougar is kind enough to make an appearance, and wow. Quite an impressive cat. I'm sure I've seen cougars before, but I am startled with how big they are. But this cougar seems bored out of its mind. It just paces back and forth in a continual loop. I actually feel kind of bad for it, but not enough that I volunteer to entertain it. Meanwhile, Satchel just wants to see the bison.
12:17: Animal No. 3? Also a dud. No bobcat. Jess says, "Maybe he's the male who got out." I love her. I begin to think this whole park could be a scam. I mean, really, how would we even know they have a bobcat? We better get a better rate of seeing animals quick or. ...well, nothing, but we better.

12:22: We start mentioning the signs we see around the park. Satchel starts singing Signs by the Five Man Electrical Band ("Signs, signs, everywhere signs. ...). He's extremely smart, hears everything and has a great sense of humor and is almost always fun to be around, except when he's not.
12:23: Coyotes! First a glimpse of them running around behind trees. And then they all emerge. It's quite awesome, though they are kind of scraggly looking. But pretty cool, they get pretty close to us, which is fun. And then, of course, one of them squats and drops a load, followed by a nice, long pee. And let me tell you, coyote poop stinks. You will definitely know it if a coyote is around you. Most of us flee.
12:29: Off to the red fox exhibit, though I can't help but hope that we'll see the great Redd Foxx in the enclosure rather than an actual fox. Yes, I know he's been dead for quite awhile, but it would still be cool. I'm disappointed on both fronts: No fox, no Foxx.

12:34: We head inside the research cabin in search of the exotic animal scientist. No scientist, just windows to try to find the wolves, which we do, kind of, far away, lying down. We get a better view of them outside, but they still just lie down. Not sure what I wanted them to do, but something more than being passed out.

12:40: My most anticipated exhibit is a dud. No grizzly bears. The enclosure is kind of big, but not that big. Where could they be hiding? Maybe they do get a day off.

12:44: Jess spots a black bear. But it's just a big lump of black fur sleeping. Come on man, just one small growl for me. Is that too much to ask?

12:46: We make our way over to the tram. It's about an hour loop through the park, really the highlight of the park. We get there and are, literally, the last people in line, but we have our precious yellow tokens so we're assured spots. And this is where we'll see the bison, and it's a vehicle, so Satchel is excited. And we get good seats in the first car! Our guide/driver is this pretty cool guy with a pony tail who has a lot of information and facts, though he can never quite get "red cedar" and "red alder" straight, much to Jess and my amusement.

12:54: Moose! And it's huge! While not nearly as entertaining as the Mariner Moose, it's still pretty impressive. Though, yeah, it's just lying down, eating, resting, probably thinking, "Oh brother, here comes another one."

12:57: Our first bison, and it is also enormous. We saw lots of bison, in fact, which is very exciting for everyone! They are clearly the stars of the tour and very cool. I'm not sure I've ever seen a bison in person before. We even see babies at one point.s Good stuff.

1:00: We see big horn sheep which are pretty cool but look completely disinterested. Then we see mountain goats, which I love. The driver asks, "Can anyone tell me what a mountain goat's biggest threat is on the mountain?" I call out, "Wind!" Turns out my smart ass is kind of right. It's gravity. Then we see some carribou, and then a duck. When the driver says, "Look, you'll see a duck to our left!" Jess says, "I didn't pay $16 for a duck." I love her.

1:42: We come to the end of the tour. Good thing, as Satchel is getting bored. We see a few other animals, a gorup of carribou, some swans (they can weigh up to 45 pounds we learn!), geese, a raccoon. Satchel had fun, he was jazzed up about seeing bison, but there's only so much he can take. But we get one last thrill when a big carribou comes right up to the tram as we're leaving. And how do they shoo it away? With a spray bottle. It works!

2:07: We make our way to see the owls, including a Snow Owl that can barely be bothered to open its eyes, a couple Great Horned Owls and three Barn Owls, which are perched on a pretend barn. Someone wonders if Barn Owls actually have to have a barn in order to be comfortable. Oh yeah, we also see some golden eagles.

2:12: We stop to eat some lunch, which for Satchel consists of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which is pretty much the only thing he'll ever request) and Jess and I eat popcorn. It's a good time to break, as Satch is losing some energy, and it gives Jess a chance to rest from carrying him around.

2:42: We make our way to the "Forest Animals" exhibit, which is the highlight for me. Unfortunately, I ran out of memory on my card, so I don't have any photos of it. But there was a beaver who was playing hide and seek with Satchel and Satchel was screaming with delight. It was really fun to watch. The beaver would dive under water, then pop up and Satchel would race over to see him. Then it would repeat the process. This went on for a fun 10 minutes or so. It was great. We also see river otters, a badger, porcupine, skunk and a fisher, which my mom reminds me later once nearly killed one of my uncle's cats. Alas, the wolverine kept hidden. I really wanted to see the wolverine, but what are you gonna do?

3:12: One of the workers is doing a trailside talk about possums, one of which is walking along a piece of wood eating food. They're pretty cute, and it's cool because my mom and Satchel had been talking a lot about possums lately and Satchel had never seen one except on the computer. We get a lot of good info. Possums only live to be 2 in the wild (up to 5 in captivity) but are able to fit up to 13 babies in their pouch, and have up to three litters a year. I say, "This guy sure knows his possums." Jess says, "He's the Possum Whisperer."

3:19: We make one last attempt to see the lynx and bobcat, but neither of them are there (the shoe is still in the water, though). We do see that there's another cougar in the enclosure, but both cougars look bored.

3:25: Back to the car. Satchel has held it together great and it was a great way to spend the day. He falls asleep pretty quickly and it's an uneventful ride back. I'd like to go back again sometime, hopefully to see the Grizzly Bear and maybe even that elusive lynx and bobcat. A fun way to spend a beautiful Sunday in the Northwest.

Green With Joy

I hate enjoying other people's misery. ...generally. I've screwed up plenty of times. It's no fun, and it's less fun when you know other people are paying attention. So I say this with full awareness that it may make me a terrible person, but I thank you, Robert Green. I thank you for being a mediocre goalie (though better at being a goalie than I am at anything) and allowing the United States to get an all-important point in the World Cup. You are a true gentleman and sportsman and I salute you. I also do not envy the headlines and comments you will be experiencing. It's not fair, and you should always remember that you are a decent fella and people pretty much like you, except for everyone in England, and that's not really that many people, relatively speaking, so don't let it get you down. You're alright in my book.
Did the United States look great in its 1-1 tie with England Saturday? No, not close. But they looked OK. Tim Howard was his usual stellar self at keeper. The midfielders generally played pretty hard. Oguchi Onyewu was solid in the center of the defense and Steve Cherundolo was pretty good on defense as well. And Jozy Altidore made one great run that Green almost turned into a second goal (he couldn't quite come through for the U.S. twice, but that's OK, we still love him).
There were big issues, though. None of them unexpected. Primarily, it was the American defense, especially the right side, which was consistently getting attacked. The defense also did a poor job closing down on England's shooters, allowing too many close calls. The midfielders, while they played hard, didn't do a lot of controlling of the ball. Someone, maybe Stuart Holden or Jose Torres, has to get some time to try to form a bridge between the back and Altidore up front. I also wasn't nuts about using Findlay up front with Altidore. I don't know if the answer is moving Clint Dempsey up front, or trying Edson Buddle or Hercules Gomez alongside Altidore, but they need more from the other forward spot.
All of that said, it was a great result. This easily could have been an ugly game (and would have been, if not for Howard). But the Americans played hard and stayed in it and, frankly, got lucky with the goal, which you sometimes need. The one point is huge and should give the U.S. confidence going into its next two games, against Algeria and Slovenia. So all in all, it was a great day for United States soccer.
I'm not sure how much I'll be writing tomorrow. We're planning on going to Northwest Trek as long as there's good weather. I may or may not get up for the early game, and if so, I'll try to weigh in. If not, I'll try to recap the day tomorrow night. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope your rest tonight is better than Robert Green's will be.