Euro 2008: The finale

"It is the most important day in Spanish football in many, many years." -- Spain striker Fernando Torres.

Day: Sunday, June 29

Location: Ye Olde King's Head, which charged $10 per person to watch the game. Still, the place was packed and had to turn people away because the venue had already reached capacity.

City: Santa Monica

Game: Germany 0-1 Spain

What I drank: Guinness

What I ate: Banger and hash (hash browns, that is)

Three games, no goals: Germany went into Euro 2008 as the favorites -- and it's not like they disappointed by not winning, given they did come within a goal of total victory -- but it was Spain that put together the most complete tournament. In the three knockout games -- including Sunday's finale -- Spain allowed no goals (in fact, they allowed just five shots on goal in 300 minutes of knockout stage play, including two matches against perennial powerhouses Italy and Germany). In all, Spain outscored its opponents 12-3 over six Euro 2008 matches as it won its first European Championship since 1964 and shook its reputation as a team that caves on the world's biggest stage.

Player(s) of the game: It'd be easy to present a game ball to Fernando Torres, since it was his goal that was the difference in the Euro 2008 finale, but real credit should go to Spain's defensive backline, featuring defenders Joan Capdevila, Carlos Marchena and Carles Puyol (and check out this dude's mug!). They allowed just four German shots, as goalkeeper Iker Casillas barely broke a sweat, and held Die Mannschaft's power triumvirate of Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger completely in check.

Speaking of Klose, Podolski and Schweinsteiger ... How is Bayern Munich not a bigger player in European club football, competing with the likes of AC and Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United for Champions League titles every year? Bayern Munich's roster includes Klose, Podolski and Schweinsteiger, as well as German national teamers Marcell Jansen and Philipp Lahm. All those players spent much of Sunday's game on the pitch. Four were major players in Germany's run to the Euro 2008 finale. In addition, you might recognize the names of Luca Toni (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France) and Hamit Altintop (Turkey). Yes, they are also players for Bayern Munich. Yet, all Bayen Munich could muster in competition outside of Germany (they did claim another Bundesliga title, its 21st, which is the most in the Bundesliga) was a run to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup, where it lost to Zenit St Petersburg of Russia (it should be noted that Zenit St Petersburg went on to win the UEFA Cup final, too).

However, Bayern Munich last played in the Champions League final in 2001, when it beat Valenica for the crown (that represents the last time a German Bundesliga squad won the Champions League. Bayer Leverkusen -- which featured Michael Ballack on its roster -- played for the title in 2002, but ultimately lost to Real Madrid). That run of futility on the European stage might explain why German legend Jürgen Klinsmann will open his tenure as Bayern Munich manager on July 1.

It's a wrap: The Euro 2008 finale, which was neatly packaged as a soccer doubleheader with D.C.United's 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy (as star-studded a game as there can be in Major League Soccer), netted a 3.1 rating on ABC. That's a good number, and it beat Wimbledon (on NBC) and PGA golf (on CBS).

What does that mean? Sports fans tuned into the tournament despite the fact that there was no U.S. team participating. There was no way to compare Euro 2008's numbers to how it performed in 2004, since games were only aired on pay-per-view. This year, ESPN/ABC carried the games for the first time, with announcers calling the games from a broom closet in Bristol, Conn. Next time, maybe ESPN/ABC will foot the bill to send the guys calling the action to the game venues. Until then, soccer fans have World Cup 2010 to look forward to, where Spain and Germany figure to be featured on a short list of tournament favorites and our tour of sports bars will resume.

Euro 2008: Lahm voyage, Turkey

"Totally crazy feeling. It was unbelievable. It was a crazy, incredible drama with all these goals in the final minutes." -- German coach Joachim Löw, on his team's thrilling victory over Turkey.

Day: Wednesday, June 25

Location: Joxer Daly's

City: Culver City

Game: Germany 3-2 Turkey

What I drank: Stella Artois

What I ate: Stella Artois. Yup, beer counts as food!

What in the world happened? Turkey's beyond-the-realm-of-the-imagination run to the Euro 2008 semifinal was nothing short of miraculous, and the underdogs from Turkey became the sentimental favorite for casual football fans. So, it came as no surprise that Culver City's very own Joxer Daly's -- a place owned by Culver City councilman Mehaul O'Leary (yes, it's an Irish pub, and that's always a good thing) -- was crowded at lunch time on a Wednesday for this colossal showdown that showcased feel-good Turkey against the country that has won more European Championships than any other nation.

The game was all kinds of exciting. Epic even ... and the second half had to be awesome. Unfortunately, nobody got to see a Germany goal to go up 2-1 and Turkey's answering equalizer just moments later due to lightning strikes in nearby Austria that wiped out all television broadcasts from the game. The world outside of Basel's St. Jakob-Park didn't see what was transpiring on the pitch. Thankfully, the world-wide telecommunications system got back online in time for fans to witness Philipp Lahm's game-winning goal in the 90th minute. Fortunately for fans of the Deutscher Fussball-Bund, there was no late-game Turkey rally for victory and Die Mannschaft advanced to the Euro 2008 finale (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. PT, ABC ... watch it!).

Still, one can't help but think that there's something very Heidi Game about this incredible European Championship semifinal.

The winner of Thursday's Russia-Spain tilt takes on ... Germany!

Still, hats off go to never-say-die Turkey and their storybook run to this moment. With somewhere in the neighborhood of seven regulars out of the lineup, Turkey made a run at a strong-across-the-board German squad that opened the Euros as the prohibitive favorites. Thus, creating a run and a finale that may never be forgotten by football fans, even if they didn't get to see it.

Euro 2008: Day 15

"If we can beat opponents like (the Netherlands), it really makes no difference who we play." -- Russian leftback Yuri Zhirkov, on the no-fear nature of his team at the European Championships.

Day: Saturday, June 21

Location: Cock N Bull Pub

City: Santa Monica

Game: Netherlands 1-3 (aet) Russia

What I drank: Guinness

What we ate: Bangers and mash

Oranje crushed: To the shocking surprise of nearly everybody on hand at the Cock N Bull (unofficial slogan: All cock, no bull), Russia essentially dominated the Netherlands -- a team that steamrolled both of the 2006 World Cup finalists by a combined score of 7-1 in the group stage -- from start to finish.

That being said, the Cock N Bull presented the best atmosphere thus far for soccer (one can only imagine the hysteria at the place had the Netherlands actually showed up to play and took care of the business everyone expected). The place was packed, mostly with fans sporting orange, thus making the Cock N Bull an ideal place to enjoy a good game of football.

With that in mind, here's an unscientific breakdown of the top five of the places we've visited to watch Euro 2008 games so far ...

1. Cock N Bull: Fold-out tables and chairs were set up in front of a giant projection screen. Folks who showed up early got a glimpse of ABC's Euro 2008 "pregame show," Power Rangers (Oh, the memories!).

2. Ye Olde Kings Head: Hoping for a strong German contingent on Sunday (Oh, the memories!).

3. The Field: Would be ranked higher if another visit didn't require a long trip down the 405/5 to San Diego (Oh, the memories!).

4. O'Brien's Irish Pub: Wonder if the atmosphere would be different had we not gone on a Monday afternoon that also featured Tiger Woods' remarkable playoff hole win at the U.S. Open(Oh, the memories!).

5. South: Has a plethora of high-definition televisions placed strategically about the place, but still had to ask the bartender to put the Euro game on. It was clearly baseball season at South, making it a great place to go if you want to watch the Red Sox play on NESN (Oh, the memories!).

Player of the day: Even the most dedicated soccer enthusiast would be hard-pressed to find a familiar name on the Euro 2008 roster of Russia, but remember the name of Andrei Arshavin, at least for one more game -- Thursday's semifinal showdown with Spain. Arshavin scored the nail-in-the-'ol-coffin goal against the Netherlands, a strike that put Russia up 3-1 in extra time and had the orange-clad patrons at the Cock N Bull scrambling to close out their tabs. Arshavin, it should be noted, earned Man of the Match honors when he led his club team, Zenit St. Petersburg, to victory in the UEFA Cup finale.

It's fun to look forward to something: Would it be a nightmare at ABC to have Russia and Turkey both advance to the European Championship finale (live from Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadion at 11:30 a.m. PT, Sunday)?

Germany v Spain sits there as the gold pot at the end of the rainbow, so to speak, for soccer fans. What a way to continue to promote the game by having as marquee a matchup as possible on major network television? You get the team with the most European championships of any nation versus a potent Spain squad looking to erase the demons of recent failures in major international tournaments.

But, then there's Turkey -- the never-say-die, play-until-the-last-final-moment miracle workers -- and Russia -- advancing to stages not seen since the days of the old CCCP -- who could play the role of spoilers. It wouldn't be a shock at all to see either team playing in Vienna on Sunday.

O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He

"Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient." -- Some wise guy named Aristotle.

Smart guy Cliff Arnall has come up with a doozy of a mathematical formula that determines that June 20 (today!) is the happiest day of the year.

It's true.

Arnall -- who works as a psychologist at the University of Cardiff in Wales, U.K. -- devised an elaborate equation that looks like this ...

E = mc²

Just kidding about that ... LOL! LMAO! LOL! :-)

Here's the real mathematical formula for happiness ...

O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He

O is time spent outdoors.

N is time spent in nature.

S is more socialization in the summer.

Cpm relates to positive memories of childhood summers.

T factors in temperature.

He is vacation anticipation.

The formula also has determined that the third Monday of January is the most unhappiest day of the year.

But, let's not look at this with a glass-half-empty approach. I'm going to enjoy this day, starting with a visit to my favorite local pizza parlor.

Have a happy day!

Euro 2008: Day 10

"There was nothing finesse about that," ESPN color commentator Andy Gray, on Michael Ballack's set-piece strike in the 49th minute.

Day: Monday, June 16

Location: O'Brien's Irish Pub

City: Santa Monica

Game(s): Austria 0-1 Germany

What I drank: Guinness

What I ate: Went with the blackened chicken salad over the O'Brien's staple, bangers and mash, which was a bit less shocking a selection than German coach Joachim Löw sticking with Mario Gómez at forward. Five minutes into Monday's game in Wien, Gómez whiffed on a sure goal-scoring opportunity. It was awkward to watch, and had to be even more painful for Gómez.

Player of the day: Ballack's missile of a shot proved to be the deciding goal in Germany's 1-0 win over Austria. Ballack had been largely quiet during the group stage of Euro 2008, but his thunderous strike into the back corner of the 'ol onion bag was an emphatic, "yes, I'm Michael Ballack and I'm good at this football thing."

"Constant bickering": Löw and his Austrian counterpart, Josef Hickersberger, were sent to the stands just before the end of the first half of play. Löw was later seen celebrating Ballack's gargantuan goal with Bastian Schweinsteiger -- who was forced to be a spectator on Monday after receiving a red card in Germany's 2-1 loss to Croatia -- and tennis legend Boris Becker. It was difficult to understand why both coaches were sent off the field.

What lies ahead for Germany: The methodical winning machine that is the Deutscher Fussball-Bund returns to the pitch Thursday for a delightfully delicious quarterfinal match against Portugal, which -- if it weren't for the unstoppable force that has been the Netherlands -- would be the team of the tournament thus far. Cristiano Ronaldo has lived up to his billing as the "world's greatest footballer," as Portugal rolled -- a 2-0 loss to Switzerland in an inconsequential match on Sunday notwithstanding -- to win Group A. This should be one of the most anticipated matches of the quarterfinal round of this Euro tournament. It's a shame I will have to go to work.

Euro 2008: Day 9

"Everybody makes mistakes and I am a human being." -- Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech, who allowed three late-game goals by Turkey.

Day: Sunday, June 15

Location: South

City: Santa Monica

Game(s): Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic

What I drank: Bloody Marys

What we ate: Sharing is caring, as they say, which is why the girl I'm sorta-kinda seeing and I went with a pulled chicken sandwich, which was a last-minute (and mildly healthier) substitute for the always-delicious chicken 'n waffle sliders

Quote of the day: "The Brewers are up 1-nil" -- Girl I'm sorta-kinda seeing, obviously trying to lift my spirits as the Milwaukee Brewers attempted to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins.


Thank goodness for the 'ol DVR: The girl I'm sorta-kinda seeing and I had to leave the comfy confines of South to hop on the 405 and head down to Carson to watch Team USA's tenacious 8-0 victory of hapless Barbados in the U.S.'s opening game of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying (Highlights). That meant we caught just the first half of the Czech Republic-Turkey game. Turns out, Turkey-Czech Republic was an epic for all the ages; U.S.-Barbados was something out of me-as-Manchester United vs. computer-as-Derby County on the FIFA video game on the PS2.


(Just in case you were curious, the eight-goal victory represented the highest in the 92-year history of the U.S. men's national team. The only other time the United States scored this many goals was in an 8-1 victory over the Cayman Islands in 1993.)

Moving on ...

It was fun to watch the Turkey-Czech Republic game later knowing that at some point complete stupid madness was about to intervene. Turns out, it was one of the top three soccer games I've ever seen (a list that will date back to 2002 or so).

Top three soccer games I've ever seen (Editor's note: This isn't by any means at all a well-thought-out list. Proceed with caution) ...

1. Liverpool 3-3 (3-2 on PKs) A.C. Milan, 2005 Champions League final -- Liverpool managed to dig a 3-0 deficit in the first half, but managed to climb out and tie the game within the first 15 minutes of the second half. When a winner couldn't be decided in regulation, the Reds completed "The Miracle of Istanbul" by winning on penalty kicks.

2. Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic -- Recovering for a 3-2 after being down 2-0 in the second half is almost the soccer equivalent to Buffalo Bills over the Houston Oilers in the 1992 AFC wild-card playoffs insane.

3. D.C. United 3-3 (4-3 on PKs) New England Revolution, 2004 MLS Eastern Conference final -- D.C. United prevailed in a wild back-and-forth showdown for a spot in MLS Cup, which United went on to win for their fourth title. The conference final was nuts, and here's the video to prove it.

Matchup of Euro 2008: When forward Jan Koller got the start for the Czech Republic, it meant a mano-a-mano showdown between the 6-foot-7 tower of a man and our favorite, ruffian Servet Çetin, who plays central defense for Turkey (Photos). Koller -- used only as a late-game substitute in the Czech Republic's 3-1 loss to Portugal -- proved to be a dangerous foe for Turkey, and most notably Servet, to contain. Koller's header in the 34th minute gave the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead going into the half. Servet managed to keep Koller in check the rest of the match, but the physical toll may be costly, as the defender is hobbled by injuries and his status for Friday's quarterfinal matchup with Croatia is in doubt.

What lies ahead for Turkey: Croatia, the winner of Group B, in a quarterfinal match in Vienna.

There have been just two games in the entire Euro 2008 tournament that were won by the team which fell behind 1-0. Both of those games were won by Turkey.

However, while Servet's status is in doubt, Turkey will also have to move on without goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, who was red carded after shoving Koller late in Turkey's heroic victory (in a scene somewhat reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane's moment of infamy against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final). Midfielder Mehmet Aurélio will also be serving a suspension, while defender Emre Güngör is out with injury.

Still, a flare for the dramatic has surprisingly made Turkey one of the must-see teams of this tournament.

Native of Barbados? Got cleats? Sign up today!

"In an ideal world, we could play there first and come home knowing what you have to do. It puts a lot of pressure on us not only to win the game but win by a couple of goals." -- Landon Donovan, seriously over-estimating the chances of his team's opponent, Barbados.

While much of the soccer world's attention is focused on what transpires in Austria and Switzerland at the 2008 European Champions, sports fans' minds around these parts are on the opening match in 2010 World Cup qualifying for the U.S. men's national team.

Wait ...

Well, that, and the NBA Finals, baseball, NFL OTAs, the U.S. Open of golf, and fantasy Major League Soccer, golf, arena football and NASCAR teams.

But back to soccer ...

The U.S. men's national soccer team opens World Cup qualifying play with a game scheduled to be played at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Their opponent?

That powerhouse from Barbados.

Well, "powerhouse" is a bit too strong a word.

Especially when you consider that the coutry's soccer association has put out a plea for players.

Needless to say, if the U.S. somehow manages to lose to Barbados -- which they have never, ever done -- that would be a bad thing. Probably, to a certain degree, pretty embarrassing.

Euro 2008: Day 2

"When he is in perpetual motion like that, he is a constant threat." -- Germany coach Joachim Löw, on Lukas Podolski.


Day: Sunday, June 8

Location: Ye Olde King's Head

City: Santa Monica

Game(s): Croatia 1-0 Austria, Deutscher Fussball-Bund 2-0 Polska

What I drank: Guinness, which helped me put the five-pint rating I gave the Germany-Poland match to the test.

What I ate: Eggs with banger. Yup, just one banger. Nope, I couldn't substitute the banger for bratwurst, despite the fact that we were on hand to watch Germany play a game of football

Player of the day: Germany is loaded with talented goalscorers, but none may be more dangerous in this year's European Championships than Lukas Podolski, who scored both of Germany's goals against Poland. Podolski was born in Poland, which makes those two strikes even more devastating for the Polish.

Germany has never lost to the Poles, now having won 12 of 16 all-time meetings (with four draws). Pregame tensions were high, especially after a Polish tabloid published an illustration with Polska coach Leo Beenhakker holding the severed heads of Michael Ballack and Löw. This was a bit out of line, even by tabloid standards.

The scene: Unfortunately, the ESPN2 feed for Podolski's second goal was lost, thus creating quite a groan from those on hand at one of Santa Monica's most unique establishments. Fortunately, the ESPN2 feed came back in time to see Podolski celebrating his score with his happy teammates. High fives ensued for those on hand rooting for the Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Sorry, it's just fun to say "Deutscher Fussball-Bund." Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Fun. It really is ... really, fun.

For the first time ever, I witnessed a grown man sporting a Colorado Rapids jersey. Out and about in L.A., you might run into the occasional fan wearing Galaxy gear, especially since they brought on that Beckham guy, but not so much with the jerseys of other MLS teams. It was strange.

Why am I doing this? As is my custom during major international soccer tournaments, I will attempt to view as many Euro 2008 games as possible -- without jeopardizing employment -- from various places, namely sports bars. This is simply a breakdown of the fun for your reading pleasure.

Euro 2008: Day 1

"It's not easy to play with Portugal. They have world-known players and they're one of the favourites of the tournament." -- Turkey coach Fatih Terim, after his side lost 2-nil to Portugal.



Some day, I may actually get to watch the European Championships, or World Cup, or both, in person. But for now, I must settle for enjoying the action as best as possible from fun locations in the area. This is a running diary of the experience.

Day: Saturday, June 7

Location: The Field

City: San Diego

Game(s): Czech Republic 1-0 Switzerland, Portugal 2-0 Turkey

What we drank: Bloody Marys, which were excellent, thus furthering a hypothesis to conclusion that Irish pubs make the best Bloody Marys.

What I ate: Bangers and eggs, which would be a delighfully delicious recurring theme for the weekend

Player of the day: Servet Çetin, a defender for Turkey who sports a "don't dare meet me in a dark alley" look. Fans of his club team, Galatasaray, call Servet "Ayibogan," which translates appropriately to, "a man who could choke a bear." It didn't take long for Servet to make his presence felt. Just 30 seconds into Saturday's match, the really mean looking Turkish defender gave Cristiano Ronaldo -- the concensus choice for the title "best footballer in the world" -- a healthy shove to the Stade de Genève turf. Prior to the game, ESPN studio announcers insightfully predicted that Ronaldo would be the most fouled player in the tournament.


The scene: Oh, to have the iron tolerance of somebody who just turned legal drinking age. A group of fellas, who wouldn't pass the eyeball test of any bouncer at any bar anywhere, sat through both games. Then, after we spent the afternoon at the San Diego Zoo, only to return to The Field hours later for one more tasty, fermented beverage before embarking off to Petco Park to watch the San Diego Padres eventually beat the New York Mets 2-1 with a walk-off homer in the 10th inning, these young lads were still on hand, in the same seats, continuing to drink pints of beer. It is estimated that this group was there for at least nine hours. The Field had that sort of feel of a place where you could feel at home and hang comfortably for an extended period of time.

Why am I doing this? As is my custom during major international soccer tournaments, I will attempt to view as many Euro 2008 games as possible -- without jeopardizing employment -- from various places, namely sports bars. This is simply a breakdown of the fun for your reading pleasure.

The 2008 NBA Finals

"This is what America wants." -- Magic Johnson, obviously forgetting that America would likely rather see lower gas prices than a Celtics-Lakers NBA final.

Once upon a time, back before HDTV when televisions still had knobs to change the channel, the Boston Celtics meeting the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals must have meant a great deal of something to somebody.

Fast forward 20 years later, we’re being forced to care again about what was once upon a time a great NBA rivalry.

Not now. Certainly not when most of the players who will take the court in this year's NBA Finals likely can't even recall the last time the Celtics were relevant.

This isn’t the 1980s revisited.

The Lakers will likely win a lopsided series in five games or something and by the Fourth of July we’ll all forget it even happened because soon NFL training camps will open. Let’s move on to football.

On the subject of football, and how it sorta-kinda relates to this basketball development, the boys and I got together for a little debate on the World Wide Internets. This one deals with a topic near and dear to any sports fans' heart ... greatest NFL rivalries.

Here's a quick synopsis of some of the best rivalries in the NFL, including only matchups that occur regularly ...

1. Bears-Packers: Dates all the way back to 1921 when Curly Lambeau's Acme Packers took on George Halas' Chicago Staleys.

2. Cowboys-Redskins: Legendary Redskins head coach George Allen used to say, "Every time you lose you die a little bit. You die inside ... a portion of you. Not all of your organs. Maybe just your liver." He had to have been referring to defeats at the hands of Dallas.

3. Browns-Steelers: All-time series -- which dates back to 1950 -- is currently knotted up at 55-55.

4. Any AFC West team vs. any other AFC West team: The bad blood dates back to 1960 for these American Football League originals.

ri·val·ry
–noun, plural -ries.
1. the action, position, or relation of a rival or rivals; competition

From back when 'Saturday Night Live' was funny

"I keek a touchdown." -- the title of the autobiography of former Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian.



So, NFL Network is running new episodes of the fine series, NFL's Top 10, which has "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" thinking ... what would be a great top 10 list for kickers?

Let "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" know what you think by throwing down in the comments area. We'll have a real nice discussion here.