Z TrainFirst, I want to apologize. We haven't been blogging at all. Newsflash people: summers are typically pretty boring with nothing going on. When the fall comes back and everything that comes with it, it gets pretty hectic. But that doesn't excuse us from not being slaves to the content even though we're all slaves to our respective companies and institutions as is. Still, we've been slaving at the Loose Balls podcast (subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud), and trying to develop as much good content as possible in an arguably easier mode of consuming for our fans. Do we have fans? Will anyone read this? Probably still remains to be decided. But still, the podcast is actually pretty damn good so subscribe. Now, on to the issue at hand. You've probably seen about a million posts and thinkpieces about the Men's National Soccer Team from personalities and Twitter eggs who played U-10 soccer. Well, this is coming from a U-10 ALL STAR soccer player who was second-string goalkeeper to a girl (shoutout to the clearly superior USWNT), so I clearly have plenty of credibility on these topics. The USMNT is a joke. After the 2014 World Cup, the questions were: Can we take the next steps to beat the Belgium/Portugal/Colombia-level teams to perhaps get a crack into the deeper rounds of the 2018 World Cup? Has the midfield really ascended to top-class status? Will Clint Dempsey have what it takes to be able to lead as arguably the face of the nation? Enter 2017. All of those questions are no. We can't even beat Trinidad and Tobago when it matters, the midfield is a complete joke, and Clint Dempsey has the leadership capabilities of Jan Levinson-Gould. I've never seen a more selfish player so late in his career, especially one that the organization did everything in their power to mold into the captain and leader of the team. No amount of assist statistics he puts up will ever beat the eye test, the lackadaisical, whiny attitude of 2017 Clint Dempsey has no place on this team. Is it a testament to his surroundings? Recall Premier League 2008 - 2013 Clint Dempsey. He was a reputable hard-working combo midfielder/forward who could play any position, notorious for being in the right place in the right time for major goals. Sticking out to me as a Tottenham fan was his electric start at Old Trafford. He ran the Manchester United backline amok, netting the game-winning goal and was an absolute menace all game long. Flash forward. He moves to Seattle Sounders and is marketed as the face of the franchise; the golden boy returning home right on the cusp of the World Cup. He had a great first season, 15 goals and 10 assists, and quickly went downhill. I'm not an idiot, largely this was in part to age (Dempsey is now 34), but the devolution of Dempsey is easy to see. Gone is the hustle that was integral to his ascension to the top of the world's most competitive league. Enter whining and moaning at teammates that now comes hand-in-hand with his entrance to the team. Is that age? Or is that discipline? It's a tough line to discern. All this being said, Clint Dempsey is still a great player and one of my all-time favorites. I have his jersey while he was at Spurs. I saw him play a great match for the Sounders against Kansas City earlier this season. In no way is this blog meant to come after him. To be honest, Clint wouldn't give a shit about it even if I was. That's why I like him. Simply, he is the easiest manifestation of the problems seen in the USMNT in the last few years. Here's my theory: The MLS fucking stinks. Hot take, right? But the league's lack of competitiveness for top talent is exactly the cause and effect for what's happened right in front of our eyes. Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidure, Maurice Edu, and several other top US talents overseas come home right before/after the 2014 World Cup. They play great there, still fresh from their European competitiveness. And then, we move down the road and the entire team regresses year-to-year as they play in the States.
If you play in America, the competitive edge just isn't there. Why do you think Dempsey whines and walks all over the field now? It's because he knows he's the best and doesn't need to fight for his position. He does that shit at Fulham in 2011 and his ass would've been banished to riding pine. If you don't feel like you're being challenged for your position in soccer, you're not going to progress any more. That kind of attitude eats away at the rest of your teammates, especially from the leader of the USMNT. It's a terrible example to set for the young guys coming up, and gives a foul locker room mentality for the whole group. What people don't know is that the US has one of the best youth development soccer programs in the world. There are flaws, but from ages 4 - 14, the US programs can compete with just about anyone. The issue is the with the system after middle school. High school soccer programs, while great and competitive, are typically poorly coached and stunt the growth of talent. Most top players don't even bother with high school soccer unless they do it for fun. Collegiate soccer programs, while great and competitive, stunt the growth of potential US homegrown talents. Sorry guys. It's true. Most of the top talents don't do this either unless it's for fun or an education. The MLS, while competitive, stunts the growth of the top class US homegrown talents that forgo college completely. The only way to solve this issue is to push young talent the way Christian Pulisic has been pushed by himself and by his father: get to fucking Europe. By 16 - 17 years old, most top talent is in the best youth academies all over the world, often on the cusp of being included in action (see Pulisic for Borussia Dortmund, currently top of the German Bundesliga). At 16 - 17 in America, you are playing club soccer against people your age, or at best, trapped in an MLS academy that is clearly notches below. I'm not saying put these poor kids on a plane and send them against their will without their families. But the problem has been identified. If the US wants to matter in soccer, we have to get our top talent to Europe in their teenage years. Christian Pulisic is the best player on the team as an 18-year old. Do you think that's a fucking coincidence? Emerson Hyndman is the best U-20 player we've had and he moved to Fulham at 15. Michael Bradley and Tim Howard were elite, and both grew up playing in the European leagues, clearly regressing as they aged after big-money moves to the MLS. DeAndre Yedlin was a raw talent who couldn't work on his weaknesses at Seattle, moved to Europe, and after a tough journey is now a force at the right wing/right back positions for Newcastle United. Geoff Cameron (Stoke City starter) is the best US defender regardless of what the fuck Alexi Lalas or Bruce Arena thinks. At 24, Bobby Wood (moved to Germany as a teenager), is by far our best striker. Our German-born (Jermaine Jones, John Brooks, Fabian Johnson) and other European-born (Cameron Carter-Vickers, Gedion Zelalem, Tim Weah) consistently outperform the North American-based guys that inexplicably got bullshit starts under Bruce Arena (Omar Gonzalez, Paul Arriola, Altidore, Bradley, Howard). Do you guys see what I'm saying??? All we can hope for is that the talented homegrown U-17's like Josh Sargent and Andrew Carleton have the aspirations for Europe in the near future. Of course, the early European move is tough and doesn't work out for everyone. Of course, some people just don't have the talent to be able to be the top performers with any kind of training. But it could be the jumpstart of US soccer. Get your popcorn ready for a thrilling match between Honduras and Montenegro in the next World Cup.
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Tommy V I'm going to continue doing the NFL futures next week but since college football starts in four days I decided I'd do some more. The year starts with an absolutely amazing slate of games like Portland State vs BYU (Go Mormons!) before slowing down next week culminating in the next game of the century snooze-fest that should be Alabama vs Florida State. All joking aside I'm glad football is about to be back in full swing even though I'm more of an NFL fan then a college football fan (read as Damn Yankee). Having a limited feel for the sport won't stop me at all when it comes to predicting winners, finding angles, and betting money so that's gives me all the accreditation I need. We already talked about all of this on the Loose Balls podcast but it was outside of the betting world so be sure to check that out as well! I also decided I'm not going to do the Heisman odds because I don't know enough about many of the candidates this year and it always seems like such a crap shoot for who's going to win. Anyways here are my picks. Atlantic Coast Conference - Florida State (+110) It pains me to write it but I just don't see any team catching up with Florida State this year. I expect heavy regressions from my beloved Clemson Tigers based on all the offensive personnel we lost from last year which puts us out of the running for top of the conference. The only other team I like in the Atlantic Division is Louisville, who at +600 have good odds but I still think Florida State gets the head to head win needed to make it to the ACC Championship. There's nobody in the Coastal that I like to beat them either but Virginia Tech is the most interesting at +700. I'd bet on the even odds since I think honestly they should be closer to -120 than +110 so take the money and run. South Eastern Conference - Alabama (-150) Another boring pick where you just take the favorite because the odds aren't that bad. If it was -200 I might honestly still recommend Alabama so -150 isn't that bad at all. I think this will be a fourth straight SEC Championship for Alabama because honestly the SEC is not that strong of a conference this year. I think Georgia and Florida are two very overrated teams that have no business being ranked over teams like VT and WVU that had much better years last year. The SEC West is much better than the East but I still don't love any of the teams to finish over Alabama this year. Auburn would be the best odds at +500 but that's still not high enough for me to bite on them. Yet again, take the money and run. Big 10 Conference - Penn State (+550) We talked about this on Loose Balls as well but I like Penn State to actually win the championship so giving them +550 odds just makes it all the more sweet. The hope is that Ohio State struggles this year and fails to beat Wisconsin/Oklahoma and also loses to Penn State. I think this team was deserving of making the Playoffs last year and showed in the Rose Bowl that they were a superior team to Ohio State in 2016 so. The other team I like is Wisconsin at +375 because I think they have the ability to beat Ohio State or Penn State and play in the easier Division. I'd get the bet in early on either of them because I expect the odds go down as we get into the season and see both of the teams play. Big 12 Conference - Oklahoma State (+300) I was surprised to see that the odds were so good for OK State with all the hype they've been getting especially around Mason Rudolph. The Cowboys were a very solid 10-3 last year and I think they'll be able to get around a now Bob Stoops-less Oklahoma team to "win" the Big 12. I think Oklahoma falls off because of the offensive personnel loss they've had together with the unexpected retirement of Stoops. I think its a possibility that Oklahoma gets blown out by Ohio St and the team really feels it for a while. This seems like a good mixture of value for the team and a possible scenario so I'd hop in on it. Pac 12 Conference - University of Southern California (+110) This one was a little harder because I do like the Washington Huskies as well but their odds just weren't good enough at +180 for me to take them. I think USC finally gets over the early season jitters since they're not playing Alabama and because they have a more than competent quarterback to lead them early on. I was shocked by how much better this team was when Sam Darnold came in and I think they could've given Washington a much harder time than Colorado in the Pac 12 Championship last year. I expect some regression too from Washington so I think these are excellent odds for the Trojans. A lot like Florida State the value is good at just a bit above even so go ahead and take them. National Champions - Alabama (+240) It's sad that my top two picks for this were Alabama and Florida State but that's just the state of college football right now. I'd actually parlay this bet with the SEC Championship one to make it +610 or so but if you can't this is still solid value. When I look into this I want to pick a team that I'm confident against every other favorite and Alabama is the only one that checks that box. I like Florida State at +750 but their defense was way below where they should have been last year and that gives me pause for picking them. This isn't like last year where Clemson and Alabama were even matches; I think Alabama is way out in front as the best team and +240 reflects that. I think the dominance continues until Nick Saban's deal with the Devil (unless he is the Devil?) ends which should be next year when he turn 66 and 6 months old hopefully. Overall these were some boring picks but it's tough to pick against teams like these in College Football where the favorites usually seem to win. I hope it's still an exciting season and playoffs but I just don't think we'll have Clemson to get in Alabama's way this year. Bradshaw2017 College Football Preseason Top 25
1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Florida State 4. USC 5. Clemson 6. Penn State 7. Oklahoma 8. Washington 9. Wisconsin 10. Oklahoma State 11. Michigan 12. Auburn 13. LSU 14. Stanford 15. Georgia 16. Louisville 17. Florida 18. Miami (Fla.) 19. South Florida 20. Kansas State 21. Virginia Tech 22. West Virginia 23. Texas 24. Washington State 25. Tennessee Look, usually the preseason rankings are a lot worse and I really don't have too much to complain about here. Nothing like a bunch of sports writers who get to watch a single period of the players warming up to decide which teams are gonna be good this year. But for real, this list is not that bad. Yeah you could move a few teams around a bit, but judging by last year and what players a lot of the teams still have, this is a fairly good ranking. Everything except for one spot on this list. Number 23, Texas. What the actual fuck were they thinking. Every single team ranked in the preseason top 25 won at least 8 games last year. How many did Texas win? Five. Five games... Thats it. Blame it on Charlie Strong, blame it on the staff, blame it on anything, but it doesn't change the fact that a group of guys that aren't going to be that much different this year could only find the drive to win five games. This team, who the AP is saying is worthy of a top 25 spot, lost to Kansas last year. Fucking Kansas. Their only other win last season was against an FCS team. But Luke! What about Tom Herman? He did great things at Houston. You're damn right he's a good coach. Houston was a great team for most of the time he was there, but is he a good enough coach to turn them into some superstar team worthy of a top 25 spot? Not unless he's the second coming, and according to the AP top 25, he is. They don't deserve the spot at all, but at least if they're gonna be in there, put them at 25. You're showing a shit ton of disrespect to Mike Leech and Washington State. Not saying that they're the best team in the world, but come on, Texas? Mike Leech and Washington State will probably put up 10,000 yards passing per game and go on to an 8-5 season. More than Texas will do this year. But Luke! Look at all the talent they have on their roster, its Texas? Fuck off. Seriously. Where was all of that talent last year? Guess how many teams they beat out of those five wins last year that had a winning record. One. And it was Baylor with a 7-6 record. I don't think you count Baylor as a good win. Especially after all of the shit that has happened there. So please go on about how they have so much talent. You can be as talented as you want, but you don't lose to fucking Kansas. So for real, AP top 25, good job for the most part with the preseason poll. I'm not silent about how much I hate preseason rankings, but for once this wasn't too bad. But for all the Texas writers out there that voted to put Texas in at Number 23, get your head out your ass. Unless Tom Herman has some sort of Angels In The Outfield type shit happen every game, then Texas is not gonna be some miraculous turn around story. Tom Herman is a great coach, but he isn't a miracle worker. The Loose Balls Snake Draft of the Best Players Taken After Roberto Aguayo in the 2016 NFL Draft8/19/2017 Z TrainFuck the Little League World Series. It fucking sucks. Stop watching it. Fuck you for thinking I or anyone at No Brainer gave a shit about this.
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