As the World Cup matches have developed, today was the best stay-away-from work day on the schedule, thus far. Serbia-Germany, USA-Slovenia, England-Algeria. So, Miles, Ken, Juan and I met at the Rusty Barrel in Westlake. I mainly heard about this place from my brother, it's on his mail route, and they do a bangup job. Can't beat the all-you-can-eat-and-drink for $10 during the USA matches.

Miles was the first to arrive this morning. As the token Serbian, he had to get there for the first match between Serbia and Germany at 7:30. I think he may have opened up the place. Whenever the Germans are involved, I think of this:

The Germans



Hell, I had a Bloody Mary in my hand by 7:45. "America, what a country!" Ken was next to arrive and Juan showed up for the US second half, with the luxury of staying for the afternoon England-Algeria match.

The first match ended up Serbia 1, Germany 0. The result was not a stunner, but the guy reffing this match was handing out yellow cards as if he was bribing Cuyahoga County officials. That resulted in the Germans losing their big scorer, Klose, to a red card in the first half. Kudos to ESPN announcer, Robbie Mustoe, who was all over the ref for the calls. It seemed the ref had pre-determined all fouls were bookable offenses, treating any tackle from behind as a yellow card. WTF?

Anyhow, about 2 minutes after Klose leaves, the Germans were still reeling a bit, and the Serbs put in a goal. Oh, they almost tied before the half and played a strong start in the second half. Then Lukas Podolski got to shoot a penalty.

Podolski Misses



That spelled the end for the Germans...oo-o-o-o-oh, the Germans.

BTW, Joe Barton's friend, Hitler, is none too happy about the defeat.

Next up, USA-Slovenia, Slovenia with their Charlie Brownish unis. Remember, Slovaks are not Slovenians. This was a match the US needed to win, because the Slovenia win over Algeria put their group in a hole. Slovenia always has a stout defense, so it was going to be a tough, but winnable match.

Typically, the USA gave up an early goal in the 13th minute. Wow, the Slovenians really need to work on that celebration dance.

Slovenia Scores First...Uh-Oh



Well, they had another first half goal to go up by 2. More bad dancing.

Then the fun started in the second half. Landon Donovan sends an "America, Fuck Yeah!" goal right at the keeper's melon to make it 2-1.

"America, Fuck Yeah!"



Michael Bradley, the coach's son, hustles his ass off for a terrific match-tying goal. Everyone gets fired up after this one went in. Note "Drunken Tears of Joy Guy" on the replay.

"See, Dad, I Can Play."



Then, Maurice Edu appears to have the match-winner late. Everyone goes nuts. Then reality sets in that the goal was disallowed. At first, offsides was mentioned, but then incredulity arises as it was determined a foul was committed.

USA...Hosed



I've looked at these replays a million times, and all I see are Slovenians bearhugging Americans.

"We're Bearhuggin'....We're Bearhuggin'..."


























As you can plainly see, the only American not being held is the goal-scorer, Edu. At least the ref was horribly consistent, as he called a foul on virtually every set piece of the match. Sure, it's a bad call, but the US is just gonna have to suck on it and like it. Of course, Robbie Findley was yellow-carded for a handball that actually hit him in the head. Yeah, the ref was kinda bad. However, the tie didn't kill them, because...

England crapped the bed against Algeria, a 1000-1 shot to win the World Cup.

England Beats Truman




















It's like LeBron's Game 5 over there. No one can believe it. Some comic had a description of English football before the World Cup that goes like this: "When a player puts on an England shirt, it's like when you are driving and you see a police car in the rear-view mirror. All the natural things are things you have to start thinking about and it all goes staccato and difficult." After their first two matches, how true that is.

After that crazy day today, it all comes down to Wednesday's games. If the USA wins, they advance.

Meal of Links

Kids are fickle. Justin Bieber in, Jonas Brothers out.

"Diaperman" died. Interviewer: "Why would a grown man wear a diaper?". Shider: "God loves babies and fools. I'm both." Beautiful.

The reality of living in southernmost Louisiana. "I see this as the beginning of another depression if the rigs and waters don't reopen. We'll lose everything that goes with it: the money, the culture, the traditions that weren't even mine yet."

Exercise Yard

It looks like the ref in today's USA-Slovenia match may not be getting any more assignments this year. For FIFA to act that quickly means he was really bad.

Visitor

37 Across: Three-time Clooney title role (5 letters) Answer: Ocean