June 17 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

As I prepare this, I have just finished watching the goalless draw of the Ivory Coast-Portugal game (yes, I am watching the games in order). That's the bad news. The good news is I have no more commitments this week and will likely be caught up by some time Thursday night.

Up to the point I am at, my thoughts on the World Cup are this. I expected a the teams to come out cagey, tense, and defensive in their opening matches, but this is bordering on ridiculous. The closeness of the games have provided for some dramatic finishes, but it would certainly be nice to see teams to play at least one back and forth entertaining with more than 2 goals.

As far as ESPN's coverage goes, overall I have been very pleased, both with the in-game commentary and the studio shows. Even Alexi Lalas has been tolerable (well, tolerable for him anyway). The only thing nagging me at this point (and I am typing this having not seen every match) is for some reason ESPN feeling the need to have a graphic of what team is in what jersey at every waking moment of the match. I am hoping that it is only some odd glitch that will eventually be fixed, but it is certainly unnecessary and even bordering on a tad annoying. On the positive side, let it be known that Ian Darke is quickly becoming one of my favorite announcers there is. Excitable, honest, passionate, knowledgeable, witty, etc. The guy is just the complete package in the booth.

Here's the schedule for Thursday and I will talk to you all later!

Group B: Argentina vs. South Korea 7:30 AM (Johannesburg SC) (ESPN - Ian Darke and John Harkes)
Group B: Greece vs. Nigeria 10:00 AM (Bloemfontein) (ESPN - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group A: France vs. Mexico 2:30 (Polokwane) (ESPN2 - Adrian Healey and Efan Ekoku)