May 5 Playoffs Open Thread

There is only one playoff game tonight and I am going to the Phillies game (I've had these tickets months in advance, but really, for so many reasons, I could not have picked a better night for my first trip to Citizens Bank Park this season). I have an open thread here, though of course, if someone else sets up a live blog, then they are obviously more than welcome to do so.

Game 4: Canucks @ Predators 8:30 (Versus - Dave Strader, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)

April 19 Playoffs Open Thread

Enjoy the games and leave comments!

Game 2: Knicks @ Celtics 7:00 (TNT - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: David Aldridge)

Game 2: Hawks @ Magic 7:30 (NBA TV)

Game 4: Canucks @ Blackhawks 8:00 (Versus - Dave Strader and Daryl Reaugh, ItG: Darren Eliot) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, SR: Scott Oake)

Game 2: Trail Blazers @ Mavericks 9:30 (TNT - Matt Devlin and Kevin McHale, SR: Marty Snider)

Game 3: Sharks @ Kings 10:30 (Versus) (TSN - Gord Miller, ItG: Ray Ferraro)

April 16 Playoffs Open Thread/Live Blog

I will be out early tomorrow afternoon. So unless someone else will be around to take over (and if you are, by all means, do so), the live blog will not start until I return sometime in the afternoon. Today the 76ers open their series against Miami, the Flyers try to even their series against the Sabres, and not playoff related, but the Philadelphia Union will play in PPL Park Lake, all right around the exact same time. It's gonna be a busy day, so enjoy the games and leave comments!

Game 2: Coyotes @ Red Wings 1:00 (NBC - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes, SR: Mitch Peacock)

Game 1: Pacers @ Bulls 1:00 (ESPN - Dan Shulman and Jon Barry, SR: Ric Bucher)

Game 1: 76ers @ Heat 3:30 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Lisa Salters)

Game 2: Sabres @ Flyers 5:00 (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Pierre McGuire)

Game 2: Canadiens @ Bruins 7:00 (Versus - Dave Strader, ItG: Darren Eliot) (CBC - Bob Cole and Garry Galley, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Elliotte Friedman)

Game 1: Hawks @ Magic 7:00 (ESPN - Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, SR: Heather Cox)

Game 1: Trail Blazers @ Mavericks 9:30 (ESPN - Dave Pasch and Doris Burke, SR: Holly Rowe)

Game 2: Kings @ Sharks 10:00 (Versus) (TSN - Gord Miller, ItG: Ray Ferraro)

April 15 Playoffs Open Thread

It's just an open thread tonight unless Mookie and Keith decide to put something up. I will have a live blog up for tomorrow's festivities, though. Here is your schedule for today. Enjoy the games and leave comments!

Game 2: Lightning @ Penguins 7:00 (CBC - Dean Brown and Greg Millen, SR: Cassie Campbell-Pascal)

Game 2: Rangers @ Capitals 7:30 (Versus - Ken Daniels and Daryl Reaugh, ItG: Darren Eliot) (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Pierre McGuire)

Game 2: Blackhawks @ Canucks 10:00 (Versus - John Forslund, ItG: Brian Engblom) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, SR: Scott Oake)

Game 2: Predators @ Ducks 10:30 (TSN)

April 13 Playoffs Open Thread Live Blog

Like years past, throughout this post-season, I will post an open thread or a live blog every day there are playoff games. Unlike in years past, I will hope to do more live blogs than before. I would anticipate the first one of these coming up on Friday or Saturday, though it is certainly fair to say that my mind is not made up yet. Regardless, here is your open thread for today. NBA Playoffs do not start until Saturday so it is all NHL for today, tomorrow, and Friday. Enjoy the games and leave comments!

MOOKIE HAS A LIVE BLOG UP! GO THERE!

Game 1: Coyotes @ Red Wings 7:00 (Versus - Mike Emrick, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes, SR: Mitch Peacock)

Game 1: Lightning @ Penguins 7:00 (CBC - Dean Brown and Greg Millen, SR: Cassie Campbell-Pascal)

Game 1: Rangers @ Capitals 7:30 (Versus - JIP) (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Pierre McGuire)

Game 1: Blackhawks @ Canucks 10:00 (Versus - John Forslund, ItG: Brian Engblom) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, SR: Scott Oake)

Game 1: Predators @ Ducks 10:30 (TSN)

Tuesday Night Football Open Thread

IS OVER HERE. So go on, don't be shy, head on over to Keith's Sports Journal to discuss this Tuesday night clash between the Vikings and the Eagles.

Champions League Group Stage Day 2 Open Thread

I got flipped off for wearing a Frank Lampard jersey in class today. I love soccer. GO CHELSEA!

Group E: Bayern Munich vs. AS Roma 2:45
Group E: CFR Cluj vs. FC Basel 2:45
Group F: Marseille vs. Spartak Moscow 2:45
Group F: MSK Zilina vs. Chelsea 2:45
Group G: Real Madrid vs. Ajax 2:45
Group G: AC Milan vs. AJ Auxerre 2:45
Group H: Arsenal vs. Braga 2:45
Group H: Shakhtar Donetsk vs. FK Partizan 2:45

Champions League Group Stage Day 1 Open Thread

Today's games: Feel free to comment here. Go my 2nd favorite European team, FC Barcelona! Beat Panathinaikos!

Group A: FC Twente vs. Inter Milan 2:45
Group A: Werder Bremen vs. Tottenham Hotspur 2:45
Group B: Lyon vs. Schalke 04 2:45
Group B: Benfica vs. Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2:45
Group C: Manchester United vs. Rangers 2:45
Group C: Bursaspor vs. Valencia 2:45
Group D: FC Barcelona vs. Panathinaikos 2:45
Group D: FC Copenhagen vs. Rubin Kazan 2:45

Jibber Your Jabber- Sunday Night Style!

Who's up for some exhibition preseason NFL action tonight? Or maybe it's ESPN's 100th broadcast this season of Yanks/Sawx. Who does Al Michaels have tonight? Will Joe Morgan take credit for the building of New Yankee Stadium? Is Don Draper going to regret banging the new secretary? Leave comments and enjoy the mayhem!

Dallas Cowboys vs Cincinnati Bengals 8:00 (NBC- Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth SR: Andrea Kremer)

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees 8:00 (ESPN- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Orel Hershiser)

FIFA World Cup Round Of 16 Open Thread

Volunteering at an 18th century Pennsylvania German home that George Washington spent a few days in in October of 1777 and working all day today has led me to get way behind in World Cup games. Again. I am just getting to Group F now. For realz.

So here is how this is going to go, I will try my best to avoid as many spoilers as I possibly can (my DVR has not grasped this concept so I do know some things I have not seen yet), and consider this your entire Round of 16 open thread. I may be on Twitter some evenings tweeting about Phillies and the Flyers, but until then, you are not likely to see much in terms of blog posts, unless of course the Flyers pull the trigger on the much speculated trade for the rights of Evgeni Nabokov. The good news is I will be caught up by the time the quarterfinals roll around.

Obviously I have not looked at ESPN commentator press releases yet, so I can't tell you who is announcing what other than Ian Darke is working the U.S. game on Saturday.

USA! USA! USA!

For those like seeing happy humans, here are tons of people worldwide watching and reacting as they watch Landon Donovan's game-winner against Algeria live.

June 24 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

A few quick thoughts before I post the scenarios and the schedule.

• Cheering for a clutch player named Donovan is an odd sensation that I am enjoying for the first time in my life.
• Aspeaking of Eagles references, dear oh dear what ever happened to my Super Eagles of Nigeria? The fact that they only played 1 complete half of soccer in 3 games and yet still found themselves a couple of atrocious misses away from advancing out of a group with South Korea and Greece competing for the same position really speaks volumes to how wacky group play can be.
• I love Argentina. I loved them in 2006 and I love them again in 2010. Lionel Messi is absolutely amazing even if he is not scoring, and that whole team is an absolute blast to watch. Diego Maradona is awesomely entertaining and hilarious as a coach, and it appears as if he may be on to something with this team as well. Now how much of the decisions are Maradona's and how much he is just there as a figurehead coach, I cannot say for certain, but him and his team continue to entertain me beyond belief and if there is one team outside of the United States that I want to win the World Cup, it is Argentina.
• Now to Argentina's polar opposites: the French. Argentina are a team that play for each other and are successful, whereas French soccer is now beyond a complete disgrace. The F.F.F. can thank me for that compliment later.

Clinching scenarios for Group E

Netherlands: Clinched
Japan: Win OR Draw
Denmark: Win
Cameroon: Eliminated

Clinching scenarios for Group F
Paraguay: Win/Draw OR Lose and Slovakia-Italy draw OR Lose and Slovakia win provided Paraguay maintains goal differential edge
Italy: Win OR Draw and Paraguay win OR Draw and Paraguay-New Zealand draw where Italy is ahead on goals scored OR Draw and Paraguay-New Zealand draw by the same score and Italy has the lucky lot drawn.
New Zealand: Win OR Draw and Italy-Paraguay draw and New Zealand scores more goals than Italy OR Draw and Italy-Paraguay draw by the same score and New Zealand has the lucky lot drawn.
Slovakia: Win and Paraguay win/draw OR Win and New Zealand win that sees Slovakia ahead in goal differential.

Group F: Slovakia vs. Italy 10:00 AM (Johannesburg EPS) (ESPN - Ian Darke and John Harkes)
Group F: Paraguay vs. New Zealand 10:00 AM (Polokwane) (ESPN2 - Jim Proudfoot and Roberto Martinez)
Group E: Denmark vs. Japan 2:30 (Rustenburg) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist)
Group E: Cameroon vs. Netherlands 2:30 (Cape Town) (ESPN2 - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)

June 23 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

Group C clinching scenarios
Slovenia: Win/Draw OR Loss and USA Draw OR Loss and Algeria win as long as Slovenia maintains edge in goal differential
USA: Win OR Draw and England lose OR Draw and Slovenia-England Draw if England does not outscore USA by 2+ goals
England: Win OR Draw and USA-Algeria Draw and England outscores the USA by 3 goals
Algeria: Win and England lose/Draw OR Win and Slovenia lose and make up goal differential.

Group D clinching scenarios
Ghana: Win/Draw OR Lose and Australia Win/Draw that leaves Ghana ahead in goal differential
Germany: Win OR Draw and Australia-Serbia draw OR Draw and Australia wins provided Germany still has goal differential edge.
Serbia: Win OR Draw and a Germany win that gives Serbia a goal differential edge OR Draw and Ghana win
Australia: Win and Ghana win OR Win and Germany win provided Australia is ahead of Ghana on goal differential OR (this forthcoming scenario is not a joke) beat Serbia by at least 8 goals and Germany-Ghana draw.

Group C: England vs. Slovenia 10:00 AM (Port Elizabeth) (ESPN2 - Martin Tyler and Efan Ekoku)
Group C: United States vs. Algeria 10:00 AM (Pretoria) (ESPN - Ian Darke and John Harkes)
Group D: Ghana vs. Germany 2:30 (Johannesburg SC) (ESPN - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group D: Australia vs. Serbia 2:30 (Nelspruit) (ESPN2 - Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist)

June 22 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

Simplest clinching scenarios for Group A teams*.
Uruguay: Win/Tie
Mexico: Win/Tie
France: Win AND make up goal differential
South Africa: Win AND make up goal differential

Simplest clinching scenarios for Group B teams*.
Argentina: Win/Tie OR South Korea tie/lose
South Korea: Win AND Greece does not win by a greater margin
Greece: Earn more points than South Korea OR beat Argentina by 3+ goals
Nigeria: Win AND Argentina win

No team has mathematically clinched in either group and no team is mathematically eliminated either. Hopefully the soccer will be a bright spot in a day that sees me going to an Indians-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park tonight. I can't wait to the Phillies Bullpen Of Suck live and in person!

Group A: Mexico vs. Uruguay 10:00 AM (Rustenburg) (ESPN - Martin Tyler and John Harkes)
Group A: France vs. South Africa 10:00 AM (Bloemfontein) (ESPN2 - Ian Darke and Roberto Martinez)
Group B: Nigeria vs. South Korea 2:30 (Durban) (ESPN2 - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group B: Greece vs. Argentina 2:30 (Polokwane) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist)

* - These are merely the simplest clinching scenarios. I am not going to even try the longshot complex scenarios where you basically need a Sine graph to determine who advances.

June 21 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

I am hopeful ESPN will have a press release out today regarding the announcer assignments for the final stage of group play. If not, you will have to be like me and wait and see. I am working all day today so if there is something released, I won't be around to see it right away, but when I get in, I will check and post them in the master schedule if they are indeed released.

Group G: Portugal vs. North Korea 7:30 AM (Cape Town) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and John Harkes)
Group H: Chile vs. Switzerland 10:00 AM (Port Elizabeth) (ESPN - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group H: Spain vs. Honduras 2:30 (Johannesburg EPS) (ESPN - Martin Tyler and Ally McCoist)

June 20 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

Group F: Slovakia vs. Paraguay 7:30 AM (Bloemfontein) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and John Harkes)
Group F: Italy vs. New Zealand 10:00 AM (Nelspruit) (ESPN - Ian Darke and Ally McCoist)
Group G: Brazil vs. Ivory Coast 2:30 (Johannesburg SC) (ABC - Martin Tyler and Efan Ekoku)

June 19 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

Group E: Netherlands vs. Japan 7:30 AM (Durban) (ESPN - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group D: Ghana vs. Australia 10:00 AM (Rustenburg) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and John Harkes)
Group E: Cameroon vs. Denmark 2:30 (Pretoria) (ABC - Ian Darke and Efan Ekoku)

June 18 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

Still behind. Bleh. I forgot about Father's Day....until earlier on Wednesday. Shopping for books I know nothing about is much harder than it sounds.

Group D: Germany vs. Serbia 7:30 AM (Port Elizabeth) (ESPN - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group C: Slovenia vs. United States 10:00 AM (Johannesburg EPS) (ESPN - Ian Darke and John Harkes)
Group C: England vs. Algeria 2:30 (Cape Town) (ESPN2 - Martin Tyler and Ally McCoist)

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)

June 13 FIFA World Cup Open Thread

Group C: Algeria vs. Slovenia 7:30 AM (Polokwane) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and John Harkes)

Group D: Serbia vs. Ghana 10:00 AM (Pretoria) (ESPN - Ian Darke and Efan Ekoku)

Group D: Germany vs. Australia 2:30 (Durban) (ABC - Martin Tyler and Ally McCoist)

June 12 FIFA World Cup Open Thread: Battle Of Rustenburg

I do not know how much I will be around to comment during the festivities today, but thanks to my lovely DVR, I will be watching, and chances are, once I finish USA-England (it should be sometime today), I will write a recap of that match. Comment on the games here if you want. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Group B: South Korea vs. Greece 7:30 AM (Port Elizabeth) (ESPN - Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe)
Group B: Argentina vs. Nigeria 10:00 AM (Johannesburg EPS) (ESPN - Adrian Healey and Efan Ekoku)
Group C: United States vs. England 2:30 (Rustenburg) (ABC - Martin Tyler and John Harkes)