ShoFight 20 will be bringing its 15-fight Mixed Martial Arts card to the O’Reilly Family Event Center June 16, Drury University announced Thursday.

ShoFight 20 will feature a main event between UFC veterans Shamar Bailey and Karo “The Heat” Parysian, a fight that will be for the ShoFight Welterweight Championship. The card will feature 14 other fights, including a ShoFight Middleweight title fight between Terry Martin and Kendall “The Spyder” Grove. Both are also UFC veterans.

Tickets are available today at DruryTickets.com or by phone at (417)873-6389. Prices start at $18.

Parysian is a UFC and Strikeforce veteran, fighting in the UFC most recently as 2010.

Bailey was a quarterfinalist on UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter featuring Team Lesnar and Team De Los Santos. He was eventually signed to the promotion andfaced Danny Castillo at UFC 139. However, weighed in at 3 pounds too heavy and the fight was bumped up to 158 catchweight. He lost to Castillo via first round TKO and was released from the promotion.

The rest of the card includes

• Jonatas Noveas vs. Drew Fickett
• Chris “Crazyman” McDaniel vs. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett
• Mike Wessell vs. Aaron Rosa
• Alan Gibson vs. Dustin Phillips
• Chris “Gritz” Gruetzmacher vs. Roli Delgado
• Lucas “The Hillbilly Lightstorm” Overcast vs. Matt “Luke Duke” Lucas
• Sevak Magakian vs. John “Guns” Gunderson
• Josh McDonald vs. Karen Darabedyan
• Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm vs. Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio
• “Smilin” Sam Alvey vs. “Mr. International” Shonie Carter
• Robert Saborudden vs. Jacob “Straighjacket” Ritchie
• Chris Barnes vs. Jesse Zeguin
• Jason Ignacek vs. Ara Meridian

This is just one way that TAG's staff gets ready for sports trivia dominance.

Below is a video demonstrating the type of dedicated routine and concentration it takes to be champions.

Don’t forget to tune in to KOZL at 10:30 p.m. Sunday to see TAG go for a 3-peat vs. Team News-Leader, allegedly consisting of Kary Booher, Matt Schoch, Erin Bolen and Chris Basnett. Do they have a chance? Probably not after seeing this video.

For previous OSS episodes, click here for Week 1 and here for Week 2.

When it comes to The Showdown, the score is easy to read:

TAG Media 5 | KOLR/KOZL 4

As a part of a new sports trivia segment on Ozarks Sports Sunday, KOZL’s revolutionary weekend sports show, TAG Media ‘s four-person team of Allen Vaughan, Brett Johnston, Mark Archambeault and Kyle Green (BakedFreshDaily.com) took down KOLR/KOZL sports anchors Dan Lucy and Nick Carboni, as well as the ever-versatile news anchor Kate Stacy.

Watch the segment from last night’s episode and stay tuned for TAG’s victory acceptance speech.

OSS Showdown Ep. 1 from Justin Dougherty on Vimeo.

And, here is our acceptance speech (produced by Baked Fresh Daily)

Joe Zimmer

According to multiple local reports, Rogersville state champion wrestler and football star Joe Zimmer has signed to wrestle at the University of Nebraska.

Zimmer captured back-to-back undefeated state championship seasons, winning the Class 2 195 pound state title in February. For his career, Zimmer enjoyed a 182-15 career record and won his last 97 matches. In football, he was the Class 3 Defensive Player of the Year

Reportedly, Zimmer considered Minnesota, Stanford, Central Michigan and the service academies. He plans to major in Pre-Med.

Usually an event that sells out, the UnCivil War Mixed Martial Arts fights series is back at the Howard Johnson Conference Center (3333 S. Glenstone) Saturday at 7 p.m.

The card will feature 12 MMA cagefights from fighters from all over the region, as well as 4 Muay Thai kickboxing bouts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling exhibition fights.

The card will also feature Brian Green as the ring announcer. Many will remember Green as the guy who Kimbo Slice knocked out on with 3 seconds left in the fight on March 24. Event promoter Eric Stevens said a big screen will feature a replay of the fight throughout the night.

The weigh-in is tonight at Classic Sports inside the Howard Johnson. Doors open Saturday at 5:30 p.m., there will be an afterparty at Classics immediately following the fights.

For more information, find them on Facebook.

Special Guest Ring Announcer: Brian Green!

Brian Green recently fought the internet sensation Kimbo Slice for 4 grueling rounds… We will be showing a big screen replay of this epic fight as a special feature in addition to all of our other LIVE bouts!

12 or MORE MMA Cagefights!

This event will feature 12 or more MMA Cagefights featuring MMA Fighters and Brawlers from all over the region!

4 Muay Thai Kickboxing Fights

This event will also feature kickboxing matches between Adults and Youth from Springfield Fight Club, Team Fusion and Lewis’ Boxing Gym!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Wrestling Exhibition Fights

We will also have a few matches in the grappling arts featuring Adults and Youth from the Springfield area.

Our goal at this event is to give the fans an inside look at the individual fighting styles that make up our sport of MIxed Martial Arts… Don’t miss this event. There won’t be another one like it!

Doors open at 5:30 fights Begin at 7pm… Join us for weigh-ins Friday Night at Classics Sports Bar inside the Howard Johnson. There will also be a great after-party at Classics immediatley following the fights!

Brian Green looked like a huge underdog, but he's sickened with the talk of him throwing the fight.

When Kimbo Slice knocked out Brian Green with 3.3 seconds left in the fourth and final round Saturday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center as a part of Fight Night Returns, one of two things happened. It was either a very clutch knockout by Slice, or something more sinister — the fight was fixed.

When Green hears that, it makes him sick to his stomach.

“It makes me sick that people would think I would (throw the fight). It’s embarrassing that people are saying that about me.”

He went on.

“There’s no way I’d take a dive. I saw an opportunity (against Kimbo Slice). I’m trying to get a $65,000 UFC bonus, not lose to that guy. He caught me with 3 good shots. There’s not enough money to make me throw a fight. I’d never do that.”

Green said it’s preposterous that he’d lose the match for a payout against Kimbo Slice. And he gave many reasons. It’s integrity. It’s that he feels his Mixed Martial Arts career is going as well as it ever has been (57 total pro and amateur fights), and he thought he had a chance to win a decision — if not a knockout — against Slice. It’s disrespectful to Slice and how ferocious his punches were.

But most of all, it’s integrity and opportunity.

On the phone Saturday, saying he had a foggy head from a concussion and not enough money to pay for the out-of-pocket hospital costs, Green sounded like someone who was trying to seize a tremendous opportunity and is seeing it boomerang on him in a way he never expected.

See, Green is an MMA lifer who’s owned a gym here in Springfield. After heading to tryout for the Ultimate Fighter TV show — the same one that has made a burgeoning star out of Michael “The Menace” Johnson — Green said UFC Founder Dana White told him to go improve and win some fights. Since then, he’s won 7 fights in a row, and has a chance soon to avenge his last loss in what he’s calling the biggest fight of his career.

That’s when the Slice opportunity came up. When promoter Wes Slay gave him the chance, Green saw an opportunity.

Brian Green stands toe-to-toe with Kimbo Slice.

“I knew I had a chance to beat him,” Green said. “I knew I was quicker than him, and I could avoid his punches. I also thought I could knock him out. But really, bro, do you know how much it would help my career if I was the guy who had never boxed that beat Kimbo Slice? It would help me out in everything else.

“That’s why it drives me crazy that people are saying I threw the fight. What did I have to gain? I heard (Slice) got $25,000 for that fight. I’m trying to get UFC money. There’s not enough money in the world to get me to throw a fight, and they’re not bringing in Slice at that price to have me dive.”

As far as how the fight ended, Green said he’s disappointed. When asked why he didn’t just run away, or use the boxing hug to waste time, he said he had no concept of time. He couldn’t see a clock, and his ears were ringing so loud, he couldn’t hear the 10-second warning from ring side.

“The only time I knew when to stop fighting was when the ref stopped it,” Green said. “And, I’ve never boxed before, so I didn’t really have a concept of time.”

In the end, the lack of boxing experience might have done him in. He said he was out of energy by the end of the second round, and that’s why his hands were down from that moment on, to conserve energy. And that’s how he got knocked out.

“If anyone thinks three of his punches like that wouldn’t take them down the ground, why don’t they try?” Green said. “He lit me up, bro.”

Green also added that he sold thousands of dollars in tickets to the fight, plus even brought his family and his 80-plus old grandmother. “Why would I want to lose in front of them?” he said.

At the end of the interview, he again said how he can’t believe what people are saying about him.

“Bro, there’s no way I would do that. I saw an opportunity and I was going to take it. I was going to beat him,” Green said. “I was winning on all the cards. I was that close. … I’m toward the closing part of my career. … I want to make it to the UFC for one run with the promotion. I’m hitting my prime right now. I’m never interested in taking steps back.”

[[Show as slideshow]]
Kimbo Slice gave Springfield fans what they came to see with a last second knockout of Brian Green at Drury on Saturday 3/24.

Brian Green stands toe-to-toe with Kimbo Slice. They fight in the main event Saturday.

But, was it a little too good to be true? That’s what many are talking about this morning.

The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Slice had a 3-0 record coming into the fight in his boxing career, after shifting gears from a failed MMA tenure. Slice, who came to infamy after his streetfighting clips circulated online, had the weight advantage on Green, an experienced MMA fighter, but a pro boxing rookie at 5-11, 175 pounds.

During the fight, Slice looked slow against the quicker, smaller Green, and Green actually landed quite a few punches. As the fight went on, the crowd got behind Green, even chanting his name, “Green! Green! Green!” The smaller fighter fed off the energy and even taunted Slice at certain points, motioning to the crowd — and the crowd ate it up.

Entering the fourth and final round, many felt that Green would win by decision if it went to the judges — even promoter Wes Slay said so after the fight. As the final round went on, Green and Slice traded punches as both started to visibly tire. Then, with 3.3 second left, Slice hit Green with a left-right-left combo that sent Green to the mat. His head went straight up in the air like Glass Joe from Punch Out.

Now, depending on how you see it, it was either one of the most clutch knockouts in boxing or Green took a dive.

But here’s my position: I don’t care either way.

Sure, I’ve got a little professional wrestling fanfare in my personality, so I understand skepticism and why people would think he took a dive. It was actually the first thing out of my mouth when the crowd went nuts. “Was that fixed?”

I don’t think you can say that Green didn’t get crushed on the knockout blow. Watch it below. But it’s a matter of did he set himself up to get crushed. Did he drop his hands and stay close, or, did he get beat by a dangerous fighter? Again, I don’t care, because it was riveting to watch.

Think about it. Why did anyone go to that fight? To see Slice knock someone out. It didn’t matter who it was. It didn’t matter who he was fighting. It was a novelty show to see Internet legend Kimbo Slice send someone to the mat. The anticipation of it all night even sweetened the knockout.

After speaking with Slay, the fight promoter, he was adamant Green didn’t take a dive. “The doctor sent Green to the hospital after the fight,” he said. “I had a few people tell me it was a fix. I was like, ‘Green almost knocked him out a few times. Who does that when ‘taking a dive?” Did you see (Green’s) knee buckle?’”

UPDATE: Efforts to reach Green have been unsuccessful and Slay says he has a concussion.

So, if you feel like your intelligence was insulted or the integrity of boxing was sullied, you need to get over yourself. With either outcome — taking a dive or heroic knockout — a large SGF crowd got exactly what they wanted. And now, many people are talking about it. Who do you think wins there? Exactly.

Kimbo knocks out Green

Fight by round
Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Brian Green stands toe-to-toe with Kimbo Slice. They fight in the main event Saturday.

No matter how you feel about Kimbo Slice — Internet sensation, professional sideshow, washed out MMA fighter, public safety menace  — he makes for compelling situations.

On Thursday, his press conference at Reliable Chevrolet had a little bit of everything. It started about 40 minutes late, but a crowd of more than 200 people ready to get his autograph, stayed, hoping to get a glimpse of the 6-foot, 250-pound man who is headlining Fight Night Returns, a boxing and MMA event Saturday at Drury University’s O’Reilly Event Center.

We’ve included video of the press conference below, but we will summarize the good parts.

• Promoter Wes Slay tried to diffuse rumors reported in the News-Leader about the on-again-off-again situation with Slice’s opponent.
• Brian Green — Slice’s opponent who is 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds — told the crowd “Keep making fun of me. I’m going to knock him out.” (Editor’s note: I think he believes he’s going to do it.)
• When handed the microphone, Slice said, “Yo, Springfield.” and handed the mic back to Slay. It would have been funny if he would have kept talking.

Maybe the gruff nature, the tough-guy stuff, is his image and he doesn’t let people behind the curtain, but it came off as petty and ambivalent. A lot of people came to see him in the middle of a Thursday. He looked like he could care less, and then didn’t speak much to the media.

Oh, and according to the News-Leader, after being late to start, Team Kimbo left with approximately 80 people — including children — standing in line.

But, you still can’t deny the ability for Slice to draw and Saturday night is still going to be quite the event for SGF. Tickets are still available at DruryTickets.com and by calling 417.873.6389, and cost between $15-85. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and fights start at 6:30. `

Team Flores assembles at Classic Sports Bar and Grill.

At a press conference Monday in Springfield, BJ Flores and the rest of his team laid out the future — and it includes a fight that should get him to the doorstep of fighting for a world cruiserweight championship.

Flores said he is angling for a shot at the currently vacant World Boxing Council Silver Cruiserweight Title, a belt that would guarantee him a shot at the WBC World Cruiserweight Title, currently held by Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. Ranked No. 4 in the WBC, Flores said this is the next step in what has been a tremendous year for his career.

“I couldn’t have done this without the support of my friends, family and everyone in the community,” Flores said. “This is the best I’ve felt physically and mentally. I’m in a good spot.”

Here is where it starts to get really interesting for Flores. Detractors have said the opponents he has brought to Springfield haven’t been high quallity: Hugo Pineda, Paul Jennette, Nick Ianuzzi. But the numbers say something different. By April, Flores said he expects to be recognized as a top 6 fighter by all four of the major sanctioning bodies. And here’s the real clincher. He said, while he wants to bring every one of his fights to SGF, he knows this next fight — which would likely be against Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni, the WBC No. 2 cruiserweight who fought to a draw with No. 3 Silvio Branco last weekend — might be not only out of the Ozarks, it might be out of the United States.

“I don’t care where the fight is,” Flores said. “I don’t care if it’s in his backyard.  It’s not going to matter this next time.  I’ve been sharp, my timing is back.  My reflexes are sharp now.  I’m in my prime, I’m ready to fight it doesn’t matter.”

There is no date set, but because of his alliance with Don King, Flores said there are two Showtime Boxing dates set later this year — May and July — that could be the perfect landing spot for a fight with either Fragomeni or Branco for the WBC Silver Belt.

The UnCivil War series is back this weekend, and so are some of the Ozarks’ top amateur fighters.

UnCivil War IV: Rising will feature 12 fights — including 3 title fights — with the area’s ‘Rising’ star MMA Fighters at the Howard Johnson Hotel (3333 S. Glenstone, formerly Clarion).

This weekend’s event will feature three championship title fights in the Flyweight Division (125 lbs.), Featherweight (145) and Lightweight (155).

The UCW Flyweight title fight features a rematch between Ray Allard of Cantrell’s MMA and Anthony Lupica of the Barry County Fight Club. These two last fought each other in October in Branson. The fight ended in controversy when Lupica was knocked unconcious and Allard struck Lupica on the ground knocking out his front teeth. Both of these fighters are top ranked flyweights in the region.

The UCW Featherweight Title fight features the current champ Shane Beck of Barry County Fight Club meeting Springfield Fight Club’s Chris Reed, who has 5 cage victories including a victory at the inaugural UnCivil War.

The UCW Lightweight Title fight features a high-profile matchup, with Christian ‘The Prince’ Camp of Cozzens Jiu-Jitsu vs. Springfield Fight Club’s Shawn Hembree. Camp has been making a stir with impressive victories over 4 tough opponents. Hembree is the more seasoned fighter.

There are 9 other fights on the card. For more details go to UnCivil-War.com, or find it on Facebook here and here. Tickets are available online and at the door.

B.J. Flores is ready to defend his NABA and NABO titles in SGF in October.

It looks like B.J. Flores‘ victories and partnership with Don King might be paying off.

While at the DoubleTree hotel in north SGF promoting his return to the boxing ring in Saturday’s MMA/Boxing card at Drury, Flores’ trainer Jacob Chavez said Team Flores has “a few title offers” on the table. Chavez wouldn’t comment on which belts are in play, but said King is trying to figure out a way to make it happen in Springfield. There is no imminent timetable.

“Don was very happy with the way things went (with the Pineda card). He was impressed,” Chavez said.

The current cruiserweight boxing champions are:

• WBA — Guillermo Jones (38-3-2)
• WBC — Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (46-2-1)
• IBF — Yoan Pablo Hernandez (26-1)
• WBO — Marco Huck (34-1)

Chavez said Flores was taking time off after fighting three times in the past seven months, all of which were wins.

SGF's own Zak Cummings (left) will fight Lamont Stafford Saturday at Drury's OFEC. Photo by Allen Vaughan/TAGsgf.com

Springfield has always been used as a proving ground in sports. Missouri State has been the springboard to many successful men’s basketball coaches. The Springfield Cardinals have employed and hosted dozens of future big league players. Saturday night at O’Reilly Family Event Center, two MMA fighters will get a chance to show SGF what big-time MMA looks like.

Both Zak Cummings and Andrew Whitney could be making what could be their last local MMA fights. Why? Because the big leagues might be calling. Cummings (13-3), a 6-foot and 180-pound fighter, has been rumored to be in consideration for UFC and has participated in StrikeForce Challenger events. Cummings is fighting Lamont Stafford, a 6-foot-6 fighter from Oklahoma City with a 3-2 record.

“Normally, it’s tough to get a fight here in my hometown,” Cummings said. “Lamont is a tough guy and he’s got a lot of good tools. It’s going to be a good fight.”

Yes, SGF's Andrew Whitney knocked a guy out with a flying knee to the face. It's become a monster on YouTube with more than 20,000 views.

Whitney (6-1) is a 5-7, 135 pounds and is best known for a knockout that caught the Internet’s attention, a flying knee that ended a match with Laramie Shaffer. Here’s the part where we would show it to you on video, but the company has removed it, trying to keep the highlight for themselves. Lame. Either way, Whitney will be facing Brandon Wood (1-5).

From the News-Leader’s Erin Bolen: “The UFC has said they’d pick me up at 7-1, and I’m 6-1 right now,” Whitney said. “That’s why this is probably the last time I’m fighting locally and I’m real excited about getting in there. All the hard work is done.”

But, both are on the big-time organizations’ radar and wins on Saturday night’s card will only further their opportunities. Ozark’s Devian Golden, who has been a monster on the local amateur MMA circuit, is making his pro MMA debut, too. Golden was a football and wrestling star at Ozark HS.

The event will feature boxing, too, including the return to the ring of Jacob Chavez, known locally for being B.J. Flores‘ trainer.

Tickets are still available at DruryTickets.com. GA is $15 and floor seats are going for $35. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

BOXING

Matt Schaefer (3-4) vs Josh Downing (debut)

Jacob Chavez (1-3) vs Darrin Fansler (1-9)

Steven Kollin (debut) vs AJ Van Camp (debut)

Jesse Cook (2-0) vs John Brewer (1-0)

MMA

Devian Golden (debut) vs Luke Shepard (0-1)

Allen Gibson (5-2) vs Justin Robbins (12-10)

Lucas Overcast (2-2) vs Ed Smith (3-2)

Andrew Whitney (6-1) vs Brandon Wood (1-5)

Zak Cummings (13-3) vs Lamont Stafford (3-2)

BJ Flores

B.J. Flores earned a 6th round TKO of 40-year-old Hugo Pineda on Saturday Night at the Shrine Mosque, giving him three straight cruiserweight wins in eight months. Legendary promoter Don King was in attendance.

We captured video of the entire 6th round, including when the referee stepped in and stopped the fight. There has been no announcement on what Flores’ next move is, but he should be inching closer to a world title shot.

This is the best online photo of Hugo Pineda. We promise.

Despite rumors that surfaced last week that linked him to another fighter, cruiserweight B.J. Flores will fight Hugo Pineda at the Shrine Mosque on Jan. 28, according to Rumble Time Productions matchmaker Derrick Spicer.

Pineda is a native of Barranquilla, Columbia and has won 39 fights in his pro career including 28 knockouts.  Pineda recently moved up to cruiserweight and has fought the likes of Glen Johnson, Felix Trinidad, and Kosta Tszyu.

This isn’t the first time Flores has been linked to Pineda. We even got word that Flores was supposed to fight Pineda back on Oct. 15, rather than Paul Jeannette. But the contract was never signed and Flores beat Jeannette in a unanimous decision.

Spicer said the fight with Pineda will not be for the vacant NABO title, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good opponent. Actually, it might be better. As Spicer pointed out, while Pineda hasn’t been active, he’s a veteran guy who’s fought great fighters.

Flores signed on with promoter Don King in the fall and is hoping this path will elevate him to a World Title fight soon.

Cory Spinks is coming to SGF.

While BJ Flores still doesn’t have an opponent for his Jan. 28 fight at the Shrine Mosque, Team Flores has announced that former world middleweight champion Cory Spinks (38-6) will fight Sechew Powell (26-3) in an IBF eliminator match.

According to Team Flores, the winner of the fight will face IBF champion Cornelius Bundrage at a later date.

While Flores doesn’t have an opponent for the main event, he will fight for the vacated NABF title, recently made available by Lateef Kayode. A victory should move Flores to a No. 1 world ranking and a title shot.

Tickets can be purchased at the Shrine Mosque Box office or on Metrotix. Call 1-800-293- 5949.

Cage fighting, MMA, whatever you like to call it, has never been more popular. And if you’ve never experienced it live, now’s a great time to try it out.

Thanks to the sharp team at UnCivil War, SGF is getting a taste of legitimate amateur Mixed Martial Arts on Saturday at the Clarion Hotel.  UnCivil War III will feature 12 bouts including 2 UCW Title Fights. Devian “Superman” Golden (a former Ozark footballer) return to fight Andy Hunter of Barry County fight club for the UCW Middleweight Championship Belt. Undefeated fighter Dewey Cloud faces the also Undefeated Shane Beck for the UCW Lightweight Championship Belt.

Yes, the event is brought to you in part by, ahem, TAG Media, and we are trying to make it easier on you.

RSVP to our Facebook event here and you will be in the running to win tickets to Saturday’s fight. Yes, it’s just that easy.

Also, the TAG Team will be in full effect, so be sure to get your picture taken and put here on our site.

BJ Flores stylin' at his press conference.

It’s official — BJ Flores is back, again.

(Flores joined The High Road with Allen Vaughan Sunday. Click here for the conversation.)

The NABO and NABF cruiserweight champion and the WBC Continental Americas champion announced today he will be defending his belts at an event called “Rumble at the Shrine” on Jan. 28 at the Shrine Mosque, and should be taking his last step to earn his coveted world championship shot.

At a press conference at the Doubletree Hotel today, the Willard native announced he is not only continuing in his quest to earn a world championship shot, he’s looking to add the last of the North American belts to his collection. Because Lateef Kayode has vacated the NABA title — which he was going to have to defend against Flores, but chose not to — Flores will fight for that belt against an undetermined opponent. According to Flores and Rumble Time Productions matchmaker Derrick Spicer, a win over what’s expected to be a top 10 rated North American opponent would vault Flores into “the No. 1 ranking in the world.”

Currently, Flores is ranked No. 4 by the WBC (Kayode is ahead, so he should move up by default), No. 6 by the IBO, No. 15 by the IBF and outside the top 15 in the WBA.

While boxing is confusing to follow, most of the time it’s about who you know. That’s why Flores’ relationship with Don King was supposed to be a coup. It still might be, but Flores’ October win over Paul Jennette didn’t elevate the Willard native to a title shot, like we, and Flores, were led to believe. At the press conference, Flores said King saw how successful the October fight was monetarily and gave Flores the go-ahead to schedule one more local card, adding in the sanctioning fees. He also said that when Flores fights for a world title, it likely won’t be against WBA champion Guillermo Jones, a Don King fighter. Instead, King wants Flores to win a different belt and try to unify with Jones down the road.

Flores said as long as he gets some world title shot, he’ll be happy.

A possible opponent is former Canadian Football League player Carl Davis (16-4). The 38-year-old recently lost his USBO cruiserweight title in a third-round TKO to Mateusz Masternak. Others in Flores’ initial press release included Aaron Williams (22-3), Danny Santiago (31-4), Ryan Henny (17-2) and James Cermack (18-2).

Flores and his promotional team — which is different than the first two fights held at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center — is willing to put up more cash for a higher quality opponent to come to Springfield. When asked how much money they are offering, Spicer joked it was in the millions, but declined to be specific.

Tickets are not on sale yet, and the undercard will feature a mix of boxing and MMA.

I mean to do this all the time, but there’s a backlog of stuff I need feel compelled to comment on. Here goes.

* Don’t sweat last night’s Missouri State Bears loss to Oral Roberts too much. Sure, the Bears’ 68-63 loss at Oral Roberts isn’t encouraging, but we are learning more about this team all the time. What can we take away from the surprising Bears’ first loss? Their level of physical and mental toughness.

It never dawned on me that a Missouri Valley Conference team might be physically pushed around by a Summit Conference team, but that’s what happened. How many loose balls and rebounds did Oral Roberts seem to grab, especially Steven Roundtree (12 rebounds) and Michael Craion, a Kansas City Ruskin product (who played here in SGF against Central a few years ago)? Caleb Patterson, Isaiah Rhine and Christian Kirk aren’t the most physically imposing dudes. Couple that with the amount of scrap and hustle ORU showed, it made MSU look soft and disinterested, which we all know isn’t the case. When it comes time to mix it up with the big ‘tweener bodies in the MVC, hopefully MSU will have an answer.

On another note, the announced attendance at ORU was 3,352. Right, if you multiplied by 3. There’s no way there were more than 1,000 fans there, at least the way it looked on the Ozarks CW broadcast. We had some fun with Facebook, and this is what happened:

Here were the highlights:

• A public pool
• Milli Vanilli reunion conert
• Waffle House
• The WNBA Draft
• A Herman Cain sensitivity training seminar
• The original screening of Gigli
• A Kardashian marriage counseling session
• Hyvee
• A Bears baseball game
• A proctologist office
• Kansas Alumni Night in Columbia

And, the prohibitive winner (at least it was my favorite):

For more fun on Facebook, join the party at Facebook.com/TheHighRoadShow.

Kimbo Slice will be in SGF in February.

* Don’t try to compare Kimbo Slice to B.J. Flores, and vice versa. There has been a lot of speculation about SGF’s emerging/blossoming/interesting boxing scene. After there were no major professional boxing fights in SGF for years, there are now two within two weeks of each other, when B.J. Flores will have a fight on Jan. 28 at the Shrine Mosque (no opponent announced, yet) and Internet street fighting sensation Kimbo Slice at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center (no opponent announced, either) on Feb. 11.

Some are trying to diagnose why there are two cards so close to each other. While this week, Wes Slay of Slay Promotions made it clear that he and Flores are no longer working together, I think people need to calm down and not read too much into the situation. Even if there is beef — which neither has gone on record about, yet — Instead, they should enjoy it, and not get caught up in the truth of the following statement:

“There has never been a more well-known fighter come through Springfield … than Kimbo Slice,” Slay said. “He will be by far the biggest celebrity, from a sports perspective, that’s ever fought (in Springfield).”

Think about it. The entire narrative of Flores’ return was to make it his personal mission to earn a major championship fight, and pave that road here in SGF. So far, so good for the Willard native, since he’s 2-0 with a TKO and a decision here in SGF. But don’t feel like you have to choose Flores over Kimbo or vice versa. Slice is a novelty show. He’ll likely never fight for a heavyweight world title. He’s coming to town and it going to try to (legally) decapitate his opponent, not engineer an evening of the sweet science. You’re going to pay to watch it. So am I.

You don’t have to choose. Go to both. And think about it this way: If the Kimbo Slice fight makes money, imagine who else Slay and his company will bring. He keeps saying the OFEC is nicer than most of the venues in boxing. Now it’s time to see if it, and the Shrine Mosque, can contain two boxing events in two weeks.

More awards for DGB.

• Cardinals fans, it’s really time to get nervous about Albert Pujols: I won’t go on and on about this, but no matter what side of the fence you’re on, it’s almost put up or shut up time in the Albert Pujols sweepstakes. Whether you believe they should spend the cash elsewhere or invest the most money in franchise history in one player, the wheels will really begin spinning Monday when the Winter Meetings start.

I’m still on record as saying the Cardinals should pony up whatever it takes to sign Pujols, but the way the reporting is flowing, that number might be lower than anyone could have anticipated. Should be a fun week.

• Dorial Green-Beckham is named Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year: Duh. Click here to see why.

Yes, SGF's Andrew Whitney knocked a guy out with a flying knee to the face. It's become a monster on YouTube with more than 20,000 views.

It’s easy to discredit a local undercard filled with boxing and MMA, but after hearing about some flying knee knockout, I had to Google Andrew Whitney. This is what happened. Wow. There is no doubt I’ll be waiting for this guy to fight tonight during the BJ Flores undercard at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center.

This clip has more than 20,000 views on YouTube after taking place late last month on HDNet. Whitney is a Springfield Fight Club representative. Enjoy.

Flores (left) stands up to cruiserweight contender Paul Jennette

This is the fight that Willard native B.J. Flores has been waiting for. See, when Flores fights Paul Jennette Saturday to add the WBC Continental Americas cruiserweight title to his stable of NABO, NABF and NAB cruiserweight belts, it’s supposed to be good enough to land him a title shot against current WBC cruiserweight champ Guillermo Jones.

But, first thing’s first. Flores must get through Jeannette.

We all know about Flores. He’s 25-1 and brutalized Nick Iannuzzi in his return to SGF back in July. But this is different. Because of a deal Flores and Co. inked with Don King, a victory here should get him a shot — potentially in SGF — against Jones for a world title. It’s the latest chapter in the story Flores is trying to write that leads him to the sport’s pinnacle.

Jennette is 11-3 as a pro, and is 1-1-1 in his last 3 fights dating back to 2009. Jeannette’s resume isn’t overly impressive, but he looks the part, ranked 31st in the United States and 124th in the world. He’s every bit as large as Flores at 5-foot-11, 190-pound range.

Currently, the WBO recognizes Flores as the No. 4 cruiserweight in the world.

Here is a video of his press conference Thursday at the Doubletree Hotel in Springfield (crank up the volume):

Here is the rest of the card:

Boxing

• Ryan ‘The Irish Outlaw’ Coyne 17-0 (6 KO’s)  vs. James Crawford (40-13-2, 17 KO’s)
• Will Grover (5-1, 5 KO’s) vs Justin Ridgway (2-0, 1 KO)
• Steven Mincks (5-20-1, 3 KO’s) vs Robbie Cannon (12-6-1, 3 KO’s)
• AJ Van Camp vs Ryan Pederson (2-7, 2 KO’s)
• Jesse Cook (Debut) vs DeAngelo Clardy (1-2, 1 KO)

MMA

• Mike Glenn vs Tim Papp
• Brian Green vs TBA
• Andrew Whitney vs Lewis McKenzie
• Chris McDaniel vs Chris Barnes
• Jesse Zeugin vs Wade McGlohan

Tickets are still available, starting at $15, by going to DruryTickets.com or by calling 417.873.6389

This is the best online photo of Hugo Pineda. We promise.

B.J. Flores, the No. 4 ranked cruiserweight in the world, will fight 40-year-old Hugo Pineda October 15th at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center, according to promoter Wes Slay.

Pineda is a native of Barranquilla, Columbia and has won 39 fights in his pro career including 28 knockouts.  Pineda recently moved up to cruiserweight and has fought the likes of Glen Johnson, Felix Trinidad, and Kosta Tszyu.

Flores recently signed on with promoter Don King and is hoping this fight will elevate him to a WBO World Title fight next Spring.

It wasn’t as flashy as his record-setting first round, but Steve Friesen is still in control after two rounds at the Nationwide Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship at Highland Springs Country Club. It’s shaping up to be a great final two rounds.

You can find the rest of the scores here, and some salty coverage by the News-Leader here.

photos by Alex Stocksdale

Carly Gullickson is just one in a long line of successful Gullickson athletes.

A Division-I baseball player, a track star at Notre Dame, the NCAA women’s singles champion, another D-I tennis player and a pitcher with a 14-year Major League Baseball career. This is about what I see when I look at the Hall of Fame display case at my old high school. Springfield Lasers star Carly Gullickson, on the other hand, sees this when she sits down to a family dinner.

Carly, who is playing in Springfield for the second year in a row, remembers growing up in Detroit watching her dad, Bill, pitch for the Tigers. When Bill retired in 1994, he began his second career as coach and chauffeur for his six sports-crazed kids.

“When we were younger, I think we did every sport,” Carly said of her and her siblings. “Everything was crazy all the time, our parents were always driving us to different sports.”

Carly played everything growing up, but she quickly developed a love for tennis. Her mom Sandy, who played tennis at Western Kentucky, would take Carly out on the courts to hit for hours.

“She just loved it,” Carly said. “She always wanted me and my older sister to play, but my sister didn’t like it, she was a track runner.”

While Carly’s older sister Cassie went on to Notre Dame to run track, Carly started making a name for herself on the Juniors tennis circuit.

In 2001, 14-year-old Carly became the youngest player since Jennifer Capriati to win the USTA Girls’ 18s Super National Clay Court Championships. She turned pro at 17 and started playing in Wimbledons and French Opens.

Travis Parrott and Carly Gullickson after winning the 2009 US Open Mixed Doubles.

The highlight of Carly’s career is the 2009 US Open. Two days before the tournament started, Carly switched partners to Travis Parrott, (who plays WTT for the New York Sportimes). They got a wildcard berth into the tournament and two weeks later they were standing in Arthur Ashe Stadium holding the mixed doubles championship trophy.

“We were just going out to have fun and then all of a sudden we’re in the quarters, semis…,” Carly said. “We both probably played our best tennis to win that.”

Carly has tried to keep that relaxed attitude in her matches since then, but tennis has a pressure that’s different from almost every other sport.  There are no plays off on a tennis court, imagine Lebron James having to shoot and guard the ball every time down the floor.

“I’ve tried to come out in all of my matches and act like that but it’s hard for me to do that,” Carly said,  ”but for some reason at the US Open I didn’t even have trouble doing it.”

Carly has not won a Grand Slam tournament since then and Lasers coach J. L. De Jager said that Carly has a lot of talent, but does not play in enough tournaments.

“You’re not an average player if you win mixed doubles at the US Open,” De Jager said. “It’s a pity that she’s not playing full time on the tour because I think that if she really wanted to, she could be really good.”

If you look at the bench during a Lasers game, there’s a good chance you will see Carly joking with her teammates. Once she steps on the court, she isn’t afraid to crack a smile in between points.

Carly has been ranked as high as No. 52 in the world in doubles and No. 123 in singles, but right now her ranking has fallen to 124 in doubles and 1,078 in singles. Her career goal is a top 30 doubles ranking and top 50 in singles. She is getting married at the end of the month and she said that this has given her tennis career a new perspective.

“I really have to focus these next few years because I’m 25 this year and I want to have kids soon,” she said. “I need to really concentrate on my career for the next four years.”

It is tough for tennis players to improve as they near 30, but Carly hopes that by playing in more tournaments she will see her rankings start to climb.

Whenever Carly decides to hang up her racket, there will be another Gullickson ready to take over. Her sister Chelsey, a tennis player at Georgia (also where brother Craig plays baseball) won the NCAA singles title last year and her youngest sister Chloe is just learning to play.

When Carly does take a break from competitive tennis to raise her family, college recruiters will probably show up in the delivery room with letters of intent for the next great Gullickson athlete.

When you're as legit as The Menace is, you can have cool photos like this. Photo courtesy MichaelJohnsonMMA.com

It wasn’t that long ago that Michael “The Menace” Johnson was a guy hanging out at the Springfield Fight Club, scratching and clawing for MMA legitimacy. Fast forward to present day and Johnson, who has made Springfield his home, is a bonafide big-time pro.

After finishing as the runner-up in Season 12 of UFC’s Ultimate Fighter competition, Johnson is now climbing up the lightweight division ranks. On June 25, Johnson won his UFC debut, beating Edward Faaloloto with a TKO at the 4:42 mark of the first round.

Johnson was a guest on The High Road with Allen Vaughan this past week to discuss his new training regiment, what he learned from TUF and his newfound stardom.

You can stream the interview below, download it, or subscribe to the TAG Magazine ITunes feed by clicking here. Johnson’s website is MichaelJohnsonMMA.com, and you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Melanie Oudin struggled against the Lasers Saturday night

Melanie Oudin, believed by many to be the next great American tennis player, came to Springfield last night in her World Team Tennis finale with the Philadelphia Freedoms and the Lasers were anything but intimidated.

Oudin, the only marquee player to visit Springfield this season, saw her Freedoms drop every set in a 25-13 Lasers win.

The Lasers’ Lilia Osterloh said that it is always fun to play against a big name.

“I’ve played against all of the top 10 girls, so I definitely know what it’s like,” Osterloh said. “I had a great night out here, there was a lot of crowd support and teamwork.”

Before the match Oudin said that her main concentration in this World Team Tennis season is to improve her play in the beginning of matches.

“I’m normally a slow starter in matches,” Oudin said. “I’m known for coming back in the second or third set. Here if you don’t start off well, you’re going to lose.”

Oudin looked like a prophet when she stepped onto the court for women’s singles and was broken by Osterloh in her first two service games. With Oudin down 1-3 in the set, the Freedoms subbed in Beatrice Capra but Osterloh still cruised to the 5-2 win.

With Oudin and Capra on the court at the same time two sets later for women’s doubles, the result wasn’t much different. The duo was beaten 5-4 by Osterloh and Carly Gullickson.

Osterloh said that she and Gullickson have developed a trust on the court this season.

“Carly is so fun,” Osterloh said. “We really enjoy playing together, she has my back and I have her back.”

Beatrice Capra is going the college route

The 20-year-old Oudin and the 19-year-old Capra represent the two different approaches to starting a tennis career.

Oudin tore through the juniors cicuit and turned pro at 16. She grabbed the national spotlight with her run to the quarterfinals at the 2009 US Open.

And then she was branded with that title, “Next big thing.” With the Williams sisters in decline, American tennis fans are ready for the next great women’s player to emerge.

Oudin’s world ranking climbed to 31 last year and it looked like we had found our savior. But gone are the days when a 16-year-old Martina Hingis could win the Australian Open, and the physical grind of life on the pro tour caught up with Oudin. Her ranking has now tumbled to 100.

Capra made it to the third round of the US Open last year, before losing to Maria Sharapova, but she elected to delay her professional career and enroll at Duke this fall.

“I think that going to college and maturing physically and mentally is really going to help me in the long run and keep me from getting so burnt out,” Capra said.

As other women’s players like Capra start to rise, Oudin said she is feeling that burden being lifted off of her shoulders.

“Everyone isn’t looking at me to be the next best American,” Oudin said. “There are a lot of other girls that are starting to do really well.”

Capra cannot be sure that she made the right call by putting that prize money on hold to get her education and let her game mature. But as Oudin knows all too well, once you go pro, there’s no going back.

Scores:

Mixed doubles: (SGF) Rik De Voest and Carly Gullickson 5-2 Nathan Healey and Beatrice Capra (PHI)

Women’s singles: (SGF) Lilia Osterloh 5-2 Melanie Oudin/Capra (PHI)

Men’s doubles: (SGF) Jean Anderson and De Voest 5-4 Brendan Evans and Healey (PHI)

Women’s doubles: (SGF) Osterloh and Gullickson 5-4 Oudin and Capra

Men’s singles: (SGF) De Voest 5-1 Evans/Healey (PHI)

In a blowout match that got very interesting at the end, the Springfield Lasers topped the Boston Lobsters 23-17 in overtime to snap a five-match losing streak.

Lasers coach JL De Jager steps up big time Wednesday night

Head coach J.L. De Jager and mens’s singles player Rik De Voest joined the team last night in Boston after being part of South Africa’s Davis Cup team the week before. The Lasers squared off against the same Lobsters tonight in Springfield and this time they took a 19-12 lead into the last event of the night, men’s doubles.

The Lasers’ Paul Hanley had been on the sidelines all night with a shoulder injury, but he decided to try to play in the last event.

Hanley couldn’t continue after the second game, so the 38-year-old De Jager had to step in and finish out the set.

De Jager, who says he no longer plays competitive tennis, stepped right onto the court and held serve at 4-0. Then he promptly pulled his hamstring.

There were no more men on the Springfield bench, so De Jager did his best Kirk Gibson impression and played hurt.

“This is something you do for the team,” De Jager said. “If I have to come out and sacrifice my body for the team, then that’s what it’s all about.”

The Lobsters men’s doubles team of Eric Butorac and Jan-Michael Gambill won the set 5-3 to force an overtime period where the Lasers would need to win only one game to win the match.

With De Voest serving on match point, the Lobsters lofted a lazy return toward De Jager at the net who slammed the ball at Butorac’s feet for the win.

“We managed to get through the set,” De Voest said, “and in the last game I just told him to get as close to the net as possible and he said ‘Yeah if it comes to me I’ll make the play’ so he did and we got it done.”

De Voest and Carly Gullickson got the team off to a good start, opening the match with a 5-2 win in mixed doubles. From there, the Lasers rolled to wins in women’s doubles and men’s singles.

The Lasers used a strategy of lobbing shots high into the air when the Lobsters rushed the net in doubles and Boston struggled to put away the high shots.

“It’s pretty hard to hit an overhead under the lights here so I constantly told the girls whenever they get in trouble just go to the lob,” De Jager said.

Last night the Lobsters beat the Lasers 24-19, a big reason being that the world’s No. 39 ranked singles player John Isner was playing for Boston.

De Voest pulled off the shocker last night by beating the hard-serving American 5-4, but Isner was too much to handle in doubles.

De Voest has had a grueling schedule of late, he played in Wimbledon and then it was straight to Chicago for a tournament, then to South Africa for the Davis Cup, back to Boston on Monday and now here he is in Springfield.

Unfortunately for De Voest, things won’t slow down much. The Lasers play in Washington DC on Thursday, New York on Friday and then back to Springfield on Saturday.

Scores:

Mixed doubles: (SGF) Carly Gullickson and Rik De Voest 5-2 Chanelle Scheepers and Eric Butorac (BOS)

Women’s doubles (SGF) Gullickson and Lilia Osterloh 5-3 Scheepers and Mashona Washington (BOS)

Men’s singles: (SGF) De Voest 5-2 Jan-Micheal Gambill (BOS)

Women’s singles: (SGF) Osterloh 4-5 Scheepers (BOS)

Men’s doubles: (SGF) De Voest and Paul Hanley/JL De Jager 3-5 Gambill and Butorac (BOS)

Overtime: (SGF) De Voest and De Jager 1-0 Gambill and Butorac (BOS)

Raven Klaasen (photo by Alex Stocksdale)

The Springfield Lasers dropped to last place in the World Team Tennis Western Conference after a 21-17 overtime loss to their instate rivals, the Kansas City Explorers, Saturday night at Cooper Tennis Complex.

The Lasers opened their season this week with four home matches and after a convincing win Monday night, the team dropped three straight.

“Obviously it’s disappointing that we’re not doing so well,” the Lasers’ Paul Hanley said. “Hopefully when we go on the road things can change a little bit.”

Hanley said that he is actually looking forward to playing some road matches because the court in Springfield does not suit his style of play well.

“This sort of surface is not my favorite,” he said. “It’s a very high bouncing surface, so it will be interesting to see what the away surfaces are like.”

Hanley’s doubles partner Raven Klaasen said that the high bouncing surface is actually an advantage for the team because they are used to playing on it.

“This court is very bouncy so it’s hard for guys to come in one day and start playing on it,” Klaasen said. “The home court advantage at the start of the season has been nice for me.”

Klaasen’s play in men’s singles has been a pleasant surprise in this first week. In Monday’s match Klaasen’s set was the only one the Lasers lost, but he got the win in each of the team’s next three outings.

Men’s singles was the first event of every match this week and Klaasen said he likes the role of setting the tone for the Lasers.

“The result of the team is a lot more important than my personal results but if I can get the team off to a good start then that’s key,” he said.

Klaasen came out hot Saturday night, he downed the Explorers’ Ricardo Mello 5-3 to start the match.

The momentum didn’t carry over however as Lilia Osterloh, the Lasers’ women’s singles player, fell to a hard-serving Madison Brengle 5-1.

From there the Lasers lost both women’s doubles and mixed doubles and by the time Klaasen and Hanley took the court for men’s doubles, the Lasers were down 18-12.

Klaasen and Hanley beat Mello and Alex Kuznetsov 5-2 to force overtime.

The Lasers would have had to win four straight games in overtime to get the win, but in the first game, Kuznetsov came up with some big serves and the Explorers (1-3) walked away with their first win of the season.

“We knew we could get one break, it would probably be really hard to get two breaks though,” Klaasen said. “We gave ourselves a chance and he hit a great serve when it counted so it was a long shot but we stuck in there and gave ourselves a chance.”

The Lasers travel to St. Louis Monday to take on the Aces and they are hoping a change of surface will help them bounce back.

Scores

Men’s singles: (SGF) Raven Klaasen 5-3 Ricardo Mello (KC)

Women’s singles: (SGF) Lilia Osterloh 1-5 Madison Brengle (KC)

Mixed doubles: (SGF) Paul Hanley/Carly Gullickson 3-5 Mello/Kveta Peschke (KC)

Women’s doubles: (SGF) Osterloh/Gullickson 3-5 Brengle/Peschke (KC)

Men’s doubles: (SGF) Hanley/Klaasen 5-2 Mello/Alex Kuznetsov (KC)

Overtime: (SGF) Hanley/Klaasen 0-1 Mello/Kuznetsov (KC)

Well you can’t get any closer than that. On Wednesday night at Cooper Tennis Complex, the Springfield Lasers and the Newport Beach Breakers played five sets for two and a half hours and it all came down to one point.

With the mixed doubles tiebreak all knotted up, the Lasers’ Carly Gullickson returned a serve and then came right toward the net. The Breakers’ Travis Rettenmaier jammed Gullickson up as she approached by hitting the ball toward her feet. Gullickson managed a pretty strong volley but it sailed long.

When Gullickson’s volley landed just a foot past the baseline, the Lasers had lost 5 points to 4 in the tiebreak to go down 5 games to 4 in the set and 20 games to 19 overall.

The Lasers' Raven Klaasen won his singles set

Lasers coach Martin Damm said that this will be one of the toughest matches his team plays all year.

“It was a great match, very exciting,” Damm said. “It came down to the last point and she (Gullickson) hit a good return, but Rettenmaier came back with a great volley.”

The Breakers’ strategy on the final point is one that they had used often during the match and Damm said that he had spoken with Gullickson about delaying her approach to the net, but it’s difficult to make those adjustments on the fly.

“I told her a couple of times to stay back, but then she was staying back all the way instead of coming to the net after the second shot,” Damm said. “That’s the way it is sometimes.”

In World Team Tennis, the home team picks the order of events and the Springfield Lasers saved mixed doubles for last, because their team of Paul Hanley and Gullickson is one of the best in the league.

The teams entered the last set tied at 15. The Breakers’ mixed doubles team of Rettenmaier and Marie-Eve Pelletier jumped on the Lasers right away by breaking Hanley’s serve in the first game of the set.

The Lasers fought back and broke Rettenmaier’s serve to even things up and force the tiebreak, but the Breakers came up big on the last point.

Springfield got off to a great start to the match when Raven Klaasen, the only Laser to lose a set Monday night, beat Lester Cook 5-2.

“It was huge,” Damm said. “He really played well – way better than the first night – and gave us a boost.”

The momentum was short lived, however, when the Lasers ran into a buzzsaw in the form of hard-hiting Anne Keothavong, the No. 1 pick in the 2011 Roster Player Draft.

In women’s singles Keothavong jumped out to a four games to one lead on the Lasers’ Lilia Osterloh, before Damm substituted Gullickson in only to see her go down 4-0 on serve to end the set.

“She was on fire,” Osterloh said of Keothavong. “I had a couple of chances, but she served some bombs when I had those break chances and that’s how it happens sometimes.”

Osterloh said that she thought the Lasers played well enough to win.

“It’s sad someone has to be on the losing end,” Osterloh said. “It came down to one point and it didn’t go our way, but next time we’ll get it back.”

The Springfield Lasers opened their season with a bang at the  Cooper Tennis Complex Monday night, beating the Philadelphia Freedoms 24-13.

World Team Tennis scoring can be confusing to the layperson, but each team of four competes in a set of men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles. Each set is first to five games and the game scores are cumulative.

Paul Hanley looked sharp in his Lasers debut

The night opened with men’s singles and it looked like we might have a tight match on our hands when Philadelphia’s Brendan Evans beat Raven Klaasen 5-4 in a tiebreak.

From there it was all Lasers. Starting with a 5-3 women’s singles win by new Laser Lilia Osterloh, Springfield won every set.

Paul Hanley was the most impressive player for the Lasers in his World Team Tennis debut. Fresh off of a semifinal appearance in mixed doubles at Wimbledon, Hanley won both mixed doubles and men’s doubles by a combined 10-3.

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to play today to be honest,” Hanley said. “Going from grass to a different surface, and it’s so humid here, in London it’s pretty cold. I was surprised how well I played and really happy with the team.”

One person who was not so surprised with Hanley’s performance was his mixed doubles partner Carly Gullickson.

“I think anyone would play great with Paul, he’s a great player,” Gullickson said. “He’s been around for so long and he has one of the most established doubles careers.”

In World Team Tennis, the strategy is to save your best match-up for last, that’s where coach Martin Damm put Hanley and Gullickson and they delivered with a 5-1 win.

Hanley said that he and Gullickson had great chemistry on the court despite the lack of practice together.

“We got pretty lucky, actually,” Hanley said. “Carly likes the backhand side and I prefer the deuce side so it worked really well.”

The Lasers have three more home matches this week and after losing three of their first five matches last year, Gullickson said that it is crucial the team start well this season.

“Last year we got off to a rough start,” Gullickson said. “We have a really good schedule, I’m super glad we’re here for the first 10 days.”

The Lasers play again Wednesday against the Newport Beach Breakers at 7:05.

The Springfield Lasers, the city’s World Team Tennis franchise, open their season at 7:05 p.m. Monday against the Philadelphia Freedoms at Cooper Tennis Complex. Last season the Lasers went 10-4 and won the Western Conference regular season title.

Monday’s match is the first of four home matches next week. If you make it out to see some fast-paced tennis next week, here’s a look at the players you will be cheering for.

Head coach John-Laffnie de Jager

De Jager is the Bill Belichick of World Team Tennis. The South African begins his fifth year at the helm for the Lasers and he has been selected WTT Coach of the Year in three of his four seasons, including last year. De Jager was no slouch as a player either. He is the captain of South Africa’s Davis Cup team and he was also a semifinalist in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

You might not know: He speaks English, Afrikaans and Zulu.

Assistant coach Martin Damm

Damm might have the best tennis pedigree on the team. The Czech Republic native played for the Lasers last season and was named WTT Male MVP. In 2006, he won the US Open doubles title. A year later, he achieved his career high ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) ranking of No. 5 in the world in doubles. After playing for the Lasers the past two seasons, he will settle into a new role as coach of the Lasers.

You might not know: Damm was one of Europe’s top junior players growing up. He won European championship titles in the 12, 14 and 16-year-old age groups.

Rik De Voest

Damm’s doubles partner last season, De Voest has played in WTT since 2005. That year he won the WTT Male Rookie of the Year award with the Lasers. He won a title two years later with the New York Buzz and was selected Championship Weekend MVP. De Voest was born in Italy, but moved to South Africa when he was one-year-old. He is also a member of South Africa’s Davis Cup Team.

You might not know: De Voest is a hopeless romantic, he proposed to his wife Carolyn on a hot air balloon.

Carly Gullickson

Gullickson is the Lasers’ top player on the women’s side. This is her third year with WTT and second in Springfield. In 2009, Gullickson won the mixed doubles title at the US Open. The Cincinnati native has been ranked as high as No. 52 in the world in doubles.

You might not know: Her dad is former major leaguer Bill Gullickson, who once held the record for most strikeouts in a game by a rookie (18).

Paul Hanley

The Melbourne, Australia native is making his WTT debut this year. He has been a semi-finalist in doubles at all of the Grand Slam tournaments and he made it to the finals of the Australian Open in mixed doubles.  In 2006, he cracked the top 5 in the ATP doubles rankings.

You might not know: Nickname: “Handles”… nuf said.

Lilia Osterloh

This is Osterloh’s fourth season with WTT and first in Springfield. In 2000, she made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon and the US Open. A year later, she was ranked as high as No. 41 in singles. As a freshman at Stanford in 1997, the Columbus, Ohio native won the NCAA singles title.

You might not know: Osterloh is the Lasers’ biggest bookworm, her favorite authors are William Boyd, Sebastian Faulks and Ian McEwan.

Raven Klaasen

Klaasen made his WTT debut with the Lasers in 2009. He didn’t play in 2010, but now he is back for more. The South African has won two ITF (International Tennis Federation) doubles titles and one ITF singles title this year.

You might not know: If Klaasen wasn’t playing tennis he would probably be an accountant.

———–

The schedule

All Lasers matches are at the Mediacom Stadium at Cooper Tennis Complex. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

Monday, July 4 – Philadelphia Freedoms, 7:05 p.m.

Wednesday, July 6 – Newport Beach Breakers, 7:05 p.m.

Friday, July 8 — Washington Kastles, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, July 9 — Kansas City Explorers, 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, July 10 — At St. Louis Aces, 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday, July 12 — At Boston Lobsters, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 13 — Boston Lobsters, 7:05 p.m.

Thursday, July 14 — At Washington Kastles, , 7 p.m.

Friday, July 15 — At New York Sportimes (vs. John McEnroe and Martina Hingis), , 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 16 — Philadelphia Freedoms (vs. Melanie Oudin), 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, July 17 — At Kansas City Explorers, 6:35 p.m.

Tuesday, July 19 — Sacramento Capitals, 7:05 p.m.

Wednesday, July 20 — At Newport Beach Breakers, 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, July 21 — At Sacramento Capitals, 7:30 p.m.

BJ Flores poses at the weigh-in before his NABA/NABO title fight against Nick Ianuzzi. Photo by Alex Stocksdale/TAGsgf.com

B.J. Flores is in a good place in his life. It’s not because he dodged a hangover from a night out on the first night in his hometown area in a long time. It’s not because that he’s financially solvent. It’s not because people recognize him on the street. It’s because of boxing.

Flores could be bitter. He probably should be. See, the 32-year-old Willard native, who many regard as the top cruiserweight in the US, was forced to sit out for an entire year because a promotions company hoodwinked him on a contract and kept him from competing. When he could contractually return to the ring, Flores took the toughest fight of his life, losing to Australian Danny Green — the IBO cruiserweight champion — on his turf.

But instead of whining or feeling sorry for himself, Flores says he’s smarter and understands the tricky politics of the boxing game. But the real reason he’s in that good place is because he’s coming back home.

When Flores (24-1) fights Nick Iannuzzi (16-2) on Saturday, July 23 at Drury University’s O’Reilly Family Event Center, Flores can puff out his sculpted chest and abs that he perfectly flexes for the cameras. But it’s not because of his work ethic or commitment to maintaining the physique he asks photographers how the pictures look before calling the photo shoot quits, it’s because he has been burned, and is living to tell about it.

“Man, I’m hungrier than I have ever been,” Flores said. “I know I’m 32 and I want to get to a place where everyone knows who I am as a boxer. I’m going to fight good fighters, nationally-known fighters. And I can do all of that here in Springfield.”

Sitting on a couch in the Clarion Hotel lobby after doing some press and handling other business, Flores looks healthy enough to launch himself into boxing’s stratosphere. He’s always been good with words. He’s turned himself into an amazing self-promoter over the years, even  earning a part-time gig as an ESPN Friday Night Fights analyst. But with that charisma, he makes a convincing case why fighting Iannuzzi is a part of his big plan.

He goes into a story about his beef with Nigerian cruiserweight Lateef Kayode and how it landed him into this fight with Iannuzzi, who lost a decision to Kayode in February. Flores said the importance of the Iannuzzi fight lies within the perception of Iannuzzi’s loss to Kayode. See, Flores said everyone who objectively watched that fight knows Iannuzzi won. But when the judges chose Kayode, it set off a Google-worthy exchange of press releases between Flores and his Nigerian antagonist.

“If I can’t get Kayode, I’ll get the guy who everyone knew beat him,” Flores said. “Ianuzzi is a good fight for me. This is probably the second-toughest fight I’ve ever had.”

Flores says that emphatically because of his profession’s political nature, and jokes about corruption. “I’ve seen that side of it, no doubt,” he says. He knows that by coming back home, he’s opening himself up to criticism of trying to create convenient boxing situations for himself.

But he claims he isn’t doing to bring in patsies. He wants to bring in good fighters — paying them handsomely, too — and create a boxing scene in SGF. He wants to get back into the world rankings and into the world’s perception of the best cruiserweights. As of April, ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael left Flores out of the world’s 10 best cruiserweights, even though before he lost to Green, he was ranked No. 7 by the WBA.

“I can do this here,” Flores said. “I can build a big boxing scene here in Springfield and get back to being known as one of the best cruiserweights in the world.”

It all starts July 23. Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased by going to DruryTickets.com.

Googs was the man. No, Allen didn't collect his cards.

I used to collect basketball cards. Obsessively. As a high school knucklehead, I would drive to card shows with friends. The main objective was always to get my hands on as many Reggie Miller cards as possible, even duplicates. (Hey, he was my guy. Lay off.) But the other mission was always clear — trade commodities.

I went through a Juwan Howard/Washington Bullets phase. At some point, it was Jim Jackson. Then, along came Tom Gugliotta. OK, so I made Gugliotta up, but the point is, I was always looking for the hottest player. THE NEXT GUY. If someone was trending up, I would trade them for who I thought was going to be the next big thing. I remember I traded a Charles Barkley for a Clarence Weatherspoon. Why? ‘Spoon was supposed to be the next Barkley. I thought it was worth the risk.

Sure, sometimes it failed miserably, like ‘Spoon, or Juwan Howard, who is somehow still in the league . But for every one of them, I grabbed rookie cards of Kevin Garnett and even Allen Iverson. Hell, at the time, no one really knew what to think of Kobe Bryant, and I grabbed those too.

The point is, Missouri State’s men’s basketball program isn’t any different really. Because of its “mid-major” status, it is always going to be looking to trade up. Or, it should be.

The most frustrating part about where Missouri State’s program is, after being left out of the NCAA Tournament field for the 11th consecutive year, and becoming the first Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion to miss the tournament since 1993, is that just a half-decade ago, everyone thought things were perfect. They were the Juwan Howard to his 1995-96 Washington Bullets season (22.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, BTW). The Valley was on the rise.

Not long ago mid majors were hip, with George Mason headed to the Final Four.

Remember 2006? George Mason was proudly popping its jersey in the Final Four, representing all Mid Majors. The MVC had four teams. Southern Illinois won the Valley Tourney, but Wichita State was a 7 seed, Creighton was a 10 seed and Bradley grabbed one of the last spots as a No. 13 seed. And then, three of them advanced to the Sweet 16. It got Bradley big man Patrick O’Bryant into the NBA’s first round, for crying out loud.

While we mostly remember that season for Missouri State’s infamous 21 RPI, the lowest ever left out of an NCAA Tournament field, things were robust. We were complaining the MVC didn’t get a fifth team. Fifth. Four was as many as the ACC, the Big 12 and the Pac 10 that season. The next year, the Valley had two, SIU and Creighton. 2008 was Drake. 2009 and 2010 saw Northern Iowa put a stranglehold on what was becoming one, singular bid.

One bid. All of a sudden, the MVC has gone from trendy to trended. Carpenter/cargo jeans. Blockbuster Video. Mazda Miatas.

And now that Missouri State is on top of the once-proud league, and armed with a hot coaching prospect, who no one is sure how long he will actually stick around, the Bears need to make the situation work for them. They need to do the opposite of what the MVC did over the past half-decade — be proactive.

Now, I don’t have access to any internal MVC memos, so I don’t have proof that the league got lazy, but what else could be the answer? Once the league sold its championship game to CBS in 2006 and agreed to move it up to a week, leaving its at-large teams in bubble watch purgatory, things have gone downhill. I feel like the league got complacent, like being on national TV was a world-changing accomplishment. Ask Notre Dame football how that has worked out for it. No matter what has happened, whether Valley teams rested on their collective conference laurels, feeling they didn’t need to schedule tough teams or they lost too many impact coaches, something changed.

Because of that, Missouri State needs to step up and be the aggressor. There’s no sense in waiting around. The school can try to change its own luck.

What does that mean? The answer is three-fold.

First, the Bears need to schedule more aggressively. A few times during the end of the season, including the MVC Tournament, MSU coach Cuonzo Martin made reference to how schools didn’t want to play the Bears, especially in SGF. But, that’s the key to the entire thing. Do whatever it takes to get them here. 2-for-1. 3-for-1. Get them on the schedule. Because, even if you don’t win those games, won’t teams be more apt to schedule you?

Wow, that Missouri State is a glutton for punishment. They’ll go anywhere and play anyone. Sure, they’re losing, but they aren’t afraid.

You have to get people’s attention — see: NCAA Selection Committee — and this is a way to do it. That also includes being more diligent with the MVC-Mountain West Challenge. And now that the MWC is losing two of its strongest members, BYU and Utah, what about looking into something with the Colonial Athletic Association, the NCAA’s new en vogue mid major? Be proactive.

Secondly, the Bears have to win big games. Sure, it sounds easy enough, but how many big games has MSU won in recent history? Truly important games? The home win against Wichita State to wrap up the Valley regular season? Does that even seem like that big of a deal right now, even though the sea of humanity was impressive?

The Bears need to make sure this doesn't happen again.

MSU has to develop a reputation of a program that can win big games. It must close out the Indiana States, go on the road and battle the Valparaisos in BracketBusters and still take care of business against the Wichita States and Northern Iowas. Is it a lot to ask? Yes. But is it what fans expect? Yes. The ghosts of Steve Alford and Charlie Spoonhour lurk, and forever will.

Lastly, Missouri State needs to constantly take its temperature and look at the outside world. Sure, the Bears need to take care of business and operate within the Valley framework, but it also needs to protect its interests. If last summer’s wacky conference realignment debacle taught us anything is that college sports is a fluid situation. In the pros, teams aren’t switching divisions, but in college sports, there are always haves and have nots. If the Valley doesn’t rekindle its spark, MSU has to look at making a move.

And for those who feel like making a move to a smaller conference so the Bears can try to gain an easier automatic bid, it’s fools gold. Playing against inferior competition will lead to first round NCAA blowouts and a further devaluation of its product. Eventually the players will realize it and the level of recruit will dwindle. Fans will walk away and national analysts would bury the Bears. They would be the team who tried to manipulate the system and went back to how it was in the late 1980s. Does that sound like a good idea to anyone? Do we really want to revert back to Members Only jackets and Duran Duran? (OK, maybe that’s not that bad of an idea…)

Would you come and watch MSU football if they were to face the next Ben Roethlisberger?

But, if the Bears are going to look into joining other conferences, mainly larger, more impressive ones like Conference USA, one thing is going to hold them back — football. I spoke to Kyle Moats on my radio show, The High Road with Allen Vaughan, and he said bumping up football to to the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I) would add $30 million to the school’s athletic budget. Would MSU be willing to do that? Probably not, because why add something that is wildly more expensive than anything even a deep NCAA Tournament run could provide monetarily? Because it could be its own cash cow in itself.

With all due respect to MSU football coach Terry Allen, who I greatly admire and enjoy talking to, the program doesn’t have mainstream appeal. It’s not because of a lack of talent, because with Clay Harbor and David Arkin, MSU will have back-to-back years with an NFL draft pick. Instead, it’s a perception thing. The mass public doesn’t get into it because it’s not Division I. It’s not ESPN. It’s not Fox Sports Midwest (In HD). It’s not Versus. It sounds cheesy, but if the Bears were in C-USA, or the MAC, if a future NFL quarterback came to town, I think more than 10,000, maybe even 15 or 20,000 might show up. Division I would attract the mainstream fan. I-AA football (FCS) is a niche sport.

Whether football is a part of the equation or not, Missouri State needs to treat its basketball status like a carefully manicured basketball card collection. Cash in when need be, collect when it’s appropriate, but treat yourself like a commodity. You don’t have to settle. Pack mentality isn’t the answer. Being a unique program with lofty, yet attainable goals will win over fans. And the NCAA Selection Committee.

Only one profession could make a man dress like that. Yeah. Meet Germany's World Cup doppelganger.

We’re down to the last few days of the monthlong soccer party that is World Cup South Africa 2010, and we have certainly learned a few things along the way. Among them:

* England is only good at soccer played in England.

* Having the best player in the world doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t do the one thing you ask him to do.

* African nations will have more to say in the outcome of future World Cups.

* The French have issues.

Along the way we whittled 32 teams–some capable, some laughable–down to just four, all while watching other talented but flawed clubs fail in dramatic fashion. England imploded on a level that made World Cup 2006 look about as drama-packed as an episode of Antiques Roadshow, Argentina realized too late that it can’t play D, Brazil couldn’t keep its wits about it and Portugal, when it really counted, seemed to leave its game somewhere on the beach back in Portimao. The teams that remain have suffered every sling and arrow some of the best soccer teams in the world could throw at them, and they’re still here fighting for the title. Here’s how I see it breaking down in the three–okay, four, really–games we have left:

The Netherlands vs. Uruguay, Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. CDT

I’ve said since before the World Cup began that the Dutch would be the most fun team to watch in this tournament, and so far they’ve held pretty close to that. What’s especially crazy is that the team looks more impressive the deeper it goes into the bracket; it showed remarkable grit and opportunism coming from behind to beat Brazil 2-1, helped by some very dynamic play by goal scorer Wesley Sneijder and by forward Arjen Robben. Uruguay, meanwhile, defeated Ghana in penalty kicks following one of the most stunning and improbable no-calls of the entire tournament. (Fast-forward the linked video to 1:25 to see what I mean.) Slapping the ball away from the net can only keep you in a contest such as this for so long, though. The Dutch wear DayGlo-orange jerseys with block-letter ’80s-video-game-style numbers, and they’ll play a little like a video game, too, pressing the “X” button enough times to put some shots through the net and advance. Peace out, Uruguay. 

Germany vs. Spain, Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. CDT

The more intriguing of the two semifinal matchups pits two of the best teams in the tournament against one another, not to mention three of the World Cup’s top four goal scorers–well, two, actually. Spain’s David Villa (5 goals) and Germany’s Miroslav Klose (4 goals) will face off in the match, but Thomas Mueller (4 goals) will not take the field for Germany thanks to his accumulation of yellow cards leading to a one-game suspension. Sounds like it should play into Spain’s hands, then, right? There’s just one problem: Germany has been running these streets–er, fields–with a smile on its face since it slapped Australia around 4-0 in its first game of Group Play. In short, they’re Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch; you know they’re roughing people up, but you can’t help but like them anyway. The Germans are young, deep and plays well in space, which makes them as effective as they are entertaining. Losing one guy will hurt them, but it won’t stop them. This German team, which Spain defeated 1-0 two years ago to win the Euro Cup, has been exercising its pimp hand all over this tournament, with its lone slip-up coming in 1-0 loss to Serbia during Group Play. Since then they’ve only dismantled England and Argentina–two sexy picks at different points in the World Cup–by 4-1 and 4-0, respectively. They didn’t even ruffle their satin shirts–er, jerseys–doing it. In what ends up the best-played game of the World Cup–though it’s hard to top some of what we’ve already seen in excitement–the Germans win 2-1, straighten the feather in their wide-brim hat and move on to the final.

Third Place Game: Spain vs. Uruguay, Saturday, 1:30 p.m. CDT

Spain’s wounded pride outduels the fearsome efforts of Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, squeaking out of a 1-1 tie game in penalty kicks. That’s as much as I think needs to be said about this game, because let’s face it: It’s for third place.

Title Game: Germany vs. The Netherlands, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. CDT

Huggy Bear vs. The Videogame. It’s tempting to go with The Netherlands in an upset; they have never won a World Cup before and appear to have the best top-to-bottom collection of talent they’ve ever had. Plus, what other team can you think of that can score a goal as ridiculous as the one you see here at the :53 mark:

If it had been any further away you could have bought that ball a bus ticket to the net instead. Unfortunately for the rolling ball of fun that is The Men In Orange, Huggy Bear will not be subdued. In fact, plays like that may just make them put their cane down and get serious about this. Germany wins a 4-2 final for its fourth World Cup in team history. Not a bad month’s work. The FIFA Golden Boot, given for the top goal scorer in the World Cup, will go to Miroslav Klose, who, in the process, passes Brazilian legend Ronaldo as the top goal scorer in World Cup history. Epic.

We’ll see you Sunday at 1:30 for the Live Blog of the World Cup championship game, live from the SGFSoccer.com Farmers Gastropub watch party (we’re told there will be one; we’ll be there regardless) to fill you in on all the action. We’ll see how close this all comes to being reality.

Former Grand Slam champion and current St. Louis Aces marquee player Lindsay Davenport took a few minutes and took questions from the local media. Here is footage from the press conference, which preceded the St. Louis Aces-Springfield Lasers match at Cooper Tennis Complex.

FYI, Davenport is every inch of 6-foot-2. Also, notice the microphone she’s speaking into was a prop only.

The News-Leader was out in full force, getting some perspective on Davenport’s career here and covering St. Louis’ 22-21 supertiebreaker win here.

(Also, I’m sorry that I’m so loud. You’ll know which questions are mine…)

The Springfield Lasers begin their 2010 season Monday with a home match against the St. Louis Aces and former Grand Slam winner Lindsey Davenport. And before the Lasers season — which dominates the month of July — begins, it’s time to meet the team and learn a little about their chances to repeat as World TeamTennis Western Conference champions.

The numbers

• Last season: 13-3 overall, 8-0 at home. Western Conference champions.
• Returning players: Two of four
• Coach J. L. de Jager returns for his fourth season and was 2009 WTT Coach of the Year

The schedule

• July 5 — Home vs. St. Louis Aces, 7:05 p.m. (with Lindsay Davenport)
• July 6 — At St. Louis Aces, 7:15 p.m. (with Lindsay Davenport)
• July 7 — Home vs. Kansas City Explorers, 7:05 p.m.
• July 9 — At Sacramento Capitals, 7:30 p.m.
• July 11 — Home vs. Newport Beach Breakers, 7:05 p.m.
• July 12 — At New York Sportimes, 7 p.m.
• July 13 — At Boston Lobsters, 7 p.m. (with John Isner)
• July 15 — At Kansas City Explorers, 7:35 p.m. (with the Bryan Brothers)
• July 16 — Home vs. Sacramento Capitals, 7:05 p.m.
• July 17 — Home vs. New York Buzz, 7:05 p.m. (with Martina Hingis)
• July 19 — Home vs. Newport Beach Breakers, 7:05 p.m.
• July 20 — Home vs. Sacramento Capitals, 7:05 p.m.
• July 21 — At Newport Beach Breakers, 7:15 p.m.
• July 22 — At Sacramento Capitals, 7:30 p.m.
• For ticket information, visit SpringfieldLasers.com.

The players

CARLY GULLICKSON

Carly Gullickson could be this year's breakout Laser.

DOB: 11/28/86 (23 years old)
Birthplace: Cincinnati, OH
Height: 5-foot-10
WTA singles ranking: 259
WTA doubles ranking: 91
Singles titles: 0
Doubles titles: 2
Career WTA earnings: $509,238

A 23-year-old Ohio native, Gullickson takes Vania King’s spot on the Lasers roster and will be thrust into the doubles, mixed doubles and possibly some singles action. Gullickson and Philadelphia’s Travis Parrott won the 2009 US Open mixed doubles title, beating WTT veterans Cara Black and Leander Paes. Her career-high doubles world ranking was No. 52 in 2006. Her father, Bill, was a journeyman Major League Baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons. And fellas, she was ranked as the No. 8 best looking female at Wimbledon 2009, according to StyleCrave.com.

CHANI SCHEEPERS

Chani Scheepers

DOB: 3/13/84 (26 years old)
Birthplace: Harrismith, South Africa
Height: 5-foot-7
WTA singles ranking: 88
WTA doubles ranking: 154
ITF singles titles: 12
ITF doubles titles: 20
Career WTA earnings: $408,943

Scheepers enters her third season as a Springfield Laser. She was rated as WTT’s top female doubles player in 2009, but finished the season playing singles when Liezel Huber arrived. Scheepers advanced to the fourth round of the French Open, her career-best finish. She wrote about the experience for WTT.com, which you can read here.

Martin Damm

MARTIN DAMM

DOB: 1/08/72 (37 years old)
Birthplace: Liberec, Czech Republic
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Height: 6-foot-2
WTA doubles ranking: 35
WTA doubles titles: 40
Career WTA earnings: $5,698,387

A world-respected doubles player, Damm was an instant fan favorite in his Lasers and WTT debut last season. Damm won the 2006 US Open men’s doubles championship with former partner Leander Paes. He will likely play both mixed and men’s doubles for the Lasers.

RIK DE VOEST

Rik de Voest

DOB: 5/06/80 (30 years old)
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Residence: Pretoria, South Africa
Height: 5-foot-11
WTA singles ranking: 257
WTA doubles ranking: 90
WTA doubles titles: 2
Career WTA earnings: $955,794

The third player on the team with South African heritage, de Voest is back with Springfield. In 2005 with the Lasers, de Voest was named WTT Rookie of the Year. He plays on the South African Davis Cup team for Lasers coach J.L. de Jager. He reached a career-high 110 world singles ranking in 2006, but has never won a ATP event. He will likely play all men’s singles and doubles matches, but not mixed doubles.

After being originally named to the roster, Liezel Huber will not be on this year’s Lasers team, the News-Leader reported Monday.

4:05: Thanks for joining us for the US’ run to the knockout round of the 2010 World Cup. If the public demands more Live Blogs, we will be back for more World Cup. If you want more, email us at chris@tagsgf.com. Have a great weekend.

3:59: The US has officially been eliminated from the World Cup as Ghana wins 2-1, scoring less than five minutes into OT. Ghana will face Uruguay in the quarterfinals. It was quite a ride. Now, my questions is: Will soccer get more respect in the homeland?

3:58: Two minutes of extra time on the clock. On that last offensive exchange, US keeper Tim Howard was in on the header.

3:57: Dempsey and Cherundelo get shots on, but no good. Feilhabor misses short side and a corner fails.  Only minutes left.

3:55: The US is scrambling, but can’t get anything on the ball. Ghana’s Gyun created a goal on his own. The US can’t make that happen, although they are trying. Ghana is looking to exterminate the US for the second-consecutive World Cup. Two minutes left.

3:51: Cherundelo forces a corner kick. It’s thwarted by Ghana. Worse play afterward. Ghana can now milk this clock. What a depressing end… 6 minutes left, not counting extra time.

3:49: Meanwhile, the Cardinals beat the Royals 5-3. Hawksworth gets the win, Davies gets the loss and Franklin gets the save. Halfway through this second overtime period.

3:47: Our normal World Cup Live Blogger Chris DeRosier checks in via text and has the game plan for the US:

Draw foul. Get set pieces. Easy way to create shot opportunities.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

3:46: The US looks gassed. They don’t have the same energy and Ghana is settling to play like the mid-90s New York Knicks. I’d be shocked is the US came back from this one.

3:43: We are now into the second 15-minute period. Will someone explain to me why this isn’t sudden death, or the Golden Goal?

3:40: Not much going on except for a bunch of Ghana flopping and posturing. I wish the US was doing that stuff. That would mean the Yankees were ahead. We have exhausted the first 15 minutes and have one extra minute of play.

3:33: A short corner kick just sails over the heads of Bocanegra and Edu. Just missed a goal by a few feet. The story of the US’ World Cup. Corner for Ghana coming up off the break.

3:31: Why didn’t Feilhabor start? He delivers a shot into traffic and it looks like it’s forcing a Ghana player to be taken off on a stretcher. Corner kick upcoming for the US seven minutes into the first extra period.

3:27: Ghana takes advantage of some sloppy defense and Gyan scores just three minutes into extra time. Bocanegra’s bump didn’t jar him enough and Howard can’t make the save. The US has the rest of these 12 minutes and another 15 minute period to answer.

3:23: The Royals have fought back to within 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth. Go-ahead run is at the plate with two outs. Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin is in.

3:19: A Ghana corner kick fails and we are tied after the first 90 minutes. 30 more coming up. Not sure if I can take it.

3:16: We pass the 90-minute mark and three minutes have been added. Any more US magic?

3:13: Sound is back on as we cross the 87-minute mark. The winner plays Uruguay Friday at 1:30 p.m.

3:10: The sound on our Mediacom HD just went out and is choppy. Good thing those vuvezalias, or whatever they’re called are still ringing in my head. 85 minutes have passed.

Boateng has a neck tattoo, but it's not as cool as Dallas Maverick DeShawn Stevenson's Abe Lincoln neck tat.

3:08: Dempsey smacks a free kick into the Ghana wall. Empty possession late in the match. We just passed the 82-minute mark. If this holds through regulation, OT is 30 minutes and not sudden death.

3:06: Altidore goes Randy Moss (or Dorial Green) and plays long ball into the box. As he’s falling down, he tries to squirt a left-footed shot that just trickles wide. 81-minute mark just passed.

3:03: Boateng is subbed out. Good news for the US. Ghana is starting to get some good looks on offense. I feel good about Howard in goal. I just hope this doesn’t come down to lame penalty kicks.

3:02: The US surgically dissect the Ghana defense, but Bradley can’t get enough on his left-footed shot. And my man Boateng is holding his right hamstring. He has an awful lot of Terrell Owens in him. We are at the 76-minute mark. Are we heading for OT?

2:56: Question — does the US need the kick in the arse to play this well, or have they figured something out about Ghana? I’m not smart enough to know the answer.

2:52: Altidore was just a step slow on a long ball. The Ghana keeper keeps the match alive. At the 67-minute mark and Ghana has a free kick just outside the box. Howard makes the save and starts the fast break the other way.

2:51: At 6-feet-1/2 inch, Boateng looks like LeBron James out there. FYI, Altidore is 6-1.

2:48: It’s good. Donovan puts it mid-shelf to the keeper’s right, off the post. We are tied at 1. The US has severely outplayed Ghana in the second half. We are tied at the 62-minute mark. It’s Donovan’s 45th international goal.

2:47: Penalty kick for Donovan!

2:46: The refs blow one as Feilhabor gets punted in the shin. If Bruce Lee would have done that, his leg would have broken.

2:44: As basketball coaches would say, Ghana is getting every 50-50 ball. They are faster and quicker.

2:42: Boateng is easily my favorite US opponent. Mainly because he behaves like an American. Loud. Brash. A-hole-ish. He takes out Donovan on a slide tackle, then taunts him, telling him to get up. How middle linebacker of him.

2:40: The Ghana keeper is turning into Drury men’s basketball coach Steve Hesser on the sidelines. Ghana’s defense looks gassed. And that’s not counting the, um, crotchal area that Dempsey just fell on. I think it was Mensah. Ouch-ah. Just crossed the 55-minute mark.

2:37: Boateng tries to cut one back across the box and it sails out of bounds. A close up reveals a monster neck tattoo.

2:35: Ghana looks to be making its offense happen with one-on-one move and US miscues, not good passing. Has US figured this out, yet, or does it matter? We just passed the 50-minute mark.

2:33: The US offense has it going now, forcing the Ghana keeper to make a great save on Feilharbor. Great pass form Altidore in the box. Three great chances in the first three minutes.

2:31: The second half is underway and Feilharbor is in for Findley, who missed the shot on goal earlier.

Kevin-Prince Boateng has the Ghana goal. He's a stud and has a frosty faux-hawk

2:24: Thanks to Twitter, we have some cool moves from Boateng.

2:16: It’s halftime and Ghana leads 1-0. Time to rest my eyeballs.

2:14: The Us sends one in and the Ghana keeper doesn’t field it cleanly. No danger, but it looks like the US could capitalize on some rebounds if they get close enough. And that’s halftime, virtually.

2:13: As well as Altidore played against Algeria, Boateng is the star of this game. If the US had him, they would be winning this game. We are two minutes from halftime.

The flag of Ghana

2:10: Skip Schumaker home run, it’s 5-0 Cardinals.

Meanwhile, commentator Ian Darke keeps talking about how important it is for the US to keep the margin at one goal. In other news, did you know you can’t use your hands in soccer?

2:07: Howard makes a great save on some crappy defense. Meanwhile, the striker is injured and the Ghana training staff starts spraying something on his leg.

My wife utters the following possibilities on what the spray was:

• What is that, some type of spray-on pain killer?
• Or is it some type of sock freshener so it doesn’t smell that bad when they take his shoe off?

I say it’s Tinactin, right John Madden?

2:04: Findlay gets a shot on goal, but it’s stopped cold by Ghana’s keeper. Maybe that will put some pep in their step. A shot from Dempsey is stopped, too. That makes the shots 7-4 in Ghana’s favor.

2:02: I couldn’t help but check. The Cardinals lead the Royals 3-0 on a 3-run Colby Rasmus home run. OK, back to soccer.

2:00: Mauriece Edu comes in for Ricardo Clark. The commentators are crushing Bradley for not playing Edu.

1:59: The US defense looks at least a step slow and Ghana is getting good opportunities. Vin Diesel-Tim Howard makes another save. Just about to the 30-minute mark.

1:57: Boy, the US defense gets bailed out by a bad pass from Ghana’s No. 21. He has a 2-on-1 and passes it too high. US needs a break.

1:52: Team US gets some offense and forces a save from the Ghana keeper. You can see why Ghana’s reputation says they are a little undisciplined. Some crafty passes create opportunity.

1:47: Poor play like Cherundolo as he gets swarmed by Ghana’s forwards. He picks up a Yellow Card and will miss the quarterfinal if the Yankees make it that far. Howard makes a nice save on a free kick from just outside the box. Ghana is controlling the pace and they’re playing in the US end. Need a fast break to tilt the field.

1:41: What do you think Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger are talking about?

My suggestion:

• Mick: Bill, what’s your favorite Stones song
• Bill: I Can’t Get No Satisfaction (now that I don’t have any more interns)

1:40: Another Ghana forward slips past the US defense, but he can’t settle the ball. Lucky break for Team US. As explosive at Altidore looked against Algeria, he isn’t finding any room, yet.

1:35: Not just because of the goal, but Ghana looks like they are better than England, Slovenia and Algeria. Could be a long day.

1:35: Wow, does Ghana look more athletic than Team US or what? Ghana forces a turnover and then Prince smokes a defender and goalkeeper Tim Howard for a goal to the left on the short side. And again, the US will have to come from behind.

Have you heard enough about how Ghana eliminated the US in the 2006 World Cup? Yes, we get the point.

How many you freaked out when Landon Donovan scored "that goal" on Wednesday? Get ready for more freaking, ladies and gents

1:32: My wife and two-month old daughter are watching with me and wifey quickly points out that it’s 8:32 p.m. in South Africa. For the record, it’s SAST, South African Standard Time.

While I’m typing World Cup trivia, No. 7 sends one through, but the US backers doubleteam a forward. Possession US. Dempsey quickly puts one on goal. Save Ghana at the 4:15 mark.

1:31: Ghana looks careless with the ball early. Donovan sends a cross through, but neither Altidore or Findley are there. Monster kick coming from the Ghana goalie.

1:27: And we’re off. Some pretty sweet names on the Ghana side. Will the US find a way to not fall behind?

1:22: Wow, in the opening celebration montage, I just saw the YouTube clip from Farmers Gastropub. Brett Johnston almost was seen by a few more million people. Unreal. Someone needs to get Steve “Ole” Olson some royalties on that video.

Meanwhile, I heard it was standing room only at Farmers Gastropub. Get ready.

1:15: OK, Allen Vaughan here and I’ll admit this up front — I’m not really a soccer guy.

However, my fellow TAGsgf.com staffers are and, while I haven’t fully embraced the sport, what I have done is embrace the storylines and my pride/patriotism. And today, they are juicy. I also am thoroughly entertained with the differences between the way soccer players and coaches speak, when compared to their football, baseball and basketball brethren.

For instance, when the ultra-smarmy Jeremy Schaap was interviewing USA coach Bob Bradley, the coach used this term.

Our fitness level is high.

What? What’s the “mainstream” sport equivalent of this?

• Basketball: We’ve been working hard and are in good shape.
• Football: We’re ready to hit someone.
• Baseball: We’re just trying to take it one day at a time.

*************************

You’d think there’s more time for Team USA to breathe, but just as we all have caught our collective breath since Landon Donovan’s Goal Heard ‘Round the World, the Land of Liberty’s soccer reputation is back on the line.

It’s a fine line between glory and embarrassment, as Team USA illustrated in Wednesday’s 1-0 Group C-clinching victory over Algeria. And now that the good guys are poised to do things Americans have never done. As the top seed out of Group C, the Yankees will face Ghana today at 1:30 p.m. and TAGsgf.com’s Allen Vaughan will be Live Blogging all of the action with commentary, analysis and other hi jinks.

Now, we know it’s a busy time of year. Maybe you will be watching from home with your friends. The Live Blog is the perfect companion. We also know it’s wedding season, so if you’re doing the right thing by friends and family, keep your mobile device handy. If you are a closet soccer fan, you’ve found the right place. Or, for all of our soccer peeps at the Farmers Gastropub watch parties, this one is for you, too.

And all at once — because you know you want to — break out your best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice and say it:

If we don’t win, we are Ghanas.

is.

We're not sure if we've seen Brett Johnston this excited before.

For years, TAGsgf.com Arts/Culture/Style/Do-it-all Editor Brett Johnston has been pushing for more soccer fandom amongst his friends and family. So when Landon Donovan’s goal saved Team US from embarrassment and lifted our country from ashy to classy, thank heavens for SGFSoccer.com’s Steve “Ole” Olson and his video camera.

Not only did Olson capture the packed Farmers Gastropub in a piece of on-site journalism perfection, it turns out our very own Johnston stars in the piece, jumping up and down, acting like — well, we’ll just let you watch it for yourself. (He’s the one with short red hair and glasses. You’ll meet him at the 7-second mark.) And if capturing this moment wasn’t monumental enough for the landmark moment in time and US Soccer history, the New York Times World Cup blog embedded similar videos from across the United States on Wednesday. And of course, the rowdy group of SGFers is included, as is Johnston’s unadulterated geekage.

And for the record, we encourage unadulterated geekage at all times. (And why not, he’s on the staff, right?)

Enjoy the video, and if you’d like to check out Olson’s post at SGFSoccer.com, click here and for the New York Times post, click here.

This would also be a good time to remind you we will be Live Blogging the US-Ghana match at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. You can read the Live Blog from Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Algeria, too.

3:28 p.m.: Stats: Shots on goal: England 16, U.S. 11. Fouls: U.S. 14, England 12. Possession: England 54 percent, U.S. 46 percent. FIFA Man of the Match: United States keeper Tim Howard. Damn right. Well, time to tab out. Thanks for reading. We’ll be back here for the next USA match against Slovenia on Friday, June 18.

3:25 p.m.: That’s it. The game ends in a 1-1 tie. Great work by the U.S. to fight its way back into the game after being outpaced early. They’ll get a point and try to win against Slovenia and Algeria to secure a spot in the Knockout Round. For England it’s a little disappointing, but they’ve shown they’re here to atone for a dismal showing in World Cup ’06. If Rooney gets his groove on they can be lethal.

3:24 p.m.: With 30 seconds to go, the “USA!” chants start again. When they end, Farmers owner Bill shouts “England!”

3:22 p.m.: The shots are getting hurried and desperate. One good, patient, coordinated attempt and the U.S. could steal this match.

3:19 p.m.: Four minutes stoppage time. The U.S. couldn’t put together a good shot from a corner kick.

3:18 p.m.: Donovan shoots from maybe 15 feet outside the box and sends the ball sailing about a me-space (aka 6 feet, 3 inches) over the net. Poor selection.

3:17 p.m.: The Americans finally get a coordinated push upfield going and blow it on a missed pass that rolls out of bounds. What is it gonna take?!

3:15 p.m.: U.S. substitution: Altidore out, Stuart Holden in. The crowd at Farmers approves.

3:13 p.m.: GREAT stop by the U.S. in a 4-on-2 situation. The ball rolls harmlessly to Howard for the scoop-up. Now if they could only get a shot on net…

3:11 p.m.: The U.S. fans here at Farmers are trying hard, but they need to keep up the noise at a constant. We’re in a lull in the room right now with less than 10 minutes left in a tied game.

3:08 p.m.: Heskey is swapped for Peter Crouch on the English side. Scott points out that most of this half has been played in U.S. territory.

3:06 p.m.: Less than 15 minutes to go in the game. Substitutions have begun. Findley is out for the U.S. as Edson Buddle comes in.

3:04 p.m.: Tim Howard will not be stopped right now. He shakes his head at the latest English shot attempt after he two-hand bats it away, wagging his tongue a little.

3:03 p.m.: Herculez Gomez is tripped on a run at the goal for the U.S. No foul called. Moments later, Robbie Findley makes a desperate sliding tackle on Gerrard that results in a yellow card. The Americans have to keep their composure.

2:59 p.m.: Rooney’s latest run up is cleared away. He also tries a leaping header moments later from the set piece that flies high left past the goal. Not today, Wayne. Not today.

2:57 pm.: England’s set piece results in a shot from 27 meters out by Shaun Wright-Phillips. I think he just shot it all the way back to England it was so far off.

2:53 p.m.: Altidore charges up the left side and rifles a shot to the near side of the net. Green is all over it.

2:48 p.m.: Yellow card for English defender Jamie Garragher. Brit coach Fabio Capello is not happy. The resulting set piece ends in a clunky header attempt, followed by another England card for a rough tackle on Clint Dempsey. Set piece there goes wide left.

Tim Howard? Not quite.

2:42 p.m.: Allen chimes in from home, referring to Tim Howard as a Vin Diesel lookalike. Not only is he playing like a stud at the moment, he apparently looks like one, too.

2:41 p.m.: Heskey gets all kinds of space and a clear shot on net for England, and Howard makes him look like a chump with the diving stop. Heskey = pwnd.

2:39 p.m.: With Howard beat by Rooney’s shot it took a miracle clear by the U.S. defense–behind Howard–to stop the goal. Rooney was offside anyway, the refs say.

2:39 p.m.: The physicality of this match is starting to ratchet up. Both sides are grappling and tripping for every ball.

2:37 p.m.: The U.S. dodges a bullet as an English cross misses its target, one Wayne Rooney. Dude can’t buy a shot on goal.

2:36 p.m.: It’s interesting to note how little impact English striker Wayne Rooney has had so far in this game. Scoring opportunities have been nil.

2:33 p.m.: The new Guinness keg has arrived! Let the second half begin!

2:24 p.m.: Missouri State soccer coach Jon Leamy tells me England’s keeper used poor technique and we got off lucky. Nice to hear it from an expert. He also tells me England has had serious goalie issues leading up to this World Cup and that there has been no clear go-to guy at the position. Nice to hear that from an expert, too.

2:19 p.m.: The half concludes in a 1-1 tie. Make no mistake: The U.S. got lucky that Green’s hands slipped and let the goal in. It was a stop otherwise. They need to keep momentum going in the second half and spread out the offense more.

2:11 p.m.: GOAL, USA! Clint Dempsey straight on at the keeper, who dives and loses it below his hand. It dribbles in in slow-mo while he watches and scrambles to get to it. Too late.

2:08 p.m.: How busy is it in here? We’re seven people crammed around a table made for four. Donovan’s show to low-left goal deflected by English keeper Robert Green.

2:04 p.m.: From the crowd at Farmers: “Score one for Timmy!” Mr. Howard, if we get on, it’s for you.

2:01 p.m: Tim Howard takes a cleat square in the chest blocking a shot by English forward Emile Heskey. He’s up and moving, but you have to wonder what that will do to his mobility as the game goes on.

1:59 p.m.: Dan on the U.S. D: “They need to get the heck back. The are slow as balls right now.” You can’t get analysis like that on EPSN, people!

1:56 p.m.: Yellow card on English midfielder James Milner for a crap tackle. Set piece by Landon Donovan leads to a header by Onyewu that narrowly misses.

1:54 p.m.: Spot assessment of the U.S. offense: Thinking too hard, setting up the play too much. Need to run and push more.

1:52 p.m.: My buddy Dan on the U.S. offense: “Spread out! Spread the hell out!” They’re not playing up to his standards at the moment.

1:50 p.m.: Scoring attempt by the Brits thwarted by the U.S. defense. They’re starting to hang in this game.

1:46 p.m.: The horns are in the room and blaring. Jozy Altidore misses a header to the left as the crowd erupts in “ooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!!”

1:42 p.m.: Well, the U.S. is getting its scoring opportunities. One shot at the keeper and a header gone wide off a set piece. They play it safe the next time and still get it cleared out.

1:37 p.m.: USA fans at the game may outnumber England fans 8,000 to 6,000, but English fans were the only ones who came to the stadium with flags to hang.

1:34 p.m.: Steven Gerrard scores a relatively easy GOAL to low-right net to put England up 1-0. Don’t panic, US!

1:32 p.m.: Kickoff! You can hear a pin drop in Farmers right now. “Are we gonna watch this game in silence?” one audience member asks aloud.

1:29 p.m.: England, apparently learning from the ’06 disaster, is going with a traditional 4-4-2 formation for this game. My piss-Rooney-off tactic from the Group Play preview looks like a dud.

1:27 p.m.: Time for the national anthem! Everyone in the room stands in unison and awkwardly stares at the screen; no one can hear the anthem playing. Finally a trace of “the rocket’s red glare” can be heard and the Farmers audience leaps into singing the rest.

1:21 p.m.: Some things to watch for during the game: How will sort-of-injured US defender Oguchi Onyewu hold up, can British striker Wayne Rooney get out of his scoring slump and how US keeper Tim Howard fares in his first World Cup start. The players emerge on the field to a roar from inside Farmers. I’ve never seen so many USA Soccer jerseys in my life.

1:12 p.m.: Kickoff is set for 1:30. Loud cheering erupts to ESPN’s highlights of the 1950 win by the U.S. over England. There is also loud jeering when English comedian Russell Brand shows up onscreen. Cue the chanting and clapping. One table over from me the braintrust of Cooper Sports Complex observes and smiles.

1:04 p.m.: By the way, in case you’re curious, Vegas lists England as a one-goal favorite. Odds are 2.5:1. I don’t encourage betting here, but in case you want to know what Vegas thinks, there it is.

12:56 p.m.: We’re LIVE from a packed, crazed Farmers Gastropub counting down to kickoff. The “USA” chants are loud and directed at anyone who walks in with an England-affiliated jersey. Wait till these people get a few pints in ‘em!

*************************************************

It’s only the second day of FIFA World Cup 2010 and we’re already confronted with one of the tournament’s most hyped matches: The United States versus England. The two nations have a lot of ties to one another–you know, that whole Revolutionary War thing, for example–and the two soccer spheres of influence do, too. Then there’s the little issue of the last time these two teams played: 1950, when USA won 1-0. No, the British haven’t forgotten. Whether wanting a companion to enhance your viewing experience or simply can’t make it to a TV, stop by at 1 p.m. CDT as we live blog what should be an epic match live from Farmers Gastropub during SGF Soccer‘s watch party.

3:26 p.m.: Stats time. Uruguay, you got owned. Shots on goal: France 12, Uruguay 6. Fouls: France 20, Uruguay 13. Possession time: France 53 percent, Uruguay 47 percent. Both teams accumulated three yellow cards, but the red card against Lodeiro will take him out for the next game. They had better hope that doesn’t burn them against South Africa next Wednesday. FIFA Man of the Match: Uruguay forward Diego Forlan, who had his scoring chances in this match and, obviously, didn’t put one through. He’ll have a much tougher hole to dig his team out of from here.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you tomorrow at 1 p.m. for United States-England. For real this time.

3:22 p.m.: Game ends in a 0-0 tie. I’d like to say one of these teams looks like it could be of some consequence, but both looked flat to me over these 90 minutes. They’re also sharing the bottom half of the Group A standings right now since neither scored a goal. That’s what you get for lackluster play.

3:19 p.m.: Bad form, Uruguay. They just clearly cleared the ball out from their defensive end halfway across the field. They’re killing time to angle for the tie. Jerks.

3:16 p.m.: France just had all kinds of time with the ball in front of the net and couldn’t capitalize! Just as the tension is mounting, we’re into stoppage time. Tick tock, gentlemen. Three minutes of extra.

3:10 p.m.: BIG development for Uruguay. Midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro is sent off after his second yellow card, leaving the South Americans down a man for the rest of the game. Potential tide-turning situation.

3:07: Both sides are starting to feel the pressure to produce and are pushing harder for goal opportunities. In the last couple of minutes each side has taken shots that went just wide.

2:59 p.m.: It’s official: Nicolas Anelka out, Thierry Henry in. He’ll be the lone striker for France, with 18 and a half minutes to play.

2:55 p.m.: The cameras flash to Thierry Henry starting to warm up on the sidelines. Maybe he can inject some passion back into his team. Meanwhile the re doles out another yellow card on France for a ridiculous dive at the ball. Domenech is pissed. Is this going to get ugly?

2:47 p.m.: An ugly tackle by Uruguay results in a yellow card and a penalty shot. Way wide right.

2:43 p.m.: France still insists on trying shots from somewhere in Morocco. If you know your Africa geography, that might be funny. Removing the analogy, their shot selection is hurried and lousy.

2:34 p.m.: The second half begins much as the first ended. If I’m Uruguay I’m pushing up the field hard right now. It’s a very winnable game, but they have to be aggressive to get their chances.

2:17 p.m.: Halftime arrives with no score and two teams apparently in need of a nap and a Red Bull. These teams had better find some rhythm or there will be more heckling from my Lockshire friend.

2:12 p.m.: Both teams are playing plodding ball for the most part. Even France has slowed down to Uruguay’s pace. The fouling spree continues, too. There is no flow.

1:59 p.m.: France’s decision to use a 4-5-1 (four defenders,  five midfielders, one striker) formation sparked a conversation: Should the U.S. do the same? Better to keep Altidore out front and employ Landon Donovan as an attacking Midfielder, as Ole suggests is his best role? Hardcore soccer followers, chime in!

1:56 p.m.: Uruguay is putting on a spot-on exhibition of tight-arsed soccer right now, by the way. No bold actions or quick-transition drives at all.

1:52 p.m.: The best part about this match? Anti-France heckling. From my Lockshire friend after Ribery throws his hands up over a not-called hold: “Aw, get a coffee and a croissant, mate!”

1:51 p.m.: Yoann Gourcuff launches a shot from about 10 outside the box to somewhere in about Row 37. Settle down, France!

1:48 p.m.: All of us at the table are in agreement that the refs are calling this match much tighter than this morning’s South Africa-Mexico game. That could be bad news for France; yellow card already for Ribery.

1:44 p.m.: The low hum of the air horns continues again. It must be Chinese water torture to the refs. Uruguay carefully orchestrates a shot on goal to no avail. Hugo Lloris is paying attention in net, boys. You’ll have to do better than that.

1:41 p.m.: Heard at my table about Uruguay: “Statistically they shouldn’t get out of [Group A], but anyone can beat the French, especially with the way they got there.” This match is going to be fun.

1:37 p.m.: France missed a golden opportunity with a low cross from Franck Ribery reaching Anelka and getting a dud of a kick.

1:33 p.m.: Just getting started and I’m learning a ton already. First of all, my Lockshire friend tells me France coach Raymond Domenech is already out of his job with the team at the conclusion of the tournament. Not good for cred, to say the least. Also, Thierry Henry is, indeed, on the bench for the start. Nicolas Anelka is the team’s lone striker.

**************************************************

Well, originally I was just going to live blog this morning’s opening match of World Cup 2010 between South Africa and Mexico, but by staff request (i.e. they want to come and watch the game, too) I will be doing another one for today’s second game, what should be a tight, exciting match between France, the ’98 champs and ’06 finalists, and two-time World Cup winners (albeit many years ago) Uruguay. I’ve also picked up more people in my posse for this one; Steve “Ole” Olson of SGFSoccer.com is still here, as well as one of his friends and a Farmers Gastropub regular from Lockshire, England. Let’s do this!

11:00 a.m.: A quick look at stats: Goals – Tshabala for South Africa in the 55th minute, Marquez in the 79th minute for Mexico. Shots on goal: Mexico 12, South Africa 9. Fouls: South Africa 16, Mexico 13. Possession goes 58 percent to Mexico and 42 percent to South Africa. FIFA’s Man of the Match: Siphiwe Tshabalala.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, traditional English breakfast is served at Farmers. Enjoy the rest of the day, catch Uruguay-France later if you can and I’ll see you back here tomorrow for the live blog of USA-England.

10:59 a.m.: The match ends 1-1; there is no overtime in Group Play, so it’s one point for each. Mexico will lick its wounds after having its first goal taken away on the offside penalty. For South Africa, a victory in everything but the score. They’re the lowest-ranked nation ever to make the World Cup, and they’re in only because they’re the hosts. A showing like this against such a skilled team is an impressive start and a much-needed point with France and Uruguay still ahead. We’ve also learned the name Siphiwe Tshabalala, which is a win in my book.

10:53 a.m.: Three minutes of stoppage time. South Africa won’t get many more chances as good as the last one, though. 

10:51 a.m.: Fate slaps South Africa! Brilliant long pass and a shot by Katiego Mphela clangs off the left post. The keeper for Mexico only now just got his breath back.

10:49 a.m.: The announcers just discussed how clean this game has been, and I have to agree. For all the concern early on about Mexico’s chippiness they’ve held their composure well in the second half. You could even say it’s been a contributing factor to their getting back in this game. A minute and a half left in regulation; time to see who steps up.

10:45 a.m.: A good drive by South Africa thwarted by an offside call. This is not a pro-offside room I’m in, by the way. Most feel it’s a stupid rule that breaks the flow of the game.

10:43 a.m.: That tying goal could have disastrous consequences for South Africa. Mexico is by far the more athletic team, and now they’re revived. 

10:40 a.m.: Mexico is back in this. GOAL by Rafael Marquez that almost seemed to happen in slow motion. He stopped the ball and booted a simple shot to middle-low net, right below Khune’s left hand. We’re tied!

10:37 a.m.: Steve just dropped this factoid on me: More World Cup tickets have been sold to people in the United States than to any other nation: 40,000 strong. For a country that “doesn’t embrace soccer,” that’s a shocking stat.

10:35 a.m.: It’s hard to believe how subdued the crowd is for leading a match 1-0 that they should be tied in. South Africa is 17 minutes from stealing a win in the first match of this World Cup and you would think the crowd was at a book reading. Well, a book reading with air horns.

10:31 a.m.: South Africa is owning this match right now. Another drive up the field and needle-threading pass ends in a diving block by the Mexican keeper. Momentum is all with the home team at this point.

10:28 a.m.: South Africa almost put the nails in the coffin. Gorgeous pass to the right wing results in a clunker of a deflection-shot on net. Mexico dodged a soccer ball-sized bullet.

10:22 a.m.: Mexico is back on attack. Shot to the high right side of the net stopped by keeper Khune in a leap.

10:19 a.m.: Moments later, another yellow card for the Mexican team. Two yellow cards for any one player will mean ejection and the team playing a man down the rest of the match. The Mexican side could be unraveling a bit.

10:16 a.m.: GOAL, South Africa! Siphiwe Tshabalala burns one in from the left side to the top-right corner of the net. Keeper had no shot at stopping it. Surprisingly low-key celebration by the home fans, though. It’s a party, people!

10:11 a.m.: Give South Africa credit for its effort. They’re doing everything they can to keep up with Mexico in this one. They just tried a cross in the Mexico side that just missed.

10:08 a.m.: The second half begins. Have I mentioned that Mexico is trying out its new all-black uniforms with the red and green accents of its national flag? I feel like I’m watching 11 Darth Vaders out there. I leave the “empire strikes back” and “death star” jokes to you on that one.

10:04 a.m.: Memo to all analysts: When you’re part of the in-studio crew, rock a three-piece suit like former player Steve McManaman. He may be the Deion Sanders of soccer analysts.

9:59 a.m.: You know, since Steve mentioned Shakira, this seems like a good time to bring you your halftime entertainment. She did the official World Cup song, “Time For Africa,” for which she made this video:

9:55 a.m.: Too good not to share, from Steve: “The number-one topic in the Twitterverse last night was how good Shakira looked in hi-def.”

9:51 a.m.: First half has wrapped up. Mexico has clearly outplayed South Africa overall, but their chippy nature could burn them, especially since they have no goals to show for all that skill so far.

9:48 a.m.: South Africa charges! Crossing pass just missed for a header and possible scoring opportunity. My latte is gone now. I’m wired and this game is getting good.

9:47 a.m.: A negative side of Mexico’s play emerges with a silly bush-league penalty for contact with a South African player. “There’s Mexico’s Achilles’ heel,” our announcer says. “Attitude,” Steve confirms.

9:45 a.m.: Mexico is still reeling a bit from the lost goal. Set-piece header goes wide right. Dos Santos is putting on a soccer clinic, though.

9:42 a.m.: HORRIBLE call costs Mexico a goal. Offside called on a goal from a corner kick. Our referee today is going to get a sit-down after this match.

9:37 a.m.: Mexico almost gets one. Beautiful up-top pass by Guillermo Franco results in a shot on goal that South Africa keeper Itumeleng Khune barely keeps his hands on. Then another one! This dam is going to break sometime soon. Khune can’t keep this up… can he?

9:30 a.m.: The slow-motion shot of Mexico coach Javier Aguirre a moment ago was priceless. He just had an aneurism on camera. Yellow card for South Africa leads to a set play that gets nowhere.

9:28 a.m.: Steve’s take on the most recent South Africa attack: “Aw, let the ball run!” Their enthusiasm may be getting in their way right now. The early-game jitters need to settle and the playmakers need to give one another space to work. They’re cutting off their own plays.

9:22 a.m.: South Africa blows a free kick and Juarez gets a yellow card moments later for Mexico. South Africa’s ensuing play is a bust and Dos Santos sprints across the field and fires at the net. It would be a goal if not for bad English on the ball that takes it wide left. He’ll be one to watch in this match.

9:18 a.m.: There’s a constant hum in the stadium, and it’s not the fans. I believe it’s air horns. South Africa continues on the attack. If they turn this into an early goal the stadium is going to explode.

9:14 a.m.: Steve tells me he has Mexico winning Group A and getting to the final eight. Our announcers just referred to this Mexican team as the best in its history. All of this comes again while they’re playing defense in their own side of the field.

9:10 a.m.: Already tries on net from South Africa. They’re pushing hard just on pure adrenaline.

9:05 a.m.: We’re LIVE from Farmers Gastropub! I’m accompanied by Steve “Ole” Olson of SGFSoccer.com for this match; consider him the real knowledge to my fake one. We’re also learning just how many languages ESPN can broadcast this game in at the moment. The stands in South Africa for this one are a swarming throng of supporters, by the way; gotta love that the opening match is always the host nation.

******************************************************
The time has finally come to put the hype to rest and find out which nation makes the best soccer team in the world. FIFA’s World Cup 2010 begins at 9 a.m. CDT with the opening match between hosts South Africa and longtime United States rival Mexico. TAG’s own Chris DeRosier will be live blogging the game from Farmer’s Gastropub with a simple breakfast and, if circumstances favor it, maybe a celebratory pint. Yes, this classifies as “working.” If your personal version of “working” more involves cubicles and piles of paperwork, though, or you just want an entertaining companion to your viewing of the game, tune your computer screen in to this page and refresh frequently so you can follow along. Happy World Cup!

Yes, that's who wrote this year's official World Cup song and who opened the ceremonies today.

Shakira, The Black Eyed Peas and a few other music artists sang and danced on worldwide TV earlier today and South Africa declared World Cup 2010 officially open. It was not quite the check-out-our-explosions-and-interpretive-dancers kind of event the Olympics put on, though; mostly just hip shake. More importantly, it means tomorrow morning there will be soccer on–fateful, momentous soccer. Can the Brazilians live up to their pedigree? Can the Spaniards live up to the hype? Can the Americans avoid The Epic Fail? All good questions, and we’re about to start getting answers.

Some Points About, um, Points

I touched on this a little bit in my World Cup Preview post earlier this week, but Group Play is a whole different animal compared to the 16-team Knockout Round coming later. It’s a little more like regular-season hockey, only simpler. The 32 teams are split up into eight groups of four, and each team plays its other three groupmates once. You get three points for a win, one for a tie and a lot of “PANIC!” articles in your newspapers back home for a loss. (In other words, zero points.) Three games isn’t a lot of time to separate oneself, obviously, so in case of a tie the tiebreaker will be total goals scored by the team. In other words, not only do you want to win, you want to be the Steve Spurrier-era Florida Gators every time you go out there and absolutely score at will.

So you wanna watch?

It turns out that SGF Soccer is hosting watch parties at Farmers Gastropub throughout the World Cup, as Farmers is open at breakfast (the typical match time in our time zone) and will be showing the games with sound throughout the tourney with no interference. Click here to get more details, including times, featured games and how to get there.

In this round of the tournament you’re going to find out quickly who really belongs and who just sort of made it here, but there could be some surprises this year thanks to numerous injuries to star players. We’ll see how it all plays out. Until then, here are my soon-to-be-wrong predictions: 

GROUP A – SOUTH AFRICA, MEXICO, URUGUAY, FRANCE

Never underestimate the host country in this tournament. National pride has lifted many a home team to play over its head and achieve success in the World Cup, and South Africa is vying to be the latest. They drew a mean group to do it in, though, with very good opponenets in Mexico, two-time champ Uruguay and ’06 finalist France. They’ll ride superior speed and home-team thrust to a (slight) upset over Mexico and a draw against Uruguay before France slaps them around with the white glove of talent in the last game. It will be the best France looks in this tournament, if only for one game, especially if it continues with its coocoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs idea of keeping star Thierry Henry on the bench at the start of games.

ADVANCING: South Africa, Uruguay

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: None of these four looks like a runaway success, but like I said: Don’t underestimate home field advantage for South Africa.

“PANIC!”: France. They backed into this tournament on the merits of a, um, dubious goal against Ireland, and many of the stars of this team’s glory years are losing a step, hence the placement of Henry on the bench to come in as a substitute. Memo to France: Sub him early. If not, who is going to palm the ball back inbounds for you?

GROUP B – ARGENTINA, NIGERIA, KOREA, GREECE

Woe, thou art Korea. Drawing the near-miss powerhouse that is Argentina and the underrated toughie that is Greece could make the ’02 World Cup hosts look pretty bad. It could also make no difference at all, depending on whether or not Argentina actually gets its act together–a big “if” when Diego Maradona is at the helm. Conversely, if Argentina collapses in chaos they or Nigeria (more likely the latter) could sneak by.

ADVANCING: Argentina, Greece

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: Argentina may have a coach just far enough off his rocker to run over someone’s foot and then call him an a**hole for putting his foot there, but the talent depth is undeniable when you have the likes of striker Lionel Messi (last year’s World Player of the Year) and Carlos Tevez. Talent wins out… for now.

“PANIC!”: Korea. I wish I had a different answer, but I can’t come up with a good scenario in this group.

GROUP C – ENGLAND, UNITED STATES, ALGERIA, SLOVENIA

Oh, this is gonna be fun. One of the sublime joys of international sports is that they are a cheap excuse for the two competing nations to dig up memories of everything they have ever had to do with one another. The United States and England have had a run-in or two of some consequence, and they meet Saturday in a game that should be more a matter of pride than anything for the Brits but could be of huge consequence to the U.S. Luckily for the Colonists (we’re kicking it old-school with the nomenclature for this one), England likes to employ a player formation with only one goal-scoring specialist (aka striker), and that striker happens to be notorious hothead Wayne Rooney. If the Revolutionaries get in Rooney’s dome enough, he could get sloppy, ejected or both. It’s not a guaranteed method of success, but it’s not a bad strategy. That, and employ young burner Jozy Altidore‘s speed as much as possible and hope that defender Oguchi Onyewu is really back to 100 percent. They’re gonna need him.

Basically, if The Men of Washington win against England, they advance; if not it’s a crapshoot. The U.S. has a notorious history of playing to the level of its opponent, and the last thing it wants to do is struggle against Algeria in the last game because Slovenia will give it all it can handle in the middle game.

ADVANCING: England, United States

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: England. They beat the United States in a brutally physical game and then beat Algeria handily. By the time they get to Slovenia they’re out of gas, but it won’t matter.

“PANIC!”: Algeria. 

GROUP D – GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, SERBIA, GHANA

The Germans were the most jaw-dropping team to watch when they hosted World Cup ’02, but this year’s team is down a pretty important man in midfielder and former captain Michael Ballack. The rest of the roster is solid, but the depth in this group is deceptive. Australia is a tough team that stumbled badly in its last tuneup match. Serbia and Ghana won’t go quietly, perhaps least of all Ghana, which has been the most successful of the African nations in recent years and was a force to be reckoned with in World Cup ’06.

ADVANCING: Ghana, Germany

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: None. I think this has the makings of a tough fight.

“PANIC!”: Australia, barely. They’re better than they’ll show in this tourney.

GROUP E – THE NETHERLANDS, DENMARK, JAPAN, CAMEROON

Remember what I said in the tournament preview about the Dutch? High-flying, push hard, exciting. They’re the favorites in this group, but facing the Danes and Cameroon won’t make life easy. Japan is out for redemption after a dismal showing in World Cup ’06. 

ADVANCING: The Netherlands, Cameroon

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: The Netherlands. Their biggest threat, I think, is the Danes in the opener.

“PANIC!”: Japan. The Dutch and Denmark are too good, and Cameroon is riding the “we’re playing in Africa!” wave. It’s another early exit.

GROUP F – ITALY, PARAGUAY, NEW ZEALAND, SLOVAKIA

Defending champ Italy automatically qualifies for a spot in this year’s tournament, but nothing is guaranteed when your core group of players is starting to show its age a little. Slovakia in particular could be a problem. There are questions surrounding Paraguay up front after its top goal scorer, Salvador Cabanas, was shot in the head while on the toilet in a nightclub in January. He’s alive, but he’s not on the team.

ADVANCING: Italy, Slovakia

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: Italy. They’re still much too strong to have to worry this early in the tournament, especially with world-class goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in net.

“PANIC!”: New Zealand. The coaching is there, the talent is not.

GROUP G – BRAZIL, KOREA DPR, IVORY COAST, PORTUGAL

Kim John-Il: Working on his soccer hair. It's all about the fade.

Woe, thou art The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea. First of all, your name suggests democracy but you are, in fact, run by Kim Jong-Il, the Pied Piper of the Looney Bin, meaning there is nothing democratic about you except the ability to raise your hand in protest as long as you’re willing to never get to use it again. Second, your soccer team draws by far the meanest collection of opponents in all of Group Play. Brazil are in a transition phase in talent and in coaching, with no Ronaldinho and a more defense-oriented style, but are still an elite team representing an obsessed nation. Portugal will lean a lot on megawatt star Cristiano Ronaldo–owner of the best faux-hawk in soccer, by the way–for success, especially now that fellow forward Nani is out for the tournament with a collarbone injury. Ivory Coast is similarly wounded with the loss of star striker Didier Drogba, one of the best in the game. None of this actually gets Korea DPR into contention, but it could shake up the results among the others.

ADVANCING: Brazil, Portugal

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: Brazil, sort of. They’re not as dynamic as they have been in years past, but they get the job done against weakened opponents.

“PANIC!”: Korea DPR. Thanks for playing, guys. Your wacko dictator will be most unhappy with you, though. 

GROUP H – SPAIN, SWITZERLAND, HONDURAS, CHILE

Spain can be such an enigma sometimes. This team won every one of its 10 qualifying matches, but it laid an egg against United States in last year’s Confederations Cup semifinal. I mean stunk. The year before that they took down Germany in an awesome European Cup final. Would the real Spain please step forward?! The answer: No. They have always been nearly impossible to predict, loaded with drool-inducing talent but never putting all the pieces together. This year, they’re without their golden boy Fernando Torres, which to followers of his league-play work with Liverpool will seem like a crushing blow (remember what I said in the last piece: league play = crap), but which followers of the national team will know is of no consequence because he becomes Boo Radley at this time anyway. Then there’s the ambitious and hard-working Chileans who will push the Spanish for the top spot in the group throughout.

With all that said, Spain is gonna romp through this round.

ADVANCING: Spain, Chile

PLEASE EXCUSE MY PIMP HAND: Spain. They’re starting to get it. Going 10-10 in qualifying is the start. Having a healthy Xavi is another important step.

“PANIC!”: Honduras, though it’s easily interchangeable with Switzerland.

Watch for live blogs of tomorrow’s opening game between South Africa and Mexico starting at 9 a.m. and again for the USA-England tilt at 1 p.m. Saturday. 

We are just days away from a surprisingly en vogue event in American sports culture: the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa, which starts Friday and continues through July 11. The World Cup has come to the United States just once, in 1994, and while soccer’s profile has steadily grown in America in the years since it has remained something of a fringe sport to the mainstream audience. With the U.S. national team making a surprising run last year to second place in the FIFA Confederations Cup, ESPN seems to be banking on this being the year America’s interest in soccer takes off. Make no mistake, the World Cup is mentioned heavily on TV right now because ESPN bought the rights to the event and is promoting the heck out of it to try and make as much money back on its investment as possible. Here’s the weird thing about it: You can actually believe their hype, and for more than a few reasons. These are not among them, but you can expect to hear them a lot in the next month anyway:

* It’s the world’s most-watched sporting event. True, but the world is frequently wrong about things, too. Look at The Spice Girls, for godsakes. We’re not following one another off a cliff here. It’s more important to know that it’s the most played sport in the world, but I’ll get back to that point a little later.

* All the players from the English Premier League/La Liga/MLS/(insert well-known pro soccer league somewhere in the world here) are in the World Cup. Absolutely irrelevant garbage. Assuming you watch league soccer in the first place, the sooner you purge your mind of how Player X did for Tottenham last season the better off you’ll be. International soccer is a whole different animal, one that cares only about national pride and means to an end. Look at Italian defender Marco Materazzi‘s taunting of legendary French midfielder Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 title game, resulting in Zidane headbutting Materazzi and getting ejected from the game, which France subsequently lost. Was it a classy move by Materazzi to (allegedly) taunt Zidane about his sister? No. Did it result in the opponent’s best player being taken out of the game? You bet. Italy went home the best soccer team in the world and one of the sport’s all-time best ended his last game early and in disgrace before an audience of 715 million people worldwide. You will not find drama like that in a Sunday-afternoon German Bundesliga match.

* Soccer is “the beautiful game.” Silliest nickname ever. It’s no more beautiful than any other sport, which is to say it’s only beautiful when played well by the best players in their peak form. Even then it can be imprecise and frustrating, because it centers around asking a part of your body with little dexterity–your feet–to do things most people can’t even do well with their hands. (By the way, for those who would whine about the “no hands” issue at this moment, please know there is a version of soccer that puts your hands to use and your feet do nothing but run; it’s called lacrosse, and no one outside a college campus cares about it.)

The Spice Girls. Yup, the world screwed that one up. Not so with the World Cup.

The real reason to watch the World Cup starts with a kid in an alley. If you give a kid a ball and ask him to play with it, what is he going to do? Hit it, like in baseball? That would require a bat, or at least a thick stick. Put it through a hoop, as in basketball? Basketball goals seem like they’re everywhere to us, but that isn’t the case in other parts of the world. No, if you give a kid a ball and ask him to play with it, he’s most likely going to kick it, and once he does that he is essentially playing soccer. It’s the world’s most accessible game, because there isn’t any additional equipment or accessories needed to play it. If you have a round object and a direction to kick it in, you can start a soccer game–perfect even in impoverished nations. Of the hundreds of millions of kids who kicked a ball around in a field or an alley, a little more than 400 of them will do it well enough to play in the colors of their flag in the World Cup while the rest tune in on TV. It might be the ultimate “don’t blow it” moment in sports.

(For the record, this kid made it as far as grade-school youth league before retiring from organized games. I may not have the ex-player chops to be a World Cup correspondent for TAG, but as the staff’s resident soccer watcher and World Cup junkie, I’m just the guy for the job.)

Unlike international competitions such as the Olympic games, World Cup teams are made up entirely of professional players hand-picked by that team’s coaching staff; in other words, every team competing is a Dream Team. Not all dreams are created equal, though, and the teams at the World Cup usually fall into a handful of groups:

THE UNDERSTOODS

Brazil, England, Germany, Italy – These teams are considered serious contenders to win every World Cup, and with good reason; they account for 12 trophies among them, with Brazil holding the record for most at five. Believe it or not, England, for all its brouhaha and spoils of talent, has only won once, in 1966.

THE YOUNG, THE PROMISING, THE STREAKY

Spain, Portugal, Argentina, United States, The Netherlands – Every one of these has a sort of Jekyll-and-Hyde dynamic to it, and in the cases of Spain and Portugal, it has cost them opportunities to contend for the cup in the past. Argentina sports the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year in Lionel Messi, but also a complete nutcase for a manager in former national-team playing legend Diego Maradona; Portugal sports the 2008 World Player of the Year in Cristiano Ronaldo. Jozy Altidore is morphing into the star for the U.S. that Freddy Adu was supposed to be. Word to the wise: If you’re looking for a team to watch when the U.S. isn’t playing, set your TiVo to watch the Dutch; they play a super-uptempo style and were arguably the most entertaining team to watch in World Cup ’06.

THE USED-TO-BES

Greece and France – International soccer was their oyster at different times, with France winning World Cup ’98 and getting back to the finals in ’06 and Greece pulling a huge upset to win the European Championship in 2004. Both are slightly over the hump now, still dangerous though by no means elite.

THE GOOD BUT NONTHREATENING

Mexico, Uruguay and Ivory Coast – They’ve got the skills to get here every time, but never enough to run with the big dogs. Count on at least one of them to mess with a contender’s program, though.

THE REST

South Africa, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Algeria, Slovenia, Australia, Serbia, Ghana, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia, Korea DPR – By the time you pick out one player on one of these teams to root for and memorize how to pronounce his name, that team’s run will be over. I hope I’m wrong about at least a couple of these, but history says it’s unlikely.

Here’s the fun caveat: If there was ever a year for the traditional World Cup strata to get stood on their head and for some random team to break out and win it’s this year. A ghastly run of injuries is casting shadows of doubt over several contenders and could make this the most entertaining and unpredictable World Cup in recent memory. Chances are ESPN will tell you the same thing, but don’t listen to them; they’re just trying to sell advertising. So who will emerge in the weeks ahead? We’ll start that journey Thursday with a look at the Group Play round. Until then, get out and kick a ball around in a field or an alley… or, better yet, give a ball to a kid and ask him or her to play with it.