RobertSpuhler.com

World Cup Draw and Analysis

The groups for the 2010 World Cup...

A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece
C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia
E: Holland, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark
F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia
G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal
H: Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland

Analysis after the jump:

Those Cheating French

From the beautiful game of 1998 to ... this. France needed 120 minutes today to get through to the World Cup, and the goal that sends them through features a player offside, then Thierry Henry handling the ball not once, but twice, before crossing it to William Gallas.

I had been giving my baseball-loving friends a hard time after the MLB playoffs became a laughingstock, rife with bad umpiring decisions. But this...this is tough to watch.

Ignore the Final Score

In Its Trip Out West, United's Fortunes Go South In Defeat - Washington Post

Saturday Nights In Neon Light

SAT season. Parents are mad at themselves for calling so late – and it’s easy to tell because they’re taking it out on me. Kids – mostly first semester seniors with early-onset Senioritis – who can’t be bothered with adding fractions, much less doing homework and practice tests.

But Saturday night? That’s for soccer.

On Appearances

Monday night I made my podcast debut, as a guest on the Malt Shop Logic podcast with my friend Chris. A good time was had by all. Go for the soccer and basketball analysis, stay for the tasteless Jonestown jokes.

In other news, I've booked a role in a very funny play called "Office Sonata." It opens at the Hayworth Theater in the mid-Wilshire district in late April. More on that as rehearsals get underway in earnest.

Pimp My Writing

It's been a while...

Promising Start for Nunez - AmericanSoccerNews.net

Pimp My Writing

Foreign Legion Leaving Its Mark - AmericanSoccerNews.net

Pimp My Writing

Goats Look to Rebound in SuperClasico - AmericanSoccerNews.net

(And, for  a limited time, I got the full pimp spot on the front page...)

Pimp My Writing

Price of Freedom - AmericanSoccerNews.net

Pimp My Writing

Time On Their Side - AmericanSoccerNews.net

(Not my best effort this week. Sorry.)