My Euro 2012 Home Jersey Ranking

1. Russia

2. Greece

3. Poland

4. Spain

5. Croatia

6. Sweden

7. Ukraine

8. Holland

9. France

10. Portugal

11. Germany - extremely thin stripes makes the jersey look too feminine

12. Czech Republic - the slanted change in design at the top makes it look like a girl's shirt

13. Ireland - not sure why "3" the Irish cell phone company gets to be on the shirt but I've only see this version of the jersey and the sponsor ruins it

14. Denmark - had the best jersey of all 32 teams in the last World Cup but this edition is quite the opposite

15. England - no blue in it whatsoever and this jersey makes England look like they could be the Polish national team

16. Italy - for a country that's home to arguably the world's second most important fashion centre (Milan) you would think Italy could do better than this monstrosity, especially since their 2010 World Cup jersey was also atrocious



My 2010 World Cup Home Jersey Rankings

My 2010 World Cup Home Jersey Rankings (minus N. Korea which ain't even showing highlights of their games unless they win)















1. Denmark



















2. Ivory Coast





















3. South Africa




















4. Uruguay


















5. Cameroon





















6. France



















7. Serbia




















8. Holland



















9. Switzerland



















10. USA





















11. Germany




















12. Portugal



















13. Paraguay



















14. Greece



















15. Argentina



















16. Algeria




















17. Japan




















18. Nigeria


















19. Ghana






















20. South Korea




















21. Italy




















22. Honduras



















23. Australia



















24. England




















25. Brazil




















26. Slovakia




















27. Spain



















28. Slovenia





















29. Chile




















30. New Zealand


















31. Mexico

MLB All Name Teams

Just because these players' names either sound cool, or are so simple (John Buck) that they have to be recognized and rewarded.

American League:

Catchers:
John Buck - Kansas City C
Kenji Johjima - Seattle C

Infielders:
Nomar Garciaparra - Oakland 1B
Asdrubal Cabrera - Cleveland 2B
Yuniesky Betancourt - Kansas City SS
Jack Hannahan - Seattle 3B
Placido Polanco - Detroit 2B
Jhonny Peralta - Cleveland SS

Outfielders:
Scott Podsednik - Chicago LF
Jacoby Ellsbury - Boston CF
Nick Markakis - Baltimore RF
Melky Cabrera - New York CF

Designated Hitter:
Willy Aybar - Tampa Bay DH

Starting Pitchers:
Clay Buchholz - Boston SP
Joba Chamberlain - New York SP
Gil Meche - Kansas City SP
Jarrod Washburn - Seattle SP
Brian Bannister - Kansas City SP

Relief Pitchers:
Rafael Betancourt - Cleveland RP
Boof Bonser - Minnesota RP
Brandon Duckworth - Kansas City RP
Jason Isringhausen - Tampa Bay RP
Octavio Dotel - Chicago RP
Fernando Rodney - Detroit RP
Jeremy Accardo - Toronto RP




National League:

Catchers:
Yadier Molina - St. Louis C
Robinzon Diaz - Pittsburgh C

Infielders:
Micah Hoffpauir - Chicago 1B
Tadahito Iguchi - Philadelphia 2B
Yunel Escobar - Atlanta SS
Edwin Encarnacion - Cincinnati 3B
Troy Tulowitzki - Colorado SS
Kevin Kouzmanoff - San Diego 3B

Outfielders:
Raul Ibanez - Philadelphia LF
Elijah Dukes - Washington CF
Frank Catalanotto - Milwaukee RF
Wily Mo Pena - Washington LF
Colby Rasmus - St. Louis CF

Starting Pitchers:
Bronson Arroyo - Cincinnati SP
Yovani Gallardo - Milwaukee SP
Cole Hamels - Philadelphia SP
Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles SP
Micah Owings - Cincinnati SP

Relief Pitchers:
LaTroy Hawkins - Houston RP
J.J. Putz - New York RP
Scott Schoeneweis - Arizona RP
Pedro Feliciano - New York RP
Jonathan Broxton - Los Angeles RP
Francisco Cordero - Cincinnati RP
Huston Street - Colorado RP

Pedro v Zimmer & Artest v Pistons Fans

These two incidents were two of the most infamous sports incidents in the past few years. But for what reasons? Because two athletes were defending themselves against over zealous attackers?

It's been a few years but these two things came to mind today and it's time for those who cut up Pedro Martinez and Ron Artest to shut up.


Pedro may have thrown at hitters during his rivalry with the Yanks but that's baseball - a traditional, albeit stupid, part of baseball. So when Pedro was standing there by himself during the 2003 ALCS Yanks/BoSox brawl and Don Zimmer suddenly charged at him in a malicious, vengeful manner, what did you expect Pedro to do, stand there and take a punch? Get real fools. Any one of us would defend ourselves if some angry man came charging at us, even if he was 72 years old. Let's be fair to Pedro. He was taken by surprise and essentially brushed Zimmer aside by simply holding his head in a quick, instinctual reaction and throwing him down, pretty much sparing him the potential harm he could have faced had Pedro clocked him.



And as much as Ron Artest is a giant douche, he too did what any one of us, with balls that is, would have done. If you're lying there and someone throws a beer on your chest, are you going to stay there and say "ohh that's okay, I actually needed a beer bath, thanks man!"? I didn't think so.

It's a perfectly normal human reaction to do what Artest did and jump into the stands and go after the punk who threw the beer. That pansy David Stern banned Artest for the rest of the season in order to set precedent and prevent other players from entering the crowd but you can't deny that what Artest did is what most people would have done. So for all the critics who say athletes should never get into it with fans and that what Artest did is wrong, put yourself in that position and see if you wouldn't do the same. The only guy in sports media that I can recall preaching the same thing as I have here is Bob McCown of the FAN 590 sports radio in Toronto and I don't agree with a lot of what he says, but at least he had the right opinion on this issue, unlike so many others out there.

NHL All Name Team

Based on how cool their name sounds when saying it:


1st Line:
R.J. Umberger (C), Columbus Blue Jackets, born: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Justin Abdelkader (LW), Detroit Redwings, born: Muskegon, MI, USA
Cal Clutterbuck (RW), Minnesota Wild, born: Welland, ON, CAN
Garnet Exelby (D), Atlanta Thrashers, born: Ste. Anne, MB, CAN
Hal Gill (D), Pittsburgh Penguins, born: Concord, MA, USA

2nd Line:
Kyle Brodziak (C), Edmonton Oilers, born: St. Paul, AB, CAN
Bates Battaglia (LW), Toronto Maple Leafs, born: Chicago, IL, USA
Chuck Kobasew (RW), Boston Bruins, born: Vancouver, BC, CAN
Kevin Bieksa (D), Vancouver Canucks, born: Grimsby, ON, CAN
Dennis Seidenberg (D), Carolina Hurricanes, born: Schwenningen, GER

3rd Line:
Kyle Chipchura (C), Montreal Canadiens, born: Westlock, AB, CAN
Darcy Hordichuk (LW), Vancouver Canucks, born: Kamsack, SK, CAN
Dan Hinote (RW), St. Louis Blues, born: Leesburg, FL, USA
Wade Brookbank (D), Tampa Bay Lightning, born: Lanigan, SK, CAN
Andy Wozniewski (D), Pittsburgh Penguins, born: Buffalo Grove, IL, USA

4th Line:
Brandon Dubinsky (C), New York Rangers, born: Anchorage, AK, USA
Riley Cote (LW), Philadelphia Flyers, born: Winnipeg, MB, CAN
Guillaume Latendresse (RW), Montreal Canadiens, born: Ste-Catherine, QC, CAN
Francois Beauchemin (D), Anaheim Ducks, born: Sorel, QC, CAN
Josh Gorges (D), Montreal Canadiens, born: Kelowna, BC, CAN

Goalies:
Wade Dubielewicz (G), Columbus Blue Jackets, born: Invermere, BC, CAN
Ilya Bryzgalov (G), Phoenix Coyotes, born: Togliatti, RUS
Antero Niittymaki (G), Philadelphia Flyers, born: Turku, FIN

Hitting The Post

It's about time we clarify what hitting the post in hockey and soccer means.

I'm sick of sportscasters saying "he beats the goalie but can't beat the post".

Stop right there. How exactly is the goalie beat if the puck or ball didn't go in the net? I'm pretty sure that a goalie standing in front of the net on the angle that they do reduces the amount of net the shooter can shoot at, therefore eliminating much of the scoring space available. This is why the shooter had to aim towards the outer part of the net, which often results in hitting the post if not missing completely. Does this not mean the goalie did his job by covering most of the net and forcing the shooter to shoot at the part of the net that is more difficult to score in?

Let's say the shooter shoots and the puck or ball misses the post by 1 mm. Was the goalie still beat? Let's say it's not 1 mm and actually grazes the post. Suddenly now the goalie is beat?

If the shooter did not score, THE GOALIE WAS NOT BEAT!

End of discussion.