June 30, 1998

Argentina 3, England 2 (4-3 PK): Despite the loss, this was a noble effort by England. Playing without only 10 men for well over an hour, England withstand every attack and even mounted a few of their own. On the whole, I believe England actually outplayed Argentina, but clearly it was a terrifically tired side that managed to make it to penalty kicks. With a full 11, England probably would've won making the red-carded David Beckham's agony all that much worse. Of particular note was the superlative play of 18-year-old forward Michael Owen. Already a world-class forward, he likely has 3 World Cups in front of him.

June 21, 1998

Yugoslavia 2, Germany 2: Germany didn't play particularly well but did come back from a 2-0 deficit.

Argentina 5, Jamaica 0: The Reggae Boyz aren't the real thing, and Argentina, after a slow opener versus Japan, proved that they are.

Iran 2, USA 1: Despite outplaying Iran, the U.S. loses and sees its second round hopes disappear. Coach Steve Sampson scrapped the 3-6-1 alignment used against Germany for a 3-5-2, and started Ramos, McBride and Wegerle. A bizarre substitution late in the second half (Maisonneve for Dooley) didn't help matters as it left an already questionable defense even weaker. Hedjuk had another fine game and Reyna was better than in the Germany game where he was marked out of the action. The best scorer on the team, Eric Wynalda, never got off the bench.

June 20, 1998

Mexico 2, Belgium 2: Belgium was up 2-0 when an undeserved red card allowed Mexico to scream back into the game. Decided by the officials.

June 19, 1998

Nigeria 1, Bulgaria 0: Nigeria was surprisingly strong in their opener with an upset win over Spain. Here, they pull off what I consider another upset with an exciting 1-0 over Bulgaria. Neither side played great defense (perhaps because of yesterday's awful change in officiating standards), and both had numerous scoring opportunities. As unlikely as it seems, Nigeria is now through to the second round.

Spain 0, Paraguay 0: Spain put enormous pressure on the Paraguan defense but couldn't get a goal out of it. Paraguay had its own attacking chances but seemed content to draw given Spain's attack.

June 18, 1998

South Africa 1, Denmark 1: Now replacing the Italy v. Cameroon game as the worst officiated of the Cup, this game featured 3 red cards and more yellows than I could count. The game itself was reasonably exciting, though both teams are clearly headed nowhere. One of them might sneak through into the second round since Group C is really lame, but they'll be ousted first thing. Still, the real story here is the pathetic referee. He ruined the game.

France 4, Saudi Arabia 0: Exciting, but unfortunate. Saudi Arabia played with 10 for more than 60 minutes after a thoroughly undeserved red card. France, given numerous scoring chances had severe problems capitalizing early on. They also lost forward Dugarry to a painful-looking hamstring injury. Midway through the second half the numbers on the field equalized when France star midfielder Zidane was given an undeserved red card. Today's officiating has stunk mightily.

June 17, 1998

Chile 1, Austria 1: Chile had an unconvincing 1-0 win going until Austria scored on a beautiful shot in injury time at the close of the game. Chile, clearly the better team, still did not play well enough to merit more than a tie in my opinion.

Italy 3, Cameroon 0: Italy dominates an inferior Cameroon team, though what conclusions we can draw from that are limited by the Cameroons playing the entire second half with 10 men. (The officiating in this game was thus far the worst in the tourney.) Perhaps Cameroon didn't deserve a 3-0 thrashing, but the better of the teams claimed victory.

June 16, 1998

Scotland 1, Norway 1: The Scots deserved better than this 1-1 draw. They outplayed Norway much of the game but were let down early in the second half by a singular, uncharacteristic defensive error. The Scots second round hopes now likely hinge on the game with Morocco, the winner of which will likely head to the second round unless Norway can beat Brazil.

Brazil 3, Morocco 0: Brazil puts on a clinic. Poor Morocco had two decent scoring chances, only one of which was earned. (The first half free kick from 25 yards out was based on a poor call by the referee.) The Scotland-Morocco game, on June 23, is now huge for Morocco as well.

June 15, 1998

England 2, Tunisia 0: A very workman like victory for the English. Typical long-ball tactics make for relatively boring play to my way of thinking, but I'm sure the British will take what they can get. I wasn't impressed by their defense (I think a Latin-style team will shred it), but forward Alan Shearer is clearly a legitimate threat and that will always give England a chance. Tunisia, headed nowhere fast, was lucky to avoid a blowout.

Romania 1, Columbia 0: Heck with Hagi; bring on Romanian forward Ilie! Scoring a brilliant first half goal, Ilie also had numerous other good efforts. Columbia threatened a couple times in the first half but was dominated by Romania for much of it. In the second half, Columbia turned on the offense, but couldn't find the net. Given all the good scoring chances, Columbia probably deserved a draw, but that's the way the ball bounces. Columbia will now probably have to beat England to advance to second round. Best of luck.

Germany 2, United States 0: This is probably the best U.S. team of all-time, but against Germany that doesn't count for much. The Germans play what I consider to be a boring style of soccer, but it's hard to argue with success. Germany's first goal was only the start of U.S. midfielder Mike Burns' bad day. (What's he doing in the game ahead of Tab Ramos or Preki anyway?) Not like Burns deserves sole blame though. The U.S. offense was nowhere to be seen throughout the first half. Second half gave us some U.S. scoring chances (particularly Hejduk's header) and a grievious Dooley defensive error. No surprise in the result, only in Sampson's strange player selection. I now believe Sampson's 3-6-1 is a huge mistake, since Wynalda is clearly incapable of generating offense by himself up top.

June 14, 1998

Argentina 1, Japan 0: Showing an amazing lack of creativity out of the midfield and a surprisingly benign attack, Argentina will have to play much better if they are to live up to expectations. The defense was solid, but Japan's is hardly a potent offense. A win is win, but Argentina fans should be concerned.

Yugoslavia 1, Iran 0: Iran may have deserved better than a loss. (Certainly, a draw would've helped U.S. chances more than this Iranian loss.) Iran had plenty of chances to score in the first half, making this a particularly bitter pill, I would think, since it means Iran now has virtually no chance of advancing to the second round.

Croatia 3, Jamaica 1: As much as I admire their enthusiasm, Jamaica isn't ready for the big time; both attack and defense were terribly uneven. On top of that, I thought Croatia looked better than expected, and they may give Argentina a run for their money in Group H.

June 13, 1998

Nigeria 3, Spain 2: Lousy defense and tragic goalkeeping can make for some exciting soccer, and we got plenty of both in this "Group of Death" matchup. Nigeria won, but I now like Paraguay and Bulgaria's chances a lot more than I did; both of those teams have better defenses. Nigeria coach Bora Milutinovic, formerly of Mexico (and prior to that the U.S.), has done it again, and Spain's second round hopes are now severely diminished.

Mexico 3, South Korea 1: My second "right on" prediction of the Cup, though I didn't anticipate Mexico being behind 1-0 early. This could have been a different game had South Korea not lost a player to a red card mid-way through the first half. As a result, I don't think we really know how good either team is or isn't. I will say that Mexico, who played a good second half, is much better at an up-tempo game than when they use a slower pace.

Netherlands 0, Belgium 0: Proof that it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't score. Holland controlled at least 80 percent of the game, but no goals won't get you a victory. The Mexico game looms large for both teams now.

June 12, 1998

Paraguay 0, Bulgaria 0: Paraguay's got a stellar defense, but how far can you advance without an offense? Bulgaria is fast, mean and has Stoichkov up front, which at least gives them a chance. Can Paraguay make second round? Drawing all your games in Group D might be good enough. Drawing Bulgaria is a good start.

Denmark 1, Saudi Arabia 0: This should've been much better than it was. Two fairly good teams, but this gets my vote for most boring game of the Cup so far. Denmark, who I believe will advance to the second round with France, needs to do a whole lot better

France 3, South Africa 0: Exactly as I predicted (which I'll brag about, since it's such a rare occurrence), France won in a cakewalk. South Africa is headed nowhere but home. France will go to the second round for sure.

June 11, 1998

Italy 2, Chile 2: The Chilean attack proved more potent than expected and Italy was very lucky to escape with the result they got. The handball call that gave Italy the penalty was terrible.

Cameroon 1, Austria 1: Cameroon got what they deserved with a defensive lapse in the 46th minute of the 2nd half. I have a hard time believing that either of these teams will advance to second round. Austria, on top of being a lousy team, is filled with a bunch of whiners.

June 10, 1998
The Steelers signed their four restricted free agents to one-year offers. Those players, guard Brenden Stai, strong safety Lethon Flowers, defensive lineman Oliver Gibson and linebacker Donta Jones will play this season for $397,000 each.

World Cup Results:

Brazil 2, Scotland 1: Despite my predictions of Brazillian glory, it's clear that Brazil will have to up their game considerably to repeat as Cup champions. The Scottish defense, always hard to beat, probably deserved better than a defeat.

Morocco 2, Norway 2: Morocco showed a lot more flair than anticipated, though they proved almost entirely inept on free kick defense. Grievious keeper errors. Norway, predicted to advance, has its work cut out.

June 7, 1998
Questions continue about the health of All-Pro linebacker Greg Lloyd. Lloyd, who unexpected attended minicamp this past week, is still noticeably hobbled by an ankle injury from last November (and the life-threatening staph infection which followed). Will he be able to play his way back into All-Pro form? Most pundits say "no," though not for lack of desire. If it's the case that he can't come back at full-speed, what then? The Steelers can hardly afford Lloyd's $3 million a year salary against the cap if he's not healthy.

There's been no big clamor (in fact there's been no clamor whatsoever) for my opinion of the players on the U.S. World Cup Team. That lack of interest has never stopped me before, and it certainly won't stop me this time:

Forwards
Brian McBride: A reserve who, while solid, is no great shakes either. May see playing time if Wynalda can't go, but in Sampson's 3-6-1 system, McBride alone up front spells trouble for the U.S. attack.

Joe-Max Moore: More of a reserve midfielder than a forward, it would surprise me if Moore got off the bench in this World Cup.

Eric Wynalda: The team's most prolific scorer, Wynalda suffered a knee injury in April. Is Wynalda fit enough to play a complete 90? Doubtful. But he's easily the best forward we have, and a legitimate scoring threat against any defense.

Roy Wegerle: Can score given the opportunity, but has trouble creating for himself. Better than alternate Roy Lassiter (for whom he was traded in a MLS swap a few weeks ago)? Probably. Doubtful that he can carry the offensive load if Wynalda goes down, but he's got more of a chance than Moore or McBride.

Midfielders
Cobi Jones: An undersized speedster who has a little bit of natural talent and almost no tactical sense. Asking him to play solid defense is like talking to a tree. Could burn people with his speed, but on the whole, I'm not a fan.

Claudio Reyna: An oft-injured big-time playmaker. Sampson has indicated he wants the attack to run through Reyna, and there's a good chance that if he's healthy, he'll be up to the challenge.

Ernie Stewart: Very fast player with average skills. Not a star, but solid.

Brian Maisonneuve: Excellent defensive midfielder. College player of the year in 1994, Maisonneuve should start in a 6-man midfield.

Frankie Hejduk: Highly overrated, Hejduk is yet another player in the "undersized speedster" mold. Questionable whether he can play at the World Cup level.

Chad Deering: I've not seen Deering play very much, but reports are that he's a superb defensive mid. It was his play with Reyna on the German Wolfsburg team that led Sampson to choose Deering over former team captain John Harkes.

Mike Burns: Definite backup. Would be surprised if he saw any action.

Preki Radosavljevic: An explosive player with an incredible left foot. Relatively weak defender, but incredible on offense. Sampson has been using him as a sub in the second half.

Tab Ramos: Depending on how Ramos' ACL is holding up, he can be the most dangerous player on the team. Looked sharp in the qualifiers but has a history of injury. Definite starter if healthy.

Defenders
David Regis: New to the squad so I've not seen him play. Report is that he's excellent, both physical and fast. If true, it's exactly what the team needs.

Thomas Dooley: The captain and the oldest player on the squad. Dooley is a fairly solid, though he has occasional lapses. Now 37, he gets by more than ever on soccer smarts. Capable defender.

Eddie Pope: Named U.S. soccer player of the year in 1997, Pope is inconsistent. Mexico's Luis Hernandez made him look like a fool in qualifiers. Nonetheless, he should be good enough to get the job done.

Jeff Agoos: Tough player, but questionable whether he's a World Cup-level defender. Probably moves to a backup role with the arrival of Regis.

Marcelo Balboa: Solid player with tons of experience. Would likely play in the middle replacing Dooley (if need be) in a 3-6-1 or team with Dooley if Sampson switches systems.

Alexi Lalas: Relatively tall at 6'1", Lalas is too slow (mentally and physically) to be useful at the World Cup level. Has good ability to head the ball, however.

Goalies
Brad Friedel: Excellent keeper. Good size (6'4"), good hands. Will be second string, but could start for most teams.

Juergen Sommer: Good but not great goalie. Hopefully will not see action since that would mean injuries to both Friedel and Keller. While Sommer is a good keeper, the drop-off in talent between him and Friedel is noticeable.

Kasey Keller: A graduate of the University of Portland [insert appropriate cheer here], Keller is now widely-hailed as one of the best keepers in the world. Probably the best player on the team, and the one person who, if he has an outstanding World Cup, is capable of taking the U.S. further than anyone anticipates.

So, having for the first time legitimately gotten to the Cup on their own merits, will this collection of players be able to make it past Germany, Yugoslavia and Iran to move into the second round? While anything is possible in the game of soccer, it would be a monumental upset to even tie Germany. Yugoslavia is likewise very strong. Iran has a very capable attack, but the rest of the squad is unseasoned. U.S. will likely finish at 1-2, which is probably not sufficient to achieve an at-large berth for the second round. Here's hoping I'm wrong, but I think the U.S. will play three games and be out.

June 1, 1998
Steelers today released cornerback Donnell Woolford, a move that will save them $825,000 for the salary cap. Even with Chad Scott's torn ACL (which now looks to keep him out for the season), Woolford wasn't what the Steelers were looking for.

In World Cup news, the U.S. and Scotland tie 0-0 in a friendly. The lack of offensive production in the last few games is definitely worrisome. Eric Wynalda returned to action, coming on as a substitute in the 52nd minute. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller played another great game.

May 28, 1998
Since the start of the World Cup is now only two weeks away, I thought I'd give you my picks for the teams I think will make it to the second round. First, here's the groupings for the tournament:

Group A: Brazil, Scotland, Morocco, Norway
Group B: Italy, Chile, Cameroon, Austria
Group C: France, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Denmark
Group D: Spain, Nigeria, Paraguay, Bulgaria
Group E: Holland, Belgium, South Korea, Mexico
Group F: Germany, United States, Yugoslavia, Iran
Group G: Romania, Colombia, England, Tunisia
Group H: Argentina, Japan, Jamaica, Croatia

And now my picks, bearing in mind that is who I think will win not necessarily who I want to win...

Group A: Brazil, Norway
Group B: Italy, Chile
Group C: France, Denmark
Group D: Spain, Bulgaria
Group E: Holland, Mexico
Group F: Germany, Yugoslavia
Group G: Romania, England
Group H: Argentina, Croatia

May 25, 1998
The U.S. finished off an inferior Kuwaiti squad yesterday 2-0. Importantly, new defender David Regis looks to have won himself a starting spot in the U.S. defense. According to my Dad (who was at the game), Regis was superb and will definitely shore up the U.S. side. He also thought Preki played well, and he anticipates that keeper Juergen Sommer will be dropped and forward Roy Lassiter added.

May 21, 1998
In what can only be thought of as terrible news, cornerback Chad Scott completely tore his ACL in a recent workout. Scott, a starter for the Steelers' defense, is expected to miss 4-6 months. His injury throws the team's contract talks with other players and roster strategy into disarray. Speculation is that linebacker Greg Lloyd will now need to be cut to make room under salary cut for another CB.

Coach Sampson said today that he was considering adding forward Roy Lassiter to the squad in place of 3rd string keeper Juergen Sommer. Lassiter's had a bad year, but in recent games has been on a scoring tear, and after Brian McBride's failure to convert on any of four solid scoring chances, Sampson has to be thinking about adding more bunch. Especially since Eric Wynalda is just now recovering from injury.

May 20, 1998
Coach Sampson today named midfielder Tab Ramos to the U.S. squad. Ramos, certainly one of the best players on the team, had been recovering from a knee injury, and Sampson wanted to see him in action before he made any decisions. This will be Ramos' third World Cup.

May 17, 1998
Watched a tape-delayed broadcast of last night's 0-0 tie of USA and Macedonia. Impressions after the first half of action: Thank God we have Kasey Keller. Brian McBride is no Eric Wynalda. Tab Ramos is back. Chad Deering looks like a terrific defensive midfielder. Brian Maisonneuve looks good as well. In fact, the midfield in general is playing fine. Our defense of Dooley, Pope and Burns is not adequate for the World Cup. I'm not sure how to solve this problem, but Sampson better find a way.

Impressions of the second half: Roy Wegerle is no Eric Wynalda either. I'd like to see Ramos and Preki in the game at the same time rather then substituting one for the other. Why is Joe-Max Moore taking all the corner kicks and free kicks when every one of them is bad? Is playing a 3-6-1 the best alignment for our team? I wonder.

Overall impressions: Although the US was missing four starters (Reyna, Stewart, Hejduk, and Wynalda), we should have won this game. I don't think it's a sign of catastrophe that we didn't, but Macedonia, a team not World Cup-bound, showed that we have enough holes in our defense that we should be at least somewhat concerned.

May 14, 1998
There's an article on U.S. midfielder Cobi Jones in today's San Jose Mercury News which talks about Jones' improved play since he took a two-month break from the game in December and January. As many of you know, I am not a big fan of the 5'7" speedster. Nevertheless, his recent MLS performances have been excellent, and I've not seen him since his sabbatical, so perhaps I will need to reevaluate his play. Certainly if he's playing the best soccer of his career, World Cup is a good time for it.

May 7, 1998
I've gone over Sampson's player list. I believe the team is strong both at goalkeeper and forward, but, boy is defense and midfield a grand series of question marks.

With Keller starting in goal and Friedel as backup, we may have the best one-two set of keepers in the world. I do believe Kasey is the better of the two, but not by much and we really don't lose a great deal if we have to go with Friedel.

Assuming Wynalda is healthy, our forward line is a potent series of goal-scorers. Wynalda and Preki can take on anyone, and McBride and Wegerle both have nose for the goal.

In the defense, I'm happy with Balboa and Dooley, but Agoos and Burns are less than stellar, and Lalas is a continuing bad joke. Pope was named Player of the Year, but after watching him get destroyed by Mexico's Luis Hernandez, I'm less than confident in his ability to mark opposing forwards out of the game.

The midfield is really up and down. Reyna and (assuming he's named) Ramos are excellent, with Maisonneuve, Moore and Stewart more than capable. I've not seen Deering play, but Sampson raves, so let's hope he's right. Jones and Hejduk though, oh brother. Both are undersized speedsters without a lot of tactical sense. Maybe Sampson figures we need their speed. It's a possibility, I guess, but their play in the past has left me less than awed.

May 5, 1998
U.S. National Team coach Steve Sampson named 20 of the 22 players he will take to the World Cup in France next month. The list:

Goalkeepers
Brad Friedel (Liverpool, England)
Kasey Keller (Leicester City, England)
Juergen Sommer (Columbus Crew)

Defenders
Jeff Agoos (D.C. United)
Marcelo Balboa (Colorado Rapids)
Mike Burns (New England Revolution)
Thomas Dooley (Columbus Crew)
Alexi Lalas (MetroStars)
Eddie Pope (D.C. United)

Midfielders
Chad Deering (Wolfsburg, Germany)
Frankie Hejduk (Tampa Bay Mutiny)
Cobi Jones (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Brian Maisonneuve (Columbus Crew)
Joe-Max Moore (New England Revolution)
Claudio Reyna (Wolfsburg, Germany)
Ernie Stewart (NAC Breda, Netherlands)

Forwards
Brian McBride (Columbus Crew)
Preki Radosavljevic (Kansas City Wizards)
Roy Wegerle (Tampa Bay Mutiny)
Eric Wynalda (San Jose Clash)

Notable exclusions are former team captain John Harkes and forward Roy Lassiter. Lassiter has had a terrible MLS season up to this point, though he is listed as an alternate. Harkes, on the other hand, does not seem to fit into Sampson's vision and is not even listed as an alternate. Tab Ramos, recovering from injury, is expected to be named in one of the two remaining selections.

April 19, 1998
Steelers conclude the two-day NFL draft, and the general consensus is that they've done well. I think, in fact, that the Steelers have done well enough in signings, free agency and the draft that we'll take the Super Bowl next year. Certainly, Pitt will be in the hunt.

Latest word on US World Cup forward Eric Wynalda is that he's got some torn cartilage in the knee area. Supposedly out of action until mid-May, which should be soon enough for him to re-join the U.S. National Team for World Cup action.

Other National Team news is that former captain John Harkes has been dropped from the squad by coach Steve Sampson. Sampson was apparently unhappy with Harkes inability to accept a less attack-oriented midfield role.

April 6, 1998
Eric Wynalda, a striker for the U.S. National Team, went down with a left leg injury in yesterday's 3-2 shootout loss. Playing for his MLS team, the San Jose Clash, Wynalda was attempting to beat the keeper one-on-one in the shootout when he was forced to dive around the on-coming keeper. Despite replays which showed little contact, Wynalda was in obvious pain from the moment he landed. Stretchered off and taken to a local hospital, Wynalda would miss the World Cup if this turns out to be the ACL tear that I think it is.

UPDATE: It turns out that it was not an ACL tear. Wynalda will be out for about 3 weeks and will miss a couple Clash games, but he should be ready to go for the World Cup. Whew.

March 31, 1998
Steelers sign Levon Kirkland to a 4-year, $25 million contract. Well-earned.

March 16, 1998
Boys' basketball loses in the Nor-Cal championship game, ending the season two victories shy of the state championship. Nonetheless, a very good season!

March 1, 1998
Coming off the second worst loss in NBA history (124-59 to the Indiana Pacers), you'd have thought that the Portland Trailblazers would be loaded for bear in their swing through Boston. Either that's wrong, or Celtics are a much improved team with ex-Blazer Kenny Anderson at point guard. The game was down to the wire and resulted in a 102-101 Celtic win, but given the comparative talent of the Blazers to the Celtics, Portland should have run away with this game. The Celtics, after a 15-win season last year, appear to be headed in the right direction.

February 21, 1998
An admittedly "out-of-shape" Kenny Anderson scores 19 in Boston's win over the Sonics—in Seattle. This trade is looking good already.

Dismal defense dooms the U.S. World Cup team to a 2-0 loss to a powerful Holland squad. Alexi Lalas, defying all rational explanation, continues to start and play for the U.S. defense, and true to form, the majority of the fault for the first goal can be placed on his broad shoulders. The second Holland goal came in the 46th minute off an embarrassing whiff by defender Jeff Agoos. It seemed to me that midfield and forward play was adequate, but that we were clearly the lesser of the two teams on the pitch.

After last week's solid Gold Cup outing, the U.S. moved up to #12 in FIFA's world-wide rankings. I don't know where Holland ranks, but I would imagine that they're in the top ten.

February 18, 1998
Pitt signs their free agent Pro Bowl nose tackle Joel Steed to a 4-year contract. Steed, an essential part of one of the best run defenses in football, was highly sought after, and probably could've gone elsewhere for more money. As is, he signed the richest contract in Steeler history.

In a move that's a definite winner, the Celtics acquired ex-Portland Trail Blazer point guard Kenny Anderson from the Toronto Raptors. Boston, who desperately needed an up-tempo point guard like Anderson, shipped Dee Brown, Chauncy Billups, Roy Rogers and John Thomas for Anderson, Popeye Jones and 7-footer Zan Tabak. I don't know what the salary cap ramifications of the deal are, but with Portland picking up something like $25 million of Anderson's salary, I'd imagine that the Celtics are still in good shape.

While it's definitely true that Anderson's had a poor season thus far, he's definitely got the skills to succeed in Boston. True, Boston's not got nearly the talent that Portland has, but in this case, that should allow Anderson to shine. The biggest question mark is whether Pitino can up Anderson's defense, an area where Kenny A definitely needs work.

February 15, 1998
The Steelers lose one of the best receivers in football with Yancy Thigpen signing an average annual salary contract of $4.2 million with the Oilers. The Steelers, who are always on a tight budget because of their smaller media market, traditionally suffer big free agency loss. Thigpen is a great player (and now the highest paid wide receiver of all-time), but the Steelers will find a capable replacement (as they've done so many times before). It's just difficult to justify so much money for a position, wide receiver, that touch the ball so infrequently in the Steelers' run-based offense. I think Thigpen is a great WR, but I also don't think his loss is catastrophic to the Steelers' post-season hopes.

Reasonably good and exciting soccer in today's Gold Cup championship game between the U.S. and Mexico. This rivalry, which has grown increasingly bitter in recent years as U.S. soccer has improved, nearly boiled over on the field several times. U.S. Soccer player of the year Eddie Pope was one instigator. Pope—who had a terrible game—must have figured that if you can't play well you might as well play dirty and was caught repeatedly on camera fouling his Mexican opponents while the ref looked the other way. (Did he really need to to spit all over Luis Hernandez?) Defender Alexi Lalas, the United States' primary exponent of the "taller is better" school of soccer philosophy, committed yet another boneheaded play in what's turning out to be a career of them. This allowed Mexico—on Hernandez' point-blank-range header past helpless Kasey Keller—to take a 1-0 half time lead, a score which was to become final after the U.S. squandered a number of good scoring chances in the second half.

February 13, 1998
Well, looks like I spoke too soon: Steeler Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey is headed to the much-loathed Dallas Cowboys to be their head coach. Personally, I thought Gailey's play-calling was pretty marginal for much of the year, so I don't know how huge a loss this is for Pitt. It does ruin coaching continuity, though, and that's can't be a good thing. It'll be interesting to see who the Steelers pick to replace him.

February 10, 1998
A bitter taste today of what fate, El Niño and a lack of effort can do to a soccer season. Because heavy rains prevented teams from concluding their seasons, the league decided to cancel the second half of games played effectively dropping us to 5th. Instead of completing those games, we headed directly into the single-elimination tourney where we faced St. Ignatious, a team we'd beaten 4-1 and 3-1 during the regular season. Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead, our intensity dropped over the back half of the game, and we came away with a dispiriting 3-2 loss.

There is a remote possibility that we can appeal for an at-large bid to the Section tournament, but I think wiping out the second half of the season effectively took our chances of that with it.

I've had better days as a coach.

I have no idea how the Celtics—and I realize we're not talking about a great team here—lost to the lowly Nuggets. Bad sports day.

The U.S. World Cup team beats Brazil for the first time ever by a score of 1-0. UP alum Kasey Keller comes up huge, and Preki continues to rack up points with a goal in 64th minute.

February 7, 1998
One word to describe U.S. World Cup team's 2-1 victory over Costa Rica: Preki!

February 1, 1998
He's clearly the best Boston has to offer, so it's great to see Antoine Walker get some the All-Star recognition he deserves. Currently seventh in the league in scoring, Boston without Walker is a team that brings a whole lot less to the game. From what I hear, Pitino is right: Walker has a chance to be one of the great ones.

Soccer: U.S. men's national team defeats Cuba 3-0 in what turned out to be an Eric Wynalda showcase.

January 31, 1998
Mitty beat Serra 4-0 today, giving us sole possession of third place. If we win both of our remaining games, we'll finish third and have a decent shot at CCS playoffs. We are masters of our own destiny at any rate.

January 30, 1998
A terrible first half condemns us to a 3-2 loss to Mitty. We were down 3-0 at half, scored 2 goals in the first 4 minutes of the second and ended up outshooting them 21-9. Really dominated, but couldn't put another one in.

Good news out of Pittsburgh: For the first time since 1992, all eight Steeler assistant coaches have been signed to contracts and will be back next year. This continuity can only help an already strong team.

Since we are in off-season now, the big question is free agency. The team has seven unrestricted free agents: wide receiver Yancy Thigpen, offensive tackle John Jackson, nose tackle Joel Steed, outside linebacker Jason Gildon and strong safety Myron Bell, plus reserve offensive lineman Tom Myslinski and backup cornerback Randy Fuller. The Steelers officially hope to sign everyone, but realistically, about half will probably sign elsewhere. As long Pitt does better than last year, when they lost seven starters from the defense to free agency, the team should be all right. It would definitely help to keep Pro-Bowler Thigpen, but even he is probably not indispensable.

January 28, 1998
We've still got a number of injuries from last week's games, making today's 3-1 victory over St. Ignatius all that more satisfying. We're scheduled to play Mitty tomorrow, but rain is in the forecast.

January 25, 1998
Many congratulations, of course, to John Elway and the Denver Broncos for their superb win over the much-favored Green Bay Packers. At the same time, us die-hard Steelers fans can't help but wonder how Pittsburgh would've done.

January 24, 1998
It was a 1-0 loss to #1-ranked Bellarmine, but there's no way to fault the players' effort. The sad fact, I think, is that 3 games in 3 days was just too many. The Bells played a fine game, but if we catch them when we're rested, I like our chances.

January 23, 1998
We could've scored more, but right now we'll take victories any way they come. SF 2-1 over Riordan. Tomorrow we face the #1-ranked Bellarmine Bells.

January 22, 1998
A lame second-half dooms us to a 1-1 tie with Sacred Heart. It appears that inconsistent play is a hallmark of our team. On a given day we're capable of beating anyone--even more than that dominating them--but we're equally capable of playing terribly and frittering the game away.

January 21, 1998
As I've said before and will probably forget I've said and say again, the high school soccer leagues here in Northern California don't like to play in the rain because of the damage it does to the fields. Thanks to El Niño, then, we've had three consecutive rain outs. With luck, we play tomorrow again Sacred Heart.

January 11, 1998
So close, yet so far. The Steeler season ends with today's 24-21 loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game. Pitt lost a lot of guys (7 starters I believe) from last year's defensive unit, and it's a tribute to the coaching staff that the team was able to come as far as it did with so many new players.

Kordell Stewart, who had a terrible day, completed a good first year as a full-time quarterback. Clearly he's got talent; he just needs consistency, and that will come in time. Depending on how free agency treats the Steelers during the off-season, the 'Burg should be able to make it to the Super Bowl next year.

Meanwhile, this year I like Green Bay by about 14.

January 8, 1998
It's always nice to play well, but that's particularly true when it's a good team. So Saint Francis 4-1 victory over #13-ranked Saint Ignatious has me feeling pretty good. We're playing very well right now, and it's a shame we've got a week lay-off before we face #6-ranked Mitty (who tied us 2-2 in our first league game).

January 6, 1998
It's always hard to swallow a tie after leading a game, and in this one we had leads of 1-0 and 2-1. Nonetheless, our 2-2 tie with archrival, league-leading and #1-ranked Bellarmine allows us to say that we've done something that no other team has done this year. (Bellarmine is now 10-0-1.) And the fact is that they tied us.

January 3, 1998
I don't know if life is supposed to be this nerve-wracking, because the Steelers' 7-6 victory over the tough New England Patriots could've probably put me in the asylum. But a win is a win, and Pitt now advances to the AFC Championship game where they'll face either Kansas City (I hope not) or Denver (go Broncos!). If we play Denver, we have home field advantage, a fact which explains my leanings in tomorrow's AFC match up. Either way, we're one win away from the Super Bowl.

* Denotes league game
Home games in CAPS; other games to be played at opponent's school unless otherwise noted.
W = win; L = loss; T = tie

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