Thierry Henry took a page out of Diego Maradona's book to help his French side reach World Cup Qualification on Wednesday, when a Florent Malouda free kick was held from going behind for a goal kick by a blatant yet uncalled handball committed by Henry. Henry was then able to touch the ball onto the head of William Gallas for the winning goal during Extra Time in the 2nd Leg of France's home and home playoff series with Ireland. The Irish, who had fought valiantly away from home, in Paris, to level the aggregate score at 1 through a Robbie Keane goal in the 33rd minute, felt robbed by the referee's decision to allow the goal.
Watching matters first hand, I felt there were several shocking things about the play that needed to be addressed. First off, the ball was touched onto Henry by an offside French Player. Secondly, Henry was seemingly in an offside position himself, when he played the ball. So three officiating errors occurred of this free kick. What is with the current state of affairs that so many critical call are going wrong? We had problems at the World Series, horrible collegiate officiating, and now this?!? That argument is for another day.
I am glad to see the the Irish F.A. are challenging for the match to be replayed. They won't get it, as the precedence in these matters is all Refereeing decisions are final, but I'm glad to see them call out Fifa and the French F.A., whom by the way have already admitted it was handball. Henry himself admitted it was Handball.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
USF Coaching Change On The Horizon? I Hope Not...
Calling For Coaching Changes After USF Blows Another Nationally Televised Thursday Night in Piscataway.
This being my first post, I must explain that I attend the University of South Florida, in Tampa, and am a die hard Bull. I have lived through and attended most of the profound and prolific moments in the program's short 12 year history. Unfortunately, I cannot add last night's performance to that list of games. This is the third straight lost to Rutgers and for the second year in a row, the Bulls lost by twenty plus points. Mummers on local talk radio and from newspaper columns have suggested a lack of confidence in Head Coach Jim Leavitt, who has overseen the program since its inception in 1997.
The question that looms large is who would the USF brass get to replace a man who has only two losing seasons over a thirteen year period with a new program and would that coach be able to continue success? I fear the answer is not nearly as good as the naysayers may think. If USF wanted to replace Levitt, Bulls fans would find that the school and program still lack the recognition to hire a sure-fire winner. The current frustration stemming from the inability to get over the proverbial hill into national prominence is creating a stigma that USF can not finish a season with vigor. This leads to an uphill climb in recruiting, an already arduous battle sharing the state with Florida, Florida State, and Miami. A recognized coach would not even bat an eye at the thought of taking on that kind of challenge if a job opened up at a similar university with a longer history, in a bigger conference.
A new coach at any position would spell more disaster, as the Bulls just hired all new offensive coaches over the last off-season. The coaches know how to do there jobs. They do it well. The players were at fault on this night, which is generally the case with most of South Florida's loses. B.J. Daniels finally played like a freshman, with obvious mistakes on both first half interceptions as well as not protecting the ball on the first quarter fumble. Horrible mistakes like the O-Line forgetting to block and allowing 7 sacks and a blocked punt are not the coaches' faults. 3 fumbled kicks are not coach-able problems. Aside from the missed tackles, route jumping, and idiotic personal fouls, it was quite obvious that the defense played extremely well, given the circumstance that Bulls had little to no possession.
All of the troubles on this evening were lapses in intrinsic football fundamentals. Things that need not be coached at this level. Things that are and should rightly be expected from this type of team. To correct these mistakes, a stern talking to is all that is necessary, which was no doubt provided all night on the sidelines. Consider this evening 'overconfidence proved invalid'. The players had big chests, squawking all week to reporters about the chips on their shoulders from the last three losses to Rutgers. The Bulls disregarded the talent level of a similar 6-2 team. The players need losses like these to gain respect for coaches dispositions. Maturity and mindset are the last two pieces to the puzzle. If a coaching change were to take place, only more instability would occur. I hope not to hear any more on this subject.
This being my first post, I must explain that I attend the University of South Florida, in Tampa, and am a die hard Bull. I have lived through and attended most of the profound and prolific moments in the program's short 12 year history. Unfortunately, I cannot add last night's performance to that list of games. This is the third straight lost to Rutgers and for the second year in a row, the Bulls lost by twenty plus points. Mummers on local talk radio and from newspaper columns have suggested a lack of confidence in Head Coach Jim Leavitt, who has overseen the program since its inception in 1997.
The question that looms large is who would the USF brass get to replace a man who has only two losing seasons over a thirteen year period with a new program and would that coach be able to continue success? I fear the answer is not nearly as good as the naysayers may think. If USF wanted to replace Levitt, Bulls fans would find that the school and program still lack the recognition to hire a sure-fire winner. The current frustration stemming from the inability to get over the proverbial hill into national prominence is creating a stigma that USF can not finish a season with vigor. This leads to an uphill climb in recruiting, an already arduous battle sharing the state with Florida, Florida State, and Miami. A recognized coach would not even bat an eye at the thought of taking on that kind of challenge if a job opened up at a similar university with a longer history, in a bigger conference.
A new coach at any position would spell more disaster, as the Bulls just hired all new offensive coaches over the last off-season. The coaches know how to do there jobs. They do it well. The players were at fault on this night, which is generally the case with most of South Florida's loses. B.J. Daniels finally played like a freshman, with obvious mistakes on both first half interceptions as well as not protecting the ball on the first quarter fumble. Horrible mistakes like the O-Line forgetting to block and allowing 7 sacks and a blocked punt are not the coaches' faults. 3 fumbled kicks are not coach-able problems. Aside from the missed tackles, route jumping, and idiotic personal fouls, it was quite obvious that the defense played extremely well, given the circumstance that Bulls had little to no possession.
All of the troubles on this evening were lapses in intrinsic football fundamentals. Things that need not be coached at this level. Things that are and should rightly be expected from this type of team. To correct these mistakes, a stern talking to is all that is necessary, which was no doubt provided all night on the sidelines. Consider this evening 'overconfidence proved invalid'. The players had big chests, squawking all week to reporters about the chips on their shoulders from the last three losses to Rutgers. The Bulls disregarded the talent level of a similar 6-2 team. The players need losses like these to gain respect for coaches dispositions. Maturity and mindset are the last two pieces to the puzzle. If a coaching change were to take place, only more instability would occur. I hope not to hear any more on this subject.
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