Messi Just Happened

Rival football superpowers Brazil and Argentina shipped their national sides all the way to Qatar for what amounted to a not-so-friendly match. Qatar occupies a peninsula in the Persian Gulf and they've got themselves some oil and gas riches out there. Which is probably how they persuaded two South American nations to square off halfway around the world. Ronaldinho even made the trip, his first appearance since being dropped from the Samba squad in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup. I'd assume that reunion had something to do with all of that persuasion changing hands. As the clock ticked past 90 minutes, the match seemed destined for a scoreless draw. But then Argentine wunderkind Lionel Messi gave everyone their monies worth.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

We're less than three weeks from the kickoff of the 2010 World Cup. And I couldn't be more psyched. Longtime exploiter of Asian child labor and current outfitter of many national sides and collegiate athletes, Nike has once again pulled out all the stops (insert forced overtime joke here) for its latest soccer commercial. I mean, sweet mother of Bergkamp, this spot cost more to make than most independent films. But, I could, and will, watch it again and again.

Sadly, this commercial represents the most that we'll be seeing of Ronaldinho during the next few months as he was left off the Brazilian roster. Ronny, no doubt, was as surprised as Nike that Dunga, Brazil’s former defender and erstwhile skipper, had the gall to leave off the snaggle-toothed swoosh salesman.

And, there are actually fully-produced extended scenes of the possible futures of the players that we glimpsed in the ad.

Rooney the Groundskeeper


Federer on Rooney


The Cannavaro Show

Rhapsody in Red

Caught Bleu Handed

The Hand of God, Part Deux

Each spot in the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa was claimed by early afternoon (in the US) save one. That 32nd berth was on the line as the French and the Irish played in Paris. The sides were knotted after 174 minutes of play between two countries. The aggregate scoreline (meaning if you add the goals from both games) was level, 1-1. Both teams had scored on the road. Les Bleus were the talent-rich footballing power that had lost their je ne sais quoi under oddball skipper Raymond Domanech while the Irish were the perennial also-ran that had gained fortitude under the rough tutelage of Italian manager Giovanni Trappatoni.

With every other playoff set finished all eyes were on this contest and after 90 minutes (actually 180 if you count the first leg) the dispute was not settled. Ireland had missed a few gilt-edged chances to win the tie but they had failed in those moments and France seemed ascendent as the game entered the 30-minute overtime session. In the 103rd minute, France won a free kick about forty yards from the Irish goal. The ball was lofted in, but with too much pace and too high towards the byline to the left of the net. Thiery Henry tracked it. The rest, as they say, is actually history.

Henry's ill-gotten assist pushed France into the World Cup finals and left Ireland out in the cold. The French side definitely has the talent and star power to make marketers and television rights holders happy with the way things turned out. With elder statesmen Henry, Ribery, Gallas and Anelka they have players on some of the biggest sides in Europe. With Benzema and Nasri they've got two of the more exciting younger players on the international stage as well. There is no doubt that France has a higher ceiling in 2010 and little doubt that Ireland delivered the better effort in 2009. Trappatoni wrung every last bit from his charges and they will rightfully feel extremely hard done for the rest of their days by this game. Like any loss, though, you can always point to your own squandered opportunities and missed tackles along the way.

As an Arsenal fan I was happy to see defender William Gallas nod the ball over the line for the decisive score. His run through the box and his cool dispatch of the shot have zero to do with whether or not Henry handled the ball. Or whether or not Nicolas Anelka was offside on the free kick. Historically, I've always been against such chicanery. I was a defender on the pitch and am still one at heart. But that's also how I know that goalscorers get away with a lot more than goal stoppers. They always have. They always will. That's why you can't let that ball drop if you're the Ireland player marking Henry. And if you do you have to let it bounce then you also have to make sure that you're ushering it out with your body firmly between the ball and one of the most dangerous strikers of this era.

Obviously it was a handball. Actually, it was obviously two handballs. The first held the ball from caroming out of bounds. The feather-touch second dropped it from his hip to his shoe tops. But it all happened in an instant, on the run, with the byline looming. And then Henry calmly, deftly flicked the ball on the bounce across the goalmouth with the outstep of his right foot as his momentum carried him out of bounds. Again, there is no doubt that he handled it and it is likely that he did it on purpose but there is also something breathtaking about the whole thing. It was an amazing (for it's improbability not its legality) play by an world class player that displayed the athleticism, body control, creativity, mercenary goalscoring instinct and soft touch with the ball that have made him a legend. For those stated reasons, I've got three Henry shirts in drawers or closets at home. And perhaps I give the benefit of the doubt more than I likely should. But perhaps I'm also been worn down by the eggregious officiating errors that we see in MLB and the NBA to take much offense at the play. Yes, Henry broke the rules. But, in a class manner, admitted as much after the game. I like that. Most players would have given reporters some rubish about everything happening so quickly and that he didn't think he'd done anything wrong. Or just smiled a big bound-for-South-Africa smile and said that he had "no comment."

And I've got to say that I agree with Henry's postgame comments: The referee or the linesman should have made the call. That's not up to the players on the field. For generations, players have pulled shirts, spit on baseballs, gouged eyes in the pile while trying to secure a fumble, and occasionally, they have handled the ball before pushing the perfectly weighted pass across the box to an onrushing teammate who will head it home to secure a spot in the World Cup finals. Alright, well maybe that last one has never happened before but that's just because so few players are capable of doing what Henry did last night. And for that singular work of devious genius, Ireland will hate him forever.

¡Buen Dia De La Resistencia Indigena!

When I was growing up in the suburbs north west of the Big Apple, I spent the second weekend of several Octobers playing in a youth soccer tournament in the town of Parsippany, NJ. A lot of kids did. It was a big deal. Tents were rented. Canopies erected. Coffee and hot chocolate were poured from those heavy-duty brown plastic multi-gallon thermoses. Bagels were plastic-wrapped and marked C or B and arrayed on folding tables alongside candy and other things that my mom wouldn't buy me because she had made me a sandwich that was in a soft cooler . Paper boxes of munchkins were picked up at Dunkin' Donuts (by someone else's mom) en route to the first game on Saturday morning. Merchandise was hawked and kids clamored for t-shirts with clever slogans (like "soccer stud" with a picture of a screw-in stud for your cleats). Like I said, it was a big deal. Especially if you were like nine.

The travel soccer club in my town was the Ramapo Wildcats. I played with the team in my age group from the season it was founded early in grade school right on through high school when it was broken up. I was the only one that lasted that long. This, more than my play, allowed me to be team captain at various points throughout the years. I didn't get an armband but I did get to call a lot of coin tosses. We wore a green and white kit and took our name from the nearby Ramapo Mountains. The Ramapo Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountain chain and were/are home to the Ramapough Lenape Indians. To travel to this tournament, my mom would drive us in our big black Chevy Suburban along Rt. 202 which ran along the foothills of the mountains.

My younger sister's team played in this tournament as well. And eventually the team's of my two younger brothers did. I recall my sister's squad having the most success. My teams? Not so much. Not that we weren't good, because we were. Seriously. Be impressed by me. Please. We once won the fabled Virginian. I know! But we couldn't seem to crack the nut that was Parsipanny. And the victory carried some cache. Not the trophy. Or the extra patches from other clubs that could be acquired by playing a few extra games. Nope. The prize was Monday. It was having to play in the finals on Monday and then getting to miss school.

The Parsipanny tournament was held Columbus Day weekend every year. The first two rounds were Saturday and Sunday and the championship games in each age group were Monday morning. The way I remember (which may be wrong), the public schools in my town used to get this day off. Until we didn't. It became just another Monday. Except one with more talk of the Pinta than normal. And perhaps a little preview of the first Thanksgiving. The only way to get excused from school was to reach the Final. So many kids in town were played with the Wildcats that all the teachers knew about the tournament and didn't give you a hard time about the absence.

That tournament in Parsipanny is what I think of every year when Columbus Day rolls around. I think of Smith Field, cool early morning games and the Burger King that was just outside the entrance to the field complex and that we would sneak over to, click-clacking in our cleats, in between games. I remember the white t-shirts from that tournament that had a picture of a three boats. Those boats stretched across the ample chests of soccer moms who wore them on the sidelines were sailing to America. Carrying fair-skinned folks whose arrival would eventually produce, among many other things, this tournament.

The name of the town comes from the Lenape word "parsipanong," meaning "the place where the river winds through the valley." Before there was a Burger King, a Smith Field complex and public schools classrooms to avoid on Mondays, the area had been populated by the Lenape. Not only were they spread up to the Ramapo Mountains, but also throughout New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware and up into the Hudson Valley. Today, though, the Lenni Lenape are not recognized by the U.S. Government. Meaning, they've got no reservation of their own. Not that having a reservation is the cat's pajamas. It's usually not. But it's something. It's a place where you can invite me to gamble and buy cheap cigarettes. It's also a place where, for example, you could have schools teach a version of history that accounts for your existence. It's a place were Columbus Day might not be viewed quite the same.

The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the "New World" might not seem like a day for celebration for those who are really from Parsipanny. For Native Americans and indigenous peoples throughout the Western Hemisphere it probably seems like a pretty shitty holiday. And no amount of zeppolles or sausage and pepper sandwiches at the various Italian-themed street fairs taking place around the country are going to change that. That said, I enjoy those items. But I'm not Native American. I'm a white guy from the 'burbs who likes greasy food served outdoors.

Italian-Americans have increasingly adopted Columbus Day as a day to celebrate their heritage since Columbus was from Genoa even though he sailed for Spain. It's also a big day for those who are looking to commemorate the audacious use of flags in history.


Oct. 12 has been a day for celebrations going back to the days of the 13 colonies. Oddly enough (at least it seems odd to me), Colorado was the first state to make Columbus Day a state holiday in 1906. It became a federal holiday in 1934. This was initially opposed by many in the middle of the nineteenth century. And not because folks realized that Columbus didn't exactly "discover" this land. Or because people felt it was giving undue glory to one of the sadder chapters in human history (that being the chapter in which Spaniards and assorted Europeans lay waste to civilizations on two continents in the Western Hemisphere, clearing space to allow for the destruction of a third continent). Rather, nativists and anti-immigration activists in America didn't like that Italians and assorted Catholics were increasingly using the day to celebrate their heritage. That was the problem: Catholics getting a little too uppity. WASPS, Masons and other right-wingnut "patriots" were afraid that the Catholics were going to take over the country. Probably to turn it over to the Vatican. That old gag.

In the twentieth century, South American countries began to celebrate Dia De La Raza in place of Columbus Day. This "Day of the Race" was meant to run counter to the Eurocentric holiday in the U.S. and commemorate the pre-Columbian cultures that had been nearly expunged from the continent. In 2002, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez renamed the holiday Dia De La Resisencia Indigena, meaning "Day of Indigenous Resistance" to remember the struggle of those ancient cultures living in the New World against their would-be colonizers. Two years later, a statue of Columbus was toppled in Caracas on Oct. 12. Things were getting interesting.

This past weekend a soccer tournament was held in Parsipanny. It's now called the Parsipanny Pride Tournament rather than the Columbus Day tournament. I'm not totally sure what that means. Although I don't suspect that Hugo Chavez had much to do with it. Needless to say, I wish I could have been playing in the finals instead of at work today.

Welcome to the Terror Drone

That noise! What is it? Are there bees in my television? Are the stands filled with raging angry Africanized honey bees? Is my living room? Or, is it tinnitus? Am I listening to the death cries of the hearing cells in my ears?

These questions buzzed through my brain while watching US Men's soccer team in the Confederations Cup. As I watched the beautiful game I was forced to listen to a relentless buzzing noise. It was mildly distracting like a not-so-bad toothache. I would go stretches without noticing it. But there it would be ever few minutes.



It was the vuvuzelas of South Africa. The vuvuzela is a small plastic horn (although they were originally tin) blown by futbol fans in South Africa. The horn is usually a bit longer than arm's length and brightly colored. And it is annoying, in my opinion, when heard while watching a game on television. Very annoying. Unfortunately, the South Africans seem quite attached to the horn. Especially if some European (or, I would assume, American) tells them where to stick them.

There are conflicting opinions on the origin of the horn. Those who defend it may claim that it is the descendent of the horn used centuries ago to call clans to meetings or that it recalls the call of the elephant. Those who decry the tone may point out that it didn't become popular until less than 20 years ago and that it produces noise but not music, unlike the drums and songs that fill the air during matches in other nations.

During the Confed Cup, a Dutch coach and a Spanish midfielder spoke out against the horn and there was talk that it could be banned by FIFA for the upcoming World Cup. Native South Africans didn't take kindly to this. For them these horns are a symbol of their nation and the blowing of them is a matter of pride. They will fight tooth and nail to keep the vuvuzelas in the stands. So, get used to it.

(The cartoon above is borrowed from cartoonist Natalie Dee, who is a part of my daily routine)

"Cuando te toca, te toca" ~Spanish Proverb

(When It's Your Time, It's Your Time)

The best team won Euro 08 by playing the best football. And they were the best team precisely because they played the best football. It wasn't their physical size or their experience or their resolve to avoid defeat that propelled them to the top. And, it surely wasn't their unflinching and dogged attention to defending that won it for them either. This wasn't the San Antonio Spurs. Or Italy. Of course, the Spanish had all of those one-dimensional qualities (except for size) in spades but it wasn't any singular thing that did it. They were just more talented and they just played harder and smarter throughout the run of the tourney. And their determination and fortitude were matched by a degree of creativity and improvisation that showed why proper football (as opposed to American football) is referred to as "The Beautiful Game."

It sounds simple but it a rare thing for a major sporting event to end this way.

In the 2004 edition of this same Euro tournament the Greeks shocked the footballing world with an audacious run to the title. They put ten men behind the ball at almost all times and counterattacked their way to an upset win over Portugal in the Final. The Greeks showed steely nerve and rock-solid confidence in grinding out 1-0 victories (which is the score that saw them through the quarters, semis and the final) but no one was confusing them with being the very best team in Europe. They were just the team who game-planned their way through a six-match competition. They employed a type of "negative" football that sought to negate their opponents advantages in skill and pace by slowing the game to a crawl. And it worked. This same tactic saw Italy all the way to the World Cup title in 2006 and has earned the Azzuri the reputation of being a "tournament team." Whether or not that (the idea that they are built for grueling, hard-to-watch, foul-and-flop-filled victories rather than flowing artful displays of the beautiful game) is true it can go without saying that such a game-plan turns off casual fans in this country with the same exactitude as a midweek NHL game hidden on that VS channel.

Of course, one team's style and previous body of work should not gift them a title or disqualify them from it. The Italians rightfully won the 2006 World Cup. The Greeks courageously won the 2004 Euro. The St. Louis Cardinals surprisingly won the 2006 World Series (despite an 83-78 regular season record). To take nothing away from the legitimacy of these titles, there is a marked difference, especially in international football, between a team going out to play their own game and a team going out to stop another team from playing theirs. And the problem (or not, depending on were your allegiance is) is that this "negative" footballing works. It allows teams like Bolton in the English Premiership to give fits to an intricate passing side like Arsenal. In the NBA it also has something to do with the fact that the Phoenix Suns never made it past the San Antonio Spurs under Mike D'Antoni in spite of the fact that their free-flowing style of play was far and away the most visually pleasing to watch during those seasons. Were the Suns unable to get over the hump because they just weren't as good as the Spurs or because the Spurs were content to deploy a bulldog like Bruce Bowen or Robert Horry to slow the game down like the Greeks in Euro 04?

In a sporting world increasingly obsessed with an "any given Sunday" ethos it is increasingly rare to see a highly entertaining competitive tournament among world-class sides where the classiest side in the world wins out. In fact, the very idea of the best team just winning seems almost unsportsmanlike. We are bred to respect a victory born of grit and guile (see Boise State in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl) more than one born of supreme skill and consistency. The phrase "may the best team win" seems more like something that an arrogant and likely cheating Zabka-esque villian, with a shock of blond hair and weightlifting gloves, snidely says to the underdog hero before the climactic contest in a John Hughes-era movie than it does an honest desire to see a team (like Spain in Euro 08) actually win on the merits of being the best. Moreover, in a world of small-market versus big-market teams and college football/basketball recruiting controversies - where the accumulation of talent is uneven - it can seem like a cop-out to root for the more talented teams to win. We usually don't want the best team to win.

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is built on just this sort of intrigue. Most fans can't wait for the "better" teams to be beaten by the lesser ones. We revel in the Cinderella-run of a team like George Mason in in 2006 even though that costs the basketball-watching public a chance from seeing a UConn/Florida matchup in the Final Four that would have pitted the region's #1 team against the team that would go on to win the NCAA tournament. Similarly, even casual sports fans took notice when Fresno State recently pulled off a shock win in the 2008 College World Series. The Fresno State Bulldogs won their game's most significant trophy after wrapping a season during which they lost 29 games. Yes, they did win the College World Series but, no, they're not the best that college baseball has to offer. Not even close. But that doesn't not make them champions.

Thankfully Spain was able two satisfy seemingly disparate desires with the Euro-clinching 1-0 win over Germany yesterday in Vienna. They were the best team by leaps and bounds and they were not one of the traditional powers. Not really. They were the perennial underachievers who had not lifted an international trophy in 44 years. The were the also-rans. They were forever the bridesmaids. The were the buddy who you would let hang out with your girlfriend when you're not around because you know he wouldn't have it in him to try anything. The Spanish were always talented and artful but seemed to lack the cutting edge when it counted most. They were diminutive play-makers who excelled at the club level but were destined to be muscled off the ball by larger players from Italy and Germany and England and France when the game was in the balance.

And, in the Final when the more physically imposing German side lined up across the pitch? The Spanish never flinched. There wasn't a single Spanish player who lost his composure when German midfielder Michael Ballack seemingly lost his mind from the moment he saw his own blood and went stomping around the field in Vienna begging to be sent off with each late challenge and needlessly dirty foul. While Ballack whined to the officials and recklessly flew around the field the Spanish just moved the ball from side to side, dominating possession. They played with greater strength and confidence. They were playing positive football and they were playing to win on their terms. After a while the identity of their opponent became inconsequential. They were playing the Spanish way. They were playing beautifully. I fully expected Germany to net a goal at some point during the match but never doubted that Spain would have had the wherewithal to go atop again. They were almost always in the ascendance (save about ten total minutes throughout the match) and Fernando Torres was too strong and too fast for the defense and the passes sent on to him were too incisive and too direct to be parried away before he could run on to them.

With a night's sleep since the Final it seems that Spain's dash through Euro 08 was even more dominant than we gave them credit for as it was unfolding. The Spanish were one of only three teams (along with the Netherlands and Croatia) to win all three matches in the group stage. And, they were the only side to win each game that they took the field in. Well, the penalty shootout win over the Italians is actually considered a tie by FIFA. With the Spaniards tying Italy in the game itself and then advancing on penalties. But, anyone who watched the game knows the Spanish deserved the win and were the better team in that clash. By far. The Spanish also scored the most goals in the tournament, netting 12 in six games. They took the most shots (111). They took the most shots on goal (61). They had the tournament's leading goalscorer, David Villla (4). They had the tournament's assist leader, Cesc Fabregas (4). They also were fouled more than any other team (107). And, they committed more fouls than any other side (108). They had more assists (11) than any other team. On the other end of the pitch they conceded the fewest goals per game in the tournament, allowing .5 per contest, and had the tournament's most impressive goalkeeper, Iker Casillas (Italy's Buffon may still be the best in the world but Casillas' showing in the penalty shootout makes him the class of this tournament). And, not surprisingly they placed the most players on the All-Tournament team, with nine representatives. And, of course, the Spanish side was led by the Euro 08 Most Outstanding Player, Xavi Hernandez, who plays his club ball for Barcelona. The total team effort was so thoroughly impressive that when talking about this team Xavi is perhaps the fourth or fifth name that comes up in any discussion.

Most indicative, in my opinion, of the Spanish domination and strength was the fact that they placed 4 midfielders on the All-Tournament team (along with two strikers, two defenders and the team's goalkeeper). The one and two touch passing between the bevy of midfielders in the center of the park was mesmerizing. Whether you were watching from the comfort of your sofa or were an opposing player trying to get a foot in on the ball, you were mesmerized. Each star had his moment to shine. Not only does this show the depth of talent currently in the national side but it speaks to the way in which these players were deployed by coach Luis Aragones. It was refreshing to watch a skipper successfully using his roster after watching a bewildered Raymond Domenech squander the French team's chances with his mis-picked lineups and ill-timed substitutions and Phil Jackson do his part to submarine the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals. I mean he played Chris Mihm! In the Finals. Against Paul Pierce (pictured driving by a statuesque Mihm), Kevin Garnett and the Celtics!

Entering Euro 08 the number of Spanish midfielders was considered a weakness by some. Who would pair with whom? How would the egos of those not in the starting eleven affect the rest of the squad? These were rational questions given the mercurial nature of top-flight athletes. Remember Scottie Pippen pulling himself from that game in the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals when he realized that he wouldn't get the final shot for the Chicago Bulls? Or Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf shocking his countrymen by pulling himself from the team before this tournament because he was not assured a starting role? There was no such dissension amongst the Spanish players. Fabregas eagerly took to his super-sub role and was a game-changer from the bench. Meanwhile, Marcus Senna, the soon-to-be 32-year-old Villarreal player, was the least sexy choice (when compared with Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas) and least Spanish (he was born in Brazil) to deputize in the center of the pitch but he proved an inspired choice by Aragones. Senna held his team's shape at all times and disrupted the opposition's best player while his fellow midfielders spread themselves about and made frequent forays into the attacking third of the field. In fact as this team turns its sights southward towards South Africa and forwards towards 2010 it is Senna who will be the hardest player to replace.

Even including the relatively ancient Senna, Spain was the second youngest team in the tournament (Russia was the youngest). With so much going for them they are perfectly poised to either regain their reputation as underachievers at the World Cup in two years time or to start a run of dominance that will go on for the duration of this generation's (the Cesc/Torres group who should be together through the 2014 World Cup) international careers. At the very least, they will have lifted the Euro 08 trophy and pushed the needle of world football back towards the beautiful and away from the tactical.

Wednesday's Starting Five

1. Aaron Rodgers. This tackle was undoubtedly easier to escape than his spot on the Packers depth chart. Drafted in 2005 out of Cal, Rodgers went from stellar college QB (posting a 154.35 rating in '04), to the clipboard holder voted least likely to play by his peers. He has thrown a total of 59 pass attempts at the pro level. Brett Favre threw 535 last season.

2. Tim Duncan. The Big Bank Shot had 29 and 12 against the NJ Nets as the Spurs rolled to their 10th straight victory. It should come as no surprise that they are in first place in the West. The Lakers will have to go through San Antonio if they want the title.

3. Baron Davis. Led by Davis's 35 points, 9 assists and 3 rebounds, the league's highest scoring team hung 135 points on the Hawks last night. Atlanta is both a must-win for the Warriors (since it is a lower echelon Eastern team) but still a tough-out because of the lengthy trip and the fact that the recent acquisition of Bibby has them playing well above their record.

4. Cesc Fabregas. 11 times teams from England have tread the pitch at the San Siro to challenge the giants of AC Milan in the European Champions League. 11 times teams from England left Italy without a victory to their credit. Until last night. Arsenal's nubile central midfielder Cesc Fabregas broke a scoreless tie in the game's 84th minute with an incisive moment of individual ambition and knocked last year's champions from the tournament. And, more than that, this victory should propel the Gunners back into the Premiership title race which they seemed to be falling out of (although they're actually still in first place by a point) after the gruesome injury to striker Eduardo almost a fortnight* ago.

5. Hillary Clinton. She's Alive! After taking the two must-win (for her) primaries in Texas and Ohio she is back in the race and free of any nagging pressure to concede the nomination to Obama. Now is the time that the Democrats either let the process sort through these two able and well-intentioned candidates Or now is the time that Hillary and Barack do the GOPs dirty work by tearing each other to shreds between now and the convention.

Benched. Brett Favre's Retirement. I'll believe this when Rodges actually takes that first snap in that first game. Until then, we'll just enjoy the 4,5209 different photos of the gunslinger that have graced ESPN.com's home page in the past 24 hours.

*When writing about soccer it is encouraged to use the word "fortnight" whenever possible.

Drew draw Rutgers-Camden in Finals

Double OT win over #1 Ramapo College Sends Rangers to ECAC Finals

Minutes into the second overtime period, Drew freshman midfielder Matt "Greenie" Greenberg sent a pass across the goal mouth that found teammate Adrian Kawuba amidst the crowd of Ramapo defenders. Recieving the pass, Kawuba calmly stayed with the ball, even after his first stab goalwards was thwarted, to slot home the winner.

Drew Athletics

What If....NCAA Champions League

Given the fact that Kansas could very likely be shut out of the BCS National Championship game even if they can run the table and remembering that Boise State was held out last year with an undefeated record it is clear that most teams in the country are entirely prohibited from playing in the BCS National Championship game.

And if that is the case then I say we embrace that insular reality and play America's favorite game: let's figure out a better and more exciting way to determine a National Champ within the small pool of teams that could actually win the whole thing. If the regular season doesn't really matter as much as we say (meaning a one-loss team from the right conference can jump ahead of an undefeated team from the wrong one) then let's institute the NCAA Champions League that emulates the UEFA Champions League in Europe. This annual, extended soccer tournament pits the very best professional teams from each of the separate domestic leagues against one another in the most compelling sporting event on the earth. It is like March Madness but even better because there is more of it and the level of competition is higher. And we have nothing like it in America. Here's our chance:

The current college football season lasts approximately 18 to 20 weeks for those teams who make it to a New Year's Day bowl. These are the teams that we're talking about so let's work within that timetable and remember that no one likes the obscenely long lay off between the last regular season game and the NC game.

Each team currently in a BCS affiliated conference (since we should stop pretending that the rest factor into the NC conversation) would have 10 weeks to play a 7 to 8 game conference season. At the conclusion of this conference season the top two teams from each of the six BCS affiliated conferences would send their two best teams to participate in the NCAA Champions League just the way it works when each of Europe's top soccer leagues send their top teams to vie for the title of the Champions of Europe.

If the Champions League of College Football were to exist in lieu of the BCS bowls and other top tier bowl games (and there wasn’t any more shuffling in the conference rankings from today to the end of the season) then we would be looking at a mini-season of games between these 12 teams.

PAC 10:
Oregon
Arizona State

BIG 10:
Ohio State
Michigan

BIG 12:
Kansas
Oklahoma

ACC:
Boston College
Virginia Tech

BIG EAST:
West Virginia
UConn

SEC
LSU
Georgia

These NCAA Champions League participants would be broken into two groups for a round-robin group stage. This could be done via seeding, geographically (ACC, BIG EAST and SEC/PAC 10, BIG 10 and BIG 12, which I think actually works from a competitive standpoint) or it could be done via random drawing like the UEFA Champions League.

Each team plays every other team in their group. The top two teams from each group after the five weeks would advance to the next stage. Rankings within the group would be determined first by number of wins and losses. In the event that two teams finish with the same record the team to advance would then be decided by margin of victory over the course of all five games just as it is in soccer (goal differential). This would ensure that no team would take a single play off during any game. This also eliminates the "well if X beat Y and Z beat X but lost to Y then [insert SEC team] advances!" arguments that always crops up as the BCS rankings harden.

These games would be amazing. A week one schedule could look like this:

LSU vs. Kansas
Boston College vs. Michigan
West Virginia vs. Arizona State
Oregon vs. Virginia Tech
Oklahoma vs. UConn
Ohio State vs. Georgia

There would be five whole weeks of games like this. Fans would get to know these teams and to love and to hate them. And even if a team were outclassed in a particular matchup late in the five-week season they would know if their opponent needed to win by a specific number of points to jump up in the standings and suddenly the difference between losing by 13 or 21 becomes as exciting as a close game would have been. In effect, this would make the over/under and the point spread an actual on-field factor in every game.

After two winners emerge from each of the two separate groups then the remaining four teams would either be seeded one through four or chosen at random in the manner that it is done in soccer. Each team would then play a home-and-home series with the team they are matched with. Each team gets to sell out there stadium, showcase their fans and their atmosphere for high school recruits and the television time is sold twice over as we get two weekends of great football in which these teams have enough time to develop a rivalry. The winner of each match-up is decided first by wins and secondly, only if necessary in the case of a series split, by aggragrate point total. In the event that the points totals also match up then the team who scored more points on the road moves on. Same as with the soccer version of this event.

The incorporation of margin of victory into the decision again means that each game will be exciting and compelling. Even if a team looks certain to lose the opening game of the set you can't throw in the towel because a "garbage" time touchdown could make the difference. Every play counts.

More importantly, the home-and-home format prevents a team playing at an unexpectedly friendly or hostile “neutral” site. Every year in the NCAA basketball tournament certain teams end up playing before a home crowd for the first two weeks. In this scenario, each team plays before their home crowd and there is no possibility for an unintended advantage. The two-game format also eliminates the “any given Saturday” logic that muddies the picture and can be used to cast doubt on any winning team. In a two-game series, potentially using aggregate scoring in case of a split, the better team is far more likely to advance consistently than in any other scenario. It’s not a lock but death and taxes have the monopoly on sure things.

And, then once the two better teams advance from each semifinal pairing there is a single National Championship game between the last two standing after a seven-week mini season against the best teams from the various power conferences. At this point college football fans will be very familiar with all of the players after having watched these games over the preceeding several weeks. Every team will have a national following at that point and there will be NO boring matchup in a National Championship game. It just isn't possible because no one can be considered unworthy after making it this far and no one can claim to have been railroaded after playing a group stage and a home-and-home series. There can be no controversy.

The National Championship game will now be held at a neutral site that is selected from a pool of four sites on standby at the outset of the NCAA Champions League season. Having four potential hosts each season allows the governing body to pick a site that is as neutral as possible. While one school will always be somewhat closer this system prevents LSU from playing a national championship game in the Superdome because it was selected as host site a few years in advance of the game. And just so the people at the Superdome don’t get too upset, in the event that they are in the pool of potential host sites in a year that LSU looks like the may make the final then they will just go back into the pool for the following season.

Wherever the game is played it is simply four quarters of football between the two teams with an unimpeachable right to be there. They have survived their conference season and then played the toughest possible out-of-conference schedule possible in the form of the NCAA Champions League. To make it through, a team must have talented athletes but it also must have the fortitude and maturity to show up and perform each and every week.

And, yes, this is the most far-fetched college football scenario that I’ve ever seen. It is not even within the realm of possibility for so many reasons that it doesn’t even pay to go into all of them. But this should have provided some non-soccer fans a pretty good tutorial on how the UEFA Champions League works in Europe. And you didn't even know you were learning!

It should also convey the unbridled awesomeness that is the UEFA Champions League and the complicated and wonderful inconvenience that it presents for those teams involved. It is the best of the best playing a separate season to pit the two very best teams against each other in a match after which no one can contest the winner. That sounds simple enough, but clearly it isn't.

*In case you were wondering, this NCAA Champions League scenario would last exactly as long as the current college football season and requires the athletes to play at most (if they make it the NC game) one or two more games. Also, in this imaginary system the teams who do not qualify for the NCAA Champions League would then be able to accept invitations from all of the dozens of other bowl games that proliferate. Those folks at the Meineke Car Care Bowl could still have their party and invite the 4th best teams from whatever conferences they are nominally associated with.