Barry Zito: Lazarus Man; And World Cup Predictions, Part III

The best reason for hope for the Giants this year is not Tim Lincecum's 4-0 record to start the year, because we all knew Tim would be suitably awesome coming off his second Cy Young award. No, the best reason for hope is that Barry Zito is also 4-0, his best April record ever.

Barry Zito signed a Brobdingnagian contract with the Giants a couple years ago, and, perhaps like Gulliver, seemed a bit overwhelmed by his surroundings. But in the second half of last year, he started to come alive. And this year, he has been as indomitable as Lincecum so far, speaking to a new mindset, more relaxed and focused. It's true that money doesn't buy happiness; Giants wins sure help, though.

5-2, the Giants beat the Rockies tonight beneath 8 solid innings from Zito, ensuring a winning home stand. Even if we lose Saturday and Sunday, this home stand will finish 5-4, much more palatable than the first road trip of the year. This is what baseball is all about, measured in series and road versus home trips, small increments along the path of a season. Tomorrow, I go to the Saturday afternoon game with Vaughn to watch Matt Cain take the hill. I'm hoping for a sunny afternoon, sailboats on the bay, and a comfortable Giants win. Vaughn and I are meeting at the Embarcadero Bart Station before the game, and plan to stroll along the waterfront to the ballpark. It will be delightful.

Now, back to the World Cup. I made my first mistake already; the Algeria-Slovenia game should have been predicted today, not yesterday. Oh well; that just further establishes my credentials as someone who knows nothing:

DAY 3: JUNE 13, 2010

GROUP D:

GERMANY VERSUS AUSTRALIA

Germany seems to be a mix of overly old stars and a few young guns. Australia is a hard one to predict, probably because they live all the way around the world. Who pays attention to the antipodes? I have used Tim Cahill on my fantasy team quite extensively, though. Still, Australia will miss a striker of the quality of the retired Mark Viduka. I'm rooting for Australia, but . . .

Germany 3, Australia 1.

SERBIA VERSUS GHANA

It's late and I want to watch an episode of Castle, so I'll cut right to the chase: Ghana handles Serbia 1-0.

Time for a scotch and a shot of Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic.

The Most Important June 12th In The History Of Anything Ever

Yesterday, I began day by day predictions of the matches in this summer's World Cup. So you can't say I didn't warn you.

DAY 2: JUNE 12, 2010

GROUP B:

ARGENTINA VERSUS NIGERIA

Some might say this will be the year of African nations. This would certainly be a poetic--and potentially geopolitically beneficial--result, paired with the first time ever the World Cup has been played on the continent. Nigeria, too, has traditionally been a strong competitor.

People have argued, too, that Argentina are not well-coached, that Diego Maradona, for whatever reason, has shackled the undeniable talents of Lionel Messi and others by playing them out of position. They barely squeaked into the World Cup, just avoiding having to play Costa Rica in a playoff. Again, to speak of karma as I spoke yesterday, Maradona still does not earn my sympathy, what with the "Hand of God" nonsense.

None of that matters. Argentina wins, 3-1. They have too much strength and will peak at the right time, and Nigeria is not consistent enough.


SOUTH KOREA VERSUS GREECE

South Korea advanced to the semi-finals in 2002, but they have never succeeded outside of Asia. Greece won the European Championships in 2004. None of that matters. South Korea has the experience to pull off a mild upset, and Greece will be weighed down with worry over the economic chains that come with an International Monetary Fund loan.

South Korea, led by Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung, takes it, either 1-0 or 2-1.

GROUP C:

ALGERIA VERSUS SLOVENIA

I'll be honest. I don't know a whole lot about either team, except the fact that Algeria doesn't like Egypt much, and Slovenia upset Russia. Any team that upsets Russia and Vladimir Putin is okay in my book, but I hope both teams prove beatable.

I'm pulling for a draw here, but I predict Slovenia pulls off a 3-2 victory, for no other reason than that is the first score that comes to mind.

UNITED STATES VERSUS ENGLAND

Oh, the humanity. This, let's face it, is the real reason for the entire World Cup. The chance for the ghost of Joe Gaetjens to ride again. The chance for a symbolic reenactment of the Boston Tea Party, only one that makes sense.

On the other hand, maybe it is just a soccer game.

Obviously, I would love to see the upset. I would feel much more comfortable thinking it was possible if Oguchi Onyewu hadn't spent this past season injured; who knows how stalwart he will be? The loss of Charlie Davies in that awful car crash is also cause for concern, though he says he will be ready.

My heart wants to say the United States, but I can't. England 3, USA 1.

Just Another Day (# 44, To Be Exact)

Today the Giants hosted the Phillies in the final game of a three game series by the Bay, having won the first two games. Tim Lincecum was on the mound with a chance to go 5-0, so we had a great shot of sweeping away Philadelphia. In fact, he mowed down the Phillies for 8 1/3 innings, handing a 4-1 lead to closer Brian Wilson in the top of the ninth.

The Barenaked Ladies sing about doing things 'just like Brian Wilson did.' I wouldn't suggest they take today's example as their guide. Just like Brian Wilson did? Usually, yes, but not today. Oh, the sweep was so close, I could practically see the dirt being blown across the sidewalk while parking enforcement officers ticketed cars about to be towed.

To be up 4-1 in the ninth, and to have missed a couple chances to extend rallies and pick up insurance runs, oh, that hurts. Oh, despair. I don't even have to go to www.sfgate.com to know that there will be doomsayers posting dark thoughts on the failure. This is just what happens on Internet message boards.

The short-attention span of the baseball fan, huh? To take 2 of 3 from the defending National League champs, after 2 of 3 from St Louis, is pretty good. If they kept that ratio up for the remaining 141 games, that would be 94 wins on top of the 12 they've earned so far, which would make me ecstatic.

So instead of talking about this pain, let's kick off the World Cup predictions!

There are 43 days until the World Cup kicks off in South Africa, so it is time to start picking the results. Everyone picks results of tournaments, for sure, but what makes me stand out from the pack is that I make absolutely no effort to pretend that my picks aren't subjective, full of bias and emotional whim. It's more fun that way, even if it is the sort of chaotic behavior that makes people hate me as a judge at Apples 2 Apples.

Every day, game by game, I'll predict the winners, and by the end, you'll have a map of who (not) to bet on. Although I will make this bold prediction right now: North Korea will not win the World Cup.* (CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE WORLD CUP DRAW AND SCHEDULE)

DAY 1: JUNE 11, 2010

GROUP A:

SOUTH AFRICA VERSUS MEXICO

The host nation has never failed to advance out of the first round of the World Cup. I'm thinking that South Africa could be on course to make history they don't want to make.

Mexico is talented, more than talented enough to beat South Africa, although the home fans will be energetic for the first match. I say Mexico scores two goals, one by Javier Hernandez,and one by Carlos Vela, but concedes one own goal (I have to say this; they're Mexico, and they always earn red card fouls against the US, so I have to wish them a little bit of misfortune).

URUGUAY VERSUS FRANCE

This is a tough one. I think France would tend to be favored, but I like Uruguay's chances. Plus, I would like to think that karma would pay France back for Thierry Henry's blatant handball that facilitated their qualification at the expense of Ireland. Karma, of course, is how we atheists like to express our desire for poetic justice without acknowledging the desire for a theistic figure to establish a framework for cosmic justice.

France scores late in the first half, but Nicolas Lodeiro and Uruguay find an equalizer out of nowhere in the second half. A 1-1 draw, which like a good compromise, leaves everybody unhappy except for Mexico.


To be continued. Tomorrow, I'll consider the U.S. versus England. Ooo, you can feel the electricity in the air already. Let's hope the electricity doesn't turn out to be metric. To hell with the metric system, I say.


*Yes, North Korea is playing in the World Cup. I'm not that conservative a gambler.

John Lennon Had It Right

He sang once, "Feels like starting over." Every day is a John Lennon song in baseball; Instant Karma, where celebrating a homer excessively can earn you a brushback pitch, is just one example. (Just Like) Starting Over is another, because every day really is like starting over.

That's the trick for baseball fans. On the one hand, it is a blessing, because if you get in a slump, there is always a next day to try to recover, the next inning, the next at-bat, the next pitch. On the other hand, you do sometimes have to start over, and that's not always a good thing. The Giants started brilliantly this season, jumping out to a 7-2 record, although all but the first three games were in the cozy confines of their waterfront ballpark. Their bats were alive, and they were fighting every game. It felt like they weren't automatically doomed if they fell behind by a couple of runs.

Then came a pinch-hit home run from Manny Ramirez, and the bats died. For goodness sake, Jonathan Sanchez pitched a one-hitter against the Padres, and the Giants lost. That's dismal. All of a sudden, they are down to 8-7, still with a winning record and coming back home, but facing a tough stretch against St. Louis, Philadelphia and Colorado. It would have been nice to have a bit of momentum going into this gauntlet.

All of a sudden, they are stranding runners they were driving in before. Leadoff triples are followed by three weak outs. And the thing that really bugs me is the fact that the Giants aren't even making the opposing pitchers work. There are far too many one-two-three innings composed of three or four pitches, the batters swinging too hurriedly at bad pitches. Their weak collapse against the Padres in San Diego felt like one big hangover from losing two of three to the Dodgers. Road trips are always hard, but it isn't a good thing to fare so poorly against division rivals early in the season.

(Keep in mind that I'm aware of the expression "Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gym." Similarly, in baseball, "Those who can't play, coach. And those who can't coach, write blogs.")

A couple things, though, are grounds for optimism--there's that starting over theme again:

1) The pitching has remained stellar, especially the four core starters: Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez--the latter is the number four starter, but I would say he has been out-pitching Cain. Todd Wellemeyer, though, needs to step it up.

2) Supposedly, early in the season tends to belong to the pitchers, and batters tend to pick it up as the season goes along. At least this is what I'm choosing to tell myself, ignoring the inverse implication that the Giants pitchers might not be as dominant all year as they are now.

3) Aaron Rowand and Mark DeRosa were both injured during the last four losses. Those veterans were surely missed, as much as fans complain about Rowand's hitting sometimes--and I think those fans are crazy, because he sure seems to hit well when needed, from what I've seen.

Every day is a new story, a chance for new players to be a focus of attention, for better or for worse. I'll just be sitting here, watching the wheels go round and round over the course of the season, trying to keep the larger picture in mind. That's hard to do with sports sometimes, because we invest so much into it. But it is a great story; let's see what happens tomorrow.

When Yankees Attack

For those of you with the good fortune to have seen Mad Men, you will remember the story arc where a British advertising agency bought out Sterling Cooper. You will have undoubtedly been as appalled as I was to see the oppressive and out of touch hand of a foreigner come down upon that organization we had grown to support. The men and women of Sterling Cooper may have been a herd of misogynistic, hard-drinking, anti-gay, materialistic, adulterous proponents of the white picket fence version of American free enterprise on Madison Avenue, but they were OUR herd of misogynistic, hard-drinking, anti-gay, materialistic, adulterous proponents of the white picket fence version of American free enterprise on Madison Avenue.

Imagine, then, how the fans of Liverpool Football Club must feel. Three years ago, American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr bought the club, as part of a surge of interest among the Stateside moneymen in investing in Premier League clubs. After purchasing Fernando Torres--a terrific buy--there has been little to no further investment, and Liverpool's standards have slipped from challenger for the title to Champions League entrant (where they failed to qualify for the knockout rounds this year and dropped into the Europa League) to unlikely to qualify for next season's Champions League. They have debts, though not as severe as the debts at Manchester United--whose American owners, the Glazers, as I understand it, saddled the club with the very debt they accrued to purchase the club in the first place--small wonder the Manchester fans are up in arms against the American invaders.

The stratospheric debts accumulated by clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid certainly lend attraction to Michel Platini's plan to require all clubs to spend no more on players than they earn through soccer-related revenues. For the most part, this is not the point I am trying to make, though it is relevant in how it reveals that for many owners, including Hicks and Gillett, sports are a business.

Of course, we have all known this is true for some time, considering the obscene salaries and profits to be made, but fans never like to be reminded of this, especially not when it is about their own team.

There never seemed to be any evidence that Hicks or Gillett were buying Liverpool because they wanted see Steven Gerrard and company overtake Chelsea and Manchester United and bring home a trophy. In fact, you can see their priorities in this article about the sale.

Gillett wants to consolidate his finances to shore up the stability of . . . a NASCAR team. NASCAR is not a sport; it is at best a business, at worst environmental destruction with spectators, pollution at high speeds. But it makes money, selling advertisements to people who want to watch cars crash, which, to be fair, is rooted in human history--that is presumably why chariot races were so popular in Rome. But that is spectacle, not sport, the willingness of the masses to spend money to see disasters. Obviously the priority of Gillett was business and making money. He saw the market in the Premier League and tried to colonize it, with unsatisfying results, to say the least.

It is a businessman's right to spend his money as he sees fit, I suppose, as long as he doesn't do anything unethical or illegal. But it leaves a bad taste in the mouths of fans when people come in, looking to make money off of a life-and-death cause, i.e., the sports team in question, fail to bring in the improvements they promised, and leave the club in worse shape than when they found it. It creates the perception that these owners neither care about nor understand the stakes involved, that they don't actually care about soccer.

To be fair, Gillett and Hicks purchased Liverpool just before a global economic crisis, which would impact the amount they could invest in the club. But to choose NASCAR over soccer? How Ugly American can you get? Driving around in circles accomplishing nothing but the expenditure of gas and the selling of advertising.

When you look at the unpopularity of Gillett and Hicks, and the Glazers at Manchester United, it makes you think that we should stick to exporting players, not owners. Everton fans loved Landon Donovan during his loan spell. Brad Freidel has had a long and distinguished career with Blackburn and now Aston Villa. There's some profound lesson here about the difference between workers and capitalists in the American culture, I'm sure of it.

In any case, hopefully the new owners, whoever they are, will right the ship at Liverpool and re-strengthen the squad, properly prioritizing the soccer over the bottom line.

Three Pitches

STRIKE ONE: The Giants signed Aubrey Huff in the off-season for power hitting, not necessarily for speed. Ironically, his first home run for the Giants, yesterday against the Pirates, was an inside-the-park home run.

STRIKE TWO: Here's me watching Arsenal-Tottenham in the North London derby yesterday, with Vaughn and after a couple beers:

"Watch the crowd, Vaughn. Let's see if we can see Neil."

Vaughn, who has poor vision and wasn't wearing his glasses: "I think you'll have better luck that I will on that for two reasons. One, you actually have vision. Two, you know what Neil looks like."

Me, bringing in the Star Wars references: "Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them."

In any case, we didn't see Neil, but we did see Arsenal lose to Tottenham for the first time in 11 years. When you start losing the big games more and more, that's when you know your dynasty has slipped back a bit. Poor Nick Hornby.

It's interesting, because this year, you can sense a changing of the guard. Liverpool fell out of the Champions League, and probably won't win a Champions League spot next year. There is a battle between Manchester City and Tottenham for England's fourth and final spot. There's either more parity, or--in the case of Manchester City--a lot more money invested in players for teams outside of Chelsea and Manchester United, who are still ahead of the pack.

STRIKE THREE: June 11th is the first day of the World Cup. It's a Friday. Why isn't that a national holiday? If Obama is going to be a jerk about still announcing a National Day of Prayer, then he should at least give us this.

The Gods Must Be Giants Fans

Today, it became clear. Not literally, as there were always clouds, either threatening to rain, or actually raining. But it became clear to me that the gods are indeed baseball fans. These are the sort of gods you would meet in a Neil Gaiman novel, perhaps, elemental with a love of fun.

When I wrote earlier today, I was 67% convinced there would be no baseball today. But somehow, a small window of less-intense rainfall opened up, and they were able to bring the field into a playable condition. We had spent the afternoon at home, with our gear packed in a backpack in case the weather permitted, like an earthquake kit we learned about in a NERT seminar (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team). We had the TV and radio on, both tuned to the Giants, and Marina was following reports on Twitter.

Then we heard a report they were planning on playing at 4 p.m. It was just after three, and we were out the door, driving furiously over to Third Street to pick up the Muni Metro T Line, running to the stop just ahead of the train, timing it perfectly.

The tarp was still on the field when we got there, and the first pitch didn't take place until 5:10, but yes, we did have a baseball game today. A brief sign of spring coming forward out of the gray of winter, renewal, hot chocolate, pretzels and garlic fries, oh, ye gods, it was brilliant. Cold and rainy, but brilliant.

Also, it was cold and wet. And as so often inexplicably happens, we found ourselves surrounded by Atlanta Braves fans. Nevertheless, these were the best seats I've been in, as Marina got us tickets in the lower box, out in left field near the foul pole. We were close enough that the players looked as large as life, real people, not ants put out there for our entertainment.

The Braves have stumbled of late from their glory years of the 90s, but I think they are going to be back in a strong way this year to challenge the Phillies for the NL East. Once again, they have strong pitching and good young talent.

This good young talent includes catcher Brian McCann, who hit a two run home run off Tim Lincecum in the first inning, that seemed to cast the day in gloom, like a post-industrial wasteland where all hope was for naught.

But while the rain continued to threaten, and occasionally come down in steady sheets or light drizzles, there was never an utter downpour. In the bottom of the fourth, with two outs, Pablo Sandoval, our young star third baseman smashed a triple to center field, and then Aubrey Huff, one of our key free agent signings over the winter, singled him home to cut the deficit.

Lincecum, meanwhile, after the first inning, and after a couple hits in the second and third inning, had found his form and was dominating, on his way to a 10 strikeout night.

In the bottom of the 6th, Sandoval hit a two out single, and after Huff came back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk, Mark DeRosa, the other key new free agent signing, singled to right field, scoring Pablo, and when Braves touted rookie Jason Heyward threw wildly to the plate, Huff scored as well, and the Giants were in the lead.

In his early days, Pablo Sandoval could drive you crazy by swinging at pitches above his head. Now, while he still can go for bad pitches, he has become much more patient. When he came up in the bottom of the 8th, with the score still 3-2 and Eugenio Velez on first base, Marina predicted that he was going to hit a home run.

First pitch, and there was no doubt. Pablo crushed it to right-center field. Everyone in the ballpark knew it was gone, including the Braves outfielders who only turned and watched it fly. That was the blow that killed the Braves' spirits. At this point, the particularly obnoxious Braves fan was sitting down, noticeably more quiet now that he was surrounded by more drunk and more obnoxious Giants fans.

With the final pitch, as Matt Diaz swung and missed for strike three, ending the game, all of a sudden there was water pouring down. At first, I thought it was spray from the water cannons which fire in the air after every Giant home run and victory, but no. The rain which had been held in check long enough for the 2 hours and 30 minutes needed to play the game had burst forth from the clouds even before the crowds had started for the exit, as the pitch settled into Bengie Molina's glove.

I tell you, it was truly as if the gods themselves wanted to watch baseball today, damn the rain.

It was a great way to start a season.

Rain Delays

Last year, I attended at least one baseball game each month. This year, I'm thinking it won't happen, especially because today, the first game for which we have tickets, is threatening to be a rain-out. I've never had to deal with a rain-out before, or even a rain delay. I've never before had reason to check out weather.com or the Weather Channel before, so I guess that's a bonus, learning something new.

That's the problem with not having your team play in a dome. For all the talk of how domes are an abomination, you can't deny that being able to play inside has some advantages, and we will see how well Minnesota's new outdoor field deals with weather issues, compared to the Metrodome where they won their two World Series titles.

Who calls domes an abomination, you ask? I do, and I stand by it.

So, I wanted to be able to post about the Giants today. They've started well this year, 4-1 so far after their meek surrender to Atlanta last night. I was hoping to see Tim Lincecum shut down the Braves today, but it doesn't look good for that happening.

Should I be there at the park, in the rain, on the off-chance that the game might still happen, instead of watching on TV until they decide if the game will happen or not? Perhaps. But that's just crazy. Maybe I'm literally a fair-weather fan, but the silver lining to literally being a fair-weather fan is that at least you stay dry.

Yes, I know that fair-weather fan is an expression referring to bandwagon jumpers. My point remains the same. I'm not a fan of poor weather as opposed to fair weather when it comes to standing around outside.

So, instead of an analysis of the game, some other random notes on sports.

1) Newcastle is coming straight back up to the Premiership next year, having owned the Championship all year. Order has been restored, though there are troubling rumors that a couple of their star players, Joey Barton and Andy Carroll, are kind of thugs. Joey Barton has served jail time for assault, and Andy Carroll reportedly broke a teammate's jaw. Oh well. The last person who said an athlete has to be a role model was Billy Payne, CEO of Augusta National, discussing how Tiger Woods disappointed the privileged members of that gated community. Billy Payne is allowed to talk about role models and morality once Augusta National lifts its no women allowed policy.

Marina made an excellent point about Tiger Woods. Since his bad behavior was offensive to his wife specifically and women in general, what he could have done to make amends would have been to not come back to the Masters until they allowed women as members. He could have used his fame and power for good. But no, he simply came back as if life could just go on as normal.

I'm not excusing it, either Tiger's behavior or the bad behavior of Joey Barton and Andy Carroll. I'm just saying, athletes behaving badly is a fact of life. Money, opportunity, the rush of success and fame to the head. For every John Terry--star defender of Chelsea and England--who gets caught being unfaithful to his wife--and in this case, cheating with the girlfriend of a former teammate, there have to be many more who have the chances and who succumb to temptation, even though the fishbowl they live in does not allow absolute immunity from discovery.

So if you are to enjoy sports, you have to ignore a certain amount of bad behavior, although there are limits. I think this can be done without compromising one's integrity, but it can be a slippery slope, because sports are just a game. Sports are a fundamental way of testing our individual skills at obtaining some random objective, some measure of physical ability, so there are echoes of questions of survival, but in this day and age, when you don't have to be the biggest and the strongest to survive, there are certain values that can't be disregarded for the sake of success on the playing field.

But my point is that Newcastle is coming back next year, and that makes me happy.

2) Speaking of the question of integrity, Barry Bonds gave a press conference on TV as part of the airtime filler during the rain delay. He looks much more relaxed than he has appeared in the media over the last few years of his career, when he has been under the shadow of steroids. He has lost weight, and seems happy.

And the part that caught my attention was how he spoke about having traveled to Europe over the summer for the first time in his life. He spoke with the open enthusiasm and wonder of a normal person getting to travel. It felt very humanizing to hear him talking about Spain, Paris, Italy, London, and wanting to travel more, more, more.

Marina thought it was strange that someone with the salary Bonds commanded should only now be traveling, but then, if you think about it, baseball is a year-round business, especially for those who want to be the best. The regular season goes from April - October, with the playoffs to follow. Spring Training begins in February, and you have to stay in shape over the winter. Even if you get millions of dollars, you don't have more time in a day. Not that he was hardly deprived, and not that we should feel sorry for him, but it just wasn't something I had considered before, the question as to whether Barry Bonds could or wanted to travel on vacation like any other person.

Common Goals, Different Language

Ah, spring, when a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of baseball preview magazines, and, this year, with surprising intensity, Major League Soccer. It's been a few years since I've really cared about Major League Soccer. I've generally outsourced my soccer fanaticism, primarily to the English Premier League.

Major League Soccer has always been viewed with a certain condescension from parties around the world and within the United States, and not without cause. There have been times when the level of play looked sloppy, and it isn't exactly the Primera Liga yet.

Consider two plays and two strikers I saw on TV recently:

1) Lionel Messi, Argentinian wunderkind for Barcelona in Spain's Primera Liga, widely considered the world's best player on the world's best team in what might be the world's best league (though I still rate the Premiership as #1). I saw Barcelona play Valencia in a La Liga game, and I have to agree with their reputation as the best; leaving aside the fact they won six out of six trophies they contested last year, their style of play has been the most fluid, exciting, and creative I have seen in quite some time.

The play in question: an crossed ball from the left barely clears the head of a leaping defender and falls to Messi at the edge of the penalty area. The defender must have obscured the ball for him for a moment; he only had a split-second to adjust. His first touch was the picture of precision, playing it with the perfect weight to let him run on to it as he approached the goal; one final move to beat a desperate last defender, and he finished off the run with a well-taken goal.

Less than a minute later, ESPN finished showing the replay of the goal just in time to see Messi score AGAIN.

2) Juan Pablo Angel, Columbian striker for the New York Red Bulls, their talisman, one of the leading goalscorers in Major League Soccer, receives a similar cross in a similar area. He brings it down, hesitates to bring the ball from his left to his right foot, and unleashes a shot, but his moment of hesitation allowed Chicago Fire defender Wilman Conde to hurl his body in front of the shot.

And that right there has long been the frustrating thing with Major League Soccer and US national team soccer in general. It isn't that there is a lack of effort or athleticism, but it has so often felt like the timing is off, like our players wait just a few moments too long or telegraph their passes or don't take shots at the first chance. It feels like the world could pat us on the head and tell us "good game" and then send us on our way. It used to be that when a star player from abroad signed with Major League Soccer, it was considered that he was sailing into the sunset on a golden sailboat (as opposed to a golden parachute, to maintain the sailing metaphor).

But it isn't that there is never a moment of invention, or a moment of perfect execution. The one goal in New York's victory over Chicago was a perfect volley from Estonian midfielder Joel Lindpere, plucking the ball out of the air with his right foot, hitting it squarely and driving it past the keeper.

Things are changing. Last year, Seattle joined Major League Soccer and played attractive soccer, featuring Freddi Ljungberg, and cultivating a big fan following. More and more teams are opening soccer-specific stadiums. And on the national front, the US, with players who got their start in MLS, upset Spain in the Confederations Cup. Granted, they were probably overlooking us, but before now, they could have overlooked us and still won.

In other words, it's getting more and more okay to follow Major League Soccer. I actually feel like I'm following something with a purpose. Maybe that's the blind nationalism talking, because the first game for the US at the World Cup in June is against England. But that's okay. For whatever the reason, I'm ready to actually care about Major League Soccer.

I'm sure they'll be thrilled.