Just Wait 'Til Last Year

Repeating as a champion in a professional sports league is difficult, especially in the age of salary caps and parity. The Giants hardly entered the year as favorites, but they have been battling all year, despite meager offensive production. Now, though, things are beginning to fade at the wrong time.

My natural tendency is to be a pessimist, so I will fight that and not yet write off the season. But there are enough factors to make me think it is almost time to say "Just Wait 'Til Last Year"--by which I mean time to watch the souvenir DVD from last season. And then look forward to spring, and spring training, and the chance to start over.

For one thing, come the spring, we won't be as decimated by injuries. Seriously, all the injuries we avoided last year seem to be coming this year on top of the normal allotment. First Buster Posey is lost for the season, and then Freddy Sanchez. Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez both struggle with injuries which may have impacted their performances. Pablo Sandoval started off on a tear, and then got hurt for a month. We trade a top prospect for Carlos Beltran, essentially a two month rental, and now he is hurt and may be going on the DL. Sergio Romo, our setup man, also may be headed for the DL. And Pablo left today's game after fouling a ball off his foot.

As a side note, I had my hesitations about trading a top pitching prospect for a rental, especially since we won last year. I didn't feel as desperate a need to win now. But I can see why Brian Sabean made the deal; you do want to take every chance to win and excite the loyal fan base--that's a crucial confluence of the business side and the passion side of baseball. So even though Beltran is injured at perhaps the most critical stage of the pennant race, when we are struggling to keep up with Arizona in the division and Atlanta in the playoff race, I don't blame him for the trade, even though no one expects Beltran to play in SF next season.

The nagging feeling I can't escape, though, is that the reality TV show on Showtime, "The Franchise," was a bit of a mistake. I have to wonder if it is not a distraction for the team. But that could just be a matter of my own bias. I HATE reality TV, which in general I find sleazy and stupid.

It would be one thing if it was talent-based, like So You Think You Can Dance or Project Runway. You know, make it So You Think You Can Pitch or Project Basepath. If only there was something like that for the Giants.

Oh, that's right, there is. It's called Major League Baseball, and what's the Giants are playing every day.

Maybe the injuries and the slumps are karma for being on reality TV.

Oh well. I still love us. And by us, I mean the Giants. We aren't the Yankees. Or the Red Sox. Or the Phillies.

The Art Of Not Being Noticed

Refereeing soccer is a thankless job. The ideal is not to earn plaudits, but to go essentially unnoticed, managing the game, being in the right position, keeping things flowing. There will always be missed or controversial calls, but the game should roll on. For referee Paul Ward, tonight's match between San Jose and Colorado will be one he won't want to remember.

San Jose was enjoying the best possession and looked dynamic with a 1-0 lead late in the first half when Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni made a run to the end line to cross the ball into the box. San Jose's Sam Cronin was in pursuit and slid to try to get in the path of the ball. Mastroeni's cross was low and angled back behind Cronin, deflecting against Cronin's trailing arm and going out of bounds. Everyone was prepared to line up for a corner kick, but Mastroeni angrily appealed to the Assistant Referee, saying it was a hand ball in the box. After a moment's consultation, Ward pointed to the spot, to the shock of the Earthquakes. Mastroeni was attempting to influence the referee's decision, and it worked. It is a part of the game, but a cynical one. The referee should have been stronger, because that was not a good call, but Mastroeni lost the respect I had for him from his days with the national team.

Technically, the ball did hit Cronin's arm, but it was more like the ball played the arm, not the other way around. It was certainly not intentional. Furthermore, it was not denying a clear goal scoring opportunity, with plenty of defenders in the middle. It was a very harsh decision to award a penalty.

The Earthquakes would feel hard done by again in the second half, when Cronin was sent off with a red card in controversial fashion. A sliding tackle took the ball away from Mastroeni, who went down in a heap over Cronin's legs. The camera angle was not entirely conclusive, but again, it looked like a harsh decision.

This again interrupted a flow of creative, attacking play by San Jose, and when Colorado later scored a goal to go ahead, the wind was out of the Earthquake's sails, as their long streak without a win continued.

To be fair, the referee cannot be blamed for San Jose not scoring when Chris Wondolowski blazed one over the top from 8 yards out, and the referee cannot be blamed for San Jose conceding a silly foul just outside their penalty area which lead to the winning goal. Nevertheless, the referee did not have the best of days, and that is a shame.

Knocking The Ball Around

There's been a lot of bad news in the world of late. Today, in particular. Which is why I will disregard all of that and talk about soccer.

The Premier League kicks off a week from today, and Major League Soccer is heading towards the final stretch of the season.

Looking at the San Jose Earthquakes, the excitement I felt at the beginning of the year has dissipated. The announcers on Comcast can be slightly biased as much as they want to be--and they want it a lot, encouraging the sideline reporter to taunt the opposing goalie--but the fact remains that no, Portland was not offside on the goal tonight, not even close, and furthermore, this was one more example where the Earthquakes' defense was just not good enough. For all the offensive futility San Jose has experienced this year--about as bad as that of the Giants--their defense has always seemed the shakiest aspect of the team for me.

The Premier League is back, and that will be very exciting. Liverpool seems to possibly re-loaded; Newcastle has signed some intriguing young French players, and will possibly add Gabriel Obertan from Manchester United, and I have seen flashes of quality from him, so that is encouraging. Will Arsenal fade further this year? They have seemed on the downward arc lately, threatening to follow Liverpool out of the elite as Tottenham and Manchester City have surged. Manchester City, though, they just buy players, so I really can't root for them, especially since it looks like Tevez might be on his way out, and he was always a player I loved to watch for them. Tottenham signed Brad Friedel, and one of my friends in the UK is a huge Tottenham fan, so I wish them well; Rafael Van der Vaart is a key man on my fantasy team this year, FC Buster Posey. Still, if Newcastle and Liverpool are not to win it all, I would still pull for Arsenal.

Just like that, Alan Gordon gets a head on a great cross and ties the match for San Jose! Hope blooms like the taste of shiraz and chocolate chip cookies.

A new season, new possibilities. A sign of stability in an unstable world, for now. It's why we love sports.