Five Teams to Boo...

Pardon me as I act the negative Nelly here, but I had a little email discussion with my good friend Scott and he jokingly brought up a good point... now that Philadelphia will be getting a new MLS soccer team, does that mean we'll be stuck with another team that teases us Philly sports fans into thinking we'll have a chance at a title, only to be let down by inevitable failure?

Admittedly I hate to think this way, but consider the fact that the new soccer team playing in Philly, errr, Chester will be an expansion team and likely won't have a star studded lineup for a few years. That doesn't bode well for the team to help us break the curse on Cups for this city.

On the bright side, however, the new, yet-to-be-named team will have a better shot percentage wise because there are only about half the number of teams in the league compared to the other major sports leagues. So we have, technically, DOUBLE the chance of winning a trophy based on these odds!

So what do you think... should us Philly folks fear a fifth team failure? Or should we be optimistic and say that we can expect a parade down Broad Street soon after the team is up and running in 2010?

Hopefully some other Philly team will win it all before then, but I'm not going to get my hopes up...

Booing is Universal, Not Just a Philly Thing

To the next yokel who automatically declares Philadelphia boorish for booing, as announcers always love to point out, I suggest we all keep in mind that Philly isn't the only boo haven.

As reported by The Sporting News in a recent soccer match between the U.S. and Switzerland, in which the U.S. won 1-0, the fans booed the Swiss team off of the field.

And this was in Switzerland.

SWITZERLAND!

The "neutral" capital of the world!

If they can boo in Switzerland, then, like it or not, I think the rest of the world should get a free pass for booing at sporting events. How can the notoriously neutral natives of Switzerland get to reign down their disgust and not the rest of us sporting hooligans (booligans, perhaps?)? It's only fair.

If you'd like to see for yourself, simply fast forward to the end of this clip...

How to Celebrate a Soccer Goal

I apologize that this does not meet my Philly Sports Quest criteria (I know, I've been slacking lately), but I thought this was a classic sports moment:

The Scene: Toronto FC v. Chicago Fire, in Toronto
The Background: Toronto lost its first 4 games, without even scoring a goal, but their home crowd has been very supportive and encouraging. Here's the teams's first goal, followed by a festive celebration...



Good times!

Mayweather-De La Hoya: Yawn.

Editor's note: a digression from Philly sports chatter to follow.

So my cousin twisted my arm to watch tonight's much-hyped boxing match from Las Vegas. Here's what I learned from the Floyd Mayweather v. Oscar De La Hoya bout:

1. Boxing sucks. Unless you have two guys just pounding away at each other round after round, it's tough to enjoy this sport anymore. Paychecks are huge, leaving no real reason why the two contenders should slug it out, save for a few flurries of punches here and there.

2. Go to court (or fill in any number of other non-entertainment social situations): wear jeans and a t-shirt. Go to a boxing match: wear $5,000 tuxedos.

3. Boxing announcers are stiffs. These guys could put you to sleep. Not to mention the fact that even the announcers repeatedly talk about how lame the sport has become.

4. Never buy a pay-per-view event for a sporting event unless there will be a definitive winner. Who wants to see a few unknown judges decide on who the "winner" is? Slug it out. Box till ya' drop. That's what people pay for! Same with soccer... I love the sport but I wouldn't pay to watch it knowing there could be a draw, and quite possibly not even a goal scored.

5. Want to watch a boxing match? Go watch, as the saying goes, a game of hockey.

That's my lesson for the day. Thanks for checking in. Feel free to go toe-to-toe with me in the comment box.

Time to Ditch Moments of Silence?

A great athlete dies. Fans, coaches, and teammates want to honor the deceased, and rightfully so. So what do we traditionally do when we go to a large arena, soon after the person's death? We have a moment of silence.

Time to ditch the moment of silence.

Read what the British will be doing in honor of a recently deceased football (soccer) star:

English clubs to applaud in memory of Alan Ball

LONDON (AP) -- All 92 clubs in England will applaud for a minute this weekend in memory of Alan Ball, a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad who died Tuesday.

Ball made a total of 743 English league appearances for Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal and Southampton. He later managed seven English clubs in a 19-year career.

The Premier League said all players would also wear black armbands.

"Alan made an enormous contribution to league football as a player and a manager and his part in English football's proudest day will live long in the memory," said Andy Williamson, the chief operating officer of the Football League, which comprises 72 clubs. "Having a minute's applause at every match this weekend will give supporters the opportunity to pay their own tribute."

This procedure, to me, is dead on, pardon the pun. A player plays in front of thousands of screaming fans, game in and game out. Why should fans stand silently to honor this player when s/he would have revelled in a round of cheers?