US Soccer Game at Dicks Park

About 3 weeks ago Noah, Scott, Nuccio and I braved the cold weather to take in a rare chance to see the Men's National Soccer Team play live. They played a World Cup qualifier game against Guatemala, unfortunately for us the US team had already qualified for the next round so this game wasn't that important.

It was great though to see some of the best US soccer players play live, including Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Brad Guzan, and Kenny Cooper. It was cool to see a lot of new players getting some attention like Kenny Cooper, Connor Casey and Ricardo Clark. Guatemala was really no match as the US won 3-0 with scores from Cooper and Adu.

The most notable thing about the game was the lack of support from fans. We attributed this to the fact that it was a Tuesday night, it was cold, and the game wasn't that important. The Dick was maybe 20% full, some sections were completely empty.

The other thing i noticed was the size of the players; they were much larger than i anticipated. Players like Cooper and Altidore are huge, and much stronger than they look on TV. it was impressive. It was a great time, its not that often that players this good play here in Colorado, luckily, we went to the Celtic vs MLS All-stars game a few years ago so we've seen a pretty impressive group of players.

Going to the Auction

so this is a little late, but i thought i'd share it anyway.

I've always been a fan of the auction, specifically Pacific Auto Auction on Denver. I was about it back in the day and decided to check it out. Its free to go, you can basically just check it out with no obligations. Well i ended up buying a 1991 Ford Bronco Fullsize that did me pretty well, i got it for $2200 back in 2003.

I've been telling all of my friends to check out the auction for cheap cars, i mean for $2000 or less you can get a commuter car no problem. Well finally someone took me up on the offer, Aaron, and so we headed down there with $1000 after his other car died.

We had some pressure to come home with a car, for cheap, and Aaron has some requirements, but i think we did alright, he got a 93 Volvo 850 for about $1100.

i think Kassie and i are going to check it out a little more often, maybe get a car and resell it. If anyone is interested in going, its every saturday morning, the auction starts at 10a and goes until about 1p. You can walk through the cars all day friday, and early saturday. It's pretty entertaining. here are some pics:
Here's Aaron pondering something




















Heres the little book, its a listing of the cars in order



















Here's what it all looks like, thats the auctioneer in the high booth, we're all checking out some minivan.

Last week i blogged part 1 of some posts about the Mocha Club. This is the follow-up to that post. Today Mocha Club is launching their website and have asked a handful of bloggers to help generate some traffic, you can see the blogroll at http://www.mochaclub.org/ .

Here is some text from the directors of Mocha Club:

When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. “I am needed here,” I think. “They have so little, and I have so much.” It’s true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in the people. It’s a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day. [read more]

Sometimes its tough to be a Brown's fan

in case you haven't read or seen, the Brown's have lost both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson for the rest of the season. This leaves Ken Dorsey as the long QB on the roster, with Joshua Cribbs backing him up, and i'm sure we'll pick somebody up this week.

Now i've been rooting for Quinn to play QB all season, nothing against Derek Anderson the person, but i think the management got this wrong. Whats worse is that the fans always take out their anger on the wrong person. It is not Derek Anderson's fault that the Browns have sucked this season. Just like when Tim Couch was the QB, even though he struggled, he didn't deserve the blame.

In another disappointing moment in Brown's fans history, the Browns cheered Derek Anderson's injury on Sunday. I know that the fans who cheered do not reflect the opinions of most of the fan-base, and i know that almost every team in the league would have the same result (some Bronco fans would have cheered a Jake Plummer injury) but i hate the fact that this is what Brown's fans are known for.

From James Walker of ESPN:

In an ugly scene Sunday, some Browns fans cheered when Anderson was injured.

"They were cheering the fact that I was hurt," Anderson said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "They don't like me. That's well known."

Mocha Club

So about a year ago Kass and I went to Boulder and got to see the Two Birds/One Stone tour featuring Matt Wertz, Dave Barnes and the Gabe Dixon Band. During the show, Matt and Dave took a few minutes to talk about Mocha Club, which is basically an organization that they put together to help raise money for projects in Africa. It was very interesting, the title implies that for the cost of two mocha's ($7) you could help this project (and cut back on expensive mocha's). A few weeks ago i was emailed and asked to help bring more attention to Mocha Club by blogging about it. I'm always a fan of easy/affordable/faith-based/passionate organizations, so i jumped at the chance to write about the program.



The first blog entry about Mocha Club is supposed to be about the concept of why 'I need Africa more than Africa needs me'. I think this brings me personally, back to the concept of short-term mission trips, trips i took in high school to Mexico over spring break or to Scotland for 10 days. While there is only so much one person can do in such a limited time, i personally was changed more than i anticipated.

I have been reading these blogs over at Compassion International, from some people who were asked to write about a short trip to Dominican Republic. One of the constant themes that comes up when people reflect on mission trips is the simple hope and faith people have even though they live in desperate situations. they're not caught up in theology, religion, or many of the issues that derail American Christians today, but they just simply believe, they have faith like a child. It's quite a lesson to be learned and this is why i think that i need Africa more than Africa needs me.

I need to get back to basics. I need to remember the poor and the oppressed. I need to not get caught up in the many materialistic things of our world, not get side-tracked with politics, not be distracted by different opinions, but to love others. I need Africa to show me what faith like a child looks like, what real suffering is, what hardship really means.

Share your thoughts in my comments, and even blog about it yourself. Join in the worthwhile cause of recasting the damaging images that force pity over partnership. I am one of many bloggers writing about Mocha Club, and i will be writing again on December 1st. I really encourage you to check organizations like Mocha Club out.

Why Quinn, Why Now?

I think i'm as surprised as anyone that the Browns have switched QB's to Brady Quinn on this short week, having a game Thursday night against the Bronco's. I figured they would make the switch eventually, Derek Anderson hasn't played well for over 10 games, and it was only a matter of time before Romeo Crennel's seat got hot enough.

Despite the record and the wins, Derek Anderson hasn't played well since about halfway through last season. I'm not going to drop all the stats here since a ton of other writers have already done that, but basically DA has been riding his surprising 6 game span from the beginning of last season. He couldn't get the Browns into the playoffs last season despite only needing 1 win at either Cincinnati or SF at the end of last season. He's had numerous chances to put the Browns over-the-top this season, including a 27-14 2nd half lead last week at home against Baltimore. He isn't delivering, a good amount of the Browns points have come off of special teams plays, interceptions/fumbles, and 54-yard field goals by Phil Dawson. Braylon Edwards has also dropped at least 3 touchdown passes that probably would have saved DA's job, but he didn't catch them, and DA is the scapegoat.

I like DA, and i hope we're able to move him for something valuable, there are quite a few teams that need a QB, i mean, Daunte Culpepper might be starting for the Lions this week, and we've already seen awesome QB's this season like Brad Johnson, Gus Frerrotte, Charlie Frye, Seneca Wallace, Rex Grossman, Trent Green, JT O'Sullivan, Patrick Ramsey, Damon Huard, Dan Orlovsky...

A quick look at the stats shows DA with a QB rating of 68.9, and that puts him 3rd from the bottom against other QBs, only better than Griese (TB), Hassellbeck (SEA), Thigpen (KC) and Fitzpatrick (CIN) and just behind Palmer (CIN) and Russell (OAK). DA's completion percentage is 49.8%, which is only better than Russell's 48%. I can understand Russell's terrible rate, since Oakland is a terrible team, but Cleveland has one of the best offensive lines in the leagues, and WR's like Braylon, Cribbs and Winslow. There's no reason he can't be better.

As for the Browns decision to go this week, i think it has to do with a few different factors. First of all the division is not out of reach; Cleveland is 3-5 while Balt is 5-3 and Pitt is 6-2. Although i think they only have about 2-3 more "easy" games, things could still change, especially in the wildcard race. Another factor is Denver's defense. Denver is terrible, they were terrible to start the season and since then they've lost both Bailey brothers, DJ Williams, Marlon McCree, and many other starters. Those loses combined with the fact that they'll be on the road in cold Cleveland with a rejuvenated fan base (last week's game ended with the stadium chanting BRA-DY BRA-DY) means this will be a tough game for Denver. The short week also gives Denver less time to plan for a QB that nobody really knows about, but that is two-sided since it only gives Brady Quinn a few days to prepare as teh starter.

Romeo Crennel should be fired by now, and if this season continues to be bad, he'll surely be fired by the end of the season. There is too much talent on this roster for the Browns not to make the playoffs. Hello, is this Bill Cowher?

Side Bets - reasons to get excited for the NBA

So i ran across this post on my favorite Sacramento Kings blog, SactownRoyalty.com , and thought it was awesome.

Seriously, the side stories around the NBA are more interesting than the actual games.  Stories about Charles Oakley/Michael Jordan, Barkley, betting, parties, video games, big houses and too many cars...

I think the NBA is clearly the standard when it comes to interesting side stories.

From the article:  "Kevin Martin knew he netted more than a sweet YouTube clip Monday when he crossed over Rudy Fernandez to dunk on Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge in the Kings' 112-98 loss to Portland.

Martin also won a $1,000 bet with teammate Mikki Moore on who would be the first to dunk on Oden.