Sweden Set for Showdown with Italy

Sweden enters the World Cup Qualifying playoffs with upset aspirations against Italy but it will be easier said then done.

Sweden's downfall came during the 2010 World Cup Qualifying when they only ousted up five wins. Since then, they have been fighting for respectability in a decade that has had Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the spotlight way too often.

Since his retirement, the Scandinavia nation has been able to hold serve. They didn't look out of place in a tricky Group A that produced a tie and win one the Netherlands and later a win over France. Sweden placed second in the group and advanced the playoff where they got paired with Italy.

Despite Italy's well known success, Sweden shouldn't be massive underdogs. They will likely need at least a win at home Friday that would set up a intense 90 minutes Monday night in Italy.

Away goals will also be crucial as that is the tie-breaker if the teams are tied after 180 minutes.

The scary thing is, Sweden hasn't fared well in their new home against good teams. They have allowed three against Portugal, five against Germany and four more against Austria two years ago. They also allowed an away goal against Denmark in their playoff for the Euro's.

I will be surprised if Sweden can hold a clean sheet Friday. They have played 15 competitive games at Friends Arena and only have 6 clean sheet wins but all of them have been against inferior teams with the strongest team being Bulgaria.

This team has already reached expectations, the rest is gravy. That being said it would be fun to knock off Italy. If Sweden fail, they will be in there longest World Cup drought in their history. However, UEFA has had a couple berths taken away the last few quadrennial while the depth of the confederation has gotten stronger.

Italy hasn't lost more than one Qualifying game in a World Cup cycle 1984. The two legged series is there's to lose.

I predict 1-1 in the first leg and 2-0 Italy in the reverse fixture on Monday sending Italy through to Russia 2018.

Washington Basketball Trying to put Conundrum Situation Behind Them

I never thought this day would come for the Washington Huskies Men's basketball program. I was doubtful there would be a time where someone not named Lorenzo Romar would be the Head Coach of the basketball program.


The team hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2011 and the problems that the team endured were evident by around 2010 that Lorenzo Romar was not the coach to take this team to new heights.


By 2011, Romar was getting praised for his coaching ability and none of the media was holding him accountable for never getting past the Sweet 16. In fact, they only had one Sweet 16 appearance since 2006 and that appearance came because of a Conference Tournament win that would have seen them bound for the NIT otherwise.


I called for Romar to be fired in 2011 and all I got was Huskies fans making fun of me and saying I had a mental illness among other things. I ended up being the Mayor of Rightville as the win against Georgia in the Round of 64 has gone on to be Washington's last win in the Tourney. The coach that I always had my eyes on was Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa who


The next year, they went on to win the Conference Regular Season Title but didn't get into the Tournament because of their weak conference. Romar's seat was a long ways from getting hot. Players wwere leaving the program as freshman and that was leaving a major hole in Washington's depth from 2013-2016. Players transferring or getting dismissed from the team was also leaving a huge leadership problem.  


Top recruited players were coming in, but that was only doing so much. Every year since 2012, Washington has dropped a game to a team at home in non conference that they were superior too.


Last year, they hit rock bottom despite having the best freshman in America in Markelle Fultz. Washington only managed to go 9-22 last year.


At this point, there were still people that thought Romar should keep his job. New AD Jen Cohen thought differently however and in a brisk decision fired Lorenzo Romar shortly after Selection Sunday.


Now, on a gloomy fall day in Seattle, Washington is not only fighting for wins on the court but they are also fighting for relevancy off the court. The Washington Football team is surging right now trying to grasp second straight Pac 12 Title. The Seahawks are in the middle of trying to claim another NFC West Title and NBA Expansion talk is on the brink of starting again with an arena being built hopefully just around the corner.


Washington basketball talk is rare these days. UW's new coach is Mike Hopkins who was the "coach in waiting" at Syracuse. He wasn't who I would have hired but I'm not the AD there so I guess I had no say. The dilemma of firing Romar was losing top recruits such as Michael Porter Jr and his brother who recommitted to Missouri. I'll be curious to see how Missouri does this year as well as Mike Hopkins at Washington.


The reasoning that Romar was fired is believed to be because the cycle of one and dones wasn't going to end as long as Romar was the head coach. The coach that I always had my eyes on was Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa who produces quality results in the Missouri Valley Conference. He only has a 4-4 record in the Tournament but his losses are to Purdue, Michigan State, Louisville and West Virginia.


Nevertheless, the Washington basketball saga will be fun one to follow.  Mike Hopkins has his hands full this year but it will be interesting to see if he can steer this ship clear of the mess that Lorenzo Romar dug himself into.

It Might be A Fluke, But its Better Than The Alternative

I sit here at my computer desk thinking about the Canucks game tonight as the Detroit Red Wings come into town tonight for the final game of the home-stand. The Red Wings used to be a hot ticket in town but the decline of their roster is completely evident by the number of household names in their lineup.

The Canucks season is in the rhythm right now. The team is 7-4-2 but non of the fans are believing in playoffs yet. Is it cliche that it's 'early' or is it important to get a good start in the marathon 82 game season.

Most people point towards American Thanksgiving as measuring stick point in the standings. That comes in the coming weeks. Canucks have nine games before Thanksgiving and that will tell us a lot as well.

I honestly don't buy in to the Early thing. For one, I think it's a get out of jail free card for teams that get off to a bad start and a jealousy statement for fans when a below average team when their rival gets off to a good start. . For instance, if the Canucks were 4-7-2 at this point, the mood of this hockey team would be quite different. It would be hard to imagine that the Canucks could get back in the playoff race.

That's because the Canucks send out a average roster compared to the other 30 teams. Edmonton has one of the better rosters and can afford a shaky start.

Therefore, it really depends on where a teams organization is at that determines if it is important to get off to a good start.

It never hurts and I'm glad that the Canucks have for the time being at least avoided any tanking talk. The more we avoid that talk the better it will be this season on and off the ice.

This is an important game for Vancouver as they keep  trying to prove themselves before a rough road begins in Calgary tomorrow night.

Magic Fast Start Shouldn't be a Surprise

Four games into the season, the Orlando Magic have been the surprise of the NBA this year. At 3-1, the Magic have stormed out too first place in the Eastern Conference. Some fans will shrug it off as a fluke but this team is quietly building a solid team.

The team will get a tough test tonight when they host the San Antonio Spurs. Like the majority of the fans, I would admit that a 3-1 start is nothing to get excited about however the Eastern Conference is so weak that the Magic would just have to go 500. the rest of the way to in theory make the playoffs.

This is a franchise that hasn't seen playoffs since the lockout shortened year in 2011-12. Since then, this team has added strong draft picks such as Aaron Gordon and most recently Jonathan Isaac as well as adding Nikola Vučević through trade in late 2010. 

We all know about how good the 76ers might be but are the Magic the team that is on the rise that no one is talking about? In ESPN's first power rankings, they were slated at #24 before taking a modest leap to 19 this week. They can take a bigger leap next week with a win over the Spurs in a game that has to be considered atleast winnable considering that the Spurs might be due for a loss and the fact they aren't the same Spurs team in the Tim Duncan era. 

The NBA is a waiting game. Think about it, Golden State was trash before Stephan Curry was drafted. They built around him by adding Klay Thompson and Draymond Green before adding their final piece of the puzzle with Kevin Durant during free agency the summer after losing to Cleveland in the finals in 2016. 

Therefore, its never easy to predict when the next monster team will come around. Orlando has two finals appearances and both were with amazing players. In 19955 it was the team with Shaquille O'Neal and in 2009 Dwight Howard doubled the Magic's total with another appearance.


Jonathan Isaac was named one of the steals of the draft last year thanks to the elite players that went before him in last years loaded draft. If the Magic can build on what there putting together, a playoff appearance might be just around the corner.

The EPL on NBCSN

The animosity of the Premier League is comparable to nothing in sports. In the English Pyramid of soccer, 96 teams fight for positioning trying to beat their previous years result. Some succeed but some fail. Being relegated is painful.

In the whole pyramid, there is only six teams that really have a chance unfortunately. Leicester defined history and won during a year that the powerhouse teams were down. There is usually six more teams that find a way to stay in the PL every year. That leads to eight teams in the PL playing with house money every year. Lately, teams like Aston Villa, Sunderland and Fulham have been stuck in the second tier that have provided chances for small clubs to stay up longer than expected.

We are at the time of the year where the 3pm BST kickoffs are almost evening games. The race to boxing day is closer and closer each week as history is not on your side if your in the relegation zone at Christmas.

Crystal Palace has captivated the neutral fan the last few years and are starting to be desperate for points. A win against West Ham on Saturday looking for a win. Beating Chelsea was good but they need more.

Palace is in survival mode now which is a complete 360 from playing in a FA Cup Final about two years ago. They likely will go down within the next five years but that's the best part about the PL. Everything is chaotic at the bottom of the table. Which makes for compelling soccer.

The Palace and Arsenal games look like the best two games in the middle window. Let me know which game you are most looking forward too.

Saturday, October 28
MANCHESTER UNITED (6-2-1)	7:30a ETNBCS, NBCU	TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (6-2-1)	England
ARSENAL (5-1-3)	10:00a ETPLP	SWANSEA CITY (2-2-5)	England
CRYSTAL PALACE (1-0-8)	10:00a ETNBCU, PLP	WEST HAM UNITED (2-2-5)	England
WATFORD (4-3-2)	10:00a ETPLP	STOKE CITY (2-2-5)	England
WEST BROMWICH ALBION (2-4-3)	10:00a ETNBCS	MANCHESTER CITY (8-1-0)	England
LIVERPOOL (3-4-2)	10:00a ETCNBC	HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (3-3-3)	Liverpool, England
BOURNEMOUTH (2-1-6)	12:30p ETNBC, NBCU	CHELSEA (5-1-3)	England
Sunday, October 29
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION (3-2-4)	9:30a ETNBCS	SOUTHAMPTON (3-3-3)	England
LEICESTER CITY (2-3-4)	12:00p ETNBCS, TELE	EVERTON (2-2-5)	England
Monday, October 30
BURNLEY (3-4-2)	4:00p ETNBCS	NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-2-3)	England

Where do the Suns go From Here?

If the Phoenix Suns were in the Eastern Conference, the light would be at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, it isn't and the juggernaut Western Conference is what awaits the Suns this year and for the next several years.


When the Suns unloaded on key players such as Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas in 2015, the Suns vision was for the future. At first I was pessimistic that the formula was going to be successful. At the start, the Suns had something to build around but no franchise players. Eric Bledsoe was decent but never elite and Devon Booker and TJ Waren weren't mature enough yet.


Fast forward two short years and the Suns are still stuck in the mud not able to get out of the bottom of the Western Conference.


Now, five games into the season Eric Bledsoe is on the trading block destined for one of the other 29 cities in the NBA currently. This is a franchise altering move that should have likely happened earlier.


At 27 years old, Bledsoe has a huge upside if traded to the right team. The bigger and also unknown question is, what is his trade value? General consensus seems to lead to 2-3 assets coming back to Phoenix. Right now, the Suns have a log jam at the Power Forward position with both Bender and Chriss not getting much playing time with Waren and Jackson sharing time at the Small Forward position.


The Suns missed an opportunity to get things under control when they drafted two Power Forwards on the same night in 2016 and drafting a Small Forward in Josh Jackson last June. That would up up to four forwards drafted since 2014. This has led to a depth chart of

PG	SG	SF	PF	C
Eric Bledsoe	Devon Booker	Josh Jackson	Marquese Chriss	Tyson Chandler
Tyler Ulis	Troy Daniels	TJ Waren	Dragan Bender	Alex Len

    
Not going to make excuses but this lineup is decent but it lacks a defensive leader. Chriss is helpless defensively as he hasn't learned to play defense without fouling. Bender isn't mature enough yet for major minutes and its not a big enough sample size to judge Josh Jackson yet.


If I was the GM this is what I would have done differently. I would have drafted Buddy Hield at #4 in 2016 and drafted De'Aaron Fox in 2017. Drafting a Point Guard last June would have allowed the Suns to trade Bledsoe over the offseason where there might have been more takers as teams were filling holes in their lineups.


My Suns teams lineup would have looked like this:

PG	SG	SF	PF	C
De'Aaron Fox	Devon Booker	Player traded for Eric Bledsoe	Marquese Chriss	Tyson Chandler
Tyler Ulis	Buddy Hield	TJ Waren	Sign Devensive specialist in FA	Alex Len

Not saying that my team would be set to make a run for the NBA Finals this year but I like this depth chart better because there is clarity of who your future PG is which for me is the most important position on the court. With Bledsoe on his way out, where is the clarity?? Having a consistent starting PG is so important in the NBA.


Secondly, drafting Hield at #4 in 2016 would have been my pick. He stayed all four years in college and therefore would have been able to bring in leadership. Furthermore, you can never have enough points on a team generally speaking and having a solid backcourt is important.


Lastly, I get it that Josh Jackson might be better than Fox but I now question how much longer TJ Waren has left in the Purple and Yellow. With Jackson's skill set he seems to be the Small Forward of the future
which then makes Waren's draft pick a questionable one in 2014.


On top of the player saga the Suns also have a new coach at the helm in Jay Triano. This is his second NBA Head Coaching gig after having three losing seasons as the coach of the Raptors almost a decade ago. When you fire a head coach three games into the season, the only other option is to go with an assistant coach. He will be a good fit short term but I have my doubts about his success in the long term.


This is what the Suns are facing and the whole conundrum started when they thought it was a smart idea to start from scratch. Anyone's guess when this team will see the playoffs next but just remember. This isn't the worst pro team in Arizona right now. Not by a long 3 point shot.