FIN

Rainmen preview

2009-12-20T16:35:00.001-08:00

With no Chris P in the house, hopefully we will get some great fans posting about the games. Today I didn't want to get into the game reviews because we are still working out the kinks. I really just wanted to give a quick overview of what I have seen through two exhibition wins.

It looks like Bennett will be playing the 2 mostly and responded with 28 and 25 pt games. He looks close to unstoppable when he is hitting three's at the rate he is. I love him coming off the high screens and being able to create or make his own shot. He looks fired up and like he really cares.

Crook is playing smart. He was able to work the paint today and it showed off with dunks and layups plus some excellent rebounding work. he got blocked by Pierre pretty bad (his 5th of 6) but otherwise I liked most of the defense and spirit he showed today. Be interesting to see if he starts but it looks like he will for now. The free throw shooting has not improved to say the least and it really needs to if he wants those minutes.

Strick has not played much. We know what we should get and he is still a huge fan favorite and assistant coach.

New Additions

Devon Norris- Played 2 mins today and scored his first bucket. Probably won't see much time.

Garry Gallimore- Added some great intensity on defense and can get the hoop as a 3. He started a fight with Jeanty and Pierre which fired up the crowd and got the team going. He could be a great player coming off the bench in a league where defense is not valued as highly.

Adris DeLeon- Coming in at point he has looked very good. He has control of the team when he is bringing the ball up. He was able to penetrate and get to the line and played tenacious defence. As a combo with Bennett I think this will give us a phenomenal 1-2 punch and good leadership.

Gary Ervin- Has looked excellent in two games coming in for Deleon. Another PG with great range and ability to get into the lane. He works very hard defensively and gives another great scoring option.

Gordon Malone- I haven't seen enough of Malone yet but I have a feeling he will be a very solid player starting centre or backup to McCarroll. Both a stepup from having Strick or Crook playing the 5 last year. More to come on Malone.

Jevohn Sheppard- Saw relatively limited action as the 2/3 guard and worked well on the permieter draining a couple threes and also getting in the lane. Would love to see his stats from the weekend.

Shagari Alleyne- Not sure about the big guy. His career stats are not great but in the first game he changed a bunch of shots from the perimeter. He has limited hands but seems nice. If he can stay central and block some shots and get a little more physical, he could give some minutes off the bench.

Mark McCarroll- Has some range for a big man and some very solid moves inside. He had a few boards and worked the glass well against Pierre today, giving at least a push with the big man. He looked to have a couple blocks as well and runs the floor decently.

Lonnel Shuler Jones- Saw some good minutes today and moved the ball well and got aggressively to the hoop. Liked what I saw today and will be interesting to see how he works into the rotation.

Desmond Ferguson- Moneyball has looked very assured and surprisingly quiet. He had a good scoring day in game one but didn't play as much in game two. He will be the starting 3 unless something weird happens.

The Team
Andre and Coach Berry have built an extremely strong and diverse team. It seems to be built around tenacious defense and fast breaking, but when they slow down, they can strike the three or get to the rack. There are options inside with Strick, McCarroll and Crook, while all of the guards can hit from distance. At least we know if one thing is not working, Coach Berry won't be afraid to change the team and the style of play. There is already some good attitude with The Fist Gallimore and Moneyball. They will definitely work hard for each other and effort should not be the reason that this team loses any games this year.

Coach Berry threw in some full court presses and some doubleteaming defence which has obviously been a priority in training. There are more than enough players to put points on the board and it will be interesting to see how the minutes get divided up. We may see a lot less of Strick this year and Norris will be on the bench. There are a lot of players that will need to play and if Berry can keep them team oriented, this will be an incredible year.

Other Teams
Manchester- Will be strong competition this year and I can't help but think they would have won had their coach and not their owner been on the bench. They should have put us away and have amazing three point shooters. I think we can hurt them downlow, but it will be tough for our threes to chase their guards on the perimeter.

QC- Jeanty and Pierre are good professionals. There is not a lot else on the squad that is really worrying. Glad I didn't have to buy Pierre that drink tonight..

Rainmen Back

2009-12-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

The Rainmen are starting back in action this week. I feel there is a huge surge in the professionalism of the organization and the chances that it will stay here and stay viable. I will do a quick run down on the players before the weekend and list the other blogs available.

Rainmen Highlights

2009-03-17T15:53:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick view on the season as a first year ticket holder brought in by BDP:I enjoyed every game, even the one where we got blown out by the Kebs because of our ongoing conversations with the bench. That pretty much makes the season. Sweats and Bling were on fire. The vermont game where we sucked in free throws thanks to Striquille and the rest of the team, while long, was another highlight. Beating manchester! Trash talking "Moneyball" Ferguson, you know he is remembering that against us next game. Sorry Rainmen. The double Bailey/ Crook dunk.. Pre-game at the Elephant and castle, postgame at Boston Pizza and some great new friends and fans. An excitable message board- Hilarious at times.
Having conversations with Simplice, Bryant, white chocolate and others makes for great talking points and stories. Being able to get "into your head" with white Chocolate makes me laugh. He was terrible because the crowd remembered his reactions to the last game when he cleaned us. Halifax doesn't like a bad winner.
Growing crowds and some good atmosphere.
A picture of me heckling in the paper in front of Darrell Dexter. Section 23 highlight!
Knowing Strick would make at best 1 out of 2. At Best and telling the QC bench the same thing.
The crazy trade/ free agent signings in the last 6 weeks - I guess there is no deadline.
Watching a player like Bennett in full flight, Sanders working the boards, Crook throwing down, Bailey battling, Ramey's killer passes and strong D, Silverhorn lighting a few threes, Dandridge shooting from half, SirVal getting drunk and going off against the team, Jimmy's dependability, heckling Freiburg, drinking with Freiburg and Dick and Linda from vermont, Strick with the goggles, the hand, the prayers, the talk - awesome, I hope he stays one last year, Millien, Brown, Anderson coming in for the last burst and spending time with my wife and friends at the games.
Section 23- AWESOMEChad Lucas- AWESOME- we won't heckle if you bring your four year old to our section.. I kid, I kid.. Metro News- Cheeky- well done and good reporting by Wuest.
Lastly, although the franchise has had some issues and bad PR, overall this is par for the course at this level of ball. I think overall the franchise is in good shape and if we can keep some of our players to next year, we should have a solid squad. A little less revolving door next year and some early wins shoudl stand us in good stead.

Rainmen blow chance to make playoffs

2009-02-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

It is going to be a hard road forward from here. Playing with a starting lineup including Millien, we started slow. The ball movement has been much better of late but it seems like there are some basic things still missing from Rainmen play.
1) Crashing the boards. The team still looks surprised at some of the shot selection and is not crashing bodies in there. Sanders is missed. Also, we seem to lose our fair share of tipped balls on rebounds that the other team wants more than we do. As a fan, that is so frustrating. Guys have already started running up the floor instead of staying to ensure possession. Silverhorn looked extremely guilty of that. Crook and Millien and Bailey worked hard in there, but couldn't turn what they did get into boards.
2) Why do we continue to leave the PG alone to inbounds and it seems a surprise when people have to rush back to get the ball and get it up the floor? That blows my mind. I figure the 1,2,3 are first on the list to bring up the ball.
3) Foulshooting except to millien, everyone missed key shots that should have won the game. Nuff said on this blog about that.
4) Dandridge doesn't even look interested. He gave away two key passes on fast breaks and passed up his usual threes. Do him a favour and cut him now.
5) What has Hammack done? Pasted to the bench, no minutes. I understand we want more time for the other players, but Hammack creates off the dribble and doesn't take bad shots.
6) Players overplaying on defense. Ramey got burned three or four times playing right up on their point guard leading to points inside. Crook does the same thing inside.
7) Jimmy shooting the last three with 3 secs left. We could have gone inside to Millien, Silverhorn on the cut or even bennett in the lane. I was surprised by that.
8) The Voice heaving up some shots.. yikes..

Positives: Workrate is much better with this team, unfortunately we are still making mental mistakes.
FS can only get better.. lol
Millien has looked good.
Ball movement has been better and some good interior passing leading to higher percentage shots. We just need to focus on hitting the layup/ dunk when we are inside.
I like our four big set with ramey on ball, Crook, Millien, Bailey, Strick. We seemed to get some good movement inside and lots of fouls shots obviously. That leads me to think the game planning was very good, but the execution poor.

It's going to be very tough to make playoffs with this little run as we need to win out and have a little help from everyone else to knock Vermont and Wilmington down. We have a couple tough games coming up as well with Kebs.

Notes; CP was on the IR so we tried to carry the heckling load. That was tough
Collier was on fire as was Sanders. He is only like 21 by the way.
My boy, Bryant, missed a massive dunk, but so did we.
Saw the lads at Boston Pizza after the game. vermont guys we decent fellas as we partied with the Super Fans Dick and Linda. Bryant and Sanders had a bad case of flu, they were hurting units so Sanders game was even more impressive.
Good luck on the road Rainmen, it seems like it is coming together but maybe too late.

Rainmen roll...over

2009-02-15T16:07:00.001-08:00

This was a devastating loss for the Rainmen. A win would have put them comfortably in the seat for playoff birth as a wildcard. Instead, they laid a dud for coach Berry. The crowd was pumped but the players didn't respond. It was the first game in a while that it seemed like players just quit.

I have spoken before about how hard it is to build a fanbase with a constantly changing squad. It will be tough as I imagine the turnover of players could be large again. To be honest, I would see Bailey, Crook, Jimmy and maybe Ramey, McNeal and Silverhorn coming back for another year. If Millien plays well he could move up and Bennett seems bound for greater things, while Dandridge and Hammack have seen a major reduction in minutes and will go elsewhere for time.

The offense was poor from the beginning with Bennett continuing his terrible 3 point shooting this weekend ending up 3-16 over two game. It is amazing because his points in the paint cause all kinds of problems and allow other players to scratch for boards and points. Lets get the reigns on him and get him in the paint and kicking out. Our 3 pt shooting was horrendous all weekend with Silverhorn, Jimmy and Bennett missing many. Today we shot 20%, brutal. Hammack and Dandridge look like they have lost all confidence from the Lewis era.

That being said, the Kebs hit everything it seemed like. While they were only 46%, a lot of those misses came in the 4th when the game was done. EC again got exposed defensively and we were weak inside defensively. Our inability to get him in the offence showed today. The loss of Rob is showing in the paint. Bailey had a solid game with 12-9 and a couple assists and steals. Zach played some good defense today and Millien showed his 1v1 skills. I was also surprised the jeanty only had 7 points as he added instant impact to the game as did Strick. Strick worked hard but I would rather see him get the points than draw the fouls. That shooting is ugly Striquile!

The running commentary with their bench for the fourth quarter kept us entertained as Sweatpants, Bling and Simplice were hilarious. so it looks ike Hammack, Dandridge and Tyrone are getting mostly frozen out, making us a 9 player squad right now. I don't know if that is enough to carry us to the playoffs, but hopefully. It was hard to find many positives from the games at all as jean Phillippe and Anderson killed us.

Here's to hoping another week of practise gets us right.

Everton resilient in FA Cup

2009-02-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

Another huge win at home for the Blues. An early lead through yo0ungster Rodwell , despite a penalty against Hibbert started a huge game for Blues. We had a dominant possession as AV missed Barry a lot. I also felt that when Laursen went down, he was the rock that their counter-attacking style is based on. Cahill and Anichebe dominated vs Knight and Davies and rightly so. Don't have a lot of time to go through this but Mikel had a phenomenal game and I thought our central midfielders really dominated v petrov and sidwell. Anyway, a great result and here are my player stats for the day:
Howard- 9- a huge tip save and many solid punches. Could have stopped the penalty.
Baines-8- not attacking a lot but helped keep the lid on Milner
Lescott-7- did most of what he had to, but looked shaky in parts when AV attacked
Jags- 8- very good
Hibbert-8 -gave away the pen, but a solid game against a great atatcker
Gosling-7- not sold on him yet, nose for goal, but tries the same move a lot, looked only ok defensively
Arteta-9 nuff said
Neville-8- played his role
Rodwell- 9- really stepped up today
Anichebe-9- aggressive running, held the ball up, won the pen, didn't complain or fall over
Cahill-10- goals, ball control, pesky against backline, won headers at both ends and is generally a superstar..

Rainmen roll continues

2009-02-14T13:34:00.001-08:00

I will continue on what CP had to say. Gill is a dirty player. He was taking cheapshots at Bennett especially when the play was done and the game was near over. He is obviously a talented player, but his mindset is all wrong. I really felt like Sections 22-24 got in his head and it sounded like there was good help from across the floor. Too many unnecessary threes.

I was happy at halftime when they closed to 8 points down and felt like they were going to win. With a coach like Les Berry, I feel so much more comfortable that adjustments will be made. He got them working around the zone with quick ball movement and more layups and short range Js plus fastbreak than in the first half. I didn't realise til afterwards that most of Bennett's points came in the paint as "The Voice" was 2-10 from 3. Dandridge-esque. Speaking of which, why, why, why? Why does he continue to heave up three balls. If he can work within the offence, I am sure he will get minutes and the points will come. Great game from EC with 19 and 12 and I felt Bailey played ok with some stats that don't show up on the sheet- defending his man and changing shots in the paint. I hope we don't lose too many minutes from him when Millien shows up. Hopefully with him playing the five, he will continue to thrive, but I can see minutes going elsewhere.

A few concerns. After a week of practise, we still don't have the offense as crisp as possible.
Strick, Jeanty and EC got taken to school by their forwards yesterday.
Our best defenders are Bennett, Jimmy, Zach and Bailey.
Lots of missed rebounding opportunities.
Focus dropped off after a great start to the game.
Outrebounded again. Millien/ Bailey can probably take care of this.

Highlights: 1) Zach pass to Hammack for layup
2) Zach/ bennett's D on Gill
3) Highlight plays including the 2 man alley-oop- amazing
4) EC starting to get back to form
5) Great work rate

Lets hope for another big win Sunday!

KFED rocks the party

2009-02-14T13:31:00.001-08:00

c'mon.. it had to be didn't it? He played as well as I imagine that K_fed would. Shame on RS for no Brittney moments!

Rainmen's new coach rings the changes

2009-02-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

What a game again! The difference between a nice guy and a bball coach is obvious. I am trying to get my fingers going here. Had a couple few and it was a good time. Section 22-24 were representing all night. Les Berry = More wins is a common chant. Les went with the players who we thought would be contributors in his system. Bailey, Jimmy, Bennett, Cordell, Silverhorn, Zach and EC performed at the expected levels. I have some issues with the scoring and not just for the Bailey bias. I know he had a couple blocks during that game and even though they went to other teams, they should be his. I remember at least 2.

We all have a feeling that it will take a couple weeks. I thought that Hammack and EC looked lost but that after a few practises they will be up to speed as the rest of the team will. Overall the defensive intensity was amazing even though we got outrebounded. The ability of all our players to get loose in the paint led to free points for all players. I am sure that EC had more than 2 points as I remember a dunk and a three point play, can't wait to see the boxscore tomorrow.

Big losers in the new system seem to be Dandridge and Strick. I think that both players will get more minutes overall but are being encouraged with defensive intensity and playing smart. I think they have the capability and need to show it. I did miss Ec's crazy dunks, but that will start to come along with the free baskets that this offense will bring.

Great work les and team, we look forward to an even better game next week.

Rainmen finally make the change

2009-02-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

A short version today as the papers and Parsons are all over this. The Rainmen fired Lewis and are looking for a new head coach. I loved what Lucas and Parsons wrote today and the positivity in the building could be amazing if Andre pulls the trigger and brings back EC. This could be a huge midseason boost to the squad and hopefully propel them to the playoffs. I know it hurts to fire a coach at any level, but I think everyone knew this needed to be done now rather than at the end of the year. The return of EC should boost attendance. A new coach can bring new dynamics to the team. We now have four weeks left to gel and make playoffs. Lets make it happen.

PS.. Starting lineup, EC , Strick, Sanders, Silverhorn and Jimmy. The subs become easy as you bring Kevin/ Tony for Jimmy, Cordell/ Bailey for Sanders, Dandridge for Brian and Ramey/ Bailey for EC when you want to go smaller.. Come on Rainmen.

Everton finally lose!

2009-01-31T12:53:00.000-08:00

The unbeaten run has ended care of a ronaldo penalty shot. I guess it is only fitting that the player whom Phil Nev tackled to inspire the team to our turning point would put us a away with a fearless penalty shot.

We didn't really show a lot in this game and after a run of three draws in a row twice at liverpool and once to Arsenal, this was a lot to ask of a small squad. Now we lose 1-0 to Man U and then back to Goodison with Liverpool.

Ronaldo was playing well, hitting the post with a toe poke and Tevez was shifty. Their movement is much better than any other team in the league and they drew us out well. Arteta's penalty was weak and reminded me of Peinaar's last year. A tough way to lose. We always battle well, but legs have to be getting tired with most players in the squad playing 90 minutes a game. It will be great if we get the two players in from Rennes, but they have shown an unwillingness to actually get the players to us so I don't know how that will go. Here's to another tough one this week v the Pool!

SirVal comes clean

2009-01-30T03:37:00.000-08:00

So everything that we all knew has been confirmed by a released player. SirVal (not so shockingly) claims that we have no plays, that Lewis can't managed his bench and that EC did nothing wrong. Surprise, not. But judging from what he said about Andre, that is surprising. I would hope players coming here get correct feedback from the owner, but I would like to hear Andre's side. Val played ok at a few points this year, but was still throwing up crazy shots, like the rest of the team, because we don't run enough plays. How is this possible at this level?

If this is the case, I am surprised that AL (Andre) has taken such as stance on Eric and backed his terrible coach. The talent is definitely on this team but we need better coaching to move us forward. AL seems to be at every event, so he is probably at practise as well. He is smart enough to know if they are running any kinds of sets and so are the basketball fans. At this level of sports, there isn't a lot to choose between the best and worst teams. The only key variable that can determine a season is coaching.

I am dissappointed in the organization that this has happened now and hopefully this doesn't stop free agents from coming here. Maybe McGriff and people like that saw the lack of coaching and decided they needed more. The fans need more for sure and I hope that SirVal is exagerrating, but I am afraid he is probably not.

Rafa benitez and other bitter managers

2009-01-29T19:24:00.000-08:00

I am getting tired of Rafa's comments. All we hear is how teams play negatively. Everton's roster was put together for about $26 million pounds, much less than Liverpool who paid around that much for Torres, 7 plus for Riera, 6 for Pennant and it goes on. We are having to rely on our academy and buys from lower levels which means technically less skilled players with more heart than their hired guns. To players like Torres, kissing a club badge is like kissing a stack of cash, because that is all he cares about.

Rafa, it is your job to outcoach Moyes and the team's job to outwork them. If you can't figure out a way to get through the Blue wall, then maybe it is time to go. Same for you Arsene if you start whining (which he didn't). You won't hear Ferguson crying about it because he understands that the lower teams have to scrap for their points. Instead we build a team on honest players and get the most out of them. So stop your crying and get back to the drawing board. God that bugs me. You would never hear an NFL coach whine about stuff like that.

Rainmen take over first

2009-01-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

OK, so we won. I am excited. But we were up by 25 on one of the best teams in the league and we allowed it to dwindle to 4 pts before putting it away. Lewis has made some weird decisions this year, but this was the topper. It is understandable that a team will go on runs. How do you change the momentum? Take a timeout, run a different play, make a sub or watch the lead dwindle to 11 pts before doing anything? You got it, it's the Sub from the stupid Subway commercial. IE.. it is so blatantly obvious that you need to do something that you don't do it.

Lewis is a good guy in public. We hear more and more about what goes on behind closed doors and I watch his decisions and I wonder why? Why leave Jimmy, shooting less than 50% at the time from the line in the game when they were fouling? Why not get the ball to Dandridge, who was spotless from the line until late in the fourth? Why not run the clock down and kill the game?

All questions I can't answer. it becomes apparent that he has his favorites and although he has now added in some plays, he is not that basketball astute. I know it is easy to criticise, but there are times as a coach you have to do something. This isn't fair play leagues where you have to give players crunch time minutes. You need to notch the wins and get to playoffs. He needed to call a timeout and everyone in the crowd, including Darrell Dexter agreed. Go coalition, lol.. !

Now for the positives, and there were many. What an amazing third quarter running a 10 point lead to 25 at one point. We defended doggedly and got some steals and forced bad shots. It was awesome to behold as a fan. We need to continue to bury teams when they are down.

Dandridge had what I felt was his best game so far. He shot under control, he came off screens and he got to the rim a couple times, drawing fouls. He got a few boards and looked very good overall, ending up with 23 pts and a couple boards. When he gets to the hoop and pulls up, he has a very good shot. He only took one crazy shot. Also, they assigned him to guard Ferguson "moneyball" and he kept him relatively quiet.

Strick continues to develop as a great low post option. He scored some points, riled the other team and had some wicked assists. His foulshooting is terrible but amusing. Hilarity when he is on the floor. I may have to make a binocular sign for next game!

Sanders was a beast. 30 points on 10-13 shooting, putting them in foul trouble in a dominant third period. 16 boards, a few swipes at people's heads and brought some fire to the team. He is a great player and I regret saying he had no heart last year.. but he does. How could they let him go.

Bailey had another solid game and I would love to see more of him. He is a utility guy that bangs inside, goes for boards and gets some blocks. With Rob, Strick, Silverhorn playing well, it ate up some minutes. Brian's return was key but I don't like the lack of running back, especially on the home court, make some effort, but a good return overall with 22 and 6. Overall the foulshooting seemed better and the three point percentage was way up from 26 to 38% owing to getting wide open looks which I do have to credit Lewis for as the team is running some new plays and getting the ball to where people can have a look at the hoop. It seems Dandridge is out of the funk and hopefully he stays there. Still love to see more Ramey and Cordell wasn't getting much run tonight after a good game on the weekend.

Premier Rodney Mayes added some great hustle off the bench and it was good to see Coach Strick working with Tyrone and getting him inside. new guy Bennett added some spark and he could be a valuable addition slashing and driving and dishing. Looks like another good pickup.

Now the scary.. They lit us up for threes in the end making it extremely uncomfortable for the team and the fans. Lewis needs to keep us with big leads to keep the fans from losing their minds. He had no plan to stop the threes and CP had a great idea to foul their players and make them hit the 1 and 1 but they were shooting from the line really well.

Taunting
Our favorite guy today was number 33, Scary Carey who started doing some yapping during the game which got us into it.. We were so in his head. Not a bad player, but he should have been going against Strick all night. That was a fun matchup. also we gave him the gears for being very tired after running the court three times and then getting subbed. Hilarious and he was even looking over afterwards when he got a couple points... Scoreboard...

Strick is going to be trouble if he has to pop on on the screen and rolls, his guy scored a few long range Js. That is going to need coaching work. Ferguson "mOneyball " got great abuse due to his angry face, his one week in the NBA comment, his teammates wearing his shirt (lol), taunting them for how hard it was to play in front of 2000 instead of 50 in manchester, the lack of him playing any crunchtime minutes and the fact that one of our worst defenders was guarding him. I am glad we didn't pick up Mitchell with his diving antics. Number 7 drew our ire for throwing the ball hard off Bailey for which he got Teed up for. That was a terrible call. Chris was on him for not living like a Christian and not acting as Jesus wanted him too.. We will have to talk to that guy. BDPhil was on Salsheider for walking like someone from Deliverance..that one took a while Phil?? And of course, the coach took some abuse for always standing. CP was wondering when the goon squad was coming in and we all enjoyed the full line change. Sadly it changed the game to them for a while.

Note: I am not convinced on the stats because new guy Bennett had five points I am sure.

Highlights: Dandridge alley oop from Jimmy
Jimmy with a massive block
Strick's googles
EC's chain
Lewis finally calling timeout after a 14 pt run..
New guy bennett splitting the defence with crazy dribbles
Lastly, the huge putback dunk by Sanders.. that was awesome.. How did they let him go??

Last word: Consistency will be key in our next game. Dandridge continuing to hit the easy J's and stretching the defence, Silverhorn's contribution, and defensive intensity.. Keep it going Rainmen.

Blues Draw Old Foe

2009-01-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

I have to say that overall I thought Liverpool dominated the second half, but never in a threatening way. I thought on the balance of play that we created as many good chances if not more than Liverpool. Two Cahill headers brought out excellent saves from Reina, Anichebe went close and then Osman had a decent chance as well plus the goal. Liverpool had the Torres breakaway, the Gerrard goal, Reira's close shave as well as the strike that Howard saved. I am extremely happy with the overall workrate but really we gave the ball away too easily to be effective. Great job by Moyes, but when will we see the youngsters really play?

The future of the Rainmen!

2009-01-15T04:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, after having read just about everything on the Crook story, I am happy that there is something much deeper than just words with the coach that have brought us to the place we are at. One thing I dislike about this is the constant referencing of how they would discipline a child. This is a 27 year old man and should be treated as such. I want to reiterate that if for the long term stability of the club, they needed to do this, that is fine, but we need to find that voice for the Rainmen. All of the players are talented, but we need that rim-rocking, crowd raising player. Where is that going to come from?

One thing that did get fired up is the message board! Wow, Section 23 was rocking from the afternoon through the late evening. At least people are still excited about the club which is great. But the Rainmen need to find their "new" identity quickly. Hopefully Strickland can help with the grit and points downlow. I would love to see a starting 5 of SirVal, Twyman, Bailey, Sanders and Jeanty. That gives us good depth/ size downlow and then some amazing three point threats coming off the bench with Ramey and Dandridge. When Brian is healthy, he can slot in for Cordell. I hope that the players will step up their games now and push to see who can take the title of team leader. I honestly hope it is Bailey when Brian is out.

Crookshank Canned!

2009-01-14T11:36:00.001-08:00

I am shocked. There are no words to describe the sinking feeling one gets. This is like when Brady got taken out.. a literal stomach punch. I am not debating that Eric was out of line, but wow, professional players say this all the time and get a slap on the wrist. Where is the player's union on this one? I am seriously debating getting a refund on my season tickets.

Rainmen lose tight game to Sasquatch

2009-01-13T05:34:00.000-08:00

A tough 105-103 loss in this game. The end tale of the tape will show many missed free throws ended up costing us the game, coupled with some very poor three point shooting decisions. I had to think about this game for a while to give it a fair review. The play of Bailey and Brown was definitely a highlight for me (except the silly fouls when they were in the bonus in the third quarter). Brown was able to press up the court as was Twyman and it made it hard for the 'Squatch to get in rythm during the second half. SirVal had a couple good drives, a couple good passes and a couple threes. Bailey had a remarkable 8 blocks including passages of play where he blocked two consecutive by Montreal's top scorer. When he went out injured, I was worried as to where the energy would come from.

I still don't know why Crook was benched. I have no problem benching players, but usually a couple shifts is good. To sit down your star player for over 2 quarters is extreme and I hope Lewis had good reason. I am all for it if it keeps the team in line. In reality, we are missing a special piece of coaching. Overall the product is better than last year, but that is due to player abilities. I saw 2 plays run, a high screen (usual play) and then some high/ low screens. Even at higher levels, they run specific clearouts for specific players to hit the mismatches. For a few minutes Sanders was matched against a much smaller player and we could not take advantage. Whereas the Montreal players were constantly moving to support the ball and get open. In the fourth quarter, our intensity was high, stopping perimeter play, but our down low players could not stop the layups and second chance points.

Here is what I liked about the game: Full Court man to man press got them out their rythm
Play of Bailey and Sir Val was good and Cordell mostly came inside instead of focussing on jump shots. Jimmy was also solid. Sanders did as expected, Ramey was solid although he shot an airball.
Ran at least two plays including some screens off the ball
Less heave and hope three pointers
Defensive intensity
Shorter game intro...
Their coach was funny!

What I didn't like: Randy Gill- classic whiteboy syndrome, he was an assho....
What is going on with Kevin? In preseason (injured) he was getting to the hoop and took over the third quarter in one game.. we need that back at the point to open lanes for shooters
No adjustments for mismatches
No Eric
Tyrone trying to strip their 7 footer- play him straight up!

Random Rant:
Not starting our top lineup..Why is Dandridge still starting? The team needs to understand when the players are working to their best ability. Who shoots well coming off screens? Who needs to have a set shot? Can anyone work downlow? To me, it looks like Crook, Sanders, Silverhorn (or Cordell/Bailey if we want to go big), Jimmy and Kevin (when fit). I know it doesn't give you a pure shooting guard, but most of these players can hit that long 2...Zach does not shoot well from the cornersor middle but is light's out from the right and left of the key...I have not seen one player post up yet, not even our 7 footer, everyone wants to attack off the dribble..what a great pass to Ramey from Val for the alley oop...where was the interior D in the fourth...Why does Dandridge shoot at will..we missed Silverhorn...

Rick Lewis
I want to say that Lewis is a very well spoken man with a great ability to relate to people and create a connection. I would imagine this is why he has done so well til now as a coach. It must be hard to coach players that are trying to get a good statline in order to try and make it to the show. To think we can get players to give up for the greater good, may not be possible in this league. I don't believe that because we didn't see QC or MTL take really poor shots. Our team, while talented, is selfish. We seem to have a great team spirit (all credit to coach and owner) but are not basketball smart as a team. We need to really play to our players strengths. Lets get some movement to open lanes and get our feet moving instead of chucking up threes when noone is under the net to rebound. That part is frustrating to fans and players alike. I hope that by the second half of the season, Lewis will allow the team to evolve and get them playing better as a team, instead of just individuals.

Solid win for the Blues

2009-01-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

2-0 over a solid but slumping Hull squad. it wasn't an amazing performance, but definitely good enough. Player ratings:

Howard-7- nothing to do at all

Jags-9

Lescott-9

Baines-8- got forward and whipped in dangerous crosses

Hibs-7-solid

Neville- 8- loved him, didn't put a foot wrong today and passes better than usual

Arteta- 7- didn't get too involved but solid

Ossie- 7 workrate

Pienaar-7 see above

Cahill-7- did well

Fellaini-8 would have been higher except the booking

Anichebe- 5- stay on your feet son!

Overall a good win, man of the match for me was Neville for playing above usual standard! The derbies should be interesting, we may see Castillo/Neville/ Arteta central with Anichebe up top.

Everton 2-0 and counting

2009-01-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

What a game. Fractious at times.. Our defence has been resolute and this is the first game I have been really impressed by Neville this year. As mentioned earlier, I actually feel this is an old school game with the tackles going in. These two teams are fully committed. In this second half, Arteta is knocking the ball well, but our full backs have not joined in the play at all. Fellaini and Cahill have been the focal point and doing well holding the ball for Ossie and Pienaar to get in.

How many times does a player need to be praised, week after week, by announcers, until he is not an "unsung hero" anymore? I love Ossie, but they say that every week. He is an important player and I am sure first on Moyes' team sheet week after week.

Jags is down.. not good. Fellaini out for two derbys. I guess we are playing Victor up top. The difference in this half really has been our fullbacks not attacking at will anymore, probably by design.

Everton live!

2009-01-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

Everton has started well in the 4-5-1 with Fellaini and Cahill running up front. Some fantastic passing movements reminding the squad of last year. The axis of Pienaar, Arteta, Fellaini and Osman have been running the show in the middle. Fellaini scored on a wonderful buildup with Baines, Arteta, Pienaar and Fellaini for a brilliant offside goal..finally a break. Then Osman flashes one through the box and Cahill was close. Our backline has been exceptional the last five games and has looked commanding so far, even Baines. As usual, doubts about Hibs persist, but today he has been sharp on the ball and not overextending.

Good to see that Barmby back at Goodison and getting booed by the fans. Deserves it as the last man to cross Stanley Park. The good news was he sucked with Liverpool and is ineffective today so far.

28- Fellaini misses a sitter on another buildup with Cahill and Ossie. The game has settled down a bit now and we are running the show. After watching everton play in the Cup winners cup last week, it is amazing the fouls they let go, or didn't card. It was a different time and players had better ability to care for themselves. We are kinda weak compared to them..

Rainmen win Home Opener

2009-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

The Rainmen continued their hot start to the season with a 124-112 win over Quebec. Overall this was a very solid game for the Rainmen. We saw what Sanders brings to the squad including 10/10 shooting (most in the paint), defence and tenacity. I think he was the only player to hit the floor today (saving #9 on QC, the flop king). He made some sweet inside passes and set up Eric for some great finishes. Rob also seems to be the only one who isn't afraid to foul to stop a break by the other team. Jimmy Twyman gave us a great boost from the bench and his slashing to the hoop opened up a couple great 3 point looks as well.

I really liked the team today when we had Sanders, Crookshank, Twyman, Brown and Dandridge out there. Realistically, I think tonight the best players we could have runout together were Sanders, Crookshank, Twyman, Bailey and Silverhorn. The QC team didn't have a lot of speed and were focusing on threes and quick penetration. Dandridge and Brian were ok tonight but not great. Silverhorn is going to need to get going at the rim with more intensity. I find he hits seams well and can penetrate off the dribble but shies away from contact. We know he has the shooting game, but that finishing threat would really help round out the game. Bailey was playing well around the hoop and hustling. With him and Rob in the squad, we shouldn't get out hustled by any team.

Sir Val is obviously explosive and can score but shoots at will. I think this is a team philosophy, maybe like Dantoni's 7 seconds before a shot goes up. There were too many spot up shots without an attempt to pass at all. if you look at the total assists stats (11), that is terrible. The team looked like we were shoot first and run a play second. The high pick with Sanders and any guard was working well and creating opportunities, while any isolation play produced results with Rob and Eric especially. There were too many first look shots with no rebounder even in the key. This needs to be corrected.

So the negatives- too many needless turnovers at the top of the 3 point line, allowing about 20 reverses with no help in the game, ridiculous 3 pointers, no second option on a play/ movement.

Positive- help defence got better after a flat start, some good passing movement, intensity, coaching (getting the players who were performing out for the end of the game to close), great shooting and free throw shooting, ENTERTAINING!

The Halifax crowd was dead for the LONG opening sequence. Halifax has a rep for being a tough place to play and even the QC coach mentioned this after the game. Teams don't look forward to coming to a big, loud barn. So Halifax, it is time to cheer, yell, shout, taunt and have some fun. This is going to be an exciting year.

For other great pieces on this check out Section 23 by Chris Parsons and the Lucas Blog (linked above) on the Herald page.

Everton through 2009..

2009-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick midseason review on Everton. After a lackluster start, going out of the UEFA Cup to Liege and the Carling Cup, we managed to play decent .500 footie. It has only been in the last 2 months where we have been close to the standard that we set last year. What has been the biggest surprise is that our defence has been allowing a lot of goals, and bad ones at that. All three goals at Villa should have been avoided. I attribute that loss to Carsley not being re-signed. I am all of bringing up young players, but Rodwell has not looked ready to stepup and we need someone who will thump the ball into row Z. Overall, with the lack of players we have brought in, I feel that we are doing well to be sitting in 6th overall and poised to move up one spot.

The recent wins have coincided with a lack of fit strikers with Vaughan and Yak out for the season and Saha and Anichebe sidelined. This has led to 4 out of five 1-0 wins with Cahill and Fellaini grinding up front. There is a strong need to purchase a striker in the window and I would love to see us get a winger that can be beat people down the line and get a cross in. It seems like that is the only goal we can score, so we need the production down the line.

The Macclesfield game was dissapointing but not unexpected. A 1-0 win flattered us, although we had good possession on a bumpy field. Howard had a key save at the end and save us an embarrassing replay at home.

My halfseason grades are as follows out of 10:
Howard- 9- has been spectacular all year
Nash-NA
Hibbert 3- occassionally shows he is a solid defender but time and time again his crossing is poor
Lescott-6 seemingly back on form, scoring a bit but should have tackled A.Cole against Villa and taken the booking to save the draw. Getting beaten a lot 1v1
Yobo-7 solid this year, making less mistakes
Jags- 8 one terrible mistake otherwise great
Baines-5 -ok in the team, has his last chance to impress now, can get forward well
Neville 7- love him at right back, starting to play well as a stopper, he is what he is
Arteta- 8- best player centrally this year, we can keep the ball with him- DO NOT SELL
Fellaini-8 Another surprise, I think he will end up almost justifying 15 million
Osman-9 - for me the player of the year so far, scores, can play, defends well, love him!
Castill- looks ok, not enough to prove he can play here yet
Gosling- 3 games under belt and three wins...
Pienaar 7- his injury really hurt us early.. showing his stripes now
VDMayde- sell please for the million we will get
Rodwell-5 looks ok, needs more time
Cahill- 8- scoring, defending and working his ass off, great work Tim..
Saha-6- ok when he plays, same old story
Yak-6 -played ok this year
Vaughan 5- out again, could be his career
Anichebe 4- he needs to score sometime, should get some minutes now.

All for now.. I am hoping for a good second half finish although we may lose in the next round to the Pool who are playing well! Hopefully gerard goes to jail and we have a chance..

It's been a while

2009-01-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since I have been off. I won the HRSB School Board Seat for District 7 beating the nearest competitor by 1500 votes. It was a lot of work and much door knocking. It was very exciting. We have been hard at work for two months now and expect the next three months to be busy.

Everton has been off to a weird start to the season. A terrible beginning and then they have slowly climbed back to respectability in 6th place and should end 5th or 6th at worst this year. I will write about that more in the next posting, but I am loving the arteta move to central midfield and feel this is a great spot for him in our club.

I will alss be throwing down about the Rainmen in this blog. I am loving the intensity that we saw in the 4th quarter of the last exhibition game. I am looking forward to this year, first game Jan 9. Good to be back..

Enough thought, time for action

2008-07-30T12:57:00.001-07:00

I am in. The ways in which young leaders can help shape an amazing future for HRM are many. The reasons to run again centre around RESPECT. Respect will cover some main themes:
Diversity
Teacher/Student/ Family relationships
The environment
The future of the students, teaching them to live and work in the community, not just learn from textbooks
For the hard work of teachers and administrators and staff to make the system better
New ideas, leadership development positive reinforcement
Generational differences
Other students

I am working out campaign themes right now and getting ready for a fun 3 months of campaigning. Love to hear from you.

One more day in the thought process

2008-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

I have had lots of time to think about running for school board. There are many pluses and minuses to running. I actually broke down by hour my week and if I can keep the board time down to 4 hours per week, then this is a manageable commitment. Of course, this is based on winning.

Here are some of the key issues I think would need to be addressed within the new board agenda: Bullying/ school violence, RESPECT for kids and teachers, diversity, greening of the economy, empowering family and teachers, technology, generational changes in learning and personality (attitudes), ways of learning and how students get ready for the job market and careers.

The biggest issue arises around time. If there is a commitment to educate people as to the what the school board's mandate is, then this is very manageable. I know I can make a big difference in the city and this seems like a great position to help influence the city and its' direction. I will make a decision today.

Halifax School Board- running?

2008-07-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I have been on. Since I have been on, I have almost finalized my decision to run for the HRM School Board. I have been very impressed with staff at the Board and the current Board- Howard Windsor- seems to be an amazing leader. There are some key traits that he brings to his role that I see could translate into a new board. Decisive, broad thinking, energetic, intelligent and forthright will be key elements in the new board.

Halifax is screaming for new leaders and I feel that I can bring a lot to the table to help the School board grow. Some of my key elements I bring to this role will be strength, strategy background, negotiation, marketing and relationship development. The board needs leaders and there are reasons pro and con for running. If I make a final decision soon, it is going to be a fun ride.

Euro Final

2008-06-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

This was a sight I was excited to see. After screwing England, and now working on ManU, it was great to see Portugal go out. I can't stand Ronaldo as an athlete, although I respect his talent immensely. Me first players don't lose all the time but they should!

My predictions for round two were way off. With the exception of Spain over Italy in penalties which I predicted, my picks went downhill. I was surprised at the Holland result, but they have been chronic underachievers for years. So my Spain v Holland matchup spectacular could never have happened. But the German team have been surprising with their attacking flair. Schweinstieger, Podolski and Klose have been working very well together. Two suspect defences in the Final may make for a better than expected final.

My prediction will have to be Germany to win. I can't see Spain shutting down their counterattack and Iniesta has been very disappointing. However, Torres could be the wild card if Spain can play to his strengths of attacking at pace. Germany is better equipped mentally for the occassion and I would expect a 3-2 or 2-1 game in their favour. PS, I would have predicted both semifinals correct if anyone was counting.

Euro 2008

2008-06-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Never one to toot my own horn.. I just want to draw attention to my picks for the Euro quarterfinals. 100% accuracy guaranteed, including my darkhorses the Russians and the surprise Turks who upset the Czechs in an amazing game. I usually can't get one game correct. The odds must have been ridiculous. Here are my picks for the next round:
Portugal in overtime against Germany. Should be fun watching them mass defend Ronaldo.
Holland over Russia 2-1.
Croats over turks in what will be a discipline free game.
Lastly, Spain over Italy in penalties..

Everton Complete Successful Year

2008-05-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

A huge victory for Everton FC yesterday with a win over listless Newcastle. Minus Martins and Viduka, this Newcastle team was a shadow of their squad from even last week. Owen was mediocre and EFC showed another great example of what a good squad they can be. There are some changes that need to be made and hopefully 2-3 young players will establish themselves next year. That being said, 5th place and UEFA Cup is a big accomplishment for this squad, especially with how they have missed Cahill and Arteta this year.

Yakubu can be a great striker in this league, but he will need to prove that he can go day in and day out for the Blues to be successful. There is a great base to develop in this team, but there will need to be some cash spent to make the next leap. Everton needs 1-2 bona fide superstars to prove that they can be in the Top 4 and Champion's League. EFC need Cahill to play the system they played for a lot of the year, but they also need other options to break down teams on the wings. Right now there is no player like Ronaldo who is confident enough to beat players all day long. This is going to be an interesting offseason for Moyes.

Everton Season Drawing to Close

2008-05-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been hectic in the football calendar. Everton have been producing poor form over the last few weeks. Coupled with some key injuries, the squad has shown its lack of depth. All the games have been competitive but we have lacked that killer instinct from the first six months of the season. Arteta and Ossie have been sorely missed while Aj's injury piled on the problem.

As I have noted previously, there is a need for more good squad players. We can't compete to win against the big clubs yet and results recently have put us needed a result in the last match. While I am totally confident this will happen, it would have been a lot better for many Evertonian's hearts to wrap this up a while ago. I said that Aston Villa were the squad to watch and they are definitely up and coming if they can lock down some good squad players. Similar to Everton in this regard and I think it will be the same teams locked in battle for these spots next year, depending on how loose owners are this summer.

Man Utd has been impressive as has Chelsea and these upcoming two games are ones to relish. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks and watching a exciting final from Russia.

Another win for VP Common Sense

2008-04-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

So one of my writing heroes is Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy. I absolutely look forward to his articles on sports every week and enjoying Celtics and Patriots commentary with a "homer" view. His

VP of Common sense stories are hilarious and I believe that we need to incorporate this position into our City. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index. His VP would look at all sports decisions, trades, punishments and make sure they make sense to everyone.

If we had this, we would have stopped dumping polluted water into our harbour, knowing it would eventually have to be cleaned up. We would have worked with the school board as soon as things looked like they may go pear shaped. We would not release transit plans to the public before they were confirmed. HRM would have implemented better transit years ago preparing for the growth of downtown and created bike paths, more reward for carpooling and better buslines. Lastly, we would not have even opened the Cat Bylaw question. Thanks to that one neighbour who had 47 cats running around her property and prompted this ridiculous waste of time.

I am happy to declare for VP Common Sense and take all the huge wages along with it.

Transit Trouble

2008-04-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

I have written before about lack of vision and how it can be resolved. Why is there now a new five year plan? It is crazy that HRM councillors can be planning for certain things and then do another reverse. Why wasn't this worked on five years ago. At work, if I reversed on a project after 1 year, I would have to answer some serious questions about my research and decision making. Peter, check out my transit plan:
Get the new garage built for Halifax to stop deadheading
Express buses: Spryfield/ Herring Cove
Clayton Park
Preston
Eastern Passage
Musquodoboit
Hubbards

Bus Lanes
Bike Lanes
Extra ferry to go faster and transport more people
No Buses on Spring Garden

Everton trouble?

2008-04-16T04:44:00.000-07:00

Here is your player of the season. The more it is examined, it is really up between Lescott and Howard. He only allowed 1-2 cheesy goals this year. Lescott scored 9 this year. Lescott was a beast coming out of the back and Howard kept us in so many games this year. Yak scored, but not always against the Big clubs and in UEFA. Arteta missed a lot of time. If we can secure a draw Thursday, then I would say we are in the clear for 5th place. Portsmouth is trouble though, the Blues need to win out after Chelsea or at least secure 7 points in the last four games for 5th. All hope for overtaking Liverpool is gone as they seem to be peaking in time for Champion's League. Chelsea might be in trouble next week.

Depth of squad killed us with no Ossie or Artie.. Need those players fit and we need more depth. 3-4 players in the transfer window and making sure we are healthy for next season are key.

Another Liverpool escape

2008-04-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

The only thing to say is, how is the "foul" on Babel a penalty and the "foul" by Kuyt not. Garbage officiating the last two weeks. My lack of love for Liverpool grows by the week.

Blues scrape through

2008-04-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

Everton did not give a great account of themselves last weekend. With a few more bodies back, including the vital AJ and Anichebe they managed to scrape out a tough win over Derby. That brings back to discussions on how good the Toffees are. Really, are they a top five team? Yes. Has this season worn on them due to lack of squad depth? Yes. The club needs to add a couple quality players for next year including a dominant central midfielder and a couple wingers. Yobo was crazy in that game, just bad decision making all game long and as a club they still need to get faster and get the ball down.

The annoying thing is they do it in spells, usually with Pienaar on the field and the Blues miss him more than I first believed. There has got to be better options. A great finish by Ossie after Fernandes finally showed some class that he did last year. It is hard to break into the Top 4, but even those teams have some off games against lesser known opponents.

Rumours started about Arteta leaving. I don't think he will go, but would understand. Moyes the the club do everything to bow down to him, but he is not getting his look in with the National Team. if you look down the lineup, Xavi, Inesta, Albiol, Fabregas, Joaquin, Alonso and Senna, that is some very talented players in front of him. Could he add something to that kind of team, for sure! But if Everton doesn't play that Spanish style in midfield, it is hard to see how he will be noticed. Here's hoping he gets a look in. Would love to see him in a (Spanish) English shirt.!

http://www.caughtoffside.com/tags/premier-league/everton

Everton disaster

2008-03-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Another tough game for the lads. When you line up with Nev and Cars centrally, you know that there is not a lot of attacking intent. The Yak was out of sorts and overall we got dominated in the first half. Gerrard, Lucas and Babel should have put them up 3-0 easy in the first half. As Arteta slipped inside, better possession occurred in the second half, but really we never threatened the penalty areas except an Osman header just wide. If Gerrard had played like this for England, they would be amazing.

I am pretty upset that we showed not enough drive and had no subs to use. Baines did well when he came on, but Hibbert is nicht so gut! He has to be on the bench. I know we need to build a squad, but I would rather have Lescott right and Baines or Valente on the left to give us better balance. Everton needs a couple good results against the Brummies and Derby to lock in a fourth spot and Euro football next year. I just don't know how we can accomplish this without a second striker. Get better soon AJ!

Anxious for Everton

2008-03-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

So scared right now. I have that feeling like before the SuperBowl this year. A little confident, but more than a little scared. This derby, while I don't think will define our season is key. Although we are firmly established as a top 6 team, there is a pressing need to get into top 4 and challenge Europe. Portsmouth is doing well and making a late run at it while Villa and Blackburn have really fallen off. I still feel we are not going to have the legs to do that this year but a good result tomorrow against the Pool is key. The loss of Tim Cahill is key because noone in the Premier League plays that late running midfielder as well as he does. Tomorrow's lineup should look like this:
Howard- Lescott, Yobo, Jags, Neville- Carsley, Ossie, Fernandes, Arteta, Pienaar- Yak. looks good to me, but I see this being a very tight game throughout the match and hopefully AJ comes in late to shake it up for us. The only wrinkle is that if Pienaar can't go that Victor starts up high with Yak and we really push from the get go. GO BLUES!

Premier League Title Race

2008-03-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

We were treated to two amazing games on Sunday. In the first, typical Liverpool showing no attacking invention except two shots by Alonso and Gerrard. Rooney was a force in this game and skinned Caragher repeatedly. Rooney should have had a penalty and really if not for a couple key (bizarre) saves by Reina, this game could have been done before the red card. Mascherano and these other players know that is a ref says enough, it is the same in any language. On the replay, the card looks harsh, but who knows what was said to ref Bennett before that moment. He could have already been on his last warning. I am the last person who wants referees to get away without criticism, but imagine being surrounded at your job, berated and sworn at until you had to do something to relieve the tension. As mentioned in a previous post, I felt Cole should have been sent off last week and he continues this week with his shenanigans. The refs need to be FOR the players, but the players need to understand they get assessed as well. if this is not working, then we need more past players to pick up the whistle and help. ManU then tore a strip off of Liverpool which was very enjoyable to watch as a whole, but will fire up the Reds for our big Derby next weekend.

In the big Chelsea win, Drogba was amazing after a lackluster first half and the introduction of Anelka and Belletti changed the game. Essien is a totally different player in the middle and I think the Lampard was the worst player for Chelsea on the pitch while Terry and Drogba were immense. Essien, Ballack, Cole and SWP or Malouda would allow for Anelka and Drogba to pair up, which could be a very scary combination with pace and power. Applause for the The Grinch (Grant) who pulls off a big win. It looks like Chelsea should now hold onto second with Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton rounding out the top 5.

Everton Player Breakdown

2008-03-18T15:37:00.001-07:00

Always wanted to run through Everton's lineup and have my say on the season and upcoming and what they should do with players.

Stars
Arteta- So glad they resigned him. The creativity on the right and ability to draw FK is amazing. Has not scored near enough this year and would like to see him more forward and less defending.
Lescott- What a player, scores, defends, gets forward, how is he not past Ashley Cole on the England depth Chart, see next blog.
Cahill- Adds another dimension to the team, passion and has amazing springs. If we continue 4-4-1-1 that is his spot and hopefully we will convert Vaughan to a winger for playing time.
Yak-I add him here because of what he could be and that is a devastating striker. He has great control, good 1v1 and is an above average passer of the ball. He has a great partnership with Pienaar especially and brings all players into the game. His shooting is subpar for a top striker, but he finishes breakaways and in the box. I feel like AJ could play there, but not if we are playing to feet, then he becomes waste. With more consistency, he can be even better, but he is still a stud.
When any of these four players are out, plus Carsley, we struggle.

Top Players
Yobo- So solid, only remember two big mistakes this year.
Howard- breakthrough year for him, been very consistent and except for the Arsenal thrashing he has been great and made timely saves. No more lobs like last year.
AJ-Can perform at this level as he showed last year. A full year with Yak would be good and with these four strikers we can have impact in all competitions.
Jagielka- Solid defender and could see him being a backup for England. His timing has been superd through the second half of the year.

Going to break through
Anichebe/ Vaughan- Love both these players and could be a combo for the future but I am sure one will get raided by a big club and then break down ala Frannie Jeffers.
Leighton Baines- He is a strong player defending and above average going forward, he was in the England Squad.

Squad
Pienaar- Great one touch player but does a lot of careless thing such as tackle backwards. Worth signing for $3.5 million.
Carsley- Seem to lose our shape without him. This has been his best year, but he is still prone to some gaffes. He has gotten much better on the ball this year, probably a good run in the squad has done him well.
Neville-Long had I hated him, but he is a top pro (read average player that says the right things and trains hard) plays hard for the squad and I think should be starting right back.
Hibbert- I guess we need a third choice right back, but I would feel better without him, love to see a big signing there.
Valente- Good backup leftback, get forward well.
Ossie-Love his guile and creativity, fits in well with this squad, but not a star midfielder iun this league.
Fernandes- Gotta keep him for depth. I think from what I have seen he can make a mark.
Wessels- Seems like a god quality backup and squad keeper. Be interesting to see when the young lads come up.

?
Rodwell- No idea yet.
Anthony Gardner- squad defender
Young players- I have not seen anything of the lads this year and hope we have some quality coming through in the midfield.

Need to add: Right back, Class CM, LW- unless these players are coming through the ranks. Lets give them a run.

Need to go
Gravesen- I like him as a player, but we need someone else
Vandermeyde- Time to get $500,000 for him in Spain

Aston Villa v Everton

2008-03-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

New Interesting Soccer blog
http://www.caughtoffside.com/tags/premier-league/everton

Sigma Chi Capital Campaigns

2008-03-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

Searching through some capital campaigns I found a great deal of excellent material. While we have decided to not go with a company, Tony and I will be running the campaign. We are very excited and I think the brothers are happier seeing some money go to people who are very committed to the cause. Here are a couple of great Sig sites. I found tonnes more, but this was our starting block:

http://www.stanfordsigs.com/CapitalCampaign.htm
http://www.bradleysig.org/publications/campaign/Campaign%20Brochure.pdf

If you know of any great ones from any chapter or other organization pass them on as we are looking for great material to use for the chapter. Overall, if we can pay off short term debt, the mortgage and do $80,000 worth of repairs to the house, I would be ecstatic. Even better would be to build a renewable scholarship fund, leadership training funds, reduce the cost of living in the house as a recruitment tool and create future capital funds, that would be amazing.

The Fraternity does so much for so many people these days with friendships, learning, networking, business, job searches, community involvement and leadership development, it is a shame to lose good people who have not seen that side of the chapter. Also, it is key that older alumni get a sense of what they had when they were in school and get back to the chapter. It is amazing how it revitalizes you and brings back the spirit of youth. Here's to Great Success!

Everton in tough for fourth

2008-03-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

A week without watching my Blues was tough. Recorded and watched a bit of the Sunderland match where we looked clever at times, but other times not so hot. Lucky break for the AJ goal to count. In the end we would take that result with our injuries. The loss to Fiorentina sounded heartbreaking and again finishing and 1-2 small mistakes could end up costing us fourth and a later trip in UEFA and other cup competitions this year. Yak missing a pen is not surprising but I figured Jags would power one in. Oh well, another lesson learned.

The Fulham game is inexcusable. Moyes will say we were tired and praise the team, but I want to see Rodwell get some time and maybe our young strikers coming up could do a job. Maybe even a VanderMeyde return- just kidding. We must have more class coming through to supplement the lads when we are injured. Yes, it is tough losing bodies and playing through three games in just over a week, but the top clubs are there. Everton can't be there until we get a new stadium and new investment. Thank God for Kenwright, but we also need more money to supplement our great squad. Where is that extra touch of class that helps us polish off Fulham. With a full squad there is plenty of invention, but we need a couple more bodies especially in the midfield.

We need to push hard these last few games and lock down 4th/ 5th and get Liverpool out of where they don't belong. With all that cash, they should lock down fourth easily, so looking forward to the Derby!

So much Vegas

2008-03-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the highlights:

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. This was amazing. Had one big meal out in Vegas and LOVED it. Had the Mahi Mahi, shared the banana/creme/ gelato dessert and a pulled pork quaesadilla with avocado. I can't describe how good it was, but it was up there with my favorite meals of all time from: Bish, Hamachi House, DeMarizios and other fine establishments that ruled. Richard was a great server.

http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/caesars-palace/restaurants-dining/mesa-grill-detail.html

Golf with Tony at the Wild Horse.

Learning how to play craps at Sunset Station. I actually enjoyed this game as much as roulette and it could take over. http://www.sunsetstation.com/hotel/. The staff were amazing and a lot of fun. They spent time learning us the game so we could have a blast. I broke even at Sunset and lost at the Golden Nugget and Excalibur. Damn you Shad!

Golden Nugget- upgraded us to a huge suite.. So awesome! Check this blog on it. http://www.vegas4visitors.com/hotels/detail/goldennugget.htm. Definitely the best hotel on Fremont St.

Spending quality time with the wife walking around and just hanging out in Vegas.

Hoover Dam and Red Rocks Canyon were great. If you go on one day trip, hit these two places up. http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/

Lillies at the Nugget
MGM Grand to walk around
Little restaurant in back of Mandalay Bay

IHOP in Henderson and our super waitress, Michelle. You rock!

Didn't enjoy- Most arcades on Fremont St not including the Nugget.
Stay away from the Paradise Buffet at Sam Boyd's - gross
Crazy people selling time shares on the street

Vegas

2008-03-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

More details to follow but great first few days here. Upgraded to a huge suite at the golden nugget and really enjoyed the shark tank, swim, sushi and great customer service. I am sure there are some great blogs out there on this, but don't have time to swing it now.

Have a great house in Henderson, 15 mins to strip, fun housemates and enjoyed a great meal at the Memphis BBQ- thanks to Jen's mom for that free Vegas book. Then this morning it was back to the strip, Nugget for some gambling, everyone lost, ate at the Main street buffet. Great amount of food for $12 but everyone has been visiting the bathroom non-stop since then. Great day!

Sorry for missing church today, but I am sure the drinking and gambling made up for it.

Everton Loss

2008-03-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

First game I have not been able to watch in a while. Followed it on soccernet and it read like we got slaughtered and weren't able to do anything. By all accounts Fiorentina is a class team, but we should be able to hang with the mid-range teams. It was unfortunate and while I like the fact moyes went for the away goal, it might have been better earlier to try and swing the game at half or not at all and try for the win at home. I think that second goal is going to bite us in the ass.

Not one to doubt Moyes but if I had a class team I would go at Osman/Hibbert all day. Hibbert is decent against English players who he can body off, but we can't attack down his side at all. Would have loved to seen some invention with Nev at right back or moving Lescott over to stem the tide and starting Baines. Sounds like Howard stood on his head! Anyway, all out attack next week so would expect Hibbo on the bench, Arteta to start and 2 up front.. who knows.. maybe a 4-3-3 would work if we want to start Anichebe or Vaughan as well.. But probably put Nev in the back, midfield of Cars/Ossie/Arteta/ Pienaar/Cahill and Yak up top for the first half and hope for a goal.. Good luck, let's rebound with a 3-0 win over Sunderland..

Everton Win

2008-03-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

What a great win for the Blues. After starting hot with Yakubu, Everton showed that they can match passing with some of the top teams with great buildup including Pienaar, Osman, Yak and Cahill. The African connection has been great together and they really showed an ability to open up one of the leagues better defences. Pienaar is a must to resign for next year as he has developed into a very solid left winger. His defensive ability is weak for Premier League standards as was seen on the goal by Pompey, but with Lescott or Baines behind him, they should be able to take up the slack. Everton always look a better squad with 2 strikers to stretch the backlines. We look very comfortable in the 4-5-1 but against Liverpool and Fiorentina coming up there is going to be a need to play with 2 I think to make that relatively weak backline work on the day. Skrtel has been a good addition for the Reds but I think Yak on his day will do well.

The addition of AJ into the mix proved the decisive coaching move of the day. http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/pompey-reaction.html Andrew Johnson has always scared defenders by running at them with pace and causes the lines to backoff Yakubu opening space for him and Cahill. Cahill's goal was class starting with the ball in from AJ to Yak, then Yak to Pienaar who made the space and clipped a beauty to Cahill who gave some props to his brother who just got put in jail. How can you play that well after that??

As usual, the backline was great. Hibbert continues to surprise even though going forward he is weak, but in the last two games has shutdown Elano and Krancjar effectively. Yobo.Jags has been immense and Lescott can play anywhere across that backline, he was solid again. Neville and Carsley have been solid all year and been a consistent base to build upon. I get worried that there is not a lot of depth centrally even with Fernandes and feel that unless we bring another player through the ranks, the Blues will have to splurge for a central player. I hope that we continue to "chivy" other teams but keep trying to play attractive football, this has been my favorite season of Everton in ages. Keep it going Blues.. 4th place and UEFA Semis as the goal!