Klose has a hat trick -- yet another clinical finish in the air with the head off a pretty cross, it's 5-0 Germany in the 70th minute, and I'm going to bed.

whew

My ability to put together coherent sentences is rapidly diminishing. Germany is absolutely kicking the crap out of the Saudis. Its 4-0 at half-time, and it's not really even That Close! This looks like a varsity vs. JV scrimmage. The Germans haven't even had to use their feet, with three beautiful goals out of the air, until Jancker scored the fourth in the 45th minute. It's been Klose with two goals and Ballack with one and an assist. I'm wondering if Saudi Arabia is one of the worst sides to ever play in the tournament.

The second half has some real potential to be an all-time snoozer. Saudi Arabia may simply lack the ability to put up any kind of a fight, even against a German side just looking to kill 45 minutes.

You always know it's late when you hear the birds chirping. It'll be dawn soon. I feel like Steve McQueen in Le Mans, right before he takes the fateful sunrise driving shift were we wrecks his leading Porsche.

I'm inventing new drinks. 2 oz. of Vodka in a mug of Lemon Berry Zinger is pretty damn good.

Let's review the last 24 hours.

4:20 My alarm goes off, afer catching a few zzz's, I move downstairs to watch Senegal play France to kick off the 2002 Cup.

6:30 With the vague realization I have just seen "one for the ages," Senagal wining 1-0, I trudge back off the bed.

sometime around 11:00. I wake up, make some coffee and breakfast, and listen to a clearly goddy Tommy Smyth of ESPN's World Cup coverage announce on ESPNews that "it was the greatest upset ever!"

3:00 Sportscenter comes on, leading off with 6 quick on-site reports on the Boston-New Jersey, Los Angeles-Sacromento, and Colorado-Detroit games all tonight.

4:00 I opt to go fly a kite, literally, as the Nets-Celtics game starts.

5:30: Patrick Roy has just been pulled in the second period, as Detroit just went up 6-0. I can't quite believe it.

6:30 the Nets finish off the Celtics to head to the Finals. Jason Kidd is a star.

6:45 The Red Wings finish off their 7-0, Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, evisceration of the Avalanche. Joe Loius Arena crowd can be heard singing "Sweet Caroline" as the final seconds tick away (the Neil Diamond song, in reference to their upcoming finals opponent Carolina Hurricanes) a great sports-fan moment.

7:30 I go for a jog around the lake, then a quick weight workout downstairs.

9:00 or shortly thereafter The Lakers pull out a win, forcing Game 7

I shower, head to Kinkos, then begin my World Cup all-nighter.

I think I'll have a cigarette to perk me up a bit, then it's Germany-Saudi Arabia!

Full_time
Denmark 2 Uruguay 1
The superior teamwork, vs. the greater flair of Uruguay, won out for the Danes. Their wide play continued through the second half, with Tomasson the hero on a sneaky header in the 84th minute that scraped the bottom of the cross bar. The play cumlminated an excellent series of passes from the center to the flanks and back, with a textbook cross coming from Jorgensen.

Uruguay tied it right our of the half on a tremendous blast from Rodriguez, certainly the shot of the tournament (and a rarity from a defender!) and it seemed to give Uruguay life, as they slightly carried play until it seemed they would be content with the draw, then were bitten in the ass.

next up, Germany vs. Saudi Arabia, in about 30 minutes.

Half-Time: Denmark 1 Uruguay 0
A couple weeks ago, Uruguay came up for a friendly against the USA, and I was less-than-impressed with their thug tactics -- enabled by a seemingly impotent Central American officiating crew -- and I told myself I wouldn't mind seeing Uruguay go through without a point.

Well, this one got off to a great start, with up-tempo play by both teams, and Uruguay looks to have opted for creative play for the tournament. It was a well-played, technically proficient, and creative, first 30 minutes, with Sand coming gut-wrenchingly close to scoring on a picture-perfect header off a superb cross. The play inevitably became more methodical later in the half, and the Danes began to dominate, finally coming through when Tomasson finished a scintillating play by Gronkjaer up the left side of the penalty area. The wide play of Denmark has been a delight to watch.

So, if you use that BabelFish site to re-translate the Spanish paragraph back into english, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. In fact, it's quite amusing, I'm going to have to play with that some more.

I've got potstickers going, and went to Kinko's earlier so I've been applying a few beer labels as the evening has worn on. I think i need a beer.

Full Time: Cameroon 1 Ireland 1
Irie were definitely juvenated in the second half, and it was a well-played, evenly matched 45 minutes, with Cameroon having to hold off a late flury. The equalizer came on a stunning shot from Holland from 25 yards out. Cameroon still seemed to enjoy more offensive creativity, but Ireland was opportunistic, a fortuitious bounce leading to Holland's blast when a sprawling Cameroon defender attempted a clearing header, and Keane hit the post on a sneaky shot that also came from an attempted Cameroon clear. They also did well on set pieces, some fine chances coming from free kicks and corners. I still have to think Cameroon should have got the better of this, as there many missed first-half chances should come back to haunt them.

But enough about the footy. Here is my recipe for Jake's World Cup Coffee:
1 oz. Creme de Cocoa
1 oz. Creme de Menthe
1 oz. Milk
stir into 2 cups (as measured by gradations on decanter) coffee
Enjoy!

Up Next, in 30 minutes, Uruguay vs. Denmark in a group A match. After Senegal stunned France, this group has been thrown into disarray, and the winner of this game will certainly be in the captains seat for advancement.

by the way, for a translation, check out this site

Half-Time: Cameroon 1 Ireland 0
The "R. Keane" #10 for Ireland isn't world class MF Roy, and perhaps Ireland is missing him, as they are looking severly outclassed by the clearly more athletic Cameroon side. Mbamo finishes a Beautiful play by Eto'o, who the befuddled Irish defense can't seem to stop. The Lions are enjoying the advantage in play, and the only real chance was a near own goal near the end of the half by a Cameroonian defender.

Le dir� que, esta difusi�n de la Espa�ol-lengua est� comenzando a efectuarme, quiz� m�s que el Bushmills-n-cafe'. Estoy intentando ya planear fuera de mi horario del sue�o para el fin de semana, as� que puedo coger ma�ana los juegos de la noche tambi�n. Acci�n de la taza del mundo. Fant�stico

Well, I'm prepping to pull a World Cup all nighter! I've got some Bushmills in my coffee, and it's a tripleheader of first-round Copa Mundial for me. The Disney Sports Empire (ABC/ESPN) has chosen to show the nights first contest, Ireland vs. Cameroon (starting in a mere 3 minutes) on tape delay tomorrow afternoon, so I will be watching Univision, in Spanish, which should be interesting. Despite the Irish whiskey in my coffee, I am picking Cameroon in this one... although a draw seems likely here.

After that is Uruguay vs. Denmark, then Germany vs. Saudi Arabia!

Well, the officials got what they wanted... the Lakers won... gee, that was just spiffy.
I don't think I can watch playoff basketball any more. Give me World Cup any day of the week, twice on Sundays.

I'm sitting here watching the Kings and the Lakers in the final minutes of game 6 of their Western Conference Finals series, and I'm seeing phantom call after phantom call go against the Kings. Gee, you don't think the NBA wants the Lakers to win this game?

What can we learn from Senegal?

1) Don't be intimidated. France may be the best team in the world right now, but from the opening touch, you could tell from Senegal's style and confident play they really didn't give a crap

2) Take advantage of your opportunities: France's midfield battery of Zinedine Zidane (arguably the best player in the world right now) and Senegal native Patrick Viera were effectively gone. Zidane out with a thigh injury, and Viera clearly not in the mindset to play against his homeland.

3) Use what you know: All the Senegal starters play in the top French league. While it isn't considered one of the top European domestic leagues, as evidenced by the fact that only 5 of the French play there (with most in the English, Italian, and Spanish leagues) it seemed there was nothing about France's play that fazed Senegal, despite their obvious edge in talent.

4) Be lucky: France's deadly snipers, Trezeguet and Henry, perhaps the best striker combo in the Cup, both had scoring chances bounce off the wood work. Both were scintillating shots, the likes of which usually provide France with victories. But for the grace of god, and a few inches, neither went in.

5) Have Fun: Senegal, win or lose, looked like the team that was enjoying just being there, on the world's biggest stage, having a chance to play great soccer. It's easier to "have fun" when you're the underdog, but it's obvious this helped them.

Senegal has defeated France!
Ahhh! light your hair on fire and run around screaming!!!!!
Senegal has defeated France!
three stars for Senegal:
1) Ferdinand Coly: the right back was brilliant
2) Senegal goal: post and crossbar kept out two French goals
3) Patrick Vieira: vaunted playmaking MF never showed up

Between the craziness on Mt Rainier and Mt Hood the last couple days, I'm beginning to wonder. I keep hearing people talk about how "dangerous" climbing, but it really isn't. It is yet another activity that suffers from the "plane crash syndrome," the basic principle of which says that just because you hear about it every time it happens, Doesn't mean it happens "all the time." If you heard about Every car crash, no one would want to drive.

Anyway, Tyler and I are climbing Mt. Shasta next weekend, and I will be sure to practice ice axe arrests this weekend when we head back to Granite Mountain. We've talked about climbing Mt Hood later, and I still want to do it.

Well, right now, I'm pretty much numb from antipicipation... and I still have to wait 5 more days before our USA side takes on Portugal in what I will call, in the reactionary tradition of purple sports journalism, the biggest game yet in USA soccer history.

That's right, France kicks off against Senegal in a mere... 14 hours! 4:30 local time, tommorrow morning, the World Cupp 2002 Japan/Korea begins. It's the biggest sporting event in the world, with the dreams, and reputations, of entire nations on the line.

Here in the US we are oddly removed from it all, and tend to take an elitist "well, isn't that cute" attitude, smacking of our blatant hipicrosy as a sports-mad nation where it is perfectly acceptable to live vicariously through college football who aren't even getting paid. We wrote the book on flag-waving jingoism, so its about time we stop treating the Mondial as a quaint little affair and treated it with the respect it deserves.

But then again, it would help if we had a contending team. It would shock many to know that the latest FIFA rankings have the USA placed 13, just behind eternal heavyweights Germany and England. Most of Europe is still likely to ignore all this and still treat us like the pretenders we behave as, and who can blame them: we can't seem to beat a European side, no matter what the circumstances, and the ho-hum attitude we take to our "football" hardly inspires trepidation, which can be every bit as important to internation soccer as prima-donna strikers diving in the penalty area.

But we Have a team, and only the lack of faith seems to keep them away from accomplishing anything. The Faith of a country, the belief of nation that the World Championship is their manifest destiny trickles down to the players, and if you think that is silly, i can present a slew of past Cup performances to back it. Weird things happen on the pitch, and I've seen hopeful blasts willed into the net, and errant chances willed wide, by millions of people -- just the same way New England (as a region, not a team) willed Vinatieri's kick through the uprights.

The USA team Should advance, and to not hope for, ore even expect, a good result against Portugal, ranked 6th by FIFA and the Hot thing in Europe right now -- other than defending champs France -- is ultimately self-destructing. The remaining matches, against host South Korea and Poland, should be approached as games to be won. Both teams lie outside the top 32 rankings, with Korea in as an automatic bid for the host, and Poland having a great go of it in always tough European qualifying. The point is, we are Better than either of those teams, and to make excuses like "Korea will play as a tough road game" and "We never perform well against European sides" is folly. We are only cheating ourselves.

Portugal is an attacking side, and assuming all-galaxy playmaking midfielder magician Luis Figo is properly rejuvanated, will feature a dynamic team capable of scoring goals in gobs. The USA has some of the best goaltending in the tournament, and will, and should, lean on this heavily. An attacking style is called for here. Fight fire with fire. Roll the dice and go for it. Past wisdom would have the USA coming out defensively and passively, hoping to absorb pressure and hope to get lucky. It will be ME you hear screaming in the middle of the night if this happens. Let, or make, Friedel or Keller stand on their heads to keep you in it... that;s what we Have them for, after all. After goal differential, the next tiebreaker is goals scored. Go get some!
My (hopelessly, blindly optomistic) pick: USA 2, Portugal 2 1 pt each

South Korea has the pressure, baby, and will be a live wire, they will come out charged, pressing, aggresive... hoepfully to a fault. THIS is when you hang back and let it come to you. Ready the counterattack, let the kids up front (Mathis, Donovan, Wolff, et al.) show their stuff to the world. It's time for the playmaking midfielders: Reyna, Stewart, Jones, to get their defensive schwerve ON, and work those balls up the field. It't time for our world-class netminding to prove Portugal was no fluke. Just remember one thing: We are Better than Korea, so play like it!
My pick: USA 2, Korea 1 3 pts

Poland will be tough to figure. They must be good, you can't qualify out of Europe and not have Something going for you. They are led by a Nigerian-born striker and strong goaltending. It seems they are one fo those teams that can be as good as anyone... or just plain mediocre. How this plays out depends a lot on what the teams need to advance. If the USA comes in with 4 pts, they will be looking not to lose, and Poland may need a win, or, in the best case scenario, may already be mathematically out of it. Whatever happens, we have no reason to accept a loss.
My pick: USA 1, Poland 1 1 pt

USA finsishes second in pool D with 5 points, advancing to play group G winner (probably Italy)

	Yuoo ere-a zee Svedeesh Cheff! Yuoo ere-a a guud cuuk, thuoogh yuoo cun't speek Ingleesh fery vell. Bork Bork Bork!
Take the What Muppet Are You? Quiz!

Tyler and I are getting set to climb Mt Shasta in a couple weeks, so I decided we shout do a conditioning hike Monday. I decided on Granite Mountain, which is a 4.1 mile (one way) hike, gaining 3800 feet, up to a really cool lookout tower just north of I-90, about 5 miles west of the Pass.

The snow conditions never really factored into my mind, and seeing as how it is only May, and the hike tops out at 5600 ft, they should have. I had known the the route crosses a couple major avalanche chutes, but, again, for some reason I wasn;t thinking about snow.

Tyler and I started out at about 9:30, dressed for a trail hike, with just trekking poles, and about 20-25 lb packs. We were making excellent time when we came to the first avalanche chute, which the trail parallels (very steeply!) and then crosses, at about the half-way point. It was mostly dry, and wasn't at all hazardous. We did notice a scramble route heading up the trace of snow remaining, taking a direct shot up the slope, to where the chute opens up and becomes what looked to be at least a 30 degree slope right up to the top. Not equipped with ice axes, we followed the trail, and quickly came to the next chute, still largely full of snow, and showing obvious signs of recent snow movement. I had expected a well established path through all the snowy sections, but that had seemed to peter out, and we couldn't see where the trail picked up on the other side.

We became pretty hesitant to continue, and after discussing the situation and taking another look at the scramble route, decided we should just turn around there. Neither of us were in any mood to tackle the snowy slope without ice axes, and even though avalanche danger was microscopic, it was obvious hardly anyone had taken the "trail" route so far this season, and we didn't really know what to expect.

I had known that Grantie Mountain is often done as an early-season scramble, and the crew of people heading up right after us equipped for just such a venture definitely confirmed. I felt like a bit of a wuss and a fool as we started back down, but I got over it quickly, as both Tyler and I were just in the mood for a hike, and not a Climb.

We got back to the car and decided to head over to Franklin Falls, which was an impressive 80-foot cascade situated underneath the westbound I-90 lanes, about a mile hike up a snowy trail. It actaully turned out to be a decent hiking day.