World Cup 2014: Can USA Capitalize?

Group G started off with a German Blitzkrieg, as Germany dominated Portugal 4-0. That puts Portugal in an early hole, having a minus 4 Goal Differential which would hurt them if it comes down to a tie for second place. 

Pepe was also sent off the field with a red card, and will be suspended for Portugal's match against the United States on Sunday, which is a bit of a blow to them. There were also some injuries to a few starters, while Ronaldo was pretty much shut down by the Germans. 

That provides a huge opportunity tonight to both the USA and Ghana. Should USA win, they would go into the match against Portugal needing only a draw to set themselves up nicely to get to the Round of 16. One major downside about Portugal getting dominated by Germany would be Portugal will be throwing everything at the US. Even with the team reeling following a big defeat to Germany and some key starters missing, Ronaldo against the inexperienced US defense might provide an opportunity for Portugal. 

First thing's first though, the USA must do something they failed to do in 2006 and 2010...BEAT GHANA. The match airs tonight on ESPN at 6PM ET. 

2014 FIFA World Cup Preview

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is here...even if Brazil isn't quite ready with the stadiums. For the 2011 Women's World Cup, I correctly predicted Japan would defeat the USA in the final, which I'm sure makes me one of the few. That probably means I am going to get this completely wrong, but I'll try my hand at the 2014 World Cup.

Group A: 1. Brazil, 2. Croatia, 3. Mexico, 4. Cameroon. This is one of those groups where the 2nd place team could really be anyone after Brazil, who are the odds on favorite to win the group at home, and clearly the most talented of the bunch. Mexico have been struggling, Cameroon is hit-or-miss as is Croatia, though Croatia has a slight talent advantage over Cameroon. On top of their lackluster year, Mexico just lost a starter.

Group B: 1. Spain, 2. Chile, 3. Netherlands, 4. Australia. This group should feature some great match-ups between four capable teams, and Chile could definitely take out the Netherlands, who will need to be on their A game against Chile. Spain should take it, but we've recently seen previous winners falter in the group stage 4 years later (Italy in 2010, France in 2002 both finished last after winning the previous Cup). Australia is good but probably the odd team out. They can still give teams a tough test.

Group C: 1. Colombia, 2. Japan, 3. Ivory Coast, 4. Greece. This just might be the hardest group to pick. All of these games should be exciting, and you won't have any idea which way they'll go. Japan has the technical ability, and with Honda & Kagawa they can get a needed goal at any moment even if they may be weaker in other areas compared to the other three teams. Will seeing their Women's team win the 2011 Women's World Cup be a boost to Japan? Group C will probably be the closest group, with no team being eliminated before the third round of games. Colombia's star Falcao is still recovering from tearing his ACL, so will he be 100%? Many questions in the most exciting group.

Group D: 1. Italy, 2. England, 3. Uruguay, 4. Costa Rica. What a group, featuring three previous World Cup winners (Just Eight countries have won). I like England coming in with lower expectations to take it. They might finally have an underdog mentality, after their arrogance of 4 years ago led to them finishing 2nd behind the USA. Costa Rica shouldn't pose any threat. Italy, England and Uruguay all have their question marks, so it will be fun to watch it play out.

Group E: 1. France, 2. Switzerland, 3. Ecuador, 4. Honduras. After a disaster in South Africa 2010, France should be able to make their comeback in this group, which may be tougher than it looks thanks to an increasingly improved Switzerland and Ecuador playing close to home.

Group F: 1. Argentina, 2. Nigeria, 3. Bosnia & Herzegovina, 4. Iran. Argentina got quite the gift, and should have little trouble finishing on top of the group. Nigeria vs Bosnia should decide the fate of 2nd place, though Iran won't be an easy opponent for anyone and could play spoiler.

Group G: 1. Germany, 2. USA, 3. Portugal, 4. Ghana. It was agonizing to choose between Portugal & USA for 2nd...USA famously beat favorite Portugal at the 2002 World Cup and Portugal never recovered. Will the Americans be able to do it again? First, they'll have to take on Ghana, who eliminated the US in the 2006 & 2010 World Cups. Never before have they had such an important first game. Cristiano Ronaldo is battling an injury, and though he'll be playing, will he be at his full capacity? Jozy Altidore seems to have fallen out of his slump, and him paired with Clint Dempsey may help with the absence of Landon Donovan and his goal scoring ability.

Group H: 1. Belgium, 2. South Korea, 3. Russia, 4. Algeria. Belgium is my dark horse pick for the whole tournament as a potential semi-finalist. South Korea and Russia should clearly battle for 2nd place, and Russia is likely the better team, and South Korea struggled in qualifying before firing their head coach. But we need upsets at the World Cup, so I'm going with South Korea to get that done.

Round of 16: Brazil over Chile. England over Colombia. France over Nigeria. Germany over South Korea. Spain over Croatia. Japan over Italy. Argentina over Switzerland. Belgium over USA.

Quarterfinals: Brazil over England. Germany over France. Spain over Japan. Belgium over Argentina.

Semifinals: Germany over Brazil. Belgium over Spain.

3rd Place: Brazil over Spain. Final: Germany over Belgium. Belgium has given us awesome waffles and fries, which may or may not be swaying my decision to send them so far, especially past Argentina, who very well could win the Cup. I like Germany though to become the first European country to win the World Cup in South America.

Favorites: Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Spain.
Dark Horses: Belgium, Colombia, Italy, England, Netherlands, Japan.

2022 Winter Olympics Dilemma

The bidding cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics are dropping like flies. Stockholm, Sweden was the first to go in January due to the lack of political support for the bid. Krakow, Poland was next to go with the public opposition being too high for them to want to continue.

Two more bids are in jeopardy. Lviv, Ukraine is unlikely to win even if they continue with their bid due to the current volatile situation in the country. Oslo, Norway is on shaky ground as support has been low from the public and politicians. Beijing, China and Almaty, Kazakhstan are the other two and come with their own concerns. Kazakhstan for their poor human rights record and Beijing for the terrible pollution, which was a question mark during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. The snow events would also have to be held 100 miles Northwest of Beijing.

Countries are becoming increasingly worried about the costs for the games not being worth it. Sochi spent $51 Billion on the Olympics, which was more than ALL previous Winter Olympics combined...and now all the tourists are gone. It was basically a big fat expensive ego stroke for Vladimir Putin. Many countries/cities who host end up losing money. If every city would come together to submit cheaper bids utilizing more locations that are already built, the IOC would have no choice but to award it. I've always thought Lake Placid or Salt Lake should make a statement bid and purposely spend as little as possible by using the exact same venues they previously used, spending as little as possible for upgrades. The IOC will eventually need to change their tune on the outrageous cost to host the Olympics.

Not every city loses money. Los Angeles (1984), Salt Lake City (2002) and Atlanta (1996) all made a profit. London (2012), Seoul (1988) & Beijing (2008) are some foreign cities that have made money. Atlanta utilized their venues, turning the Athletes' Village into college dorms. The Falcons and Braves took over the stadiums after the Games ended. For some odd reason though, both those stadiums will be demolished as new expensive ones are built. The Georgia Dome was built in 1993 and Turner Field in 1996. I'm not sure what Atlanta is smoking in spending money on new stadiums when the current ones are just 21 and 18 years old. Especially since half the fans at Braves and Falcons games cheer for the opposing team anyway.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint Return to Harry Potter

These are the cars riders will sit in.

Its official: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are returning to play Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley respectively in Universal Orlando's new ride "Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts".

Bellatrix LeStrange (Helena Bonham Carter), Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and Griphook (Warwick Davis) are also featured in the ride and the original actors filmed scenes as well. Not too much about the state-of-the-art ride is known, other than it will be based on their adventure during "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". A new video has been released giving a look at the ride with concept videos and artwork, as well as descriptions.


Better book your rooms now, because Orlando will be packed when "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley" opens this summer at Universal Orlando.

The Harry Potter news doesn't stop there, as WB has announced that the first film in their "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" based trilogy will hit theaters in November 2016. JK Rowling wrote the screenplay that fleshed out the book she released in 2001. All we know is it takes place in New York City 70 years before the Harry Potter books.

Solange Attacks Jay Z

Solange and Jay Z After The Fight

Well file this under bizarre news for the day. Solange Knowles, sister of Beyonce, and Jay Z walked into an elevator at the Met Gala and all of a sudden Solange started punching and kicking at him before someone who was with them pulled her away. Um..okay then! Video footage was leaked by TMZ (watch below), and pictures of them leaving clearly show an angry Solange and startled Jay Z. Now while it is kind of messed up someone would release this assumed private moment to the world, I don't feel too bad about it. When Beyonce had her baby they closed off the hospital wing for her and inconvenienced people. If you're going to use your celebrity for that, then don't complain about something like this leaking out to the public. You take the good with the bad just like everyone else in life has to. Suck it up and move on.
  
Jay Z stood there and took it which must take a lot of restraint when someone attacks, even if you know them personally. Of course it helps when you have a bodyguard with you. Beyonce was somewhere in the back staying the hell away. Solange has a mean right hook, and her first hit in years. The bodyguard also hit the emergency stop button on the elevator. But, we live in a world of cameras...of course people were going to find out. Solange must have been pretty pissed off about something that he did...I don't think she should be taking pointers from Chris Brown though!

There's a "Jay Z got 99 problems and Solange is 1" joke in there, but I'm sure that will get played out on Twitter enough.

Michael Sam Drafted by Rams; Don Jones Tweets "Horrible"

New St. Louis Ram, Michael Sam

Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams and became the first openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team. We must always stress openly gay, as many other gay athletes have come and gone while staying closeted and taking on a beard wife, like Gisele Bundchen! Kidding.

Anyway, a backup Miami Dolphins player named Don Jones tweeted "Horrible" after ESPN showed Sam and his boyfriend kiss, which is customary for many athletes who get drafted, only this is the first time its been two males. He was suspended by the Dolphins for the time being but we'll be back with the team most likely. Of course, that sent a bunch of scourges on twitter to start crying "but he has freedom of speech!"

A little lesson: The first amendment protects a person from being arrested by the Government for their speech (unless that speech threatens the life of a person). It does NOT mean others have to listen to your speech, and it does NOT protect you from your employer. The Miami Dolphins have the right to their freedom and they chose to suspend him from the team for a period of time.

And congrats to Michael Sam! Good moves by both ESPN and the Dolphins as well.

Its Morphin' Time Again! Power Rangers Returning to the Big Screen

In another 90s throwback, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are returning to the big screen. Lionsgate and Saban are working together to start a new franchise, and it will presumably be based on the original and most popular form of the Power Rangers before they started having a new concept every year.

The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers ran for three seasons from 1993 to 1995 along with a successful movie in 1995 before reverting to using entirely different characters each season, which is actually still going to this day. The second movie in 1997, "Turbo", with new characters flopped at the box office. No word on if the movie will be as campy as the TV Show and original film, or if they're looking to make it a more serious version along the lines of modern superhero movies.

One thing we know they probably won't do with this movie...they won't have the black power ranger be black and the yellow power ranger be Asian like in the original. I mean the producers had to realize they did that.