Sorry for the delayed follow-up to the previous World Cup entry. Life gets real hectic this time of year for a college student like myself.

Anyways, the World Cup draw was held on December 4th and it saw the U.S.A put into Group C with England, Algeria and Slovenia. This group was probably the best case scenario for U.S soccer as it hope to improve on their group stage exit in the previous World Cup.

The match with England will easily be the toughest and most anticipated match of the group. The players from both teams are familiar with each other as many American players play their club soccer in England. There will be a lot of build up leading up to this game on June 12th and it could see LA Galaxy teammates, Landon Donovan and David Beckham match up against each other.

On the other hand, the U.S has never played Algeria and Slovenia before, so U.S manager Bob Bradley and his staff will have to dedicate some time in the film room in order to become acquainted with these players before the summer tournament.

Group of Death Debate

Most experts have agreed that group G consisting of Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal is the group of death for this World Cup. While i agree that it’s a very tough group, I’m gonna argue that Group D consisting of Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana is the group of death. This group does not have a single weak link in it and the group just looks all around solid. I think Germany will finish 1st in this group but it’ll be very close and the Germans will have to play at top form in order to finish first. After that, it’s tough to predict who will finish 2nd through 4th. All of these teams are capable of making a run and advancing to the knockout round.

In Group G, North Korea is clearly the worst team of the group and will likely finish 0-3. It also wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t score a single goal in this tournament. The other three teams will take pleasure in beating up on the North Koreans. There isn’t a team like that in group D, which means each team will have to be at its best to win. It won’t surprise me if the difference between advancing and being eliminated in this group comes down to goal difference or goals scored.

With their 31-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants put themselves back in the wild card and divisional race. But any hopes of making the playoffs will hinge on the Giants winning their remaining games and hope that the teams ahead of them lose some games, Here’s the Giants’ remaining schedule:

vs Eagles (8-4, 4-2 away)

At Redskins (3-9, 3-3 home)

Vs Panthers ( 5-7, 2-4 away)

At Vikings (10-2, 6-0 home)

I would say that all of these games are winnable and it’s entirely possible that the Giants can win out and fly into the playoffs. This even goes for the last game at Minnesota. By then, the Vikings may have clinched their division and first-round bye, which means they may rest players like Brett Favre for the playoff games.

One player that can make accomplishing this goal much easier if he steps up his game is Brandon Jacobs. The Giants no.1 Halfback hasn’t performed up to the high standards that he set after last season. He has rushed for 722 yards on 187 carries and 4 touchdowns. This does not even come close to the numbers he had last year at this time(879 yards on 164 carries and 11 touchdowns)

You can look at the numbers all you want, but the fact is that Jacobs just hasn’t ran with the same force that he had last year. Part of it is due to the opposing defenses piling up against the run and forcing the Giants to beat them through Eli Manning’s arm. But at the same time, it looks like Jacobs has tried to tippy-toe around defenses instead of using his tremendous size and bulldozing his way through defenses. He’s done less tippy-toeing recently, but he continues to struggle.

Last week’s 74-yard TD reception may be a sign that he still has life, but i won’t be saying he’s back until i see him come away with at least 120 yards rushing and 1-2 touchdowns. The Eagles are a team that he can do this against as  he has killed them in the past and ran for 86 in their week 8 meeting. The Giants are gonna need him to make that final playoff push. If he dosen’t come through, then the Giants will be watching the playoff from their couches come January.

Here’s the top geek gifts of this holiday season (in no particular order).

Amazon Kindle 2 ($259)

Know someone who loves to read, but hates buying actual books?  With Amazon’s latest upgrade to the Kindle series books can be purchased from a large library on Amazon.com and wirelessly transmitted to the device.  There are currently two versions available from Amazon, the Kindle 2 or the Kindle DX which has a larger 9.7″ display, holds more books (3,500 compared to 1,500) and of course, holds a hefty price tag at almost $500.

The recent introductions of the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader, the competition in the e-reader wold is heating up. However, with a comfortable 6″ screen, weighing just a little over 10 ounces and containing one of the largest digital book collections on the web, the Amazon Kindle is the perfect size and price for the reader on the go.

Apple iPod Touch 32GB ($299)

Who doesn’t love being able to listen to music, play games, surf the web, check your emails/weather and calender almost at the same time?  No one, that’s who.  There three iterations available. A smaller, cheaper ($199) 8GB version, the before mentioned 32GB and finally the larger and more expensive ($399) 64GB model.

In the current market, Apple does so much more than bring you just a music player.  At the moment they are currently leaps and bounds above the competition and with the addition of the App store, they should be there for some time.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite ($299)

Have someone who loves games, but still stuck playing with a PS2 or Gamecube?  Help get them into the current generation of gaming with the Xbox 360.  Microsoft recently dropped the price on their high end model of the Xbox 360 down from $399 to $299 which is an excellent bargain.

It comes with a 120GB hard drive, wireless controller and black headset.  With the recent release of Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassins Creed 2 there are certainly no shortages of games to be played this holiday season.

DJ Hero ($199)

So you just got this brand new Xbox and are still feeling very generous or just looking for something to add to your collection.  Activison recently released a new line in their music genre that allows the user to become a DJ.  There are currently two price points available, the regular edition ($129) or the before mentioned Renegade edition which includes a Jay-Z and Eminem collaboration CD and a sweet little stand for your new toy.

DJ Hero is also available on the Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii at the same price point.  With a holiday season full of blockbuster releases, finding that game for wannabe DJ in your life is now easy.

Astro A40 Audio System ($249)

The award winning, A40 audio system is a great gift for a gamer who loves to play games and be immersed in sound without having to crank up the TV.  These headsets work with the Xbox 360, PS3, PC and any sound system that has an optical output.  The 5.1 Dolby Surround sound makes watching a movie or playing a game both quiet to other people in the same room and still give the user the feeling of watching the movie with a huge stereo.

Now, onto the second feature.  The A40 offers high quality audio output through the fully adjustable and removable boom mic.  The MixAmp also offers the ability to fine tune game sound and voice chat so that it can adjust the sound to your needs.  It comes with a wide variety of cables and options which makes the A40s a great gift for the night owl in your life.

more about “Holiday Tech Gifts“, posted with vodpod

Holiday Gifts from the Past Years

Lets take a look at the holiday hit gifts of yesteryears.

Apple TV

When Apple announced its movie service almost 5 years ago, people were skeptical.  A lot of people asked, do I really need to play 300 dollars for a device that allows me to watch/listen to my itunes library and rent movies?  Well fast forward to this year and Apple has all but phased out the device.  The Apple TV has not been updated in some time and appears to be headed out the door.  As Apple pushes the Mac Mini to do the same thing, we can pretty much say good-bye Apple TV.

Digital Picture Frames

I can guarantee that every mom has received a digital picture frame at least once over the past few years.  An easy choice as a last minute gift that mom was sure to enjoy.  Who doesn’t love picture frames?  Now the pictures show in a slideshow, depending on how large the hard drive was, thousands of them.  Simply a staple of Holiday’s past.

TiVo

TiVo bursted on to the scene five years ago with its first device and has now been changing peoples lives everywhere.  People no longer have to “tape” their shows, but now can digitally set up a timer for them.  Not only has it made fast forwarding through commercials, or rewinding that big game, but it also made the word TiVo’d something relevant.

Sports Guide

Now if the person you are buying it for is more the sporty type, here are a few gifts that will help you out.

Eddie Fatu, known to WWE fans as Umaga, died last Friday, December 4 of a heart attack.  He was 36. He worked for World Wrestling Entertainment as recently as June of this year, when he was fired for his refusal to attend a rehabilitation facility after his second violation of the company’s Wellness Policy.

Personal Foul does not normally devote any time to professional wrestling, and with good reason, since it is not technically classified as a true sports.  I wouldn’t call wrestling FAKE, as most people call it.  I prefer to call it SCRIPTED, as yes the outcomes are unquestionably predetermined, but wrestlers have been seriously injured and paralyzed in the squared-circle, so to call it fake is really an unfair misnomer.  If it were fake nobody would ever get hurt.

Photo By: www.chron.com

That being said there is absolutely nothing fake about the no less than 60 wrestlers under 45 who have died in the last ten years, and as one might imagine, most of them were not of natural causes.

We’ll tackle the ones who worked of WWE, because that narrows the field a little bit.  The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith was 39 when he died of a heart attack on May 18, 2002, a death linked to past use of anabolic steroids.  Mr. Perfect Curt Henning died on February 10, 2003 of acute cocaine intoxication paired with steroid and painkiller abuse.  Mike “Awesome” Alfonzo died on February 17, 2007, he hanged  himself in his garage.

Many other wrestlers have died of unnatural causes, but the three names that got the most publicity were Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.

Owen was the youngest child of the legendary Hart family which also included his multiple time World Champion brother, Bret Hart.  On May 23, 1999, Owen fell over 50 feet into the ring during a stunt that was supposed to slowly lower him into the ring.  He was 33.  There is no evidence that Hart ever did any illegal drugs, but the nature of his tragic death drew massive media coverage.

Eddie Guerrero was a former WWE World Champion, and one of the most loved performers in and outside of the ring.  He died on November 13, 2005 of acute heart failure.  He was 38.  Although he was clean at the time of his death, his years of cocaine and steroid abuse were attributed to his death.  After Eddie’s death the WWE instituted its current Wellness Policy, in which three violation institute a permanent ban from the company.

Then of course there was Chris Benoit.  If you never heard of Benoit you must have been living under a rock in 2007.  He was one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of the business, but he will be remembered for the grisly weekend of June 22-24, 2007 when he murdered his wife Nancy and 7-year old son Daniel, before taking his own life.  The 40-year-old Benoit was determined by doctors to have the brain of an 85-year-old with Alzheimer’s, which can lead to dementia and behavior problems, all of which were likely brought on by years of concussions and abuse within the ring.  This case obviously brought major media attention, and drew WWE under scrutiny, as Benoit was a big-time player in their company at the time of his death.

Why are so many tragedies associated with wrestling?  Is it all of the drug abuse?  The years of physical and mental abuse?  All of that time (300-days-a year) on the road away from their friends and families?  Or perhaps some combination.

No matter what the case may be, something must be done about this epidemic that has shown the dark side of pro-wrestling.  Many wrestlers, including top stars Edge, John Cena, Batista and Triple H, have missed long periods of time due to surgeries, be they neck, shoulder or any other life-threatening injury.  Superstar Rey Mysterio will be taking time off in the next five month to have right knee surgery, his sixth.  Rey will work through the injury so he can take part in the company’s biggest event of the year, Wrestlemania, in early April.  Wrestlemania, often called the Super Bowl of wrestling, offers a huge payoff for the wrestlers involved and Mysterio will put his body on the line to make that money.

Working through injuries is nothing new for these men and women, who make a living taking suplexes and back-body drops.

Until something is done about the tole the sport takes on the body 12 months out of the year, the drug abuse and tragic deaths will likely continue.  The first step in finding a solution is recognizing the problem, and there is a definite problem.

There are a few things that even a bad economy can’t touch.  Sustenance and other essentials will always prosper during feast or famine, and during especially tough times, entertainment becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessity. This could explain why family-themed restaurant franchise Wingman has chosen to expand during the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

“There are a few things that will never go down regardless of the economy — fast food, beer, cigarettes and other vices,” said Patrick Olivery, the night manager of Wingman’s newest location in Selden.  “People will always need to eat and have a good time and I think that’s why we’ve been successful. And once we get our beer license, we will do even better.” Wingman’s first New York location has obtained that license and will begin selling beer and wine next week.

The franchise, which got its start in Colorado in 1981, is primarily a west coast phenomenon.  However, in recent years they have added branches on the east coast and most recently on Long Island.  Though they currently only have 10 restaurants in the United States, five of which are in Colorado, they have plans to break ground on several new locations in North Carolina, Maine and New Jersey, while expanding their franchise deeper into New York.

“The franchise itself will be opening nine more locations in New York over the next five years,” said Olivery, who has been with the company since its Selden location opened in August. The expansion will more than double the company’s number of restaurants nationwide, with development already underway in Queens and Buffalo, the namesake of Wingman’s staple dish and hometown of the company-founding Mineo family.

On a recent cold, rainy Monday evening, sales were relatively slow at the Selden location.

Upon entrance, guests walk on a floor painted green to look like a football field, complete with yard lines and numbers.  Customers sit on dugout-esque benches while waiting for their carry-out orders.  The freshly painted walls show drawings of people playing baseball, hockey and soccer, among other sports.  In the lobby, which includes a baseball net and over-sized, inflatable football, are five flat screen televisions hanging from the ceiling, each playing a different sports game or program, including Monday Night Football.  Keeping with the restaurant’s sports theme, hocky masks and sticks hang inside the empty kid’s birthday party room.

“It’s a very slow night, which is typical during the week, but we are cranking on Friday night and on the weekends,” said Robert Lechthaler, the delivery driver for Wingman. “Sunday is one of our busiest days of the week.  That’s when our lobby is pretty much half-full.”

Wingman hopes to survive in a shopping center that has seen many stores come and go during its 15 year existence.  Of the 21 shops and eateries in the lot, only King Kullen, Home Depot and Café Amici Pizzeria have stood the test of time, with over 30 businesses including CVS, KB Toys and several delis coming and going.

If a small company has the courage to expand during these trying times, perhaps there is hope for things to turn around.

Change we can all believe in.

Other places serving wings on Long Island

Do you like Wingman?  Or do you just enjoy a good tray of buffalo wings in a nice place to hang out with friends and watch the game?  Check out these restaurants serving wings on the Island.

Buffalo Wild Wings:  1986 Middle Country Road, Centereach. 631-737-9464

1112 Deer Park Avenue, North Babylon.  631-242-9464,  http://www.buffalowildwings.com/

Changing Times Sports Pub: 1247 Melville Road, Farmingdale.  631-694-6462, http://thechangingtimespub.com

Dave & Busters: 1856 Veteran’s Memorial Hwy, Islandia. 631-582-6615

261 Airport Plaza Blvd, Farmingdale.  631-249-0708,   http://www.daveandbusters.com/

L.I. Wings –n- Things: 1105 Horseblock Road, Farmingville.  631-686-WING, http://www.liwings.com/

Wingman: 1877 Independence Plaza, Selden. 1-877-4-A-WINGMAN, http://www.wingmanwings.com/.

Top Ten Fast Food Franchises of 2008

Folks, buckle your seatbelts up tight.  Because this week is going to shake New York, one way or the other.

Jets:

The Jets have won two straight games.  The Pats have left the door slightly ajar for Gang Green to sneak its way into an AFC East Championship, and a playoff home game.  That’s about as likely as quad aces in the World Series of Poker Main Event.  But hey, I saw that happen once.  They’re going into Tampa Bay on Sunday to face one of the league’s more putrid teams.

That’s why I’m scared.

Mark Sanchez was hurt in last week’s victory over the Bills, and though he wants to play the Jets are making the right call sitting him.  He also wants to dive headfirst into linebackers every chance he gets.

The Jets should win this game without Sanchez…but real Jets fans know this is the kind of game their team loses at full strength.  On the road, crummy opponent, tough team (Falcons) coming up the following week, and suddenly high hopes amongst the fan base.  OOOOOFFFFFF!  I smell an egg about to be laid.

Let’s hope Rex Ryan’s attitude has changed this team in such a way that they no longer are mental midgets that cough away chances to do the incredible as past teams have.  Let’s hope they don’t deliver another crushing blow to their ravenous and loyal fans.  Let’s hope Kellen Clemens throws the ball less than 10 times, and the Jets pummel the Bucs ruthlessly with Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene.  I’m scared though.  Because a loss here would flat-out hurt.

Giants:

Eli Manning and Big Blue stopped playing like Smurfs for a week and showed up at home against the 8-3 Cowboys, beating them 31-24.

I don’t care that Tony Romo’s a choke artist, Patrick Crayton is a softee, Wade Phillips can’t win a big game for his life, or that their best wide receiver went to Monmouth University.  This was a big win. BIG. HUGE.

It was a nice warm-up for the real showdown.  The one that will really decide the division.  The game against the Eagles…the NFL’s darlings of December.  This has game of the year written all over it.  The Giants are really hanging onto the edge of the cliff here, and Philly has a shot to stomp on their fingers and send them to the abyss.

But Brandon Jacobs showed life last week.  The defense showed guts.  Most of all they exuded confidence.  Still as Giants fans were excited about last week’s effort this still isn’t the Super Bowl team.  Nowhere near it.  These guys are good though.  And they can beat the Eagles.  But they’ll have to be perfect.  A loss here would take the air out of the city.  New York’s grown accustomed to the G-Men flexing their might.  Now they’re clawing to stay alive.  Different task, but they’ll need the same toughness they showed two years ago.

Bills:

Haha.  Just kidding.

Anyway, Jets win, Giants win, and man is this city BUZZING!  If either of these squads lose their fans are going to take it hard, and the disappointment will be palpable.  And if both lose…. let’s not think about that.

I know, I know. Sure it’s Football, Basketball and Hockey season but I think it has been long enough without some baseball news. It is that time of the year, the snow is falling, people are trying to find “tickle me Elmos” and of course, the blockbuster trades from the winter meetings are happening. The World Series Champion New York Yankees just got better by adding All-Star center fielder, Curtis Granderson (pending medical records), to their already impressive lineup with a three team trade involving the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The best part of the deal, the Yanks only lost one player from their active roster last season, Phil Coke. Of course, they also had to give up promising prospects in Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy but, if you would have told me that it would only cost Coke for Granderson, I would sign up for that every time. The once weakest spot on the team is now one of the strongest. Granderson offers amazing range and is another left handed bat in an extremely lefty-favorable ball park (aka the home run highway, not sure if it will catch on though). However, he does have his downfalls, he struggles against left handed pitching and he doesn’t steal bases, oh wait, yes he does. So, there really isn’t a downfall. Now onto the rest of the trade.

The Diamondbacks acquired Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson, who was traded for the second straight time during winter meetings. Looks like he is moving again, at least this time it is some place really warm, kinda like Tampa two years ago. Not exactly sure why the Diamondbacks needed to be included in this trade, maybe they felt left out like last year, whatever.

Now onto the Tigers who declared that they weren’t going to trade anyone during the offseason. Worked out well for them didn’t it. They got Austin Jackson, Phil Coke from the Yankees and Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from Arizona. While the Tigers gave up Major League talent, they received a lot of potential talent and most of all, cheap potential talent. Time will tell if the trade was a success for all who participated or which teams got ripped off (cough Tigers cough).

Time for the third edition of Sunday in Review: Early Edition where we break down the early games on this football Sunday.  Shall we begin?

• Who would have though that the Raiders would have beaten the Steelers?  Not the Raiders obviously, they tried everything possible to give that game away.  I guess every miserable underdog eventually gets its day.
• Michael Vick was booed again in Atlanta, this time it was for scoring TDs for the opposing Eagles, not the dogfighting.  Apparently, they can “forgive and forget”.
• So the Falcons were without Turner, Ryan, Jenkins, two of their offensive lineman.  Their roster looked similar to the Toronto Argonauts.
• The Bengals defeated the tough Lions again, I almost thought Detroit would score more than 14 points, but then they fumbled.
• The Dolphins defeated the Patriots by a point, it has been said that you can hear Tom Brady crying if you listen hard enough.
• The Saints held off the Redskins in overtime to go 12-0 and clinch the division with 4 games to play.  Finally something for New Orleans to celebrate since LSU was unaware that is was still football season.
• Vince Young is the saviour blah blah, they lost, he stunk.  Reality check.
• Kansas City was too busy thinking about how they could get the Islanders to play there, then they lost by 30 points to the Broncos.
• Cedric Benson has cemented himself as the comeback player of the year with another 100 yard performance.

Check back later for the Late games edition.

Last night, Darelle Revis may have cemented himself as the best corner in the National Football League.  The stage was set, a Thursday night nationally televised game against the division rival Buffalo Bills and of course a great WR/CB matchup.

Darrelle Revis was all over the field yesterday, breaking up 5 passes and recorded on interception.  Terrell Owens was targeted nine times but only caught 3 balls for 31 yards and was thoroughly over matched the entire game.  Revis looked like TO’s shadow or annoying little brother that wouldn’t let go of him.  Through the first 12 games of the season, Revis has been matched up with most of the top receivers in the game.  Andre Johnson, TO, Steve Smith, Randy Moss twice and Marques Colston all faced the aptly named “Revis Christ”.

All of these Pro-Bowl caliber wide receivers all suffered the same fate, besides Randy Moss’s one 6 yard TD catch, caught zero touchdowns.  Through the entire season, Revis has let up one big play to Miami’s Ted Ginn Jr and proved that he deserves to be talked about as the best corner in the NFL.

After a promising rookie campaign and Pro-Bowl appearance, it has been all downhill for the Jets Safety Kerry Rhodes.  However, lets discuss the current season and his shortcomings.  Rhodes has looked like he watched tape of Deion Sanders last offseason.  No, not the acrobatic interceptions and TD returns, the scared tackling.  It seems as though Rhodes would rather play patty cake then tackle a WR.

Rex Ryan recently benched Rhodes after his less then stellar play and inability to make a big play when necessary.  One week removed from his benching and Rhodes recorded his first two interceptions of the season against a subpar Carolina offense, he is at it again.  Just one quarter into Thursday’s nightcap against the Bills, Rhodes was once again seen avoiding contact and getting completely trounced by Bills running back, Marshawn Lynch.  It appears as though Rhodes is playing his way out of New York and will likely be playing in a different uniform next year, despite his recent $33 million dollar extension.

BREAKING NEWS:  Braylon Edwards actually caught a pass.