EPL: AJ for Everton

For the first time since Wayne Rooney roamed Goodison Park, Everton have a man who can score goals. Andrew Johnson has scored 2 goals in the first 3 games and has Everton off to a 7 point jump-start. The 26-year-old has also just been named to another team in need of a goal scorer; he'll play for England in the first two qualifiers for Euro 2008 (or as The Sports Sauna shall henceforth call it, "The Poor Man's World Cup").

Lots of hope for Everton to contend for the top 6. Their brilliant, over-achieving manager David Moyes and team management have made a lot of moves over the past two years, and most of them are looking positively. For those of you who might catch a couple Everton games here and there on cable, here's a quick guide to a few of the key players:

The Old Guard
Tony Hibbert- Workmanlike and reliable
Joseph Yobo- Utility man
Kevin Kilbane- Looks like Jim Carey
Lee Carsley- Bald field general

New Last Year
Phil Neville- Man U castoff plays with
Jorge Nuno Valente- Started for Portugal in the World Cup
Tim Cahill- One of my favorites. Clutch for Everton, he brought that to Australia in the World Cup.
Mikel Arteta- Technically joined at the end of 04-05. Most skillful player on the team

New This Year
Tim Howard- American goalie on year-long loan from Man U
Joleon Lescott- Young, talented and pleasing-to-say name
Andrew Johnson- See above

Join this fantasy league

Since I haven't been able to fill up the 3rd annual obnoxiously big fantasy league (20 team madness) I thought I'd post the info here and see if 1 or 2 random blog readers will sign up. Here's how to do it:

football.fantasysports.yahoo.com
league #: 537617
password: huge

Tell your friends!

World Basketball Championship

I have to admit, I've been uncharacteristically caught up in the World Basketball Championships these past few weeks. Partly it's Melo's excellent play. Partly it's Coach K and Jimmy B prowling the sidelines. But mostly its interest in the whole "team" strategy that the US had coming in.

I even thought about watching the quarterfinal, until I realized we don't get ESPN2 in the Fort these days. (If the downgrade to basic basic cable isn't a sign that it's the beginning of the end of the Fort era, I don't know what is. Maybe Fyall departing.) Oh, and I also thought it was 6:30pm tonight, not 6:30am.

I haven't caught any of the games, but I have noticed the photos on ESPN.com. They all show players focusing intently or celebrating happily. Even though I fear that everyone who played in this tournament is going to be too tired to have a great season once the NBA begins, I'm excited about the effort they're putting out there. Proud, even.

Chris Sheridan, who's been doing a fine job blogging on the championship, is standing by his initial prediction that the US will lose to Spain or Argentina. If the US does lose in the finals, I'll only be a little disappointed. But something tells me the Americans won't, that they've got their International swagger back. So let's make it official: US over Argentina in the finals.

PGA Championship

Andy Katz recently rated the top 50 college basketball teams for next year. He got it just about right with SU at 21, I think. It seems more optimistic than most analysts would have them, but Katz probably knows a little more about how good Paul "Don't Call Me Arras" Harris is than they do.

I just thought of this...if Paul Harris ends up being a legend in Syracuse, the number of people in town who mis-hear my last name as "Harris" is going to rise exponentially. That's going to be annoying. My only chance is to become more famous then him. Please tell your friends about the Sports Sauna now!

Oh! The PGA... The amazing thing about yesterday was that Mike Weir played out of his mind to tie the course record at 65. Then Tiger matched the number without even breaking a sweat. This is the new Tiger. Virtually perfect from tee to fairway, and from fairway to green. When he is making his putts, he is unbeatable. The sad part is he's a great chipper and bunker player, but we hardly get to see it anymore! Lame.

PGA Continues

Survey: What is more entertaining to watch?

A) Tiger dominating
B) Ogilvy grinding
C) Sergio collapsing

PGA Championship Final Round in Progress...

CBS just used a Philip Glass song from The Truman Show to run golf highlights. Somewhere, my fellow minimalist, James, is pleased.

I'm begining to rethink my whole "Tiger isn't as good as he used to be" schtick. This is dominant. He's holding back, playing safe, and still opening up a lead. There is no doubt who is going to win, yet I continue to watch...

EPL Predictions

Another season of the Premiership is upon us. And for the first time since 2003, I get to be in England for it! Expect plenty of coverage from the island right here on the Sports Sauna. First, here's my sense of the worst and the best of British football.

RELEGATION: Generally, I always expect two of the three newcomers to the Premiership to slip back down. And quite often, there is a Premiership regular that is obviously fragile.

The new boys: I'm carrying a huge bias here, but I like Reading to stay up. They feature Americans Marcus Hahnemann in goal and Bobby Convey at midfield. That leaves SHEFFIELD UNITED and WATFORD as the boys headed down. Between the two, the only player I'm familiar with is Chinese International Li Tie of Sheffield, who was mediocre when I watched him with Everton.

Danger Zone: Call it the curse of Claudio Reyna: MAN CITY goes down. The old American captain went down with the Sunderland ship in 2003. It wasn't his fault...he only played 11 games for them. Look for his usual multiple injuries this year. The rest of the team really lacks sparkle. They're leading scorer from last year, Andy Cole, is 34. And their second leading scorer, Darius Vassell, is the definition of "an absence of sparkle."


THE TOP: I really like TOTTENHAM to break into the top four this year. They've got some great youth. That mean one of the big 4 drops down. I think Liverpool overachieved last year and will slip back this time, even with Bill Simmons following them. On the other hand, ARSENAL will do a bit better this time around and challenge MAN U for second.

CHAMPS: I can't not not bet against CHELSEA. They are too powerful and, I must admit, well-coached.

As for Everton, I think they'll be in the fight for a top 6 position and a trip to the UEFA Cup.