All things come to an end.

So Rachel and I have two more days here in Durban. We have met wonderful people, seen beautiful places, watched unbelievable soccer and can’t wait to come home to see family. This past weekend we took in the Portugal v. Brazil match on Friday night which was incredibly boring (except that we sat next to a man from Portugal who was hilarious. Please see the posted videos below for more information.). Saturday we had a romantic weekend at a vineyard (with no grape vines) further up the coast from Durban. We were right on the beach and it was so relaxing. Finally, today Rachel and I drove south down the coast to a beautiful gorge and game reserve where we saw giraffes, wilde beasts, spring boks, zebras and other animals. Pictures of all this will be in the next post. I also plan on doing a wrap up post.

So Saturday night the USA run for the World Cup came to an end. Again Ghana put us out of the tournament but this time it was a little bit later than four years ago. As expected our midfield was the only part of our team we felt confident it. We can not have a group of forwards that go scoreless for a World Cup and expect to advance to any decent stage. Unfortunately I feel that Bob Bradley has just coached his last match as head coach. I would be surprised if he is present for the match against Brazil in August. Also, farewell to Donovan. He will join Everton before their next campaign starts in August and if we are lucky he will play a few more matches for the Galaxy (actually if the Sounders are lucky he will not play any more matches for the Galaxy). I don't know if there is much more to say. We had an opportunity because Ghana did not play that well but it is what it is. Now we wait four more years. Unfortunately I feel that it will be a more difficult World Cup in Brazil.

Thanks for reading and enjoy my Portugese friend.

And the winner is…..

Not Italy.  Amazing they finished last in their group. Don’t worry y’all, I won’t shed any tears for them.

So anyway, the suggestions for the banner were,

1. “Hey Brazil-Get your own language.”

2.” Hey Portugal-Get your own style of waxing.”

3. Circle Me Bert

4. Tempo para Martelar

5. Where is Rhonaldino?

6. Whammy is the Winner

And we went with nobody’s.  Not even Rachel’s, kind of.  We are going to have a black and white banner that says,

“HAMMER TEMPO” on it.  We will be sitting in on of the corners.  It is actually the northwest corner but I do not think you will be able to tell on tv.  Our seats are on the second level, so it keep an eye out at the Portugal v. Brazil match today for “HAMMER TEMPO.”

Thanks for everyone’s participation.

On the Rebound

So after 90 minutes of close attempts and being robbed of our second fine goal…….GOAL!!!!  Thank you Landon for cleaning up the rebound.

So Rachel and I walked down to the pub we have established as home base and guess what…..all three of their tv’s are hooked up to the same channel and there were already some damn England fans watching that lame match.  So we walked to the next pub and again all three tv’s had to show the same match and of course there were England fans already watching.  To make a long story longer, we finally found a restaurant in a mall that resembles Chili’s or something.  I am so glad that the USA won and is moving on.  I would have been very disappointed if we did not advance but we had two goals taken from us.  But we don’t have to worry about that now.

On the topic of rebounds, Rachel, the resident great soccer mind, has been upset that no teams are cleaning up rebounds.  She and I both agree that the teams that do the best and getting rebounds and putting them back in the net will be the strongest.  If you think about it, the ball supposedly does not fly true, so keepers are trying to punch or block incoming balls rather than catch them.  That means more rebounds.  Every shot needs to be followed up by someone hoping to clean up.

Cheers and thanks for reading.  GO USA!!

Hammer Times Banner Contest (re-post)

Some of you may have missed this so I am re-posting it.

So for the Portugal v. Brazil match Rachel and I will be sitting close to the railing.  We have noticed that having a banner hang over the rail is a good way to be noticed on TV.  So here is the 1st Annual Hammer Times Banner Contest.  We are going to hang a banner at the Portugal v. Brazil match and we want your suggestions.  So if we have a better suggestion than Rachel’s, which was to write Hammer Time in Portuguese on the banner, we will put it on the banner.  Of course we will tell everyone what will be on the banner and hope that you look for us.

Looking forward to reading your suggestions.  We want you to put the suggestions in the comments section.  The deadline will be end of the USA v. Algeria match.

Happy Dad’s Day, Dads!!!

So even though we are thousands of miles away we still want to wish our fathers and those fathers that we know, a happy Father’s Day.  So Paul and Ralph, we love you very much and are so thankful you are our fathers.  Also, Rolf, Happy Father’s Day with a new one on the way.  Finally, Steve, this is your first Father’s Day, congratulations!! Cheers to you all.

Mother’s Garden Edition

So Rachel and I visited the Botanical Gardens here in Durban and took many pictures of some beautiful tropical flowers.  Both of us thought that our mothers would really enjoy seeing pictures of both beautiful flowers and their children.  Moms, here you go and we love you.

A monkey in a tree at the Botanical Gardens

Rachel in the Sunken Gardens

This is a floral exhibit that resembles the Moses Stadium in Durban

These are orchids in the Orchid House.

Rachel and I standing under the quintessential African tree, the Baobab tree.

USA v. Slovenia Match Recap

So can I even say rough match?  Maybe rough result.  I may regret this proclamation, like I regret the same proclamation I made walking out of the Kingdome after watching the Seahawks loose to the Jets in the NFL playoffs because of a touchdown awarded to Vinnie “I have no testes” Testiverti’s (I hope I butchered the spelling of that) helmet, but we need replay in the World Cup.  What a match.  I was obviously wrong about the USA not coming out in a match sluggish.  That was a terrible first 30 minutes.  I love him but I am hanging these two goals on Guch.  Twice he found himself in “no man’s land” and both times a goal was scored.  He did not play like himself.  I love you Guch but you got to step up against Algeria!!  This is the World Cup.  We can not sleep on any team.

On the other hand, we showed the that USA never gives up.  We played a second half that if we play that way for 90 minutes I feel that we can beat any team in the field.  That was the best soccer I have ever seen and we won that match.  I may have embarrassed Rachel a little due to my yelling in the pub we were in.  Of course I was the only USA supporter and it was a match where one might loose his voice (hypothetically speaking of course).

Finally, we all knew how poor England was.  I think England might have just registered the worst performance in the Cup but I am really happy with the result.  Now we need to go in to the Algeria match and win decisively to show our true colors.  Our future in in our own hands.