jsportsblogger

Two giants of European football will clash in Warsaw to see who will make the final of Euro 2012. Germany and Italy will meet for the first time in a competitive fixture since the 2006 World Cup semifinal, which the Azzure won 2-0.

The Azzure finished second in Group C, drawing Spain and Croatia, before defeating Ireland to advance to the quarterfinals. The Azzure had to go to penalties, before knocking out England, to advance to the semifinals.

Germany have been perfect so far at Euro 2012, winning all four matches in the tournament. Portugal, Holland, Denmark and Greece have all succumbed to Die Mannschaft, who have looked unstoppable in the competition.

The Germans love to use a 4-2-3-1 formation and will most likely lineup in that same formation for this fixture. Coach Joachim Low’s biggest decision could very well be, who will be his lone striker up front. Both…

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jsportsblogger

The Iberian Peninsula will be on high alert on Wednesday, as Spain and Portugal collide in the semifinals of Euro 2012. The two countries last encounter was at the 2010 World Cup in the second round, with Spain going through with a tense 1-0 result.

Both sides have yet to play their absolute best football in this tournament as of yet, which means this could be a tantalizing spectacle to behold. After losing their first match to Germany, Portugal have won fixtures over Denmark, Holland and most recently, the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. Spain opened their Euro account, with a draw to Italy, before recording victories over Ireland, Croatia and France in the quarterfinals.

Many eyes will be focused on the head to head matchup between Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta. These two superstars have waged many a battle over the last few years, either with their club teams…

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Dubsism

Originally, I was just going to comment on this piece written by Grant Bisbee from the San Francisco Giants blog McCovey Chronicles. But, the more I explored his theory, the more I saw this was morphing from a comment into another patented Dubsism-style breakdown.

Either way you slice it, the dominant Tim Lincecum that won two Cy Young awards has seemingly vanished into thin air.  The reasons are complex, and not plainly obvious.  I think Bisbee has nailed the best take on this, but I also think he’s missing one important factor. I intend to bring out that point as I walk through his points.

Say, here I am, after another dismal Tim Lincecum start! Boy golly howdy, this is fun. His FIP tonight was Walter Johnson riding a hippogriff and wielding a flaming scimitar made of testosterone and diamonds. His actual game was a shitstorm. Again.

There were…

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Dubsism

Remember the other day when I called the Washington Nationals a bunch of “pimply-faced prodigies who by graduating from Harvard at age fifteen have already accomplished more than a middle-aged dipshit writing some blog which gets four readers a week ever will.”

Let me introduce you to Beau Hossler, who as a 17-old brace-faced little punk has by virtue of performance at the U.S. Open this past weekend pretty much topped anything anybody who either writes or reads this blog will ever do on the links.

Forget the fact that he didn’t end up as the low amateur, forget the double-bogey on the 18th hole on Sunday that cost him that opportunity.  Sunday showed the kid is human, unlike the performance gave on Saturday. During the third round at Olympic, Hossler backed every one of his bogeys with a birdie, but in the final round, he posted back to back…

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Sam’s Sports Brief Blog Update

Hi everybody,

Thank you all for reading my blog, and for your awesome support so far.

I am not going to be at home for the next 7 weeks, and I won’t have any internet access, so I will not be able to make any posts for 7 weeks. I will start posting again when I get back home (on August 5th).

I hope you all are enjoying my blog, as I really appreciate all of you who have visited it so far.

I will make my next post on August 5th, when I get back home to internet access!

Also, my radio show, GameTime is taking a summer vacation. We will continue to broadcast GameTime on http://novahpradio.net in August. Thanks!

I look forward to continuing this blog, and seeing just how far it can go!

-Sam

P.S.- Remember to help me support Stand Up 2 Cancer, a charity fighting to find the cure for cancer! Just go to the Stand Up 2 Cancer orange box on the side, and do an activity for free, you can save a life!

Dubsism

It’s been a tough 2012 if you are Giants 1B/OF Aubrey Huff.  In fact, it’s been a downward spiral for Huff ever since his arrival in the City by the Bay.  Signed by the San Francisco Giants prior to the 2010 season as an answer to their seemingly perennial offensive woes, Huff posted a seaosn which landed him in the top ten for National League MVP voting.  But it has been a slide down one of San Francisco’s famous hills ever since.

2010 saw Huff post a .290 batting average, 26 homers, and he drove in 86 runs in 569 at-bats. 2011 saw those numbers drop to .246/12 HR/59 RBI in 521 at-bats. If 2011 was a bad dream for Huff, then 2012 must be a full-on “Freddy Krueger-meets-nude-Oprah” nightmare.

If it weren’t bad enough that Mrs. Dubsism loves to refer to him as “The Girl”  based strictly on the fact…

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jsportsblogger

Group B will conclude action on Sunday, as Portugal and Holland will renew acquaintances at Kharkiv. It is a critical fixture for Portugal as they need a victory, to ensure a spot in the quarterfinals. After opening the tournament with a loss to Germany, Portugal scored a 3-2 result over Denmark in an enthralling match.

The Dutch have shown substandard form in the tournament, losing to Denmark and Germany in their fixtures, while scoring only one goal in that time frame. Holland will need a miracle to advance past the group stage.

Adding to Holland’s woes is manager Bert van Marwijk’s assertion following the Germany match, claiming his team “lacked courage” in the competition. This hasn’t gone over well with the Dutch players, and one must question their motivation coming into this fixture.

The Dutch have used a 4-2-3-1 formation, but it hasn’t generated the quality normally associated with Clockwork…

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jsportsblogger

Group D will take centre stage on Friday at Euro 2012, with a crucial fixture, that could determine the fate of the group. England and Sweden are both in need of a positive result as they both search for their first victory in the tournament. England opened their Euro account with a 1-1 draw with France. Sweden were defeated 2-1 by Ukraine in their opening contest.

While a draw wasn’t a horrible result for the Three Lions, Roy Hodgson’s side needs to improve their form, if England are to see the quarterfinals. England will play a conservative 4-2-2 formation, relying on a pragmatic, patient game. With Wayne Rooney still suspended, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck are expected to start as the two strikers. However if Hodgson decides to go with a wider approach, then either Jermain Defoe or Theo Walcott could make the team sheet.

Walcott could also be used in…

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