Battle of unbeatens as Crew host Galaxy
Soccer Betting Lines
05/27/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew host the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night in Major League Soccer action in what very well could be a preview of MLS Cup 2010.
Both teams are unbeaten just under a third of the way into the season, with the Crew (6-0-2) actually rattling off three wins in an eight days stretch last week - the last two of which were on the road. The week was capped off with a 1-0 win this past Sunday in Kansas City.
"The field is small," Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer told mlssoccer.com of CommunityAmerica Ballpark in K.C. "It made for a kind of ugly game. That's been our style and how we've played so far this year. We were up for the battle."
The Crew were playing without winger Robbie Rogers and defender Chad Marshall, who were with the U.S. national team in preparation of the upcoming World Cup. Both players should be available on Saturday, however, after the were cut when the final 23-man roster was announced on Wednesday.
The Galaxy weren't so lucky on Wednesday, with their two players in U.S. camp - MLS assist leader Landon Donovan and goal leader Edson Buddle - both making the 23-man roster. They will be unavailable to the Galaxy until at least the conclusion of the World Cup's group stage at the end of June.
But the Galaxy (8-0-2) will have to find a way to get a result for the second straight week without both their most talented [Donovan], and their most in- form [Buddle] players.
"They're a good team," L.A. defender Sean Franklin told mlssoccer.com of the Crew. "I've seen some film of some of their games, and they've scored a number of goals on set pieces.
"They're just a tough opponent this week ... we have to be sharp."
Will the Crew should get two significant players back, they also could be without three important pieces in defenders Frankie Hejduk and Danny O'Rourke, and midfielder Brian Carroll, who suffered knocks last week.
The Galaxy are relatively healthy, with forward Alan Gordon, midfielder Dema Kovalenko, and defender Leonardo all listed as questionable with injuries.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.