Countdown to Real Football: 14 Days - The Preseason

In just 14 days, there will be 'real' i.e. American Football to watch on TV, starting with the "Hall of Fame Game" which serves as the first game of the first week of the NFL Preseason.

The competing teams in the Hall of Fame Game traditionally wear throwback-style uniforms and the game takes on a kind of 'opening ceremony' feel, with the commentators talking more about the coming season than the game itself. As with all preseason games, the Hall of Fame Game is strictly an exhibition match - once the regular season begins all preseason records will be wiped clean and every team will start from 0-0.

This year's Hall of Fame Game, featuring the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints, will kick off at 8PM EST on Sunday, August 5th.

(And speaking of opening ceremonies, the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony is on the 27th, isn't it?)

A Couple of Finals

First, a final from a week ago, which needed little enough commentary at the time:

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Spain's comprehensive thrashing of Italy left them 3-time consecutive international champions (Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012), a feat which no team has ever before accomplished, and a likely favorite going into the 2014 World Cup along with the hosts Brazil.

Today's Wimbledon final was a bit more interesting.

In the men's final, Roger Federer beat the UK's own Andy Murray in 4 sets to claim his 7th Wimbledon title, tied for most all-time. As the first British man to make the Wimbledon final since 1938, and with the London Olympics coming up in a few weeks, Murray was likely under intense pressure to win. He started strong, but the endurance which makes Federer so dangerous even at 30 (quite old for a tournament-level tennis player) proved too much to overcome. It was fascinating to watch Murray slowly lose his edge as the match progressed, with emotions playing out on his face, while Federer stayed at the same competitive level. Federer played and acted like a robot the whole time (up until the moment he won - see the above image.)

If Federer keeps playing at this level, he is within one or two years of becoming the greatest tennis player of all time by almost any metric.

I Also Watch Movies

I have a profile on the website criticker.com, which is a site where people can create databases of the films they've seen and what rating they gave those films. My profile is new and in no way reflects all the movies I've seen in my life - just the ones I've seen recently enough to feel confident about my rating.

Check out my profile here, and maybe consider making one yourself. Once you've rated 10 films you've seen, the website will attempt to recommend other films you might like.

Enough About Soccer Already: The Euro 2012 Final

Well, this happened:

Except for a tense final few minutes, Italy basically cruised past tournament favorite Germany to reach the final. Huh. Well, we're in for a rematch of one of the tournament's earliest games, Italy vs. Spain. The group stage version of this matchup ended 1-1, and in fact that 1 goal by Italy is the only one scored in the tournament so far against Spain, so maybe this is an ideal matchup.

Italy subdued Germany with two first-half goals from their striker Mario Balotelli. Interesting fact: three of the players tied for the most goals of the tournament (3) are named Mario.

These teams have each played 5 games to get here, and have allowed a total of 4 goals, including 0 combined in the playoffs. We may be in for a repeat of the 2006 World Cup final, which also featured Italy and which ended in a penalty shootout (which Italy won). If that scenario unfolded, I doubt and Italian fans would complain.

Spain vs. Italy kicks off at 2:45pm EST.