Monday Grab Bag: Los Gringos fall on their face

 Not too much on my radar over the past weekend, but enough to fill an abbreviated bag.  There's international soccer, interleague baseball, and a Buffs Olympic sports title to discuss today.

Click below for the fun...




Mexico defeats USA in Gold Cup Final - Over 90,000 mostly green-clad Mexico supporters stuffed into the Rose Bowl to watch the USA and Mexico once again do battle on the futbol pitch.  This edition of the always entertaining rivalry, that often encompasses as much off-field emotion as on, was for the North American championship.  While the Gold Cup is essentially a check to see that the US and Mexico don't fall asleep while playing Jamaica, it does earn the winner a spot in the Confederations Cup and a few years worth of bragging rights.

Saturday night, the USMNT rose to the occasion the rivalry demands and sparked out to a quick-as-lightning 2-0 lead over Mexico.  Beautiful goals by Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan (whose last name is a curse word south of the border) put the US in the improbable position of winning a game that many thought was lost before it started.

Down 2-0 on American soil is enough to chill the hearts of any Mexican soccer fan.  It's been sort of a tradition in the futbol rivalry between the North American neighbors that, on US soil at least, dos a cero is all but a certainty.  That's why Landon Donovan's 2nd goal Saturday night but a big-ass smile on my face.  To say the multitudes of Mexico fans were silent after Donovan's goal would be an understatement.

But it was not to be.  With a back four depleted by the early exit of injured Steve Cherundolo, the US defense was constantly broken by the speed of the Mexican attack.  Not even 15 minutes went by before El Tri had the game tied up, and, with the US momentum broken, an American loss was all but assured.  4 unanswered goals later, and El Tri walked away with a 4-2 victory and the Gold Cup crown.

Tim Howard and the US saw a great chance at upset victory slip away.  From: the Trib

Questions will now abound about the future of US coach Bob Bradley, as the quality of the USMNT has obviously slipped behind that of our rivals, but for 22 minutes I was allowed to dream that a clearly outmatched US side would prevail.


Guess who's coming to dinner -  This week will mark a series of events that only happen about once every six years: my beloved Chicago White Sox are coming to Denver to play the Rockies.  That's right, not since 2005 have I been able to watch my Southside heroes without buying a plane ticket.  Needless to say, I'm going to all three games.

Capitain Paulie is steering the good ship Southside towards the Mile High this week.  From: the Trib

 Both teams are coming in off of painful losses to East Coast opponents over the weekend.  With series on the line on Sunday afternoon, the Rockies wasted a strong start by Juan Nicasio in the South Bronx and fell to the Yankees, and my Sox continued to ignore the idea of "offense" as they lost to the vaunted Washington Nationals. 

Neither the Rox or the Sox are going to set the world on fire this season, but that just means I'll probably see three days of competitive baseball. Six years ago I came away from this series smelling of garlic fries and victory as the soon to be world champion White Sox swept the Rockies in Coors Field.  I don't expect my luck to hold as it did that season, but I would like to see at least one win from my boys while they're in town.


Buff Emma Coburn wins US Steeplechase - While CU may not have a reputation for all-pro quarterbacks or dominating post players, we do know how to produce some fantastic steeplechasers.  For the 3rd time in 5 years a Buff came away from the USATF championships with the steeplechase crown as Emma Coburn ran to victory Sunday afternoon in Oregon.  Emma joins former Buff Jenny Simpson (Barringer) as a title holder in the event.

Way to go Emma!  From: CUBuffs.com

I don't follow track at all, so I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about here (as if I ever do).  However, my buddy Scarffe is always complaining that no one ever lets him know when CU does something well in the Olympic sports (for instance, he didn't know about the '08 Big XII mens track title until about a year later).  So, for all of you who don't follow CU's achievements in non-revenue sports, consider yourself notified.


Happy Monday!