Well, really dug this one out of the archives...

Was cleaning out my email draft box today, and found this half finished transcription of a text conversation Noah and I had during last years confed cup us-eqypt group stage match.... ah, memories.

in honor of this afternoons preposterous result, im going to share the text message exchange between noah and myself:

2:33, JF: God, we're screwed
2:33, ND: Why even bother
2:52, JF: Even the goals we do score are terrible
2:52, ND: Let's not get too critical here. Also, we fucking suck. And thanks to Egypt for deciding not to show up
2:53, JF: I hate the long balls. I hate the timidness in front of net. I hate the panic at the back. Even if we win, this is still terrible
2:59, ND: Well, Egypt woke up
3:01, JF: Why is dempsey on the field?
3:45, ND: Once again we are being handed a gift and failing to do our part.
3:45, JF: Seriously. Jozy, how do you not find a way to score that? He was paying rent he was camped out over the ball for so long
3:46, ND: it has to be a handball
3:47, JF: Deflection off the thigh into the arm? I don't hate the non call
3:48, ND: The ball is going into the net even after it hits his thigh
3:49, JF: Well, that was almost a nice goal....
3:49, ND: Egypt is dead tired
3:50, JF: They are not interested. Landon needs to take this home.
3:55, JF: I will take anyone over Dempsey. Where is Torres?
3:56 ND: I thought Dempsey was great in the early going. Feilhabers coming on
3:57 JF: Jesus. I hope your eyes are better than mine
4:00 ND: Thanks. I'll be here all night.
4:00 JF: Well, you were right. And I love it. Great cross from Spector
4:01 ND: Wonderful ball
4:01 JF: Also, I should have been nervous when I was agreeing with harkes
4:03 ND Guzan is terrifying. Don't take any pointers from him
4:05 JF: Haha. Also, I may be striking up my love affair with gooch again.... going to be a good final 15
4:09 ND: He doesn't lose balls in the air
4:12 JF: Davies needed off 20 mins ago
4:13 JF: Or 82 mins ago
4:14 ND: Yep. Although he ran hard. And then he started falling over
4:17 JF: Very little intent, or execution. Everyone loves energy, but that was a mess
4:23 JF: Wow.

Goodbye Harties

Now, just replace "Horses" with "Harties" and you're in business. Some final thoughts:

We will miss RSA, as scary and dodgy as it can be. We will miss Harties despite its electrical fence and echoes of apartheid and Anglo-Dutch repression. We will miss the moment in the supermarket when South Africa scored their second goal against France and everyone, black, white, American, Afrikaner, went ballistic with joy. Beyond all the guardhouses and running of red lights and poverty and fear, there is hope here. The people were wonderful and we were better for having met them.

Thanks to Noah, in a plagiarist but no less meaningful echoing previous posts. This would not have been possible without his planning and administrative voice. We can be disasters. So can Noah. On this trip, we remained confused and disoriented and he was well-versed, aware and prepared, all amidst the churn of thousands of words of journalistic copy everyday. Like the end of a public television broadcast, he gives full meaning to, "This was made possible by ...;" So we offer our thanks and continued admiration.

We will miss this US team. My teller at the bank today was from Ghana. He looked me in the eye and said, "It was joy to see Ghana win but it was sad to see USA go. They had real heart." Then he opened a credit card for me. I told him that Ghana's win was good for Africa but nonetheless crushing for us. He shook my hand and said, "We have so much here; we will be back." This statement was tough to read but reflected just how much "we" this US team engendered here. I don't know who he'll be rooting for in four years but, we will be back, hearts still full. See you in Brazil.

I have no idea what this means

but it sounds really good:

"Against England, though, Algeria coach Rabah Saadane reverted to a far more orthodox back three. One of the reasons 3-5-2 and its variants have largely gone out of fashion (although it seems to be making something of a comeback at this tournament) is the prevalence of 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1. Against a customary 4-4-2, two center backs mark two center forwards with a spare man, with the wing backs given the green light to advance, ideally pressing the opposing wide midfielders back onto their fullbacks. A team playing 3-5-2 overmans three-to-two in central midfield, the wing backs tend to be forced deep by opposing wingers, leaving three central defenders to deal with one center forward. One spare man is fine; two is redundancy, allowing the side playing the lone central striker to overman elsewhere, usually from the fullback positions. Of course, one of those two spare central defenders could push into midfield, but if he does that he may as well be a midfielder to start with."

for other insights into how we may be plotting to overthrow the algerian dictatorship of our win on wednesday, I really think this article is the shit.

if i can ever figure out what the hell he's talking about.

Day 9 Recap

NED-JPN. Watched from my hotel room. The Dutch defend their unofficial world title. I'm surprised they didn't win by more.

GHA-AUS. Watched from my hotel room. Mess of a game really. Kewell shouldn't have been sent off. Group D is a mess. Not sure who I'd want us to face if we make it to the next round.

CMR-DEN. Watched poolside in Santa Clara. Most exciting match of the World Cup. Should have been about 5-4 (someone) instead of 2-1 (Denmark). Cameroon is the first African team to go out and the African nations are, overall, a mess.

Pool leader: Noah and Geoff. Great work guys. I'm fading quietly.

Today is also the day I realized my passport was not with me.

Day 8 Recap

Don't have much to say today that hasn't been said.

GER-SRB. Watched in my hotel room. Wow, I guess Germany aren't the world beaters? Looks like Australia is just pretty bad. If we advance we're getting someone from this group. Serbia looked tough.

USA-SLO. Watched in my hotel room and poolside. We tied. Thank god. Enough See (see video diary below.)

ENG-ALG. Thank god England doesn't have it. Thank god Algeria tied England. Now all we need is to be Algeria. That's it. (See two sentences ago... they just tied England.)

Pool leader: Noah still. This day f'ed everyone up.

Day 7 Recap

ARG-KOR. Caught the end of this game via ESPN radio while flying to San Francisco. Thank wi-fi in airplanes. Argentina has awoken. Goals are being scored. Just imagine if Messi gets in the action. This team is getting scarier.

NIG-GRE. Listened to this one on the radio in the air too. Greece got feisty. Nigeria is in trouble. I really don't see an African team getting to the QF.

MEX-FRA. Caught this one on my iPhone. Greece picked up the win after a ridiculous play that led to a red card for Nigeria. Go greeks.

Pool leader: Noah. Because I didn't make picks today. Damnit.