12:19- Germany has played better than the US so far, but (you're not going to believe this) this soccer game is tied at 0. This US controls its own destiny, but I have Portugal vs. Ghana on my phone without sound. You're not going to believe this, but that soccer game is tied at 0 also. We're rooting for a draw in that game. The next best result in that game would be Portugal winning a low scoring game.
12:22- Graham Zusi just misses high on a good chance for the US.
12:24- The rain is coming down in the US-Germany game, but it is bright and sunny for the Portugal-Ghana game. I like that they play in the rain like they do in football.
12:31- Portugal just scored. The TV is ahead of my phone so the play by play guy mentioned it in the US game and then I saw it happen on my phone. So I want Ghana to even it up and then no more scoring.
12:34- Nice save by Tim Howard.
12:36- Kent Brockman calling the game. How did I not get that clip into this post?
12:40- Corner coming up for the US.
12:40- The corner goes through untouched.
12:42- We're a couple of minutes away from a rant about one of my least favorite things about soccer.
12:45- One minute of additional time. Hey, soccer, I have good news: Clocks can stop. Just stop the clock instead of this ridiculous extra time nonsense. They say one minute, but it's never exactly one minute. Do we have any idea if they actually add the right amount of time? What if there are stops during extra time? Do they add more extra time? The US lost two points in the last minute of five minutes of extra time against Portugal, but even if that hadn't happened, I would still hate the idea of extra time. You would think this was a group of friends playing and not having an exact clock. "There was that one time when somebody kicked the ball way out of bounds and then we had to chase it. That took like a minute. And then somebody got hurt and was down for about a minute and a half. And it went out a few times. That sounds like three minutes. Let's just keep playing for three more minutes." Just stop the clock when play is stopped. Every other sport has figured out that clocks can be stopped. Why hasn't soccer?
12:46- The whistle blows after 58 seconds of extra time and we go to halftime tied at 0 (shocking, I know).
12:52- With both games at halftime, I'm watching Wimbledon. Maria Sharapova is up three games to one in the first set against some girl from Switzerland with a last name that I don't feel like typing.
12:57- American Madison Keys won her first set against a Czech girl.
12:58- Top-ranked American male John Isner is in a second set tiebreak against a Finn.
1:00- I'm having salad for lunch. Don't worry, I already know. But I'm going to get Mexican for dinner, so we'll keep it light for lunch.
1:03- Isner wins the tiebreak and is up two sets to love. Where does that term come from? Here are Jerry Seinfeld's thoughts on tennis.
1:07- I'm back to soccer. One thing I've noticed during the World Cup is that broadcasters will say things like, "Germany have played very well today." Germany is a singular noun. Germany has played very well today or the Germans have played very well today. There was an example of this at the beginning of the game today, but I hadn't started the diary yet. At least if you're talking about the United States, you could make the argument that "United States" is a plural noun.
1:11- Free kick for Germany is headed away by the US.
1:12- Now we have a corner kick coming up for the Germans.
1:12- Howard made one nice save, but Germany scores on the rebound. Nuts.
1:15- Ghana scores on a header. A draw in that game would be great. Ghana winning could be problematic. So either that needs to stay tied or Portugal needs to score again. Or we could just score and tie it. That would be cromulent.
1:17- Substitution for the US.
1:17- We have a German writhing on the ground. The referee is from Uzbekistan. Borat is not a fan.
1:19- Ghana just had a good chance on a header, but it went wide.
1:20- Yellow card on the US after they missed a foul on Germany.
1:21- If we finish tied with Ghana in points and tied in goal differential, they could advance by scoring more goals. Why isn't the tie-breaker that we beat them head to head?
1:28- The US has a corner kick coming up here. We need a goal.
1:28- The corner is headed away easily by Germany.
1:29- Notre Dame alum/my favorite soccer player ever Matt Besler clears the ball for the US. I'm wearing my Notre Dame stars and stripes shirt for him/the United States.
1:31- We have two Americans down after a collision.
1:32- They're still down. Why is the clock running? This is so stupid.
1:37- Corner kick for Germany.
1:38- Portugal scores! USA! USA! USA!
1:40- Another nice clear by Matt Besler.
1:41- Deandre Yedlin is in for Graham Zusi. What up with that?
1:47- We have a fan on the pitch. And the clock is still running.
1:48- Four minutes of extra time in both games.
1:49- We're likely to play Belgium if we advance. As one of my students pointed out as we were watching Andy Murray take on some Belgian guy at Wimbledon, they make good waffles.
1:51- The US had a good chance to tie, but the shot was blocked.
1:51- Clint Dempsey just missed on a header.
1:52- Germany wins 1-0.
1:53- Portugal wins 2-1. The United States advances! USA! USA! USA!
1:55- I'll stay with Wimbledon for a little while and then I'll take a break until the NBA Draft. Roder Federer is up a set on a Luxembourgian (apparently that's the right word, I had the red squiggley line under it until I fixed the spelling).
1:58- Here's my account of my day at Wimbledon last year. It was July 1, the second Monday of the tournament. The highlight of my day was seeing American Sloane Stephens win. This year she lost on day one.
2:08- John Isner won. He's the only American male left. Lame. I remember the good old days of Pete Sampras dominating Wimbledon.
2:14- Madison Keys is serving for the match against the 31st seed.
2:15- Madison Keys wins. USA! USA! USA!
2:17- Rain is affecting Wimbledon. They're closing the roof in the Federer match, but this seems like a good place to take a break. I'll be back for the draft.
7:29- And I'm back for my second NBA Draft Diary. Here's last year's diary of a terrible draft. The highlight was Bill Simmons's reaction to Cleveland taking Anthony Bennett with the first pick. For tonight, I'm joined by my dad and my good friend Sam will be making an appearance later.
7:32- Adam Silver makes his first appearance. This is the first NBA Draft of my lifetime without David Stern.
7:33- Silver reminded us that the Spurs' stars were taken 1st, 15th, 28th, and 57th. They know what they're doing.
7:37- David Blatt is the Cavaliers' new coach. I've never heard of him.
7:39- We've heard some crazy ideas about how to change the draft. My only change would be that you can't get the number 1 pick two years in a row. If you win the lottery the year after winning it, you get the second pick. Cleveland is making their second consecutive number 1 pick. Minor change.
7:41- Andrew Wiggins is our second consecutive Canadian drafted number one overall. This isn't the NHL. The US needs to reclaim the number one spot next year. Stephen Abootman is proud.
7:47- The Bucks take Jabari Parker. We knew that was going to happen. Now things start to get interesting.
7:48- Bill Simmons compares Parker to Paul Pierce. That makes me think of the 1998 NBA Draft (it was only a matter of time until I referenced the 1998 draft, my favorite of all time). I had my kids do reports on presidents and we had a presidential draft so that everybody had a different president. It was like the 1998 draft. Franklin Pierce went first (Olowokandi) and Lincoln and Washington went ninth and tenth (Nowitzki and Pierce).
7:53- The 76ers take Joel Embiid. They show him on camera. He looks about as excited as I was to be surrounded by hippies in San Francisco. The 76ers might be going with the Houston Astros strategy of just not caring for a while and stockpiling early picks. Not a bad strategy. If he recovers, it's probably a good pick. If not, he could be Greg Oden.
7:55- They show a happy Joel Embiid. Rece Davis blames it on the the satellite delay.
7:57- Joel Embiid quotes the great philosopher Kevin Garnett in his interview with Rece Davis.
7:59- The Magic make a surprising pick with Aaron Gordon. My dad is excited because he didn't want the Celtics to take him.
8:04- The Jazz are about to pick. I don't think they're taking Doug McDermott, but we can't rule it out.
8:06- Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi! The Jazz take Dante Exum. I was kind of hoping he'd end up with the Celtics so that I could root for an Aussie.
8:08- The Celtics are on the clock. My dad worries that they will take Marcus Smart. I would not be excited about that.
8:09- Dante Exum is being interviewed. The Australian accent is the best.
8:12- Simmons wants the Celtics to take Julius Randle. I agree.
8:12- Marcus Smart. I'm not a fan.
8:14- Jay Bilas likes the pick. Jay Bilas is going to like every pick. And I like Jay Bilas, but ESPN needs to find people who will criticize teams during the NFL/NBA drafts.
8:16- The advanced stats show that Marcus Smart is a great prospect. NBADraft.net's comparison for him is Dwyane Wade. I'm going to talk myself into being excited about this by the end of the night.
8:17- The Lakers take Julius Randle. I wanted the Celtics to take him five minutes ago, but I despise Kentucky basketball and I despise the Lakers. This is a match made somewhere and it's not heaven.
8:20- Only Michael Beasley had more double doubles as a freshman in NCAA history and we know how well he worked out in the NBA.
8:22- The Kings take Nik Stauskas. And now I have a reason to root against the Kings.
8:28- The Hornets are about to pick. Major upgrade in team name for the Charlotte professional basketball team.
8:29- The Hornets take Noah Vonleh. His suit is appropriate for the Hornets.
8:31- Noah Vonleh has some big hands.
8:36- The 76ers take Elfrid Payton from Louisiana Lafayette. I hadn't heard of this guy until two days ago. I'm glad they didn't take Doug McDermott because I don't want to root against Doug McDermott.
8:37- When asked by Rece Davis what the 76ers are getting in Payton, Jay Bilas responds, "A great hairdo." He then gave a serious answer. He should have just stopped there.
8:42- Denver takes Doug McDermott. I'm a big fan. I'm not a big fan of Denver, but there are a lot of teams that would have been worse.
8:45- I love McDermott, but he looks pretty ridiculous with his hat on during his interview with Jay Williams.
8:51- The Magic take Dario Saric. Where's Fran Fraschilla to tell us about him? Because nobody has ever seen this guy play. Or if you have, you're spending too much time watching basketball highlights on the internett.
8:52- There's Fran.
8:55- The Timberwolves take Zach LaVine while I'm on the phone with my brother Tom. He's a Knick fan and he likes the trade they made yesterday. I agree, but when getting two second round picks is one of the best things that's happened to your team lately, I think that tells you all you need to know about the Knicks.
9:02- The 76ers are trading Payton to the Magic for Saric, who won't be coming to the US for a couple of years.. The 76ers are definitely going with the Houston Astros strategy.
9:03- The Suns take T.J. Warren.
9:05- T.J. Warren's suit looks fine, but his shirt and tie combination is atrocious.
9:10- The Hawks take Adreian Payne. He's wearing ridiculous purple pants, but he stayed in college for four years, so I guess I should root for him.
9:12- Rece Davis talks about Payne's relationship with a girl who died of cancer (the only person that Jay Bilas followed on Twitter). I thought I had a reason to like this guy. Okay, I'm in on Adreian Payne.
9:14- Isaiah Austin is recognized by Adam Silver. He was expected to be drafted, but now his career is over because he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. That's an excellent job out of the NBA in that scenario.
9:19- The Bulls take Jusuf Nurkic from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He's going to the Nuggets as part of a trade for Doug McDermott. I'm much less excited about McDermott going to the Bulls, even though I am a Tom Thibodeau fan (2008 Celtics defensive architect).
9:21- The Celtics are on the clock and I'm joined by my good friend Sam, who is also a fan of the Celtics (he's from Boston). I like Sam all year long, but he's at his best during the summer.
9:23- They're talking about the possibility of the Bulls amnestying Carlos Boozer. Simmons thinks Jerry Reinsdorf might not be willing to do that. You have to get Carlos Boozer off the cap for the chance to get a big free agent.
9:25- The Celtics take James Young. My dad likes this pick. Simmons is excited as well. I don't know much about him. The Celtics are loading up on guards, but when you're as bad as they were, you take the best player available. If James Young was the best player available, I'm cool with that pick.
9:28- Simmons wants to do shots.
9:32- The Suns take Tyler Ennis. This leads to a discussion of how Canada is dominating this draft.
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| This is the best day for Canada since they got all that gum and those Bennigan's gift cards. |
9:35- The Bulls take Gary Harris for the Nuggets. Simmons and Rose think it's a steal for the Nuggets.
9:39- Either Mitch Kupchak is really tall or Ramona Shelbourne is really short. Boo Lakers.
9:41- The Heat want to move up to get Shabazz Napier. I want the Heat to end so I hope it doesn't happen.
9:44- The Raptors take Bruno Caboclo. Who? Rece Davis says he was the MVP of Basketball without Borders. Is that a thing?
9:45- Fran Fraschilla says he's the Brazilian Kevin Durant. If you say so.
9:46- "He's two years away from being two years away." So maybe Fran Fraschilla isn't so high on Bruno whoever. And who had their money on Fran Fraschilla giving us the line of the night?
9:51- They just reviewed the James Harden trade, which is why the Thunder are picking now. I made fun of them last year when they took Stephen Adams (who turned out to be better than I expected). Now the Thunder take Mitch McGary. I never had anything against the Thunder until now.
9:58- The Grizzles take Jordan Adams. Jay Bilas says he's a scorer.
10:02- The Jazz take Rodney Hood. Bilas says he knows how to score. I've known how to score probably since I was four, but that doesn't mean I was good at it.
10:06- The Hornets take Shabazz Napier. Simmons says they have a chance to be a top five team in the East next year. Pretty low bar to clear.
10:09- Andy Katz says Shabazz Napier is going to the Heat. Nuts.
10:11- Rece Davis says "calorie scap" instead of salary cap. It's getting late.
10:14- Simmons predicted a foreigner for the Rockets and he was right. They take Clint Capela, who Simmons says is one of the best 50 players ever from Switzerland. The Rockets don't want to pay him yet.
10:15- Fraschilla says Capela is the second best player to come from Switzerland.
10:17- Josh Beckett gets a strikeout to end the top of the first in Los Angeles. No runs, one hit, and nobody left for the Cardinals.
10:20- The Heat take P.J. Hairston for the Hornets. And my good friend Sam has been replaced by my casual acquaintance Coors Light Summer Brew.
10:27- Adam Silver announces the 76ers-Magic trade from before. The Suns take Bogdan Bogdanovic. That has to be a made up name.
10:33- The Clippers take C.J. Wilcox. We have two picks left in the first round. Who's handling the second round?
10:38- World Cup talk during the NBA Draft. I'm opposed to this. Two hours of soccer today was enough. Rece Davis says, "I embrace football all the time," talking about real football after Jay Bilas mentioned Americans embracing "football." Good job, Rece. But way too much soccer talk. If you want to just mention it quickly, fine, but it shouldn't be a long discussion during the NBA Draft.
10:40- Oklahoma City takes Josh Heustis. Bilas says he can really defend. I say they'll regret not taking whoever the Spurs take with the next pick because whoever that is will be a good player because it's the Spurs.
10:42- Highlights of the Spurs dismantling the Heat. That was fun.
10:43- The Spurs have $9 million in cap room. They know what they're doing.
10:44- Simmons points out that Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili made less than Kobe Bryant last year. That's why the Spurs won the championship and the Lakers stunk.
10:46- They're talking about the Heat while the Spurs are on the clock. Of course they are.
10:46- The Spurs take Kyle Anderson. He'll be a contributor. I played basketball with a guy named Kyle Anderson. I don't think it was the same guy. Adam Silver informs us that Mark Tatum will handle the second round. I know last year I covered the entire draft, but I didn't do the World Cup and some Wimbledon before that. It's time to call it a night, but hopefully Marcus Smart and James Young turn out to be great players for the Celtics.
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