Show f q r 7 o r 1 P t v. v rt S 'S Y d y v. v fJ c J n l lf f F I 7 it rl S Josh Collins Contributing Writer USA blows real World Series In the aftermath of an embarrassing embarrassing embarrassing embar embar- rassing second round exit from the World Baseball Classic last week team USA seemed very apathetic While the anchors on and every other sports talk show ripped team USA for its seeming lack of heart and effort the only one that seemed to care on the entire team was Roger Clemens During the first round when the US faced elimination in only their third game Clemens went out on the mound and South Africa didn't score a run The offense came out swinging and didn't stop until they were i is 3 u 17 n the mercy had to be applied Cleme Clemens Clemens' 11 Said hid before the game that if team USA lost he would never pit pitch h again Fortunately Clemens fans got to see him again Unfortunately it was again in a game where the US faced elim elim- This time the opposing team was a little more formidable bl bid ble than the previous opponent Although team USA beat Mexico 2 0 in the first round of play they had no such luck in inthe inthe inthe the second round Mexico had no chance of advancing unless they hit a three run homer in the thirteenth inning and actually eliminated themselves from any chance of advancing when they scored their first run early in the game Team USA was expected to togo togo togo go a little further than the second sec sec- ond round in a tournament they theys s suggested and playing a game that they invented Apparently it wasn't a big deal to them and they couldn't even beat the other teams in North America After losing to Canada 8 6 yeah that's correct Canada Team USA should have just packed their bags and gone back to spring training in Florida or Arizona They should have just forgotten about representing their countries and proving to the world that America can still compete on a global level in at least one of the games invented here Oh wait they did forget about that Maybe one of the reasons that team USA lost was because it if didn't have the best roster ble It was nice to see young players like Jeff f Franceour players Je play but in In an elimination game like the one against Mexico th there them ere should have been more expert j players on the di diamond diamond Ion d dIon It would have also been ni nice ce to see M Mark ar k get at atone I 1 east c one hi hit t 10 in the second 1 u round in SA World Baseball 1 on Pages Page J 8 v v vit y it J I A World Baseball Cont Cant from Page 6 Additionally help was needed on the mound Both the embarrassing embarrass embarrass- ing lost to Canada and the loss to Korea in the second round was attributed to Dontrell Willis If it weren't for a quest questionable call in the second round game against Japan the US never would have had to worry about losing to Mexico Maybe it was a fluke and when the rolls around again in 2009 the US will be ready Maybe they'll send out their best players Maybe Major League Baseball Commissioner Alan H. H Bud Selig will see the problems problems problems lems with the first and make adjustments I find it easier to believe that Barry Bonds never took steroids Maybe Ill I'll just stick to watching soccer from now on that way I dont don't have to set my standards too high |