Is Klinsmann Not the Next U.S. National Team Head Coach?

La Opinion, a Spanish newspaper in L.A., reported this weekend that José Néstor Pekerman -- the head coach of the Argentinian national team during the 2006 World Cup -- will be named the new head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team. Nothing's official, of course, but I'm not too pleased with the decision. Yanks Abroad isn't either, and some of their angst might have to do with the fact that Pekerman doesn't speak English.

Is Klinsmann Not the Next U.S. National Team Head Coach?

La Opinion, a Spanish newspaper in L.A., reported this weekend that José Néstor Pekerman -- the head coach of the Argentinian national team during the 2006 World Cup -- will be named the new head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team. Nothing's official, of course, but I'm not too pleased with the decision. Yanks Abroad isn't either, and some of their angst might have to do with the fact that Pekerman doesn't speak English.

There's Something About Manny

So Manny Acta’s going to be the new manager of the Nats, which is all nice and fine. But you know what would make me feel better? If the Nats had Vlad Guerrero playing right field.



I know that that’s a random thought, but stay with me. Acta has never coached in the U.S. at above a Class A level. But he has had three fairly large jobs (besides his work last year as 3rd base coach of the Mets). One was as a coach on Frank Robinson’s staff in Montreal, when Guerrero was playing right field the Expos. One was as the manager of Dominican League powerhouse Licey, when Guerrero was playing right field for the team. One was as the manager of the Dominican team in this year’s World Baseball Classic, when Guerrero was playing right field.



Maybe it’s just a coincidence that Guerrero’s played for Acta on three different teams. Maybe it’s not, since the Mets did go the NLCS with a lanky Jew in right field this year. Whatever the case, I’m not convinced that this is the right hire for the Nats. Acta’s got no experience as a major league manager, and he’s coming to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1981. This team needs a guy who’s been a proven winner, and I’m not impressed with a guy whose got a sub-.500 record as a minor league manager.



With all due respect to Acta, I cannot envision a situation in which he gets more out of this team than Frank did the last five seasons. All I’m seeing with Acta is a guy who couldn’t even win with a loaded Dominican team that had Vlad and David Ortiz hitting 3-4 and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation.



I’m assuming that this move also eliminates any chance that Alfonso Soriano will come back to the Nats. Acta benched Soriano in the WBC for Placido Polanco.



While, I'm at it, I'd like to break down a quote in today's Post from John Patterson about Acta:

'I don't think Manny speaks English,' Patterson said.



Huh?



'I don't think Manny speaks Spanish.'



Huh?



'I think he speaks baseball.'



Huh?

Personally, I'd rather have a guy who speaks English. But maybe that's just me.

There's Something About Manny

So Manny Acta’s going to be the new manager of the Nats, which is all nice and fine. But you know what would make me feel better? If the Nats had Vlad Guerrero playing right field.



I know that that’s a random thought, but stay with me. Acta has never coached in the U.S. at above a Class A level. But he has had three fairly large jobs (besides his work last year as 3rd base coach of the Mets). One was as a coach on Frank Robinson’s staff in Montreal, when Guerrero was playing right field the Expos. One was as the manager of Dominican League powerhouse Licey, when Guerrero was playing right field for the team. One was as the manager of the Dominican team in this year’s World Baseball Classic, when Guerrero was playing right field.



Maybe it’s just a coincidence that Guerrero’s played for Acta on three different teams. Maybe it’s not, since the Mets did go the NLCS with a lanky Jew in right field this year. Whatever the case, I’m not convinced that this is the right hire for the Nats. Acta’s got no experience as a major league manager, and he’s coming to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1981. This team needs a guy who’s been a proven winner, and I’m not impressed with a guy whose got a sub-.500 record as a minor league manager.



With all due respect to Acta, I cannot envision a situation in which he gets more out of this team than Frank did the last five seasons. All I’m seeing with Acta is a guy who couldn’t even win with a loaded Dominican team that had Vlad and David Ortiz hitting 3-4 and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation.



I’m assuming that this move also eliminates any chance that Alfonso Soriano will come back to the Nats. Acta benched Soriano in the WBC for Placido Polanco.



While, I'm at it, I'd like to break down a quote in today's Post from John Patterson about Acta:

'I don't think Manny speaks English,' Patterson said.



Huh?



'I don't think Manny speaks Spanish.'



Huh?



'I think he speaks baseball.'



Huh?

Personally, I'd rather have a guy who speaks English. But maybe that's just me.

So Bobby Boswell Was On 'GUTS'...

READ THIS NOW. You won't regret it.

Big Win For Those Terps

Just a month ago, the Fridge was asking himself, Why does God hate me? Four weeks later, the Terps are getting all the breaks. I'll just give you one example: Clemson scored a TD with 4 minutes left in the game take a 15-10 lead, but the Tigers only had 10 players on the field. The illegal formation call pushed back Clemson five yards, and then they settled for a field goal. The crazy thing is, The penalty was the only one against Clemson during the entire day.



The craziest thing is that with the 13-12 win, the Terps have a legitimate shot to go to the ACC Championship game. This is a Terps team that barely beat Florida International five weeks ago, and now if they can somehow keep this streak going in their final three games -- vs. Miami, at B.C., vs. Wake Forest -- they could end up in a BCS bowl. Go figure.

Big Win For Those Terps

Just a month ago, the Fridge was asking himself, Why does God hate me? Four weeks later, the Terps are getting all the breaks. I'll just give you one example: Clemson scored a TD with 4 minutes left in the game take a 15-10 lead, but the Tigers only had 10 players on the field. The illegal formation call pushed back Clemson five yards, and then they settled for a field goal. The crazy thing is, The penalty was the only one against Clemson during the entire day.



The craziest thing is that with the 13-12 win, the Terps have a legitimate shot to go to the ACC Championship game. This is a Terps team that barely beat Florida International five weeks ago, and now if they can somehow keep this streak going in their final three games -- vs. Miami, at B.C., vs. Wake Forest -- they could end up in a BCS bowl. Go figure.

Somehow, Borat Just Got Better

So I've been meditating on the fact that the 'Borat' movie comes out tomorrow (though, as The Washington Post notes, executives at FOX can thank the mainstream media for hyping this movie up), and then I noticed something that I hadn't seen before: Larry Charles directed the film.



Yes, that's the same Larry Charles who was one of the early writers on 'Seinfeld.' The same Larry Charles who came up with unbelievable early lines, like 'Can't-Stand-Ya!' (from 'The Library'), 'And who's responsible for making hate mongering and fascism popular again?' ('The Limo'), 'Alright, so that's one tuck, and one no-tuck' ('The Trip'), and most of all, 'I'm not gay... not that there's anything wrong with that!' ('The Outing').



Charles has also directed episodes of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' So basically, when you take Sasha Baron Cohen and add a writer from 'Seinfeld'... well, this 'Borat' movie is going to be unbelievable.

Somehow, Borat Just Got Better

So I've been meditating on the fact that the 'Borat' movie comes out tomorrow (though, as The Washington Post notes, executives at FOX can thank the mainstream media for hyping this movie up), and then I noticed something that I hadn't seen before: Larry Charles directed the film.



Yes, that's the same Larry Charles who was one of the early writers on 'Seinfeld.' The same Larry Charles who came up with unbelievable early lines, like 'Can't-Stand-Ya!' (from 'The Library'), 'And who's responsible for making hate mongering and fascism popular again?' ('The Limo'), 'Alright, so that's one tuck, and one no-tuck' ('The Trip'), and most of all, 'I'm not gay... not that there's anything wrong with that!' ('The Outing').



Charles has also directed episodes of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' So basically, when you take Sasha Baron Cohen and add a writer from 'Seinfeld'... well, this 'Borat' movie is going to be unbelievable.