Cuba (National Football)

Aroldis Chapman has been called “ one of the three great pitchers in the world right now who are not in the majors.”

Chapman, 21, appears to be on a collision course with stardom without even throwing a pitch in Major League Baseball.

Why all the hype?

Legend has it, that Chapman, who recently played for Cuba in the Word Baseball Classic, has been clocked at an astonishing 102 mph.

Interest has peaked for the 6′4" lefty, who has participated in numerous bullpen sessions, and as recently as this past Tuesday , performed in front of 15 MLB teams.

Due to inclement weather, the session took place at the Baseball USA complex in Houston.

Reports indicate Chapman’s pitches consistently touched 92-93 mph, and occasionally topped out at 97 mph.

Since his workout, several teams have thrown out offers to the free agent, including the Boston Red Sox, who have reportedly offered 15.5 million.

The offer getting the most attention is from the Florida Marlins who have offered a five-year deal worth $13 million.

Staggering numbers for someone who has yet to prove himself against established major league hitters, and whose secondary pitches have been called “merely average” by MLB scouts.

Will Chapman live up to the hype?  Who knows, but the rumors of who will win this bidding war, will continue to gain steam as the 2010 season approaches.

This article can also be found on the GM's Perspective

Baseball junkies are rejoicing after hearing news that Cuban super-prospect Aroldis Chapman has defected from the Cuban National Team and is planning to play in the Unites States.

Chapman, who's only 21, is a left-handed fireballer who can hit 100-plus on the gun and some say has above-average secondary stuff.

Chapman will be one of the most coveted free agents in the upcoming offseason.

But, that got me thinking.

See, Cuba produces some of the world's most talented baseball players, yet, because of our relationship with the island, we never see their talent.

However, since President Obama was elected, clear steps have been taken to warm relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

If these steps do eventually progress to the point (and that could take some time) where Cuban players are free to sign with MLB clubs, the landscape of baseball would change forever.

Think about it.

Cuban children grow up on baseball. The country is a major player in all international competition. A flood of new talent coming into the major leagues, as politics intersect sports, would be great for Major League Baseball.

We've seen how much Dominican players and Latino players have impacted today's game.

Raising the talent level of the entire league can only benefit every team.

The ramifications from hundreds of new free agents (that haven't had the chance for much scouting) flooding the markets could be rough at first.

But, after the system is established, a flock of Cuban talent will only benefit baseball in the long run.

Today, we can gleam over Chapman.

But someday it will happen, and baseball better be ready for it.

Both the official Opening Day and the one where the bulk of Major League Baseball actually plays are about done.

As I write this, only the Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, and Anaheim Angles are still settling matters. The rest are in the books or set to break the seal on the 2009 campaign tomorrow (my beloved San Francisco Giants included).

Before the 162-game smile really takes hold, I want to reflect one last time on the World Baseball Classic.

Not so much the actual nuts and bolts of the '09 tournament, although I will point out Japan won for the second consecutive Classic. 

The Koreans pushed the Japanese champions to the edge in a thrilling extra inning affair that saw them tie the finale with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Japan's closer.

Remember that the Japanese team has emerged triumphantly from both WBCs to date and Korea pushed them to the edge in '09 (after finishing third in the inaugural WBC).

Because more than this year's tournament, I want to talk about this false notion circulating baseball circles that the United States of America—its team and fans—must care more about losing for the Classic to survive.

Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post is not the only journalist to endorse the idea and it's not an insane one—far from it. 

As the country that supposedly invented the game and certainly the one that perfected/popularized baseball, it would be an enormous help to the World Baseball Classic if America took a more spirited interest in it.

I actually think the players were taking it pretty seriously and badly wanted to win.  I also think the American fans are coming around to it. Slowly.

More importantly, I believe such an interest is far from necessary to the WBC's survival and it's pretty arrogant to argue otherwise.

In his piece, Vaccaro (with tongue firmly in cheek) apologizes if he sounds like an "ugly American," then proceeds to duck behind the truth as his justification. Unfortunately, his sentiment is far from the truth. It is his opinion and he is entitled to it.

But neither Vaccaro nor anyone else is entitled to pass his or her opinion off as the truth. Someone get the memo to Rush Limbaugh.

No surprise—I vehemently disagree with the swelling and vocal horde of which Vaccaro is an apparently proud member.

The simple approach would be to rebut the argument with the lustily engaged crowd of Japanese and Korean fans that watched the final game in Los Angeles this year. Then to follow that up with the equally psychotic supporters of the Latin American countries who packed los estadios in the preliminary rounds.

Finally, I could put a bow on the argument using the clear progress of countries like South Africa, Australia, and the Netherlands as evidenced by their play on the field. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall a great many South African or Australian ballplayers littered throughout the game's history.

I know Aruba, Curacao, and the rest of the Netherlands Antilles are Dutch territories, but a lot of those kids hailed from Holland so you can't totally dismiss baseball's growth in Europe.

The obvious growth of baseball outside America as shown on the field during the 2009 WBC would be the easy route, but who wants to take that?

Let's follow Robert Frost down the winding path.

Just how wrong Vaccaro and his crowd crystallized when I was watching Mr. Baseball one hungover Saturday morning.

For those of you who don't know—which should be a fair number if there's a benevolent God—this is a two-hour romp through Japanese baseball circa 1992 as seen through the eyes of Tom Selleck.

Magnum P.I. plays a former American star who's playing overseas as a ladder back to the Show.

It's actually an entertaining movie provided you (A) love baseball; (B) enjoy Selleck as any fan of Magnum should; (C) love Major League although I guess 24 would suffice since Dennis Haysbert figures prominently in both; and (D) LOVE baseball.

The movie is nothing if not cheesy and predictable, but I promise you it's better than your average contemporary movie and there's even a love story so you can use that as a selling point to avoid the perils presented by, say, Sex and the City (now available on DVD, woohoo).

While I was enjoying the flick, I wondered why I had never watched it in the 17 years since it had been released. As I alluded to above, I was a big fan of Magnum so I knew of the movie's existence and had run across it several times over the years. Yet I never stuck with it.

There are probably a whole host of reasons, but I settled on one biggie: the idea of watching a baseball movie set in Japan seemed ridiculous to me in 1992 and subsequent years.

In 2009?  Absolutely not.

Even more significantly, the success of the two Asian teams in the WBC and various players in the Bigs has eliminated the need for any suspension of disbelief when watching a baseball move set in 1992 Japan.

There's no way Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Akinori Iwamura, Hideki Matsui, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito, Kazuo Matsui, Keiichi Yabu, Hiroki Kuroda, Hideo Nomo, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Akinori Otsuka, and the other successful Japanese players came outta nowhere.

The Japanese professional leagues must have been much stronger than most Americans, myself included, imagined even back in the early '90s. Probably earlier.

Other countries are apparently following the example set by the Land of the Rising Son.  Some have already achieved notable success.

Today, whether Vaccaro or anyone else under the Stars and Bars acknowledges it, the global perception of baseball as America's territory is long gone. I realized that's not even my perception any more.

Rightly so.

Japan has taken the first two World Baseball Classics.

Korea's finished second and third while wearing the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal.

Cuba has been a juggernaut on the international landscape for years, owning the most Olympic gold and boasting the other second place finish in WBC play.

Many (one could argue most) of the best players in the Show came to American soil specifically to play in the Bigs—they were not born here. And the international cachet of the game seems to have grown since the last WBC.

The US attacked that one with even more nonchalance that in '09—the indifference doesn't seem to have damaged baseball's popularity in the interim.

Zoom out so the picture includes more than merely the sport of baseball, and you'll see an entire world where national boundaries are dissolving. In some places, they are only lines on a map with little other significance.

Increased utilization of the Internet, widening bandwidths, on-chip cache memory, and faster processors have turned cyberspace into a one-stop entertainment free-for-all where your particular location and that of your target distraction are irrelevant.

You don't need a satellite dish or an elaborate cable package. You don't have to wait for an event on native turf or travel to foreign lands.

All you need is online access (sometimes a credit card) and you can follow whatever, whenever, wherever.

People all over the world are watching our (in the adopted sense) pros move the pearl around the diamond. Consequently, it's inspiring athletically gifted kids from all regions to grab some leather and a bat. You're already seeing the results.

And I bet the American pros noticed.

After having their rears handed to them in consecutive Classics, one would hope they've received the none-too-subtle message.

I bet you'll see them ratchet the intensity up another level in 2013. We've already seen the fellas motivated by the inaugural failure in '06 and it took several international embarrassments before the National Basketball Associations reps got their act together enough to reestablish USA's dominance over basketball.

Why should baseball be any different?

Regardless of whether Team USA and its fans take more pride in the next tournament, the World Baseball Classic will be just fine because the world-wide popularity of the game is rising.

A lot of talent has emerged from the fertile grounds of international appeal and the WBC has become its premier showcase. And the rest of the baseball-watching world—a world no longer primarily American—is diggin' it.

We should be, too.

Not because we're necessary, but because it's exciting and a damn fine caliber of baseball.

And, as it turns out, these other countries can teach us a thing or two about our own game.

Pool A

The two heavy favorites (Japan and Korea) advanced, and split their two meetings.  I was a little groggy watching games that had a 4:30 AM first pitch, and the fact the Korean roster has eleven players named either “Kim” or “Lee” had me confused more than once.

Despite no real surprises in the results, the time zone difference, and the naming similarities, there are a few items that stuck in the memory bank.

China is not ready for prime time.  It was great to see them win a game, even if it was against Taiwan—who was their only win in the 2008 Olympic games. Major League Baseball would love their version of Yao Ming, who could spread baseball to 1.3 billion potential fans. 

However, if the Chinese leagues play only a couple dozen games per season, they will not be able to even identify their best players, let alone develop them. When infielders are complaining about sore arms as a result of preparation for and participating in this event, it’s not a good sign.

Korea is for real.  Everyone should already know this by now, but they are never mentioned at the top of anyone’s list.  Winning the Gold in Beijing should have been enough.  Their 6-1 (that included two wins against Japan, and one against the United States) record in the last WBC should be enough.

Maybe it will take another player or two with success at the Major League level to make us remember them, but this nation can produce baseball talent that can play with anyone.

Japan’s starters Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka are the best 1-2 combination in the tournament. The Cubans might disagree, but that is the only other nation that is in the conversation.  These two anchor a staff that has only given up three runs in three games. Japan is the defending champion, so they are not going to sneak up on anyone. They don’t have to.

Pool B

 

This is another pool where the two favorites advanced. Cuba was considered a contender for the title, and was the silver medalist in the last WBC. 

They took gold at the 2004 Olympics, and won Silver in 2000 and 2008. Mexico was picked to advance because, well, the other two participants were Australia and South Africa.

We learned the following:

First and foremost, Mexico City is a terrible place to host baseball.  Nothing against the city or the fans, but after playing in this altitude, playing in Colorado seems like the Polo Grounds.  Curveballs don’t break, and some homers hit last Sunday by Team Cuba may or may not have landed yet.

In a park where anyone can hit, beware of an upset. After 34 hits between the two teams in eight innings, Australia defeated Mexico 17-7 in a “mercy-rule” shortened game. This is the Australia team that went 0-3 in 2006 and was outscored 4-18.  Somehow, the same teams met 48 hours later with Mexico winning 16-1.  Go figure.

Pool C

Yet again, the favorites advanced. Venezuela and the Unites States split their games, and neither lost to another team. There was not a whole lot to observe here, but a couple of notes:

If the United States doesn’t advance to the finals, it will like be due to a very suspect bullpen.

Heath Bell, John Grabow, Joel Hanrahan, J.P. Howell, Matt Lidstrom, Matt Thorton, and Brad Ziegler aren’t exactly being discussed as fantasy baseball picks right now, and I don’t think any of their opponents are going to give up if they’re down two in the sixth. 

Throw in the fact that pitch counts limit the starters ability to go deep, and the U.S. may have a problem against slugging teams.  The pitchers that have come in off the bench have allowed 10 runs in 17-1/3 innings of work, for a less than stellar 5.19 ERA.

Venezuela, discussed as a dark-horse pick, needs to find some pitching depth as well.  There are some solid starters in Carlos Silva and Victor Hernandez, and Francisco Rodriguez as a closer can match or better anyone in the tournament.  They will have to get some innings from a few others to bridge the started to Hernandez.

The injury to Chipper Jones will keep MLB players afraid of participation in the WBC.  It’s not any more likely that Jones would have been hurt here, rather than in Braves’ camp, but fear trumps logic in situations like these.

Pool D

At long last, an upset. No one had the Netherlands advancing in their office pools. I can almost say this as fact, as I may be in the only office that had a pool on the WBC.  None of the nine of us had the Netherlands advancing to Miami. 

We probably learned more from this pool than any other including:

Baseball is played in Holland. Ok, some of us knew that, but not everyone. When Andrew Jones was supposed to be the star of the 2006 team, many assumed that most of the Dutch team was from Curacao, or other ABC islands of the Netherlands Antilles.  

As it turns out, the Netherlands is Europe’s most successful baseball power, having finished first or second in 27 of 30 European championships. A week ago, that meant nothing, but having beat the mighty Dominican Republic twice, it suddenly got some people to notice.

A-Rod just might be a distraction anywhere he goes for the rest of his life. 

This indeed was the most difficult bracket. The Dominican Republic was among the tournament favorites, and Puerto Rico was mentioned as a dark-horse.  Panama featured a team with a few household names, and wouldn’t have surprised people had they stolen a spot from either Puerto Rico or the Dominican. Fortunately, the Netherlands was placed in this pool to keep it from being too loaded. 

Ahem...

Overall

 

We’ve learned that this event has not quite arrived, but it’s drawing some attention.  ESPN could do more with it if it didn’t have to conflict with its best week of NCAA basketball ratings-wise. 

It’s also missing the star power that could really get it going domestically. However, it is clear from watching these games that it does mean something to the participants, and hopefully that will be a springboard to more high profile international baseball in the future.

See you in Round II …

(Round Two Information here)

February 1959, Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister of Cuba. Usurping power from Fulgencio Batista and beginning the historical chapter known as the Cuban Revolution.

During this revolution, Castro undertook measures to re-institute the "Constitution of 1940", which was suspended during Batista’s reign.

This constitution was widely considered as one of the more progressive constitutions of its time. It provided land reform, public education requirements, minimum wage, and other pioneering ideas.

However, for all the good he achieved, Castro began to move towards the more Marxist hard-liners in his government.

Some point to hostility from America’s Eisenhower administration, due to the nationalization of U.S owned businesses amounting to the value of just over a billion. Others say Socialism was the direction that Castro intended for the country from the beginning.

It was at this point where the worlds of Politics and Sports met.

On November 19th 1962, Fidel Castro passes Castro’s Resolution 83-A, which bans all professional sports.

Two sports suffer the most from this; the first is baseball which was played in Cuba since 1874. The other is boxing.

The ruling relegated both the above to amateur competition, with the only real outlet being the Olympics.

Prior to the Athens Olympics of 2004, Cuban amateur boxers amassed an amazing 27 gold medals, 13 silver and 7 bronze. This kind of showing, be it only every four years, made people question how well these athletes would do in the professional ranks.

The Olympics have always been a good place to tout future prospects. One of these that stood out for the Cuban team was Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Gamboa stamped his mark on the Olympic flyweight division. He claimed the gold medal, impressing with his hand speed and technique.

In a movie moment, the Cuban government tried to pressure Gamboa into staying amateur until the 2008 Olympics. However, Gamboa and three of his teammates escaped Cuba.

They all defected to Columbia and sought out papers to enter the United States.

The Cuban government overruled US homeland security and the trio were forced on a detour, via Germany.

This is where Gamboa made his debut in the professional ranks.

His first bout was in Hamburg, April 2007. Opponent, Alexan Manvelyan, was beaten up throughout the fight and was dropped in the third. Gamboa picked up the decision and had the networks sniffing around for a deal with this prospect.

Most fighters in their pro-infancy would avoid decent fighters.

However, Gamboa’s first seven opponents had a combined record of 154 victories, they owned collective 80 per cent win rate.

This gained the respect of the boxing community because an onlooker could really ascertain the true potential of this very talented boxer.

However, every young boxer has a weakness and Gamboa sometimes suffers from a lax defense.

This is a skill that his trainers will have to work on, but most of the time his opponents are on the back foot. This is due to his fast combinations and power.

His last fight (Oct. 4th 2008), against Marco’s Ramirez (25-0-0, at the time), showed that Gamboa can keep his composure. After going down in the first, due to a wrist to the head, Gamboa roared back to knock his opponent down twice in the second and secure another victory.

If Gamboa continues to impress, his efforts will be rewarded with a title shot.

This will come probably sooner rather than later.

They number five.

Four male.

One female.

All are outlaws. 

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines may be levied. 

10 years of jail time may be served. 

This is the penalty one may face for acting in direct opposition to the U.S. State department.

But, they didn't care.

They wore masks, much like the bandits of old westerns... hiding their faces behind bandannas so that they may not be readily identified. 

It may have been the single most defiant action in American fan culture. 

And it was a beautiful sight.

THE CONTEXT

A brief history lesson that most should know, but may work as a refresher for those who have forgotten:

In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the Fulgenico Batista's essentially dictatorial Cuban government. 

The United States enjoyed the Batista government.

American business and influence flourished within Cuba (often the gambling industry, if you ever saw the Godfather) while Cuban exports, mainly sugar (the majority of which were owned by American entrepreneurs), sold to American businesses aplenty.

The Castro government?  Not so much.  Communists were the bad guys.  Castro was a Communist.  American and Cuban relations became icy.

American business interests were seized, assets were liquidated and Uncle Sam's presence in the land of Jose Contreras was reduced to the absolute value of zero.

The United States stopped buying Cuban sugar, providing resources to the island, and laid out an extensive travel embargo.

Nearly forty years later, these sanctions remain intact.

THE CUBAN SOCCER RENAISSANCE (kind of)

Baseball has always been at the heart of Cuban sports fans, while Cuba has also produced an impressive assortment of boxers... soccer, on the other hand, has had very little influence on Cuban society.

The Cuban national soccer team has only participated in one World Cup, a second round exit in 1938.

Since that span, Cuba has reached the final phase of CONCACAF (a really long acronym for the governing soccer association of North/Central American and the Caribbean) on only the rarest of occasion, never having reached the promised land of the World Cup.

In recent years, however, Cuba has had some respectable showings, often overshadowed by mass defections of talent.

In 2006, Cuba finished in 4th place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (losing two players to defections, including rimsing MLS star Maykel Galindo).

This year, Cuba has already surpassed the mark that they reached four years ago.

By the grace of wonderful luck, Cuba was drawn into the same group as the United States.

Simply put, the USA does not play in Cuba more than once every, say, 20 years.

On Saturday, September 6th, it was "once."

THE FIVE

Being a U.S. soccer fan isn't an easy endeavour.  Highlights are not shown on the 10 o'clock news.  Games aren't given any attention outside of the World Cup and a ten second sample on Sports Center.

Much like any other sport, the best way to view it is with other passionate fans.

With soccer, you have to do a little bit of searching.

They're around, you just have to find them.  It's kind of like searching for Waldo:  He's easy to spot, if you know where to look.

And they dress just as noticably as the illustrated icon.

Sports Illustrated writer extraordinaire Grant Wahl identified the five by their states of residence, in order to protect them from their own government:

Two from California.

Two from New York.

One from Colorado.

All Americans.

Americans who were denied the ability to legally travel a few dozen miles off of the coast of Florida to watch their team in action.

The reason, as given by the United States Soccer Association was:

"U.S. Soccer has been informed by the United States Department of Treasury (the United States Government agency of jurisdiction with respect to regulating travel to Cuba), that travel to Cuba for tourism or for the purposes of observing specific public performances, including sporting events, is prohibited under U.S. law."

Shucks.

They defied the order anyways.

I don't know how they got there, nor how they'll return.  It doesn't seem like it'd be an easy endeavour to secure tickets to a 17,000 seat facility and travel while circumventing American commercial airliners... but, they had the capital, the desire, and the gall to accomplish it.

The image adorning the top of this article shows them (minus one) in all of their glory, outnumbered 16,995-to-5.

It has a certain feeling of nostalgia to it, despite being only a few days old... one of those iconic images, like Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists in a great act of defiance against and love for their country.

They're not breaking the law out of hate, it's out of love for a sport, a team, an ideal.

And they're setting an example.

They were not mugged after taking that photo.  The Cuban people did not assail the American devils for waving their pitch fork-like flags and wearing their Satanic odes to capitalism in the form of decorated scarves.

This isn't to say that the two sides held hands and sang hymns.  It's just to say that wearing a Cowboys jersey in Philadelphia on a Sunday in November is probably fraught with more danger in the stands than was felt within the Estadio Pedro Marrero.

It showed that there's more to the two cultures than the sum of their infantile leaders.  We can coexist and, at some point in the future, will be given the opportunity to do so.

Perhaps the "Cuba Cinco" were the trailblazers leading the way.

Oh yeah, the U.S.A. won 1-0.

It wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure, but it’s a victory nonetheless.

The U.S. hadn’t played in Cuba for over sixty years. From the looks of the field, it hadn’t been landscaped in approximately the same period of time.

It was bumpy and uneven. It was slick and wet. The lights were worse than most high school football team’s. The conditions flat out sucked.

But, such is the wily ways of home teams in these qualifiers. Any advantage one can grasp is usually taken and pitch conditions and lighting are two easy ways to throw an opponent off their game.

The field conditions just weren’t enough to overcome the fact the U.S. was vastly more talented than Cuba and the final result is a 1-0 victory for the U.S. The MNT now has two away wins to open this round of qualifying and appears to be a lock to advance to the next round.

The low score looks a little misleading as the U.S. controlled possession throughout the game. Even in the second half when Cuba should have been pressing, they were too overmatched to push the ball out of their half of the field.

The Cuban team wasn’t very competitive, but that didn’t stop them from almost forcing a draw late. Howard made a good save though and the U.S. was three points richer.

Clint Dempsey’s lone goal held up for the Nats. It was a nice, controlled strike for Dempsey, who otherwise looked pretty poor. He did make one strong dribbling maneuver, but overall he appeared to be frustrated. Ching got the assist and looked pretty good, though certainly not too dangerous.

The defense played well. Pearce didn’t impress, but didn’t blow it either. Gooch and Boca were good and Frankie was running tirelessly. In the middle, Bradley and Edu played well together. Beasley looked like he hadn’t played 90 minutes in a while (he hadn’t), so it’s good he got a little PT. Donovan looked good, but underutilized in Bradley’s scheme.

Just as after the GUA game, you can’t really be upset with the result. Three points is certainly nice.

But…..

It’s hard to be too excited when you only beat the #92 by one goal and that goal is kind of a fluky long ball type miscue. Against Cuba, Ching gets that rebound and gets it to Dempsey who puts it away. The same long ball against Italy, Spain, England, etc. would have been easily headed clear. It’s nice to see a win, but I’d like to see us generate some more real offensive opportunities.

The US Men's National Team has two important World Cup qualifiers on its schedule in the next week. On September 6th, they take on Cuba in Havana. Then they return to the States to face Trinidad and Tobago in Chicago on September 10th.

Here is a brief look at the two upcoming opponents for Team USA! USA! USA!

US/Cuba: September 6th

This game is the most difficult to predict, by far. The last time the US faced Cuba in Havana, the Korean War was yet to happen. None of the players currently on a roster had been born. Cuba won the match in 1947 by a score of 5-2.

Because of the US embargo of Cuba, the US MNT simply hasn't travelled south. Of course, it also helps that the Cubans haven't been good enough to make it deep enough in qualifying to force the Americans to visit.

50-plus years of sub-par soccer + one trade embargo = no recent history.

The Cubans have sent teams to play Americans, most recently during qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. The Cubans sent 18 players, seven of whom defected. One player was also out through suspension, so the Cuban team was forced to start a match with ten players before being unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament.

Being an unknown quantity may help Cuba. Nobody on the US team knows what to expect. Not just on the pitch, either. None of the Americans know what kind of reception they will receive from the Cuban fans.

"We don't know a whole lot about them," said US defender Carlos Bocanegra. "They could have a few surprises, athletic guys with individual talent." Not exactly your typical scouting report.

And nobody knows how much lingering bitterness remains from the Cuban Missile Crisis and resulting embargo.

Still, this is a match that the US should win. The Cuban team is comprised almost entirely of players based in the Cuban domestic league, while Bob Bradley fields a team full of experienced MLS and European-based players.

Prediction: USA 3-0 Cuba

US/Trinidad & Tobago: September 10th

This is a game I am very excited about. Why, you ask?

Because I have tickets.

When the fixture list for this round of World Cup qualifiers was released over the summer, I was thrilled. It was an international match close enough to school that I could make it there and back without missing too much class. Okay, one graduate seminar and probably a Thursday morning class. It's my patriotic duty to miss those classes.

I'm also excited because the last time I saw an international match, the US beat Mexico in Columbus to clinch qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finals. It was an electrifying experience, and I expect something similar on Wednesday.

T&T qualified for the 2006 World Cup by finishing fourth overall in CONCACAF, and beating Bahrain in a home and home playoff. As a brief aside, CONCACAF does not deserve four teams in the World Cup. Ever.

You may remember that each Trinidad player was in line to receive a giant barrel of Angostura Rum (each barrel worth about $8,000) had they beaten England in the World Cup. Trinidad gave the Brits a good challenge, but fell 2-0 thanks to two very late goals.

Since then, T&T has gotten worse. Iconic striker Dwight Yorke is now 36-years old, though he did come out of international retirement to help the Soca Warriors qualify. Thirteen players from the '06 squad announced that they would retire from international football, mostly due to broken contractual obligations on the part of the Trinidadian Football Federation.

T&T does boast a resounding 3-1 victory over Cuba in the current round of qualifying, but we have no idea how Cuba stacks up the the US. I will tell you that Trinidad was ranked as low as No. 102 as recently as July of this year. There's obviously a huge talent disparity between the US and Trinidad, and the game is on US soil. That will make a difference.

Prediction: USA 4-0 Trinidad

If the US can win both of these games, they'll be in great shape to move on to the final round of qualification. Victories would give them the maximum nine points from three games, with three games left to play. It would also give head coach Bob Bradley more leeway to give some youngsters like Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore a very serious look.

Check back later in the week when I have a wrap-up of my experience at Bridgeview watching the US thump the Soca Warriors.

Fidel Castro has defended Angel Matos, the Cuban Taekwondo athlete who kicked a referee in the head at the Beijing Olympics. Castro feels that Matos was right to be indignant over his disqualification during the bronze medal match.

Olympic officials want Matos and his coach banned from the sport for life for his controversial actions after he was eliminated from the tournament. But Castro has declared his "total solidarity" for his fellow countrymen.

Matos was actually winning 3-2 in the second round when he fell to the mat after being caught with a blow from his Kazakhstan opponent. He was then disqualified when he took more than the one minute he was allocated to recover from an injury.

Matos questioned the call immediately, angrily pushing the judge before turning his attentions to the referee who disqualified him. The referee, Chakir Chelbat from Sweden needed medical attention after the altercation, requiring stitches in a split lip. Matos walked off spitting on the ring in disgust.

His behavior has been described as disgraceful by officials, and Matos' counter claims that the match was fixed have fallen on deaf ears. Matos coach then waded in defending his protege, adding that the Kazakh's also tried to bribe them. These claims have also been unfounded.

Fidel feels that the bribery attempt gave his athletes good reason to expect biased judging. Castro added that Cuban boxers were also cheated in their semi-final bouts during the Olympics.

Castro then said: "Our fighters had hopes of winning, despite the judges. But it was useless, they were condemned beforehand."

Judging in many of the contact sports during the Olympics, especially boxing, has been called into question in many corners.

Two Irish boxers complained bitterly of their treatment at the hands of the judges when facing Chinese boxers. Light heavyweight Ken Egan who won the silver, was beaten 11-7 in the final by a Chinese boxer. Egan only conceded five points through four bouts on the way to the final.

Fellow Irishman Paddy Barnes was beaten an incredible 15-0, and while Irish officials did not feel he won the fight they felt the young boxer should have lost by a score of 12-6. And the fact he went four rounds without landing a punch show that something was wrong with the judging system.

So maybe Castro has a point. China and Kazakhstan recently announced a massive oil deal...but fixing doesn't happen in sports...does it?