(Long Island, NY) The whole world calls soccer their national game besides one country. Take a guess who that might be? If you said ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’ (our United States of America), you were correct. Baseball, football and basketball are the main sports for us, and soccer has been gaining some momentum. But there just is not enough interest to garner anything remotely close to the frenzy it causes overseas.

With the latest defeat of the U.S. team in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the sport may have taken another step back in this country. Being placed in Group E with Italy, the Czech Republic and Ghana, it was no easy task to advance to the Round of 16. In their first game, the Americans were shut out by the Czechs, 3-0. They then tied Italy, 1-1, which was looked at as a victory of sorts. The Italians are a very strong club and with the point earned in a draw, the U.S. still had a chance to qualify for the knockout round. They had to win their match against Ghana, and have Italy defeat the Czech Republic.

Well, Italy held up their end of the bargain by winning 2-0. The U.S. played fairly well against Ghana, but ended up on the short end of a 2-1 score. Team captain Claudio Reyna turned the ball over near his own goal and it was promptly deposited in the net by Ghana’s Haminu Draman in the 22nd minute. Clint Dempsey scored the equalizer for the U.S. at the 43rd minute. But then a very questionable call on Oguchi Onyewu gave Ghana a penalty kick two minutes into added time before the first half ended. Stephen Appiah gave the Black Stars the advantage on a perfect shot that U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller had no chance on.

There were opportunities for the U.S. to score, but knowing that they needed to win and not tie, it was almost an impossible task once time became an issue. Ghana earned the right to advance after playing Italy tough and defeating the Czechs and the U.S. Their first match in the knockout stage is against defending World Cup champions Brazil.

Did it make a big difference as far as popularity of the sport goes that the U.S. didn’t advance further in the World Cup? It is difficult to say. Four years ago, they surprised everyone and made it to the quarter finals. How much of an impact did that have?

For fans of the sport, it is an incredible event. The intensity of the World Cup cannot be matched by any other, except for maybe team competition in the Olympics. The problem is convincing non-fans and marginal fans that they are missing out by not watching. Personally, I have been following soccer from afar until this World Cup. I am very impressed by the quality of play and the physical game. I never knocked soccer, but didn’t give it much of a chance. Now it is without a doubt one of the sports that I will keep a keen eye on.

One problem is that the leagues we have in the States are not the same as international competition. MLS has many good players, but there are key names that were on the World Cup team that ply their trade overseas. Locally, we have the Long Island Rough Riders that participate in the USL 2nd Division, and the New York Red Bulls of the MSL.

If there was ever a time to see if you can be a soccer fan, the knockout stage of the World Cup is it. The best of the best remain, with 16 teams fighting for the title in a single-elimination tournament. Every goal counts.

(Long Island, NY) Juan Gonzalez has hit many big home runs throughout his 16-year major league career. Winning two American League MVP awards will make that fairly obvious. But as far as Long Island Ducks fans are concerned, the one he hit on Tuesday at Citibank Park versus the Bridgeport Bluefish is the most important so far.

The former Texas Rangers outfielder was signed by the Ducks on June 1st and he had missed a few games after starting out well. He had not hit a home run until the Bridgeport game, and he also added another base hit in a comeback 4-2 victory. The Ducks and Bluefish have been rivals for practically every half season since 2000. The current season’s first half championship will be decided by July 9th. After defeating Bridgeport for the second straight game, the Ducks are one and a half games in the lead.

Gonzalez may pay large dividends if he can even be a fraction of the player he was. He holds a career average of .295 with 434 home runs and 1,404 RBI in 1,689 games with the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals. He has earned American League All-Star honors on three occasions and won the AL MVP in 1996 and 1998. He had one at-bat with the Indians last season before missing the remainder with an injury.

The obvious destination for the 36-year old Gonzalez is the major leagues. And the best way to show the scouts that he still has what it takes would be to tear up Atlantic League pitching. Ducks fans would like nothing better to see him do well, but the problem is the better he does, the faster he will be signed. That is the way it works. They have already lost some players since the season started to the big leagues. But they have maintained either first place or just behind. They can take win their second first half in franchise history if they keep playing the way they have so far.

There have been many big names that have played in the Atlantic League. Some of the more popular ones that have gone back to the majors are Ricky Henderson, Carlos Baerga, Jose Canseco and Jose Lima. Others, such as John Rocker, have not worked out as well. In the short period of time that ‘Juan Gone’ has spent here, it may be a good bet to say that he will excel and move on. Hopefully he will do enough damage before then.

(Long Island, NY) The baseball season may only be approximately one third old and summer has not officially started, but our local baseball teams are all playing well enough to think big. The Mets have a 9 1/2 game lead in the National League East, the Yankees were tied for the top spot in the American League East, and the Long Island Ducks were up by a game in the North Division of the Atlantic League.

The Mets returned home from an extremely successful 9-1 road trip that could set the tone for the rest of the regular season. They took 2 out of three in Los Angeles then swept a four game set in Arizona. They then headed back east to Philadelphia to take on the second place Phillies. A three game sweep opened up a nice lead to practically double digits. The Mets have been starting off games fast by scoring before the opposition has a turn at bat. There is no better way to demoralize a team by taking the crowd out the game before the hot dogs are even cooked.

The Yankees have been inconsistent in the early going, but their division rivals have had their share of difficulties, too. The Boston Red Sox and Yankees have been neck and neck all season to the surprise of no one. The improved Toronto Blue Jays have started creeping up on the two big boys in the division and can be a player in this race.

The Ducks have been on top for most of the season with a slim lead. The have already lost some of their opening day roster to the major leagues, which is the way of life in the Independent Leagues. Their recent acquisition, former two time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez, has hit safely in all four games since signing and looks to join his former teammates on the road back to the big leagues. If the Ducks can maintain their lead, they can qualify for their third straight post season appearance with the First Half division championship.

How the Mets and Yanks fair the rest of the way is still debatable. There is such a long way to go, but one has to figure that one, if not both clubs, will make the playoffs. Baseball folks are starting to whisper that the Mets may be the best team in baseball. The way things appear, they should be able to win their division.

The Yanks will be there until the end and should be able to hold off Boston and Toronto. Is there a deal in their future to give them the edge? With George Steinbrenner, you have to guess that he won’t stand pat if others are making noise around the July 31st trading deadline.

A long, hot summer followed by baseball played deep into the fall. Would New Yorkers have it any other way?

(Long Island, NY) First we had Congress holding hearings on Capitol Hill last year. Then former Senator George Mitchell was appointed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to investigate past steroid use in America’s Pastime. And most recently, we learned that the FBI, IRS, FDA and Postal Inspectors were involved in a case against former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley. What agency will step up to the plate next?

An affidavit filed in the U.S District Court in Phoenix was made public this week and revealed that a ‘controlled delivery’ was performed by a Postal Inspector on April 19th of two kits containing Human Growth Hormone (HGH) to the residence of Grimsley, who had purchased them and was expecting the package. After accepting the package, the federal agents went to his house and informed him that they were aware of the contents. They confiscated it from him and he agreed to accompany them to another undisclosed location to answer questions. He informed them that he had been using steroids, amphetamines, and HGH for years and that he switched to HGH after baseball started testing for steroids in 2004. (HGH is undetectable through a urinalysis). He further stated that up until last season, baseball clubhouses had coffee pots labeled ‘leaded’ (with amphetamines) and ‘unleaded’ (without). He also told the investigators a number of other baseball players’ names that were involved in performance enhancing drugs. These names were redacted from the documents that were made public.

What is disturbing about these new revelations is that Grimsley is a 38 year old journeyman pitcher with unimpressive stats. His career numbers are 42-58 with a 4.77 ERA. He has pitched in the big leagues since 1989 when he broke in with the Philadelphia Phillies. He also has pitched for the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, and Baltimore Orioles. He signed with Arizona in the off-season and was released following the announcement of the court documents. The fallout from this may be very wide spread.

If a player such as Grimsley has been using these drugs for a period of time, who else may be? Superstars like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco may be obvious. But a marginal pitcher? This takes it to a different level altogether. Selig may be in over his head, regardless of who he recruits to clean up the game.

(Long Island, NY) International sports. The Mecca of global domination. Sure, the Olympics are a great measuring stick for individual and team sports. The recent World Baseball Classic was also an interesting tournament. But the one sport that is played all throughout the planet is soccer. And the FIFA World Cup is the measuring stick for more than bragging rights. It is the Super Bowl and World Series rolled into one, and then some. The old saying, “Are you ready for some football?” has special meaning when referring to soccer’s greatest spectacle.

Starting on June 9th in Germany, the whole world will literally be watching. Athletes from countries in every continent will be matched up with one goal in mind. And that is to take home the 11 pound solid gold trophy that will be raised when the final match is completed.

32 teams spread out over eight groups. Will Brazil be crowned once again? Having won two of the last three titles, would anyone be surprised if the South American country did? Host country Germany will look to use their home field advantage to go after the prize. How will the United States fair? Being in the same group as Italy and the Czech Republic will be a tall order to advance.

Regardless of the outcome, the World Cup is always an exciting sporting event. Since its inception in 1930 at Uruguay when the hosts won the first championship, it is an event like no other in the world. Brazil has won the most titles with five, with Italy and West Germany/Germany second with three each. Every four years is an extreme build-up for the top soccer players around the globe to show what they have been playing for. A tournament that lasts one full month. And they all want to leave the field in triumph, to hoist the most sought-after sports championship trophy in the world. The action kicks off this week.

(Long Island, NY) Give Lastings Milledge a break, Willie Randolph. I know that you come from the ‘corporate’ Yankees, and have their mentality of ‘act like you have been there.’ When Milledge ran down the right filed line and exchanged some hand slaps with the fans at the railing, it was a spur of the moment reaction. The kid just tied up a game at home with his first major league home run. By the way, it came in the 10th inning with two outs off of former Met closer, Armando Benitez.

Was he showing up the opponent by doing this? Hardly. This is a 21-year old rookie that was just called up from Triple-A Norfolk. He has been the talk of the town and also speculated as trade bait for a pitcher by the trading deadline on July 31st. He was excited and giving something back to the fans that had been seated by him the entire game. Jogging out to his position after the big long ball, he was merely showing some normal emotions.

Is there anything wrong with this behavior when football and basketball players indulge in similar conduct all the time? The ‘Lambeau Leap’ is player/fan interaction at its greatest. Following a big hoop, how many times have we seen a player jogging back down the floor high fiving the lucky fans in the front row courtside seats?

Mets manager Willie Randolph stated that he spoke to Milledge following the game and instructed him not to do that anymore. Point taken by Milledge, who said that he would not do it again but didn’t regret it, either. But for the fans that were part of his celebration, they will always remember that day. Especially the younger fans. A much better experience than waiting for an autograph and getting ignored by a rich veteran walking back to his BMW after a game.

Milledge is a great prospect that will be with the Mets for a long time, pending any potential deals. If by doing this he endeared himself further with the Mets fans, good for him. Randolph’s reaction is understood and he wants his team to only make headlines by winning and not doing anything that can be perceived controversial in any way. The average professional baseball player would not think of this as a ‘hot dog’ or taunting act. An opposing pitcher may take it upon himself to conduct a little ‘chin music’ at Milledge, but that’s the game of baseball. Hopefully that will not change Milledge’s exuberance and he continues towards a long and popular career at Shea.

(Long Island, NY) The full page ad the other day in New York Newsday said it all- Welcome home Bryan. One of the all-time great New York Islanders, Bryan Trottier, is back with the team. It doesn’t even matter in what capacity. In case you want to know the official title he has been given, it is Executive Director of Player Development. But that is not what’s important. The main thing is that the moribund franchise was vastly improved just by having one of their legendary figures brought back.

To have a Hall of Famer who is the proud owner of six Stanley Cup championship rings as part of your franchise would be a significant move towards improvement. Factor in that four of those Cups were won as a member of the Islanders, along with the prime years that earned him the Hall of Fame distinction.

With a team needing to bring a little spark back to the Nassau Coliseum, this is a very smart move. The fans that long for the days of the Islanders dynasty in the early 1980s have a face and a name to give them some hope.

Grouped with Clark Gillies and Mike Bossy, Trottier and the Islanders were the class of the NHL with four consecutive Stanley Cups. The team has had some good moments since then, but not enough. To have some connection to that era, the present day Islanders can only benefit from it.

Trots’ career is like one big highlight reel. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1975-76. He was the league MVP in 1978-79. During the Islanders’ first championship post season run, Trottier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. He scored 50 goals in the 1981-82 season. In the Islanders’ dynasty years (1980-1983), he was integral part of all four championships. He went on to win two more Cups in Pittsburgh in the 1990’s. His number 19 was retired by the Islanders in 2001. He is much more than a former player working with his old team.

Trottier has experience from his days as an Assistant Coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. He also was the Head Coach of the New York Rangers for part of the 2002 season. Seeing him behind the Rangers bench was like having Lawrence Taylor wearing a Jets jersey. It just didn’t seem right and the results were not positive, either.

But to have him back home, as a New York Islander, employed at the Nassau Coliseum, that is picture perfect.

(Long Island, NY) The San Francisco Giants are coming to town this weekend for a three game series against the first-place New York Mets. An important set for many reasons. Unfortunately, the talk will be only about one player on the visiting team.

What should be considered a good rivalry will not garner any attention. Fans that go back a few years will remember the Giants as one of the New York National League teams that left the east coast for the west, thus giving the Mets a reason to exist. The Mets also adopted the old Giants interlocking ‘NY’ logo for their caps.

And this is also a series the Mets must win, if not sweep. Starting on Monday, they travel to Los Angeles, Arizona, and Philadelphia. When you’re playing at home versus a team that is not strong, you had better win if you want to remain on top of your division. Especially when your next three series’ are on the road against quality competition.

But the only thing that is going to be heard will be about the Giants’ slugging left-fielder, Barry Bonds, and the reaction from the New York crowd when he is announced. Imagine for one moment if Bonds didn’t hit home run number 715 last Sunday and was still tied with Babe Ruth coming to New York? It would have been even more of a ‘dog and pony’ show than it will already be.

It is sad that Bonds will receive the special treatment that the boo birds will undoubtedly give him. What happened to the days when you booed a player just because he was on the opposing team and always seemed to get that big hit to break your heart? But it seems that the crowds coming out to see Bonds at every park except for in San Francisco have taken it personally that he used performance enhancing drugs.

An interesting watch is the “Costas Now” television program on HBO this month. The topic of Bonds, baseball, and steroids are covered, with many interesting opinions. But the one that I took away from it was when Andy Van Slyke was interviewed. Currently the first base coach of the Detroit Tigers, Van Slyke was a productive outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2004, he was quoted as saying that Bonds was a steroid user because of his muscle gain. On the Costas show, Van Slyke admitted that he would have in fact used steroids while he was playing if he had the right connections. He was very candid about it and seemed to be honest in his statements.

How many other players would have answered that question truthfully? If they did, I’m sure that many of them would have said the same thing. Even in the ‘real world,’ not talking about sports. Go to your local gym and you probably know at least a handful of people that use steroids (or you suspect) that are doing it just to look good at the beach and/or bar. Factor in that these athletes are either playing for a roster spot, or a big raise, so is it any surprise that they are using these drugs?

Don’t get me wrong. I am by no means condoning or justifying it. But the guy or gal that starts chanting “juice monkey” when Bonds comes up should give it some thought.

(Long Island, NY) Badly in need of a new place to play, the New York Mets announced that they will build a brand new ballpark in the shadows of Shea Stadium, to be ready by opening day 2009. While that is outstanding news, seeing that old cookie cutter being destroyed will be a sad day.

Obviously not held in the same regard as a classic place such as Ebbets Field, the sadness will be different from when the baseball painted wrecking ball broke up the foundation of professional baseball in Brooklyn. Of course, that gloomy day in 1961 was apples and oranges because the Dodgers had already left town four years earlier. The Mets are upgrading, not abandoning. But when Shea is lying in rubble, we all are going to remember that first day when we walked through the tunnel to find our seat as a child to watch our heroes in person for the first time.

Personally, I never had a problem with the current stadium. Going to both Mets and Jets games starting in the 1970s, I thought it was a great place. Maybe not as impressive as Yankee Stadium, but it felt like home. Too many people knock it, but it does have some good attributes.

How many great moments happened at the ballpark in Flushing? From Jim Bunting’s perfect game on Father’s Day 1964 to Mike Hampton’s complete game pennant clincher in 2000, this stadium has seen some exciting games. Win or lose.

The Miracle Mets in 1969, the 1973 come back, the dominance that was 1986, the series changing home run by Mike Scoscia off Doc in the NLCS. Even the lean years had some moments. Lee Mazzilli playing centerfield a few subway stops from home, Darryl Strawberry becoming a force in 1983, the huge home runs by Mike Piazza, including the game winner versus Atlanta the first game back after the tragedy that was September 11th. Nothing can take that away.

Maybe Mets owner Fred Wilpon is giving back a little that was taken away when the Dodgers moved by emulating that beautiful ballpark with a rotunda that will make fans think they have stepped back into time. The retro look the new stadium will have is an honor to the game of the past. If the Shea Stadium that I have known and loved must be replaced, it may as well be reminiscent of the one stadium I wish I could have attended.

(Long Island, NY) A few years before the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run derby in 1998, the long ball had become chic. Even lead-off hitters like Brady Anderson of the Baltimore Orioles had 50 home run seasons. The rumor was spread that the powers that be manufactured the baseballs differently to allow for a longer flight when hit. The term was coined ‘juiced ball.’ And we all fell for it- hook, line, and sinker.

As ballplayers started to weight train more often and not only look stronger, but play stronger, we may have been naive to a fault. The excuses for the sudden surge in power kept coming in. Expansion. Watered down pitching staffs. Bad number four and five starters. Weak middle relief. You name it and we said it. Unwillingly covering up for the hitters that had us all fooled. We were looking at the pitcher’s mound for the reason when we should have been looking in the batter’s box.

When we compared the former size of a player to his enlargened power hitting self, we marveled on what doing bench presses and curls can do. Were we wearing blinders, such as the higher-ups were doing, because the game was exciting again after the disaster of the 1994 strike?

The ‘race to 62’ was fun. Regardless of what has come out of the wash since then. It was a special summer and nothing can take it away, but it is tarnished. It is not as spectacular as it was back then because of what we now know. But think back for a minute anticipating the home run count after every game. It did bring the game back to that special something in our lives after many of us swore off of it post-strike.

Was it worth it? Some may say yes because of the hype that period brought back. The game of baseball would have bounced back without it. Would it have done so as fast? No, but sound and fundamental games would have persevered. The giants swinging mini red wood trees hastened it. But some of the innocence was taken away that made baseball different from all the other games.

Can baseball move on from this controversy? Absolutely. It has had its share of ups and downs and always comes out to do just fine. When that sun is shining on the green grass and the sound of the catcher’s mitt pops, we’re all innocent kids again.