Jaybrams.com

Hello. My name is Jeremy Wheeler. I have not been around these parts lately due to… general laziness? So lets get you caught up and get this blog ball rolling again.

1) I passed Old Testament Survey. I wasn’t too worried about it. “And the monogram says ‘I-DOUBLE U-I-N”

2) I started to learn Spanish because I want to. Relearn really. It is going alright, but I need to concentrate on it more. Hopefully I will be conversational by end of summer. “And the monogram says ‘I-DOUBLE U-I-N”

3) On Friday, June 6th we’re leaving for Branson. “And the monogram says ‘I-DOUBLE U-I-N”

4) Blake is a bad word. He got me addicted to Sports based MMORPGs. “FAIL”

5) I’m still addicted to soccer. FC Dallas fired their coach, probably the right thing to do, but horrible timing and situation surrounding it. They gave up a goal in stoppage time last night which resulted in a draw instead of a win. “FAIL”

6) I bought the new Deliriou5? It is so yummy. “And the monogram says ‘I-DOUBLE U-I-N”

7) I’m still fat but until last week I was losing weight and staying off the Dr. Peppers. But last week and a half is horrible. “FAIL”

to end on a positive note… “And the monogram says ‘I-DOUBLE U-I-N”

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Category : Eh... Whatever, Family, Fatness, Me Dang It!, Music, School, Soccer, Sports, Video

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Originally submitted September 9, 2007 for ENGL 1310 @ Dallas Christian College. Emphasis added for website, copyright follows guidelines at bottom of the right sidebar.

There exists an odd phenomenon between American Football (hereafter referred to as “football”) fans and World Football (henceforth “soccer”) fans: Both feel their style of football is more the “real” sport, and both fail to realize that the sports share common roots. The inventor of American football, Walter Camp, was strongly influenced by William Ebb Ellis who commonly is credited with creating Rugby, a sport birthed directly from soccer (Bellis). Which fans, then, have a stronger argument for their beloved sport?
(more…)

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Category : Essays, Football, School, Soccer, Sports

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You may need to pick up some safety goggles soon… wouldn’t want all the dust we’re about to leave you in to get in your precious little eyes.

FC Dallas has signed Denilson…. heck yah. No need to google search him, just watch below. He’s arrived and is ready to start training and is just waiting for his work visa to go through before he’s on the pitch. I’m excited…

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Category : Soccer, Sports

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(whatever you do, at LEAST read my second point down below…)

Manchester United (premier futbol club in England) has signed 9 year old Rhain Davis. Don’t worry, this happens all the time… soccer clubs have Academies that sign young players yearly in order to train them in hopes they turn into the next great thing. We do it in America too, so not that big of a deal…

But usually we don’t get to see why these kids get signed. This particular young boy is living in Australia and his dad puts together this DVD and sends it to Man. U.  … And, of course, now it’s on YouTube for all of us to enjoy.

Few things first:
1.) Some youtube commenter’s say that this may be the “best of all the rest.” … in other words, perhaps he’s not all that amazing, but his dad has enough footage to get a whopping four minutes of good footage. If so, he still has great potential… but the way he carries himself makes me think his dad kept it to four minutes so not to overdo it.

2.) This is why soccer is so great. In American culture if you are this good, you are coached to take over… to make it all about yourself… to show the world how great you are. Why? because ultimately it makes it easier to win if the one dominating kid does it all on his own… Soccer is the ultimate team sport and teaches you that it takes EVERYONE working together to make things work. This video shows more passes (14) than shots (5). Beckham, for instance, is considered one of the top players certainly of this generation if not all time, and yet he rarely scores… he can put it in the back of the net, but he’s mainly a set up man.

3.) Even if the cynics are right on this kid, its still a nice video and 100% of my readers would fall all over themselves trying to pull most of these moves.

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Category : Culture, Current Events, Soccer, Video

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So, I’ve not done some things I could’ve been doing… like Futbol updates… so lets play catch up with all the sports stories in the world today:

* NBA * If you don’t know the story, stop reading this won’t make sense to you. I watched the press conference and I must say I have never seen David Stern like this. He usually comes across very strong willed and high in character. You can tell not only does he feel very betrayed by this (as he admits) but he feels lost and scared. For a while he was the top commish in all of sports, but his “brand” is going to take a huge hit with this and it will be interesting to see how this goes from here. Thank God i’m not a gambler.

* NFL * Vick is a prick. ‘Nuf said.

* Futbol and Beckham * Futbol fan or not, i’m sure you’ve heard the hype. Let me say a few things:

1) Lee Corso is an idiot. Filling in for Mike and Mike he claims “soccer is a dying sport” … What he meant is “I’m a one horse pony and know nothing about any sport except college football and even that is debatable. So, much like racism, I will slam a sport based solely on my ignorance.”

2) Not all Sportscenter anchors are as stupid as Lee, but anything they say about soccer needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Most claim there is no way this hype helps propel soccer’s popularity. A more accurate statement was issue by the oft annoying Mike Greenberg “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

3) Beckham’s hype will NOT win the non-fan to soccer and will only boost the casual fans interest minimally. But what his arrival has done is set a precedent for YOUNGER talented foreign players to play in the MLS, which will put pressure on American players and our product will improve. This has already shown in some areas. FC Dallas has signed 3 young players from South America, including Juan Carlos Toja who scored in the MLS All-Star game and are now in talks with Denilson, another Brazilian who was one of Arsenal’s most promising young players. For those barely following me, Arsenal is one of the premier clubs in the English Premier League, which is considered one of if not THE top league in the world. In an interview posted at FC Dallas’ Blog, Denilson points to Beckham’s willingness to play here as a determining factor for him even considering coming over. And recently Toronto FC’s British Stud Danny Dichio stated (paraphrased) that the MLS is getting a bad wrap back home (England) and the league and play is much more technically sound than the common view overseas.  This is where Beckham’s arrival will help MLS in the long run, and I’m excited about it.

4) The league continues to expand, and i’m not sure if this is a good thing yet. There are still very few sell outs around the league and I fear they are being too aggressive. Baseball, Hockey and Basketball have all experienced watered down quality of play because they expanded too much, I’d hate to see that here. They are looking to be at 16 teams in about 2 more years. 16 should be the cap for a while, but I fear they may push beyond that. Please, slow down!

* FC Dallas * New guys, Ray Burse-GK and Ricardhino (brazilian) - AMF/FW, excite me very much. Lets keep seeing good things from these guys.  No one bought me tickets to the SuperLiga so I’ll have to watch it all in spanish.

* Telefutura * This is a national television station and the camera work and graphic work are absolutely horrible. If anything is going on near the far side of the field, their score graphic covers it up. Perhaps if the camera man moves the camera two inches up, we’d be able to see what was going on. And the channel is the darkest i’ve ever seen.

Questions? Comments? Criticism?

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Category : Basketball, Culture, Current Events, Football, Soccer, Sports

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I fear there will only be three updates to this with the following headlines in order:

06/29/07 -”Young US Team Thrashed By Argentina”
07/03/07 - “Young US Team Thrashed By Paraguay”
07/06/07 - “Young US Team Wins: Too Little Too Late”

After an alright first half last night, we totally fell asleep / apart and Argentina just beat us down 4-1 (i got tired of putting the score disclaimer at the bottom). Couple of reasons why:

1.) We’re fielding a team with very little national experience and it shows. They did not know how to respond to Argentina’s halftime adjustments and there was no teamwork at all. Soccer is a “feel” sport… you have to be able to feel your teammates next moves. There is something akin to set plays like in basketball, but its not just barked out… it’s eye contact and body language. Chemistry. There is none right now.

2.) Argentina has one of the best squads in the tourney. I’ve been able to watch about three games (all in spanish), which included Brazil, Mexico, and Paraguay, and right now it certainly looks like Argentina can take it all.

3.) Argentina adjusted, US didn’t. The first half was *fairly* even in the midfield and our defense responded when challenged. Argentina came out wider and more aggressive in the second half and we did nothing to stop it.

4.) Anytime you can replace Messi with Tevez (two of the best strikers in the Cup since Brazil is kinda in the same boat we are), you’re going to cause people problems.

I was really hoping for a tie… I didn’t expect a win, but maybe a 1-1 draw. If we’re going to move on we’re going to have to get at least a win and draw in our next two outings (monday night vs Paraguay, Thursday vs Columbia), and even that might not be enough.

I have so much more I could say… perhaps i should start a soccerblog for these long soccer posts… but then again… this is my site and i’ll post what I dang well please.

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Category : Current Events, Me Dang It!, Soccer, Sports

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Reggie Bush and David Beckham hooked up for a while. Here’s the three minute version. There is a 6 minute version out there as well, but half of it is Reggie trying to figure out how to put on futbol shoes and it’s not really entertaining… heck, this one could use some BG music, but check it out. There’s some pretty sweet moves by both of them (but more so by Beckham). The thing they pull off around the 45th sec is insane, so i’m sure they had to film it multiple times. Dang, i’m rambling.. just watch the vid…

Technorati Tags: David Beckham, Reggie Bush, Futbol vs Football

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Category : Culture, Current Events, Football, Soccer, Sports

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(NOTE: If you live fairly close to me *cough*Jonathan*cough*Gabe*cough* and would like to come watch any of these games just call me or come by. Watching soccer on “match tracker” doesn’t exactly do it justice.) 

Week 11 highlights since I missed posting:
- Are you tired of hearing about J.P. Angel? He scored twice again vs. The Wiz, bringing his total up to 9 goals and 2 assists in 7 games. That is just unheard of in ANY league. He freakin’ leads the league (tied with E. Johnson) despite not playing in the clubs first 5 games.
- Lots of multi-goal games in week 11: J.P. Angel (NY), Adam Christman (NE), Luciano Emilio (DC), Yura Movsisyan (KC), and Chris Brown (RSL).
- Two teams with two games this week: FC Dallas squeaked by the worst team in the league but notched their first clean sheet (AFF: Shut out, no goals allowed, etc) in nearly 20 games against Real Salt Lake 7-0*, then were stomped by first year club Toronto FC 28-0*.
- RSL also had two games losing to FCD as mentioned and losing again to the LA Galaxy (21-14*). At the end of week 11, RSL remained winless.
- The US Men’s National Team moved passed Panama 14-7* to reach the semi’s and topped Canada with the same score to notch a place in the Finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup versus Mexico.
- As they have all tournament, in both games the men played solid first halves and had mental lapses in the second half. Canada was robbed in the 94th minute (just seconds before the final whistle) when a solid strike was called back for offsides. It was a tough call, but clearly, in slow motion and multiple angles, Canada was not offsides.
- AFF:  I’m not going to explain Futbol offsides but its nothing like Football Offsides… Just trust me on this, Canada was robbed, the game should’ve gone into Extra Time.

Week 12:
- FCD notches their second clean sheet in three games with another 7-0* squeaker against Colorado.
- FCD leads the league in points, but have played two more games than any other team. And the truth is, they still haven’t put the whole package together. Defensively they have a lot of holes (namely Alex Yi’s play) and up front they are inconsistent. Their midfield dominates nearly every game, we just can’t put teams away.
- Juan Pablo Angel DID NOT score this week! His team had the week off.
- Multi-Goal games: Brad Davis (Hat Trick: Houston), Andy Dorman (NE), Robbie Findley (RSL).
- Real Salt Lake finally won a game with a 14-7* win over DC United! It only took 12 games to get there! RSL without Robbie Findley - 11 Games, 0 wins. RSL with Robbie Findley - 1 Game, 1 win. Let see if a pattern develops.
- Week 13 Key Game: West #1 FC Dallas hosts West #2 Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

US Men’s Team CONCACAF Final vs Mexico:
- This was by far the best game of the tournament. I guess in a final that’s how it should be. Mexico came out aggressive and nearly caught the US Defense by surprise in the first minute of play and kept the pressure on the whole first half. US matched the intensity  with tough play and strong pushes forward, but neither team could put anything in the back of the net until the 44th minute when Jose Andres Guardado put Mexico on top 1-0. Nery Castillo struck a screaming fast cross along the ground from the right side, blowing by two US Defenders, a central Mexican Striker and putting US GK Tim Howard on his butt before reaching Guardado.
     The US wasn’t going to go silently. The second half was just as intense and fast as the first, but the US midfield really controlled the game. After a handful of great saves by Mexico’s Oswaldo Sanchez, Brian Ching put a quick spin move on in the box which caused Defender Jose Jonny Magallon to react with a knee-trip setting up Landon Donovan’s Penalty Kick. Landon was successful and the game was log jammed at 1 goal a piece in the 62nd minute.
     The US Continued to push forward and 11 minutes later, we took the lead for good. Donovan sent in a Corner Kick from the right side which was headed out of the box. Unfortunately for Mexico it took a direct path to midfielder Benny Feilhaber who struck it on the volley (AFF: The ball never hit the ground) into the far left corner of the net from the top right side and just outside the penalty area.
    Mexico had a few more chances (as did the US), but in the end we came out on top in an extremely high paced, high entertainment game that could’ve easily ended somewhere around the 4-3 mark.

AFF= American Football Fans. Jeremy will breifly make notes and define things that AFF’s might not understand.

Jeremy is going to shove futbol down your throat until you realize why it is rightfully called “the beautiful game,” but i guess if you want to ignore these posts, jeremy won’t mind so much as long as you come back and read his non-futbol posts.

* Jeremy scores futbol like football to show his American friends that soccer isn’t as low scoring as you think. And all of futbol scoring gets done in less than 2 hours, unlike football which often pushes four.

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Category : Current Events, Soccer, Sports

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Juan Pablo Angel now has 7 goals in 6 games since joining the Red Bulls. He scored both goals for NY in a 14-7* win over Toronto FC on Wednesday, and notched another in their 28-14* loss to DC United. Beckham may be getting all the hype, but Angel looks to be the best the Exemption player to join the MLS.

Thursday the USA topped Guatemala 7-0* in a very poorly played, poorly officiated opening round game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The first half looked to be all USA and they had ample opportunity to run the score to 21-0* before halftime but couldn’t convert. Guatemala roughed us up quite a bit and we didn’t respond with enough toughness. But a win is a win.

Saturday was much of the same versus Trinadad and Tabago: Lots of scoring opportunity but not enough conversion. We did pull away with a 14-0* shutout and lock-in our place for the next round. A draw or win against El Salvador tuesday will notch us top seed for the next round match ups.

FC Dallas won (see previous post) but lost top striker Kenny Cooper to a broken tibia. I saw it happen live. It looked painful, and the worst part of it all, it was in the 89th minute (for all you football fans out there, it’d be like Peyton Manning being slaughtered and breaking a bone after the two minute warning in a blowout game). Thankfully some of the young guys seem to be coming into their own and we should be able to maintain for the 6-8 weeks he’ll be out.

MLS Week 11 Key Games:
Kansas City @ New York (Saturday) - Eastern Conference #2 @ #1.
Real Salt Lake @ Los Angeles (Sunday) - Battle for last in Western Conference. RSL has yet to win and LA looks horrible this year. I’m sure Beckham is extremely excited about his choice of teams!

* Jeremy scores futbol like football to show his american friends that soccer isn’t as low scoring as you think. And all of futbol scoring gets done in less than 2 hours, unlike football which often pushes four.

** Jeremy is going to shove futbol down your throat until you realize why it is rightfully called “the beautiful game,” but i guess if you want to ignore these posts, jeremy won’t mind so much as long as you come back and read his non-futbol posts.

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Category : Soccer, Sports

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Last night I took in the FC Dallas v LA Galaxy game with an old High School friend at Pizza Hut Park about 40 minutes from home. We won 21-7*. The game and atmosphere was top notch as hoped for, but rekindling the old friendship was far more important than what happened on the field. We talked through everything from work, school, church, and family. Good times. It got me thinking about acountability and community again; how it applies to my life and the friendships around me… so, i think i’m going to work on that… cause accountability / community amoung most of my friends is pretty lackluster at best.

*Jeremy scores futbol like football to show his american friends that soccer isn’t as low scoring as you think. And all of futbol scoring gets done in less than 2 hours, unlike football which often pushes four.

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Category : Empyreal, Soccer, Sports

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