Only for Guild Members » I have different face. Day o

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your printing presses. Deron Cherry Jersey . Now that the World Cup draw is complete, millions of words will be typed in previewing the tournament and thousands of publications will print previews. These are always enjoyable to read but can easily sway your opinion one way or the other. It really is amazing what can happen over time, how a team can go from nobodies to contenders just by certain people talking up their chances. With that in mind, it is important to remember how you feel about these teams today. Things will change, players will get hurt and their form will change, for better or worse, so now is not the time to marry yourself to your picks but it is a very good idea to stick to the majority of what you think today. With that in mind, here are my picks from each group to progress, with a few other predicitions thrown in there too. GROUP A – Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon Initial thoughts on the draw – Brazil will have wanted this kind of group where they can (and will) win it but be challenged and, in Mexico and Croatia, they have teams that will not be cannon fodder. The problem for Brazil is how tough group B is and thats who they will be paired with in the last 16. Most anticipated game – Brazil vs Croatia: Opening game of the World Cup. Pressure is incredible on a host starting a tournament (I am surprised so many hosts want to start the tournament off) but in Croatia, they have an opponent who they can beat. Group Winner – Brazil Runner-up – Mexico GROUP B – Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia Initial thoughts on the draw – I am not a fan of the term Group of Death but if you are looking for the strongest group, this is it – by a mile! Chile were the team no seeded team wanted to face and Spain, much like four years ago, get them again. Throw in the Dutch and you have an absolutely fantastic group. Spain are a wonderful side but their style of winning tight, narrow games could come back and cost them in this very competitive group. Most anticipated game – Spain vs Netherlands: it is the first match and anyone who loses with Chile still to play will be in massive trouble. Spain cannot afford to start slow again and the road back from an opening game loss is even tougher in 2014 than it was in 2010 with Chile playing in South America. Group Winner – Chile Runner-up - Netherlands GROUP C – Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan Initial thoughts on the draw – On paper, this does not look like a group to get excited about but we should see some wonderful football on display in this group, featuring three teams who can be expansive and easy on the eye (sorry Greece). For Colombia, this is a dream group to help them build confidence as they move towards the knock-out rounds. Most Anticipated Game – Ivory Coast vs Greece: The Africans have been harshly treated in each of the last two World Cup draws but now they have a real shot at qualifying. Their final group, up against Greece, will be a stern test to see if they can climb a hurdle theyve never jumped before. Group Winner - Colombia Runner-up - Ivory Coast GROUP D - Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy Initial thoughts on the draw – You will read in the next few months how Uruguay are old and past their prime, finished fifth out of nine in qualifying and can be beaten but this team is built for tournaments like this and they get to play Costa Rica first. England, however, play Costa Rica (which is not an easy game for them either) last and could be out of the tournament by then. Italy need a group where they can be tested early (like 2006, not 2010) and although this is a tough one for them, they are more than good enough to win it. Most anticipated game – England vs Italy in Manaus: The latest kick off in the tournament will help, but the weather will be hot in the Amazon region. Hopefully, it wont be a tense 0-0 with so much to come afterwards but dont bet against it! Group Winner – Italy Runner-up - Uruguay GROUP E – Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras Initial thoughts on the draw – France have been dealt a hand they wanted. Questions around their mental state are warranted but these three games, against teams they can beat, will go along way to helping restore the confidence they need to show their talents. Honduras, ironically, gets the E4 slot that a European team so wanted for climate purposes. Seeds Switzerland get a chance to show why they deserved their ranking. Most anticipated game – Switzerland vs Ecuador: The first match of the group is a true match of confederations that will likely help one team advance over the other. Group Winner – France Runner-up - Ecuador GROUP F – Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria Initial thoughts on the draw – Lost on all the debates of what the group of Death is, is the fact that Argentina were handed a fantastic path towards the final stages. Not only were they given an easy group they should win, they were paired with second in E for the last 16 and winner of H or second in G for the last 8. They also went on to the opposite half of the draw than the winner of group A, likely arch-rivals Brazil. Most anticipated game – Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Nigeria: Another game of contrasting styles that is likely to be a playoff to make the last 16. Group Winner – Argentina Runner-up - Nigeria GROUP G – Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA Initial thoughts on the draw – Klinsmann vs Germany; Ronaldo vs Ozil, so many storylines in this group but lost in it all will be how Africas strongest nation got a very difficult draw once again (much like Ivory Coast in 2006 and 2010). For the Americans, it is a nightmare draw, placed in G4, forced to play all three games in the heat of northern Brazil, and against three very good nations. Most anticipated game – Germany vs Portugal: Forget the Klinsmann Derby, another opportunity to see Cristiano Ronaldo against the Germans (like in Euro 2012) will be magnificent. Group Winner – Germany Runner-up - Portugal GROUP H – Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic Initial thoughts on the draw – Absolutely perfect for Belgium. Handed H1, they avoid any games in the tropical north and get three opponents that they will be comfortable with. Russia, against Algeria and Korea Republic, will also be happy but dont rule them out for failing to deliver on the biggest stage once again. Most anticipated game – Belgium vs Algeria: Marc Wilmots side are going to get a lot of love between now and the first game. They were already many peoples sleeper pick and that will intensify with this draw and the game against Algeria finally gives the world a chance to see what Belgium do on the big stage. Group Winner – Belgium Runner-up – Korea Republic Bobby Bell Jersey . Nothing pretty. But this is 1/4 World Cup. Usually plays out this way. Deon Yelder Jersey . DeGrom outpitched Jake Peavy in a tantalizing hitless duel that carried into the seventh inning Saturday night before the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom-stefen-wisniewski-jersey-large-1396n.html . -- Aaron Rodgers isnt out for revenge in Green Bays season opener.And oh how the enigmatic goaltender shines in the spotlight, much to the chagrin of the league. Bryzgalov is just what the NHL hates: unique, outspoken, not from Red Deer. The embattled and well-traveled goaltender is the antithesis of the typical NHLer. His idiosyncrasies, strange even for a goalie, rankle the entire NHL establishment, from players to management to media to that guy who lives in the apartment below yours with his mother who has a "prominent Predators blog." And as Bryz adds some animation to the typically lifeless NHL discourse in his return to centre scrum, its interesting to consider why hockey hates him so. [Getty Images] For much of his career, Bryzgalov and his delightfully absurd aloofness was left to the bliss of the uncovered hinterland of the NHL. He was allowed to ply his trade in Anaheim and Phoenix with relatively little attention paid. But, in league circles, his oddities were well known, and even celebrated when the media required moments of levity. But upon his arrival in hockey hotbed, and noted goalie-killer Philadelphia, the affection the league had for Bryzgalov turned quickly to venom. His play certainly didnt help, but many an average NHLer with a slight sense of humour has been left to his own devices. But Bryzgalovs appalling strangeness in the eyes of the hockey establishment, a sinister outfit run by old white men housed in a secret lair below the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, made him a pariah, and nearly led to the end of his career. And by "end of career" I mean playing in Edmonton. Perhaps no player has incurred the wrath of the NHL like the man the Wild acquired as insurance, and who is now their last hope to extend the season. But why? Unfortunately, hockey lacks Bryzgalovs. Of the four major sports leagues, it by far eschews personality and flavour more than all others. Hell, out of any sport it certainly boasts the most boring membership. No interview is less interesting than conversations with hockey players. Vanilla mocks the rabid blandness of NHLers. And those in NHL circles who do have personalities, like Sean Avery, Ted Nolan, or P.K. Subban, find themselves ostracized from the community, or like Subban unfairly labeled as troublesome on and off the ice. One would think a league that has struggled to find a market against its more successful sports brethren would embrace personality, but thats not the hockey way. Bryzgalov is more than a goalie, more than a hockey player. Hes a genuinely interesting and interested person. He has big questions. Like, "Im very into the universe, you know like how was created, you know, like, what is it, you know? Solar system is so humongous big, right? But if you see like our solar system and our galaxy on the side, you know, like, were so small you can never see it. Our galaxy is like huge, but if you see the big picture our galaxy (is) like a small tiny-like dot in the universe." Bryz is the opposite of boring. [HBO] But hockey is a factory of boring. The sport grabs youngsters at an early age, sends them to cosmopolitan metropoli like Chicoutimi, Lethbridge, and North Bay, and where representatives of the old boys club teach them to lack in colour and dissenting opinion. There must be courses in stock answers and cliché given to aspiring NHLers, lest they find some horrific off-ice personality. One can imagine a factory churning out 62 defencemen and gritty fourth liine centres somewhere outside of Medicine Hat whose only answers are limited to: • Gotta play all three periods and go hard into the boards. Brian Waters Jersey. • Its the coachs decision. • I enjoy CBCs Heartland. Unfortunately, this formulaic tendency has corrupted on-ice play as well. In the past quarter century weve seen the game become more systems-based, removing individuality and scoring from the game. (Lets call this Lou Lamoriellos fault.)Hockey enjoys being the definition of innocuous. What it finds funny, or interesting, is in the Jeremy Roenicks of its world, a sort of low brow, low risk comedy that makes Canadian sitcoms look like the bastard children of Louis CK and Sarah Silverman. And that affection for the benign has lowered scoring, homogenized the product, and made beat reporters quest for an interesting quote an exercise in futility. Bryzgalov is the kind of guy you like to keep in your pocket and take out at parties. He was the star of HBOs24/7, an ambitious show that tries to find intrigue in NHL locker rooms.His personality is as endearing as it playful. Hes intelligent, well read, and happy to speak on any subject. And the NHL hates him for it. This is a man who when asked if he feared the powerhouse Pittsburgh Penguins before a playoff matchup with his Flyers responded, "Im not afraid of anything – except bear. But bear in the forest." Whats not to love? The pundits cited his personality as one of the reasons he failed in Philly, despite the fact that the Flyers organization is a wasteland for goalies whose failures have been the result of a flawed organizational concept as opposed to a Russian who enjoys tea and literature. Whats most painfully difficult to entertain in this NHL with a hatred of the entertaining is the notion that there arent more personalities like Bryzgalov. The difference with Bryz is that he shares his self with the world. I cant even describe the weird that my peers tend towards in the privacy of dark corners of Montreal bars, so one cant be naïve enough to believe that similarly intriguing oddity doesnt exist in NHL locker rooms. NHLers are only permitted to show their game face, or as Bryz puts it, "You know, I have many faces … masks. In home, I have one face. Public, I have other face. Uh … ahhhh, on ice I have different face. Day off I have four face. With you [media] I have fifth face." The tradition of the league has implemented a gag order upon its membership, which limits both its on- and off-ice products. The marketing of contemporary sport is about personality. Its what makes the moments between on-field greatness interesting. Chad Johnson, Dennis Rodman, or Steve Lyons would never be allowed to exist in the NHL. From a young age, their personalities would never be given the chance to blossom into anything other than milquetoast. Bryzgalov once said, "OK, they fire the puck from the blue line. Chief usually yelling block the shot at the defensemen. They doesnt have the goalie gear, but they have to block the shot. So who is more crazy, me or the defencemen? Who is more weird?" No one, Bryz. No one. And thats a shame. For both the sport and its fans. This is likely his last few weeks as an NHL goaltender. And then exit Bryzgalov, pursued by bear. ' ' '