Euro Cup Fever

For those of you fellow SportsToilet fans who love soccer as much as I do, the Euro Cup has been a pure joy to watch up until now. After the first matches have been completed in group play I wanted to let you know who has impressed me thus far. Portugal looks fast and untouchable. This team has come into their own over the past few years. The great days of Luis Figo have been replaced by the most dangerous player in Cristiano Ronaldo. Germany looks mighty and is ready to run over people with Michael Ballack anchoring the midfield and Lukas Podolski scoring goal after goal. France looks scared. I don't need to say anything more about that. Netherlands looks great in the Orange and they handed the Italians a horrible loss the other day. After watching Spain today and the impact Fernando Torres had on the game, they might actually win some European silverware for the first time in 44 years. When making a pick on who I expect to win it all I have to go with a Portugal and Germany final. The interesting finale will be with a team built for speed and one built to beat you down. Ultimately Cristiano Ronaldo continues his dream year when they beat Germany to make amends for losing in the last World Cup. Take a look here for a list of the schedule of all the great games. Tune in and enjoy.

NBA Coaches Play Musical Chairs

It has been quite a week in the NBA of trying to figure out what coaches are in those cities that need some new guidance. We begin with the team that still thinks Shaq is the answer. The Phoenix Suns have decided to hire longtime veteran Terry Porter. The LA guys here at the Toilet always hated Porter when he played with those dispicable Blazer teams. All this signing does is add more fuel to the fire between the Phoenix Suns and LA Lakers. On a judgement point I thought it was the safe move to make. Porter will instill some defense into their system but he can run and gun a little on offense. The problem is that the Suns may have already missed their window at championship glory when other teams in the West were re-tooling their teams.

With the first pick in the NBA coaching draft the Chicago Bulls select Vinny Del Negro. Seriously? Where did this move come from? After Doug Collin's pulled out of the running to return to Marv Albert next year Vinny got the call on the golf course. But the real question is who wouldn't take this job? They have such a nice young core of players and with the #1 pick coming in, Paxson will ship a package out and come up with a contending team next year(at least in the East). Del Negro was always a smart player and will instill championship success and the winning mentality into this young Chicago Bulls squad.

The Detroit Pistons made the quiet, low key head coach hiring.Personally I thought this was the best move of all the signings. Michael Curry is a young gym rat. He works hard and reminds me of the coach who won't take NO for an answer. He will make his players work hard and won't take any crap from anybody. It might take him a few years to gain respect but he has the potential to be like Byron Scott in New Orleans. More updates to come..