Odds and Ends

• Blazer draft reviews are in and Portland did better than the ESPN announcers were claiming during the draft. Here, here, here, Oregonlive.com reports Chad Ford gave the Blazers an A and that the Blazers maybe weren't outwitted in the Aldridge and Telfair trades.
• ESPN ombudsman writes about his network's coverage of the World Cup. Two of the five announcing teams are based in Bristol, Conn. and are not in Germany. I didn't know this but it might explain some of the difficulties the announcers seemed to have in making judgments on air.
• Video clip of Ronaldo's 15 WC goals.
• Grant Wahl writes about the necessity of attending a WC once in your life and not just for the soccer. I concur. Although I attended only one game in '94 and was just a wee lad then, I had a great time and wished I could have afforded to attend more games. That said, I got to see the US play Brazil on the Fourth of July. Absolutely awesome!!!