The Dempsey/Donovan debate

On Friday, for the first time since 2006, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan will take the pitch in a game that they're not teammates.

Seems like as good a time as any to delve into what is becoming a hot-topic debate these days: Who's the better U.S.-produced field player?

Now, goalies like Brad Friedel and Tim Howard have been scorching the game in foreign leagues and international play for some time, so for the sake of discussion we'll take them off the table. The discussion now is about field players.

So, who is the better U.S. product, Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey?

Soccer match predicting octopus immortalized

Everyone remember Paul, the Octopus who so famously—and correctly—predicted the outcomes of all of Germany's matches past year's World Cup?

Well, unfortunately, Paul is no longer with this world, but the public's ability to remember him will soon increase exponentially, because Paul got a statue.

From the AP:

BERLIN (AP) — Paul the celebrated octopus has finally got his tentacles wrapped around a soccer ball.
The Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen on Thursday unveiled an outsized memorial to the World Cup's most unlikely star: A 6 1/2-foot (2-meter) tall plastic replica of Paul clutching a ball in his eight arms.
Aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig says Paul's cremated ashes were placed in a gold-leaf-covered urn inside the ball. Paul died three months ago and Munzig says fans around the world had asked for a memorial.
Paul correctly tipped the outcome of all seven of Germany's games at last year's World Cup plus the Spain-Netherlands final. He made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag.

Most people don't even get statues when they die, but then again, most people are not that accurate with predictions. It got so bad that the poor guy got death threats against him when he picked against Germany in the semifinals.

RIP Paul.