Mike's blog

In the first match today France beat Argentina 4-3. Lionel Messi  played heroically but his team came up short. His world cup career is likely over. Even if he plays in 2022 and his team qualifies he will not be the same player he is today for age will take its toll. France played great and will move on to the quarterfinals. They will be  very difficult opponent in there next match and are a contender to win it all. In the second match today Uruguay beat Portugal 2-1. This will likely be Cristiano Ronaldo's final world cup. If he returns in 2022 then he will not be the same player for he will be four years older. Uruguay stays alive along with Lius Suarez's controversial world cup career. It was close to the end and they came out the winner after 90 minutes. They will be a tough opponent for France. This sets up a fun quarterfinal match up that could decide the winner of the entire world cup. France will take on Uruguay next week. Teams advancing to the next round: France and

No matches today so instead I will preview tomorrows matches. In the first match France will play Argentina. Argentina has one of the best players ever if not the best player ever Lionel Messi. France has one of the best overall teams in the world. This match will be close and can very easily go into extra time or even penalty kick shootouts. In the second match Uruguay will play Portugal. Portugal has one of the best players in the world Cristiano Rolando and Uruguay also has a very good player called Luis Suarez. I think that this also will be a fin match that could go to extra time or even a shootout.

Round Of 16: Match 49: Uruguay Vs. Portugal Match 50: France vs. Argentina Match 51: Spain vs. Russia Match 52: Croatia vs. Denmark Match 53: Brazil vs. Mexico Match 54: Belgium vs. Japan Match 55: Sweden vs. Switzerland Match 56: Colombia vs. England Quarterfinals:  Match 57: Match 49 Winner vs. Match 50 Winner Match 58: Match 53 Winner vs. Match 54 Winner Match 59: Match 51 Winner vs. Match 52 Winner Match 60: Match 55 Winner vs. Match 56 Winner Semifinals: Match 61: Match 57 Winner vs. Match 58 Winner Match 62: Match 59 Winner vs. Match 60 Winner 3rd Place Match: Match 63: Match 61 Loser vs. Match 62 Loser Final: Match 64: Match 61 Winner vs. Match 61 Final Results: Match 64 Winner: Champion Match 64 Loser: 2nd Place Match 63 Winner: 3rd Place

Round of 16: Match 51: Spain vs. Russia Match 52: Croatia vs. Denmark Match 55: Sweden vs. Switzerland Match 56: Colombia vs. England Quarterfinals: Match 59: Match 51 Winner vs. Match 52 Winner Match 60: Match 55 Winner vs. Match 56 Winner Semifinals: Match 62: Match 59 Winner vs. Match 60 Winner

Round of 16:  Match 49: Uruguay vs. Portugal Match 50: France vs. Argentina    Match 53: Brazil vs. Mexico Match 54: Belgium vs. Japan  Quarterfinals:  Match 57: Match 49 Winner vs. Match 50 Winner  Match 58: Match 53 Winner vs. Match 54 Winner  Semifinals:  Match 61: Match 57 Winner vs. Match 58 Winner 

Round of 16: Match 55: Sweden vs. Switzerland Match 56: Colombia vs. England Quarterfinals: Match 60: Match 55 Winner vs. Match 56 Winner

Round of 16: Match 53: Brazil vs. Mexico Match 54: Belgium vs. Japan Quarterfinals: Match 58: Match 53 Winner vs. Match 54 Winner

1.) Colombia 6pts +3gd 5gs 2.) Japan 4pts 0gd 4gs 3.) Senegal 4pts 0gd 4gs 4.) Poland 3pts -3gd 2gs

1.) Belgium 9pts +7gd 9gs 2.) England 6pts +5gd 8gs 3.) Tunisia 3pts -3gd 5gs 4.) Panama 0pts -9gd 2gs

In group G Belgium beat England 1-0 and Tunisia beat Panama 2-1. with there win Belgium wins there group and advances to the next round. With there loss England finishes 2nd in there group and advances to the next round. With there win Tunisia finishes 3rd in there group and is eliminated from the tournament. With there loss Panama finishes last place in there group and is eliminated from he tournament. Teams advancing to the next round: Belgium and England Teams eliminated from the tournament: Tunisia and Panama In group H Colombia beat Senegal 1-0 and Poland beat Japan 1-0. With there win Colombia wins the group and advances to the next round. With there loss Japan finishes second in there group and advances to the next round on fair play points. With there loss Senegal finishes 3rd in there group and is eliminated from the tournament on fair play points. With there win Poland gets unlucky and finishes last place in there group. Teams advancing to next round: Colombia and Jap

1.) Sweden 6pts +3gd 5gs 2.) Mexico 6pts -1gd 3gs 3.) South Korea 3pts 0gd 3gs 4.) Germany 3pts -2gd 2gs

1.) Brazil 7pts +4gd 5gs 2.) Switzerland 5pts +1gd 5gs 3.) Serbia 3pts -2gd 2gs 4.) Costa Rica 1pts -3gd 2gs

In group F Sweden beat Mexico 3-0 and South Korea beat Germany 2-0. With there win Sweden wins the group and advances to the next round. With there loss Mexico gets lucky and will still advance to the next round because of Germany loss. With there win South Korea is unlucky as they finish 3rd and are eliminated. With there loss the defending champions Germany finish last place in there group and are eliminated from the tournament. Teams advancing to the next round: Sweden and Mexico Teams eliminated from the tournament: South Korea and Germany In group E Switzerland and Costa Rica had a 2-2 draw and Brazil beat Serbia 2-0. With there win Brazil wins the group and advances to the next round. With there draw Switzerland finishes 2nd in there group and advances to the next round. With there loss Serbia finishes 3rd in there group and is eliminated from the tournament. With there draw Costa Rica finishes last in there group and is eliminated from the tournament.  Teams advancing to

Round of 16: Match 51: Spain vs. Russia Match 52: Croatia vs. Denmark Quarterfinals: Match 59: Match 51 Winner vs. Match 52 Winner

Round of 16: Match 49: Uruguay vs. Portugal Match 50: France vs. Argentina Quarterfinals: Match 57: Match 49 Winner vs. Match 50 Winner

1.) Croatia 9pts +6gd 7gs 2.) Argentina 4pts -2gd 3gs 3.) Nigeria 3pts -1gd 3gs 4.) Iceland 1pts -3gd 2gs

1.) France 7pts +2gd 3gs 2.) Denmark 5pts +1gd 2gs 3.) Peru 3pts 0gd 2gs 4.) Australia 1pts -3gd 2gs

In group C Peru beat Australia 2-0 and Denmark and France had a 0-0 draw. The 0-0 draw was the first of the tournament and was a very boring match. With the win Peru finishes 3rd place and the group and is still eliminated from the tournament. With the loss Australia finishes last place in there group and is eliminated from the tournament. With there draw France wins there group and advances and Denmark finishes 2nd and advances. Teams Advancing to Next Round: France and Denmark Teams Eliminated from Tournament: Peru and Australia In group D Argentina beat Nigeria 2-1 and Croatia beat Iceland 2-1. With there win Croatia wins the group and advances to the next round. With there win Argentina finishes in 2nd place and advances to the next round. With there loss Nigeria finishes in 3rd place and gets eliminated from the tournament. With there loss Iceland finishes in last place and is eliminated from the tournament. Teams advancing to the next round: Croatia and Argentina Teams

1.) Spain 5pts +1gd 6gs 2.) Portugal 5pts +1dg 5gs 3.) Iran 4pts 0gd 2gs 4.) Morocco 1pts -2gd 2gs

1.) Uruguay 9pts +5gd 5gs 2.) Russia 6pts +4gd 8gs 3.) Saudi Arabia 3pts -5gd 2gs 4.) Egypt 0pts -4gd 2gs Key: pts: points gd: goal differential gs: goals scored Tiebrekaers: 1.) gd 2.) gs 3.) Head to head 4.) head to head gd 5.) head to head gs 6.) fair play points 7.) drawing of lots Fair play points: -1 yellow card -3 two yellow card for one player -4 direct red card -5 direct red card and yellow card same player Source: FIFA

In group A Saudi Arabia beat Egypt 2-1 and Uruguay beat Russia 3-0. With there wins Saudi Arabia Finish 3rd in there group and Uruguay wins the group. With there losses Russia still advances and finishes second in the group while Egypt finishes last place in the group. Advancing to Next Round: Uruguay and Russia Eliminated from Tournament: Saudi Arabia and Egypt In group B Iran and Portugal had a 1-1 draw and Spain and Morocco had a 2-2 draw. With there draws Spain and Portugal advance to the next round. Spain wins there group on tiebreaker and Portugal finishes 2nd place in there group. Iran is eliminated with the draw and finishes in 3rd place in there group. Morocco finishes in last place in there group by virtue of this draw.  Advancing to Next Round: Spain and Portugal Eliminated from Tournament: Iran and Morocco  Knockout Round Mashups: Uruguay verses Portugal Spain verses Russia 

In group G England destroyed Panama 6-1. With that win England and Belgium advance to the next round while Tunisia and Panama are eliminated. The winner of the England and Belgium match will win the group. If there is a draw then the tiebreakers will decide the group winner. The winner of the Tunisia and Panama match will finish 3rd place in there group. If there is a draw than Tunisia finishes 3rd place in the group. In group H Japan and Senegal went to a 2-2 draw while Columbia beat Poland 3-0. With this loss Poland is eliminated from advancing to the next round. Poland will have to win there next match get help and overcome a 6 goal differential deficit just to finish 3rd place in there group. Japan and Senegal both advance with a win or a draw. If they both lose than tiebreakers will decide who will advance. Columbia will advance with a win or with a draw if they get help.

In group F Mexico beat South Korea 2-1 and Germany beat Sweden 2-1. Mexico will advance for sure with a win or a draw and will most likely still advance even with a loss. With a win or a draw mexico is guaranteed to win the group and still have a good chance to win the group with a loss. Germany and Sweden both need to get more points out of there next match then there opponents. If this does not happen then there will be a tiebreaker between the two teams. South Korea needs to win there next match and hope Sweden loses. If this happens there will be a three way tie for the last spot in the group. In group G Belgium beat Tunisia 5-2. Belgium will advance with a win or a draw for sure and will still most likely advance if they lose. Tunisia needs to win there next match and get help to force a tiebreaker in there next match.

In group D Nigeria beat Iceland 2-0. Croatia has already advanced to the next round and needs a win or a draw in the next match to win the group for certain. With a loss they finish no worse than 2nd and can still win there group. With this win Nigeria will advance for certain with a win and still have a good chance of advancing with a draw. With a loss they will be eliminated. With some help Nigeria can also win the group with a win in there next match. With a draw they can finish no worse than 3rd in there group. With a loss they could still finish last place. Argentina needs to win to advance to the next round. Even with a win the need a Iceland loss, draw, or they need to beat Iceland in the world cup tiebreakers. Iceland needs to win there next match and cannot have Nigeria win. They also need to win tiebreakers if there is a draw in the Argentina-Nigeria match or if Argentina wins. In group E Brazil beat Costa Rica 2-0 and Switzerland beat Serbia 2-1. with this loss Costa Rica

President Donald Trump has announced that there will be a new branch of the military: The Space Force. It will join the: Army, Navy, Air force, Marines, and Coast Guard as the 6th branch of America's Military. Since the other branches have there service song I think that the Space Force Should likewise have a song. In reality I think that it might be a bad Idea to have a space force considering America is already trillions of dollars in debt. If this administration and congress keeps the spending up they will bankrupt us. We already have NASA and they do a fine job with he space station why do we need to spent more money by having yet another manned space program? If we still do have the money to spend then why not spend it on the five current branches of our military. I fully support our men in uniform and also our men at NASA who risk there lives for us I just do not get what the space force is all about. Sources: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/06/

In Group C France and Australia drew 1-1 and France beat Peru 1-0. France Have already advanced next round with this win. If they get a win or a draw in there next match they will win there group. With a loss they will finish second. If Denmark wins there next match they win there group and advance. If they draw then the finish 2nd in there group. If they lose they are in jeopardy of not advancing. Australia needs to win there next match if they have any hope of advancing. If with a win they need Denmark to lose. Even with a Denmark loss they still need to win the goal differential tiebreaker. With a win or a draw They will finish no worse than 3rd place. With a loss they finish last place. Denmark can finish no worse than 3rd place. Peru is already eliminated from advancing. With a win they with finish 3rd place. With a loss or draw they will finish last place. In Group D Croatia upset Argentina 3-0. Croatia has already advanced to the next round. With a win or a draw in the next ma

In group A Uruguay beat Egypt 1 to 0. with this win Both Russia and Uruguay are assured of advancing to the knockout Round. They will play a group B opponent in the Knockout Round. With there loss Egypt and Saudi Arabia are eliminated from advancing to the Knockout Round. Russia needs a win or a draw in there next match to win there group. With a loss they finish 2nd. Uruguay needs a win in there next match to win there group. With a lose or a draw they finish 2nd. Egypt needs a win or a draw to finish 3rd in there group. With a loss they finish last place. Saudi Arabia needs a win to finish 3rd place. With a draw or a loss they finish last place in there group. In group B Portugal beat Morocco 1 to 0 and Spain beat Iran 1 to 0. With there loss Morocco has been eliminated from advancing to the knockout round. Unless Iran losses big and Morocco wins big they will finish last place in there group. If that unlikely scenario happens then Iran would finish last place and Morocco 3rd place

In group H Japan Upset Columbia 2-1 and Senegal upset Poland 2-1. Columbia gave up a red card, a penalty and a goal in the 3rd minute. This would lead to Japan pulling the upset. Columbia and Poland both badly need a win and a draw over the next two matches if they want any hope of advancing. If they want a good chance of advancing they need to win out. Japan and Senegal will most likely advance with either two draws or a win. With just four points they could still very well advance. Group H has been turned upside down. In group A Russia beat Egypt 3 to 1. With that score Egypt has all  but eliminated its self and Russia has all but assured its advancement to the Knockout round.

Newsweek says that there is a new unknown sickness that just showed up in China a few weeks ago. Over 1,600 people have been infected and over 600 people died. That is approximately a 40% mortality rate. The CDC head says that it can cause a pandemic. Lets hope and pray that that is not the case. There has been scary news lately. Sources: http://www.newsweek.com/disease-x-bird-flu-deaths-pandemic-what-h7n9-979723 https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/974699/Disease-X-World-Health-Organisation-Chinese-bird-flu-H7N9-pandemic-new-strain   https://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/deadly-poultry-flu-could-be-disease-x-to-spark-pandemic-37016472.html

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In group F today Sweden defeated South Korea 1-0. Sweden will still need to win another match and avoid a loss to be assured of advancement. South Korea is in trouble for they will Have to Get and surprise win against one of there next two opponents and a surprise draw against the other. There opponents are Germany and Mexico. Even if that happens they will still need help to advance. In group G Belgium beat Panama 3-0 and England beat Tunisia by a stoppage time goal 2-1. Belgium and England need to either get a win or get two draws over the next two matches to have a good shot of advancing. Panama and Tunisia will both need to win out to have a good shot to advance.

Today was a fun day in the World Cup. In group F Mexico shocked the world in the 1-0 upset of defending champions Germany. Mexico still has work to do to advance as they will have to play Sweden and South Korea in there next two matches. They will have to win a match or avoid a loss to advance. Germany is in trouble. The will have to win there next two matches to have a good chance to advance. If they draw a match they will need help to advance and with another loss they will be all but eliminated. In group E Serbia beat Costa Rico 1-0 and Switzerland stunned the world with there 1-1 draw against Brazil. Costa Rico is in trouble as the need to get a draw against Brazil and also beat Switzerland. Even that might not work for they will still need help. Serbia will need to beat Switzerland or get two draws to be assured advancement. With four points they will need help. Switzerland will need a win and a draw to advance for sure. With four points they could still advance with some help.

Yesterday was a crazy day in the world cup with four games and upsets. In group C France beat Austria 2 to 1 and Denmark beat Peru 1 to 0. France and Denmark are in the drivers seat to advance as they have a three point lead in there group. If they win there next match the will almost certainly advance. Austria and Peru will be eliminated if they lose the next match and will most likely need to win in order to have a chance to advance. In group 2 Iceland stunned the world with a 1-1 draw against Argentina. Iceland will still need to win a match and avoid a loss to have a good shot of advancing. Even if the do not advance by getting any points with so small a country is a big accomplishment. Argentina needs a win and to a avoid a loss in there next two matches in order two advance. Croatia beat Nigeria 2 to 0 in the group also. Croatia either needs another win or two draws over the next two matches in order to advance. If Nigeria fails to win there next match they will most likely be

Today I will turn away from sports and rather venture into politics. I do not wish to make this article partisan but rather mention problems and potential solutions. I will continue to post on the World Cup and other big sporting events on Sunday. I turn towards politics because we as a nation are going to have a very important election in a few months. If even one person reads this article then it will be worth it for me because it will be a small step in the right direction. America is deeply divided and moving to extremism in politics. As we all know in 2016 a very controversial man named Donald John Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States by the Electoral College. As many people also know the runner up in the Electoral College vote Secretary of State Hilary Diane Rodham Clinton got the most total popular votes. Also she won the the nations largest state California and our largest cities including New York City, Los Angles, Chicago, and our nations capital Wash

In group A Uruguay beat Egypt in a close one nil match. Uruguay will face Saudi Arabia followed by host Russia in there next two matches. Saudi Arabia was weak in there first match and has little chance of advancing unless they win there next two matches. Uruguay needs to beat them because there next opponent is host Russia and it is always difficult to defeat a host team. If they win there next match all they need is a draw against Russia to be assured of advancing. If they lose to Russia the probably will still advance with a win in there next match. With the loss Egypt no longer controls its own destiny even with two wins. If they loss to Russia they will probably be going home. Even if they beat Russia they will still need to get points out of the Uruguay match. In group B Iran beat Morocco in a very close one nil match and Portugal and Spain had an instant classic three-three draw. Morocco will play Portugal and Spain in there next two matches. They need to pull a stunning upset

Egypt 0 Uruguay 1 Full Time Morocco 0 Iran 1 Full Time Portugal 3 Spain 3 Full Time Source: FIFA

GROUP A 1.) RUSSIA 3pts +5gd 5gs   2.) URUGUAY 3pts +1gd 1gs 3.) EGYPT 0pts. -1gd 0gs 4.) Saudi Arabia 0pts. -5gd 0gs GROUP B 1.) IRAN 3pts. +1gd 1gs T2.) SPAIN 1pt +3gd 3gs T2.) PORTUGAL 1pt +3gd 3gs 4.) MOROCCO 0pts -1gd 0gs Tiebrekers 1.) goal differential 2.) goals scored Source: Fifa

MLB TWINS 6 INDIANS 3 FINAL Source:MLB US OPEN (GOLF): After two rounds (36 holes)  1st Dustin Johnson -4 T2nd Charley Huffman E T2nd Scott Piercy E Source: USGA MLB Standings AL Central Indians 3.5 games up Tigers 3.5 games down  

On the first day of the world cup Russia defeated Saudi Arabia Five (5) Nil (0). In the sport of soccer that is a blowout. After only one game the Saudis have all but eliminated themselves. Teams get three points for a win one for a tie but none for  loss. there are four teams in a group and every team plays three games in a round ribbon tournament. The top two teams advance to the elimination round. The bottom two teams go home. The most they can now get if they win both games is six. to be assured advancement you need at least seven points. teams can advance with some help with at least two points. That is because the tiebreaker for the group stage is first goal differential and second goals scored. They are down five goals in goal differential and want to be at least even to have a good tiebreaker. For goals scored they have none. The third tiebreaker is head to head record and they will lose it against Russia for there other two opponents we will see but it looks like a short tourn

FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA 5  SAUDI ARABIA 0  FINAL Source: FIFA US OPEN (GOLF)  T1st DUSTIN JOHNSON -1 T1st RUSSEL HENLEY -1 T1st IAN POULTER -1  T1st SCOTT PIERCY -1 5th JASON DUFNER E AFTER 1 ROUND Source: USGA MLB INDIANS 5 WHITE SOX 2 FINAL Al Central Standing INDIANS 4.5 games up TIGERS 4.5 games down Source: MLB