Instant Replay for Soccer

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is considering installing instant replay for soccer. During the World Cup there have been some calls that have raised the discussion of implementing instant replay into the game of soccer because of the importance of getting the calls right. For instance, in the last round of games England thought they had scored a wonderful goal from Frank Lampard; when the ball struck off the crossbar and hit over the goal line . . . goal right? Wrong the linesman was not the correct position to make the call and the goal was never awarded . . . England lost 4-1 in the end. Furthermore, these goals that have either been disallowed such as the USA goals in the group stage or goals that were rewarded like "la mana de dios" Maradona's "hand of god" goal in 1986 have really stirred up the pressure on FIFA to implement instant replay. As technology improves every day the pressure of installing instant replay is only going to become worse for the administrators like Sepp Blatter. We will all have to see how FIFA and the game of soccer goes on with or without instant replay.

Jane Justin Fieldhouse Update

Here is an exclusive at the Jane Justin Field-house. Over the past month there has been a lot of progress made in the construction due to the abundance of beautiful weather. The Jane Justin is really taking shape now and the outside of the building is almost completely done, revealing an awesome looking locker room. Here is a link to gofrogs.com where an exclusive video shot of the interior is shown.Video.  These are also the newest pictures of the Jane Justin. 

TCU Baseball

Congrats to the whole Baseball program on the best year in program history.

Season highlights include: 50+ win season, conference champions, conference tournament champions, Regional Champions, Super Regional Champions, and a trip to Omaha for the first time ever.

The Horned Frogs received the attention of the nation when they were in Omaha at the College World Series. Everyone was talking about TCU from ESPN to local news stations all around America. TCU apparel sold out half way through the week, everyone was buying purple and white clothing to represent that TCU had arrived and was no push over. The easiest way to put one person said is that "TCU Baseball were rock stars in Omaha."

Everyone here at TCU would like to congratulate the Baseball program on an outstanding year and we can not wait till next year to do it all over again. Go Frogs!

TCU Academics has a Strong Spring

While the TCU Athletics Department enjoyed tremendous success on the field of play during the 2010 spring semester, the highest marks of achievement came in the classroom as the Horned Frogs student-athletes notched a departmental cumulative grade point average of 2.98, which is the highest since reporting began in the Fall of 1998.

"The TCU student-athletes posted the highest cumulative grade point average in over 10 years during the most recent spring semester," said Chris Uchacz, TCU Director of Academic Services. "What is even more impressive is that 56 percent of our student-athletes recorded a 3.0 grade point average this past spring while 83 student-athletes graduated earning a TCU diploma. All of our student-athletes should be commended for their outstanding work on the field as well as in the classroom."

This past semester, 15 athletic programs recorded a team GPA of 3.0 or higher while 16 teams notched a collective GPA of 2.90 or higher where as only five teams notched at least a 3.0 GPA during the 2003 fall semester.

At the conclusion of the most recent spring semester, 20 Horned Frog student-athletes were recognized as recipients of the TCU Scholar Award, which highlights full-time student-athletes who earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average. In addition, 51 student-athletes were named to the 2010 Spring Dean's List by their respective colleges.

Amazing Day

Wow! Yesterday was a day to be a sports fan. The day kicked off with the US playing Algeria in a must win match to advance to the next round; and it was a game to remember. After an onslaught of chances throughout the game and another disallowed goal the US looked like we were going to be robbed of advancement. Then in the 90th minute on a goal that took only 11 seconds to complete the US and hero, Landon Donavan countered and won the match. The World Cup quote of the tournament has been "One Game. Can Change Everything" how about "One Goal. Can Change Everything." 

Then to wrap the night TCU baseball played in another must win game to stay alive in Omaha, at the College World Series. TCU played Florida State, the team that they dominated in their first CWS appearance last Saturday. TCU looked down and out of the game trailing 7-2 in the 8th inning; then TCU leadership stepped up, Seniors Bryan Holaday and Matt Curry got the bats swinging and rallied to a 11-7 victory. Matt Curry hit a grand slam to clinch the win and take the Horned Frogs on to play UCLA; Friday night in another must win game.

Also, if anyone had time to watch Wimbledon yesterday you would have witnessed history in the making. American Isner and Frenchman Mahut have been playing since Tuesday afternoon. They have played for 10 hours now and will resume play today to hopefully get a winner. The two men have broken Wimbledon records left and right including: player with the most "Aces" in a match, longest match ever, and many more. 

Paint the town purple

Paint The Town Purple!!

The whole city of Fort Worth has joined in on the baseball train. Three local businesses have organized TCU Baseball watching parties: Pappas Burgers, Buffalo Brothers, and Buffalo Wild Wings have all stepped up to provide the fans of TCU with a place to get some food and watch the games. TCU lost in a tough game to UCLA last night after falling short on an impressive rally. The Horned Frogs are in action tomorrow night, where if they win they will play UCLA in a game that decides who will go to the finals. 

Swing Away Horned Frogs!!

What a Week!!

What a week it has been. Camp ended on Thursday after a great week of hard work from everyone involved. Thank you to everyone who helped with camp and making it a success. During camp team USA played twice in the World Cup and came away with 4 points going into the final game against Algeria on Wednesday at 9 AM.

Here at TCU everyone has been swept over with baseball fever. The Horned Frogs beat Texas in Austin at the Super Regionals and have now made it to the College World Series in Omaha. The frogs played Florida State in game 1 at the CWS and won 8-1. The Horned Frogs are back in action tonight at 7 PM in a match that could send them deeper in their debut at the College World Series.

First Day of Camp

The Academy starts today and everyone is looking forward to having a great week with lots of excited campers already showing up. We are staying in Foster dorm that has a great lobby so we can watch the World Cup matches. Stay tuned for pics from camp later this week.

USA v. England

The US did not get off to the best of starts against England; giving up a goal in the 4th minute, however, the early goal did not shake the squad's confidence. Jozy Altidore proved that despite being only 20 years old he can play with the big names such as John Terry. Clint Dempsey once again proved that he is "Mr. Clutch" when he scored probably the most infamous goal in World Cup history; Robert Green had a mundane save to make but fumbled the ball into the goal giving the US a vital 1-1 draw with the English. The US next match is on Friday at 9AM verus Slovenia. 

World Cup 2010 is Here !!

The 2010 World Cup is finally here. This morning the world witnessed the first match of the month long tournament, in which, the host nation South Africa scored a magnificent goal against Mexico. However, Mexico late in the game scored an equalizer to end the match in a 1-1 draw in Game 1. The second game of the day includes a very intriguing matchup between France and Uruguay, Uruguay might seem like they are an underdog but watch out for this team. They have a proud history and were once crowned World Cup Champions, with striker Forlan leading the charge they could easily look to get a win today. 

The biggest match of the group stage will be tomorrow at 12:30 Pm Central Time when USA plays England in a match that has been called the "game to watch." 

TCU Athletics in Select Group

For the 2nd straight year the TCU Football and Baseball teams are in a select group in collegiate athletics. Only TCU, Florida, Texas, and Alabama have finished in the Top 10 in football and made it to the Super Regionals in Baseball. All of these schools played in BCS bowl games last year, TCU finished ranked 6th in football and are currently ranked 5th in baseball.

 

World Cup Noise

If anyone remembers from the Confederations Cup last year, each game was full with noise mainly from horns that are called "Vuvuzelas." FIFA almost decided that these horns were to distractive and were taking some of the entertainment away from the game, however, this past year FIFA decided to allow the horns in spirit of South Africa's culture. 

The players of USA got a taste of the "Vuvu Fever" when a group of South African youngsters came to an open practice last weekend and brought all of the horns they could with them. The youngsters enthusiam was showed with all of the kids wearing stars and stripes all over, however, the power of "vuvuzelas" was almost more impressive. 

Baseball Dominates in Regional now headed to Austin

This past weekend the TCU Baseball team dominated in the Fort Worth Regional, in which we were the host site. TCU first beat Lamar University and then followed up with a decisive victory over Baylor to give them a ticket to the Super Regional Final in Austin this weekend against Texas. 

This is the 2nd straight year the Frogs will be making the trip to the Super Regional, and it is a rematch from last year where the Frogs played Texas. The Frogs enter this year ranked #5 in the country and Texas is ranked #2. Game One begins Friday afternoon at 2PM and all of the games are televised on the ESPN networks. 

Future World Cup Headline

USA Stuns England

This has already happened before, in 1950, sixty years ago in Brazil. A group of youngsters from around the nation took on the mightiest football nation in the world and the World Cup favorites, England. The Americans stunned the world with their victory of the English team and papers around the world talked about the biggest World Cup upset, except here in America where the headlines struggled to mention anything about the greatest USA game ever. 

Present day, England is still considered a World Cup favorite to win it all, and the USA is favorite to only get out of group play and no further. With the USA team stronger than ever and the backing of the whole nation, are we in position to shock the world again and beat the English? In addition, notice the kits from 1950 and present day do you see any similarities? 

Torda's Spring Journal

Catch up with TCU senior Jackie Torda in her first summer journal. Torda was named to the Mountain West Conference second team and was honored as one of the the top 38 players in the nation for the 2009 season.

We are about three weeks into summer now and I still can't believe that I am going into my senior season. It seems just yesterday that I came in as a little freshman with no idea what was going on. It has been such a great three years so far and I have nothing but high hopes for my final season as a Horned Frog.

Before we left for the summer we were given our summer workout packets. They are very similar to those of the past summers and involve a lot of intervals, long distance running, weight lifting and plyometrics. Although the summer is time for some rest and relaxation, we have all committed to staying fit and in shape. We have set our goals that we want to accomplish and there is nothing that can stand in the way. If we each stay focused and follow the workouts we were given, we are going to give ourselves a chance to achieve some very special things in the fall.

We are all playing throughout summer, either for U-19 club teams or for WPSL teams that are in the area.Alex Mechalske, Lindsay Holmes, Lauren Wysoski and myself have all been playing with a local Fort Worth team, while Chelsea Cody, Kaylie Garcia and Jordan Calhoun are playing for a team in Oklahoma. We are in the same conference so it is going to be a fun game when we get to play against each other at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.

"The principle is competing against yourself. It's about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before." - Steve Young

GO FROGS!!

Baseball Hosting Regional Final

The Fort Worth Region has been assigned to TCU and the Horned Frogs Baseball team who is seeded as the #1 team in the region. The other four teams that are included in the Fort Worth Region are Baylor, Arkansas, and Lamar; the team TCU plays this Friday night at 7PM. The Horned Frogs have now received 7 straight trips to the NCAA Regional and they are just the one of the 14 teams to make an appearance in the last 7. If the Horned Frogs continue their dominant performances they will face the winner of the Austin Region in the Super  Regionals.