Soccer Jerseys

So I got an idea from another blog I read. The blog writer was a drummer and so he had everyone post their drum kits in the comments. I want to do a similar thing - but with soccer jerseys. I don't have any pictures yet, but here is a list of my jerseys with background.

03-05 Sheffield Wednesday Away - I got this jersey because there was a player named Steven Haslam who played for them. I got his name and number on the back because my last name is Haslam too. I got the idea because I have a friend with the last name of Owen and he had a Micheal Owen England Jersey so I search online and found there was Steven Haslam playing for Sheffield Wednesday so I got his jersey.

05 Real Salt Lake Away - I got this jersey while I was living in LA. I was on an LDS mission and found out from a member that Salt Lake had a professional soccer team. I wrote my dad and told him to send me a jersey so he did.

05 Real Salt Lake Home - I got this one in LA too. I loved my RSL away jersey so much that I had to get a home one too.

08 Real Salt Lake Home - I got this one this year because I was tired of having the original jerseys and decided to upgrade.

06-07 Real Madrid Home - My parents went to Madrid in 06 and I had them pick up this jersey for me, which is cool because it came from a Real Madrid shop. My dad said it was like walking into Fanzz but instead of all different teams, it was all Real Madrid. He also said he asked the clerk if they had an XXL and the guys eyes got real big and said in broken English "Big Boy" then went and got it from the back. I guys there aren't too many 6'4" 275 lbs guys in Spain. This is probably my favorite jersey. I love how it has Real Madrid embroidered on the back below the neckline. It also has a cool patch - "FIFA Award, Best Club XX Century"

07 LA Galaxy Blue - I say blue because it seems the Galaxy don't heed to the home and away colors. It is a Beckham jersey and I think my wife wanted me to get it more than I did. It is nice to have to bum around the house in, but I try not to wear it in public.

So there you go - What jerseys do you have? Please don't hate on anyone elses jersey collection either. This is just to see what people have, not argue about which team is better.

Real Salt Lake vs. Chivas USA Recap

After a weekend of thinking about the game, I am finally ready to write about it. It was a hard fought game which gave the 26,000+ fans a great game. To be honest, I think Rimando was at fault for the goal, but I can't help but wonder if it is because of what Olave did against New York a week ago. Was Rimando worried that Eskandarian would burn Borchers like Angel did to Olave so Rimando came out to clear it up? Either way, I feel it was a total fluke. I am more upset we didn't score. How does Movsisyan hit two or three balls right into the keepers hands? Where was Findley all game? I don't even remember him touching the ball.
In the first half, it seemed we were going over the top of the defense which is fine, but Findley kept getting outrun. Isn't he lightning fast? How does he keep getting beat? If his speed is slowing down, we need to get rid of him.
I also feel our midfield is broken from injuries. It will be nice to get Kovalenko and Espindola back so Johnson can hustle as much as he does as a forward and start putting more pressure on the opposing team defense. We need Joy and Beltran back too to let Russell take the defensive midfield role so Beckerman can get forward.

Predictions for remaining games:
@ San Jose - We should definatley win this game. If we tie, this could start a downward spiral towards the bottom of the table. RSL 2 SJ 0
@ New England - This one is tougher to call because New England is so streaky. They can blow out a team and then get smoked the next week. RSL 1 NE 1
New York - RSL has to win this one in the new stadium for the whole country to see. If nothing else, RSL will finally have respect for playing on a field without "throwball" lines. RSL 4 NY 0
FC Dallas - Second game at new stadium. Will provide a good test for RSL to see if they can win at the new stadium without all the hype. RSL 2 FCD 0
@ Rapids - RSL needs to win in order to win the Rocky Mountain Cup for the second straight year. We know they can win in Denver, but Colorado will want to avenge losing the Cup last year and missing the playoffs. Could Colorado play the spoiler role to RSL? I think not. RSL 1 CR 0 (Espindola scores the GWG after coming on in the 72 minute)

What are your predictions?

Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids

What an awesome game. It was good to see RSL actually looking like they knew how to play soccer, something they haven't done in the last two road games. I thought everyone played well, but I am really impressed with Will Johnson. He was running all over the field and looked very comfortable. I thought Russell played well, but I am still not convinced. I wish he would do something to convince me he deserves the hype he got. I thought our whole team played defense very well. I loved the game because it felt like we had a chance to score just about every possession. I feel we can take it to the Galaxy next game, especially since they will most likely be missing Donovan and Lewis for World Cup qualifying. Beckham will most likely be out to play for England in World Cup qualifying also. I think this game will be a good change for RSL to find their toad form against a weak LA team.

My Day with Real Salt Lake

I finally broke down and bought season tickets in the north goal section for next season and are close to the west side of the stadium, 9 rows up. The best part is I got to take a tour with my new friend, Andrew. Andrew was the guy who helped me with my tickets. We started off and went right to my seats, and I love them. Then we went and looked through some of the luxury suites, and they are luxurious. Andrew showed my Dave Checketts suite and it is way nice. The cool part is, it has a stairway which leads to his personal office. I didn't go into the office, but Andrew said the office has a tunnel which leads onto a platform above the player tunnel. The platform is so Checketts can present trophies to the team when we win them. I guess it is a European thing. We also went to the VIP Resturant which is about 15 rows off the pitch in the southwest corner of the stadium. The resturant will seat 650 and has a huge patio which people can go onto and watch the game. It was cool, but you have to pay big bucks, which I don't have yet. We went into the locker rooms and they are way nice. The RSL one has a hot tub and a cold tub. It was way nice. There are 3 lockerrooms which means RSL will never have to have anyone in their lockerroom. I am way stoked. The ironic part of the day is when I was going home and the TRAX stopped at Rice-Eccles where my car was parked and I saw a bus at the top of the parking lot by the ticket office. I thought to myself, "that is probably the Rapids." So I drove up there and sure enough, it was the Rapids. I won't tell you what followed, but I am sure you can imagine it.
Here are some pictures.

USA vs. Guatemala

I am trying something new this post by writing the recap while I watch the game. I turned to ESPN at 8 and found my Angels were beating the Devil Rays which is awesome, but then I turned to Galavision and it looks like the lights are out. I watched on Galavision for awhile then just turned to ESPN and it is dark there too. It feels like I am watching film of a high school football game. They are in the 7th minute and no goals yet.
It looks like Tim Howard is in goal, then Bocanegra, Onyewu, Cherundolo, Pearce on the back line, Donovan playing the right side of midfield, Bradley, Masteroeni and Lewis as midfielders Dempsey and Ching as forwards. Thats a pretty typical lineup which is very experienced.
17' - Yellow Card on Cherundolo for throwing the ball down after it went out.
Heath Pearce is having trouble keeping up with Mario Rodriguez who has been working the left side of the US back line.
In the 23' it looks like the US isn't comfortable and Guatemala is playing well. Rodriguez has gotten in behind the US three times. It seems Guatemala just possesses the ball around the midfield line and then boots a ball over the top.
28' Rameriez and Dempsey get a yellow card for pushing and shoving each other. I can now see why Carlos Ruiz is such a dirty player - every Guatemala player plays like him.
34' Ruiz dives causing Masteroeni to get a yellow.
37' Huge strike from Contreras, Howard has to make a diving save, which he did.
Halftime - The US started to gain some momentum towards the end of the second half. The only changes I would make is to sub one or both of the outside defenders. On another note, Real Salt Lake Midfielder, Andy Williams scored the game tying goal against Canada for Jamaica. Pretty cool.
No changes to start the second half. I think Eddie Lewis needs to get pulled, he hasn't done anything productive.
50' Guatemala almost scores off a fast break from a turnover from Lewis.
The ref is calling a strange game, questionable calls on both sides.
54' Ruiz almost breaks through, but Howard came off his line quickly and got the ball.
56' Again Rodriguez is giving the US trouble, this time he missed it far post. When is the US going to get some quality shots.
58' Another shot from Freddy Thompson from distance, just missed wide. Tim Howard would have had it if it was on goal.
60' Cherundolo commits a stupid foul and gets his second yellow. He was getting abused by the opposing player and the ref wasn't calling it so it he reached out of frustration and the US is now down to 10 men. Frankie Hedjuk is warming up.
62' Eddie Lewis collides with a Guatemala player and both players are down having knocked heads. Lewis had a huge gash on his head with blood spilling out.
The player who hit Lewis got a red card so now Guatemala is down to 10 men.
Beasley is coming in with Hedjuk. Lewis is off the field, hurt. Dempsey and Lewis were brought off.
Howard shanks a clearance, that is his second shank of the match.
68' Donovan gives a nice ball into the box and Onyewu puts it on goal, but the keeper made a save.
69' GOOOOOAAAAALLLL. Bocanegra scores off a corner kick from Beasley. Bocanegra was completely unmarked, there wasn't a single player within 5 feet of him in any direction.
77' Guatemala is playing tough, they want it bad. Howard came up with a nice save to force a corner. Edu comes in for Masteroeni
The annoucer just said that the US has not won a World Cup Qualifer in Guatemala.
A save by Howard off the corner.
81' Tim Howard is down, Ruiz kicked him while he had the ball. Howard gets a yellow for not shaking Ruiz hand.
US with a key possession, held the ball very well and led to a foul by Guatemala which means more time wasting. So far there have been 7 yellow cards and 2 red cards.
88' Guatemala takes a desperation shot, misses wide left.
Howard shanks another backpass, that is his third.
I don't remember the last time Donovan had a touch on the ball.
4 minutes have been added.
The US looks very very very tired.
US WINS 1-0. Tim Howard is the man of the match for me. He made really good saves which saved us the game. That is the US first win in Guatemala in a World Cup Qualifying match. What a great game, my heart is beating a million miles an hour. I am glad the US beat Guatemala, they are such poor sports and poort soccer players. They all dive and are cheap and dirty. If you want an example of how their whole team plays, look at Carlos Ruiz, he sits on the bench for the Galaxy so maybe you won't be able to watch him. Look at his stuff from when he was with Dallas. The US now faces Cuba on Sept. 6.

RSL Intrasquad Scrimmage

My friend Jordan and I went to Quinn's Junction this morning to the RSL Intrasquad scrimmage, billed as the "Cobalt vs. Claret" game. It was awesome, there were probably around 100 people there and the setting was perfect. The weather was awesome because the sun hid behind the clouds for most of the game.
It was a fun game, Alex Nimo scored first for the white team (I guess that would be Cobalt). Deuchar, Espindola and Williams scored for the Yellow or Claret team, who won 3-1. It was fun to stand next to the field and hear what the players are saying and how much they talk to each other. I think RSL is so good because of their communication on the field. It was awesome.
Check out some pictures I took. Also, more pictures will be on my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timhaslam

Tools of the Trade Part 1

This post encompasses two big products which are broken up into little ones. The products are the Adobe Design Premium and Mac Products.

Adobe Design Premium
There are a couple of products I haven't even used, like Adobe Bridge CS3, Adobe Version Cue® CS3, Adobe Device Central CS3, and Adobe Acrobat® Connect™ To tell you the truth, I don't even know what they do!
I have used the following programs and I love them.
InDesign - I love this program. It is great. I took a class at the University of Utah that was heavily based on InDesign. It is a great program to edit documents. I used it to make newspaper articles!
Photoshop Extended - I have only touched the tip of the iceberg with Photoshop and I love it. It can do anything. Chances are, if you are reading this blog you already know Photoshop.
Illustrator - This is a great program too. I used it today to edit a PDF that was doing crazy things. I have seen some pretty cool stuff come out of Illustrator.
Flash Professional - I took a class at the University of Utah that was based on Flash. It was an intense class, but I survived. Flash is great for animating things, but it seems Flash is disappearing from the web because it is not search engine friendly. I think Flash is a good thing when used in moderation. People get too crazy with Flash and thats when things get ugly, but some pages uses Flash very well which really compliment the site.
Dreamweaver - This is where I learned how to design web pages. It is great for beginners but is limited which is why most professionals don't use it.
Fireworks - I think it is weird that Fireworks would be included in the same suite as Photoshop, but Fireworks is cool. I have used it and it is very capable of creating cool things.

Apple Products
I use a 13" MacBook at work and a 20" iMac at home with a 500GB Time Capsule to back up everything. I also have an iTouch which keeps my music in check and allows me to carry contacts and my iCal. I used to have an HP laptop and it was great until I started using Macs at school. I love Macs now and I love Leopard. I love the way Apple handles their programs and they way the conduct themselves. I don't run big things so I don't know how the performance compares, and quite frankly, as long as it does freeze I am fine. I would recommend any apple product to anyone. They are great.