June 12, 2006
Howard Grad Surprises Sweden
Pardon the comparison, but Trinidad and Tobago's surprise tie with Sweden on Saturday was the "Cool Runnings" moment of the 2006 World Cup. It was in that 1993 movie that a Jamaican bobsled team surprised the competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics in an event usually dominated by teams that have, you know, snow and ice. And such was the shock when Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 47 internationally and playing a man down, performed with passion and forced a much stronger Swedish squad, ranked 16 in the world, to a draw.
Even more surprising -- and the local link in this story -- was that Trinidad and Tobago's victory came in no small part thanks to goalkeeper Shaka Hislop's stunning performance, stopping a number of point-blank shots on goal that could have left his team with a loss. Hislop graduated from Howard University in 1992, having played on the school's squad in their 1988 NCAA championship loss to Indiana, and was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame in 2005. At 37, he's probably past his prime as an athlete, yet his performance on Saturday may indicate that there's still a spark within.
Have no doubt that we'll be cheering for our local soccer celebrity when Trinidad and Tobago faces England this Thursday.
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we watched this game on saturday and found ourselves cheering for T&T. at the end we sang, "Sweet, Sweet T and T..."
Trinidad and Tobago is full of local connections. Also on the Trinidad and Tobago team is John Avery, who graduated from American University in 1999.
Eek, Avery John I mean. Clearly I'm not following the Cup all that closely after all.
Shaka's younger brother Kali played for GW too. Good people, always limin'.
Personally, I'll be cheering on the English soccer hooligans. They make Philadelphia Eagles fans look like choir boys.
But.. would soccer hooligans boo Santa?
T&T fwd, Stern John also has family in the area.
out of all the nfl stadiums i've been to, buffalo is the wildest. freezing (and worse than most other places with the damp wind)
and damn, those guys know how to party.
england... don't shed this holiganism. America is catching up, we'll take the torch in a decade or two if you wont hold up to the violence.
Go Bills!!