Bristol Rovers arenât a good side. They finished in the middle of League One this past season. But in HatchC2âs FIFA 10 universe, theyâre in their third English Premier League season, and first Champions League finals appearance, facing Bayern Munich.
More than that, the Pirates have dispatched AC Milan and Barcelona getting to this stage. HatchC2, playing in Manager Mode, notes that because Bristol is new to Englandâs top division, it has only $140,000 to spend on salary per week, while Bayern can spend more than 10 times that much a week.
âHaving clearly watched too much US soccer recently, I give up the first goal in the 17th minute after [Bastian] Schweinsteiger lobotomizes my defense to find [Miroslav] Klose in the box. Bristol Rovers donât see a shot hit the keeper until injury time of the first half when my Pro character takes a terrible FK that curls right into him.â
In the second half, HatchC2 swapped his right back for the âtowering Brazilian holding midfielder Alessandroâ and adopts a counterstrike strategy. âFinally in the 74th minute my Paraguayan striker slinks behind the offsides trap of Bayern and scores. For the rest of the half I pepper the German keeper with shots from all over that normally go in â two volleys in the box from our French captain, clear headers off corners and more exploits of the trap.â
In extra time, Bayern sends nine forward and barely misses a score in the 112th minute, as Hatchâs Polish keeper barely nicks the ball for the save. Anticipating penalty kicks, Hatch starts subbing in specialists. A Bayern corner kick is blasted off the crossbar and rebounds all the way to midfield, where Hatchâs Pro gathers it up, crosses to Otto Koehler, a 17-year-old German striker no less, whose header bangs off the post â but hits the keeper in the back and rebounds into the net for the.
âSince thereâs no way to have someone manually go down and not get up until the Magic Spray or stretcher come out, Bayern still has a chance,â HatchC2 writes. âThey send Klose back into the box after the restart and Ribery tries once again to find him but the keeper Kaczmarek punches it to midfield and the whistle blows. Bristol avoids penalties and earns a Double. Itâs stupefying to see the screenshot and know that I had 12 shots stopped by the keeper.â
And hereâs the goods:
And congratulations to HatchC2 and Bristol Rovers. See folks, that wasnât so hard! All you have to do to get yourself featured in Box Scoresâ Game of the Week is take a picture of whatever youâve been playing â crappy cell picture will do â write up a couple sentences about why it was so compelling, and email it to me, owenATkotakuDOTcom, with âGame of the Weekâ in the subject header.
Now our sports open thread commences with the TV schedule today and tomorrow.
All times U.S. Eastern.
World Cup
Germany just kicked the che out of Argentina; if Spain finishes off Paraguay, on ABC beginning in 30 minutes, it should also finish off talk of this being South Americaâs tournament.
Baseball
Foxâs games of the week today are the Mets at Washington, Tampa Bay at Minnesota, or Florida at Atlanta. 4 p.m., check local listings. If youâre thinking that the Nats are on this list because Stephen Strasburg is pitching, you are correct. 4 p.m. At 8, the White Sox are at Texas on WGN.
Tomorrow, we find out if Strasburg made the All-Star game when TBS broadcasts the selection show at noon. Then itâs Toronto at New York at 1 p.m. I can think of no more fitting contest for the Fourth of July than to see the Yankees fighting our Canadian oppressors. Reds and Cubs are on WGN at 2:10, ESPNâs Game of the Week is the Royals at the Angels at 8. Because Zack Greinkeâs pitching? No, something called Anthony Lerew is on the mound for Kansas City.
Tennis
Wimbledon just went off the air. Serena Williams easily won her fourth singles title. Tomorrow, Spainâs Rafael Nadal faces the Czech Republicâs Tomas Berdych in the gentlemenâs final.
Major League Soccer
On Sunday, the Seattle Xbox 360s face the Los Angeles Herbalife at 10:30 p.m., ESPN2. Hey, it ainât the World Cup, but weâre no longer in that tournament.
Cycling
The Tour de France begins, albeit in the Netherlands. It started two and a half hours ago on Versus. If thatâs not still on, it resumes tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. I hear this year, after odd-numbered stages, all riders will be asked to use the blood of the rider who finished immediately behind them. The last-place guy gets Floyd Landisâs.
Motorsports
I remember when this used to be called the Coca-Cola 400. Hell, I remember when it was called the Pepsi 400. Now itâs the Coke Zero 400. Has NASCAR no respect for tradition?! Anyway, itâs at Daytona at 7:30 p.m., on TNT.
Mixed martial arts
Fedor laid an egg last week, proving that EA Sports MMA already has a cover curse without being out. Brock Lesnar tries to prove there isnât one for UFC Undisputed. He and Shane Carwin duke it out in Vegas at 10. Pay-per-view.
Track and field
Man, Eugene is racking up the national broadcasts. The Prefontaine Classic, from historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon, is at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.
Remember, you may send Game of the Week nominations to owenATkotakuDOTcom, and flag it âGame of the Weekâ in the subject header. Please include your commenter handle for proper credit.
