The Netherlands = The Syracuse Orangemen (Basketball)

The greatest moment in 'Cuse hoops history.

Johan Cruyff, the greatest Dutch footballer ever. 

Orange, Oranje everywhere! My undergrad alma mater and the country that's home to my law school study abroad alma mater (Universiteit Utrecht, what up!) are united under a banner of the same wonderful color (spelled "oranje" and pronounced "o-RAAN-yuh" in Dutch). But our shared affinity for orange is just the beginning. Both have achieved great success while overcoming enormous geographic disadvantages. The Netherlands has a population of just under 17 million people (less than that of the New York City metro area) and much of its territory is practically underwater, while Syracuse University is located in a declining post-industrial city in the middle of American Siberia. Both inhabit a similar level of prestige and accomplishment-- either the bottom of the "elite" tier or the "best of the rest." The Orange and the Oranje each boast just one major title (2003 and Euro 1988, respectively), and both have suffered multiple agonizing defeats in finals and semifinals. Then there have been other tournaments where promising teams from Holland / Syracuse imploded from internal conflicts and either lost early or failed to qualify. Each team's coach is a notorious curmudgeon known for expressive behavior on the sideline and at press conferences, although Dutch manager Louis van Gaal makes Jim Boeheim look like Captain Sunshine by comparison.

Dutch manager Louis van Gaal, pictured here while in charge of German club powerhouse Bayern Munich. Some joked that he was "too German" to coach that team.

Jim Boeheim after abysmal officiating helped Duke defeat Syracuse in February, 2014.

At present, both sets of Orangemen / Oranje men find themselves at somewhat of a transition point. Next season's 'Cuse will be rebuilding or (hopefully) reloading after the departures of Tyler Ennis, C.J. Fair, and Jerami Grant; while the Dutch squad traveling to Brazil is a fairly even mix of grizzled veterans in their early 30s (e.g. Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, and Wesley Sneijder) and talented youngsters who are appearing in their first major international tournament (e.g. Daley Blind, Bruno Martins-Indi, and Jeremain Lens). The Netherlands are stuck in one of the "Groups of Death," with reigning champions Spain and a very dangerous Chile team. They'll also be without their best central midfielder, A.S. Roma's Kevin Strootman, due to injury. As a result, most "experts" aren't picking them to get beyond the round of 16; but beware of under-estimating them. The Oranje are often at their best when they have low expectations (and vice versa).

Benvingut / Bienvenidos / Welcome

Hello everybody! As you may know, another World Cup is around the corner. For me personally, it's kind of special. While this will be the 4th World Cup I've watched, it will be the first since I became a year-round, dedicated, watch-every-week fútbol fan. You see, I've been a sports fan since my dad sat me down on the couch next to him during a Seattle Seahawks game when I was in 1st grade. But having grown up in the good ol' U-S of A, I-- like many of my fellow "Yanks"-- picked up the sport that the world calls football / fútbol / futebol / calcio / etc. and we call "soccer" (a word I will try to avoid on this blog) in bits and pieces over the years. It's been a gradual learning process, and it's still ongoing. One of the things that helped me acclimate to the "beautiful game" was by comparing aspects of it to concepts that were familiar to me from the "North American" sports I'd watched my whole life. For example, a particular defensive tactic might remind me of hockey's neutral zone trap, or basketball's box-and-one zone. Or an elite central midfielder like Barcelona and Spain's Xavi would compare to a great point guard or quarterback. I'm also extremely fond of analogy-based blogging. Those of you who read my previous blog incarnations may recall me comparing club fútbol teams to NFL teams, or Barack Obama's potential 2008 running mates to famous sidekicks in sports and pop culture.

So, between now and the beginning of the World Cup, I'll be writing a series of posts that compare all 31 teams in the World Cup other than the USA (who we should all be supporting, because 'murika!) to analogues in American pro and college sports. Hopefully this will be fun to read and will provide you with some guidance if you're looking for a country to support in this tournament (or if you're an international looking for an American team to call your own... that works too!). Or at least you might learn enough bits of information that you'll sound like you know what you're talking about if you get invited to a watch party.

This post will also serve as the index for each country's preview. Links will be created here as the individual posts go up:

Group A:

Brazil = The L.A. Lakers

Cameroon = The Loyola Marymount University Lions (Basketball)

Croatia = The Creighton University Blue Jays (Basketball)

Mexico = The Texas Longhorns (Football)


Group B:

Australia = The Arizona State Sun Devils

Chile = The Texas Tech Red Raiders (Football)

The Netherlands = The Syracuse Orangemen (Basketball)

Spain = The Alabama Crimson Tide (Football)


Group C:

Colombia = The Charlotte Hornets

Greece = The Detroit Pistons

Ivory Coast = The San Jose Sharks

Japan


Group D:

Costa Rica = The New York Rangers

England = The Cleveland Browns

Italy = The Duke Blue Devils (Basketball)

Uruguay = The Denver Broncos


Group E:

France = The Michigan Wolverines (Football)

Ecuador

Honduras

Switzerland

Group F:

Argentina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iran
Nigeria


Group G:

Germany = The Ohio State Buckeyes (Football)
Ghana
Portugal
U.S.A.


Group H:

Algeria
Belgium = The Seattle Seahawks
Korea Republic (South Korea)
Russia