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Thursday, November 12, 2009
MLB teams plot offseason roster moves
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates |  |
| Club vs Country Crisis Averted: Cristiano Ronaldo Officially Out of World Cup Playoffs Posted: 11 Nov 2009 05:10 AM PST
Incredibly, a very sensible compromise was reached. Real had initially refused to release Ronaldo, but then decided to let him meet up with the Portuguese squad and staff so they could see for themselves that his ankle was not football-ready. So he did, and they did, and all are now agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo needs more time to recover.
A rare club vs country case where everyone did the right thing and the correct decision was made.        |
This seems almost impossibly unimportant following | You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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NFL midseason report: New Orleans dominates players' first-half poll
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates | |
| The Battle For Cristiano Ronaldo’s Soul & Other, Less Significant Club v Country Standoffs. Posted: 09 Nov 2009 01:32 PM PST
Whilst Portugal v Bosnia – Herzegovina is titillating the football purist and Russia v Slovenia has forced Jonathan Wilson into euphoric bouts of nervous bowels, the real battle lies behind the scenes, in the board rooms, between those who cut the checks and those who require international glory. The big issue is, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo and that pesky little ankle of his. Yet as ever with international weekends, there is gladiatorial sparring befitting of Rome itself. The Portuguese Man O’Oil has been out since September after taking a hit to the ankle against Marseille. What would’ve been a standard few weeks off turned into an affair when, against the wishes of the great Real Madrid, he played in Portugal’s must-win against Hungary. As is always the case, he reinjured the ankle and has been unable to feature for the team which cuts those boffo paychecks weekly. Understandably, Real do not want him to feature in the playoff against Bosnia & Herzegovina despite Carlos Queroz’s insistence that he spend a few minutes matching goals with Edin Dzeko. They’d rather he spend 90 minutes doing battle for plaudits and points with Lionel Messi at the end of the month during that moderately sized derby something or other. This one has all the hallmarks of a 15 round epic prizefight, with the decision dependent on the final blow of the final round. And much like that epic title fight, it’ll probably finish with a trip to the hospital, a ruling by judges and plenty of tears from the losing party. Over in Rome, meanwhile, things are getting truly gladiatorial. Dunga called up both Juan & Doni for the upcoming Brazil friendlies against the likes of Oman and England. Neither played this weekend against Inter, and neither would play next weekend were there a game. So, with both players made of glass anyway, Roma refused to released them for international duties. Brazil refused their refusal. Swords at the ready. Were this a do-or-die game such as the one instigating the battle for CR9’s soul, it’d be understandable. Were these friendlies directly before the World Cup and necessary for such intangibles as squad integration, it’d be understandable. But there should be some sort of rule which stipulates that players, particularly those like Juan whose hamstrings inexplicably manage to pull themselves at the mere mention of ‘international break’, who are not fully fit for friendlies more than three months from a major tournament cannot play. Call it the Juan Club, Juan Country Rule. But there is hope, you see. Rafa, polite man that he is, requested to Fabio Capello that an injured Steven Gerrard not be included in those very same friendlies. (The very same Steven Gerrard buzzing about the pitch on my live television feed right now.) Fabio Capello, honorable man that he is, obliged. And they all lived happily ever after. It can happen. It won’t, but it can.   |
Who needs actual footballing playoffs when you can just watch the bureaucratic battle that is club v country?| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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Back to form: Steelers look Super in Monday-night win
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Monday, November 9, 2009
NFL Week 9: Comebacks aplenty at season's midpoint
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Sunday, November 8, 2009
College football's stretch run: Seven players, coaches in the spotlight
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Saturday, November 7, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates | |
| Was Zinedine Zidane’s Retirement Just a Clever Marketing Ploy? Posted: 06 Nov 2009 12:22 PM PST
My disappointment with Zizou is as follows: The man retired from football in July 2006. That’s well over three years ago. Yet despite no longer being a professional footballer, Zinedine Zidane still keeps trying to sell me things, usually things branded with three stripes. Most recently he’s been fronting the “Every Team Needs…” campaign, which is – no question – an excellent set of ads. But, aside from the question of whether someone who is no longer a professional footballer should be allowed to tell us which boots to wear (my answer: maybe) I can’t shake the suspicion that Zidane is such a great marketing frontman because we’re all being denied the chance to see him in action. I know, that sounds a little conspiracy theory-ish. Maybe it is. But hear me out anyway. My (conspiracy?) theory is that we all still wish Zidane was playing. Vision, touch, roulettes, shiny head, etcetera. We can’t though, because he hung up his boots a few years earlier than he needed to (can you imagine if he’d joined an MLS team instead of retiring in 2006?). As a result of this earlier than (we) wanted retirement, we’re all still desperate for a glimpse of the great man. So, Adidas and Zizou are exploiting our desire to see him back in action and involved with football, by using it to sell us products. Check out this recent video for an example: Thousands of Japanese fans poured into a stadium – a stadium! – for the launch of the new Adidas Predator boot. But really they turned up for a glimpse of Zizou in action. I don’t usually watch promo videos (mostly because I can’t afford any new boots) but I still clicked play and sat through it. Because I was hoping to see Zidane in action. Which I did, but only towards the end of the video, after I’d absorbed the three stripe corporate message.   |
Some advance warning: This post is going to be mildly critical of Zinedine Zidane. Nothing too harsh, because – as for many people – he was one of my favourite players to watch. The vision, the touch, the roulettes, the shiny bald patch. Loved it. But that’s also the reason I’m about to mildly criticize him. Don’t worry, this will all make sense in a minute.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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College Football Extra: 12 pages of previews, predictions, player diaries
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Friday, November 6, 2009
NFL Week 9 Extra: 14 pages of previews, predictions and expert fantasy tips
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