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Monday, October 5, 2009
NFL Week 4: The champs hit their stride, and the upstarts keep surprising
Sunday, October 4, 2009
College Football Extra: 25 pages of results and analysis
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Saturday, October 3, 2009
World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog | |
| Rio 2016: Olympic Football Returns. Posted: 02 Oct 2009 10:35 AM PDT
1. Rio …South America gets its first ever Olympic games. And this on the back of the 2014 World Cup which will be taking over Brazil*. I think it’s fair to say this should be enough to revive a dying sport: Olympic football. There have been numerous discussions of late debating the ways to turn Olympic football from an afterthought at worst and tinder for the club v country debate at best into a competition of relevance again. Some theorize it should be open to everyone, others think it should be kept strictly at an amateur level (which would lead to an Arsenal v Barcelona final). Others think it should be scrapped altogether, as the refusal of some clubs to release players causes the tournament’s legitimacy to come into question. This is a small part of the problem with the decline of Olympic football. The large part? No one seems to care. But now, Olympic football has hope. Why? Because it’s going to London in 2012, the birthplace of football and now Brazil four years later. Two absolutely football mad countries whose appeal lies in the stands as much as it does on the pitch. And simply because of that, people will care. Sure, the athletes are nice, but an international football tournament held in and around Rio? Who wouldn’t be over their heels by that? Four years after taking over Wembley? It’s no revelation that atmosphere can often make or break a tournament, and those are two footballing meccas. Players will want to Now if they can only figure out just who they want to send… *** In order to pass the friday, enjoy the Rio pitch: |
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College Football Extra: 13 pages of previews, predictions
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Friday, October 2, 2009
NFL Week 4 Extra: 14 pages of previews, predictions, fantasy tips
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Thursday, October 1, 2009
World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog | |
| Andre Ayew’s Left Foot Lights Up the U-20 World Cup Posted: 30 Sep 2009 03:40 PM PDT The group stage of the 2009 U-20 World Cup is flying a little under the radar right now. Mostly because the tournament isn’t as advertised. The U-20 World Cup should be a genuine showcase for the world’s best talent aged under 20. But the names we would have been excited to see - players like Bojan Krkic, Mario Balotelli, and Jack Wilshere - aren’t involved for various reasons, and the tournament is all the poorer for it. One big name brightspot is 19 year old Ghana captain Andre “Dede” Ayew. The fact that he’s the son of Abedi Pele is enough to get our attention. But after Dede more than held his own playing for Ghana in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations as a just turned 18 year old, it’s pretty clear that he’s a promising player in his own right. Ayew confirmed that yesterday by leading Ghana to a 4-0 win over Group D opponents England, including an excellent excellent goal where he found the top right corner from distance with his left foot. Great photo of what I think is that strike above, conclusive video after the jump:
On that sort of form the Black Satellites (excellent name for the Black Stars junior team, eh?) are going to do very well in this U-20 World Cup. With two wins out of two they’ve already qualified for the next round, and will battle it out with Uruguay for Group D top spot on Friday. As for Andre Ayew, he’s currently contracted to Marseille, but on loan at newly promoted French Ligue 2 team AC Arles-Avignon. If he impresses there, and continues to impress in Egypt, then he just might be back for the real thing in South Africa next June. 2009 U-20 World Cup schedule here. |
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Fire up the ice: Hot topics to start the NHL season
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Postseason push: Tigers split doubleheader to stay two up on Twins, Rockies build wild-card lead over Braves
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Fantasy Hockey Preview: Top 60
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World Cup 2006 Blog
World Cup 2006 Blog | |
| Non-FIFA Football Gets Another Governing Body Posted: 28 Sep 2009 11:50 AM PDT
There are various reasons why certain “national” football teams and organizations are not FIFA affiliated. Without getting into too much detail, the Wikipedia entry on non-FIFA football defines it roughly as six categories: Regional associations (eg Jersey), Autonomous (or autonomy-seeking) regions (eg Catalonia), Stateless people (eg the Sami people of Lapland), States (eg Vatican City), Minorities (ethnic minorities within a larger state), and Micronations (usually crazy people who make up their own country like Sealand). These people still want to play football though, so many of them do. Until recently, these teams had been organized mostly by the NF-Board, headquartered in Liege, Belgium, and responsible for setting up the excellently titled VIVA World Cup (won this year (and in 2008) by Padania). But a new organization called the International Football Union announced itself in August 2009, so now non-FIFA football seems to have two governing bodies. So is that good or bad for non-FIFA football? The IFU’s mission statement explains:
Which is pretty similar to what the NF-Board does. So what’s the difference? When asked this question via email, IFU Media Coordinator Viivi Parma was careful to both pay tribute to the NF-Board and to point out the key difference:
An example the IFU cites is Padania, which if you clicked the Wikipedia link above, seems to be an outgrowth of the Lega Nord Italian political party rather than an autonomous nation or state. As such, they would not be eligible for IFU membership.
I also asked the NF-Board how they felt about the existence of a rival organization, and Secretary General Jean-Luc Kit seemed to be happy enough.
So let’s hope that’s exactly how it works out. If the IFU and the N-F Board can co-exist, with the IFU providing opportunities for non-FIFA nation states to play competitive football (and maybe eventually gain FIFA membership) while the NF-Board continues to allow non-nation teams - but still teams - like Padonia to compete, then that has to be good for non-FIFA football. |
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