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Saturday, October 24, 2009
College football extra: 15 pages of previews, predictions and player diaries
Friday, October 23, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates |  |
| The Unofficial World Football Championships Posted: 22 Oct 2009 01:10 PM PDT
Basically, the UWFC people treat international football as if it was boxing or wrestling, in which you have a title-holder and challengers. When the current Unofficial World Champion plays against any other nation, the title is up for grabs. If the other nation wins, they become the new Unofficial World Champions. And so on. All “A” internationals count, so that means any full senior international game, be it World Cup final or just plain old friendly. The idea started in 1967, when Scotland faced World Cup holders England at Wembley in a European Championship qualifier. Here’s a nice nine minutes plus YouTube video of that game (with a very Scottish introduction)… Scotland won 3-2, ending England’s 19 game unbeaten run, which led to Scottish fans declaring their team the “unofficial world champions”. At some point (I can’t find exactly when) someone decided to take this idea of an unofficial world champion and trace it all the way back to the beginning. The first ever international match was in 1872, between what were then the only international teams in the world: England and Scotland. Unhelpfully for the UWFC, that game finished 0-0. But they met again in 1873, England won 4-2, and the UWFC title is traced from there. You can see the full list of title matches here. Brilliantly, that famous game 1967 game between England and Scotland actually was an unofficial title match in hindsight, as England happened to be UWFC holders as well as actual World Cup holders at the time. Of course, it’s all done with a smile, and not taken too seriously. Most teams are probably unaware of the UWFC title’s existence. I can’t decide if that adds to the charm, or is a missed opportunity to add a competitive edge to international friendly week. Either way it keeps FIFA happy, because the UWFC’s fun loving approach doesn’t threaten their dominance or profit margins. Here’s what FIFA have to say, according the UWFC website:
Current holders the Netherlands have had the title since November 2008, when they beat Sweden 3-1 in a friendly. They last defended it by drawing 0-0 vs Australian on October 10th, but face a genuine challenge on November 14th when they play a friendly against Italy in Pescara (to show solidarity with the earthquake hit region).        |
| German Security Firm Increases Your Confidence In South Africa 2010 Posted: 22 Oct 2009 11:12 AM PDT All of days ago we were treated to a trailer of Fahrenheit 2010, the documentary which takes a look at the devious desires behind FIFA’s insistence on a World Cup in South Africa. Not quite sure it’ll have the clout to do any damage (read: bribes), but it shines more light on an already illuminated subject. So how about the news that the German national team won’t be leaving their compound without bulletproof vests? It would seem that dirty tackles are the least of their worries in South Africa. BaySecur, the security consultancy in charge of Jogi’s boys next summer, gave us a little view into the process:
So in other words, treat them like a president under assassination threat. Or the pope. What’s going to happen is South Africa will turn into the real life interpretation of a pretty poor Steven Seagal or Nicolas Cage film. Presumably with better acting from Mario Gomez. And then Michael Ballack and Jogi Loew will meet in a dark room at an airport under black ops surveillance. Then Jason Bourne will come in and save the day (both in terms of the actual day and film quality). And voila, the fourth in the Bourne series will be…. There is one silver lining for all of this, however: standards are set so impossibly low they can’t possibly fall short, can they? (Don’t answer that.)   |
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NFL Week 7 Extra: 15 pages of previews, predictions, fantasy tips
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Thursday, October 22, 2009
Surprise college football teams of first half try to keep rolling
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates | |
| Raymond Domenech: Man Seeking Muzzle. Posted: 20 Oct 2009 08:58 AM PDT
What he lacks in coaching abilities, he makes up for in deliciously idiotic words. He’s kind of like Maradona without the playing career. Or coke habit. Or fatness. The latest and greatest comes fresh off the announcement of Ireland as their obstacle on the way to South Africa 2010. A team he’s affectionately dubbed ‘England’s B side‘.
Of course this isn’t the first time the Irish have been referred to as England’s B’s. Back in the 90’s they used to hunt out Irish lineage in Englishmen for the national team, earning the name and reputation. Not quite what Domenech meant, however. What he meant to say is that the Irish aren’t quite a closed book, that like England, their playing style and players are no mystery. Which he did say. Only the good and logical was overshadowed by the large mess he’d made in the other room, falling in line with the rest of his managerial career, spurring on the Irish in the process. And if his managerial career remains on course, he’ll leave the playoff with a job regardless of outcome and will still be doing more for the opposition than his treasured Les Bleus. Viva la Domenech.   |
For those on the inside looking out, nary a worse manager reigns in the international realm; for those on the outside looking in…| 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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Sabathia, A-Rod power Yanks to brink of Series, push Angels to brink of elimination
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates | |
- FIFA v UEFA: The Rankings Of Doom Are Doomed.
- UEFA’s World Cup Playoffs Announced.
- Indonesia’s “Green World Cup” 2022 Bid
| FIFA v UEFA: The Rankings Of Doom Are Doomed. Posted: 19 Oct 2009 12:30 PM PDT
UEFA prefer a simple method: 20% based on WC2006 qualifying and finals; 40% based on Euro2008 qualifying and finals; 40% based on WC2010 qualifying and finals.
There are a few answers which cloak as questions: Is Germany the second best team in Europe right now? Yes. Basel pretty much cleared that up and it stands strong 18mos later. Is Portugal better than Russia? No. Should Croatia respectfully bow out of the rankings until Polkraine qualifying starts anew such that there isn’t a beastly black sheep nonparticipant in sixth? Yes. Is Sweden the 12th best team in Europe? No. Are they 24th? No. Are they somewhere in between? Yes. Does UEFA account for “style”? Probably. (See: Turkey.) Can we just put Pavel Nedved in the Czech Republich’s 11th spot? Sure, why not. How the hell did Greece creep top ten in UEFA? No clue. But finally the most important question: Can we scrap the acronym rankings, both of which are inherently flawed, and move to an entirely subjective system which unashamedly flaunts its favortism? Yes we can.   |
| UEFA’s World Cup Playoffs Announced. Posted: 19 Oct 2009 10:02 AM PDT The slightly controversial UEFA bridesmaid’s draw has taken place and fortunately it’s gone off without controversy. Somehow, someway, despite UEFA being involved, Liverpool and Chelsea will not meet. Who knew? It’s rather pedestrian, really, as perhaps the two best teams - France and Russia - were handed the easiest draw. But then that’s really the point of seeding, isn’t it? (This is not to suggest FIFA has actually set out to do something and it worked. Never.) The right to eulogize Jonathan Wilson’s halftime funeral will go to Guus’ Russia Greece and Ukraine is already making a nap sound good. Ukraine might have the slight advantage due to simply being a better team, but Euro 2004 proved for at least a 20 year buffer period that “paper results” aren’t a great concern for Greece. Neither is joga bonito. As for Portugal and Bosnia & Herzegovina, this is the darling of the playoffs. The hugely disappointing wannabe big boys in qualifying with one of the world’s best players up against the young upstarts with a mean attack. Cristiano Ronaldo is nice and all, but the two-pronged assault of Ibisevic and Dzeko just might make them the favorites. France   |
| Indonesia’s “Green World Cup” 2022 Bid Posted: 19 Oct 2009 06:59 AM PDT
While the nine other bids are based on the idea that “we really really want it”, Indonesia has spotted the current corporate trend for environmentalism and gone for it. They’re proposing the “Green World Cup 2022″ in Indonesia. Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chairman Nurdin Halid told the Jakarta Post earlier this month that “Our deforestation rate has contributed much to world pollution. By hosting the World Cup, we wish to build infrastructure and facilities that are environmentally friendly so we can give more to the planet.” Sounds like an absolutely brilliant idea if you ask me. Not only does the “Green World Cup 2022″ idea make the Indonesia bid stand out, it also gives it the moral high ground and puts pressure on FIFA. If they ignore the Green World Cup and award 2022 (which is when Indonesia have said they’d prefer to host) to one of those other carbon-producing bids, then FIFA looks like it hates planet earth. The downside is that it seems there are almost zero details available explaining exactly what would make Indonesia 2022 such an environmentally friendly tournament.
It’s possible that all the details are in the official bid Indonesia sent to FIFA and just not yet available to the public. I genuinely hope so. But given the fact that the Indonesian 2022 bid website has a lot of “coming soon”s on it, and that both the above bid logos are from a Facebook group and not yet official (like these ones are), I suspect that there’s still a lot of work to be done. It would be deeply depressing if the “Green World Cup 2022″ idea is just an empty marketing trick. There’s enough greenwashing (companies falsely promoting products as being environmentally friendly, because they know it sells well) around already. But even if it’s just a gimmick, Indonesia 2022 is still the first bid to float the idea of a green World Cup. Green things have a tendency to grow if given enough care and attention, so maybe we’ll see a whole host of green bids for World Cup 2026.   |
While everyone was busy anxiously awaiting FIFA’s latest release and the seeding for the playoff spots, UEFA was busy 
When you 
Maybe they’d | 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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