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Sunday, November 8, 2009
College football's stretch run: Seven players, coaches in the spotlight
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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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Back on top: MVP Matsui fuels Yankees' 7-3 Series clincher over Phillies
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates | |
| The Offside and WorldCupBlog. Now on Facebook. Finally. Posted: 03 Nov 2009 06:10 PM PST
Here’s why our Facebook page might actually be quite good: We’re not going to use our Facebook page just to promote our own content. Of course, we’ll do some of that. But we’ll also use it to post random stuff you won’t find on the blogs and to highlight content from other blogs and websites. Because sharing is caring. If you like The Offside and WorldCupBlog, then click on over there and become a fan. After fanning us, you’re welcome to contribute and post to the wall too. Post any football related content you like – links, videos, images, anything. Obviously if you spam us I’ll send people round to break your fingers. But if you’ve got interesting content to share, then get involved and show it to us.   |
Yeah, I know, we’re late to the party. Would you believe me if I said we were just waiting to see if this whole Facebook thing was going to catch on? No, me neither. But yes, The Offside and WorldCupBlog now has a Facebook fan page, | 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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Phillies hope to extend Series; Yanks want to end it today
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Latest World Cup Blog Updates
Latest World Cup Blog Updates | |
| Johan Cruijff Returns To The Spanish Sidelines Posted: 02 Nov 2009 11:40 AM PST
Match practice and team chemistry might be an issue though, as they only play one game a year, a friendly at the Camp Nou in December. That Johan Cruijff is coaching one exhibition game in an unofficial manner isn’t a big deal. That it’s in Catalonia, home of Barcelona, where he masterminded the rise of the dream team more than 15 years ago, isn’t a big deal either – it’s Johan’s home. But his return to an official football title might beg the question, what’s next?. Last summer, Cruijff ‘returned’ to Ajax in a technical capacity only to fall out with Marco van Basten before anything could get off the ground. This also came before MvB fell out with himself. At 62, one of football’s greatest minds clearly has a few years left – and much to be said – so it’s possible this may very well be a test to get his feet wet. Or it may be the perfect employment for a 62 year old man: one day a year. Of course Cruijff and Catalonia doesn’t start and stop with the bench or FC Barcelona. His arrival in Catalonia in 1973 went about changing football culture, and it spawned a documentary just a few years back called En momento un dado (a well-known Cruijff-ism). It’s a wonderful little look into the heights of near Cruijff-mania, and would do a great deal in explaining what this move to the Catalonia bench means to the people, but you’re likely out of luck unless speaking either Dutch or Spanish.   |
| Now Stephen Appiah Has a Day Job Posted: 02 Nov 2009 06:55 AM PST
I’m not sure what Appiah did between matches (my guess is a mix of rehab, fitness and playing Football Manager on his laptop) but you can bet he had those FIFA international dates circled on his calendar with a big bright highlighter pen. Appiah’s bizarre situation began with a knee injury while he was with Fenerbahçe. According to Appiah, the Turkish club screwed up his treatment and so he headed to Italy (where he had played in Serie A for both Juventus and Udinese) for rehabilitation. Appiah also ended his contract with Fener, which the club weren’t happy about, and so the midfielder found himself clubless and his career in legal limbo. Yesterday it was announced that – finally – the now 28 year old Appiah is is once again gainfully employed. He’s signed for Serie A side Bologna, so now he can spend the time inbetween Black Stars matches playing professional football. Here’s Appiah statement from his magnificently named personal website StepApp.com:
It’s my understanding that though Appiah is much loved in Ghana, not everyone was in favour of coach Milovan Rajevac continuing to pick and play the midfielder. There was also some suggestion that continued clublessness would have a negative impact on Appiah’s chances of making the World Cup. You know, the upcoming World Cup. The one that’s the first ever on African soil. So maximum respect to Rajevac for sticking with his captain, and maximum respect to Stephen Appiah for not giving up. I hope Apiah makes an impact at Bologna (currently fourth bottom of Serie A, so they could do with a boost) and that we see him captaining the Black Stars at World Cup 2010 next June. But here’s a question already… after signing Appiah in November, how happy will Bologna be when goes to Africa Cup of Nations 2010 in January?   |
While Maradona is busy making a shamockery of the 
For a long while there, Stephen Appiah was an international footballer only. The midfielder has not played a kick of club soccer since late 2007, but still managed to captain Ghana through a successful World Cup 2010 qualification campaign. Which is ridiculously impressive when you think about it.| 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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