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Monday, March 8, 2010
15 pages of college hoops: NCAA Tournament projections, conference tournaments preview
Sunday, March 7, 2010
World Cup 2010 Blog: Are There Workable Alternatives to Video Replay/Goal Line Technology?
World Cup 2010 Blog: Are There Workable Alternatives to Video Replay/Goal Line Technology? | |
| Are There Workable Alternatives to Video Replay/Goal Line Technology? Posted: 06 Mar 2010 06:57 PM PST
At the 124th Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), chaired by FIFA, a decision was made to no longer pursue the development of goal-line technology – or consider technology in football in general.
The words not unanimous mildly cheered me up there. The reasoning by the IFAB members was once again full of misguided philanthropy:
That should probably read formerly of the Irish Football Association. Outrage, anger, hate, death threats for referees, negative stereotyping of clubs and whole countries, conspiracy theories etc. are all human reactions to human errors. I don’t think everything that makes us human needs to be preserved. I also doubt that fans of American sports have suddenly stopped talking, the moment video replays were introduced. European Football has grown into a 12bn Euro business, so these errors aren’t just about football narratives and mythology, but about costing clubs millions of Euros. Anyway, given that stone age has just been confirmed to last forever, maybe there are other ways to improve the quality of refereeing decisions made during a match? UEFA are already testing additional referees who are running around in and behind the penalty box and get major calls wrong. But maybe you can put them into protective gear, let them sit inside the goal and have them stare at the goal line for 90 minutes? Ten years later, a scientific study will then publish the negative long term effects to the referee’s mental health and declare this job inhumane. But at least we’ll have 10 years worth of slightly improved goal decisions. Or you could follow the lead from ice hockey and introduce a second main referee. The two referees would then need to agree on a decision. For a bit of deadlock fun, you could then even assign referees from the countries involved in a match. E.g. a French and Italian referee would have taken care of the last World Cup final. Any other ideas? Maybe even ones which don’t include a bloody rebellion to overthrow FIFA. |
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Notre Dame, Louisville now look like NCAA tournament locks
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Saturday, March 6, 2010
World Cup 2010 Blog: “Facebook Campaign for Portugal to Sport Moustaches at World Cup 2010” plus 1 more
World Cup 2010 Blog: “Facebook Campaign for Portugal to Sport Moustaches at World Cup 2010” plus 1 more | |
| Facebook Campaign for Portugal to Sport Moustaches at World Cup 2010 Posted: 05 Mar 2010 10:44 AM PST
Like all 21st Century campaigns this one lives on Facebook. Titled Queremos a Selecção com bigode na África do Sul (We want the selection with a moustache in South Africa), the page has 3,041 fans at time of writing. Even better, the page has provided a perfect opportunity for artistic Portugal fans to practice their Photoshop skills and digitally enhance their favourite players with bristling brilliance. The above image of Cristiano Ronaldo is one such example, the below image of Miguel Veloso is yet another:
- For more on Portugal visit Migeul’s Portugal blog. |
| Diego Maradona: The Middle Finger of God? Posted: 05 Mar 2010 07:23 AM PST The video above (spotted on DT) is of Diego Maradona’s press conference after his Argentina team beat Germany 1-0 in Munich. Don’t worry if you no hablo español, because the real focus here is Maradona’s body language. Is he just scratching a persistent itch? Or is he not so subtly giving the universally recognized gesture for “eff you” to his many many critics? Is there even any doubt? You could say this is immature and inappropriate behaviour for a 49 year old international football coach, and you’d be right. But I’m choosing to see Maradona’s middle finger as a tantalizing preview of what promises to be an event-filled World Cup 2010. |
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No. 1 Syracuse vs. Louisville: Cards go for upset in Freedom Hall finale
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Friday, March 5, 2010
World Cup 2010 Blog: How to Say “World Cup” in 36 Languages
World Cup 2010 Blog: How to Say “World Cup” in 36 Languages | |
| How to Say “World Cup” in 36 Languages Posted: 04 Mar 2010 06:00 PM PST
But not everyone speaks English, so not everyone calls this tournament the World Cup. In French it’s the Coupe du Monde. In German the Weltmeisterschaft. In Spanish the Below is a list of every translation I could find, from Afrikaans to Hebrew to Welsh…
Afrikaans: Wêreldbeker Since this list was mostly put together using Google Translate and internet forums, it’s very very possible that some of the above is incorrect. Maybe some of the above are the words “World” and “Cup” correctly translated, but the tournament is actually called something else in that language. So any corrections or additions are welcomed in the comments. Phonetic pronunciations for the more unfamiliar looking languages also welcome. |
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