The 2010 World Cup is only 8 months away, yet the pessimistic build-up has begun. I have concerns about linking to this piece at the Times, but someone must defend the dark continent. And why not a person who has never visited there but once perused through a travel guide.
Do you remember The Invincibles? No, not the Pixar film ¨The Incredibles.¨I am referring to the Arsenal squad of 2004, a fond time for Gunners fans. Refresh your memory. Well, as key members reach the twilight of their playing careers, they feel a yearning, a calling.
Granted, these are not salmon returning to the waters of [...]
For all you anglophiles, RojaDirecta is the king of the Spanish-speaking pro soccer viewing online world. The website serves to organize links to various soccer related events. Often, the links merely point to justin.tv or a similar site. Still, major television networks have targeted the Spain-based website with legal threats. And they have lost.
Audiovisual Sport [...]
Goalies have a love-hate relationship with the soccer ball. On the one hand. when it stays out of their net, they find themselves exuberant. For every minute that passes in such a pristine state, their warmth and joy grow exponentially. But should that white sphere dare to cross the poorly policed line between the posts, [...]
Perhaps you don’t remember Yuri Petrov. Perhaps you never got to know him, the real him. But for those of us close to Petrov, or at least followed him closely, this is devastating.
An Ukranian-born soccer player who plied his trade primarily in the Dutch league, Yuri is perhaps best known for his part in Spartak [...]
This is a brilliant idea. The Brazilian organizing committee is teaching the tourism service industry English in anticipation of World Cup 2010. My only concern is a communication breakdown based on the different English dialects.
In short, the English courses absolutely must include differences between American and British English. An unsuspecting American tourist may say “tram” [...]
ESPN reports that Wesley wants to stay at Real Madrid. He has promised to train like a professional and prove his worth. This is a bit of a gamble in a World Cup year – if he watches Kaka for 9 months, will he be throwing away his ticket to South Africa?
More disturbingly, ESPN misused [...]
I really tried not to blog about this development, but in the end I had to. Ryan Babel, Liverpool’s forward/winger has taken the bold step of becoming a rapper/soccer player. I am appalled yet bemused for several reasons.
First and foremost, his antics off pitch mirror his predicament on it. Babel lacks the box-savvy of a [...]
So ESPN’s reception in the UK did not impress. At least according to the Guardian’s Martin Kelner. As per usual, the excellent Sports Hernia blog predicted this exact scenario.
ESPN, sadly, has become the McDonald’s of television franchises. Rather than offer local variety, the top-down/streamlined production is designed with one intent: to not offend white Anglo-Saxan [...]
Liverpool opened the season with a loss to the upstart Spurs. This is match one of 38. Yet, according to Ian Wright of The Sun, its time to sound the ambulance or reserve a funeral parlor.
If the loss had come against the Spurs of Juande Ramos, I could see the cause for concern. I myself [...]
