As expected, FIFA rejected Ireland's request to replay their match with France.
No surprise there. If FIFA had agreed to it, it would have sent the wrong message and they also knew that if they bended here, they would be inundated with requests to replay matches anytime a controversy occured.
In other words, almost every time international games are played.
There will be plenty more controversies and you can be sure that the World Cup will have it's fair share, just like there was in Germany in 2006.
Given all the drama, who would have thought Roy Keane would be the person to provide a voice of reason.
Just one note, if you go to a press conference with Keane, be sure to turn your phone off.
*****
And it's on to NBA action from Thursday night.
No Chris Paul but the New Orleans Hornets outworked the red hot Phoenix Suns.
The Hornets are 2-2 under Jeff Bower and 2-1 without Paul, although they lost the game when Paul went down.
The NBA: where Amazing does happen.
Phoenix had been one of the hottest teams in the league, while the Hornets were already in disarray.
New Orleans were looking shaky at best even when Paul was in the lineup. Peja couldn't shoot anymore and David West was out of sorts.
Suddenly though, a quick coaching shakeup and an injury to their superstar was all the Hornets needed to regain their buzz. (I hate that pun, but it works here!)
This game was won on the glass where the Hornets pounded Phoenix; New Orleans grabbed 25 offensive rebounds alone !
It also helped that Stojakovic nailed seven 3-pointers and rookie Darren Collison overcame a bad shooting night to finish with 15 points, five boards and five dimes, including two big buckets in the closing minutes.
In the last three games, Stojakovic has scored 65 points after he scored just 80 over the first 10 games.
That was easily Phoenix's most unexpected loss of the season and it will be interesting to see how they respond.
The Suns start had many people thinking that they could be contenders again in the West, but this loss could be a sign that they might have already peaked this season.
*****
The Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs in Texas for the first time this century.
When it last happened, Karl Malone led the Jazz with 30 points and no current Utah player was even in the league then.
Of course Jerry Sloan was coaching, although he was only in 47th season in charge back then.
Seriously though, it's incredible to think that the Jazz hadn't won there since 1999. It's not as if they've had dreadful teams either.
It just shows how dominant San Antonio has been at home, mentally and physically.
It's also worth noting that the Spurs were without Parker and Ginobili, but still they defeated Toronto and Dallas earlier this season while missing those two.
San Antonio are notoriously slow starters too, but this is the first time they have a sub .500 record through 10 games since 1996.
Good to see Deron Williams back for the Jazz.
His daughter had been unwell and he missed a couple of games, but since returning he's posted solid numbers which suggests that whatever his daughters illness is, it isn't playing on his mind too much which is great news.
*****
Unrelated to NBA, but this why basketball is better than hockey.
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Proof That The NBA Offseason Is Upon Us
With the Olympic Games keeping our household NBA names such as Kobe, Lebron & Dwight on the sports pages, there hasn't really been an 'offseason' this year. Until now. The reason we know this is because Jamaal Magloire signing with the Miami Heat is about the only newsworthy story.
Back in 2004, Magloire was an All-Star, but since then he has suffered from a serious bout of "Ian Baker-Finch" syndrome in that he has somehow forgotten how to do the one thing he'd done all his life, play basketball.
Baker-Finch's struggles were on the golf course and for those who aren't familiar with who he is, he's an Australian golfer who played in the 80's & 90's and won the British Open in 1991. His game fell apart shortly after though and now he is a commentator for one of the US broadcasters.
From the football world and in particular the English Premier League, we have seen Manchester United splash out another 30.75 million pounds to swipe Bulgarian hit-man Dimitar Berbatov away from Tottenham Hotspur. Once again, a sign of how silly the premiership is in that any quality player usually ends up at Man U. Manager, Alex Ferguson will probably now be hailed as a mastermind for pulling of this deal.
Back in 2004, Magloire was an All-Star, but since then he has suffered from a serious bout of "Ian Baker-Finch" syndrome in that he has somehow forgotten how to do the one thing he'd done all his life, play basketball.
Baker-Finch's struggles were on the golf course and for those who aren't familiar with who he is, he's an Australian golfer who played in the 80's & 90's and won the British Open in 1991. His game fell apart shortly after though and now he is a commentator for one of the US broadcasters.
From the football world and in particular the English Premier League, we have seen Manchester United splash out another 30.75 million pounds to swipe Bulgarian hit-man Dimitar Berbatov away from Tottenham Hotspur. Once again, a sign of how silly the premiership is in that any quality player usually ends up at Man U. Manager, Alex Ferguson will probably now be hailed as a mastermind for pulling of this deal.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
A Great Sport, A Boring League
At The Daily Hurt, we focus mainly on the basketball world, but with the Olympics over and the NBA season still a good two months away, we're going to cast an eye over some of the other sports and leagues around the world, some of which have already started their 2008-09 season.
Today, we're going to have a look at football.
Depending on where you were brought up, football is soccer or soccer is soccer. Get it ? Whatever you call it, I'm talking about the sport David Beckham plays. For the purposes of this blog, we'll refer to it as football.
Football truly is the only "World" game. From Africa to Asia to Europe and the America's, no other sport unites the entire planet like it.
It's easy to see why. You only need to mention "Manchester United" to almost anyone to evoke either an angry snarl or a pumped fist. You either love 'em or hate 'em.
That's the way it usually happens when one team wins all the time. Long periods of dominance leads to jealousy but also boredom, especially when the team dominating has resources and tools which other teams have no access to.
And when it comes to success, Man Utd is in a class of its own.
Since English football adapted the "Premier League" in 1992, Man U have won the title 10 times in 16 seasons. That's a lot of winning and an enviable record. Only three other teams (Arsenal, Chelsea & Blackburn) have won the league, one of them (Blackburn in '95) only once.
The "Premier League" should be renamed the "Elitist League".
It rewards the rich teams, while the poorer ones have to feed off scraps. The richer teams also have no interest in levelling out the playing field either. And, as there is no salary cap, the gulf between the teams will only become greater.
Just as Man U have few challengers on the pitch, they have just as few off it, financially. Chelsea has a billionaire Russian owner and Liverpool do alright, but apart from that, it's really only Arsenal and Newcastle that has what could be considered 'wealth'.
Let's look at Chelsea for example. Prior to 2003 when Roman Abramovich brought his roubles to West London, they were already considered a team reasonably well off. They weren't in Man U's class, but they weren't pauper's either.
Abramovich has pumped more than half-a-billion quid into the team and they have since won the premiership twice and been runners up twice in five years. In other words, you can buy success if you're rich enough. If not, tough.
What's the point of that ? What hope do the teams who have to make do on the more traditional means of income such as gate receipts and shirt sales have to compete ?
The competition for the title is dead boring, yet whenever Man U win it, they talk about how great an achievement it has been.
It's sad because throughout the premiership season, there is always some spectacular goals and games, that is without question. But the problem is, that no matter how exciting these games are, most of the teams are playing for survival, without any realistic hope of winning the actual title.
Just ask fans of Middlesborough, Tottenham or Aston Villa. The most passionate will no doubt delude themselves into thinking that their time will come, but it won't. Ever. An FA Cup is the best they can aim for.
The only hope they have is that a billionaire somewhere in the world will decide to pump their money into one of these clubs. But, if any billionaire felt investing into one of those teams was a good investment, then they wouldn't be a billionaire in the first place, if you catch my drift.
Today, we're going to have a look at football.
Depending on where you were brought up, football is soccer or soccer is soccer. Get it ? Whatever you call it, I'm talking about the sport David Beckham plays. For the purposes of this blog, we'll refer to it as football.
Football truly is the only "World" game. From Africa to Asia to Europe and the America's, no other sport unites the entire planet like it.
One of the most popular football leagues in the world is England's Premier League.
It's easy to see why. You only need to mention "Manchester United" to almost anyone to evoke either an angry snarl or a pumped fist. You either love 'em or hate 'em.
That's the way it usually happens when one team wins all the time. Long periods of dominance leads to jealousy but also boredom, especially when the team dominating has resources and tools which other teams have no access to.
And when it comes to success, Man Utd is in a class of its own.
Since English football adapted the "Premier League" in 1992, Man U have won the title 10 times in 16 seasons. That's a lot of winning and an enviable record. Only three other teams (Arsenal, Chelsea & Blackburn) have won the league, one of them (Blackburn in '95) only once.
The "Premier League" should be renamed the "Elitist League".
It rewards the rich teams, while the poorer ones have to feed off scraps. The richer teams also have no interest in levelling out the playing field either. And, as there is no salary cap, the gulf between the teams will only become greater.
Just as Man U have few challengers on the pitch, they have just as few off it, financially. Chelsea has a billionaire Russian owner and Liverpool do alright, but apart from that, it's really only Arsenal and Newcastle that has what could be considered 'wealth'.
Let's look at Chelsea for example. Prior to 2003 when Roman Abramovich brought his roubles to West London, they were already considered a team reasonably well off. They weren't in Man U's class, but they weren't pauper's either.
Abramovich has pumped more than half-a-billion quid into the team and they have since won the premiership twice and been runners up twice in five years. In other words, you can buy success if you're rich enough. If not, tough.
What's the point of that ? What hope do the teams who have to make do on the more traditional means of income such as gate receipts and shirt sales have to compete ?
The competition for the title is dead boring, yet whenever Man U win it, they talk about how great an achievement it has been.
It's sad because throughout the premiership season, there is always some spectacular goals and games, that is without question. But the problem is, that no matter how exciting these games are, most of the teams are playing for survival, without any realistic hope of winning the actual title.
Just ask fans of Middlesborough, Tottenham or Aston Villa. The most passionate will no doubt delude themselves into thinking that their time will come, but it won't. Ever. An FA Cup is the best they can aim for.
The only hope they have is that a billionaire somewhere in the world will decide to pump their money into one of these clubs. But, if any billionaire felt investing into one of those teams was a good investment, then they wouldn't be a billionaire in the first place, if you catch my drift.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
