RIP UGA VII: Uga VII — given name "Loran’s Best" — the Georgia mascot who roamed the sidelines of Bulldog football games, died unexpectedly Thursday morning in Savannah. He died of heart-related causes according to his owner, Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler. He was only four-years-old and had just completed his second season as the team's mascot. A slideshow with the voice of his master is available, as is a movie of his all too-short career. Rest in Peace, good boy.

posted by terrapin to football at 08:09 AM - 6 comments

The Changing Face of English Football: An interesting interactive map of current Premiere League football teams comparing place of birth (not nationality) of each teams' players this season to that of 1989/90. The bar graph below the map shows the distance a player was born from their current team's home grounds. Click on the teams names above the map to reduce the clutter and see how the newly promoted compare to the firmly entrenched. At the end of the article there is detailed information—and complete squad listings from both compared seasons—for each team competing this season.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 07:24 PM - 11 comments

52 - 26 = £10,000: Hoping for "good luck" Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner has decided to change his squad number from 26 to 52 "because it's a special number to me personally, and I hope that it brings me good luck for the new season." But it's gonna cost him....

posted by terrapin to soccer at 07:08 PM - 5 comments

Ungentlemanly Conduct: A referee ordered a penalty to be retaken when an opposition player broke wind as the ball was kicked. Manager for the team with the ... offending ... player was quoted as saying that "this has come at a bad time in the season as we don't have sponsor and we are looking for a new sponsor for next season." May I suggest Beano, sir?

posted by terrapin to soccer at 09:50 AM - 15 comments

Steelers' Owner Nominated as Ambassador to Ireland: Dan Rooney, co-founder of the The Ireland Funds, was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next ambassador to Ireland. President Obama said, "I am honored and grateful that such a dedicated and accomplished individual has agreed to serve as the representative of the United States to the Irish people.

posted by terrapin to other at 10:40 AM - 6 comments

Twenty-Nine in a Row: Down by 19 at halftime, Texas Tech's Mike Singletary scored a Big 12 tournament high of 43 to beat Texas A&M 88-83. The 6th seeded Aggies were up by 21 before the 11th seeded Red Raider's Singletary scored 29 points in a row—outscoring the entire Aggie team 31-23 over the final 9:35 of the game—to help Tech pull off the comeback and upset.

posted by terrapin to basketball at 08:20 AM - 2 comments

Fan's streak will hit XLIII today: Tom Henschel, a native of Natrona Heights (just outside Pittsburgh), is one of only five football fans to have attended every Super Bowl since the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 15, 1967, in what then was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Today, when he and his brother Jim walk through the gates to Raymond James Stadium that streak will be extended to 43. "I remember the stadium was half-empty, and I might have been the only fan there who wasn't wearing a suit and tie."

posted by terrapin to football at 08:57 AM - 4 comments

The Pop Rocks love them Steelers: A band made up of kids between the ages of 11 and 13 from Harmony, PA remake Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker" with new lyrics to honor the Steelers, and specifically the team's defense. Link is to a YouTube video. [via Blog 'n' Gold]

posted by terrapin to football at 09:49 AM - 2 comments

Mayor Steelerstahl: Pittsburgh mayor begins process to change his name from Luke Ravenstahll to Luke Steelerstahl.

posted by terrapin to football at 01:32 PM - 18 comments

Quiet Strength ... : The only NFL player since the AFL-NFL merger to intercept a pass and throw an interception in the same game—as well as the first NFL coach to defeat all 32 teams—has retired.

posted by terrapin to football at 03:49 PM - 32 comments

Fastest Red Card Ever ...: Chippenham Town striker David Pratt lives up to his name by setting the world's record for the fastest red card ever, being sent off only 3 seconds into a match against Bashley.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 11:01 AM - 5 comments

Greatest Catch of the Year ...: University of North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks uses his big hands to make one the greatest of the year if not ever. [YouTube Video]

posted by terrapin to football at 10:53 AM - 12 comments

Do You Believe in Miracles!?: With Chanukkah starting at sundown on Sunday, perhaps its time to flex those spinning muscles and get ready for year-round competitive dreidel!

posted by terrapin to extreme at 07:38 PM - 1 comment

FootballFilter 2.0: The people behind FootballFilter have re-thought the concept and came up with an aggregator format (similar to popurls.com) which "categorizes new[s] sources into things such as tabloids, broadsheets, magazines, broadcasters, international, [and] blogs." According to the developers, the idea behind the new FootballFilter is to "centralise all the best football sources into one place to save time and make the most of your time on the internet." [via MetaFilter Projects]

posted by terrapin to soccer at 06:32 AM - 10 comments

"So although it was an excellent season, we are still disappointed."

posted by terrapin to soccer at 10:28 PM - 7 comments

Manchester United Complete Double: The Champions League final was won on a sloppy rain-soaked pitch in Moscow when Manchester United held off 10-man Chelsea on (gag) penalties after John Terry slips taking decisive attempt.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 09:20 PM - 17 comments

Salary vs Performance: "What baseball teams are spending their money well, and how does it change over the course of the season?"

posted by terrapin to baseball at 08:40 PM - 5 comments

If you don't give my football back...: Just as Ebbsfleet United is about to play one of the biggest ties in its history, it looks like the teams' 29,000(+/-) owners are having a little trouble with the "pick the team" part of their tagline. And with only 2,000 of those owners committed past the first year of the experiment, there is some concern about the future of the model.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 08:01 AM - 6 comments

If you don't do what I say, I'll take my football home!: Lawyer, multimillionaire, University of Washington alumnus, and former three-term Everett, Washington mayor, Ed Hansen wants his way. And if the University of Washington wants $200,000 for law school scholarships all they have to do is fire their football coach and athletic director. [more inside]

posted by terrapin to business and law at 02:27 PM - 17 comments

McClaren sacked for big loss: After only 18 matches as England's coach, Steve McClaren and assistant coach Terry Venables have lost their positions after their side's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. The Football Association said was a unanimous decision by the board. So who's next? The speculation begins.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 11:24 AM - 17 comments

Tim Hardaway is making progress: "I'm not really trying to make amends. I've been there trying to get help." No word on how George Takei feels about all this.

posted by terrapin to culture at 09:14 PM - 8 comments

Scarborough Sports Marketing survey finds Steelers have largest female fan base: Second place goes to Green Bay. [more inside]

posted by terrapin to football at 05:34 PM - 17 comments

The Smoking Gun Reveals Steelers Secrets!: "Touring rock stars and politicians alike could learn a few things from the Pittsburgh Steelers. When the football team hits the road, hotel personnel are presented with a 17-page document outlining the NFL squad's demands, from chapel services to chicken wings."

posted by terrapin to football at 06:24 PM - 16 comments

Passion Passes Primary Postseason Play: The Pittsburgh Passion won the franchise's first NWFA playoff match with a 63-7 pulverizing of the Erie Illusion. The win was the fifth time in nine games that the Passion had scored more than 50 points, and the seventh time the team held their opponents to under 10 points.

posted by terrapin to football at 08:08 AM - 10 comments

The Real Winning Eleven: Want to own a stake in an English football team, but don't have pockets as deep as Roman Abramovich, Malcolm Glazer, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, Randy Lerner, or possibly even Stan Kroenke? Now's your chance! MyFootballClub is recruiting 50,000 members to bid for an English football club. Hoping to make history together by voting on which team to purchase—as well as which players to buy and sell—members plan to guide a club up the leagues and share equal ownership and control. Just like a football management game, but for real.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 11:50 AM - 6 comments