German MNT keeper Enke in apparent suicide: Robert Enke was 29 and expected to be Germany's netminder next summer in South Africa after replacing Jens Lehman last year. He leaves behind a wife and an eight month old daughter. Enke battled depression for six years and lived in fear that this fact would come out and he'd lose custody of his daughter, his wife Teresa told BBC Sport.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 05:20 PM - 31 comments

Bolivian coach quits over fielding 12-year-old son: In heartwarming tale of putting family ahead of career, Julio Cesar Baldivieso, the father of South America’s youngest ever first division soccer player (a few days under 13), has quit as team coach after the management of the Aurora club told him to leave the boy out of the squad. This is not a minor club, Baldivieso led Aurora to the Bolivian top flight championship last season.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 01:46 PM - 6 comments

Secrets of the fixture computer: Ever wondered why you have had to travel the length of the country on a wet Tuesday night to watch your team in action? Turns out that the game calendar is massively complicated but done by one guy on his laptop. Then the clubs, leagues and police weigh in. The 2009-10 schedule will be out tomorrow.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 11:57 AM - 1 comment

How David Beats Goliath: Malcolm Gladwell uses a 7th grade girls basketball team, a computer-driven war games entrant, Lawrence of Arabia and David to illustrate that effort often trumps ability, if the underdogs refuse to play on Goliath's terms. In other words, why don't more bball teams use a full court press the entire game?

posted by billsaysthis to general at 06:27 PM - 9 comments

El Tri dump Sven: After his charges lost again, 3-1 to Honduras, and his team sitting fourth of six in WC2010 qualifying Sven Goren Eriksson was given walking papers today by the FMF. Mexico have some decent players who also missed lots of playing time to injuries and suspensions in his 10 months as boss, so is this a panic by the federation or was SGE just unable to connect with the team?

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 05:37 PM - 14 comments

Q. and A.: The Special One, José Mourinho: The Inter manager sat down recently with the NY Times for "his first one-on-one interview with an American news outlet." Not bad and Jose comes off well (IMO), especially in his good humor about the hilarious long-running parody Special1TV.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 04:54 PM - 5 comments

Collina Speaks! to the NY Times no less: If I respect only a few referees, Pierluigi Collina is first among all. Though he claims no dissatisfaction at the 45 years old retirement rule, the man who stood out among the stars at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups is going strong and gives the Times a glimpse into his thinking.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 05:07 PM - 3 comments

Close season is almost over: The Community Shield is in 36 hours, the EPL opens in another week. Who made the most of the transfer window? Will the Top 4 do anything but play musical chairs? Scolari has come to Chelsea, kept Lampard and Drogba (so far) and wants Robinho. SAF has not lost Lady Boy and not bought Berbatov. Arsenal bought teen heartthrob Aaron Ramsey and Samir Nasri. Liverpool got Keane, Dossena, Degen and Ngog.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 01:39 AM - 8 comments

Judge Sides with Redskins: The Washington Redskins have won the latest round in a 16-year court battle against a group of American Indians, prevailing on a technicality that again skirts the issue of whether the team’s nickname is racially offensive. In a ruling dated June 25 and first circulated Thursday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the youngest of the seven Native American plaintiffs waited too long after turning 18 to file the lawsuit that attempts to revoke the Redskins trademarks.

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 09:52 AM - 26 comments

Minnow's harpoon on target again: 19th place in the Championship hosting No. 3 in the Prem and for the second round in a row the Tykes do the business. 96 years since they were last in the semi-finals and they won the trophy that year. With Harry Redknapp's Pompey taking down the Red Devils, the last four will include at least two second division or lower clubs. And possibly a third depending on if Middlesbrough or Cardiff play to recent form tomorrow. Cliche or not, this is the beauty of the FA Cup.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 02:12 PM - 18 comments

We Tried Baseball and It Didn't Work : Excellent example of true geek humor, so of course baseball fans will probably hate this one.

posted by billsaysthis to baseball at 10:20 AM - 24 comments

Fans make Liverpool takeover move: Liverpool supporters are to launch an ambitious plan to buy the football club from its current American owners and turn it towards the Spanish/German model. "The Champions League has been won on six occasions in the last 15 years by clubs owned and run in such a way," said football business lecturer Rogan Taylor, one of the three prime movers.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 10:31 PM - 12 comments

OTHER MOMENTS IN A SOCCER PLAYER'S LIFE.: It's the off-season. Sergio stands before Sheri, his gorgeous cocoa-skinned girlfriend of nearly one week. They're in his South Beach mansion's movie room. She claims that she loves him ... but she really wants to choose the movie tonight.

"Please, Sergio? I love-love-love Brad Pitt and George Clooney," she says.

Sergio falls to the fine carpet, screaming, holding his hands over his heart as if he had been kicked there. The pain is too much for him to bear! He might not be able to take it one second longer!

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 04:08 PM - 5 comments

Soccer by Ives: Ives Galarcep, a blogger, soccer beat reporter for a Jersey newspaper and ESPN.com for the last decade, took the increasingly common plunge and left his newspaper home to launch a global soccer news site for the American fan. Tagline: "Spanning the world of soccer with an American voice and a Jersey flavor"

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 11:16 PM - 2 comments

Hamilton to secure $1bn future: It is believed that Hamilton has held discussions with his financial advisers about a range of options, including listing himself on the London stock market. The move could see the racing driver list a minority stake in a company in which he would be the main asset and remain the major shareholder. Several US sports stars are considering similar proposals, including Derek Jeter, the star batsman at the New York Yankees baseball team.

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 09:54 AM - 3 comments

Austria fans petition for Austria-free Euro 2008: Thousands of Austrian soccer fans dismayed at their national side's poor showing ahead of co-hosting Euro 2008 are petitioning for their team to be withdrawn from the tournament. A group of fans have collected more than 4,000 names since launching the petition last Wednesday. "This is not about criticising players or coaches," said Michael Kriess, one of the fans who launched the petition.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 12:39 PM - 5 comments

Platini's first move: If a new UEFA committee he organized after taking office earlier this year approves, the winners of domestic Cups from sixteen nations will play two knockout rounds with the four survivors winning direct entry to the group stage of the Champions League. This is separate from their standing in the league table, though if a Cup winner already qualifies through an automatic spot the CL place goes to the next team in the table and not the Cup final loser. Michel Platini campaigned for the UEFA presidency on a platform of broadening the riches of the modern game and sees this as his first step.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 12:00 AM - 7 comments

USA 2-1 Mexico: FSC's Christopher Sullivan said before the game that while El Tri generally outplay Uncle Sam, the Americans find the chances and win and that was certainly what happened this afternoon. Donovan got his fourth goal of the tournament, all PKs, emerging star Bennie Feilhaber had the best goal of the competition with a volley to the top far corner off a poor Mexican clearance for the winner and the US improved to 10-0-1 under Bob Bradley. Next: Bradley takes an extremely young team to Venezuela since even the strongest side he could have fielded were unlikely to make it out of the group stage.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 05:59 PM - 33 comments

London unveils logo of 2012 Games: and immediately inspires derision and naughty thoughts!

posted by billsaysthis to other at 03:06 PM - 42 comments

Swedish Game Site Power Challenge Raises $8M in VC: Power Challenge makes Java-powered, browser-based sports games, so far football (USians: soccer) and hockey, not surprising considering their location, and in both single and multi-player variations. Sadly and strangely, Windows-only so far, so I can't give you my two cents, though OS X and Linux are "coming soon."

posted by billsaysthis to culture at 04:31 PM - 3 comments

Gretna make history with third title in a row: Club from a tiny Borders town secured promotion to the top flight after just five years in the league, winning their league's title in three straight levels. Can they pressurize the Old Firm next season?

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 02:29 PM - 9 comments

US 3-1 Ecuador: Playing again at the level of 2001-2004 (that is, from leading the Earthquakes to the 2001 and 2003 MLS championships and the US to within a single late goal of the final four in the 2002 World Cup and before his winter visit with Bayern Leverkusen), Landon Donovan scored a hat trick over higher-ranked Ecuador and the US back four plus newcomer Bennie Feilhaber stood up against a strong set of forwards. Sunil Gulati, inquiring minds want to know when you're going to end this absurd search for a permanent coach; with this and the previous 2-0 win over Mexico and his inclusion of young talent, Bob Bradley has earned the removal of the interim tag.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 02:14 PM - 21 comments

Curt Schilling looks to Green Monster for his future: Acknowledging his major league career will most likely be over in the next couple of years, the BoSox pitcher has founded a company based on his true love: computer gaming.

posted by billsaysthis to baseball at 04:05 PM - 1 comment

"Collymore comeback a joke": After five years out of the profession, striker Stan Collymore says after three weeks of training up in Tenerife he'll be ready to rejoin a Premiership squad. BBC Sport writer Phil McNulty thinks not.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 05:17 PM - 7 comments

Russian court bans Malkin from playing in NHL: "'This is pure sports terrorism,' said Metallurg general director Gennady Velichkin after accusing the NHL of stealing Russia's best players." Meanwhile: "The NHL said it would not negotiate compensation packages with any Russian club after the Russians refused to sign a transfer agreement with the North American league."

posted by billsaysthis to hockey at 11:47 PM - 14 comments