SportsFilter: Worldcup2002's blog

Obama is a soccer fan.

worldcup2002 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:25:32 -0500

West Ham invite Obama to watch a game at Upton Park. Apparently, he watched a Hammers game in 2003 while visiting his half-sister in London (article doesn't say if it was live, home, away or on the telly). Obama's older daughter plays on a soccer team. Change we can believe in.

Mo' bugs, Mo' problemz.

worldcup2002 — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:29:54 -0400

Just some functional and usability stuff I'm seeing as I get back into using the site.

Build your sportfolio on OneSeason.com.

worldcup2002 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:01:10 -0400

"At OneSeason, users can trade real money based on the performance of athletes, teams, leagues and other sports personalities."

Nigerian businessmen bid for Newcastle

worldcup2002 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:47:54 -0400

A Nigerian consortium wants to become the first African owners of an EPL team. It is unclear if their bid was sent by email. Or if it required the opening of a local bank account.

Manchester City make it the Big Five.

worldcup2002 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:32:30 -0400

The final day of the EPL's season-opener transfer window turns out to be a historic day for the blue side of Manchester.

Dara Torres, 41, qualifies for Olympics, rewrites swimming records.

worldcup2002 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:21:05 -0400

Dara Torres qualified for her fifth Olympics, 24 years after her debut in 1984. At 41, two years after having a child, she's still kicking ass and breaking records. Torres swears by resistance stretching and has volunteered for drug tests amid allegations of steroid use. Awesome pic (holy six-pack, Batman!) and more detail about Torres at kottke.org (where I first learned of Dara), plus even more detail at NYT and Wikipedia.

Remi Gaillard, soccer prankster (video)

worldcup2002 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:47:10 -0400

In celebration of Euro 2008, public prankster ... Rmi Gaillard made the following video of himself using the urban landscape as a soccer pitch. He scores goals into an occupied ambulance, trash cans, a trash truck, a police station entrance, a second storey window, a drive thru window, a fountain, a monument, a lighting structure, a manhole (heh), a pizza vendor truck, all with victims in attendance.

Paul Ince is Blackburn's new manager and first black English manager in EPL.

worldcup2002 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:39:10 -0400

Frenchman Jean Tigana with Fulham and (Dutch/Surinamese) Ruud Gullit with Chelsea and Newcastle are the only other two black managers to have managed in the Premier League. Ince will be officially presented as Blackburn's manager on Tuesday.

Scolari is new Chelsea coach, effective July 1.

worldcup2002 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:54:48 -0400

Looks like Avram Grant was a stopgap until they found a big name. Now they've found one in the current Portugal coach (who also won something called the World Cup as Brazil's coach in 2002), who's doing quite well at the Euro 2008 championship right now.

Kicking It: The Movie (QuickTime).

worldcup2002 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:09:47 -0400

[via coudal] In the summer of 2006, while the football world's attention was focused on Germany, thousands of players around the globe were training hard and competing to be part of ... The Homeless World Cup. ... 500 homeless players from 48 nations would ultimately be selected to represent their country in Cape Town, South Africacoming from such disparate parts of the world as war torn Afghanistan, the slums of Kenya, the drug rehab clinics of Dublin, Ireland, the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, the overflowing public shelters of Madrid, Spain, and the unforgiving city of St. Petersburg, Russia ... The film follows seven players ... as they confront the daily challenges of life on the streets, battle drug and alcohol addiction, and fight for the right to be recognized as human beings. ... From shattering misconceptions about the homeless to seeing people living at the edge of society discover that they also can be winners, the film shows in a real and powerful way that sports can and does change lives. This completes my soccer trifecta for today. Amen.

16 nations vie for Euro 2008 title beginning June 7.

worldcup2002 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:21:44 -0400

Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Greece, Russia, Spain, Spain, Sweden. Who's your pick to win it? Who will be the surprise team? Where can we watch live in the US for free at home (or can we)? Get the ball rolling inside.

Mark Hughes is new Manchester City manager.

worldcup2002 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:05:37 -0400

The former Manchester United star and Blackburn Rovers manager takes over from Sven-Goran Eriksson. The article also mentions that Hughes was non-committal on the impending purchases of Brazilians Ronaldinho and Jo. The next Manchester derby should be a rousing affair, with Hughes going up against old boss Alex Ferguson. Meanwhile, with Hughes' move, Chelsea loses yet another candidate to replace the departed Avram Grant. And Blackburn appear to be in no hurry to fill Hughes' spot, with candidates such as Sam Allardyce (late of Newcastle and Bolton) lined up.

Mourinho to Inter Milan, targets Chelsea trio.

worldcup2002 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:52:52 -0400

The Special One lands at Inter, and speculation is he will go after Essien, Drogba and Lampard.

IPL hits for six with faster, sexier cricket (NPR audio link).

worldcup2002 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:45:41 -0400

The Indian Premier League scores a resounding succes by juicing up cricket with a new league featuring shorter games, snazzy teams and even cheerleaders (imported from Europe and the US). All hail the Bangalore Royal Challengers, Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, and Deccan Chargers!

WuChess: Where hip-hop meets chess.

worldcup2002 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:27:52 -0400

Like the Wu-Tang Clan? Like Chess? Awwww yeah - this is the site for you. Play live chess with people from all over the world and get your learn on. WuChess.com lets you get knowledge from REAL chess masters online, or train in chambers against the computer to refine your skills. Create your own chess clans to see who can build the highest ranking. Play in tournaments for prizes, or just for the joy of flexin' ya mentals. They also donate part of their revenues to Hip-Hop Chess Federation ("Using chess, music and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and non-violence). Now you can be a Grand Master in rap, chess and kung-fu. This is too cool.