On my way back from Chicago today, I stopped by a bar with a couple friends to watch the end of the World Cup final between Italy and France. We had missed all of regulation, but made it in time for both overtime periods.
Towards the end of the 2nd overtime, France’s superstar veteran Zinédine Zidane exchanged heated words with Italian defender Marco Materazzi and then head-butted him in the chest, sending him flying into the turf!
(According to the NY Times World Cup Blog, Materazzi apparently twisted Zidane’s nipple, egging him on.)
The NY Times quickly posted the story detailing Italy’s win and Zidane’s misconduct and included a link to a YouTube clip featuring the incident. (Unfortunately, the NY Times doesn’t credit YouTube in the link)
It’s an odd, but perfect example of how video can and should be integrated into online print articles. The NY Times has plenty of random video clips featuring interviews and other short bits, but few actually relate to the major print stories or add anything valuable to the stories that sit on the front page.
A visual like this is something that just can’t be described fully in a newspaper article, but also shouldn’t be the focus of a story about Italy winning the World Cup.
I’m not sure how the NY Times usually integrates links to outside media sources in their stories, but this is (with the exception of the failure to acknowledge YouTube) exactly how it should be done.
There have been practically no new posts lately because I’ve been completely engaged in work, ultimate, and, more importantly, the World Cup.
The World Cup is definitely one of my favorite sporting events.
You can sense the extreme feelings of nationalism and comradere just from seeing the diehard fans spill into the host country from across the world. You can argue that the Olympics serve a similar purpose - but the coverage of the World Cup is more about sport and less about drama, although the American broadcasters wouldn’t have you know it.
Unfortunately, it still doesn’t seem like soccer has picked up steam as a major American sport. That may change over the course of the next decade though.
Rumor has it that English superstar David Beckham of Real Madrid will move to America in the next few years to play for an MLS squad. And with the increasing Latino and Asian populations in the US, interest in soccer is bound to grow.
For updated scores and in-game coverage, check out the NY Times’ World Cup blog. In addition to live-blogging each game, they provide some good analysis and a look at the complete picture in Germany.
USA Today: Conquest of USA Beckons to Beckham
NY Times: World Cup blog
There’s nothing better than tailgating with brats, beer, and the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the story… and the video. Wow, I miss Wisconsin, but not the crappy spring weather.
Update: The Brewers win 3-2 over the Pirates, bringing them to 3-0 overall. We’d better be beating Pittsburgh if we expect to do better than last year.
This year’s Winter Olympics were a disappointment. Although the excitement of curling and storied history of snowboardcross always bring tears to my eyes, my heart just wasn’t in it. Torino (Turin?), Italy turned out to be a great location, providing majestic landscapes, old-world charm, and even some snow… but the entire event just doesn’t capture the world’s attention as it once did.
Maybe the dramatic increase in entertainment choices or a media shift toward “micro-casting” to small audiences had an effect on viewership, but one thing is certain: the Olympics need a shot in the arm to draw a crowd and unite the world in peaceful solidarity.
The only real solution: a major change of venue.
The Hoth 2014 Olympic Movement is petitioning the International Olympic Committe to hold the games on the ice planet Hoth, location of the hidden Rebel base in The Empire Strikes Back.
According to the movement’s web site, events could include the 2-man snowspeeder race and the Bi-Hoth-alon. Show your support and sign the petition.
Unfortunately, Hoth won’t actually be eligible for the 2014 Games… the deadline was in July. There’s also apparently a lack of suitable accomodations in the area.
I don’t usually follow Major League Soccer, but this is a new development in U.S. sports: Red Bull, the maker of Red Bull Energy Drink has bought the New York / New Jersey MetroStars and renamed them, you guessed it, Red Bull New York.
Red Bull already owns a team in Austria, where the drink was created, called Red Bull Salzburg.
Pro soccer teams around the world have had advertisements prominently displayed on their jerseys for the last decade, but I haven’t heard of a team actually changing it’s name to that of a product before.
I’m giddy with anticipation for Brewers Baseball.
I can’t wait to listen to Uke, crack open a Miller Lite, scarf down some brats, and cheer on the Crew to what Dave Roloff predicts will be our first playoff birth in over two decades.
We all know that nothing’s guaranteed (or even probable), but there’s nothing that says I can’t spend spring training dreaming that Milwaukee will actually have a winning season.
Some wonderfully optimistic propaganda for your enjoyment:
Winning Brewers baseball has arrived by Dave Roloff
Self-proclaimed “Sports Guy” and ESPN.com Scribe Bill Simmons live-blogged Super Bowl XL, with extremely witty and insightful (ok, maybe not that insightful) thoughts.
Highlights:
6:50 — Another three-and-out for the Steelers … followed by the game being halted for 75 seconds when Al Michaels realized he accidentally put on an NBC blazer.
6:54 — All right, who was more available this week: Dr. John for the national anthem or Jay Mohr for Diet Pepsi? Is he supposed to be playing Jay Mohr in the commercial? Is he playing Bob Sugar from “Jerry Maguire”? Is he playing another character? Will this be explained later in the game? I’m confused.
8:58 — Random question: Have you ever seen John Madden’s arms dangling by his sides? Has it ever happened? Would he tip over? Watch for this. Meanwhile, three-and-out for the Steelers. There hasn’t been a momentum swing this damaging since Britney Spears met Kevin Federline.
9:11 — I think Madden is trying to combine tonight’s announcing with his recording session for “Madden 2007.” Here’s what he said as Seattle took the field with two minutes left in the third: “This is where adrenaline comes, everything you have, your whole season comes down to this, everyone knows the winners, but forgets the losers.”
(And … cut! Great take, John! Now, do the spiel about how you shouldn’t go for it on fourth down in your own territory, that’s why you have a defense and special teams.)
9:27 — The old gadget play: A reverse to Randle El, who throws a 43-yard pass to Ward for a TD. 21-10, Steelers. Nobody uses those gadget plays better than Pittsburgh. And yes, it’s pretty sad that Randle El was the best QB on the field tonight.
Later today, the Milwaukee Brewers will be unveiling new Sunday home uniforms that feature the beloved glove logo that graced Brew Crew gear from 1978-1993. The decision for the resurrection of the classic emblem (the letters M and B hidden in the shape of a baseball glove) was prompted by feedback from fans who have been sporting the old colors in recent seasons.
Not so random fact: The logo was created in 1977 by UW-Eau Claire art student Tom Meindel.
From MLB.com:
“We’re trying to marry the old with the new,” owner Mark Attanasio said at the end of the regular season, while the Brewers were still in the process of designing the new look.
The event will also mark the beginning of the team’s season ticket campaign, and sales staff will man the phones during the broadcast. Select incoming calls will be fielded by Brewers alumni and others participating in the evening’s activities.
Three hundred invited guests are expected to be in attendance at the event and will be invited to ask questions during the evening’s panel sessions. Because of limited space in the .300 Club, the event is not open to the public.
Of course, The Kid will be there too.
“The Kid” is returning to Milwaukee in a Brewers uniform, this time as a coach. The Journal Sentinel is reporting that hall of famer Robin Yount will be a bench coach for the Brewers next season.
Having a coach of Yount’s experience and influence on the Milwaukee bench should be another boost to the ballclub in 2006.
Brewers TV announcer and former teammate of Yount, Bill Schroeder had this to say: “Just his presence will rub off on the players and make them play harder. You don’t want to disappoint Robin Yount. He brings even more credibility to a team starting to have success. I can’t think of a better guy to be our bench coach.”
I think the new NBA dress code is pretty ridiculous. It’s only intent is to get rid of the hip-hop aura surrounding the game and make the players dress more like the fans dropping a couple-hundred bucks to go see a game. While the league has every right to enforce a dress code, owners should make a greater effort to communicate with the players intead of simply handing down decrees from on high.
In USA Today, Golden State Guard Jason Richardson made a point that could be directed at the guys who came up with the dress code: “You still wear a suit, you still could be a crook,” Richardson said in Oakland. “You see all what happened with Enron and Martha Stewart. Just because you dress a certain way doesn’t mean you’re that way.”
Slate.com has a few suggestions as to how players can obey the dress code, but still express themselves:
Embrace the suit: This is not 1957. Today, a suit can mean a lot of things. Commissioner Stern of all people should know that. He stands at the podium every draft day and watches the basketball youth take the stage wearing mustard-colored blazers and fire-engine-red waistcoats. And those aren’t even the European players. Put it this way: We’ve seen Cedric the Entertainer wear a suit without sleeves before. There’s room for creativity here.
Use your heads: Headgear not allowed? Bring back the visor. While a visor does boast a brim, we believe that it is technically not a hat as it does not satisfy the main hat qualification: covering your head. In reality, it is more akin to the headband. Hell, accountants wear visors, and it does not get more straight-laced than that.
Accessorize: No medallions, no problem. You need your bling, put it on an earring. Want us to rhyme one more time? Fine. If it’s telling time, where’s the crime? Bring back the pocket watch and chain. Get your medallion fix while letting everybody know “what time it is.”
Make your injury work for you: Riding the pine with a torn ACL? Walk that one off with a diamond-encrusted cane. We’re talking about your health here. You’d be surprised what an emerald-studded walking cast can do for a nasty case of plantar fasciitis.
Give yourself props: Bump that folding chair up a notch. Who says you can’t sit on a throne and go from a Sacramento King to the king of Sacramento? And get yourself a pair of pumas. We’re not talkin’ sneakers here—those are on the don’t list. After a tough loss, stroll to the press conference while flanked by two adult female pumas. Then we’ll see if that beat writer chastises you about the fade away three-pointer you took in overtime.
Slate.com article: Fashion Victims - How NBA players can get around the league’s awful new dress code.
If you’ve been watching the playoffs lately, you might be tempted to ask why they don’t have instant replay in baseball.
Case 1: In game 2 of the ALCS, White Sox batter A.J. Pierzynski swung on a low third strike that was then caught by Angels catcher Josh Paul. Doug Eddings, the home-plate umpire, signaled the out… and a few seconds later, Pierzynski bolts towards 1st base. For some reason, Eddings reneged on his original call after Paul had turned to head into the dugout and the White Sox went on the score the winning run.
A quick look at video of the pitch would have remedied the situation and the right decision would have been clear.
Case 2: I’ll hand it to Steve Safran of Lost Remote for the play-by-play of this one: “Bottom of the second, Angels have men on first and third and they are down 3-1. Angels’ CF Steve Finley swings at a pitch and his bat clearly hits the catcher’s glove. The play unfolds as a double play, and the White Sox get out of a jam. BUT… The replay shows the catcher’s glove folding over as it comes in contact with the bat - and that’s interference by the catcher. No question. Finley should have been awarded first base, and the bases would have been loaded with one out.”
So, why don’t the MLB owners chip in for TiVo and put controversy to rest. For one, fans, especially casual ones, have been complaining about the length of games for years. With all of the close calls that occur over the course of a baseball game, you’d have to tack on at least another 20 minutes per game.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but baseball is the only sport where an official makes such a vital call on every play. If we instituted the instant replay for caught balls and close tags, the question would be why don’t we use it call balls and strikes?
Human judgement and human error are all part of the sport. Just like you’ve got to adjust your swing depending on the pitch, you’ve got to adjust you strike zone depending on who’s behind the plate.
If baseball had instant replay, we wouldn’t managers charging on the field and laying into umpires. The arguments… the tempers… some of the most dramatic moments of the game would be gone. We wouldn’t be talking about game 2 of the ALCS after the series ended. And we wouldn’t have posts like this from White Sox fans who don’t believe the videotape.
Foxsports.com: Baseball, instant replay … not a winning pair
you’ve said it all.. including the title of “Best road-trip in the Big Ten”, according to Sports Illustrated.
Here’s the write-up:
Madison, a majestic getaway camp for 18-to-21-year-old Lost Boys and Lost Girls, has become the poster child for everything good and rootable in the Midwest. (And they’ll take all the fans they can get in 2005. The NFL draft has left the football team depleted.) Nary a commentator or GameDay host or opposing player has come away anything but awestruck by the scenery (twin Lakes Mendota and Monona) and revelry. Better yet, unlike their liberal equivalents at the University of Texas in Austin, Madisonians will welcome you with open arms. There’s no sense of “Mine! All mine!” at UW.
Wisconsin - The Big Ten doesn’t get any bigger or better than Madison
Rounding out the list are:
2. Penn State
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. Michigan
6. Indiana
7. Purdue
8. Michigan State
9. Illinios
10. Minnesota
11. Northwestern (not a lot of love for Evanston from SI)
This pretty much speaks for itself. I can’t wait to be in Europe during the World Cup next summer.
Airliner fakes emergency so passengers can watch soccer game
LIMA, Peru (AP) — A chartered jet carrying 289 Gambian soccer fans pretended it needed to make an emergency landing so they could watch their team compete in the FIFA Under 17 World Championships, officials said Wednesday.
The plane, claiming to be low on fuel, landed Tuesday near the stadium in Peru’s northern coast city of Piura.
“It truly was a scam,” said Betty Maldonado, a spokeswoman for Peru’s aviation authority, CORPAC. “They tricked the control tower, saying they were low on fuel.”
Sports Illustrated ranked major league ballparks in terms of the value they offer fans. Using a combination of scores in categories such as average ticket price, average cost of souviners/concessions, amenities, atmosphere and team, the report placed Miller Park at the top of the list.
Despite high ratings in most categories, the Crew earned a 3 for team performance. SI mentions the major potential of rookies like Weeks, Fielder and Hardy… but seemingly bases their grade solely on the team’s record (64-67 at the time of publication). They fail to acknowledge that the Brewers are flirting with .500 in an attempt to finish the season over the mark for the first time since Molitor left in ‘92. It’s not “breaking the curse,” but for Brewer fans at least it’s hope.
A #1 fan rating is something for Milwaukee to be proud. Having just visited Fenway and Shea stadiums in Boston and New York respectively, I can say that Miller Park is a MUCH more affordable experience. And that’s what baseball should be, an opportunity for people of all demographics to take their families to a ball game without breaking their budget. As the Crew (hopefully) improves their play in the next few years, Miller Park’s value will only increase and fans will begin to see a return on their investment.
And there’s no doubt that Brew Town is living up to it’s national reputation:
The ‘hood here is merely an asphalt sea — but it plays host to the greatest tailgating scene in all of Major League Baseball. College-aged Wisconsinites huddle around coolers and pledge their support for Miller products; adults kick back in lawn chairs, grilling meats and swigging MGDs, while their law-abiding kids play catch and have conversations like this one, which I can attest to overhearing in May:
Thirteen-year-old to his friend, while both excitedly observe a nearby tailgate party: “Dude, those guys are getting plastered.”
Friend: “If you want to see plastered, just wait ’til I’m 21.”
The Brew Crew (56-56) is at .500 coming out of the roadtrip to New York and Philadelphia. Let’s hope they can get above the mark by eeking out a couple of wins in the three-game series with St. Louis (70-41) that begins tonite.
This is one of the best pages I’ve found in a while. Sportslogos.net features a detailed history of professional sports logos from modern teams to the Seattle Pilots (a team that only existed for one year in 1969) and the Washington Senators.
Being the logo geek I am, this site is a great find. Sportslogos.net includes primary and secondary logos as well as scripts and jerseys and covers to sports spectrum including the Canadian Baseball League, the XFL and MLS. I should be able to make some pretty great computer wallpaper (and real wallpaper?) with this stuff. Now if I can only convince this guy to give me vector versions of everything….
There’s a ton more sports logos, including many obscure ones, at Logoserver.com
(Thank you Blogger for making “floatleft” so much easier)
The Brewers extended their winning streak to seven today, sweeping the home series against the Cubs. Carlos Lee hit a looper just over the shoulder of the second baseman to drive in the winning run. The Crew looked downright giddy, coming out of the dugout to congratulate Lee with hugs and high-fives. It’s great to win a home series against the Cubs, when there are more Chicago fans than Milwaukee fans at Miller Park.
Lately I’ve been reading Brew Crew Ball, a Brewers blog sponsored by SportsBlogs, a community of baseball blogs built by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKos, a popular left-leaning political blog.
I’ve been working long hours on my journalism project (which I’ll post a link to here when it’s finally finished), so I haven’t had the time to post everything I’ve wanted to lately. I’ve got some free time this afternoon, so hopefully I can post a few things I’ve been sitting on.
Mr. Baseball
An article from STLtoday.com on my favorite baseball announcer. Bob Uecker may not be the best baseball analyst, but he’s definitely entertaining. I”m looking forward to grilling out on the porch this summer, listening to a Brewer game (they spanked the Cubs last night).
The NFL just announced that Monday Night Football will be shown on ESPN instead of ABC next season and Sunday Night Football will be moved to NBC. ABC will be the only major network not to be carrying the NFL, although broadcasts will remain under the Disney company umbrella with ESPN.
Since so many people now have cable and games will still be shown on broadcast stations in local markets, I don’t really see this as having a major impact on NFL viewership, although it may be an annoyance to some used to relying on broadcast television for their MNF fix. NBC hasn’t had NFL games in a while… I always like to compare how different networks approach broadcasts of the same sport.
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