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Best striker in the EPL!2
Football / Who have Direct Tv?
« on: October 21, 2011, 07:59:44 PM »
DirecTV Might Drop Fox Cable Channels
Sides exchange charges ahead of Nov. 1 deadline
By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/20/2011 11:15:52 PM
Fox says that DirecTV is threatening to pull the plug on its national and regional cable networks on Nov. 1 unless a new carriage fee agreement can be reached.
In a statement on a site set up by the satellite provider, DirecTV CEO Mike White says that Fox parent News Corp. "has demanded that DirecTV customers pay nearly 40% more for the same channels they already received. If a new deal is not reached, we will be forced to suspend the channels as early as Nov. 1."
White adds that "we respectfully ask for your patience as we work to achieve a fair agreement as quickly as possible."
Fox, in a press release, said that "DirecTV sent us a proposal on Tuesday afternoon. They have given us no chance to respond before taking an unnecessarily aggressive posture and going public. It is disappointing that they have chosen bad faith tactics over meaningful negotiation."
Fox says it has proposed to allow DirecTV to continue to carry its networks for the current price and terms while negotiations continue. "Unfortunately, DirecTV has decided that unless they get their way, they are going to pull the plug on their customers Nov. 1."
A Fox executive called the 40% increase figure cited by White "ridiculous."
DirecTV responded to Fox's statement with one of its own.
"After months of making little progress in our talks with News Corp. and Fox to renew our agreement to carry their regional sports networks and other national channels we've regrettably reached a point where we will be forced to suspend the channels as soon as Nov. 1 unless News Corp. is willing to move toward a more reasonable price increase," DirecTV said.
"They are currently asking our customers to pay 40% more for the exact same Fox channels that they already receive and that's simply unfair and unwarranted. We hope to resolve this situation before any action is taken, but we will do what's necessary to protect our customers from excessive and unwarranted fee increases. We already provide News Corp. nearly a billion dollars a year for their channels, and we have no problem continuing to compensate them fairly," the statement concluded.
The networks affected include FX, National Geographic Channel, Speed, Fuel TV, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Deportes and the 19 Fox regional sports networks.
Not affected are the Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel.
Sides exchange charges ahead of Nov. 1 deadline
By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/20/2011 11:15:52 PM
Fox says that DirecTV is threatening to pull the plug on its national and regional cable networks on Nov. 1 unless a new carriage fee agreement can be reached.
In a statement on a site set up by the satellite provider, DirecTV CEO Mike White says that Fox parent News Corp. "has demanded that DirecTV customers pay nearly 40% more for the same channels they already received. If a new deal is not reached, we will be forced to suspend the channels as early as Nov. 1."
White adds that "we respectfully ask for your patience as we work to achieve a fair agreement as quickly as possible."
Fox, in a press release, said that "DirecTV sent us a proposal on Tuesday afternoon. They have given us no chance to respond before taking an unnecessarily aggressive posture and going public. It is disappointing that they have chosen bad faith tactics over meaningful negotiation."
Fox says it has proposed to allow DirecTV to continue to carry its networks for the current price and terms while negotiations continue. "Unfortunately, DirecTV has decided that unless they get their way, they are going to pull the plug on their customers Nov. 1."
A Fox executive called the 40% increase figure cited by White "ridiculous."
DirecTV responded to Fox's statement with one of its own.
"After months of making little progress in our talks with News Corp. and Fox to renew our agreement to carry their regional sports networks and other national channels we've regrettably reached a point where we will be forced to suspend the channels as soon as Nov. 1 unless News Corp. is willing to move toward a more reasonable price increase," DirecTV said.
"They are currently asking our customers to pay 40% more for the exact same Fox channels that they already receive and that's simply unfair and unwarranted. We hope to resolve this situation before any action is taken, but we will do what's necessary to protect our customers from excessive and unwarranted fee increases. We already provide News Corp. nearly a billion dollars a year for their channels, and we have no problem continuing to compensate them fairly," the statement concluded.
The networks affected include FX, National Geographic Channel, Speed, Fuel TV, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Deportes and the 19 Fox regional sports networks.
Not affected are the Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel.
3
Football / Euro Under 21
« on: June 12, 2011, 01:36:04 PM »
Spain vs England watching on Justin Tv. Outstanding talent on display. United has Cleverly, Smalling, Wellbeck for England and if they sign Jones and De Gea that will be at least 5 playing in tis torno.
DeGea just pull off a Gordon Banks type of save! I can't believe no stations picked up this tournament!
DeGea just pull off a Gordon Banks type of save! I can't believe no stations picked up this tournament!
4
Football / Lineker sh!ts self on field!
« on: December 05, 2010, 11:55:27 AM »
Some 20 years after the event, Gary Lineker has seen fit to announce - in an interview with the BBC, his employers, to mark the occasion of his 50th birthday - that he did a poo on the pitch during a World Cup game against Republic of Ireland at Italia '90 .
That he had stomach cramps during the game was widely reported at the time, but the press missed the full ramifications of the incident.
"Unless you know, you wouldn't know," Lineker said. "I tried to tackle someone, stretched and relaxed myself and erm ... "
He then spent a considerable amount of time trying to wipe his effluent on the pitch while 'washing' his hands on the grass. "I was very fortunate that it rained that night," he added.
The match report in the Daily Express seemed close to uncovering the facts of the case - "trying to get through was like trying to unblock a clogged drain, and the supply to Lineker was more like a drip than a flood" - while the striker said he "never found so much space after that in my life".
Perhaps the incident was still on his mind during the post-match interview, when asked for his thoughts on Ireland's performance. "Not pretty to watch, but certainly effective," he said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SpNSXErBZc
That he had stomach cramps during the game was widely reported at the time, but the press missed the full ramifications of the incident.
"Unless you know, you wouldn't know," Lineker said. "I tried to tackle someone, stretched and relaxed myself and erm ... "
He then spent a considerable amount of time trying to wipe his effluent on the pitch while 'washing' his hands on the grass. "I was very fortunate that it rained that night," he added.
The match report in the Daily Express seemed close to uncovering the facts of the case - "trying to get through was like trying to unblock a clogged drain, and the supply to Lineker was more like a drip than a flood" - while the striker said he "never found so much space after that in my life".
Perhaps the incident was still on his mind during the post-match interview, when asked for his thoughts on Ireland's performance. "Not pretty to watch, but certainly effective," he said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SpNSXErBZc
5
2010 World Cup - South Africa / Best and most pleasant World cup Surprise (s)
« on: July 04, 2010, 01:24:58 PM »
Since we have the biggest disappointment I thought I would create an opposite thread.
Germany and it's young but talented team and how they have dealt with all that have come before them.
Forlan elevating his game and his doing whatever it takes to contribute to the success of his country.
Ghana.
Germany and it's young but talented team and how they have dealt with all that have come before them.
Forlan elevating his game and his doing whatever it takes to contribute to the success of his country.
Ghana.
6
Football / Lord Wrigley explains!
« on: September 04, 2009, 08:27:33 AM »
Ferguson: UEFA right to ban Eduardo for diving
Associated Press
September 4, 2009, 9:53 AM EDT
NYON, Switzerland (AP) - Alex Ferguson said Friday that UEFA was right to ban Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva for two matches after he deceived the referee to win a penalty in a Champions League match.
The Manchester United coach said diving was "not acceptable," and UEFA had to send a strong disciplinary message because it was such a high profile competition.
"Quite rightly something should be done. You hope that message gets across," Ferguson told reporters at UEFA headquarters after a two-day gathering of coaches from Europe's top clubs.
Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger also attended the forum where the diving controversy was a hot topic.
Wenger said he was still "surprised" at UEFA's decision to use video evidence and suspend Eduardo over the incident in its victory over Celtic last week.
"We have decided to appeal so it's better that we don't talk too much," Wenger told reporters. "It is difficult to know why the decision has been made but we can only challenge it."
The Gunners have until the middle of next week to lodge its appeal with UEFA, and a hearing is expected before Wenger's team begins its Champions League group stage program Sept. 16 away to Standard Liege.
Ferguson also offered his support to Wenger, saying he was right to publicly defend Eduardo, while not condoning the Croatia international's perceived dive.
"I would not have been pleased if it was my player that did that," the Man United coach said. "I wouldn't say it publicly but I wouldn't be pleased.
"When you make a public criticism of your players you are in danger of losing the morale of the dressing room. Your job is to protect the dressing room and keep it solid. You become insular and protective of your own players in your team. We're all selfish that way."
]
Ferguson said the gathering of coaches, including Real Madrid's Manuel Pellegrini, Ciro Ferrara of Juventus and Laurent Blanc of Bordeaux, agreed on the diving issue.
"Not one coach is proud of the fact that they have players who simulate to get decisions. Coaches can't be proud if they have won the game that way. I certainly wouldn't be," he said.
"We all agreed that education is the best way forward, from youth teams through to first team players. We all have a responsibility, particularly the players of today, on how it impacts on young people," he added.
Ferguson said he supported UEFA's experiment to play Europa League matches this season with five match officials, with an additional assistant referee (AAR) behind each goal whose tasks would include identifying - and deterring - diving in the penalty area.
Associated Press
September 4, 2009, 9:53 AM EDT
NYON, Switzerland (AP) - Alex Ferguson said Friday that UEFA was right to ban Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva for two matches after he deceived the referee to win a penalty in a Champions League match.
The Manchester United coach said diving was "not acceptable," and UEFA had to send a strong disciplinary message because it was such a high profile competition.
"Quite rightly something should be done. You hope that message gets across," Ferguson told reporters at UEFA headquarters after a two-day gathering of coaches from Europe's top clubs.
Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger also attended the forum where the diving controversy was a hot topic.
Wenger said he was still "surprised" at UEFA's decision to use video evidence and suspend Eduardo over the incident in its victory over Celtic last week.
"We have decided to appeal so it's better that we don't talk too much," Wenger told reporters. "It is difficult to know why the decision has been made but we can only challenge it."
The Gunners have until the middle of next week to lodge its appeal with UEFA, and a hearing is expected before Wenger's team begins its Champions League group stage program Sept. 16 away to Standard Liege.
Ferguson also offered his support to Wenger, saying he was right to publicly defend Eduardo, while not condoning the Croatia international's perceived dive.
"I would not have been pleased if it was my player that did that," the Man United coach said. "I wouldn't say it publicly but I wouldn't be pleased.
"When you make a public criticism of your players you are in danger of losing the morale of the dressing room. Your job is to protect the dressing room and keep it solid. You become insular and protective of your own players in your team. We're all selfish that way."
]
Ferguson said the gathering of coaches, including Real Madrid's Manuel Pellegrini, Ciro Ferrara of Juventus and Laurent Blanc of Bordeaux, agreed on the diving issue.
"Not one coach is proud of the fact that they have players who simulate to get decisions. Coaches can't be proud if they have won the game that way. I certainly wouldn't be," he said.
"We all agreed that education is the best way forward, from youth teams through to first team players. We all have a responsibility, particularly the players of today, on how it impacts on young people," he added.
Ferguson said he supported UEFA's experiment to play Europa League matches this season with five match officials, with an additional assistant referee (AAR) behind each goal whose tasks would include identifying - and deterring - diving in the penalty area.
7
General Discussion / Damn, like nobody safe!
« on: April 12, 2009, 05:32:23 PM »
American citizen jailed as illegal AP
Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 58 mins ago
Pedro Guzman has been an American citizen all his life. Yet in 2007, the 31-year-old Los Angeles native — in jail for a misdemeanor, mentally ill and never able to read or write — signed a waiver agreeing to leave the country without a hearing and was deported to Mexico as an illegal immigrant.
For almost three months, Guzman slept in the streets, bathed in filthy rivers and ate out of trash cans while his mother scoured the city of Tijuana, its hospitals and morgues, clutching his photo in her hand. He was finally found trying to cross the border at Calexico, 100 miles away.
These days, back home in California, "He just changes from one second to another. His brain jumps back to when he was missing," said his brother, Michael Guzman. "We just talk to him and reassure him that everything is fine and nobody is going to hurt him."
In a drive to crack down on illegal immigrants, the United States has locked up or thrown out dozens, probably many more, of its own citizens over the past eight years. A monthslong AP investigation has documented 55 such cases, on the basis of interviews, lawsuits and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. These citizens are detained for anything from a day to five years. Immigration lawyers say there are actually hundreds of such cases.
It is illegal to deport U.S. citizens or detain them for immigration violations. Yet citizens still end up in detention because the system is overwhelmed, acknowledged Victor Cerda, who left Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005 after overseeing the system. The number of detentions overall is expected to rise by about 17 percent this year to more than 400,000, putting a severe strain on the enforcement network and legal system.
The result is the detention of citizens with the fewest resources: the mentally ill, minorities, the poor, children and those with outstanding criminal warrants, ranging from unpaid traffic tickets to failure to show up for probation hearings. Most at risk are Hispanics, who made up the majority of the cases the AP found.
"The more the system becomes confused, the more U.S. citizens will be wrongfully detained and wrongfully removed," said Bruce Einhorn, a retired immigration judge who now teaches at Pepperdine Law School. "They are the symptom of a larger problem in the detention system. ... Nothing could be more regrettable than the removal of our fellow citizens."
Jim Hayes, ICE director of detention and removal, said he is aware of only 10 cases of U.S. citizens detained over the past five years. Even if combined with the cases found by the AP, "that's not an epidemic," Hayes said. He refused to identify any cases, citing privacy laws.
He added that agents investigate any claims to U.S. citizenship, but they often turn out to be false. He said U.S. citizens sometimes claim to be foreign-born, and that immigration officials never knowingly hold someone they can "definitively" determine is a citizen.
It's impossible to know exactly how many citizens have been detained or deported because nobody keeps track. Kara Hartzler, an attorney at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, testified at a U.S. House hearing last year that her group alone sees 40 to 50 jailings a month of people with potentially valid claims to citizenship.
"These cases are surprisingly, painfully common," she said.
The nonprofit Vera Institute for Justice found 322 people with citizenship claims in 13 immigration prisons in 2007, up from 129 the year before. That number does not include possible citizens in the nation's more than 300 other immigration prisons.
What is clear is that immigration detentions — including those of citizens — have soared in recent years. One reason is a heightened concern for security that arose out of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Another is a political climate that encouraged a tough stance on illegal immigration, especially after Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation almost three years ago.
After 2003, the nation launched several programs to detain more immigrants, including one that called on local police and sheriffs for help. Before 2007, just seven state and local law enforcement agencies worked with immigration. By last November, more than 950 officers from 23 states had attended a four-week program on how to root out and jail suspected illegal immigrants.
A Government Accountability Office investigation has since found that ICE did not ensure local officials properly used their authority and failed to collect data to assess the program. As a result, ICE is rewriting agreements with 67 agencies.
The program came under fire partly because it gives local officers so much leeway to decide who to stop. Almost one in 10 Hispanic adults born in the U.S. report that police or other authorities stopped them and asked about their immigration status in 2007, according to a Pew Hispanic Center survey of more than 2,000 people.
___
It was a local sheriff's office that sent Guzman out of the country.
He was picked up near his home in Lancaster, Calif., on March 31, 2007, by Los Angeles County sheriff's department officers on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. He had tried three times to board a private plane, showing lottery tickets for passage on one attempt, officers said in a report. He had also stolen a car and told officers his mother's car was broken.
A judge gave him three years' probation and three months in jail for vandalism.
At the jail, Guzman told officers he was born in California, a response noted in official records. But a sheriff's employee still got Guzman to sign an agreement to leave the country without a hearing.
On the day he arrived in Mexico, Guzman called a relative to say he didn't know where he was, and asked a passer-by. The answer: Tijuana. Then the phone cut off.
Guzman was finally returned to California legally in August 2007.
Now he can no longer stand the sun because it reminds him of Mexico. His family will not let him talk about the ordeal because it upsets him. He has frequent counseling sessions, but he is shaky, stutters and seems to hear voices, according to his brother.
"He is our brother, somebody's son, that they deported," said Michael Guzman. "California is like the main capital of Latin Americans. It doesn't matter whether you are a citizen or not. If you look Hispanic, they can question you. Deportation can happen to anybody."
Neither the sheriff's office nor immigration officials would discuss the case, citing pending litigation. The family has sued Los Angeles County and the federal government.
"When the whole story is told, people will see and understand what has occurred," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.
In the meantime, Guzman's mother, Maria Carbajal, often works the graveyard shift at a Jack in the Box because she is afraid to leave him alone during the day.
___
American citizens also have been caught in the net of increased workplace arrests and jail sweeps.
Workplace arrests rose from 517 in fiscal year 2003 to 6,274 in 2008. Julie Myers, former Homeland Security assistant secretary overseeing ICE, said agents quickly sort out which workers are citizens during raids. She added that federal law, court decisions and search warrants give immigration agents the authority to enter workplaces to question everyone inside, including citizens.
But the raids have already led to several lawsuits.
In 2007, 114 U.S. citizens and permanent residents sued after a raid on Micro Solutions Enterprises, a computer printer equipment recycler in Van Nuys, Calif. They alleged illegal detention and sought $5,000 damage each.
In 2008, the union representing workers at six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants sued on behalf of eight citizens and legal residents caught up in raids.
In one case, three citizens and nine others, all Hispanic, sued after ICE agents raided their New Jersey homes as part of what was dubbed Operation Return To Sender. The lawsuit alleges that an immigration agent pulled a gun on one of the citizens, a 9-year-old boy.
A program to sweep jails and deport immigrants who have committed crimes is more popular. But critics fear the temptation is to deport anyone for anything because they are seen as bad seeds, even if they are American citizens.
___
Rennison Castillo arrived early at the Seattle immigration office on Oct. 28, 1998, to take his citizenship oath. He was dressed in a freshly starched Army uniform and was eager to grab a good seat. He sat in the second row.
Born in Belize, Castillo had lived in the U.S. since he was 7 and had served two years in the Army. But his superiors told him he could not stay in the Army without citizenship. So he took the citizenship test and passed easily, missing only one question, on the name of a locally elected official.
"I felt pretty good. I felt I definitely accomplished something, because having a citizenship to the United States was something that I felt proud of," Castillo said.
Seven years later, the U.S. government locked Castillo in a Tacoma, Wash., immigration jail. He had been picked up at the Pierce County jail, where he had spent eight months for violating a restraining order and for residential burglary.
At the holding cell, an officer asked if he wanted to go home. He thought she meant his home in Lakewood, Wash. "Yes," he answered. "I'd love to go home."
She chained him up and told him he would be deported.
Over and over, Castillo said, he told officers he was a citizen. He pleaded with them to check their computer files.
But officials said nothing in their records confirmed his citizenship or his military service. One officer actually recognized Castillo from their Army days at Fort Lewis, Wash., and mentioned their battalion, but told Castillo he couldn't help.
Then Castillo saw a number posted on the wall for the Northwest Immigration Rights Project. On the group's advice, he contacted a friend who pulled his military document from the trunk of his car.
Nearly eight months after he was transferred to ICE custody, Castillo was released. He discovered that immigration officials had two files on him, with different numbers, and has since filed a lawsuit. ICE declined to comment because the lawsuit is pending.
"I understand that nothing is perfect, nothing will be perfect, but I don't understand how they could make a grave mistake like that," he said. "Because if this happened to me, I'm quite sure it's happened to somebody else. What's going to happen to the next person it happens to?"
___
For Ricardo Martinez, born in McAllen, Texas, it was not being able to get back into his own country.
Even though he was a U.S. citizen, Martinez lived in Mexico between the ages of 5 and 17.
Like many border residents with family on the other side, he made frequent trips to Mexico. When he tried to return to the U.S. after a visit to Mexico in July 1999, he was turned away by border officers at Nogales, Ariz., because two copies of his birth certificate, issued years apart, had different hospital registration dates. Not proficient in English, Martinez said he had never noticed the error.
Told to get his documents in order, he got a U.S. passport and was able to get into the country. But the problem was not over.
In January 2006, he went back to Mexico to be with his dying grandmother. When he tried to cross back at Laredo, Texas, in March, he carried his birth certificates, his birth registration card, his passport and state ID cards from Nebraska, California and Texas, where he had worked.
But by that time border security had become far stricter. Agents looked up Martinez in their database and found the earlier problem at Nogales. They claimed his U.S. passport was fake, he said.
Martinez was taken to an inspection room, forced to remove his shoes, searched, handcuffed to a chair and held for two hours while officers questioned his documents, he said. He was told unless he confessed to fraud, he would be sent to prison for six to eight months, according to a court document filed in Martinez's lawsuit against the government.
"They told me if I didn't say I was from over there, they would put me in jail. I was frightened," Martinez said.
He said he asked to call his mother to help prove his citizenship, but was refused.
Martinez's stepfather, Florentino Mireles, said in a Feb. 27, 2008, affidavit that he called border inspectors to ask why they had taken Martinez's documents. The response, he said: An officer didn't believe Martinez was a U.S. citizen because he didn't speak English.
Afraid of jail, Martinez signed the papers. In an affidavit in his lawsuit, Martinez said he didn't understand that by signing he was admitting to not being born in the U.S.
It took his parents two years to find an affordable attorney. Finally, at a meeting in Hidalgo, attorney Lisa Brodyaga showed border officers a copy of Martinez' birth certificate from his parents that included his footprints and a thumbprint and tax records showing he had worked legally in the U.S. Officials agreed he was a U.S. citizen and allowed him to cross the border.
Lloyd Easterling, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, declined comment because Martinez has sued. In court filings, the agency said Martinez denied being physically assaulted or subjected to excessive force and never filed a complaint against the officers.
Brodyaga said the cases of U.S. citizens detained or deported show more than bureaucratic bungling.
"I've been doing this for 30 years and I've seen bureaucratic bungling. This is more than that," she said. "This is an atmosphere of suspicion and hostility, particularly for Mexican-Americans on the border."
___
Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 58 mins ago
Pedro Guzman has been an American citizen all his life. Yet in 2007, the 31-year-old Los Angeles native — in jail for a misdemeanor, mentally ill and never able to read or write — signed a waiver agreeing to leave the country without a hearing and was deported to Mexico as an illegal immigrant.
For almost three months, Guzman slept in the streets, bathed in filthy rivers and ate out of trash cans while his mother scoured the city of Tijuana, its hospitals and morgues, clutching his photo in her hand. He was finally found trying to cross the border at Calexico, 100 miles away.
These days, back home in California, "He just changes from one second to another. His brain jumps back to when he was missing," said his brother, Michael Guzman. "We just talk to him and reassure him that everything is fine and nobody is going to hurt him."
In a drive to crack down on illegal immigrants, the United States has locked up or thrown out dozens, probably many more, of its own citizens over the past eight years. A monthslong AP investigation has documented 55 such cases, on the basis of interviews, lawsuits and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. These citizens are detained for anything from a day to five years. Immigration lawyers say there are actually hundreds of such cases.
It is illegal to deport U.S. citizens or detain them for immigration violations. Yet citizens still end up in detention because the system is overwhelmed, acknowledged Victor Cerda, who left Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005 after overseeing the system. The number of detentions overall is expected to rise by about 17 percent this year to more than 400,000, putting a severe strain on the enforcement network and legal system.
The result is the detention of citizens with the fewest resources: the mentally ill, minorities, the poor, children and those with outstanding criminal warrants, ranging from unpaid traffic tickets to failure to show up for probation hearings. Most at risk are Hispanics, who made up the majority of the cases the AP found.
"The more the system becomes confused, the more U.S. citizens will be wrongfully detained and wrongfully removed," said Bruce Einhorn, a retired immigration judge who now teaches at Pepperdine Law School. "They are the symptom of a larger problem in the detention system. ... Nothing could be more regrettable than the removal of our fellow citizens."
Jim Hayes, ICE director of detention and removal, said he is aware of only 10 cases of U.S. citizens detained over the past five years. Even if combined with the cases found by the AP, "that's not an epidemic," Hayes said. He refused to identify any cases, citing privacy laws.
He added that agents investigate any claims to U.S. citizenship, but they often turn out to be false. He said U.S. citizens sometimes claim to be foreign-born, and that immigration officials never knowingly hold someone they can "definitively" determine is a citizen.
It's impossible to know exactly how many citizens have been detained or deported because nobody keeps track. Kara Hartzler, an attorney at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, testified at a U.S. House hearing last year that her group alone sees 40 to 50 jailings a month of people with potentially valid claims to citizenship.
"These cases are surprisingly, painfully common," she said.
The nonprofit Vera Institute for Justice found 322 people with citizenship claims in 13 immigration prisons in 2007, up from 129 the year before. That number does not include possible citizens in the nation's more than 300 other immigration prisons.
What is clear is that immigration detentions — including those of citizens — have soared in recent years. One reason is a heightened concern for security that arose out of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Another is a political climate that encouraged a tough stance on illegal immigration, especially after Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation almost three years ago.
After 2003, the nation launched several programs to detain more immigrants, including one that called on local police and sheriffs for help. Before 2007, just seven state and local law enforcement agencies worked with immigration. By last November, more than 950 officers from 23 states had attended a four-week program on how to root out and jail suspected illegal immigrants.
A Government Accountability Office investigation has since found that ICE did not ensure local officials properly used their authority and failed to collect data to assess the program. As a result, ICE is rewriting agreements with 67 agencies.
The program came under fire partly because it gives local officers so much leeway to decide who to stop. Almost one in 10 Hispanic adults born in the U.S. report that police or other authorities stopped them and asked about their immigration status in 2007, according to a Pew Hispanic Center survey of more than 2,000 people.
___
It was a local sheriff's office that sent Guzman out of the country.
He was picked up near his home in Lancaster, Calif., on March 31, 2007, by Los Angeles County sheriff's department officers on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. He had tried three times to board a private plane, showing lottery tickets for passage on one attempt, officers said in a report. He had also stolen a car and told officers his mother's car was broken.
A judge gave him three years' probation and three months in jail for vandalism.
At the jail, Guzman told officers he was born in California, a response noted in official records. But a sheriff's employee still got Guzman to sign an agreement to leave the country without a hearing.
On the day he arrived in Mexico, Guzman called a relative to say he didn't know where he was, and asked a passer-by. The answer: Tijuana. Then the phone cut off.
Guzman was finally returned to California legally in August 2007.
Now he can no longer stand the sun because it reminds him of Mexico. His family will not let him talk about the ordeal because it upsets him. He has frequent counseling sessions, but he is shaky, stutters and seems to hear voices, according to his brother.
"He is our brother, somebody's son, that they deported," said Michael Guzman. "California is like the main capital of Latin Americans. It doesn't matter whether you are a citizen or not. If you look Hispanic, they can question you. Deportation can happen to anybody."
Neither the sheriff's office nor immigration officials would discuss the case, citing pending litigation. The family has sued Los Angeles County and the federal government.
"When the whole story is told, people will see and understand what has occurred," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.
In the meantime, Guzman's mother, Maria Carbajal, often works the graveyard shift at a Jack in the Box because she is afraid to leave him alone during the day.
___
American citizens also have been caught in the net of increased workplace arrests and jail sweeps.
Workplace arrests rose from 517 in fiscal year 2003 to 6,274 in 2008. Julie Myers, former Homeland Security assistant secretary overseeing ICE, said agents quickly sort out which workers are citizens during raids. She added that federal law, court decisions and search warrants give immigration agents the authority to enter workplaces to question everyone inside, including citizens.
But the raids have already led to several lawsuits.
In 2007, 114 U.S. citizens and permanent residents sued after a raid on Micro Solutions Enterprises, a computer printer equipment recycler in Van Nuys, Calif. They alleged illegal detention and sought $5,000 damage each.
In 2008, the union representing workers at six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants sued on behalf of eight citizens and legal residents caught up in raids.
In one case, three citizens and nine others, all Hispanic, sued after ICE agents raided their New Jersey homes as part of what was dubbed Operation Return To Sender. The lawsuit alleges that an immigration agent pulled a gun on one of the citizens, a 9-year-old boy.
A program to sweep jails and deport immigrants who have committed crimes is more popular. But critics fear the temptation is to deport anyone for anything because they are seen as bad seeds, even if they are American citizens.
___
Rennison Castillo arrived early at the Seattle immigration office on Oct. 28, 1998, to take his citizenship oath. He was dressed in a freshly starched Army uniform and was eager to grab a good seat. He sat in the second row.
Born in Belize, Castillo had lived in the U.S. since he was 7 and had served two years in the Army. But his superiors told him he could not stay in the Army without citizenship. So he took the citizenship test and passed easily, missing only one question, on the name of a locally elected official.
"I felt pretty good. I felt I definitely accomplished something, because having a citizenship to the United States was something that I felt proud of," Castillo said.
Seven years later, the U.S. government locked Castillo in a Tacoma, Wash., immigration jail. He had been picked up at the Pierce County jail, where he had spent eight months for violating a restraining order and for residential burglary.
At the holding cell, an officer asked if he wanted to go home. He thought she meant his home in Lakewood, Wash. "Yes," he answered. "I'd love to go home."
She chained him up and told him he would be deported.
Over and over, Castillo said, he told officers he was a citizen. He pleaded with them to check their computer files.
But officials said nothing in their records confirmed his citizenship or his military service. One officer actually recognized Castillo from their Army days at Fort Lewis, Wash., and mentioned their battalion, but told Castillo he couldn't help.
Then Castillo saw a number posted on the wall for the Northwest Immigration Rights Project. On the group's advice, he contacted a friend who pulled his military document from the trunk of his car.
Nearly eight months after he was transferred to ICE custody, Castillo was released. He discovered that immigration officials had two files on him, with different numbers, and has since filed a lawsuit. ICE declined to comment because the lawsuit is pending.
"I understand that nothing is perfect, nothing will be perfect, but I don't understand how they could make a grave mistake like that," he said. "Because if this happened to me, I'm quite sure it's happened to somebody else. What's going to happen to the next person it happens to?"
___
For Ricardo Martinez, born in McAllen, Texas, it was not being able to get back into his own country.
Even though he was a U.S. citizen, Martinez lived in Mexico between the ages of 5 and 17.
Like many border residents with family on the other side, he made frequent trips to Mexico. When he tried to return to the U.S. after a visit to Mexico in July 1999, he was turned away by border officers at Nogales, Ariz., because two copies of his birth certificate, issued years apart, had different hospital registration dates. Not proficient in English, Martinez said he had never noticed the error.
Told to get his documents in order, he got a U.S. passport and was able to get into the country. But the problem was not over.
In January 2006, he went back to Mexico to be with his dying grandmother. When he tried to cross back at Laredo, Texas, in March, he carried his birth certificates, his birth registration card, his passport and state ID cards from Nebraska, California and Texas, where he had worked.
But by that time border security had become far stricter. Agents looked up Martinez in their database and found the earlier problem at Nogales. They claimed his U.S. passport was fake, he said.
Martinez was taken to an inspection room, forced to remove his shoes, searched, handcuffed to a chair and held for two hours while officers questioned his documents, he said. He was told unless he confessed to fraud, he would be sent to prison for six to eight months, according to a court document filed in Martinez's lawsuit against the government.
"They told me if I didn't say I was from over there, they would put me in jail. I was frightened," Martinez said.
He said he asked to call his mother to help prove his citizenship, but was refused.
Martinez's stepfather, Florentino Mireles, said in a Feb. 27, 2008, affidavit that he called border inspectors to ask why they had taken Martinez's documents. The response, he said: An officer didn't believe Martinez was a U.S. citizen because he didn't speak English.
Afraid of jail, Martinez signed the papers. In an affidavit in his lawsuit, Martinez said he didn't understand that by signing he was admitting to not being born in the U.S.
It took his parents two years to find an affordable attorney. Finally, at a meeting in Hidalgo, attorney Lisa Brodyaga showed border officers a copy of Martinez' birth certificate from his parents that included his footprints and a thumbprint and tax records showing he had worked legally in the U.S. Officials agreed he was a U.S. citizen and allowed him to cross the border.
Lloyd Easterling, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, declined comment because Martinez has sued. In court filings, the agency said Martinez denied being physically assaulted or subjected to excessive force and never filed a complaint against the officers.
Brodyaga said the cases of U.S. citizens detained or deported show more than bureaucratic bungling.
"I've been doing this for 30 years and I've seen bureaucratic bungling. This is more than that," she said. "This is an atmosphere of suspicion and hostility, particularly for Mexican-Americans on the border."
___
8
Football / Aresenal v Spurs
« on: February 08, 2009, 08:27:41 AM »
Fast pace game, Spurs with a lots of possession, no end product. Ade pull up with hamstring injury, Eboue sent off,second yellow for kicking out at Modric, ala SWP.Polacios man handlin Arsenal's midfield ( like that hard to do) Arshavin on the bench. nil-nil at the half.
Game started on Setanta at 8:30 am Eastern time-9:30 tt time.
Game started on Setanta at 8:30 am Eastern time-9:30 tt time.
9
Other Sports / A-Rod test positive
« on: February 07, 2009, 04:51:54 PM »Updated: February 7, 2009, 3:31 PM EST (AP) - Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in his MVP season of 2003 with Texas, according to a report by Sports Illustrated.
A-Rod steroid shake-up Another MLB superstar is under fire in the steroid controversy. Alex Rodriguez tested positive during his first MVP season in 2003, according to a report Saturday.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The New York Yankees star failed a drug test for two anabolic steroids, four sources told the magazine in a story posted Saturday on its Web site.
His name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in a 2003 baseball survey, SI said. He reportedly tested positive for Primobolan and testosterone while playing for the Rangers.
Rodriguez declined to discuss the tests when approached by SI on Thursday at a gym in Miami, where he lives in the offseason.
"You'll have to talk to the union," he told a reporter. Calls from SI to union head Donald Fehr were not returned.
Major League Baseball said it was "disturbed" by the report, but did not elaborate because of player confidentiality.
"Because the survey testing that took place in 2003 was intended to be nondisciplinary and anonymous, we cannot make any comment on the accuracy of this report as it pertains to the player named," MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred said.
The players' union refused to directly address the story's accuracy.
"Information and documents relating to the results of the 2003 MLB testing program are both confidential and under seal by court orders," the union said.
"Anyone with knowledge of such documents who discloses their contents may be in violation of those court orders," the union added.
An e-mail from The Associated Press to Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, was not immediately returned. The Yankees and Rangers had no comment.
In a December 2007 interview with "60 Minutes," three days after George Mitchell's report on drugs in the sport was released, Rodriguez denied using peformance-enhancing drugs.
"I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field. ... I felt that if I did my, my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level," he said.
Rodriguez played for the Rangers in 2003, when he won the AL home run title and MVP award. He was traded to the Yankees in 2004. He is drawing a major league-high $27 million salary after signing a record $275 million, 10-year contract with New York in 2007.
The year in question
A look at Alex Rodriguez's stats in 2003, the year he won the AL MVP award and reportedly tested positive for steroids:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G AVG HR RBI SLG
161 .298 47 118 .600
The revelations come at a time when baseball's focus on drugs has concerned Barry Bonds and the legal maneuvering leading to the start of his trial March 2. The government is trying to prove the home run king lied when he told a grand jury he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.
Rodriguez until now has had an offseason dominated by talk of disclosures in Joe Torre's recently released book. The former Yankee manager wrote of the pressure A-Rod puts on himself and the third baseman's need to command the stage. Torre said some in the Yankees clubhouse referred to Rodriguez as "A-Fraud," although Torre made light of that during interviews promoting his book, "The Yankee Years."
Baseball's drug policy prohibited the use of steroids without a valid prescription since 1991, but there were no penalties for a positive test in 2003.
As part of an agreement with the players' union, the testing in 2003 was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.
Tainted stat?
Alex Rodriguez is close to becoming one of the top 10 home run hitters of all-time, but Saturday's report may shed doubt on the legitimacy of his spot on this list:
Rank Player HRs
10 Rafael Palmeiro 569
11 Reggie Jackson 563
12 Alex Rodriguez 553
13 Mike Schmidt 548
See the complete top 25 list
The results of the testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner's office and the union. SI reported that Rodriguez's testing information was found after federal agents, with search warrants, seized the 2003 results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., in Long Beach, Calif.
That was one of two labs used by baseball in connection with the testing. The seizure in April 2004 was part of the government's investigation into 10 baseball players linked to the BALCO scandal, the magazine reported. Rodriguez has not been connected to BALCO.
Primobolan, also known as methenolone, is an injected or orally administered drug. It improves strength and maintains lean muscle with minimal bulk development and few side effects. Bonds tested positive three times for methenolone, according to court documents unsealed by a federal judge Wednesday.
Primobolan is not an approved prescription drug in the United States. Testosterone can be taken legally with a prescription.
10
Football / Ben Afra may have met his match & not the first time Gallas geh cuss out
« on: November 20, 2008, 01:00:31 PM »
guardian.co.uk
Posted by
Ben Lyttleton Tuesday October 28 2008 13.42 GMT
Hatem Ben Arfa was not at Marseille last season when coach Eric Gerets threw a half-time wobbly at Karim Ziani during the team's French Cup defeat at the hands of non-league Carquefou. If he had been, he may have thought twice before refusing to warm up following his demotion to the subs' bench for L'OM's 4-2 home defeat by Paris St Germain on Sunday night. Gerets — who last season had reportedly picked up Ziani by his shirt and thrown him across the changing-room, shrugging off the incident by saying "no one ended up with a broken nose" — was not impressed by Ben Arfa's behaviour. "No player has ever done that to me in all my [16] years as a coach and he will get what's coming to him," was his response after the game.
Coming from a man who, according to former players, used to hang up those he felt had under-performed on coat-pegs and kick in changing-room doors after a defeat, Gerets showed remarkable restraint. After all, he was speaking after Marseille's first league loss of the season, their first at home to PSG for five years and the first time they have ever allowed their biggest rivals to score four at the Vélodrome. And as Lyon had drawn 0-0 with Auxerre on Saturday, L'OM also blew their chance to top the table.
Gerets has since made up with Ben Arfa. "I'm happy with the way I controlled myself during our chat, as at other times it could have been something that ended with injuries to both sides," he said, while Ben Arfa interrupted his coach's Monday press conference to publicly apologise. "I'm a competitor and I admit what I did was wrong, and I have said sorry to the coach." This is the same Ben Arfa who caused dressing-room unrest at Lyon, had a bust-up with team-mate Modeste M'bami during L'OM's warm-up before the European match against Liverpool, and who, when asked to play on the left in a League Cup defeat to Sochaux, told Mathieu Valbuena to move to the left so he could play in the middle. He recently told France Football, "I don't care what people think of me." When William Gallas reportedly revealed that a young player had told him to "f**k off and worry about your own game" after he had offered some advice during a France international training session, Ben Arfa was rumoured to be the culprit.
Posted by
Ben Lyttleton Tuesday October 28 2008 13.42 GMT
Hatem Ben Arfa was not at Marseille last season when coach Eric Gerets threw a half-time wobbly at Karim Ziani during the team's French Cup defeat at the hands of non-league Carquefou. If he had been, he may have thought twice before refusing to warm up following his demotion to the subs' bench for L'OM's 4-2 home defeat by Paris St Germain on Sunday night. Gerets — who last season had reportedly picked up Ziani by his shirt and thrown him across the changing-room, shrugging off the incident by saying "no one ended up with a broken nose" — was not impressed by Ben Arfa's behaviour. "No player has ever done that to me in all my [16] years as a coach and he will get what's coming to him," was his response after the game.
Coming from a man who, according to former players, used to hang up those he felt had under-performed on coat-pegs and kick in changing-room doors after a defeat, Gerets showed remarkable restraint. After all, he was speaking after Marseille's first league loss of the season, their first at home to PSG for five years and the first time they have ever allowed their biggest rivals to score four at the Vélodrome. And as Lyon had drawn 0-0 with Auxerre on Saturday, L'OM also blew their chance to top the table.
Gerets has since made up with Ben Arfa. "I'm happy with the way I controlled myself during our chat, as at other times it could have been something that ended with injuries to both sides," he said, while Ben Arfa interrupted his coach's Monday press conference to publicly apologise. "I'm a competitor and I admit what I did was wrong, and I have said sorry to the coach." This is the same Ben Arfa who caused dressing-room unrest at Lyon, had a bust-up with team-mate Modeste M'bami during L'OM's warm-up before the European match against Liverpool, and who, when asked to play on the left in a League Cup defeat to Sochaux, told Mathieu Valbuena to move to the left so he could play in the middle. He recently told France Football, "I don't care what people think of me." When William Gallas reportedly revealed that a young player had told him to "f**k off and worry about your own game" after he had offered some advice during a France international training session, Ben Arfa was rumoured to be the culprit.
11
Football / Wish he was just starting-best mixed player ever
« on: November 10, 2008, 05:20:28 PM »12
Football / United v Bolton
« on: September 27, 2008, 10:02:18 AM »
United won and glad we did, but geezanages, ah was embarrassed by dat penalty given against Bolton. JLloyd geh ball, great tackle before he geh Ronaldo and the ref call a penalty. Ah feel rell bad for Bolton, cause up to that point dey were holding their own. Dat decision was an embarrassment to the game! Berba starting tuh relax but f^cking Ronaldo and Nani are some selfish f^cks more times than not. Ah could see Berba gettin frustrated with not gettin the ball. But ah hope he doh let it get to him cause he beginning tuh heat up and he even hustling!
13
Football / Community Shield- United v Pomey
« on: August 10, 2008, 07:55:23 AM »
United v Portsmouth- Setanta and FSC 10 am
Check out the Brazilians- Rodrigo, Fabiano, Raphael on United.
Check out the Brazilians- Rodrigo, Fabiano, Raphael on United.
14
Football / The Wit and Wisdom of Sepp Blatter!
« on: July 10, 2008, 09:44:51 AM »UK Times Online
July 10, 2008
The wit and wisdom of Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter has put his foot in his mouth again by claiming that Cristiano Ronaldo is being treated like a slave at Manchester United.
It's not the first time the Fifa president, who was once described as “a man who has 50 ideas a day, 51 of them bad”, has got the back up of the entire footballing world. His outspoken views cover a vast range of subjects from women's football to the size of the goalposts. So is he the voice of reason or a madman with too much power? Judge for yourself…
1. Why have two halves when you can have four quarters? Blatter’s plan to make the beautiful game more popular in the United States sinks like Derby County.
2. Blatter claims that women players should wear tighter shorts to make the game more sexy.
3. The president is not finished with women’s football yet as he dives in with both feet to announce that “homosexuality is more popular” in the female game.
4. The game is becoming boring. We need more goals. Solution? Make the goals bigger – 25cm higher and 50cm wider should do the trick.
5. “I think there is too much football on TV”. Blatter bites the hand that feeds.
6. Blatter threatens to ban Spain from major tournaments six months before Luis Aragones’s team triumph at Euro 2008. Why? The Spanish government wants sporting associations to become more democratic.
7. Why have one Graham Poll when you can have two? Sepp wants two referees for us to abuse and ridicule.
8. Blatter alienates the whole of Italy by accusing Marcello Lippi’s team of cheating during the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006.
9. One billion cricket-mad Indians scratch their heads after Blatter urges them to put down their bats and take up the beautiful game. “If your brother asks for a fish, don't give him the same; instead, teach him how to catch it,” Sepp announces on an official visit to India. You what?
10. Try searching for “Blatter” and “mad” on google. You’ll get more than 100,000 results.
15
Football / William Gallas a headcase or just passionate?
« on: February 24, 2008, 08:06:46 PM »
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Sun
This WG simply has no Grace
This WG simply has no Grace STEVEN HOWARD - Chief sports writer
IT’S time for the curtain to come down on the William Gallas Show.
The struggling French farce — known in the trade as ‘The Big I Am’ — has run its course.
The unpredictable and self-indulgent star should be returned to the chorus line and the captain’s armband handed to Cesc Fabregas.
The Arsenal defender’s reaction to the last-second blunder by Gael Clichy that cost the Gunners victory at Birmingham — kicking lumps out of an advertising hoarding and staging a sit-down strike in the Blues’ half — was a disgrace.
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has strong views on this sort of behaviour, though Arsene Wenger, typically, will argue vehemently on the player’s behalf.
Sulking.
Few can remember a display of such staggering unprofessionalism by a senior player. I doubt the flouncing Frenchman would have reacted that way had Tony Adams or Martin Keown been waiting for him to make his belated return to the dressing room.
Now it remains to be seen whether the prima donna’s pouting fit of pique has fatally undermined a changing room already destabilised by recent results and the Emmanuel Adebayor-Nicklas Bendtner fallout.
There were a few Arsenal fans on Saturday night who went as far as to say it could well have cost them the title already.
Yes, both Gallas and Wenger will plead mitigating circumstances after the horrendous injury suffered by striker Eduardo. And everyone has the utmost sympathy for the player and his colleagues at Arsenal.
But the Croatian’s broken leg did not excuse Wenger’s immediate reaction that Martin Taylor be banned for life — nor Gallas’ schoolboy sulking.
Wenger, thankfully, finally saw sense and retracted his statement — no doubt having been reminded that his own side do not exactly have the best record when it comes to suspect tackles.
Sure, Taylor’s challenge was both late and crude but the player’s previous history does not suggest anything resembling violence or malevolence.
Sadly, it’s one of those things that occasionally happens in sport.
Wenger, having had time to cool down, obviously came to the same conclusion. Others, knowing his selective blindness, have voiced their surprise that he saw it in the first place.
Gallas, though, is a different matter.
I cannot for the life of me understand why he was appointed skipper in the first place. Arriving from Chelsea with a reputation as a moody drama queen, one of his last acts as he pushed for a transfer was, according to the club, to threaten to score an own goal if he was selected to play on the opening day of the season.
At the time, we thought it was predictable Chelsea spin. Along with their assertion that Gallas had initially refused to play in the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool the previous season as he angled for a better contract.
Now it’s all falling into place.
When the Frenchman finally signed for Arsenal, he confirmed his enormous arrogance by insisting on inheriting Dennis Bergkamp’s No 10 shirt. Since then, more and more stories have emerged of the high opinion Gallas has of himself.
It reached a peak just before the 4-0 FA Cup rout at Old Trafford when Gallas, hysterically, accused Manchester United themselves of being arrogant.
He hardly covered himself in glory that day, either. Given the runaround by Wayne Rooney, he then lost it at the end, kicking Nani three times and yet somehow escaping a ban.
That is what he should have remembered on Saturday before spitting his dummy and pointing the finger at Clichy. As David Platt said on TV: “His team-mates would have been totally entitled to dig him out in the dressing room afterwards and say ‘Oh yeah, and who are you to act like that?’.”
Gallas has now become a sitting duck, a red card waiting to happen.
It will be bad enough going back to Old Trafford, let alone Stamford Bridge. Can you imagine the wind-up waiting for him there from his former Chelsea team-mates?
All in all, it was a disastrous afternoon for Arsenal who should have wrapped it up at 3-1 only for Adebayor to go for goal himself rather than passing inside to his great mate Bendtner.
United then walloped Newcastle to close the gap at the top to three points.
As for Gallas, here is one WG with no grace at all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sun
This WG simply has no Grace
This WG simply has no Grace STEVEN HOWARD - Chief sports writer
IT’S time for the curtain to come down on the William Gallas Show.
The struggling French farce — known in the trade as ‘The Big I Am’ — has run its course.
The unpredictable and self-indulgent star should be returned to the chorus line and the captain’s armband handed to Cesc Fabregas.
The Arsenal defender’s reaction to the last-second blunder by Gael Clichy that cost the Gunners victory at Birmingham — kicking lumps out of an advertising hoarding and staging a sit-down strike in the Blues’ half — was a disgrace.
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has strong views on this sort of behaviour, though Arsene Wenger, typically, will argue vehemently on the player’s behalf.
Sulking.
Few can remember a display of such staggering unprofessionalism by a senior player. I doubt the flouncing Frenchman would have reacted that way had Tony Adams or Martin Keown been waiting for him to make his belated return to the dressing room.
Now it remains to be seen whether the prima donna’s pouting fit of pique has fatally undermined a changing room already destabilised by recent results and the Emmanuel Adebayor-Nicklas Bendtner fallout.
There were a few Arsenal fans on Saturday night who went as far as to say it could well have cost them the title already.
Yes, both Gallas and Wenger will plead mitigating circumstances after the horrendous injury suffered by striker Eduardo. And everyone has the utmost sympathy for the player and his colleagues at Arsenal.
But the Croatian’s broken leg did not excuse Wenger’s immediate reaction that Martin Taylor be banned for life — nor Gallas’ schoolboy sulking.
Wenger, thankfully, finally saw sense and retracted his statement — no doubt having been reminded that his own side do not exactly have the best record when it comes to suspect tackles.
Sure, Taylor’s challenge was both late and crude but the player’s previous history does not suggest anything resembling violence or malevolence.
Sadly, it’s one of those things that occasionally happens in sport.
Wenger, having had time to cool down, obviously came to the same conclusion. Others, knowing his selective blindness, have voiced their surprise that he saw it in the first place.
Gallas, though, is a different matter.
I cannot for the life of me understand why he was appointed skipper in the first place. Arriving from Chelsea with a reputation as a moody drama queen, one of his last acts as he pushed for a transfer was, according to the club, to threaten to score an own goal if he was selected to play on the opening day of the season.
At the time, we thought it was predictable Chelsea spin. Along with their assertion that Gallas had initially refused to play in the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool the previous season as he angled for a better contract.
Now it’s all falling into place.
When the Frenchman finally signed for Arsenal, he confirmed his enormous arrogance by insisting on inheriting Dennis Bergkamp’s No 10 shirt. Since then, more and more stories have emerged of the high opinion Gallas has of himself.
It reached a peak just before the 4-0 FA Cup rout at Old Trafford when Gallas, hysterically, accused Manchester United themselves of being arrogant.
He hardly covered himself in glory that day, either. Given the runaround by Wayne Rooney, he then lost it at the end, kicking Nani three times and yet somehow escaping a ban.
That is what he should have remembered on Saturday before spitting his dummy and pointing the finger at Clichy. As David Platt said on TV: “His team-mates would have been totally entitled to dig him out in the dressing room afterwards and say ‘Oh yeah, and who are you to act like that?’.”
Gallas has now become a sitting duck, a red card waiting to happen.
It will be bad enough going back to Old Trafford, let alone Stamford Bridge. Can you imagine the wind-up waiting for him there from his former Chelsea team-mates?
All in all, it was a disastrous afternoon for Arsenal who should have wrapped it up at 3-1 only for Adebayor to go for goal himself rather than passing inside to his great mate Bendtner.
United then walloped Newcastle to close the gap at the top to three points.
As for Gallas, here is one WG with no grace at all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16
Football / Why Hope really geh drop!
« on: January 07, 2008, 08:01:37 PM »
Greg Ryan former coach of the US women's team jus say on Fox Football Fone in dat he drop Hope Solo because she was missing team meals and because she was comin in late during the tournament. Now we know why she got no empathy from her mates! She hah de right name SOLO!
17
Football / Bigger liability in goal, Dida or Robinson?
« on: January 05, 2008, 10:02:20 PM »
England goalkeeper makes two costly errors as Reading reserves earn replay
By Nick Townsend at White Hart Lane
Published: 06 January 2008
Paul Robinson will pray that Fabio Capello does not get a video recording of this. The England and Spurs goalkeeper will be acutely aware that his two errors, the first a horrendous aberration, when he carried the ball backwards over the line, contributed in significant measure to his side failing to overcome Reading reserves.
Robinson's manager, Juande Ramos, clearly prefers to attribute any goal conceded to collective responsibility. But pressed on what the new England manager would make of his goalkeeper's performance, Ramos added: "It's up to Capello to say, but I don't think you can judge any player by a performance in one game." The problem is, of course, that these are by no means isolated incidents over the last year.
This blurb from Goal.com
Dida has become the elephant in the room that Ancelotti refuses to acknowledge. This is, lest we forget, the keeper who's three mistakes cost Milan the Champions League final in 2005, the quarter-final of the same competition against Deportivo a year earlier and almost did the same in the European Super Cup of 2007.
And, of course, it was Dida’s two truly diabolical errors that gifted Celtic three points a week or so ago in the Champions League. He is an utter liability, a keeper who has what those in the trade call ‘hard hands’. He cannot smother shots on goal or push them around the post; instead, he just palms them back into the path of oncoming strikers.
He also has slow feet when moving across his line and doesn’t know how to command his 18-yard area. Oh ,and he is indecisive and greasy-gloved when dealing with crosses.
Add a complete loss of confidence and you have the only keeper in the world who makes David James look like Mr Consistency.
By Nick Townsend at White Hart Lane
Published: 06 January 2008
Paul Robinson will pray that Fabio Capello does not get a video recording of this. The England and Spurs goalkeeper will be acutely aware that his two errors, the first a horrendous aberration, when he carried the ball backwards over the line, contributed in significant measure to his side failing to overcome Reading reserves.
Robinson's manager, Juande Ramos, clearly prefers to attribute any goal conceded to collective responsibility. But pressed on what the new England manager would make of his goalkeeper's performance, Ramos added: "It's up to Capello to say, but I don't think you can judge any player by a performance in one game." The problem is, of course, that these are by no means isolated incidents over the last year.
This blurb from Goal.com
Dida has become the elephant in the room that Ancelotti refuses to acknowledge. This is, lest we forget, the keeper who's three mistakes cost Milan the Champions League final in 2005, the quarter-final of the same competition against Deportivo a year earlier and almost did the same in the European Super Cup of 2007.
And, of course, it was Dida’s two truly diabolical errors that gifted Celtic three points a week or so ago in the Champions League. He is an utter liability, a keeper who has what those in the trade call ‘hard hands’. He cannot smother shots on goal or push them around the post; instead, he just palms them back into the path of oncoming strikers.
He also has slow feet when moving across his line and doesn’t know how to command his 18-yard area. Oh ,and he is indecisive and greasy-gloved when dealing with crosses.
Add a complete loss of confidence and you have the only keeper in the world who makes David James look like Mr Consistency.
18
Football / Today is the real grand slam Sunday!
« on: December 23, 2007, 08:40:48 AM »
Today is the real grand slam Sunday! Milan v Inter and Barca v Real! It has been wall to wall football since 7am and it is only going to get better!
United v Everton, 7am
Derby v Newcastle, 9am
Inter v Milan 9am
Blackburn v Chelski 11am
Atletico v Espanyol 11am
Barca v Real 1pm
All on TV!
Whats a football peyoung to do? Od on football!
United v Everton, 7am
Derby v Newcastle, 9am
Inter v Milan 9am
Blackburn v Chelski 11am
Atletico v Espanyol 11am
Barca v Real 1pm
All on TV!
Whats a football peyoung to do? Od on football!
19
Football / Who is your top 3 goalies, is Rena one of them?
« on: November 16, 2007, 03:54:17 PM »
Sky Sports News
Carra - Reina's one of the best
Reina: One of the best
Jamie Carragher has rated Liverpool team-mate Jose Reina as one of the top three goalkeepers in the world.
Reina has impressed hugely at Anfield since joining the club in 2005 from Villarreal and is the club's undisputed No.1.
Reds defender Carragher is in no doubt as to the credentials of the Spaniard, whose form has prompted England new boy Scott Carson to discuss a permanent deal at Aston Villa.
"I've always thought Pepe is a great goalkeeper," said Carragher. "I have been here at Liverpool a long time now and he is the best keeper I've played with.
Trust "He has beaten some records at this club already and that is testimony to what a top -class goalkeeper he is. "For me he is in the top three in the world. I think Cech, Buffon and Pepe are the best around and you can put them in any order you want, there is not much difference between them. "It is great as a defender to have a goalkeeper you can trust and who you know you can rely on. "I think if we were nervous about the goalkeeper and worried that any mistake you made would end up as a goal, then it would affect your play."
Chow what do you have to say about this? LOL!
Carra - Reina's one of the best
Reina: One of the best
Jamie Carragher has rated Liverpool team-mate Jose Reina as one of the top three goalkeepers in the world.
Reina has impressed hugely at Anfield since joining the club in 2005 from Villarreal and is the club's undisputed No.1.
Reds defender Carragher is in no doubt as to the credentials of the Spaniard, whose form has prompted England new boy Scott Carson to discuss a permanent deal at Aston Villa.
"I've always thought Pepe is a great goalkeeper," said Carragher. "I have been here at Liverpool a long time now and he is the best keeper I've played with.
Trust "He has beaten some records at this club already and that is testimony to what a top -class goalkeeper he is. "For me he is in the top three in the world. I think Cech, Buffon and Pepe are the best around and you can put them in any order you want, there is not much difference between them. "It is great as a defender to have a goalkeeper you can trust and who you know you can rely on. "I think if we were nervous about the goalkeeper and worried that any mistake you made would end up as a goal, then it would affect your play."
Chow what do you have to say about this? LOL!
20
Football / Sheva gone thru
« on: September 29, 2007, 08:32:16 AM »
Sheva, gone thru! He has no legs anymore. In the game today, he appears to be taking a more active role in things, taking free kicks ,dropping of drogba. Same results: Shithound play.He cah even get the kicks off the ground. No body can say is Mourinho because he aint around anymore . D man runnining like he on a treadmill that on low speed.
21
Football / Argentina v CZE final
« on: July 22, 2007, 01:36:37 PM »
Ah hope Cze Republic waxx Argentina. Ah hope dey drop some serious batt on dem. Geh dem sometin to roll around for! Argentina also look like expect to walk thru d side!
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