91
Cricket Anyone / Pakistani cricketers off to prison
« on: November 03, 2011, 05:30:27 AM »
Verdict reverberating across the world and Pakistan.
April 29, 2024, 06:48:15 AM
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92
Football / Semper Fi: Shout out to the Trini coaches of ...
« on: October 19, 2011, 09:03:47 AM »
The All-Marine Corps squad.
CWO3 Kevin Pierre and SSgt Clinton Dyer ... I don't know if either follows the forum, but I'm guessing there's a good chance.
Good luck at the 2011 All Armed Forces Soccer Championships at Langley AFB!!! Not sure of the dates, but I know it's about to go down.
http://armedforcessports.defense.gov/docs/2011_SOCCER_RULES_Revisions_5463.pdf
CWO3 Kevin Pierre and SSgt Clinton Dyer ... I don't know if either follows the forum, but I'm guessing there's a good chance.
Good luck at the 2011 All Armed Forces Soccer Championships at Langley AFB!!! Not sure of the dates, but I know it's about to go down.
http://armedforcessports.defense.gov/docs/2011_SOCCER_RULES_Revisions_5463.pdf
93
Football / Could we beat San Marino?
« on: October 10, 2011, 03:58:11 PM »
October 10, 2011
One Win, 106 Losses, No Traffic Lights
By JERÉ LONGMAN
The New York Times
SAN MARINO — This is Europe’s smallest recognized soccer nation, population 30,000, and victories in the tiny, mountaintop republic are as rare as the coins and stamps that make it a collector’s haven.
The language, cuisine and Apennine range are shared with Italy, which entirely surrounds San Marino, but cultural similarities do not extend to soccer prowess. Italy has won four World Cups. San Marino has yet to win four games. It has won one, to be exact, in 22 years of official competition. The only thing more uncommon here are traffic lights, of which there are none.
On Tuesday, San Marino will travel to Moldova for a final, undoubtedly futile, qualifying match for the 2012 European Championship. Make that disqualifying match. In nine games so far, San Marino has conceded 49 goals and has yet to score one of its own. In fact, it has not found the net in any competition since 2008.
“Every time we score, it’s a bank holiday,” said Walter Giardi, a liaison with visiting teams for the San Marino soccer federation.
In early September, the Netherlands defeated San Marino, 11-0. The Dutch forward Robin van Persie delivered four goals, half the career total of San Marino’s leading scorer. At the time, the Netherlands was ranked No. 1 by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, while San Marino was ranked 203rd, in a tie for last with American Samoa, Andorra and Montserrat.
In 2006, San Marino lost, 13-0, to Germany, a three-time World Cup winner. But there are always small things to be grateful for. San Marino has never lost as hopelessly as 31-0, as American Samoa did to Australia a decade ago. Still, it is never easy for a soccer minnow swimming with the whales of Europe. Of 109 matches played since 1990, San Marino has won 1, tied 2 and lost 106, scoring 17 meager goals while surrendering 468.
And yet the team of mostly amateurs carries on, determined if often overwhelmed. San Marino enters the vast majority of its matches not hoping to win but to lose by as few goals as possible. If soccer seldom provides victory, though, it has provided a sense of identity.
“We are a small nation, but football gives us an opportunity to participate in big events with big nations,” said Giampaolo Mazza, 55, coach of San Marino’s national team. “Without football, maybe everybody thinks San Marino is some island in the middle of the Mediterranean.”
Actually, it is a landlocked, rocky speck of a nation, located near Rimini, Italy. The craggy views are spectacular. San Marino’s three medieval towers rise like a sandstone wedding cake above the Adriatic coast 16 miles to the east. To the west, mountain peaks protrude like rows of shark teeth.
San Marino has one of the world’s highest standards of health care, according to the World Health Organization, and calls itself the oldest sovereign republic, founded in 301. But soccer defeats are inevitable in a microstate that has the population of Gloucester, Mass., and at 24 square miles, is about one-third the size of Washington, D.C. (Monaco and Vatican City are smaller in size but are not recognized by FIFA.)
There are only three professional players on San Marino’s national team. The others are students, clerks, fitness instructors. They play for gas money and train about three days a week, often at 9 p.m., after their day jobs. Mazza, the coach, is a physical education teacher who receives no pay for his soccer duties beyond expenses.
On Sept. 6, the day of a home match against Sweden, then ranked 18th in the world, the reserve goalkeeper Federico Valentini was working in a bank when he received a call from the soccer federation. San Marino’s starting keeper, Aldo Simoncini, who plays for Cesena in Italy’s top league, Serie A, was unavailable because of a hamstring injury.
“This is your moment,” Giorgio Leoni, the technical coordinator of San Marino’s national team, told Valentini.
With little time to get nervous, Valentini played assuredly and held Sweden to a 0-0 draw until shortly after a San Marino defender was ejected in the 53rd minute. Sweden scored a flurry of late goals to win, 5-0, against a short-handed opponent. But Valentini acquitted himself well, even parrying a shot from Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the world’s top forwards.
“He was so excited,” Andy Selva, San Marino’s captain, said of Valentini. “We told him we would call him up at the last minute every match.”
It was Selva, 35, a forward, who gave San Marino its lone moment of glory, scoring on a clever free kick to defeat similarly tiny Liechtenstein, 1-0, in an exhibition on April 28, 2004. Eight months earlier, San Marino had tied Liechtenstein, 2-2, the only time it has scored more than a single goal in a match. Now it tasted rare victory.
Selva tapped the free kick to a teammate, who nudged the ball back for Selva to curl it beautifully and elusively inside the left post from 25 yards. His eight international goals represent nearly half of San Marino’s total. No other player has scored more than one.
“My strength is that, when I play, every match is always 0-0,” Selva said.
There was another famous moment for San Marino, even if it came in defeat. On Nov. 16, 1993, in Bologna, Italy, forward Davide Gualtieri intercepted a negligent back pass against England, inventor of the sport, and punched the ball into the net 8.3 seconds after kickoff. San Marino would eventually lose, 7-1, but Gualtieri’s goal remains the fastest ever scored in a World Cup qualifying match.
It came so quickly that the British radio announcer Jonathan Pearce was famously caught in the middle of his opening beer advertisement: “Welcome to Bologna on Capital Gold for England versus San Marino with Tennent’s Pilsner, brewed with Czechoslovakian yeast for that extra Pilsner taste and England are one down.”
If the goal shocked England’s soccer and radio teams, it was no less stunning to Gualtieri and San Marino’s fans, who were unaccustomed to seeing their team with the ball in the opponent’s half of the field.
“We didn’t expect it,” Gualtieri said. “We have so few professionals, the disparity is so great.”
Instantly, he became a hero in Scotland, which has long been a rival to England in soccer and most everything else. When Scotland played in San Marino two years later, Scottish fans offered to buy meals for Gualtieri and gave him a jersey with his name on the back. In place of a number, the jersey said “8 seconds.”
“I still have people coming to my shop asking for my autograph,” said Gualtieri, who runs a computer business.
Sometimes, there have been more extravagant requests.
Depending on who is telling the story, the Czech tabloid newspaper Blesk offered San Marino either about $55,000, or all the beer its players could drink, for a crucial victory over Slovenia in 2009. At the time, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were dueling to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The offer was alluring but unquenchable. San Marino lost, 3-0.
“I knew it was beer I would never drink,” Mazza said.
There are worse things. Mazza does not make a salary, but neither does he face the enormous pressure of his European brethren. Futility has given him job security. While San Marino changes its head of state every six months, Mazza has been the national soccer coach for 14 years.
“If I lose three or four in a row, I’m still the coach,” Mazza said.
“If Fabio Capello loses four in a row in England, they try to kill him.”
To raise its level of soccer, the San Marino soccer federation has built a half-dozen artificial turf fields for year-round play and a number of mini-pitches to encourage youth participation. The winner of its domestic league participates in the early rounds of the European Champions League, the world’s most prestigious club tournament. And eight youth teams with players ages 13 to 18 hone their skills in more competitive Italian leagues.
“Basically, our main goal is to demonstrate that we have dignity,” said Giorgio Crescentini, president of the San Marino soccer federation. “I think we are on track.”
One shortcut will not be taken, however tempting, he said. In a country where it is difficult to gain citizenship, and naturalization can take 30 or more years, Crescentini said that no passports will be issued to foreigners just to play soccer, as happens elsewhere.
“We haven’t thought about any Brazilians, because we know it is impossible,” Crescentini said. “We won’t deviate.”
Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup begins next year. Among the teams in San Marino’s group is England, a familiar foe. San Marino is a 5,000-to-1 shot to qualify, but that quick goal by Gualtieri in 1993 has not been forgotten.
“We don’t laugh at them quite as much as everybody else,” said Henry Milton, a teacher in London. “To us they have an international pedigree.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/sports/soccer/san-marino-soccer-team-plays-on-despite-little-shot-at-winning-or-scoring.html?ref=sports
One Win, 106 Losses, No Traffic Lights
By JERÉ LONGMAN
The New York Times
SAN MARINO — This is Europe’s smallest recognized soccer nation, population 30,000, and victories in the tiny, mountaintop republic are as rare as the coins and stamps that make it a collector’s haven.
The language, cuisine and Apennine range are shared with Italy, which entirely surrounds San Marino, but cultural similarities do not extend to soccer prowess. Italy has won four World Cups. San Marino has yet to win four games. It has won one, to be exact, in 22 years of official competition. The only thing more uncommon here are traffic lights, of which there are none.
On Tuesday, San Marino will travel to Moldova for a final, undoubtedly futile, qualifying match for the 2012 European Championship. Make that disqualifying match. In nine games so far, San Marino has conceded 49 goals and has yet to score one of its own. In fact, it has not found the net in any competition since 2008.
“Every time we score, it’s a bank holiday,” said Walter Giardi, a liaison with visiting teams for the San Marino soccer federation.
In early September, the Netherlands defeated San Marino, 11-0. The Dutch forward Robin van Persie delivered four goals, half the career total of San Marino’s leading scorer. At the time, the Netherlands was ranked No. 1 by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, while San Marino was ranked 203rd, in a tie for last with American Samoa, Andorra and Montserrat.
In 2006, San Marino lost, 13-0, to Germany, a three-time World Cup winner. But there are always small things to be grateful for. San Marino has never lost as hopelessly as 31-0, as American Samoa did to Australia a decade ago. Still, it is never easy for a soccer minnow swimming with the whales of Europe. Of 109 matches played since 1990, San Marino has won 1, tied 2 and lost 106, scoring 17 meager goals while surrendering 468.
And yet the team of mostly amateurs carries on, determined if often overwhelmed. San Marino enters the vast majority of its matches not hoping to win but to lose by as few goals as possible. If soccer seldom provides victory, though, it has provided a sense of identity.
“We are a small nation, but football gives us an opportunity to participate in big events with big nations,” said Giampaolo Mazza, 55, coach of San Marino’s national team. “Without football, maybe everybody thinks San Marino is some island in the middle of the Mediterranean.”
Actually, it is a landlocked, rocky speck of a nation, located near Rimini, Italy. The craggy views are spectacular. San Marino’s three medieval towers rise like a sandstone wedding cake above the Adriatic coast 16 miles to the east. To the west, mountain peaks protrude like rows of shark teeth.
San Marino has one of the world’s highest standards of health care, according to the World Health Organization, and calls itself the oldest sovereign republic, founded in 301. But soccer defeats are inevitable in a microstate that has the population of Gloucester, Mass., and at 24 square miles, is about one-third the size of Washington, D.C. (Monaco and Vatican City are smaller in size but are not recognized by FIFA.)
There are only three professional players on San Marino’s national team. The others are students, clerks, fitness instructors. They play for gas money and train about three days a week, often at 9 p.m., after their day jobs. Mazza, the coach, is a physical education teacher who receives no pay for his soccer duties beyond expenses.
On Sept. 6, the day of a home match against Sweden, then ranked 18th in the world, the reserve goalkeeper Federico Valentini was working in a bank when he received a call from the soccer federation. San Marino’s starting keeper, Aldo Simoncini, who plays for Cesena in Italy’s top league, Serie A, was unavailable because of a hamstring injury.
“This is your moment,” Giorgio Leoni, the technical coordinator of San Marino’s national team, told Valentini.
With little time to get nervous, Valentini played assuredly and held Sweden to a 0-0 draw until shortly after a San Marino defender was ejected in the 53rd minute. Sweden scored a flurry of late goals to win, 5-0, against a short-handed opponent. But Valentini acquitted himself well, even parrying a shot from Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the world’s top forwards.
“He was so excited,” Andy Selva, San Marino’s captain, said of Valentini. “We told him we would call him up at the last minute every match.”
It was Selva, 35, a forward, who gave San Marino its lone moment of glory, scoring on a clever free kick to defeat similarly tiny Liechtenstein, 1-0, in an exhibition on April 28, 2004. Eight months earlier, San Marino had tied Liechtenstein, 2-2, the only time it has scored more than a single goal in a match. Now it tasted rare victory.
Selva tapped the free kick to a teammate, who nudged the ball back for Selva to curl it beautifully and elusively inside the left post from 25 yards. His eight international goals represent nearly half of San Marino’s total. No other player has scored more than one.
“My strength is that, when I play, every match is always 0-0,” Selva said.
There was another famous moment for San Marino, even if it came in defeat. On Nov. 16, 1993, in Bologna, Italy, forward Davide Gualtieri intercepted a negligent back pass against England, inventor of the sport, and punched the ball into the net 8.3 seconds after kickoff. San Marino would eventually lose, 7-1, but Gualtieri’s goal remains the fastest ever scored in a World Cup qualifying match.
It came so quickly that the British radio announcer Jonathan Pearce was famously caught in the middle of his opening beer advertisement: “Welcome to Bologna on Capital Gold for England versus San Marino with Tennent’s Pilsner, brewed with Czechoslovakian yeast for that extra Pilsner taste and England are one down.”
If the goal shocked England’s soccer and radio teams, it was no less stunning to Gualtieri and San Marino’s fans, who were unaccustomed to seeing their team with the ball in the opponent’s half of the field.
“We didn’t expect it,” Gualtieri said. “We have so few professionals, the disparity is so great.”
Instantly, he became a hero in Scotland, which has long been a rival to England in soccer and most everything else. When Scotland played in San Marino two years later, Scottish fans offered to buy meals for Gualtieri and gave him a jersey with his name on the back. In place of a number, the jersey said “8 seconds.”
“I still have people coming to my shop asking for my autograph,” said Gualtieri, who runs a computer business.
Sometimes, there have been more extravagant requests.
Depending on who is telling the story, the Czech tabloid newspaper Blesk offered San Marino either about $55,000, or all the beer its players could drink, for a crucial victory over Slovenia in 2009. At the time, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were dueling to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The offer was alluring but unquenchable. San Marino lost, 3-0.
“I knew it was beer I would never drink,” Mazza said.
There are worse things. Mazza does not make a salary, but neither does he face the enormous pressure of his European brethren. Futility has given him job security. While San Marino changes its head of state every six months, Mazza has been the national soccer coach for 14 years.
“If I lose three or four in a row, I’m still the coach,” Mazza said.
“If Fabio Capello loses four in a row in England, they try to kill him.”To raise its level of soccer, the San Marino soccer federation has built a half-dozen artificial turf fields for year-round play and a number of mini-pitches to encourage youth participation. The winner of its domestic league participates in the early rounds of the European Champions League, the world’s most prestigious club tournament. And eight youth teams with players ages 13 to 18 hone their skills in more competitive Italian leagues.
“Basically, our main goal is to demonstrate that we have dignity,” said Giorgio Crescentini, president of the San Marino soccer federation. “I think we are on track.”
One shortcut will not be taken, however tempting, he said. In a country where it is difficult to gain citizenship, and naturalization can take 30 or more years, Crescentini said that no passports will be issued to foreigners just to play soccer, as happens elsewhere.
“We haven’t thought about any Brazilians, because we know it is impossible,” Crescentini said. “We won’t deviate.”
Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup begins next year. Among the teams in San Marino’s group is England, a familiar foe. San Marino is a 5,000-to-1 shot to qualify, but that quick goal by Gualtieri in 1993 has not been forgotten.
“We don’t laugh at them quite as much as everybody else,” said Henry Milton, a teacher in London. “To us they have an international pedigree.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/sports/soccer/san-marino-soccer-team-plays-on-despite-little-shot-at-winning-or-scoring.html?ref=sports
94
Football / Why is Dwayne De Rosario in the MLS?
« on: September 26, 2011, 05:00:49 AM »
... as opposed to elsewhere?
Ah curious.
Ah curious.
95
General Discussion / Barack Obama Thread
« on: September 09, 2011, 01:46:53 PM »
Will President Obama be re-elected?
No? Yes? Why? Why not?
No? Yes? Why? Why not?
96
Other Sports / US OPEN 2011
« on: September 01, 2011, 02:34:53 PM »
Day 4: Monfils is doing it up on his birthday but Ferrero is staying close.
Sergei Bubka's son in the dance too.
Sergei Bubka's son in the dance too.
97
General Discussion / Foreigners Follow Money to Booming Brazil, Land of $35 Martini
« on: August 16, 2011, 11:40:08 AM »
Interesting perspective regardless of whether we end up in Rio or Rio Claro
Foreigners Follow Money to Booming Brazil, Land of $35 Martini
By SIMON ROMERO
RIO DE JANEIRO — Pondering the financial storms lashing Europe and the United States, Seth Zalkin, a casually dressed American banker, sipped a demitasse and seemed content with his decision to move here in March with his wife and son.
“If the rest of the world is cratering, this is a good place to be,” said Mr. Zalkin, 39.
For those with even the dimmest memories of Brazil’s own debt crisis in the 1980s, the global order has been turned on its head. The American economy may be crawling along, but Brazil’s grew at its fastest clip in more than two decades last year and unemployment is at historic lows, part of the nation’s transformation from inflationary basket case into one of Washington’s top creditors.
With compensation rivaling that on Wall Street, so many foreign bankers, hedge fund managers, oil executives, lawyers and engineers have moved here that prices for prime office space surpassed those in New York this year, making Rio the costliest city in the Americas to lease it, according to the real estate company Cushman & Wakefield.
A gold rush mind-set is in full swing, with foreign work permits surging 144 percent in the past five years and Americans leading the pack of educated professionals putting down stakes.
Businessmen have long been drawn to Brazil, along with get-rich-quick confidence men, dreamers of Amazonian grandeur and even outlaws like Ronald Biggs, the Briton who absconded here after his 1963 Great Train Robbery.
But now schools catering to American and other English-speaking families have long waiting lists, apartments can cost $10,000 a month in coveted parts of Rio and many of the newcomers hold Ivy League degrees or job experience at the pillars of the global economy.
Once here, they find a country facing a very different challenge than do the United States and Europe: fears that the economy is getting too hot.
One particular shock for newcomers is the strength of Brazil’s currency, the real. That may help Brazilians snapping up apartments in places like South Beach in Miami, where properties cost about a third of their equivalents in Rio’s exclusive districts. But it also hurts the country’s manufacturers and exporters.
So in a bid to prevent it from going even higher, Brazil is now one of the biggest buyers of United States Treasury securities, becoming a larger stakeholder in the ailing American economy. That is a sharp break from the past, when Washington helped cobble together bailout packages for Brazil’s financial crises.
“Brazil is doing great, but honestly, every other week I ask myself, ‘When is this going to end?’ ” said Mark Bures, 42, an American executive who moved here in 1999, just in time to see an abrupt devaluation of the currency and other sharp swings in Brazil’s fortunes.
A few veteran American expatriates even remember Brazil’s last economic “miracle” in the early 1970s, when The Wall Street Journal quoted an ebullient banker at the start of a front-page article who predicted, “In 10 years, Brazil will be one of the five great powers of the world.” Instead, the country ended up with daunting levels of foreign debt.
The recent commodities boom and growth in domestic consumption, the result of an expanding middle class, helped turn Brazil into a rising power that bounced back handily from the 2008 global financial crisis. The economy grew 7.5 percent last year and is expected to register about 4 percent growth this year — slower, but still enviable in the United States.
Yet Brazil offers many challenges to give newcomers pause. Labor legislation favors hiring Brazilians over foreigners, and the lengthy process of obtaining a work visa can surprise those unaccustomed to Brazil’s gargantuan bureaucracy.
Some economists consider the Brazilian real the world’s most overvalued currency against the dollar and inflation has climbed (as evidenced by $6.16 Big Macs and $35 martinis). Interest rates remain stubbornly high and analysts debate whether a credit bubble is forming as consumers continue a multiyear spree on everything from homes to cars.
Brazil is hardly immune to the turbulence in global markets, and its currency has weakened a bit this month. Rio’s real estate has been bustling as soccer’s World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016 approach, but its infrastructure is inadequate. Violent crime, though falling in some areas, plagues big parts of the country and Rio, which suffered through a traumatic bus hijacking this month.
Still, foreigners are arriving, and work authorizations for them jumped more than 30 percent in 2010 alone, according to the Labor Ministry.
“I had very basic Portuguese, but I could tell this place was booming,” said Michelle Noyes, 29, a New Yorker who organized a hedge fund conference in São Paulo. Shortly after, she made the leap to Brazil for a job at a São Paulo asset management firm.
“I moved from the periphery of the industry to the center,” said Ms. Noyes, citing five other Americans, two from New York and three from Chicago, who are moving to Brazil this month to try their luck.
Americans form the largest group moving here, followed by contingents of Britons and other Europeans. Some are on temporary assignments. Others are starting ventures big and small.
David Neeleman, the American founder of JetBlue Airways, recently created Azul, a low-cost Brazilian airline. Corrado Varoli, an Italian who oversaw Goldman Sachs’ Latin American operations from New York, now runs his own São Paulo boutique investment bank. New Brazilian dot-coms like Baby.com.br, an online diaper retailer founded this year by two American cousins fresh out of business schools like Wharton and Harvard’s, sometimes give Brazil a bubbly feel not unlike that of the United States in 1999.
Others foreigners take jobs at Brazilian companies thriving from a boom partly created by Brazil’s trade with China.
“Our salaries here in Brazil are at least 50 percent more than salaries in the U.S. for strategic positions,” said Jacques Sarfatti, country manager for Russell Reynolds, a company that recruits business executives.
Foreigners compete with Brazilians returning home from abroad. “It’s really obvious that the labor market is so bad elsewhere,” said Dara Chapman, 45, a Californian who is a partner in a Rio hedge fund, Polo Capital. She said she was receiving so many résumés from would-be transplants from the United States that they were a “dime a dozen.”
Brazil’s huge deep-sea oil discoveries have also drawn investors and foreigners, including thousands of Filipinos working on ships and offshore oil platforms. For its other industries, Brazil needs an estimated 60,000 new engineers, some of whom must come from abroad, given the country’s lagging educational system.
“I moved from Beijing a year ago and find the potential for professional development incredible,” said Cynthia Yuanxiu Zhang, 27, a Chinese manager at a technology company. “I’m already planning to extend my time here well into this decade.”
Myrna Domit contributed reporting from São Paulo, Brazil.
Foreigners Follow Money to Booming Brazil, Land of $35 Martini
By SIMON ROMERO
RIO DE JANEIRO — Pondering the financial storms lashing Europe and the United States, Seth Zalkin, a casually dressed American banker, sipped a demitasse and seemed content with his decision to move here in March with his wife and son.
“If the rest of the world is cratering, this is a good place to be,” said Mr. Zalkin, 39.
For those with even the dimmest memories of Brazil’s own debt crisis in the 1980s, the global order has been turned on its head. The American economy may be crawling along, but Brazil’s grew at its fastest clip in more than two decades last year and unemployment is at historic lows, part of the nation’s transformation from inflationary basket case into one of Washington’s top creditors.
With compensation rivaling that on Wall Street, so many foreign bankers, hedge fund managers, oil executives, lawyers and engineers have moved here that prices for prime office space surpassed those in New York this year, making Rio the costliest city in the Americas to lease it, according to the real estate company Cushman & Wakefield.
A gold rush mind-set is in full swing, with foreign work permits surging 144 percent in the past five years and Americans leading the pack of educated professionals putting down stakes.
Businessmen have long been drawn to Brazil, along with get-rich-quick confidence men, dreamers of Amazonian grandeur and even outlaws like Ronald Biggs, the Briton who absconded here after his 1963 Great Train Robbery.
But now schools catering to American and other English-speaking families have long waiting lists, apartments can cost $10,000 a month in coveted parts of Rio and many of the newcomers hold Ivy League degrees or job experience at the pillars of the global economy.
Once here, they find a country facing a very different challenge than do the United States and Europe: fears that the economy is getting too hot.
One particular shock for newcomers is the strength of Brazil’s currency, the real. That may help Brazilians snapping up apartments in places like South Beach in Miami, where properties cost about a third of their equivalents in Rio’s exclusive districts. But it also hurts the country’s manufacturers and exporters.
So in a bid to prevent it from going even higher, Brazil is now one of the biggest buyers of United States Treasury securities, becoming a larger stakeholder in the ailing American economy. That is a sharp break from the past, when Washington helped cobble together bailout packages for Brazil’s financial crises.
“Brazil is doing great, but honestly, every other week I ask myself, ‘When is this going to end?’ ” said Mark Bures, 42, an American executive who moved here in 1999, just in time to see an abrupt devaluation of the currency and other sharp swings in Brazil’s fortunes.
A few veteran American expatriates even remember Brazil’s last economic “miracle” in the early 1970s, when The Wall Street Journal quoted an ebullient banker at the start of a front-page article who predicted, “In 10 years, Brazil will be one of the five great powers of the world.” Instead, the country ended up with daunting levels of foreign debt.
The recent commodities boom and growth in domestic consumption, the result of an expanding middle class, helped turn Brazil into a rising power that bounced back handily from the 2008 global financial crisis. The economy grew 7.5 percent last year and is expected to register about 4 percent growth this year — slower, but still enviable in the United States.
Yet Brazil offers many challenges to give newcomers pause. Labor legislation favors hiring Brazilians over foreigners, and the lengthy process of obtaining a work visa can surprise those unaccustomed to Brazil’s gargantuan bureaucracy.
Some economists consider the Brazilian real the world’s most overvalued currency against the dollar and inflation has climbed (as evidenced by $6.16 Big Macs and $35 martinis). Interest rates remain stubbornly high and analysts debate whether a credit bubble is forming as consumers continue a multiyear spree on everything from homes to cars.
Brazil is hardly immune to the turbulence in global markets, and its currency has weakened a bit this month. Rio’s real estate has been bustling as soccer’s World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016 approach, but its infrastructure is inadequate. Violent crime, though falling in some areas, plagues big parts of the country and Rio, which suffered through a traumatic bus hijacking this month.
Still, foreigners are arriving, and work authorizations for them jumped more than 30 percent in 2010 alone, according to the Labor Ministry.
“I had very basic Portuguese, but I could tell this place was booming,” said Michelle Noyes, 29, a New Yorker who organized a hedge fund conference in São Paulo. Shortly after, she made the leap to Brazil for a job at a São Paulo asset management firm.
“I moved from the periphery of the industry to the center,” said Ms. Noyes, citing five other Americans, two from New York and three from Chicago, who are moving to Brazil this month to try their luck.
Americans form the largest group moving here, followed by contingents of Britons and other Europeans. Some are on temporary assignments. Others are starting ventures big and small.
David Neeleman, the American founder of JetBlue Airways, recently created Azul, a low-cost Brazilian airline. Corrado Varoli, an Italian who oversaw Goldman Sachs’ Latin American operations from New York, now runs his own São Paulo boutique investment bank. New Brazilian dot-coms like Baby.com.br, an online diaper retailer founded this year by two American cousins fresh out of business schools like Wharton and Harvard’s, sometimes give Brazil a bubbly feel not unlike that of the United States in 1999.
Others foreigners take jobs at Brazilian companies thriving from a boom partly created by Brazil’s trade with China.
“Our salaries here in Brazil are at least 50 percent more than salaries in the U.S. for strategic positions,” said Jacques Sarfatti, country manager for Russell Reynolds, a company that recruits business executives.
Foreigners compete with Brazilians returning home from abroad. “It’s really obvious that the labor market is so bad elsewhere,” said Dara Chapman, 45, a Californian who is a partner in a Rio hedge fund, Polo Capital. She said she was receiving so many résumés from would-be transplants from the United States that they were a “dime a dozen.”
Brazil’s huge deep-sea oil discoveries have also drawn investors and foreigners, including thousands of Filipinos working on ships and offshore oil platforms. For its other industries, Brazil needs an estimated 60,000 new engineers, some of whom must come from abroad, given the country’s lagging educational system.
“I moved from Beijing a year ago and find the potential for professional development incredible,” said Cynthia Yuanxiu Zhang, 27, a Chinese manager at a technology company. “I’m already planning to extend my time here well into this decade.”
Myrna Domit contributed reporting from São Paulo, Brazil.
98
Football / M.L.S. Nurturing Martin’s Interest in Soccer
« on: August 16, 2011, 11:35:11 AM »
August 14, 2011, 7:41 pm
M.L.S. Nurturing Martin’s Interest in Soccer
New York Times
By JACK BELL
Curtis Martin is closely associated with football American-style, but these days, he appears to be taking a crash course in soccer. It is too early to say whether Martin may someday seek to become a team owner in Major League Soccer, but his interest in the sport is clearly growing.
On Aug. 5, Martin took a seat in the director’s box at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, where an impromptu version of the Cosmos, the legendary soccer team that had not played a real game in more than 25 years, took the field in a match against Manchester United. Martin was also in London in May, watching as Barcelona beat Manchester United to capture the UEFA Champions League title.
In addition, Martin, 38, who retired from the Jets in 2007 as the team’s career rushing leader and as the No. 4 rusher in N.F.L. history, has recently met with M.L.S. officials and with the owner of the Cosmos, Paul Kemsley. They discussed the possibility of Martin’s becoming more involved with the sport.
Martin’s foray into soccer is particularly intriguing to M.L.S. because it is intent on putting a franchise in New York that would become the league’s 20th team. Martin’s stature in the New York market will give any team added visibility if he were one of its owners.
In a recent interview, Martin said he was nowhere near making any sort of commitment to M.L.S., although he did not deny his growing interest in soccer.
“New York is always special; I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Martin, who spoke by telephone from Manchester. “People know there’s no pushing me in any direction. It’s a big investment, and I’m not going to allow myself to be pushed. I do things on my own.”
Martin, who has spoken in the past of wanting to own an N.F.L. team, added: “I usually don’t talk about my business unless it’s real. And no deal is being done here.”
“Right now, I’m just interested in learning more about the soccer culture,” he said. “I’ve never really understood the rules, and in my mind, it’s like basketball. I’m learning more, and it’s getting pretty exciting.”
M.L.S. has no timetable for awarding the rights to a 20th team (it will add its 19th next season in Montreal), but Commissioner Don Garber has said he is committed to placing a club in the New York area, most likely in Queens, to compete with the New Jersey-based Red Bulls. That expansion could come as early as 2013, but only if the issue of building a stadium for the team can be resolved.
In the past, Garber has talked about the possibility of the owners of the Mets being directly involved with an M.L.S. team. But their financial issues, stemming in part from their connection to the fraud scheme conducted by Bernard L. Madoff, would seem to make that possibility less likely.
Nevertheless, Citi Field hosted two international soccer games this summer and Dave Howard, a Mets executive vice president, said the stadium could become a temporary home for a New York-based M.L.S. team. Whether the Mets might be able to seek a larger role, perhaps in the construction of a soccer stadium near Citi Field, is unclear.
“We’ve had good discussions with Don; he’s terrific,” Howard said of Garber. “We share his view that soccer would undoubtedly be successful in Queens.”
M.L.S. is not necessarily wedded to a Queens site, and Manhattan would be intriguing to the league, too. But as with Queens, the question would be where a stadium could feasibly be constructed over the next few years, considering all the hurdles to be cleared in finding a site, arranging financing and receiving the necessary government approvals.
It was thought that the Cosmos group, which bought the rights to the team name from G. Peppe Pinton and re-established the brand, had the inside track on the 20th M.L.S. team. Questions have persisted, however, about Kemsley’s ability to raise the required $100 million franchise fee and then to commit as much as $200 million to build a stadium — a prerequisite for any M.L.S. expansion team. And earlier this month, when Manchester United played the M.L.S. All-Stars at Red Bull Arena, Garber told reporters not to assume that the current Cosmos group would end up with the New York team.
“It’s not just the Cosmos,” Garber said during halftime of that game. “You guys think it’s the Cosmos that are going to be buying that team. They’re one of many ownership groups.’’
Nevertheless, Martin sat with Kemsley and other Cosmos officials 10 days ago as they and more than 70,000 others watched Manchester United play the most recent incarnation of the Cosmos — in this instance, a collection of aging former international professionals and academy players who were coached by the Frenchman Eric Cantona, a former star for United. The game itself was a testimonial for Paul Scholes, who retired last season after 17 years with Manchester United.
At the moment, Martin’s presence at soccer games is intriguing. Where it could lead is not clear. Could he end up in a bid for a New York team? Perhaps, but right now, the end zone still seems a good distance away.
M.L.S. Nurturing Martin’s Interest in Soccer
New York Times
By JACK BELL
Curtis Martin is closely associated with football American-style, but these days, he appears to be taking a crash course in soccer. It is too early to say whether Martin may someday seek to become a team owner in Major League Soccer, but his interest in the sport is clearly growing.
On Aug. 5, Martin took a seat in the director’s box at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, where an impromptu version of the Cosmos, the legendary soccer team that had not played a real game in more than 25 years, took the field in a match against Manchester United. Martin was also in London in May, watching as Barcelona beat Manchester United to capture the UEFA Champions League title.
In addition, Martin, 38, who retired from the Jets in 2007 as the team’s career rushing leader and as the No. 4 rusher in N.F.L. history, has recently met with M.L.S. officials and with the owner of the Cosmos, Paul Kemsley. They discussed the possibility of Martin’s becoming more involved with the sport.
Martin’s foray into soccer is particularly intriguing to M.L.S. because it is intent on putting a franchise in New York that would become the league’s 20th team. Martin’s stature in the New York market will give any team added visibility if he were one of its owners.
In a recent interview, Martin said he was nowhere near making any sort of commitment to M.L.S., although he did not deny his growing interest in soccer.
“New York is always special; I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Martin, who spoke by telephone from Manchester. “People know there’s no pushing me in any direction. It’s a big investment, and I’m not going to allow myself to be pushed. I do things on my own.”
Martin, who has spoken in the past of wanting to own an N.F.L. team, added: “I usually don’t talk about my business unless it’s real. And no deal is being done here.”
“Right now, I’m just interested in learning more about the soccer culture,” he said. “I’ve never really understood the rules, and in my mind, it’s like basketball. I’m learning more, and it’s getting pretty exciting.”
M.L.S. has no timetable for awarding the rights to a 20th team (it will add its 19th next season in Montreal), but Commissioner Don Garber has said he is committed to placing a club in the New York area, most likely in Queens, to compete with the New Jersey-based Red Bulls. That expansion could come as early as 2013, but only if the issue of building a stadium for the team can be resolved.
In the past, Garber has talked about the possibility of the owners of the Mets being directly involved with an M.L.S. team. But their financial issues, stemming in part from their connection to the fraud scheme conducted by Bernard L. Madoff, would seem to make that possibility less likely.
Nevertheless, Citi Field hosted two international soccer games this summer and Dave Howard, a Mets executive vice president, said the stadium could become a temporary home for a New York-based M.L.S. team. Whether the Mets might be able to seek a larger role, perhaps in the construction of a soccer stadium near Citi Field, is unclear.
“We’ve had good discussions with Don; he’s terrific,” Howard said of Garber. “We share his view that soccer would undoubtedly be successful in Queens.”
M.L.S. is not necessarily wedded to a Queens site, and Manhattan would be intriguing to the league, too. But as with Queens, the question would be where a stadium could feasibly be constructed over the next few years, considering all the hurdles to be cleared in finding a site, arranging financing and receiving the necessary government approvals.
It was thought that the Cosmos group, which bought the rights to the team name from G. Peppe Pinton and re-established the brand, had the inside track on the 20th M.L.S. team. Questions have persisted, however, about Kemsley’s ability to raise the required $100 million franchise fee and then to commit as much as $200 million to build a stadium — a prerequisite for any M.L.S. expansion team. And earlier this month, when Manchester United played the M.L.S. All-Stars at Red Bull Arena, Garber told reporters not to assume that the current Cosmos group would end up with the New York team.
“It’s not just the Cosmos,” Garber said during halftime of that game. “You guys think it’s the Cosmos that are going to be buying that team. They’re one of many ownership groups.’’
Nevertheless, Martin sat with Kemsley and other Cosmos officials 10 days ago as they and more than 70,000 others watched Manchester United play the most recent incarnation of the Cosmos — in this instance, a collection of aging former international professionals and academy players who were coached by the Frenchman Eric Cantona, a former star for United. The game itself was a testimonial for Paul Scholes, who retired last season after 17 years with Manchester United.
At the moment, Martin’s presence at soccer games is intriguing. Where it could lead is not clear. Could he end up in a bid for a New York team? Perhaps, but right now, the end zone still seems a good distance away.
99
Resume Hot-Line / Compensation Manager (HR Field)
« on: August 12, 2011, 03:44:29 PM »
Compensation Manager
Tracking Code
216611-060
Job Description
SUMMARY:
The Compensation Manager has responsibility for planning, developing, organizing, and implementing the compensation programs for the US Olympic Committee. Specifically, the position provides strategic and operational direction for compensation programs/practice including base pay and incentives. This position is also responsible for effective management and optimization of the HR Information System. The position reports to the Managing Director Human Resources, and is based in Colorado Springs.
The successful candidate must be knowledgeable of best practices, employee compensation and benefits regulatory environments, and must be a consultative solution provider. The USOC employs approximately 400 employees across the US. To apply, please visit our website: www.teamusa.org/jobs.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Compensation & HRIS
Manage and administer all compensation programs including base pay, merit, incentive, and reward/recognition programs throughout the employment life cycles. Align and integrate compensation programs to organizational mission and needs.
Oversee the HR Information System including weekly transactions, reporting, data mining, technical needs and solutions.
Drive market pricing activities including participation in compensation surveys (approximately 5 - 7 annually). Recommend and apply gained market knowledge proactively to USOC practices and programs as appropriate.
Consult with leaders and conduct market pricing of internal positions; make fair and effective recommendations
Develop tools to educate leaders on compensation best practices and deliverables
Compliance
Understand and drive compliance needs (FLSA, HIPPA, etc.) for the organization relative to compensation and HRIS.
Liaise with finance and payroll department on compensation and benefit taxation issues.
Participate in organizational wide initiatives relative to protecting confidential and private data and own HR’s compliance (employee data/files)
Leadership
Drive day to day departmental goals and activities and set goals and objectives for the Compensation & HRIS team members; create environment in which team members perform at their best
Teach and develop team members’ abilities relative to compensation program and best practices and required business competencies; develop team members to their potential
Model customer service and communication skill best practices with team members and HR peers
Encourage and find opportunities for effective collaboration and partnership and implement as appropriate
General
Oversee standard internal and external reporting needs such as EEO-1 or organizational metrics. Prepare customized data and reports as requested such as the annual non-profit 990 reporting
Plan and execute other projects and priorities
CONDITIONS
Office environment in multi building location
Travel required occasionally
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Bachelors Degree or equivalent experience
CCP and/or CBP certification highly preferred
Experience/Functional Skills
7-10 years general human resources experience with an emphasis on salary administration, job analysis, compensation programs
3-5 years experience in evaluating jobs, writing job descriptions; conducting evaluations of market competitiveness; and researching, analyzing, evaluating & preparing comp program, policy & communication materials.
Experience with designing & implementing base salary and incentive programs.
Experience in implementing technology systems such as HRIS or payroll systems.
Understanding and experience in integrating all rewards and pro-actively aligning to the organizational mission & needs
Must be extremely technologically adept, including database administration
Experience/Competencies
Leadership skills in leading/influencing as an individual contributor, project leader and team leader.
Demonstrated presentation and strong clear communication skills.
Strong solution orientation and problem solving skills; strong pro-active and responsive customer service skills
Ability to maintain complete confidentiality and discretion in business relationships
Ability to manage multiple priorities and execute on time/on budget
Desired Qualifications
3-5 years experience with managing budgets and liaising with financial partners; strong financial acumen and analytical skills
Prefer candidates with professional knowledge/experience inColorado, NY and/orCalifornia
Experience with executive compensation and plans
Spanish speaking proficiency
POSITION REPORTS TO: Managing Director Human Resources
Job Location
Colorado Springs, CO US
Position Type
Full-Time/Regular
Salary
62,730.00 - 89,556.00 USD
Tracking Code
216611-060
Job Description
SUMMARY:
The Compensation Manager has responsibility for planning, developing, organizing, and implementing the compensation programs for the US Olympic Committee. Specifically, the position provides strategic and operational direction for compensation programs/practice including base pay and incentives. This position is also responsible for effective management and optimization of the HR Information System. The position reports to the Managing Director Human Resources, and is based in Colorado Springs.
The successful candidate must be knowledgeable of best practices, employee compensation and benefits regulatory environments, and must be a consultative solution provider. The USOC employs approximately 400 employees across the US. To apply, please visit our website: www.teamusa.org/jobs.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Compensation & HRIS
Manage and administer all compensation programs including base pay, merit, incentive, and reward/recognition programs throughout the employment life cycles. Align and integrate compensation programs to organizational mission and needs.
Oversee the HR Information System including weekly transactions, reporting, data mining, technical needs and solutions.
Drive market pricing activities including participation in compensation surveys (approximately 5 - 7 annually). Recommend and apply gained market knowledge proactively to USOC practices and programs as appropriate.
Consult with leaders and conduct market pricing of internal positions; make fair and effective recommendations
Develop tools to educate leaders on compensation best practices and deliverables
Compliance
Understand and drive compliance needs (FLSA, HIPPA, etc.) for the organization relative to compensation and HRIS.
Liaise with finance and payroll department on compensation and benefit taxation issues.
Participate in organizational wide initiatives relative to protecting confidential and private data and own HR’s compliance (employee data/files)
Leadership
Drive day to day departmental goals and activities and set goals and objectives for the Compensation & HRIS team members; create environment in which team members perform at their best
Teach and develop team members’ abilities relative to compensation program and best practices and required business competencies; develop team members to their potential
Model customer service and communication skill best practices with team members and HR peers
Encourage and find opportunities for effective collaboration and partnership and implement as appropriate
General
Oversee standard internal and external reporting needs such as EEO-1 or organizational metrics. Prepare customized data and reports as requested such as the annual non-profit 990 reporting
Plan and execute other projects and priorities
CONDITIONS
Office environment in multi building location
Travel required occasionally
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Bachelors Degree or equivalent experience
CCP and/or CBP certification highly preferred
Experience/Functional Skills
7-10 years general human resources experience with an emphasis on salary administration, job analysis, compensation programs
3-5 years experience in evaluating jobs, writing job descriptions; conducting evaluations of market competitiveness; and researching, analyzing, evaluating & preparing comp program, policy & communication materials.
Experience with designing & implementing base salary and incentive programs.
Experience in implementing technology systems such as HRIS or payroll systems.
Understanding and experience in integrating all rewards and pro-actively aligning to the organizational mission & needs
Must be extremely technologically adept, including database administration
Experience/Competencies
Leadership skills in leading/influencing as an individual contributor, project leader and team leader.
Demonstrated presentation and strong clear communication skills.
Strong solution orientation and problem solving skills; strong pro-active and responsive customer service skills
Ability to maintain complete confidentiality and discretion in business relationships
Ability to manage multiple priorities and execute on time/on budget
Desired Qualifications
3-5 years experience with managing budgets and liaising with financial partners; strong financial acumen and analytical skills
Prefer candidates with professional knowledge/experience inColorado, NY and/orCalifornia
Experience with executive compensation and plans
Spanish speaking proficiency
POSITION REPORTS TO: Managing Director Human Resources
Job Location
Colorado Springs, CO US
Position Type
Full-Time/Regular
Salary
62,730.00 - 89,556.00 USD
100
General Discussion / It's Official! 'Sesame Street' Says Bert & Ernie Are Not Gay
« on: August 12, 2011, 03:06:32 PM »
It's Official! 'Sesame Street' Says Bert & Ernie Are Not Gay
August 12, 2011
For decades there have been rumors and insinuations about the super-close relationship between Sesame Street's loveable characters Bert and Ernie. But after 40 years of silence, the children's show has publicly addressed the issue of the best buddies, and the verdict is: They're not gay.
After online petitions and Facebook fan pages popped up urging Sesame Workshop to let the co-habitating best friends marry (Sesame Street is set in New York, where gay marriage became legal earlier this year), the creators behind PBS' long-running educational program finally felt the need to respond.
"Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves," Sesame Workshop posted on the show's Facebook page on Aug. 11. "Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."
Considering the fact that Bert and Ernie are best friends who've lived together -- in a one bedroom! -- at 123 Sesame Street since 1969, it's easy to see why so many fans thought the free-spirited, rubber-ducky-loving Ernie and his easily flustered, pigeon-obsessed pal were more than just apartment mates.
But Sesame Street has had its say; they're just life-long bachelor Muppets, who unlike Miss Piggy and Kermit, aren't romantically involved
Read More http://www.ivillage.com/sesame-stree-says-bert-ernie-are-not-gay/1-a-372475#ixzz1UqnmbHgV
August 12, 2011
For decades there have been rumors and insinuations about the super-close relationship between Sesame Street's loveable characters Bert and Ernie. But after 40 years of silence, the children's show has publicly addressed the issue of the best buddies, and the verdict is: They're not gay.
After online petitions and Facebook fan pages popped up urging Sesame Workshop to let the co-habitating best friends marry (Sesame Street is set in New York, where gay marriage became legal earlier this year), the creators behind PBS' long-running educational program finally felt the need to respond.
"Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves," Sesame Workshop posted on the show's Facebook page on Aug. 11. "Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."
Considering the fact that Bert and Ernie are best friends who've lived together -- in a one bedroom! -- at 123 Sesame Street since 1969, it's easy to see why so many fans thought the free-spirited, rubber-ducky-loving Ernie and his easily flustered, pigeon-obsessed pal were more than just apartment mates.
But Sesame Street has had its say; they're just life-long bachelor Muppets, who unlike Miss Piggy and Kermit, aren't romantically involved
Read More http://www.ivillage.com/sesame-stree-says-bert-ernie-are-not-gay/1-a-372475#ixzz1UqnmbHgV
101
Football / Who know ballers?
« on: December 07, 2010, 09:01:08 PM »
Who know ballers? Who is the odd man out in this group? Why? (two ways to answer that correctly ... well, three
).
102
Other Sports / SURFING: Kelly Slater
« on: October 15, 2010, 09:12:13 AM »
Age 38 ... on the verge of a 10th ASP World Tour title race. Right now the man is a good 10,000 points ahead of his closest rival.
Yuh hadda give him credit for longevity and dominance.
Yuh hadda give him credit for longevity and dominance.
103
Football / American high school soccer and the SSFL compared
« on: October 12, 2010, 06:05:21 PM »How does American high school soccer compare to the SSFL? The question isn't directed to structure ... The focus is moreso on quality. Several on the forum have experience in both ... Would like to hear especially from observers who have contemporary experience of both.
104
Entertainment & Culture Discussion / The Jolly Boys ... doh play allyuh eh know :)
« on: October 05, 2010, 06:58:15 PM »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOwl-bMfIkc
Recently back from touring the UK. Caught them on European TV. Wicked mento. They remind me of Ibrahim Ferrer and the Buena Vista Social Club.
Recently back from touring the UK. Caught them on European TV. Wicked mento. They remind me of Ibrahim Ferrer and the Buena Vista Social Club.
105
Football / Trapped Chilean miners: How did a former footballing hero come to be one of the
« on: September 08, 2010, 06:57:21 AM »
Trapped Chilean miners: How did a former footballing hero come to be one of the 33?
Franklin Lobos was a legend of Chilean football. Dubbed el Mortero Magico (the magic mortar) for his thunderous long-distance free-kicks, the midfielder was a stalwart of first division side Cobresal throughout the 1980s. Asked for his secret, Lobos explained simply: "I have a different way of kicking the ball."
Yet even during those days as a professional footballer, Lobos was never far from the dangerous world of the working miner. Cobresal is based in the mining town of El Salvador, in northern Chile's Atacama region. Its name derives from the Spanish words cobre and sal (copper and salt); the club's logo is a football adorned with a yellow miner's helmet; and its fan-base is drawn largely from employees of the state-run mining company, Codelco. For an annual fee of 7,000 Chilean pesos (just over £9), workers receive a free pass to the club's 20,000-capacity stadium.
When he retired, Lobos began working as a taxi driver, but by 2005 money had grown tight, and, with two daughters to put through university, this footballing hero had little choice but to take a job underground. Now he is back in the headlines – as one of the 33 miners trapped 700m inside the San José copper-gold mine.
As a miner, Lobos, 53, is paid about 700,000 Chilean pesos a month (£915) – around a quarter of what he was earning as a first-division footballer. "As a player, you didn't have to pay for anything," Lobos once said in an interview with the Cobresal fan club. "You just played football and represented the miners."
The change in working conditions was dramatic. In his first year as a miner, Lobos was caught inside La Carola mine when a fire broke out. The exit was blocked and for a full day, Lobos was trapped inside, barely able to breathe as smoke and fumes filled the mine shaft. "Now I know what it means to fill your lungs with dirt and smoke to earn the cash to watch the [Cobresal] team play," he later said.
When Lobos began working in the San José mine, the dangers were so well known that locals called its miners "the kamikazes". The owners of the mine, San Esteban, offered salaries 30% higher than average, a tacit acknowledgement that the job required extraordinary sacrifices.
"My father said it was all so dangerous," says Carolina Lobos, 26, at Camp Hope, the makeshift camp set up by the trapped miners' families. "In his last mining job, they provided him with new shoes every three months. Here they did not give him anything; he had to buy his own boots."
As the driver of a truck shuttling men and supplies in and out of the mine, Lobos passed frequently through the zone that collapsed on 5 August. Initial reports said he had been crushed; that his truck was found covered in blood. "They told us my father had not managed to get down to the refuge," Carolina recalls. "I spent that day screaming and screaming. Imagine, they tell you your father is dead! That day was very complicated."
It had also been Lobos's job to stock and maintain a refuge deep inside the mine; the shelter where the 33 men have now been living for more than a month – already a record for time spent trapped underground.
Predictably, Lobos's entrapment sparked an outpouring of support from fans, former players and coaches. "From the beginning he had the don of leadership," said Ivan Zamorano, the former Chilean star striker who played alongside Lobos at Cobresal early in his career. "I think that down there, trapped, he has tapped into that energy you saw when he played; an emotional man who threw the whole team behind the game. I am sure he is very important to keeping them alive down there."
Since contact was made, Lobos has been writing daily letters to his daughters, describing his life underground with the careful precision of a father protecting his daughter. In one reply, Carolina wrote: "We wanted to send you a ball, but it does not pass through the tube."
As family members cleaned out Lobos's locker at the mouth of the mine, they found car keys, clothes and a black-and-white Adidas T-shirt he wore when off duty. Carolina grabbed the shirt and has yet to let it go. "Every night I sleep with his shirt and I say, 'Old man, take care, patience – they are going to get you out.'"
With their rescue date estimated to be late November to early December, Carolina Lobos knows a lot can still go wrong. "I am nervous about the rescue. The mine is still settling. Imagine if the drilling shakes loose part of the mine and we can't get them out . . . Until the day they are rescued, we don't really know if they are getting out."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/07/trapped-chilean-miners
Chilean miners stuck more than 2000ft under ground for more than a month had moments of light release last night - when they were able to watch their national football team.
However, their joy at being connected with events on the outside world was short-lived when Chile lost 2-1 to Ukraine.
Players wore messages of support which were seen by the 33 men who watched the whole friendly match via fibre optic cable.
The miniature projector snaked down a bore hole displayed the game on an underground wall, creating an image 50-inches wide.
The miners, who were stranded by a collapse on August 5, were seen cheering and singing in footage beamed back up to their relatives who are continuing their vigil at the mine near Copiapo, northern Chile.
It was also reported that Franklin Lobos, a former professional footballer among the group of trapped miners, was able to provide commentary on the game.
The entertainment came as medical officials expressed their concern for the men's health due to the cramped and hot conditions they have been forced to live in.
All the men have suffered from skin sores, foot fungi or abrasions, and infections could prove dangerous in the sweltering heat and humidity, with rescue at least six weeks away.
With temperatures never dipping below 30C and humidity at 88 per cent, the men have no way of drying out.
In such an environment any open wound presents a serious risk, so the miners have been instructed to use extreme caution.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310081/Trapped-Chilean-miners-able-watch-national-team-play-football.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Franklin Lobos was a legend of Chilean football. Dubbed el Mortero Magico (the magic mortar) for his thunderous long-distance free-kicks, the midfielder was a stalwart of first division side Cobresal throughout the 1980s. Asked for his secret, Lobos explained simply: "I have a different way of kicking the ball."
Yet even during those days as a professional footballer, Lobos was never far from the dangerous world of the working miner. Cobresal is based in the mining town of El Salvador, in northern Chile's Atacama region. Its name derives from the Spanish words cobre and sal (copper and salt); the club's logo is a football adorned with a yellow miner's helmet; and its fan-base is drawn largely from employees of the state-run mining company, Codelco. For an annual fee of 7,000 Chilean pesos (just over £9), workers receive a free pass to the club's 20,000-capacity stadium.
When he retired, Lobos began working as a taxi driver, but by 2005 money had grown tight, and, with two daughters to put through university, this footballing hero had little choice but to take a job underground. Now he is back in the headlines – as one of the 33 miners trapped 700m inside the San José copper-gold mine.
As a miner, Lobos, 53, is paid about 700,000 Chilean pesos a month (£915) – around a quarter of what he was earning as a first-division footballer. "As a player, you didn't have to pay for anything," Lobos once said in an interview with the Cobresal fan club. "You just played football and represented the miners."
The change in working conditions was dramatic. In his first year as a miner, Lobos was caught inside La Carola mine when a fire broke out. The exit was blocked and for a full day, Lobos was trapped inside, barely able to breathe as smoke and fumes filled the mine shaft. "Now I know what it means to fill your lungs with dirt and smoke to earn the cash to watch the [Cobresal] team play," he later said.
When Lobos began working in the San José mine, the dangers were so well known that locals called its miners "the kamikazes". The owners of the mine, San Esteban, offered salaries 30% higher than average, a tacit acknowledgement that the job required extraordinary sacrifices.
"My father said it was all so dangerous," says Carolina Lobos, 26, at Camp Hope, the makeshift camp set up by the trapped miners' families. "In his last mining job, they provided him with new shoes every three months. Here they did not give him anything; he had to buy his own boots."
As the driver of a truck shuttling men and supplies in and out of the mine, Lobos passed frequently through the zone that collapsed on 5 August. Initial reports said he had been crushed; that his truck was found covered in blood. "They told us my father had not managed to get down to the refuge," Carolina recalls. "I spent that day screaming and screaming. Imagine, they tell you your father is dead! That day was very complicated."
It had also been Lobos's job to stock and maintain a refuge deep inside the mine; the shelter where the 33 men have now been living for more than a month – already a record for time spent trapped underground.
Predictably, Lobos's entrapment sparked an outpouring of support from fans, former players and coaches. "From the beginning he had the don of leadership," said Ivan Zamorano, the former Chilean star striker who played alongside Lobos at Cobresal early in his career. "I think that down there, trapped, he has tapped into that energy you saw when he played; an emotional man who threw the whole team behind the game. I am sure he is very important to keeping them alive down there."
Since contact was made, Lobos has been writing daily letters to his daughters, describing his life underground with the careful precision of a father protecting his daughter. In one reply, Carolina wrote: "We wanted to send you a ball, but it does not pass through the tube."
As family members cleaned out Lobos's locker at the mouth of the mine, they found car keys, clothes and a black-and-white Adidas T-shirt he wore when off duty. Carolina grabbed the shirt and has yet to let it go. "Every night I sleep with his shirt and I say, 'Old man, take care, patience – they are going to get you out.'"
With their rescue date estimated to be late November to early December, Carolina Lobos knows a lot can still go wrong. "I am nervous about the rescue. The mine is still settling. Imagine if the drilling shakes loose part of the mine and we can't get them out . . . Until the day they are rescued, we don't really know if they are getting out."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/07/trapped-chilean-miners
Chilean miners stuck more than 2000ft under ground for more than a month had moments of light release last night - when they were able to watch their national football team.
However, their joy at being connected with events on the outside world was short-lived when Chile lost 2-1 to Ukraine.
Players wore messages of support which were seen by the 33 men who watched the whole friendly match via fibre optic cable.
The miniature projector snaked down a bore hole displayed the game on an underground wall, creating an image 50-inches wide.
The miners, who were stranded by a collapse on August 5, were seen cheering and singing in footage beamed back up to their relatives who are continuing their vigil at the mine near Copiapo, northern Chile.
It was also reported that Franklin Lobos, a former professional footballer among the group of trapped miners, was able to provide commentary on the game.
The entertainment came as medical officials expressed their concern for the men's health due to the cramped and hot conditions they have been forced to live in.
All the men have suffered from skin sores, foot fungi or abrasions, and infections could prove dangerous in the sweltering heat and humidity, with rescue at least six weeks away.
With temperatures never dipping below 30C and humidity at 88 per cent, the men have no way of drying out.
In such an environment any open wound presents a serious risk, so the miners have been instructed to use extreme caution.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1310081/Trapped-Chilean-miners-able-watch-national-team-play-football.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
106
Resume Hot-Line / Job opportunity: Science degree ... recent grad?
« on: July 31, 2010, 03:28:27 AM »
Never know who looking ...
Job Description
This position with The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc. is responsible for collecting biological specimens at sports drug-testing sites according to the protocols established by Drug Free Sport and its clients.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1.Provide excellent service to Drug Free Sport clients and maintain strong, positive working relationships and communication with Drug Free Sport employees and independent contractors as part of a team-centered work environment.
2.Travel to and administer specimen collections at sites throughout the United States and outside the United States.
3.Apply Drug Free Sport and client collection protocols according to agreements between Drug Free Sport and its clients:
•Follow and comply with clients drug-testing programs and protocols.
•Provide clients with quality specimen collection.
•Measure and record specific gravity and pH level for urine samples per client protocol.
•Gather and record athlete data via Drug Free Sport’s proprietary paperless chain-of-custody computer software system- Secure Collection Automated Network (SCAN).
•Facilitate movement of drug-testing supplies, staff and specimens to and from testing sites.
•Troubleshoot and resolve collection issues at site of testing.
4.Work closely with other members of the Sport Drug Testing team to maintain continuity and quality of services.
5.Assist Sport Drug Testing department with client management and customer service follow-up.
6.Provide assistance to Drug Free Sport staff on special projects as needed.
REQUIREMENTS
•Bachelor’s degree required. Preference will be given to applicants with a degree in the sciences, including but not limited to biology, chemistry, biochem, etc.
•Desire and ability to travel extensively within the U.S. and internationally. The position will be based in Kansas City, Missouri, but will travel 90% or more.
•Strong organizational skills required.
•Ability to handle multiple projects required.
•Excellent communication (written/oral/listening) skills individually and in small/large groups.
•Strong problem-solving skills.
•Working and operational knowledge of MS Office and the Internet.
•Experience or interest in sport required.
•Experience in specimen collection preferred.
Successful applicant must pass background check(s) and pre-employment drug test.
To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume and contact information for three (3) references to:
The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc.
Attention: Kathy J. Turpin, Ph.D., Director of Collegiate Drug Testing
2537 Madison Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64108
Applicants may also email a cover letter, resume and references to info@drugfreesport.com attention Kathy J. Turpin, Ph.D., Director of Collegiate Drug Testing. No phone calls please.
Job Description
This position with The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc. is responsible for collecting biological specimens at sports drug-testing sites according to the protocols established by Drug Free Sport and its clients.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1.Provide excellent service to Drug Free Sport clients and maintain strong, positive working relationships and communication with Drug Free Sport employees and independent contractors as part of a team-centered work environment.
2.Travel to and administer specimen collections at sites throughout the United States and outside the United States.
3.Apply Drug Free Sport and client collection protocols according to agreements between Drug Free Sport and its clients:
•Follow and comply with clients drug-testing programs and protocols.
•Provide clients with quality specimen collection.
•Measure and record specific gravity and pH level for urine samples per client protocol.
•Gather and record athlete data via Drug Free Sport’s proprietary paperless chain-of-custody computer software system- Secure Collection Automated Network (SCAN).
•Facilitate movement of drug-testing supplies, staff and specimens to and from testing sites.
•Troubleshoot and resolve collection issues at site of testing.
4.Work closely with other members of the Sport Drug Testing team to maintain continuity and quality of services.
5.Assist Sport Drug Testing department with client management and customer service follow-up.
6.Provide assistance to Drug Free Sport staff on special projects as needed.
REQUIREMENTS
•Bachelor’s degree required. Preference will be given to applicants with a degree in the sciences, including but not limited to biology, chemistry, biochem, etc.
•Desire and ability to travel extensively within the U.S. and internationally. The position will be based in Kansas City, Missouri, but will travel 90% or more.
•Strong organizational skills required.
•Ability to handle multiple projects required.
•Excellent communication (written/oral/listening) skills individually and in small/large groups.
•Strong problem-solving skills.
•Working and operational knowledge of MS Office and the Internet.
•Experience or interest in sport required.
•Experience in specimen collection preferred.
Successful applicant must pass background check(s) and pre-employment drug test.
To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume and contact information for three (3) references to:
The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc.
Attention: Kathy J. Turpin, Ph.D., Director of Collegiate Drug Testing
2537 Madison Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64108
Applicants may also email a cover letter, resume and references to info@drugfreesport.com attention Kathy J. Turpin, Ph.D., Director of Collegiate Drug Testing. No phone calls please.
107
General Discussion / A rose by any other name ... names ... history ... enslavement
« on: July 17, 2010, 01:07:08 PM »
Wikipedia excerpts under 'slave name':
My translation of Dutch lists 'braafheid' as n. goodness, quality of being good; kind-heartedness; virtue, integrity
Caught my attention via players such as Bafetimbi Gomis, Bernard Mendy, Emmanuel Mendy et al
Fairly interesting stuff regardless of the pungent smell and bitter taste of history. Screw Shakespeare?
Quote
The Caribbean islands belonging to the Dutch kingdom (like Aruba and the Dutch Antilles) or former colonies, such as the Surinam have a large Creole population consisting mostly of the descendants of slaves.
When freed in the course of the 19th century, the ancestors of these people received surnames which were given by their former owners; many of which referred to a specific character trait. For example Aruban governor Frits Goedgedrag's name is Dutch for "good behavior" whereas football player Edson Braafheid's name means "obedient".
Many people kept these names, while others later chose their own name. These names were often in the local Spanish-based creole language, and subsequently changed to 'proper' Spanish by Dutch officials, which explains why many Arubans and some Surinamese have Spanish surnames, but no Spanish ancestry.
My translation of Dutch lists 'braafheid' as n. goodness, quality of being good; kind-heartedness; virtue, integrity
Quote
Captured slaves were all given a "slave name and in Europe like in France, many of them still bear the slave name, likely the name Gomis is mainly associated with slavery in the history of the Guinea Bissau (and his Manjaco peoples). Bissau, a creole region, was the Slave Coast as the result of the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century. Before that period the slave trade, was not yet a significant feature of the coastal economy. The change occurs after the Portuguese reached this region in 1446. The identity of peoples from Casamance in their names are Gomis, Mendy, Preira, Correa, Dacosta, Monteiro, Vieira referring to France slaves heritage when Portugal losted part of Guinea to French West Africa, including the center of the highest Portuguese commercial interest, the Casamance River region.
In France, according to the diaspora and the slave name of descendants of the French slave trade, the name Gomis became a French descent name derived from the Portuguese lost of Casamance (previously region of Guinea Portuguese, before becoming a French territory and then later a region of Senegal). The origin of the name Portuguese name like Gomis is derived from Gomes, likewise Mendy is derived from Mendes; Preira from Pereira etc. And as part of the French heritage in history of these names from Casamance, many Gomis are today French citizens living in France since the abolition of slavery. In West indies French territory, many names are memories of European or French names
Caught my attention via players such as Bafetimbi Gomis, Bernard Mendy, Emmanuel Mendy et al
Fairly interesting stuff regardless of the pungent smell and bitter taste of history. Screw Shakespeare?
108
Resume Hot-Line / Staff Accountant - Columbus Crew (Columbus, OH) ...
« on: July 15, 2010, 01:21:31 PM »
FYI
Staff Accountant - Columbus Crew (Columbus, OH)
The Staff Accountant will report directly to the Vice President of Finance & Administration. This is a professional position that will interface with each department for the Team and Stadium entities. The candidate will be very involved in General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll. Listed below are some of the responsibilities and qualifications expected of this position.
Job Description / Responsibilities
• Manage and Control Payables for three companies.
• Coordinate Invoicing with Corporate Sponsorship.
• Monthly Bank Reconciliations.
• Input and reconcile General Ledger activity.
• Assist with Financial Statement presentation and Supporting Schedules.
• Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
• At least one year of experience in an Accounting environment.
• Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
• Must be well organized and demonstrate an ability to manage multiple projects with minimal supervision; must possess strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to effectively work with a large and diverse population.
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office programs.
• Experience with different Accounting Software’s, and FRX
• Must be willing to work long hours, irregular schedules and weekends.
This position is NOT listed on the Crew's website http://www.thecrew.com/jobs
Go to http://mls.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/jobs/apply.cfm?jobid=30217
Staff Accountant - Columbus Crew (Columbus, OH)
The Staff Accountant will report directly to the Vice President of Finance & Administration. This is a professional position that will interface with each department for the Team and Stadium entities. The candidate will be very involved in General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll. Listed below are some of the responsibilities and qualifications expected of this position.
Job Description / Responsibilities
• Manage and Control Payables for three companies.
• Coordinate Invoicing with Corporate Sponsorship.
• Monthly Bank Reconciliations.
• Input and reconcile General Ledger activity.
• Assist with Financial Statement presentation and Supporting Schedules.
• Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
• At least one year of experience in an Accounting environment.
• Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
• Must be well organized and demonstrate an ability to manage multiple projects with minimal supervision; must possess strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to effectively work with a large and diverse population.
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office programs.
• Experience with different Accounting Software’s, and FRX
• Must be willing to work long hours, irregular schedules and weekends.
This position is NOT listed on the Crew's website http://www.thecrew.com/jobs
Go to http://mls.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/jobs/apply.cfm?jobid=30217
109
Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Wha de arse going on wid Larry King?
« on: June 29, 2010, 07:13:42 PM »
I jes read a lil piece bout de man ... 7 wives? Possible affair with current wife's sister? Help!!!!!!!!!
110
Football / De Spanner ... its history
« on: June 09, 2010, 09:37:40 AM »
FSC running a lot of programming ahead of the WC ... ah ketch a piece of ah interview with Rivellino and the history of what we know as 'the Spanner' jumped out.
Anybody ketch dat? I had NO clue. He said he saw a player doing it and then he perfected it ... Pele confirmed. Did a lil digging based on the phonetics of the last name of the player he mentioned (he called him 'the Japanese') ... and stumbled upon this: the player is SERGIO ECHIGO ... documented as being the inventor of the Spanner.
In Portuguese it's called the 'drible elastico'.
Wha allyuh say?
http://terceirotempo.ig.com.br/quefimlevou_interna.php?id=2792&sessao=f
Anybody ketch dat? I had NO clue. He said he saw a player doing it and then he perfected it ... Pele confirmed. Did a lil digging based on the phonetics of the last name of the player he mentioned (he called him 'the Japanese') ... and stumbled upon this: the player is SERGIO ECHIGO ... documented as being the inventor of the Spanner.
In Portuguese it's called the 'drible elastico'.
Wha allyuh say?
http://terceirotempo.ig.com.br/quefimlevou_interna.php?id=2792&sessao=f
111
Other Sports / Adoniss Jones qualifies for NCAA Champs
« on: June 01, 2010, 11:48:29 AM »
Jones Moves on to Eugene
GREENSBORO, N.C.-Adoniss Jones fired a school record 110 meter hurdles time to qualify for the NCAA Finals in Eugene, Ore. Saturday at the track & field East Regionals.
Jones, a junior, will be making his first trip to Eugene, and will be the first Camel to qualify for Nationals since Sam Tilly in 2007. Tilly finished fifth overall in the men's long jump at the NCAA East Regional that year to advance.
After watching the evening's first two 110 meter hurdle heats at the North Carolina A&T Irwin Belk Track, the Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago native notched a time of 13.88, finishing sixth in his individual section, but qualifying Jones 12th overall, edging Virginia's Adams Abdulrazaaq and his mark of 13.91.
The third heat proved to be the fastest of the night, with six of the eight competitors advancing to Nationals. Jones finished just ahead of East Tennessee State's Michael James, who took seventh in the individual heat with a mark of 14.11. James finished 20th overall.
The top three finishers in each heat claimed the initial nine places in Eugene, with the next best three overall times punching their tickets as well.
Johnny Dutch of South Carolina finished with the 110 meter hurdles regional crown, recording a blistering time of 13.53. Army's Domonick Sylve took Jones' heat with a time of 13.67.
With Saturday's performance, Jones has broken the Campbell 110 meter hurdles record twice this season, after resetting the mark in each of the last two years. At the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Championships, the junior lowered the time from a 14.02 to an even 14.00.
The NCAA Championships will continue at Hayward Field on June 9-12.
GREENSBORO, N.C.-Adoniss Jones fired a school record 110 meter hurdles time to qualify for the NCAA Finals in Eugene, Ore. Saturday at the track & field East Regionals.
Jones, a junior, will be making his first trip to Eugene, and will be the first Camel to qualify for Nationals since Sam Tilly in 2007. Tilly finished fifth overall in the men's long jump at the NCAA East Regional that year to advance.
After watching the evening's first two 110 meter hurdle heats at the North Carolina A&T Irwin Belk Track, the Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago native notched a time of 13.88, finishing sixth in his individual section, but qualifying Jones 12th overall, edging Virginia's Adams Abdulrazaaq and his mark of 13.91.
The third heat proved to be the fastest of the night, with six of the eight competitors advancing to Nationals. Jones finished just ahead of East Tennessee State's Michael James, who took seventh in the individual heat with a mark of 14.11. James finished 20th overall.
The top three finishers in each heat claimed the initial nine places in Eugene, with the next best three overall times punching their tickets as well.
Johnny Dutch of South Carolina finished with the 110 meter hurdles regional crown, recording a blistering time of 13.53. Army's Domonick Sylve took Jones' heat with a time of 13.67.
With Saturday's performance, Jones has broken the Campbell 110 meter hurdles record twice this season, after resetting the mark in each of the last two years. At the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Championships, the junior lowered the time from a 14.02 to an even 14.00.
The NCAA Championships will continue at Hayward Field on June 9-12.
112
Football / Soccer panels suggest combined College Cups for 2012
« on: May 20, 2010, 02:06:41 PM »
Soccer panels suggest combined College Cups for 2012
May 20, 2010 8:27:51 AM
By Gary Brown
The NCAA News
The Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees are recommending a joint men’s and women’s College Cup beginning in 2012.
The proposal heading to the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet in September would stage both the men’s and women’s finals at the same site on the second weekend in December, the date formula currently in place for the men’s final (the women’s currently is a week earlier).
Under the proposed format, the women’s semifinals would be played on Thursday, followed by the men’s semis on Friday and both finals on Sunday.
The committees were considering the proposal for the 2011 College Cups but delayed the effective date to give women’s teams in particular more time to make scheduling arrangements (since their playing season would be impacted) and time for Division I to change playing-and-practice-season legislation that would accommodate a later start date for women’s soccer.
While the idea of a combined championship is not new for college soccer (Divisions II and III already do this), momentum for the change in Division I has been building as attendance and television ratings wane. Crowds for the men’s final have exceeded 10,000 only once since the championship’s heyday in Charlotte and Richmond in the 1990s when throngs of 15-to-20,000 were common. The women have averaged about 8,000 at their championship game.
The championships are under-performing on television, too. Ratings for the men’s and women’s finals on ESPN2 have been at 0.1 or 0.2 since 2003, and the estimated number of viewers for both genders has dropped since then, as well. That’s not entirely surprising given that the soccer matches compete with NFL games that at that time of the year typically determine playoff participants.
But supporters of a combined soccer championship believe the resulting “festival” atmosphere of a joint College Cup would shape college soccer’s two most high-profile games into one premier event that would energize the sport’s fan base and make for an attractive broadcast package that would drive ratings and interest.
Likewise, they say more strategically targeted resources could be devoted to marketing, fan engagement and student-athlete experience in a combined approach. Additionally, the NCAA would realize operational efficiencies in terms of signage and fan fest operations. ESPN would benefit, too, since the cable network would need only one production set rather than two as in past years.
As good as all of that sounds, it has taken time for the Division I soccer community to get used to the idea. Two surveys conducted by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America earlier this spring, in fact, still showed about 80 percent of respondents being against it.
The men’s and women’s soccer committees, whose composition includes several college coaches, also expressed concerns when broached with the idea of such a radical format change two years ago, but after talking it through decided the combined championships might be a strategic boost for the college game.
“It may prove to be in the best interests of our two championships and for the sport itself,” said Baylor Associate AD Paul Bradshaw, who chairs the women’s committee. “We kept coming back to this as an event – does the combined approach have the chance to elevate the two separate championships into one event?
“We felt it was worth taking a chance. It’s not like we are committing to this forever, but why not at least explore what we think is a reasonable option to grow our game? If this becomes the premier men’s and women’s soccer event in the United States that brings what now might be a fractured fan base together for one festival-type event, then why wouldn’t that be worth pursuing?”
Men’s committee chair John Diffley, a senior associate AD at St. John’s (New York), also pointed to the joint College Cups as a way to showcase the sport.
“The primary benefit of the combined approach is that it creates a festival atmosphere and brings more people to one location, which drives attendance and TV ratings for both championships,” he said. “That, in my mind, outweighs the concerns.”
Evaluating the concerns
Those concerns include field conditions, since the wear and tear on the championship field would be greater with two tournaments rather than one. Poor weather would exacerbate those concerns, though weather is an issue even with the separate championships, especially in mid-December.
But perhaps of greater concern to coaches and others are the devilish details of how such an event would be staged and what affect it would have on the regular season in both genders.
Rob Kehoe, the college programs director for the NSCAA, says most Division I coaches realize that changes are necessary to energize their most coveted events. While coaches want to be part of the solution, they’re uncertain about what that solution should be or what strategy the NCAA intends to employ to enhance the College Cups.
Among their concerns is how two sports previously on separate playing-season paths would interact on the same track. The identical date formulas could affect conference tournaments and NCAA preliminary-round games – especially for schools that typically advance both their men’s and women’s teams into the bracket (and who often host those early-round matches). They worry that the resulting logistics would place an undue burden on already taxed athletics staffs at host institutions.
Coaches also wonder whether a combined College Cup – as attractive as it might be – would diminish the identity or brand that each gender has worked to develop over time. Even if the events are held at the same site, the risk is that one gender’s event might be perceived as more “marquee” than the other. An NSCAA survey of players revealed a similar sentiment.
Others speculate that the fan base being targeted may not necessarily transfer from one gender’s championship to another, similar to other sports, such as men’s and women’s basketball.
That fan base may already be fractured, since many tickets at the College Cup go to registrants for the youth soccer showcase events for elite-level prospects held on the championship weekend. NCAA championship administrators have data showing that about 80 percent of the fans attending the College Cups are there for the youth tournaments. That manifests itself in smaller crowds for the college championship games after the youth teams and their followers have gone home.
While the College Cups likely will continue to embrace the youth tournaments – both because of their entertainment value plus the recruiting opportunities they present for college coaches – supporters of the combined approach say the college game nonetheless needs to be less reliant on the youth audience and cultivate its own crowd.
Kehoe said that’s a concern that needs to be addressed, since the youth ticket sales eat into the championship-sustaining community sales.
Unanswered questions
Perhaps most curious to the Division I coaching constituency, though, is how unprecedented a combined Division I championship would be for a team sport. Soccer would be the first, in fact, if the proposal passes.
Kehoe noted that just recently, the Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming Committee decided to keep those championships separated by one week even though they are typically held at the same site. While swimming is an individual/team sport, that committee’s decision still resonated with the soccer coaches.
“The announcement of that decision also indicated that the opinions of the coaches were influential,” Kehoe said.
At the same time, other individual/team sports such as tennis and track have experienced success under the combined umbrella.
Whatever happens, Kehoe said, Division I soccer coaches, players and others want to improve the status of college soccer’s showcase events, particularly as they are compared to other Division I championships that are heralded as being successful, such as the Final Fours, the College World Series, the Frozen Four and the combined championships in men’s lacrosse.
“However, we also realize that we have some unique challenges, and many ‘uncontrollables’ such as weather, timing, and the selection of venues and communities that host the College Cups,” he said. “Soccer coaches do not want to give the impression that they have any interests other than to be part of the solution when it comes to elevating the men’s and women’s championships, but there are still a number of questions to answer.”
With the recent decision to delay the proposal to 2012, the committees are reviewing bids submitted for the 2011 finals and will determine sites for 2011 from that pool. Although those bids were based on the combined-championship format, the committees will award separate sites for the 2011 College Cups and retain the standard date formulas (first weekend in December for women; second for men).
If the proposal to proceed with the combined College Cups is approved, the committees will also use the current bid pool to select sites for the 2012 and 2013 championships, after which the combined approach will be re-evaluated.
Men’s championship
game attendance
2000 11,421 Charlotte, N.C.
2001 7,113 Columbus, Ohio
2002 8,498 Dallas
2003 5,300 Columbus, Ohio
2004 13,601 Carson, Calif.
2005 6,922 Cary, N.C.
2006 5,948 St. Louis
2007 8,172 Cary, N.C.
2008 7,690 Frisco, Tex.
2009 8,652 Cary, N.C.
Women’s championship
game attendance
2000 9,566 San Jose St.
2001 7,090 SMU
2002 10,027 Cary, N.C.
2003 10,042 Cary, N.C.
2004 7,644 Cary, N.C.
2005 6,578 Texas A&M
2006 8,349 Cary, N.C.
2007 8,255 Texas A&M
2008 9,055 Cary, N.C.
2009 8,536 Texas A&M
May 20, 2010 8:27:51 AM
By Gary Brown
The NCAA News
The Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees are recommending a joint men’s and women’s College Cup beginning in 2012.
The proposal heading to the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet in September would stage both the men’s and women’s finals at the same site on the second weekend in December, the date formula currently in place for the men’s final (the women’s currently is a week earlier).
Under the proposed format, the women’s semifinals would be played on Thursday, followed by the men’s semis on Friday and both finals on Sunday.
The committees were considering the proposal for the 2011 College Cups but delayed the effective date to give women’s teams in particular more time to make scheduling arrangements (since their playing season would be impacted) and time for Division I to change playing-and-practice-season legislation that would accommodate a later start date for women’s soccer.
While the idea of a combined championship is not new for college soccer (Divisions II and III already do this), momentum for the change in Division I has been building as attendance and television ratings wane. Crowds for the men’s final have exceeded 10,000 only once since the championship’s heyday in Charlotte and Richmond in the 1990s when throngs of 15-to-20,000 were common. The women have averaged about 8,000 at their championship game.
The championships are under-performing on television, too. Ratings for the men’s and women’s finals on ESPN2 have been at 0.1 or 0.2 since 2003, and the estimated number of viewers for both genders has dropped since then, as well. That’s not entirely surprising given that the soccer matches compete with NFL games that at that time of the year typically determine playoff participants.
But supporters of a combined soccer championship believe the resulting “festival” atmosphere of a joint College Cup would shape college soccer’s two most high-profile games into one premier event that would energize the sport’s fan base and make for an attractive broadcast package that would drive ratings and interest.
Likewise, they say more strategically targeted resources could be devoted to marketing, fan engagement and student-athlete experience in a combined approach. Additionally, the NCAA would realize operational efficiencies in terms of signage and fan fest operations. ESPN would benefit, too, since the cable network would need only one production set rather than two as in past years.
As good as all of that sounds, it has taken time for the Division I soccer community to get used to the idea. Two surveys conducted by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America earlier this spring, in fact, still showed about 80 percent of respondents being against it.
The men’s and women’s soccer committees, whose composition includes several college coaches, also expressed concerns when broached with the idea of such a radical format change two years ago, but after talking it through decided the combined championships might be a strategic boost for the college game.
“It may prove to be in the best interests of our two championships and for the sport itself,” said Baylor Associate AD Paul Bradshaw, who chairs the women’s committee. “We kept coming back to this as an event – does the combined approach have the chance to elevate the two separate championships into one event?
“We felt it was worth taking a chance. It’s not like we are committing to this forever, but why not at least explore what we think is a reasonable option to grow our game? If this becomes the premier men’s and women’s soccer event in the United States that brings what now might be a fractured fan base together for one festival-type event, then why wouldn’t that be worth pursuing?”
Men’s committee chair John Diffley, a senior associate AD at St. John’s (New York), also pointed to the joint College Cups as a way to showcase the sport.
“The primary benefit of the combined approach is that it creates a festival atmosphere and brings more people to one location, which drives attendance and TV ratings for both championships,” he said. “That, in my mind, outweighs the concerns.”
Evaluating the concerns
Those concerns include field conditions, since the wear and tear on the championship field would be greater with two tournaments rather than one. Poor weather would exacerbate those concerns, though weather is an issue even with the separate championships, especially in mid-December.
But perhaps of greater concern to coaches and others are the devilish details of how such an event would be staged and what affect it would have on the regular season in both genders.
Rob Kehoe, the college programs director for the NSCAA, says most Division I coaches realize that changes are necessary to energize their most coveted events. While coaches want to be part of the solution, they’re uncertain about what that solution should be or what strategy the NCAA intends to employ to enhance the College Cups.
Among their concerns is how two sports previously on separate playing-season paths would interact on the same track. The identical date formulas could affect conference tournaments and NCAA preliminary-round games – especially for schools that typically advance both their men’s and women’s teams into the bracket (and who often host those early-round matches). They worry that the resulting logistics would place an undue burden on already taxed athletics staffs at host institutions.
Coaches also wonder whether a combined College Cup – as attractive as it might be – would diminish the identity or brand that each gender has worked to develop over time. Even if the events are held at the same site, the risk is that one gender’s event might be perceived as more “marquee” than the other. An NSCAA survey of players revealed a similar sentiment.
Others speculate that the fan base being targeted may not necessarily transfer from one gender’s championship to another, similar to other sports, such as men’s and women’s basketball.
That fan base may already be fractured, since many tickets at the College Cup go to registrants for the youth soccer showcase events for elite-level prospects held on the championship weekend. NCAA championship administrators have data showing that about 80 percent of the fans attending the College Cups are there for the youth tournaments. That manifests itself in smaller crowds for the college championship games after the youth teams and their followers have gone home.
While the College Cups likely will continue to embrace the youth tournaments – both because of their entertainment value plus the recruiting opportunities they present for college coaches – supporters of the combined approach say the college game nonetheless needs to be less reliant on the youth audience and cultivate its own crowd.
Kehoe said that’s a concern that needs to be addressed, since the youth ticket sales eat into the championship-sustaining community sales.
Unanswered questions
Perhaps most curious to the Division I coaching constituency, though, is how unprecedented a combined Division I championship would be for a team sport. Soccer would be the first, in fact, if the proposal passes.
Kehoe noted that just recently, the Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming Committee decided to keep those championships separated by one week even though they are typically held at the same site. While swimming is an individual/team sport, that committee’s decision still resonated with the soccer coaches.
“The announcement of that decision also indicated that the opinions of the coaches were influential,” Kehoe said.
At the same time, other individual/team sports such as tennis and track have experienced success under the combined umbrella.
Whatever happens, Kehoe said, Division I soccer coaches, players and others want to improve the status of college soccer’s showcase events, particularly as they are compared to other Division I championships that are heralded as being successful, such as the Final Fours, the College World Series, the Frozen Four and the combined championships in men’s lacrosse.
“However, we also realize that we have some unique challenges, and many ‘uncontrollables’ such as weather, timing, and the selection of venues and communities that host the College Cups,” he said. “Soccer coaches do not want to give the impression that they have any interests other than to be part of the solution when it comes to elevating the men’s and women’s championships, but there are still a number of questions to answer.”
With the recent decision to delay the proposal to 2012, the committees are reviewing bids submitted for the 2011 finals and will determine sites for 2011 from that pool. Although those bids were based on the combined-championship format, the committees will award separate sites for the 2011 College Cups and retain the standard date formulas (first weekend in December for women; second for men).
If the proposal to proceed with the combined College Cups is approved, the committees will also use the current bid pool to select sites for the 2012 and 2013 championships, after which the combined approach will be re-evaluated.
Men’s championship
game attendance
2000 11,421 Charlotte, N.C.
2001 7,113 Columbus, Ohio
2002 8,498 Dallas
2003 5,300 Columbus, Ohio
2004 13,601 Carson, Calif.
2005 6,922 Cary, N.C.
2006 5,948 St. Louis
2007 8,172 Cary, N.C.
2008 7,690 Frisco, Tex.
2009 8,652 Cary, N.C.
Women’s championship
game attendance
2000 9,566 San Jose St.
2001 7,090 SMU
2002 10,027 Cary, N.C.
2003 10,042 Cary, N.C.
2004 7,644 Cary, N.C.
2005 6,578 Texas A&M
2006 8,349 Cary, N.C.
2007 8,255 Texas A&M
2008 9,055 Cary, N.C.
2009 8,536 Texas A&M
113
General Discussion / Story from Bim: Gang attacks ZR
« on: May 19, 2010, 01:10:13 PM »
Gang atacks ZR
Published on: 5/18/2010.
by MARIA BRADSHAW
A ROUTE TAXI (ZR) conductor was stabbed about the body, and the van he was working pelted with stones and bottles by a group of men last Saturday evening.
Conductor Kemar Pile was treated and discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital yesterday while the van - ZR 202 - is in a garage awaiting extensive and expensive repairs.
The upset owner, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told the DAILY NATION the van was attacked by a group of about 50 men from Haynesville, St James, while plying that route around 6:30 p.m.
She said it happened because two young women from the area refused to pay their fares.
"I was sitting at the front of the vehicle next to the driver when I heard this argument. I looked back and I saw the conductor arguing with these two young women because they were refusing to pay the fare. They were cursing and carrying on and I heard them say that when the van get to Haynesville it will be all over."
The woman said when the van reached Haynesville, the women disembarked without paying. They approached a man who was sitting on a step and spoke to him about the conductor.
"He came up to the van and started arguing with the conductor, and I saw him looking around on the ground as if he was looking for a rock," the owner said.
She said they drove off and picked up a passenger but when they got back into Haynesville on the return trip she saw a beach chair in the road.
"We stopped and all of a sudden rocks start coming through the van. I saw the same two young women leading a gang of about 50 men. A man come up to the driver side and pull the keys out of the ignition. When the windows got smashed, men just start climbing into the van and they start to cut up the conductor.
"He was running from the back of the van bleeding real bad and screaming at the driver to move but we could not move because we did not have the key. I felt a lash in my back and realise that a rock had hit me."
The owner said she ducked to avoid being struck again.
"I called the police on my cellphone and they told us not to move," she said, adding that officers arrived minutes later.
By that time, the group of men had fled the scene.
The van was littered with about 30 stones, seats were torn and stained with blood, shards of broken glass were scattered on the floor and a lone bottle landed on the dashboard next to the cracked windscreen.
The owner, who received a bruise, said: "I cannot believe that all of this happened because these women refused to pay $1.50. A man could have lost his life just for $1.50. This is what we have to put up with in this area. There are gangs in Haynesville, and the men does give the workers bare problems."
She said repairs to the van would cost more than $25 000.
Police are investigating.
Published on: 5/18/2010.
by MARIA BRADSHAW
A ROUTE TAXI (ZR) conductor was stabbed about the body, and the van he was working pelted with stones and bottles by a group of men last Saturday evening.
Conductor Kemar Pile was treated and discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital yesterday while the van - ZR 202 - is in a garage awaiting extensive and expensive repairs.
The upset owner, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told the DAILY NATION the van was attacked by a group of about 50 men from Haynesville, St James, while plying that route around 6:30 p.m.
She said it happened because two young women from the area refused to pay their fares.
"I was sitting at the front of the vehicle next to the driver when I heard this argument. I looked back and I saw the conductor arguing with these two young women because they were refusing to pay the fare. They were cursing and carrying on and I heard them say that when the van get to Haynesville it will be all over."
The woman said when the van reached Haynesville, the women disembarked without paying. They approached a man who was sitting on a step and spoke to him about the conductor.
"He came up to the van and started arguing with the conductor, and I saw him looking around on the ground as if he was looking for a rock," the owner said.
She said they drove off and picked up a passenger but when they got back into Haynesville on the return trip she saw a beach chair in the road.
"We stopped and all of a sudden rocks start coming through the van. I saw the same two young women leading a gang of about 50 men. A man come up to the driver side and pull the keys out of the ignition. When the windows got smashed, men just start climbing into the van and they start to cut up the conductor.
"He was running from the back of the van bleeding real bad and screaming at the driver to move but we could not move because we did not have the key. I felt a lash in my back and realise that a rock had hit me."
The owner said she ducked to avoid being struck again.
"I called the police on my cellphone and they told us not to move," she said, adding that officers arrived minutes later.
By that time, the group of men had fled the scene.
The van was littered with about 30 stones, seats were torn and stained with blood, shards of broken glass were scattered on the floor and a lone bottle landed on the dashboard next to the cracked windscreen.
The owner, who received a bruise, said: "I cannot believe that all of this happened because these women refused to pay $1.50. A man could have lost his life just for $1.50. This is what we have to put up with in this area. There are gangs in Haynesville, and the men does give the workers bare problems."
She said repairs to the van would cost more than $25 000.
Police are investigating.
114
Football / Champions League Final: Bayern v. Inter
« on: May 17, 2010, 10:27:42 AM »
Confirmed a few minutes ago ... Ribery's appeal to play has been denied.
115
Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Which Carnival more hype? Orlando or Atlanta?
« on: May 10, 2010, 04:29:21 PM »
Thanks.
P.S. Leh me clarify lil bit ... ent both a dem are held on Memorial weekend? So question is ... particularly for anyone who has been to both ... how do they stack up?
Of course, if you've been to one or the other, feel free to share.
P.S. Leh me clarify lil bit ... ent both a dem are held on Memorial weekend? So question is ... particularly for anyone who has been to both ... how do they stack up?
Of course, if you've been to one or the other, feel free to share.
116
General Discussion / UK Election vibes
« on: May 06, 2010, 10:56:37 AM »
Nick Clegg have meh lil bitter
117
Resume Hot-Line / Coaching Association of Canada
« on: May 05, 2010, 11:21:35 AM »
Job Opportunity at CAC
April 19, 2010
The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is seeking to fill a newly created and challenging position of Director of Finance and Administration.
CAC acts as a connecting force between several audience groups: its sports partners, corporate sponsors, Learning Facilitators, the coaching community, athletes and their parents. The Association is on the cusp of great growth and change. This position is integral to the growth. The foundation has been built and we need an inspired and dynamic individual to help drive us to our goal.
To download the job description, go to http://www.coach.ca/documents/Director_Finance_and_Administration_Posting_English.pdf
Location: CAC office
Please submit your CV and salary expectations via email, by Wednesday May 12, 2010, to the Coaching Association of Canada, email: hr@coach.ca.
All responses are appreciated, however, only those selected for an interview will receive a reply.
April 19, 2010
The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is seeking to fill a newly created and challenging position of Director of Finance and Administration.
CAC acts as a connecting force between several audience groups: its sports partners, corporate sponsors, Learning Facilitators, the coaching community, athletes and their parents. The Association is on the cusp of great growth and change. This position is integral to the growth. The foundation has been built and we need an inspired and dynamic individual to help drive us to our goal.
To download the job description, go to http://www.coach.ca/documents/Director_Finance_and_Administration_Posting_English.pdf
Location: CAC office
Please submit your CV and salary expectations via email, by Wednesday May 12, 2010, to the Coaching Association of Canada, email: hr@coach.ca.
All responses are appreciated, however, only those selected for an interview will receive a reply.
118
Football / NCAA Division I eyes combined Men's and Women's soccer finals for 2011
« on: March 04, 2010, 02:20:17 PM »
Division I eyes combined soccer finals for 2011
Mar 4, 2010 9:26:36 AM
Gary Brown
The NCAA News
The Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees are exploring the benefits of combining their successful College Cups into a single event.
Meeting recently in Indianapolis, members from each panel began considering a model for 2011 that would stage the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals at a single site over four days. A similar model is employed already in Divisions II and III.
The Division I committees are mulling proposals from various sites and will be making recommendations in the coming weeks.
While it isn’t the first time Division I has studied a combined-site approach for its soccer championships, the current discussion has some momentum. The Division I Championships/Sport Management Cabinet likes the economy-of-scale efficiencies that a single site affords, and the broadcasters and promoters appreciate the marketing power of a mega-soccer event rather than two separate championships. Some also believe a soccer festival-type event would appeal to a broader fan base.
The concerns are similar to those that Divisions II and III experienced when committees at those levels implemented the combined approach – primarily the wear and tear on the fields and the ability of facilities to accommodate a larger-scale event. The field issue hasn’t manifested itself so far in Divisions II and III, though it has caused those committees to experiment with how they stagger the semifinals and finals.
“But no matter how you slice it, you’re looking at six matches over a four-day period,” said Baylor associate AD Paul Bradshaw, who chairs the Division I women’s committee.
Advances in turf technology and the existence of several facilities with experience in hosting multiple-match soccer events have mitigated those concerns to some degree, but coaches still worry about adverse weather conditions affecting the outcomes of their sport’s pinnacle matches.
At the same time, the festival atmosphere intrigues the Division I committees.
“This may be an opportunity to grow the game – to get past the individual concerns and support this event as the culmination of the Division I soccer season,” said John Diffley, the senior associate AD at St. John’s (New York) who chairs the men’s committee.
“It does give collegiate soccer fans the opportunity to see several great teams in one setting,” Bradshaw added. “It’s an opportunity to make the College Cup a true soccer event.”
The model under consideration has the 2011 combined event being played the second weekend in December, which is the norm for the men’s finals but a week later for the women. The effect on scheduling and on conference postseason championships also must be considered.
“Overall, though, we’re interested in a site that can host a number of fans and offer student-athletes a great facility and playing surface in a festival-type atmosphere that makes for one great weekend,” Diffley said.
If the committees do recommend a combined site in 2011, it may be on a trial basis before making any longer-term commitments.
“Right now, we’re really just focusing on 2011, just trying to see if this is a good format for everybody,” Bradshaw said. “We are in the process now of reviewing the bid proposals.”
Mar 4, 2010 9:26:36 AM
Gary Brown
The NCAA News
The Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees are exploring the benefits of combining their successful College Cups into a single event.
Meeting recently in Indianapolis, members from each panel began considering a model for 2011 that would stage the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals at a single site over four days. A similar model is employed already in Divisions II and III.
The Division I committees are mulling proposals from various sites and will be making recommendations in the coming weeks.
While it isn’t the first time Division I has studied a combined-site approach for its soccer championships, the current discussion has some momentum. The Division I Championships/Sport Management Cabinet likes the economy-of-scale efficiencies that a single site affords, and the broadcasters and promoters appreciate the marketing power of a mega-soccer event rather than two separate championships. Some also believe a soccer festival-type event would appeal to a broader fan base.
The concerns are similar to those that Divisions II and III experienced when committees at those levels implemented the combined approach – primarily the wear and tear on the fields and the ability of facilities to accommodate a larger-scale event. The field issue hasn’t manifested itself so far in Divisions II and III, though it has caused those committees to experiment with how they stagger the semifinals and finals.
“But no matter how you slice it, you’re looking at six matches over a four-day period,” said Baylor associate AD Paul Bradshaw, who chairs the Division I women’s committee.
Advances in turf technology and the existence of several facilities with experience in hosting multiple-match soccer events have mitigated those concerns to some degree, but coaches still worry about adverse weather conditions affecting the outcomes of their sport’s pinnacle matches.
At the same time, the festival atmosphere intrigues the Division I committees.
“This may be an opportunity to grow the game – to get past the individual concerns and support this event as the culmination of the Division I soccer season,” said John Diffley, the senior associate AD at St. John’s (New York) who chairs the men’s committee.
“It does give collegiate soccer fans the opportunity to see several great teams in one setting,” Bradshaw added. “It’s an opportunity to make the College Cup a true soccer event.”
The model under consideration has the 2011 combined event being played the second weekend in December, which is the norm for the men’s finals but a week later for the women. The effect on scheduling and on conference postseason championships also must be considered.
“Overall, though, we’re interested in a site that can host a number of fans and offer student-athletes a great facility and playing surface in a festival-type atmosphere that makes for one great weekend,” Diffley said.
If the committees do recommend a combined site in 2011, it may be on a trial basis before making any longer-term commitments.
“Right now, we’re really just focusing on 2011, just trying to see if this is a good format for everybody,” Bradshaw said. “We are in the process now of reviewing the bid proposals.”
119
Football / Soccer rules committee addresses concussion issue (NCAA)
« on: February 22, 2010, 09:30:21 AM »
Soccer rules committee addresses concussion issue
Feb 19, 2010 9:30:07 AM
By Gary Brown
The NCAA News
The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Rules Committee recently became the second playing-rules panel to address stoppage of play for players who exhibit signs of a concussion.
As the Football Rules Committee had done just days earlier, the soccer committee at its annual meeting last week added “signs of a concussion” to instances in which the referee stops the clock and beckons medical personnel onto the field.
The action comes after the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel’s endorsement of recommendations from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to manage concussion issues more effectively. At its meeting in January, PROP instructed playing-rules committees to review their policies in the areas of stopping play for injuries and to consider instituting rules that may further prevent head injuries.
The soccer rules committee added concussions to rules regarding players bleeding or blood on the uniform, which also require immediate medical attention.
Cliff McCrath, former longtime coach at Seattle Pacific and the only secretary-rules editor the soccer rules committee has had, said the need to protect student-athlete health and safety won out over potentially disrupting the traditional “flow of the game.”
“The committee read the signs society has prioritized about the importance of protecting the player as opposed to the sanctity of playing rules,” McCrath said.
The Playing Rules Oversight Panel will review the recommendation.
Other recommendations from the soccer rules committee include a more restrictive card-accumulation formula for players and coaches who have compiled five or more cautions in a season. Once a player or coach accumulates five cards in a season, he or she must sit out the next game. Subsequent one-game suspensions are enacted once that player or coach accumulates three more cards.
The rules committee, though, is recommending a 5-3-2 progression in part because of membership feedback indicating interest for a more restrictive formula.
In other action, the committee:
Agreed that the head coach no longer needs to notify a referee of his or her desire to protest before the referee signs the scoresheet. The coach has up to 72 hours after the end of the game to file a protest.
Added language regarding “hesitation moves” or feigning and stop-start moves by players taking penalty kicks. Inasmuch as the goalkeeper is permitted to dance back-and-forth on the goal line and feign moves before the kick, the committee allowed the same for the kicker; however, the hesitation move does not allow the kicker to stop completely.
Agreed to streamline the rules book by removing a number of approved rulings and combining Rules 12 and 13 under the heading of “Fouls and Misconduct.”
Feb 19, 2010 9:30:07 AM
By Gary Brown
The NCAA News
The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Rules Committee recently became the second playing-rules panel to address stoppage of play for players who exhibit signs of a concussion.
As the Football Rules Committee had done just days earlier, the soccer committee at its annual meeting last week added “signs of a concussion” to instances in which the referee stops the clock and beckons medical personnel onto the field.
The action comes after the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel’s endorsement of recommendations from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to manage concussion issues more effectively. At its meeting in January, PROP instructed playing-rules committees to review their policies in the areas of stopping play for injuries and to consider instituting rules that may further prevent head injuries.
The soccer rules committee added concussions to rules regarding players bleeding or blood on the uniform, which also require immediate medical attention.
Cliff McCrath, former longtime coach at Seattle Pacific and the only secretary-rules editor the soccer rules committee has had, said the need to protect student-athlete health and safety won out over potentially disrupting the traditional “flow of the game.”
“The committee read the signs society has prioritized about the importance of protecting the player as opposed to the sanctity of playing rules,” McCrath said.
The Playing Rules Oversight Panel will review the recommendation.
Other recommendations from the soccer rules committee include a more restrictive card-accumulation formula for players and coaches who have compiled five or more cautions in a season. Once a player or coach accumulates five cards in a season, he or she must sit out the next game. Subsequent one-game suspensions are enacted once that player or coach accumulates three more cards.
The rules committee, though, is recommending a 5-3-2 progression in part because of membership feedback indicating interest for a more restrictive formula.
In other action, the committee:
Agreed that the head coach no longer needs to notify a referee of his or her desire to protest before the referee signs the scoresheet. The coach has up to 72 hours after the end of the game to file a protest.
Added language regarding “hesitation moves” or feigning and stop-start moves by players taking penalty kicks. Inasmuch as the goalkeeper is permitted to dance back-and-forth on the goal line and feign moves before the kick, the committee allowed the same for the kicker; however, the hesitation move does not allow the kicker to stop completely.
Agreed to streamline the rules book by removing a number of approved rulings and combining Rules 12 and 13 under the heading of “Fouls and Misconduct.”
120
General Discussion / Marvel of 75-year-old Form One student
« on: February 10, 2010, 02:52:41 PM »
Marvel of 75-year-old Form One student
The grey-haired man among teenage boys and girls stands out in the Form One class at Korabariet Secondary School.
He may be 75 years old, but Mzee Rufinus arap Taa is as excited about joining secondary school as his much younger classmates.
But it has not been easy for him. Mzee Taa has had to weather many storms, including ridicule from the community for daring to dream of rubbing shoulders with classmates young enough to be his grandchildren.
He scored 266 out of 500 marks in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination to secure a place at the school in Kuresoi District.
This was no mean feat. He scored an A in science to emerge the top student in the subject in Kuresoi Division. He even beat one of his grandchildren.
A herbalist, the father of six and grandfather of more than 20, says he is determined to use formal education to learn more about his trade.
Mzee Taa is following in the footsteps of Mzee Kimani Maruge, who became an international celebrity when he enrolled in Standard One at the age of 82.
The Form One student says his decision in 2006 to go back to school was inspired by Mzee Maruge, who died of cancer last year. He was the oldest pupil in the world when he took advantage of the free primary education programme introduced in 2003 to go school.
Mr Taa joined primary school at Standard Five. “I found it easier to come back because I’m much younger than he,” Mzee Taa said.
Quality medicines
Speaking to the Nation at the school, some 130 kilometres from Molo Town, a cheerful Mzee Taa said his dream is to be able to analyse, mix, and dispense high quality herbal medicines to his patients. He learnt how to handle herbal medicine from his mother.
The born-again Christian says the idea of going back to school was also triggered by the fact that he could not read the Bible.
“The pastor was telling us of the good work done by Jesus Christ to save us from bondage, but I could not read the Bible. I was ashamed.”
He said he was also embarrassed every time he had to go around the village to get someone to read the letters he had received from his children.
“I could not forgive myself for being illiterate. I had to go to school to learn to read and write,” the old man says.
Mzee Taa was born in 1935 in Cheboi Village, Bomet District, but he grew up in Buret District, where his family moved in 1940.
As a young man, he went to Nakuru to work as a herdsman for a white farmer he remembers was called Mr Barkley.
He later quit the job and went back home to marry his wife, Rebecca, in 1958.
Mzee Taa then moved to the former African African Highlands Tea Company, where he was employed as a tea picker between 1966 and 1977.
The old man later joined the Ministry of Water and retired in 1993. He moved to Kuresoi, where he had bought a five-acre piece of land in a section of the now controversial Mau Forest Complex.
Mzee Taa says he was among those who received title deeds from President Kibaki in 2005 at Olenguruone.
But all’s not well for Mzee Taa. He has no income to enable him to pay his school fees and is appealing to well-wishers to assist him.
He says this term’s fees of Sh6,000 was paid by former Kuresoi MP Moses Cheboi.
The headteacher, Mr Leonard Kirui, described Mzee Taa as a determined, disciplined, and bright student who is interested in sciences.
“He has vast knowledge in herbal medicine and has been treating minor illnesses among students and local residents.”
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/858060/-/view/printVersion/-/i0cmfc/-/index.html
The grey-haired man among teenage boys and girls stands out in the Form One class at Korabariet Secondary School.
He may be 75 years old, but Mzee Rufinus arap Taa is as excited about joining secondary school as his much younger classmates.
But it has not been easy for him. Mzee Taa has had to weather many storms, including ridicule from the community for daring to dream of rubbing shoulders with classmates young enough to be his grandchildren.
He scored 266 out of 500 marks in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination to secure a place at the school in Kuresoi District.
This was no mean feat. He scored an A in science to emerge the top student in the subject in Kuresoi Division. He even beat one of his grandchildren.
A herbalist, the father of six and grandfather of more than 20, says he is determined to use formal education to learn more about his trade.
Mzee Taa is following in the footsteps of Mzee Kimani Maruge, who became an international celebrity when he enrolled in Standard One at the age of 82.
The Form One student says his decision in 2006 to go back to school was inspired by Mzee Maruge, who died of cancer last year. He was the oldest pupil in the world when he took advantage of the free primary education programme introduced in 2003 to go school.
Mr Taa joined primary school at Standard Five. “I found it easier to come back because I’m much younger than he,” Mzee Taa said.
Quality medicines
Speaking to the Nation at the school, some 130 kilometres from Molo Town, a cheerful Mzee Taa said his dream is to be able to analyse, mix, and dispense high quality herbal medicines to his patients. He learnt how to handle herbal medicine from his mother.
The born-again Christian says the idea of going back to school was also triggered by the fact that he could not read the Bible.
“The pastor was telling us of the good work done by Jesus Christ to save us from bondage, but I could not read the Bible. I was ashamed.”
He said he was also embarrassed every time he had to go around the village to get someone to read the letters he had received from his children.
“I could not forgive myself for being illiterate. I had to go to school to learn to read and write,” the old man says.
Mzee Taa was born in 1935 in Cheboi Village, Bomet District, but he grew up in Buret District, where his family moved in 1940.
As a young man, he went to Nakuru to work as a herdsman for a white farmer he remembers was called Mr Barkley.
He later quit the job and went back home to marry his wife, Rebecca, in 1958.
Mzee Taa then moved to the former African African Highlands Tea Company, where he was employed as a tea picker between 1966 and 1977.
The old man later joined the Ministry of Water and retired in 1993. He moved to Kuresoi, where he had bought a five-acre piece of land in a section of the now controversial Mau Forest Complex.
Mzee Taa says he was among those who received title deeds from President Kibaki in 2005 at Olenguruone.
But all’s not well for Mzee Taa. He has no income to enable him to pay his school fees and is appealing to well-wishers to assist him.
He says this term’s fees of Sh6,000 was paid by former Kuresoi MP Moses Cheboi.
The headteacher, Mr Leonard Kirui, described Mzee Taa as a determined, disciplined, and bright student who is interested in sciences.
“He has vast knowledge in herbal medicine and has been treating minor illnesses among students and local residents.”
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/858060/-/view/printVersion/-/i0cmfc/-/index.html