91
Entertainment & Culture Discussion / South Africa for Sure!!!!
« on: August 19, 2009, 07:01:39 PM »
What we looking forward to in SA 2010. 
April 29, 2024, 04:48:27 AM
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92
Football / New Vibes it Up Thread (Keep Clean Plz)
« on: August 09, 2009, 06:05:04 PM »
Please no negativity in this one. I was gonna continue the other thread but I was shocked that it was so polluted. Only positive please.
Feel free to contribute.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/HHWwU6QozkM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/HHWwU6QozkM</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/GGuyWbUAN5A" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/GGuyWbUAN5A</a>
Feel free to contribute.
95
General Discussion / 7 Kids Shot Outside School
« on: June 30, 2009, 08:41:58 PM »
Gunmen fire on group of Detroit teens, wounding 7
DETROIT – Gunmen in a green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school on Tuesday, wounding seven including two who were in critical condition, authorities said.
Five of the teens had just left Cody Ninth Grade Academy, where they were taking summer classes, when they were shot at the nearby bus stop.
The gunmen exited a vehicle and "asked for a person by name" before they "opened fire at the crowd," said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes.
Detroit Police were looking for two suspects in a green minivan, said spokesman Rod Liggons. Officers were interviewing some of the victims in the hospital Tuesday evening, he said.
Four boys and three girls ranging in age from 14 to 17 years old were hospitalized, two of them — a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old female — in critical condition, said Deputy Chief James Tolbert.
Gas station owner Steve Hakim said he saw two people with T-shirts covering their heads run across his lot toward the bus stop. Then he heard about 10 gunshots, saw a boy and a girl fall down and called 911.
"It's pretty scary," Hakim said. "Somebody's got to do something."
Police were reviewing video taken from the gas station's security cameras and took a disc containing the footage, Hakim said.
Another summer school student, 15-year-old Bria Wilson, said she was standing at the bus stop when she heard the gunfire. She said she was facing away from the shooters and ran away after the shots were fired. But she saw a 16-year-old male friend lying on the ground, bleeding.
"They were so close — it almost hit me," she said.
Schools spokesman Steve Wasko said there was "nothing that we're aware of at this time" linking the shootings with any fight or dispute at the school.
He said the shootings happened about 2:15 p.m., about 15 minutes after summer school students were dismissed for the day.
___
Associated Press writers Ben Leubsdorf and David N. Goodman contributed to this report.
DETROIT – Gunmen in a green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school on Tuesday, wounding seven including two who were in critical condition, authorities said.
Five of the teens had just left Cody Ninth Grade Academy, where they were taking summer classes, when they were shot at the nearby bus stop.
The gunmen exited a vehicle and "asked for a person by name" before they "opened fire at the crowd," said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes.
Detroit Police were looking for two suspects in a green minivan, said spokesman Rod Liggons. Officers were interviewing some of the victims in the hospital Tuesday evening, he said.
Four boys and three girls ranging in age from 14 to 17 years old were hospitalized, two of them — a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old female — in critical condition, said Deputy Chief James Tolbert.
Gas station owner Steve Hakim said he saw two people with T-shirts covering their heads run across his lot toward the bus stop. Then he heard about 10 gunshots, saw a boy and a girl fall down and called 911.
"It's pretty scary," Hakim said. "Somebody's got to do something."
Police were reviewing video taken from the gas station's security cameras and took a disc containing the footage, Hakim said.
Another summer school student, 15-year-old Bria Wilson, said she was standing at the bus stop when she heard the gunfire. She said she was facing away from the shooters and ran away after the shots were fired. But she saw a 16-year-old male friend lying on the ground, bleeding.
"They were so close — it almost hit me," she said.
Schools spokesman Steve Wasko said there was "nothing that we're aware of at this time" linking the shootings with any fight or dispute at the school.
He said the shootings happened about 2:15 p.m., about 15 minutes after summer school students were dismissed for the day.
___
Associated Press writers Ben Leubsdorf and David N. Goodman contributed to this report.
96
General Discussion / Trooper Pulls Over Ambulance
« on: June 17, 2009, 10:22:32 PM »
Attorney defends trooper in Oklahoma ambulance stop
June 15, 2009 - 8:53 PM
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Bothered that an ambulance driver failed to yield to him as he raced to provide backup on a call - and angered further when he thought the driver flipped him an obscene gesture - state Trooper Daniel Martin decided to stop the ambulance and give the driver a piece of his mind.
What Martin didn't know then, his lawyer said Monday, was that there was a patient in the back of the ambulance.
"He's not this ogre, this depriver of people's rights," the trooper's attorney, Gary James, said. "He's a good man."
Since a cell phone video of the dispute taken by the patient's son was released last month, Martin has faced criticism and has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation. The patient, Stella Davis of Boley, was eventually treated and released from the hospital, but relatives and others have questioned why the ambulance was stopped and pushed for answers.
After the trooper stopped the vehicle, a paramedic jumped from the back and demanded that Martin talk to him instead of the driver, according to a longer video, taken by the dashboard camera in Martin's cruiser, that authorities released over the weekend.
"You get back in the ambulance, I'm talking to the driver," Martin said.
"I'm in charge of this unit, sir," the paramedic tells Martin, an Iraq war veteran who returned from the Middle East about a month before the May 24 incident in Paden, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City.
Martin tells the driver he's going to give him a ticket for failure to yield.
"I ain't going to be putting up with that (expletive)," Martin said. "You understand me?"
Then the paramedic, Maurice White Jr., said: "And I won't put up with you talking to my driver like that."
The situation escalates, with White repeatedly telling Martin he has a patient that he wants to take to the hospital, and Martin telling him to get back in the ambulance. They soon begin scuffling on the side of the road as Martin attempts to arrest White, at one point grabbing him by the throat, video shows.
Martin's attorney said the trooper - whom he described as a decorated sailor and a 15-year law enforcement veteran - didn't realize there was a patient in the ambulance until well after the situation had intensified. He either didn't hear it or it didn't register, he said.
Martin was trying to make a legitimate traffic stop, James said, when White became hostile, refused to comply with the patrolman's orders and caused the situation to spiral out of control.
James said the law allows an officer to pull over an ambulance if its emergency lights and sirens aren't running, as was the case in this incident.
Thompson Gouge, spokesman for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which employs White as a paramedic, said the use of lights and sirens depends on the patient's medical situation. Sometimes the lights and sirens often won't be used when patients are transported to the hospital in order to keep them calm.
White's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, said the veteran paramedic was trying to protect his patient and that the trooper had no reason to stop the ambulance, let alone try and arrest White. The trooper's arms were bruised when White resisted arrest, James said.
"If the guy was bruised, it didn't make any difference," O'Carroll said. "He ought not to stop ambulance drivers for hurting his feelings."
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/_qa64tIwKuQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/_qa64tIwKuQ</a>
June 15, 2009 - 8:53 PM
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Bothered that an ambulance driver failed to yield to him as he raced to provide backup on a call - and angered further when he thought the driver flipped him an obscene gesture - state Trooper Daniel Martin decided to stop the ambulance and give the driver a piece of his mind.
What Martin didn't know then, his lawyer said Monday, was that there was a patient in the back of the ambulance.
"He's not this ogre, this depriver of people's rights," the trooper's attorney, Gary James, said. "He's a good man."
Since a cell phone video of the dispute taken by the patient's son was released last month, Martin has faced criticism and has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation. The patient, Stella Davis of Boley, was eventually treated and released from the hospital, but relatives and others have questioned why the ambulance was stopped and pushed for answers.
After the trooper stopped the vehicle, a paramedic jumped from the back and demanded that Martin talk to him instead of the driver, according to a longer video, taken by the dashboard camera in Martin's cruiser, that authorities released over the weekend.
"You get back in the ambulance, I'm talking to the driver," Martin said.
"I'm in charge of this unit, sir," the paramedic tells Martin, an Iraq war veteran who returned from the Middle East about a month before the May 24 incident in Paden, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City.
Martin tells the driver he's going to give him a ticket for failure to yield.
"I ain't going to be putting up with that (expletive)," Martin said. "You understand me?"
Then the paramedic, Maurice White Jr., said: "And I won't put up with you talking to my driver like that."
The situation escalates, with White repeatedly telling Martin he has a patient that he wants to take to the hospital, and Martin telling him to get back in the ambulance. They soon begin scuffling on the side of the road as Martin attempts to arrest White, at one point grabbing him by the throat, video shows.
Martin's attorney said the trooper - whom he described as a decorated sailor and a 15-year law enforcement veteran - didn't realize there was a patient in the ambulance until well after the situation had intensified. He either didn't hear it or it didn't register, he said.
Martin was trying to make a legitimate traffic stop, James said, when White became hostile, refused to comply with the patrolman's orders and caused the situation to spiral out of control.
James said the law allows an officer to pull over an ambulance if its emergency lights and sirens aren't running, as was the case in this incident.
Thompson Gouge, spokesman for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which employs White as a paramedic, said the use of lights and sirens depends on the patient's medical situation. Sometimes the lights and sirens often won't be used when patients are transported to the hospital in order to keep them calm.
White's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, said the veteran paramedic was trying to protect his patient and that the trooper had no reason to stop the ambulance, let alone try and arrest White. The trooper's arms were bruised when White resisted arrest, James said.
"If the guy was bruised, it didn't make any difference," O'Carroll said. "He ought not to stop ambulance drivers for hurting his feelings."
97
Football / Turkey vs France
« on: June 05, 2009, 02:42:47 PM »
Anyone watching this game? France leading 1-0 of a Benzama PK, after Anelka went down in the box.
HOwever, the game been stopped for about 5 minutes now after fans started throwing flares and smoke bombs onto and close to the pitch. Tuncay has been pleading with them to cease.
It looks like the game will continue now.
HOwever, the game been stopped for about 5 minutes now after fans started throwing flares and smoke bombs onto and close to the pitch. Tuncay has been pleading with them to cease.
It looks like the game will continue now.
98
General Discussion / Microsft Interview Puzzles...How good are You?
« on: May 23, 2009, 03:43:49 PM »
I was reading this book and thought it was interesting. I will ask some of the puzzles in the book and you all can see if you solve them. Try first on your own before googling the answer.
Question 1.
Four people must cross a rickety footbridge at night. Many planks are m,issing, and the bridge can only hold two people at a time (anymore than two and the bridge collapses). The travelers must use flashlight to guide their steps; otherwise they're sure to step on a missing space and fall to their death. There is only one flashlight. The four people each travel at different speeds. Adam can cross the bridge in one minute; Larry in two minutes; Edge takes five minutes; and the slowest person, Bono, needs ten minutes. The bridge is going to collapse in seventeen minutes. How can all four people cross the bridge?
Note: You cannot toss, tie string to the flashlight.
Question 1.
Four people must cross a rickety footbridge at night. Many planks are m,issing, and the bridge can only hold two people at a time (anymore than two and the bridge collapses). The travelers must use flashlight to guide their steps; otherwise they're sure to step on a missing space and fall to their death. There is only one flashlight. The four people each travel at different speeds. Adam can cross the bridge in one minute; Larry in two minutes; Edge takes five minutes; and the slowest person, Bono, needs ten minutes. The bridge is going to collapse in seventeen minutes. How can all four people cross the bridge?
Note: You cannot toss, tie string to the flashlight.
99
General Discussion / Skin Teeth vs Grin Teeth
« on: May 11, 2009, 09:00:06 PM »View video of her performance at the wjite house dinner here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30682572#30682572?GT1=43001
View some of the responses posted at MSNBC (News Vine) and their poll.
http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/2009/05/11/2803157-did-wanda-sykes-performance-at-the-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner-go-too-far?GT1=43001
100
Entertainment & Culture Discussion / Everything Food and Drinks
« on: April 25, 2009, 04:31:05 PM »
Don't know if it have a thread dedicated to food and drinks so I am starting one. If it does have one please merge.
What kind of food you like?
Non-Alcoholic drinks?
Alcoholic drinks?
Any special recipes you may have.
Please feel free to post if you willing to share.
What kind of food you like?
Non-Alcoholic drinks?
Alcoholic drinks?
Any special recipes you may have.
Please feel free to post if you willing to share.
101
Football / Disrespectful
« on: April 01, 2009, 10:56:34 PM »
These good for nothing, wanna be, footballers did not even have ah ounce of broughtupsy in them to acknowledge they fans after the game. I looking to move down to clap the feallas. When I look up men run off in the changing room. What the hell? Not even a little acknowledgement after people travel so far and watch them play all that mess.
Not good enough, no character.
Not good enough, no character.
102
General Discussion / Airport theft ring busted
« on: March 21, 2009, 08:15:11 PM »
St. Louis airport theft ring busted
UPDATE (Friday, March 20, 2:25 p.m. ET): In an update to the original story, The Associated Press writes "eight contract baggage handlers for Delta Airlines rifled through hundreds of bags of luggage at Lambert Airport over a period of more than a year, stealing some 900 items ranging from laptops and iPods to cologne and cigarettes, airport police said Thursday. ... At a news conference at the airport, most of the recovered items were laid out on tables. The thieves targeted expensive goods, mostly electronic devices, games, computers and computer equipment. There also were more mundane items — cartons of cigarettes, battery chargers, even cologne." Airport police chief Paul Mason says: "I've been here 20 years and this is the first time we've had anything of this magnitude."
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds "the employees stashed the items until the work day ended, then left with the stolen loot stuffed inside jackets or backpacks, Mason said. ... The thefts are isolated to Delta travelers and did not affect other airlines or other parts of the airport. Most of the items were stolen from the baggage of outbound fliers, said the lead investigator, detective Eric K. Williams." The Post-Dispatch says customers who believe something may have been stolen from their luggage while flying out of St. Louis during the past 15 months should call a police hotline number at (314) 890-1822.
ORIGINAL POST: If you've flown through St. Louis recently, you may want to check to see if you can account for everything you had in your checked luggage. The Associated Press reports "several baggage handlers were arrested for allegedly stealing items from luggage at Lambert Airport in St. Louis. The arrests were announced Thursday. Details are to be released in an afternoon news conference."
AP says officials have recovered nearly 900 items that allegedly were stolen from fliers' checked bags. Airport spokesman Jeff Lea tells AP the suspects worked for a baggage handling company that worked for a particular airline. He said the airport would not release more details until this afternoon's press conference, which will be at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Link
Some responses to the articles
8675309Jenny (0 friends, send message) wrote: 1h 8m ago
I traveled last August on Delta and flew thru Cinn., Ohio, and by the time I reached my final destination in Paris, France, I noticed that several packs of cigeretts were missing from my luggage that was checked. After my trip was over (a week later), I called Delta to report the incident and told them I did not want to file a claim, I just wanted to give them the details of the theft so they could investigate to see if there was a bigger problem. The guy who answered the phone at Delta told me that since it had been more than 24 hours since the items were stolen, there was nothing he could do and that if I wanted to, I could write a letter and mail it to Delta. No wonder their employees were allowed to build up such a theft ring... no one at corporate takes this stuff seriously. You folks at Delta need to take any report of theft, no matter when it took place and no matter what item was stolen, and investigate. Especially when the person is saying they don't want to file a claim for the theft!!! This just amounts to pure supidity.... and if anyone out there thinks that Delta will change anything, think again. As long as you still fly Delta, they will continue to look the other way!
screwysquearl (0 friends, send message) wrote: 1h 7m ago
The airlines rob you twice: first, they take your $30 to put your luggage on the plane, then they take what's in the luggage, itself. Wow! They must be proud!
UPDATE (Friday, March 20, 2:25 p.m. ET): In an update to the original story, The Associated Press writes "eight contract baggage handlers for Delta Airlines rifled through hundreds of bags of luggage at Lambert Airport over a period of more than a year, stealing some 900 items ranging from laptops and iPods to cologne and cigarettes, airport police said Thursday. ... At a news conference at the airport, most of the recovered items were laid out on tables. The thieves targeted expensive goods, mostly electronic devices, games, computers and computer equipment. There also were more mundane items — cartons of cigarettes, battery chargers, even cologne." Airport police chief Paul Mason says: "I've been here 20 years and this is the first time we've had anything of this magnitude."
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds "the employees stashed the items until the work day ended, then left with the stolen loot stuffed inside jackets or backpacks, Mason said. ... The thefts are isolated to Delta travelers and did not affect other airlines or other parts of the airport. Most of the items were stolen from the baggage of outbound fliers, said the lead investigator, detective Eric K. Williams." The Post-Dispatch says customers who believe something may have been stolen from their luggage while flying out of St. Louis during the past 15 months should call a police hotline number at (314) 890-1822.
ORIGINAL POST: If you've flown through St. Louis recently, you may want to check to see if you can account for everything you had in your checked luggage. The Associated Press reports "several baggage handlers were arrested for allegedly stealing items from luggage at Lambert Airport in St. Louis. The arrests were announced Thursday. Details are to be released in an afternoon news conference."
AP says officials have recovered nearly 900 items that allegedly were stolen from fliers' checked bags. Airport spokesman Jeff Lea tells AP the suspects worked for a baggage handling company that worked for a particular airline. He said the airport would not release more details until this afternoon's press conference, which will be at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Link
Some responses to the articles
8675309Jenny (0 friends, send message) wrote: 1h 8m ago
I traveled last August on Delta and flew thru Cinn., Ohio, and by the time I reached my final destination in Paris, France, I noticed that several packs of cigeretts were missing from my luggage that was checked. After my trip was over (a week later), I called Delta to report the incident and told them I did not want to file a claim, I just wanted to give them the details of the theft so they could investigate to see if there was a bigger problem. The guy who answered the phone at Delta told me that since it had been more than 24 hours since the items were stolen, there was nothing he could do and that if I wanted to, I could write a letter and mail it to Delta. No wonder their employees were allowed to build up such a theft ring... no one at corporate takes this stuff seriously. You folks at Delta need to take any report of theft, no matter when it took place and no matter what item was stolen, and investigate. Especially when the person is saying they don't want to file a claim for the theft!!! This just amounts to pure supidity.... and if anyone out there thinks that Delta will change anything, think again. As long as you still fly Delta, they will continue to look the other way!
screwysquearl (0 friends, send message) wrote: 1h 7m ago
The airlines rob you twice: first, they take your $30 to put your luggage on the plane, then they take what's in the luggage, itself. Wow! They must be proud!
103
Football / Soccer Is Ruining America
« on: March 18, 2009, 10:35:11 PM »
Soccer Is Ruining America
And we have no one to blame but ourselves.
By STEPHEN H. WEBB
Soccer is running America into the ground, and there is very little anyone can do about it. Social critics have long observed that we live in a therapeutic society that treats young people as if they can do no wrong. Every kid is a winner, and nobody is ever left behind, no matter how many times they watch the ball going the other way. Whether the dumbing down of America or soccer came first is hard to say, but soccer is clearly an important means by which American energy, drive and competitiveness are being undermined to the point of no return.
What other game, to put it bluntly, is so boring to watch? (Bowling and golf come to mind, but the sound of crashing pins and the sight of the well-attired strolling on perfectly kept greens are at least inherently pleasurable activities.) The linear, two-dimensional action of soccer is like the rocking of a boat but without any storm and while the boat has not even left the dock. Think of two posses pursuing their prey in opposite directions without any bullets in their guns. Soccer is the fluoridation of the American sporting scene.
For those who think I jest, let me put forth four points, which is more points than most fans will see in a week of games—and more points than most soccer players have scored since their pee-wee days.
1) Any sport that limits you to using your feet, with the occasional bang of the head, has something very wrong with it. Indeed, soccer is a liberal's dream of tragedy: It creates an egalitarian playing field by rigorously enforcing a uniform disability. Anthropologists commonly define man according to his use of hands. We have the thumb, an opposable digit that God gave us to distinguish us from animals that walk on all fours. The thumb lets us do things like throw baseballs and fold our hands in prayer. We can even talk with our hands. Have you ever seen a deaf person trying to talk with his feet? When you are really angry and acting like an animal, you kick out with your feet. Only fools punch a wall with their hands. The Iraqi who threw his shoes at President Bush was following his primordial instincts. Showing someone your feet, or sticking your shoes in someone's face, is the ultimate sign of disrespect. Do kids ever say, "Trick or Treat, smell my hands"? Did Jesus wash his disciples' hands at the Last Supper? No, hands are divine (they are one of the body parts most frequently attributed to God), while feet are in need of redemption. In all the portraits of God's wrath, never once is he pictured as wanting to step on us or kick us; he does not stoop that low.
2) Sporting should be about breaking kids down before you start building them up. Take baseball, for example. When I was a kid, baseball was the most popular sport precisely because it was so demanding. Even its language was intimidating, with bases, bats, strikes and outs. Striding up to the plate gave each of us a chance to act like we were starring in a Western movie, and tapping the bat to the plate gave us our first experience with inventing self-indulgent personal rituals. The boy chosen to be the pitcher was inevitably the first kid on the team to reach puberty, and he threw a hard ball right at you.
Thus, you had to face the fear of disfigurement as well as the statistical probability of striking out. The spectacle of your failure was so public that it was like having all of your friends invited to your home to watch your dad forcing you to eat your vegetables. We also spent a lot of time in the outfield chanting, "Hey batter batter!" as if we were Buddhist monks on steroids. Our chanting was compensatory behavior, a way of making the time go by, which is surely why at soccer games today it is the parents who do all of the yelling.
3) Everyone knows that soccer is a foreign invasion, but few people know exactly what is wrong with that. More than having to do with its origin, soccer is a European sport because it is all about death and despair. Americans would never invent a sport where the better you get the less you score. Even the way most games end, in sudden death, suggests something of an old-fashioned duel. How could anyone enjoy a game where so much energy results in so little advantage, and which typically ends with a penalty kick out, as if it is the audience that needs to be put out of its misery? Shootouts are such an anticlimax to the game and are so unpredictable that the teams might as well flip a coin to see who wins—indeed, they might as well flip the coin before the game, and not play at all.
4) And then there is the question of sex. I know my daughter will kick me when she reads this, but soccer is a game for girls. Girls are too smart to waste an entire day playing baseball, and they do not have the bloodlust for football. Soccer penalizes shoving and burns countless calories, and the margins of victory are almost always too narrow to afford any gloating. As a display of nearly death-defying stamina, soccer mimics the paradigmatic feminine experience of childbirth more than the masculine business of destroying your opponent with insurmountable power.
Let me conclude on a note of despair appropriate to my topic. There is no way to run away from soccer, if only because it is a sport all about running. It is as relentless as it is easy, and it is as tiring to play as it is tedious to watch. The real tragedy is that soccer is a foreign invasion, but it is not a plot to overthrow America. For those inclined toward paranoia, it would be easy to blame soccer's success on the political left, which, after all, worked for years to bring European decadence and despair to America. The left tried to make existentialism, Marxism, poststructuralism, and deconstructionism fashionable in order to weaken the clarity, pragmatism and drive of American culture. What the left could not accomplish through these intellectual fads, one might suspect, they are trying to accomplish through sport.
Yet this suspicion would be mistaken. Soccer is of foreign origin, that is certainly true, but its promotion and implementation are thoroughly domestic. Soccer is a self-inflicted wound. Americans have nobody to blame but themselves. Conservative suburban families, the backbone of America, have turned to soccer in droves. Baseball is too intimidating, football too brutal, and basketball takes too much time to develop the required skills. American parents in the past several decades are overworked and exhausted, but their children are overweight and neglected. Soccer is the perfect antidote to television and video games. It forces kids to run and run, and everyone can play their role, no matter how minor or irrelevant to the game. Soccer and television are the peanut butter and jelly of parenting.
I should know. I am an overworked teacher, with books to read and books to write, and before I put in a video for the kids to watch while I work in the evenings, they need to have spent some of their energy. Otherwise, they want to play with me! Last year all three of my kids were on three different soccer teams at the same time. My daughter is on a traveling team, and she is quite good. I had to sign a form that said, among other things, I would not do anything embarrassing to her or the team during the game. I told the coach I could not sign it. She was perplexed and worried. "Why not," she asked? "Are you one of those parents who yells at their kids? "Not at all," I replied, "I read books on the sidelines during the game, and this embarrasses my daughter to no end." That is my one way of protesting the rise of this pitiful sport. Nonetheless, I must say that my kids and I come home from a soccer game a very happy family.
Mr. Webb is a professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College. His recent books include "American Providence" and "Taking Religion to School."
If this was posted before let me know and i will delete it.
Article makes sense.
And we have no one to blame but ourselves.
By STEPHEN H. WEBB
Soccer is running America into the ground, and there is very little anyone can do about it. Social critics have long observed that we live in a therapeutic society that treats young people as if they can do no wrong. Every kid is a winner, and nobody is ever left behind, no matter how many times they watch the ball going the other way. Whether the dumbing down of America or soccer came first is hard to say, but soccer is clearly an important means by which American energy, drive and competitiveness are being undermined to the point of no return.
What other game, to put it bluntly, is so boring to watch? (Bowling and golf come to mind, but the sound of crashing pins and the sight of the well-attired strolling on perfectly kept greens are at least inherently pleasurable activities.) The linear, two-dimensional action of soccer is like the rocking of a boat but without any storm and while the boat has not even left the dock. Think of two posses pursuing their prey in opposite directions without any bullets in their guns. Soccer is the fluoridation of the American sporting scene.
For those who think I jest, let me put forth four points, which is more points than most fans will see in a week of games—and more points than most soccer players have scored since their pee-wee days.
1) Any sport that limits you to using your feet, with the occasional bang of the head, has something very wrong with it. Indeed, soccer is a liberal's dream of tragedy: It creates an egalitarian playing field by rigorously enforcing a uniform disability. Anthropologists commonly define man according to his use of hands. We have the thumb, an opposable digit that God gave us to distinguish us from animals that walk on all fours. The thumb lets us do things like throw baseballs and fold our hands in prayer. We can even talk with our hands. Have you ever seen a deaf person trying to talk with his feet? When you are really angry and acting like an animal, you kick out with your feet. Only fools punch a wall with their hands. The Iraqi who threw his shoes at President Bush was following his primordial instincts. Showing someone your feet, or sticking your shoes in someone's face, is the ultimate sign of disrespect. Do kids ever say, "Trick or Treat, smell my hands"? Did Jesus wash his disciples' hands at the Last Supper? No, hands are divine (they are one of the body parts most frequently attributed to God), while feet are in need of redemption. In all the portraits of God's wrath, never once is he pictured as wanting to step on us or kick us; he does not stoop that low.
2) Sporting should be about breaking kids down before you start building them up. Take baseball, for example. When I was a kid, baseball was the most popular sport precisely because it was so demanding. Even its language was intimidating, with bases, bats, strikes and outs. Striding up to the plate gave each of us a chance to act like we were starring in a Western movie, and tapping the bat to the plate gave us our first experience with inventing self-indulgent personal rituals. The boy chosen to be the pitcher was inevitably the first kid on the team to reach puberty, and he threw a hard ball right at you.
Thus, you had to face the fear of disfigurement as well as the statistical probability of striking out. The spectacle of your failure was so public that it was like having all of your friends invited to your home to watch your dad forcing you to eat your vegetables. We also spent a lot of time in the outfield chanting, "Hey batter batter!" as if we were Buddhist monks on steroids. Our chanting was compensatory behavior, a way of making the time go by, which is surely why at soccer games today it is the parents who do all of the yelling.
3) Everyone knows that soccer is a foreign invasion, but few people know exactly what is wrong with that. More than having to do with its origin, soccer is a European sport because it is all about death and despair. Americans would never invent a sport where the better you get the less you score. Even the way most games end, in sudden death, suggests something of an old-fashioned duel. How could anyone enjoy a game where so much energy results in so little advantage, and which typically ends with a penalty kick out, as if it is the audience that needs to be put out of its misery? Shootouts are such an anticlimax to the game and are so unpredictable that the teams might as well flip a coin to see who wins—indeed, they might as well flip the coin before the game, and not play at all.
4) And then there is the question of sex. I know my daughter will kick me when she reads this, but soccer is a game for girls. Girls are too smart to waste an entire day playing baseball, and they do not have the bloodlust for football. Soccer penalizes shoving and burns countless calories, and the margins of victory are almost always too narrow to afford any gloating. As a display of nearly death-defying stamina, soccer mimics the paradigmatic feminine experience of childbirth more than the masculine business of destroying your opponent with insurmountable power.
Let me conclude on a note of despair appropriate to my topic. There is no way to run away from soccer, if only because it is a sport all about running. It is as relentless as it is easy, and it is as tiring to play as it is tedious to watch. The real tragedy is that soccer is a foreign invasion, but it is not a plot to overthrow America. For those inclined toward paranoia, it would be easy to blame soccer's success on the political left, which, after all, worked for years to bring European decadence and despair to America. The left tried to make existentialism, Marxism, poststructuralism, and deconstructionism fashionable in order to weaken the clarity, pragmatism and drive of American culture. What the left could not accomplish through these intellectual fads, one might suspect, they are trying to accomplish through sport.
Yet this suspicion would be mistaken. Soccer is of foreign origin, that is certainly true, but its promotion and implementation are thoroughly domestic. Soccer is a self-inflicted wound. Americans have nobody to blame but themselves. Conservative suburban families, the backbone of America, have turned to soccer in droves. Baseball is too intimidating, football too brutal, and basketball takes too much time to develop the required skills. American parents in the past several decades are overworked and exhausted, but their children are overweight and neglected. Soccer is the perfect antidote to television and video games. It forces kids to run and run, and everyone can play their role, no matter how minor or irrelevant to the game. Soccer and television are the peanut butter and jelly of parenting.
I should know. I am an overworked teacher, with books to read and books to write, and before I put in a video for the kids to watch while I work in the evenings, they need to have spent some of their energy. Otherwise, they want to play with me! Last year all three of my kids were on three different soccer teams at the same time. My daughter is on a traveling team, and she is quite good. I had to sign a form that said, among other things, I would not do anything embarrassing to her or the team during the game. I told the coach I could not sign it. She was perplexed and worried. "Why not," she asked? "Are you one of those parents who yells at their kids? "Not at all," I replied, "I read books on the sidelines during the game, and this embarrasses my daughter to no end." That is my one way of protesting the rise of this pitiful sport. Nonetheless, I must say that my kids and I come home from a soccer game a very happy family.
Mr. Webb is a professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College. His recent books include "American Providence" and "Taking Religion to School."
If this was posted before let me know and i will delete it.
Article makes sense.
104
General Discussion / Fishing Treasure
« on: March 15, 2009, 07:26:58 PM »
Fishing trip leads to 'treasure'
Trinidad Express
BIG CATCH: James Jagroop shows the sword he hooked. - Photos: RICHARD CHARAN
James Jagroop spent five hours casting his line into the waters off the Mosquito Creek, La Romaine, hoping to hook a big one for a fish broth to go with the rum lime.
He snared not one fish.
But took home the catch of a lifetime-a sword, still in its wooden scabbard, encrusted in barnacles hiding the secret of its maker.
The Chaguaramas Military History and AeroSpace Museum investigated the the origin of the treasure (see side story). But just as mysterious is how the sword came to rest on the shallow seabed not 50 feet from the coastal road at the creek.
One suggestion is that the sword may have been part of a deep sea shipwreck, but was snared by a net dragged by a trawler and deposited closer to shore, where shrimping boats also trawling waters brought it to within reach of Jagroop's hook.
That the sword ended up being caught is also an apparent one-in-a-million chance event.
But all Jagroop, a building contractor from Princes Town, wants to know, is how much his treasure is worth.
He said the catch was made February 27, a Friday.
"I went there with three friends, hoping to catch fish, any fish, big or small, them ugly catfish even, but not a sword...fish!".
For anyone interested, Jagroop's cast his line midway along the Mosquito Creek stretch, into water no more than six feet high.
Said Jagroop:
"I was ready to pack up. But decided to throw one last time. I felt a fish, a big one. So I pulled on my line and thought I had a very big one.
I slowly dragged him in. When it came out of the water I knew immediately what it was.
I shouted "pirate sword". We packed up and headed home".
Since Jagroop's find, people in his hometown of Princes Town have speculated-some possibilities as wild as the children in the freight container rumour.
Maybe famed English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh dropped his sword on his way to the La Brea pitch lake to caulk his leaking ships back in 1595.
Or a thief off-loaded the sword taken from some rich person's mansion at Gulf View or Palmiste.
How about a trawler dragging its net along the seabed and snagging the sword off a deep seawreck, and bringing it closer to shore.
Jagroop however isn't very interested in its history. He just wants to know it's worth something.
Trinidad Express
BIG CATCH: James Jagroop shows the sword he hooked. - Photos: RICHARD CHARAN
James Jagroop spent five hours casting his line into the waters off the Mosquito Creek, La Romaine, hoping to hook a big one for a fish broth to go with the rum lime.
He snared not one fish.
But took home the catch of a lifetime-a sword, still in its wooden scabbard, encrusted in barnacles hiding the secret of its maker.
The Chaguaramas Military History and AeroSpace Museum investigated the the origin of the treasure (see side story). But just as mysterious is how the sword came to rest on the shallow seabed not 50 feet from the coastal road at the creek.
One suggestion is that the sword may have been part of a deep sea shipwreck, but was snared by a net dragged by a trawler and deposited closer to shore, where shrimping boats also trawling waters brought it to within reach of Jagroop's hook.
That the sword ended up being caught is also an apparent one-in-a-million chance event.
But all Jagroop, a building contractor from Princes Town, wants to know, is how much his treasure is worth.
He said the catch was made February 27, a Friday.
"I went there with three friends, hoping to catch fish, any fish, big or small, them ugly catfish even, but not a sword...fish!".
For anyone interested, Jagroop's cast his line midway along the Mosquito Creek stretch, into water no more than six feet high.
Said Jagroop:
"I was ready to pack up. But decided to throw one last time. I felt a fish, a big one. So I pulled on my line and thought I had a very big one.
I slowly dragged him in. When it came out of the water I knew immediately what it was.
I shouted "pirate sword". We packed up and headed home".
Since Jagroop's find, people in his hometown of Princes Town have speculated-some possibilities as wild as the children in the freight container rumour.
Maybe famed English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh dropped his sword on his way to the La Brea pitch lake to caulk his leaking ships back in 1595.
Or a thief off-loaded the sword taken from some rich person's mansion at Gulf View or Palmiste.
How about a trawler dragging its net along the seabed and snagging the sword off a deep seawreck, and bringing it closer to shore.
Jagroop however isn't very interested in its history. He just wants to know it's worth something.
105
General Discussion / Becoming A School Teacher in T&T
« on: February 11, 2009, 06:05:58 PM »
Anyone here is a teacher? Would like to know general information on teaching back home from a teacher.
Salary -
Requirements -
Other Information -
Any information will help greatly. Just looking to d a comaprison of the teachers in my area compare to back home, nothing formal.
Salary -
Requirements -
Other Information -
Any information will help greatly. Just looking to d a comaprison of the teachers in my area compare to back home, nothing formal.
106
Football / Everton Academy Insight
« on: January 26, 2009, 09:13:23 PM »
Finch Farm
They have a network all around Liverpool. They have many “spies” that keep track of their players wherever they go. He (Neil Dewsnip) used one example of two boys being caught in a restaurant having a bottle of wine. They confessed, were fined and given a three week suspension. Dewsnip spoke of Wayne Rooney and his time in Everton youth academy. They new where he was 24 hours a day. If he was in some sort of trouble, there was someone close by to pull him out immediately.
Everton is employing a sophisticated electronic monitoring system. The players wear belts around their chests (like heart rate monitor), but the field is surrounded by sensors to report back to a central laptop on the field about each players’ heart rate and muscle reaction. The information indicates when players are properly warmed up and ready to train; if a player is having a hard day physically; or if players are ready to come back from injury. They even go so far as to take small blood samples before or after training to measure glycogen levels and to monitor the athlete’s health and nutrition.
Excerpts from “NSCAA Master Coach Class Trip to England” by Lang Wedemeyer, NSCAA Staff Coach
soccer journal November-December 2008, Vol. 53 No.7
They have a network all around Liverpool. They have many “spies” that keep track of their players wherever they go. He (Neil Dewsnip) used one example of two boys being caught in a restaurant having a bottle of wine. They confessed, were fined and given a three week suspension. Dewsnip spoke of Wayne Rooney and his time in Everton youth academy. They new where he was 24 hours a day. If he was in some sort of trouble, there was someone close by to pull him out immediately.
Everton is employing a sophisticated electronic monitoring system. The players wear belts around their chests (like heart rate monitor), but the field is surrounded by sensors to report back to a central laptop on the field about each players’ heart rate and muscle reaction. The information indicates when players are properly warmed up and ready to train; if a player is having a hard day physically; or if players are ready to come back from injury. They even go so far as to take small blood samples before or after training to measure glycogen levels and to monitor the athlete’s health and nutrition.
Excerpts from “NSCAA Master Coach Class Trip to England” by Lang Wedemeyer, NSCAA Staff Coach
soccer journal November-December 2008, Vol. 53 No.7
107
General Discussion / In the Face
« on: January 25, 2009, 09:56:42 PM »
Was this done on purpose?
I do not believe that the offending player meant to step on the guy face. Looking at the height he raised his leg, no sudden down motion of the leg, the offend player body did not brace for impact or was ready to balance itself. Also I think the player on the ground right hand catches the shoe of the player stepping over.
I do not believe that the offending player meant to step on the guy face. Looking at the height he raised his leg, no sudden down motion of the leg, the offend player body did not brace for impact or was ready to balance itself. Also I think the player on the ground right hand catches the shoe of the player stepping over.
108
Trinbago, NBA & World Basketball / High School Basketball 100-0
« on: January 25, 2009, 09:43:51 PM »
High school to forfeit game
I say good beat down, I will explain why I say so. What do you think?
PS: If this was posted before plz merge.
I say good beat down, I will explain why I say so. What do you think?
PS: If this was posted before plz merge.
109
Football / Maturana concerned about Yorke's inactivity.
« on: January 20, 2009, 10:42:11 PM »
Maturana concerned about Yorke's inactivity.
...but Pro League fitness levels worse.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Trinidad and Tobago national football team coach Francisco Maturana expressed concern yesterday with the inactivity of "Soca Warriors" captain Dwight Yorke in the build-up to next month's 2010 World Cup qualifier away to El Salvador.
But Maturana is even less impressed with the fitness level of the T&T Pro League players--in or out of season.
"(Yorke's lack of playing time at Sunderland) is a concern," said Maturana, "but I always live with a concern... Even without playing, I am confident that (the Europe-based players) are in better shape than the guys locally."
Maturana insisted that his verdict on the condition of the Pro League players held true even in the middle of their season.
Yesterday evening, the national team finished their final session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium before leaving for a camp in Argentina today.
Maturana claimed that ten members of the touring party, which includes assistant coach/player Russell Latapy, will be selected for the El Salvador qualifier. The other eight players will come from the European leagues.
The Colombian declined comment on Latapy's role within the team.
"Mr (Jack) Warner has already explained Russell's role within the team," said the two-time Colombia World Cup coach. "For me, he is a very important player."
One player who has already been ruled out is promising teenaged midfielder Khaleem Hyland, who is on trial in Belgium.
Maturana confirmed that Hyland, who has not played competitively since he left CLICO San Juan Jabloteh in 2007, will not be invited to join the squad next month.
Warriors looking to impress coach.
By: Kern De Freitas (T&T Express).
The competition is stiff for places in the senior Trinidad and Tobago football team ahead of the CONCACAF final round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers, beginning next month away to El Salvador.
Some new faces and more established names will be aiming to impress coach Francisco Maturana during the national squad's camp in Argentina--which begins today--for one of ten spots available to local-based players on the T&T team, with eight foreign-based players to join the final squad.
One such name is Errol McFarlane Jr, who showed good form for T&T at the Digicel Cup, even though the national team embarrassingly fell out of the competition in the group stages.
McFarlane said the trip to Argentina is a huge opportunity for players to show their worth after a poor showing in the regional tournament.
"I think coming off our recent disappointment with the Digicel (Cup), all the guys are eager to show the country that we have what it takes. I think we're gonna go out there, do our best, and try and stamp our authority back on the national team."
He also pointed out that veteran Russell Latapy's presence in the team is also a plus for the players.
"I think there is good vibes in the team. Russell is back and the guys are highly motivated with that. He adds a tremendous lot of intensity and togetherness in the team, so the guys are just geared up for the opposition, geared up for the challenge.
"...I think that we are much closer now that Russell's with us."
McFarlane also has personal motivation for performing well on the big stage, expressing his hopes to attract interest from international clubs.
CLICO San Juan Jabloteh striker Cornell Glen, recovering from a calf strain, is one of the players upbeat about the opportunity the trip to Argentina brings.
"It's an opportunity for the guys to impress the coach and try and get a spot on the team," Glen said. "We've been working hard for the last week and a half and we're only going out there to do our best and represent (T&T).
"Basically it's (the trip) to get fit, get up to international standard. We have a big game on February 11 (versus El Salvador) and we need to win. We need the three points to start the campaign off on a good note."
'MAGICIAN' SPEAKS: Trinidad and Tobago player/assistant coach Russell "Little Magician" Latapy, fourth from right, speaks to teammates during a training session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday. T&T leave for Argentina today to attend a training camp ahead of next month's opening CONCACAF final round World Cup qualifier away to El Salvador. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE
...but Pro League fitness levels worse.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Trinidad and Tobago national football team coach Francisco Maturana expressed concern yesterday with the inactivity of "Soca Warriors" captain Dwight Yorke in the build-up to next month's 2010 World Cup qualifier away to El Salvador.
But Maturana is even less impressed with the fitness level of the T&T Pro League players--in or out of season.
"(Yorke's lack of playing time at Sunderland) is a concern," said Maturana, "but I always live with a concern... Even without playing, I am confident that (the Europe-based players) are in better shape than the guys locally."
Maturana insisted that his verdict on the condition of the Pro League players held true even in the middle of their season.
Yesterday evening, the national team finished their final session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium before leaving for a camp in Argentina today.
Maturana claimed that ten members of the touring party, which includes assistant coach/player Russell Latapy, will be selected for the El Salvador qualifier. The other eight players will come from the European leagues.
The Colombian declined comment on Latapy's role within the team.
"Mr (Jack) Warner has already explained Russell's role within the team," said the two-time Colombia World Cup coach. "For me, he is a very important player."
One player who has already been ruled out is promising teenaged midfielder Khaleem Hyland, who is on trial in Belgium.
Maturana confirmed that Hyland, who has not played competitively since he left CLICO San Juan Jabloteh in 2007, will not be invited to join the squad next month.
Warriors looking to impress coach.
By: Kern De Freitas (T&T Express).
The competition is stiff for places in the senior Trinidad and Tobago football team ahead of the CONCACAF final round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers, beginning next month away to El Salvador.
Some new faces and more established names will be aiming to impress coach Francisco Maturana during the national squad's camp in Argentina--which begins today--for one of ten spots available to local-based players on the T&T team, with eight foreign-based players to join the final squad.
One such name is Errol McFarlane Jr, who showed good form for T&T at the Digicel Cup, even though the national team embarrassingly fell out of the competition in the group stages.
McFarlane said the trip to Argentina is a huge opportunity for players to show their worth after a poor showing in the regional tournament.
"I think coming off our recent disappointment with the Digicel (Cup), all the guys are eager to show the country that we have what it takes. I think we're gonna go out there, do our best, and try and stamp our authority back on the national team."
He also pointed out that veteran Russell Latapy's presence in the team is also a plus for the players.
"I think there is good vibes in the team. Russell is back and the guys are highly motivated with that. He adds a tremendous lot of intensity and togetherness in the team, so the guys are just geared up for the opposition, geared up for the challenge.
"...I think that we are much closer now that Russell's with us."
McFarlane also has personal motivation for performing well on the big stage, expressing his hopes to attract interest from international clubs.
CLICO San Juan Jabloteh striker Cornell Glen, recovering from a calf strain, is one of the players upbeat about the opportunity the trip to Argentina brings.
"It's an opportunity for the guys to impress the coach and try and get a spot on the team," Glen said. "We've been working hard for the last week and a half and we're only going out there to do our best and represent (T&T).
"Basically it's (the trip) to get fit, get up to international standard. We have a big game on February 11 (versus El Salvador) and we need to win. We need the three points to start the campaign off on a good note."
'MAGICIAN' SPEAKS: Trinidad and Tobago player/assistant coach Russell "Little Magician" Latapy, fourth from right, speaks to teammates during a training session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday. T&T leave for Argentina today to attend a training camp ahead of next month's opening CONCACAF final round World Cup qualifier away to El Salvador. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE
110
Football / Barcelona v. Real Madrid
« on: January 16, 2009, 01:03:22 PM »
I was watching the old game when Madrid drop 4 on Barca, and it showed how great these teams are. The technical ability of ALL the players, tactical insight and fluid movement on and off the ball. It made me realise that Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea to a certain extent would struggle day in day out in La Liga.
Man United and Liverpool do not have enough technical players to match these teams. The current styles of these clubs will good enough as it stands to challenege as a top club. The spanish league allows you to play in front of them as long as possible, they allow no room in behind, a tactic Man United and Liverpool thrive on.
Chelsea has the personnel available to play the type of football required day in and day out (well minus Terry and Cole). They would have to go through less transformation than the previous mentioned clubs.
The teams that can compete immediately in La Liga would be Arsenal and Aston Villa. these teams show that they can actually play the game and their players technically sound. The movement off the ball with these teams are comparable to the spanish play.
Looking at that game last night made me realise how much of great football I have been missing out on. It showed the proper way to go about the game.
Man United and Liverpool do not have enough technical players to match these teams. The current styles of these clubs will good enough as it stands to challenege as a top club. The spanish league allows you to play in front of them as long as possible, they allow no room in behind, a tactic Man United and Liverpool thrive on.
Chelsea has the personnel available to play the type of football required day in and day out (well minus Terry and Cole). They would have to go through less transformation than the previous mentioned clubs.
The teams that can compete immediately in La Liga would be Arsenal and Aston Villa. these teams show that they can actually play the game and their players technically sound. The movement off the ball with these teams are comparable to the spanish play.
Looking at that game last night made me realise how much of great football I have been missing out on. It showed the proper way to go about the game.
111
General Discussion / The most valuable teams in sports
« on: January 15, 2009, 12:11:17 PM »
The most valuable teams in sports
By Tom Van Riper, Forbes.com
Jan 14, 2:54 pm EST
This may be hard to believe: In 2003, no pro sports team in the world was worth a billion dollars. By the end of 2008, there were 24, led by European soccer powerhouse Manchester United.
It begs the question: Is pro sports a bubble? That’s hard to say. But with the economy in peril, the days of skyrocketing growth appear to be over, at least for now.
“We’re in for some trying times for the next year or so,” says Larry Grimes, a Washington, D.C.-based mergers and acquisitions consultant who specializes in the sports industry. What he sees ahead is not so much the bursting of a bubble, which by definition would include a wave of selling at distressed prices, but a leveling off of franchise valuations to reflect the current reality. With prospective buyers having trouble lining up financing, many current owners will have little choice but to sit tight and ride out the storm.
The $1 billion-and-up club isn’t particularly broad based. By Forbes’ count, it consists of the New York Yankees, a handful of European soccer clubs and, well, most of the NFL. Spearheaded by the Washington Redskins, which became the first NFL team to break the billion dollar barrier in 2004, the league now boasts 19 of 30 clubs valued above the magic number. The Redskins have since been surpassed by the Dallas Cowboys, whose lucrative merchandising business and (starting next season) new stadium have pushed their value to $1.6 billion, second overall to Manchester United.
Other NFL teams in the top 10 include the New England Patriots (three recent Super Bowl titles), the New York Jets and Giants (a shared new stadium on the way) and the Houston Texans (the league’s biggest stadium naming rights deal). Even the NFL’s least valuable franchise, the Minnesota Vikings, is knocking on the door of billionaire row at $839 million.
Fueled by ever-increasing television contracts and by a wave of new, revenue-producing stadiums, today’s NFL is collectively worth $33.3 billion, up from $11.6 billion a decade ago, while adding just two teams. Over the years, few activities have achieved the Americana status of watching pro football on Sunday afternoons, especially with results of office pools and fantasy leagues on the line. And the league has learned to milk the hobby for all it’s worth.
“Revenue is driven so much by television,” says Grimes, which is the biggest reason why an expected dip in attendance in 2009 will merely serve to flatten franchise values, not sink them.
Other than the Yankees, no baseball team has managed to crash the sports’ billionaire club. The most valuable NBA franchise, the New York Knicks, checks in at $613 million. In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs lead the valuation standings at just over $400 million. But while businesses of the NHL, NBA and MLB don’t stack up to the NFL, the average team value has grown at a pace that doesn’t figure to be sustained much longer.
Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs are worth a collective $14.1 billion, up from $6.6 billion in 1999. Growth rates are similar in the NBA, to $11.4 billion from $5.3 billion, and in the television-challenged NHL, to $6.6 billion from $3.6 billion.
But with few banks lending and foreign investors showing little interest in U.S. sports teams, it may be awhile before the billion dollar club picks up its 25th member. The great American sports empire has peaked, at least until the next big economic rally.
The top five:
1. Manchester United: Slideshow
2. Dallas Cowboys: Slideshow
3. Washington Redskins: Slideshow
4. New England Patriots: Slideshow
5. New York Yankees: Slideshow
• See more team values
By Tom Van Riper, Forbes.com
Jan 14, 2:54 pm EST
This may be hard to believe: In 2003, no pro sports team in the world was worth a billion dollars. By the end of 2008, there were 24, led by European soccer powerhouse Manchester United.
It begs the question: Is pro sports a bubble? That’s hard to say. But with the economy in peril, the days of skyrocketing growth appear to be over, at least for now.
“We’re in for some trying times for the next year or so,” says Larry Grimes, a Washington, D.C.-based mergers and acquisitions consultant who specializes in the sports industry. What he sees ahead is not so much the bursting of a bubble, which by definition would include a wave of selling at distressed prices, but a leveling off of franchise valuations to reflect the current reality. With prospective buyers having trouble lining up financing, many current owners will have little choice but to sit tight and ride out the storm.
The $1 billion-and-up club isn’t particularly broad based. By Forbes’ count, it consists of the New York Yankees, a handful of European soccer clubs and, well, most of the NFL. Spearheaded by the Washington Redskins, which became the first NFL team to break the billion dollar barrier in 2004, the league now boasts 19 of 30 clubs valued above the magic number. The Redskins have since been surpassed by the Dallas Cowboys, whose lucrative merchandising business and (starting next season) new stadium have pushed their value to $1.6 billion, second overall to Manchester United.
Other NFL teams in the top 10 include the New England Patriots (three recent Super Bowl titles), the New York Jets and Giants (a shared new stadium on the way) and the Houston Texans (the league’s biggest stadium naming rights deal). Even the NFL’s least valuable franchise, the Minnesota Vikings, is knocking on the door of billionaire row at $839 million.
Fueled by ever-increasing television contracts and by a wave of new, revenue-producing stadiums, today’s NFL is collectively worth $33.3 billion, up from $11.6 billion a decade ago, while adding just two teams. Over the years, few activities have achieved the Americana status of watching pro football on Sunday afternoons, especially with results of office pools and fantasy leagues on the line. And the league has learned to milk the hobby for all it’s worth.
“Revenue is driven so much by television,” says Grimes, which is the biggest reason why an expected dip in attendance in 2009 will merely serve to flatten franchise values, not sink them.
Other than the Yankees, no baseball team has managed to crash the sports’ billionaire club. The most valuable NBA franchise, the New York Knicks, checks in at $613 million. In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs lead the valuation standings at just over $400 million. But while businesses of the NHL, NBA and MLB don’t stack up to the NFL, the average team value has grown at a pace that doesn’t figure to be sustained much longer.
Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs are worth a collective $14.1 billion, up from $6.6 billion in 1999. Growth rates are similar in the NBA, to $11.4 billion from $5.3 billion, and in the television-challenged NHL, to $6.6 billion from $3.6 billion.
But with few banks lending and foreign investors showing little interest in U.S. sports teams, it may be awhile before the billion dollar club picks up its 25th member. The great American sports empire has peaked, at least until the next big economic rally.
The top five:
1. Manchester United: Slideshow
2. Dallas Cowboys: Slideshow
3. Washington Redskins: Slideshow
4. New England Patriots: Slideshow
5. New York Yankees: Slideshow
• See more team values
113
Football / 10 Most Influential People In U.S Soccer
« on: January 02, 2009, 01:04:25 AM »
Gulati heads the U.S. soccer power rankings
By Steve Davis, ESPNsoccernet
The best thing about compiling a top-10 list of the most influential figures in soccer in the United States is getting to tell everybody you run across in the business, "Well, you were No. 11; too bad we could only publish the top 10."
Sunil Gulati is the ultimate decision-maker for the U.S. national team.
So, here is the top 10. It's a subjective assessment, obviously, ripe for debate and discussion. Essentially, these are domestic soccer's 10 most influential opinion shifters and policy shapers. In other words, these are the figures at the head of the food chain, the people who do things that the rest of us talk about.
1. Sunil Gulati -- The no-brainer of the list. The president of U.S. Soccer has final say-so in every important decision affecting the U.S. national programs, including who coaches and where they play. For instance, he oversees Bob Bradley and U.S. women's manager Pia Sundhage. Gulati, 49, is at the top of the totem poll when it comes to all developmental efforts, including the recent initiative to formalize a U.S. Soccer development academy. Meanwhile, he also serves (some would say controversially) as president of Kraft Soccer for the New England Revolution. Armed with all that power, Gulati remains a steady practitioner of self-deprecating humor, which helps make him approachable.
2. Don Garber -- Major League Soccer remains the most visible soccer property domestically, and continues to grow steadily. Garber has smoothly shepherded the league's two most vital growth areas: stadium development and expansion (with a current price tag that has swelled to $40 million). He also heads up Soccer United Marketing, holder of exclusive rights to many important soccer properties in the region. And FYI: MLS was honored as the 2008 Professional Sports League of the Year by the SportsBusiness Journal, with many thanks to the man who helped steer MLS out of dire financial straits earlier in the decade.
3. Bob Bradley -- Nothing raises domestic soccer's media profile like success at a World Cup. Whether the U.S. gets there in 2010 is on Bradley, the national team head coach. Nothing raises a player's value like a good performance in a national team jersey, and Bradley is making the critical decisions on which players do and don't receive those potentially lucrative opportunities. Bradley also exerts tremendous influence over the Olympic team and young national teams.
4. David Beckham -- Contrary to what many MLS executives would have you believe, only the most designated of Designated Players can truly move the attendance needle. In fact, only Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Beckham have proved to do so in MLS. Beckham's enormous profile among soccer fans and non-fans gives him particular cachet. If he says it, it resonates. If he endorses it, it sells. And don't underestimate the value of Beckham's crossover ability to connect with the "non-soccer" media world. Who else gets Major League Soccer mentioned on Entertainment Weekly and the like?
5. Lyle Yorks -- The principal of Proactive Sports Management USA may have lapped his contemporaries -- most prominently Wasserman Media Group agent Richard Motzkin -- as the ranking agent in domestic soccer. Yorks launched his organization in 2000 and now oversees many of the highest-paid U.S. internationals. His connections and contacts in European soccer are particularly impressive. Proactive oversees about 20 European-based American soccer players and more than 50 MLS-based clients. His roster includes Brad Friedel, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, Brian McBride and Kenny Cooper, just to name a few.
6. Philip Anschutz -- The politics of MLS ownership shift constantly. HSG chief Clark Hunt remains influential, but his time is split between soccer and the NFL. Andrew Hauptman, the Chicago Fire's progressive owner, is seeing his power factor rise. Robert Kraft remains a heavy-hitting financial watchdog. But this much hasn't changed: Anschutz, the deep-pocketed presence who once owned six teams, maintains ample sway. Even if an expanding ownership roster has diluted Anschutz's power somewhat, the reclusive billionaire still commands enormous respect. He never misses MLS meetings and he remains tirelessly active in many important matters.
7. David Downs -- Univision has brought every World Cup since 1978 into American households and continues to maintain a presence in MLS and other soccer properties. Downs heads all those efforts as president of Univision Sports. You could perhaps put Fernando Fiore on this list, because he's such an influential personality in terms of shaping public opinion among Spanish-language audiences. Fiore is the host of Univision's popular "Republica Deportiva" and was the principal anchor for Univision's 2002 and 2006 World Cup coverage. But Fiore is who he is only because Downs has provided the platform.
8. Tim Leiweke -- We can argue about his choices for the Los Angeles Galaxy. And we can make a case that some of his ideas stand to benefit the Galaxy more than domestic soccer at large. Still, AEG's high-profile CEO has the clout to make things move, thanks largely to tentacles that stretch into other sports. He's No. 11 on SportsBusiness Journal's list of most influential people in American sports. Leiweke presided over Beckham's move stateside, the biggest news generator on the U.S. soccer scene since a quarterfinal run in the 2002 World Cup.
9. Mark Abbott -- As president of MLS, Abbott oversees all business operations for the league and for Soccer United Marketing. What does that mean for the guy watching his teams at some soccer bar in Long Beach or Long Island? Abbott is knee-deep in the league's ongoing expansion process. He's got a chip in every game when it comes to player contracts, legal issues, financial structure and broadcasting (always a hot-button topic). He's also high on the totem poll at SUM, which holds the keys to so many vehicles that drive soccer from here to there in the United States. Ivan Gazidis' recent departure from MLS (he was Don Garber's right-hand man but will soon take over as Arsenal CEO) has added to Abbott's power portfolio.
10. Dan Flynn -- Due to lack of media inspection and an understandable general lack of interest in the sport's inner workings, few knew how badly U.S. Soccer's accounting and balance sheets were scrambled back in the late 1990s. Flynn, U.S. Soccer's secretary general, helped to reign it all in. He did so in large part by playing "bad cop," releasing the stranglehold amateur and youth soccer interests had on U.S. Soccer at large. Flynn still performs those same functions, acting as the chief bargainer and the loudest business voice for what amounts to a mid-sized American corporation.
Others A-listers on the power continuum worthy of mention: Sundhage; Motzkin; WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci; CONCACAF secretary general Chuck Blazer; MLS executive vice president of player relations and competition Todd Durbin; MLSPA director Bob Foose; USL commissioner Francisco Marcos; First Wave Sports agent Patrick McCabe; SUM president Douglas Quinn; Fox Soccer Channel GM David Sternberg.
If we had to compile a list like this who would be included and and what position of influence would they be ranked?
Notice where Chuck Blazer is placed.
Mods, if this was posted before just merge or delete.
By Steve Davis, ESPNsoccernet
The best thing about compiling a top-10 list of the most influential figures in soccer in the United States is getting to tell everybody you run across in the business, "Well, you were No. 11; too bad we could only publish the top 10."
Sunil Gulati is the ultimate decision-maker for the U.S. national team.
So, here is the top 10. It's a subjective assessment, obviously, ripe for debate and discussion. Essentially, these are domestic soccer's 10 most influential opinion shifters and policy shapers. In other words, these are the figures at the head of the food chain, the people who do things that the rest of us talk about.
1. Sunil Gulati -- The no-brainer of the list. The president of U.S. Soccer has final say-so in every important decision affecting the U.S. national programs, including who coaches and where they play. For instance, he oversees Bob Bradley and U.S. women's manager Pia Sundhage. Gulati, 49, is at the top of the totem poll when it comes to all developmental efforts, including the recent initiative to formalize a U.S. Soccer development academy. Meanwhile, he also serves (some would say controversially) as president of Kraft Soccer for the New England Revolution. Armed with all that power, Gulati remains a steady practitioner of self-deprecating humor, which helps make him approachable.
2. Don Garber -- Major League Soccer remains the most visible soccer property domestically, and continues to grow steadily. Garber has smoothly shepherded the league's two most vital growth areas: stadium development and expansion (with a current price tag that has swelled to $40 million). He also heads up Soccer United Marketing, holder of exclusive rights to many important soccer properties in the region. And FYI: MLS was honored as the 2008 Professional Sports League of the Year by the SportsBusiness Journal, with many thanks to the man who helped steer MLS out of dire financial straits earlier in the decade.
3. Bob Bradley -- Nothing raises domestic soccer's media profile like success at a World Cup. Whether the U.S. gets there in 2010 is on Bradley, the national team head coach. Nothing raises a player's value like a good performance in a national team jersey, and Bradley is making the critical decisions on which players do and don't receive those potentially lucrative opportunities. Bradley also exerts tremendous influence over the Olympic team and young national teams.
4. David Beckham -- Contrary to what many MLS executives would have you believe, only the most designated of Designated Players can truly move the attendance needle. In fact, only Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Beckham have proved to do so in MLS. Beckham's enormous profile among soccer fans and non-fans gives him particular cachet. If he says it, it resonates. If he endorses it, it sells. And don't underestimate the value of Beckham's crossover ability to connect with the "non-soccer" media world. Who else gets Major League Soccer mentioned on Entertainment Weekly and the like?
5. Lyle Yorks -- The principal of Proactive Sports Management USA may have lapped his contemporaries -- most prominently Wasserman Media Group agent Richard Motzkin -- as the ranking agent in domestic soccer. Yorks launched his organization in 2000 and now oversees many of the highest-paid U.S. internationals. His connections and contacts in European soccer are particularly impressive. Proactive oversees about 20 European-based American soccer players and more than 50 MLS-based clients. His roster includes Brad Friedel, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, Brian McBride and Kenny Cooper, just to name a few.
6. Philip Anschutz -- The politics of MLS ownership shift constantly. HSG chief Clark Hunt remains influential, but his time is split between soccer and the NFL. Andrew Hauptman, the Chicago Fire's progressive owner, is seeing his power factor rise. Robert Kraft remains a heavy-hitting financial watchdog. But this much hasn't changed: Anschutz, the deep-pocketed presence who once owned six teams, maintains ample sway. Even if an expanding ownership roster has diluted Anschutz's power somewhat, the reclusive billionaire still commands enormous respect. He never misses MLS meetings and he remains tirelessly active in many important matters.
7. David Downs -- Univision has brought every World Cup since 1978 into American households and continues to maintain a presence in MLS and other soccer properties. Downs heads all those efforts as president of Univision Sports. You could perhaps put Fernando Fiore on this list, because he's such an influential personality in terms of shaping public opinion among Spanish-language audiences. Fiore is the host of Univision's popular "Republica Deportiva" and was the principal anchor for Univision's 2002 and 2006 World Cup coverage. But Fiore is who he is only because Downs has provided the platform.
8. Tim Leiweke -- We can argue about his choices for the Los Angeles Galaxy. And we can make a case that some of his ideas stand to benefit the Galaxy more than domestic soccer at large. Still, AEG's high-profile CEO has the clout to make things move, thanks largely to tentacles that stretch into other sports. He's No. 11 on SportsBusiness Journal's list of most influential people in American sports. Leiweke presided over Beckham's move stateside, the biggest news generator on the U.S. soccer scene since a quarterfinal run in the 2002 World Cup.
9. Mark Abbott -- As president of MLS, Abbott oversees all business operations for the league and for Soccer United Marketing. What does that mean for the guy watching his teams at some soccer bar in Long Beach or Long Island? Abbott is knee-deep in the league's ongoing expansion process. He's got a chip in every game when it comes to player contracts, legal issues, financial structure and broadcasting (always a hot-button topic). He's also high on the totem poll at SUM, which holds the keys to so many vehicles that drive soccer from here to there in the United States. Ivan Gazidis' recent departure from MLS (he was Don Garber's right-hand man but will soon take over as Arsenal CEO) has added to Abbott's power portfolio.
10. Dan Flynn -- Due to lack of media inspection and an understandable general lack of interest in the sport's inner workings, few knew how badly U.S. Soccer's accounting and balance sheets were scrambled back in the late 1990s. Flynn, U.S. Soccer's secretary general, helped to reign it all in. He did so in large part by playing "bad cop," releasing the stranglehold amateur and youth soccer interests had on U.S. Soccer at large. Flynn still performs those same functions, acting as the chief bargainer and the loudest business voice for what amounts to a mid-sized American corporation.
Others A-listers on the power continuum worthy of mention: Sundhage; Motzkin; WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci; CONCACAF secretary general Chuck Blazer; MLS executive vice president of player relations and competition Todd Durbin; MLSPA director Bob Foose; USL commissioner Francisco Marcos; First Wave Sports agent Patrick McCabe; SUM president Douglas Quinn; Fox Soccer Channel GM David Sternberg.
If we had to compile a list like this who would be included and and what position of influence would they be ranked?
Notice where Chuck Blazer is placed.
Mods, if this was posted before just merge or delete.
114
Football / NCAA D1 Soccer On ESPN NOW
« on: December 14, 2008, 12:08:12 PM »
Maryland playing North Carolina on ESPN 2 now.
115
General Discussion / Beyonce "Single Ladies" Parody on SNL
« on: November 28, 2008, 12:17:35 AM »
This is the most complete one I can find, turn your volume up so you can follow what going on.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/l4aTXDojL3k&feature=related" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/l4aTXDojL3k&feature=related</a>
116
Jokes / College Roast
« on: November 26, 2008, 12:21:08 AM »
Q: How do you get a Maryland graduate off your porch?
A: Pay for the pizza.
Q: Why did Clemson choose orange as a school color?
A: So that the football team could wear it to the game on Saturday, hunting on Sunday, and picking up garbage for the rest of the week.
Q: Why did O.J. Simpson go to Raleigh, NC in the Ford Bronco?
A: He knew that the police would never look there for a Heisman Trophy winner.
Q: What are the longest three years of a Duke player's life?
A: His freshman year.
Q: Why did Georgia Tech replace the grass in its football stadium with astroturf?
A: They didn't want the cheerleaders to graze at halftime.
Q: Why do Wake Forest cheerleaders wear bibs?
A: To keep the tobacco juice off the uniforms.
Q: How many Duke freshmen does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. That's a sophomore course at Florida State and Virginia.
A: Pay for the pizza.
Q: Why did Clemson choose orange as a school color?
A: So that the football team could wear it to the game on Saturday, hunting on Sunday, and picking up garbage for the rest of the week.
Q: Why did O.J. Simpson go to Raleigh, NC in the Ford Bronco?
A: He knew that the police would never look there for a Heisman Trophy winner.
Q: What are the longest three years of a Duke player's life?
A: His freshman year.
Q: Why did Georgia Tech replace the grass in its football stadium with astroturf?
A: They didn't want the cheerleaders to graze at halftime.
Q: Why do Wake Forest cheerleaders wear bibs?
A: To keep the tobacco juice off the uniforms.
Q: How many Duke freshmen does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. That's a sophomore course at Florida State and Virginia.
117
General Discussion / Man forget phone at McDonald with wife nude pics
« on: November 23, 2008, 05:20:22 PM »
....in it and somebody find the phone and post the pics online. Now the couple suing McDonald for 3 millions dollars. 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27867839/?GT1=43001
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27867839/?GT1=43001
118
General Discussion / Midnight Regulations
« on: November 21, 2008, 09:35:37 PM »
http://www.propublica.org/special/midnight-regulations/
These people don't care about no one else but themselves the their cronies friends.
These people don't care about no one else but themselves the their cronies friends.
119
Jokes / Professor of Dirty Jokes
« on: November 20, 2008, 11:01:29 PM »There was an old professor who started every class with a vulgar joke. After one particularly nasty example, the women in the class decided to walk out the next time he started. The professor got wind of this plot, so the next morning he walked in and said, "Good morning, class. Did you hear the one about the shortage of whores in India?" With that, all the women stood up and headed for the door. "Wait, ladies," cried the professor, "The boat doesn't leave until tomorrow!"
120
General Discussion / Did they ever find this Girl?
« on: October 29, 2008, 10:34:03 PM »
I have not heard if they ever found this young lady. I believe she was/is of Trinibagonian decent. Anyone know any thing?
http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t10832.html
http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t10832.html