Month: July 2010

soccer

MLS Player News: Dallas debut, Bunbury’s case

Posted on by Beau Dure

Just a little experiment in gathering bits of news — feedback welcome.

Jon Conway, GK, Toronto — Not likely to play but happy to return home to Philly area. Main reason for inclusion here, of course: Dad’s name is Tim Conway. (Delaware County Times)

Columbus — In dire need of a DP? Not going to get one because of ownership? (Columbus Dispatch)

Thierry Henry, F, New York — Not ready to play in big match with Columbus, but he’ll travel with team. (multiple)

John Wolyniec, F, New York — Has missed last two practices, and coach Hans Backe has no comment. (MLSSoccer.com)

Dane Richards, F/M, New York — Expected to start alongside Juan Pablo Angel up front as Backe opts against 4-5-1. (MLSSoccer.com)

Milton Rodriguez, F, Dallas — Colombia striker gets transfer paperwork in order and may dive right in atop 4-1-4-1 formation. (MLSSoccer.com)

Teal Bunbury, F, Kansas City — Will the rookie keep starting job after he scored lone goal in 1-0 win at Columbus? (Kansas City Star)

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cycling, general sports, olympic sports, rugby, soccer

Friday Myriad: Morning TV, friendly soccer

Posted on by Beau Dure

I have survived Double Deadline Day. I survived the sauna that passes for RFK Stadium’s press box. I survived the long Metro ride home, which ended with a ranting woman accusing me of using my Blackberry to transmit shortwave signals into her head to make her hair fall out. (Among other problems corroborating such an accusation: She had a very healthy head of hair.)

So what will I be watching now that all of this is done? There’s the British Open, which some will watch for Tiger drama but I enjoy for the spectacle of seeing pro golfers deal with bunkers that look like they’re hiding the Millennium Falcon. The Tour de France has a good two-man race between defending champ Alberto Contador and youngster Andy Schleck. And there’s soccer, soccer and more soccer.

FRIDAY

7 p.m.: Soccer, Manchester United-Celtic. Euro friendlies have always struck me as something I’d much rather watch in person than on TV, but plenty of people would disagree with me on that. Must be a considerable number disagreeing with me, as this game is taking up an ESPN network’s air time rather than filling summer time slots on FSC. ESPN2

9 p.m.: Boxing, Zab Judah-Jose Armando Santa Cruz. Unusual to see a name like Judah’s on the Friday Night Fights card. ESPN2

SATURDAY

3:35 a.m.: Rugby, Tri-Nations, New Zealand-South Africa. See Travis’ preview.

5 a.m.: Golf, British Open coverage starts with multiple angles/holes online, then on TV at 7 a.m. ESPN/ESPN3.com

8:30 a.m.: Cycling, Tour de France, Stage 13. Versus

Noon: Soccer, USA-Switzerland, U-20 Women’s World Cup. Fresh from a stunning 1-1 draw with Ghana, which would apparently frustrate the USA in every sport ever invented, the young Americans try to regroup against the Swiss. Good news for the Swiss: They have Atlanta Beat prodigy Ramona Bachmann. Bad news: They lost their opener 4-0 to South Korea. ESPNU/ESPN3.com

4 p.m.: Soccer, San Jose-Tottenham. Really? This friendly is on TV while Philly-Toronto (3:30), Columbus-New York (7:30), Dallas-Salt Lake (8:30) and Colorado-Kansas City (9) are on Direct Kick and online? OK, then. Columbus-New York won’t feature Thierry Henry’s debut, but the Red Bulls could leap over the Crew into first in the East.  ESPN/ESPN Deportes

7:30 p.m.: Soccer, USA-Sweden women. Tale of two halves when these teams met earlier in the week. The USA dominated the first half and finally got a goal. Early in the second, Amy Rodriguez hit the crossbar, and Sweden scored on a counter. It finished 1-1, with Sweden looking better the rest of the way. That’s not normal for a home game and speaks to a possible depth problem. Fox Soccer Channel

SUNDAY

6 a.m.: Golf, British Open. All feeds live at the same time. ESPN/ESPN3.com

7:30 a.m.: Cycling, Tour de France, Stage 14. Versus

3 p.m.: Soccer, Seattle-Celtic. Again, huge game if you’re within driving/train-riding distance of Qwest Field. Or if you have a fierce Celtic tie. ESPN/ESPN Deportes

5 p.m.: Soccer, WPS, Boston-Washington. The Breakers are making a charge with two straight wins, while the goals have dried up for the Freedom. FSC

7:30 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, D.C. United-Los Angeles. Both teams looking to rebound from a loss. There, the similarities end. It’s worst vs. first at RFK. (Technically, D.C. is a point ahead of Philly, but the Union have three games in hand.) FSC

MORE MYRIAD

  • World Series of Poker: Main Event will be whittled down to 27 players on Friday and then down to the “November Nine” on Saturday.
  • Full soccer listings at Soccer America, including SuperLiga.
  • Selected weekend listings at USA TODAY
  • ESPN3: U-20 Women’s World Cup, Australian Rules football, CFL, NBA Summer League and a ton of golf.
  • Tennis Channel: Nothing live this weekend.
  • Universal Sports: Ironman, some Tour simulcasts and AVP Hermosa Beach.
  • More Olympic sports: U.S. championships in boxing and mountain bike.
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soccer

MLS: Still not sturdy enough to wish for another team’s demise

Posted on by Beau Dure

I often like to visit the visiting fans’ section at RFK Stadium. For one thing, it gets me out of the press sauna and out in the stands where the breezes offer some relief.

We're not superior -- RFK management just put us in the upper deck. Like the Open Cup replica?

It’s especially interesting when you have fervent fans who travel a great distance to see the recent expansion teams. They often offer insights on their teams’ successes and needs that you won’t get elsewhere. Tonight’s conversation with a Seattle supporter was no exception. Among the ground covered:

– If Adrian Hanauer were to stand today for re-election under the much-hyped promise to let fans retain or push out the GM, he’d have little trouble keeping his job. The Sounders aren’t matching last year’s results, but the good run last year didn’t give everyone unrealistic expectations.

– Freddie Ljungberg served the Sounders well in their first year, and there’s a certain amount of pride that the team’s medical staff fixed him up. But if it’s time for him to go elsewhere, so be it. The younger players could use more playing time, and the team can splurge on an even bigger designated player.

– Coach Sigi Schmid might be sticking with his old favorites (Peter Vagenas leaped to mind) a little too much.

– Players and fans need to get over their dislike of FieldTurf. World Cup qualifiers should be played at Qwest Field.

– The Seattle atmosphere is an awesome manifestation of civic pride.

And with that, he looked down (literally — visiting fans are in the upper deck) upon an unfilled lower bowl at RFK Stadium. He seemed surprised to learn that United fans, not too long ago, had filled that lower bowl on a regular basis. (Weeknights in traffic-choked, workaholic D.C. will always be tough, though.)

Continue reading →

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track and field

Paralympic poker player cashing in

Posted on by Beau Dure

No, poker hasn’t been added to the Olympics or Paralympics. But a Paralympic veteran is having some success in the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.

Marlon Shirley, two-time gold medalist at 100 meters and a man with an inspiring story of overcoming multiple adversities, is still in the Main Event and is now guaranteed to make at least $41,967 off his $10,000 buy-in.

Shirley is Tweeting under the apropos handle ibtrackin, and he shared the news when UFC announcer Bruce Buffer was ousted on a really unlucky hand. Buffer was full of good cheer as he departed. The $27,519 prize didn’t hurt, but Buffer is a perpetually friendly person.

The Main Event is down to 313 players from the original 7,319 and still includes multiple Mizrachi family members.

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cycling

Cycling, poker and unreal time

Posted on by Beau Dure

We’re spoiled today on so many levels. International supply chains bring us all the world’s goods, from Colombian coffee to Vidalia onions. Our TVs brings us crisp images of live events on the other side of the globe. We can listen to new music on our mobile phones. We get 40-50 soccer games on TV a week.

So we shouldn’t have an entitlement mentality about live stuff.

With that disclaimer in mind, I’ve encountered a couple of frustrations in following Myriad sports in the past 24 hours.

In cycling, it’s a frustration of being so close and yet so far to knowing where everyone is in real time. The official Tour de France site has changed little over the past few years, which is itself a bit of an indictment in the fast-changing new media world. Still, the framework is sound — when it works. Today, it didn’t.

Continue reading →

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basketball, cycling, mind games, olympic sports, rugby, soccer, track and field

Monday Myriad: No soccer withdrawal here

Posted on by Beau Dure

Sixteen years ago, I felt a few pangs of withdrawal. I had been able to watch maybe half of the World Cup games on my little TV in my little living room in my little apartment. After that dreary final … nothing. No MLS. No regular European broadcasts. No women’s soccer.

Sunday, an hour after bidding farewell to the group of friends who came over to drink Dutch and (blech) Spanish beer while we gorged ourselves on food and watched a final that was a little less dreary, I went back into our HDTV room downstairs and flipped to Fox Soccer Channel. WPS — Washington Freedom vs. FC Gold Pride. And while the officiating was just as atrocious as the worst of what we saw from South Africa, I could rest assured that I was still watching soccer. As I’ve said elsewhere, U.S. soccer fans have been enabled. We can watch all weekend. And all week. Sorry, Tim Dahlberg, but we don’t need your permission.

And because we’re sports geeks who watch and comment on every competition shy of the foosball games downstairs (for the record, I was able to play an actual game against someone tall enough to see the table for once, and I won twice by a 10-2 count), we have much else to follow as well.

Women’s soccer: USA’s revenge over Ghana! The USA start play Tuesday in the U-20 Women’s World Cup, and it’ll be an upset to end all upsets if Ghana duplicates its 2006 and 2010 2-1 men’s victories. Dive all you want. Not going to happen.

Cycling: Lance Armstrong is now fourth in the Tour de France … on his own team. We can see if Team Radio Shack regroups to give Levi Leipheimer a push for the final podium, but more realistically, we’re looking at a Cadel Evans-Andy Schleck-Alberto Contador shootout.

Olympics (winter and summer): We’ve seen speedskaters take up cycling. Bobsledders recruit from football and track. So can skeleton veteran Katie Uhlaender make it back to the Olympics in weightlifting?

Volleyball: The U.S. men made a nice run at the World League final six, beating Russia in the first match of two in the final weekend. But the pool leaders came back for a 3-1 win in the finale, and the USA didn’t qualify as the “lucky loser” second-place team.

Basketball: Gold medal for USA U-17 men.

Track and field: Tyson Gay beat Asafa Powell in the highlight of the Diamond League’s stop in England.

Rowing: USA women’s eight still a powerhouse.

Poker: We’re down to 2,557 players in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Exiting gracefully on Day 2B were poker legend Doyle Brunson, baseball great Orel Hershiser, Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander, Phil Ivey and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson.

Some of the names we’ll be watching on Day 3 (which is really Day 7, but they have four Day 1s and two Day 2s to accommodate the crowd):

– Bruce Buffer, UFC cage announcer
– Hank Azaria, Apu and many, many other Simpsons voices
– Johnny Chan, two-time Main Event winner
– Chris Moneymaker, 2003 surprise winner who helped start the poker boom
– Joe Cada, defending champion
– Daniel Negreanu, top poker pro and lively Twitter personality
– Allen Cunningham, like Negreanu a former WSOP Player of the Year
– Frank Kassela, sure to be this year’s Player of the Year
– Jennifer Harman, top poker pro
– Phil “Unabomber” Laak, one of the better nicknames among poker pros
– Vanessa Rousso, Duke grad like me but obviously much smarter
– Jack Ury, age 97
– Gabe Kaplan, Mr. Kotter

Sunday was a rest day at the WSOP, but they’ll be back on the Tour de France’s rest day Monday. Strange how that works.

Rugby: New Zealand sent what some in the U.S. media might call “a message,” dominating South Africa 32-12 in a Tri Nations matchup ahead of next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

Cricket: Bangladesh beat England for the first time ever in a one-day international. Carrie Dunn captured some of the late drama.

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cycling, mind games, olympic sports, soccer, tennis, track and field

Friday Myriad: Up all night for Aussie Rules, MMA, Le Tour

Posted on by Beau Dure

No, I didn’t forget. Today was a last-ditch effort to get some progress on two nagging free-lance assignments.

Which reminds me — if you or someone you know is a male caregiver for a spouse or loved one who has breast cancer AND you’ve done the Komen 3-day walk, could you please, please get in touch with me?

On to the weekend (all times ET):

SATURDAY

12:01 a.m.: Australian football, Geelong-Hawthorn. Nice to see this sport making a comeback on U.S. airwaves. Still have no idea how anyone has the stamina to run for two hours while being pummeled every time the ball is nearby. ESPN2

3 a.m.: MMA, Dream 15, lightweight title fight, Shinya Aoki-Tatsuya Kawajiri. Also in action: Gegard Mousasi, Melvin Manhoef, Gesias Cavalcante. If you can’t watch live, check recaps from my colleague Sergio Non. HDNet

7:30 a.m.: Tour de France, Stage 7. To the mountains we go! Well, sort of. Just a couple of category-2 climbs today. The Alpine stages this year aren’t quite as torturous as usual, with most of the massive climbs coming in the Pyrenees in the third week. Versus

8 a.m.: Davis-Cup, quarterfinals, France-Spain, doubles. France leads 2-0. They’re playing without Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but Spain is playing without someone named Nadal. Gael Monfils outlasted David Ferrer in a five-setter Friday. Tennis Channel

Noon: MLS, Toronto-Colorado. In case you need a warm-up for the big one. Some of CONCACAF’s best attacking talent is on display in this one, even if one of the defenses tends to play with what Bob Dylan called “a little too much force.” Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

2:30 p.m.: World Cup third-place game, Uruguay-Germany. These games are often entertaining. Near the end of a World Cup that has brought some excellent games but quite a few dreary efforts, can that be so bad? ABC/Univision

3:30 p.m.: Women’s basketball, WNBA All-Stars vs. U.S. National Team. Really? You couldn’t have waited another hour, when the Cup final would likely be over? ESPN

6 p.m.: MLS, Philadelphia-San Jose. The Earthquakes could be interesting this season. Fox Soccer Channel

7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.: MLS, the rest of the Saturday games (four), with the New York-D.C. United rivalry among the highlights. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

SUNDAY

7 a.m.: Davis-Cup, quarterfinals, France-Spain, singles. Tennis Channel

7:30 a.m.: Tour de France, Stage 8. Two category-1 climbs, including one at the finish. That’s more like it. Will we see the virtual end of Lance Armstrong’s career here? Versus

2:30 p.m.: World Cup, final, Netherlands-Spain. I picked Spain over Brazil in the final, and I’m sticking with the team that never loses possession of the ball. ABC/Univision

6 p.m.: WPS, Gold Pride-Washington. Wonder how the Freedom will adjust after practicing all week in 100-degree temperatures. I went out to practice today, and the artificial turf field felt like a frying pan. FSC

10:30 p.m.: MLS, Seattle-Dallas. I don’t usually list all the Direct Kick games, but if you’re going into withdrawal just six hours after the end of the Cup, here you go. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

MORE MYRIAD

  • World Series of Poker: Main Event runs all weekend.
  • Full soccer listings at Soccer America.
  • Selected weekend listings at USA TODAY
  • ESPN3: Australian Rules football, CFL, NBA Summer League and lacrosse.
  • Tennis Channel: A few re-runs and the France-Spain Davis Cup match.
  • Universal Sports: Beach volleyball (FIVB Grand Slam), track and field (Diamond League, British Grand Prix) live online, delayed on TV. Swimming (Grand Prix season finale, Los Angeles) online-only. In beach volleyball, the top U.S. teams were upset in pool play, which doesn’t happen often, but still advanced.
  • More Olympic sports: Why is no one Webcasting the last weekend of World League volleyball pool play? U.S. men hosting Russia in Wichita. Wait a few weeks, and you can watch (see PDF).
  • Rugby: Tri-Nations (Southern Hemisphere) gets underway this weekend, just in case South African sports attention can be diverted for a moment.

HEADLINES

Chess/poker: Chessboxing just seems strange, but chesspoker has possibilities. Jennifer Shahade takes us through a matchup.

Soccer: 3rd Degree is basically the grandfather of independent MLS sites, so it’s nice to see Buzz Carrick take the operation into ESPNDallas.com. Could also bode well for ESPN’s MLS Draft coverage? Maybe?

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olympic sports, track and field

Un-Bolted wrap from Diamond League, other Oly sports

Posted on by Beau Dure

Yes, Usain Bolt is fast, and 9.82 is borderline superhuman, tying the world lead in his first race back from an Achilles injury. But if you want to know what’s going on in the Diamond League, you’ll need to look elsewhere — the 100 meters was a non-Diamond race tacked onto the program so they could bring Bolt in.

The rest of the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, had seven more world-leading performances and six U.S. wins. The quick look:

MEN

– 400: Jeremy Wariner (USA) posted a world-leading 44.57, just holding off countryman LeJerald Betters (44.70). He’s 3-for-3 in Diamond League.

– 400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson (USA) didn’t match his world-leading 47.32 but won handily in second-fastest time of the year, 47.62. Angelo Taylor (USA) was second at 47.96. Jackson also claimed the Diamond lead ahead of Kerron Clement (USA).

– 200: Walter Dix (USA), 19.86, tied his own mark for fourth in the world this year. He has won the last three Diamond League races.

– 1,500: Not a Diamond League race, but another world lead: Nicholas Kemboi (KEN), 3:31.52

– 3,000 steeplechase: Brimin Kipruto (KEN), 8:01.62, world lead and nearly five seconds off meet record. This is one of the Diamond League disciplines with some suspense in the standings — Paul Koech (KEN) finished third and still leads Kipruto in the standings.

WOMEN

– 100: Carmelita Jeter (USA) won in 10.99, not a world lead, to build a five-point lead in the Diamond points. The event is reeling from the news that Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser tested positive for a painkiller. The explanation for the test: She went to the dentist, then had to fly, and she forgot to declare it. The explanation for why a drug that fails to enhance performance or mask anything is on the prohibited list: …. well, we’ll have to ask. But the situation is a crisis! At least, that’s what the Telegraph says.

– 400: Debbie Dunn (USA), 49.81, second this year only to her 49.64 in USA Championships.

– 1,500: Gelete Burka (ETH), world-leading 3:59.28, then national record-setter Ibtissam Lakhouad (MAR, 3:59.45) and personal best-setter Nancy Langat (KEN, 4:00.13). Funny thing is that Langat, the Olympic champion, had been dominating the season.

– 3,000: Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN), 8:34.58, world lead and meet record.

– Long jump: Brittney Reese (USA), the world champion, fourth in the world at 6.94 meters/22-9.25.

– Triple jump: Yargelis Savigne (CUB), 14.99 meters, world lead and far ahead of the rest.

– High jump: Ivan Ukhov (RUS) ties world lead at 2.33 meters. World champion Yaroslav Rybakov (also RUS) tied Ukhov but lost on more misses.

**

In other Olympic sports news:

– Figure skating: Johnny Weir is taking the season off to reinvent his skating and promote his single, fashion line and book. But he’ll be back for Sochi.

– Swimming: The Grand Prix finale is in this week in Los Angeles. Betting on Chloe Sutton to take season honors.

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soccer

Record low for World Cup scoring still in sight

Posted on by Beau Dure

A group at BigSoccer has been tracking the total number of goals since the World Cup started, and everyone seems relieved that we’re not likely to break the record for fewest goals per games.

The current record: Italy ’90, 115 goals / 52 games = 2.212 goals per game

This year so far: 139 goals / 62 games = 2.24 goals per game

So our scenarios from the last two games are:

  • 0 goals: 2.17
  • 1 goal: 2.19
  • 2 goals: 2.20
  • 3 goals: 2.219
  • 4 goals: 2.23
  • 5 goals: 2.25 even
  • 6 goals: 2.28
  • 7 goals: 2.30 (tying Germany 2006)

This Cup has no chance of catching up with the others. Even with a wide-open third-place game, which is often the case, this will be the third-lowest scoring Cup in history at best.

Other Cups, ranked lowest to highest:

  • Germany 2006: 147 / 64 = 2.30
  • Korea/Japan 2002: 161 / 64 = 2.52
  • Mexico 1986: 132 / 52 = 2.54
  • Germany 1974: 97 / 38 = 2.55
  • France 1998: 171 / 64 = 2.67
  • Argentina 1978: 102 / 38 = 2.68
  • USA 1994: 141 / 52 = 2.71
  • England 1966: 89 / 32 = 2.78
  • Chile 1962: 89 / 32 = 2.78
  • Spain 1982: 146 / 52 = 2.81
  • Mexico 1970: 95 / 32 = 2.97
  • Sweden 1958: 126 / 35 = 3.60
  • Uruguay 1930: 70 / 18 = 3.89
  • Brazil 1950: 88 / 22 = 4.00
  • Italy 1934: 70 / 17 = 4.12
  • France 1938: 84 / 18 = 4.67
  • Switzerland 1954: 140 / 26 = 5.38
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soccer

Prospective Revolution stadium site gets boost

Posted on by Beau Dure

The new home of the New England Revolution?

[cetsEmbedGmap src=http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104388991439226121133.00048ad0b55d040ee2ab8&ll=42.309308,-70.984039&spn=0.203116,0.676346&t=h&z=11&iwloc=00048ad12146309db0694 width=500 height=650 marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 frameborder=0 scrolling=no]

(Yes, the current home of Gillette Stadium is marked on that map, but you may have to zoom out to see it.)

The site was discussed in late 2008 (Boston Globe) but has new life now thanks to a location decision on a train maintenance facility (Somerville News).

Revolution COO Brian Bilello talks a bit about stadium efforts on the team’s blog. A bit more bureaucracy to go.

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