Back in May, word came down that Cowboys Stadium was holding two dates in November for a potential Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. That sounded like a promising development to all of us who desperately want this fight (promising in a we don’t care where they fight, we just desperately want it kind of way). Well, according to Pacquiao’s revered trainer Freddie Roach, Dallas isn’t happening – but the fight might.

SportsRadioInterviews.com reports that Roach told 590 The Fan in St. Louis that Mayweather said no to Dallas, and if the fight happens it will be Vegas. Here’s an excerpt:

On if there is a site already picked out the November 13th Date:

“There are two sites etched in. The MGM in Vegas, or Dallas. The thing is, Mayweather will not fight in Texas. If we get Mayweather we’ll go to Vegas, if it’s Margarito or Cotto, it will go Dallas. Bob (Arum) has done that deal with those two venues and we’re just waiting to hear the outcome, the final outcome, which Bob says will be in about a week’s time.”

Roach was asked if Mayweather has specifically said no to Dallas:

“Yes. The thing is, you can’t charge the money in Dallas (at the gate) that you can in Vegas. You’ve got a guaranteed sellout there, where as in Dallas there is no guaranteed sellout. I think money-wise, Vegas will bring in just as much as Dallas.”

Freddie usually has all-things Manny on good authority – so sorry, Dallas, but at least you’re still one of the top draws for this year’s NBA free agent talent, right?

Check out the transcript featuring more soundbites from Roach’s interview on SportsRadioInterviews.com. He takes some pretty good jabs at Mayweather, and parries off the bloodtesting q’s quite gracefully.

Over the past two weeks, USA soccer became all-consuming to me and I’m still reeling from that loss on Saturday. I can’t bring myself to post about sports right now. I tried. I found a hilarious picture of Diego Maradona celebrating Argentina’s win over Mexico yesterday, and all I could muster was: Looks like you got some gum on your sideline wingtip there, brother.

With that said and in the interest of pushing down that post about Donovan’s goal against Algeria from Friday, check out some videos from this past weekend’s Afro-Punk Festival at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, NY.

Purdue University senior Robby Donoho compiled an array of celebrations from all over the country, and beyond (Lyon, Durban), following Landon Donovan’s goal on Wednesday. This will get you maybe half as pumped up as that Spanish commentator from yesterday.

Well done, Robby. I’ve reached out to Donoho to see where he was when it all went down. Until he gets back to me, I’m assuming he’s that kid in the basement who fell down his stairs in merriment.

When Donovan buried that Jabulani in the back of the Algerian net yesterday morning, I was channeling this guy’s adulation in a bar in the East Village . Warning: England fans may find what they’re about to hear slightly cheeky.

Landon Donovan’s Game Winning Goal Is Even More Awesome In Spanish (Business Insider)

I’m still pondering what I witnessed this morning. I’ve been racking my brain to equate it to any other sporting event that I’ve ever seen. In the interest of not reacting too abruptly, I’m going to refrain from saying anything else about it right now, other than that is was just a remarkable thing to watch.

Oh, speaking of reacting abruptly, did you hear one of the Algerians slapped a reporter after the match?

Yahoo broke the story about Algerian forward Rafik Saifi’s postgame tirade, and Sporting News gets a link for including this photo:

Between his actions today, whenever this scene pictured above happened this photo (above) of Saifi celebrating Algeria’s victory over Egypt in a neutral ground victory in the Sudan earlier this year to make the World Cup (thanks, Dave), and (just for good measure) the guys on the team with haircuts from the mid-90s film Hackers, it’s like the douchiness just comes full circle.

Before you get too excited, let me just preface by saying that the Pre-Showdown brunch is $5,000 per, and the After-Match drinking with Nash and Claudio Reyna requires a minimum $250 donation. If you’re only a high roller in training like me and you’re in Lower Manhattan tomorrow, you should probably consider just going down to the free event. I’ll be the guy snapping pics with the HTC Incredible and scowling at Tony Parker. Here’s the full detail:

NBA stars.  Soccer’s best.  An urban field.  A sweet 8-a-side game of futbol in the middle of a city benefiting children’s programs on three continents.

Steve brings his passion to play in this innovative match that any sports fan will love.  Showcasing athletes from two sports, Showdown is the beautiful game at its most creative.  With international rosters that have included Steve Nash, Thierry Henry, Claudio Reyna, Tony Parker, Adrian Mutu, Grant Hill, Ivan Cordoba, Baron Davis, Javier Zanetti, Ryan Babel, Salomon Kalou, Simone Sandri, Martin Nash, Mathieu Flamini, Edgar Davids and Chris Bosh the Showdowns are events not to be missed!

The Showdown in Chinatown is a free to the public event located on Chrystie St. and Stanton St. on the lower east side.  Steve Nash, Claudio Reyna, Tony Parker, Simone Motto, Brandon Jennings, Giuseppe Rossi and more!

Chris Bosh is allegedly decent, but I bet I can capture a photo of him looking goofy. Check out this recap video from last year’s tournament featuring Bosh:

Go to stevenash.org/showdown to learn more about the Steve Nash Foundation and Claudio Reyna Foundation.

What’s going on here? I think augmented reality fans know exactly what’s going on here.

Here’s the video demo for 1 GOAL / KICKBALL AR APP for Samsung Bada OS.

In case you missed the headlines (there weren’t many), Bada OS is Samsung’s proprietary operating system that they launched late last month to directly compete with Android – while at the same claiming that most of their new phones would run Android application. It’s a mishmash.

However, I sure can’t find anything in the DROID market that let’s me kick anything. In fact, the only game that even features a soccer ball is a labyrinth. DROID and Iphone developers take note: I think I would enjoy this (waste $.99 on this).

Source: UberGizmo

Check out my thoughts on the first week of the 8KMA: World Cup 2010 /// NYC /// In Photos project

Koman Coulibaly, the hapless ref of that U.S. -Slovenia match that ended in a 2-2 tie on his watch, gets what most people get when they make an unpopular decision on the National stage: a defaced Wikipedia page.

It currently (12:41 pm EST) reads: Coulibaly is a blind clown who makes poor decisions during crucial World Cup matches.

This will be corrected soon, let’s move on. GO ALGERIA GO!

UPDATE (1:05 pm EST):

Now reads…

“Coulibaly took charge of the Group C match between the United States and Slovenia. After conceding two first half goals, the United States fought back to equalize and had scored an apparent third goal to take the lead; however, Coulibaly disallowed the goal, drawing criticism from ESPN commentator (and former US national team player) Alexi Lalas, who described the call as “a disgrace” and “ridiculous,” adding, “It should have been a goal.”Star American midfielder Landon Donovan also expressed his displeasure, stating, “I don’t know how they stole that last goal from us. I’m not sure what the call was. He (the referee) wouldn’t tell us what the call was.”

Preach, Lalas.

We’re in the process of finalizing a plan to watch the South Korea/Argentina game tomorrow morning at 7:30 at Boka on St. Mark’s in NYC. If you’re in the area, and like Korean fried chicken and watching wizardry (Messi) in the a.m. come on down!

From a spectator’s perspective, no slouch in providing on-screen entertainment is Argentine coach, Diego Maradona – he once was a wizard himself, now, it’s more about sideline antics. As good as Messi looks, he hasn’t scored in his last eight International contests, so we don’t know if that’s going to happen. However, you can count on Diego to: A.) look shiny, from mullet to toe B.) pester, badger, annoy and be a general thorn in the side of the refs. (= high comedy)

The Telegraph has posted Diego’s 10 best quotes through the years. They feature his take on Pele (go back to the museum), the 1998 World Cup (The players have all got square feet. They are like Robocops), American politics (I think Bush is a murderer), but one quote just seemed to rise to the forefront…

Diego Maradona on proving the doubters wrong…


“To those who did not believe: now suck my d**k – I’m sorry ladies for my words – and keep on sucking it. I am either white or black. I will never be grey in my life. You treated me as you did. Now keep on sucking d**ks. I am grateful to my players and to the Argentinian people. I thank no one but them. The rest, keep on sucking d**ks.”

Diego, allow me to apologize on behalf of all nerds for Twitter not existing during your trash talking hey-day. However, it’s not too late, see this guy for inspiration: @the_ironsheik.

Photo via SMH.com.au