Ethnocentric World Cup prediction of the day:

The game between the U.S.A. and England on the first Saturday of competition will be as highly regarded as a temperate Super Bowl - say Tampa Bay vs. Oakland in 2002.

The U.S. will triumph 1-0, resulting in, hopefully, a drinking freely in the street event for those of us who choose to get engaged. I’ll probably be here, if you’re in New York and would like to join in the fray.

Too bold?

….

Today indeed marks 100 days from the start of the World Cup. Seems like just yesterday we were talking about the draw ceremony - I learned what the group of death is, but am still not sure why Charlize Theron was part of the selection process?

FIFA President, Joseph F. Blatter marked the day by commending South Africa for their preparation. It full of praise, both literal and metaphorical.

From FIFA.com:

The FIFA World Cup in Africa is a love story - a love story between the African continent and myself which began when I was the technical director of FIFA. It has come a long way in a long time. It has been a road travelled with trust, confidence but with patience as well. When this country was awarded the World Cup, there was a lot of work to do. We had to convince people that one day we would give back something to Africa. Africa has given so much to the world and to the world of football.



I’m very proud and very happy that this love story is coming to the ‘wedding celebration’. We are speaking about 100 days to go, but this all goes back to 17 May 1998 when I was campaigning for the FIFA Presidency for the first time and I said that, ‘We have to bring the World Cup to Africa.’ This is what I mean by having patience, as South Africa did not win the first time in 2000 when it lost by one vote to Germany, but with patience and perseverance you managed to win the right to host the World Cup in 2004.

Check out the rest of Blatter’s remarks here: Blatter: The dream is alive

Photo via FIFA.com

Much like Ron Burgundy thought diversity was an old wooden ship, the soccer populus seems to believe that Group of Death represents the least desirable World Cup group to be placed in for middling soccer countries. False. The Group of Death is a metal band.* Just look at this poster from their Facebook page; the theory checks out…

The Group of Death is actually a soccer inspired rock group. ESPN’s Rob Stone gave them a nice plug, reporting live from NYC soccer bar Nevada Smith’s today during the World Cup draw.. Here’s the description of G.O.D. on Facebook:

The Group of Death is the world’s foremost football (soccer)-inspired heavy metal band. “The Group of Death” is also the nickname given to the toughest group the FIFA World Cup.

All this needs to seem fully legit is some actual tunes, and here it is - check out The Group of Death’s hit single “We Call It Awesome.”

The Group of Death perform a special show tonight at 8 at Nevada Smiths in lower Manhattan.

*The former in the above statement is 100% true, and even casual U.S. soccer fans have to be extremely happy that we didn’t find ourselves in, say, the Ivory Coast or Portugal’s current situation. Happy World Cup Draw Day!

Become a fan of The Group Of Death on Facebook

Even if you’re merely a casual fan of men’s tennis, you should be psyched by Rafael Nadal’s return to court tomorrow. To clarify, by casual, I mean you recall Wimbledon and our looking forward to the U.S. Open at the end of the month.

Based on how Wimbledon went (with Nadal sitting out due to an ailing knee), we could see a pretty decent four man battle - assuming Nadal returns true to form, and Andy Roddick and the could-be newly #2 ranked Andy Murray show up like they did at the All England. Or, it could just go back to the Federer vs. Nadal show, that’s kool and the gang too. Point is, I don’t think anyone expects, or is rooting for, Rafa to come back and be anything less than a top contender. Except maybe his old soccer coach…

In anticipation of Nadal’s first match back, The Telegraph posted 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Rafael Nadal, two of which dealt with his background as a football player in his youth…

3. Rafael himself was a promising footballer, and scored 100 goals in his local junior league.

4. He gave up football aged just 12 because his coach did not like his players playing more than one sport, and would leave him on the bench if he arrived after playing tennis.

Granted the opportune term here is local junior league - I’m sure this wasn’t the Real Madrid Development Program. Speaking of which, the trajectory of the coach from Nadal’s former club probably didn’t ascend much past Mayorca Park & Rec. either.

Also of note, he’s still got skills..

Nadal Begins His Comeback in a Different Tennis World (New York Times)

The meticulous scribe of this article felt the need to clarify that O’Neal is an american basketball star and that his nickname is Shaq, leaving me to believe that The Big World Renowned is not one that we should so quickly add to O’neal’s stable of The Big nomenclature.

The real story here, is that since challenging Obama  in person (roundball meets round-table on a healthcare reform) didn’t go so well the other day, Shaq resorted to the old standby to challenge David Beckham to a game of “soccerball.” It goes on…

And to entice Beckham on the show, O’Neal has decided to post a series of “tweets” calling on the England footballer to take up the challenge.

“Dear david beckham,” tweets Shaq. “I kno u heard about my Shaq Vs show, anyway u will never score a goal on me, I challenge you lil man.”

But Beckham failed to respond to the tweet, prompting another tweet from O’Neal: “David beckham I kno u hear me, dnt be scared, dnt make me call u out, u will never score a goal on me.”

O’Neal’s most recent tweet to Beckham read: “Dnt make me tweet to 2 million people that your scared of shaq, u betta respond, if u scared get a dog.”

There it is. The blow-by-blow on twitter, as reported by newspaperman. In related twitter news, Ocho Cinco doesn’t know what Levitra is.

David Beckham taunted by Shaquille O’Neal on Twitter (Telegraph)

I hate when it comes down to whether or not the keeper guesses which way to lunge on a free kick… of course, when you have 9 hours to decide, that problem doesn’t really apply.

The slow motion replay adds some nice insult to injury.

Also, #20 from the Norwegian Tippeligaen side’s work on this play is utterly soothing to watch - jog towards the net, slow up to let the ball go by into the net, arms raised in whimsical glory!

Video: An incredibly soft 45-yard goal from the Norwegian Premier League (The Spoiler)

Back at my place of business and, unfortunately, a little short on time after a holiday weekend where I thought very little about anything but charcoal heat zones and Blue Point Summer Ale. Not too pressed to pass along something truly unsettling that caught my eye I’m afraid…


(more…)

This guy had an awesome time taking in a match in Rio de Janeiro.

These stadium stands look more like downtown Hanoi than a sporting event…

Mike “Got Money Like 10 Mo’ Times” Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, put it bluntly when asked if he was considering a company owned by relatives of Osama Bin Laden as a potential investor in his club:

“I think I’ll start with people from Newcastle, not in some cave in Afghanistan,” Ashley told UK paper The Telegraph.

Rumors have been swirling that Ashley is looking for club investors after his firm Sports Direct took a bath this year in the profits (down 50%). Ashley primarily blames it on the disagreeable weather conditions in England; looks like he’s a got a ways to go in working this out.

Back up to those futbol crazed Bin Laden’s for a second…

The Telegraph also reports that The Saudi Binladin Group, which run by Osama bin Laden’s half-brother Bakr bin Laden, distanced themselves from the Al-Qaeda founder some years ago.

Now I am no great fiscal mind, far from it in fact. But have we considered a name change for the Binladin Group? Even my cut-rate sensibility tells me that association with known terrorists - not really that great for brand equity.

What do they do exactly? Who knows. And I’m not going to be the guy who gets his I.P. address flagged for visiting that website. Nope.

Links:

Mike Ashley Rules Out Newcastle Sale to Bin Laden Family
Newcastle Gets $263 Million Buy Out Offer
Why Mike Ashley Won’t Sell Newcastle United Just Yet