For an already-retired fighter, former UFC double-divisional champion Randy Couture has done fairly well for himself inside the Octagon since originally stating he was walking away from the sport in 2006. With a return to the ring a year later, Couture has notched wins in five of his last seven bouts including a title-win over [...]
Five Ounces of Pain
As the trio on the EPL Talk Podcast mentioned in the latest episode, it’s been a long week in terms of there being little major news breaking and not a lot of football on television. But now that Saturday has arrived, we’re graced with the familiar return of the Premier League.
Today there are several mouthwatering matches on offer including West Ham against Arsenal, Wolves versus Manchester City and the big one, Manchester United against Tottenham. Spurs has an awful record against the Big Four clubs, especially Manchester United, so let’s see if they can finally get a result today.
Feel free to use this open thread to vent, post your questions or observations, etc. Just click on the comments link below.
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Photo by Claire O’Neill and Mito Habe-Evans
I just had to share one more Halloween-related bit of awesomeness: those crazy kids over at NPR Picture Show turned a humble pumpkin into a camera obscura! The photo above is the result of their efforts and I have to say, this is definitely more bad-ass than carving a run-of-the-mill jack’o’ lantern. Head over to NPR to read how they did it.
I’ve been wondering lately how Americans feel about going to matches as opposed to watching them on television. I spent a lot of time this year at matches, and the experience, at least for me, brought me back to what my life was like as a youngster. It’s such a different experience, but I need to hear what everyone thinks.
One of the biggest issues facing the NFL is the growing number of empty seats at the stadiums. There are a number of different factors in play here, and we’ll talk about them below, because I want to know if you all think it could ever happen with MLS.
The NFL faces some major hurdles over the next few years in terms of fixing the issues with the current situation involving fans coming to their games.
Now, obviously, MLS has a few things going for it that don’t fit into this formula. For one, everyone knows that soccer is well-defined into a two hour time commitment, plus whatever your drive in and home is. Secondly, it’s very family friendly in terms of the ticket pricing. Third, it’s not necessarily available a lot on television unless you have DirecTV and get the Direct Kick package. Finally, virtually no one plays Fantasy MLS.
But what I’m wondering is, will the general malaise towards actually GOING to sporting events that seems to be gaining traction in this country. Now, certainly, Americans LOVE to go to sporting events, you need only watch college football every Saturday to see MASSIVE crowds and fantastic atmosphere. It’s professional sports that really need to be concerned about how people are allocating their dollars at this point. I really don’t think MLS worries about things like this when there are other issues facing the league as a whole, but I think they should, for sure.
MLS is having their playoffs this weekend. Colorado drew just a little short of 12,000 for their opener against Columbus, 6000 shy of capacity. Now, Colorado averaged 13,328 attendees for their home matches during the regular season, and I know it’s now in the season where the weather there can literally do anything. The thing is, though, this is the playoffs. It’s entirely possible that this match Thursday was the only one that supporters of the Rapids would have to see their club in the playoffs. Yet, they didn’t even get their average attendance. Could it be that people stayed home to watch the match on television? I guess that’s a factor, and I also think that at this time of year, with college football, the NFL, basketball and the World Series going on all at the same time, people’s minds tend to wander. Is MLS perceived as a “Summer sport”? I don’t know, and I want you to tell me.
I hope that MLS succeeds, obviously, and I want people to support it. Could it go down the road that the NFL is currently facing? Based on what I’m seeing, I think it could. What do you think?
In terms of today’s television and internet viewing schedule, well, it’s packed. I mean, honestly, wait until you see this thing. All times EDT as usual.
9:30 am – GolTV – Wolfsburg vs. Stuttgart
10:00 am – Fox Soccer Channel – Arsenal vs. West Ham
10:00 am – ESPN2/ESPN3.com – Chelsea vs. Blackburn
10:00 am – FoxSoccer.tv – Everton vs. Stoke City
10:00 am – FoxSoccer.tv – Fulham vs. Wigan Athletic
10:00 am – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Wolverhampton Wolves vs. Manchester City
12:00 pm – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – Roma vs. Lecce
12:00 pm – ESPN3.com – Valencia vs. Real Zaragoza
12:20 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Barnsley vs. Hull City
12:30 pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Tottenham vs. Manchester United
1:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Auxerre vs. Nice
1:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Brest vs. St. Etienne
1:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Caen vs. Nancy
1:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Lorient vs. Arles
1:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Lyon vs. Sochaux
1:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Toulouse vs. Lens
2:00 pm – GolTV – Hercules vs. Real Madrid
2:30 pm – Fox Soccer Channel – AC Milan vs. Juventus
2:45 pm – ESPN3.com – PSV vs. Twente
3:00 pm – FoxSoccer.tv – Marseille vs. Rennes
4:00 pm – ESPN3.com – Barcelona vs. Sevilla
4:15 pm – ESPN3.com – Academica de Coimbra vs. FC Porto
5:00 pm – Fox Soccer Channel – FC Dallas vs. Real Salt Lake
6:00 pm – GolTV – Internacional vs. Santos (Delayed)
8:00 pm – GolTV – La Equidad Bogota vs. Millonarios Bogota
9:00 pm – Telemundo – Tigres UANL vs. Jaguares
8:00 pm – Telefutura – Santos Laguna vs. Guadalajara
8:00 pm – Fox Soccer Plus – Fulham vs. Wigan Athletic (Delayed)
10:00 pm – Telefutura – San Jose Earthquakes vs. New York Red Bulls
10:45 pm – Telemundo – Atlas vs. Pachuca
There are some huge matches available to watch, and obviously, all eyes should be on the two MLS playoff matches. I’m interested to see the attendance figures for those, obviously. Have a great Saturday and enjoy the matches, and as always, thanks for your clicks and comments.
Don’t forget that Dropcast Ep. 2 is available on iTunes and available online HERE.
Junior Seau drove his car off a cliff–and survived–a day after getting booked for domestic violence. Bear with us as we take a trip to crazy town.
According Gossip Cop, Seau drove his car off of a cliff near his home in Oceanside, California. The accident occurred just hours after he was booked into the Vista Detention Facility for what is being called suspected domestic violence.
Gossip Cop spoke with law enforcement officers, who said that there was an emergency call at 8:42 a.m. on Monday.
When the fire department responded, they found a white Cadillac SUV that had driven off a cliff. The lone person in the vehicle was identified as Seau, and it’s unclear whether the “driven off a cliff” part was deliberate or accidental.
Here’s a photo of the crash, via TMZ:
Earlier, there were conflicting reports about just how verifiable the crash was. According to Gossip Cop, that was due to confusion with the police department, and the accident was very much real.
Seau has been transported to a hospital after suffering unknown injuries. cuts and bruises, according to Pro Football Talk.
In a worrying development for Ian Holloway and Blackpool, club captain Charlie Adam will take his club to a Premier League arbitration court next week over unpaid bonuses. Adam is set to take the club to court over unpaid payments after the Seasiders avoided relegation from the Championship. While Adam of course is right to ask for the money he is owed, you have to doubt his timing.
Blackpool have had an excellent start to the season, and in many ways it has been completely unexpected, but their success has been built on the momentum and togetherness that has been created under the charismatic Ian Holloway.
Looking at Blackpool from an outsiders perspective the one thing that is noticeable is how all the players seem to singing from the same hymn sheet. You have to feel that Adam’s lack of patience could really damage their bid for survival.
Why didn’t he wait for till the end of the season to make his demands? There wouldn’t have been a fall in the legitimacy of his claim and while there still might have been unrest in the camp, it wouldn’t have been made public.
But Seasiders boss Ian Holloway is adamant that the situation won’t damage his sides chances of survival, and has been quick to distance himself from the whole situation. He said: “If there’s a problem then that’s none of my business.
“That’s between the club and one of the players and it’ll be sorted out by arbitration by the sounds of it. If Charlie feels that way and the chairman feels that way and there’s a dispute, then someone else has to sort it out and I’m just glad it’s not me.”
But Holloway will be concerned by the fact that should Adam win his case, he could look to have his deal cancelled for breach of contract. That would be a massive blow for the club, not only because they would be losing arguably their best player, but they would be losing him for nothing, a big financial blow considering he has 22-months left on his current deal.
While the whole situation demonstrates that player-power is becoming a real problem in Premier League football, I would urge the Blackpool hierarchy to sort it out before the court date, because it has the potential to be very damaging for the club both on and off the field.
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Blazers: 2-0
Knicks: 1-1
Game details: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY. 4:30pm TV: CSN Radio: 95.5 FM (KXTG)
Projected Portland Starting Lineup: PG Andre Miller (#24, 6′2″, Utah), SG Brandon Roy (#7, 6′6″, Washington), SF Nicolas Batum (#88, 6′8″, France), PF LaMarcus Aldridge (#12, 6′11″, Texas), C Marcus Camby (#23, 6′11″, UMass)
Projected New York Starting Lineup: PG Raymond Felton (#2, 6′1″, North Carolina), SG Landry Fields (#6, 6′7″, Stanford), SF Danilo Gallinari (#8, 6′10″, Milan, Italy), PF Amar’e Stoudemire (#1, 6′10″, Cypress Creek- Orlando, Florida), C Timofey Mozgov (#25, 7′1″, St. Petersburg, Russia)
When Portland takes the floor at Madison Square Garden, they will be looking to build on their second win of the season, along with looking to close out an undefeated month of October. Of course the month of October has only featured two games, but there are plenty of things worse than a 2-0 start. In order to turn that 2-0 to a 3-0, and ensure no worse than a .500 record on the team’s first road trip, the Blazers will have to first go through one of the NBA’s many new look teams. The Knicks were one of the teams not located in Miami that got the cold shoulder from LeBron James and “the Decision.” Unlike a few other teams, the Clippers and the Nets, the Knicks did walk away from the summer’s free agent free-for-all with a pretty solid pickup.
Amar’e Stoudemire was a perennial All-Star during his eight seasons with the Phoenix Suns, and has been First Team All-NBA, an Olympic Bronze Medalist, and on the short list of top power forwards in the Western Conference and the whole Association at least since the 2004-05 season. Although the authenticity of Stoudemire’s Hebraic ancestry may be questionable, what isn’t in question, and hasn’t ever been in question, is his ability to dominate the Portland Trail Blazers. Stoudemire has made a business out of destroying Portland inside, and has long been the primary point of emphasis for the argument against LaMarcus Aldridge. The argument goes: How can LA be one of the most dominant power forwards in the west when he always, always gets flat out worked by Amar’e? It’s a good question, and one LA hopes to answer Saturday at MSG.
New York has split its opening two games of the season, falling to the Celtics 105-101 on Friday night in Boston, and beating the hapless Raptors 98-95 at their home opener Wednesday in Toronto. Stoudemire finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Toronto and with 27 points and 8 rebounds in the loss to Boston. Amar’e isn’t the only Knick that can fill up the stat sheet. Danilo Gallinari is a gunner from outside the three point line. In 2009-10, Gallinari launched 488 bombs, hitting 186. Gallinari was second only to Houston’s Aaron Brooks in both threes attempted and made. New York also has Wilson Chandler coming off the bench providing instant offense. Chandler scored 22 points in 29 minutes against Toronto.
Portland lost at MSG their last time there, at the beginning of the road trip that even Nata McMillan missed due to injury, but last year’s stats from that game are basically meaningless because not a single Knick from last season’s starting lineup is in this season’s starting lineup. David Lee is at Golden State, Chris Duhon is in Orlando, Al Harrington is in Denver, and Jared Jefferies is in Houston, leaving Wilson Chandler as the only Knick starter from 2009-10 even on the 2010-11 roster.
The Blazers will find their biggest advantage against New York in their depth. Stoudimire will get his, Raymond Felton is a competent but not great point guard who doesn’t make a ton of mistakes, I’ve already spoken about Gallo and Chandler. Beyond those four players New York brings very little to the table. The Knicks start two rookies, Landry Fields and Russian import Timofey Mozgov, and after Chandler the most potent Knick off the bench has been Tony Douglas. Douglas scored 12 points in the loss to Boston and 10 points in the win in Toronto. Portland can, and will play 10 men, that should give them a serious advantage.
If the Blazers can keep Amar’e from having a crazy scoring and rebounding night, he can have one or the other but not both, and they keep the Knicks from hitting wide open threes, in last season’s loss the discrepancy of made threes was 13-to-1 in favor of the home team, Portland should have a good chance at running away with a win on Saturday.
Portland got to play spoiler in Blake Griffin’s professional debut. Although Saturday won’t be Amar’e’s pro debut, it will be his first home game in Madison Square Garden. Of course that will give him and the Knicks all the more reason to get up for the win, this is after all a team that fancies themselves an Eastern Conference contender, but outside of Stoudemire, New York doesn’t win any individual position. The Blazer’s have yet to put together a full game that has looked fluid from start to finish. Saturday would be a great time to start.
Twitter: @mikeacker | @ripcityproject
