A potential member of the U.S. Olympic ski team urinated on an 11-year-old girl during a JetBlue flight from Oregon to New York City. The U.S. ski team has dropped him from the developmental squad. But somehow, this cretin has avoided any criminal charges for the incident.

With England literally burning and riots in various cities — from London to Manchester to Birmingham to Liverpool — matches scheduled for the EPL 2011-2012 season opening weekend may be postponed. Already, the international friendly scheduled for tonight between England and Holland was canceled yesterday. Matches affected include the London games Tottenham vs. Everton (it was in Tottenham that the riots began), Fulham vs. Aston, and Queens Park Rangers vs. Bolton. Tottenham players have gone further and even called for their opening match to be postponed. If matches are postponed, an already crowded soccer schedule will only get worse. The Metropolitan Police has said it cannot supply the police needed at these matches.

Even players and other athletes — many of them known for their sometimes thoughtless tweets — have taken to calling for a stop to the riots on Twitter. Players include Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, and Michael Owen; Newcastle United’s Joey Barton; Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas; and other athletes from various sports, including English tennis player Andy Murray. 

For an interesting take on the whole situation, writer Rory Smith, who confesses to being a liberal, considers the failure of the liberal state as a whole.

Obviously, safety is more important than any soccer match. But it is an utter shame. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell shared this bowling ball photo with the Twitterverse. Has the PBA finally found a TV ratings getter?

Mexican midfielder Marco Fabian of Chivas Guadalajara puts his team ahead with this bicycle kick against Spain’s FC Barcelona, currently the world’s best team, in a friendly match. Although not playing their full-strength first team, Barcelona can hardly be accused of playing a weakened team, with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, and others. This loss comes a few days after Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat against Manchester United at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. 

On their current tour of Asia, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored a beauty of a backheeler against Guangzhou F.C. The look on his face seems to say it was business as usual. Maybe Mario Balotelli, who was substituted in a friendly against LA Galaxy recently, should have taken a lesson first. 

From the Forbes list:

1.       Maria Sharapova – tennis, $25 million

2.      Caroline Wozniacki – tennis $12.5 million

3.      Danica Patrick – Nascar $12 million

4.      Venus Williams – tennis $11.5 million

5.      Kim Clijsters – tennis $11 million

6.      Serena Williams – tennis $10.5 million

7.      Kim Yu-na – figure skating $10 million

8.     Li Na – tennis $8 million

9.      Ana Ivanovic – tennis  $6 million

10.  Paula Creamer – golf  $5.5 million

Oops:

Pro tennis player flies to wrong Carlsbad for tournament

Serbian pro tennis player Bojana Jovanovski was trying to get to Carlsbad, California on Sunday for this week’s Mercury Insurance Open, but her travel agent accidentally scheduled a flight to Carlsbad, New Mexico.

After a long day of traveling from Washington, D.C., to Dallas to Albuquerque to Carlsbad, Jovanovski wasn’t quick to notice the different locale, according to an article by Chris Chase for Yahoo! Sports.

As she was waiting with her bags for tournament transport to pick her up late Sunday night, a man approached.

“What are you doing here?” the man asked. “Are you playing tennis?”

“Yeah, it’s a tennis tournament,” Jovanovski replied.

“Here?”

After waiting 15 minutes, the 19-year-old Serbian called the tournament again, wondering where her ride was. She was told the driver was looking for her.

“I am the only person here,” she told them. “How can you not see me?”

“Are you in Carlsbad in California or in New Mexico?” the voice at the other end of the phone asked.

Realizing that she was in the wrong place, the transportation coordinator booked the 53rd-ranked Jovanovski on the next flight to Albuquerque, eight hours later.

Who knew this existed? Guess Happy Hours really are productive after all.

There was a time when the original Ronaldo, once the top soccer player in the world, was fit and could outrun any defender. In the 2002 World Cup, he led Brazil to their fifth championship, the only nation to achieve this. Four years later, he was heckled for being overweight and has since put on the pounds. This photo of him at the World Cup draw in Rio is pure coincidence:

With the draw having just occurred in Brazil determining the qualifying groups for the 2014 World Cup, the old sin of match-fixing has reared its head. The Asian Football Confederation is investigating what they believe are unusual betting patterns in a two-legged tie between Cambodia and Laos. Cambodia won the first leg in Phnom Penh 4-2 but lost to Laos in the second leg 6-2 in Vientiane. Apparently, approaching the 88th minute, there was high betting activity, before Cambodia scored. FIFA’s Early Warning System, a betting monitoring software, emphasized the unique betting patterns. 

This is just one instance in many in which match-fixing is prevalent. Referees from Hungary and Bosnia are being investigated for match manipulation after their involvement in two international matches in Turkey in which all seven goals were the result of penalties. 

In a further attempt to expand their brand and give viewers around the world the feeling of being at the game, the English Premier League, in association with Sony and Electric Arts, is hoping to introduce immersion technology. Imagine sitting in your own living room in front of your HD television, with headphones on and choosing which part of a select stadium to sit in, whether at the Stretford End in Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium, the Kop at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium or the Shed End at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. “It’s Avatar-style,” quips Richard Scudamore, the Premier League’s chief executive. Possibilities could include viewing games from a corner flag, behind the dugouts, or from the directors’ box. You can turn your head in either direction and get panoramic views.

Just like the real thing. Only it’s not. For overseas viewers it seems an innovative experience. Scudamore hopes, however, that it won’t cut into match attendance in England itself. Watching soccer, however, is a social experience for many and this technology certainly has its limits. But as a way to enhance and expand the EPL brand, it’s an interesting concept.

Northern Michigan University wrestler Ellis Coleman goes airborne at the junior world championships (and takes the bronze medal).

In a previous post, I mentioned the possibility of the English FA introducing goal-line technology for the 2012-13 season. However, in order for it to be implemented, it has to be sanctioned by FIFA – which will decide on the issue in March, according to Richard Scudamore, chief executive of England’s Premier League. Or at least,that’s the hope — FIFA has delayed a decision on this question more than once.

Former Germany player and coach Jürgen Klinsmann is the new head coach of the U.S. mens’ soccer team. This decision is not all that surprising — twice before, Klinsmann was almost hired for the job. He is familiar with the United States, having lived in California for many years, and maintaining a residence in Huntington Beach.

What is the burden on him? A lot. Under Klinsmann, Germany’s play developed into a more attacking style and he took them to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup, which they lost to Italy, eventually beating Portugal for third place. Later, as coach of Bayern Munich, he introduced changes into the club’s style of play and training. Can he replicate those successes in the U.S.? We’ll get a first glimpse when the U.S. faces Mexico in a friendly on August 10th.

Nineteen year-old defender Carl Jenkinson debuted for Arsenal in a friendly against German team Köln over the weekend, but this is a debut he would like to forget. As the first half was winding down, he attempted to clear a pass from a Köln player, but inadvertently, yet wonderfully volleyed the ball into his own net.

If it had been a volley into Köln’s net, it would have counted as a great debut. Arsenal’s fans will hope he doesn’t do that when the new season begins.

During Manchester City’s friendly against LA Galaxy, striker Mario Balotelli was substituted after only 30 minutes for a cheeky, yet failed attempt to score with a backheel tip towards goal. His teammate Edin Dzeko was not too happy with the failed attempt at fancy footwork when a simple shot on goal or pass to him would probably have been a better result. Balotelli has been quite the personality in his first season of English soccer, arrogant and even chucking darts at youth team players. At the touchline, he obviously disagreed with his manager’s decision, who said after the match that “you always need to be professional,” even in friendlies.

With English champions Manchester United currently on tour in the U.S., this family of fans in Seattle can count themselves the luckiest of all supporters this side of the Atlantic. As the team bus pulled in for training prior to a friendly against Seattle Sounders, it stopped and they were allowed to board to get autographs. Eternal memories, especially for the little girl and boy in the video. 

ABC reports that Rory McIlroy, golfer from Northern Ireland and Caroline Wozniacki, tennis player from Denmark, are now dating.

I just have one question for Rory . . .

. . . How did you pull this one off?

England’s Premier League may finally introduce goal-line technology, according to its chief executive Richard Scudamore, for the 2012-13 season. This technology has long been called for in soccer, especially following England midfielder Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany in last year’s World Cup — a goal that, if allowed, would certainly have affected the rest of the match.

Ever since that incident, FIFA has dragged its feet in considering goal-line technology, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter a constant opponent. Time and again they have said they would discuss the matter in FIFA meetings, only to postpone it. In place of such technology, UEFA, the European soccer body, with FIFA’s blessing, introduced an extra assistant referee standing near each goalpost to better adjudicate goals (among other things, such as fouls in the penalty area).

Sepp Blatter’s arguments against goal-line technology have some validity: He is concerned about managers who may want to dispute every action that occurs in the penalty area — whether a goal has been scored or not — and interrupting the flow of the game to force replays. He also defends the referee’s role as final arbiter of what happens on the field. Soccer is a human game, Blatter contends, and must remain so. Soccer is a human game, and thus prone to all the faults that flesh is heir to. But contested goals can determine not only the outcome of an individual match, but a team’s entire season.

Other sports, such as tennis and cricket, use Hawk-Eye, a computer system that tracks the ball’s trajectory. Of course, the system has its critics and, like any technology, is not perfect. But it can help settle certain disputes — like Lampard’s disallowed goal, which everyone knows should have been a goal.

Whatever technology is introduced, it should be used in such a way to maintain the pace of play, which is an important factor in soccer. Only the fifth official sitting at the sideline should be allowed to review the event — which should take only a few seconds — allowing no intervention from either team’s manager. Soccer will still have its faults, but soccer fans want to see such vital matters as goals settled without dispute. 

Critics of soccer often contend that the game is boring and that it is a low-scoring sport, often ending in 0-0 draw. But on the rare occasions, this happens: HJK Helsinki from Finland demolished Welsh side Bangor City in a Champions League qualifying match. The aggregate score over the two-game series was 13-0, with the second tie ending 10-0. (Demolished is an understatement).

The only previous Champions League match to have ended 10-0 was back in the 1979-80 campaign when Dutch heavyweights Ajax Amsterdam trashed Omonia Nicosia from Cyprus in what was the old European Cup.