David Beckham Played His Part in Slick Campaign That Failed to Land Big Prize

Filed under: Football, World Cup 2010

David Beckham's colourful claim that football is in the DNA of every Englishman was part of the most polished, professional and passionate of bid presentations from the countries who wanted to stage the 2018 World Cup, but it was not enough to prevent Russia winning the vote, while Qatar were picked as the shock hosts for 2022.

Beckham was still unable to bring the greatest show on earth back to England - amid the fears that he and the rest of the bid team had been forced to pay the ultimate price for Panorama and the Sunday Times' revelations about corruption within the Fifa Executive Committee.

Beckham was sparked an emotional response from his audience when he spoke on the first anniversary of his grandfather's death and detailed what it would mean to every Englishman to stage the finals again for the first time since 1966.

It was one element that made England's bid presentation by far the best. Slick and making the most of its heavyweight ambassadors - David Cameron, Prince William and Beckham - so much so that Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn claimed that "even the dogs in the street in Zurich were saying what a great bid England had".

England received only two votes in the first round, failing to get Jack Warner's Conacacaf vote as Russia won by a knockout in the second round when it was suggested 24 hours earlier that there might be no more than one vote in it.

 

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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2010/12/02/david-beckham-played-his-part-in-slick-bid-that-failed-to-land-w/

David Silva David Suazo David Villa Deco Dejan Stankovic

Andy Roddick Wins at BNP Paribas Masters, ATP Finals Set

Filed under: ATP, ATP Rankings

Andy Roddick withstood an injury-plagued year and advanced into the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London on Thursday. Although Roddick missed the year-end finale last year due to injury, it is the eighth straight year the American has qualified for the tournament.

At the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris on Thursday, Roddick defeated Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6 (8). In the deciding match at the Paris Masters, which consequently rounded out the eight-man field in London, Gael Monfils defeated outlier Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 7-5.

Berdych, Ferrer and Roddick will join top-ranked Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Robin Soderling in the London field.

The year-end finals will take place Nov. 21-28 at The O2 Arena.

 

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Source: http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2010/11/11/andy-roddick-wins-atp-finals-set/

Ben Crane Bill Haas Bo Van Pelt Bubba Watson Camilo Villegas

Cam Newton's Code of Silence Extends to CBS for SEC Championship Game

Filed under: Auburn, SEC, Media Watch

Cam Newton has been silent with the media for the past few weeks. And that won't change this weekend for the SEC Championship.

Apparently, for once, the millions of dollars that a network pays to a sports entity doesn't buy it better access than the rest of the media, or so CBS has discovered in advance of its telecast of the game Saturday.

CBS football analyst Gary Danielson disclosed during a teleconference Wednesday that Auburn coach Gene Chizik has declined to make Newton available to the network's announcers and producers before Saturday's meeting with South Carolina.

"I would love to talk to him about football and what he's been thinking and how he's been able to compartmentalize the stuff that's swirling around him," said Danielson.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/01/cam-newtons-code-of-silence-extends-to-cbs-for-sec-championship/

Petr Cech Phil Mickelson Philipp Lahm Rafael Nadal Rafael van der Vaart

The Greatest Bowl Game You'll Never See

Filed under: Bowl Games

While college football fans wait with bated breath over where their favorite team is headed for the postseason, Rodney Peete (right) -- who played 14 seasons in the NFL and starred at quarterback for USC in the '80s -- is on a strict workout regimen in advance of the bowl game he already knows he'll be playing in.

This season marks the second year that the Connect to Home Bowl, the result of a joint effort between the USO and Tostitos, will be played overseas.

It's probably one of the most awesome yet frustrating "bowl" games ever concocted: awesome, because it's a flag football game that features NFL and college legends playing alongside American troops; but frustrating because security concerns cloak the game in secrecy and make it hard to get any details on the game.

What's known is this: the game will be played at an undisclosed location in the Persian Gulf on an undisclosed date during bowl season. And there will be tailgating.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/02/the-greatest-bowl-game-youll-never-see/

Fabio Quagliarella Feliciano Lopez Fernando Torres Fernando Verdasco Filippo Inzaghi

Buffalo Sabres Reported Sale for $150 Million 'Not True'

Filed under: Sabres, NHL Economics, Sports Business and Media

Buffalo Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn said reports that the franchise is on the verge of changing hands were untrue.

"Reports regarding the sale of the Buffalo Sabres tend to surface from time to time," Quinn, also a minority owner of the team, said in a statement on Tuesday. "There have been several inquiries in the past few years regarding this subject. Our company policy is we do not comment on them because people make inquiries all the time. Some of these inquiries are serious, some are not, some make the media and others do not. The report that a $150 million letter of intent has been signed is simply not true."

The Hockey News reported Tuesday that Terrence Pegula, a natural gas and oil magnate from Pennsylvania, had signed a letter of intent to the purchase the Sabres for that sum. Pegula's interest in the Sabres was first reported by The Buffalo News.

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/buffalo-sabres-reported-sale-for-150-million-not-true/

Gianluigi Buffon Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Heath Slocum Hernan Crespo Hunter Mahan

Zack Greinke Reportedly Willing to Accept Trade to Yankees

Filed under: Royals, Yankees, MLB Rumors, MLB Hot Stove

The Yankees still have their hearts set on signing Cliff Lee as a free agent, but their chances at getting a guy to ride shotgun to CC Sabathia might not be up in smoke if he remains with the Rangers.

Royals ace Zack Greinke is reportedly OK with the prospect of a trade sending him to the Yankees. That runs counter to earlier reports that Greinke isn't interested in pitching in the highly pressurized New York market, reports that stemmed from the fact that he has a no-trade clause that includes the Yankees. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, though, Greinke is open to going anywhere with a winning team.

"I wouldn't put it past him to go to New York," Passan's source said. "I don't think he'd rule out anybody. He says he likes New York. Especially because they're winners. He wants to go to a team that wins."

Imagine that, a player who prefers winning to losing. Stop the presses!

 

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/zack-greinke-reportedly-willing-to-accept-trade-to-yankees/

Steven Gerrard Thierry Henry Thomaz Bellucci Tim Clark Tomas Berdych

LeBron James Is Nothing but Hot Air

Filed under: Cavaliers, Heat, NBA Media Watch, NBA Coaches

I never really got the whole thing about hating the Miami Heat. Sure, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh stacked the deck to try to win a championship. But so what? When rich owners do it, fans are grateful. What difference does it make if a few star players take charge instead?

James did have his embarrassing look-at-me Decision, when he announced he would go to Miami. But a lot of superstars have huge egos.

Well, it's all rushing in now, all becoming so clear. I finally get it. Unlike, say, Michael Jordan's ego, James' is not something that has emerged from his talent and success. In James' case, the ego is not a side thing, but actually the substance of who and what he is.

Air Jordan. Hot Air James.

But Hot Air isn't the whole problem in Miami. We're seeing now what happens when you put a bunch of divas into one room to solve a problem. They can't. If you're going to dig your way out of a ditch, you have to actually know what a shovel is, maybe used one at some point. With the Miami divas, someone else has done their digging for them their whole lives.

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/lebron-james-is-nothing-but-hot-air/

Feliciano Lopez Fernando Torres Fernando Verdasco Filippo Inzaghi Florent Malouda