Maradona making a run at history

Argentina coach Diego Maradona
Courtesy: topnews.in/sports

The quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa are set, and for soccer fans with an eye on the history of the game, it should come as a welcome sight that Diego Maradona’s Argentina squad are still in the hunt for the title.
The Argentineans have made it to this point by playing a brash brand of attacking soccer, and for their efforts can boast of being the tournament’s top-scoring team thus far with ten goals in four games as well as forward Gonzalo Higuain being tied for the tournament’s top scorer with four goals. To this point, the Argentineans have hardly been challenged in the tournament with a 4-0-0 record and only one game- their opener against Nigeria- having been decided by a lone goal.
Yet none of these statistics begin to put into perspective the significance of Argentina’s run toward a potential World Cup Title in South Africa. In short, if Argentina wins the title this year, coach Diego Maradona will become the most celebrated name in the history of international soccer.
In FIFA voting in the year 2000, Maradona was voted co-player of the twentieth century with Brazilian star Pele. In his playing career he competed for top teams in Europe, including Sevilla and Barcelona. In 1986 he won the World Cup for Argentina, the Golden Ball as the tournament’s top player, and his transcendent play during the tournament is widely regarded as one of the best World Cup performances in history. Maradona was so incredible during the tournament that one of his two goals against England in the quarterfinals was named the Goal of the Century by FIFA in 2000.


Maradona in his playing days
Courtesy: topnews.in/sports

All of these statistics and awards paint a rather compelling picture for Maradona being considered the greatest name in soccer history if he is able to guide Argentina to the title this year. Added to that intrigue is the fact that Maradona now coaches reigning FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, a player he has named as his successor both in terms of style of play and work ethic, and the pieces seem to be in place for a historic run.

Joefile!

Joe Gill has been the proprietor of Joe's Taverna on Campus Corner since 1993. In this profile he reflects on his time spent in business on the Corner and what that time has meant to him.

Blatter late than never

FIFA President Sepp Blatter
Courtesy: bbc.co.uk


If FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s statement to the worldwide media today is any indication, it would appear that the disallowed goal chronicled in yesterday’s post “No Goal! How a referee ruined England vs. Germany” might prove to be the tipping point FIFA needed to make a change to its policies regarding on-field instant replay.
According to the Associated Press, Blatter not only said that “something has to be changed” regarding FIFA’s stance toward on-field technology and apologized to English soccer representatives for any disservice done by Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda, but also suspended Larrionda for the remainder of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
“It is obvious after the experience so far in this World Cup it would be a nonsense not to open the file of technology at the business meeting of the international FA board in July,” Blatter said in his statement. “The only principle we are going to bring back for discussion is goal-line technology.”
This news comes perhaps one World Cup too late for the English, but is encouraging nonetheless. It shows that after years of flat-out dismissal of the topic, worldwide media pressure has finally convinced Blatter to undergo the process of making a vital change.
Some might point to a further need for review of important offsides calls missed by the referee or his linesmen, but Blatter’s assurances that he is looking into goal-line replay are enough to get the staff here at “Chris Miller’s JMC Odyssey” off his case for the moment.

No Goal! How a referee ruined England vs. Germany

Heading into today’s opening match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, there was a lot for soccer fans to get excited about. A veteran England squad were set to match up with a youthful German side in the latest installment of one of soccer’s most bitterly contested rivalries. English stars Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard had the opportunity to shake off lackluster group-stage performances by performing at a high level when it really mattered. Emerging German playmakers Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil had the chance to shine in their first performances on the world’s biggest sporting stage. Yes, there were storylines galore at the start of the day, and it’s a shame that now that the game is over poor referring seems to be what everyone’s talking about.
A crucial first-half mistake on the part of Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda has left many soccer fans wondering if the time has finally come for FIFA to implement some form of instant replay on the field and- more importantly- whether the better team won a berth in the quarterfinals.
In today’s match in Bloemfontein, the Germans struck first with clinical finishes from Miroslave Klose and Lukas Podolski in the twentieth and thirty-second minutes respectively. The Germans definitely appeared to be the better side early on, but the English began to find their footing in the match shortly after Podolski’s strike hit the back of the English net.
The first true English counterpunch came in the thirty-seventh minute when Matthew Upson put home a headed attempt on goal off a Steven Gerrard free kick to make the game 2-1. Then, less than one minute later, came the moment which is sure to haunt English dreams for years to come.
After a respectable buildup by his team, English midfielder Frank Lampard came to possess the ball at the top of the German penalty area. He let loose a looping shot on goal which beat German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer but crashed off the crossbar. The ball ricocheted straight down and past the German goal-line, yet the backspin created by its collision with the crossbar sent it back into the field of play. Sadly neither referee Jorge Larrionda nor his linesman were in a position to make the call, and the goal never counted.
From then on a match which could have been anyone’s game at 2-2 seemed destined to end in a German victory. Both of Germany’s goals in the second half came off devastating counterattacks which were a result of the England team desperately pushing for a tying goal which they’d rightfully already scored. The game’s end result may have been 4-1 in favor of the Germans, but England coach Fabio Capello knows the game could have turned out much differently.
“"We made some mistakes when they played the counterattack,” Capello told ESPN.com after the game. “The referee made bigger mistakes. If we are given that goal, there is no way of telling what the end result would have been.”
Back home in Norman, fans were left with a bitter taste in their mouth regardless of which team they were backing heading into the game.
“I wish England would have won, and I still think they could have,” said Norman resident Walter Russell. “The fact there’s no instant replay [in FIFA-sanctioned soccer games] is absolute horseshit.”
Germany supporter Bryan Spitz echoed Russell’s sentiment, only without the profanity. After all, his team won.
“I really wish they’d get these things right,” Spitz said. “FIFA seems to think any press is good press, but they don’t recognize that stuff like this turns off casual fans from watching soccer.”
Both men say they’ll continue to watch the World Cup despite the refereeing gaffes, but that the game as a whole would be much better if FIFA, as Walter Russell eloquently puts it, “grows the fuck up and joins the twenty-first century already.”

England vs Germany Photos

In in-goal shot of Frank Lampard's shot having clearly crossed the German Goal-line.
Courtesy UK Daily Mail online



England Coach Fabio Capello reacts to the referee's decision
Courtesy skysports.com

Midterm Project

Kimen is a working mother whose nontraditional family environment helps to keep her sane when she’s not on the job. In this piece she talks about balancing her sometimes-hectic yet always interesting schedule, and what it means to her to come home at the end of the day.

Hat Trick Soccer Photos

Controversial tie good for U.S. soccer?

In the wake of Friday’s controversial 2-2 tie between the United States and Slovenia in the FIFA World Cup, the American sports media has been abuzz with talk of the U.S. team being robbed by a poor decision by the game’s referee.
Before the game kicked off in Johannesburg’s Ellis Stadium the American team was favored to pick up the victory, but goals from Slovenia’s Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic in the twelfth and forty-first minutes respectively had put a large dent in those expectations before the stroke of halftime.
Yet in the second half the American team came storming back with a goal from Landon Donovan in the forty-seventh minute and Michael Bradley’s eventual equalizer in the eighty-first.
Then, in the eighty-sixth minute of the game with the score tied at two goals apiece, rookie FIFA World Cup referee Koman Coulibaly made the decision to disallow a goal by halftime substitute Maurice Edu off of a Landon Donovan free kick.
The goal would have likely given the United States team a win which would have put them atop Group C ahead of England, Algeria and the Slovenians and in a commanding position to qualify among the top two teams in their group and thus gain a berth in the World Cup’s knockout round. As it now stands, a victory for the United States against Algeria or a tie and an England loss will still secure a berth in the next round, but the United States’ advancement is much less certain due to the referee’s call.
After the game, the American sports media was quick to voice its collective disapproval of referee Coulibaly‘s decision. ESPN soccer analyst Alexi Lalas called the decision “shameful” on-air, and NewYorkTimes.com ran an article with the headline “Stunning Rally, Shocking Call.”
Yet lost in the uproar over the United State’s perceived role as the victim of a poor call is the fact that it might end up being a good thing in the long run for soccer in America.
“I don’t ever watch soccer really, but I know enough about it to tell you one thing: that call was bullshit,” said Norman resident Bradley Marshall. “I didn’t watch the game live, but I’ve seen the highlights a bunch of times and now I’m pretty fired up to see if we can make it to the next round… I definitely plan on watching the game against Algeria to see if that call ends up costing us.”
Marshall said that even if he doesn’t watch soccer regularly the thing that draws him to sports in general is the drama of competition, and that the World Cup has displayed sufficient drama and pageantry to warrant his attention.
“Who knows, after watching [Wednesday’s game against the Algerians] I might be a fan,” said Marshall.
Stephen Reynolds, a self-described soccer fan and Norman resident, said that he has enjoyed the number of soccer-related conversations he’s been a part of since the game against Slovenia.
“It just seems like that was the thing the average sports fan needed to get them to take notice of the World Cup,” he said. “Nothing motivates people like being pissed off, and when you mess with any American national sports team, Americans get pissed off… Hopefully we’ll be able to point to [referee Coulibaly’s call] in ten years and say that it got people more interested in soccer.”
Like Marshall, Reynolds plans to watch Wednesday’s game against Algeria and afterward hopes to discuss the result with an ever-increasing number people who are just beginning to take notice of soccer in America.
“As long as [the game’s referees] don’t screw us over again, I’m sure it’ll be a fun time,” he said.

Hat Trick complex scores with OKC soccer fans

At Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas in Oklahoma City players from all walks of life are coming together to play the beautiful game.
From youth leagues to divisions restricted to players over thirty years of age, from co-ed matches to highly competitive men’s upper-division play one thing is certain: if you enjoy playing soccer, there’s a place at Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas for you.
“We have over 30 different leagues going at the moment, counting all of our men’s, women’s, and co-ed divisions,” said complex manager Rasool Faily.
Faily said that each division is structured to mimic the promotion and relegation system employed by European domestic leagues. If a team finishes near the top of its current league in any given season, they are promoted to the next division up the skill ladder. If they finish at the bottom, they are demoted.
“This helps to ensure that everybody is playing at a level near where they should be,” said Faily. “Some of our leagues get very competitive, and some are much more laid back... However seriously you wish to take the game, there are always people out there like you wanting to compete.”
Faily said he has been managing at Hat Trick for twelve years, and that in that time business has increased many times over. “We started with only ten or eleven leagues,“ he said. “Now there’s hundreds of people playing here every day year-round. It’s really been amazing to see.”
Faily said managing the three-field complex year-round can be exhausting at times, but that he is glad he gets to share his love for soccer with hundreds of fellow enthusiasts.
“Some days I simply walk around the complex and watch as many different games as I can,” he said. “I actually get paid to watch soccer some days. How cool is that?”
Brett Vinyard, goalkeeper for the Norman-based team FC Trout, said he first heard about Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas from a friend, and has been hooked since his first game.
“I have always loved playing soccer, but in my college days I discovered that I also love smoking cigarettes and drinking beer,” Vinyard Said. “Playing [at Hat Trick] lets me do both.”
Vinyard said that the size of the walled-in fields is perfect for a group of seven or eight friends to come together and field a team.
“Playing here feels like a cross between soccer and hockey,” Vinyard said. “There’s a goalie on the field all the time, along with five other players… You’re allowed to substitute a player on the bench for a player on the field at any time, a lot like hockey, and the walls around the fields keep the game moving fast... None of the guys on my team are in peak condition, so being able to run to the sidelines and take a break whenever you get winded is absolutely necessary.”
Vinyard said that his team’s name stems from Trout Street in Norman Oklahoma, where he and a few of his current teammates once shared a house. For Vinyard, being able to name your own team is just one more thing that makes playing at Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas enjoyable.
“We get our new schedule each season and just laugh sometimes,” Vinyard said. “It’s a lot of fun when you get into a rivalry with a bunch of guys whose team name is ‘Tacos Tacos Tacos‘ or ‘Team Funkybunch’”
Vinyard said he looks forward to his next game all week long, and that as long as he can he’ll compete at Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas.
“This place is just filled with people leading regular lives and coming together for one reason,” he said. “We all love soccer.”

World Cup Fever Catching On

The FIFA World Cup has returned, and American soccer fans couldn‘t be happier. Every four years the world’s most-watched sporting tournament entertains countless millions of international soccer fans, and this summer a dedicated group of self-proclaimed “soccer nuts” are doing their best to bring that spirit to Norman, Oklahoma.
Scott Strandberg, Kiel Dehnert, and Phil Lewis aren’t your typical American sports fans. The walls of three roommates’ house display posters for international soccer clubs such as Manchester United and Barcelona FC, with nary an NFL logo or picture of Lebron James in sight. The back yard is littered with soccer balls and a hand-built PVC pipe soccer goal stands directly in front of their back fence. The high definition television in the living room is most-often tuned to Fox Soccer Channel and the most-played video game in the house is EA Sport’s FIFA 2010 which is- you guessed it- a soccer game.
“I hate football and I suppose basketball’s alright,” says Dehnert. “Soccer- to me- is the greatest sport in the world, so when the World Cup rolls around, you know I intend to make the most of it.”
Strandberg agrees, saying “in terms of passion of the fans and beauty of the game itself, no sport can touch soccer.”
Lewis says that in honor of this year’s World Cup in South Africa, the three roommates have taken it upon themselves since the start of play last Thursday to wake one another up for each day’s first game, which is often as early as six in the morning.
“There’s a seven hour time difference between us and the games, and none of us are morning people by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “But it’s definitely worth waking up early.”
Dehnert echoed Lewis’s sentiment, saying there’s no poor morning mood a little soccer and a lot of coffee can’t fix.
Strandberg says one of the other benefits of the World Cup is that it makes it easier to discuss soccer with people who don’t often follow the sport.
“I enjoy keeping track of all of the European domestic leagues throughout their seasons,” he said. “But it’s really nice to be able to talk about the game with casual fans who only really pay attention every four years.”
The three agree that so far the games have been exciting on the whole, but that nothing has come close to the thrill of watching the United States tie England last Saturday afternoon.
“We did it right for that game,” said Dehnert. “We had about twenty friends over, grilled out beforehand and celebrated like hell afterwards.”
The game finished 1-1 after ninety minutes, though early on it looked as though England might win easily. English international Steven Gerrard gave his squad the lead in the fourth minute of the contest, and for much of the first half England appeared to be the better squad.
“Early on we looked like a bunch of chumps,” said Strandberg. “They were having their way with us in front of the whole world.”
Everything changed in the 40th minute of the contest, when American striker Clint Dempsey’s shot from just outside the English penalty box bounced off goalkeeper Robert Green’s hands and trickled into the goal.
“When that happened, everyone was in disbelief,” said Dehnert. “I mean, to mess up like that in the World Cup, I can’t imagine what sort of grief [Green is] catching back in England.”
The unexpected tie has put the United States in a good position to qualify among the top two teams in their group, which includes England, Slovenia, and Algeria. If they do so, they will advance to knockout play, where a single game decides whether a team advances in the tournament or is sent home. Sixteen teams qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament, and with each successive round the tension for both players and fans increases.
“That’s the beauty of the World Cup,” said Lewis. “The pressure just keeps getting greater and greater if you can make it out of your group and into knockout play. Once that happens, things really get intense.”
The next chance for this trio of fans to watch the Americans take the field in South Africa will come this Friday, when the U.S. takes on Slovenia in the South African city of Johannesburg.
Regardless of the outcome, all three roommates say they’ll support their team for the rest of this summer’s FIFA World Cup and beyond.
“I mean, what else are we going to do,” said Burke. “Watch baseball? Yeah right. Give me a real sport.”

Adventures in Audio

First Assignment

These two pictures represent the first assignment in my JMC 3003 Multimedia Journalism course.


The first picture is a close shot of my roommate Ryan's coffee table, and it was meant to represent his personality without him being present in the shot. I did not have to arrange the items in this shot at all, as the Jerry Garcia doll and Fantasia Mickey Mouse are always on his coffee table, and the books are piled behind them because he recently moved out of his office for the summer.


In the second shot, we were expected to take an outdoor or landscape shot and I chose the Amtrak depot located in Norman on Jones Street right next to its intersection with Eufala St. I pass this spot at least once every day and wanted to look at it through the viewfinder to see how it turned out. Hopefully you enjoy them both, I know I enjoyed the assignment.