Superbowl Crazies

People do some really nutty things on Superbowl gameday! Tailgate parties in snow covered parking lots dressed in nothing but shorts and flip-flops, face-painting jobs that would scare the Grim Reaper, and of course some weird and freaky bets. One wager is based on whether Fergie will wear shorts during the halftime show. Another bet centers on which color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach. Seriously? Seriously!

Even some of the country's highest-browed art lovers are getting into the act. The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has bet a Renoir that the Steelers will win Sunday. The Milwaukee Art Museum took that bet — and put up a rare Gustave Caillebotte painting in return. Should the Steelers lose to the Packers, Milwaukee's prize will be one of Pierre Auguste Renoir's paintings of bathers. Lynn Zelevansky, director of the Carnegie Art Museum, describes Bathers With Crab as "a late Renoir, which is the Renoir that everybody loves — all those lovely pink maidens."

Should the Packers lose, however, the Carnegie Museum gets Gustave Caillebotte's Boating on the Yerres. Either way, the winning city will keep the borrowed painting for just a few months before returning it to the loser. Until then, Keegan says that they will receive a strong exhibit from a great museum in Milwaukee. Zelevansky feels exactly the same way: "We have a very strong Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection — but we don't have Caillebotte. I'm looking forward to bringing Caillebotte to the museum."

Pakistan players and agent charged over betting scandal

By Owen Gibson, republished from The Guardian: The three Pakistan players at the centre of the spot-fixing row that rocked cricket last summer were today told they would face criminal charges in a British court, becoming high-profile test cases for new legislation introduced five years ago to prevent cheating at gambling. The trio will tomorrow hear from an International Cricket Council tribunal in Qatar whether they face lengthy or even life bans from the sport under the governing body's regulatory code, but must now also return to London next month to face charges of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and also conspiracy to cheat.

The batsman Salman Butt, who was captain at the time of the incidents under investigation, and the fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were told that extradition treaties would be sought if they did not return to London voluntarily, as they promised when they returned to Pakistan amid a swirl of controversy in September. The charges, which carry maximum sentences of seven years and two years in prison respectively, also apply to the alleged "fixer", Mazhar Majeed. Majeed, who acted as an agent to several Pakistan players including Butt and was alleged by the News of the World to have accepted payment in return for ordering no-balls to be bowled at specific points, is also under investigation for money laundering by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

"These charges relate to allegations that Mr Majeed accepted money from a third party to arrange for the players to bowl no-balls on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan's fourth Test at Lord's cricket ground in London," said Simon Clements, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime division. He said the CPS had worked closely with the police since the allegations first became public on 27 August last year. "We received a full file of evidence on 7 December 2010 and we are satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute," Clements added.

Majeed was alleged to have accepted £150,000 from reporters posing as frontmen for a Far East gambling cartel and allegedly stated when the three no-balls would be bowled. The reported claims appeared to be borne out by the events of the second day of the Fourth Test, when they were delivered as predicted. The four men will appear before the City of Westminster magistrates court on 17 March, but the case is unlikely to reach a full trial for over a year, casting an ongoing shadow over the sport. Unlike the players, Majeed, also under investigation for alleged money laundering by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, did not appear at the recent ICC hearing in Doha, Qatar, because he does not fall under the aegis of its sporting code.

A three-person panel, headed by Michael Beloff QC, heard more than 45 hours of evidence from the three players and other witnesses and will today rule on whether they should face bans of between five years and life in the worst betting scandal to hit the sport since the Hansie Cronje affair. The criminal case will also pose more problems for the ICC, which had hoped to draw a line under the affair ahead of the forthcoming Cricket World Cup. At the height of the controversy last year, when it appeared the Pakistan team may call off their tour of England and the country's high commissioner claimed the allegations were part of a smear campaign, there were fears the scandal could fundamentally undermine the sport. It also sparked widespread concern at the extent to which illegal gambling operations in the Far East and Asia had infiltrated professional sport.

In November, the former Pakistani wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider fled to London claiming his life was in danger after refusing to co-operate with match-fixers. He has yet to hear whether his asylum request has been granted. Previous high-profile attempts to tackle alleged sporting corruption have ended embarrassingly for the CPS, as when the trial involving jockey Kieren Fallon collapsed. The offence of conspiracy to cheat, introduced under the 2005 Gambling Act, is untested in British courts. A parallel case, involving the former Essex bowler Mervyn Westfield, could be the first to reach trial. Westfield, who faces the same charges as the Pakistan trio but without the conspiracy element, is alleged to have bowled in such a way to allow his opponents to reach a certain score during a one-day county match against Durham. He is scheduled to appear in court again next week.

How Cricket Explains Pakistan

Reprinted from Foreign Policy: In some countries, like England and Australia, cricket is played as recreation; in others, like India, as meditation. Watching Pakistani cricketers, however, one senses the sport is their purest physical expression. They are like Argentine footballers: unpredictable, a little shady, a bit dangerous, full of eccentrics and cranks, often inefficient and blundering, but possessed of a mercurial passion and an utter magic. When the legendary cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan led Pakistan to an improbable World Cup win in 1992, it wasn't just a triumph of skill, it was a celebration of cricket itself -- a game, its followers like to say, of "glorious uncertainties." Then, as now, in the lanes of Karachi and Lahore, in track pants and tees with duct tape wrapped around a tennis ball, or on parched Punjab dustlands, barefoot in salwar kameezes with homemade bats and bricks for stumps, youngsters are to be found tearing in to bowl, in a performance always. So when the brilliant light of Pakistan cricket dims, the rest of the cricket world takes notice. And these days, Pakistan is confronting some of its dimmest times, in cricket as in everything else.

In November 2008, following the Mumbai attack launched by Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, India broke cricket ties with Pakistan, causing the game there a significant financial blow. A few months later, in March 2009, a terrorist group attacked a visiting Sri Lankan team. This attack, undertaken in clear morning light, as the team bus drove to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, injured several of the players and killed six security men and the bus driver. Pakistan has not been able to host international cricket on home soil ever since. Then, in 2010, the national team was rocked by a match-fixing scandal: Three leading players, including the captain, were suspended as a result of a sting operation conducted by the British tabloid News of the World (the players are currently in Doha at a special cricket corruption court for hearings that are expected to conclude on Jan. 11), and a widening investigation has placed several other players under suspicion. Three years, three body blows to Pakistani cricket. It now stands on the brink of collapse.

Each of these events has deep roots. The modern concept of sport as big business came late to cricket. Not until India's economy was opened up in the mid-1990s, attracting multinational companies trying to reach a mammoth audience through advertising spots, could international cricket dream of signing television or player contracts worth even a fraction of those in, say, soccer or baseball. The coming of big money led to the thoughtless overscheduling of tournaments and, in an underregulated atmosphere, an explosion of interest from underworld betting cartels. These factors combusted into cricket's first match-fixing crisis in 2000, tarring big names across the world but especially in India, Pakistan, and South Africa. One may argue that India is scarcely a less corrupt nation than its neighbor -- the founder-commissioner of the big-bucks Indian Premier League, in fact, is under investigation on a wide range of corruption charges -- but at least it has been able to reward its elite cricketers spectacularly.

To read the complete article by Rahul Bhattacharya in Foreign Policy magazine, click on the title link, "How Cricket Explains Pakistan".

My 2011 Sporting Wishlist

Okay, so I live in a fantasy world... who doesn't? But like most of you I have a list in my head of the sporting achievements I would personally like to have unfold over the coming year. Here they are:

Teams
Australian Tennis: Davis Cup Champions
BYU Cougars: NCAA Basketball Champions
Auckland Warriors: NRL Grand Final Champions
NSW Waratahs: Super-15 Rugby Champions
New Zealand All Blacks: Rugby World Cup & 4-Nations Champions
Philadelphia Eagles: NFL Superbowl Champions
Sydney Swans: AFL Grand Final Champions
Tottenham Hotspur: EPL Champions, UEFA Champions League Winners
Utah Jazz: NBA Champions
Utah Utes: Pac-10 Champions, NCAA National Football Champions

Individuals
Deron Williams: NBA Most Valuable Player
Mark Webber: Formula 1 Champion
Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal: Split the Grand Slams between them (2 each)
Samantha Stosur: Win her first tennis Grand Slam
Urijah Faber: UFC Bantamweight Champion

Jonny Wilkinson extends his Toulon contract

England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has signed a contract extension with French Top-14 club Toulon for a further season, with an option for a second. The 86-times capped 31-year-old, with 1178 international points to his name, will continue playing for the southern French outfit until 2013. This season he is the top scorer in the French league with 169 points.It's a move which could spell the end of the England star's international career.

His decision to stay in France could have serious implications for his international career after the Rugby Football Union (RFU) decided to only select players from domestic clubs after the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. Wilkinson, whose extra-time drop-goal won the 2003 World Cup for England, arrived at Toulon in the summer of 2009 from Newcastle and scored 302 points in his first season in France. Personally, I completely understand this move, as it probably prolongs his money-earning years by at least 2-3 seasons. He and Dan Carter of New Zealand, are the best players at their position, over the last 20 years. All the very best, Jonny!

Change in Australian cricket selector panel sorely needed

I fully agree with respected former panelist, John Benaud, that Andrew Hilditch, the current chairman of the selection panel for Cricket Australia, should do the right thing for the team and fall on his sword. Aside from Australia's dismal form of late, it emerged a staggering 36 players have worn the baggy green cap since the retirement of star trio Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer four years ago. This is unheard of in the normally stable, durable and consistent team line-up. However, instead of that scenario taking place it emerges that Hildtich Hilditch, whose contract expires after the World Cup in April, wishes to extend contract. The selectors, under Hilditch, have an ever-worsening record, underscored by their choosing so many players and not doing enough to develop many of those selected. Australia need to get back on top and cannot do so with the current panel, and we desperately need new blood in team management.

Farewell Urban

My favorite college football coach, Urban Meyer, of Gators and Utes fame, has announced that he is quitting his position as head coach of the University of Florida. He is citing family reasons, and possibly there is a hint of disappointment in how this season has panned out, but what a coach he is. Meyer led the Gators to 2 national championships in 6 seasons, losing only 10 games in his first 5 years in Gainesville. Urban is one of the top coaches and I wish him well in any endeavor, and I am sure that he will be back coaching in the not too distant future.

Mike Shanahan's Ego Consumes Redskins

Republished from the San Francisco Chronicle: In the NFL season before the much-ballyhooed arrival in Washington of two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Shanahan, the team in Washington that Shanahan took over had lots of problems. The defense, however, was not one of them. It even featured a new two-time Pro Bowl player, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who team owner Dan Snyder bought off the free-agent market with a $100-million contract that made him the richest defensive player in NFL history. But on Tuesday, an ugly dozen games into his Washington coaching career -- for which he has produced just five wins -- Shanahan kicked Haynesworth off the team for the rest of the season. "Conduct detrimental to the team" was the explanation. Shanahan didn't even let Haynesworth suit up last Sunday. The Giants then literally ran over Shanahan's Haynesworth-less defense en route to a 31-7 beat down that became the most embarrassing loss of Shanahan's Washington era. And it wasn't the first game Shanahan refused to play Haynesworth without citing injury. He shelved Haynesworth in October against the Colts and lost that game too. Haynesworth won't be a Pro Bowl player again this season for a lot of reasons. Some are his doing. A big one is Shanahan.

Watching Shanahan coach Haynesworth this season has been like the Disney comedy "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." He took a player who arrived in the nation's capital as an MVP candidate and turned him into a backup. Shanahan took an asset on a team with few and reduced it to penny stock. Shanahan proved to be an alchemist in reverse. Watching Shanahan coach [Albert] Haynesworth this season reminded of the Disney comedy "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." He took a player who arrived in the nation's capital as an MVP candidate and turned him into a backup. "Yesterday [Monday], when Albert was at Redskin Park, he told our General Manager Bruce Allen that he [Haynesworth] would no longer speak with me," Shanahan said in a prepared statement released Tuesday. "Although suspending any player is not a decision that a head coach enters into lightly, I believe the situation has reached the point where the club clearly has no alternative." Consider the disrespect mutual.

There was one calculation Shanahan was correct in making about Haynesworth. It was that he could positively juxtapose himself against Haynesworth, casting Haynesworth as another overpaid, couldn't-care-less athlete who fans, and much of the media, love to loath. Haynesworth was an easy mark, too. He looked the part of the despised with his protruding belly. He acted the part by bypassing involuntary workouts and showing up at headquarters only when required to, and then doing so in a brand new car that only a $100 million athlete can buy. Haynesworth appeared to be the perfect malcontent. The disgust he garnered kicked up so much dust that it blinded most observers to Shanahan's own shortcomings. After all, that defense Shanahan inherited with Haynesworth as an anchor was the 10th stingiest in points allowed in 2009. It played a 4-3 alignment in which Haynesworth prospered. Through 12 games in 2010, however, the same defense ranks dead last in points allowed. Shanahan instituted his preferred 3-4 alignment that Haynesworth had to be dragged kicking and screaming to play.

Haynesworth was alone early on in his protest of Shanahan's philosophy. But as the defense continued to get shoved up and down the field, other teammates began to side with his critique. But with Shanahan, it was going to be his way or the highway. Shanahan's way, quietly as it's been kept, is to nowhere nowadays. It's been a long time since Shanahan was a Super Bowl-winning coach. Come next season, it will be two decades ago that Hall of Fame member John Elway quarterbacked Shanahan's Denver Broncos to back-to-back titles. It's even been a while since Shanahan was a playoff participating coach too. The last time was in the 2005 season when his Broncos finished 13-3 and lost to the Steelers in the AFC championship game. Since then, Shanahan has been nothing more than an average coach in this league. He went 9-7, 7-9 and 8-8 in his last three seasons in Denver before Snyder swooped in last offseason and whisked him away to the East Coast.

To read the complete article by Kevin Blackistone, please click on the title link, "Mike Shanahan's Ego Consumes Redskins"

This humble pie tastes like a car tire and it goes down like peanut butter

They say that pride cometh before the fall, and last night the cocksure New York Jets got their collective butts stomped on by the New England Patriots. That by itself is not an unusual thing, it's happened many times over the last fifteen years. But it was the margin of 43 points to 7 they lost by, and frankly they were completely outclassed and sent home with their tails between their legs. For me it is a great comeuppance, for big-noting and big-mouthing about how the Jets were going to destroy their opponents. A better team, a better coach and a better plan showed them just how wrong they were.

Like many, I love it when braggarts get pummeled, and the Jets are NFLs worst. Rex Ryan is trying to instill a winning mental attitude, but in a lot of things he goes too far. It is just delicious natural justice that the team the declared itself the Superbowl favourites at the beginning of the season, have a real chance of not even making the playoffs. That would just be the ultimate in shooting oneself in the foot. Here's some advice Rex; shut-up and play, keep your comments respectful, and make sure your team comes ready to play, not to boast. Or else it will be a long and forlorn post-season for y'all! Yeehaw!

Sore losers

I have spent the last few days analyzing the reaction of the United States losing their bid to win the rights to stage the 2022 World Cup. If you were to believe most of the pundits I have heard; a) the U.S. was a sure thing, b) the U.S. was robbed, 3) no other country could possibly have deserved it, and 4) we should nuke both Qatar, the eventual winner, and FIFA headquarters in Switzerland. What a pathetic bunch of sore losers. You all make me sick. And yes, I am an American.

Let me stress some facts here. The world does not revolve around America, I know that may surprise some of you, but it's true. There are at least 250 other other countries in the world, and FIFA, the governing body, has 208 member associations, all of whom, probably would like to host the world cup. Why shouldn't it go to an Australia, an India, or... a Qatar? Yes, I understand all the arguments about infrastructure and all that, and the argument does have merit, but the U.S. hosted it very recently in 1994.

Qatar is being given the right to host, not just for their tiny country, but for the Middle Eastern region, and Qatar is certainly one of the more stable and secure nations in the area. Why shouldn't FIFA expand into new lands and increase the global game, especially in that region? Why does a negative vote automatically qualify as corruption or disrespect? Let's get on with the game. It will be the perfect opportunity for the U.S. to win the World Cup in virtually a neutral venue, where there are NO giant German, Italian, Brazilian or Argentinian shadows cast across the pitch.