Football requires rethink
Only the high-ups of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) would be able to tell how much impact its extravagant experiment of sending two different 'national' teams to India and Malaysia this month will have in the near future.
With the SAFF Championship due this December, the footballers will get just four months to prepare in a bid to regain the regional trophy they gave up to India in December 2005. Lack of preparation, however, was evident in Bangladesh's games in the Nehru Cup where they even failed to beat Cambodia, whose last-gasp equaliser forced a 1-1 draw -- the only point Bangladesh earned in the five-team round robin league.
While hosts India began their preparation months ago and played five warm-up matches in Portugal, the Bangladeshi footballers did not even get the chance to know their teammates properly as they camped for less than two weeks after playing the inaugural professional league for six months.
The last time Bangladesh played in the SAFF Championship, under Argentine coach Diego Cruciani, they got four months to unite and reached the final. To be one of the final pairing again in Sri Lanka and Maldives, who host the eight-nation meet jointly, the BFF must start implementing its plans now. And football's governing body must only not concentrate on the only plan it had shown in the past: Long-term camp and no preparation matches
A great way to get you updated with latest Soccer Scores!
As a dedicated soccer fan I always watch TV to get the latest soccer news. However, with ever growing internet dominance I have found a much better way to get my favorite teams results online. Service provider ScommesseOnline is an excellent place to get the latest match results and updates.
With ScommesseOnline you can find all the odds of European bookmakers and take the bonus when you open a new account. With such added advantages I personally believe ScommesseOnline is the ultimate place for soccer score updates
Akavar 20/50 Weight Loss Tablets - Ideal for Sports personals
Sports such as football, volleyball, soccer, etc. requires players to stay fit all the time. For those who had left the game after being rated overweight, there is good news for you. The new introduction of Akavar 20/50 by European scientists is the news many of the sports personals have been waiting for.
Akavar Weight Loss Pill is developed to help people lose weight in a safe and controlled manner. It is a small and easy to swallow tablet recommended to take daily. The good thing about Akavar is people can eat any food they want while taking the tablets. After seeing many positive reviews about the product I am convinced that this will be ideal for any person who wants to have a beautiful body free from excess fat.
England wins comfortably
Buoyant England coach Steve McClaren has roared out a warning to the rest of Europe - there is more to come from us.
England backed up their three-goal triumph over Israel at the weekend by dismantling major group E rivals Russia at Wembley to take a massive stride towards Euro 2008. Michael Owen's first-half double, plus a late strike from Rio Ferdinand - his first England goal in over five years - secured a comfortable win which leaves McClaren's men requiring just five points from their remaining three games to qualify, providing one of them comes in Russia next month.
The result was more remarkable given England were without Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. And the absence of that illustrious quartet, plus veteran defender Gary Neville, is one of the major reasons why McClaren is so bullish about the improvement still to come
Professional online golf clubs
Away from football, I will this time looking to the worlds fastest growing sport golf. As gold become more popular globally with many golf clubs, everyone is wondering how an online golf club can help the rest of the online community. Many such clubs do offer vital information about golf and the oppertunity to do wonderful online courses to their community. One other great advantage is the oppertunity to have your own Golf Handicap Calculator which gives members the oppertunity to manage thier own handicap online.
With many such communities growing globally it is vital to join a community that has excellent golf reward scheme for its members. It is true that many golf Clubs are looking for keen golfers that would be interested in adding information to the clubs listed on thier site and keeping them up-to-date.
Golf is one of the most popular sport in Europe and of course globally. The interest for the game has been growing rapidly. It is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed, standardised playing field or area which makes it unique from other ball games
EPL Review - Tottenham Hotspurs
English Premier League is undoubtedly one of the best football league in the world. Great football clubs such as Tottenham Hotspurs, Chelsea, Man United, etc have contributed to the success of the league. This time I will provide more details about Tottenham Hotspurs.
Tottenham Hotspurs commonly known as Spurs is the first ever team in 20th century to win both the league and FA Cup double. It is also one of the oldest football club is English football. They are also the first ever English team to win the European Cup Winners Cup. Founded in 1882, Supers has won all the major titles in English football and is regarded as one of the greatest club in the world currently.
Tottenham has many supporters from around world. Most of their own fans refer the club as Lilywhites because of their traditional white shirts. Tottenham Forum is a place where fans discuss about the club, players, transfers, etc. I found the discussions very impressive. It is of course one way that you can show your loyalty to your favorite football club.
Premier League is interesting
I love football since I was a kid. Diego Maradona, Klinsmann, and Van Basten are my favorite players. Now football is one big industry, especially, Premier League. Football is popular everywhere, and no doubt football is the most popular sport in all around the world. However, in America, football is called soccer and it’s not very popular among them.
Football Transfer are very important for most football fans. They are searching everywhere, from newspapers to internet. I still remember when I was watching the game between Liverpool and Manchester United in Anfield, so many fanatics Liverpool fans there.
Speaking about Liverpool, now it is my favorite team (since 1998). I love them when they finally won the Champions League (in 2005). Now, they have brought Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun, just make me love them more than ever. One thing that attracted me to Premier League is WAGs (Footballer’s Wife and Girlfriends). Their movements in transfer market are awesome and when I am searching for any Football Transfer, I always found at least one news about Liverpool every 2 days.
Soccer in Asia
Soccer is of course the most popular sport in the world. I myself watch soccer regularly. Many popular tournaments such as EPL, Italian Seri A, SPL, European champions leagues are very polular in many parts of the world. Soccer fixtures between top international teams and clubs are available to see in many top soccer dedicated websites.
The popularity of the game is increasing rapidly. It is believed that soccer (also know as football) was introduced to Asia in the latter half of the 19th century. Although it was not received warmly early on, the game has pick up its rhythm recently. Many Asian clubs have performed very well in recent world cup in Korea & Japan. Some memorable international moments have indicated the potential of football Asia and in Oceania. Asia's first notable success was North Korea's stunning defeat of Italy at the 1966 World Cup finals.
Unlike earlier days, Asia will represent 05 teams in Worlds biggest sports competition (World Cup). Meanwhile, domestic club competitions across Asia and Oceania have been weakened by the need for top national players to join better clubs in Europe or South America to test and improve their talents at a markedly higher level.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Football News
San Jose Mercury: Tedford: Jackson should play in bowl
Cal Coach Jeff Tedford said he expects receiver DeSean Jackson to play in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 31. Jackson sat out the Big Game against Stanford with a thigh contusion. "I would think so," Tedford said when asked if Jackson will play. "The game is a long way away." Tedford also said Jackson has maintained a positive attitude during the team's struggles. Jackson has more catches (60) than last year (59) despite missing the past 1 1/2 games because with the injury. But his 681 yards receiving is well off the pace of his 1,060 a year ago, and he's failed to match his production on punt returns from a year ago.
Many expect Jackson, a junior, to turn pro after the season. Tedford said he and Jackson have yet to discuss his future.
"He still has a great attitude," Tedford said. "He's not a malcontent by any means." In other injury news, Tedford said he still doesn't have an official diagnosis for running back Jahvid Best's hip injury. The team still is waiting to gather multiple evaluations of MRIs from experts across the country. Best is out for the season, and the team wants to make sure the injury doesn't have any long-term ramifications. The Bears will hold 13 practices before the Armed Forces Bowl. Tedford said the Bears won't start putting in the game plan for Air Force until next week. Cal leaves for Forth Worth on Dec. 27.
Daily Cal: Cal Meets High-Flying Air Force in Texas Tilt
BY Gerald Nicdao
Tailback Justin Forsett was probably the most excited member of the Cal football team when he heard that the Bears were going to go bowling in Fort Worth, Texas. The senior hails from Arlington, Texas, a mere 10 minutes away from Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU. That’s where Cal will play Air Force in the Armed Forced Bowl on New Year’s Eve at 9:30 a.m. PST. But Forsett wasn’t the only one who will be welcoming his homecoming. “They were excited,” said Forsett of his parents. “They didn’t know if we were going to make it to a bowl either. It’s right in our backyard, so we’re going to get a lot of people together to come out and enjoy my last game.” Forsett’s parents were right to be concerned that their son may not have had a chance to play in the postseason. The Bears (6-6) finished the year losing six of their last seven games—most of them nail-biters, losing only two games by double-digit margins. The team needed Arizona State to defeat Arizona to ensure a bowl bid.
The losing skid coupled with losing the Big Game to Stanford for the first time in his four-year career with Cal, Forsett is ready to at least leave his college career on a high note. “We definitely want to go out get another opportunity,” Forsett said. “We deserve to be as high as we were in the beginning of the season. We had a lot of ups and downs, it hasn’t worked out as well.” Air Force has seen a resurgence under first-year coach Troy Calhoun. The Falcons (9-3) have won six of their last seven games after going 4-8 in 2006. Calhoun was able to lead his new team to five more wins and a second place finish in the Mountain West Conference—second only to perennial conference power BYU. Calhoun said he will not be underestimating his reeling opponent in the bowl game. He expects the Cal team that defeated Tennessee and Oregon at the beginning of the year to be the squad that shows up in Fort Worth.
“From a national standpoint, it absolutely does that,” said Calhoun of getting tested by the Bears. “You’re talking about a team talent-wise that was a top-five team in the country. We’re going to get big-time tested. “We’re going to get a great team to play against. Certainly one that played quite well against us three years ago and a team earlier this year that was the best team in all of college football.” That option scheme is the same one that the Falcons still employ today, and they have used it to obtain a winning record this year. Air Force is ranked second only to Navy in the country in rushing yards per game, averaging about 298.5 on the ground during the regular season. The quarterback running the option is the same gunslinger that played against Cal three years ago. Senior Shaun Carney has thrown for just 1,423 yards and eight touchdowns. The Falcons’ passing attack ranks near the bottom of the MWC. But Carney has rushed for 529 yards and five touchdowns, as part of that efficient Air Force ground game.
The Falcons’ leading rusher—Chad Hall—has 1,414 yards and has scored 14 touchdowns. This may pose a problem for Cal, which has given up 175 yards per game on the ground in its last seven matches and is ranked seventh in the Pac-10 in rush defense. “In our experience with Air Force, they’re always a disciplined football team,” Tedford said. “They work very hard. With the option that they used to run, it was very difficult to stop. Going 9-3, they’ve obviously done something right.” Tedford said that his team will use the extra time of practice to get younger players more reps. It will also allow players like quarterback Nate Longshore—who has been suffering from a bone chip in his ankle the last seven weeks of the season—to rest. All of this is in hopes of giving the program a boost, especially after the kind of stretch the Bears underwent in the second half of the season. “I definitely think that it would give a little bit of momentum going into the offseason,” Tedford said. “Either way, there’s going to be a real strong evaluation of everything we do in the program. Obviously, you’d feel better if you won, mainly for the seniors to leave here to feel good about their last game.”
Star Telegram: ARMED FORCES BOWL NOTES
By TROY PHILLIPS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Bowls are notorious for matching head coaches, by chance, with deep ties in the coaching community. Often, they coached under the same head coaches, worked together or played against each other in college. Cal's Jeff Tedford and Air Force's Troy Calhoun have little connecting them. Calhoun spent one season (2006) as the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, working with then-quarterback David Carr, now with the Carolina Panthers. For a brief time, Tedford worked with Carr (1997) at Fresno State as offensive coordinator before moving on to Oregon. "I'm pretty sure that's all there is," Calhoun said of the connection. "I've never met him until today," Tedford said.
Opposite momentum
Cal enters the Armed Forces Bowl having lost six of its last seven games. Air Force (9-3) comes in having won six of seven, including a momentum-turner at Colorado State on Oct. 13. Cal, ranked No. 2 in the country as of Oct. 12, slid out of the rankings and finished 6-6. "We didn't do a very good job late in games," Tedford said. Calhoun said his team can't deceive itself into a false sense of security. "We're playing a team that was No. 2 and can recruit a very different caliber of athlete than we can," Calhoun said. "Even though they struggled to finish the season, I expect them to be heavily favored."
Contra Costa Times: Tedford promises program evaluation
By Jonathan Okanes
BERKELEY — Cal got the extra game it wanted, but no matter what happens Dec. 31 when the Bears play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, coach Jeff Tedford said there is going to be some serious evaluation of the program. "A bowl win would give a little bit of momentum going into the offseason," Tedford said. "Either way, there's going to be a really strong evaluation of everything we do in the program. We'll take a strong look at it. Obviously, you feel better if you win and send the seniors out the right way." Immediately after Cal lost to Stanford on Saturday, the Bears didn't know if they were going to be playing in a bowl game at all. The Arizona-Arizona State game was still going, and Cal needed ASU to win.
Cal's players and coaches obviously were rooting for the Sun Devils, to give them yet one more chance to break their second-half slide that has reached six losses in the past seven games. "It's a great opportunity to go play another game, and I've heard great things about the Armed Forces Bowl," Tedford said. "We're excited about the opportunity."
CHIPPING AWAY: Tedford said quarterback Nate Longshore has a chip in the back of his right ankle, which he sprained midway through the season. Longshore has been battling the injury all season but has missed just one game. Tedford admitted the ailment has affected Longshore's mobility but said the intangibles the quarterback brings as a result of his experience makes up for it. "When you talk about the education of a quarterback, it's much more than X's and O's," Tedford said. "It has to do with leadership and handling media and criticism because the position is such a focal point. There's no question there has been some adversity there, and I've been impressed with how he's been able to handle it. It hasn't been easy for him, but he comes out every week and tries to practice harder and prepare himself in the meeting rooms."
GREGORY CONTACTED: Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory has been contacted by Washington State about its head coach vacancy, according to a source. He has not been interviewed. Gregory is a former Washington State linebacker and defensive back and hails from nearby Spokane. Many believe Gregory is a leading candidate to replace Bill Doba, fired last week.
FULL CIRCLE: Air Force quarterback Shaun Carney played his first college game against Cal. Now, he's going to play Cal in his last. Carney was a true freshman for the Falcons when they opened the 2004 season by getting blown out by the Bears, 56-14. Carney had respectable numbers that day, rushing for 75 yards on 18 carries and completing 9-for-15 passes for 89 yards. Carney and the Falcons have improved a lot since then. Their 9-3 record this season is their first winning year since 2003. "You always remember your first game," Carney said. "I'm a little different mentally and physically, and we have a much stronger team. It'll be good to have another chance at them. It puts a little more meaning behind the game."
EXTRA POINTS: Tedford and Barbour will appear at a "Team Announcement Party" for the Armed Forces Bowl on Thursday in Fort Worth. They will be joined by Air Force coach Troy Calhoun and athletic director Dr. Hans Mueh, as well as representatives from the bowl and each school's respective conference. ... Along with running back Justin Forsett, center Alex Mack and special teamer Jahvid Best's first team recognition, Cal had nine other players earn some type of All-Pac-10 honor. Wide receivers Lavelle Hawkins and DeSean Jackson and linebacker Zack Follett were second-team picks, while free safety Thomas DeCoud, guard Brian De La Puente, linebacker Anthony Felder, left tackle Mike Gibson, wide receiver Robert Jordan and tight end Craig Stevens earned honorable mention. ... At the team's annual year-end banquet, Forsett was named the offensive most valuable player, and DeCoud was tabbed as the MVP on defense.
San Jose Mercury: Cal lied about Longshore's injury: Did Tedford's loyalty derail the season
Jon Wilner
Turns out that Cal quarterback Nate Longshore had more than a “high” ankle sprain — he also had a bone chip in the ankle, according to a report in the Daily Cal. The Bears never said a word about the bone chip, even though Coach Jeff Tedford knew about it all along. (Maybe the headline should say: “Cal did not disclose the full extent of Longshore’s injury.”) This is hardly breaking news. Watching Longshore struggle in the second half of the season — he got hurt Sept. 29 at Oregon — it was fairly obvious that something was up. Either he had the worst ankle sprain in the history of mankind, or that wasn’t the only source of his trouble. The question was raised on the Hotline a few weeks ago (here’s the link to the full post):
I can’t help but wonder if his ankle injury is worse than Longshore and/or Cal is letting on — maybe it’s a break and not a sprain? — and I say this because of how Longshore looks in the fourth quarter. Now that we know the truth, a couple thoughts:
* It would be nice if coaches and teams were honest about injuries, but that’s not reality, and I’m not about to rip the Bears for keeping the bone chip quiet. Tedford was protecting his player and his team, and that’s his responsibility. My assumption is that he felt making the bone chip public would have put Longshore at greater risk — opponents would have been going after his lower leg viciously. Asked by the Daily Cal if the bone chip affected Longshore’s performance, Tedford said: “There’s no doubt about that. There’s no question that it’s hindered his ability to step up or to move around. He just hasn’t been able to do that.”
* But you do have to seriously question Tedford’s decision to stick with Longshore for all these weeks when it was obvious that his quarterback was not close to 100 percent. An already-immobile QB with a sprained ankle and a bone chip — that’s a recipe for six losses in seven games. The Daily Cal asked Tedford that very question, and his response should make Old and Young Blues cringe. Tedford said that he left the decision up to Longshore — that he asked Longshore if the bone chip was affecting his play in the fourth quarter, Longshore said it wasn’t, so Tedford stuck with the junior. “I think it’s more a case of a guy trying to be too perfect,” Tedford explained. “A guy trying to get things done and maybe trying too hard.”
My reaction:
OF COURSE LONGSHORE SAID THE BONE CHIP WASN’T A PROBLEM! Longshore wanted to play — like any player worth his scholarship — and wasn’t going to admit anything that might land him on the bench. (And maybe he believed what he was saying. Maybe he thought the pain wasn’t a problem, or shouldn’t have been a problem.) But that’s where the head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterback guru with the seven-figure contract has to step in and use his best judgement — not defer to the player. It was obvious that Longshore was hurting in the fourth quarter of games (sometimes even the third quarter). Tedford admitted that himself … that’s why he asked Longshore about it numerous times, and that’s what he told the Daily Cal: “There’s no question that it’s hindered his ability to step up or to move around.” Do you believe your eyes and the stat sheet, or what the gutsy but struggling junior tells you? Tedford should have yanked Longshore numerous times, both because of the ankle and because of his performance. But he stuck by his man. Loyalty (to players and coaches) is Tedford’s greatest attribute and possibly his greatest failing. I can’t believe I’m writing this about a college football coach, but sometimes Tedford is too loyal, too empathetic. So Longshore has a sprained ankle and a bone chip and he’s struggling mightily in the second half of games and it’s obvious that he can’t move … Maybe some time on the bench would have prevented Longshore from making mistakes, thus avoiding the loss of confidence that also derailed the quarterback. Not only did Tedford’s decision to stick by Longshore undermine Cal’s chances for success this season, it jeopardized next year, too. Because all that time Longshore was on the field struggling, leading Cal to defeat after defeat, backup Kevin Riley was sitting on the bench not getting any experience for next year. There’s a good chance the Bears will need Riley next year, either because 1) Longshore won’t be good enough, or 2) because Longshore will get hurt again. Remember, this is the seocnd time in three years that he’s had a serious injury in that area of his lower leg.
Isn’t there a decent chance that an immobile quarterback with two injuries in the same area will get hurt a third time? And then what will Cal have in ‘08? The inexperienced Riley leading the way.
San Jose Mercury: A look ahead: Is Cal doomed in '08?
Jon Wilner
OK, doomed might be a bit strong — that headline was a visceral response when the topic of next season popped into my head driving home from Big Game on Saturday night. But I sure don’t see a Pac-10 title contender when I look at the roster. And that’s if DeSean Jackson comes back for his senior year. Frankly, I think Jackson wants to bolt and will bolt if he gets assurances of being a first-day pick. When you have an older brother who played in the NFL, the NFL is just about all you’re thinking about once your junior year rolls around. On that topic: I can’t help but wonder what the coaches thought privately of Jackson not playing in Big Game because of a bruised thigh. Isn’t that something you at least try to play through? Is it, unless you’re saving yourself … Anyhow, the defense should be decent, if for no other reason than many of the two-deepers are returning. (The Bears have to find an answer at middle linebacker, however. Worrell Williams is not it.)
But there are serious, serious questions at the skill positions, of all places. Justin Forsett departs, and Jahvid Best’s hip injury could be serious. If Best can’t play, then James Montgomery is the guy. (Could be worse, but it could be a lot better, too.) Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Jordan depart, and Jackson might join them. If he does, the Bears will be totally rebuilding at receiver. If he doesn’t, he’ll be double-teammed every step of the way. And — here’s the biggie — what are the Bears going to do at quarterback? I believe Jeff Tedford put the 2008 season at risk by not playing Kevin Riley down the stretch in ‘07 — not full time, but for portions of each game, minimum. And I’m not saying that based on how Nate Longshore played in Big Game. I was saying that weeks ago (here’s the link) (and there’s a link within that link to an even earlier post on Longshore). What I saw in Big Game only made me more convinced that Longshore is not the guy to lead Cal to a conference title. He’s so vulnerable against first-rate pass rushes and blitzes, as we saw against UCLA, USC, Stanford … just about everyone who beat Cal down the stretch forced Longshore to make bad decisions/throws in the second half. His ankle was a factor, but it wasn’t the factor. And it’s not like he’s going to get more mobile in the next nine months. But because Tedford stuck with Longshore in November and kept Riley on the bench, the Bears are faced with what could be a very serious problem:
Their choice at the most important position is a somewhat-accurate, easily-disruptable, injury-prone, immobile senior … or a sophomore with virtually no experience. So if Longshore can’t get it done, or gets hurt, then the Bears will basically be starting all over with a rookie QB. And they’ll be doing it with (probably) a rebuilt receiving corps and (possibly) Montgomery, not Best, at tailback. (I haven’t even addressed to prospect of Alex Mack bolting for the pros.) Let’s just say, the defense had better be ready to play.
SF Chronicle: Bears looking to end season with win in Armed Forces Bowl
Cal will have one more chance to put a happy ending on its horror film of a season, getting a berth to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 31 in Fort Worth, Texas. "You know how, in a scary movie, you start out with like 10 people in a house?" senior cornerback Brandon Hampton said last week. "One guy branches off, doing his own thing, and dies. One guy gets caught behind and dies. It keeps going and keeps getting worse until there's like three people left.
"That's been our season. I get sick when I think about it. Hopefully, I won't be scared by this for the rest of my life." Despite falling from the pinnacle of the college football world to the Pac-10's sixth-place bowl tie-in, a victory in Fort Worth would secure a sixth consecutive winning season for the first time in half a century and could go a long way toward setting the tone for next year. Cal had its season-ending banquet Sunday, so the players and coaches were not available for comment, but coach Jeff Tedford and athletic director Sandy Barbour released statements in an e-mail. "I've heard great things about the bowl, and we have always had a lot of respect for Air Force," Tedford said. "This should be a great experience for our players and our fans."
After Arizona lost to Arizona State on Saturday, Cal knew it secured a bowl berth, but whether it would land in San Francisco's Emerald Bowl or in Fort Worth was sketchy. When the Fiesta Bowl snubbed hometown Arizona State, the Bears were slotted in the conference's final bowl game. "We're very excited to be playing in our fifth bowl in a row," Barbour said. "Texas and the Armed Forces Bowl (representatives) are known for their hospitality, and we're looking forward to a great experience." This will be Cal's first trip to Texas since 1997, when it beat Houston 35-3. The Bears dominated Texas A&M 45-10 in last season's Holiday Bowl. "I've been in this business a long time, and I can tell those who plan to attend this year's (game) are in for a treat ... because these two teams are fun to watch," bowl executive director Tom Starr said. Air Force (9-3) accepted an invitation last week. Cal (6-6) has lost six of seven after moving to No. 2 in the nation after Week 6.
SF Chronicle: CAL: Now the wait for a low-tier bowl
Minutes after his final regular-season game, Saturday's 20-13 Big Game loss on The Farm, Cal senior receiver Lavelle Hawkins had a single thought."I'll never forget this game and my drops," Hawkins said. "I really want to apologize to Cal fans and everyone who has supported us. I'm really sorry about this game." Trailing 20-13 in the game's final three minutes, Hawkins beat Nick Sanchez to the corner of the end zone, and quarterback Nate Longshore lofted a pass right over his shoulder. Hawkins, who had seven catches for 63 yards, couldn't catch No. 8 for the potential game-tying score. "It shouldn't have gotten to that point," Longshore said. "After the plays he made throughout the game, there's no way he can take the blame for that." For the third consecutive game, a Cal player or coach has emerged from the losing locker room and tried to take the blame. Longshore did it after throwing a late interception against USC, and coach Jeff Tedford did it after an uninspired showing at Washington. Now Hawkins was taking a turn.
The Bears finished the regular season by losing six of their final seven games. Once ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Bears now wait for an invite to low-tier bowl. "It's time to get ready for next season," junior middle linebacker Worrell Williams said. "It's just unfortunate that we haven't been taking advantage of opportunities. We're just killing ourselves over and over and over." Cal (6-6, 3-6) committed 10 penalties for 118 yards, turned the ball over three times and allowed consistent pressure on Longshore. "The penalties are a concern, but it came down to the pass rush," Tedford said. "They got too much pressure. We had some guys open deep, but we didn't have time to get them the ball." With Arizona State's win over Arizona late Saturday, Cal still secured a school-record six bowl berth. Depending on whether the Pac-10 gets one or two BCS invites, the Bears could go to San Francisco's Emerald Bowl or the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
“It's out of our control now," Tedford said. "Ending a year like this is not what you want. It would be a great opportunity to get to coach these guys one more time and have them get to play together one more time." For the most part, Cal played like a team that didn't realize it controlled its own bowl destiny Saturday. The Cardinal confused the Bears with an alternating-quarterback system, and both T.C. Ostrander and Tavita Prichard led drives resulting in 10 points. Stanford's defense limited Cal to 6 yards and zero first downs on its first five second-half possessions to extend a 3-point halftime lead to 20-10. "This season is definitely a new low for us, but I'd like the chance to bounce back in a bowl game," senior free safety Thomas DeCoud said. "We could find some redemption and finish the season the right way." The new low includes Cal's first Big Game loss since 2001, the inability to have yet locked up a sixth consecutive winning season and confusion about why it can't close out games. "We've had an opportunity to win every game we've played," Tedford said. "That's probably the most frustrating thing. We haven't been able to find a way to win. That's something that needs to be addressed." It's a season that is very reminiscent of the 1996 season, which was Steve Mariucci's only year in Berkeley. Cal started that year 5-0 and lost six of the final seven, including a , 42-38 loss to Navy in the Aloha Bowl. "It hurts that there is nothing I can do about it anymore," Hawkins said.
Cal Coach Jeff Tedford said he expects receiver DeSean Jackson to play in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 31. Jackson sat out the Big Game against Stanford with a thigh contusion. "I would think so," Tedford said when asked if Jackson will play. "The game is a long way away." Tedford also said Jackson has maintained a positive attitude during the team's struggles. Jackson has more catches (60) than last year (59) despite missing the past 1 1/2 games because with the injury. But his 681 yards receiving is well off the pace of his 1,060 a year ago, and he's failed to match his production on punt returns from a year ago.
Many expect Jackson, a junior, to turn pro after the season. Tedford said he and Jackson have yet to discuss his future.
"He still has a great attitude," Tedford said. "He's not a malcontent by any means." In other injury news, Tedford said he still doesn't have an official diagnosis for running back Jahvid Best's hip injury. The team still is waiting to gather multiple evaluations of MRIs from experts across the country. Best is out for the season, and the team wants to make sure the injury doesn't have any long-term ramifications. The Bears will hold 13 practices before the Armed Forces Bowl. Tedford said the Bears won't start putting in the game plan for Air Force until next week. Cal leaves for Forth Worth on Dec. 27.
Daily Cal: Cal Meets High-Flying Air Force in Texas Tilt
BY Gerald Nicdao
Tailback Justin Forsett was probably the most excited member of the Cal football team when he heard that the Bears were going to go bowling in Fort Worth, Texas. The senior hails from Arlington, Texas, a mere 10 minutes away from Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU. That’s where Cal will play Air Force in the Armed Forced Bowl on New Year’s Eve at 9:30 a.m. PST. But Forsett wasn’t the only one who will be welcoming his homecoming. “They were excited,” said Forsett of his parents. “They didn’t know if we were going to make it to a bowl either. It’s right in our backyard, so we’re going to get a lot of people together to come out and enjoy my last game.” Forsett’s parents were right to be concerned that their son may not have had a chance to play in the postseason. The Bears (6-6) finished the year losing six of their last seven games—most of them nail-biters, losing only two games by double-digit margins. The team needed Arizona State to defeat Arizona to ensure a bowl bid.
The losing skid coupled with losing the Big Game to Stanford for the first time in his four-year career with Cal, Forsett is ready to at least leave his college career on a high note. “We definitely want to go out get another opportunity,” Forsett said. “We deserve to be as high as we were in the beginning of the season. We had a lot of ups and downs, it hasn’t worked out as well.” Air Force has seen a resurgence under first-year coach Troy Calhoun. The Falcons (9-3) have won six of their last seven games after going 4-8 in 2006. Calhoun was able to lead his new team to five more wins and a second place finish in the Mountain West Conference—second only to perennial conference power BYU. Calhoun said he will not be underestimating his reeling opponent in the bowl game. He expects the Cal team that defeated Tennessee and Oregon at the beginning of the year to be the squad that shows up in Fort Worth.
“From a national standpoint, it absolutely does that,” said Calhoun of getting tested by the Bears. “You’re talking about a team talent-wise that was a top-five team in the country. We’re going to get big-time tested. “We’re going to get a great team to play against. Certainly one that played quite well against us three years ago and a team earlier this year that was the best team in all of college football.” That option scheme is the same one that the Falcons still employ today, and they have used it to obtain a winning record this year. Air Force is ranked second only to Navy in the country in rushing yards per game, averaging about 298.5 on the ground during the regular season. The quarterback running the option is the same gunslinger that played against Cal three years ago. Senior Shaun Carney has thrown for just 1,423 yards and eight touchdowns. The Falcons’ passing attack ranks near the bottom of the MWC. But Carney has rushed for 529 yards and five touchdowns, as part of that efficient Air Force ground game.
The Falcons’ leading rusher—Chad Hall—has 1,414 yards and has scored 14 touchdowns. This may pose a problem for Cal, which has given up 175 yards per game on the ground in its last seven matches and is ranked seventh in the Pac-10 in rush defense. “In our experience with Air Force, they’re always a disciplined football team,” Tedford said. “They work very hard. With the option that they used to run, it was very difficult to stop. Going 9-3, they’ve obviously done something right.” Tedford said that his team will use the extra time of practice to get younger players more reps. It will also allow players like quarterback Nate Longshore—who has been suffering from a bone chip in his ankle the last seven weeks of the season—to rest. All of this is in hopes of giving the program a boost, especially after the kind of stretch the Bears underwent in the second half of the season. “I definitely think that it would give a little bit of momentum going into the offseason,” Tedford said. “Either way, there’s going to be a real strong evaluation of everything we do in the program. Obviously, you’d feel better if you won, mainly for the seniors to leave here to feel good about their last game.”
Star Telegram: ARMED FORCES BOWL NOTES
By TROY PHILLIPS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Bowls are notorious for matching head coaches, by chance, with deep ties in the coaching community. Often, they coached under the same head coaches, worked together or played against each other in college. Cal's Jeff Tedford and Air Force's Troy Calhoun have little connecting them. Calhoun spent one season (2006) as the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, working with then-quarterback David Carr, now with the Carolina Panthers. For a brief time, Tedford worked with Carr (1997) at Fresno State as offensive coordinator before moving on to Oregon. "I'm pretty sure that's all there is," Calhoun said of the connection. "I've never met him until today," Tedford said.
Opposite momentum
Cal enters the Armed Forces Bowl having lost six of its last seven games. Air Force (9-3) comes in having won six of seven, including a momentum-turner at Colorado State on Oct. 13. Cal, ranked No. 2 in the country as of Oct. 12, slid out of the rankings and finished 6-6. "We didn't do a very good job late in games," Tedford said. Calhoun said his team can't deceive itself into a false sense of security. "We're playing a team that was No. 2 and can recruit a very different caliber of athlete than we can," Calhoun said. "Even though they struggled to finish the season, I expect them to be heavily favored."
Contra Costa Times: Tedford promises program evaluation
By Jonathan Okanes
BERKELEY — Cal got the extra game it wanted, but no matter what happens Dec. 31 when the Bears play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, coach Jeff Tedford said there is going to be some serious evaluation of the program. "A bowl win would give a little bit of momentum going into the offseason," Tedford said. "Either way, there's going to be a really strong evaluation of everything we do in the program. We'll take a strong look at it. Obviously, you feel better if you win and send the seniors out the right way." Immediately after Cal lost to Stanford on Saturday, the Bears didn't know if they were going to be playing in a bowl game at all. The Arizona-Arizona State game was still going, and Cal needed ASU to win.
Cal's players and coaches obviously were rooting for the Sun Devils, to give them yet one more chance to break their second-half slide that has reached six losses in the past seven games. "It's a great opportunity to go play another game, and I've heard great things about the Armed Forces Bowl," Tedford said. "We're excited about the opportunity."
CHIPPING AWAY: Tedford said quarterback Nate Longshore has a chip in the back of his right ankle, which he sprained midway through the season. Longshore has been battling the injury all season but has missed just one game. Tedford admitted the ailment has affected Longshore's mobility but said the intangibles the quarterback brings as a result of his experience makes up for it. "When you talk about the education of a quarterback, it's much more than X's and O's," Tedford said. "It has to do with leadership and handling media and criticism because the position is such a focal point. There's no question there has been some adversity there, and I've been impressed with how he's been able to handle it. It hasn't been easy for him, but he comes out every week and tries to practice harder and prepare himself in the meeting rooms."
GREGORY CONTACTED: Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory has been contacted by Washington State about its head coach vacancy, according to a source. He has not been interviewed. Gregory is a former Washington State linebacker and defensive back and hails from nearby Spokane. Many believe Gregory is a leading candidate to replace Bill Doba, fired last week.
FULL CIRCLE: Air Force quarterback Shaun Carney played his first college game against Cal. Now, he's going to play Cal in his last. Carney was a true freshman for the Falcons when they opened the 2004 season by getting blown out by the Bears, 56-14. Carney had respectable numbers that day, rushing for 75 yards on 18 carries and completing 9-for-15 passes for 89 yards. Carney and the Falcons have improved a lot since then. Their 9-3 record this season is their first winning year since 2003. "You always remember your first game," Carney said. "I'm a little different mentally and physically, and we have a much stronger team. It'll be good to have another chance at them. It puts a little more meaning behind the game."
EXTRA POINTS: Tedford and Barbour will appear at a "Team Announcement Party" for the Armed Forces Bowl on Thursday in Fort Worth. They will be joined by Air Force coach Troy Calhoun and athletic director Dr. Hans Mueh, as well as representatives from the bowl and each school's respective conference. ... Along with running back Justin Forsett, center Alex Mack and special teamer Jahvid Best's first team recognition, Cal had nine other players earn some type of All-Pac-10 honor. Wide receivers Lavelle Hawkins and DeSean Jackson and linebacker Zack Follett were second-team picks, while free safety Thomas DeCoud, guard Brian De La Puente, linebacker Anthony Felder, left tackle Mike Gibson, wide receiver Robert Jordan and tight end Craig Stevens earned honorable mention. ... At the team's annual year-end banquet, Forsett was named the offensive most valuable player, and DeCoud was tabbed as the MVP on defense.
San Jose Mercury: Cal lied about Longshore's injury: Did Tedford's loyalty derail the season
Jon Wilner
Turns out that Cal quarterback Nate Longshore had more than a “high” ankle sprain — he also had a bone chip in the ankle, according to a report in the Daily Cal. The Bears never said a word about the bone chip, even though Coach Jeff Tedford knew about it all along. (Maybe the headline should say: “Cal did not disclose the full extent of Longshore’s injury.”) This is hardly breaking news. Watching Longshore struggle in the second half of the season — he got hurt Sept. 29 at Oregon — it was fairly obvious that something was up. Either he had the worst ankle sprain in the history of mankind, or that wasn’t the only source of his trouble. The question was raised on the Hotline a few weeks ago (here’s the link to the full post):
I can’t help but wonder if his ankle injury is worse than Longshore and/or Cal is letting on — maybe it’s a break and not a sprain? — and I say this because of how Longshore looks in the fourth quarter. Now that we know the truth, a couple thoughts:
* It would be nice if coaches and teams were honest about injuries, but that’s not reality, and I’m not about to rip the Bears for keeping the bone chip quiet. Tedford was protecting his player and his team, and that’s his responsibility. My assumption is that he felt making the bone chip public would have put Longshore at greater risk — opponents would have been going after his lower leg viciously. Asked by the Daily Cal if the bone chip affected Longshore’s performance, Tedford said: “There’s no doubt about that. There’s no question that it’s hindered his ability to step up or to move around. He just hasn’t been able to do that.”
* But you do have to seriously question Tedford’s decision to stick with Longshore for all these weeks when it was obvious that his quarterback was not close to 100 percent. An already-immobile QB with a sprained ankle and a bone chip — that’s a recipe for six losses in seven games. The Daily Cal asked Tedford that very question, and his response should make Old and Young Blues cringe. Tedford said that he left the decision up to Longshore — that he asked Longshore if the bone chip was affecting his play in the fourth quarter, Longshore said it wasn’t, so Tedford stuck with the junior. “I think it’s more a case of a guy trying to be too perfect,” Tedford explained. “A guy trying to get things done and maybe trying too hard.”
My reaction:
OF COURSE LONGSHORE SAID THE BONE CHIP WASN’T A PROBLEM! Longshore wanted to play — like any player worth his scholarship — and wasn’t going to admit anything that might land him on the bench. (And maybe he believed what he was saying. Maybe he thought the pain wasn’t a problem, or shouldn’t have been a problem.) But that’s where the head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterback guru with the seven-figure contract has to step in and use his best judgement — not defer to the player. It was obvious that Longshore was hurting in the fourth quarter of games (sometimes even the third quarter). Tedford admitted that himself … that’s why he asked Longshore about it numerous times, and that’s what he told the Daily Cal: “There’s no question that it’s hindered his ability to step up or to move around.” Do you believe your eyes and the stat sheet, or what the gutsy but struggling junior tells you? Tedford should have yanked Longshore numerous times, both because of the ankle and because of his performance. But he stuck by his man. Loyalty (to players and coaches) is Tedford’s greatest attribute and possibly his greatest failing. I can’t believe I’m writing this about a college football coach, but sometimes Tedford is too loyal, too empathetic. So Longshore has a sprained ankle and a bone chip and he’s struggling mightily in the second half of games and it’s obvious that he can’t move … Maybe some time on the bench would have prevented Longshore from making mistakes, thus avoiding the loss of confidence that also derailed the quarterback. Not only did Tedford’s decision to stick by Longshore undermine Cal’s chances for success this season, it jeopardized next year, too. Because all that time Longshore was on the field struggling, leading Cal to defeat after defeat, backup Kevin Riley was sitting on the bench not getting any experience for next year. There’s a good chance the Bears will need Riley next year, either because 1) Longshore won’t be good enough, or 2) because Longshore will get hurt again. Remember, this is the seocnd time in three years that he’s had a serious injury in that area of his lower leg.
Isn’t there a decent chance that an immobile quarterback with two injuries in the same area will get hurt a third time? And then what will Cal have in ‘08? The inexperienced Riley leading the way.
San Jose Mercury: A look ahead: Is Cal doomed in '08?
Jon Wilner
OK, doomed might be a bit strong — that headline was a visceral response when the topic of next season popped into my head driving home from Big Game on Saturday night. But I sure don’t see a Pac-10 title contender when I look at the roster. And that’s if DeSean Jackson comes back for his senior year. Frankly, I think Jackson wants to bolt and will bolt if he gets assurances of being a first-day pick. When you have an older brother who played in the NFL, the NFL is just about all you’re thinking about once your junior year rolls around. On that topic: I can’t help but wonder what the coaches thought privately of Jackson not playing in Big Game because of a bruised thigh. Isn’t that something you at least try to play through? Is it, unless you’re saving yourself … Anyhow, the defense should be decent, if for no other reason than many of the two-deepers are returning. (The Bears have to find an answer at middle linebacker, however. Worrell Williams is not it.)
But there are serious, serious questions at the skill positions, of all places. Justin Forsett departs, and Jahvid Best’s hip injury could be serious. If Best can’t play, then James Montgomery is the guy. (Could be worse, but it could be a lot better, too.) Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Jordan depart, and Jackson might join them. If he does, the Bears will be totally rebuilding at receiver. If he doesn’t, he’ll be double-teammed every step of the way. And — here’s the biggie — what are the Bears going to do at quarterback? I believe Jeff Tedford put the 2008 season at risk by not playing Kevin Riley down the stretch in ‘07 — not full time, but for portions of each game, minimum. And I’m not saying that based on how Nate Longshore played in Big Game. I was saying that weeks ago (here’s the link) (and there’s a link within that link to an even earlier post on Longshore). What I saw in Big Game only made me more convinced that Longshore is not the guy to lead Cal to a conference title. He’s so vulnerable against first-rate pass rushes and blitzes, as we saw against UCLA, USC, Stanford … just about everyone who beat Cal down the stretch forced Longshore to make bad decisions/throws in the second half. His ankle was a factor, but it wasn’t the factor. And it’s not like he’s going to get more mobile in the next nine months. But because Tedford stuck with Longshore in November and kept Riley on the bench, the Bears are faced with what could be a very serious problem:
Their choice at the most important position is a somewhat-accurate, easily-disruptable, injury-prone, immobile senior … or a sophomore with virtually no experience. So if Longshore can’t get it done, or gets hurt, then the Bears will basically be starting all over with a rookie QB. And they’ll be doing it with (probably) a rebuilt receiving corps and (possibly) Montgomery, not Best, at tailback. (I haven’t even addressed to prospect of Alex Mack bolting for the pros.) Let’s just say, the defense had better be ready to play.
SF Chronicle: Bears looking to end season with win in Armed Forces Bowl
Cal will have one more chance to put a happy ending on its horror film of a season, getting a berth to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 31 in Fort Worth, Texas. "You know how, in a scary movie, you start out with like 10 people in a house?" senior cornerback Brandon Hampton said last week. "One guy branches off, doing his own thing, and dies. One guy gets caught behind and dies. It keeps going and keeps getting worse until there's like three people left.
"That's been our season. I get sick when I think about it. Hopefully, I won't be scared by this for the rest of my life." Despite falling from the pinnacle of the college football world to the Pac-10's sixth-place bowl tie-in, a victory in Fort Worth would secure a sixth consecutive winning season for the first time in half a century and could go a long way toward setting the tone for next year. Cal had its season-ending banquet Sunday, so the players and coaches were not available for comment, but coach Jeff Tedford and athletic director Sandy Barbour released statements in an e-mail. "I've heard great things about the bowl, and we have always had a lot of respect for Air Force," Tedford said. "This should be a great experience for our players and our fans."
After Arizona lost to Arizona State on Saturday, Cal knew it secured a bowl berth, but whether it would land in San Francisco's Emerald Bowl or in Fort Worth was sketchy. When the Fiesta Bowl snubbed hometown Arizona State, the Bears were slotted in the conference's final bowl game. "We're very excited to be playing in our fifth bowl in a row," Barbour said. "Texas and the Armed Forces Bowl (representatives) are known for their hospitality, and we're looking forward to a great experience." This will be Cal's first trip to Texas since 1997, when it beat Houston 35-3. The Bears dominated Texas A&M 45-10 in last season's Holiday Bowl. "I've been in this business a long time, and I can tell those who plan to attend this year's (game) are in for a treat ... because these two teams are fun to watch," bowl executive director Tom Starr said. Air Force (9-3) accepted an invitation last week. Cal (6-6) has lost six of seven after moving to No. 2 in the nation after Week 6.
SF Chronicle: CAL: Now the wait for a low-tier bowl
Minutes after his final regular-season game, Saturday's 20-13 Big Game loss on The Farm, Cal senior receiver Lavelle Hawkins had a single thought."I'll never forget this game and my drops," Hawkins said. "I really want to apologize to Cal fans and everyone who has supported us. I'm really sorry about this game." Trailing 20-13 in the game's final three minutes, Hawkins beat Nick Sanchez to the corner of the end zone, and quarterback Nate Longshore lofted a pass right over his shoulder. Hawkins, who had seven catches for 63 yards, couldn't catch No. 8 for the potential game-tying score. "It shouldn't have gotten to that point," Longshore said. "After the plays he made throughout the game, there's no way he can take the blame for that." For the third consecutive game, a Cal player or coach has emerged from the losing locker room and tried to take the blame. Longshore did it after throwing a late interception against USC, and coach Jeff Tedford did it after an uninspired showing at Washington. Now Hawkins was taking a turn.
The Bears finished the regular season by losing six of their final seven games. Once ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Bears now wait for an invite to low-tier bowl. "It's time to get ready for next season," junior middle linebacker Worrell Williams said. "It's just unfortunate that we haven't been taking advantage of opportunities. We're just killing ourselves over and over and over." Cal (6-6, 3-6) committed 10 penalties for 118 yards, turned the ball over three times and allowed consistent pressure on Longshore. "The penalties are a concern, but it came down to the pass rush," Tedford said. "They got too much pressure. We had some guys open deep, but we didn't have time to get them the ball." With Arizona State's win over Arizona late Saturday, Cal still secured a school-record six bowl berth. Depending on whether the Pac-10 gets one or two BCS invites, the Bears could go to San Francisco's Emerald Bowl or the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
“It's out of our control now," Tedford said. "Ending a year like this is not what you want. It would be a great opportunity to get to coach these guys one more time and have them get to play together one more time." For the most part, Cal played like a team that didn't realize it controlled its own bowl destiny Saturday. The Cardinal confused the Bears with an alternating-quarterback system, and both T.C. Ostrander and Tavita Prichard led drives resulting in 10 points. Stanford's defense limited Cal to 6 yards and zero first downs on its first five second-half possessions to extend a 3-point halftime lead to 20-10. "This season is definitely a new low for us, but I'd like the chance to bounce back in a bowl game," senior free safety Thomas DeCoud said. "We could find some redemption and finish the season the right way." The new low includes Cal's first Big Game loss since 2001, the inability to have yet locked up a sixth consecutive winning season and confusion about why it can't close out games. "We've had an opportunity to win every game we've played," Tedford said. "That's probably the most frustrating thing. We haven't been able to find a way to win. That's something that needs to be addressed." It's a season that is very reminiscent of the 1996 season, which was Steve Mariucci's only year in Berkeley. Cal started that year 5-0 and lost six of the final seven, including a , 42-38 loss to Navy in the Aloha Bowl. "It hurts that there is nothing I can do about it anymore," Hawkins said.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Football hooligans beware! Frattini Force is coming
With an eye to stop violence and arson being part of every game around Europe, Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for justice, proposed launching a pilot police training project next year. Addressing journalists at a joint press conference with Michel Platini, president of European football’s governing body UEFA and Rui Pereira, Portuguese Interior Minister Frattini outlined his vision of a European force which should be in place before the 2008 tournament. Frattini said, “We want to build specialised European units ready to intervene in case of need on the occasion of international sporting events. This is a step forward towards the creation, one day, of a true European police (force) for sport.”Answering a question, the commissioner stressed joint initiatives would focus on improving training and cooperation rather than wearing the same uniform. “I prefer to talk about responsibility and cooperation rather than uniforms,” he said. The idea is a brain child of Platini as he told journalists, saying Frattini “jumped on this idea and I thank him for making it happen.”When asked if the behaviour of the players, coaches and managers had any impact on the behaviour of the fans, Platini said that, as violence was society’s problem and football was at the centre of people’s social lives, it was natural that perpetrators of violence would try to take over the game. “We must therefore act to protect sport and give judges the means to enforce the law,” he said.Frattini told journalists, “Although we need concrete assessing, we have funds something like 10 million Euro to start with under Europol but will depend on how much and when.”Frattini’s proposals got immediate support from the European Parliament as Manolis Mavrommatis, vice chairman of the parliamentary committee on education and culture, told New Europe, “The proposal of the Commissioner and Vice President of the European Commission Mr Franco Frattini to finance the efforts against violence inside sport fields is a very good start for European Union’s countries. This proposal shows real interest, sensibility and at the same time determination to fight hooliganism inside and outside the sport fields.However, problems related to violence and its tackling, have their pre-eminent place on the ‘White Paper on Sport’ report, and it is absolutely sure that the majority of the Members of the European Parliament will support and approve the related provisions in the Plenary Session in Strasbourg, next April.”Mavrommatis added, “Violence on and off the fields could be tackled with a more qualitative football, with good arbitration, with the help of the media, with the effective cooperation between the state and the sport clubs, with the presentation of TV shows and spots on the results of violence and finally with the education that schools provide
Russia-bypass pipelines: More hope than gas?
Ever since the beginning of 2006, when that whole episode between Russia and Ukraine led to gas shortages in Europe, bringing the issue of energy security to the forefront, the European Union has been trying to find new sources of gas in order to reduce its reliance on Russia and to promote new routes to lessen its vulnerability to the pipelines transiting Ukraine and Belarus. But, in fact, analysts say, Europe has only made progress on the question of pipelines.
Turkey and Greece opened a 285-kilometre pipeline on November 18 from Karacabey to Komotini, creating an energy corridor that connects the Caspian gas fields to Europe. The new pipeline, which will eventually have a 12 billion cubic metre per year capacity, is intended to serve as the first part of a Turkey-Greece-Italy Interconnector.
"They (the EU) have been pushing this Interconnector pipeline and they have been pushing the Nabucco pipeline but, while these projects are moving ahead, there is a great deal of hope there will be gas to fill these pipelines once they are completed, but right now the evidence is there won’t be enough gas from Azerbaijan or even from Central Asia to fill them," Chris Weafer, the chief strategist with UralSib Bank in Moscow, told New Europe.
Azerbaijan has already stretched itself thin in terms of promising gas supplies to Turkey and Georgia, he said.
An Azeri official said Azerbaijan is ready to sell gas to Europe. "If we don’t have enough gas why the companies and the Azerbaijani government have invested a lot of money to build such pipelines like Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum? In the oil industry there are no philanthropists. Everybody counts his money. Without profit nobody will do it. Such kind of talks is just speculation to say that... Azerbaijan cannot supply gas to Europe," he told New Europe.
Greece will buy part of the gas supplied from Phase I of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field from Turkey. But once production from Phase II kicks in, there will be enough gas to supply not only Greece and Turkey, but other European countries, the official said.
Moreover, BP said it made a new discovery two weeks ago while drilling in Phase II of the Shah Deniz field. "We drew a well, appraised the existing reservoir we knew about and confirmed the size which will support the second phase of development of Shah Deniz. But while we were drilling that well, we decided to drill considerably deeper than the existing structures ... where we found an underlying structure and that’s the new discovery," BP spokesman David Nicholas told New Europe. "We’re talking many years away from potentially developing this new discovery. The second phase in the existing structure Shah Deniz is scheduled for supply in 2013. Any development in this deeper structure would be subsequent to that, so we are talking many years away," he said.
The Turkmen president has also been very active in trying to do energy deals and also, like the Azerbaijanis, promising a lot of gas to different partners. "There is a big question mark whether or not there is enough gas to fulfil those promises. In May they signed a deal with Russia to increase the capacity of a pipeline going north, but at the same time they signed a deal with Beijing to increase exports to China over the next few years and now they are talking actively with the EU about supplying gas to the Nabucco pipeline," Weafer said.
The question is how they are going to get it across the Caspian to Azerbaijan or the Black Sea, because they cannot build a pipeline across the Caspian as long as there is no agreement on the status of the Caspian Sea. They will either have to build this pipeline through Russia or not at all, as the alternative is through Iran and that can’t happen as long as Iran is subject to sanctions. There is also plenty of gas in Iran for Europe. The European Commission hopes the political problems would be resolved as quickly as possible in order to consider Iranian gas for Nabucco.
Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, on hand for the inauguration ceremonies for the Turkey-Greece Interconnector, tried to discourage any plans to fill it from Russia’s Blue Stream pipeline, especially once the Interconnector is extended to Italy. But as UralSib’s Weafer pointedly said, "Of course the Americans don’t like that, but frankly they are the problem. They are the ones who are blocking a resolution with Iran."
With an eye to stop violence and arson being part of every game around Europe, Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for justice, proposed launching a pilot police training project next year. Addressing journalists at a joint press conference with Michel Platini, president of European football’s governing body UEFA and Rui Pereira, Portuguese Interior Minister Frattini outlined his vision of a European force which should be in place before the 2008 tournament. Frattini said, “We want to build specialised European units ready to intervene in case of need on the occasion of international sporting events. This is a step forward towards the creation, one day, of a true European police (force) for sport.”Answering a question, the commissioner stressed joint initiatives would focus on improving training and cooperation rather than wearing the same uniform. “I prefer to talk about responsibility and cooperation rather than uniforms,” he said. The idea is a brain child of Platini as he told journalists, saying Frattini “jumped on this idea and I thank him for making it happen.”When asked if the behaviour of the players, coaches and managers had any impact on the behaviour of the fans, Platini said that, as violence was society’s problem and football was at the centre of people’s social lives, it was natural that perpetrators of violence would try to take over the game. “We must therefore act to protect sport and give judges the means to enforce the law,” he said.Frattini told journalists, “Although we need concrete assessing, we have funds something like 10 million Euro to start with under Europol but will depend on how much and when.”Frattini’s proposals got immediate support from the European Parliament as Manolis Mavrommatis, vice chairman of the parliamentary committee on education and culture, told New Europe, “The proposal of the Commissioner and Vice President of the European Commission Mr Franco Frattini to finance the efforts against violence inside sport fields is a very good start for European Union’s countries. This proposal shows real interest, sensibility and at the same time determination to fight hooliganism inside and outside the sport fields.However, problems related to violence and its tackling, have their pre-eminent place on the ‘White Paper on Sport’ report, and it is absolutely sure that the majority of the Members of the European Parliament will support and approve the related provisions in the Plenary Session in Strasbourg, next April.”Mavrommatis added, “Violence on and off the fields could be tackled with a more qualitative football, with good arbitration, with the help of the media, with the effective cooperation between the state and the sport clubs, with the presentation of TV shows and spots on the results of violence and finally with the education that schools provide
Russia-bypass pipelines: More hope than gas?
Ever since the beginning of 2006, when that whole episode between Russia and Ukraine led to gas shortages in Europe, bringing the issue of energy security to the forefront, the European Union has been trying to find new sources of gas in order to reduce its reliance on Russia and to promote new routes to lessen its vulnerability to the pipelines transiting Ukraine and Belarus. But, in fact, analysts say, Europe has only made progress on the question of pipelines.
Turkey and Greece opened a 285-kilometre pipeline on November 18 from Karacabey to Komotini, creating an energy corridor that connects the Caspian gas fields to Europe. The new pipeline, which will eventually have a 12 billion cubic metre per year capacity, is intended to serve as the first part of a Turkey-Greece-Italy Interconnector.
"They (the EU) have been pushing this Interconnector pipeline and they have been pushing the Nabucco pipeline but, while these projects are moving ahead, there is a great deal of hope there will be gas to fill these pipelines once they are completed, but right now the evidence is there won’t be enough gas from Azerbaijan or even from Central Asia to fill them," Chris Weafer, the chief strategist with UralSib Bank in Moscow, told New Europe.
Azerbaijan has already stretched itself thin in terms of promising gas supplies to Turkey and Georgia, he said.
An Azeri official said Azerbaijan is ready to sell gas to Europe. "If we don’t have enough gas why the companies and the Azerbaijani government have invested a lot of money to build such pipelines like Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum? In the oil industry there are no philanthropists. Everybody counts his money. Without profit nobody will do it. Such kind of talks is just speculation to say that... Azerbaijan cannot supply gas to Europe," he told New Europe.
Greece will buy part of the gas supplied from Phase I of Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field from Turkey. But once production from Phase II kicks in, there will be enough gas to supply not only Greece and Turkey, but other European countries, the official said.
Moreover, BP said it made a new discovery two weeks ago while drilling in Phase II of the Shah Deniz field. "We drew a well, appraised the existing reservoir we knew about and confirmed the size which will support the second phase of development of Shah Deniz. But while we were drilling that well, we decided to drill considerably deeper than the existing structures ... where we found an underlying structure and that’s the new discovery," BP spokesman David Nicholas told New Europe. "We’re talking many years away from potentially developing this new discovery. The second phase in the existing structure Shah Deniz is scheduled for supply in 2013. Any development in this deeper structure would be subsequent to that, so we are talking many years away," he said.
The Turkmen president has also been very active in trying to do energy deals and also, like the Azerbaijanis, promising a lot of gas to different partners. "There is a big question mark whether or not there is enough gas to fulfil those promises. In May they signed a deal with Russia to increase the capacity of a pipeline going north, but at the same time they signed a deal with Beijing to increase exports to China over the next few years and now they are talking actively with the EU about supplying gas to the Nabucco pipeline," Weafer said.
The question is how they are going to get it across the Caspian to Azerbaijan or the Black Sea, because they cannot build a pipeline across the Caspian as long as there is no agreement on the status of the Caspian Sea. They will either have to build this pipeline through Russia or not at all, as the alternative is through Iran and that can’t happen as long as Iran is subject to sanctions. There is also plenty of gas in Iran for Europe. The European Commission hopes the political problems would be resolved as quickly as possible in order to consider Iranian gas for Nabucco.
Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, on hand for the inauguration ceremonies for the Turkey-Greece Interconnector, tried to discourage any plans to fill it from Russia’s Blue Stream pipeline, especially once the Interconnector is extended to Italy. But as UralSib’s Weafer pointedly said, "Of course the Americans don’t like that, but frankly they are the problem. They are the ones who are blocking a resolution with Iran."
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Australian rules football around the world
Australian rules football is a sport played in countries around the world. In 2006, about 16,000 people played in structured competitions outside of Australia and at least 20 leagues that are recognised by the game's governing body, exist outside of Australia.[1]. This figure had grown to a total of 34,845 participation by the end of 2007.[2] In contrast, there are over 600,000 players in Australia where the game is at its strongest and overseas players make up less than 2% of the total players worldwide. Although semi-professional players have come from outside of Australia, and there have been several players in the VFL/AFL who have were born ouside Australia, no player to learn the game overseas has yet played a game in the Australian Football League.
The growth of Australian rules in the 19th Century and early 20th Century was rapid, but it went into rapid decline following World War I. After World War II, the sport experienced a small amount of growth in the Pacific region, particularly in Nauru, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
Australian rules football is emerging as an international sport much later than other forms of football such as soccer or rugby, but has grown substantially as an amateur sport in some countries since the 1980s. Initially the sport has grown with the Australian diaspora, aided by multiculturalism and assisted by exhibition matches and players who have converted to and from other football codes. In Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States there are many thousands of players and these countries. Canada, Japan, Denmark and Sweden have also shown strong potential in the sport amongst local players in the lead up to the 2008 Australian Football International Cup.
The AFL became the defacto governing body when it pushed for the closure of the International Australian Football Council in 2002.
Australian rules football is played professionally only by men in Australia and is major spectator sport only in Australia, with the exception of occasional exhibition games staged in other countries and carnival type events overseas.
Although the game is played in many countries, Australian Football League as world governing body only has 13 affiliated international governing bodies, AFL Canada, Danish Australian Football League, BARFL, AFL Japan, ARFLI, Nauru Australian Football Association, New Zealand AFL, USAFL, AFL South Africa, AFL PNG, AFL Samoa, Tonga Australian Football Association and AFL Germany, although the league has working relationships with bodies in additional countries who may form affiliation agreements in future and have sent (or may in future send) teams to the International Cup.
Early beginnings
Almost as soon as the game was becoming established in Australia, it had spread to New Zealand and South Africa, initially due to the Otago Gold Rush and Witwatersrand Gold Rush. The game was further fuelled in South Africa by Australian soldiers in the First and Second Boer Wars.
There were reports of early competitions in England, Scotland and also Japan, started by expatriate Australians and servicemen.
The First World Governing Body and International Competition
In New Zealand, where proximity to Australia saw a formidable league, quickly grew to a formidable 115 clubs by the turn of the 19th Century. As the game spread, it became known as Australasian Football, with delegates from New Zealand added to the newly formed Australasian Football Council.
In 1908, New Zealand defeated both New South Wales and Queensland at the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival, an event held to celebrate 50 years of Australian Football.
Decline & hiatus
World War I saw the game being played by Australian servicemen around the world, particularly in Egypt and in Europe in France, Belgium and England.
Following the war, the game went into a sharp decline outside of Australia, with all domestic competitions dying out. National teams and international competition in the sport were non-existent for three quarters of a 20th Century. The return of many Australian expatriates from overseas goldfields and tours of duty combined with Australia's low profile on the world stage offered few opportunities for the game to grow during this time. With the withdrawal of its New Zealand delegates, the sport returned to the title of Australian Football, governed by the Australian Football Council. Concerned primarily with the growth of their own domestic competitions, the Australian leagues and governing bodies made little effort to develop or promote the game until the 1950s, and the council's role was mainly to oversee the growing importance of interstate test matches.
Nevertheless, the longest running fixture outside of Australia, the annual Oxford University versus Cambridge University match in England has been held since 1921 and has emerged into a fierce rivalry, and worthy of half-blue status at Oxford.[3] Apart from this match, however the game was rarely played in England.
Return of Oceania football
The only overseas place where the sport has been continuously played is the former Australian trustee mandate of Nauru, which began both senior and junior local competitions in the 1930s. The sport was also introduced Territory of New Guinea in 1944 and the Territory of Papua in 1948.
World War II saw some servicemen play the game overseas, particularly in Asia in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia and Africa in Egypt and Algeria. During the Vietnam War, matches were even played by servicemen against the local Vietnamese.
In the 1960s, Australian leagues began to show some interest in expansion of the game outside of Australia. 1963 saw the first Australian rules football exhibition matches played in the United States. Australian state leagues began occasionally promoting themselves in this way throughout the following decades.
In 1967, it was reported in the VFL Record's "Footy Facts" column that Australian football clubs existed in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town and that the VFL was optimistic about the future of the game in South Africa.[4] Little is known of how or when these clubs had formed or what later became of them.
Since 1967 there have been many matches between Australian and Irish teams, under various sets of hybrid, compromise rules. In 1984, the first official representative matches of International rules football were played, and these were played annually each October until 2006.
New Zealand resumed a local competition in 1974.
By 1975, Papua New Guinea had gained peaceful independence and test matches began to be played against teams from Australia. The first ever full international match involving Australia was played in 1977 at under 17 level between Australia and Papua New Guinea in Adelaide, with Australia taking the honours.[5] Since then, Australia have been peerless in the sport and seldom compete at international level.
Despite these small advancements to the international aspects of the game, progress overseas was rarely covered in the Australian media.
[edit] Modern era - The game begins abroad
In the late 1980s, successful VFL exhibition matches attracted large crowds and spawned fledgeling local competitions in both Japan and Canada. The Australian media showed only a token interest in the matches in London and Japan involving VFL clubs. It was during this decade that the sport was first televised in North America and the United Kingdom.
Game Spreads
The largest barriers to growth of Australian rules football internationally have traditionally been distance, field availability and player numbers. With a total of at least 36 player required for a game and a cricket sized pitch, this made it difficult for organisers in countries where space was a premium, enclosed grounds were not available and attracting participants would prove difficult. While these factors were not a problem in Papua New Guinea or New Zealand, they did pose large problems to leagues in Europe, Asia and America. The more inventive of organisers began to accept modified versions of the game, such as 9-a-side, often played on any available field, open space, parks, soccer or rugby fields. These approaches to the game were highly successful.
In the late 1980s, as these factors became less of an obstacle, amateur leagues were established in Japan (1987), England, Denmark and Canada (1989). In the case of Japan and Canada, these were directly sparked by VFL exhibition matches.
In the 1990s, the Australian diaspora had spread and amateur competition has grown in countries such as Sweden (1993), Germany (1995), USA (1996), Argentina, Spain and Samoa (1997), South Africa (1998), as well as a number of solely expatriate teams, mainly based in South East Asia.
During this time, the VFL had expanded to become the AFL and in turn commanded a greater national and international audience. Word of the sport grew out of AFL exhibition matches, cult television following and Internet communication. North American fans formed an organization, AFANA, specifically to work for improved media coverage of Australian football.
The traditionalists in the governing bodies of Australia (which became the AFL) were reluctant to sanction any games which were not played exactly according to the Laws of the Game, and the AFL initially did not recognise leagues which played the game on fields that did not closely match the proper dimensions or had less than 16 players per side.
Since the 1990s, these attitudes have changed somewhat and the AFL and other development bodies have directly contributed to the development the game overseas.
Formation of a World Governing Body and International Competition
The International Australian Football Council (IAFC) was formed after football first featured at the Arafura Games in 1995.
Since 1998, the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament, endorsed by the AFL as part of its International Policy, has hosted several junior teams from other countries.
Since 2000, fledgeling competitions have been established in countries such as Ireland (2000), Tonga (2002), Scotland, France and China (2005).
Television and the Internet have since helped to increase the awareness of the game outside of Australia.
Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the IAFC and the AFL. The first International Cup also marked the beginnings of a very small media interest in the international aspects of the game in Australia.
At the 2002 International Cup, meetings held between the AFL, IAFC and international teams at the International Cup saw the AFL become the de facto world governing body for the sport, with the leagues linked to the teams affiliating with the AFL. Some of the members of the IAFC disputed this move and continued the organisation in name. This organisation was finally completely dissolved in 2005, dropping all public claims to being the world governing body for the sport and being replaced by the development organisation Aussie Rules International.
Leaders of the Pack & Increasing Growth
In recent years, the game has grown particularly strongly also in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand where local player numbers are booming. In overall percentage terms their increases are high in comparison to the overall growth of the sport in Australia, however their total player numbers are at least 200 times less, making senior competition involving Australia at open level unlikely until at least 2020.
In 2005, after 8 years of growing domestic competition, the South African government declared Australian Rules Football the sport for "the new South Africa", injecting government funding into the sport.[6]
In 2006, Pakistan, Indonesia, Catalonia, Croatia, Norway, Bermuda and East Timor joined the list of playing nations with local players participating.
On July 3, 2006 the AFL announced that it had formed an International Development Committee to support overseas leagues. The AFL hopes to develop the game in other countries to the point where Australian football is played at an international level by top-quality sides from around the world. The AFL plans to host the International Cup regularly every four years, beginning in 2008, the 150th anniversary of the code.[7] Following the AFL's interest in the internationalisation of the game, coverage in the Australian media grew substantially.
On April 14, 2007, Australia's AIS Under 17 squad competed against the South African national Australian rules football team in the historic first international match between the two countries at North West Cricket Stadium in Potchefstroom, South Africa.[8] In the same month, a massive junior program called "Footy Wild", similar to Auskick was launched in the country
International competition
The first truly international competitor in Australian rules was New Zealand. In 1908 the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australian rules football. New Zealand (then representing a total of 115 clubs) defeated both New South Wales and Queensland in the carnival but lost to Victoria and Tasmania.
The Arafura Games, held in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (a competition for northern Australia, South East Asia and Pacific Islands) were the first International games to have Australian football as a competition sport, rather than a demonstration sport in 1995. Papua New Guinea won the Gold medal and retained it in subsequent games. Other teams that have competed at Australian Rules in the games include Japan, Nauru and a Northern Territory indigenous team. The International Australian football Council (IAFC) was formed after the 1995 Games (source IAFC).
Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the newly formed IAFC. The 2002 cup was contested by 11 teams from around the world made up exclusively of non-Australians. Ireland won the 2002 cup, defeating Papua New Guinea in the final.
In the interim years, Japan and New Zealand played an annual game as a curtain raiser to an AFL game: the New Zealand national team were victorious by 100 points in 2003, and so in 2004, a club side from Auckland played the game, which Japan lost by two points. The amateur Australian Convicts also toured and played several matches against sides from developing nations.
The second Australian football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2005, under the direction of the guidance and funding of the AFL with New Zealand defeating Papua New Guinea in the final, with third place going to the United States of America.
The third Australian Football International Cup will be held in Melbourne in 2008.
In 2006 Denmark, Sweden and Germany competed in a tri-nations series, which will be repeted annually.
Other international competitions that include Australian ex-patriates are also held, including the EU Cup, which was first held in 2005 in London, featuring 10 teams. In 2007 was held in Hamburg with 12 teams.
Australian rules football is a sport played in countries around the world. In 2006, about 16,000 people played in structured competitions outside of Australia and at least 20 leagues that are recognised by the game's governing body, exist outside of Australia.[1]. This figure had grown to a total of 34,845 participation by the end of 2007.[2] In contrast, there are over 600,000 players in Australia where the game is at its strongest and overseas players make up less than 2% of the total players worldwide. Although semi-professional players have come from outside of Australia, and there have been several players in the VFL/AFL who have were born ouside Australia, no player to learn the game overseas has yet played a game in the Australian Football League.
The growth of Australian rules in the 19th Century and early 20th Century was rapid, but it went into rapid decline following World War I. After World War II, the sport experienced a small amount of growth in the Pacific region, particularly in Nauru, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
Australian rules football is emerging as an international sport much later than other forms of football such as soccer or rugby, but has grown substantially as an amateur sport in some countries since the 1980s. Initially the sport has grown with the Australian diaspora, aided by multiculturalism and assisted by exhibition matches and players who have converted to and from other football codes. In Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States there are many thousands of players and these countries. Canada, Japan, Denmark and Sweden have also shown strong potential in the sport amongst local players in the lead up to the 2008 Australian Football International Cup.
The AFL became the defacto governing body when it pushed for the closure of the International Australian Football Council in 2002.
Australian rules football is played professionally only by men in Australia and is major spectator sport only in Australia, with the exception of occasional exhibition games staged in other countries and carnival type events overseas.
Although the game is played in many countries, Australian Football League as world governing body only has 13 affiliated international governing bodies, AFL Canada, Danish Australian Football League, BARFL, AFL Japan, ARFLI, Nauru Australian Football Association, New Zealand AFL, USAFL, AFL South Africa, AFL PNG, AFL Samoa, Tonga Australian Football Association and AFL Germany, although the league has working relationships with bodies in additional countries who may form affiliation agreements in future and have sent (or may in future send) teams to the International Cup.
Early beginnings
Almost as soon as the game was becoming established in Australia, it had spread to New Zealand and South Africa, initially due to the Otago Gold Rush and Witwatersrand Gold Rush. The game was further fuelled in South Africa by Australian soldiers in the First and Second Boer Wars.
There were reports of early competitions in England, Scotland and also Japan, started by expatriate Australians and servicemen.
The First World Governing Body and International Competition
In New Zealand, where proximity to Australia saw a formidable league, quickly grew to a formidable 115 clubs by the turn of the 19th Century. As the game spread, it became known as Australasian Football, with delegates from New Zealand added to the newly formed Australasian Football Council.
In 1908, New Zealand defeated both New South Wales and Queensland at the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival, an event held to celebrate 50 years of Australian Football.
Decline & hiatus
World War I saw the game being played by Australian servicemen around the world, particularly in Egypt and in Europe in France, Belgium and England.
Following the war, the game went into a sharp decline outside of Australia, with all domestic competitions dying out. National teams and international competition in the sport were non-existent for three quarters of a 20th Century. The return of many Australian expatriates from overseas goldfields and tours of duty combined with Australia's low profile on the world stage offered few opportunities for the game to grow during this time. With the withdrawal of its New Zealand delegates, the sport returned to the title of Australian Football, governed by the Australian Football Council. Concerned primarily with the growth of their own domestic competitions, the Australian leagues and governing bodies made little effort to develop or promote the game until the 1950s, and the council's role was mainly to oversee the growing importance of interstate test matches.
Nevertheless, the longest running fixture outside of Australia, the annual Oxford University versus Cambridge University match in England has been held since 1921 and has emerged into a fierce rivalry, and worthy of half-blue status at Oxford.[3] Apart from this match, however the game was rarely played in England.
Return of Oceania football
The only overseas place where the sport has been continuously played is the former Australian trustee mandate of Nauru, which began both senior and junior local competitions in the 1930s. The sport was also introduced Territory of New Guinea in 1944 and the Territory of Papua in 1948.
World War II saw some servicemen play the game overseas, particularly in Asia in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia and Africa in Egypt and Algeria. During the Vietnam War, matches were even played by servicemen against the local Vietnamese.
In the 1960s, Australian leagues began to show some interest in expansion of the game outside of Australia. 1963 saw the first Australian rules football exhibition matches played in the United States. Australian state leagues began occasionally promoting themselves in this way throughout the following decades.
In 1967, it was reported in the VFL Record's "Footy Facts" column that Australian football clubs existed in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town and that the VFL was optimistic about the future of the game in South Africa.[4] Little is known of how or when these clubs had formed or what later became of them.
Since 1967 there have been many matches between Australian and Irish teams, under various sets of hybrid, compromise rules. In 1984, the first official representative matches of International rules football were played, and these were played annually each October until 2006.
New Zealand resumed a local competition in 1974.
By 1975, Papua New Guinea had gained peaceful independence and test matches began to be played against teams from Australia. The first ever full international match involving Australia was played in 1977 at under 17 level between Australia and Papua New Guinea in Adelaide, with Australia taking the honours.[5] Since then, Australia have been peerless in the sport and seldom compete at international level.
Despite these small advancements to the international aspects of the game, progress overseas was rarely covered in the Australian media.
[edit] Modern era - The game begins abroad
In the late 1980s, successful VFL exhibition matches attracted large crowds and spawned fledgeling local competitions in both Japan and Canada. The Australian media showed only a token interest in the matches in London and Japan involving VFL clubs. It was during this decade that the sport was first televised in North America and the United Kingdom.
Game Spreads
The largest barriers to growth of Australian rules football internationally have traditionally been distance, field availability and player numbers. With a total of at least 36 player required for a game and a cricket sized pitch, this made it difficult for organisers in countries where space was a premium, enclosed grounds were not available and attracting participants would prove difficult. While these factors were not a problem in Papua New Guinea or New Zealand, they did pose large problems to leagues in Europe, Asia and America. The more inventive of organisers began to accept modified versions of the game, such as 9-a-side, often played on any available field, open space, parks, soccer or rugby fields. These approaches to the game were highly successful.
In the late 1980s, as these factors became less of an obstacle, amateur leagues were established in Japan (1987), England, Denmark and Canada (1989). In the case of Japan and Canada, these were directly sparked by VFL exhibition matches.
In the 1990s, the Australian diaspora had spread and amateur competition has grown in countries such as Sweden (1993), Germany (1995), USA (1996), Argentina, Spain and Samoa (1997), South Africa (1998), as well as a number of solely expatriate teams, mainly based in South East Asia.
During this time, the VFL had expanded to become the AFL and in turn commanded a greater national and international audience. Word of the sport grew out of AFL exhibition matches, cult television following and Internet communication. North American fans formed an organization, AFANA, specifically to work for improved media coverage of Australian football.
The traditionalists in the governing bodies of Australia (which became the AFL) were reluctant to sanction any games which were not played exactly according to the Laws of the Game, and the AFL initially did not recognise leagues which played the game on fields that did not closely match the proper dimensions or had less than 16 players per side.
Since the 1990s, these attitudes have changed somewhat and the AFL and other development bodies have directly contributed to the development the game overseas.
Formation of a World Governing Body and International Competition
The International Australian Football Council (IAFC) was formed after football first featured at the Arafura Games in 1995.
Since 1998, the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament, endorsed by the AFL as part of its International Policy, has hosted several junior teams from other countries.
Since 2000, fledgeling competitions have been established in countries such as Ireland (2000), Tonga (2002), Scotland, France and China (2005).
Television and the Internet have since helped to increase the awareness of the game outside of Australia.
Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the IAFC and the AFL. The first International Cup also marked the beginnings of a very small media interest in the international aspects of the game in Australia.
At the 2002 International Cup, meetings held between the AFL, IAFC and international teams at the International Cup saw the AFL become the de facto world governing body for the sport, with the leagues linked to the teams affiliating with the AFL. Some of the members of the IAFC disputed this move and continued the organisation in name. This organisation was finally completely dissolved in 2005, dropping all public claims to being the world governing body for the sport and being replaced by the development organisation Aussie Rules International.
Leaders of the Pack & Increasing Growth
In recent years, the game has grown particularly strongly also in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand where local player numbers are booming. In overall percentage terms their increases are high in comparison to the overall growth of the sport in Australia, however their total player numbers are at least 200 times less, making senior competition involving Australia at open level unlikely until at least 2020.
In 2005, after 8 years of growing domestic competition, the South African government declared Australian Rules Football the sport for "the new South Africa", injecting government funding into the sport.[6]
In 2006, Pakistan, Indonesia, Catalonia, Croatia, Norway, Bermuda and East Timor joined the list of playing nations with local players participating.
On July 3, 2006 the AFL announced that it had formed an International Development Committee to support overseas leagues. The AFL hopes to develop the game in other countries to the point where Australian football is played at an international level by top-quality sides from around the world. The AFL plans to host the International Cup regularly every four years, beginning in 2008, the 150th anniversary of the code.[7] Following the AFL's interest in the internationalisation of the game, coverage in the Australian media grew substantially.
On April 14, 2007, Australia's AIS Under 17 squad competed against the South African national Australian rules football team in the historic first international match between the two countries at North West Cricket Stadium in Potchefstroom, South Africa.[8] In the same month, a massive junior program called "Footy Wild", similar to Auskick was launched in the country
International competition
The first truly international competitor in Australian rules was New Zealand. In 1908 the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australian rules football. New Zealand (then representing a total of 115 clubs) defeated both New South Wales and Queensland in the carnival but lost to Victoria and Tasmania.
The Arafura Games, held in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (a competition for northern Australia, South East Asia and Pacific Islands) were the first International games to have Australian football as a competition sport, rather than a demonstration sport in 1995. Papua New Guinea won the Gold medal and retained it in subsequent games. Other teams that have competed at Australian Rules in the games include Japan, Nauru and a Northern Territory indigenous team. The International Australian football Council (IAFC) was formed after the 1995 Games (source IAFC).
Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the newly formed IAFC. The 2002 cup was contested by 11 teams from around the world made up exclusively of non-Australians. Ireland won the 2002 cup, defeating Papua New Guinea in the final.
In the interim years, Japan and New Zealand played an annual game as a curtain raiser to an AFL game: the New Zealand national team were victorious by 100 points in 2003, and so in 2004, a club side from Auckland played the game, which Japan lost by two points. The amateur Australian Convicts also toured and played several matches against sides from developing nations.
The second Australian football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2005, under the direction of the guidance and funding of the AFL with New Zealand defeating Papua New Guinea in the final, with third place going to the United States of America.
The third Australian Football International Cup will be held in Melbourne in 2008.
In 2006 Denmark, Sweden and Germany competed in a tri-nations series, which will be repeted annually.
Other international competitions that include Australian ex-patriates are also held, including the EU Cup, which was first held in 2005 in London, featuring 10 teams. In 2007 was held in Hamburg with 12 teams.
Unofficial Football World Championships
The Unofficial Football World Championships (UFWC) is a way of calculating the world's best football team, using a knock-out title system similar to that used in boxing and wrestling. The title is currently held by Greece and the next defence of the title will take place against Hungary on 21 November 2007 [1].
The idea stemmed originally from some Scotland fans jokingly asserting that as they beat England (who had won the 1966 World Cup) in a British Home Championship match on April 15, 1967 - England's first loss after their World Cup victory - they were the Unofficial World Champions.
Many years later, a website was created to show results of research triggered by this idea. The website was featured in respected football magazine FourFourTwo, which gained it extra publicity. The FourFourTwo feature also suggested the compilation of an unofficial clubs' world championship.
It is not FIFA-sanctioned, nor does it have any sort of official backing.
Early days
The first ever international match was a "rather unexciting" 0-0 draw between England and Scotland, on November 30, 1872 at Hamilton Crescent. The Unofficial World Championship thus remained undecided until the same two teams met again at the Kennington Oval on March 8, 1873. England won 4-2, and so are regarded as having become the Unofficial Football World Champions. Wales entered the 'competition' in 1876, and Ireland in 1882. The Championship however, continued to swap between Scotland and England until March 1903, when Ireland beat Scotland 2-0. Wales won the title for the first time in March 1907, beating Scotland 1-0.
Scotland regained the Championship the following year, which saw England playing internationally. Scotland however, didn't do the same and so retained the title. By the end of 1909, England had taken the title and defended it outside of the British Isles for the first time.
Following partition, Ireland was to compete as Northern Ireland for the first time in 1923. The team went on to win for the first time in 1927, beating England 2-0.
The fact that none of the Home Nations teams competed in the 1930, 1934 or 1938 World Cups kept the title from travelling too far abroad, and the First and Second World Wars hindered football's globalisation process further.
1930s-2000
It was 1931 when the title was first passed outside the British Isles, to Austria. It was back with the home nations within four months, and for all but the last few months of the decade it was held by those four teams. In the 1940s the title was held by continental teams, notably those representing the Axis powers and countries neutral during World War II, but was recaptured by England in time for the 1950 World Cup. Here, in a shock result, they lost to the United States in one of the biggest upsets ever. This was the first venture of the title onto the Americas, where it remained for all but one of the following 16 years.
This time included the reign of the Netherlands Antilles, who beat Mexico 2-1 in a CONCACAF Championship match to become the smallest country ever to hold the title. The UFWC returned to Europe in time for the 1966 FIFA World Cup with the Soviet Union. As it happened, the England v Scotland match of 1967, which first gave rise to the idea of an unofficial world championship, really was a UFWC title match. The title stayed in Europe until 1978, when it was taken by Argentina's 1978 World Cup winning side. It remained in South America until the 1982 World Cup where Peru lost to Poland. The UFWC remained in Europe for the next ten years, except for a one year tenure by Argentina.
In 1992, the title returned to the United States and then was held for one match by Australia, and then worked its way through several South American nations, back through Europe and to its first Asian holders, South Korea. The Koreans lost the title to Yugoslavia at the first time of asking, and the UFWC remained in Europe until March 1998 when Germany lost it to Brazil in a friendly. Argentina then defeated Brazil in a friendly to carry the UFWC into the 1998 World Cup.
France repeated the feat of Argentina in 1978 by taking the title as they won the World Cup on home turf, beating Brazil. England took the title for the last time to date at UEFA Euro 2000. France and Spain enjoyed spells as champions before the Netherlands won the title in March 2002. As the Dutch had failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, the UFWC was, unusually, not at stake at the official World Cup. The Netherlands retained the title until September 10, 2003, when they lost 3-1 to the Czech Republic.
Full globalisation
The Czechs defended their title a few times, before losing it to the Republic of Ireland in a friendly. The title then went to an African nation for the first time, as they lost it to Nigeria. Minnows Angola won and kept this title through late 2004 and early 2005. They were then beaten by Zimbabwe, who held the title for six months before Nigeria re-gained it in October 2005. Nigeria were beaten by Romania who lost it to Uruguay within six months. Uruguay became the highest ranked team to hold the title since 2004, but their failure to qualify for the World Cup finals meant that, for the second time in a row, the unofficial title was not available at the official championships.
Return to Europe
The title was brought back to Europe by Georgia on 15 November 2006. They lost the title to the highest ranked team in the UWFC of all time, Scotland, on March 24, 2007, nearly forty years since Scotland had last gained the title, in the game against England at Wembley that had inspired the concept of the UFWC. Just four days later, Scotland conceded the title to FIFA World Cup holders Italy, and the title passed through the hands of Hungary and Turkey before being claimed by Greece.
Rankings table
Because of the unofficial nature of the title, there is no authoritative criteria for ranking the historical holders of the title. The UFWC website sorts teams by how many championship deciding matches they have won: others have used cumulative length of time holding the title, a points system for matches won, drawn and lost, or other methods.
This table ranks the teams according to the number of matches that they have started as title holders, and in the event of a tie, uses cumulative days as title holder and then length of time since the title was last held as second and third criteria
Rules
The first team to win an international football match were declared first ever Football World Champions.
The next match this team competes in is considered a title match, with the winners taking the title.
In the event of a title match being a draw, the current holders of the title remain champions. UFWC title matches are decided by their ultimate outcome, including extra time and penalties.
The title is passed on like so, with any FIFA accredited international 'A' match involving a title holder being considered a title match.
Title matches are contested under the rules of the governing body which they are sanctioned by.
Nasazzi's Baton
A similar virtual title, Nasazzi's Baton, traces the "championship" from the first World Cup winners Uruguay, after whose captain it is named. Nasazzi's Baton follows the same rules as the UFWC, except that it treats all matches according to their result after 90 minutes. Greece are the current holders of this title as well as the UFWC, the two titles having most recently been united when Netherlands, the UFWC holders, beat Nasazzi's baton champions Norway 1-0 in Oslo in a friendly on 21 August 2002.
Virtual World Championship
Another virtual title, the Virtual World Championship, operates along the same boxing-style lines but only counts matches in FIFA-recognised championships and their qualifying stages. This is to circumvent the criticism of the UFWC that because countries do not always play their strongest teams in non-competitive matches, the honour could be unwittingly lost by a sub-strength team. This title is traced from the 1908 Olympic final. Olympic competitions since 1936 are not considered, as full international teams ceased to take part after that tournament. The honour is currently held by Brazil, who won it from Argentina in the Copa América final on 15 July 2007, and will next defend it away to Peru in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 18 November 2007. The Virtual World Championship treats all matches according to their result after 90 minutes.
The idea stemmed originally from some Scotland fans jokingly asserting that as they beat England (who had won the 1966 World Cup) in a British Home Championship match on April 15, 1967 - England's first loss after their World Cup victory - they were the Unofficial World Champions.
Many years later, a website was created to show results of research triggered by this idea. The website was featured in respected football magazine FourFourTwo, which gained it extra publicity. The FourFourTwo feature also suggested the compilation of an unofficial clubs' world championship.
It is not FIFA-sanctioned, nor does it have any sort of official backing.
Early days
The first ever international match was a "rather unexciting" 0-0 draw between England and Scotland, on November 30, 1872 at Hamilton Crescent. The Unofficial World Championship thus remained undecided until the same two teams met again at the Kennington Oval on March 8, 1873. England won 4-2, and so are regarded as having become the Unofficial Football World Champions. Wales entered the 'competition' in 1876, and Ireland in 1882. The Championship however, continued to swap between Scotland and England until March 1903, when Ireland beat Scotland 2-0. Wales won the title for the first time in March 1907, beating Scotland 1-0.
Scotland regained the Championship the following year, which saw England playing internationally. Scotland however, didn't do the same and so retained the title. By the end of 1909, England had taken the title and defended it outside of the British Isles for the first time.
Following partition, Ireland was to compete as Northern Ireland for the first time in 1923. The team went on to win for the first time in 1927, beating England 2-0.
The fact that none of the Home Nations teams competed in the 1930, 1934 or 1938 World Cups kept the title from travelling too far abroad, and the First and Second World Wars hindered football's globalisation process further.
1930s-2000
It was 1931 when the title was first passed outside the British Isles, to Austria. It was back with the home nations within four months, and for all but the last few months of the decade it was held by those four teams. In the 1940s the title was held by continental teams, notably those representing the Axis powers and countries neutral during World War II, but was recaptured by England in time for the 1950 World Cup. Here, in a shock result, they lost to the United States in one of the biggest upsets ever. This was the first venture of the title onto the Americas, where it remained for all but one of the following 16 years.
This time included the reign of the Netherlands Antilles, who beat Mexico 2-1 in a CONCACAF Championship match to become the smallest country ever to hold the title. The UFWC returned to Europe in time for the 1966 FIFA World Cup with the Soviet Union. As it happened, the England v Scotland match of 1967, which first gave rise to the idea of an unofficial world championship, really was a UFWC title match. The title stayed in Europe until 1978, when it was taken by Argentina's 1978 World Cup winning side. It remained in South America until the 1982 World Cup where Peru lost to Poland. The UFWC remained in Europe for the next ten years, except for a one year tenure by Argentina.
In 1992, the title returned to the United States and then was held for one match by Australia, and then worked its way through several South American nations, back through Europe and to its first Asian holders, South Korea. The Koreans lost the title to Yugoslavia at the first time of asking, and the UFWC remained in Europe until March 1998 when Germany lost it to Brazil in a friendly. Argentina then defeated Brazil in a friendly to carry the UFWC into the 1998 World Cup.
France repeated the feat of Argentina in 1978 by taking the title as they won the World Cup on home turf, beating Brazil. England took the title for the last time to date at UEFA Euro 2000. France and Spain enjoyed spells as champions before the Netherlands won the title in March 2002. As the Dutch had failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, the UFWC was, unusually, not at stake at the official World Cup. The Netherlands retained the title until September 10, 2003, when they lost 3-1 to the Czech Republic.
Full globalisation
The Czechs defended their title a few times, before losing it to the Republic of Ireland in a friendly. The title then went to an African nation for the first time, as they lost it to Nigeria. Minnows Angola won and kept this title through late 2004 and early 2005. They were then beaten by Zimbabwe, who held the title for six months before Nigeria re-gained it in October 2005. Nigeria were beaten by Romania who lost it to Uruguay within six months. Uruguay became the highest ranked team to hold the title since 2004, but their failure to qualify for the World Cup finals meant that, for the second time in a row, the unofficial title was not available at the official championships.
Return to Europe
The title was brought back to Europe by Georgia on 15 November 2006. They lost the title to the highest ranked team in the UWFC of all time, Scotland, on March 24, 2007, nearly forty years since Scotland had last gained the title, in the game against England at Wembley that had inspired the concept of the UFWC. Just four days later, Scotland conceded the title to FIFA World Cup holders Italy, and the title passed through the hands of Hungary and Turkey before being claimed by Greece.
Rankings table
Because of the unofficial nature of the title, there is no authoritative criteria for ranking the historical holders of the title. The UFWC website sorts teams by how many championship deciding matches they have won: others have used cumulative length of time holding the title, a points system for matches won, drawn and lost, or other methods.
This table ranks the teams according to the number of matches that they have started as title holders, and in the event of a tie, uses cumulative days as title holder and then length of time since the title was last held as second and third criteria
Rules
The first team to win an international football match were declared first ever Football World Champions.
The next match this team competes in is considered a title match, with the winners taking the title.
In the event of a title match being a draw, the current holders of the title remain champions. UFWC title matches are decided by their ultimate outcome, including extra time and penalties.
The title is passed on like so, with any FIFA accredited international 'A' match involving a title holder being considered a title match.
Title matches are contested under the rules of the governing body which they are sanctioned by.
Nasazzi's Baton
A similar virtual title, Nasazzi's Baton, traces the "championship" from the first World Cup winners Uruguay, after whose captain it is named. Nasazzi's Baton follows the same rules as the UFWC, except that it treats all matches according to their result after 90 minutes. Greece are the current holders of this title as well as the UFWC, the two titles having most recently been united when Netherlands, the UFWC holders, beat Nasazzi's baton champions Norway 1-0 in Oslo in a friendly on 21 August 2002.
Virtual World Championship
Another virtual title, the Virtual World Championship, operates along the same boxing-style lines but only counts matches in FIFA-recognised championships and their qualifying stages. This is to circumvent the criticism of the UFWC that because countries do not always play their strongest teams in non-competitive matches, the honour could be unwittingly lost by a sub-strength team. This title is traced from the 1908 Olympic final. Olympic competitions since 1936 are not considered, as full international teams ceased to take part after that tournament. The honour is currently held by Brazil, who won it from Argentina in the Copa América final on 15 July 2007, and will next defend it away to Peru in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 18 November 2007. The Virtual World Championship treats all matches according to their result after 90 minutes.
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