men Page 246 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Can Thailand Take Advantage Of Their Lucky Break?
Thailand’s journey to the World Cup was a strange one, and they had to take advantage of a unique set of circumstances to get here. In 2009, FIFA decided to bump up the number of teams in the 2015 World Cup from 16 to 24, which increased the amount of bids for Asian teams from three to five. And in ...
World Cup Debutantes Côte d'Ivoire Will Be Here For Years To Come
When Côte d’Ivoire take the field against Germany on June 7, how they will play will be a mystery. Not because they have ginned up some tactics in secret—though maybe they have!—but because they have only played a single match in the past seven months. While the Côte d’Ivoire men’s team is known for...
Norway's Brute Force Past Meets Soccer's Future
Two decades ago Norway were a soccer power, finishing second at the 1991 World Cup and winning it all in 1995. But recent years have seen a tactically naïve Norway surpassed, or at least equaled, by nations that got a later jump on women’s soccer, like France, England, and Spain. While they should h...
Germany Are A Steamroller, And They Expect To Win It All
Germany have historically been one of the best teams in women’s soccer, and they go into the 2015 World Cup like they go into every tournament: with the expectation of winning. They won the World Cup in 2003 and 2007, finished runner-up in 1995, and have won every Women’s Euro since 1995. They went ...
The Once Great, Now Unknown China Women's National Team
There was once a time when China were one of the biggest names in women’s soccer. A time when, come a World Cup, you could pencil the then-giants of Asia into the knockout rounds and rightly expect them to make a run. That time has passed. Now, no one really knows what to expect from this team....
How New Zealand Will Go From Beating Up Bad Teams To Being The Bad Team
If ever there was a poster child for the dangers of weak competition, it’s New Zealand. Here are the results of their three most recent competitive matches, coming in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup:...
Finally, A Netherlands Women's Team That Lives Up To The Name
One of the most enjoyable things about international soccer is the way you can notice various stylistic through-lines. Each nation has its particular soccer heritage—sometimes a broad affinity for a certain type of athlete, other times a specific formation or tactical ideology—and how this in turn m...
Will Canada Earn The Right To Get Knocked Out By The USWNT Again?
The stage is set. Fresh off of their best-ever result in a major tournament (a bronze in the 2012 London Olympics) that climaxed with probably the sport’s greatest-ever game, Canada enter this summer’s World Cup on home soil turf with, as Beatrix Kiddo would say, some unfinished business. Unfortunat...
Hope Solo's Redemption Tour Has Begun
The Women’s World Cup starts June 6, and, right on time, frequently-arrested USWNT keeper Hope Solo’s reclamation project is starting up, too. If you’re wondering why this campaign is happening, we have no answers for you; all we can do is point you to the first stop, a long, gushy, and somewhat con...
Who Wants A Pontiac Silverdome Urinal Autographed By Barry Sanders?
Here’s a sound purchase for any Detroit Lions fan: A urinal from the Pontiac Silverdome, autographed by Barry Sanders. With the auction’s opening bid set at a mere $500, it’s an opportunity that can’t be passed up....
Chance The Rapper And Donnie Trumpet's <i>Surf</i> Is All Good Feelings
A while back, Chance the Rapper, Nico Segal (aka Donnie Trumpet), and the Social Experiment (their band), covered the theme song to the PBS children’s show Arthur. It was a beautiful interpretation of the mantra you hear so much as a child — that every day can be wonderful, just as long as you belie...
Q&A: Comedy Legend Barry Crimmins, Star Of The New Doc <i>Call Me Lucky</i>
Bobcat Goldthwait’s career as a director (Shakes the Clown, God Bless America, World’s Greatest Dad) continues to reduce our memory of him as a comedian and actor (Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, Police Academy 3: Back in Training, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol). His latest film, Ca...
How Kevin Johnson Destroyed A Black Mayors Group To Promote His Brand
The African American Mayors Association, led by Kevin Johnson, opens its annual meeting today in Washington, D.C. The former NBA star and current mayor of Sacramento has been the president of the association since its founding in 2013—when, as president of the Atlanta-based National Conference of Bl...
Reports: Justice Department Brings The Goddamn Hammer Down On FIFA
According to reports in both the Wall Street Journal ($) and New York Times, a number of FIFA officials were just arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, and according to the Times are expected to be extradited to the United States where they will face charges of “wire fraud, racketeering and money launder...
A Perfect Picnic Beer For Fruit Realists
The Fruits of the Field are the very finest family of solid foodstuff, preferable even to the glorious Meats, Cheeses, and Processed Grains, and eons better than the mere Vegetables, Candies, and Gelatins. This is because fruits are generally attractive (even the meatiest among us will admit that a ...
Linesman Takes Massive Hit, Has To Leave Hockey Game
A Steven Stamkos hit on Kevin Klein led to NHL linesman Brad Kovachik being knocked out of tonight’s Lightning-Rangers game in the second period. Backup linesman Greg Devorski took over for Kovachik. We don’t have word yet on Kovachik’s condition....
I'd Never Watched <i>Mad Men </i>Before; Here's My Take On The Crap Finale
I missed my chance to be a Mad Men watcher something like five years ago, when I was hopelessly unemployed and torrenting God knows how how many consecutive life sentences’ worth of shit, but I didn’t get on board, and friends said it was probably not a show you want to binge. (This is code for “Bor...
San Isidro Bullfighter In "Grave Condition" After Being Gored Again
Torero Jiménez Fortes is in serious condition after being gored in the jugular at the Feria de San Isidro bullfighting festival. It’s the second year in a row he’s been gored, and—warning!—it is pretty gruesome....
