The Cover Story: Team USA shows a ton of heart

They might not be the most talented team in the men's hockey tournament, but Team USA showed they had the heart last night in beating Canada in 5-3. The loss was huge news in Canada and even made the front page of one United States newspaper.

Detroit Free Press

The Province (Canada)

The Chronicle Herald (Canada)

Nanaimo Daily News (Canada)

The Calgary Sun (Canada)

Maybe I was wrong

A couple of years ago, a friend, who was new to the game of soccer, was going on about how Landon Donovan was the greatest thing since sliced bread. At the time I said that he would not be able to make it Championship and he would never be able to play in the top flight in England.

Well today I'm here to say maybe I was wrong. Donovan, who has spent the last couple of weeks at Everton on loan, has been a success story and maybe he can play at the highest club level in the world. Donovan went to Germany early in his career and did not have that great a time, some media type thought he put in one of the worst Champions League performances ever. After not finding success he decided to return home and be the best player in the MLS. After a loan spell in Germany last year, which he was ok in, he returned to MLS. At the end of last season Donovan decided to join Everton on a 10 week loan and so far it has been a success. He made his debut for the Toffees against Arsenal on January 9 in a 2–2 draw and set up Everton's first goal with a corner. Donovan went on to start his next game with the club on January 16 in a 2-0 win over Manchester City F.C. Landon contributed a full 90 plus minutes to the game until his substitution in the 91st minute. He exited the field to a standing ovation from the Everton fans at Goodison Park. Donovan scored his first Everton goal against Sunderland on January 27 in a 2–0 home win. He also played a full 90 minutes in Everton's back-to-back victories over Chelsea and Manchester United, at that time first and second in the table respectively.

A couple of year ago, I questioned Donovan's heart and commitment to being the best player that he could be because he was staying in MLS and not looking at heading at playing in Europe. Those questions have now been answered and now count me on the Landon Donovan band wagon. The biggest winner in Donovan's trip to the Premier League is US Soccer come the World Cup, the national team will be able to pull from Donovan's experiences in the toughest league in the world and be able to lead the teams. So I will say this again, I was wrong Landon and you have really changed my opinion of you.

John Wall Dance is everywhere

Everything that John Wall does is news is in for the Big Blue Nation, now something is becoming national news, The John Wall Dance. Wall broke the dance out at the Midnight Madness and it seems to sweeping the nation. Kids, hunters, and old people are doing the dance. Here are some of the best of the best from around the web. He you can even become a fan of it on facebook, so it must be big.

The Hunter doing the John Wall Dance

John Wall Dance through History

John Wall Dance on the Great Wall of China

OTWT has the Olympic Spirit

The men's ice hockey tournament has kicked off and so far things could not better. OTWT is really in the mood even ordering a Patrick Kane Team USA shirt (above). It should be a great tournament and can not wait to watch it.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

OTWT:Olympic Hockey Thoughts

A couple of months ago, the United States shocked the world and went into Canada and beat the Canadians to win the World Junior Championships. Now the Canadians might have their shot at revenge as they get ready to host the Olympics. The Olympic hockey tournament is one of my favorites events, the tournament is played at such a high level its amazing. After breaking down the teams and the watching countless games this year, here are OTWT predication for the best hockey tournament in the world

Gold: Russia: Geno and Ovie can you name more dynamic players in the world. The thing about the duo is that they do not care about the crowd, they love playing in tough places.

Silver: Canada: They might have the best team on paper, but what is going to happen when something goes wrong will the crowd turn on them or will they be supportive. The Canadians were heavy favorites to win the WJC and fell in the final. I have a feeling that this might be more of the same.

Bronze: Sweden: The Sedin twins and Backstrom what more could you ask for. People forget that they are the defending champs and the champs until someone knocks them out.

Cover Story: Super Saints

The Saints beat the Colts in a good Super Bowl. Here is how the newspapers in Indianapolis and New Orleans covered the game.

The Times Picayune

The Advocate

Kokomo Tribune

Indianapolis Star

The NFL should follow UEFA

A couple of year ago UEFA made a brilliant decision, yes I said that they made a good decision. The governing body of European soccer decided to move its flagship event the Champions League final from Wednesday to Saturday. The move would allow more people to enjoy the event and not have to worry about going to work the next day. This years finals will be the first held on the weekend.

Maybe the NFL should do the same with its flagship event the Super Bowl. Sure tradition has it that the NFL plays its biggest event on Sunday. Moving the event back a day would allow for lot more people to enjoy the game and not have to worry about heading to school or work the next the day. Its one thing to start the game at 4 p.m. on a Sunday, but to start it at almost 6:30 p.m. means the game is not ending to after 10 p.m., if you are lucky.

"It is clear that great sports traditions can clearly be altered if there is value in doing so. And in a survey by the American Mustache Institute of its 2,000-plus members, nearly 80 percent said they would support moving the Super Bowl to Saturday,'' wrote Dr. Abraham Froman at the Huffington Post.

Moving the event would also allow mean more production at work on the Monday after the Super Bowl. Most Monday's after the Super Bowl are a waste, some of the people in the office are tired from the watching the game and maybe even hungover after enjoying one to many adult beverages. There would be none of those excuses if the game was moved to Saturday.

I know the NFL thinks that they are biggest league in the world but maybe they should follow someone lead.

WJC guys like the outdoors

In January the United States World Junior team shocked the world and beat Canada for the title, but since then they have all gone their separate ways. Cam Fowler head back to Windsor, AJ Jenks headed Plymouth, and the college kids headed back to campus to finish their season.

But one thing strange has happened over the month since the players have been back at their teams. Five of the players that were on the team have played in a variety of outdoor games. Boston College's Chris Kreider and Boston University's David Warsofsky played in the Frozen Fenway Classic (pictured above) at Fenway Park, while the University of Wisconsin trio of Jake Gardiner, John Ramage, and Derek Stephan played in the Camp Randall Classic game against Michigan.

The NHL Winter Classic has been a huge success and many colleges with big football stadiums are doing similar games now. Next year Michigan State will play Michigan at the Big House on my birthday Dec. 11.

Cover Story: Later Mr. Terry

It did not take long for Don Fabio to let John Terry know what his future was as England Captain, 12 minutes to be exact. Here is how newspapers across the pond covered the big news.

The Times of London

The Guardian

The Cover Story: National Signing Day

National Signing Day is a big day around the country, but in some areas of the country its the only story in town. Here are some of the ways newspapers covered the annual celebration of college football recruiting.

The Tennessean

The Oklahoman
The Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)
The Advocate (Louisiana)
The Honolulu Advertiser
Athens Banner Herald
The Sun (Florida)

Raw vs. Smackdown Soccer Style

The two Manchester games between United and City have been epic wars. The Guardian asked people to come up with a photos for the games so far this year and this one for a take off of the WWE was the best.

The Fun of National Signing Day on Twitter

National Signing Day has always been a fun day for college football fans, but with twitter coming along it has added to the fun of the day.

Here are some of the best tweets from around the country about National Signing Day:

• Bogeythepup Was going to sign today, since it is National signing day, but all I have is email! Fax machines is so last century!
• EmilyBranch National signing day....it might as well be a holiday in Alabama! War Eagle!
• birdonthestreet I thought National Signing Day had to do with Sign Language, not sports.
• stadiumdrives RT @CaptainAnnoying: I wonder if deaf people get excited over National Signing Day, only to find out it's not what they thought it was.
• ScottASpecht Two most overrated days of the year: Groundhog Dog, and National Signing day. Their proximity isn't a coincidence.
• csstieber DON'T HATE, JUST EMBRACE THE CREEPINESS RT @cjane87: national signing day is the day i realize i am really, really pathetic.
• JandDShow National Signing Day > Valentines Day! CASE CLOSED
• SportsCentaur National Signing Day, only day where Dateline's Chris Hansen can't arrest men for talking about teenage boys on the web.
• slmandel Question: is signing day the last thing left keeping the fax machine relevant? They can't figure out a way to do this via internet?

I hope that everyone got the players that they wanted, but the real star on this National Signing Day was Twitter and some of the classic lines that came out, especially the one about Chris Hanson.

Happy National Signing Day

To all of the recruiting geeks out there Happy National Signing Day. Its like our Christmas. Do well today and national championship are sure to follow just look at Florida and Alabama.

So that was really boring

So that was really boring. The transfer window in the England close with little in the way of action except for Robbie Keane heading up north to play for Celtic. Above the Daily Mail breaks it down.

The State of Rutgers

For the last five years, the Rutgers football program has grown by leaps and bounds, but one thing is still missing from the program. During the last couple Rutgers has not done the best of jobs keeping the best instate players in the Garden State.

Since 2005, the Scarlet Knights have 11 total players out of the Rivals.com New Jersey top 10 recruits, approximately 40 percent of the those players came in the 2007 class.

The 2005 class did not feature a top 10 kid in the state signing with the Knights. The only kid in the Top 30 in the state to sign with Rutgers was Jabu Lovelace. Lovelance was the 26 ranked prospects in the state that year.

The break down on the classes is as follows:

• In the 2010 class: Chris Fonti, OL, Wayne Hills
• In the 2009 class: Isaac Holmes, DT, Hoboken; Logan Ryan, DB, Voorhees.
• In the 2008 class: Art Frost, OT, Manasquan; Rashad White, RB, Teaneck
• In the 2007 class: Anthony Davis, OT, Piscataway; Manny Abreu, LB, Union City; Mason Robinson, ATH, Somerville; Keith Newell, DE, Trenton Central.
• In the 2006 class: Kenny Britt, WR, Bayonne; Kordell Young, RB, West Deptford

During the same time period programs such as Notre Dame, Florida, Boston College, and Penn State have continued to take some of the best players in the state to far away locations. I know I'm being picky but the one thing that I would love to see Rutgers and Schiano do more is get more of the top kids to stay in state and play. The program has improved its talent base by a 1,000 percent since Schiano took over but in order to be that national power that everyone wants to see keeping five out of the top 10 players in state at home is a most.

Going Ole School: 1990 NHL Draft

YouTube is an amazing thing. While searching for something I came across this video of the 1990 NHL Draft. The names from this draft are pretty good from Brodeur to Tkachuk to Jagr. Another interesting thing to look at is the fashion and the almost mullet that some of the players have.

.......And Counting

Manchester United did what they do best yesterday, making Manchester City suffer. United knocked City out of the Carling Cup on an injury time winner by Rooney. United fans also reminded City fans about their lack of trophies by creating this banner (pictured above from the Daily Mail). Its been 34 years since City last major honor. No wonder Ryan Giggs wanted no part of them when he was a kid.

Should Rutgers Drop Basketball?

Go back about 10 years ago, many in the Garden State thought that Rutgers should drop its failing football program. Fast forward right now and the football program is reaching heights that many people thought that would never come.

So if the question was asked for one sport why not another. Should Rutgers drop men's basketball. I know this sounds like crazy talk, but lets at the numbers. This is a team that is a total embarrassment. Their games are not competitive, there talent is so bad that they might finish in the middle of the pack in the A-10. Fred Hill's (photo right) Scarlet Knights are 0-7 in the league and are a gruesome 8-51 in his tenure.

Hill was billed as the guy that would get state players to stay home. Top recruits from programs such as St. Ben's and St. Pat's are still heading to school like North Carolina and Duke and this does not look like its going to change in the future. Sure Hill has gotten some good recruits like Mike Rosario (photo above), Dane Miller, and Greg Echenique. But with Echenique having all ready decided to leave the program, Rosario might be next and then a team that only had two talented might have none.

The program needs to start over maybe even leave the conference, fire Fred Hill and hire someone who might know how to coach a team. Right now they might be the worst basketball team in any BCS Conference, its said when Northwestern is a better basketball program then yours.

Lane is Running Away

Heard this on Rivals Radio this morning, really enjoyed it.

Cover stories: Super Bowl Here We Come

Colts and Saints in the Super Bowl in two weeks. Here is how the four cities that were involved in the games covered the fun of the best football weekend of the year.

New York Newsday

Duluth News Tribune

The Town Talk

The Indianpolis Star

The Stars Come Out

Last night, the hockey world was focused on Windsor for the CHL/NHL Top Prospects game. The game features the top players from the three Canadian junior hockey leagues: WHL, OHL, QMJHL. The game served as a coming out party for a couple of different players.

• Emerson Etem, Medicine Hat Tigers, forward: Coming into the game I did not know that much about Etem, but after the game I felt like he was someone that I should keep my eye on. He showed great speed every time he was on the ice. The California kid will be a key part of next years World Junior Championship team.
• Austin Watson, Peterborough Petes, forward (above in the red): The former Spitfire made a great return to his former town. He was great on the penalty kill and showed a lot of heart. Another kid that could be on next years United States World Junior Team.
• Stanislav Galiev Saint John Sea Dogs, forward: He has the best vision of anyone on the ice. The first time that I have seen him and loved him.
• Nino Niederreiter Portland Winterhawks, forward: Was awesome in the World Juniors Championships with the Swiss and again during the prospects game he was all over the place creating and driving defenders nuts.
• Ryan Spooner, Peterborough Petes, forward: Loved the energy that he brought to the game was all over the place at times.
• Brandon Gormley, Moncton Wildcats, defense man: Solid. Solid in his own end, solid going forward. Will have a very long and successful career.
  

A Nation of Great Football Players

Watch CBS News Videos Online

60 Minutes Scott Pelley traveled to American Samoa to find out how a territory with a smaller population than a pro-football stadium sends more players to the NFL than any similarly populated place in America. This is an amazing story and very well done.

Spalding Hoophall Classic Notebook

This weekend the nations best high school basketball gathered in Springfield for the Spalding Hoophall Classic. Here is some thoughts on the showcase event:

• Why do I think that Northland High School (Ohio) is the best team in the US.
• Seen Northland's Jordan Potts a couple of times and for a sophomore he is not bad, for a kid.
• With sophomores Potts and Jalen Robinson, who is committed to West Virginia, this Nortland team has some staying power despite losses of Sullinger and Weatherspoon.
• Oak Hill Academy head coach Steve Smith is better dressed then most college coaches.
• One thing that is clear with Oak Hill this year is that they lack that player that takes over in crunch time. Like a Brandon Jennings.
• Northland has now wins over Findley Prep and Oak Hill Academy this year. Find me a team ever with two likes that.
• Despite being only 14 years old Simone's Jabari Parker is the complete package. Inside and outside. Played well in their game against Newman-Goretti from Philly.
• Fell bad for Kendall Marshall. His Bishop O'Connell team is just over matched against St. Bens.
• I think St. Benedicts is better then half of the teams in college basketball. They are one of the longest high school teams that I have ever seen.
• Love Marshall he looks like a point guard that is going to have a good stay at UNC.
• Rutgers is getting a steal in Gil Biruta of the Gray Bees. My only question is if Fred Hill will be there to coach him.
• Its funny seeing Kevin Boyle Jr playing for St. Pats. I remember him sitting on the bench as a kid when St. Pats played Camden in the an epic TOC semifinals at FDU a bunch of years ago. Camden had DeJuan Wagner and it was a classic game.
• Findlay Prep's Corey Joseph would look perfect in a Villanova jersey. Perfect for Jay Wright guard offense.
• The first half of the St. Pats and Findlay Prep game has been better then most college game that I have seen.
• Findlay Nick Johnson and Joseph might be the best high school back court that I have ever seen.
• St. Pats Michael Gilchrist (pictured above) has been banged up all day but has continued to play hard, showed a ton of heart during the game.
• Findlay vs. St. Pats simply amazing a great game better then most college games I have seen.

The Cover Story: Nearing the Super Bowl

Vikings/Saints and Jets/Colts the NFL Final Four is now set. Here are the ways some of the newspapers around the country covered yesterdays games. For some it was a good story, while for others it was not as good.

San Diego Union Tribune

The Dallas Morning News
The New York Daily News
The Star Tribune

Ndamukong Pele

Can you imagine being a striker in the premier league and having to face Ndamukong Suh in central defense. Strikers are happy that he chose football inside of the world's game.

I need to ask permission

I'll start this with a simple statement I'm not a Liverpool fan, but I do want them to do well because it's good for soccer around the world. I heard that Rafa wants to sign a player during the window, but first he must check to see if its ok. I know what some of you are thinking, ok he has to check with the board, but over the last couple of weeks that is not the case he would have to check with the variety of different supporters club that represent fans of the teams.

During the last couple of months several of the high profile supporters clubs have complained that the current American owners have not supported Rafa in the transfer makers. Word came out this week that the current owners are looking to sell the naming rights to the new stadium when its build. Its a shame that it will not be called Anfield, but that is the way of the world. After the word came out many supports group came out blasting the plan

""Can you imagine the Nou Camp or Bernabeu being bulldozed by Barcelona or Real Madrid, or Inter Milan leaving the San Siro? You’re talking about football’s cathedrals, and Anfield is one of them. There is too much heritage, history and tradition for it all to be thrown away,'' Graham Agg, secretary of the German Reds official supporters’ club told the Daily Mail. "I just can’t imagine going to somewhere like the Budweiser Stadium to support Liverpool, and I’m sure there are plenty who feel the same .''

You can not have your cake and eat it too. This would be a way for Liverpool to help raise money for Rafa to spend on over rate players. So you can not complain about the money he is given if you are preventing the club from making money that they will be giving to him to spend in the transfer window.

The issue over the proposed naming rights to any proposed new stadium shows the larger issues that is happening at the historic club. Do the supports groups have too much power with the club. All soccer fans agree this is the not the greatest group running Liverpool, but anytime an issue comes up supporters groups associated with the club talk about all of the negatives associated with the idea. I know Liverpool fans are going to be like you are picking on us, I understand that all of these group do great things in the community and I praise them for that, but sometimes I feel like they might be holding the club back.

I wonder if Rafa checked with the different supports groups before he signs Marouane Chamakh in the off season, hey just asking.

So Young but been around so long

Sure Taylor King is only a sophomore at Villanova, but it feels like he has been along for so long and now he is finally starting to settle down.

When King was in eight grade he committed to follow most Southern California kids dream and play for UCLA. In high school, King played at the legendary Mater Dei program where he enjoyed a successful high school basketball career, posting the third highest career point total in California high school history.

This is where things get a little dicey for King, during his senior year he decided to change his mind and turn down UCLA and head to the Tobacco Road to play for Duke. While at Duke things did not go that well for Taylor and he did not make the impact that many people thought that he would. Some people even called him soft and not a hard work.

So after the one year, he decided to change his mind again and head to the Main Line and head to Villanova. After sitting out last season King finally looks to be the player that many people thought that he would. King has made a solid impact in his first year with Jay Wright. Last night, King played a huge roll in 'Nova 92-84 comeback win over Louisville. King finished the day with 12 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes of action. The thing that stands out for me was that King was all over the floor and getting involved in the action. King has great skills and the ability to shoot the ball from all over, but now it appears that he has added the toughness that can carry 'Nova very far in March.

Despite only a sophomore, King is finally showing the skills that many people thought he had, sure it took a couple of steps to get there, but it appears that he is finally there.

The economy is wrecking havoc with everything

During the last year the failing economy has had an effect on all kinds of markets from the stock market to the housing market to the transfer market, yes the transfer market. So far the winter transfer market has been a complete bore. Everyday I wake up and read the BBC's morning headline for soccer and usually during this time of year there are a bunch out there for players on the move, but this year they are lacking big time. It seems like the biggest name that is being throw around in England is Kenwyne Jones of Sunderland, yes Kenwyne Jones. Sure he is a good player but a whole transfer window should not center on a player that is only ok.

Most teams are looking out for all kinds of bargain basement loans deals. You are never going to get a player that is going to make a difference in a loan deal, usually these deals are for player that are not needed for by their current team.

Sure tomorrow I will wake up and look at all of the rumors when I get to work, but nothing there will make me run and text all of my soccer loving friends. The economy needs to get better for a variety of reasons from jobs to the stock market, but it also improve so soccer fans can have fun again with the rumors of the winter transfer market.

Where do we go from here?

Last night was tough, today has also been tough. When your teams crashes out of the playoffs like the Eagles did last night, its hard to figure out what is next and with the Birds that is no different. During the game one thing became really clear, the Cowboys are better then the Eagles right now. Unlike most Eagles fans, I can admit that, this might be their year and that is that.

The one thing that I'm struggling with is where the Birds go from here: do they blow everything up and start over or do they try to just add a couple of people and take another shot at it. Right now I'm leaning toward adding a couple of more defensive players and taking another shot at it. The Eagles need to add some size on the d-line and maybe some more help in the secondary. As for firing Andy and trading Mc5, that is not worth it at this point. For one this is the second youngest team in the league and there is still room for it to grow. Blowing up would mean getting rid of someone our best players like Peters, DJ, and Brent. That would lead us down the track of being a 5-11 team.

While most fans might scream for the end of the era, just be careful this is the most successful era the Eagles have ever had and if its blown up there is no guarantee that we will ever get back to this level. So I say we grow up a little and head back at it again and just remember the Giants did not make the playoffs, so that will make any Eagles fan smile for a couple of seconds.

A Way to Solve the Big Freeze Issue in England

The big freeze has wrecked havoc on the Premier League this weekend. Five of this weekend's English Premier League fixtures have been postponed because of concerns for the safety of spectators making their way to grounds in freezing conditions. Saturday's Fulham v Portsmouth, Sunderland v Bolton and Burnley v Stoke matches were all called off on Friday, as was Sunday's Liverpool v Tottenham match at Anfield and the game between Hull and leaders Chelsea after heavy snowfall in Hull and more postponements might be comings. With all of the games being called off the rest of the season is going to look like a busy festive period fixture list.

I know this is going to sound out of line but maybe the Premier League and its clubs should follow the model of Ajax and build stadiums with retractable roofs. I know what people are thinking how is that going to work. I'm not saying domes, I'm saying when planning for these new stadiums maybe the clubs should take a page out of the Amsterdam Arena's book and build something with a roof that can be opened and close. The roof does not have to stay all of the time and will not, it will only be closed in the case of extreme weather, like what has hit England this weekend.

People who consider themselves traditionalist will say this will take something away from the game and that there is something that can be said about playing a game at Hull City in a snow storm. Sure that is great but we have already crossed that bridge and we are not coming back. Just go back to when the World Cup was in the United States. Games for the showcase where played in the Silver Dome in Detroit, yes indoors. So if FIFA says that it can be played in doors what is the difference if we have retractable roofs on some of these stadiums. This way we will not have a weekend like this where the showcase game of the weekend Liverpool vs. Spurs is canceled because of the weather.

Top Plays of the 2010 World Junior Championships

The final was epic, the rest of the tournament was ok, but here are the top 10 plays from this years World Junior Champions. I promise this is the last post about the tournament.

What a difference a year makes

A year ago, the United States World Junior Championship team was getting ready to play in Ottawa with dreams of unseating Canada as the top U-20 team in the world. Colin Wilson, Eric Tangradi, James van Riemsdyk, and Thomas McCollum comprised one of the more talented teams that this country has sent to the showcase, but things unraveled quickly. First there was the mess that was the New Years Eve game against Canada in which the Red White and Blue led 3-0 before blowing the lead and getting their doors blown off. After that mess the team then went out in the quarterfinals and ended up finishing up fifth place. Not the result a team with that must talent should have.

After the tournament USA Hockey had to take a long look in the mirror and figure out what happened. One of the things that came under attack was the US National Team Development Program. The National Team Development Program, based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is made up of a select group of players that have tried out and been selected as the most talented in the nation. The NTDP consists of two teams; the U.S. National Under-18 Team, and the U.S. National Under-17 Team. The criticism was that the program produced good players, but players that did not play for the front of the shirt.

Fast forward a year and their is a different tone surrounding USA Hockey. First the U-18 goes out and wins the title in the age group. The U-17 teams goes out and wins the title in that age group. Then on Tuesday night, the biggest of them all the Junior Team goes out and beats five time defending champion Canada in the final. Sure the Canadian team was more talented but this USA team had something that the team last year did not have: heart and toughness. Sure they blew a two goal lead in the final, but this team would not take no for answer and came back and won won in OT.

The best thing about all of these titles is that they beat Canada or some type of Canadian team in the final. So much for being the a step under Canada, the United States has all of the trophies now.

With the Olympics a couple of weeks away, I hope the men's team shows that the heart that the junior team did this week, if so maybe they can shock the world like the kids have done over the last couple of months.

The Cover Story: Oh Say Can You See

Last night a spunky group of kids from the United States took down the big bad hockey power. No this is the not the Miracle on Ice, but it might be just as important the national Junior Team defeated five time defending World Junior Champion Canada in epic 6-5 overtime game. Newspapers north of the border are not taking the loss well.

Here is how the newspapers in Canada covered the epic game:

The Windsor Star

Ottawa Sun

The Gazette

The Calgary Sun