Sports Then and Now

U.S. Gold Medalists & members of the USWNT, Alex Morgan and Sydney LeRoux paid HOMAGE to their fellow Olympians for Halloween.

Morgan & LeRoux Are NOT Impressed

Alex Morgan did her best McKayla Morgan “Not Impressed” smirk. Teammate Sydney Leroux also took her shot at the famous U.S. gymnast frown.

Makes you miss the Summer Olympics doesn’t it?

H/T Goes To Die Hard Sport.

Ronaldo Rules The Pitch & Social Media.

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is ARGUABLY the best soccer player on the earth (unless you are a fan of Lionel Messi), but there is NO DISPUTING that he is the social media king. Ronaldo just eclipsed an eye popping 50 million fans on his Facebook page on Monday.

He thanked his fans:

Reaching 50.000.000 likes is unbelievable …I want to thank you, you you, you and everyone who have been supporting me all these years. I really want us to keep sharing all the good moments together – and the best is still to come. THANK YOU ALL

The post was shared 2,192 times, has 208, 934 likes and over 13,ooo comments. That is fan engagement at it’s BEST.

Ronaldo also took to Twitter to acknowledge his 13M followers for their support as well:

I really want us to keep sharing all the good moments together – and the best is still to come.THANK YOU ALL #50M

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 15, 2012

Ronaldo’s social media status is simply incredible. His 50M fans on Facebook accounts for 5% of users WORLDWIDE.

He has more fans than Real Madrid, the team he plays for.

Ronaldo is only 27 years old and he has many more years in front of him to dominate the pitch and the internet.

The world is his for the TAKING….

H/T To NESN.com.

West Ham is trying not to be the team relegated from the English Premier League this year.

The task of many of this year’s Premier League soccer clubs will be simple. Finish 17th and avoid a fast track to the Championship.

Newly promoted sides Southampton, Reading and West Ham have all invested hefty mounts in a bid to avoid an instant return to the country’s second tier of soccer.

I can’t remember too many seasons in Premier League history where the outcome of business at the bottom of the table has been so difficult for a punter to call, with so many managerial changes in key jobs at the bottom end of the table, the prospect is scary.

I mean lets face it how exciting would it be if we could go into a last day of the season with potentially four clubs able to win the title and at the bottom a potential seven could still go down. Can you tell I don’t follow a Premier League team yet? Sometimes, it might be better to spend time looking for the best online casinos, but soccer gets me going! Read the rest of this entry →

Thanks to Flash owner Joe Sahlen, the squad may have a chance to repeat in 2012.

Just one day after the news that Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is suspending its 2012 season, we have learned from a senior official at the Western New York Flash, that Flash owner Joe Sahlen is working behind the scenes with the other franchise owners to save the 2012 season.

After campaigning successfully for a waiver from US Soccer to field only five clubs in 2011, and after holding and aggressively promoting this year’s college draft, WPS has announced their decision to suspend the 2012 season due to the financial cost of former owner Dan Borislow’s lawsuit against the league for suspending his magicJack franchise.

According to WPS Commissioner Jennifer O’Sullivan, the cost of the lawsuit would put more than one club in a precarious position, requiring a new business model. The league’s board decided to suspend play for 2012, revise the business model and re-launch in 2013 with eight teams.

Initially, Western New York Flash announced they would field a team for 2012 and affiliate with the best possible women’s league in the U.S. while waiting for WPS to come back. But today a team official told this reporter that Joe Sahlen, who is credited by many for saving the league for the 2011 season, is working to find a way to proceed with the 2012 season.

Sahlen brought his W-League franchise, the Buffalo Flash, to the WPS for 2011, and ended up leading the league in attendance, in the standings and ultimately winning the league championship. Without a sixth team and the cash that Sahlen brought to the league, it is likely WPS would have folded before the 2011 season, after seeing two of its franchises fold in the off-season. Read the rest of this entry →

It has often been seen in the past that Manchester United usually begin their surge towards winning the Premier League at around this time of year. Last season was a little different; they began well and maintained their form for most of the season, winning an unprecedented 12^th title for their venerable boss, Sir Alex Ferguson. The great man also guided United to their third final in four years in the Champions League and although they were well beaten by Barcelona, it was nonetheless a great achievement.

Whilst he continued his winning ways at Old Trafford last year, he was no doubt casting an eye across Manchester to neighbours, Manchester City, who have been spending huge amounts of money on putting together a team that would be capable of topping Sir Alex and his Man Utd team’s dominance and it looks like this season could be the first that the power in Manchester final shifts towards the blue half.

Sir Alex has also spent money in the past 12 months, bring in amongst others, Ashley Young, David De Gea in goal and Phil Jones. He has also introduced Danny Welbeck and talented midfieder, Tom Cleverley from the youth team.

There was no bigger smile in football, when Sir Alex walked off the Wembley pitch back in August with a tenth Charity Shield having seen his team bounce back from a two goal deficit and defeat City 3-2 in what was more than a just curtain raiser to the current season. That win spoke volumes of what football is all about to Sir Alex; winning against your major rivals is a huge motivator for the man who has been at Manchester United since 1986 regardless of what is at stake. It was one-upmanship at its absolute best and it gave United a huge lift as the new season got underway the following week, for which they were favourites to win the Premier League crown once again.

Five wins from five Premiership games followed, including that now famous 8-2 massacre of Arsenal at Old Trafford, which was followed a week later by a 5-0 thrashing of Bolton. United were riding a ‘crest of a wave’ and Sir Alex was clearly putting it up to City in no uncertain terms. City however also went on an unbeaten; moreover, they were improving with every game under boss Roberto Mancini.

Then of course came the real showdown on 23^rd October at Old Trafford when United, still in very confident mood entertained City for a match that was all about deciding Premier League supremacy at that time. The result of course will celebrated for years at the Etihad Stadium as not only did City gain revenge for the Charity Shield reverse, they took United apart, running out 6-1 winners; a result that had previously been unheard of in a Manchester Derby at the “Theatre of Dreams”.

Worse still for Sir Alex was that result appears to have knocked the resolve from the team who are no longer playing with their early season verve and they have also had a dip in Champions League form. City meanwhile have a taken a commanding lead in the Premiership where they are still unbeaten in 14 games in which they have amassed an incredible tally of 48 goals.

United’s season could reach the depths of despair this week, should they lose to Basel in their final game in the group stages in the Champions League. The Swiss side were good enough to snatch a 3-3 draw with the at Old Trafford in September and know that they have a great chance of causing a major upset.

With United already out of the Carling Cup and struggling to keep up with Man City in the league, many are questioning whether Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford is fast coming to an end. He turns 70 at the end of this month and whilst that will no doubt ignite more reminiscing about what he’s achieved in 25 years at the club, there is no getting away from the fact that that if he chooses to stick around a while longer, he could be facing the biggest battle to date and maybe the best thing he could do is allow the search for the next Manchester United manager to begin ready for him stepping down as the task of overhauling City’s emerging dominance does not look like a short term task!

David Beckham has several options after helping the LA Galaxy to the MLS title.

The future of David Beckham has been much discussed of late. After winning the MLS Cup with LA Galaxy he has been speaking about his options and even revealed that he hasn’t given up on an England career just yet.

Speaking of England, if you want Euro 2012 best odds, try this site. However, it does seem likely that a place in Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic team is more likely for Beckham than a return to the England team.

It is his club matters that need sorting our first though. His contract with LA Galaxy is up next month and there are many suggesting that he could end his time in America on a high. The 36-year-old still wants to play for a couple of years and it is being suggested that he will look for a new challenge.

There have of course been many rumours about where he might go. Premier League clubs such as Tottenham and Queens Park Rangers have been linked for example, while there was even talk of the New York Red Bulls hoping to persuade him to make the controversial move.

One club making their interest clear from the start though has been Paris St-Germain. The French club are therefore thought to be the front runners and Beckham – who has ruled out a return to England – is now faced with the decision of joining PSG or remaining at LA Galaxy.

The Ligue 1 side are getting massive investment at the moment of course, with the club’s Qatari owners looking to make a statement of their intentions with the signing of Beckham. Read the rest of this entry →