Blogcritics Section: Sports

Spotlight On Football In Malta, Part 2: Sliema Wanderers And Hibernians.

Jeff Perkins — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 10:52:51 EST

The island of Malta's thriving football scene, Part 2.
This week we are back on the sunny island of Malta where we pick up on our theme of inter island rivalry. In the first part we looked at Valletta FC and their near neighbours Floriana.This week we cross the Valletta harbour for a visit to one of Malta’s most successful clubs, Sliema Wanderers. Then it is the turn of Hibernians from the small...

Institutions Must Show More Patience and Faith With Their Football Coaches

Jay Skipworth — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 10:34:52 EST

Institutions must show more faith and patience if they expect coaches to be more loyal to contracts.
Boston College followed through on a promise and fired Head Coach Jeff Jagodzinski if he interviewed with the NY Jets of the NFL. This instance, along with last year’s lawsuit of Rich Rodriguez by West Virginia, is some big steps by institutions to take back some control. Now, the institutions need to step up in the way they deal with...

Past Legend: Florian Albert, The Latterday Magical Magyar

Jeff Perkins — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 00:50:39 EST

Some have stands or statues dedicated to them. Not many have entire stadiums named in their honour.
For the latest past legend we are off to beautiful Budapest, the capital of Hungary, to remember the silky skills of Florian Albert. There are plenty of legendary footballers who have had stands named after them. For example Johnny Haynes at Fulham or Bobby Moore at West Ham United. Some players have statues outside the grounds where they made...

Dick Allen, A True Hall of Famer

Anthony Tobis — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 10:23:00 EST

Forget Rice and Santo, Dick Allen is the most eligible deserving player unfairly left out of sports' greatest shrine.
It's nearly induction time again in Cooperstown, which means the whole of Red Sox nation -- past and present -- must once again band together and cry their baseless, yet admittedly passionate, argument for Jim Rice's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. While it is very tempting to write yet another piece on how the Hall should be...

Robben The Capped Crusader - European Football Round Up

Jeff Perkins — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:02:10 EST

A slow start to the year sees a virtuoso performance from a not-so-old Dutch master.
For the first Euroscore round up of 2009 we travel to Madrid to check up on Real’s progress under new manager Juande Ramos. Many Euro leagues are taking the sensible approach and enjoying a winter break. Even the Premiership was out of action this weekend as it was FA Cup 3rd round time.Scotland...

Boston College Serves Notice To Jagodzinski, Coaching World

Jay Skipworth — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 11:33:09 EST

In the world of coach-in-waiting and contracts not worth the paper they are printed on, BC puts their foot down - hard.
It is about time that a major college football program put its proverbial foot down on the madness that is the coaching search. Really, this whole coaching carousal has been out of control for years. For those of you who missed it, Boston College told Head Coach Jeff Jagodzinski he will be fired if he interviews for the head coaching vacancy with...

Treehouse Fort Headlines For January 4: "Two Thousand? Oh, Wait"

Matthew T. Sussman — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 18:49:10 EST

The month-by-month retelling of 2008, coupled with Charlie Doherty's 2008 "What Were They Thinking" Grand Prize.
The following is a partial transcript of the January 4, 2009 episode of the BC Sports Treehouse Fort, which recapped the year in sports for 2008.Charlie Doherty's "What Were They Thinking" Award For The Year poll by twiigs.com Suss and Tuffy's Year In ReviewTuffy: In January, LSU beat Ohio State to become the first two-time BCS National...

Rice's Terrific Texas Bowl Tandem

Casey Michel — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 15:18:20 EST

With the Texas Bowl trophy, Rice won its first bowl game since 1954. Let's take a peek how it happened.
It was, in a sense, a reverse.During the third quarter of the Texas Bowl, Rice quarterback Chase Clement sent a lateral, short and sweet, at Jarett Dillard’s chest. The All-Everything receiver took the pass as the Western Michigan defense began to swarm, ready to cement a loss of yards. But Dillard, more often known for class than cleverness,...

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Sat, 3 Jan 2009 15:18:20 EST

Honouring The Ibrox Disaster Victims, 38 Years Later

Jeff Perkins — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 12:01:53 EST

The lives of 66 football fans exiting through a poorly-built staircase are remembered.
Back in 1971, before the restructuring of Scottish football, there were only two Old Firm league games a season. On Saturday January 2nd 1971 the two bitter rivals clashed at Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium. It was, of course, a huge, and eagerly anticipated match. Celtic, from the east end of the city, had been enjoying a period of dominance. They...

Let's Use the AP to Fix the BCS Mess

Jay Skipworth — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 21:43:28 EST

Maybe a permanent split between the BCS and AP is just what we need to fix college football.
While working through the College Football Bowl Season, I have heard a commentator (or five) mention that the Associated Press does not have to vote for the winner of the BCS game if the AP members are more impressed with say, Southern California or Texas. Then the college football season ended the first week of December and all of these bowls are...