Thursday, July 26, 2012

U.S. knocks off Spain in exhibition

Carmelo Anthony
Bob Donnan-US PresswireCarmelo Anthony scored 27 points off the bench to help the U.S. defeat Spain 100-78 on Tuesday.
BARCELONA, Spain -- Gold medal at stake or nothing at all, the U.S. Olympic basketball team was bringing its best Tuesday.
Being back on the Dream Team's turf required it.
Carmelo Anthony came off the bench to score 23 of his 27 points in the first half, and the Americans beat Spain 100-78 in a rematch of the gold-medal game -- and possible preview of the next one.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Roma evaluating Reds' Borini interest


Roma have confirmed Liverpool have a "real interest" in signing Italy striker Fabio Borini - and are "evaluating the situation".Reds manager Brendan Rodgers hinted on Monday that they were close to acquiring the 21-year-old striker, who worked under him at both the Chelsea academy and Swansea.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Tips for watching the U.S. national team’s World Cup qualifier at Guatemala on Tuesday

The U.S. national team will play Guatemala on Tuesday night (10 p.m. ET) in the second of six matches in the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying. But unless you are among the hearty souls at Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City or have found a reliable pirated video feed online, watching the match isn’t going to be as simple as turning on ESPN.
To review: The Guatemalan federation sold the rights to a media group that worked a deal with a company that will present the match in the United States on pay-per-view. There wasn’t much the U.S. Soccer Federation or its broadcast partners ESPN and NBC could do to prevent it, outside of paying a fee beyond what they say they were reasonably willing to spend. (The same scenario might unfold for the other two away qualifiers in this round this fall.)
So what’s a fan to do Tuesday?


*Purchase the game for $29.95 on cable or satellite through iN Demand, DirecTV, DISH Network or Avail-TVN. (On my Comcast digital system, I found it on Channel 501.)
*Purchase the game for $29.95 for online viewing at ustream.tv
*Join your fellow supporters at one of the many pubs and restaurants around the country that will show the match (for, in most cases, a cover fee of much less than $29.95). Ten locations in the Washington-Baltimore area are participating, including Fado in D.C. and Annapolis, Summers in Arlington and Lucky Bar near Dupont Circle. All the local and national spots are listed here, with a likelihood of more being added before gametime.
Both English and Spanish announcers are being provided. The English pay-per-view announcing team, which will call the action from a U.S. studio, is Joe Tolleson on play-by-play and Shaka Hislop on color. Tolleson has worked in a variety of sports on the local and national levels, including soccer. Hislop, a Howard University graduate, enjoyed a long and successful goalkeeping career in England and played for Trinidad & Tobago’s national team before joining ESPN in 2008