From ESPN.com:

 DUBLIN — Ireland appealed to France and FIFA on Thursday to replay their World Cup playoff after an obvious handball by Thierry Henry set up the deciding goal.

Ireland’s government and soccer association asked for Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in the second leg at Stade de France to be replayed. France advanced to next year’s World Cup in South Africa 2-1 on total goals.

FIFA said it received Ireland’s request for a replay, though it was unclear if the governing body of soccer would seriously consider it.

Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni called the prospect of a rematch “impossible.” Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he would “have a chat about it” with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a meeting of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels.

“Fairness is part of the game,” Cowen said.

FIFA declined to comment specifically on Ireland’s protests but pointed to its rule forbidding second-guessing of on-field decisions by referees.

John Delaney, the Football Association of Ireland’s chief executive, said he doubted FIFA would respond positively unless French soccer authorities agreed to Ireland’s call for a rematch.

“It’s up to them, in particular the French, to recognize there was a travesty last night, an injustice,” Delaney said.

Read the rest of the article here

Learn more about the Body Issue Here.

It looks like some of these guys may have not put a whole bunch of thought into their permanent! tattoos. If you don’t believe me decide for yourself.

Stephen Jackson
Tattooed hands on his chest and stomach, holding a handgun, praying. I am not kidding — two hands praying with a gun between them.

Kenyon Martin
Kenyon has fire-engine red lips painted on the side of his neck. They’re a tracing of his girlfriend’s lips, the rapper Trina. I hope they stay together.

I Shall Fear No Man But God” scrawled on his back…umm God isn’t a man Kenyon

Washington Wizards G/F DeShawn Stevenson

He has a Pittsburgh Pirates “P” on his cheek. The only problem is, it’s backward.

Orlando Magic guard Jason Williams
Has “W-H-I-T” on the knuckles of his right hand and “E-B-O-Y” on the left

Continue for more…yes there’s more.

It’s stories like this that really make me love Chad Ochocinco! You never know what he’s going to pull next.

Last week against their division rivals the Baltimore Ravens Ochocinco “playfully” tried to bribe an NFL official with a folded dollar bill!!

With the Cincinnati Bengals up 14-3 in the third quarter, Ochocinco caught a 15-yard pass near the sideline. The side judge ruled it a catch, but the Ravens argued that Ochocinco’s foot was out of bounds. While the ref looked at the replay, Ochocinco borrowed a dollar bill from an assistant and playfully tried to pass it to the official.

The receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals is always stealing the show. That’s why you either love him or you hate him.

Read more.

“He is in the middle of doing a cleansing process to his skin. The picture is deceiving. He said, ‘If you saw me in person, you would be surprised. When you see me in person, it is not going to seem like the picture.’

“People who saw him in person did not react the same way. He can’t believe it is such a big deal.”

Read more.  Worth nothing this comment from a reader:

Whats wrong with you people!! I am a cosmetic surgeon and do Chemical peels and laser rejuvenation on a regular basis to all nationalities and skin tones and what it does is help to get rid of scarring left from acne etc… and helps to make skin smoother. The process removes layers of skin leaving fresh LIGHTER skin underneath for a few months until natural pigmentation comes back. Have you ever seen a scratch on an african american? it’s tan and alot lighter than there skin tone for a few weeks until it’s healed! Same principle. If his skin tone does not get darker in a few months than he is bleaching, otherwise his skin looks exactly like a resurfacing. He even still has spot pigmentation which is natural and means he had this done just a short time ago, in my guess about 10 days ago.

Maybe he’s right.

According to ESPN:

Hours after guiding the New York Yankees to a World Series championship, manager Joe Girardi stopped along a suburban parkway on his way home to help a woman whose car had crashed into a wall, The (Westchester) Journal News reported.

Early Thursday morning, Westchester County police officer Kathleen Cristiano congratulated Girardi on the World Series win as he passed through a drunken-driving enforcement checkpoint, according to the newspaper. Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte, who had started in the Series clincher, had passed through the same checkpoint earlier, she said.

About 15 minutes later, Cristiano was among the first responders to a one-car accident on the Cross County Parkway in Eastchester. She was surprised to again see Girardi, this time trying to flag down assistance, according to the report.

Continue Reading.

Although it seems like the Yankees win too many World Series titles the team actually hadn’t won in all since their string of 3 consecutive ending in 2000.  9 years is a long time for a team as stacked as the Yanks have been the last few years.  I suppose its nice that ARod finally won a World Series… but I still think the guy is a douchebag!  Read more about the victory from TSN.ca:

The New York Yankees bolted from the dugout even before the last grounder was scooped up. After waiting nine years for championship No. 27, no one would dare hold them back.

“It feels better than I remember it, man,” captain Derek Jeter said. “It’s been a long time.”

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive title — the most in all of sports.

Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the Yankees are baseball’s best again.

Matsui, the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez. And when Mariano Rivera got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner’s go-for-broke bunch.

What a way for Alex Rodriguez and Co. to christen their US$1.5-billion ballpark: One season, one World Series crown — the team’s first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.

“The Yankees won. The world is right again,” team president Randy Levine said.

The season certainly ended a lot better than it started — with a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May.

“My teammates, coaches and the organization stood by me and now we stand here as world champions,” said Rodriguez, who admitted using steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas. “We’re going to enjoy it, and we’re going to party!”

For Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.

Utley tied Reggie Jackson’s record with five home runs in a Series. But Ryan Howard’s sixth-inning shot came too late to wipe away an untimely slump that included 13 strikeouts, also a Series mark.

Meanwhile, Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees’ machine.

“I told them that I loved the way they played. We’re fighters and never quit,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. “We want to keep what we got as far as attitude and chemistry.”

For second-year manager Joe Girardi, a three-time Yankees champion as a player, it was the fulfilment of a mission. When he succeeded Joe Torre in October 2007, Girardi chose uniform No. 27, putting his quest on his back for all to see. His tenure didn’t start out so well, with New York missing the playoffs in its final season at old Yankee Stadium following 13 consecutive appearances.

“To be able to deliver this to the Boss, the stadium that he created and the atmosphere he has created around here is very gratifying for all of us,” Girardi said.

In a fitting coincidence, this championship came eight years to the day that the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona on Luis Gonzalez’s broken-bat single off Rivera.

Steinbrenner spent billions trying to win another Series. At long last, his team did.

Fittingly, it was dedicated to the 79-year-old owner, who has been in declining health and didn’t make the trip from his home in Tampa, Fla.

Still, his presence was felt.

“Boss, this is for you,” the giant video screen in centre field flashed during post-game ceremonies while his son, Hal, the team’s managing general partner, accepted the championship trophy.

For the Four Amigos, it was ring No. 5.

Jorge Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera came up together through the minors and were cornerstones for those four titles in five years starting in 1996.

Read the rest here

GREEN BAY, Wis. — If it were up to Brett Favre — and these days, I’m pretty sure everything is — fans departing Lambeau Field late Sunday would have had one collective thought.

“I hope that everyone in the stadium watching tonight said, ‘I sure hate that that joker is on the other side, but he does play the way he’s always played,’” he said.

Favre’s renaissance was never more apparent than Sunday, when he took control of a seesaw game at precisely the moment the Minnesota Vikings needed him most in an eventual 38-26 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

A 23-7 run had allowed the Packers to pull within 31-26. The clock showed 5 minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the game, and it was time for someone to grab the moment and for someone else to slink back.

On that count, Favre again proved there is no one better. He pushed the Vikings into the end zone in four plays, the last a 16-yard scoring strike to receiver Bernard Berrian on third-and-11. The touchdown pass, Favre’s fourth of the day, put away the Packers as only a seasoned winner can do, putting an exclamation point on Favre’s return to Lambeau and providing further documentation of his impact on the Vikings.

You’ve probably heard, once or twice, that Favre played 16 years in Green Bay. Trust me when I tell you he took special satisfaction in beating the Packers for the second time this season. But to me, it’s important to focus on the bigger point as well: Not only has Favre put the Vikings (7-1) exactly where they hoped to be, but he has left the Packers (4-3) precisely in the place they have most feared: Below him in the standings.

“The largest storyline was who was going to be in first place in the NFC North,” said Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman.

Favre has almost single-handedly eliminated his former team from that race. In two games against them, he completed 69 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns. He was neither intercepted nor sacked. Sunday, he was two steps ahead at every turn.

“We tried to put pressure on them with blitzes,” Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. “And he either pointed them out and set the protection the right way, or threw the ball quick and we weren’t able to get to him. We felt like we had enough things called — and still we can’t get to him for whatever reason. Right now we can’t win the big game.”

There’s little doubt Favre is in the Packers’ heads. They know he has fallen prey to his emotions before, and they hoped a raucous Lambeau crowd — combined with more pressure — would jar him into some early mistakes. Instead, the opposite occurred. The Packers choked in the early going, falling behind 14-3 early in the second quarter and taking more sacks (four) than first downs (three) into the halftime locker room.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers escaped the pocket a few times in the second half, the biggest reason why the Packers offense briefly sprung to life. But on this night, he was no match for a rival who was too focused to let the opportunity fall away.

“I can’t tell you how many text messages I’ve gotten from guys just in passing today and yesterday,” Favre said. “’Hey, you’re going to play great. I know you’re nervous.’ I’m like, ‘Easy for you to say.’ But they were right again. I don’t know. It’s awful stressful to feel that way every week. I’d like to feel a little more relaxed. But I’m also pleased with the way I’ve played in these games.”

I suppose it’s possible the Vikings would have won Sunday with one of their other quarterbacks, Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels. The Vikings hadn’t won here in the Brad Childress era, so I’m dubious of that possibility. Regardless, there’s no one I’d rather have right now, with 5:38 remaining and the game in the balance, than Favre. And here’s one thing I am sure of: If Favre were not with the Vikings, there is no way there would be a 2.5-game difference between the teams in the standings.

Perhaps that’s why Vikings placekicker Ryan Longwell, 35, mobbed Favre, 40, after the final gun. Longwell, who kicked for Green Bay for nine seasons, knew how special and unique Favre’s accomplishment is.

“Unless you play here and have gone through it you just don’t know,” Longwell said. “It goes beyond just winning. It’s a special victory.”

Favre said his emotions began rising Sunday morning near the end of a 30-minute bus ride from the team hotel to Lambeau Field. He saw “a few fingers” as the bus pulled into the parking lot, he joked, but there was never a time when I thought Favre was close to letting the crowd get the best of him.

He celebrated heartily after tight end Visanthe Shiancoe’s 12-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, and at one point he appeared to be jawing with Packers defensive end Cullen Jenkins. Otherwise, however, Favre remained stoic. After the game, he spent several minutes embracing former teammates — Rodgers, Donald Driver and Al Harris among them — and said he was had no intentions to throw any “daggers.”

“I’d like to think I always handle myself with class,” he said. “It’s always tougher when you lose. I understand that. Never been one to rub it in anyone’s face. Guys I’ve played with as a Packer, I’ve got a lot of respect for. As I do this organization and these fans.”

So where does this leave us? For the first time that I can remember, Favre used the words “Super Bowl” in talking about the Vikings’ prospects this season. Up until Sunday, Favre had been saying he hopes to get the team “where we want to be.”

With a 7-1 performance in the first half of the season, the Vikings have pushed themselves onto the short list of favorites for this year’s championship.

“I want to lead this Viking team to the Super Bowl,” Favre said. “Believe me. I do. I’m going to do everything in my power. … At this point, we’ve put ourselves in a good position.”

They wouldn’t be there, of course, were it not for two victories over his former team. And the Vikings would not have swept the Packers without him.

“Am I pleased with the way these two games have turned out?” Favre said. “Yes, absolutely. I knew I could play. My arm feels great. My arm is in a good place. The team has welcomed me in. All the other stuff doesn’t matter. It makes a good story. I know it. [But] I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad we won them both.”