BajaNomad

Huge news in the international world of sports!

Hook - 5-26-2015 at 10:50 PM

Well, this is a bit of a stretch for this forum but it's the best fit. Of course, soccer is the most popular sport in Mexico; indeed, in the world.

This story is just breaking, but officials of the governing body of the World Cup in soccer (FIFA), have been arrested and charged with several crimes. Three were arrested in Switzerland and are being extradited to the U.S. to face several criminal charges. The FBI has been investigating the organization for three years.

So far, Sepp Blatter has not been indicted. Just amazing.

Here's the details on CBS sports. The NY Times broke the story but sometimes it requires logging on.

http://www.cbssports.com/general/eye-on-sports/25196635/repo...

It will be interesting to see if details surface about how the next two hosts of the World Cup (Russia and Qatar) were able to win those bids. Much corruption is alleged.

Grab some popcorn, this is going to be entertaining for a long time.

Yes, Virginia, this is bigger than Deflate-gate.........

Bajaboy - 5-26-2015 at 10:55 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officia...

Santiago - 5-27-2015 at 05:39 AM

Wow! for just a moment, Hook, I thought you were going to mention how the Giants are slowly rising to the top of the NL West.

Hook - 5-27-2015 at 06:45 AM

I would NEVER mention THAT, Santiago.

The Angels dont have me excited this year. They'll be lucky to win 85 games and wont make the playoffs.

I'm on the Cubs bandwagon this year. Luv this kid Bryant, as well as Rizzo. Soler is solid. Montero is hitting this year. And it looks like this Baez kid may have figured out his stroke at AAA. He's gonna be up soon.

The Cubs are quietly developing the best YOUNG lineup in the Bigs.

It's just a matter of whether their pitching will cut it. They probably wont win the division but they should make the WC.

woody with a view - 5-27-2015 at 07:07 AM

Could boxing be looking over their collective shoulders?

vandenberg - 5-27-2015 at 07:26 AM

Sepp Blatter is too slick to get caught. Like slimy teflon.

pauldavidmena - 5-27-2015 at 07:42 AM

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have returned Boston sports fans to their more familiar pattern of disappointment and self-loathing.

Martyman - 5-27-2015 at 03:23 PM

WAIT! Did Hook say the Cubs are going to be in the World Series? The cubs?

Bajahowodd - 5-27-2015 at 05:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Hook  
Well, this is a bit of a stretch for this forum but it's the best fit. Of course, soccer is the most popular sport in Mexico; indeed, in the world.

This story is just breaking, but officials of the governing body of the World Cup in soccer (FIFA), have been arrested and charged with several crimes. Three were arrested in Switzerland and are being extradited to the U.S. to face several criminal charges. The FBI has been investigating the organization for three years.

So far, Sepp Blatter has not been indicted. Just amazing.

Here's the details on CBS sports. The NY Times broke the story but sometimes it requires logging on.

http://www.cbssports.com/general/eye-on-sports/25196635/repo...

It will be interesting to see if details surface about how the next two hosts of the World Cup (Russia and Qatar) were able to win those bids. Much corruption is alleged.

Grab some popcorn, this is going to be entertaining for a long time.

Yes, Virginia, this is bigger than Deflate-gate.........


Funny thing about this is that John Oliver on Last week Tonight on HBO, mentioned the corruption almost a year ago. He had a further piece a few weeks ago.

For those of you who are adventurous, in Oliver's piece last year, he compared looking into the the management of FIFA to management of FIFA to watching 2 Girls 1 Cup. Warning. if you Google it, you will probably be disturbed.

Hook - 5-27-2015 at 05:12 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Martyman  
WAIT! Did Hook say the Cubs are going to be in the World Series? The cubs?


Silly wabbit. :lol:

All I said was the Cubbies would be a Wild Card (WC) team, not a World Series (WS) team.

The playoffs are a crapshoot. Any hot team can make the WS......or even win it.

Look at the Giants, the Cards, even the Royals last year.

woody with a view - 5-27-2015 at 05:33 PM

Cubs?

if the Pads are runner up ? I'm cool with it.

Ateo - 5-27-2015 at 08:35 PM

Bajaboy - 5-27-2015 at 09:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Hook  
Quote: Originally posted by Martyman  
WAIT! Did Hook say the Cubs are going to be in the World Series? The cubs?


Silly wabbit. :lol:

All I said was the Cubbies would be a Wild Card (WC) team, not a World Series (WS) team.

The playoffs are a crapshoot. Any hot team can make the WS......or even win it.

Look at the Giants, the Cards, even the Royals last year.


Ain't that the truth...Giants were lucky last year...not the best by any means.

vandenberg - 5-28-2015 at 07:42 AM

This hijack was as slick as Sepp Blatter. :light::biggrin:

Martyman - 5-28-2015 at 08:42 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Bajaboy  
Quote: Originally posted by Hook  
Quote: Originally posted by Martyman  
WAIT! Did Hook say the Cubs are going to be in the World Series? The cubs?


Silly wabbit. :lol:

All I said was the Cubbies would be a Wild Card (WC) team, not a World Series (WS) team.

The playoffs are a crapshoot. Any hot team can make the WS......or even win it.

Look at the Giants, the Cards, even the Royals last year.


Ain't that the truth...Giants were lucky last year...not the best by any means.


Lucky? Lucky? They've been lucky three out of the last five years I guess. It is called a dynasty...please bow.

Bajaboy - 5-28-2015 at 08:49 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Martyman  
Quote: Originally posted by Bajaboy  
Quote: Originally posted by Hook  
Quote: Originally posted by Martyman  
WAIT! Did Hook say the Cubs are going to be in the World Series? The cubs?


Silly wabbit. :lol:

All I said was the Cubbies would be a Wild Card (WC) team, not a World Series (WS) team.

The playoffs are a crapshoot. Any hot team can make the WS......or even win it.

Look at the Giants, the Cards, even the Royals last year.


Ain't that the truth...Giants were lucky last year...not the best by any means.


Lucky? Lucky? They've been lucky three out of the last five years I guess. It is called a dynasty...please bow.


Giants finished 6 games out of first place...hardly the best team over the course of the year. They just got hot as others got cold..

First heard about Fifa..............

MrBillM - 5-28-2015 at 08:50 AM

And thought it was the name of some French Poodle.

Hook - 5-28-2015 at 09:44 AM

Not really luck. They were playing the best at the end. They had the hardest route to the WS, being a WC team. So did the Royals. Two WC teams facing each other. But both were playing the best baseball, at the end. So, it went seven games and the Royals had the tying run on third in the ninth inning of the last game. It was almost a game-tying inside-the-park HR that would have tied it.

Really, the Giants won it because of a Mad Bum. :biggrin:

Anyway, back to the original subject, more recent reports have an official with CONACAF, a group that runs soccer at this level in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, being a "mole" with FIFA. He was "persuaded" to work with the FBI over a year ago when they confronted him with evidence of tax evasion, wire fraud, etc. He actually had a listening device in a keychain that he was taking to FIFA meetings and recording them, as he eventually became an official in FIFA, as well. He has agreed to plead guilty to TEN charges (not much of a deal, eh?) and hope for leniency in sentencing.

Pompano - 5-29-2015 at 09:21 AM

Can someone Pull-eeze name a sport I can watch that has not been corrupted yet?

The unbelievable amounts of money involved have ruined sports. But, after the initial public outcry dies down, the fans forgive them and allow it to continue? No, I'm not referring to our politicians..yet.

Integrity in sports?...gone like the Dodo. There are well known cheats in.... baseball, football (includes soccer & rugby), boxing, basketball, hockey, golf, cricket!, Nascar (groan), horse racing, cyling, and even Sumo wrestling..whew! Something has to be left that isn't rigged?

Maybe fight-to-the-death knife matches? After all, that event should deter from throwing the fight?

Martyman - 5-29-2015 at 09:53 AM

If you're not cheating you're not trying hard enough.

Hook - 5-29-2015 at 10:36 AM

Corruption at the governing level and cheating on the field are two different things.

Are you saying that we should just throw our hands in the air, Roger, and allow it?

FIFA officials were pocketing millions of dollars that was supposed to be used for facilities and equipment in poorer countries. That's not right. Wrongs need to be righted. An example needs to be set.

I say turn the perps loose in a stadium of drunken English soccer fans. :lol:

[Edited on 5-29-2015 by Hook]

Pompano - 5-29-2015 at 10:38 AM

Breaking News...

Boss Tweed...opps...Sepp Blatter..has just been re-elected as president of FIFA.


It's all good now....Business as usual?

The Most POPULAR Sport in the WORLD ?

MrBillM - 5-29-2015 at 02:19 PM

IF you were to gauge it by Worldwide Viewership, I've read that it's also probably the most elite sport of all.

F1 Auto Racing.

The Dollar figures are Staggering.

Including the Driver's Salaries and Sponsorship Monies.

The best of which (at present) is Brit Lewis Hamilton who just signed a 3-year contract extension with Mercedes for........$150 MILLION.

Hook - 5-29-2015 at 02:41 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Pompano  
Breaking News...

Boss Tweed...opps...Sepp Blatter..has just been re-elected as president of FIFA.


It's all good now....Business as usual?



Well, now maybe I"M throwing my hands up in the air!!! LOL!

Naturally, corruption on the scale of FIFA can't exist without some of the spoils trickling down to representatives of the countries.......the same representatives that vote for FIFA officials.

Blatter, in his acceptance speech, apparently said that he's willing to look into allegations of corruption in FIFA..........but the World Cup is hands-off, in terms of trying to change anything involving that.

Sounds like the same old wine...............

Pompano - 5-29-2015 at 03:29 PM

Well Hook, as if that bad news is not enough...there's more.

I am merely a observer of politics and take deserved pokes at both sides... and am very hesitant to have to be the one who breaks this news on Nomads, but...now it appears that the FIFA has donated a few million to the Clinton Foundation. This was prior to the USA being picked for the 2016 World Game. Of course, there's a good chance that our major networks will not report on this, let alone any government agency investigate it.

Tsk, tsk..oh well, we'll have forgot it long before election time, right?

And so it goes.

All of this makes me more of a Soapbox Derby and Little League fan.

Bajahowodd - 6-1-2015 at 03:55 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Pompano  
Well Hook, as if that bad news is not enough...there's more.

I am merely a observer of politics and take deserved pokes at both sides... and am very hesitant to have to be the one who breaks this news on Nomads, but...now it appears that the FIFA has donated a few million to the Clinton Foundation. This was prior to the USA being picked for the 2016 World Game. Of course, there's a good chance that our major networks will not report on this, let alone any government agency investigate it.

Tsk, tsk..oh well, we'll have forgot it long before election time, right?

And so it goes.

All of this makes me more of a Soapbox Derby and Little League fan.

Bajahowodd - 6-1-2015 at 04:04 PM

Don't know what just happened, but I was attempting to post a response. The Republican field of candidates would overflow a clown car. You can thank me later, but given the amount of face time Willard and his wife are getting, mark my words, the 2016 presidential race will be between Hillary Clinton and Willard Romney.

The Romneys have recently been all over the media. No reason except another presidential run.

Fasten your seat belts.

durrelllrobert - 6-2-2015 at 10:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
Cubs?

if the Pads are runner up ? I'm cool with it.


Cypress 2 - 6-2-2015 at 11:19 AM

YAWN!:D

Pompano - 6-2-2015 at 11:30 AM

Seems to be the record for the shortest term as president.


Blatter just resigned from FIFA.

Hook - 6-2-2015 at 01:37 PM

WHAT!!!!!!?????? WOW!!!!

AKgringo - 6-2-2015 at 01:42 PM


Blatter just resigned from FIFA. [/rquote]

I have to ask, is this also from The Onion?

Hook - 6-2-2015 at 01:48 PM

Just read a story on CBS sports. Here't the part that worries me. Elections are a long ways off, at least 6-12 months, and he will remain in power until then. Even then, the election will be by the same body that re-elected him, in the face of this scandal. 6-12 months is enough time to come up with a "suitable' replacement........suitable to these same clowns.

And how about this tidbit quote..........

Blatter, who has held the post for 17 years and was re-elected to a fifth term on Friday, said that he plans to stay on in an advisory role.

"I am now free from the constraints of an election," said Blatter. "I will be in a position to focus on profound reforms. For many years we have called for reforms, but these are not sufficient."

Now, he's going to be FIFA's crusading angel????

Other reports have him under investigation by the FBI. I guess that goes without saying, really, in light of the recent arrests. How could you arrest a number of current and former officials of FIFA and not be looking at the prez?

Pompano - 6-2-2015 at 02:10 PM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  

Blatter just resigned from FIFA. [/rquote]

I have to ask, is this also from The Onion?


I heard it from FOX News quite a while ago. I've only read the Onion once or twice, so can't say if it was reported there or not.

Skipjack Joe - 6-2-2015 at 03:14 PM

The biggest thing in sports right now is the NBA finals. It should be really good this year.

GO WARRIORS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pompano - 6-2-2015 at 08:47 PM

Yes, NBA in the US for sure...but in Europe for June... it's the FENCING Championships.

Go 3 Musketeers! ;)

Skipjack Joe - 6-3-2015 at 12:17 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Pompano  
Yes, NBA in the US for sure...but in Europe for June... it's the FENCING Championships.

Go 3 Musketeers! ;)


Touche! But nobody could match the great Noel de'Maynes.

Hook - 6-3-2015 at 05:25 AM

I'll be watching the Stanley Cup and rooting for Tampa Bay. Should be a good series.

I'll grant you that Curry and the Warriors, and LeBron and his latest team in the Finals, is a pretty good story. But there is still the interminable stoppages and free throws and lack of fundamentals by so many on the court.

I miss the pacing of Showtime vs the half-court offense of the Celtics in the 80s. What matchups those were! Magic, Bird, Kareem, The Chief, McHale, Worthy, By Scott, DJ, Coop, Ainge with ML Carr waving the towel from the bench. I am forever jaded.

Skipjack Joe - 6-3-2015 at 07:40 PM

I agree that the 86-87 Laker team was the best NBA team that ever was. The Michael Jordan Chicago teams of the early 90's are considered better by some but for me, who had seen both, there was no comparison.

But that was then and this is now. The great thing about sports is that like the news you are witnessing something unplanned as it is happening. The game changes in real time and that's why your emotions do as well. Recalling great games of the past just doesn't do it because you know what's happened or what's going to happen. That's the difference between sports and a play, a movie, a tv show, or even a las vegas show. Nothing is rehearsed. Everything is fresh and new.

Pompano - 6-7-2015 at 06:19 AM

Historical horse racing at Belmont Park. "American Pharoah" wins Belmont Stakes and becomes first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. The purse was $1.5 million.

The jockey was Victor Espinoza, the first Mexican to win that coveted title. When he was a boy in his native Mexico, Espinoza had been afraid of horses. Now, at 43, he knew they were a gift.