Need to Get Rid Of Penalty Kicks for Big Games

Real Salt Lake won this year's MLS Cup over heavily favored Los Angeles and while the result was surprising, it didnt surprise me that much that this game ended up with penalty kicks deciding the winner. It seems as if any big soccer result ends up coming down to penalty kicks. Soccer needs to change their rules on this. Not asking for big radical moves here, just ones in regards to high profile matches, such as the World Cup.

The past two World Cups have been decided by penalty kicks, and in my opinion, I think that somewhat tarnishes the result. I know the soccer purists out there are against changing the rules, but what is wrong with having the game decided by the same way in which you played it for the past 90+ minutes. Yes, I realize that players get tired after running up and down the pitch so much during this contests, but endurance is part of the game.

Here is my proposal. Have a 45 minute sudden death period (with a 15 minute break after each sudden death period), where each team has three opportunites to subsitute players. If they prefer, teams can also make substitutions for players who previously left game.

What makes a product good is consistency, and thats why soccer should change to this format in order to make the world's most popular sport even that much more popular.

Brian Kelly should be coach at Notre Dame in 2010

Notre Dame fans everywhere have to be devastated that Jon Gruden has agreed to a two-year contract extension with ESPN, to continue to do Monday Night Football for the network. If  Jack Swarbrick knows what he is doing, he will have Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly on the sideslines in South Bend next season.

The football program at Cincinnati has grown by leaps and bounds in the three seasons Kelly has been there, just like Central Michigan did in the three years Kelly was their prior to taking the Bearcat's job. Kelly is an offensive mastermind, as evidenced by his Grand Valley Univeristy team averaging a staggering 58.4 points a game during the 2001 season.

The Irish have a hard time getting top notch recruits due to their academic requirements compared to a typical college or university. Urban Meyer was oh so close to coming to Notre Dame instead of Florida, but withdrew his name from consideration at UND because of the aforementioned academic requirements. This is another reason why hiring Brian Kelly makes so much sense.  He has the brains to put up decent offensive numbers no matter how talented the team is in which he is coaching.

Iverson needs to stop acting like a selfish brat

AI Needs to Stop Acting Like an ASS

Some of Allen Iverson's recent decisions in judgment have been perplexing to say the least. First of all, Iverson signed a one year, $3 million dollar contract with Memphis. Despite the fact that only four teams finished with worse records than Memphis (24-58) last year, Iverson said "he felt they were commited to developing a winner". Well, Allen, thats not exactly a ringing endorsement about the team. I mean, what team isn't commited to developing a winner?

Just a few games into this season, Iverson has already complained publicly about his role coming off the Grizzlies bench. Not exactly the type of veteran leadership skills Grizzlies coaches were hoping for out of the gate from AI, who has five years more playing experience than any other player on the Memphis roster.

Now it seems that Iverson can't even stay consistent with the reasoning behind his recent leave of absence.  According to ESPN, Iverson has asked for a leave of absence from Memphis so he can tend to a  family issue.  Yahoo sports is saying that Iverson is leaving to clear his head and has been arguing with Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins about his lack of playing time. I dont want to make assumptions out of Iverson's personal life, but I can make assumptions about his professional life, and that is the guy should do everything that Hollins asks of him.

If Iverson shows the Grizzlies that he is commited to winning like he ... [More]

Are Jags About to be Terminated?

Not sure if many of you know this, but in late October, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed off on a stadium bill to help expedite construction of an NFL stadium in the San Gabriel Valley. So it looks like the NFL will be coming to Los Angeles very soon.

Now comes the question. What team will Los Angeles land? All signs have to be pointing to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While it may be the largest city in Florida, Jacksonville has a lack of  major corporations which has caused the city to fail to consistently support the NFL team year in, year out. The Jags have poor attendence despite having one of the lower average ticket prices in the league.

Another thing that doesnt bode well for the Jags surviving in Jacksonville, is they have no real legacy with the city. The team has only been in Jacksonville since 1995, and while the Jags miracuously made the AFC  Championship game in just their second season, the team has yet to win an AFC Championship, having reached that game one other time in 1999.

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States and is currently without an NFL team.  With with the way the economy is, and with the Terminator signing the stadium bill, you can be assured that the NFL will be back in Los Angeles in the next couple years.