The NFL has decided to close down NFL Europa despite the impressive attendence that the World Bowl received last weekend.

Overall I think this was the right decision, not only was the league losing approximately $30 million a year, but it was growing increasingly half-assed and was filled with more bitter coaching then a sacked Tennis parent.

The truth is the NFL didn't really know what to do with NFL Europa. It started out well enough but the owners were mostly greedy guys who thought they could make a fast buck and, rather then market and develop a new fan base, all but one of the teams ended up moving to Germany, where the fans apparently have a hunger for bad football.

This decision will give the NFL more resources to focus on the International Series which is far, far more likely to gain the growth and support that the League is after. European fans all know the same thing that U.S. fans do; The NFL is it. There is no other league in the world or in  any other sport that provides the thrill and excitement of the NFL. It's time for the rest of the world to get a chance to see it.

[NFL.com]

Wimbledon aka The Tennis World Championships, is well under way at the moment. Actually the tournament is well under way, the actual matches are being rained off to a slightly ridiculous level at the moment.

Nevertheless, Federer, Nadal and Roddick eased their way through the first round matchups without too much trouble. But the real story was Tim Henman's four hour five set marathon victory over Carlos Moya. Henman had won an incredible two matches this year on the international circuit and was looking every part the washed up old pro in a world of young robots.

The pundits never gave him a chance against Moya (and neither did I) but we may have forgotten that this is Henman's House. He may never have won Wimbledon but he's still a hero to the British fans who cheered him louder then ever before. And, for once, he responded to them. I've never seen Henman so fired up as he was against Moya. It was pretty exciting to watch this former number six in the world playing so damned determined and aggressively, he refused to let the British crowd down by busting
out in the first round.

There was a film a couple of years ago with Kirstin Dunst, where this old English Tennis Ace goes on the streak of his career and wins the whole thing. Watching Henman yesterday you almost believed he could do the same. Almost.

The truth is Henamn is almost certain to go out in the next round, but in my mind, he's done enough. He came in and entertained the fans one more time, gave them a victory they didn't expect and left them with a smile on his face. Win or lose the next game, he's done a great job.

[SI.com]

I wrote a little post on Jesse Owens for the 100 Most 'Ifluential' People in Sports over on A Price Above Bip Roberts. Check it out here.

It's currently one-a-piece in the America's Cup final between Emirates Team New Zealand and the reigning Champions Alinghi, from Switzerland (yeah, the country surrounded by land with zero access to the sea).

Pundits and fans are stuck on which team will pull out of this victorious, both the ridiculously precise Swiss and the 'Never Say Die' Kiwis have looked unbeatable at times. However, the Kiwi's victory was a surprise one yesterday brought on by a rare Swiss mistake; apparently someone said 'Avast me-hearties!' instead of 'turn to starboard' and the whole
thing turned into a blame fest.

I'm not certain about the exact Swiss translation of 'Avast' or 'Me-hearties' but I do know that this mistake does not necessarily mean the Kiwi's were purely lucky. Sailing, you see is all about the mistakes of judgement. The better your judgement, the less mistakes you make and the more you win,so while it may seem like New Zealand were gifted the victory, perhaps the truth is that the Swiss are not as inch perfect as the fans have come to expect?

[Official 32nd America's Cup Website]

Many times when I'm watching sports (so that's many times multiplied by many times then?) I notice that a particular position seems to be a little more open to innuendo then the others. (Inyourend-o). I often wonder how these names were thought up; what was he thinking? etc etc. And so below is a list of the dubious positions I have noticed so far.

Slot Receiver - I for one would not like to be receiving anything in my slot. Nor would I want people to describe me as being 'excellent at receiving it in the slot'. Obviously the slot is important to everybody, it's just not something that belongs in a sports name.

Hooker - Whoever invented Rugby Union must have been short on ideas when it came to naming the positions. We can only assume that a 'Lady of the Night' happened to stroll past the position namers' window at the time and he had a light bulb moment. Which perhaps, as a position after Hooker is simply called 'Number Eight', leads us to the conclusion that the Lady was not waiting long for her next customer...

Hole Check - Now come on, this is just getting silly. Why would Water Polo need a player whose distinct role involves checking the hole? And whose hole are we talking about here? His own, or somebody elses? I can't decide whether the word 'Gap' would have been better used here or not. Or perhaps, oh I don't know... 'Checker', 'Forward Defender' or anything else along those lines might have been a better choice.

Tight-End -  The position of Tight-End provides us with such a large amount of juvenile humour through-out the Football season that it deserves to make this list more then any of the others. 'Brady forced that one into the Tight-End', 'The running back went up the inside of the Tight-End' and on and on...

Fine Leg - Doesn't a fine pair of legs usually come in pairs? Then again, on the odd occasion that I've seen any Cricket, there hasn't been any sexiness on the field at all. Mostly it's just a bunch of slow-moving pot belied dudes walking around a field. Maybe the position was named after the creator was shocked to catch a glimpse of a nice leg during a wayward streak?

So there you have it. If there are any I have missed out then feel free to add them
on in the comments.