European Soccer Outlook

The quarter-final draw for the UEFA Champions' League has been announced, and thus scrutinized, discussed, and predicted. Managers from around the English Premier League have been are debating over the state of 'English Football' after not a single English club has advanced into the quarter-finals. Also in the news of England and soccer has been the recent calling up of centre-back Rio Ferdinand to the
National Team, and Sir Alex Ferguson's reluctance to let him respond to the call. There's so much to talk about in the world of European soccer.

Sixteen teams have been abbreviated to eight in the UEFA Champions' League. No English teams remain, to the alert of critics. Of course, there were multiple shockers in second round play taking place earlier this week. AC Milan went into the second leg of the tie versus FC Barcelona ahead on aggregate 2-0. Barcelona was required to score two goals to send the second game into extra time and possibly penalties, or a minimum of three goals to win outright. They scored four, with no one other then Lionel Messi contributing two goals to the total. Another head-liner was Real Madrid's defeat of Manchester United. Manchester United had a slight advantage in the second game, having drawn the first at one goal a piece. Manchester had the momentum of one away goal. Instead, Nani was sent off in a controversial play, and Real Madrid scored two goals after United scoring only one; thus allowing Madrid to advance into the quarter-finals. The last game of major speculation was the tie between Bayern Munich and Arsenal. Bayern won the first match in London one-to-three. However, Arsenal struck back as hard as they could in Munich, winning a game filled with controversy 2-0, yet very nearly making the score 3-0 towards the end. Thus, the aggregate was 3-3, and Bayern Munich advanced on the away goals rule, meaning Bayern scored more away goals so they advance. So, after all the drama, the quarter-final draw consists of:

• Bayern Munich v. Juventus
• Paris Saint-Germain v. FC Barcelona
• Malaga v. Borussia Dortmund
• Real Madrid v. Galatasaray

I think that the amount of power in this quarter-final draw shows that the English shouldn't hang their heads. There's a lot of good soccer out there whether its German, Italian, Spanish or Turkish. I think there are someNemanja Vidić surprises in the draw though. One that really sticks out is the match up between PSG and Barcelona. Of course the draws are random, but Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona are arguably two of the better teams of the eight remaining. However, it is probably widely known that Barcelona has the upper hand. Another key pairing is Bayern Munich and Juventus. Juventus is the last Italian team left in the Champions' League which will serve as fuel to the team. However, Bayern Munich are hungry to go all the way after being the runners up to Chelsea. In addition, Borussia Dortmund shouldn't have a tough time with Malaga, a Spanish club lost in the shadows of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Speaking of Spaniards, Real Madrid shouldn't have an issue with the little known Turkish club going by the name of Galatasaray.

On a final note of discussion, the 32-year-old Manchester United back Rio Ferdinand has been in the news lately for his calling up to the English National Side. He's played a vital role in United's defence lately. During
Nemanja Vidić's injury-related absence, Rio has stepped it up, contributing largely in United's last four games, all being clean sheets, or shut-outs as described in hockey or American football. However, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is reluctant to let Ferdinand go play for the national squad, citing that he may be playing to many matches and thus cause to much physical stress on the 32-year-old footballer. However, I don't think this is a valid point, because during World Cup Qualifying matches, he will have to miss league games to play international games; Many of Ferdinand's Manchester United team-mates already do just that.

There's so much going on at the moment in the world of soccer. Many of the European leagues, such as the Premier League, have less than ten matches to go in the season. Soccer is at its busiest this time of year.

NFL Newslines

Over a month after the Super Bowl and over day since free agency has begun, the NFL has some new headlines. Looking back, we saw that New Orleans can sure throw a party, especially for a Super Bowl. A week before that, the NFL's best managed to save the Pro Bowl...for now. Lastly, free agency has begun and the league's being shook up. There's so much going on in the NFL right now.

Despite the power going out in the Mercedes-Benz Dome midway through the third quarter, New Orleans threw a great Super Bowl. It seemed like all week long the media was constantly fixated on the never ending party being thrown in the Big Easy. Then came the game itself. Everything was good until the power went out because Beyonce managed to use it all. It was either that, or the Forty Niners have a curse which they cut the power at random times wherever they play because there power went out in San Francisco earlier last season. Either way, New Orleans proved itself as a great host for a Super Bowl.

However, a week before that, all eyes were on the Pro Bowl. Peyton Manning came out wearing the jersey of a totally different conference and a determination to prove the Pro Bowl's worth. Commissioner Roger Goodell threatened to drop the Pro Bowl if there was a lack of effort displayed, as there was in 2012's Pro Bowl. However, the game was a blowout, ending 62-35 in favour of the NFC team. Such a thrashing proved that the Pro Bowl wasn't just a recreational game.

But Finally, the latest and greatest NFL topic has been the recently born free agency period. Among the hype has been Wes Welker, who didn't resign with the New England Patriots, has gone ironically to the Denver Broncos. This means he has gone from one cannon, Tom Brady, to another, Peyton Manning; two quarterbacks whose names often can't be mentioned separately. Other headlines include Steven Jackson moving to Atlanta where he will replace Michael Turner, who was cut after failing a physical earlier this month. Also, Matt Cassel will go to Minnesota to compete with incumbent quarterback Christian Ponder.

And so, the NFL Offseason is under way. Ironically, the offseason is almost as followed and debate as the actual playing season is. The next few months will help define and shape the coming season.

Joe Paterno: A Fractured Legacy

Joe Paterno’s Legacy, is a confused mess of triumph, greatness, and disgust. Paterno was one of the best college football coaches, if not the best football coach, period, of nearly all time. How do you judge Paterno’s legacy? Should his statue be removed? Finally, does the football program of Penn State deserve to be dismantled?

Joe Paterno was a great coach, and is an intriguing story of a life. Joe Paterno, the leader of men, who apparently was able to build fine football players, excelling students, and complete men. But, when push came to shove, and the results of the so-called Freeh Report, reported what to me seemed obvious, Joe Paterno, and other administrators, covered up Jerry Sandusky’s heinous sins. The fact is, Paterno, broke a law. If you know of Child Abuse you are legally obliged to report it to authorities, or you can be charged and tried in the criminal court of law. So, did he (Paterno) did all he possibly could to stop the malicious abuse of children? No. Plain and Simple. It was Paterno and other administrators who thought they could deal with the problem themselves and ultimately prevent a colleague from being arrested. In the end, Paterno might have done a lot of good things for Penn State and college football, but after what he has done, I find it morally hard to accept him as a great man, but I can buy him as a legendary football coach.

The status of the statue is a very sensitive subject. I honestly do not believe that Paterno deserves to have such a grand and embellishing statue outside of the stadium. At the same time, I do not think that he deserves no credit to how much he has contributed to the on the field success of the football program. Instead of a statue, I can see and approve of a mural of Paterno, maybe of him being carried off the field by a championship team, and a plaque on the mural reading “JOE PATERNO 1926-2012”. I think that wouldn’t be so heroizing (New word!) but would still recognize him for coaching such a good team.

The biggest issue of this everlasting scandal, which seems to add a new chapter to the saga every month, is what will happen to the football program itself. I have heard different reports about different opinions and demands. I have heard/read about people calling for the football program itself, to be eternally terminated. I am not sure about that, but that is why you pay the people in the position to lead, the big bucks. You, as a work place superior to someone like Joe Paterno or the head of the Penn State Athletics Department, would hope that the people in charge would do the right thing. Thus, when you are a leader, and you screw up, you make your organization suffer as well. An argument countering argument to the permanent death penalty of Penn State football is, “What about the players?”. The thing is, if a football player is good enough to go to play, as a non-walk-on, for somewhere with as much reputation as Penn State, he could probably play anywhere else. But, as a program itself, I do not believe that the football program being taken away, is the right choice. I think that Penn State should ban themselves from playing in bowl games.

There are also a lot of other interesting opinions across the web. The most intriguing one is a Fox Sports rticle about how things would have turned out differently if there was a female in charge of some part of the athletics department.

Anyways, those are my opinions, and it was announced yesterday that the statue would come down, and it has, and NCAA fined the football program $60 Million, and all their wins since 1998, and suspended the program from any bowl games for the next four years.