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What's the difference between a bulldog and a soccer mom? In the case of Meleanie Hain, it's a loaded sidearm. On Sept. 11, Hain created a stir among other parents when she wore her weapon - a loaded Glock 26, about the size of an adult hand - in a holster to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game at Optimist Park in Lebanon, also known as Southwest Park. Although she did not break a law by carrying the weapon openly, she is now facing the loss of her concealed-weapons permit. But she is not giving up without a fight. (snip)The end...

An Iraqi soccer player from the community of Abu T'shir tries to maneuver past a defender from the Risalah community during the championship soccer match for the Rashid Olympics Sept. 9, 2008 at the Jaza'ir Oil Refinery soccer field in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — The Rashid Olympics in southern Baghdad came to as end as more than 330 teams from 14 neighborhoods competed in friendly soccer games spanning the course of the summer. The Rashid District Sports and Youth Committee hosted the championship soccer match...

Players from the Immigration team and Dawa party team fight for the ball during a qualifying match of an Iraqi police sponsored soccer tournament in al Kut, Iraq, Sept. 18, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Daniel West, Multi-National Division-Central. FOB DELTA — Immigration defeated the Dawa party 2-0 in the qualifying match of a soccer tournament sponsored by al Kut Iraqi Police (IP) at their headquarters, Sept. 18. The tournament featured 32 teams from the area. Matches took place throughout the month of September and will culminate in a championship in early October. The winner will face the Iraqi security force’s...

Marcelo Bordon is a powerful bear of a man. In football, people like Bordon are known as towering defenders. He is sitting in the club restaurant owned by Schalke 04, the Bundesliga (German football league) team he plays for. With his slicked-back hair, muscular upper body and tattoos, he could easily pass for a prison guard in New Jersey. Yet he speaks softly, talking about the love that helps him when he is in distress, and about the one who has always been there for him, ever since he came into his life. Bordon is referring to the Holy Spirit....

Irish In Protest At Gers Chant Sep 16 2008 By Paul Drury AN IRISH diplomat has raised a complaint with the Scottish government over a song sung by Rangers fans at an Old Firm game. They were heard singing "The Famine Song" during the match at Ibrox a fortnight ago. It includes the line: "The famine is over, why don't you go home?", and refers to the Irish potato famine of 1845-49, in which more than a million people died. A Celtic fan protested to the Irish Embassy in London and Consul General Cliona Manahan raised the issue with...

LONDON: Manchester City's only distinction in British football is its long-term tenancy at the lower end of the league tables. But that has not stopped one of the richest Arab groups from buying out its ownership, making it perhaps the richest club on the planet. The sale catapults un-rated City to the top of the super-rich British club league, hitherto dominated by Chelsea and Manchester United. It also sparks off a war among the moneybag club owners as already evidenced on Monday when millions of pounds were spent by these clubs on a single day to sign in famous footballers....

During the EURO 2008, German director Detlev Buck and the YouTube community created the first fan movie made out of user generated videos. The movie was shown in cinemas across Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxYzNpgaXa4

Iraqi and Coalition competitors finish up a friendly game of soccer, Aug. 1 at FOB Endeavor in Najaf. U.S. Army photo by Christopher Koym. FOB KALSU — The ‘Hope Tour 2008’ kicked off with a friendly game of soccer in Najaf, Aug. 1. Soldiers from the 30th Iraqi Army Brigade took on members of the 30th Military Transition Team, the Ugandan Guard Force team, the Najaf Provincial Reconstruction Team and Team Borlaug from Texas A&M. Soldiers from the 30th IA Bde. won five to one and received England soccer jerseys. Members of the FOB Endeavor soccer team received "HOPE Tour...

The trade of the week is not a multimillion-dollar transfer of Ronaldinho or Cristiano Ronaldo, but the move from the New England Revs to the Roman Catholic Church by Chase Hilgenbrinck. He has just given up his place on the New England roster to enter a six-year apprenticeship to become a priest. His soccer salary, a reported $36,000 a season, would not interest the gifted Brazilians who expect to earn that in a day. However, once Hilgenbrinck's story was out on The Associated Press wire on Monday, it was rapidly headlined from Latin America to Asia, Europe to the South...

San Francisco -- A member of a notoriously violent street gang was arrested and booked Wednesday on three counts of murder in the shootings of a San Francisco father and two sons in the city's Excelsior district that police believe stemmed from a minor traffic incident, authorities said. Edwin Ramos, 21, of El Sobrante was arrested at 12:05 a.m. at his home on the 4300 block of Hilltop Drive in the Sunday slayings of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, authorities said. At 5 p.m., he was booked on the murder charges. Police recovered a...

West Ham, Crew fans brawl in stands Sunday, July 20, 2008 11:17 PM By Shawn Mitchell THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH From the southeastern corner of Crew Stadium came the West Ham United chants: “East! East! East Lon-don!” From the northeastern came the answer: “Co-lum-bus! Co-lum-bus!” Today’s war of words turned physical at halftime of the Crew’s exhibition match against West Ham, when a handful of West Ham fans ventured into the heart of the Crew’s supporters section. A scuffle broke out and stadium security quickly pulled the West Ham interlopers to the stadium concourse. The next few minutes were frantic. While...

LOS ANGELES -- American Airlines Flight 725, scheduled to fly nonstop from Boston to Los Angeles on Friday, was diverted to Oklahoma City after a disruptive passenger took his clothes off and had to be subdued.

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

Shouket Ahmed Rahman, Mayor of Yethrib, Iraq, shakes the hand of a soccer player from Albu Faras during the opening ceremonies of the Yethrib nahi'a soccer tournament. For the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, the Yethrib District is holding a multi-village soccer tournament to commemorate the substantial progress that has been made in regards to security and stability in the Salah ad Din province. Photo by 1st Lt. Jonathan Springer. YETHRIB — For the people of Yethrib, Iraq, it has been a long five years. For over half a decade, the Balad and Yethrib areas have...

British and Iraqi Soldiers pose for a group photo following a soccer match at the Basra Operations Center June 26. The two forces work together every day maintaining security in the streets of Basra, Iraq. Royal Navy photo by Leading Airman Jan Hartmann. BASRA — Members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and members of the 4 Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland teamed up to take on Iraqi Soldiers from the 14th Iraqi Army Division in a friendly soccer game in Basra, Iraq, June 26. The Soldiers spend most of their days sweating it out in vehicles or on checkpoints...

BERLIN (Reuters) A woman trying to make "manure bombs" using stockings, slipped into a slurry tank and fled the scene naked, German police said Friday. Two women entered a farm in the northern village of Eberholzen Wednesday evening and started to fill the stockings with manure. "One of them slipped into the manure tank, right into the cow muck," said a spokesman for local police. "The other one helped her out. We found their clothes in a field. One seems to have run off completely naked, the other in her underwear." Police said it was unclear what the women had...

Germany coach Joachim Low generously praised Spain ahead of Sunday's Euro 2008 final in Vienna, pinpointing their consistency throughout the competition. "The Spaniards have been the most constant team here," said Low. "They have shown consistent levels of performance, they are flexible regarding their positioning and they are sure of the passes they make. ..."We have the experience of this kind of tournament. We believe we can win such games - we have a winner's mentality."

Brazil honoured the great Pele on Thursday and the other eight surviving players from its maiden FIFA World Cup™ triumph in 1958, a victory that put the nation on the football map and paved the way for four more titles. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave the nine men medals of honour at a banquet dedicated to their 5-2 final victory over hosts Sweden 50 years ago. "You helped us understand...we could make Brazil a winner," Lula told the players at the ceremony. Brazil, the most successful football nation with five FIFA World Cup titles, is now in a...

June 18 (UPI) -- Russian state television taunted Sweden with past military victories before the two countries vie for a place in the quarterfinals of Euro 2008, the continent's most prestigious soccer tournament. Vesti-24, the government's cable channel, played a commercial every half-hour today using Soviet-era movie footage of Russian soldiers killing Swedes during Peter the Great's victory over Charles XII in 1709 and Alexander Nevsky's defeat of invaders in 1240. Each scene was followed by a scorecard reading ``Russia 1 Sweden 0'' and accompanied by the theme to the movie ``Gladiator.'' ``It's part of a revival of Russian nationalism,''...

Whether it has any bearing on Monday's crunch Euro 2008 match between the two countries is debatable but Austria drew first blood on Sunday when their topless women's soccer team beat Germany 10-5. The traditional swapping of shirts afterwards was not an option as the six-a-side teams wore nothing but thongs, with the national colors painted on to their bare skin. The football may not have been of the highest quality but that did not temper the enthusiasm of a mostly male crowd boosted by a sizeable media presence only too happy to desert Euro 2008 training for an hour...

(IsraelNN.com) The Nazi war criminal listed as Number Four on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Most Wanted List, 95-year-old Milivoj Asner, was spotted by the British Sun newspaper strolling with his wife at the Euro 2008 championships and mingling with soccer fans, according to a report by the paper on Monday. Austria refused to extradite te Nazi war criminal to Croatia for questioning on his role as chief of police and Gestapo operative in the country's Nazi-controlled wartime regime, saying his health is too fragile. Asner is listed for crimes on an Interpol most-wanted list under a Croatian arrest warrant for...

When America wins, we all win. Some really good games today, but America looked like a top tier team today.

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2008 – Hundreds of troops and their families were treated to a professional soccer match on Flag Day during D.C. United’s 9th Annual Armed Forces and Veteran’s Appreciation Day at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in the nation’s capital. “A whole night dedicated to servicemembers makes me feel good,” said Army Spec. Devin Calcote, a member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard,” who presented the nation’s colors at the beginning of the match between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls. The team provided 1,000 free tickets for active-duty servicemembers. Discounted tickets for...

Could US-European relations be restored? We both wish to lead the world, but Americans and Europeans seldom reflect upon WHAT we actually wish to accomplish and how we want to make Western Civilization to look like. If I was to answer the question “What is the most distinguishing feature of Western Civilization”, I would answer: Trust in the individual and individual trust in himself. So, what is “trust” in the individual? Let’s examine the difference between “self-confidence” and “self-esteem“. My home country, Sweden, is an ice hockey nation. But just like Italy, England and Argentina we are also a soccer...

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

hehehehe! 2-0!

Bon Jovi star Richie Sambora has offered English soccer ace David Beckham free guitar lessons. The guitarist is a big fan of the LA Galaxy star and has urged him to give call him if he ever feels like learning the instrument. He says: "Beckham is a good guy. He's done so much for soccer in the US. He's such a big name and brought soccer to a different level and its now played in schools. It's just a pity that he doesn't get to play more as he's been injured. "David should come and see me. I'd gladly give...

Chelsea have sacked manager Avram Grant after only eight months in charge at Stamford Bridge. Grant has been under severe pressure in West London since replacing Jose Mourinho last September. And the Israeli, who steered Chelsea to a second-placed Premier League finish, has now been handed his marching orders after the Blues ended the 2007/08 campaign without a trophy. Grant's last game in charge of Chelsea was the UEFA Champions League final penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United on Wednesday. A statement on the club's official website read: "Chelsea football club can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract...

Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan was among the 22 players United States men's national team coach Bob Bradley named Tuesday for the May 28 friendly against England at Wembley Stadium. Donovan, who will join the U.S. in England after Saturday's Major League Soccer game against the Kansas City Wizards, will earn his 100th cap if he plays against England. "We're excited about the challenge of playing England," said Bradley, who leads a U.S. team that is undefeated in 2008 and is currently riding a five- match unbeaten run dating back to Oct. 17. "We...

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was Manchester United's hero as Sir Alex Ferguson's side claimed the club's third European Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea on a night of almost unbearable drama in Moscow. As many had predicted, the competition's first all-English final ended in penalties and ultimately it was van der Sar's full-length save from Nicolas Anelka that ensured United won the shoot-out 6-5 after the match had ended 1-1 after extra-time. The triumph ensured ensured a season that has seen United mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster ended with both the Premier League...

The Russian authorities have warned Manchester United and Chelsea fans arriving in Moscow for Wednesday night's Champions League Final that there will be a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour after witnessing the trouble involving Rangers supporters at the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester last week. Russian FA president Vitali Mutko said: "We drove through the centre of the city crowded with Rangers fans last week. Almost all of them were drunk and some were urinating in the streets. [...] But perhaps the biggest danger to those who are travelling is Russia's no-nonsense approach to alcohol. Public displays of drunkenness are...

LAHORE: The UEFA Champions League, Europe’s premier football club competition, reaches its exciting climax on Wednesday (today) when Manchester United take on Chelsea in the final at the historic Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital, Moscow. It is the only the third time since the inception of the competition, previously known as the ‘European Cup’, that two teams from the same country will be contesting the final. Italian rivals AC Milan and Juventus fought it out in 2003, while Real Madrid and Valencia of Spain came face to face in the 2000 edition. To put today’s game into context, it...

Al-Qaeda could be planning to attack this summer's Euro 2008 football championships in Switzerland and Austria, it was reported today. "The Euro 2008 tournament is a target cited by the Islamist terrorist network," a police spokesman reportedly told Swiss newspaper La Liberte. A flurry of messages have been monitored, by police and security officials in Switzerland, on two Islamist internet forums - sos minbar and As-Sahab - which are favoured by the extremist terrorist group as a means to awaken dormant cells. One message is reported to say: "Let’s transform these two countries, the safest in Europe, into hell -...

Manchester United won the English league title for the second year in a row and the 17th time overall, defeating Wigan, 2-0, Sunday on the last day of the season, but it was Ryan Giggs who perhaps achieved the greater feat. The former Wales winger appeared in his 758th game for Manchester United, tying the record set by Bobby Charlton four decades ago. Giggs can break the record if he plays in United's May 21 European Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow. The 34-year-old has been a part of each of United's 10 league championships under Coach Alex Ferguson...

(IsraelNN.com) Polish authorities are investigating a soccer player whose T-shirt showed anti-Semitic writing, the French news agency AFP reported. The player, Arkadiusz Mysona, is suspected of calling for hate on an ethnic basis and committing a public offense against a country. His team, LKS Lodz, has fined him $13,000 and prohibited him from playing in a championship game. Mysona explained that an unknown supporter gave him the shirt and that he did not check to see what was written on it. "A fellow member of the team drew my attention and when I saw the inscription, I removed it at...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Muslim leaders on Sunday urged Malaysians to boycott a visit by English football giants Chelsea in protest at the move to let their Israeli coach and defender into the country. Spokesman Mohamad Azmi Abdul Hamid said the coalition of 21 Muslim groups would hold a mass protest at the tour match if the government did not bar coach Avram Grant and player Tal Ben Haim. "Malaysians should boycott the match," Mohamad Azmi said. "We should unite with the Palestinian people and fight for an independent homeland for them." Malaysia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel...

Players from competing teams in the Mahmudiyah Soccer Tournament line up on the field April 20. U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Christopher McKenna, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT). FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH — The Mahmudiyah Soccer Stadium officially opened April 20 with a 24-team, double-elimination tournament sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. This was the first in a series of three tournaments scheduled over the next four months. Security for each event will be provided by the 25th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.“Many people are excited about both the tournament and the stadium,� said Garbi Abbas, the...

Soccer players at the Jurf Secondary School in Jurf as Sahkr, Iraq, pose for a photo in their new uniforms, which were donated by 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN — One of the first things Soldiers noticed on the ground in Jurf as Sahkr, Iraq, was how much local residents loved soccer. In area businesses, soccer posters adorned the walls, while children made soccer fields out of empty lots and played heated matches. Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th...

Soccer is a beautiful sport. I'm not saying American football is not, but it ought to be remembered more often that soccer is performed without wearing tons of protection. This is what the reality of soccer looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBanEscH7aU Another example featuring the same player: http://www.gordoneverett.com/LarssonHeaderComp.wmv Henrik Larsson - more league goals than any other active soccerer of today and IMO a true ambassador of a true sport. Larsson makes me proud of Sweden, the country in which we both grew up.

MILAN, April 12 (Reuters) - Ronaldinho has agreed initial terms with AC Milan and the Serie A club will now speak to Barcelona about a deal, Milan and the player’s agent have said. The 28-year-old Brazilian has had a difficult few months at the Nou Camp because of injury and loss of form and a move has long been mooted. The forward is out for the rest of the campaign with a leg injury and a transfer can not officially go through until the end of the season. “In general Ronaldinho and Milan are in agreement,” his agent and brother...

Julio Gonzalez Asunción, Mar 31, 2008 / 01:08 pm (CNA).- Four months ago Julio Gonzalez surprised all of Paraguay when he returned to the soccer field after having one of his arms amputated.  Since returning, he says that he was able to overcome all of his obstacles because of his faith in God.In December of 2005, Gonzalez, a 24 year-old player on an Italian soccer team, was asked to play on the Paraguayan national team for the 2006 World Cup.  However, while he was on his way to the airport in Venice to catch a flight back to Asuncion...

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- Investigators said a Manalapan teenager was caught causing $24,800 worth of damage to a soccer field after the On-Star system in his car tipped off police that he was the culprit. Authorities said the 17-year-old spun a 2007 GMC Denali to make "donuts" all over the soccer field at Saint Joseph's School located at 3300 S. Seacrest Blvd. in Boynton Beach on Nov.21, according to a police report. Police used On-Star GPS records to link the teen to the scene at the time of the vandalism, according to the report. A police subpoenae of OnStar documents...

Note: Orlando Sentinel material is excerpt only--that means no photos! I WILL ASK TO HAVE THE PHOTOS REMOVED IF YOU POST THEM Posted for informational purposes only. who? unknown what? 2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying where? Raymond James Stadium; Tampa, Florida when? March 15, 2008 why? why ask? how? who cares?

Seven members of Cuba's Under-23 soccer team defect in the United States, according to newspaper reports With one player already suspended following a red card, Cuba coach Raul Gonzalez had only ten players available to him and his team began the match against Honduras with a one-man disadvantage and no substitutes.

Friday, March 14, 2008 Cuba's defection dilemma Andrew Hush As dawn broke on the morning after one of the nation's greatest footballing results, the mood in the Cuban camp should have been buoyant. Instead, the prevailing emotions were of confusion and dismay. The remaining Cuban players show their respect to their fans. (AP) Barely twelve hours after Raul Gonzalez's side had begun their Olympic qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against the USA, the team had been torn apart by the defection of seven of its number. As remarkable as Cuba's draw was with the host nation in Tampa,...

Cuban sports officials were stunned Thursday by the desertions of up to seven soccer players in Florida. Still, the under-23 team will play on. The Cuban team will play Honduras on Thursday night in Tampa, Fla. It's Cuba's second game in a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics, sponsored by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF. The Cuban delegation notified CONCACAF on Thursday that the team will continue to participate, CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer said in a statement. The players, who had not yet reported to authorities, went missing after Cuba tied the...

When Northern Virginia's Latino soccer leagues kick off the 2008 season early next month, fans of Honduras de Manassas will have to travel outside their base in Prince William County to see their team score goals. So will supporters used to watching Juventus Sure¿o crush the competition in Woodbridge. Devotees of longtime Manassas powerhouse Fiorentina will need to switch allegiance. Their team is sitting out this season. As Prince William proceeds with its crackdown on illegal immigrants, one result is a shake-up and shrinking of the area's entrenched Hispanic soccer leagues. The reason is simple, organizers say: Players and fans,...

POWDER SPRINGS -Hillgrove High School student-athlete Tyler Woodruff, 17, was denied a hardship request Tuesday petitioning to play in his senior soccer season. He is already planning an appeal and has threatened a federal lawsuit. The Georgia High School Association, which governs athletics, denied the request. Tyler failed his honors calculus course last fall, which made him ineligible for extra-curricular sports activities. The class was the first the student, who maintains a 3.4 grade-point average, had ever failed. Students must pass their classes to qualify to play sports, but few students must maintain a 100 percent pass rate each semester....

SKY SPORTS 'The 20 Premier League clubs have unanimously agreed to further examine a radical plan that would see each team playing an extra match a season abroad. Under the proposal, matches between two Premier League sides could be staged in the world's largest cities in the Far East, Australia and the USA. A new round of 10 competitive fixtures would be played across the world over one weekend in January, beginning in the 2010/11 season.' NOTE: American cities Sky has mentioned are Miami, New York and LA, with Washington also a possibility...

HOUSTON — Police are investigating the shooting of two men who were wounded in a parking lot outside Reliant Stadium after a soccer match between the U.S. and Mexico. It was unclear why the shots were fired outside the stadium where about 70,000 fans attended Wednesday night's 2-2 tie, police spokesman John Cannon said. The victims reported seeing someone pull a weapon out of a vehicle and start shooting, and other witnesses told police that someone had thrown a beer at that car just before the shooting. Raul Edgar Belmon, 28, and Manuel Elgua, 36, both of Houston, were shot...