Morning Money Quotes

Montreal Canadiens coach and GM Bob Gainey on the booing of the U.S. national anthem by Habs’ fans:

“I feel like there’s a confusion there with our fans. They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the anthem represents the Boston team. And I think if they could separate those two things, then we could respect the anthem of the United States of America and they could still participate loudly in whatever way they want to disrupt the Bruins.”

Ron Judd reports on female ski jumpers’ lawsuit against the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee:

The suit, which presents interesting legal jurisdiction questions, alleges that allowing men, but not women, to jump in the Games is a violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which bars gender-based discrimination.

UEFA’s new plan of action should some European soccer fans continue making racial taunts:

“We will call for play to be stopped for 10 minutes when these things happen, and for announcements to be made in the stadium. If it continues, then the match will be stopped.”

Richard Whitall on the American misunderstanding of global soccer:

Obama has taken a lot of flak this week for breaking the Golden Rule of US foreign policy; never be on equal footing, never admit past mistakes. To do otherwise is to put America on level playing field, thereby threating its “unique” status as a “beacon on the hill.” Sport is very important in this regard. Soccer represents for many American exceptionalists a stand-in for the socialistic intrusions from the outside—Europe, South America, Asia. This symbolism has been unwittingly helped along by several soccer tourists on the American left (see Franklin Foer), who, rather than delve into the complex and tangled workings of the global game, instead draw a simplistic line between “good” soccer cultures and “bad” soccer cultures, those with racist chants and violent histories and those with family-friendly, grassroots support (ie Barca), one good, one bad, one right, one left. Just pick the “good” soccer culture and you’re in left-wing sports fan paradise.

Morning Money Quotes

European soccer–still plagued by racism …

Juventus have been ordered to play a home game behind closed doors after their fans racially abused Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli at the weekend.

The 18-year-old scored Inter’s goal in the 1-1 Serie A draw and was taunted by sections of the Juve crowd in Turin.

The Italy under-21 international was born in Palermo, Sicily, but is of Ghanaian descent.

Are Indians more interested in national elections or the IPL cricket tournament in South Africa?

P.Chidambaram announced on March 23 that elections were more important than cricket, the 64-year-old Congress leader could have been speaking for television audiences. At least that is what viewership figures for the first IPL weekend (over April 18 and 19) suggest.

Data released by viewership rating companies indicates more people watched the developments in the political arena than cricket on the first two days of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The AP provides background on Andy Kennedy, the U. of Mississippi men’s hoops coach who recently pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct:

The 41-year-old coach was arrested last December when Mississippi was in Cincinnati for a game against Louisville as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational. Cab driver Mohamed Moctar Ould Jiddou said Kennedy punched him in the face and called him a terrorist after he told the coach he couldn’t fit him and four others into his cab.

Kennedy is still embroiled in civil lawsuits with the driver and a valet who says he saw the confrontation and supported the cab driver.

Chinese martial-arts star/actor Jackie Chan on freedom:

“I’m not sure if it is good to have freedom or not. I’m really confused now. If you are too free, you are like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic. I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we are not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”

Morning Money Quotes

The NYT‘s Harvey Araton on recently retired NFL broadcaster John Madden:

Admittedly, no laws are broken by the failure to use a platform for social good, but Jordan and Woods over the years have been called out for never speaking out, risking their corporate appeal. Why only athletes? Why not men like Madden?

For comparison’s sake, can yous imagine Bob Costas — who at the national level is as much the voice of baseball as Madden has been football’s — achieving his level of deserved respect by commenting almost exclusively about what happens between the white lines?

Jennifer Duffy on the fundraising shortfalls of baseball Hall of Famer and Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning:

“When your challenger raises more money than an incumbent in a quarter, it’s evidence that Bunning does not have a lot of support and he does not have the money to run the kind of race that he needs. He either tries to have a significantly better second quarter or he gives long, hard thought as to whether he really wants to run again.”

The Straits Times on the latest Chinese athlete to enter the political arena:

Table tennis legend Deng Yaping, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, has been appointed deputy secretary of Beijing’s arm of the Chinese Communist Youth League, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Mansoor Kahn on the decision to move 2011 World Cup cricket matches out of a destabilized Pakistan:

“This is very sad news for us. For both cricket fans and proud Pakistanis, this is bad. This is also very bad for the country’s image. It’s frustrating; Pakistanis are mad about cricket and want to be part of every moment of the game as it’s going on. This is just so disappointing.”

Morning Money Quotes

Greg Mitchell on the NYT‘s coverage of the day Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier:

Oddly, the day after Robinson broke in 62 years ago, the Times didn’t even mention him in its lead coverage of the game.

The story on the game, printed April 16, 1947, did not say anything about Robinson for the full 18 grafs, nor in the short takes that followed. Yet a check of the boxscore finds him batting second and playing first base.

The Trib on Rod Blagojevich’s letter to Cubs manager Lou Piniella in 2007:

Blagojevich then made his suggested line-up changes — specifically recommending Alfonso Soriano bat third, followed by Derrek Lee and then Aramis Ramirez.

FourFourTwo on the emerging Asian Football Confederation scandal:

In his letter to Damaseb, Murray says: “I am compelled to report to you a matter which, in my view and the view of my FIFA ethics committee colleagues in Indonesia and Guam, requires investigation by the FIFA ethics committee.

“I have been given reliable information that there is a case of ‘vote-buying’ going on ahead of the election to appoint an AFC member to the FIFA executive committee. The information points to at least one high level football official being involved.

“In an interview with SBS, recorded on March 30, Mr Bin Hammam claimed that the Olympic Council of Asia, via its national Olympic committees, is offering cash grants to selected national football associations in Asia in return for securing their votes for Sheikh Salman.”

The mayor of Madrid, which hopes to host the 2016 Olympics, on why security is not a concern for the city famously targeted by Basque separatists:

Ruiz Gallardon says in a statement Tuesday that “we are now the fourth safest capital in Europe, ahead of other big cities including London, Paris and Berlin.”

Morning Money Quotes

D.G. Martin on the similarities between Democrats and UNC hoops fans:

Their joy of winning is fading into worry about next year.

The NYT on the unsavory associations of the Yankees and Mets:

Millions of dollars worth of work associated with the new baseball stadiums for the Yankees and Mets was performed by companies that New York City avoids doing business with because of prior allegations of corruption and ties to organized crime.

wowOwow.com on Condi’s new gig:

Condoleezza Rice, who served as secretary of state under the former president, recently took a gig at the Daily Beast where she will be covering — no, not politics, as we assumed — sports. Who knew Rice had such a thing for playing games?

From a Forbes piece on whether Buddhism is a violent religion:

Its national sport, muay thai, or “Thai boxing,” is exquisitely brutal, and I might add very much to my taste, but where else are manners more considerate and intelligently designed to abate violent personal conflict?

Morning Money Quotes

Neil DeMause’s first impressions of the new, heavily taxpayer funded Yankee Stadium:

As at many if not most new stadiums, the class segregation here feels both deliberate and complete — only further compounded by the obstructed-view bleacher seats (the TV screens set up as a belated fix, I found yesterday, didn’t help much), by the team’s decision to exclude cheap-seats denizens from even eating at field-level concessions stands, and by a sunken walkway behind the “Legends” seats at the field’s edge that gives the odd impression that the Yankees have surrounded their highest-priced seats with a moat.

The 97-year-old man who, for charity, became England’s oldest skydiver when he pulled off a 10,000-foot jump on his achievement:

“It was the first time but it won’t be the last.”

Boomer Esiason’s nickname for Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels, as revealed on New York’s WFAN:

“Littler Hitler.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on why Rio deserves to host the 2016 Summer Games:

“It is time to make the Olympics democratic, developing countries have the right to host the Games. We are competing for the Summer Olympics. South America has the right to hold the Games.”

The National Post’s Bruce Arthur on why the recession is hitting Major League Baseball especially hard:

Why? The NFL season was underway when the economy tipped. In basketball and hockey, the contracts were signed when that edge was reached. But baseball – well, on the day before Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America and Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, David Price was making his first start for Tampa Bay, and the Phillies moved into a tie for the lead in the wild-card chase. Baseball was practically home and dry.

But that just meant baseball was the first to venture back out into the storm. While the NHL and NBA and NFL were playing games, baseball was trying to sell tickets, pitch corporate sponsorships, and launch new stadiums.

Morning Money Quotes

The Joong-Ang Daily on the South Korea’s controversial 1-0 win over North Korea in World Cup qualifying play:

North Korean head coach Kim Jong-hun, who refused to take questions from the media, griped that his team was in no physical shape to play the game. It turned out that the North had asked earlier Wednesday that the game be staged later at a neutral venue, after three of their players had come down with food poisoning. South Korean officials said the team blamed South Korean food for the illness.

The matter was taken to the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA, football’s international governing body. FIFA ordered the match be staged as scheduled.

Former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner speaking before a Columbia U. environmental symposium:

“Everyone should have at least one baseball team.”

Big Soccer on FC Dallas’ efforts to expand its dwindling fan base:

As for FC Dallas Soccer News Top, the plan is for them is to play two regular-season home games per year in Mexico, at sites yet to be determined. This was hoped to be done this year, but with the schedule and team travel plans already set, it has to wait until at least 2010. In a groundbreaking agreement, FC Dallas would get 50% of the gate from each game, with the hosting Mexican club getting 35% to cover game operations cost, and 15% going to the visiting team to cover their extra travel and such. FC Dallas would also get a small percentage of concessions and other revenue. MLS expects it can draw at least 40,000 fans for each match, depending on the opponent, far greater than the capacity at Pizza Hut Park.

The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s David P. Barash in a droning, overwrought, pretentious column on the sociological underpinnings of fandom (HT: The Modern Spectator):

Not that I would try to stop anyone from root, root, rooting to his or her heart’s content. It’s just that such things are normally done by pigs, in the mud, or by seedlings, lacking a firm grip on reality — fine for them, but I am not at all sure this is something that human beings should do. In desperation, if threatened with starvation, I suppose that I would root — for dinner. But for the home team? Never.

From an Association press release on what’s planned for NBA Green Week 2009:

As part of NBA Green Week 2009, adidas will outfit all players with 100 percent organic cotton adidas shooting shirts featuring the NBA Green logo. The Denver Nuggets, Charlotte Bobcats, and the Chicago Bulls will wear green-colored uniforms and socks made from 45 percent organic cotton during select home games throughout the week to raise additional environmental awareness. NBA.com will also host an online auction of Spalding basketballs, made from 40 percent recycled materials and autographed by NBA players. The auction will tip off on April 2 and continue through April 16, with all proceeds benefiting the NRDC.

Morning Money Quotes

The West Michigan White Caps minor-league baseball team is refusing to apply a warning label to a new four-pound, 4,800-calorie burger available at its ballpark. Here is the price and ingredients of that burger:

The $20 burger will feature a sesame-seed bun made from a pound of dough, five 1/3-pound beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips.

The BBC on the many problems facing Ukraine as it prepares to host the European Championships in 2012:

Extortion rackets, money laundering, drugs and even murder – these are among the dubious activities with which ordinary Ukrainians believe some of their football club owners are involved … New stadiums, airports and hundreds of miles of new road are needed to cope with the event. As many as 80% of the new hotels required are unlikely to be ready and there are now serious doubts about the country’s ability to host the competition.

The Hindu reports on the investigation into the attack of the Sri Lankan cricket team by Pakistani terrorists:

Punjab police chief Khwaja Khalid Farooq told reporters 50 suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack on the police training centre at Manawan on Monday that left nine persons dead and over 90 injured.

Several suspects were detained on the basis of information provided by an Afghan terrorist captured alive in Manawan on Monday. Three others were rounded up subsequently, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Law-enforcement agencies have detained five more prime suspects from different parts of Lahore and seized from them explosives, weapons and fake arms licenses, the paper said.

Field of Schemes on why Portland’s entry into the MLS isn’t yet a done deal:

Not only is there $26.8 million in funding unaccounted for, but the city would need to sell $36 million in risky taxable zero-coupon bonds, a prospect that city officials are “pessimistic” about, according to the Portland Business Journal (article not online). If the funding isn’t in place by August 1, the team’s stadium deal falls apart, as does the franchise’s entry into MLS.

Morning Money Quotes

The Times‘ Richard Sandomir on Randy Levine, the man mostly responsible for pushing through the heaping helping of Yankee Stadium corporate welfare:

Months earlier, before the start of a Congressional subcommittee hearing investigating the Yankees’ stadium financing, he was eager to undermine the credibility of the panel’s chairman, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich. Levine’s prepared remarks were meant to remind Kucinich that he was the mayor of Cleveland when it became the first major city to default on its bonds since the Depression.

Kucinich had read the six-page text and knew Levine would be baiting him while praising the financial impact of government incentives like the tax-exempt bonds. Minutes before his turn to speak, Levine was asked if he needed to take the swipe at Kucinich.

“Just watch me,” he said.

Former heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko after having his watch confiscated in a German airport:

“It is well-known Ukrainians must stand in long lines … and even be insulted, before they are allowed to travel in the EU, and once they are there they don’t get the same treatment as EU citizens. For some of my countrymen, in Europe some human rights don’t apply.”

The Guardian‘s Mark Woods on why British hoops fans should boycott a Bulls-Jazz preseason game in London next year:

I may be hypocritical here since, if only for journalistic purposes, you may find me in the capital’s Docklands on 6 October. Yet there’s method to this madness. It’s a regular season fixture we want. Or two, or three. Not this, not now, not ever.

Football supporters, you see, worked out this simple truth a while ago. Friendlies have all the fervour of an inflatable pillow fight. And, to my knowledge, even PT Barnum never tried to sell tickets to that one. Sure, both Chicago and Utah would rather emerge triumphant from their long-haul diversion to Blighty. But real blood? Real sweat? They’ll be saving that for when the outcome of 48 minutes of toil will actually impact on the standings.

In advance of Wednesday’s North Korea-South Korea World Cup qualifier, Reuters reminds us what happened the last time these two enemy nations met on the pitch:

North Korea also crossed the line between sport and diplomacy early last year when it refused to play the South’s anthem or raise its flag in an earlier round of qualifying in Pyongyang.

That decision forced world soccer’s governing body FIFA to change the venue to Shanghai, where the two teams played out a drab draw.

Jon Pessah on Roger Clemens’ legal ordeals:

Think about Clemens what you will, but denying him the presumption of innocence is wrong. So is making prosecutors both judge and jury, and using the media to convict the accused. It didn’t work out so well in the Duke lacrosse case. And it’s not working out so well here, either.

Morning Money Quotes

An Israeli military-affairs reporter on what Col. Ilan Malka will say to Israel’s soccer team in a pep talk before their match against Greece:

Malka intends to speak with the players about the significance of the crucial game and about how the eyes of the nation of Israel are upon them. He will demand of the players that they correct the mistakes of the past, just as he demanded of his soldiers that they correct the shortcomings of the Second Lebanon War – because just like in the battles in Gaza, they will not get a second chance. Fight like lions. You are representing something far greater than just a soccer match.

Rob Neyer sums up an MLB committee charged with investigating why the Oakland A’s can’t coax a new stadium out of East Bay taxpayers:

Here’s the question this committee will try to answer: “Why won’t poor people agree to give money to rich people?”

Cricket360.com on how cricket will affect upcoming elections in India:

For the people of India, IPL’s moving is sheer disappointment; but for the opposition it came as a god sent gift ahead of the election. Opposition’s propaganda machine quickly turns it into an election issue by pitching it as center’s failure, while the party in power strikes back by labeling the opposition claims as “exaggeration.”

Linda Coady, vice-president of sustainability for the 2010 Vancouver Games, on how they plan to off-set carbon emissions:

“We’re going to put 300,000 tonnes out there into the atmosphere and we’re going to invest in projects that reduce carbon by an equivalent amount.”

David Williams, consultant to Jordan’s Prince Feisal, on the value of bringing international sporting events to Jordan:

“Jordan is a very safe, secure country, but what better way for the international community to believe that then by hosting all these countries and athletes from around the world who are all going to come here and compete with no restrictions on women. It’s hopefully blowing a few unfair myths, if you like, out of the window.”