| Dayton sports team finalizes TV deal The Dayton Gems have finalized a television deal that includes a dozen home games during the upcoming season. (TWC) feeds.bizjournals.com |
Team led by NTS executive Wells puts on anniversary celebration Planning a 100th anniversary or birthday celebration is always a pretty big deal. Try doing it for as many as 15,000 guests. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Huddlestone aiming to impress England • Champions League offers chance to impress Fabio Capello• Spurs midfielder highlights 'mental fatigue' of elite leagueTom Huddlestone feels top London-based footballers "can't do anything" in their free time because of the intensity of the spotlight on them but he knows it could burn more unforgivingly still if he achieves his ambitions with Tottenham Hotspur and England.The midfielder continued his eye-catching form in the Champions League victory over FC Twente at White Hart Lane on Wednesday and he is determined to rise to the mental challenge of Europe's premier competition and help Spurs advance into the knock-out phase.That would offer Huddlestone the platform to press his international claims. He was part of the stand-by squad for Fabio Capello's World Cup party, only to be discarded and, surprisingly, he has not been selected in either of the manager's squads so far this season. As ever, he will have his fingers crossed on Monday, when Capello names his players for the Euro 2012 qualifying tie against Montenegro at Wembley on Tuesday week. He may be extra anxious in light of Uefa's investigation into an incident in Wednesday's match in which he caught Twente's Marc Janko with an elbow."It was disappointing to miss out on the World Cup but Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick and Barry went before me and they are all playing at massive clubs in the league," he said. "You've just got to hold your hands up. Three of those players also play in the Champions League season in, season out and that's what cements their places in the England squad."So if I can play a lot of games for Spurs this season and we can progress quite far in the competition, then it just gives me more ammunition to get into the squad and stay there."Tottenham have, to borrow Huddlestone's phrase, "looked jaded" in the Premier League this season, as they adjust to the new experience of coping with the additional demands of the Champions League. The manager, Harry Redknapp, has already said the competition is a huge step up from the Europa League."Everybody wants to get into the Europa League and when they do, they want to get out of it," he said. "But the Champions League is special. That is the one."Huddlestone admitted the scrutiny which came with the Champions League was draining and it might have contributed to Tottenham's erratic domestic start. They entertain Aston Villa tomorrow."Mentally, it's tough, especially in the league games, when teams are just sitting in against us. Last year teams thought they could beat us and it was more of an open game, which is when we're at our best. But we've just got to get on with it."Mistakes are highlighted a lot more but the mental fatigue of the Champions League comes because players are a lot more clever and so you are working harder mentally than physically. All of it takes its toll."Huddlestone joked that one fringe benefit of such a packed schedule meant there was less time to get out and about in the capital. "The spotlight is very difficult, especially living in or around London. You can't do anything. People with cameras turn up even if you're out shopping in the afternoon."If there's ever any pictures in the paper, it's usually people in London, not Manchester or Newcastle. You've got to have certain limits but, if you're performing on the pitch, then most things off it sort of go by the wayside. It's when you're not performing on the pitch that people highlight it and use it to make excuses."Tottenham HotspurChampions LeagueDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
No WNY TV for Bills-Jaguars The Buffalo Bills have ended one streak but it’s one the team would rather have kept going. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Hull City 1-2 Portsmouth | Championship match report When the Portsmouth manager, Steve Cotterill, came off the pitch after watching his side win, he still could not say if his club would be in existence. Cotterill praised his players who had survived not 24 hours of uncertainty – he said – but "four months" worth, describing how the newer players had been the most unsettled going into the game, while the older, more jaded, players were, "a bit battle-hardened to it"."We said today for the sake of football we were going to turn out here and play the game," he said. "Because there would have been an expectation … All the other politics, it was easy to screw that up and lob it in the bin."Portsmouth's latest twist in the tale is one of a duo of jaw-dropping Championship narratives. Hull and Portsmouth, relegated from the Premier League last season, had hoped to make announcements securing their future last Friday – Hull expecting that local businessman Assem Allam would negotiate a deal with the current owner, Russell Bartlett, injecting much-needed finance into £30m of debt, while Portsmouth had promised an end to administration – but both were left in limbo, with Portsmouth apparently contemplating their very existence."Broke in the morning, we're going broke in the morning" sang the Portsmouth fans who had made the long journey. At least a third win in a row, taking Portsmouth to 12th in the table, gave them something to celebrate.Hull's supporters had begun the afternoon with a display of solidarity, applauding the visitors as the stadium announcer wished them an escape from the brink but, after a second successive defeat left Nigel Pearson's side two points above the drop zone, the cheers turned to boos.David Nugent, in fine form, opened the scoring after 45 minutes, prompting screams for offside after picking up a long ball from John Utaka and striking home.Pompey were two up minutes into the second half when a foul on David Kitson gave away a free kick on the edge of the area and Greg Halford scored a debut goal for his loan side.Nick Barmby pulled one back for Hull, the 36-year-old heading home at the near post, but the defeat left Pearson inconsolable, Hull's manager snapping his way through the press conference. "I am very concerned," he said, angrily sipping water. "The job's a little bit bigger than first anticipated in terms of things that need to be corrected."A rant against referees followed, before Pearson hit burning point as one journalist asked whether Jimmy Bullard was any closer to returning from injury. "You got a fixation with him or something? You ask the same thing every week," he said, before banging down his glass and storming out.At least he did not have to face questions about a possible dissolution of the club. Certainly, Portsmouth's fans have lived through enough ups and downs to ride that storm. Up and down the platform of Hull's main train station there were shouts of "Enjoy it boys, this could be the end". The statement on Portsmouth's website that claimed the club will be "closed down and liquidated" was met with gallows humour.But there was anger too, several hundred fans railing against those in charge of such a colossal mess. The millionaire former owners, above all, drew derision, transient figures who have haunted the club even after making their exit. Sulaiman al-Fahim popped along for a day out to watch Portsmouth's victory against Millwall, while Balram Chainrai's many months of failed promises has failed to bring stability to the club.Most recently, Sacha Gaydamak has sent things into panic mode as he allegedly demanded a lump sum of £2.5m at the eleventh hour. Gaydamak has his own version of events, but whatever the truth, supporters are angry at being caught up in a power struggle. Some consider staging a protest at Fratton Park tomorrow afternoon. Cotterill would probably approve. "This is a proper football club," he said. "We don't have plastic fans."They won't stand for a plastic solution either.Hull CityPortsmouthAnna Kesselguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |