| Revitalized downtown boasts new energy, appeal It’s happening here, in downtown Cincinnati. Just walk around our pedestrian-friendly streets and you will find a city vibrant and alive with culture, entertainment, world-class attractions and an eclectic mix of restaurants and nightlife. Whether you are catching a live concert at Fountain Square, enjoying a Saturday night movie on the Square’s Jumbo Tron or experiencing a fine meal at Nada’s, Mr. Sushi’s, Jeff Ruby’s, Morton’s, or any of the new fine-dining establishments, Cincinnati’s revitalized downtown has great new energy and appeal. feeds.bizjournals.com |
New FAU stadium has flex club space Officials planning Florida Atlantic University’s new football stadium have developed a flexible club space that they think is a novel concept in college sports and provides an attractive option for the program’s lower-level donors. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Sport & Health acquires Clubgolf Sport & Health Clubs has acquired Clubgolf Performance Center in Gaithersburg for an undisclosed sum. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Harry Pearson: Young has a lovely turn of phrase British footballers have rarely shown much aptitude for colourful or gnomic pronouncements – but Ashley Young may be in a league of his ownThe late, great boxing trainer Ray Arcel was fond of remarking: "Tough times make monkeys eat red peppers." Nobody quite knows what the man AJ Liebling described as being "severe and decisive, like the teacher in a Hebrew school" meant by this, but the expression undoubtedly had the acrid tang of authenticity.The United States boxing scene has a rich linguistic heritage, which is one of the things that attracted writers such as Damon Runyon and Ring Lardner to it. Arcel might observe of Joe Louis's opponents: "When they got in the ring they folded – like tulips," his erstwhile partner Whitey Bimstein might comment: "I like the country. It's a nice spot," or a manager might summarise changes in business practice with the words: "One time you had an argument with somebody you rolled a Molotov cocktail down his garden path, but these days it's lawyers, lawyers, lawyers." When you hung around guys like that, the dialogue took care of itself.British footballers have rarely shown much aptitude for colourful or gnomic pronouncements, which is why we must applaud the efforts of the Aston Villa and England striker Ashley Young, who this week informed the nation: "I think age is just a number – if you are young enough you are old enough."If the winger is to continue in this vein, then we are in for a treat. As Paul Gascoigne once said: "I don't make predictions and I never will," but in this case I'll make an exception and say that I have feeling in my bones that the winter will not long be over before Ashley has announced: "Form is class, but permanent is temporary," and: "We have nothing to fear but the stuff we are frightened of."Young is clearly a man with almost as many strings to his cap as he has feathers to his bow. In the recent past he has also been praised by expert pundits for "having a trick". These days having a trick is considered vital if you are a winger. Before England's game in Switzerland Mark Pougatch on Radio 5 Live asked David Pleat if perhaps Aaron Lennon needed to "go away and learn a trick".This conjured a pleasing image of Lennon turning up on the field at White Hart Lane one afternoon wearing a fez and bamboozling opponents by saying: "Glass, bottle. Bottle, glass. Ball, foot. Foot, ball," before doing his usual and falling over. Lennon isn't alone among English wingers in being considered deficient in the trick department. Before the 2006 World Cup Chris Waddle fretted that the then Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing "doesn't really have a trick".Waddle, of course, did have a trick. He hunched his shoulders and ran towards an opponent leaning forward at the precipitous angle of somebody charging the wrong way down a moving walkway. So ungainly was his manner that defenders went: "Pah! No point in bothering tackling him. He'll trip over his own feet in two yards."No sooner had they thought this though than the boy from Pelaw surged past them and executed a crowd-pleasing step-over before pinging a pinpoint perfect 30-yard pass into the feet of a team-mate with the outside of his boot.The only downside of Waddle's trick was referees were as fooled by his perpetual air of incipient catastrophe as opponents, which made it more or less impossible for the midfielder to win a penalty (or "pelanty" as he would style it). Even when blatantly hacked down – as against the Republic of Ireland in the group stage of Italia 90 – the official would simply chuckle at the geordie's apparent bumbling and wave play on.In the past, wingers were expected to be tricky, but I don't recall a trick ever being demanded of them. Stanley Matthews had his "bodyswerve", of course, a mysterious action that was always talked of in awestruck tones but never truly explained – the football equivalent of transubstantiation. The great Brazilian Garrincha had one leg shorter than the other and is credited with inventing the step-over. This trick was later the cornerstone of the game of another Brazilian winger, DenÃlson – though the São Paulo star's greatest trick was somehow persuading Real Betis he was worth £21.5m.Ron Atkinson was always fond of wingers doing something he called "little lollipops". As we know from the recent Serge Gainsbourg biopic, lollipop is French slang for an act of fellatio. I'm certain that's not what Big Ron had in mind, though it is true that the great Dutch forward Johnny Rep once told Holland's first openly gay referee, Frans Derks, that if he gave any more offside decisions against Ajax "I won't give you a blowjob tonight". Derks apparently burst out laughing, though Rep later claimed not to be able to remember the incident.What sort of trick Lennon and Downing need to learn, whether the baroque if slightly naff Siegfried and Roy-style of sleight of foot favoured by Cristiano Ronaldo, something more homespun in the manner of Paul 'Not a lot' Daniels, or an edgy street magic act such as was once the preserve of David Blaine and which would fit nicely into a Nike advert, has not been made clear. Perhaps in time Young will explain.EnglandEuro 2012Aston VillaHarry Pearsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Missouri upsets No. 3 Oklahoma 36-27 By R.B. FALLSTROM 2010-10-24T05:59:02ZCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Oklahoma's stay at the top of the BCS will be brief.... hosted.ap.org |