http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=copVfYSPmwA

Fulham Fc – The Great Escape

http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/news/458/2915

From the page: “The story of Fulham’s great escape from the threat of relegation from the top league in English football, the Premier League, is a lesson in the miracles that can happen when a team never quits pursuing every point and every goal with the proverbial “it ain’t over ’til its over” attitude. It is also a great example of how the existence of relegation in a league structure can pump fan passions to a fever pitch, even when their team is not at the top of the rankings, a level of passion seen rarely in American soccer.

True relegation is an unknown aspect of league structure in MLS, and in major American sports – period. Americans have a characteristic singular focus on the top prize, the winner, the championship. But what if, as in English football, teams at the bottom of the standings weren’t rewarded with higher draft picks, but actually booted from the league to a lower division to make room for champions from that lower division? The corresponding threat to revenues, loss of star players, less TV coverage, and sheer pride would no doubt fill the seats of the half empty stadiums we see in America towards the end of a season when all hopes of reaching the playoffs have been lost. Instead of giving up and saying “we’ll get ’em next year,” fans would be locked in what English football calls a “relegation battle” that often contains far more drama than the crowning of single champion.”

I like the salary cap, the draft and many aspects of American sports, but my issue with it, despite my love of MLB, is this very fact. The bottom club in a division should be relegated – perhaps one from each league via a play off – and the best from the league below promoted.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/koltregaskes/sets/72157603575517258/

“The best of the photos from my .photography collection.”
Kolin Tregaskes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/wales/7404772.stm

Wales wallows in unprecedented sporting success as Cardiff prepare to face Portsmouth in the FA Cup final

http://www.miamiherald.com/tropical_life/story/513442.html

Michael Tonello recounts his wild hunt for handbags, which sell for anywhere from $9,000 to $100,000, in his new book, Bringing Home the Birkin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/7404090.stm

A Nigerian woman has been jailed for 26 months for bringing a child illegally into the UK. Peace Sandberg, who was living in the UK, went to Nigeria and bought a baby to become eligible for a council flat.

http://www.19seconds.gr/

Lots of lovely stuff.

http://editweapon.com/v/mint/mint.html

Why the first 30 seconds at Mint.com are better than your website.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3941545.ece

It sounds like the plot of a farfetched science fiction movie. Unfortunately for the residents of Texas, it is very much a reality: billions of tiny reddish-brown ants have arrived onshore from a cargo ship and are hell-bent on eating anything electronic.

Computers, burglar alarm systems, gas and electricity meters, iPods, telephone exchanges – all are considered food by the flea-sized ants, for reasons that have left scientists baffled.

http://www.helpmechill.com/player.htm

Lovely little radio “ambient” station.