Sport Watch

Filed under: FIFA World Cup, England

Sepp Blatter received a high honor Monday in South Africa, but as with most things involving the FIFA president, there was apparently no less than a touch of controversy surrounding the moment.

On the heels of a mostly successful World Cup held in South Africa, Blatter was honored with the “Order of The Companions of O R Tambo“, one of the nation’s highest distinctions for foreign citizens. But according to the Telegraph UK, Blatter’s name was officially listed on the award as “Joseph Sepp Bellend Blatter”.

While “Joseph Sepp Blatter” is correct, “Bellend” is a British slang word for “penis”, and — not surprisingly — not part of Blatter’s name. It’s believed the word was included as part of Blatter’s name after the 74-year-old’s Wikipedia page was hacked before government organizers used the page as a source of reference for the award.

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Fanhouse Soccer

Filed under: FIFA World Cup

The World Cup is over, and FanHouse has returned to the U.S. after five weeks in South Africa and 18 additional hours in seat 40G on a South African Airways A340.

The sports world and 24-hour news cycle don’t allow for too much reflection, but before we turn the page and shift our focus toward Major League Soccer, Americans abroad, the European game and the future of the U.S. national team, here are some memories, observations, thoughts and photos from a compelling, fascinating and exhausting trip.

THE GAMES

I covered 15 games in six stadiums over the course of a month, comprising all four matches involving the U.S., nine group-stage games, two in the round-of-16 (USA-Ghana and Brazil-Chile), the Germany-Argentina quarterfinal in Cape Town, both semifinals and the final.

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Fanhouse Soccer

Filed under: FIFA World Cup, MLS, U.S. Men’s National Team, FanHouse Exclusive, Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, United States

JOHANNESBURG — The U.S. national team attracted a few celebrity fans during its World Cup run, most notably Bill Clinton. A few well-known athletes made the trip down to South Africa as well, among them New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush (pictured above in South Africa), who decided to wind down his Super Bowl celebration by taking in the biggest sporting event of all.

Bush was in the country with adidas, which is a World Cup sponsor that has used Bush in some very creative cross-promotion before. In the “Futbol Meets Football” campaign a few years ago, Bush and David Beckham matched skills in a great series of ads that featured Bush taking penalty kicks and Beckham in a helmet and shoulder pads.

A few moments before the U.S.-Algeria game at Ellis Park, FanHouse was invited to spend a few minutes in the adidas suite, try some biltong (South African beef jerky) and chat with Bush about football, the other football, his trip to South Africa and whether he wishes he could play in a World Cup.

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Fanhouse Soccer

Filed under: College World Series, College Baseball

OMAHA, Neb. — It’s common knowledge that South Carolina experienced its share of adversity this baseball season.

The Gamecocks had trouble scoring runs during one stretch. They went two-and-out at the Southeastern Conference tournament, prompting a series of two-a-day practices. They have played four elimination games here at the College World Series and were one strike away from hasta luego (“see you later”) four days ago. The fire alarm in their hotel blared away Monday at 1:30 a.m.

What’s the fuss?

Life is good — and on the verge of being great — for USC.

The Gamecocks are one win away from capturing their first national title in baseball, and second overall national title for a proud but attention-starved athletics program. The scenario was made possible by Monday’s impressive, if not strange, 7-1 win over No. 6 national seed UCLA at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Fate appeared to be smiling on USC, which continued to make all the right moves before a festive crowd of 23,181 that also appeared intent on enjoying Rosenblatt’s final days.

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Filed under: FIFA World Cup

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Police say a South African man who wanted to watch a World Cup match instead of a religious program was beaten to death by his family in the northeastern part of the country.

David Makoeya, a 61-year-old man from the small village of Makweya, Limpopo province, fought with his wife and two children for the remote control on Sunday because he wanted to watch Germany play Australia in the World Cup. The others, however, wanted to watch a gospel show.

“He said, ‘No, I want to watch soccer,’” police spokesman Mothemane Malefo said Thursday. “That is when the argument came about.

“In that argument, they started assaulting him.”

Malefo said Makoeya got up to change the channel by hand after being refused the remote control and was attacked by his 68-year-old wife Francina and two children, 36-year-old son Collin and 23-year-old daughter Lebogang.

Malefo said he was not sure what the family used to kill Makoeya.

“It appears they banged his head against the wall,” Malefo said. “They phoned the police only after he was badly injured, but by the time the police arrived the man was already dead.”

All three were arrested Sunday night, but Lebogang was released on 0 bail Tuesday, Malefo said. The other two are still being held in custody.

Malefo said the mother and son will reappear in the local Seshego Magistrates Court on July 27.

“He was always a happy man, never violent,” Makoeya’s nieces, Miriam and Anna, told the Daily Sun newspaper. “On Saturday, we saw him the last time at a funeral.”

The World Cup, being played in Africa for the first time, started Friday and runs through July 11.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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Fanhouse Soccer