Yesterday, the Qualifiers came to an official end as the final spots for the World Cup yesterday as the 4 European Playoffs, the Final Spot between CONCACAF and South America and a special playoff in Africa after Egypt and Algeria were tied in 6 different catorgeys. We had a couple of surprises and a very controversial call that one team wants voided.

Lets start with Portugal as a pair of a 1-0 victories in both games to lift the Portuguese through the World Cup. Even without Christiano Rolando, Portugal proved that it will be dangerous again after a very impressive performance that took them to the Semifinals back in 2006.

In Kiev, Ukraine, a loan goal by Salpingidis put the Greeks through after a scoreless draw in Greece was enough to put them Through.

We had a bit of a surprise in Sudan where Algeria have knocked the two time African Champion Egypt where after 6 tie breakers wasn't enough to break these 2 teams apart after a neutral site Tie Breaker got the Algerians through the World Cup for the first time since the mid 80s while Egypt fails in World Cup Qualifying once again to bring a major disappointment to their country and the fans.

The big contversory came in France where after a Robbie Keane goal got the agg score to 1-1 and force extra time. However, in the 103 minute of the game, if you look on the replay, French superstar Thierry Henry had a handball to control a pass to William Gallas to go up 2-1 on aggregate.

Shortly after the game ended, the Republic Of Ireland soccer confederation have filed a complaint to get the game to invalided the result which would result in a rematch in France. If Rep. of Ireland is successful, a rematch would have to be played before the draw on December 4.

Finally down in South America, it was Uruguay who booked the 32nd and final spot in the World Cup after a 70th minute goal from from Sebastian Abreu gave the Uruguay win despite a Costa Rica goal just 4 minutes later by Walter Centeno gave the Costa Ricans some hope, but it wasn't enough to help Costa Rica to get them to their 3rd straight World Cup.

So, the 2 year quest to the World Cup is now over and the 32 teams are now set to fight it out in South Africa next year. They will be 13 teams from Europe year which is more then twice of any other confederation. Elsewhere, they will by 6 in Africa, which is the most that the African Confederation has gotten into the World Cup. 5 from South America, 5 teams from Asia and Oceania after New Zealand beat Bahrain in a playoff, and 3 from the CONCACAF region.

• Europe: Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy, Netherlands, France*, Slovenia, Greece, Portugal
• Africa: South Africa (Tournament Host), Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast
• South America: Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay
• Asia/Oceania: Australia, South Korea, Japan, North Korea, New Zealand
• CONCACAF: U.S.A., Mexico, Honduras

*Depending on Rep. of Ireland appeal on handball case in OT.

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Well, today ends the 2 year journey to the FIFA World Cup as the Final Set of Qualifiers will be going on today in 6 nations on 3 continents.

The 2nd leg of the European Playoffs will be taking place as Portugal, France and Russia each have one goal advantages as Portugal downed Bosnia-Herzegovina on a goal from Bruno Alves midway in the 1st half in Lisbon, however for Bosnia, the 2nd leg is in Bosnia and the fans of the long suffering nation as they will attempt to complete one of the biggest achlishopments since the break up of Yugoslavia.

For France, a 1-0 advantage as they won in Ireland as a late goal gives them a slight advantage and a possible road goal from Ireland could send this match to extra time and a shot at OT and penalty kicks like Australia did when they beat Uruguay in 2005. If Ireland is going to have a shot at this, a great defensive showdown on foreign soil and a big game from Liverpool Striker Robbie Keane is needed for the Irish to have a shot.

As for the other playoffs, Ukraine and Greece played to a scoreless draw in Athens. Which will give Ukraine the advantage as the first of the days Playoff Matches will take place in Kiev as Ukraine will look to return to the World Cup after a surprising run that took them to the Round of 16 and came just short of upsetting Switzerland for a spot in the Quarterfinals.

Russia led by head coach Gus Hiddink will take a 2-1 lead in to Slovenia after 2 goals by Bilyaletdinov on both sides of half time, followed by a strong defensive effort and a hostile crowd at at Russia's infamous Luzhniki where it looked it would be a 2-0 lead, but a late goal by Nejc Pecnik gave Slovenia some hope. However, The Slovenia's will need to get off to a quick start against the powerful Russians.

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It's how you look while playing the game!

I love sports. I love design. So it should come as no surprise that I love Uni Watch, ESPN.com's regular Page 2 feature that addresses "the obsessive study of athletics aesthetics."

The most recent post from the uniform geek, Paul Lukas, previews changes to men's NCAA basketball uniforms. I agree with him on most every point (Nike's System of Dress is a consistently good look, Illinois State=upgrade, Tulane looks much better). 

Get more Uni Watch goodness right here.

 

 

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A month into the AHL Season, the Texas Teams are looking very strong right now as the Texas Teams are in the top 3 spots in the West Division. The Expansion Texas Stars are on top with the San Antonio Rampage in 2nd with last years Conference Finalist in 3rd place.

Elsewhere, the North Division is looking like it's going to be the strongest division with the Rochester Americans having a slight edge over the Hamilton Bulldogs, Manitoba Moose and the Abbotsford Heat as the top 4 in the north are just 2 points apart.

In the Atlantic Division, Manchester is starting to put a gap on the competition as the lead is up to 4 points over Worcester. The Monarchs defense is also among the best in the league right now as the team has given up only 17 goals this season as a team. 

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Another poll question for you the members here. This time it deals with the upcoming playoff matchups to determine the final spots for the FIFA World Cup. Starting on November 14, 6 World CUp Playoff Matchups will play the 1st leg of games on who will round out the field for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

4 European Matchups will feature 8 of the Group Runner ups as we got some great games coming up on November 14 and 18. The marquee matchup will take place in Dublin as Rep. of Ireland will take on France while Portugal will travel to take on Bosnia-Herzegovina. The other matchups will feature EURO 2008 Semifinalist Russia against Slovenia and Greece taking on Ukraine.

In the international matchups, the 4th place team from CONCACAF will be Costa Rica as they look to advance to their 3rd straight World Cup against Uruguay as this is their 3rd straight time being the playoff team in South America. Finally, Oceania Champions New Zealand is taking on Bahrain who upset Saudi Arabia to get to this point.

These playoffs are comprised of 2 legs (1 game in both places) and the score will be based on combined score from the 2 games. 1st leg on November 14 and the 2nd leg is on November 18.

Who will Win the World Cup Playoff Matchups?

Rep. of Ireland VS. France

Bosnia-Herzegovina VS. Portugal

Ukraine VS. Greece

Slovenia VS. Russia

Costa Rica VS. Uruguay

Bahrain VS. New Zealand

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Here's a look at the Major Junior Games as most teams are nearing the 20 game mark of the season. Espically in the QMJHL. A change in the time, since we falled back over the weekend. The games in Saskatchewan are now considered Central Time. This is imporant to consider because they don't have daylight saving time in Saskatchewan. This imporant for the World Junior Championships when they take place in Saskatoon and Regina during the Winter Holidays. (more)

Here's a look at the schedule and current standings for the United States Hockey League and the North American Hockey League.

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And more to the point, how about that James "Don't Call Me Jamie" Neal and his OT game-winning goal? As colleague Mike Heika points out in today’s SportsDay story, home ice really did heat up just in time in Dallas Stars' 4-3 overtime win.

Per usual, I go to Heika for my local puck knowledge. As he points out, the lowly “Leafs (1-7-2) were coming off their first victory of the season and playing with purpose and poise.”

Thanks, Mike. But when it comes to getting the pulse of hockey nation — Canada — I go to my Aunt Jeanie. The Cranbrook, B.C., resident says the Leafs — a storied organ-I-zation — is in such bad shape that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is “threatening” to cancel broadcasting Toronto’s games on “Hockey Night in Canada” unless Toronto management rights the ship.

Yeaaaaa-right. To put this into perspective, this would be on par with NBC deciding to not air Dallas Cowboys games on its lucrative “Sunday Night Football.” So basically it’s just a bunch of talk. Just consider the absurd ratings and gaudy price for advertising during a Cowboys game. (You telling me a broadcaster is gonna say bye-bye to those numbers?!?!)

The standings don’t matter. The product on the field doesn’t matter. When the losses outnumber the wins, the tabloid write-ups matter. The off-field issues matter.The GM’s crazy personnel moves matter. The talk radio yappers matter. The Leafs, like the ’boys, are popular win-lose-or-draw (in the case of hockey, win-lose-or-shootout loss). But for how long will this be the case?

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Nearly a month into the AHL Season, all 3 Texas teams have been playing well. For the Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage, they are currently 1st and 2nd in the West Division are looking strong right now, Texas is currently 5-2-2 and currently has the 2nd best defense in the Western Conference by giving up just 19 goals, only ahead of them is the Hamilton Bulldogs where they have given up just 14 as the 2 teams are playing each other tonight. However, if the Stars are going to compete in the West Division and the Conference as a whole, the offense will half to get better as Sergei Korostin leads the team with just 4 goals.

Elsewhere in the AHL, the North Division is looking to be the strongest division from top to bottom as the Rochester Americans are leading the North with a 8-1-1 record. The gap between 1st and 4th place Abbotsford is just 6 points. The other teams in the Grand Rapids Griffins, Toronto Marlies and the Lake Erie Monsters will be in the race all season with all of them having 8 points.

Even though the Atlantic Division Atlantic is looking strong, the Manchester Monarchs and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers are the class of the Atlantic Division. Greg More is becoming very dangerous on the PP as 3 of his 4 goals so far this season have come on the PP and their balance attack is becoming strong as 7 players have 5 or more points already this season for the Sound Tigers.

For the Central Hockey League, it's been a slow start for the Brahmas after getting out of the gate at 1-2-1. However, the schedule has been very tough with games against the Colorado Eagles and the Mississippi Riverkings who are looking to contend in the Northern Conference as both teams went deep into the playoffs. Else where in the South, the Amarillo Gorillas have been very hot with a 5-1-0 record after finishing with the worst record last year.

Also, this is a huge week for the 2 metroplex teams Texas Brahmas and the Allen Americans as they will play the 1st of 9 games against each other this season on Saturday night.

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The Calgary Hitmen are leaving where they left off as they have a 4 point lead over a group like the surprising Moose Jaw Warriors and the and East Division leading Saskatoon Blades out east. While out west, The Vancouver Giants, Portland Winterhawks and Tri-City Americans are shifting between each other for the Western Conference Lead as the top of the west is going to be very tight as the Kamloops Blazers are looking to get back up in the battle.

Below them is the Kelwona Rockets in 5th. Out east, the Swift Current Broncos have been the big turnaround team in the east as they lost to Medicine Hat in the 1st round of last years playoffs. One of the big disappointments so far is the Brandon Wheat Kings as the goaltender has been shaky so far while Prince Albert and Edmonton round out the Eastern Conference Playoff teams. Out west, it's the Chilliwack Bruins and Spokane Chiefs are the 7th and 8th spots while Seattle and Prince George are looking to get back in the Conference Playoff spots.

In Ontario, the defending Memorial Cup Champions Windsor Spitfires are back on top of the west after a slow start, they are 12-3-1 through 16 games. Out in the east, Mississauga has a 4 point lead in the Conference as they are clearly in the stronger division in the East with teams like the Barrie Colts and Nigara Icedogs.

For the QMJHL, the West and Atlantic Division races are going to be intense. The Gatineau Olympiques are looking like the 2007-08 team that won the QMJHL Title with a 12-4-0 record with a very strong defense with a +35 GD and an offense that's looking great so far. Rouyn-Nornda is nipping on their heals just one point back.

When the season started in the Atlantic, Moncton and St. John were picked as the teams that would battle for the Division. However, P.E.I. Has been making things interesting and if they improve their defense, the Rockets could be a strong contender for the Atlantic Division title.

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