Charlies Davies off United States 2010 FIFA World Cup roster

The United States national team announced its 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and striker Charlie Davies has been left off the list.

Davies has been recovering from a car accident suffered on October 13, 2009 after the end of the Confederation’s Cup.  Davies was arguably the United States’ best player in that competition.

It was not a surprise to many, because Davies had not yet been cleared to play for his club, Sochaux in France.

But it comes as a huge blow to the World Cup hopes of the United States.  Davies was phenomenal paired with Jozy Altidore, a striker for Hull City, last summer in the Confederation’s Cup.

Seawolves head to NCAA tournament to take on Denver

The Seawolves celebrate their America East title on Saturday. (Photo: Sam Kilb)

Stony Brook University’s #7/6 men’s lacrosse team will face #12/12 Denver in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, it was announced today.

The Seawolves (12-3) are in the national championship tournament after winning the America East championship tournament by defeating Albany on Saturday.  The team was also all but guaranteed a spot thanks to its high ranking.

Stony Brook Southampton: A Unique Community

Stony Brook Southampton will mostly close in the fall, to the displeasure of its loyal students. (Photo: Sam Kilb)

It may be that the seasoned Stony Brook Southampton students’ eyes pass right over the empty, broken down baseball field that is the first sight to greet someone entering campus from the north.

But to a first time visitor, peeling paint and an infield rocky from lack of care tell a tale of woeful neglect.

Beyond the field, the campus has areas that are well kept — a handful of clean, modern buildings connected by paths shaded by trees and flanked by plush natural grass.

The one dining option on campus uses plates, knives and hard plastic cups in an effort to be sustainable and to send as little waste as possible to the landfill.

Despite efforts to keep the school clean and environmentally friendly, it is scheduled to be all but closed in the fall of 2010, forcing many students and faculty to migrate west to the main campus.

The knee-jerk reaction of students and faculty alike after the April 7 announcement of the imminent closure was to lash out at main campus.  Popular protest slogans involved anger at being defined by a number instead of the individual name, face and personality that they have been at Southampton.  “Hi, my name is #104789387,” one sign sarcastically read.

Stony Brook University Soccer Club takes trip to New York Red Bulls game

Red Bull Arena, home of MLS's Red Bull New York. (Photo: Sam Kilb)

The home team won, 2-1, on a late penalty by New York Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel.

But no one in the group of 18, parked in section 102 right next to the loudest supporters in the ground, would have much cared if the score was opposite, though they cheered long and hard as Angel’s kick slammed into the back of the net.

For them, the Stony Brook University Soccer Club, the game was about the experience.

For some, like Seongkon Kang, a 20-year-old student, the game was their first ever professional soccer game.  Some couldn’t name a single Red Bulls player.

Others, like James Peterson, a 22-year-old junior at Stony Brook, already owned a Red Bulls jersey and had been following the team for years.

Everyone was there to celebrate making it through another week by wasting a Saturday on the world’s favorite sport: soccer.

NHL Playoffs: No Rangers? No Islanders? Five reasons to pull for the Buffalo Sabres…

I know, I know, Rangers nation.  Your beloved Blueshirts will be sitting it out for the first time since 2004.  And Isles fans…well…you’re probably just hoping they stay in New York.

The good news is that there is a team for you to cheer for in the NHL playoffs this year: the Buffalo Sabres.  Sure, you may never cheer for them during the regular season, but the playoffs are no fun without a darling, are they?

So here they are, five reasons to pull for the Blue and Gold as they pursue Lord Stanley’s Cup:

5. The lovable losers/Cinderella story. Buffalo has never won a…well they’ve never really won anything.  The Bills were denied a few times in a row in the early 90′s.  Brett Hull and the Dallas Stars robbed the Sabres in the Finals in 1999 (his skate was clearly–CLEARLY–in the crease. See the very

Stony Brook University Names its Newest Idol (Video)

Are you the next Stony Brook Idol?

The SB Idol competition, sponsored by Tabler Quad and the Undergraduate College of Art, Culture and Humanities, was set up like the popular Fox television program American Idol.  Contestants sang for judges in earlier rounds until six contestants–Natasha Harris, Joshua Lim, Sarah Strum, Veronica Scoria, Cynthia Okot-Kotber and Emily Heath–remained.

Those six advanced to the finals, where they sang their hearts out in front of three judges (Dr. Ellen Li, Dr. Mark Aronoff and Dr. Laura Valente) and about 200 people enjoying a gorgeous day on the Staller Steps during the Shirley Strum Kenny Student Arts Festival.  The judges and audience then voted to determine who was Stony Brook Idol 2010.

Here’s how it all went down:

Fever Pitch: A Book for a World Cup Year

Yeah, Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch came out quite a few years back.  Sixteen full years back, as a matter of fact (No, not the 2005 Jimmy Fallon movie).

But it’s still an incredibly relevant, very humorous and shockingly frank account of what it’s like to be a soccer obsessive.

What qualifies as obsessive?  Well, Hornby remembers the first wedding he was a best man at because Arsenal won 2-0 in a cup match that day.

He once went to a game with his then-girlfriend, who fainted when the team they supported conceded a goal.  Hornby’s first thought? Not for her safety, no.  He thought, “It’s just like a woman to faint at a pivotal time in a football match.”

The book describes the plight of millions of people across the globe who suffer from this affliction.  Hornby has rcovered (in his foreword, Hornby admits that he now understands that soccer is not an analogy for all things in life, and apologizes to those he tried to stretch one to), but many still suffer.

Fever Pitch helps the suffering obsessive understand his/her plight and potentially dig him/herself out of it.  It gives the borderline obsessive (me) a warning shot for what could happen if you allow it to go any further.  And it gives the average man a glimpse into his poor, consumed fellow man’s soul.

Discussion over: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi proves he is the best footballer in the world

I’ve been following Messi’s career with a very close eye since  George O’Neill said he was on “another level” during a summer at Penn State in my high school days (yes I just name-dropped in the first sentence).

Since then, Messi has flourished into a superstar, sparking that ever-evolving debate over who the best soccer player in the world is right now into a roaring fire over the past year.

Then in 90 minutes Tuesday evening, Barcelona’s diminuative virtuoso rather rudely stamped out the flames by standing on top of the world with this four-star performance against Arsenal in the Champion’s League:

His performance was so inspiring to the people who got the best view–Arsenal themselves–that several of the team and the manager came out after the game and said that Messi simply must be the best player in the world.

Maple Weekend in Western New York

The author with a llama at Maple Weekend.

I’m not much of a country guy.

Sure, I’ll fake it like a high-percentage of the other people at the show if a country music concert happens to be the place to be on that evening.  And I like a vegetable garden as much as the next guy.

But really, when it comes down to it, I’m all about paved roads, sidewalks, backyards that didn’t serve as battlefields in American history and the sweet smell of fresh, suburban air with limited amounts of methane from cow excrement.

That’s why Maple Weekend, an event sponsored my NY Maple across New York State, was a breath of fresh, smelly air.

Video: Examples on the web

Talking head:

Tommy Smyth of ESPN talks about UEFA (Europen) Champion’s League soccer.  The video is him talking for 1:27.

Man on the Street:

Buffalonians react to the Sabres’ trades on deadline day (granted, it was four white guys…)

Experimental:

This is a regular feature on Yahoo!’s front page, but isn’t necessarily meant to be more than a web video…making it experimental I think.  Frank Nicotero gives a recap of the previous night’s shows on Primetime in No Time.

Viral:

Fox News had an article about the video featuring a ball girl for a minor league baseball team making an incredible wall-climbing catch.  The video ended up being a fake.