Top 10 Running Backs of All-Time

These RBs are the greatest to ever set foot on the field

by Mike Olson

10. Earl Campbell

The 1978 Rookie of the Year and MVP, Oilers star Earl Campbell punished defenses in his short career, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors in three consecutive seasons. Campbell topped 1,300 yards and double-digit touchdowns in five of his first six seasons thanks to a vicious running style that saw him run directly into the teeth of defenses—frequently. (He set a record with 373 carries in one season.) Unfortunately, Campbell paid a price for that bruising mentality, putting up just five healthy seasons in the NFL.

9. LaDainian Tomlinson

Today he’s a change-of-pace back for the Jets who’s grooming a successor and chipping in the occasional goal-line carry. But it wasn’t long ago that LT was the premiere running back in the game, scanning the field in his trademark visor and dissecting his opponents for nine straight double-digit touchdown seasons to open his career. He’s also the owner of one of the most dominant seasons in history, when he crushed the single-season record with 31 TDs and 186 total points in 2006. (Listen closely and you can still hear his fantasy owners bragging about it.)

8. Eric Dickerson

It can be hard to take him seriously when you see that Jheri curl, but Dickerson scampered for 13,259 yards in his 11-year career, leading the league in rushing three times and becoming the first halfback to gain 1,000 yards in seven straight seasons. A thoroughbred in the open field—albeit one in goofy goggles—Dickerson still owns the single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards, set in 1984. And the three-time Pro Bowler also came up big in the post-season, with a record 248 rushing yards in one 1986 game against the Cowboys in which he broke off TD runs of 55 and 40 yards.

7. Gale Sayers

The Kansas Comet put up giant numbers in an injury-shortened, 68-game career. Sayers started off with a bang, scoring 22 touchdowns in his rookie season and crossing the goal line six times in one December game, a record that still stands and a performance that none other than George Halas called “the greatest football exhibition I have ever seen.” Oh, and he’s also the best kickoff returner in NFL history with an unreal 30.56 yard average.

6. Marshall Faulk

The most important cog of the Rams’ "Greatest Show on Turf," Faulk is, quite simply, the greatest receiving running back of all time. But although he averaged more than 63 catches per season in his NFL career, the seven-time Pro Bowler could also run, tallying seven 1,000-yard seasons. Remember, this is the player who took home the Offensive Player of the Year award in three straight seasons, most memorably in 1999 when he eclipsed 1,000 yards in both rushing and receiving.

5. O.J. Simpson

We know it’s hard, but put his post-football, um, hijinks aside and you have a legendary back. Wasted as a kick returner and decoy for his first three seasons in the league, Bills head coach Lou Saban finally turned the Juice loose in 1972. O.J. made the most of it with an explosiveness that helped him shoot through the line of scrimmage and into the open field, where his USC track skills took over. Best remembered for notching 2,003 yards in a 14-game 1973 season, Simpson had an NFL best six 200-yard games in his career, most of them coming for awful teams. (He made the playoffs just once in his career.)

4. Emmitt Smith

When you think of Emmitt Smith, it’s hard not to picture the over-the-hill back with gray in his goatee and a grinding desire to take over the rushing record. It finally happened on October 27, 2002 as a Cardinal, but the eight-time Pro Bowler was the heart and soul of a Cowboys team that won three Super Bowls, including in 1993 when Smith became the only player ever to win a rushing crown, MVP, Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP in the same season. Yet, even though he’s the owner of a record 18,355 career rushing yards, your girlfriend probably still knows him best as a one-time Dancing With the Stars champ.

3. Walter Payton

You may picture Payton as an elusive back with a killer stutter step, but remember, the nickname Sweetness came from his personality off the field. On the gridiron, Payton was a bruising runner—a perfect fit for a blue-collar team and city—who liked to mow over defenders, refused to run out of bounds and essentially invented the stiff arm. Payton, who missed just one game in his career and logged 300-plus carries 10 times, retired as the leading rusher in NFL history (much of it with no offensive line) and was named to both the NFL’s 1970's and 1980’s All-Decade teams.

2. Barry Sanders

The elusive Barry Sanders was just 1,457 yards shy of Walter Payton’s rushing record when he hung up his cleats. If he hadn’t, there’s no way Emmitt Smith tops the record books. The owner of four rushing titles, Sanders was the first running back to notch five 1,500-yard seasons (four of them in a row) and even went two entire seasons (’91, ’94) without a fumble. Short and stocky, Sanders was custom-built for the artificial turf of the Silverdome, able to make quick cuts and turn losses into huge gains. Of course, some stayed losses. Sanders lost 1,114 yards in his career trying to turn small plays into home runs.

1. Jim Brown

More of a fullback who played halfback, this eight-time All-Pro and three-time MVP never missed a game in his NFL career—though he did cut it short to go into acting. The enormous Brown could just as easily run over defenders as around them, with a scary combination of size and speed that helped him lead the league in rushing in all but one season of his career and rush for over 1,000 yards seven times (he fell short by four yards once)—in seasons that lasted just 12 or 14 games. Brown averaged more than one TD per game in his career, and averaged 5.2 yards per carry, the highest in NFL history.

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U.S. Women Likely To Wear 'Black Widow' Uniforms Against Brazil

by Bill Chappell

Enlarge Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

A Good Luck Charm? The U.S. women's team is undefeated when wearing all black since the uniforms were introduced on May 14. In that game against Japan, Ali Krieger battled for control of the ball.

The U.S. women's soccer team will be looking for a spark when they play Brazil Sunday in an elimination match of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. One source of inspiration could be their new all-black uniforms, which the U.S. team reportedly plans to wear for the first time in Germany.

The all-black uniforms (or "kit," as we call it in the global-inflected world language of international soccer... or, um, football), might help the U.S. women rise to the occasion and defeat Brazil, thus proving that they're more mature and focused than the squad that lost its first-ever group stage match against Sweden and squandered a chance to win Group C.

Described by Nike as evoking a Black Widow spider, the black kit will give U.S. spectators something more to talk about besides the Americans' chances against Brazil and its five-time FIFA player of the year, Marta.

The uniforms have been a hot topic. During the U.S. opener against North Korea, a soccer fan here at NPR shot me a note with some of her thoughts about the exciting match (somewhat superfluously, actually; I heard her yelling from down the hall).

Then she added, "I hate to be a girl...but the uniforms? Really? As soon as anyone starts paying attention, they will start complaining about the uniforms. They look so silly."

It turns out that someone had been paying attention, and complaining, already. In April, Jennifer Doyle wrote on her From A Left Wing blog that "This is quite simply the ugliest women's football jersey I have ever seen."

Another NPR soccer fan said, "I agree that the U.S. uniforms are tragic (though Canada's poncho-esque kits are a close second)."

So, I asked Nike media relations manager Tim Yu about the U.S. team's uniforms. And like with most sportswear, it turns out that they're the result of lots of thinking about function and style.

"The kits are made of a new recycled polyester DriFit yarn that is designed to keep players cooler and more comfortable," Yu says — a possibly huge advantage in the heat and humidity that marked many of the early matches in Germany.

The jerseys are made of, essentially, recycled bottles. In an email, Yu said that "each jersey contains around 8 plastic bottles."

Nike says that DriFit is 15 percent lighter than the previous sports fabric, which makes it sound something like the Michelob Ultra of the uniform world.

That all sounds fine. But here's where we get to the part that makes some fans, and fashion observers, uneasy. "The kit is designed specifically for the female athlete, to enhance the range of motion and create a uniquely feminine silhouette," Nike said back in the spring, when it (and U.S. Soccer) announced the national team's new uniforms.

So far, so good. I've heard from other sources that the U.S. players had some input in the design, and it's understandable that they'd want a kit that's designed for their bodies and does a good job of managing heat.

But then, it seems, fans and fashionistas go a little nuts when it comes to this next part. "Capped sleeves and a high neckline with v-neck piping were added to create a striking aesthetic," in Nike's view.

It's unclear how contagious that view is. Several onlookers, Doyle included, have unfavorably compared the team's white "home" kit to a nurse's outfit. There seems to be less outcry against the black "away" uniform, which features "a black bodice and red piping inspired by the beautiful but deadly Black Widow spider," Nike says.

Of course, there may be less outcry just because the black kit has been worn in fewer games. But at least one reviewer fell in love with it.

For anyone wondering if the U.S. will be playing in the full sun when they're wearing black Sunday: It'll be 5:30 p.m. in Germany when the U.S. plays Brazil. That's 11:30 a.m. ET. I might not know all there is to know about fashion, but wouldn't the 8:30 p.m. (local time) game against Sweden have been the time to break out the formal gear?

Whether they love or hate the new uniforms, there's some good news for U.S. fans hoping the team advances to the semifinals: So far, the Americans are undefeated when they wear the Black Widow unis. The last time the U.S. wore the black kit was in June, when it beat Mexico, 1-0. The all-black look was introduced in a 2-0 win over Japan in May.

Still, the U.S. women could be forgiven for hoping history plays only a small role in Sunday's match. Because in the 2007 Women's World Cup, the Brazilians handed them their worst-ever loss, 4-0.

If the U.S. women win Sunday and you decide you just have to have a uniform for yourself, they're being sold through the U.S. Soccer store. A full kit, including socks, will run you $122.37 before tax. A jersey by itself — white or black — costs $71.99. If that seems steep, you have our apologies for passing along the info that they're made from recycled plastic bottles.

Enlarge Alex Grimm/Getty Images

U.S. players, in white, line up for a corner kick against Colombia in a group stage game of the 2011 Women's World Cup. The white jerseys have been criticized as resembling a nurse's uniform.

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City line-up £55m splurge on Eto'o and Aguero as Tevez edges closer to the exit

By Simon Jones and Sportsmail Reporter

Manchester City are ready to flex their muscles in the summer transfer window with a sensational £55million double swoop for Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o and Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero.

City had opened tentative discussions with Inter over a possible swap involving Carlos Tevez and Eto'o last month but that was abandoned as figures, including the wage demands of the Cameroon striker, got too high.

However the latest step in the long-running saga involves an £18m transfer fee which is completely independent of Tevez, and Eto'o is keen to talk.

Summer splurge: Sergio Aguero and Samuel Eto'o could be next through the Etihad Stadium entrance

The two-time Champions League winner hopes to secure one final big contract before his stock begins to drop as he gets older, and was unimpressed when he held discussions with Inter president Massimo Moratti about improving his current deal. He wants a further two years with a salary to match City's offer.

The Eastlands outfit are wary having been in a similar position before when Eto'o left Barcelona, but have been assured he is more serious about the move this time.

Eto'o scored 21 goals in Serie A last season for a struggling Inter outfit and having won all that there is to in Spain and Italy, he would welcome a new challenge.

Last month, he said: 'It is true that I have a few offers, I have a month off now to evaluate all of them and decide what to do. I’m 30, I’m close to my final big contract and we’ll have to see whether I should stay or go.

'My eventual departure is not to try to earn 100,000 or 200,000 euros more. What matters in my career is being happy in a city, playing for a big club where I can enjoy myself.'

Flying high: City secured a a stunning £400m deal involving the naming rights of their stadium and their shirt sponsor

The transfers will be the first major piece of business for the club following the announcement they were set for a £400m windfall from selling the naming rights to their stadium and extending a shirt sponsorship deal with Etihad.

Meanwhile City's pursuit of Aguero appears more difficult. The club have so far rejected talk they are in for the Argentine, who is also wanted by Real Madrid.

Yet after it emerged Juventus had offered Atletico Madrid £32.5m for Diego Maradona's son-in-law, the Spanish club claimed City had already bid £4.5m more. That in turn has forced Juve to look elsewhere for attacking reinforcements and they are now expected to challenge Tottenham for the signature of Villarreal's Giuseppe Rossi.

Aguero is seen as a natural replacement for Tevez although City still want £50m for their Argentinian talisman.

Out with the old: Aguero is seen as a direct replacement for international team-mate Tevez who wants out of City

Tevez rocked City in June by demanding he be allowed to end his stay for the sake of his family.

Tevez, who was City's top-scorer last season as they qualified for the Champions League for the first time, issued a statement to Sportsmail explaining his wish to leave the club.

Family man: Tevez wants to move to a club where is family would be settled

It said: 'It is with great regret that I have to inform Manchester City of my wish to leave the club. I would like to state that I have great respect for the club, its supporters and the owner, Sheik Mansoor, who has been nothing other than respectful to me.

'I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family.

'Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me. Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them.

'I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt. Being captain of Manchester City, qualifying for the Champions League, winning the FA Cup and finishing as top-scorer last season has made me very proud.

'I hope that most of the City fans will understand that I have given them my all on the pitch and that my dedication to the city cause has been 100 per cent on the pitch.

'I hope I have done my bit to help City continue their progress towards their ambition to be champions of England and to advance in the Champions League. I have no doubt that the players and management of City will achieve great success in the future.'

Another player who could be heading through the Etihad Stadium's entrance is Samir Nasri. Reports late on Thursday suggested City and Arsenal had reached a deal that would see the Frenchman follow Gael Clichy to the club for a fee of £23m.

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Olympics: 10 signature moments

Golden touch: Michael Phelps (left) edged Milorad Cavic in an unforgettable race.

1. Michael Phelps' photo-finish victory over Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly at the Beijing Olympics (Aug. 16, 2008)

Every Phelps swim in the Water Cube was impressive, but this one was a stunning sleight-of-hands trick. Several meters from the finish, Cavic, who'd dominated the race, was still ahead. But with one last, fast, half-stroke, Phelps touched the wall first by .01 of a second, equaled Mark Spitz's total of seven golds in one Games and all but guaranteed that he would win a record eighth (as he did in a relay the next day). With its Phelpsian brilliance, high-tech suits and upstart challenger (Cavic, swimming for Serbia, symbolized a new wave of medalists from smaller countries), the race conjoined three of the biggest Olympic stories of the era.

2. The election of Jacques Rogge as IOC president (July 16, 2001)

The decade's least flamboyant but most influential Olympic figure was an orthopedic surgeon from Belgium who helped restore the scandal-plagued IOC to respectability. Rogge, who at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games stayed in the athletes' village rather than a luxury hotel as a signal of change, dispensed with much of the IOC's royal pomposity, worked to contain mushrooming host-city costs, oversaw the approval of new sports (including golf, rugby, women's boxing and snowboardcross) and welcomed the awarding of the Games to more daring sites such as Beijing and Rio de Janeiro. Even Rogge's critics had to acknowledge that his election saved the IOC from likely calamity: The runner-up in the 2001 balloting was Kim Un Yong, who by mid-decade was imprisoned in his native South Korea for embezzlement and bribery.

3. Marion Jones' tearful apology on the steps of the federal courthouse in White Plains, N.Y. (Oct. 5, 2007)

No Olympic champion -- not Jim Thorpe, not Ben Johnson -- ever fell farther than the world's greatest female athlete, who won five track and field medals (three gold) at the 2000 Sydney Games but eight years later was disgraced, bankrupt, medal-less and in jail. The poster girl of the steroid decade had bad luck with men (her husband, her boyfriend and her coach all were embroiled in performance-enhancing drug scandals), but she was responsible for her own downfall. By the time she owned up to her steroid use, she had lied to prosecutors about it and about her role in a check-fraud scam; she eventually served almost six months in prison in Texas. Jones' courthouse speech about her "wrong choices and bad decisions" doesn't rank with sports' great orations, but it belongs on any collection of significant Olympic moments.

4. Usain Bolt's 100-meter victory in Beijing (Aug. 16, 2008)

His win in the 200 might have been a greater athletic feat -- he took down Michael Johnson's daunting world record of 19.32 seconds -- but the 100 came first and was a mind-bender. After pulling away from the field like a thoroughbred racing draft horses, Bolt glanced back 15 meters from the finish, saw no one, eased up, put his arms out like airplane wings, pounded his chest ... and still destroyed the world record. And then celebrated his way around the track. His mark of 9.69 seconds didn't last a year (he chopped it to an insane 9.58 at the 2009 worlds), but memories of his domination and exuberance will not soon fade.

5. The U.S. basketball loss to Argentina in the semifinals of the 2004 Athens Games (Aug. 27, 2004)

The poor-shooting Bad-Dream Team, led by Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, had already suffered the first two Olympic defeats in the history of American men's basketball, 92-73 to Puerto Rico and 94-90 to Lithuania. But if those could be explained away (delusionally) as freak losses in early rounds by a team that hadn't hit its stride, the 89-81 semifinal defeat spoke with finality: The world had, once and for all, caught up. Recognizing the need to change, the U.S. revamped its selection system, picked a team tailored to the international game and gave the squad more time to play together. In Beijing the U.S. Redeem Team lived up to its name -- but basketball gold will never again come easily.

6. The dubious scoring of the pairs competition by French figure-skating judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne in Salt Lake City (Feb. 11, 2002)

By giving Russians Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze higher marks than Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who had the superior performance, Le Gougne ensured that the Russian duo would win the gold medal. In the uproar that followed, Le Gougne said she'd been pressured to vote for the Russians, allegedly as part of a deal under which French and Russian judges would help the other country's skaters win medals (an allegation that was never proved). End result: The awarding of a second set of golds, to the Canadian pair; the suspension of Le Gougne and the head of the French skating federation for three years; and a new system of scoring in figure skating that dramatically changed the sport but, alas, doesn't preclude another judging scandal.

7. Cathy Freeman wins the 400 meters in Sydney (Sept. 25, 2000)

At the confluence of history and sport and theater flowed a woman of Aboriginal descent, running free in the Olympic Stadium, uniting a nation, defining a new era. To the roar of more than 110,000 countrymen, Freeman strode gracefully through the night air in a hooded track suit, veiled yet unmistakable. The Aussies' high-spirited, Good-On-Ya Games had one of the happiest vibes of any Olympics, but Freeman's victory was not merely uplifting -- it was also profoundly moving. In a stadium where she had already lit the cauldron, Freeman kindled a flame that would burn long beyond the 17 days of competition.

Liu Xiang set a world record in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games. Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images

8. Liu Xiang's victory in the 110-meter hurdles in Athens (Aug. 27, 2004)

An unexpected win in world-record time not only made Liu China's first track-and-field gold medalist, but also transformed the willowy 21-year-old from Shanghai into the face of the Beijing Games four years hence. Beyond that, it declared the arrival of the next great Olympic power, a reality confirmed by China's place atop the gold-medal standings in 2008. Liu didn't share in the glory in Beijing; plagued by a painful right Achilles, he grimaced and limped off the track before his first-round heat, stunning his nation and providing an image as compelling as his triumph in Athens.

9. Shaun White's halfpipe gold medal at the Turin Games (Feb. 12, 2006)

An underplayed story of the decade was the emergence of the U.S. as a Winter Olympics force. Having won no more than 13 medals at any previous Winter Games, the U.S. claimed 34 as the home team in Salt Lake City and 25 more in Turin. The breakthrough was driven by the addition of two decades' worth of new sports, from short-track speedskating to skeleton to snowboarding, in which White was a global star even before he dominated the final in Italy. The Flying Tomato's victory elevated 'boarding's place in the Olympic realm and, more significant, conferred on the Games a new sense of coolness.

10. Eric (the Eel) Moussambani's comically slow 100-meter freestyle in Sydney (Sept. 19, 2000)

The swimmer from Equatorial Guinea needed nearly two minutes -- and quite nearly a life preserver -- to finish a full lap, perhaps not surprising given that he'd taken up the sport only eight months earlier and had never seen a 50-meter pool before arriving in Australia. Yet though his performance and good nature made him a cult hero, his legacy could be less cheerful: His embarrassingly slow time caused officials to tighten qualifying standards in a number of sports, including swimming, reducing the likelihood that we'll ever see another quite like him.

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Bob Knight takes shot at Calipari, says integrity is lacking

Former Indiana coach Bob Knight said integrity is lacking in college basketball.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bob Knight said integrity is lacking in college basketball and cited Kentucky coach John Calipari as an example.

During a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Knight said he doesn't understand why Calipari is still coaching.

"We've gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching," he said. "You see we've got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that."

Massachusetts and Memphis were both sanctioned by the NCAA for violations committed during Calipari's tenure.

Knight, who won a record 902 games as coach of Army, Indiana and Texas Tech, did not elaborate or take questions from reporters.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press.

What’s in a Nickname? The Origins of All 30 NHL Team Names

by Scott Allen

Ever wonder what a Canuck is? How about a Blue Jacket? With the NHL season kicking off this week, here’s a breakdown of how the league’s 30 teams got their names.

1. New York Rangers
In 1925, the New York Americans joined the National Hockey League and played their home games at the old Madison Square Garden. Tex Rickard, the boxing promoter and ex-gold prospector who built and owned the arena, decided he wanted his own NHL team, which he was awarded in 1926. Rickard’s team was immediately dubbed “Tex’s Rangers” as a pun referencing the paramilitary force founded in Texas during the 1830s. The Americans folded in 1943, while Tex’s Rangers remain.

2. New Jersey Devils
Given that New Jersey has never been known for its mountains, the team needed a new nickname after the Colorado Rockies relocated to the Garden State in 1982. The New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority sponsored a statewide newspaper contest to determine the new nickname and some of the other finalists included Americans, Blades, Coastals, Colonials, Gulls, Jaguars, Meadowlanders, and Meadowlarks. While some fans objected to the winning selection on religious grounds – one threatened the life of a reporter who was covering the search – the Devil has an entirely non-religious folk history in New Jersey. According to legend, a harmless creature known as the Leeds Devil, or the Jersey Devil, roamed the Pine Barrens in the southern part of the state from 1887 until 1938.

3. New York Islanders
When New York’s expansion Major League Baseball franchise held a name-the-team contest in 1961, Islanders finished third behind Mets and Empires. Eleven years later, Islanders was selected as the nickname for New York’s new hockey team, which plays its home games on Long Island.

4. Philadelphia Flyers
The team sponsored a name-the-team contest after Ed Snider, then-vice president of the Philadelphia Eagles, brought hockey back to the City of Brotherly Love in 1966. Snider’s sister, Phyllis, reportedly suggested the name Flyers, which sounds good when paired with Philadelphia but doesn’t have any real meaning.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sponsored a name-the-team contest, but Carol McGregor, the wife of one of the franchise’s part owners, Jack McGregor, was the one responsible for the nickname. In his book, Pittsburgh Penguins: The Official History of the First 30 Years, Bob Grove describes how Carol McGregor came up with the name. “I was thinking of something with a P. And I said to Jack, ‘What do they call the Civic Arena?’ And he said, ‘The Big Igloo.’ So I thought, ice. . . Pittsburgh. . . Penguins.” More than 700 of the 26,000 contest entries were for Penguins.

6. Boston Bruins
When grocery store tycoon Charles Adams brought a team to Boston, he hired former hockey great Art Ross to serve as his general manager. Adams tasked Ross with coming up with a nickname, with one of the requirements being that the team’s colors would be the same as his grocery store chain – brown and yellow. Ross decided on Bruins.

7. Buffalo Sabres
When Buffalo entered the league in 1970, owners Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox wanted the nickname for their new team to be unique. The brothers sponsored a name-the-team contest and decided on Sabres, with a buffalo featured prominently in the team’s logo.

8. Montreal Canadiens
In 1909, John Ambrose O’Brien created the Club de Hockey Canadien. Ambrose wanted his team, a charter member of the National Hockey Association, to appeal to Montreal’s francophone population and he hoped to drum up a rivalry with the city’s established team, the Wanderers. The Canadiens are often referred to as “The Habs” or “Les Habs,” an abbreviation of “Les Habitants,” the name for the early settlers of New France.

9. Ottawa Senators
The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, won 11 Stanley Cups. When an NHL team returned to Ottawa in 1992 after a nearly 60-year hiatus, the nickname, a reference to Ottawa’s status as Canada’s capital city, was an obvious choice.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs
Conn Smythe purchased Toronto’s hockey team in 1927 and one of his first orders of business was renaming the team. The franchise that began play as the Arenas in 1917 changed its nickname to St. Patrick’s in 1919 to attract Toronto’s Irish population. Smythe eventually decided on Maple Leafs, for a couple possible reasons. Smythe fought in the Maple Leaf Regiment during World War I, and there was a former Toronto hockey team called the East Maple Leaves.

11. Atlanta Thrashers
Ted Turner named Atlanta’s 1997 expansion team after the brown thrasher, the state bird of Georgia.

12. Carolina Hurricanes
After the Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh in 1997, new owner Peter Karmanos, Jr. named his team after the devastating storms that regularly ravage the region.

13. Florida Panthers
Had Tampa Bay been awarded a baseball team in the early 90s, they likely would’ve been called the Florida Panthers, a reference to the endangered species of the same name. Instead, the nickname was adopted by Florida’s second NHL team. When Panthers president Bill Torrey revealed the nickname, he told reporters: “A panther, for your information, is the quickest striking of all cats. Hopefully, that’s how we will be on the ice.”

14. Tampa Bay Lightning
In 1990, a thunderstorm served as inspiration for then-president of the Tampa Bay Hockey Group Phil Esposito’s decision to name his team the Lightning. Esposito said that in addition to being a natural characteristic of the Tampa Bay area, Lightning expressed the fast action of a hockey game.

15. Washington Capitals
Washington owner Abe Pollin decided on the perfectly apt nickname Capitals after staging a name-the-team contest.

16. Chicago Blackhawks
World War I veteran and coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin was Chicago’s owner when it entered the NHL in 1926. McLaughlin named the team after the 86th Infantry Division in which he served. The “Black Hawk Division” was named after Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk American Indian tribe, who fought the Illinois militia in 1832. The nickname was officially changed from Black Hawks to Blackhawks in 1986.

17. Columbus Blue Jackets
Blue Jackets was the winning entry in a name-the-team contest. According to the team’s website, the name “celebrates patriotism, pride and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and, more specifically, the city of Columbus.” Ohio contributed more residents to the Union Army than any other state during the Civil War.

18. Detroit Red Wings
After purchasing the Detroit Falcons in 1932, James Norris renamed the team after the “Winged Wheelers,” the nickname of the Montreal Hockey Club for which he once played. Norris chose a winged wheel as the team’s logo, a nod to Detroit’s growing reputation as the heart of the automobile industry.

19. Nashville Predators
A vote by the fans helped determine Nashville’s nickname, a reference to the saber-toothed tiger remains that were discovered during an excavation in the city in 1971.

20. St. Louis Blues
According to the team’s website, owner Sid Saloman Jr. selected the nickname Blues in 1967 after W.C. Handy’s song, “St. Louis Blues.” Mercury and Apollo were two of the other nicknames that were considered. The space capsules bearing those names were built in St. Louis.

21. Calgary Flames
The Flames played in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980 and their nickname was a reference to the burning of Atlanta by General William T. Sherman during the Civil War. While the team moved, the nickname remained.

22. Colorado Avalanche
Rockies, the nickname for Colorado’s hockey team that left for New Jersey in 1982, had been adopted by Denver’s baseball team by the time the Quebec Nordiques left Canada for the Front Range in 1995. Management originally wanted to name the team Extreme, but received all sorts of negative feedback, and justifiably so. Avalanche, which eventually beat out Black Bears, Outlaws, Storm, Wranglers, Renegades, Rapids, and Cougars, drew some criticism, as well, given their deadly nature. A member of the marketing group responsible for naming the team replied: “This is the NHL, a rough and tough sport, and Avalanche is something that matches the ‘on the edge’ feel they want to create. Hey, Cougars and Bears kill people, too. People shouldn’t get so excited about Avalanche being a disrespectful name or something. It’s just a name.”

23. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, is also the oil capital of Canada. Edmonton began play in 1972 in the World Hockey Association and retained the name Oilers when it joined the NHL in 1979.

24. Minnesota Wild
In 1998, Wild was chosen from a field of six finalists, which also included the Blue Ox, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Freeze. (Voyageurs were the working-class employees of fur trading companies in the region during the 1700s.)

25. Vancouver Canucks
Johnny Canuck, who originally appeared as a Canadian political cartoon character in 1869, was reinvented as a comic book action hero who fought Adolf Hitler, among other villains, during World War II. Canuck is also slang for Canadian, making Vancouver’s hockey team the Canadian equivalent of the New York Yankees – with a little less money.

26. Dallas Stars
When the Minnesota North Stars, whose nickname was decided by a fan contest, moved to Texas in 1993, they ditched the “North” and didn’t feel compelled to replace it with “South” or “Lone.”

27. Los Angeles Kings
The late Jack Kent Cooke, who owned the Los Angeles Lakers and later the Washington Redskins, settled on Kings as the team nickname from entries submitted in a fan contest. The Los Angeles Monarchs played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League during the 1930s and Cooke’s new team adopted the same royal color scheme as the Lakers.

28. Anaheim Ducks
Quack. Quack. Quack! Quack! QUACK! Anaheim joined the NHL in 1993 and its team was known as the Mighty Ducks, after the wildly popular Disney movie and cross-marketing vehicle of the same name. The nickname was changed to Ducks and the logo was changed in 2005 after Disney sold the team.

29. Phoenix Coyotes
The Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996 and Coyotes was the winner in a name-the-team contest that attracted more than 10,000 entries. Scorpions was the runner-up.

30. San Jose Sharks
Sharks was chosen from 2,300 entries in San Jose’s name-the-team contest. The other finalists included Rubber Puckies, Screaming Squids, Salty Dogs, and Blades. Blades was the most popular entry, but ultimately rejected because of its gang implications. When the nickname was chosen, seven shark species made their home in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast called The Red Triangle.

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One-Handed Basketball Player Gets Division I Scholarship and Takes the Court

The 2009-10 NCAA basketball season is right around the corner and freshman recruits across the nation are on the verge of stepping onto the college courts for the first time. Many of which are playing under scholarships and fulfilling their dreams. One of those players is doing so in November against more odds than you can imagine. The player, Kevin Laue, has only one arm. And no i’m not referring to some sort of ’special’ college league for handicapped players. I’m talking about the NCAA Division I that every player dreams of playing in as they grow up.

The Globe and Mail had this to say about Kevin Laue today:

Kevin Laue isn’t supposed to be here, standing on the court practising for his first season of Division I basketball in the United States.

Born without a left hand, the 6-foot-11 centre from Pleasanton, Calif., is now a freshman at Manhattan College, having earned a scholarship to play for the Jaspers and a chance to live out the dream of anyone who has been told they couldn’t play a sport they loved because of a physical defect.

When the Jaspers’ season opens Nov. 14, the question will not be whether Mr. Laue can dribble, pass, block, score or rebound, but whether his opponents will underestimate his skills. “It’s to my advantage,” said Mr. Laue, explaining what it’s like to come onto the floor during a game and face his two-handed opponents. “They think they’re going to have an easy game and just whip on some one-handed kid. But I think I’ve surprised a couple people out there.”

Personally, I can’t wait to see the looks on his opponents faces when he rips a board over them, leaves them hung out to dry in the post, or spots up for a made jump shot right in their face. Check out this video clip of Laue playing the game he loves:

World Cup 2010: Top 50 World Cup moments

Maradona, Pele, Cruyff... Celebrate the greatest moments and greatest players in World Cup history with our definitive list, complete with YouTube clips.

By Rory Smith

That tackle, that save: Bobby Moore (left) swaps shirts with Pele after the epic 1970 World Cup encounter between England and Brazil in Guadalajara, Mexico Photo: AP

Man of the moment: Diego Maradona's display against England in the 1986 World Cup captured the headlines for both good and bad reasons Photo: GETTY IMAGES

• Read a full match report of England's 5-1 defeat of Croatia, the result which sealed their World Cup qualification.

1. Maradona’s two minutes, 1986

No player has ever dominated a tournament as wholly as Diego Armando Maradona managed in 1986, taking a workmanlike Argentina to their second World Cup title. How he did it is encapsulated in his two goals against England in the quarter finals; the first a masterclass in the art of deception - he cheated - and the second, simply a masterclass. They were the moments that made him an icon.

Watch YouTube clip one

Watch YouTube clip two

2. Pele’s pass, 1970

In 1966, Brazil, winners of the previous two World Cups, sent a team of cloggers to England and promptly embarrassed themselves. In 1970, they made up for lost time by sending “five number 10s” – Pele, Jairzinho, Rivelino, Gerson and Tostao – and playing some of the best football ever seen. Pele’s pass for Carlos Alberto’s goal in the contemptuous demolition of Italy in the final provided a fitting epitaph for the greatest team ever to grace the finals.

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3. The Goal That Never Was, Maybe, 1966

Taken from a neutral perspective, the 1966 World Cup final is arguably the best of all 18, featuring a late equaliser to send the game into extra time in a six-goal thriller between two arch-rivals. Geoff Hurst’s second, England’s third, killed off the West German resistance and kick-started a debate that still rages today, and not the one about Hans Tilkowski’s hat.

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4. Cruyff’s turn, 1974

There a few tricks employed quite so often on the playground as the Cruyff turn, a devastatingly simple premise barely noted by commentators in the all-singing, all-dancing age of the Premier League. It is, then, testament to Johan Cruyff’s abilities that nobody thought of it until he unveiled it to the world against Sweden, and the hapless Gunnar Olsson, in Germany in 1974.

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5. They Think It’s All Over, 1966

So iconic is Kenneth Wolstenholme’s commentary that his words almost overshadow both Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick goal in a World Cup final and excuse the small-scale pitch invasion that, should it happen in 2018, would be targeted by a Home Office inquiry resulting in banning orders.

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6. The Miracle of Bern, 1954

Where England places Kenneth Wolstenholme, Germany puts Herbert Zimmermann, the man whose screams of “tor” provided the soundtrack to a nation’s rebirth. Two goals down to the Hungary of Puskas, Hidegkuti and Kocsis – who had beaten them 8-3 in the group stages – Germany somehow recovered before Helmut Rahn sent Zimmermann into raptures.

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7. The Wail Heard Around The World, 1950

It is believed the Maracana held more than 200,000 people for the 1950 final between heavily-fancied hosts Brazil and minnows Uruguay. It was all going to plan for the home fans when Friaca put Brazil, in white, ahead, before Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia turned the world on its head. So upset were the hosts that they forgot to give Uruguay the trophy, the 200,000 sat in “silence too difficult to bear” and the national team refused to ever wear white again.

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8. The night before the morning after, 1974

Like Hungary in 1954, Holland were clearly the greatest team on the planet as they swashbuckled their way through the tournament in Germany 20 years later. But their plans fell apart when German newspapers published details of a party at the team hotel on the eve of the final against the hosts – legend has it that Johan Cruyff spent all night persuading his wife nothing amiss had gone on – and their campaign did likewise, as Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller cancelled out Johan Neeskens’ early penalty.

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9. Zinedine Zidane’s sister, 2006

What Zinedine Zidane was to football, Marco Materazzi is to winding up opponents. After a tournament in which he had enjoyed the most glorious of swansongs, the French legend decided to go out in style, giving his side the lead in the World Cup final before, in extra time, responding to one barb too many – reportedly about his sister - with the head-butt seen around the world.

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10. Welcome to Pele, 1958

Brazil’s World Cup pedigree when they travelled to Sweden in 1958 was comparatively poor; when they left, the idea of samba football had been born, largely thanks to the soundtrack which accompanied them as they trained. But the star of the show was the unknown black 17-year-old who saw off Wales in the quarter-finals, scored a hat-trick in the semis and then announced himself to the world with that goal against the hosts in the final.

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11. The Battle of Santiago, 1962

David Coleman, moral arbiter of sport, decried this game between Chile and Italy as the “most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.” Two players were sent off, noses were broken and all manner of chaos broke loose. Everyone watching probably secretly enjoyed it.

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12. Everything Brazil did in Spain, 1982

Football, by all accounts, only remembers the winners. Eder, Junior, Zico, Falcao and Socrates were not winners – Paolo Rossi put paid to that – but, their countrymen from 1970 aside, no more memorable team has ever played in a World Cup finals.

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13. Cry Baby, 1990

Paul Gascoigne’s tears for his booking in the semi-final of Italia 90 did not simply endear the Geordie schemer to a nation, but laid the ground for the gentrification of football into the sport it has become.

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14. The wall breaks, 1974

Zaire did not have much fun at the 1974 tournament, but those watching them did. Faced with the might of Brazil, right-back Ilunga earned his own place in history thanks to his decision to undertake probably the funniest thing ever to happen in Germany.

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15. Battiston’s teeth, 1982

What is truly remarkable about the worst foul ever seen at a World Cup – and possibly in all of football – is that Harald Schumacher was not even booked for what was at least assault on Patrick Battiston. The Frenchman was left unconscious, his front teeth knocked out, needed oxygen on the pitch and, of course, the Germans went on to win.

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16. The thrown game, 1978

Needing to win by four clear goals to beat Brazil to a place in their own World Cup final, Argentina easily saw off the previously impressive – well, adequate – Peruvians by six, prompting reports the Argentine military junta had fixed the game. That Peru’s goalkeeper, Ramon Quiroga, had been born in Argentina hardly helped matters.

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17. USA! USA! 1950

Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian student drafted into the US side for the 1950 World Cup, only played three games in international football, but his contribution – the goal that beat Walter Winterbottom’s England – produced the biggest upset in the tournament’s history.

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18. The ephedrine scream, 1994

Drug cheats all over the world know the best way to avoid detection is not to draw attention to your altered state of mind. Such a ploy was not for Diego Maradona, not after a wonderful goal against Greece. Had nobody felt the need to test him before his celebration, they probably realised they had better check after it.

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19. Marco, Marco, Marco, 1982

Paolo Rossi, recently returned from a ban after becoming embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, fired Italy to the World Cup final, but it was Marco Tardelli’s strike which defined their victory. He denies screaming his name repeatedly as he wheeled away, insisting: “It was just a noise, I could not say anything.”

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20. Banks’s save, Moore’s tackle, 1970

The reigning champions’ defeat to their heirs apparent in the heat of Guadalajara was notable for Jeff Astle’s miss, Jairzinho’s goal, Bobby Moore’s tackle on Pele and, of course, Gordon Banks’s remarkable save from the planet’s greatest player, as well as the mutual respect on show after the game.

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21. Archie’s Army, 1978

It may not have been enough to save Ally McLeod’s side from ignominious elimination, but Archie Gemmill’s waltz through the Dutch defence to help Scotland to a 3-2 win at least salvaged some wounded Caledonian pride from the 1978 tournament.

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22. Pak Do Ik, 1966

Along with the USA’s win over England in 1950, North Korea’s elimination of Italy from the tournament 16 years later ranks as the greatest shock ever seen at a finals. It was Pak Do Ik who delivered the hammer blow before Portugal overturned a three goal deficit to send the Communist side home in the quarter finals.

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23. East 2-1 West, 1998

When Iran and the USA were drawn together in the group stages of the 1998 World Cup, it was thought the game would not be allowed to go ahead. But go ahead it did, and goals from Hamid Estili and Mehdi Mahdavikia gave the Islamic Republic the win against their Great Satan.

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24. The Ronaldo Incident, 1998

It was the toothy striker’s talent which took Brazil to the second of three consecutive World Cup finals, but it was the controversy over his inclusion which may have cost them the 1998 tournament. He apparently suffered a fit, brought on by stress, but was eventually included in the starting line-up, despite originally being replaced by monkey-baiting forward Edmundo. Amid rumours Nike had forced him to play, Ronaldo looked a shadow of his former self and France romped home.

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25. Clive Thomas, 1978

Some things never change. Players have always dived, managers have always complained and referees have always been possessed of a streak of officious incompetence, best summed up by Clive Thomas’s decision to disallow Zico’s winning goal against Sweden in the 1978 World Cup.

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26. Pele’s Dummy, 1970

The greatest goal never scored, shortly preceded by the best piece of play ever to grace a football field that did not involve touching the ball.

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27. Kuwait a Minute, 1982

With his side 3-1 down to the French and hardly likely to launch a comeback, Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah would have been forgiven for accepting Alain Giresse’s controversial fourth as inconsequential. Not a bit of it. He marched his team off the pitch, forced the Soviet referee to cancel the goal and no doubt watched in fury as, minutes later, Maxime Bossis notched a legitimate fourth.

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28. Maradona v Belgium, 1986

Had the diminutive Argentine not gone on to score that goal against England, his effort to see off a talented Belgian side would probably have gone down in his history as his piece de resistance.

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29. Animals, 1966

So incensed was Alf Ramsey by the spoiling tactics employed by Argentina – and their captain, Antonio Rattin, in particular – that he refused to allow his players to swap shirts after seeing off their opponents. He did not, though, call the Argentines “animals”, though he probably thought it.

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30. Higuita and Milla, 1990

The two unlikely stars of the 1990 World Cup. Rene Higuita, the perm-sporting Colombian goalkeeper, and Roger Milla, the all-dancing Cameroonian pensioner who captured the planet’s hearts. Honourable mention, too, to Benjamin Massing and his assault on Claudio Caniggia.

Watch YouTube clip one Watch YouTube clip two

31. Gerry’s pacemaker, 1982

Hosts they may have been, but Spain were hardly a side to be feared in 1982. After drawing with Honduras, they lost to Northern Ireland, thanks to Gerry Armstrong’s goal, and only just scraped through. That should not detract, though, from the proudest moment in Northern Irish World Cup history.

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32. Owen’s goal, 1998

An untested, unproven 18 year-old before he raced away from the Argentine defence to give England a 2-1 lead in the second round of France 98, afterwards Michael Owen was a global superstar.

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33. Gobbing off, 1990

Holland against Germany is always a tense affair, especially after the Dutch gained revenge for 1974 in the 1988 European Championships, but spitting is probably the wrong way to relieve the stress. Seeing Frank Rijkaard’s phlegm in Rudi Voller’s curly mullet remains one of the most disturbing scenes ever produced by television.

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34. Diana Ross v Roberto Baggio, 1994

Had Roberto Baggio converted his spot kick in the 1994 World Cup final and Italy gone on to win, his contribution would have matched that of Maradona in 1986. Diana Ross’s probably would not have, even had she scored.

Watch YouTube clip one Watch YouTube clip two

35. Silly boy, 1998

As one of football’s elder statesmen, David Beckham now seems a different person to the one sent off in England’s second-round fixture with Argentina in 1998 for his petulant response to Diego Simeone’s endless baiting. Effigies of the Manchester United player were burned in the streets, and, until his rescue act against Greece in 2001, the golden boy remained tarnished.

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36. Dennis Bergkamp’s control, 1998

Perfect control, a swift turn and a curling finish past Carlos Roa. Dennis Bergkamp’s third goal of France 98 – the strike that made him Holland’s all-time leading scorer – was his international masterpiece.

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37. Bald eagle, 1994

The reigning champions, Germany, looked a good bet to win a poor tournament until they ran into a Bulgarian side inspired by Hristo Stoitchkov – along with Gheorghe Hagi and Roberto Baggio, the competition’s star – and a bald, journeyman midfielder by the name of Yordan Letchkov.

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38. Cruyff leaves Holland in the mire, 1978

Johan Neeskens famously observed after losing to hosts Argentina in the 1978 final that “if we had won, we would not have left the stadium alive.” He may have been thankful then that Johan Cruyff, for either political or domestic reasons, refused to travel to South America, leaving the likes of Arie Haan and Robbie Rensenbrink – rated as better than Cruyff by some – to help Holland go close, again.

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39. Sticks and stones, 1930

It’s a wonder the World Cup ever got off the ground. First the European entrants for the first ever tournament had to travel by the same boat to Uruguay, then fears over violence were so great for the final that the referee demanded a launch be readied in case he needed a quick escape. When the hosts beat Argentina to win the trophy, their consulate in Buenos Aires was attacked by angry mobs.

40. Platt’s volley, 1990

The moment when England began to believe. Converting Chris Waddle’s chipped free kick with a smart volley in the last minute of extra time, Platt sent Bobby Robson’s side to a quarter final with Cameroon and presented them with their best chance of winning the trophy since 1966.

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41. Leonidas, 1938

The Black Diamond was the undisputed star of the third edition of the competition and the pioneer of the free-running, expansive style which has come to define Brazil in the eyes of the world. Dropped for the semi-final in which Brazil crashed out to Giuseppe Meazza’s Italy, he still finished top scorer.

42. Andres Escobar, 1994

Pele’s tip to win the World Cup – never a good form guide – Colombia were eliminated in the group stage after Escobar’s own goal handed the hosts a 2-1 win. He was shot dead weeks later in Medellin amid speculation his error had cost the city’s powerful drug barons millions in gambling losses.

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43. 27 seconds in, 1982

Captain Marvel Bryan Robson notched his place in World Cup history with the fastest ever goal at the finals – a half-volley against France in their opening game – but even that could not get Ron Greenwood’s side past the second group stage, where they missed out to West Germany.

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44. The minnows in the sun, 1958

With Scotland inept and England’s hopes decimated by the Munich air disaster, it was Wales and Northern Ireland who bore the brunt of Britain’s hopes. Had it not been for Pele, Wales may have made the semi-finals, while only Just Fontaine’s exploits halted Northern Ireland’s run.

45. Hitler’s bad luck continues, 1938

Desperate for sporting success to prove Aryan supremacy, the Fuhrer co-opted some of Austria’s wunderteam into his German side for the 1938 tournament, held in France. Two years after the Berlin Olympics, it was Switzerland who filled the role of Jesse Owens, knocking the combined side out in the first round 4-2 after a replay.

46. Fashion with Jorge Campos, 1994

In his wonderful treatise Football In Sun and Shade, Eduardo Galeano wonders whether goalkeepers wear bright colours in a bid to overcome the isolation of their role. Campos, the colourful Mexican shot-stopper who fancied himself as a striker, must have been lonelier than most.

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47. The Fix, 1982

With a win for West Germany enough to take both them and near-neighbours Austria through at the expense of Algeria, both sides stopped playing after Horst Hrubesch gave the Germans the lead in the 10th minute. Algeria protested, Fifa turned a blind eye and the greatest fraud in World Cup history was complete.

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48. 'The Fix', 2002

First Italy, then Spain. Conspiracy theories abounded in southern Europe as South Korea, co-hosts of the 2002 tournament, saw off two major superpowers – thanks to some truly dreadful refereeing decisions – on their way to the semi-finals, where a third proved too much to ask.

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49. Cubillas does for Ally’s Army, 1978

Ah, hubris. Scotland travelled to Argentina on a wave of optimism, their side full of some of the best players in Europe and their song topping the charts. Defeat to Peru, though, scuppered their best ever chance of getting past the group stage.

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50. The most beautiful goal, 2006

Italy may have won the tournament, France and Germany may have provided the romance, but Jose Pekerman’s magnificent Argentina, a poetic, balletic side pivoted around Juan Roman Riquelme, were the best team on show in 2006, a fact beautifully demonstrated by Esteban Cambiasso’s 26-pass goal in the 6-0 trouncing of Serbia.

Watch YouTube

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Briatore out over Renault fix row

Watch Piquet's Singapore crash Flavio Briatore has left his position as boss of the Renault team after they decided not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Executive director of engineering Pat Symonds has also left the team. Renault were summoned by governing body, the FIA, after Nelson Piquet Jr claimed he had been asked to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso's race. An FIA spokesperson confirmed a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on Monday would go ahead. Renault have been called to answer charges that they "conspired with Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso". The hearing will attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore "crash-gate" despite the departure of Briatore and Symonds. Briatore has lost his job over the Singapore race-fix charge The FIA could still impose sanctions if Renault are found guilty, including excluding the team from the championship, although that must be considered unlikely given the two people Piquet said were responsible have now left the team. When asked for his thoughts on Briatore's demise, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said: "Well, I feel sorry for him actually. "Obviously, I am surprised at what has happened, and I am taken by surprise today that they've decided to walk away." Piquet crashed in Singapore two laps after Alonso had come in for a routine pit stop. That meant that when race officials sent out the safety car to clear up the debris from Piquet's car, Alonso was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres. Renault's double world champion went on to take the chequered flag at Formula 1's inaugural night race and claim the team's first victory in two years. BBC's Andy Swiss reports on case At the time, Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error, but after being dropped by the team after July's Hungary GP the race-fixing allegations emerged. The Brazilian has since testified to the FIA that he was instructed by Briatore and Symonds when and where to crash. Renault's response was to accuse the 24-year-old and his father Nelson Piquet of false allegations and blackmail, going as far as saying they would begin legal action against them. But on Wednesday the team said in a statement they would "not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix". The statement added: "The team also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team." BBC pundit and former team boss Eddie Jordan said he was surprised by Renault's announcement but believes it was effectively an admission of guilt. ANDREW BENSON'S BLOG F1 has long been notorious for its skewed sense of morality, and it appears that may be what has led to this latest scandal "Suggesting they are not going to contest the allegations is in itself an admission," Jordan told the BBC. "I don't know what goes on in teams, and certainly in the Jordan team you would contemplate all sorts of things, but you certainly couldn't contemplate that." It remains to be seen whether this latest controversy, and the exit of Briatore and Symonds, will affect Renault's decision to stay in Formula 1. Briatore had denied speculation that the French team's future was under threat and the team have signed a new Concorde Agreement to stay in F1 until 2012. But this latest controversy, coupled with a decline in cars sales, could yet have repercussions for the staff of around 700, who are are employed at the team's headquarters in Enstone, in Oxfordshire, and Viry-Chatillon in Paris. Former grand prix winner John Watson told the BBC: "The fact that Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have left the team was the only solution to Renault. Symonds was Michael Schumacher's race engineer in the 1990s "A company on the scale of Renault, a world-scale motor company could not afford to have a scandal of this magnitude rattling around in the boardroom." As it is, Renault's statement appears to end the F1 career of two of the sport's best-known protagonists. Briatore became Benetton team principal in 1988 and when Renault bought Benetton in 2000 to run under its own moniker, the 59-year-old Italian was chosen to lead the team. Symonds started his F1 career in 1981 at the Toleman team, which morphed into Benetton and Renault, and worked his way though the ranks to become executive director of engineering in 2001. Briatore was also heavily involved in the teams' association Fota, as it sought to reach an agreement on the future of the sport with the FIA this season. Original here

Throwback Ref Unis: WTF Or Whataburger?

During tonight’s Monday Night Football clash between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots, the teams broke out their AFL throwback uniforms. That was awesome. Unfortunately, the refs also wore their AFL throwbacks. When I saw them in these clownsuits, I could only think of one thing…

Seriously, I didn’t know whether to scream at them over calls they blew or order a burger, fries and a shake. When Leodis McKelvin pulled a Munson, ran the ball out when he should have taken a knee, then fumbled, it was utterly hilarious to see a six-pack of these bozos gather around the pile. This is what the work uniform would look like if Foot Locker merged with Whataburger. The hats are absolutely hideous, I think I saw one of those in my grandpa’s closet before he passed.

To make matters worse, the refs in the San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders game are wearing the same thing. I wonder if just putting those on raises your cholesterol. Ugh, they look like what you’d see if an inmate screwed a jack-o’-lantern. The NFL really needs to figure out the difference between throwbacks and throwaways. Please. I’ve been adjusting my TV set all night thinking the color was off.

More pics of these abominations after the jump…

(Adam Best is the senior editor of the FanSided.com Sports Network and the twisted mind behind The Best View. Follow him on Twitter.)

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NCAA president Myles Brand, 67, loses fight with cancer

Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News

After fighting pancreatic cancer for nearly a year, NCAA president Myles Brand died Wednesday. He was 67.

Brand became a sports figure when, as Indiana University president, he fired basketball coach Bob Knight following the institution of a "zero-tolerance" policy that Brand judged Knight to have violated by verbally confronting an IU student.

Brand subsequently was hired to replace Cedric Dempsey as NCAA president in January 2003. In his NCAA position, he was known for his advocacy of athletes' issues, such as advocating the increase of funds for their emergencies and for championing a more just freshman eligibility process.

Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.

10 Craziest Baseball Rules

The guy in the photo above is Alexander Cartwright, and he’s credited with inventing the modern game of baseball. Only problem is that those initial rules from the 1840s were pretty messed up, in comparison to how baseball is played today. We’ve lauded a lot of these old timey baseball guys with handlebar mustaches in the past, but we might have to take it all back. In the 1800s, baseball was a goofy game with a lot of stupid rules. These guys would probably crap themselves if they had to face guys like Justin Verlander or Alex Rodriguez today. Here are The 10 Craziest Baseball Rules You Would Never Believe Existed. Besides the whole “no minorities” thing that we’re glossing over, that is.

10. Pitchers Could Cover Balls With Just About Anything
Before 1920, pitchers could cover the ball with spit, Vaseline, road kill, Nickelodeon slime or whatever the hell else they wanted. It apparently worked. That Babe Ruth guy didn’t start hitting a billion home runs a year until they outlawed it. We don’t actually know for a fact they used road kill, but that whole ‘Dead Ball Era’ thing would make more sense if they did.

9. Balls And Strikes Didn’t Really Exist
When baseball started, hitters just kind of stood at the plate whacking away until they hit the ball somewhere in fair territory. That created a question of what constituted a walk (see Rule Four) or a strikeout. In 1887, walks were even considered hits. And that was also the first year that batters were awarded first base if they got hit by a pitch. Called strikes didn’t even exist until 1858. And until 1863, base runners would run advance on foul balls. And as you’ll see in Rule Three, they didn’t necessarily run to the correct bases.

Have you ever seen a Little League game with 6-year-olds? It’s pretty terrible. That’s how we imagine old timey baseball must have looked. We even picture an old farmer so terrible at hitting, that his coach has to bring out a tee.

8. Catchers Had Zero Protection
See that old timey idiot in the picture below? It’s not his fault. Chest protectors weren’t introduced into baseball until 1885. It wasn’t until six years after that when catchers got to wear padded mitts. These poor bastards just had to stand there in a dumb stance and wait to get their goddamn faces blown off with a foul tip. But, then again, you’ll see from #1 that these guys weren’t really facing ‘the heat’ from pitchers until 1883. It’s just amazing it took the rules committee two years to realize that catching was a fairly dangerous job.

7. Pitchers Used To ‘Throw’ From 45 Feet
You’ll notice in the picture below that the pitcher (who isn’t even on a mound) looks crazily close to the batter. That’s because the whole 60-feet-6-inches thing didn’t exist until 1893. But hey, that’s 15.5 feet shorter to hurl your heavy-as-hell Vaseline/spit/pubes ball towards your poor bastard catcher.

6. Hitters Had Flat Bats
For some reason that we can’t figure out, hitters used to have flat bats until 1893. They really took their cricket influence seriously. Why did they want to use paddle bats? Maybe they wanted to spank the ball. Sounds pretty lame to us.

5. Pitchers Couldn’t Step Towards The Plate When They Threw
Seriously. In 1863 a rule was instated which said pitchers had to have both feet on the ground at the same time they threw. Was sh*t getting way to crazy until 1863? Modern day Major League batting practice is probably way more entertaining than old timey baseball. Either that, or it it mostly resembled weird-rules baseball from a middle school P.E. class.

4. Hitters Got Nine Balls Before They Walked
We said in Rule Nine that baseball rule makers had a real hard time with balls and strikes, but in 1879 it was decided that nine balls made a walk. How bad did a pitcher have to be to walk somebody in 1879? You would’ve had to be blind. It wasn’t until 1889 that the number was finally whittled down to four.

3. Base Runners Didn’t Have To Touch Every Base
From 1858 – 1864, base runners didn’t have to touch every base in order. Did they also play the “Benny Hill Show” song while these goofballs ran all over the field?

2. Batters Could Call For The Type Of Pitch They Wanted
From 1867-1887, batters had the privilege of calling for a low pitch or a high pitch. What was the point of pitching? Did the pitcher also have to wipe the batter after they went to the bathroom?

1. Pitchers Threw Underhand
That should blow your mind. Major League Baseball officially started in 1876, but it wasn’t until 1883 that pitchers were allowed to throw overhand. The initial rules of baseball stated that pitchers had to throw the ball as if they were pitching a horseshoe. So these old batters got to call for their pitch and get it thrown to them underhand. They couldn’t step towards the plate. No wonder the pitchers covered the balls in battery acid and pig manure.

Love baseball (or battery acid and pig manure)? Check out our lists on 10 Baseball Players You Wouldn’t Want To Sit On You and 10 Worst Baseball Teams Of The Past 30 Years.

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