!

Unstoppable

Skill

-J

Tonio!!!

credit to the BBC sport page

Valencia joins Man Utd from Wigan

Valencia is Ferguson's first signing since Ronaldo's departure

Manchester United have signed Wigan Athletic winger Antonio Valencia on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old Ecuador international is manager Sir Alex Ferguson's first signing since Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid in a £80m transfer.

"Antonio is a player we have admired for some time now, having spent the last two years in the Premier League with Wigan," said Ferguson.

Valencia's transfer is reported to have cost United as much as £16m.

"I am sure his pace and ability will make a significant contribution to the team," added Ferguson.

606: DEBATE How will Antonio Valencia do at Old Trafford

United have been in contact with Wigan over a deal for Valencia over the last "two to three months", according to Latics chairman Dave Whelan.

"I have enjoyed my time at Wigan, but I am thrilled to have the chance to challenge for the biggest honours in club football here," said Valencia, who scored three goals for Wigan last season.

"Playing in front of 76,000 fans alongside players like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs will be an amazing experience. I can't wait to get started."

Valencia has played 34 times for Ecuador, scoring four goals.

"I hope the fans at Wigan can understand that I am an ambitious guy and a chance like this might never come again for me," said Valencia, who will be 24 next month.

"I am happy that the club has benefited from the move financially because I owe them such a lot. I have had a great time here."

Valencia's transfer is a club record for Wigan, but his departure leaves new Latics manager Roberto Martinez with the task of finding a suitable replacement.

------------------------------------

I, for one, am really hopeful about this guy! Better than when Ronaldo first arrived, albeit a few years older at this time, I have complete faith in SAF to mold this guy into a match-winner. I don't expect him to be a Ronaldo replacement per se, but he can combine great with Rooney, I'm sure, to get those goals coming in...

-J

Engrish

Just when you thought downtown Savannah was getting out of control, look at Japan!
Gotta be Tyrone's favorite place to shop.
"ooooh! They got it driiied now?"
-J

credit to ESPN's Soccernet.com

Altidore's goal leads U.S. to stunning upset

GettyImages

Clint Dempsey scores the game's second goal

Match Stats
	Spain	United States
Shots (on Goal)	11(6)	4(2)
Fouls	3	5
Corner Kicks	9	3

Match Information

Stadium: Free State, South Africa : Match Time: 14:30 ET Official(s): Larrionda, Jorge (Referee)

Updated: June 24, 2009, 3:00 AM ET

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) -- The United States stunned top-ranked Spain 2-0 Thursday night on goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, advancing to the Confederations Cup final with one of the Americans' biggest soccer victories.Altidore scored in the 27th minute and Dempsey added a goal in the 74th as the Americans became the first team to defeat Spain since Romania in November 2006.The chances of such a U.S. victory seemed slim just a few days ago. The 14th-ranked Americans lost their first two games in the Confederations Cup, an eight-nation World Cup warmup, and were on the verge of elimination.Now they will play defending champion Brazil or host South Africa on Sunday in its first-ever men's final at a FIFA competition.Spain, the European champion, had set an international record with 15 straight victories and was trying to stretch its unbeaten streak to 36, breaking the mark set by Brazil from December 1993 to January 1996.But American goalkeeper Tim Howard came up with several big saves and Altidore got the first goal when he outmuscled Joan Capdevila, his teammate on Spain's Villarreal to beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Dempsey scored when he pounced on Landon Donovan's cross, which bounced off the foot of Sergio Ramos.Midfielder Michael Bradley, the son of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, will miss the final. He received the Americans' third red card of the tournament for a late sliding tackle in the 87th minute.The U.S. had been 1-7-1 against top-ranked teams, beating Brazil in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and tying Argentina last summer in an exhibition at Giants Stadium. When the United States upset Brazil, goalkeeper Kasey Keller had an outstanding game, just as Howard did.The Americans were boosted by the return of captain Carlos Bocanegra, who had been sidelined since injuring a hamstring during a World Cup qualifier on June 6. He played left back instead of central defense.The United States had lost its three previous matches against Spain, 3-1 in the first round of the 1950 World Cup, 2-0 in a 1992 exhibition at Valladolid and 1-0 in an exhibition on June 4 last year at Santander.

Wow, massive upset! Gotta love the unpredictability of soccer.
-J

Hoops!

From my friend Jon's blog Save Us Lebron, here it is:

Hoops!

(Variations on a sick behind the back shot)

-J

DoA

So, after Jay-Z read my blog entry about Kanye appearing on SouthPark's Fishsticks episode, he released the single "Death of Autotune". Cheers, mate. And after hearing it, the web director at Esquire mag wrote this:
"

Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune": Because Someone Had to Say It

June 18, 2009 at 10:06AM by Eric Gillin

Buzz up!

Dear Mr. Carter,

Thank you for releasing your new single, "Death of Autotune." For the last few years, rap music has sounded more like that awful Cher song "Believe" than the music that once made my mom so pissed she tossed my Amerikkka's Most Wanted record onto the front lawn in the rain. I agree, Shawn, the state of rap is totally embarrassing, and I'm quite pleased you brought the topic up.

Hip-hop has endured all kinds of humiliation over the last thirty years — ­the polka dots worn by Kwame "the Boy Genius" come to mind, as does this rap scene from the movie Teen Witch, and Diddy protégé Mase's ill-advised third comeback record.­ But this autotune thing, as evidenced in T-Pain's entire oeuvre, has been the absolute worst. All of a sudden dudes who can barely rap think they can sing, and everything is a pop song now — these tinny, emotionless affairs, like Kanye West's inexplicable, ubiquitous hit "Love Lockdown."

I don't even know what to make of the fact that Kanye ­— whose last record was entirely autotune —­ produced "Death of Autotune." I'm not going to analyze it that much. Maybe y'all were hanging out and he was like, "I'll produce that shit," and you were like, "Cool." Maybe he likes money and he has a mortgage to pay off. Maybe he's being meta or post-modern. Whatever. Don't care. You're making some salient points in your track, "Death of Autotune," Mr. Carter — namely when you say rappers are way too emotional these days, too many of them are dressed like rodeo clowns, and it's time to welcome real singers back to the recording booth. I thank you deeply for making them.

Sincerely,

Eric Gillin"

Yes, thanks for being influenced.

-J

AXE

While I think Axe deodorant is probably the worst product in the WORLD (unless, of course, you're from "frikkin AWEsome" Long Island), I do like their Dark Chocolate body wash.
My girlfriend says it's in no way an exaggeration, it does smell irresistible. In that case, she's never sitting by me on a bus. (See 37 seconds into the video)

Excellent marketing; quality commercials are like verified news stories on CNN- rare.

-J