Eideard

In his 18 years at Pinckney Community High School, Jim Darga, the principal, said, the homecoming queen had always been crowned at halftime of the school’s football game. Never before, though, had she had to be summoned from the team’s locker room.

And that was just the beginning of Brianna Amat’s big night.

If being named homecoming queen is a lifetime memory for a high school student, so, too, is kicking a winning field goal. For Amat, 18, they happened within an hour of each other.

On Friday, with Pinckney leading powerful Michigan rival Grand Blanc, 6-0, at the half, Amat, the first girl to play football for the school’s varsity, was asked to return to the field. When she arrived, she was told that her fellow students had voted her queen. When the tiara was placed on her head, she was wearing not a dress, like the other girls in the homecoming court, but her No. 12 uniform, pads and all.

A short while later, with five minutes to play in the third quarter, Amat was called to the same field to attempt a 31-yard field goal. She split the uprights.

The kick proved decisive as Pinckney held on for a 9-7 victory against a Grand Blanc team that had come into the game ranked seventh in the state in its division. It also earned Amat the nickname the Kicking Queen…

Before Friday, Darga said, Amat was known primarily as a student with a perfect 4.0 grade average who was involved in student government, serving as treasurer…

Amat’s prowess as a defender on the school’s girl’s soccer team led to the invitation to try out as a football kicker. She competed against two male students, including one who wound up as the team’s punter.

“She won the position on her own merit,” Darga said. “She won it outright.”

Bravo!

- unless you’re a fan of clubs in North London. But, I saw this commercial late last night and recalled I’d never put it up at eideard.com:

 
Sponsored by kickoutpoverty.org.

Japan’s Homare Sawa holds the trophy after beating the U.S. in the Women’s World Cup final
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

They picked a great time to win for the first time against the United States.

Dark clouds had gathered over Juba’s renovated football stadium, but for the 15,000 people who had turned up in South Sudan’s capital it was a time for celebration.

A little under 24 hours after South Sudan became the newest country on earth after declaring its independence from Khartoum — a bloody battle it had waged intermittently since the 1950s — the first true test of the fledgling republic took place.

On July 10, South Sudan played its very first international football match, becoming not just the youngest nation on earth, but the youngest national football team too.

“We were all very emotional as it was the first time that our national team played, singing the national anthem,” recalled Makuac Teny, Minister for Sport in the newly-formed South Sudan government.
South Sudan becomes newest U.N. member state

Like the rest of the crowd, he had gathered to watch his team take on Kenyan Premier League side Tusker F.C. for a match whose result, for once, wasn’t important. “It was the first time our song was heard,” explained Teny…

“The honor goes to Kenya, the first country to hear the national anthem of Sudan. They honored us. That was a win in itself, to hear the national anthem played. Although they won 3-1, I knew the flag of Southern Sudan would be raised.”

Bravo. Congratulations to our South Sudan brothers and sisters.

Photo by Moises Castillo/Associated Press

Mexico won the Under-17 World Cup final on Sunday, defeating Uruguay 2-0 with goals from Antonio Briseno in the 31st minute and Giovani Casillas in second-half stoppage time.

The victory thrilled a boisterous crowd at Azteca Stadium in Mexico, a country getting used to football success. Two weeks ago the Mexico senior team won the Gold Cup, the regional championship, defeating the United States 4-2 in the final in California…

Briseno scored chipping in a short shot from a header into the area, beating keeper Jonathan Cubero. Casillas got his two minutes into stoppage time, scoring on a counterattack as Uruguay pressed for an equalizer.

Uruguay had its chances with Elbio Alvarez hitting the crossbar.

It was a stunning end for Uruguay, which beat Canada 3-0 in the tournament opener for both teams.

It was a great match to watch live – as much as I got to see. Our less-than-stellar electric company here in New Mexico presented us with 6 power failures in the last 20 hours. Two of them during the match.

Crowds didn’t get out of control in Glasgow

Two people you’ve never met got married today.

The bride, Kate Middleton, wore a dress. The groom, William Windsor (or possibly Wales, or Cambridge, or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), did not.

Millions upon millions of your pounds were spent on security measures such as monitoring those who have an unhealthy interest in the Royal Family. Surprisingly, this does not include watching an incident from the romantic lives of complete strangers on the telly or lining the streets to stare at them.

Wall to wall, dewy-eyed, hysterical coverage available in all the usual
outlets…

We watched Leeds 1 – 0 Burnley. Then we went grocery shopping.

Huyton’s Malvern Primary School in Merseyside has decided that exposing pupils to leather and plastic footballs during breaktimes is too dangerous.

Using a February newsletter to remind parents of the policy, the school stressed that the only balls not deemed a health hazard which can be brought into school are those made from sponge.

Yesterday anti-obesity campaigners said the “stupid” rule was at odds with Huyton’s reputation of producing a string of footballing greats including Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain…

The school defended the sponge-only ball rule, stressing it had a duty to protect pupils of all ages.

But Tam Fry, chairman of obesity prevention charity the Child Growth Foundation, branded the stance “stupid”. He said: “Children must be exposed to risk otherwise how can they be expected to learn.

“Schools should be places to learn. It may think it is protecting the children but they could just as easily fall over playing with a sponge ball.

“Policies like this mean our children are in danger of becoming cocooned cotton buds.”

Nanny state world leadership still apparently belongs to the Brits.

We ain’t far behind in the States; but, this is a winner. Or rather – a decision for non-winners.

Ian Allison when he played for Arsenal

Boreham Wood FC have been praised for their immaculate sportsmanship after allowing an opposing team to score against them during a league match.

The Blue Square South team were playing away to Havant on Saturday when with nine minutes left the home side kicked the ball off the field so Boreham Wood’s injured player Sam Pearce could receive treatment.

The Wood’s Mario Noto received the ball from the resulting throw-in and kicked it back to the opposing goalkeeper from around the halfway line. But there was a problem: Noto made contact a little too well, and his ‘pass-back’ flew straight into the goal.

The strike had levelled the scores, so Boreham Wood manager Ian Allinson – a former Arsenal star – decided that for justice to be done he must order his men to let the opposition score unopposed from the kick-off.

Wes Fogden was the lucky Havant player who was able to walk the ball upfield and kick it into the net as Boreham Wood’s players stood by.

Havant finished 2-1 winners thanks to what their manager Shaun Gale called “a great gesture”, and Boreham Wood’s boss had no regrets about his decision.

“I’d rather lose the correct way,” said Allinson, whose honourable actions have been hailed throughout the world of football.

Bravo!

Thanks, honorarynewfie

Britain’s annual raspberry to slimming gurus and lettuce-based diets drew gasps as the record for demolishing a saucer-sized meat pie was demolished by an awesome 12 seconds.

Crumbs flew yesterday in the traditional setting of Harry’s Bar, opposite Wigan’s most popular multi-storey car park, as a middle-aged civil servant stormed to victory over the biggest bunch of rivals yet fielded.

Neil Collier, 42, took only 23.91 seconds to down the steaming slab of carbohydrate and snatch the coveted title of world pie-eating champion from 37-year-old Barry Rigby.

“He just seemed to open his throat and down it went,” said organiser Tony Callaghan, whose antics have boosted Northern pastry, meat and gravy for 19 years. “He’s from Bolton, mind, which is a crying shame for a Wiganer to have to say, but he’s certainly learned how to eat pies somewhere. Probably in Wigan…”

Next year’s championship is already heading for a place in history through the probable introduction of fifth and sixth officials, ahead of the international football authorities. Coining a new word, just to add to his satisfactory day at Harry’s, which he owns and runs, Callaghan said: “We intend to be particularly scrutineerinous of both competitors and pie meat. Adlington maybe, but our pies will only ever be sourced from the finest herds of beef-yielding cows that graze the majestic plains of the north-west of England.”

The previous record was 35.86 seconds, and other landmarks have included the brief and immediately discontinued use of vegetarian pies in 2007.

Fans of proper football worldwide will rejoice in the continuing saga of this aspect of food culture central to enjoyment of our favorite sport.

Former New York Jets player Keith Fitzhugh… turned down an offer to join the New York Jets to remain a conductor with Norfolk Southern Railroad…

On Tuesday, the New York Jets, after losing two safeties to injury in four days, called the former Lovejoy High School and Mississippi State standout and told him they needed him.

Contemplating the offer, Fitzhugh, 24, thought about the steady job he had landed three months ago, as a Norfolk Southern railroad conductor, a position he loves.

He thought about his family, about leaving behind his disabled father and hard-working mother.

He thought about the three times that NFL teams previously released him.

And Fitzhugh said no…

Fitzugh’s mother, Meltonia, an office supervisor for a freight forwarder, supported whatever decision he made.

“Everybody’s been like, ‘You’ve got the greatest son,’” she said. “But he’s always been that kind of kid. … He just thinks it’s his responsibility.”

Fitzhugh lives in Lovejoy in the house he was raised.

Bravo!