From ESPN:

ESPN 3D to show soccer, football, more

 

ESPN.com
Sports broadcasting will enter a new dimension in 2010 … the third dimension, as ESPN will unveil the industry’s first 3-D network.

ESPN 3D will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year, beginning June 11 with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match, featuring South Africa versus Mexico, ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer announced.

Other events to be produced in 3-D include the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, college basketball and football contests, up to 25 World Cup matches and the Summer X Games. Additional events will be announced at a later date.

“ESPN’s commitment to 3-D is a win for fans and our business partners,” Bodenheimer said in a statement. “ESPN 3D marries great content with new technology to enhance the fan’s viewing experience and puts ESPN at the forefront of the next big advance for TV viewing.”

ESPN has been testing ESPN 3D for more than two years, even showing a USC-Ohio State college football game in select theaters and to 6,000 fans at the Galen Center on USC’s campus.

“This is a turning point for 3-D,” Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro told USA Today.

This is unreal. Perhaps the newest age of television has begun. It’s not pop-out 3d, but even better; it’s detailed in-depth 3D a la ‘Avatar’.

Too bad NBA Live still looks horrible. Same ol’ dull gameplay and absolutely brutal commentary that hasn’t been updated since Live’ 06. The only cool new feature if the ‘moving jerseys’ when the players run. Makes it about 2% more realistic than previous years:

Interview with Charles Barkley uploaded yesterday:

Raps beat Cows in a thriller

Why are the Raptors on a four game winning streak? Don’t they understand that the more they lose, the better draft pick they’ll have this year? I mean, do what you want with the pick, but get the highest pick possible! Now that the season is tanked, they’ve decided to play ball, beating teams that they have no business beating.

Well, maybe this last stretch of the season is a sign of things to come for next year. Marion is finding a flow, and maybe we’re seeing the team gel finally. Emphasis on the ‘maybe’. The Raps have a solid starting five. If Colangelo can re-sign Marion, and add some much needed depth to the squad in the off season, we might see a resurgence.

• Jose Calderon is on course to have one of (if not) the best free throw shooting season(s) in NBA history. He had a monster line against the Bulls today; 21 points and 19 assists.
• If I had to build my team around a point guard for the future, I would seriously consider picking Derrick Rose, and not Chris Paul (discussions welcome).
• I was obviously kidding about the Raptors tanking the season and getting a high draft pick. They should always try to win every game they can no matter what the circumstances.
• Seriously.. Please tank the season and lose every game from now on.

Now that we got that rant over with, let’s move to another rant:

 Football legends very rarely become successful coaches. It was a mistake to bring in Daei in the first place; we should have taken Clemente when we had him in Iran, but completely blew it. I’m not here to make a massive list of Daei’s tactical shortcomings as a coach, I just want to point out that he’s lost alot of respect from many Iranian’s around the World. His response after the loss to Saudi at home in front of 100, 000 fans:

“I will not leave my job as Iran boss. Iranian football officials cannot fire me. You were not the ones who offered me the job. Accordingly, you cannot ask for my departure. It was not Ali Daei who was defeated today; it was Iran’s national football team which was [defeated]“

Daei, who has dropped a couple of Iranian stars in his brief era with Iran as coach due to personal disputes, also commented on the absence of former Asian player of the year Ali Karimi in the squad:

“Karimi was in no shape to shine at Persepolis match against Saudi Arabia’s al-Shabaab earlier this month. I talked to Persepolis manager and I found out that he had not attended training sessions for 25 days,”

Right. Evidence shows that Karimi has clearly been to his training sessions. He’s also been in top form for Persepolis all year.

Daei, you are one of the best players in Asian history, and you hold the FIFA International goalscoring record. Thank you for everything, but with all due respect; you are not the man for this job.

Not all is lost in the football World though.

Spain 1-0 Turkey. The European champions played against a stubborn Turkish defence without Cesc, Iniesta, and Puyol. Turkey played a great tactical game at the Bernabeu, but in the end, La Furia Roja were too much. Their passing game is like a slow torture for opponents. They ooze confidence and produce free flowing football that is unmatched in International football. Pure art, and they aren’t even at their best.

• Holland 3-0 Scotland. Klaas Jan Huntelaar can’t stop scoring. He’s like a mini Ruud. Big shoes to fill, but he is a very intriguing prospect.
• Portugal 0-0 Sweden. Both countries are in jeopardy sitting 4 points behind Denmark and Hungary. Hungary and Denmark also have a game in hand.
• Montenegro 0-2 Italy. Huge win for the Azzuri in Eastern Europe. The World Cup Champs are one step closer to defending their crown in South Africa.

Thanks for reading. Why was this post so awesome? I was listening to this the whole time:

Now go back and read this post again. But this time, listen to the song while doing it. It makes it alot more dramatic.