What Caught My Eye Today

Soccer - Most readers probably don't hav as much interest in the beautiful game as I do, but trust me when I say that, outside the U.S. this was big news. Russia and the tiny Gulf state of Qatar scored stunning victories in the battle for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FIFA could have played it safe by going to the ready-built stadiums of the United States or to the sport’s motherland of England. Both promised minimal worry and lots of cash. Sure, but where is the excitement in that? Russia, already spending massively on the Sochi Winter Olympics it will host in 2014, now has the added and greater challenge of readying airports, modern stadiums, trains and other public works it will need not only to host 32 football teams and millions of visitors but also to transport them efficiently from cities spread from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Ural Mountains that form the European boundary with Asia. Qatar, with a population of 841,000, has not only never hosted a World Cup but not even played in one. FIFA inspectors who toured the country, which is half the size of Israel and slightly smaller than Connecticut, cautioned that the intense heat in summer, when the tournament will be played, posed a potential health risk for players and fans. Personally, I find the Qatar undertaking much more interesting than Russia. I read in a separate article, that organizers are designed stadiums that can be dismantled after the World Cup and shipped off to other countries in need of modern soccer facilities. I can't wait to see how they plan to pull that off.

Capital Punishment - Yet another reason it sucks to be on Death Row, especially in Ohio. Ohio has imposed a time limit on the last words of condemned prisoners. The new rule, authorizing wardens to set "reasonable restrictions on the content and lenth" of an inmates's last remarks, was instituted after a condemned prisoner apologized for his crime and recited the "Hail Mary" for 17 minutes before his execution. You can't really fault the guy for stalling. He had nothing better to do, did he?

Boredom - Now pay attention! After feeding 300 million facts into a new computer search engine, experts have announced that April 11, 1954 was the most boring day of the 20th century – a day when nothing of note happened. Of course, it goes without saying, as soon as this was announced, detractors emerged. It is not the first time a particular day has been singled out for its lack of moment.According to BBC Radio, April 18, 1930, was the dullest day of the 20th century after an announcer informed the nation at the 6.30pm bulletin: ‘There is no news.’ I don't know about the most boring day, but this posting certainly qualifies as one of the most boring I've ever posted.

Now for something that you can't help but get all tingly inside about...

Cricket - My main man, Rod, hooked me up with the 411 on this one. Hard to believe it has been two years already. The 2010–11 Ashes series is being played in Australia. The Five Tests are scheduled to take place from November 25, 2010 through January 7, 2011. Up to the start of the 2010–11 Ashes series, Australia led the way with 31 series to England's 29; five had finished as draws. England won the most recent series in 2009 by two Tests to one, but Australia had whitewashed the last one held on home soil, winning 5–0. I checked the results of the First Test which wrapped up on Monday, and I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the match was declared a draw. I guess they don't have overtime or shoot outs in cricket.