Please vote now!!!

FIFA seems to be looking for feedback on the concept of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Want to be heard. Vote Here ==> http://quality.fifa.com/en/VAR/

Interesting - But Not Suprising

MLS ranks as the most diverse major pro league in North America

Major League Soccer has once again clocked in as the most diverse major North American sports league.

MLS announced on Tuesday that it has the most diverse group of players among the top five major sports leagues in the US and Canada as determined by birthplace. As of last Friday, a total of 59 countries were represented by the league’s pool of 536 players, with 246 players born outside of the US and Canada.

A world map of players broken out by birthplace can be found below, while a map of players born in the US and Canada can be found here. The full lists of MLS players born abroad and in the US and Canada can be found here and here, respectively.

See the whole story here, courtesy of MLS.

Kicking Back Comments: While this diversity should be celebrated as it is very positive in the MLS having an attractive product for foreign players to come to there are a couple of lessons in here.

1. If you want to be a professional referee, you better start being "culturally aware." This is not a euphemism of any type, but rather a need for any high level referee. If you want to get a head start, learn a language and be conversational.

2. Way back in soccer history, the old NASL was essentially raided by foreign players who would summer here in the US and fill their vacation funds. While MLS has some safeguards in place to make sure that happens less ... or only when they know about it ... I am a fan of domestic players playing in MLS. It's not a nationalistic thing, just recognition we need to develop our players.

Beyond that, I am all for the level of diversity MLS has. Then again ... aren't we the foreigners to The Game?

End of the beginning or beginning of the end?

Friends of Kicking Back, it has been a while since I have written here.

I could cite lots of excuses. Time at work, time for family, time for cleaning my room ... blah, blah, blah. I could even throw out my training for the 2016 B2VT, as painful as it has been so far.

Often times it takes a jarring event to bring one back from the funk they were in and just the other day at 5:15 AM, I was jarred back after being made aware Paul Levy had decided to stop writing at his blog Not Running A Hospital.

Ten years ago, nearly to the month Twitter was launched, Paul Levy began transforming an industry writing Not Running A Hospital (formally Running A Hospital) with his open and honest dialog about what it was like to be CEO of a 672 bed hospital, BIDMC. It was a staggering entry that was immediately met with open arms, and I am sure a few closed minds. Just take a look here at his first post and subsequent comments.

Now one of many things that was extraordinary to me in hindsight was Paul's role at BIDMC in the first place. That may sound strange for someone who is so established academically and a leader in industry, albeit not the medical one. Consider however that most hospitals retain CEO's that are or were active MD's at a point in time and this move to some I'm sure was a bit "odd."

Good leadership knows no bounds however and BIDMC through Paul's leadership flourished through his transparency, passion, and culture of quality he created.

I could write for a very long time about some of his extraordinary corporate accomplishments he created with his leadership or quality lessons he brought to the health care arena. Even for an individual like myself who is not overly familiar with the medical field, the issues he took on and the results he gained were clear. This however is not the venue for such comments.

Notably here, a substantial part of his time is spent within the soccer community, notably as a coach and referee. His leadership, true leadership, inside and surrounding the soccer field I believe is worth significant note here on Kicking Back. For all who read linked articles here or went directly to NRAH, it was clear that some of the leadership lessons he took with him to the boardroom began on the soccer field.

I reflected on that thought for a while as for me personally, the lessons I have learned, and am currently learning with this common love for The Game we share is frankly staggering.

Paul was never most clear about this exchange of ideas from field to boardroom than in his closing blog entry, "30", where he credits "the hundreds of girls ... coached in youth soccer over the course of over two decades. They've taught ... immensely important leadership and teamwork lessons ... ."

Also, if you have read his book "Goal Play!" (and I recommend you do) you will see his passion for The Game and the essential point that lessons learned on the soccer field and the business world are not so distinct after all.

NRAH always had a regular story about the intersection of leadership and soccer from various points of view. Sometimes referee, coach, administrator, or even spectator. As one of many fantastic examples, take a look at "A lesson for a coach" as it is most instructive on perspective and humility.

Most inspiring about his blog is the fact that he has the highest respect for the people who make organizations go. I recall reading recently about when tough times fell on BIDMC (as well as everyone else) and not to be deterred he got everyone together as asked how to protect some of the employees they were a bit more vulnerable to the financial stress the hospital was being put under. Reports of the story continue with a wave of applause and a plethora of potential solutions even knowing it would "pinch" others.

That is leadership.

While I have deeply personal memories of Paul and am immensely thankful for the times we have interacted, I will miss the regular perspective from NRAH on both business and even more on all perspectives soccer.

Fortunately he has decided to keep the blog up for the time being, and I would strongly recommend a look as it is a tremendous repository of transparent, straight shooting, and compassionate leadership lessons that should be required reading for any leader.

Thank you Paul for your 10 years of great lessons and thank you also for your service to The Game.
I look forward to the next time we see each other.

How Herbert Hainer and @adidas look like fools again

Manchester United’s style of play criticised by chief executive of Adidas

Manchester United’s style of play under Louis van Gaal has been criticised by the chief executive of Adidas, who signed a £750m kit sponsorship deal with the club last summer.

Manchester United launch retro Adidas kit following their £750m deal

United ended a run of eight matches without a victory with the 2-1 win over Swansea on Saturday and despite widespread criticism for a stagnant style of play, Van Gaal claimed afterwards that in their last two matches – also including the goalless draw against Chelsea – his side had adopted a riskier approach. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of The Guardian.

Kicking Back Comments: My initial title was going to be "Nero fiddles when Rome burns," but thought that was paying just a bit too much homage to Herr Hainer, CEO of Adidas.

What is frosting my cookie is not that Herr Hainer is criticizing Man U's incredibly unspectacular play. The man is an accomplished footballer as well as businessman. Just take a look at his CV here, from Adidas. There is no question in my mind that he knows his football.

A blind man (no referee jokes please) could see how poorly Man U is playing.

Even his criticism in his capacity as CEO I can stretch. I can ... he is looking to maximize his $1.2B (yeah that's a B for billion) investment in the team, and that makes sense. Although as he admits, business is booming and things are "better" than expected.

What I take issue with is that people are dying in Qatar and FIFA is absolutely on fire with corruption and Herr Hainer, leading Adidas, is willing to step out there and criticize Man U for their play, but do nothing but send a "strongly worded" letter with other sponsors to FIFA, asking them to do better.

Really?

How about at least criticizing FIFA for it's open human rights violations? How about saying Adidas will suspend or pull its sponsorship from future World Cup's, beginning with Qatar, if this goes on? How about Adidas wants to see the situation first hand and will send an envoy to Qatar, or maybe just aid?

What not +adidas?

It makes you look foolish to stand back and cry about Man U when there is so much more you can do first. Look at the bigger picture and for the love of Adolf Dassler, do the right thing and at least get involved with sorting out the mess that is Qatar and FIFA.

Clearly Valcke did not get that stitch in time

FIFA Recommends Nine-Year Ban for Valcke

The investigator for FIFA’s independent ethics committee on Tuesday recommended a nine-year ban for the organization’s former secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, who served as Sepp Blatter’s top deputy for nearly a decade before he was placed on leave in September amid a corruption inquiry.

The investigator, Cornel Borbély, also recommended that Mr. Valcke’s provisional suspension, which was to expire Tuesday, be extended by 45 days, as well as a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs (about $99,000). The judge of the ethics committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert, will issue a final ruling on the recommended punishment.

Mr. Valcke, 55, has been on disciplinary leave from FIFA since September, when he was accused of being involved in a scheme to sell 2014 World Cup tickets for personal profit. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of the NYT.

Kicking Back Comments: While I expect Valcke to both deny any wrongdoing and appeal the ban, FIFA continues to step up to clean up its act. Or at least remove the bad actors that inhabited these offices previously.

One area I do not understand is, here is a person who is suspected and has been suspended for pilfering at least $10M, yet his fine is only about $100K, an order of magnitude less. Why not make Valcke pay back the full amount?

Also, while FIFA is starting, just starting, to grow a spine on some of these issues, I am far more interested in both the Qatar debacle and also what permanent reforms will be put in place to prevent something like this from occurring again.

That will be the true acid test for me.

In our world, introspection is king

'It's not a red card, it's an arrestable offence!'

Webb on De Jong horror tackleThe Netherlands international kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest during the 2010 World Cup final but was not sent off, and the referee has admitted that he made a mistake

Howard Webb admits that he should have sent off Netherlands midfielder Nigel De Jong after his kung-fu kick on Spain counterpart Xabi Alonso in the 2010 World Cup final.

Having been chosen to officiate the showpiece fixture, Webb showed the former Manchester City midfielder a yellow card after a recklessly high tackle on Alonso in the 28th minute of the fixture, which ended 1-0 after Andres Iniesta's extra-time strike.

Webb was subsequently booed when he collected his medal after the final whistle, and he has now conceded that he made a mistake in refusing to dismiss the Dutchman, but has suggested that he did not see the incident clearly enough to take such a decision.

Speaking to BT Sport, Webb said: “I still thought I got it right on the pitch. So I get back into the dressing room and my assistant referee has gone to his pocket and got his phone out, and his face dropped. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Goal.com.

Kicking Back Comments: Much has been made about the World Cup Final that Webb oversaw. Some great, some horrible. Here at Kicking Back we did an in depth analysis and contrasted it to an "A" licensed coaches analysis which proved very interesting, and not surprisingly the two entities see the game in the same was in many aspects, but have separate views on others.

This article reaffirmed an old axiom that is true among referees as well as in general for successful people in life in my opinion. Reflect and learn from your mistakes. Take what you can and implement it for next time. Webb obviously has done this.

The real trick is twofold in such cases however.

First, you have to keep going even in the face of a massive screw up. As we and many others have written, missing that send off started to unravel that match. Getting back on track to what got you there is critical in such a case.

Second, when you learn the lesson, you have to let the rest go. Hanging on to all the negative stuff that goes with such an incident is not a good thing and has the potential of dragging you back into that mindset.

Experience, reflect, learn, evolve.

Double Trouble or a Great Idea?

Presidential candidate Salman wants to divide FIFA in two

MIAMI (Reuters) - The frontrunner in the FIFA presidential election, Asian football chief Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, says he wants to divide the organization into two separate entities as part of a 'turnaround' plan for the crisis-hit organization.

Salman, who is president of the Asian Football Confederation, said in a statement on Wednesday that FIFA's governance and business functions would be separated if he took over the helm following the Feb. 26 elections. ...

See the whole article here, courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Kicking Back Comments: First off, hat tip to Elie for brings this one forward.

I am of two minds regarding this proposition of splitting FIFA into a "football" side and a "business" side, likely with a "Chinese Wall" between them.

Part of me thinks this is a great idea where you separate out the money generating portions of the business from the football operational side. On the surface this would seem to allow better auditing abilities of the finances while maintaining operational integrity. In fact this is done regularly in business or for projects with particularly sensitive information that must be kept compartmentalized. These methods could be actuarial as well as physical in nature. 

I am not so sure however that such an arrangement would meet the needs to prevent corruption. A slightly closer look at how the operational side can substantially influence the money side is not far away however. A first and stunning example is the choice of Qatar as a venue in 2022. Here is a nearly purely "operational" decision. Take a look at the FIFA report on the US bid for 2022 here. With the exception of a couple of sections, it is all about the "how" things will be done. Yet, as we know, as the events unfolded a substantial amount of corruption (and money exchange) occurred as part of a venue decision.

Let's say for sake of argument World Cup decision are relegated to the money side of the house due to the very large financial gain FIFA realizes from each. How about the surface for play?

Well, here too we seem to have created some conflicts of interest as I detailed in a 2014 article, "The case of Dr. Turf and the Cowardly Judge." Here, we had the dispute about use of a synthetic surface or not, and shockingly (not) FIFA rolled out "Dr. Turf" to advocate that turf was equivalent to grass in all respects. Only issue was Dr. Turf was affiliated with a company that produced such surfaces. So even here with something purely operational the opportunity for abuse exists.

Where Asian football chief Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa gets it completely right is where he believes FIFA has to be torn down completely and rebuilt before it can be effective. I share that opinion. Great danger and opportunity exist in such a case however as nature abhors a vacuum and such a void may be filled with exactly the wrong people.

Don't get me wrong, the idea brought forward while not novel and I believe has issues, is one of the most original for FIFA in years. All credit is due for that to be sure.

2015: A Forgettable Year for US Soccer in Many Ways

Year in Review: More lows than highs for American soccer in 2015

It was a forgettable year for American soccer fans, but there were some highlights to help offset the down moments, writes Ives Galarcep.

You can forgive American soccer fans if they don't have fond memories of 2015. Sure, there were some unforgettable moments, and accomplishments, but overall there was something thoroughly disappointing about the year as a whole.

The bad taste can be attributed in large part to the struggles and disappointments of the U.S. men's national team. The good vibes created by the 2014 World Cup quickly faded, and while there were flashes of promise at various points this year, the lingering memories will be of the team's Gold Cup failure and subsequent CONCACAF Cup loss to Mexico. That defeat didn't just mean there will be no 2017 Confederations Cup for the Americans, but much more painfully, was a realization that the U.S. had handed back the crown as King of CONCACAF to Mexico. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Goal.com.

Kicking Back Comments: I agree with Galarecp and in fact would expand on it that the worlds game did not have a very good year in general. Things are a bit "off" right now.

Very un-holiday like I agree, but (and I hate to say this) we have not seen the bottom yet. Maybe the back half of 2016 if the World's Game gets its act together will see promise ... but I am not hopeful.

For my New Year's wish, I hope the power struggle at FIFA is figured out and the criminals are not allowed to return. Only then will things begin to take form.

It's just in time too as 2016 will see us one step closer to Russia 2018 and I hope a new venue for 2022.

Best wishes from us at Kicking Back to all of you for a prosperous and healthy 2016.

Here is another 2015 MLS controversy for you ...

Orlando City chief soccer officer Armando Carneiro leaves position

Orlando City's chief soccer officer Armando Carneiro has resigned for personal reasons, the MLS club announced on Monday.

Carneiro joined Orlando City from Porto less than two months ago to oversee operations and staff.

"We fully understand Armando's personal reasons for stepping down from his role and respect his wishes. We thank him for his help and wish him luck with his future career," Orlando City president Phil Rawlins said in a statement. ...

Seethe whole story here, courtesy of ESPN.

Kicking Back Comments: This is not great news for OCSC and comes as a bit of a shock to me. Some have stopped to wonder if the personal reasons were the uncertainly of OCSC and MLS in general. Others have wondered if a move from a football power like Benfica, to well, an MLS team had something to do with it.

Either way, it is a loss for MLS and a stunning reversal after MLS was crowing about the arrival a little over a month ago. This is bigger than OCSC if I had to guess ... and that to me is a real controversy.

(My) Best of MLS Controversies 2015

Best of MLS Controversies 2015

No exciting season comes without a few flaps and dust-ups along the way. Along with the stunning highs of the season and tournaments this year came some equally dramatic controversies, too.

Here are some of the ones that got people talking (and typing) the most, as voted by the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of MLS.com.

Kicking Back Comments: I duuno ... I think there are a few others in 2015 that caused and will cause a bigger stir.

First is NRP's column on America v. MLS and the stir it caused. While certainly accomplished, Deford is dead wrong and lacks vision in this case. In short, the games he has reported on and worshiped in his lifetime in the next 20 years, will begin to be in decline as others, like soccer and lacrosse continue to gain prominence.

Second, is the MLS relationship with Audi, whose parent company is Volkswagen. Just as Volkswagen is tainted courtesy of Dieselgate, so too may be Audi. While MLS Cup 2015 did not seem to be affected, what the future holds is less than certain.

Finally, the recent DOJ investigation ripping through FIFA has not excluded the Americans. Chuck Blazer and Aaron Davidson know this better than most right now as the later is still seeking a plea deal. While Sunil Gulati did not choose to appear before Congress (and gave a great answer why) there was speculation he too may know about the scandal rocking FIFA. If he or other Americans are implicated, that could be a significant set back for the MLS.

Somehow in the face of such a prospect, a player or two throwing a temper tantrum does not rate very highly for me.

Brilliance from NRAH

See "The NFL made a calculated attempt to exterminate me" from NRAH.

A must read and must see video to (in part) demonstrate how a sports league can try to warp perception on serious issues.

Straight From JAFO ... A Great Christmas Message

Hat tip to JAFO for the video below and the message it holds.

For all those serving, so we can enjoy peace, thank you.

http://biggeekdad.com/2011/02/bob-hope-christmas/

For Once Sepp is Right

Sepp Blatter dares FIFA's American sponsors to leave

Sepp Blatter, the banned president of FIFA, called out the organization's American sponsors on Tuesday, saying they will not end their sponsorships even if reform demands are not met.

"Companies, commercial partners are queuing up to get in," Blatter told The Wall Street Journal. "If the Americans want to leave, others will come. But they don't want to get out ... They won't leave." ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of CNN Money.

Kicking Back Comments: As sad a comment as it is, Sepp seems to be 100% correct. 

I personally take great stock in how people (or companies) act, not in what their press release says. I and scores of other folks have written about the saber rattling the mighty sponsors of FIFA have done saying how unacceptable FIFA's behavior has become. Yet, for all that rattling, there has been no action from many.

In this same way, there are several companies that should be applauded for taking action. Castrol, Johnson & Johnson, Continental, Sony, and Emirates had the courage to stand up and drop their sponsorship of FIFA. While some have stated in a few of those cases the sponsorship was up for renewal, the salient point is, they did not renew due in part to the deplorable mess that is FIFA.

Even in the face of the ethical challenges outright corruption (this is a brilliant video) and employment contract issues human right violations, several companies continue to fund these activities. Several others are also cued up ready to hand over the monies they have earned from customers as well.

At this point I can't classify their desire as less than knowingly supporting corruption and human rights violations. While each of these companies has ethical issues of their own (see ADIDAS,  Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Hyudani, McDonalds, note that Visa to give then their due was recently voted one of the most ethical) their efforts to give monies to FIFA who propagates this corruption makes them no better.

Yet they line up and yes ... Sepp is right, they will not leave. So for all the noise they make about ethical behavior, they do nothing.

Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Sepp Blatter in "United Passions" remake

Sepp Blatter blames United States for his eight-year FIFA ban

Sepp Blatter blamed the U.S. for the eight-year ban handed down by FIFA over ethics violations on Monday, an apparent jab at a federal investigation responsible for several indictments of officials from soccer's international governing body.

"If we had awarded the World Cup in 2022 to the USA, we would not be here,” Blatter said in Italian at a meandering, nearly one-hour news conference.

Blatter was found guilty of violating FIFA’s ethics rules, allegations that centered around a $2 million payment Blatter approved for Michel Platini, a FIFA vice president and head of the Union of European Football Associations. Platini, once the former front-runner to replace Blatter, also received an eight-year suspension. Both had already received provisional bans. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of USA Today.

Kicking Back Comments: One of the things I find funny is that Sepp for all his "... it's the USA's fault ..." has hired an attorney from ... yeah, the US. Richard Cullen from McGuire Woods is representing him in the matter. Some may say, the best money can buy. Then again, with Cullen's close ties to the DOJ and FBI, it is a most excellent choice.

My title of course comes from Sepp's exiting line of "I'll be back" when he huffed his way out of the hearing Monday. 

What is certain however is that United Passions was a massive failure, only making $200K at the box office, and having bonafide actors like Tim Roth say United Passions was "awful."  Even the trailer is awful.

I honestly think Hollywood should do a movie on FIFA. Not the shimmering propaganda piece that was United passions, but a real honest to goodness behind the scenes of FIFA.

It has to be better than United Passions ... or the alternate titles they were considering.

Eight years is not enough ... but it is a good start

Fifa: Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini get eight-year bans

Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Uefa boss Michel Platini have been suspended for eight years from all football-related activities following an ethics investigation.

They were found guilty of breaches surrounding a £1.3m ($2m) "disloyal payment" made to Platini in 2011.

The Fifa ethics committee found Blatter and Platini had demonstrated an "abusive execution" of their positions.

"I will fight for me and for Fifa," Blatter, 79, said at a news conference.

The bans come into force immediately. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of BBC.

Kicking Back Comments: While this is a step in the right direction, it is far from over. Eight years is not nearly enough for what Sepp has been convicted of doing. While in essence this is a life sentence from him given his age of 79 (making him eligible to participate again at 87) not so for Platini who is only 50 and would become eligible at 58.

No of course Sepp blamed everyone but himself and was defiant in the hearing. His next step would seem to be the Court of Arbitration and Sport (CAS) which has ethical issues of its own in my view. Even there however, I think Sepp is in some trouble. Not because he is corrupt, but even worse, the world needs a head on a pike to make people start to feel better about FIFA.

That head it would seem, will be Sepp Blatter's.

Francly my dear ... I don't give a damn

Fifa scandal: Large cash sums frozen by Switzerland

Fifty Swiss bank accounts allegedly linked to world football governing body Fifa have been frozen.

US officials believe "corruption money" may have been moved through the now frozen accounts, the Swiss justice ministry said.

Between 50m and 100m Swiss francs ($50.1m-100.2m; £34m-£67m) was in them, media reports say. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of the BBC.

Kicking Back Comments: I continue to find it the height of irony that the country who many in the rest of the world feel is a 3rd rate soccer power, is single handedly cleaning it up.

Will this be our legacy to The Game?

And for any who wondered where the title came from ... 

Abby Drops Mic ... Walks Off Stage

Who Cares?

Referee Bill Kennedy, following slur by Rajon Rondo, announces he's gay

Veteran NBA referee Bill Kennedy has announced he is gay.

"I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man," Kennedy told Yahoo Sports. "I am following in the footsteps of others who have self-identified in the hopes that will send a message to young men and women in sports that you must allow no one to make you feel ashamed of who you are." ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of ESPN.

Kicking Back Comments: So before PC Principal comes to find me, the title of the article is not meant to demean Bill Kennedy for announcing he is a homosexual.

My comment is meant to ask, what difference does it make if Rondo made a slur of any type toward a referee? Why should it matter if the particular referee is gay or not? Rondo should get the book thrown at him for his words, period. 

The punishment handed down to Rondo is, by NBA standards, fairly astounding. I believe this is the first time an NBA player has been suspended for comments to a referee in the last 3 or 4 years, where a fine suffices in such cases.

From reports, the comment Rondo made came after he was given a lightning fast pair of technical fouls and was going to get his moneys worth for being run. These comments included a "homophobic slur" in his rant. That is if Rondo knew Kennedy was gay.

This has a couple of dimensions however as the Celtics and Kennedy have some history. Specifically Doc Rivers and Rondo have had other unpleasant conversations with Kennedy in the past, and some reports have it going both ways. Also, Kennedy's sexual orientation was to many an "open secret" to NBA teams and referees alike. While understandably, Kennedy is a private man and did not share this fact publicly, it was apparently known in NBA circles. 

[For any who care to take the flip side of the coin where no one knew of Kennedy's orientation, then frankly this is not an issue at all other than Rondo's bad behavior.]

Why then does it deserve special treatment from the NBA front office?

So we have a player popping off to a referee ... and who used a slur during the tirade ...
What is so unusual?

How many times have we as referees (or in traffic) collectively had our sexuality, gender, race, family relationships, heritage, and just about anything else a player (or other driver) can think of questioned openly?

Please don't misunderstand me, it is not right, and I am not condoning it, but to say it is rare is just factually incorrect.

Is the NBA now going to suspend, not just fine, ANY player who uses that slur without regard to whom it is directed to? If so, why have they not up to this point?

There is a double standard at play here and if the NBA is going to fine players for calling referees names ... that's great and it seems appropriate. If the NBA is going to start playing PC Principal by suspending players for what they think is "insensitive", not so great and are in for a world of trouble. (As one example, they were in Mexico for this game ... what is Rondo called Kennedy a slur in Spanish that he did not understand? Still a suspension?)

If Rondo was really demeaning Kennedy regarding his sexuality, and the NBA can look into his heart and determine that, a single game without pay is not nearly enough punishment for something so heinous. If this was truly the case (as Tom Ziller seems to believe in his recent article) Rondo should go for a very, very, very long time.

Instructive on this is Roberto Alomar and what his words cost him in time and treasure ... or some may say, ultimately gained him in understanding. For those who forgot, not only did Alomar spit on umpire John Hirschbeck but then made reference to his kids, one who just died from ALS and another who at that time was diagnosed with it. Hirschbeck had to be physically restrained from doing physical harm to Alomar the next day by Umpire Legend Jim Joyce.

Interestingly, I wonder if the whole thing actually forced Kennedy to make the public announcement of his homosexuality. As without Rondo getting popped and the NBA making more of it than they have anything in the past regarding dissent, does this even come up?

I for one am not sure, but would hope it was a discussion with Kennedy on such an intensely personal issue and not a way for the new commish to "show force."

For the dissent however, who cares, Rondo was mad and popped off. Throw the book at him and lets move on. If truly the alternative, get Rondo out, and move on.

Will the DOJ's investigation into FIFA hurt our efforts with ISIS?

US attorney general hopes Qatar cooperates in World Cup probe

The United States hopes Qatar will cooperate with the World Cup bidding investigation, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday, insisting that the Gulf nation being a key ally in the fight against Islamic State militants was irrelevant in any considerations about pursuing a corruption case.

The U.S. is working closely on the FIFA investigation with Swiss authorities, whose case started by probing the dual votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups five years ago. ...

See the whole story here, from Fox.

Kicking Back Comments: I have great hopes that AG Lynch is not so naive that she believes that an investigation which may strip the tiny desert nation of Qatar of its World Cup in 2022, does not have implications regarding the current operations and investigation we have regarding ISIS in the same country.

I learned this lesson long ago from a FIFA referee at a international tournament hosted in the US. While it was in regard to a US v. Mexico U17 match we did, the lesson was impactful that where countries are involved, sport, politics, economics, religion, and a very way of life are part of each match.

Ties between the peoples in Qatar involved in sport and politics are clearly the same ... as I would imagine are several government officials who are aware of various investigations. To think that one will not effect or at the very least, cross paths with the other is preposterous.

Qatar getting an opportunity to host a World Cup is a big deal for them. Countries pay big money for the chance to host ... and while I am speaking about bribes ... I am also speaking about the monies countries lay out to make that happen.

Do I think there are a few good people able to separate out ferreting out corruption from ferreting out bad guys? Yes.

Do I think the majority of people will be able to separate out those two things as distinct from the other and not look for favors in the process? No. Sadly.

To tell you the truth, that may be okay for me. I would rather give up the World Cup and get the bad guys than the other way around. In a perfect world it should be both, but we sadly do not live in such a Utopia.

Yes, it actually can get worse for FIFA

US steps up pressure against banks in Fifa probe

US prosecutors are threatening to punish banks for failing to report suspicious activity on Fifa-related accounts as part of the sprawling corruption probe into world football’s governing body, people familiar with the case told the Financial Times.

The criminal charges could have serious implications if prosecutors proceed. In 2014, JPMorgan Chase paid a $2bn penalty for failing to file such reports in relation to the so-called Ponzi scheme led by Bernard Madoff. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of FT.com.

Kicking Back Comments: The US DOJ is leaving no stone unturned with FIFA. I will be curious to see how many bank "spill the beans" on them in an effort to save their own skin and face very harsh fines if implicated in the matter. Either way, Ms. Lynch is earning her new title as "FIFA Slayer."

There is however a price that may have to be paid with regard to ISIS if the investigation keeps going the way it does. US, FIFA, and ISIS I think are about to intersect in an interesting way. It makes me wonder if Qatar will get its World Cup, so the US can pursue ISIS.

Stay tuned for that though later this week.