Game 1. Sea View League Season begins vs Woodbridge. El Toro Wins 2-1
El Toro Wins Season Opener against Woodbridge
El Toro Girls Win Season Opening Game Against Woodbridge
January 9th, 2010El Toro Girls Varsity finishes with win at Excalibur
January 9th, 2010November 19 – Shot Heard Around the World
November 19th, 2009The United States men’s national team shocked the world and laid the foundation for the soccer future when Paul Caligiuri hit the ‘shot heard round the world’ in the U.S.’ 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago to earn a berth at the 1990 FIFA World Cup on this day in soccer history in 1989.
It was the first time in 40 years that the Red, White and Blue had booked a ticket to the quadrennial event and was accomplished on long odds.
The U.S. was compromised of mainly college and semi-professionals, with Caligiuri the only full time pro playing with SV Meppen, and needed a win from the final match after drawing El Salvador at home two weeks earlier. And to make the tough more difficult the U.S. had not won an away qualifier in 21 years.
Trinidad and Tobago only needed to come away from the match with a draw to advance to their first FIFA World Cup final. And the Soca Warriors boasted one of their most talented sides ever with had one of their best sides in history with Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke leading the attack.
The U.S. entered the match on a three game goal scoring drought and so were not full of confidence. Caligiuri was a late addition by head coach Bob Gansler having only recently returned from a broken foot but it turned out to be a great managerial move.
Thirty minutes into the match, Caligiuri pushed into the attack and received a square ball from Tab Ramos. The ball took a poor bounce on the choppy pitch and after turning down an opportunity to play back to Ramos or keep possession the California native beat one man and sent a high arching left footed shot into the goal from 30 yards out. The T&T keeper was caught off guard and in trying to follow the path of the shot claims he lost the ball in the sun which allowed it to sail over his head and into the goal. Caligiuri earned 110 caps during his career with the national team but only scored 5 goals in those games.
Paul Caligiuri in the U.S. locker room in Port of Spain after the Americans' triumph 20 years ago today. Photo by Michael Lewis
“It proved to the rest of the world we can play and we can qualify. We knew what was on the line for the future of soccer in the United States.”
The U.S defense held off the home side attack for the remainder of the game and in the process changed the history of probably both countries soccer programs.
The U.S. has gone on to play in every FIFA World Cup finals since 1990 and are now the dominant team in the CONCACAF region.
“It wasn’t like it is today,” University of Virginia and U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola said. “We had no pro league and no money and very little organization. Looking back it’s amazing that we achieved what we did. We had guys playing in semi-pro leagues and Sunday leagues just trying to keep fit, and in the end we did it. Everything the US has achieved since then is based on that win.”
Trinidad and Tobago has struggled over the years but finally made their first FIFA World Cup when the qualified for Germany 2006. Fittingly Yorke and Latapy were both a part of the team that successfully qualified for that tournament. While merely a consolation prize, T&T can take some satisfaction after winning a tribute match 4-1 against the U.S. in 2006 with players from the epic 1989 match returning to Port of Spain for the match.
THE MATCH
19 November 1989, National Stadium, Port of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago 0-1 USA
Scorers: Paul Caligiuri
USA: Meola, Windischmann, Doyle, Trittschuh, Krumpe, Caligiuri, Bliss, Harkes, Ramos, Vermes, Murray.
Trinidad and Tobago: Maurice, Morris, Williams, Francis, Faustin, Latapy, Lewis, Allen, Jones, Yorke, Jamerson.
http://www.soccer365.com/us_national_teams/story_191109191451.php
Coach sees both sides of rough tactics by women’s soccer player
November 12th, 2009
Kit Vela, the head coach of the University of New Mexico women's soccer team
Kit Vela, the head coach of the University of New Mexico women’s soccer team, left the field after last week’s Mountain West Conference semifinal thinking her team had just lost a well-played, hard-fought, rather routine college match — nothing more, nothing less.She watched her players congratulate their opponents from Brigham Young, which had won 1-0. In particular, she said she noticed starting junior defender Elizabeth Lambert walking from one BYU player to the next, congratulating them, wishing them well. Lambert had received a yellow card near the end of the game for a questionable tackle, just the third yellow card of her career, but from Vela’s vantage point, she thought the card “really wasn’t for much of anything.”
Other than that, Vela thought Lambert had done nothing out of the ordinary, making tackles and plays that were part of “the flow of the game.”
Hours later, when watching sports highlights on television, Vela said she was “stunned” to see a very different portrait of Lambert. It was the first time Vela saw the video that millions around the world have now seen, the awful highlight reel showing Lambert kicking, punching and slapping opponents and, worst of all, violently yanking a BYU player’s ponytail, causing that player’s head to snap back as she fell to the ground.
The seven incidents paint a dreadful picture, the kind of visual compilation that makes one stop and watch, over and over again, as if it’s the metaphoric train wreck.
“I wish I had seen it,” Vela said Wednesday afternoon, in her first interview since the video of Lambert went viral on the Internet. “If I had seen the hair pull, I would have pulled her off the field, and we wouldn’t be sitting here today. … But nobody saw the hair pull in the run of play.”
Unfortunately, that includes the referee, the two assistant referees and the alternate referee, all of whom missed what has become the most-watched uncalled red card in the history of women’s soccer. For their mistake, perhaps they should be forced to miss something else — a few games by way of suspension.
How did all of these people in positions of authority miss what the cameras so easily caught?
The ponytail play, like several others in the Lambert “highlight” reel, occurred off the ball, away from the game’s immediate action. By the time Vela said her eyes went to that spot, the BYU player was on the ground, and the game was moving on.
“We didn’t see it,” she said. “The refs didn’t see it. Believe me, I wish I had.”
She also said she missed the other especially offensive hit, Lambert’s punch to an opponent’s back after that player elbowed Lambert in the sternum.
As for the rest of the fouls, Vela says that Lambert’s jousting and sparring looked like the action from just about any other women’s college or pro soccer game.
“We could take any game from any school in the country, and take everything … the tackles, the arms in the back … and you’d find much of the same thing, some worse, some not as bad,” said Vela, 41, in her ninth season at New Mexico. “But those things happen all the time. It’s a 90-minute match, but you’re looking at 45 seconds of what they wanted to show on TV. Soccer is a contact sport, and there’s a lot of stuff that happens.”
This sounds quite brazen, but in some ways, it’s the harsh reality of the development of girls and women in sports. Because of Title IX, we’ve created a generation or two of female athletes who are as tough and fearless as their brothers, with the grass stains and black eyes to prove it. But they, like their brothers, need to know when toughness crosses the line to reckless, outright dangerous play.
The day after the game, Lambert was suspended specifically for the ponytail pull, Vela said. She said she has seen Lambert every day since, and while she won’t say when the player’s suspension will end, she does hope she comes back to the team.
Just like the guys, she wants her player to have a second chance.
“This is the first time she’s done anything even close to this,” Vela said. “She lost control in the heat of the moment. Even Liz says, ‘In hindsight, I wish (the referee) would have seen this and thrown me out.’ It would have been better for all concerned.”
By Christine Brennan, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/brennan/2009-11-11-brennan-soccer_N.htm
Charlie Davies Update
November 10th, 2009The latest on USA forward Charlie Davies, who was seriously injured in an auto accident a few days before the World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica last month:
Davies has been released from care in D.C. after undergoing several surgeries at Washington Hospital Center and treatment at National Rehabilitation Hospital.
“I would like to take the time to thank everyone who has dealt with me in the Hospital Center and NRH for really putting in the time to help me get better as a person and as an athlete,” he said in a statement released by the hospital. “I continue to improve every day and I look forward to getting back on my feet and attacking rehabilitation. Thank you for everyone’s support, it really means a lot to me.”
James DeBritz, director of orthopaedic trauma at Washington Hospital Center, said: “Charlie faces a long recovery from his orthopaedic injuries. It will take time and extensive physical therapy for his bones and soft tissue to heal. However, his overall health, age and positive attitude should help him to have a good outcome.”
Davies was evaluated and treated at NRH by Michael Yochelson, associate medical director, who said that, after intensive rehabilitation for his orthopaedic injuries, “Charlie will do extremely well and be able to complete his journey on the road to recovery.”
The accident investigation continues, according to Park Police. His legal team said: “This matter is currently under investigation, and Mr. Davies is cooperating fully with that investigation with assistance of his attorneys, Jon D. Pels and James O’Neill. As his counsel, we have instructed Mr. Davies not to discuss this matter with the media until the investigation is complete, and then only in the presence of counsel. We ask that you respect this request.”
Davies will continue his rehabilitation with the U.S. national team medical staff.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/11/charlie_davies_update_1.html
5 Burning Questions: Soccer bracket
November 10th, 2009The 2009 NCAA women’s soccer tournament field was announced Monday night, with 64 teams in the mix. As we prepare for the first game to kick off Thursday, we’ve got the answers to 5 Burning Questions on the bracket.
1. What the heck happened to Portland’s seed?
In light of Portland’s announcement that Michelle Enyeart will miss the NCAA tournament with a knee injury sustained with five seconds left in the first half of the regular-season finale, the team’s unexpected drop to a No. 2 seed seems almost minor by comparison. Every team deals with injuries — Enyeart, UCLA’s Kara Lang and North Carolina’s Nikki Washington are among the stars missing in action this year — but the Pilots seem particularly cursed when it comes to making it to November with their key pieces in place.
[+] Enlarge
Will Crew for ESPN.comSophie Schmidt and Portland were favored by many for a No. 1 seed.
Yet the decision to not only seed Portland second, setting up what would be its third quarterfinal in the past four years against UCLA in Los Angeles, but place it on the same side of the bracket as Stanford, was one of the more baffling moves in recent memory.
Selection committee chairman Paul Bradshaw of Baylor offered his group’s thought process.
“We spent a good amount of the time laboring over seeding, and in particular, the team that you mentioned and certainly for that last No. 1 spot,” Bradshaw said in response to a question about Portland. “I think the committee, when it comes to seeding, is really looking at what those teams have done against the very best teams. That’s truly how you really earn a seed is really proving yourself against the best of the best.
“And ultimately, the committee just felt like the four teams that earned the No. 1 seeds had done more against the very top of the field than anybody else.”
Nobody need accuse the committee members of taking their duties lightly. As Bradshaw recounted, they didn’t wrap up their debates until many hours after midnight turned Sunday into Monday.
But they still got this one wrong.
Based on the last RPI released publicly, through Nov. 3, Portland had a 10-1-0 record against teams ranked in the top 50, including a 6-1-0 record against top-50 teams that made the NCAA tournament. The Pilots outscored their opponents 24-5 in those games, losing only a 3-1 decision at Texas A&M.
To be fair, Bradshaw noted that in the case of the teams at the top of the seeding, the committee narrows its focus to an even more select group of opponents, closer to the top 10.
That still doesn’t explain how UCLA edged ahead of Portland. Thanks to a schedule heavy on Pac-10 teams, Portland posted a 9-0-0 record against common opponents with UCLA (the Bruins went 8-0-1 in those games). The only win of consequence that UCLA had beyond those games was a 3-0 win against Florida over Labor Day weekend. Sure, it played Stanford and North Carolina. I was at both games, and the Bruins were played off the field in both, losing 2-0 and 7-2, respectively. It’s incomprehensible that the Florida win was the deciding factor.
In this case, it feels like the committee let the task of counting trees get in the way of seeing the forest.
2. Which team was the biggest snub?
Arizona State saved its season with last weekend’s sweep against Oregon State and Oregon, earning an at-large bid despite a 2-6-2 record in the Pac-10.
Missouri closed its regular season with a conference title after going 7-1-2 in the Big 12. The only problem for the Tigers was they still had a conference tournament to play. They lost in the semifinals and won’t get a chance to take that regular-season crown to the NCAA tournament.
Bradshaw said the committee didn’t focus on conference record as an isolated factor, but that 2-6-2 mark still proved hard for some to swallow.
“There were certainly some committee members that struggled with the record within the conference itself,” Bradshaw said of Arizona State. “But in the end, the committee just felt like based upon the entire body of work, the team was worthy of placement into the field.”
There is a legitimate case, based on strength of schedule, to be made for both decisions. But if you win the Big 12 and don’t get into the tournament, you’ve got a right to feel snubbed.
3. What is the best place to be for the first two rounds?
If you’re not currently employed as a coach at Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Santa Clara or USC, it’s the campus of Santa Clara. Back in the field of 64 after a one-year absence, the Broncos earned a seed and the right to host (and consequently, the right not to play at nearby Stanford until and unless they reach the third round).
But with minimizing travel always a factor, some first- and second-round pods will always be more difficult than others. And Santa Clara welcomes some dangerous leftovers in first-round foe Michigan State — which has two premier offensive talents in Laura Heyboer and Lauren Hill — as well as Oklahoma State, a team on as blistering a hot streak as any team in the field, and USC with faces remaining from its 2007 championship.
4. Which bandwagon is worth hopping a ride on?
Experiencing Marquette begins long before the whistle blows. It might begin with the garden gnome dubbed “Little Nugget” who watches over the team from the bench, always looking at the goal the team is shooting at. On a cold postseason day, it might be the sight of coach Markus Roeders wearing shorts. Not soccer shorts, mind you, just regular khaki shorts.
Superstition dictates he continue wearing the shorts; plus, as he puts it, he’s “warm by nature.”
It’s a little left of normal, but what else would you expect from someone who grew up with parents who were puppeteers from the German version of Sesame Street?
“It was probably a little bit of different type of upbringing,” Roeders conceded after recalling a childhood meeting with Kermit Love, the late American puppeteer who created Big Bird.
Or as the clock ticks toward kickoff, it might be the team’s penchant for dancing that catches your eye. Stretching, waiting in line for a drill, standing on the sideline, it really doesn’t matter; if there is music playing — and at times it feels like even that might be optional — Marquette will be dancing.
On a roster with three sets of actual sisters, the sense of family is not just genetic.
“Enjoy the moment,” Roeders said of his philosophy. “Work hard at what we do now, but down the road, what you’re going to remember more than anything is not the result, not that certain game; you’re going to remember what you went through and the people you had next to you. The tears and the joy that you had along the way, you’re going to remember that a lot more. So in some ways, it’s a lot like a family. We do so much together, and we stress that.”
Lest you worry about the actual game, Marquette has plenty to offer beyond good vibes. With its unique 3-5-2 formation, the Golden Eagles pose a tactical challenge for opponents.
“It’s really all based on supporting angles and getting players back behind the ball,” Roeders said of a system his team used to allow just 12 goals in 22 games this season. “I think it’s just, in some ways, our unique style and system which is a little bit different.”
From gnomes to puppeteers to a rotation of players that goes almost 20 deep, Marquette is itself a little bit different.
“We have some odd quirks, just like every family, so to speak,” Roeders said.
The fun continues Friday against host Dayton in the first round.
Which team will win it all?
Four for the College Cup: Stanford, Portland, North Carolina, Florida State.
Why Stanford will win: When in doubt, take the team with the best player. And Stanford’s Kelley O’Hara has been the best player in the nation all season. The Cardinal also have the individual talent and quick-strike potential up top in O’Hara, Christen Press and Lindsay Taylor to score goals even when they’re being outplayed. But because of the overall talent, the team usually dictates the run of play.
By Graham Hays
ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=4640285
The Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs In America
November 10th, 2009
It has been nearly a year since 24/7 Wall St. did its latest edition of the Twenty Five Most Valuable Blogs. Valuations have moved up significantly since then. Advertising CPMs have improved markedly since the beginning of this year. A number of the largest blogs on our list have larger audiences than they did a year ago.
All of the blogs analyzed here are private companies. Blogs owned by larger firms are not measured. Blogs used primarily as fronts for other businesses have also been excluded. Some of the blogs on the list have raised VC money and those sums can be used as guidelines if they are disclosed. The only worthwhile value is what an acquirer will pay, so any estimate needs to take into account the value the blog may have to an outside buyer. Several blogs from earlier versions of this list were sold, among them Ars Technica and PaidContent. Some of the largest blogs based on audience measurements do not have significant revenue and are also excluded. For instance, “The Daily Beast”, a large news commentary site controlled by IACI, takes almost no advertising. In theory, it has little if any economic value at all.
Because of the recovering economy, 24/7 Wall St. has moved up the multiples that it assigned to blog revenue and operating profits, when there are any, by about 45% from our last list. Several large public companies in the media sector have stock prices that have doubled since their March lows. The prices being paid for online media properties are almost certainly rising.
To determine value, 24/7 Wall St. looked at unique visitor and page view information from several public sources including Alexa, Quantcast, Compete, and comScore. These services are often criticized for estimating website traffic too low and we have taken that into account to the extent possible. We also looked at audience measurements provided by the blogs themselves when it seemed credible. Our estimated CPMs for ads are based on the current display and text ad environment, the quality of ads at each blog, and the number of ads that it runs on the average page. The CPM value assigned to each blog is based on all the ads it runs on its typical pages. To determine margins, 24/7 looked at headcount when available, and estimated costs of operating and maintaining websites. More complex content platforms were assigned higher monthly costs. Current audience growth rates were taken into account. A site which has traffic doubling year-over-year was given a higher multiple than one which is losing traffic. Because not all blogs make money, multiples of revenue and operating income were used to assess value. 24/7 used its estimate for revenue over the last three months and annualized the figure to derive an annual revenue and expense figure.
Large blogs with big “moats” got higher multiple that smaller ones. Recreating Huffington Post or TechCrunch would be extremely difficult, even in a moderately good economy. Blogs with one founder who does most of the writing were given lower multiple because the presence of that single person is essential to the company’s value. Finally, blogs which have operated for a long time or have recently received funding received higher valuations because they are more likely to survive.
1. Gawker Properties, $300 million. This group of blogs which includes Gawker, Deadspin, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker has about 23 million monthly unique visitors and 250 million page views. Owner Nick Denton has pointed out the business is highly profitable and growing and that advertising revenue has performed better than expected. Almost all the advertising at the family of websites is premium marketing from major companies. The average CPM on a page is estimated to be $20. That would drive $60 million in annual revenue. Gawker is not expensive to run. Its writers are paid relatively low wages. Many of the blogs Gawker owns have only five or ten writers and editors. Gawker keeps at least 50% of its revenue as operating income. The valuation is based on 10x operating income.
2. The Huffington Post, $112 million. The Huffington Post is ranked first among all blogs on the Technorati 100, which means it has a huge number of websites linking to it. Quantcast puts its global unique visitor audience at 20 million. The site is set up to encourage navigation from page to page and uses editor slide shows to build page views which are probably about seven per visitor. Huffington advertisers are a mix of high and middle CPM marketers. Average CPM per page is about $10. The company’s annual revenue run rate should be up to $16 million. Huffington executives say that the company does not make money. Huffington’s prestige and its strategic value to a buyer make it extremely valuable. The 24/7 figure is based on seven times revenue, a much larger-than-normal premium for a media property.
3. Perez Hilton, $44 million. The entertainment and gossip site have over 7 million unique visitors. 24/7 estimates twelve page views per visitor. The site carries very little premium advertising although its text link ads probably do well. CPM per page is $6. The site has revenue of about $6.2 million a year. Perez Hilton has very little staff and appears to have very low operating costs. The company’s margin should be 60%. This site would be very valuable to a large media company with online entertainment content.
4. Drudge Report. $42 million. Most measurements of the blog show that traffic trends are flat to down. The site has about nine million unique visitors. Page view estimates published by Drudge are absurdly high. The site carries a very modest amount of premium advertising and it is unlikely that the CPM per page is above $5. Revenue is about $8 million. Drudge appears to have very low staff levels and extremely small operating costs. Operating income should be about $6 million.
5. TechCrunch. $32 million. The sites that make up TechCrunch have almost 4 million unique visitors and the network has about eighteen million page views. CPMs are very high due to the quality and number of advertisers. 24/7 Wall St. estimates them to be $35 per page. Advertising revenue is about $7.5 million. Other related businesses bring in another $2 million. TechCrunch has a staff of about thirty. Company margins are about 30%, or just less than $3 million.
6. PopSugar Properties. $26 million. The Sugar Network has 11 million unique visitors to its site which include PopSugar, FitSugar, GeekSuger, and SavvySugar. The visitors to the sites are young and predominantly female. The quality of the advertising is low and the sites probably do not get a CPM per page of much more than $6. The company has revenue of about $7.5 million a year. The sites have a very large staff, probably more than 60 people. Operating profits are no better than 25% of revenue, or $2 million. This company would have tremendous value to a media company that targets young women.
7. Politico. $23 million. The site is the largest single media property in the US devoted exclusively to national politics. It has more than 5 million unique visitors and 40 million page views a month. Politico needs a better sales operation. It carries a number of high quality advertisers from corporate image and policy marketers mixed with a number of very low CPM campaigns. Advertising CPM per page is $10. Politico has a great deal of value to a national news organization. It does, however, have very high costs and employees at least 80 people. Politico loses $5 million a year on $5 million in revenue.
8. MacRumors. $20 million. MacRumors has 6.5 million unique visitors per month and 45 million page views. The quality of the advertising is weak. The company’s revenue is about $4.4 million. MacRumors staff is small and the publishing platform the site uses is probably very inexpensive. MacRumors margins are at least 50%. Competition in the “Apple” news website business has gotten fierce.
9. Boing Boing. $18 million. This leading tech and gadget site has 3 million unique visitors a month and probably over twenty-four million page views. CPMs should be relatively high–$14. Boing Boing has revenue of $4 million. The company has thirty or more people so its margins are probably only 50%.
10. Mashable. $17.5 million.This is the top blog in the country that concentrates on social media. It has 4.2 million unique visitors a month. Mashable employees about thirty people. The site has 30 million page views a month. Some of the advertising is from the tech industry and should carry high CPMS, but a fair amount of the inventory is sold to more generic marketers. Total CPM per page is $12. Total revenue for Mashable is $4.3 million. The site is in a highly competitive part of the blog market and is not the leading site in size or reputation. Margins are about 45%.
11. Seeking Alpha. $16 million.Seeking Alpha, the financial content aggregation site, is now nearly as large as some major media websites like SmartMoney and FT.com. The site has 2.5 million unique visitors and 18 million page views. Revenue is $3.5 million a year because of the high quality of the financial advertisers that the site runs. The company has a large staff in Israel and the US. Seeking Alpha has a complex publishing structure. The company makes a very small operating profit. It would be very valuable property for a large media conglomerate that has business and financial websites. Unlike some other sites on the list, SA does not rely heavily on its founder and CEO for its future success.
12. GigaOm. $15 million. This network of websites, founded by Om Malik, includes Tech Insider, CleanTech, Open Source, and Mac Lovers. GigaOm also has a paid research operation and runs several conferences. The sites have about 1.7 million unique visitors and 12 million page views. CPM per page $20. Total advertising revenue is $2.8 million. Sales from other divisions are $1 million. The company has close to 35 employees and high costs of operating conferences. Operating profit is $1.7 million.
13. Breitbart Sites. $11 million. This family of sites includes Breitbart, Big Hollywood, Big Government, and Breitbart TV. Total unique visitors across all sites are 3.2 million and 18 million page views. The site carries a reasonable amount of premium advertisers. CPMs are $12, putting total revenue at $2.5 million. Staff levels seem to be very low and the publishing platforms are simple. Operating profit is about $1.5 million.
14. SB Nation Network. $8 million. The company has a network of about 200 relatively small sites across all major sports. The network has 4 million unique visitors. SB Nation has about twenty employees. The sites are a page view machine but the advertising is low quality. Total revenue of $2 million with very modest margins.
15. ReadWriteWeb. $7 million. The site covers online trends. It bills itself as a site for tech innovators. The site has 1.2 million unique visitors and 10 million page views. The company has a staff of ten. CPM per page is very high with some pages carrying as many as 10 premium ads. CPM at $20 brings total revenue to $2.4 million. Margins are probably close to $1 million. ReadWriteWeb is in an extremely competitive part of the online content business.
16. The Business Insider. $7 million. The Business Insider is a family of websites covering media, the internet, business, and finance. The sites together have 1.8 million unique visitors and 14 million page views. The sites carry a large amount of premium advertising. The Business Insider revenue is about $2 million. The firm has a large staff of about 20 people and probably losses a modest amount of money.
17. Destructoid. $5 million. Mega-gamer site with 1.1 million unique visitors and ten million page views. The website is game reviews meets social networking. It appears to have very loyal audience. Most of the content is user-created and the staff appears to be small. There are not a lot of ads, but those that run are from the game industry and should have high CPMs. Annual revenue is $1.4 million and margins are at least 50%.
18. Apple Insider. $4.5 million. Another of the many websites about what goes on in the land of Steve Jobs and his many spectacularly successful inventions. The site has 1.2 million unique visitors and eight million page views. Advertising is a mix of high-end consumer products, which tend to pay low CPMs, and business electronics. Apple Insider appears to have a small staff. Revenue is about $1.3 million and the site should make $700,000 in operating profit.
19. //film. (SlashFilm). $4 million. The audience for this film blogging site has dropped about 15% over the last three months, but unique visitors are still 1.3 million and eleven million page views. The site carries very little premium advertising, averaging CPMs at less than $10 per page. Revenue for //film is about $1.3 million a year. The company probably is keeping more than half of that as profit.
20. SearchEnginLand. $4 million. This site, which covers the search engine industry, makes most of its money from conferences called the SMX Search Market Expos. The company that runs the site and conferences is Third Door Media. The main site has about 400,000 unique visitors and 3.5 million page views. That means the internet part of the company has revenue of just over $600,000. Revenue from the conferences is probably $2 million. The parent firm has a large staff.
21. Smashing Magazine. $3.5 million. The site is the online destination for graphics design and has 900,000 unique visitors a month and 6 million page views. The site has a huge Twitter following of over 80,000. The company has a very small staff and some outside contributors. Each page has a large number of premium online ads. Revenue of $1.9 million and 30% operating margin.
22. Talking Points Memo Sites. $3.5 million. This collection of sites includes political coverage site Talking Points Memo, TPMMuckracker, and TPM TV. The sites have 1 million monthly unique and 8 million page views. The company has a small staff and gets some news from wire services. TPM operates in the crowded and competitive space that includes The Huffington Post and Politico. The sites have very little high-CPM ads. Revenue is just under $1 million a year and the business does no better than breakeven.
23. VentureBeat. $3 million. This is the class of the online venture capital news and analysis websites. The site has 800,000 unique visitors and seven million page views. There are a number of premium advertisers on VentureBeat and most pages carry multiple ads. Revenue for the company is $1.25 million. Venture Beat’s staff is large enough that it probably does not make money.
24. The Superficial. $3 million. The Superficial is the flagship of a small number of sites run by Anticlown Media. The site is a modest version of Perez Hilton, and competes in a sector that includes websites like TMZ and the online operations of People and US magazines. The Superficial has one million monthly unique visitors and Compete shows a slight drop in audience recently. The site has 10 million page views and very little high CPM advertising. Revenue is about $1.5 million.
25. 24/7 Wall St. Network. $???. Family of sites which includes 24/7 Wall St., Volume Spike Investor, BioHealth Investor, and Apple Financial News.
http://247wallst.com/2009/11/10/the-twenty-five-most-valuable-blogs-in-america/
New York Times–Pulling Attention With a Yank of a Pony Tail
November 10th, 2009The Major Soccer League playoffs may be in full swing in the United States, but it is a female soccer player who has been appearing coast to coast on television this week.
But even David Beckham might not want the publicity, the notoriety, that has the nation fixed on Elizabeth Ann Lambert.
ABC’s “Good Morning America” program on Monday described her play as “despicable losership.”
ESPN Sports had Julie Foudy, one of the icons of America’s world and Olympic winning women’s soccer teams, call Lambert’s version of the Beautiful Game as “going over the line.”
And once video of Lambert’s seven deadly fouls during a college semi-final last week hit the Internet, a Facebook “Ban Elizabeth Lambert from college soccer” page attracted 3,605 members in a couple of days.
The video is pretty damning. Lambert kicks, slaps, punches and finally yanks an opponent to the ground by her pony tail.
“Sure, there is jostling off the ball, that’s part of the game of soccer,” said Foudy, now herself a mother and an advocate for women’s and children’s rights.
“And yes,” Foudy added, “there’s even some hair pulling. But, oh my goodness, if you’re going to pull someone’s pony tail and about snap their head off with it, that is going over the line.”
It cannot be long before Lambert is drawn to the attention of Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, world soccer’s governing body. As one member of the president’s inner circle who did not want to be named said of the video: “Mr. Blatter is fond of saying ‘the Future is Feminine.’ This won’t impress him.”
This was the Mountain West Conference Women’s Soccer semi-final last Thursday between Brigham Young University and University of New Mexico. B.Y.U. scored the only goal during the first half, and it is perhaps significant that New Mexico’s Lambert perpetrated her series of fouls on the scorer, Carlee Payne, and the game’s outstanding player, Kassidy Shumway, after the half-time break.
There was some provocation: Payne’s sly dig into the rib cage of Lambert.
That, as the video sequence emanating from Mountain West TV runs, was the first act in the spiral of violence. Lambert retaliated with a punch between Payne’s shoulder blades.
What followed would chill the blood of some of soccer’s so-called hard men. Scything tackles from behind, kicks up to waist high, simultaneous punches with one fist into the face and the other behind the neck, cleats aimed into the inner thigh. And finally, that violent jerk on Shumway’s pony tail, yanking the six-foot, or 1.8-meter, tall striker to the grass.
In the cold light of the following morning, Lambert issued a drafted apology. “I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful,” it read. “I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all the damages I have brought upon them, and especially sorry to B.Y.U. and the B.Y.U. women’s soccer players personally affected by my actions.”
The apology did not quite cut it. The university banned Lambert immediately and indefinitely from training, playing or even kicking a ball until the Mountain West Conference has reviewed the situation and “acted accordingly.”
The thousands of contributions to the Facebook page range from the lewd to the properly concerned Soccer Moms of the U.S.A. The suggestions hover from counseling to a lifetime suspension for Lambert, who will be 21 next month.
But too few ask what blame should be bourne by Lambert’s coach, Kit Vela, or the referee, Joe Pimentel, and assistant referees. How could it be that Vela did not remove her player when the emotions quite clearly were getting the better of her?
How could Pimentel, a referee of some standing locally, stand by when such appalling and deliberate foul play was afoot?
He issued one yellow card in the match, for possibly the least of Lambert’s misdeeds, a trip on Payne. He took no action against Lambert’s team mate who in that same incident kicked the ball into Payne’s face as she hit the ground.
He ignored, or perhaps he and the other officials did not see the punches, slaps, high tackles and pony tail yank.
As FIFA’s head of medicine, the Belgian doctor Michel d’Hooghe said here two weeks ago, it is time referees were made to know the laws and to protect players from deliberate violence by opponents.
He had men, not women in mind.
But responsibility is not simply for the referees. It is in the first instance the duty of players, and then those who instruct them.
Vela has been in her post for nine years. She was as inert as the referee during this unacceptable malevolence. And maybe Vela should examine her own leadership.
She said the morning after the contest: “Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship.”
Further questions that need examining relate to what was said in the locker room at half time. New Mexico was by then struggling to cope with higher-ranked B.Y.U.
New Mexico’s players knew it would be tough, but on Lobo TV, New Mexico’s own university station, Vela said on the eve of the game: “I love this group of players. They are fiery and they’re just excited to go play.”
The coach lights the fire and stands back while one of her players goes out of control. The world is watching on through the new digital communication that, for a week, makes Elizabeth Lambert more of a celebrity than Beckham.
November 11, 2009
Global Soccer
By Rob Hughes
The field of 64 teams, which will compete for the 28th NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, was announced today
November 9th, 2009Nov. 9, 2009
NCAA RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — The field of 64 teams, which will compete for the 28th NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, was announced today by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee.
The top 16 teams are seeded and conference teams cannot play each other in the first or second rounds. When pairing teams, the committee follows geographic proximity parameters. Sites are selected for the first and second rounds to create the least number of flights. Thirteen of the top 16 seeds will be hosting first- and second-round competition.
The four No. 1 seeds include Stanford University, an automatic qualifier from the Pacific-10 Conference, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, an automatic qualifier from the Atlantic Coast Conference, University of California, Los Angeles from the Pacific-10 and Florida State University from the Atlantic Coast.
Stanford will host Northern Arizona University, the Big Sky Conference champion, in a first-round match on Thursday, November 12. UCLA will host Boise State University, the Western Athletic Conference champion, in its opening-round game on Friday, Nov. 13. That same day North Carolina will host High Point University, the Big South Conference champion. Florida State, an at-large selection from the Atlantic Coast, will host Southeastern Louisiana University, the automatic qualifier from the Southland Conference.
North Carolina is the only team who has been invited to the tournament every year since its inception in 1982.
The No. 2 seeds include Boston College, University of Portland, University of South Carolina, Columbia and University of Notre Dame. Capturing No. 3 seeds are University of Central Florida, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and University of Florida. Santa Clara University, Penn State University, University of Maryland and Louisiana State University complete the top 16 seeded teams, each earning a No. 4 seed.
The Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10 lead all conferences with eight teams in the tournament. Seven teams will represent the Big East Conference. Six teams enter the tournament from the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference will be represented by five teams.
Thirty conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2009 championship. The remaining 34 teams were selected at-large.
The automatic qualifying conferences and their representatives follow: America East Conference, Boston University; Atlantic 10 Conference, University of Dayton; Atlantic Coast, North Carolina; Atlantic Sun Conference, Kennesaw State University; Big 12 Conference, Oklahoma State University; Big East, Notre Dame; Big Sky, Northern Arizona; Big South, High Point; Big Ten, Pennsylvania State University; Big West Conference, University of California, Santa Barbara; Colonial Athletic Association, University of North Carolina, Wilmington; Conference USA, University of Memphis; Horizon League, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Ivy Group, Harvard University; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Loyola College (Maryland); Mid-American Conference, Central Michigan University; Missouri Valley Conference, Illinois State University; Mountain West Conference, San Diego State University; Northeast Conference, Monmouth University; Ohio Valley Conference, Murray State University; Pacific-10, Stanford; Patriot League, Colgate University; Southeastern, South Carolina; Southern Conference, Davidson College; Southland, Southeastern Louisiana; Southwestern Conference, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff; The Summit League, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis; Sun Belt Conference, University of Denver; West Coast Conference, University of Portland; and WAC, Boise State.
Nine teams are making their first appearance in the tournament and include: Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Boise State, Central Michigan, Davidson, Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis, Murray State, North Carolina-Wilmington, Southeastern Louisiana and St. John’s (New York).
First-round matches will be played Friday, November 13, at campus sites, and second-round matches will be played Sunday, November 15, at the same campus sites. The first-round contests hosted by Stanford will be played Thursday, November 12 with the second-round game to be played Saturday, November 14. Third-round games will be played at on-campus sites November 20, 21 or 22. Quarterfinal matches will be played November 27, 28 or 29. Times will be announced.
The 28th annual NCAA Women’s College Cup will be played December 4 and 6 at the Aggie Soccer Stadium in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M University, College Station will serve as host.
In the 2008 championship game, North Carolina captured its 19th NCAA title with a 2-1 victory over Notre Dame. Tarheel Casey Nogueira was named the Most Outstanding Player on offense and the Fighting Irish’s Carrie Drew was named the Most Outstanding Player on defense.
2009 Division 1 Women’s Soccer Tourney Bracket
November 9th, 2009
2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket