Sports Notes 2008

NR TOP 10 - DECEMBER, 2008 - NR SPORTS & TV REVIEWS RULE
With the November Top 10 ratings chart taking the top position the top article was our Sports Notes column EPL MADNESS - CHELSEA'S ON TOP BUT WHAT THE HULL took the number one spot based on being a pure column and not a Top 10 chart. In doing so it also qualified as being our fastest riser.... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EXTRA - FOOTBALLS TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES - December, 2008
There needs to be a club salary cap. Eleven years ago I asked former Italy International then the MLS's New England Revolution keeper Walter Zenga who had the strongest football league in Europe. He replied it changes based on who spends the most money to acquire talent. Fast forward to today and Zenga's words have become even more astute. The Man City acquisition of Robinho has not proved to be their saving grace since the club lacks quality and Robinho needs help. After 16 games the side has only 18 points only 3 above the relegation zone.The bottom line is a solution. Part 2 - SEEK & YOU SHALL FIND - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EXTRA Part 2 - SEEK & YOU SHALL FIND RESULTS for RAIDING In FOOTBALL - December, 2008
An averaging system could be implemented whereas an average of all salaries spent per year throughout the league could be applied. That figure could be increased X percent per year as they do in the USA. Any clubs over the average could hold their interest but have to get down to the average over a three year period. The bottom line is a solution. Come up with one and USE IT or the consequences could be LOSE IT, the integrity of the game... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Biz - ARMY'S Black Knights With First-Ever Camouflage Football Helmets - December, 2008
Riddell Provided Protection for Annual Army-Navy Game; Outfits Black Knights With First-Ever Camouflage Football Helmets Riddell Uses Actual Military Print in Industry Leading Concussion-Reducing Helmets ...... More NBA.- More Football/Soccer - More Sports.

TV - VIDEO BEAT Part 2 - NO OSCAR - NO PERFORMANCE - December, 2008
He won't be receiving an Oscar for this. . In what we felt could have been one of the greatest fights of all time with Oscar De La Hoya against than man recognized as being the best pound for pound fighter in the world Philippine Manny Pacquiao turned out to be a dud for the non Philippine viewers and those who plunked down major money for the event which took in over $100 million. - Asian Top Model Sheena Sakai said "It's not where you come from (that matters) it's where you're going." - Recommended TV Listings - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - YO!!! IT'S ON! - PACQUIAO vs. DE LA HOYA - December, 2008
When it comes to a dream fight this is it the Philippines Manny Pacquiao deemed the best pound for pound fighter on the planet verses the Golden Boy USA/Mexico Oscar De La Hoya. They will to meet Saturday Dec. 6 (Sunday morning December 7 in Southeast Asia) in an HBO PPV (Pay Per View) fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. There is a back story to this fight. In September 2006, Pacquiao signed a major deal with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions which was good for seven fights and backed out on the deal.... - FIFA TOP 10 - Entertainment - TV

NR TOP 10 - NOVEMBER, 2008 - NR TOP 10 COLUMNS TAKE 5 of 10 Spots
As the year winds down this month we took a look at the stories published this year that appealed to NR readers. The NR Top 10 columns registered five of the 10 positions and was also the top section visited. The October NR Top 10 took the 8th position and was our fastest riser of the month. Our Sports Notes column took three positions on the list topped by September (4th), July (8th) and (6th) and our July Extra edition locked down the 9th spot. Our television review column Video Beat took the remaining two positions. The oldest story was about former NFL (National Football League) player Howie Long who made his made his underdog life TOP DOG. .- SEARCH ENGINES GUILTY OF INTERNET THEFT?.... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - EPL MADNESS - CHELSEA'S ON TOP BUT WHAT THE HULL! - NOVEMBER, 2008
Harry Redknapp showed that he can only swim and not walk on water as the Spurs lost their first game under his leadership - Who-da-thunk a that a third of the way through the season that a promoted club Hull City would command holding down the sixth position in the standings - As the Beatles sang, ''Money can't buy you love,' and former owner and Thailand's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold the club for a profit but is now a man without a country... - FIFA TOP 10 - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - THE BUSINESS OF ATHLETES - OCTOBER, 2008
When you think about the plight of some former athletes after they leave sports many are in a situation where they have top struggle in life. In some cases it's due to a lack of education and not being prepared to go on in the real world. For others they succumb to drugs or they squandered the money they earned in sports and their lives fall apart with some falling into a destitute situation others WIN... - FIFA TOP 10 - Entertainment - TV

NR TOP 10 - OCTOBER, 2008 - NR TOP 10 COLUMNS ROCK THE CHARTS
RINGO STARR, Felipe Scolari and Fabio Capello rock the top of the two most read NR Top 10 columns. A dispute with a reader regarding Thai recording artist Ta Ta Young nails the third position. Our fastest Riser was our September Sports Notes column RAIDERS AREN'T LOST THEY'RE IN FOOTBALL. In the overall breakdown four Top 10 ratings columns made the list (1-2-3 & 6) followed by three Sports Notes columns (4-5 & 8) and two Video Beat columns (7 & 10) that deals with what's going on in the world of television programming and DVD's worth watching or purchased for your video library.- SEARCH ENGINES GUILTY OF INTERNET THEFT?.... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - RAIDERS AREN'T LOST THEY'RE IN FOOTBALL - SEPTEMBER, 2008
How hypocritical can the statement be, 'The Beautiful Game'? We're talking football here as well as the games lack of ethics. It's a game which is supposed to influence youth around the world to fair play and sportsmanship. Football is a game that has gone out of control with teams raiding each other for their players at any price while disregarding ethics. - FIFA TOP 10 - Entertainment - TV

NR TOP 10 - SEPTEMBER, 2008 - MOURINHO & RONALDO # 1 on the September NR TOP 10
Top story Mourinho, Ronaldo Deals - Pinoy Dream Academy's Persecution of Laarni Series is the first time any one subject dominated the list as this human interest story did. We wrote two series on the subject the first being a four part series and the second eight. This wasn't planned but given the abuse this young lady was receiving on the show warranted the coverage and our point of view. - Entertainment, Boxing and the NBA are the new entries to the NR Top 10 sections most visited list this month. The most significant story interest is in our Video Beat columns eight of which made our Top 10.- SEARCH ENGINES GUILTY OF INTERNET THEFT?.... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes NEWS - Harlem Globetrotters 2008 Draftee Donald Thomas Begins Quest for Gold in Beijing - AUGUST, 2008
Former College Hoopster Opens Olympic High Jump Competition. Thomas, a former collegiate basketball player at Lindenwood University in St. Louis, Mo., captured the 2007 World Indoor title in Osaka, Japan with a leap of 7 feet, 8.5 inches, and figures to be a top contender for an Olympic high jump medal...... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EXTRA - USA's OLYMPIC REDEEM TEAM - AUGUST, 2008
How the USA's Olympic Basketball team came together - USA OLYMPIC BASKETBALL TEAMS LAST AMATEUR STANDING - USA OLYMPIC TEAM ROSTER - Sports Trivia ...... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EXTRA Part 2 - ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE? English Premiere League Football Is On - AUGUST, 2008
The English Premiere League Begins - SPORTS JOURNALIST JIM MURRAY REMEMBERED - Sports Trivia Answers - 1992 USA Olympic Dream Team ...... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - BRETT FAVRE & RONALDO DO THE DEALS - AUGUST, 2008
When you think about sports in terms of loyalty who has done more than Brett Favre and who has done less than Christian Ronaldo? - The Top of The Hills Grant and Calvin - FIFA TOP 10 ...... - Entertainment - TV

NR TOP 10 - AUGUST, 2008 - SCOLARI DROPS BOMB, RONALDO # 1
Ronaldo continues to be the top subject in reader’s interest in a subliminal way as the June Sports Notes column noting that Filepe Scolari dropped the bomb by signing on as the Chelsea manager became number one for our latest Top 10 ratings. The Beatles Ringo Starr on tour in our Entertainment Beat June column notched the second spot. The story focused on the power and influence of the Beatles music in Asia. The NR Top 10 leaped from the seventh spot to the number one position in SECTIONS MOST VISITED. A human interest story perspective about the Philippines Pinoy DREAM ACADEMY story Something is Wrong With This Picture Part 2 - THE SETUP OF LAARNI was our fastest rising story for the month - SEARCH ENGINES GUILTY OF INTERNET THEFT?.... - Entertainment - TV

Business & Sports - JIM MURRAY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION NAMES 2008 JOURNALISM SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS - July, 2008
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism at University of Maryland has first Murray Scholar. Each Murray Scholar receives a $7,500 scholarship based on second and third year print journalism student eligibility and a written essay. Journalists who determined the 2008 winners were J.A. Adande, ESPN.com; Dan Bickley, The Arizona Republic; Mike Harris, Associated Press; Jill Painter, Los Angeles Daily News; Leo Roth, Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle; Kevin Sherrington, Dallas Morning News; and Mike Vaccaro, The New York Post... Business Internet Technology - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EXTRA - RONALDINHO AVOIDS THAKSIN TO SIGN WITH AC MILAN - JULY, 2008
THE RONALDO BLATTER MATTER - What in the world is wrong with FIFA boss Sepp Blatter? After his Cristiano Ronaldo is a slave comment it raises the question if Blatter needs a health checkup - Ronaldinho to sign with AC Milan for roughly US $18 million less a reported to be US $33.5 million compared to Man City's offer of US $51 million proving that good health is worth more than money - NBA FIXED GAMES SCANDAL - FIFA TOP 10 ...... - Entertainment - TV

NR TOP 10 - JULY, 2008 - CRISTIANO RONALDO’S SPORTS NOTES ROCKS NR TOP 10
Within a 24 hour period our Sports Notes July column rocketed to the top position on our NR Top 10 ratings for July. This is the fastest rising story ever in our National Radio history. The subjects were Cristiano Ronaldo, Filipe Scolari and Ronaldinho - Another fast mover was out Phnom Penh column published June 29th which raced up the charts to the number three position - Our Video Beat column is growing in popularity evidenced in its taking four of the Top 10 spots. Sports Notes regained its strength also taking four spots. Our Phnom Penh column took the two remaining positions - SEARCH ENGINES GUILTY OF INTERNET THEFT?.... - Entertainment - TV

Sports BIZ Notes - Cristiano Ronaldo and José Mourinho Deal With... - JULY, 2008
CAA Sports and International Soccer Agency Gestifute Create Global Partnership to Represent Top Talent, Including Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and Head Coach José Mourinho. In addition to Ronaldo and Mourinho, clients include Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea/Portuguese National team), Anderson (Manchester United/Brazilian National Team), Nani (Manchester United/Portuguese National Team), Deco (Chelsea FC/Portuguese National Team), Ricardo Quaresma (FC Porto/ Portuguese National Team), 2002 World Cup-winning head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea FC). They helped orchestrate the landmark deal that brought David Beckham to the U.S. to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy.... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - FOOTBALL'S MERRY GO ROUND & MUSICAL CHAIRS - JULY, 2008
The Cristiano Ronaldo saga goes on and on and on - Yes Ronaldo was very talented player when he joined Man U but it was Sir Alex Ferguson who refined his raw skills and honed them into his being one of the greatest players in the world. If it's respect and appreciation you're looking for at this point IT IS ABSENT - With his Brazilian roots and being an integral member of the Scolari managed 2002 World Cup winning team you would think that Ronaldinho would be highly sought after by his former Brazilian national team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari' to join him at Chelsea. ESPN Sports reports have noted that Ronaldinho has said, "Come and get me," yet Scolari has made no attempt to do so ..... - Entertainment - TV

NBA BEAT - NBA'S FIXED GAME CONTROVERSY With The Los Angeles Lakers - JUNE, 2008
We pointed out specifically the favorable treatment given to the Lakers in game six of the 2002 series with our column: Lakers ELBOW Their Way To Seventh Game - BAP, BAM BOOM - The Los Angeles Lakers continue to receive favoritism from NBA referees as they elbowed their way to a seventh game showdown after their 106-102 game six victory over the Sacramento Kings in Los Angeles. The favoritism for the Lakers couldn't be more obvious than in the last minutes of the game...... - Entertainment - TV - THE LAKERS HISTORY OF REFEREE FAVORITISM

Sports Notes - SCOLARI DROPS THE BOMB - JUNE, 2008
Wham, bam thank you mam Big Phil drops the bomb that it is he not Ronaldo who will make all the noise around here as he revealed to the world after Portugal's 3-1 victory over the Chez Republic that he will be leaving to manage Chelsea starting July 1..... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes - MAN U TOPS - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? - MAY, 2008
When it comes to International football Manchester United proved that they are the best club side there is in Europe and possibly in the world - In the world of what have you done for me lately the cloud looming over Chelsea manager Avram Grant who has been criticized and abused in the press and by fans throughout the year went far enough to cost him his job - Is Ronaldo GOING? .... - Entertainment - TV

SPORTS NOTES EXTRA EXTRA - Contender Asia Championship pitted the young verses the old Australian John Wayne Parr vs the Thai champion Yodsaenklai - April, 2008
To compound that his being 32-years-old John Wayne Parr was mocked by his competitors as being old, over the hill and past his prime. When all was said and done Parr made a good showing against a much tougher highly skilled, young and improving opponent .... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EXTRA - CONTENDER ASIA'S FINAL FOUR - April, 2008
John Wayne Parr from Australia, Thai champion fighter Yodsaenklai, Sean Wright from Scotland and Dzabhar Askerov from Russia are the final four. It was a strange course of events that took place to bring about this final four. When the fighters were announced as to whom would participate in the program the top three favored to win the title were Parr and the two well respected Thai fighters Yodsaenklai and Naruepol. . .... - Entertainment - TV

Sports BIZ - Launch of NHL Network Online - April, 2008
Breaks New Ground in Multimedia, Immersing Fans in the NHL Experience with Seven Channels of Programming.... - Business Internet Technology - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes Contender Asia Semi-Finals & FINALS - APRIL, 2008
RACIST RADIO 10 YEARS AFTER - ATLANTA’S AL HORFORD AND SEATTLE’S KEVIN DURANT NAMED NBA ROOKIES OF THE MONTH - BOSTON’S RIVERS AND UTAH’S SLOAN NAMED NBA EASTERN AND WESTERN CONFERENCE COACHES OF THE MONTH - NBA KEY DATES - CAMBODIAN FOOTBALL . .... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes JOHN WOODEN The Greatest College Coach Ever - MARCH, 2008
It's March Madness time where in the USA the top 64 college teams compete in the NCAA tournament in a single elimination process to see who can go undefeated and be crowned the NCAA champion and deemed the best college team in the land. During this time there is one man who stands above all others in representing what this tournament is all about. John Wooden now 97 years-old was the supreme master of coaching his teams to the NCAA title. The following is a story we published in 2002 about the man. Given the tournament is currently in progress we felt it fitting to share this story again. .... - Entertainment - TV

Sports Notes EPL AROUND THE WORLD - FEBRUARY, 2008
The big brew ha ha about the English Premiere League desiring to play 10 games a year in foreign countries has been blown out of shape. When I think back of the hysteria Thai football fans displayed when Manchester United played a game in Bangkok July 29, 2001 you would think that the lord was returning to part the Red Sea.... - Entertainment - TV