Who Sport What?

To Err Is Human. But Robot Referees?

As sporting stakes are continually raised, so is the cost of refereeing error. The English Premier League will not see Rob Styles officiating next weekend, after his blunders effectively cost Liverpool their game against Chelsea on Saturday. Referee Styles awarded a dubious penalty and a yellow card mix up.

Not that Liverpool have much to complain about. The team scored a "phantom" goal against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champion's League two years ago, putting the celery-lovers out of the tournament. "Did the ball actually cross the line?" is a question that goes all the way back, doubtless, to the first game ever played. And after being found wanting with his response to that question in the Middlesborough v. Fulham game on Saturday, assistant referee Ian Gosling also finds himself benched.

It's all grist to the mill of the technology vendors of course. You remember: the ones who want to put radio chips in the balls to track them into the goal. Hawkeye, the camera-based system that has revolutionized tennis and especially cricket coverage is now, invevitably, being touted as a panacea. £250,000 per ground to install, if you please.

Technology can be great, especially when it enhances competition broadcasts. But demonstrate a lack of confidence in referees at the top of the game and you condemn the officiating of every game refereed by humans to to be dogged by questions of competence. Not to mention depriving Premier League fans and sportswriters alike the chance to examine and mourn the one that got away. Stick with the humans.

This Spin Is No Tight Spiral

Michael Vick is to plead guilty, so it looks like he's receiving sound legal advice. But on the PR front, things look lousy:

"Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter."

Ookie, if you want sympathy, say sorry to the dogs.

Donaghy's Moment Of Truth

NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleased guilty today, to the charges of, well, every major sports league commissioner's nightmare. The Smoking Gun has the details as well as the actual paperwork. And the most honest part of the whole affair? The bit where the NBA describes itself as entertainment.

New Galaxy Logo

Just ahead of Beckham's arrival, the LA Galaxy rebranded. Understandable: the old team identity was, frankly, crap.

The new logo, below, is accompanied by new kit and the team has already sold more Beckham shirts than Real Madrid sold on signing the Londoner. The bold new logo is total southern California, reminiscent of cheesy sci fi book covers through the ages, hopefully looking forward to our bright, nuclear-powered future. It would look great on the monorail to the Epcot Center. Or advertising a Star Trek convention.

Beckham's Arrival Live

Well, turns out the LA Galaxy will be streaming the Beckham press conference live. So check there for the minute-by-minute and here for commentary.

Beckham: The Start Of Something Big

As I was driving through Los Angeles today, listening to the local radio, the news said it all: "David Beckham has now boarded a plane at London, Heathrow, headed for Los Angeles. With him were his wife Victoria and their three children." He's boarded the plane?

Beckham's arrival is clearly the start of something big. Worth a close look, methinks. The story is already known, of Phil Anschutz and his belief that football has a front-and-center place alongside baseball, basketball and the NFL version of football in the U.S. professional sports world. And yes, this is not the first attempt to use star power to give the game a lift. Pelé and the New York Cosmos helped back in the 1970s but by no means secured the game's North American future.

More important to the success of the game is America's changing demographic. Mexicans love football. Whether documented or undocumented, they form an increasing proportion of America's society. And they like to watch matches. When Chelsea plays at Stanford (close to San Francisco) this Saturday, West London's finest will find themselves not up against a U.S. team, but Club América of Mexico City...

Beckham's arrival, meanwhile, looks like being quite the mediafest. So I'll be headed down to the Home Depot Center, the LA Galaxy's ground, to liveblog the whole thing. Watch this space

Barry's Tour De Farce

So at yesterday's owners' meeting, MLB Commissioner Selig sidestepped the question of Barry Bonds, who looks set to reach the all-time home run record this season. Or, more accurately, Selig tripped over and fell on his face again. He was asked if he would attend San Francisco Giants games as Bonds approached the record, as would be traditional in baseball:

"Is he really approaching?" Selig, a longtime friend of Aaron, said facetiously after owners finished their two-day meeting. "I don't have anything different to say today. I'll make a decision at some appropriate time."

Selig also shrugged off questions about Senator Mitchell's current steroid enquiry. No real surprises here: if baseball authorities had even the first clue about how to deal with the problem of Bonds and steroids, we wouldn't be here at all, would we? And for that matter, both baseball and softball might not have been thrown out of the Olympics. What a legacy. As a reminder to those who may have been sojourning on another planet for the past couple years, Bonds has admitted using the juice and the story is well chronicled.

All that really matters, for now, is the fans. There are few signs of them turning away in significant numbers. Indeed, like rubberneckers at the site of a car accident, fans seem to be congregating (not least in order to taunt Bonds). The true test will come after Bonds hits the record, retires and leaves behind him a game in disrepute (in much the same way as cycling is falling apart in the post-Lance era). There is even less chance of the MLB having the first clue as to how to cope with that.

The NFL Goes To Wembley: 2nd and nine

40,000 tickets for the first regular-season NFL game to be played in Europe were snapped up within 90 minutes of going online today. The New York Giants and Miami Dolphins will face off at London's new Wembley Stadium on October 28. But many of those with and without tickets were left unhappy. Following a huge expression of interest in the tickets, prices were higher than initially indicated.

Seats went for £45 - 90 (think double for dollars) and look pricey compared to £35 - 60 for the England vs. Brazil soccer match at the same venue. Scalpers are already aiming to multiply face value by at least five times on eBay.

NFL execs will be pleased by the demand. Figuring out how to manage interest is clearly preferable to the problem of empty seats. Pleasing those overseas will placating those at home is not likely to be easy, though. How will the Dolphins front office sell this to fans as a "home" game? Tailgating on a fleet of 747s chartered out of MIA? Just wait until they see that beer costs $7 at Wembley. Will Dolphins fans join the Brits' burger boycott?

If the game itself proves to be a winner, the NFL may expand the experiment, to have each team play a 17th Game each season outside the U.S.. Converting interest into real leagues may prove challenging in the long term, however, as witnessed by the failure of the World League of American Football (now known as NFL Europa and featuring only one team outside of Germany).

Perhaps it would be best if American football is simply enjoyed as spectacle rather than being widely played overseas. Can you imagine the embarassment of Team USA finishing last at a world championships won by Thailand?

Basketball, meanwhile, is opening a London office. As host to the 2012 Olympics, Great Britain automatically qualifies for the basketball tournament, so the NBA's timing looks smart.