Ouch

Found this at the Washington Post. That looks painful.

Greatest Sports Video Compilation Ever

I think we've all seen this, but it needs to be up on the blog for inspirational purposes.

'Witchcraft' claim sparked deadly soccer riot

from CNN.com:

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- Accusations that a soccer player was using witchcraft during a match in eastern Congo sparked a riot that killed 13 people, a U.N.-funded radio station reported Monday.

Most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 16, Radio Okapi said. They were suffocated as panicked crowds ran for the exits during the mayhem Sunday in Butembo in eastern Congo's North Kivu province.

Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans.

The two local clubs involved were Socozaki and Nyuki System, the radio said.

Dozens of teenagers marched through Butembo's dirt streets Monday in protest, and the regional governor, Julien Mpaluku, paid a visit to the hospital.

Mpaluku said the government was investigating.

He made no mention of witchcraft, but confirmed that soldiers had fired into the air to calm angry crowds. The shooting prompted panic instead, which became fatal "when the crowds all tried to leave at the same time."

"Most of the dead were children, only two or three were adults," Mpaluku said.

North Kivu has been the epicenter of violence between Congo's army and rebels over the last year which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Homeless World Cup

Anybody heard of the Homeless World Cup? They've even got a documentary.

That's right. They had some qualifying matches over the weekend in DC, and I missed it. US qualifying is taking place, and they'll play against other international teams in Australia for the bragging rights of the unemployed.

Qualifications? You bet there are some. Players must:

• Be male or female and at least 16 years of age at the time of the tournament
• Have been homeless at some point after the previous year's World Cup OR
• Make their main living income as a streetpaper vendor OR
• Be asylum seekers (who have neither positive asylum status nor working permit)

I was musing to a friend the other day that whenever one of my teams isn't playing well, I usually yell out something like "Man...they're playing like a bunch of bums!" Now, I guess someone could take offense to that remark...

One final note to this hastily composed entry: Not that I lack confidence in any of our fellow countrymen, or national pride, but I got money on the Brazilians.