football schedule

2013–14 Arsenal F.C. season


The 2013–14 season is Arsenal Football Club's 22nd season in the Barclays Premier League and 94th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. Arsenal will be participating in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

Review

Background

In November 2012, Arsenal had extended their shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates Airline until 2019 with the Emirates Stadium's naming rights contract also being extended until 2028. It was later announced in January 2013, that Arsenal's home ticket prices would be frozen at the 2012–13 prices for the 2013–14 season. This came after criticism of prices from Arsenal supporters as well as visiting fans, as Arsenal's prices were revealed as one of the highest in world football.However, Arsenal's kit manufacturer was still in doubt as Nike's sponsorship deal ended at the end of the season. It had been speculated that Adidas were to bid for the deal, but on 9 May 2013 it was reported that Puma had signed a five-year deal, for an estimated £170 million over the period, in a deal that will become the most lucrative kit manufacturer deal in English football. It will also end a 20-year spell with American sportswear designer Nike if the reports are proven true.Aside from football on the pitch, Arsenal announced that club legend Freddie Ljungberg would be "renewing his ties with the club" by taking an ambassadorial role with the view of increasing the international awareness for Arsenal football club. Ljungberg, who was famously a part of the "Invincibles" team, said that he was "honoured to take on this ambassadorial role". In addition, Sir Chips Keswick was appointed as the new club chairman following the 31 year reign of Peter Hill-Wood as chairman, as Hill-Wood resigned following a heart attack the previous year. Though it ended a 'Hill-Wood association' with Arsenal since 1927 (as his grandfather and father were also chairmen of Arsenal Football Club), he stated that he knows "Sir Chips is the right person to take the Club forward".

Pre-season
Arsenal announced plans to play a pre-season friendly in Jakarta against the Indonesia national team on 1 November 2012, with the match being played on 14 July 2013. This was to be part of Arsenal's third consecutive Asian tour to address the growing fan base in the Far-East. Arsenal's match in Indonesia is going to be the first time Arsenal play in Indonesia since 1982. Arsenal also announced plans to play in Vietnam  in a match that would see the first Premier League team to play a friendly there. In addition, in March 2013, it was announced that Arsenal would play Arsène Wenger's former managerial club, Nagoya Grampus in Japan on 22 July, as well as another Japanese game against Urawa Red Diamonds, extending the Asia tour to four games.Arsenal will also host the Emirates Cup in the Emirates Stadium for the first time since 2011 after the 2012 edition was cancelled due to the London 2012 Summer Olympics causing infrastructure problems in London. It was confirmed on 15 May 2013 that Turkish Süper Lig side, Galatasaray and Serie A side Napoli were to Arsenal's opponents although this did not receive a good reception from Arsenal fans after the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots where Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clashed in Copenhagen, Denmark before the 2000 UEFA Cup Final. The third side is to be Porto who will play their two games against Arsenal's two opponents. Arsenal's final pre-season friendly will be against fellow Premier League side Manchester City in Helsinki 7 days before the season is set to begin. This meant a total of 7 pre-season games for the Gunners. It had also reported in 2012 that, after Arsenal postponed a planned friendly with Nigeria in August 2012, the Gunners would play the Nigeria national football team in Abuja Stadium in 2013 however this did not materialise.Arsenal started their pre-season tour with various promotional activities including a signing session and television appearances ahead of their friendly against the Indonesia Dream Team. Arsenal led at half-time 1–0 with the first goal of the season coming from Theo Walcott, with bright displays from Aaron Ramsey and Serge Gnabry. However, it was in the second half that the Gunners began firing, as goals from youngsters Akpom, Olsson and Eisfeld and established players Podolski and Giroud (2) meant Arsenal began their pre-season preparations with an emphatic 7–0 win. To continue the eventful tour, various Arsenal team members visited the different sites there were to see in Vietnam, whilst which the famous 'Running Man' ran 5 kilometres alongside the bus, to be eventually called up by the players into the team bus to take pictures. It was then time for Arsenal's second pre-season game against Vietnam, where the Gunners again managed to score seven goals, as Giroud's hat-trick brought his pre-season tally to 5 goals. The remaining goals came from youngsters Oxlade-Chamberlain, Akpom and Miquel, with Mạnh Dũng scoring the first goal Arsenal conceded in the season. Arsenal then travelled to Japan to play in a two-part tour involving Wenger's old club Nagoya Grampus, where the Gunners ran out 3–1 winners (with goals from Walcott, Giroud (his sixth for the tour) and Miyaichi) and Urawa Red Diamonds, where a late Chuba Akpom goal kept up Arsenal's 100% record in pre-season as a 2–1 win ensured the Gunners won all four of their Asia Tour matches.Arsenal then began their ventures in the Emirates Cup, where a Galatasary 1–0 win earlier over Porto, and a 2–2 draw for the Gunners against Napoli (with goals for Frenchmen Giroud and Koscielny for Arsenal), meant Arsenal ended Day 1 second in the table, 1 point behind their next opponents Galatasary. Arsenal were on course to win the Emirates Cup for a fourth time whilst they led 1–0 against Galatasaray, however old foe Didier Drogba scored two late goals as a 2–1 defeat for the Gunners left them in last place in the table. Arsenal did however, end their pre-season in encouraging fashion, as an goals of exquisite quality from Walcott, Ramsey and Giroud (his 8th in pre-season) capped a brilliant 3–1 victory over Premier League rivals Manchester City in Helsinki. Arsenal finished their pre-season preparations with 25 goals scored and 8 goals conceded spread over 8 games and 11 different goals scorers

August
Arsenal kicked off their season in search of their first trophy in 8 years, though the signs were not encouraging as Arsenal began their league campaign with a disappointing 3–1 loss at home to Aston Villa. An early Giroud goal was expected to give the Gunners momentum but a penalty-rebound and a penalty (awarded in controversial circumstances) scored by Benteke and a late counter-attacking goal against the 10 men of Arsenal (following Koscielny's double yellow card) sealed the victory for the visitors. The disappointment was compounded due to Villa's league standing in the previous season (15th) and the lack of signings despite the fans being promised of a summer of increased spending, which ultimately lead to manager Arsène Wenger apologising for the display at the Emirates. However, Arsenal fought back confidently with a 3–0 away win at Fenerbahçe as goals from Kieran Gibbs, the much-improved Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud almost secured the Gunners' place in the group stages of the Champions League. Arsenal then travelled to Fulham and picked up a 3–1 victory, thanks to Giroud's third goal in three games and a goal either side of half time from Lukas Podolski. Arsenal continued their impressive run in the second leg of their play-off against Fenerbahçe with a solid 2–0 win to complete a 5–0 aggregate result with two Ramsey goals.Four games into the season Arsenal announced the re-signing of French midfielder Mathieu Flamini on a free transfer following his release from Italian giants A.C. Milan. Flamini joined the Gunners 5 years after his first spell with Wenger complimenting Flamini's focus when on the football pitch.[30] Arsene Wenger then reiterated his desire to bring in more players ahead of a crucial North London

September
The first North London Derby of the season on 1 September was won by the Gunners through a single Giroud goal in the 23rd minute as they managed to end Tottenham's unbeaten streak and take the Gunners up to fourth in the table. The goal brought Giroud's tally to 4 goals for the season with four consecutive wins in all competitions. In an unusually late 'Transfer Deadline Day', Arsène Wenger's promises in the aftermath of Flamini's signing were seemingly coming true, with two players being linked with Arsenal, one of which was the highly regarded Mesut Özil for a reported £42.4 million. Upon the completion of the deal, Arsenal broke their transfer record fee by £27 million. Another signing was confirmed hours beforehand, as Arsenal completed the loan signing of Emiliano Viviano from Serie B side Palermo for a season-long loan. He has been signed as a back-up keeper to current no.1 Szczęsny. However Özil remained at the fore front of Arsenal activity, as the transfer fee was the second highest in British history and one of the largest fees paid in world football, signalling the intent of the Arsenal Board to propel the club to supposed 'title contenders'. Özil made an impressive début against Sunderland after making numerous opportunities for Walcott and an decisive assist for Giroud that sent the Gunners top of the table temporarily. Arsenal then faced a tricky away tie against Marseille but a solid performance and continued prosperity for Aaron Ramsey put Arsenal top of their Champions League group after Matchday 1.

football ball

Football (association football)

A football, soccer ball, or association football is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called "football", "soccer", or "association football". The ball's spherical shape, as well as its size, weight, and material composition, are specified by Law 2 of the Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board. Additional, more stringent, standards are specified by FIFA and subordinate governing bodies for the balls used in the competitions they sanction.
Early footballs began as animal bladders or stomachs that would easily fall apart if kicked too much. As time went on, footballs developed into what they look like today. This was possible with the help of people like Charles Goodyear and Domenico Nobili, who introduced rubber and their discoveries of vulcanisation to the design of footballs. Today, technological research is ongoing to develop footballs with improved performance.

History
In 1863, the first specification for footballs were laid down by the Football Association. Previous to this, footballs were made out of inflated leather, with later leather coverings to help footballs maintain their shapes. In 1872 the specifications were revised, and these rules have been left essentially unchanged as defined by the International Football Association Board. Differences in footballs created since this rule came into effect has been to do with the material used in their creation.
Footballs have gone through a dramatic change over time. During medieval times balls were normally made from an outer shell of leather filled with cork shavings. Another method of creating a ball was using animal bladders for the inside of the ball making it inflatable. However, these two styles of creating footballs made it easy for the ball to puncture and were inadequate for kicking. It was not until the 19th century that footballs developed into what a football looks like today.

Present developments
Elements of the football that today are tested are the deformation of the football when it is kicked or when the ball hits a surface. Two styles of footballs have been tested by the Sports Technology Research Group of Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in Loughborough University; these two models are called the Basic FE model and the Developed FE model of the football. The basic model considered the ball as being a spherical shell with isotropic material properties. The developed model also utilised isotropic material properties but included an additional stiffer stitching seam region.

Suppliers
Many companies throughout the world produce footballs. 40% of all footballs are made in Sialkot, Pakistan. The earliest balls were made by local suppliers where the game was played. As a response to the problems with the balls in the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Adidas created the Adidas Santiago – this led to Adidas winning the contract to supply the match balls for all official FIFA and UEFA matches, which they have held since the 1970s, and also supplied match balls for the 2008 Olympic Games. They also supply the ball for the UEFA Champions League which is called the Adidas Finale.

play football online

Football Manager Live

Football Manager Live was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Sports
 Interactive released in November 2008 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
Whilst the game was subscription based, both major and minor updates were provided
within the subscription paid by users. Subscriptions could be purchased online using
debit/credit cards, or PayPal to play on a regular basis, or through boxed copies,
 which were released in the United Kingdom on 23 January 2009. The servers for the
 game shut down in May 2011.

Gameplay
Football Manager Live differed significantly from previous Football Manager titles,
 whilst keeping the same match engine and many of their fundamental concepts.
Users were assigned to a "Game World" of up to 1000 players and created their club
 and filled their squad with real players, similar to fantasy football. Players were
 signed via a proxy bidding system similar to that of eBay with the player signing
 with the highest-bidding club.[3] Whilst Football Manager Live utilised a very similar
 database to that of Football Manager 2009, like its offline counterpart, aging
players retired and younger players were randomly generated in their place within
 each game world, creating an increasingly fictional environment as seasons progress.
Clubs could choose a football association based on the number of matches the user
 wants to play ("Casual" FAs for casual players and "Xtreme" ones for more
 dedicated managers) and which play times were most convenient. Each FA had
its own ladder system with a premier league and several lower leagues which were
 linked via promotion and relegation. Matchmaking for league fixtures was done
 through a "resolve by" system in which users have to finish a game by a certain
 deadline instead of having to meet online at a specific time. If a player could
 not meet the deadline, an AI "assistant manager" took over their team for that match.
The game also added a role playing game-like skill training system for users.
 Managers could improve their skills over time in coaching, physiotherapy, finance,
 scouting and infrastructure to become more specialised or to suit their style of
 play.
Players could also construct a stadium to accommodate several different fan bases
 to the club. These included die hards, devoted, families, glory hunters and
corporates, each offering their own characteristics such as wealth and atmosphere.

Gameworlds
There were 12 Gameworlds in Football Manager Live. The gameworld system was
radically changed in 2010 when they were split into two types: 'Fantasy Players'
and 'Returning Stars.' Previously, as a gameworld progressed over time,
'real life' players gradually aged and retired to be replaced by generated
players (or 'regens'). This remains the case with 'Fantasy Players' gameworlds,
but for 'Returning Stars' the gameworld is reset sporadically back to the present day.
The first gameworld, launched on 4 November 2008 was Cantona, and this was
followed by 8 other worlds until the first Pro-Gameworld, Toms, was launched
on 12 January 2009. Existing users were encouraged to join the first
Pro-Gameworld by having the opportunity to transfer the skills that they
had gained to the new Gameworld. This had not been possible when transferring
worlds previously and the challenge of playing the best was readily taken up.
Gameworlds were named after real-life ex-players.
In June 2010 the 3D match engine, first seen in Football Manager 2009 was
added to Football Manager Live.

Game restructuring
On 26 November 2009, vast changes to the existing game were announced by SI. The most controversial
of these changes was the announcement of the resetting of all current game worlds to their initial states,
 which would commence on 1 March 2010 This announcement caused controversy amongst the community as many
 managers were upset by the results from this decision which would include losing all progress made up until
this date. SI in an attempt to make up for this action offered all current subscribers two months of free play
time though this was met with relatively negative reactions.
On 18 December 2009 Sports Interactive announced that it would be extending the free time for its managers until
the reset in March 2010. It was also announced following the outcry over lost skills that they would be
 implementing a new skills system into FML after the reset which would allow current managers to use their
 existing skill points after the reset. This move was met with great appreciation by the games current subscribers.
 At the same time it was announced that the new version 1.4 would include youth academies and many
 more extras which its subscribers have been asking for many months.

football posters

Protesters
The initial Istanbul protests were led by about 50 environmentalists. This widened dramatically in response to the heavy-handed eviction by police of the environmentalist sit-in at Gezi Park. With no centralised leadership beyond the organisation organising the original environmental protest, the protests have been compared with the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and May 1968.
The range of the protesters was noted as being broad, encompassing both right and left-wing individuals. The Atlantic described the participants as "the young and the old, the secular and the religious, the soccer hooligans and the blind, anarchists, communists, nationalists, Kurds, gays, feminists, and students." Der Spiegel said that protests were "drawing more than students and intellectuals. Families with children, women in headscarves, men in suits, hipsters in sneakers, pharmacists, tea-house proprietors – all are taking to the streets to register their displeasure."[178] It added that there was a notable absence of political party leadership: "There have been no party flags, no party slogans and no prominent party functionaries to be seen. Kemalists and communists have demonstrated side-by-side with liberals and secularists." Opposition parties told members not to participate, leaving those who joined in doing so as private individuals.
The Guardian observed that "Flags of the environmentalist movement, rainbow banners, flags of Atatürk, of Che Guevara, of different trade unions, all adorn the Gezi park." Flag of PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan's posters and were also seen. Hürriyet noted that even the football supporter clubs of the three major teams (not least Beşiktaş' Çarşı), normally greatly antagonistic towards each other, had agreed to join the protests together; a Turkish sports reporter suggested that the supporters clubs' experience in battling police played a significant role. A photo report from RT showed graffiti in Taksim Square in support of internationalism.The Economist noted that there were as many women as men, and said that "Scenes of tattooed youths helping women in headscarves stricken by tear gas have bust tired stereotypes about secularism versus Islam."Across political divides, protestors supported each other against the police.
Turkish critic and screenwriter Oktay Ege Kozak said "These protests are not just about a group of trees anymore. These protests are about millions of Turkish people doing whatever they can to protect our country's legacy of personal freedom and secularism. After ten years of their rights being taken away bit by bit, the country's young and old banding together to remind a deluded, self-imposed king that he does not rule over the land. That the land does not belong to him, it belongs to all of us ... the explosion was inevitable."
According to Erdoğan's 4 June speech from Morocco, the demonstrators are mostly looters, political losers and extremist fringe groups. He went on to say they went hand-in-hand with 'terrorists' and 'extremists'. He indicated that these protests were organized by the Republican Peoples Party (even though the CHP had initially supported construction on the Gezi-park). Turkey analysts however suggested the demonstrations arose from bottom-up processes, lacking leadership.
A Bilgi University survey asked protesters about events that influenced them to join in the protests. Most cited were the prime minister's "authoritarian attitude" (92%), the police's "disproportionate use of force" (91%), the "violation of democratic rights" (91%), and the "silence of the media" (84%). Half the protestors were under 30, and 70% had no political affiliation; another poll found 79% had no affiliation with any organization.

Types of protest
Gezi Park camp
With the police abandoning attempts to clear the Gezi Park encampment on 1 June, the area began to take on some of the characteristics associated with the Occupy movement. The number of tents swelled, to the point where a hand-drawn map was set up at the entrance. Access roads to the park and to Taksim Square have been blocked by protestors against the police with barricades of paving stones and corrugated iron.
By evening on 4 June there were again tens of thousands in Taksim Square; Al Jazeera reported that "there are many families with their children enjoying the demonstration that has developed the feeling of a festival."There were also signs of a developing infrastructure reminding some observers of Occupy Wall Street, with "a fully operational kitchen and first-aid clinic... carved out of an abandoned concession stand in the back of the park," complete with rotas and fundraising for people's travel expenses. Protestors brought food to donate, and dozens of volunteers organised themselves into four shifts.
A free veterinarian Clinic at Taksim Gezi Park, 7 June
A makeshift "protestor library" was also created (soon reaching 5000 books and Şebnem Ferah gave a concert.[204] A "makeshift outdoor movie screen" was set up,[190] together with a stage with microphones and speakers, and a generator. A symbolic "street" was named after Hrant Dink, the journalist murdered in 2007; the street connects the Peace Square with the children's playground.Sellers of watermelons mingle with sellers of swimming goggles and surgical masks (to protect against tear gas); a yoga teacher provides classes. The crowds swell in the evening as office workers join.
Graffiti showing the words "At least 3 beers", which parodies the government's regulation of sale of alcohol between 22:00 to 06:00 and Erdoğan's advice of 3 kids.
With 5 June being the Lailat al Miraj religious holiday, protestors distributed "kandil simidi" (a pastry specific to the holiday), and temporarily declared the park a no-alcohol zone. Celebration of the holiday included a Quran reading. Protestors had previously mocked Erdoğan's recommendation to have at least 3 children and policy of restricting alcohol with the slogan "at least 3 beers" even though this is criticized on social media for Erdoğan's recommendation of having 3 children is his personal view and not a government policy.

Demonstrations and strikes
Demonstrations were held in many cities in Turkey. According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey around 640,000 people had participated in the demonstrations as of 5 June. Protests took place in 78 of Turkey's 81 provinces. The biggest protests have been in Istanbul, with reports of more than 100,000 protesters. Inside of the city, protests have been concentrated in the central neighborhoods of Beyoğlu (around Taksim square and İstiklal Avenue), Beşiktaş (from Dolmabahçe to Ortaköy) and Üsküdar (From Maltepe to Kadıköy, Beylerbeyi to Çengelköy). Also in Zeytinburnu, traditionally seen as a conservative working-class neighborhood to the west of the old city, tens of thousands marched in protest. Among the suburbs that saw demonstrations were Beylikdüzü and Küçükçekmece on the far-western side of the city, Pendik and Kartal at the far east and Ümraniye, Beykoz and Esenler to the North.
A small district in Istanbul called "Gazi" (not to be confused with Gezi Park) is currently (10 June 2013) one of the major points of counter-protests.
The biggest protests outside Istanbul have been in Antakya and then in Ankara and Izmir. Other cities in Turkey with protests include (Between 31 May – 25 June):

Responses
Police Response
Protests intensified after (on the morning of 30 May) undercover police burnt the tents of protestors who had organised a sit-in at Gezi Park. Çevik Kuvvet riot police internal messages compared the events to the 1916 Gallipoli Campaign. Amnesty International said on 1 June that "It is clear that the use of force by police is being driven not by the need to respond to violence – of which there has been very little on the part of protesters – but by a desire to prevent and discourage protest of any kind." By 14 June 150,000 tear gas cartridges and 3000 tons of water had been used.In mid-June Amnesty International said that it had "received consistent and credible reports of demonstrators being beaten by police during arrest and transfer to custody and being denied access to food, water, and toilet facilities for up to 12 hours during the current protests in Istanbul which have taken place for almost three weeks."Hundreds of protestors were detained.

Police officer firing tear gas horizontally at head height. Istanbul, 15/16 June
As protests continued in early June, tear gas was used so extensively that many residents of central Istanbul had to keep windows closed even in the heat of summer, or use respirators and then struggle to decontaminate homes of tear gas residue. Police even water cannoned a man in a wheelchair. The Turkish Doctors' Association said that by 15 June, over 11,000 people had been treated for tear gas exposure, and nearly 800 for injuries caused by tear gas cartridges. On the weekend of 15 June, police action escalated significantly. Police were seen adding Jenix Pepper Spray to their water cannons,and the Istanbul Doctors Association later said that there was "a high but an unknown number of first and second-degree burn injuries because of some substance mixed in pressurized water cannons". On the night of 15/16 June police repeatedly tear-gassed the lobby of the Divan Istanbul hotel, where protestors had taken refuge, causing a pregnant woman to miscarry. They also water-cannoned and tear gassed the Taksim German Hospital.
Doctors and medical students organised first aid stations. In some cases the stations and medical personnel were targeted by police with tear gas, and one medical student volunteer was left in intensive care after being beaten by police, despite telling them that he was a doctor trying to help. Medical volunteers were also arrested. "[Police] are now patrolling the streets at night and selectively breaking ground-floor windows of apartments and throwing tear gas into people's homes. They have been joined by groups of AKP sympathisers with baseball bats." One volunteer medic working at a tent in Taksim Square said that "They promised us that they would not attack our field hospital, but they did anyway, firing six rounds of teargas directly into our tent."
Lawyers were also targeted by police. On 11 June at least 20 lawyers gathering at the Istanbul Çağlayan Justice Palace to make a press statement about Gezi Park were detained by police, including riot police. The arrests of total 73–74 lawyers were described as "very brutal and anti-democratic" by one lawyer present, with many injured: "They even kicked their heads, the lawyers were on the ground. They were hitting us they were pushing. They built a circle around us and then they attacked."

Police action during Gezi park protests in Istanbul. 15 June 2013
There were also reports of journalists being targeted by police, and a Russian journalist "beaten and detained by suspected Turkish intelligence services, as he was taking pictures of empty police cars on Taksim Square". The New York Times reported on 16 June that "One foreign photographer documenting the clashes Saturday night said a police officer had torn his gas mask off him while in a cloud of tear gas, and forced him to clear his memory card of photographs." Reporters without Borders reported eight journalists arrested, some violently, and several forced to delete photographs from their digital cameras.
A spokesman for the police union Emniyet-Sen said poor treatment of officers by the police was partly to blame for the violence: "Fatigue and constant pressure lead to inattentiveness, aggression and a lack of empathy. It's irresponsible to keep riot police on duty for such long hours without any rest."

college fantasy football

Fantasy football
Fantasy football is an interactive competition in which users compete against each other as general managers of virtual teams built from real players. The players that an individual is able to manage are professional American football players in the National Football League. The different actions people are able to make are drafting, trading, adding or dropping players, and changing rosters. Due to the growth of the Internet, Fantasy football has vastly increased in popularity, particularly because Fantasy football providers such as ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, and the NFL itself are able to keep track of statistics entirely online, eliminating the need to check box scores and newspapers regularly to keep track of players. Most leagues have a single week championship in Week 16 of the NFL season.

History
The rules for what eventually became fantasy football were developed starting in 1963 at New York City's Milford Plaza Hotel by a limited partner in the Oakland Raiders named Wilfred "Bill" Winkenbach together with Bill Tunnell, former Raiders public relations manager, and Scotty Stirling, a former reporter.
The inaugural league was called the GOPPPL (Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League), and the first draft took place in the rumpus room of Winkenbach's home in Oakland, CA in August 1963. The league consisted of eight members, made up of administrative affiliates of the AFL, pro football journalists, or someone who had purchased or sold 10 season tickets for the Raiders’ 1963 season. Each roster consisted of the following in the GOPPPL: two quarterbacks, four halfbacks, two fullbacks, four offensive ends, two kick/punt returners, two field goal kickers, two defensive backs/linebackers and two defensive linemen. The current GOPPPL roster now includes: two quarterbacks, four halfbacks, six wide receivers/tight ends, two kickers, two defensive backs, one return team, and a bonus pick for any position. As of 2012, the GOPPPL will celebrate its 50th season and still maintains its TD-only scoring heritage.
In 1969, Andy Mousalimas, an original creator of GOPPPL and participant in the inaugural draft, brought the game to his sports bar, the King's X in Oakland, CA, where he added another couple leagues. When the patrons of other Oakland and San Francisco bars visited for trivia contests they soon learned of the game and passed the word about it. Due to the time consuming nature of the game's scoring it was difficult to pick up and spread slowly across the country.
Another early fantasy football league is “The league formerly known as Maria’s”. This league was founded in Spokane, Washington on September 2, 1981, at the now defunct Maria’s pizza parlor. Originally, Maria’s Fantasy Football League had eight franchises drafting from a single player pool. Today, the league boasts twenty-four franchises divided into two conferences each drafting from a separate player pool. The playoff system mirrors the NFL playoffs with weekly live auction redrafts as the player pool diminishes culminating in a Super Bowl between the two conference champions. Like other pre-information age leagues, Maria’s was founded as a TD only league to simplify manual scoring. Since, the rules have been modified by adding “bonus points” for milestone yardage achievements – but otherwise Maria’s franchise owners have opted to maintain the spirit of Maria’s TD-only history.
For years, the popularity of Fantasy football grew slowly. In 1997, CBS launched the beta version of the first publicly available free fantasy football website. The game immediately became widely popular. Within three years, all major sports media websites launched competing fantasy football hosting websites. The NFL released their own official game in 2010, NFL.com Fantasy Football, further driving industry growth. Fantasy football is now the single most important marketing tool for the NFL. Today it is estimated over 19 million people compete in public and private leagues online nationally.
In 2009, Fantasy Football was christened mainstream with a fantasy football based sitcom, The League. The League was created by the husband-and-wife team of Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld) and Jackie Marcus Schaffer (Disturbia, EuroTrip) who serve as executive producers and directors. The series is produced by FX Productions.

New league types
A new style of fantasy football is modeled after the popular "survivor pool" or "knock out pool" style of weekly NFL wagering that allows each pool member to pick one NFL team to win each week, but he or she can only pick that team once all year.
Similarly, survivor fantasy leagues allow owners to draft a fresh team of seven players each week, with each player only available to each owner one week per year. This added level of strategy places an emphasis on weekly NFL match ups, while at the same time diminishing the negative consequences of injuries.
Another type of league that allows for year round fantasy football is called Simulation Football. Simulation Football uses a computer to simulate the games with simulated players, instead of relying on the NFL for its players and stats. The most basic type is a GM league, where all the player has to do is put together a team and the computer does most of the work. A much more involved type of simulation football is called a "Create-a-Player" or CAP league. In a CAP league, top players vie for the chance to be a GM and put together a team using players that are created by other people. There are different types of scoring for determining who is a "top player" but the people are charged with making their player as good as possible using the league's scoring system.
The popularity of fantasy football has filtered down into the collegiate level as well. Fantasy College Football is gaining in popularity as diehard fantasy players and college football fanatics combine two of their favorite passions into one. The most popular leagues involve the BCS only schools while other leagues incorporate all FBS schools or even just the "non-BCS" schools.

League Manager and Gambling
Many leagues are composed of friends, family, co-workers and even strangers that are in the fantasy league to prove who is the greatest couch coach. Millions upon millions of dollars are won and lost each year in fantasy league betting. The Federal government has determined that fantasy league gambling is not a "game of chance" and as such is not illegal. Websites such as FantasyHook.com and Leaguesafe.com make fantasy fee transactions simple by completely automating the buy in and the payout of the winnings.

All individual players
There are a few dynasty leagues that follow the NFL's roster model and score all possible NFL players at all individual positions. Offensive linemen (OL) are scored by total yards and points minus sacks given up. Fullbacks are partially scored as offensive linemen because of their blocking duties. Kick and punt returners are scored by yardage and touchdowns. Punters are scored by net average and punts inside the 20 yard line.

american football

 American football, known in the United States as football, is a sport played
by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field 120 yards long by 53.3
yards wide with goalposts at each end. The offense attempts to advance an oval
ball down the field by running with or passing it. They must advance it at
least ten yards in four downs to receive a new set of four downs and continue the
drive; if not, they turn over the ball to the opposing team. Points are scored by
advancing the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, kicking the ball through the
opponent's goalposts for a field goal or by the defense tackling the ball carrier
in the offense's end zone for a safety.
American football evolved from rugby and association football. The first game was
played on November 6, 1869. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter
Camp established the snap, eleven-player teams and downs. Later rule changes legalized
the forward pass, created the neutral zone and specified the width of the football.
American football is the most popular sport in the United States and the National
Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl, is among the most-watched
sporting events in the world.

football pictures

2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament that is scheduled to take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.[2] This is the second time Brazil has hosted the competition. Brazil will become the fifth country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany.
It is scheduled to be the first World Cup to be held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged outside Europe and the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged in the Southern Hemisphere (the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa). It will also be the first FIFA World Cup to use goal-line technology.[3] Spain is the defending champion.
The sale of tickets for the World Cup will start on 20 August 2013. An estimated 3.3 million tickets will be available and the majority of tickets will be sold through FIFA.com.

Beach soccer
Beach soccer, also known as beach football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. The game emphasises skill, agility and shooting at goal.[1]
Whilst association football has been played informally on beaches for many years, the introduction of beach football was an attempt to codify rules for the game. This was done in 1992 by the founders of Beach Soccer Worldwide, a company set up to develop the sport and responsible for the majority of its tournaments to this day. This was a major foundation for what is now known as beach football and what has led to the sport rapidly growing in popularity.
The irregularity of the soft-sand playing surface leads to a totally different style of play than is used in association football, with a greater degree of improvisation. The compact pitch, much smaller than a normal association football pitch, allows players to score from anywhere on the sand, leading to an average of sixty attempts at goal in a single game. With an average of scoring rate of one goal every three or four minutes, around eleven goals are scored in total per game.

FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas which competes in Major League Soccer (MLS). It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, and was known as Dallas Burn prior to the 2005 season.
Dallas plays its home games at the 20,500 capacity soccer-specific FC Dallas Stadium, where they have played since changing their name in 2005. The team is owned by MLS investor Clark Hunt, who also owns the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. Dallas's current head coach is former Southern Methodist University coach Schellas Hyndman.

Volley (football)
A volley is an air-borne strike in association football, where a player's feet meets and directs the ball in an angled direction before it has time to reach the ground. A volley can be extremely hard to aim and requires good foot-eye coordination and timing.
In general, the volley requires that the player strike the ball with the front of his foot, with the toes pointing downward, ankle locked, and the knee lifted. It is important for most applications to keep the knee high over the ball when struck, and lean slightly forward to keep the shot accurate. Doing so imparts a great deal of topspin and prevents the ball from flying wildly over the goal if done correctly. Because of the power and spin imparted on the ball, the shot can follow an unpredictable path to goal and prove difficult to defend against.The volley is used less often for passes, as it is harder to control, though it can often be used to flick the ball on to another player. In this use, the strike is softer and more controlled than either the shot or the clearance. Also, the inside of the foot, outside, or even the heel may be used to flick the ball on off of a volley. When the heel is used to volley the ball over the player's head (from back to front) it is often referred to as a "donkey kick".

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