Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., March 28, 2014
Personally, I have some doubts about the stadium plan unveiled in this week's cover story. But, here's a story linking Austin and a soccer stadium that's definitely going to get built:
Plans for the much anticipated new soccer stadium in Rome, Italy, were announced Wednesday by AS Roma president James Pallotta, Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino, and architect Dan Meis of MEIS Architects, whose credits include the Staples Center in L.A., plus several baseball and football stadiums around the U.S. and world, and the spectacular designs for the 2022 World Cup stadium in Qatar. As reported here last month, the Austin office of Raptor Accelerator is said to be handling much of the logistical work for the project, through Mark Pannes, who was CEO of Roma from 2010-12 (see "Soccer Watch," Feb. 28 & March 7).
Over in Europe, the Champions League quarterfinals start this coming Tuesday-Wednesday, April 1-2. All four games are on Fox Sports 1 & 2, 1:45pm both days... Meanwhile, European league races are heading into the home stretch. Dogfights in Spain and England will keep things interesting down to the final days, and you can see all the English contenders in action this weekend on NBCSN. Two highlights: Arsenal's last stand, hosting rampaging Manchester City at 12:30pm Saturday, and the suddenly brilliant Liverpool Reds (26 goals in their last seven games, all wins) hosting Spurs at 9:30am Sunday.
