The eighth-ranked UT Longhorns open their regular season at home against Samford this Friday, Aug. 22 at 7pm (Mike A. Myers Stadium, Manor Rd. at Red River. $7 for adults, $4 youth & seniors). They tuned up last weekend with a 3-1 win in Los Angeles, over a pretty good Loyola-Marymount team. And in a coaches poll, the Horns were narrowly picked over Texas A&M as the Big 12 favorite, while preseason all-league honors went to senior defenders Stephanie Logterman and Kasey Moore, and sophomore forward Niki Arlitt, last year’s second-leading scorer.
Tough start for Stoke City in their first-ever game in the English Premier League: a comprehensive 3-1 loss to Bolton, who barely escaped relegation last season. Next up: the home opener against Aston Villa, this Saturday, Aug. 23, 1:30pm, live on FSC. A group of Stoke/Austin Aztex supporters will be watching in the back room at Mother Egan’s (715 W. Sixth).
Olympic soccer finals: the U.S. Women play Brazil Thursday at 8am, right as this paper’s being distributed. The Men’s final, Argentina-Nigeria, is live on CNBC at 11pm Friday night. Game of the tournament so far: Argentina thoroughly frustrating arch-rival Brazil in the semifinal, 3-0. Not a good sign for the Brazilians under embattled coach Dunga, who currently sit fifth in South American qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
Speaking of the WC, watch this space for the result from the U.S. opener at Guatemala, being played just after press time Wednesday night.
Below the fold: MLS news, signs of discord
MLS comings and goings: Former U.S. national coach Bruce Arena has been tabbed as ringmaster at the troubled L.A. Galaxy circus, after the ouster of general manager Alexi Lalas and head coach Ruud Gullit. The Galaxy also dealt star Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz to Toronto, which just sold U.S. wunderkind Maurice Edu to Glasgow Rangers for $5 million.
Signs of discord: Reuters reports that Inter Milan has been ordered to pay $2,300 to an opposing fan for “existential damages.” The Napoli fan was “indignant and deeply hurt” in October, by fans’ banners taunting Napoli for its prolonged trash workers strike. One banner called Napoli “the sewer of Italy”; others read, “Ciao cholera sufferers” and “Neapolitans have tuberculosis.” Meanwhile, divorce may be in the air as the English football season opens. The morning after Aston Villa‘s opener, someone hung this banner off a highway overpass during rush hour near Birmingham: “Jack, are the Villa really more important than our marriage? It’s over, Jess.” Said a passing truck driver, quoted in The Telegraph: “You shouldn’t make a man pick between his woman and his football team. I don’t care who she is, but he’s better off without her.”
This article appears in August 15 • 2008.