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Champions League Round Up - 23 February 2006

Chelseas hopes to claim the Champions League for their own took a major setback after Barcelona won the first leg at Stamford Bridge. The Blues had Asier del Horno sent off after 36 minutes but the 5/4 favourites took the lead on the hour through a Thiago Motta own goal.

From then on it was all Barcelona and their breakthrough came with 20 minutes left when Ronaldinhos free kick was glanced in by John Terry for the second own goal of the evening. Samuel Etoo sealed the win for the 9/4 outsiders with 10 minutes left.

Arsenal had better fortune against Spanish opposition, producing a stunning win against favourites Real Madrid at odds of 9/2. The under-strength Gunners took the lead seconds after the break through Thierry Henry and became the first English side to beat Madrid at their own ground.

Liverpool may have seen Benfica as a favourable draw but it was the Portuguese side who took the initiative. Both sides struggled to create chances and a draw at 21/10 looked likely. But defender Luisao headed in for Benfica to give the home side a slender 9/5 win.

Rangers came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against Villarreal. Juan Roman Riquelme gave the 13/8 Spaniards the lead with a penalty after eight minutes but Rangers hit back through Peter Lovenkrands. Diego Forland gave the visitors the lead again 10 minutes before the break but an own goal from Pena eight minutes from time handed the Gers a lifeline.

Rank outsiders Werder Bremen caused an 11/5 shock against Italian giants Juventus. Christian Schulz bundled in for the home side six minutes before half time but it looked as though 13/10 Juventus would come out victorious with goals from Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet. However, Bremen were not discouraged and levelled through Tim Borowski with three minutes to go and found a stoppage time winner in Johan Micoud.

A free kick from Brazilian midfielder Juninho was enough to earn 9/5 Lyon an away victory against last seasons semi finalists PSV Eindoven.

European giants Bayern Munich and AC Milan could not be separated in Germany. Michael Ballack gave 13/10 favourites Bayern the lead but Andriy Shevchenko equalised from the penalty spot.

Finally, Inter Milan battled back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Ajax. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Mauro Rosales gave 23/10 long-shots Ajax a dream start but Dejan Stankovic and Julio Cruz levelled for the Italians.

posted by blogs71770 @ 4:47 PM 0 comments

Short Sided Round Robin Format for Basketball and Soccer

The computer age has bestowed some unforeseen blessings on the sports world. Math whizzes are now using the personal computer to track game results to a level never before possible, and sports are the better for it. The book "Moneyball" chronicled the way Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics used obscure statistical analyses to scout and deal for talent. Now, a variation of this method has spilt over into basketball with a number of NBA teams using statistics in a similar manner. These methods were described in a recent Sports Illustratedarticle titled Measure of Success. Described as simply as possible, these statisticianstrack how well a team does when a player is on the floor, versus how well they do when theyarent.

These measures disregard a players contribution as represented by their scoring, rebounding and assists totals,and simply asks, "Does the team do better or worse when this player is on the floor?" They also in many casescontradict the conventional wisdom concerning the relative worth of certain players. Jason Collins, a fifth-year center for the Nets of little renown gets ranked as the fourth best defensive center in the league. Conversely, high-scoring Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks issuch a disaster on defense that his teams tend to lose with him on the floor, and win while he is on the bench.

While amateur coaches are sure to find these analyses interesting, is there any way in which theycan employ these metrics for their own use? Amateur coaches might be able to get team assistantsto gather the data needed to maintain these stats, but there is a much better way these conceptscan be applied.

Virtually all teams rely heavily on scrimmage play as part of their practice routine. By adoptingwhat I call a Roster Round Robin format during scrimmage play, coaches can get a much clearerpicture of how and when individual players perform better than others. The format simply requiresthat sides be set to 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5, depending on available players. Players are issuedreversible jerseys, and score is kept for each side. Stages are set to 3 or 4 minutes, and atthe end of each stage, a team score is recorded, with each player earning points for themselves on the basis of their team result. Two players are then directed to exchange sides by flipping their reversible jersey, and a new stage is played. This pattern is continued until all possibleroster combinations have been used.

For a 3v3 contest, this would equate to 10 possible combinations, thus requiring a 30 to 40 minutegame. Each player earns a plus/minus score across all stages. As everyone plays under all rostercombinations and points can only be earned on the basis of team results, an individuals resultreflects their team contribution across all stages. In order to maintain game continuity andensure rapid roster rotations, the roster rotations are predetermined and printed on a grid usedfor scoring.

Some may notice that the one thing seemingly not taken into account in this format is positionplay. A roster rotation schedule that disregards position play will likely result in some oddlybalanced sides think 5 guards versus 5 forwards and centers that wouldnt reflect anythingresembling a real-game matchup. This difficulty can, however, be overcome by taking positionsinto account when devising the roster rotations. For a 4v4 game, with players restricted toeither a center/forward or guard position, there would be 9 different roster combinations required.For a full-sided game, a center position could be added, but 18 stages would be required. With three minute stages, this would be a 54 minute scrimmage game. Coaches may wish to splitthis size of scrimmage across multiple practices.

Would the results from any particular scrimmage mean much? For one game, probably not, as we allknow the ball can bounce funny for a time. But if this format were used on a regular basis, theresults should reveal which players are contributing the most to their team. These results willeither confirm or deny a coachs sense of who his best players are, but there are two even biggerbenefits that can come from the use of this format. First, as players come to understand thisas the new measure of their play, they will be more receptive to a coachs instruction on teamplay. As well, players will intuitively respond to the demands of the game, and adjust their playaccordingly. Simply put, the ability to measure team play translates to a better ability to teachand learn it.

The second benefit may be even more important. A system that clearly and demonstrably measuresa player on the basis of their team contribution fosters team chemistry better than any other.The talented offensive player who lets down on defense can be brought to the table when the impactof his lackluster defense can be shown. Players who are frustrated because they think theyshould be playing more can either makes their case in the round robin practice, or be showntheyre not there yet. Regardless of the case, team chemistry is advanced.

The only real barriers to this practice format are logistical. Running this practice formatrequires pre-numbered reversible jerseys, and scoring/rotation grid sheets.

posted by blogs71770 @ 4:41 PM 0 comments

Surprise - It's Party Time!

There are a lot of fun ways that you can incorporate a surprise party into your celebration. If you think the guest of honor would enjoy it some ideas are birthdays, anniversaries, retirement or any other congratulatory type party.

When making the guest list you will of course go according to the guest of honors address book. Friends, family, business associates or people from the past making a great starting point when sending out your invitations. If, for example, it=s a 50th birthday celebration, you could urge guests to bring an old photo to share. Whatever you decide, make sure to let everybody know its a surprise and not to spill the beans!

The photos people bring along will serve as a great party favor. They could be given to the guest of honor or tacked up on a bulletin board to be displayed. For a more in depth collage, try gathering photos ahead of time to create more elaborate displays.

Having a personalized banner made would give you a center piece for your decorations. A guest book could be used, or for a more original idea have a couple of markers on hand for party-goers to sign the banner and write a short message. This is a great party favor for the guest of honor to take home to be either put on display or tucked away as a keepsake.

When choosing the setting of your party, consider all of this persons favorite places. It could be anything from a restaurant to a golf dome. You should arrange a date of two to four people to go out to this place. By doing this, they will not suspect there is anything more to come. All the party-goers can be ready and waiting when the small group arrives.

If the surprise party is held at home, all of the decorations can be found at a party supply store. Plates, cups, crepe paper and balloons come in many colors to coordinate with any theme. A party planning specialist will help you coordinate all of your needs for the big surprise!

posted by blogs71770 @ 4:28 PM 0 comments