We haven’t heard much of Egyptian soccer since Bob Bradley took over as manager of the national team. Guess there was also the matter of last year’s riot in Port Said that resulted in almost 80 deaths, over 1000 injuries and the shutdown of club soccer in the country.

Soccer in many countries is affected by more than what happens on the field or club boardroom. Politics, ethnicity, geography, religion and stupidity often affect players and fans when they collide with the game. Egypt is no exception to this as seen with the riot as well as the political fallout. Check this episode of Inside Story on the politicization and future of Egyptian club soccer if you have 25 minutes to kill. What? Oh stop.

The Jim Romes and Michael Wilbons of the world may love to insult soccer as soft but it’s a matter of life and death to millions around the world regardless of our opinions on matters they hold most dear. Let’s see them go to a derby in Glasgow (might have to wait on that), Belgrade or Cali and talk shit. Just ask Liverpool fans who are still waiting for answers and accountability for the Hillsborough disaster which happened over 20 years ago. Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri found out the hard way when they went to see Man City take on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium yesterday.

The former Arsenal players were accosted by fans who are still hurt as if player departures are the true source of their current plight. Video of them walking to the new Library was posted online and you can see it HERE (Language NSFW).

Those fans are just mad because Nasri and Chamakh want to get paid and win trophies. Well maybe definitely not Chamakh. Imagine if their beef was sectarian or political.

Incidents in Port Said, Glasgow, St. Petersburg and other places that use soccer as a proxy for fighting larger societal issues are what makes soccer so interesting and at the same time incredibly frustrating. Then again they sometimes just come down to sporting rivalries that get out of hand which make even less sense.

These days, it’s good to be Michael Wilbon of ESPN and formerly of the Washington Post. Michael Wilbon gets to talk sports for a living, and he enjoys some of the best access in the business.

Michael Wilbon loves to talk about his famous professional athlete friends, notably Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Irvin “Magic” Johnson. Oh, you didn’t know Magic still went by Irvin? Well, Wilbon is so close that he refuses to call him Magic. Wilbon won’t criticize washed up QB Donovan McNabb either, no matter how many coaches give up on him, because they are good friends as well. Wilbon will sing the praises of the talented and flawed individuals because they gave him access during their playing days and because any relationship they have with him legitimizes the biases that Wilbon flaunts on a daily basis. Of course, while Wilbon is reticent to criticize his A-list birthday guests, he will still gladly take shots at others, including organizations, that have unpleasant dealings with his friends.

Wilbon also likes to use his blatant favoritism to try to appear fresh and contrarian. Take the latest example. Wilbon recently penned a column on ESPN.Com defending the much-ballyhooed “Decision” by All-world egomaniac LeBron James. Why? Well, because it brought interest back to the NBA.

Kick me in the groining hard, and don’t stop until I either pass out from the pain or utter the safe word, ESPN:

“The Decision” was roundly criticized by virtually everybody, but it was exactly — flaws and all — what the NBA needed. People who didn’t have a strong opinion of James either way suddenly had them. Nobody seemed to straddle the line anymore. You liked him or hated him, liked or hated the Heat, and you could not or did not look away.

Oh, really? Michael Griffin in LA, Derrick Rose in Chicago, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s improbable run, and ‘Melo’s trade to the Knicks, all played a role. So did the Lakers’ constant sniping.

As for hatred for LeBron, that didn’t just appear out of thin air one morning at your Scottsdale mansion, Wilbon. Out here in D.C. LeBron hate was real for three seasons when the CAVS sent the Wizards home each postseason meeting. Out in Detroit, hatred for the Cavaliers, and especially LeBron was bubbling over when they came back to defeat the Pistons en route to the NBA finals in 2007. The Boston Celtics, and particularly Paul Pierce have hated LeBron since his AAU days. The Orlando Magic hated LeBron too, for his classless gesture after being defeated in 2008.

One more, and then I really do need to go:

And television isn’t the only place where increased interest in the NBA is reflected. NBA.com reports that page views are up 40 percent over last season, video streams are up 130 percent and NBA mobile downloads are up 75 percent. Traffic to NBA content on ESPN.com has increased dramatically as well, with some categories approaching triple-digit increases. If it’s too soon to say the NBA is in the middle of a full-fledged renaissance, at the very least the league has seen a resurgence, probably even an explosion.

And it’s entirely because of LeBron James.

The Heat drew fan attention because it’s a team of two of the best players in the league, and a third player who is in the top 15. LeBron could have faxed his notice and the interest would have still been huge. Also, there was just a lot of entertaining ball this season; the league has a few new stars and has finally moved beyond just marketing Kobe and LeBron.

Whenever I see Wilbon on PTI I think about what a chubby little shit he must have been growing up in Chicago. I think about how he probably didn’t have many friends, and how in gym class he hung from the chin up bar with his gut tumbling out and his arms aching as everybody laughed him trying to do a single pull up out. Too bad my time machine is busted or I would totally go back in time and pay some children to kick his ass.

MMA Expert Turd Ferguson has tired of destroying MMA fighters.  He wants to go after something bigger: ESPN.

After a nice run in 1990′s, ESPN transmogrified into that abusive ex-boyfriend (or girlfriend, right Chuck Finley?) that you just wish like hell would go away for good. Sure, you still treasure the good times (Dan Patrick, Craig Kilborn), or the stuff that he/she still has that nobody else could offer (Monday Night Football, Tony Kornheiser) but you also recognize that the things that you liked at first (Chris Berman, Michael Wilbon) we’re never that good in the first place and are quickly destroying your life.

The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” (or just along the Eastern Corridor, Dallas, and the West Coast) recently inked a $300 million, 20-year television deal with the University of Texas.  For those of you looking for that Vince Young Longhornography, keep looking:

Non-athletic fare is likely to run for about three hours a day and include musical performances, plays, and documentaries by faculty members and students, Powers said. Details are yet to be worked out.

‘This will be high-level, entertaining cultural, music, scientific, Discovery Channel, History Channel kind of stuff,’ Powers said. ‘And we have a team put together working on it, and that will be done in collaboration with ESPN.’

Yes, because the last thing we would want on a sports channel would be sports, right? Remember the Alamo!

Also, ESPN is adding a new channel for the University of Texas and all viewers will get is one or two additional football games? That’s like when television networks try to air a cool movie, say “The Departed,” but then have to edit the hell out of it to the point where you are pretty much a lip reader by the end of the movie. What did he just say? GOD I AM SO LOST!

Or, they try to lure you in with movies of the week like “Goodfellas” but bombard you with weeknight schlock like “The Mummy Returns” or “Phone Booth.”  DECEPTIVE!

Similarly, how is Herm Edwards still employed? And why hasn’t anyone attempted to muzzle Chris Broussard?

Some mysteries in our universe will never be solved.

Tony Reali is the guy who has had a career path that is easy to envy: a New York kid out of Fordham who started off at ESPN as an entry-level researcher/writer, then became “Stat Boy” and soon thereafter, fell into the “Around the Horn” chair.  On television, he comes across as a jovial guy who plays the perfect foil to Tony and Mike on “PTI” while corralling the likes of Bill Plaschke on “Horn” (he gets major points for this).  Apparently, he’s also an extremely passionate intramural soccer player.

A close friend from way back in the day plays in the same co-ed intramural soccer league.  On Monday night, her team faced off against Reali’s in a playoff game.  Here is her story about going up against “Stat Boy:” Read the rest of this entry