College football is back baby.

And for the first time in quite a while, the Alabama Crimson Tide will come to the 2010 NCAA college football season as the national champions, looking to defend that title in the BCS title game come January.

The popularity of the Alabama Crimson Tide is hard to exaggerate. According to Forbes, the team’s “waiting list to obtain season tickets for the Crimson Tide is currently 15,210 names long.”

Furthermore, simply being next up on the list is no guarantee of getting tickets. The only thing coming up on the list entitles you to do is “make a donation to the athletic department ranging from $5,000 to $500,000″ depending on the location of seats you wish to buy tickets for.

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is the fourth highest paid coach in college football, raking in about $3.9 million per season. No wonder the guy was determined to bring the title to Alabama since bamboozling Dolphins fans into thinking that he’ll stay with them for the long haul.

With everything going for the Tide, just who can challenge these guys heading to the season in terms of being the most valuable commodity on the gridiron? Of course, one team comes to mind and that’s last year’s runners-up, the Texas Longhorns.

The Texas Longhorns is the most valuable college football team right now…

Can they avoid stumbling in the end again?

The Netherlands rallied through qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a perfect record, winning all eight of its qualifiers whilst scoring 17 goals and conceding only two. They finished 2009 ranked third in the FIFA World Rankings, but the concern is that this is a side that some times suffers inexplicable defeats.

In Euro 2008, for example, Netherlands looked almost unstoppable after winning their group games by scores of 3-0 over Italy, 4-1 over France and 2-0 over Romania. Yet in the quarterfinals they suffered a shock 3-1 loss to Russia after extra time. In 2009, there were no losses for the Dutch, however. They won six matches and drew four, scoring 18 and conceding only four goals.

The Netherlands are traditionally among the most technically proficient teams in the game and their passing can be a thing of beauty, but it’s the cutting edge they will be looking for in South African in 2010.

Assistant coach Frank de Boer, their second most capped player of all time, told the FIFA website: “We have a mission: that mission is to be champions of the world.” They have the players to do it. What they will need in South Africa will be consistency throughout the month-long tournament.

If there’s one clear advantage that the Netherlands has…

2010 WORLD CUP TEAMS
Teamwork. That’s what Japan has in South Africa.
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And this time, they’re saying he could pair up with Dwyane Wade in, (drum roll please…) New FUCKING Jersey.

In case you didn’t know, both superstars; LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, will become free agents this summer. And there have been many rumors on whether the two should sign with the same team and if such a pairing would thrive.

The reasons against are, by now, well known. Many say that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade want their own team, won’t share the ball, and won’t take less money and/or term on contracts, which is a must for a co-superstar arrangement to happen.

There is, of course, the economy. League revenues have fallen, so the salary cap for 2010-11 will also fall, which means teams will have less to spend on free agents without triggering the luxury tax. And most owners have less disposable income to spend on NBA teams.

Then again, a LeBron James – Dwyane Wade partnership is still a possibility. It could work on the basketball court and balance sheet.

Being ‘The Man is a necessity. Not a choice. Without great teammates, James and Wade must dominate on-court for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat respectively to have any chance at winning. If being ‘The Man’ was what each truly wanted, they’d have maintained the status quo long ago by inking extensions with their current teams.

Two summers ago, James and Wade accepted lesser roles when…

Was it worth the wait?

After 28 long years, New Zealand has finally qualified for football’s biggest stage, earning the right to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

After being crowned Oceania champions, New Zealand is in the World Cup, beating Bahrain in a playoff for a place in the finals. It has been 28 years since they were last part of football’s most important event.

Their results in 2009 were not impressive: two wins, three draws, and five losses, but one of those draws was 0-0 in Bahrain, and one of the wins was 1-0 over Bahrain in New Zealand, and that is what counts. It is what got them to South Africa 2010.

Not much is expected of the All Whites. That’s not surprising as New Zealand is a hot bed of rugby and the highest ever ranking achieved by the national football team is 47th in the world. As recently as September 2007, the Kiwis ranked a shockingly low 156th.

The All Whites used to battle with Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation. But with the Socceroos switching the Asia for World Cup qualification, the Kiwis faced less formidable opposition in an attempt to reach the finals for the first time since 1982.

Their white strip, incidentally, was originally based on…