It is now emerging that Neymar will not be leaving Santos after all. Premier League club Chelsea have confirmed that they have ended their pursuit for the teen star after he committed his future to Santos until 2014.

Villas-Boas revealed that his side have failed in trying to sign Neymar and that he has already chosen his next destination which will most likely be Barcelona.

Will Brittney Griner be the first female to make an NBA roster next season? She would have to declare for the draft. She's only a Junior at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
If she declares, this will be big news and more than likely, a team would go for her late in the second round just for publicity sakes.

Over the last year or so, we have discussed MLS' efforts to measure the value of its television exposure through various local and national broadcasts. Through the website criticalmention.com, MLS tries to alert media to the "value" of its presence on various television programs. Since a few weeks have passed since we last checked in on this metric, we thought providing a snapshot of this metric of MLS media exposure.

Over the last couple of years, MLS has made a long string of significant decisions aimed at advancing the league and improving the quality of soccer on the field. These have included the Designated Player rule in all of its iterations, the Generation Adidas program and recently, the mandating of team specific academies tasked with developing young players and retaining young talent in the league.

Today Major League Soccer released the 2012 schedule and it's being touted as the longest ever, running from March 10 until the MLS Cup final on December 1. That leaves January and February as the only calendar months without league matches.

December is more of a psychological barrier than anything else.

Blurry JT gets Indian government into bother John Terry is said to be considering legal action after his image was used on cigarette packets as part of an anti-smoking initiative by the Indian government. A blurry image of the Chelsea captain boasting a pair of blackened lungs has appeared on packaging accompanied by the warning: [.

"I wonder what Wenger will blame this time?" Those were the words of a clearly delighted Fulham fan to his mate on the bus to Clapham Junction after the late winner denied us at Craven Cottage last night.

After all,it struck me that, despite Djourou's sending off we were, to use a Wenger word, inefficient in front of goal in the first half and then went to sleep at the death when Zamora hit the winner.

The Kop aren't singing as their 'Sweet Carroll-nine' stays out of tune

The Kop wastes little time composing songs for new heroes. The moment a player starts to quicken the pulse with thrilling performances, or a new signing arrives amid a blaze of publicity, the wordsmiths get to work.

Dear David Beckham,

I just wanted to introduce myself first. My name is Matt, I'm 29-years-old and, to be honest, I didn't really get involved in soccer all that much until 2006. At that time, I was in Iraq. As you can imagine, soccer is beloved in Iraq, but what got me caught up in it was the fact that I couldn't friggin' escape it.

Al-Sadd state of affairs The Club World Cup receives criticism from some quarters for being nothing more than a publicity exercise, allowing FIFA to show off some of its clubs in a money-spinning tournament for the Asian market. Barcelona have today paid the price for taking the competition seriously and fielding a strong side, when [.

It was a story that started almost a year and a half ago in a blaze of publicity which involved a major newspaper, allegations of corruption in another sport, a non-league football club and suicide. Now, with the half-way point in the following season fast approaching, it seems almost certain that the final chapter to play out in the life of Croydon Athletic Football Club will end in the collapse of a club which found itself thrust into the front page of newspapers around the world and, as the authorities pick over the carcass of this club over the next few weeks and months, a question well worth asking will be that of how nobody came to recognise the signs that there was something terribly, horribly wrong at this club earlier than it was.

I know the Conservatives are a pretty paltry ever-dwindling bunch in Scotland but was this attempt to gain some cheap publicity or a way of finishing themselves off permanently?
Obama effigy burnt by St Andrews Conservative students
"An effigy of US President Barack Obama was burned over the weekend by members of the Conservative student association at St Andrews University.

French football expert Ben Lyttleton has today talked about how well Newcastle have done, with their concentration recently in buying French-based players. Alain Traore could arrive in January? With the game against Manchester City coming up on Saturday, Newcastle are getting some good publicity for their terrific start to the season.

As we wrote last week, it is the time of year when votes are cast in Major League Soccer for MVP, Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year and more. This is the third year that Footiebusiness.com has been a voter, but the first year that a Team PR Award isn't among the offerings. However, whether official or not, we thought it worth casting our vote for the 2011 Team PR.

We're too strong to let the suits kill promotion and relegation

I'm guessing you've never heard of the man who assured us that evil foreign owners are plotting to scrap relegation and promotion. Well, in 2008, Richard Bevan was appointed chief executive of the League Managers Association (after a decade working for the Professional Cricketers Association) with a brief to raise its profile.

The Seattle Sounders travel down to the Home Depot Center to face Chivas USA. Each team could really just consider this a 'super reserves' game. For the Sounders it will be preparation for the MLS Cup Playoffs and the ultimate goal of the 2011 team, the MLS Cup. For Robin Fraser with Chivas it will be another chance to make decisions about next year's talents.

By Chris Wright

Yep, this again.

After arriving back home in Spain on international duty with the U21s, David de Gea has been ceasly quizzed over the incident that saw him being caught half-inching a Krispy Kreme from the Tescos in Altrincham an incident which, as tedious as it is now becoming, is also keeping him in free donuts.

This is the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, isn't it? By this stage of the competition, we would usually be wearing something approaching our winter woollies and sipping at Bovril which remains scalding hot for three minutes for turning stone cold in the amount of time that it takes to blink, but summer has come late this year, and Surrey is unusually temperate this afternoon.

This is the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, isn't it? By this stage of the competition, we would usually be wearing something approaching our winter woollies and sipping at Bovril which remains scalding hot for three minutes for turning stone cold in the amount of time that it takes to blink, but summer has come late this year, and Surrey is unusually temperate this afternoon.

Hillsborough Justice Campaign show appreciation for Brian Percival's gesture

THE HILLSBOROUGH JUSTICE CAMPAIGN (HJC) have voiced their gratitude to Emmy winner Brian Percival for his help in bringing more awareness to the situation that sees survivors and families of the victims of Hillsborough still waiting for justice 22 years after the disaster.

Hands up. Who would have taken a draw before the game? So 1-1 away to Borussia Dortmund in the opening Champions League group game last night is a decent result for the Arsenal I say. RVP scored a great goal to give the Gunners the lead before a last-gasp wonder strike from substitute Ivan Perisic denied us three points.

Chelsea have ordered Fernando Torres to explain himself after reports in the Spanish media suggested that the striker had criticised his team-mates.

The 27-year-old is thought to have told a Spanish website that many of the current Chelsea players are ‘very slow', particularly the older members of the squad.

John Aloisi: helping or hurting? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

With A-League clubs beginning to convince the younger and fitter members of Australia's golden generation to return to antipodean shores, the moves come with a warning from the country's favourite penalty-taker, John Aloisi.

Well this story is certainly interesting...or something.

According to The Ring, Dynamo minority owner Oscar de la Hoya admitted posing for pictures wearing women's lingerie while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. In transcripts aquired by The Ring from an interview on Univision, De La Hoya admits to the pictures, to drug and alcohol abuse and being out of control.

Darryl Duffy's career trajectory may perhaps have left the striker wondering if he has perpetually arrived too early for the party. Most notably, journeyman though he may appear to be, he has enjoyed spells at two clubs which, not long after his departure, have attained Premier League status. First, he joined Hull City in a fanfare of publicity five years ago, his 37 goals in just 68 games for

HJC praise "overwhelming support" for disclosure of Hillsborough files

AN e-petition calling for "Full disclosure of all government documents relating to 1989 Hillsborough disaster" has received much publicity in recent days and at the time of writing had received over 77,000 signatures.

The story of how this evening's match between Ascot United and Wembley FC has come to be shown live via the medium of Facebook thanks to the tournament's sponsors, Budweiser, has, it could well be argued, had a positive effect for all concerned. The Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup and, in turn, the tournament itself has received a shot of publicity for a stage of the competition that usually receives next to none.

Blat'll do As we know, it is not easy for women's football clubs to gain the same level of attention as their male counterparts. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has argued that the ladies ought to be sexing up the sport in order to generate more publicity. OTP would argue that, given that their name is [.

Frequenzton Hoffenheim by borussentv

Well, according to a statement released on the club's website, a Hoffenheim employee did on his own accord.

The high publicity and pro/con arguments surrounding billionaire backed village team Hoffenheim have died down for a while now, just as Hoffenheim themselves settled down as yet another mid table team.

Big publicity win for the Philadelphia Union who today introduced their new signing Freddy Adu from Sporting Lisbon on a free transfer

Hopefully the hype will not once overshadow what Adu does on the pitch. It is hard to believe that he is only 22, as it does not seem that long ago that he signed a professional contract at the age of 14 and was selected by D.

There were lots of big friendlies this week with lots of big publicity Germany v Brazil and Italy v Spain don't exactly happen every day. There was even a big friendly involving Mexico, taking on their northern rivals, the US.

But perhaps the biggest was in Mexico City, where Salvador Cabanas, Paraguayan international, enjoyed a friendly in his honor after being shot in the head in a bar some months back.

Emi(rates)nem This hilarious video put together by Gunnerblog reworks Eminem's Stan with the role of the protagonist handed to mysterious Arsenal major shareholder Stan Kroenke. The publicity shy American's creeping takeover left many Gooners wondering precisely who now controls Arsenal. But those concerns have been overtaken by an increasing worry at the direction in which [.

Disclaimer: I'd like to say that I'm not a Harry Potter fan, and I do not know why the title ended up sounding like one of them books. Or movies. But this could become a series... just a thought.

There's a lot to be said for US sports programs and their focus on athletics from a very young age.

So, this morning I wanted to read "tout sur les Bleues," in preparation for this much anticipated match against Germany.
I was so absorbed in the football, it took me a few minutes before I noticed the leg action on the right and left margins. This appears to be part of a publicity for the team - "the legs know how evade one's marker.

So who's excited about the Women's World Cup!
*crickets*
Aw, come on. It's got action and rivalries and disappointments and thrills! What do you say - Women's World Cup, everybody!
*tumbleweeds*
*wolf howling in the distance*
Look, people.

Paul the Octopus, while nice, created something of a problem:

Wherever there is money to be made, marketing potential to be achieved and publicity to be Houdini'd out of midair, advantage shall be taken. Give 'em a foot, take 20,000 leagues or so.

The Women's World Cup is in Germany this year, once the home to Paul the 'Pus.

The date was Sunday, May 22nd 2011. The day and indeed the whole week prior to it was the closest, most intriguing Barclays Premier League survival battle in years – possibly ever. The publicity and anticipation spread worldwide. For one day, the...
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The Seattle Seahawks, Sounders FC and First and Goal Inc. (FGI) announced today they will install the largest solar energy array to date in the state of Washington on the roof of Qwest Field Event Center.

The project will consist of 3,750 individual solar panels manufactured in the United States by California based Solyndra.

A broadside to mark his departure.
As I wrote earlier it would be wrong to paint Walter Smith as having lived out his final days as Rangers manager above the fray of Scottish football's navel gazing bickering.
Today's papers would seem to confirm that opinion. The Telegraph reports Smith as saying:
"The season got off to a bad start, in that respect, when Celtic put up a challenge to referees and to everybody else.

UEFA has suspended Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for five games and fined him $72,000 for his ejection during the Champions League semifinal, first leg against Barcelona and his subsequent comments alleging a conspiracy to support his club's archrival.
UEFA objected to Mourinho's suggestion that the governing body supported his opponents when the Portuguese boss said, "It's clear that against Barcelona you have no chance.