These events are generally more about the visibility for some non-represented “nations” than they are about the football, as the first final in 2006 showed. In that event, Samiland defeated Monaco by a score of 21-1.

More information:

• Viva World Cup 2009
• The NF-Board (organizers of the event)
• Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

An entry from Runner-Up

Viva World Cup 2009

In light of the historic US election (hurray for Obama!), I was digging around for some interesting stories. Noting that the Republican nominee for vice president, Sarah Palin, seemed so unfit for the job, I began thinking of ways in which the office of vice president is really not much of a job at all. It turns out that I’m not alone.

Veeps is a book about the anonymous, sometimes ignominious office of Vice President of the United States. Authored by Bill Kelter and Wayne Shellabarger, lifelong veep obsessives, if you can believe it, the book explores the largely unknown world of the men who have lived in the shadow of presidents for more than two hundred years.

Sure, there were some who eventually went on to assume the presidency (Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson), and some who ran unsuccessfully for the office (Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Al Gore), but what about those who were just plain forgotten? Some of them may have been bland stand-ins, but Kelter and Shellabarger have unearthed stories about some of the more colourful men to have been “one heartbeat away from the Presidency.”

For instance, have you heard of Henry Agard Wallace, FDR’s veep from 1941-1945? A dabbler in world religions, he once sent letters to his “guru” that contained lines like these:

I have been thinking of holding the casket—the sacred, most precious casket. And I have thought of the New Country going forth to meet the seven stars under the sign of the three stars. And I have thought of the admonition ‘Await the Stone.’ We await the Stone and we welcome you again to this glorious land of destiny.

Fortunately, Roosevelt dumped Wallace from the ticket in 1944 and his replacement, Harry S. Truman, assumed the presidency just 82 days after Wallace left office.

That’s just one of the fascinating stories in the book. I can’t wait to read the whole thing. For more, check out the preview available here.

Order Veeps from Amazon.com

An entry from Runner-Up

Veeps

I’ve been hearing a lot of criticism of Austria’s national football team. As co-hosts of the Euro 2008 tournament along with Switzerland, Austria’s team didn’t have to go through the gruelling qualification process that the other 14 teams did, and most people feel that the Austrians are the weakest team in the tournament by a long way. But after seeing them play Croatia on the weekend, I’d have to say they played some very gutsy football. In particular, a young Turkish-Austrian lad named Ümit Korkmaz was simply a joy to watch, and his enthusiasm and dogged play just may lead to a sneaky goal or two before Austria likely make their early exit. Instead of berating them for not being, say, Germany, shouldn’t we be cheering on a team who are clearly getting the chance of a lifetime to play against some of Europe’s (and the world’s) finest?

An entry from Runner-Up

Austria: Worst Euro Hosts Ever?

• Western Kentucky (12) beat Drake (5) 101-99 (OT) in the West bracket
• San Diego (13) beat Connecticut (4) 70-69 (OT) in the West bracket
• Siena (13) beat Vanderbilt (4) 83-62 in the Midwest bracket
• Villanova (12) beat Clemson (5) 75-69 in the Midwest bracket

Tampa doesn’t host any more games this year, but I’m sure it will become a lucky charm for underdogs in the years to come.

An entry from Runner-Up

Topsy Turvy Tampa

During the buildup to the awarding of the 2012 Summer Games to London, I wrote to each of the bid cities and asked for marketing material. Most were helpful, and now some of this stuff is the pride of my Olympic memorabilia collection. My Moscow 2012 pen sits cheerfully next to a beautiful folder from the Paris 2012 bid. I intend to write again to all the 2016 applicant cities and we’ll see what we get. It seems a shame that all this work should go to waste, don’t you think?

Here are the bid cities for 2016, so far:

• Baku, Azerbaijan
• Chicago, USA
• Doha, Qatar
• Madrid, Spain
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
• Tokyo, Japan

Follow the bid process on GamesBids.com

An entry from Runner-Up

2016 Summer Olympic Bids