1. FIFA corruption. It's been a long time since anybody thought of FIFA as a bunch of do-gooders, but this has been a damaging year for its reputation nonetheless. As Sepp Blatter's merry troupe was courted by World Cup bidders, two members (Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii) were suspended for offering to sell their votes, and the rest of the executive committee did nothing to quell suspicions that it was standard practice by giving the 2018 and 2022 tournaments to mega-rich, risky options Russia and Qatar, respectively. Blatter says he wants to give soccer to the world -- though South Africa saw not a cent of the $2 billion profit that FIFA, which refuses to pay tax in host countries, made from last summer's World Cup.
Forgive former Texas owner Tom Hicks if he would like to forget the anniversary, but one week from Sunday marks exactly 10 years since Hicks dropped jaws at the winter meetings by handing shortstop Alex Rodriguez an industry-rattling $252 million, 10-year contract. The contract was so outsized that even a decade later the best shortstop in baseball, Troy Tulowitzki, came up almost $100 million short from matching it this week ($157.75 million for 10 years).
Faced with the prospect of losing in a Texas court, former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. withdrew the temporary restraining order that they had obtained from Texas Judge Jim Jordan and that had ostensibly blocked the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) from selling Liverpool FC to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). A substantive review of the order had been scheduled for Oct. 25; by withdrawing the order prior to a decision on its merits, Hicks and Gillett strategically avoid the prospect of a negative ruling and help to preserve possible legal claims against RBS and NESV.
NESV owner John W. Henry comments on his completed and protracted takeover of Liverpool Football Club.
Can a Texas court block a British court from allowing the sale of Liverpool FC to the owners of the Boston Red Sox? If that sounds like a strange question, it's because it concerns a curious mix of conflicts of law, international banking law, and the fate of one of soccer's most storied franchises. It is also a question that could lead to a legal showdown at 7 a.m. Friday, Texas time.
CNN's Phil Black reports on the court battle and bidding war for the Liverpool Football Club.
There's not much you can count on these days. A deeply polarized political landscape, sure. The greatness of Tracy Morgan? Unquestionably. A bad Mike Ribeiro hair cut? No doubt.
CNN's Alex Thomas talks to Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs about his twenty years at the club.
Liverpool FC have agreed in principle to sell the team to New England Sports Ventures. CNN's Alex Thomas reports.
They do call the summer transfer window silly season, but this one's got me flummoxed.
The sale price of the Texas Rangers was about $570 million, several sources tell SI.com.
The group headed by prospective buyer Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan is said to be making "consistent progress'' in talks to buy the Texas Rangers from longtime owner Tom Hicks and sources indicate an agreement is expected to be reached by Tuesday or Wednesday.
While nearly 100 free agents remain available, it's probably too late for any team to transform its team or winter with what's left. So it's time to assess the winters of the 30 teams -- or at least the top 10 of them.
Former baseball superagent Dennis Gilbert and his ownership group have emerged in recent days as the surprise frontrunner to buy the Texas Rangers, SI has learned.
It's been an active week for Tom Hicks.
In spite of the perception that owning a sports franchise is a license to print money, the opposite is often true in the NHL. The most recent case: the Dallas Stars.
The company that owns baseball's Texas Rangers and hockey's Dallas Stars has defaulted on about $525 million in loans, with owner Tom Hicks saying on Friday that he intentionally made the move to help negotiate with banks.
Tom Hicks and his Hot Wicks got together in Dallas on Wednesday to burn heretic Sean Avery at the stake -- or at least to hold the delinquent player's feet to the fire.
Word is Braves pitcher Mike Hampton is making very little progress in his efforts to come back from the "strained pec'' injury he suffered while warming up for what was to be his season debut on April 4. What a shame it is that so many words were written this spring about a comeback that was, very predictably, a mirage.
Liverpool sale?
updated: Sat Mar 08 2008 22:42:00
CNN's Pedro Pinto asks why overseas investors are so keen to buy up English Premiere teams.
English soccer would be in for a revolution if one of the country's most famous teams gets taken over by its own supporters
Sometimes numbers don't quite add up. Less than a year ago, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. bought Liverpool for $432 million. Or, rather, that's what the club's valuation was.
Fans of Liverpool look to buy the club amid uncertainty about the future of its U.S. owners. CNN's Jim Boulden reports.
If you simply glanced from the outside at the Dallas Stars' 7-7-3 record, things might not seem so bad. But anyone who's spent time watching this maddeningly inconsistent team knew that it was in need of change. A trade. Maybe a new man behind the bench. Something, anything, to shake up an awkwardly-constructed group that too often sank into extended periods of complacency that ended up costing them points.
Also in this column: • South Side fire sale • Gagne's veto power • Hicks goes off on Juan • More news & notes
In the race for baseball's most disappointing team, the Texas Rangers have to be right up there. Their 23-41 record has shocked a lot of folks, including their owner, Tom Hicks, who is said by associates to be extremely disappointed.
With the wave of overseas billionaires acquiring England's greatest football clubs, a new era is beginning.
Football -- the real kind -- has made some massive inroads into the American consciousness since the start of the New Year.
SI.com: In search of Big Redupdated: Fri Feb 09 2007 12:04:00
The Limey has winged its way across the pond to bring you news of the title race in the English Premier League, an American takeover at Liverpool and yet another installment in the debate on video replay.
Tom Hicks was beside himself. He couldn't sit in one place. And he couldn't stand. He couldn't even bear to watch at times, but the buoyant CEO and chairman of Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, the giant bu...
Go stars go!" declare the green-gold-and-black banners strung across the stately marble lobby of Hicks Muse Tate & Furst's Dallas headquarters. No wonder: Tom Hicks, the private equity firm's chair...
If the financial markets have been crazy over the past couple of months, college football has been sheer lunacy. For much of the season, Ohio State looked like a solid No. 1--then the Buckeyes chok...
THEY ARE the uncrowned kings of un-cola, the segment of the soft drink market that includes 7 Up, Sprite, ginger ale, root beer, and other beverages commonly known as mixers. But Thomas Hicks and R...
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