World Cup coming to US?

The AP is reporting that the United States may be hosting the World Cup in 2018:

FIFA may assign the 2018 World Cup to its North and Central American and Caribbean region, putting the United States in prime position to host soccer's showcase for the second time in 24 years.

Sepp Blatter, the president of soccer's governing body, discussed upcoming World Cups on Wednesday before meeting with Treasury Minister Gordon Brown -- the man expected to replace Tony Blair as prime minister.

"We have decided in the FIFA executive committee that rotation will be installed, and we have made rotation until and including 2014. The executive committee must take a decision whether the rotation should include all the confederations, in which case the 2018 World Cup should be in CONCACAF," Blatter said.

The United States (1994) and Mexico (1970, 1986) are the only members of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football who have hosted World Cups.

Operation Slap Shot: One year later

The Associated Press takes a look at the status of the gambling case against former NHLer Rick Tocchet. It was one year ago today that the charges against Tocchet, New Jersey State Trooper James Harney and a third man, James Ulmer, were announced. Harney and Ulmer have both plead guilty and are cooperating with authorities in the case against Tocchet.

And though it's been a year since he was arrested, charges have yet to be filed against Tocchet in the case.

"Waiting a year suggests the evidence may not be as strong as they'd like," said George C. Thomas, a professor at the Rutgers University School of Law in Newark.

But Mike Pinsky, a prominent New Jersey defense lawyer, said it's not unusual for the state attorney general's office to take more than a year to comb through evidence between filing charges and seeking an indictment.

"With wiretap cases, I don't consider a year a long time for a state grand jury," Pinsky said. "After year and a half or two years, I'd wonder what's going on."

The ball was clearly out . . .

The Associated Press files a report today on the use of instant replay in professional tennis. Some players like it -- Andy Roddick and James Blake, notably -- and some don't -- count Roger Federer in this camp.

Here's Roddick on the system: "I think it's great what they've done with the challenge system," Roddick said. "I think it takes a lot of the question out of it."

Blake: "It humbles the players sometimes. It humbles the officials sometimes. And I think it's great because we're probably both too arrogant at times. The players always think they're right and the umpires always think they're right, and it shows that neither of us are always right."

And here's Federer, arguably the greatest to ever play the game, on challenges: "I think it's nonsense," he said. "Now they can hide even more behind these calls. We would like to be able to rely a little bit on umpires. They tend to now just let us do the work, the tough stuff. They let us get embarrassed, basically."

Personally, I'm all for the instant replay system -- which gives players two challenges per set -- with one caveat. I don't think it should be used in a tournament unless it is available on every court. Otherwise, matches are being played under different conditions, which, I think, erodes the credibility of the tournament.

Still, I think Blake sums it up best: "As long as the fans like it," Blake said, "I say we keep it."