Making an appearance on CBS’s the Late Show; Landon Donovan made waves with his comments regarding the recent World Cup controversy, where American goals were dismissed as a result of the many contentious calls during the tournament. Donovan contests that either more referees or instant replay is necessary on the soccer field to settle debate over perhaps misplaced individual referee calls.

“It’s difficult because we know how fast the game is, and as a referee, you can’t see everything,” Donovan said. “So you either need more eyes on the field or you need some sort of instant replay.”

The U.S. soccer star made his comments during an appearance as a surprise guest for the forum on the National Conference on Volunteering and Service after making a successful return from the World Cup, where Americans won their group for the first time in 80 years.

Donovan continued by asserting his frustration with putting “that much into something you’re doing, and then all of sudden, [having that] taken away from you.”

Ben Nemtin from the MTV show, The Buried Life, and former first daughter, Barbara Bush also made appearances as celebrity guests discussing the conference, but no one received nearly as much attention as Donovan, who was greeted with cheers and whistles upon reaching the stage. Students in the audience were allowed to ask the returning champion question regarding his achievements during the game versus Algeria, as well as his efforts to spread the word about soccer and volunteer work.

Donovan claims he makes such guest appearances in order to “[try] to stay in front of peoples’ eyes. Some of it is beyond our control.” But what Donovan truly wishes to accomplish is to leave fans with more than just soccer, hoping that the U.S. run in the World Cup will forever be remembered as a testament to hard work and using such notoriety for the greater good.

“What I can tell from these kids, what we did was a little bit beyond soccer,” he said.

Donovan will continue to make numerous appearances during the next few weeks, pronouncing that “You got to take advantage when the opportunity’s here…as soccer players we have an obligation to grow the sport.”

Racing their way through yet another gender barrier in the conservative Muslim nation of Palestine, the 8-woman car racing team, the Speed Sisters, becomes the first of their kind to enter the popular race called the “Speed Test” where cars with massive engines and aerodynamic form weave their way around a track filled with obstacles, including their competitors.

After finishing a race ouside the West Bank city of Ramallah, the 20 year-old Nour Dawood proclaims “I love sports that are tough and dangerous, because I am a dangerous woman,” while leaning against her souped-up red, racing machine, wearing a yellow and black racing suit, sunglasses, and helmet. All around, competitors rev their engines in challenge, almost drowning out the Arabic music pouring out of loudspeakers around the track.

It’s just another step for Palestinian women towards claiming positions in traditionally male-dominated events in a society still very much patriarchal in nature. Just this year, the first female Palestinian governor was appointed to oversee the West Bank district of Ramallah. Additionally, the mayor of the district’s main city is a woman, as are four ministers in the Palestinian Cabinet, all pointing towards beneficial reform.

Speed Test was birthed in the West Bank in 2005 as a direct challenge to the violence between Israel and Palestine. Races now take place throughout Israeli territory, with Palestinian administration, showing a willingness to work together.

In 2005, one solitary woman participated, the Speed Sisters’ coach, 39-year-old Suna Awedia. Five years later, and the ranks have swollen to an entirely female, 8-person team where the women get to pool trainers and share a car. In support of their nerve, the British Consulate provided the funds for a two-day driving workshop, and repairs for their car donated by the Palestinian Union for Race Car Drivers, who also waived the entry fee.

Now that the support exists for the Speed Sisters, they need to prove their capability. Only one woman has reached the top ten in this year’s three rounds of race. They only have two rounds left to test their mettle. Awedia, their captain, pronounces her drivers inexperienced, asserting that each one needs more training, practice, and better equipment. Her search for sponsorships continues in the hopes of providing such necessities.

Despite this, all eight women are natural born champions, taking another step towards gender equality.

The Celtics and the Lakers are playing the seventh game of their finals series on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The perennial grand rivals of basketball have played four previous final series against each other. Boston has won all four.

It has been five years since the NBA finals went to Game 7. Of course, this is what all fans — except die hard LA and Boston fans — want. We want it to go down to the wire. We want drama, surprise. And we are likely to get it.

Though they may have history on their side, the Celtics go into game seven with some serious problems and bad omens.

First of all, no visiting team has won a championship in game 7 since 1978 — that was the Washington Bullets over the Seattle Super Sonics. And Lakers fans in Staples are some of the most fervent.

Secondly, the Celtics starting center, Kendrick Perkins, has a sprained knee which means he will be playing hurt, if at all.

And third, the Lakers killed the Celtics in the sixth game — 89 to 67 — a humbling defeat.

Given all this, we expect that Lamar Odom, and all the others who grew up following the Game on the playgrounds of New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, will feel tonight’s NBA Final as their own piece of history.

With the Chicago Blackhawks barley scraping out a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in a stunning game extended into overtime, the Television Ratings were up 41 percent from the previous year.

The 10 share (Shares representing the percentage of all homes with TV’s in use during the time of the game) Wednesday night and 5.8 Overnight rating (Overnight ratings measuring the country’s very largest markets) were the highest for hockey in the last 36 years. The last time a hockey event had ratings close to Wednesday night’s game was game 6 of the 1974 series between Philadelphia and Boston.

The Dallas Patriots Organization has an unprecedented track record in player and coaching staff retention, and every member of the team is held to the highest standard of conduct both on and off of the field. So, it’s no surprise that the organization has teamed up with The Simpler Group, LLC to better showcase their impressive statistics and exceptional team members through their new Web site.

The Dallas Patriots emphasize integrity, morals, discipline and the mental and physical aspects of the game of baseball. By updating their Web site with The Simpler Group, the Dallas Patriots have made their achievements and players more visible to a wide Web audience – drawing in potential players and coaches, while spotlighting their contributions to the community’s youth.
Founder of The Dallas Patriots, Logan Stout, says “Brenda Simpler and her team have developed the best Web site I’ve ever seen in youth sports. Their responsiveness, attention to detail, and creativity far exceeded our expectations.” Coach Stout goes on to say, “I would recommend The
Simpler Group to EVERYONE looking to improve their image on the Web!”

Brenda Simpler from The Simpler Group noted, “Working with the Dallas Patriots to define their goals for a successful site that was robust in functionality as well as visually appealing required the entire team’s skill sets. By taking a milestone approach and communicating at each stage of the project, we were able to produce a site the Dallas Patriots are proud of. It is always a pleasure to help an organization that has such a positive impact on our local community.”

About The Dallas Patriots
The Dallas Patriots Organization was founded by Logan Stout in 2000. The Patriots coaching staff is comprised of some of the finest and most respected coaches in select baseball. The Dallas Patriots coaching staff productivity speaks volumes, as the Dallas Patriots continue to win at all age levels, on a regular basis. The Dallas Patriots have won league, state, regional, and World Series Championships year in and year out. They believe each player should represent himself in a way that honors himself, his family, his peers, his teammates, and most importantly, his Maker.

For more information
Office: 972-398-3676
Fax: 972.398.8598
e-mail: admin@dallaspatriots.com
Web site: http://www.dallaspatriots.com

About The Simpler Group
The Simpler Group was founded on the belief that small and medium-sized businesses deserve Web services and online marketing as unique as their products and suitable to their specific markets. We are a fully integrated marketing company combining the best of traditional marketing with the most current and effective Internet strategies, including social media for business applications.

For more information
Brenda Simpler, Managing Partner
Phone: 214.317.0684
e-mail: info@thesimplergroup.com
Web site: http://www.thesimplergroup.com

The Simpler Group, LLC is a full service marketing company with over 35 years’ experience in Web design, graphic design and marketing – both for traditional outlets and the Internet. As a small business, we understand the special and specific marketing needs of your small to medium- sized businesses. Together, we will take the best business practices from Internet design, sales, and marketing and apply them to your unique business model and products. In addition, we have a real knowledge of the marketing and business environments in the DFW Metroplex, and we use our access and networks to further promote and connect our clients.