Pro football Lord of Discipline Roger Goodell? Not so tough. Iron-fisted NBA Der Kommissar David Stern? Kind of a wimp.

Well, at least compared to FIFA.

Perhaps you've heard: the ongoing World Cup has featured a number of dubious allowed and disallowed goals, including one from Argentina forward Carolos Tevez in his country's 3-1 victory over Mexico -- a goal that triggered on-pitch arguments after in-stadium scoreboard replays showed Tevez was offside.

FIFA's response? Yes, there's a problem here, and we'll fix it posthaste.

Namely, by censoring said scoreboard replays.

Shooting the messenger? Shades of "1984" and always being at war with Eurasia? The equivalent of BP addressing the Gulf oil spill by turning off that stupid underwater camera showing all the gushing crude destroying one of our most important oceanic ecosystems?

You bet.

Still, I have to hand it to the beautiful game's grand international poo-bahs. On one hand, FIFA president Sepp Blatter subsequently apologized for the crummy calls and said his organization would discuss implementing a replay system; on the other, FIFA's initial obstinate reaction -- the problem isn't bad calls; the problem is people noticing bad calls -- went unlamented and uncorrected, and simply follows the same playbook employed by powerful people and groups since time immemorial:

1. Never explain

2. Occasionally apologize

3. Profit

Classical Greek historian Thucydides famously noted that "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." When other sports leagues pull something arbitrary and capricious, they generally have the common courtesy to run elaborate PR campaigns, the better to make lemons taste … er, less lemony. Not FIFA.

FIFA does what it can, when it wants, no Jedi Mind Tricks required. And fans keep watching, even when what they're seeing is now subject to approval.

Sorry, Goodell and Co. That's real power. And they say horse racing is the sport of kings.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Urban Meyer joined 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis to talk about the hysteria surrounding Tim Tebow's draft status and how he's building his team for life after football.

On why he thinks Tebow ended up being drafted in the first round:

"Yeah, I actually wasn't doing interviews for awhile because it was just nonsense. You were sitting there talking about one of the most prolific football players of all time, the highest passer percentage in SEC history and the second rated passer in the history of college football. Two national championships, a Heisman Trophy, and someone's saying I'm not sure he can play quarterback. But the people who know -- certainly Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels and Jack Del Rio, they weren't saying that. To be honest, I don't know who was saying it. I was hearing it, but I wasn't watching the talking heads very much. But the people I was talking to, he was going to be a first round draft pick the whole time."

On how he prepares his players for life off the football field:

"Two years ago, after the '08 National Championship, Chuck Heater who's been with me a long time was sitting there talking about how the intent used to be just to get guys degrees. Nowadays, a college degree won't even guarantee you a job. So now we've taken it to the next level and we call the 'Real Life Tuesdays'. We're teaching them how to interview, we're teaching them the whole process of life after football, and it's not just get your degree, get your degree, because that's not going to guarantee you a job. There's a lot of people getting their degree that are having a hard time finding work. So the best way to do that is to bring in other athletes and community leaders. We meet in small groups, we have one-on-one's and then we have big lectures about life after football. So we've devoted a lot of even practice to make sure these young guys have a life after football."

• Click here for interview transcript highlights from Sports Radio Interviews.

AP Photo/David ZalubowskiDenver Broncos quarterbacks Tim Tebow, Brady Quinn and Kyle Orton confer between drills.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Growing up the son of a Marine, Brady Quinn had a solid work ethic instilled in him at a young age.

As a kid, he worked out in a homemade basement gym with his father, Ty, and grew stronger every season.

"He wasn't a drill sergeant. He definitely was more laid back but he had his times when he definitely pushed me," Quinn said. "It's funny. I think he pushed me a lot more when I was young as opposed to when I was older. He pulled off the reins a little bit. But it was smart because by that time I had those types of things ingrained in me. That's how he raised me."

That work ethic has served him well in the NFL, where he is now competing with Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton for the starting quarterback job in Denver, after being traded from Cleveland in March.

After finishing 55 off-season workouts with the Broncos, Quinn, a gym rat and workout fiend who weighs about 230 pounds and is 6 foot 3, is headed to Florida for his own two-a-days before the real two-a-days start Aug. 1 in the Mile High City.

"I used to run a lot with my dad. He taught me the best way to get an edge on someone is to outwork them," he said. "I really feel that's the reason I never missed a game in college was because of how hard I worked and prepared myself."

Read More »

Chasing a school of jacks along a beach in West Africa, Steve Wozniak got much, much more than he bargained for.

As he turned to head back to the boat, he was confronted by an African bull elephant, staring directly at him from about 20 feet away. A trunk and tusks trumps trunks and Tevas every time, but "he let me live."

Wozniak, 46, of San Ramon, Calif., has experienced numerous adventures on his worldwide quest to land the most species of fish. About a dozen shy of 1,000, he has roughly 300 more species than the second-most prolific angler compiling a similar list.

Although the International Game Fish Association doesn't offer a 1,000-species award, IGFA conservation director Jason Schratwieser said it's a remarkable feat.

"That son of a gun has done pretty darn good," Schratwieser said. "There are 31,600 confirmed species of fish in the world, and he's caught 1/30th of them.

"Going out and trying to catch that many species is not easy."

Among Wozniak's confirmed 987 catches are nine IGFA records, and he has six other records pending. He's fished in 62 countries (his goal is 100) and on every continent except Antarctica.

Read More »

Yo Rafa,

Hamish Blair/Getty ImagesRafael Nadal is wearing a new outfit for Wimbledon, and it appears tight. Not sure we're crazy about it.

I'm beginning to worry.

Your gear so far during Wimbledon is so tight I wonder if you can breathe. It's reached a level of uncomfortableness just watching you play.

Raf, you gotta stop outfitting lik you are about to do a photo shoot for International Male. We all know the baggy look is out, and everything from slim ties to skinny jeans are in, but you, my dude, are taking it too far.

Your shirts are so tight that Simon Cowell, I heard, is getting jealous. And John Stockton called and said he wants his look back. Really. The shorts (aka coolots) are starting to look like something Michael Phelps is going to wear in the 2012 Olympics. And don't get me started on the pulling your underwear out of your behind before every serve. It used to be funny; now it looks painful.

As the world's No. 1, Rafa, you have to set a better example. Even when it comes to on-the-court fashion. You are taking this Euro-look too far. If you don't stop this now, by the time the U.S. Open rolls around, your outfits will be so tight that we may mistake you for a ballerina with a hella tennis game.

Say it ain't so, Takeru!

Takeru Kobayashi, the "Babe Ruth of Competitive Eating," will not compete in this year's Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island because of a contract dispute?

First of all, who knew these guys had contracts? Didn't we all assume the competitors were there simply for the love of the game? Don't you have to be dedicated if you attempt to eat more than 60 hot dogs (and buns) in 12 minutes?

Why not just hand the Mustard Yellow Belt to Joey Chestnut, who has beaten Kobayashi and everyone else the last three years?

Granted, it's unlikely anyone else will beat Chestnut this weekend but that hardly means he is the only person who responds to the challenge of competitive eating. We are asking you for your best sports-and-food stories. Many have already responded but we are still looking for more.

Send your best competitive eating experience to me at osogreene@aol.com. Please include your first name, last initial and your location in case your earn a few seconds of competitive eating fame on Thursday in our follow-up report. Most food, strangest food, oddest circumstance. We want your story.

Looks like Takeru choked but we can't say the same about you, can we?

This rugby ref gets a face full of ball and is knocked out cold. (Note: You can stop watching at the 1 minute mark.)

The arc of history is long. The arc of a disallowed goal that hits the crossbar is short. Both bend toward justice. Such was the argument put forth by German midfielder Thomas Mueller following his team's 4-1 World Cup victory over England on Sunday, a match that saw the Three Lions have an early goal mistakenly nullified.

"This is the compensatory justice for Wembley [Stadium]," Mueller said, referring to England benefitting from a controversial goal line decision in a 1966 World Cup final victory over Germany.

Compensatory justice?

Forty-four years after the fact?

Really?

No. No. A thousand times no. Mueller was born in 1989, more years removed from the 1966 Cup final than the same match was removed from World War II. (Speaking of compensatory justice.) As such, he's hardly in a position to be invoking sports karma.

In fact, it's high-time for a Sports Karma Statute of Limitations -- in part because invoking Michael Jordan's shot over Craig Ehlo every time the Cleveland Cavs and Chicago Bulls meet in a meaningless regular season game is getting old; in part because real life is not one of those Gatorade-sponsored, Icy Hot-fueled high school sports reunion games.

Herein, a few rules stipulating when sports karma should not be invoked:

When a majority of the principals are no longer involved: If Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins lead the Sacramento Kings over the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2014 NBA Playoffs, it won't count as revenge for 2002 -- not even if Kobe Bryant and (probably) Derek Fisher are still playing.

When circumstances have changed significantly: This year's Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals series was billed as payback for Boston's beat down of Los Angeles in 2008. Nuh-uh. The current Lakers are much tougher, thanks to Ron Artest; the current Celtics are way, way creakier, thanks to Father Time. Apples to oranges.

When the payback involves an ongoing feud: There's nothing just or karmic about sticking it to your rival, à la the New York Yankees topping the Boston Red Sox … or vice versa. You get yours; they get theirs; rinse and repeat. It's simply expected.

When the person invoking payback was a child and/or zygote during the time of the original incident: see Mueller.

The road to Joey Chestnut's fourth straight Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest title may have gotten a little easier Monday.

AP Photo/Seth WenigTakeru Kobayashi's all grins after capturing his sixth mustard belt at the Coney Island contest in 2006.

Chestnut's biggest rival, six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi, is "currently not scheduled to compete" in the competition, according to Richard Shea, the president of Major League Eating.

"In recent weeks, Major League Eating has sought to arrive at an agreement with Kobayashi, but contract negotiations have reached an impasse," Shea said in a statement. "MLE remains hopeful that Kobayashi, who won the contest from 2001 to 2006, will decide to compete this July 4th in Coney Island ..."

Chestnut, a 26-year-old Californian, broke his own world record with 68 hot dogs to win last year's competition. Two years ago, he beat Kobayashi in a five-dog eat-off after the pair tied with 59 dogs in the regulation 10 minutes.

Kobayashi, now 32, ate 64½ hot dogs in last year's competition.

Page 2 wonders if a deal can be reached at the last minute to secure Kobayashi's participation at the event he dominated for six consecutive years. After all, we would relish the chance to see Kobayashi and Chestnut battle boca a boca in another chapter of their storied rivalry.

Which Sean Payton would come through in his book "Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life"?

The NFL head coach who gives very vanilla answers to the media during the season?

Or the guy who loves to have a drink or two and hang out with friends or family?

"I told Coach that to sell this book he needed to write it like he really is and not the one he puts out there for the public to see, using coach-speak," said co-author Ellis Henican, who is a columnist for the newspaper Newsday in New York. "Sean really is a funny guy and that comes out in this book."

The book, available online and in stores, tells the story of Payton's rise through the coaching ranks, what the city of New Orleans has meant to him and what it's like inside the locker room of the Saints. It's not just about beating the Indianapolis Colts in February's Super Bowl.

"I didn't want to write another winning on the field book or about modern-day leadership. That's B.S.," said Payton, who spent six weeks with Henican after the Super Bowl to craft the stories. "I wanted to write a book about the stories, ones that you sit around and tell your friends."

Here are a few, retold to Page 2 by Payton and his friends:

Payton and his Saints really wanted to draft versatile running back Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL draft with the No. 2 pick. The Houston Texans had drafted lineman Mario Williams at No. 1, and the Saints were up.

But Bush's marketing agent Mike Ornstein kept telling Payton that Bush didn't want to play in New Orleans and that the New York Jets, who had the fourth pick, were where Bush, highly touted out of USC, wanted to be.

Read More »

When you rip into your first pack of this year's Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards, you will be surprised.

Topps Allen & Ginter cardsNick Jacoby solved the code and got his own trading card.

For the novice collector, it might be the sight of an Olympic gymnast or a celebrity found in a baseball pack.

For the grizzled collecting veteran, it might be a rare autograph not previously added to the ol' collection because the person has never had a trading card -- let alone one autographed -- before.

For me, though, that surprise was different. In my first pack of Allen & Ginter, I got two cards of a guy who had sent me an email last week.

That's something that just doesn't happen every day.

I got a card that said "Jacoby" on the front -- and it wasn't Brook or even Ellsbury. It was a card of Nick Jacoby, a 28-year-old Cincinnati Reds fan and collector of Barry Larkin.

Why was he inside my pack?

He solved The Ginter Code -- a hidden message printed in patterns of symbols and oddly noted letters on some of the cards in last year's set. Think "National Treasure" meets old-time style baseball cards -- only without the bubble gum or Nicolas Cage.

Read More »

No two teams captured the crazy Technicolor spirit of 1970s uniforms better than the A's and the Pirates. Too bad they never met in a World Series, and interleague play didn't exist back then.

AP Photo/Ben Margot

Ah, but it does now.

Those photos are from Saturday's Pirates/A's game, a full-on 1970s spectacle that no doubt caused a spike in sunglasses sales and maybe induced a seizure or two along the way. All they needed was Rollen Stewart in the crowd and the whole thing would've been perfect.

And that was just the tip of the weekend's throwback iceberg. It's fairly rare to see both teams wearing retro attire in an MLB game (the home team is responsible for the entire promotion and usually doesn't want to spring for the visiting team's throwback uniforms), but that was the case for Friday's Brewers-Mariners game and Saturday's Nats-O's matchup. Heck, that game in Baltimore even featured what's likely to go down as the best-looking wild pitch of the year.

Now we just need an Astros-Padres thowback game, circa 1977 or so, and we'll be all set.

AP Photo/Richard DrewPage 2 wants to know how much food can you eat. We'll run the results on Thursday.

June has been an amazing month for unusual and captivating sporting events. There has been the World Cup -- and what fun we got from France -- plus a historically (and somewhat hysterically) long Wimbledon tennis match.

There was also another no-hitter in the majors but it was against Tampa Bay, which almost doesn't count because of how frequently it happens.

None of that can touch the Fourth of July.

When it comes to gutsy competition, nothing tops Nathan's Famous July Fourth International Eating Contest at the corner of Surf and Stillwell in Coney Island.

And you can have your Kobe Bryants or Tiger Woods, but we'll go with the three-time defending champion Joey Chestnut, who has the world record of 68 dogs (and buns) consumed in 12 minutes last year.

It doesn't get better than that but, of course, Joey is a professional. There's probably a story in your past about sports and food worth bragging about. And we want to hear it.

Yes, that's our game this week. Describe your best food-and-sports story and we will print the ones that impress us the most Thursday in Page 2. As always you need to give us your first name, last initial and your location. Send your entry to me at osogreene@aol.com.

I've got one.

A long, long time ago when I was in the fifth grade, our class took a tour of the Coca-Cola plant in Miami. Far ahead of our time, we held our own impromptu "free hot dogs and cokes" contest. Proudly I won -- with 18 dogs and 18 cokes.

Alas, I had a bad reversal of fortune, so I never turned pro.

What's your best story? You have until noon Wednesday.

If you see anyone at the boat landing trying to pull off a move like this with a Jet-Ski, please intercede before they shuffle off this mortal coil with a Darwin Award.