Just in: Roy Keane and Manchester United have agreed to a divorce. An immediate annulment, actually:
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| AP PHOTO |
| So long, Roy. |
United have confirmed that the agreement struck with Keane allows him to sign a long-term deal with another club with immediate effect "to secure his playing career beyond what would have been the end of his contract at United in the summer."
This has been brewing for some time, and it comes as no surprise. But it is sudden. And it is about as dramatic it gets in the world of big-time footy. What's next for Keane? Celtic tops the speculation list.
Some more morning links for you, as we put away the homemade signs and get ready for the weekend:
Still on soccer, Turkey could be thrown out of the 2010 World Cup tournament by FIFA (Australia and Bahrain might be in some trouble from Sepp's police as well), the German referee who pleaded guilty to fixing matches has been sent to prison and Trinidad & Tobago celebrated its first finals berth with a national holiday (hey, if building a stadium here makes for a national holiday someday, bring it on!).
Big CFL weekend, with the Grey Cup in the offing. In the east, the Argos face a re-tooled Montreal defensive line. And in the west, the quarterback matchups are set and save for the tomato tossing, they're ready to go.
On the Raptors beat, Dave Feschuk talks to the Raptor Killer sign's maker, after we got heavy action on the blog yesterday on the issue (we'll keep the comments open today, but please, one humble request: ease off on rehashing Babcock's record. We all know it, we don't need to go back over it. And for the record, Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham, Babcock's two maligned first-round picks from last June, sure look like keepers to me.) Meantime, Mike Grange at the Globe breaks down the breakdowns, and concludes that changes are unlikely (including, say, a Jalen Rose trade), at least for now.
Chris Zelkovich notes the TV ratings scorecard and I never woulda guessed but the Leafs are up and the Raptors are down.
Oh, on your Lottery Limbo scorecard, Atlanta moved back into a tie with the Raps, losing to Dallas last night -- "If you watched it too long, you surely would turn to stone," notes a whiter-shade-of-concrete-faced Eddy Sefko. That Dec. 2 Raptors-Hawks tilt is looming larger and larger.
Keano is a God. Remember that. Don't mock. He probably knows where you live.
A working-class hero, warrior, genius and madman,
he was Manchester United in its recent glory years. At times he carried the team on his back. His like will not be seen agan.
Posted by: John | November 18, 2005 at 08:55 PM