Results tagged “Football” from Intelligent Travel Blog

For you die-hard Olympic and soccer fans out there, it's not too early to start making travel plans if you dream of heading to Vancouver for February's 21st Winter Games or journeying to South Africa for next summer's FIFA World Cup.
   
In the Practical Traveler column in this weekend's New York Times, Michelle Higgins details the best options for both big events along with handy links and thought-through strategies. She asserts that despite the bad economy, demand is still quite high for both events and the best way of getting tickets and a place to stay is to work with a tour operator.
   
For the Vancouver Games, the third hosted by Canada and the first for the province of British Columbia, only one company, CoSport, is authorized to sell tickets in the U.S. and they're already sold out, though more tickets may be released for sale this fall.

Steve Nash - 'The Player' from meathawk on Vimeo.

My football-fanatic fiancé (that's European football, mind you) tipped me off to a great charity event happening this afternoon in New York City's Chinatown. The second annual "Showdown in Chinatown," which is coordinated by the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash, pits international pro soccer players against an assorted group of NBA all-stars, all in the name of raising money for Football-for-Good, Nash's charity. Football-for-Good helps bring team sports to war-ravaged countries in Africa, and aims to "develop world-class youth football (soccer) academies that are sustainable, community-centered social businesses in regions that have been ravaged by war." They're working to support "human rights and child protection, and a committed global advocate for African players, families and their communities."

This year, in addition to Nash himself (who famously plays soccer in NYC during the off-season to stay in shape), star athletes expected to attend include Claudio Reyna, Thierry Henry, Tony Parker, Javier Zanetti, Raja Bell, Adrian Mutu, Chris Bosh, Ivan Cordoba, Grant Hill, and Giovanni van Brockhurst. And there's a rumor that Yao Ming may swing by. Check out the video that Nash put together to "recruit" the players, it's a whirlwind of travel, and must have been a blast to shoot.

Kickoff starts at 6 p.m. today in Chinatown's Sarah D. Roosevelt Park and it's free to watch. But I can't help but think it's already packed, so maybe you can sit on Yao Ming's shoulders.

Video: Football-for-Good