I'm not a fan of hockey. Nor am I secretly hoping for this labor dispute to kill the NHL and thereby make room in the crowded American sports landscape for MLS/Soccer. I did come across an excellent FAQ to get up to speed: CBC Sports Online: Faceoff 2004.

MLS Owners and League Brass must look at the current situation and think to themseleves, there but for the grace of single-entity-mangement go I. Hockey and Soccer's fan base, in terms of size, is probably pretty comparable. Enough to sustain a well-structured league but not enough to sustain NFL/NBA/MLB bling.

Tonight at St James Park, the home of Newcastle United (yes, like the beer), a team from Israel made up of both Arabs and Israels will take on the Premier League side.Telegraph | Sport | Newcastle face a team in harmony

The poorest club in the Israeli Premier League, they have seen their coffers bolstered by donors in the oil-rich Gulf states, but they had to rely on goodwill from Newcastle to complete their trip to the North-east. Newcastle agreed to pick up the bill for the coach to transport their opponents from Heathrow Airport to their modest hotel on Tyneside.

Seen first on The Sports Economist

Starting today, I'm telecommuting once a week. The drive to work has been a bit more congested since Labor Day, so one less day of using my internal combustion engine should make me and Madre Earth a little happier. I felt a little more focused today than I have been at the office but not sure that's really more than perception. I'm not sure yet if I miss the bounty of snacks and soda that are freely available at work.