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The IFAB and FIFA, Football’s rule-makers, have voted against goal line technology being used in soccer and effectively ended any chances of goal-line video replays coming into the game of soccer.

This comes only hours before the Portsmouth v Birmingham FA Cup game, where Birmingham scored a perfectly valid headed goal from a corner. The ball was over the line but David James’s hand scooped it out of the net before the linesman saw it. Goal Line Technology would have proved that this was a goal but the decision from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Zurich voted against continuing any further experiments with goal-line technology although the English FA and Scottish FA both voted in favour of the technology being used.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said, “‘The door is closed. The decision was not to go ahead with technology at all.” The IFAB will decide in May whether to pursue the system of having an extra two officials behind each goal-line.

It seems FIFA are extremely backward – just as the game needs to move with the times, any efforts to do so are rejected by an organisation who seem not to care about fairness, i.e. a ball that crosses the line is a goal, but only if the officials see it … and … a ball the touches the hand of a player is a free kick and possibly a card, but only if the officials see it (and if the player is not French as FIFA is mainly made up of French personnel).

If you think Goal Line Technology is just for “is the ball over the line” type arguements, have a look at the video below, where the ball actually goes into the goal and the ref still did not see it!! The video is of Clive Allen hitting the stachion back in 1980, and Freddie Sears’ non-goal against Bristol City thirty years later.

This is something I heard about on Newstalk’s Breakfast Programme for the past few mornings. Its an Irish band called Crystal Swing and a song called “He Drinks Tequila”.

The video of He Drinks Tequila is below if you want to watch it, it is also a huge hit on You Tube with a well organised Crystal Swing You Tube Channel getting huge hits this week.

They have become an Internet Sensation overnight, especially after ‘American Idol’ judge Ellen DeGeneres, posted a link on Twitter to the YouTube clip of Crystal Swing, made up of Mary Murray-Burke, her son Derek and daughter Dervla from Co. Cork.

I have yet to watch the video the whole way through, as the song itself just reminds me of 11:30 at an Irish Wedding. I’m not overly sure what the fuss is all about but certainly they seem to have some sort of hit on their hands with all the publicity and You Tube hits.

The hero pilot, Captain Sullenberger, who landed his Airbus 320 safely on the Hudson River, in New York, on Jan 15 2009 has retired after 30 years.

Captain Sullenberger, 59, officially retired at a private ceremony in Charlotte after flying his last commercial gig, Flight 1167 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida – landing 17 minutes ahead of schedule.

Captain Sullenberger also flew with the same co-pilot as during the Hudson landing of US Airways Flight 1549, First Officer Jeff Skiles. Also on board were some of the same passengers that were on Flight 1549 to celebrate his final flight.

If you don’t know the history of Flight 1549 and the amazing landing on the Hudson, check out the video below.