Sport and Cinema.com

Unser, Andretti, Foyt, Mears, Rutherford – it is a competition that conjures up the greats of motor racing as The Indy 500, one of America’s most iconic events, celebrates its centennial edition tomorrow.

The road to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas gets more treacherous as the league enters the playoffs where it is lose and you’re done time. No rest for the weary (except for those that earned a bye – Steelers, Patriots, Bears and Falcons, but as recent history has proven the higher seeds aren’t locks for a Super Bowl berth.)

Years of planning and wooing in an effort to earn the right to host soccer’s biggest event- the quadrennial World Cup culminated in Zurich today when FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter opened the envelopes to reveal Russia and Qatar as the winners based on a vote of the FIFA Executive Committee.

In what has to be considered a bit of an upset, Russia, which has never hosted the World Cup, with the support of powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (in absentia) and plenty of oil money to finance new stadiums, defeated England and combined bids from Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium to earn the right to be host for 2018.

For the first time in soccer’s history, its biggest event, the quadrennial World Cup, will be hosted by an African nation as South Africa will be the site of the 32-nation tournament.