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Wednesday Kickoff: Redknapp acquitted, two Dynamo players arrested and more

Redknapp (Getty Images)

Harry Redknapp is a free man.

Redknapp and Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric were acquitted of tax evasion charges after being found not guilty of avoiding to pay taxes on payments made into an offshore account in Monaco between 2002 and 2007, when both men were at Portsmouth. 

Mandaric had made payments totalling £189,000 into Redknapp's account, and despite the prosecution's assertion that the payment's were job bonues eligible to be taxed, the jury found that the payments were not associated with Portsmouth's dealings. The investigation into this case reportedly took five years and cost £8 million.

Redknapp, currently Tottenham's manager, is also being tipped by many to take over as coach of England's national team, should Fabio Capello be axed by the FA for speaking out on John Terry's behalf after the FA stripped him of his captaincy.

Here are a few more stories to get your Wednesday going:

DYNAMO'S DERIC, CREAVALLE ARRESTED

Houston Dynamo backup goalkeeper Tyler Deric and rookie midfielder Warren Creavalle were arrested Saturday night for an incident outside a Houston bar, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Deric was arrested for allegedly assaulting an off-duty police officer, while Creavalle was arrested for allegedly interfering with another officer. Deric's attorney told the Chronicle that the altercation stemmed from some of Deric's party not being allowed in the bar. Deric and Creavalle were reportedly with teammates Alex Dixon and Will Bruin, neither of whom were taken into custody.

"This whole incident revolves around the fact that Mr. Deric was with other soccer players, some who were African-Americans," Deric's lawyer Allen Tanner said. "The club did not want them coming in. … He's not guilty of assaulting that off-duty officer."

The players were both reportedly released from custody Sunday after posting bail.

UNDERDOG CRASHES OUT OF COPA DEL REY

One of the better underdog stories across Europe came to an end Tuesday as third-tier Mirandes crashed out of the Copa del Rey semifinals, getting beaten by Athletic Bilbao, 6-2 (8-3 on aggregate).

Fernando Llorente scored twice for Bilbao, which advances to the finals for the 36th time — second most to Real Madrid (37). Bilbao will take on either Barcelona or Valencia in the final. The two meet Wednesday after playing to a 1-1 draw in last week's first leg, with Barcelona maintaining the advantage through its away goal.

Mirandes was attempting to become the first third-tier side to reach the final of the competition. As it stands, the club may still end up qualifying for a UEFA Europa League preliminary round berth, as all of the other semifinalists are already in position to seal European spots through their places in the league table.

COPA LIBERTADORES GROUP STAGE KICKS OFF

The opening three games of the Copa Libertadores group stage took place Tuesday night as clubs vying for Latin America's top prize began their quests.

Brazilian power Fluminense edged Argentina's Arsenal 1-0 despite finishing the match with nine men. Fred scored the goal for Fluminense.

Chivas de Guadalajara played Ecuador's Deportivo Quito to a 1-1 draw, with Mexican international Omar Arrelano scoring the equalizer in second-half stoppage time to salvage a point for Chivas.

Argentina's Velez Sarsfield took care of business in its opener against Uruguay's Defensor Sporting, getting goals from David Ospina, Mauro Obolo and Sebastian Dominguez in a 3-0 rout.

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What do you make of the Redknapp case? Think he should supplant Capello as England manager? What's your take on the incident in Houston? Think Valencia has a shot at Camp Nou today? Who's your favorite in this year's Copa Libertadores field?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I saw “Dynamo” and thought that Dynamo Kiev had either 1) really fallen on hard times in Kiev, or 2) the players did something so terrible that they couldn’t sweep it under the rug. A little disappointed that the Dynamo is Houston.

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  2. never been to texas but i just wrote a crap review on Yelp for it. time to blow it up…like what happens when reddit gets involved.

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  3. OMG! Let’s blame some kids for wanting to go party where other kids party in a trendy area of town! They’re so stupid and clearly at fault! They should just accept this kind of racism and turn the other cheek!

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  4. I’m a Houston resident as well. While there are many diverse neighborhoods to go out in in Houston, the two most popular for nightlife (Midtown, Washington Ave.) have several establishments with racist screening procedures.

    A few years back, some of my friends were unable to join my party inside of a particular establishment. We left in protest, but unfortunately that had absolutely zero impact on their business.

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  5. yeah, see my comment above… lived there for years and watched the area degrade just like the old Richmond ave are did years ago. Moved in November!

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  6. I live in the Heights near Washington Avenue where all the new club and bars are. Since I own property here I hate the riff-raff that takes place around here. It’s terrible for my property value. I don’t attend the bars near here much but seeing how this is Texas, I know there is plenty of racist venues around and near here. I had never heaerd of The Roosevelt until I started hearing negative reviews about it within the last couple of weeks. This incident here is just the “icing on the cake” in regards to publicity. I’m sure the Dynamo players thought they would get in seeing how they’re professional athletes but since the bouncer nor the officer in question knew who they were, they got shot down like any regular person would be treated. Now HPD is going to have a hard time, along with The Roosevelt. Our gay mayor ain’t gonna put up with that or any other publicly racist venue. Houston is to diverse to have a “whites only” bar. It may work in Dallas but not in Houston.

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  7. Jesus Ortiz, with the Houston Chronicle, spoke with former UH Running Back Saleem Fernandez, who owns the club, and he commented that Deric broke the wrist of the off-duty officer/bouncer Ramon Perez. He decried any charge of racism (but failed to explain their exclusionary practices), and Deric’s lawyer is saying they have a videotape of Deric being beaten. USA Today has also picked up the story, bringing it into National Spotlight.

    This is going to get very ugly.

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  8. Although I am a redbull fan, i will assist houston by trolling the yelp, urbanspoon, etc with negative reviews… that may not sound like alot, but it really hurts business.

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  9. I lived on Washington ave for a few years and before that my girlfriend and now fiancee lived there.. the scene was great but all that changed over the years. I moved away in November to get away from that freaking mess.

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  10. it doesn’t seem like a situation where they were trying to make a political statement. seems like the players were just trying to party.

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  11. they personally might not have known of the clubs rep seems the logical answer to your question. or thought the reputation was exaggerated/false.

    but yes I agree, if they knew about it why would they go?

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  12. why bother sitting at that Woolwort’s lunch counter if you know you’re not going to get served in 1956? Why bother sitting in the front of the bus if you know you’re going to get arrested and beaten?

    you’re right. it was a stupid question.

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  13. remember those black young adults in the 60’s that where not allowed into the diners?

    we have to all make a stand, eliminate unconscious stereotypes, and stop answering to race.
    a good way is by not giving your race and ethnicity in census/employee forms/school forms. we must acknowledge that we still live in a discriminating society that still takes all that stuff into account for deciding your future.

    just take a look at the redistricting in Texas. nearly 50% of asian, hispanic, and black minorities, but get less seats because of gerrymandering (a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts).

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  14. completely agree and can relate as i too am from houston and notice the elitism here from the wealthy suburbia and midtown yuppies/20-somethin’s

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  15. You’re right, and I personally never venture to Washington Ave for that and various other reasons.

    Unfortunately, as evidenced by the still flowing reviews for places like that, not everyone IS aware of the reputations preceding the clubs and run into snags like that. Before I go some place like that, I’ll check the Yelp reviews and if I was looking at Roosevelt’s page, you can be sure I wouldn’t even bother.

    That said, if I’m in Deric’s shoes, I’m going to raise hell over discriminatory practices. I’m not going to patronize the club, but I’m going to let it be known that it’s not okay for them to do that.

    Also, the club in question has three pending investigations from the BBB.

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  16. If this bar is so known to have racial issues, then why were ANY of the players, black or white, going there to begin with?
    We live in a capitalist democracy, vote with your dollar.

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  17. Stupid question, maybe. If this place is so notorious for racism, why bother testing the waters and even go there? Houston has plenty of other clubs to go to, without dealing with nonsense like that.

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  18. Let’s not counter the incident with more stereotypes. The bar is not “real country”. It is a trendy club with over jealous bouncers and that caters to a certain crowd. This crowd is usually ‘too cool’ kids or suburban bachelorette party types. They try to make it exclusive by not letting people in, but the problem is they usually choose that crowd base on skin color. I know it’s easy to blame white trash or county folks, but the fact is there are just as many racist among the wealthy, trendy and elites.

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  19. It’s not a country bar. It sees itself as a high class lounge/club. I’ve seen the screening process first hand and know black people that have been denied entrance, because the club was full, but it would still let others in.

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  20. “This place was on the NEWS again!!! for not wanting to let in 2 domino soccer players in because they had 2 black friends with them!! DO NOT GO TO THIS RACIST BAR.. someone needs to shut it down!!!!!!!!!!!! I am will be one of the supporters to do so… this is 2012 leave your WHITE TRASH RED NECK ways for the country bumpkins!! I would advise anyone with CLASS NOT TO GO to this place.. They screen by race not class.. which makes them first class TRASH”
    This was one of the Yelp reviews. It made me facepalm.

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  21. Continental championship semifinals are today!

    In the Africa Nations Cup, two matches will determine the finalists:

    Ghana – Zambia at 11 am EST
    Mali – Cote d’Ivoire at 2 pm EST

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  22. Corey Ashe was with them as well. Essentially, the off duty officer claimed he was assaulted, while a lot of people say Deric is innocent of any crime. Just have to wait and see what happens. I am going to guess whatever happened was somewhere in the middle of that, where the bouncer did something first and maybe some stuff happened afterwards.

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  23. Its sad it is 2012 and we are still dealing with racism on the field and off. The Suarez deal, the Terry deal, the way Italian fans treated Super Mario when he was at Inter Milan. This latest incident in Houston. No matter what color we are on the outside we are all red on the inside.

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  24. Just want to note that Danny Williams and Fabian Johnson in action today as Hoffenheim takes on 2. Bundesliga team Greuther Fürth in the quarterfinals of the DFB Pokal (Afredo Morales and Hertha Berlin vs M’Gladbach also today). Hoffenheim coach Holger Stanislawski is coming under increasing pressure to produce, even from billionaire club owner Dietmar Hopp, and a loss today at home against a 2. Bundesliga team could mean curtains for Stani.

    Hoffenheims Mäzen Hopp schießt gegen Stanislawski

    http://tinyurl.com/7rdu65k

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  25. So if I am getting this straight… The club was probably real country & wasnt letting a black man in? Then Deric stands up for Creavalle & they both get arrested… Atleast thats what their side of the story seemed like with the “african american” comment.

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  26. The reporters surrounding ‘arry are the most frightening men I’ve seen outside of a movie.

    I’m sure they get answers to the questions they ask.

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  27. As a Houston resident, I can lend my knowledge that the bar in question, Roosevelt Lounge, is notorious for its racist screening procedures. There are several news articles that discuss experiences like this, including one that happened the very same night that broke out in a scuffle (http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/120206-rappers-accuse-washington-avenue-club-of-racism) and one look at their Yelp page reviews over the last couple years tells the whole story (http://www.yelp.com/biz/roosevelt-lounge-houston).

    According to Deric’s lawyer, Deric was arrested for an assault on the off-duty officer working as a bouncer, and Creavalle was arrested for videotaping the incident that was called (the police beating Deric). Deric, at the very least, was seen on video being tased and there are tons of eyewitnesses giving reports to his lawyer stating that Deric is completely innocent in the matter.

    HPD has gotten a bad wrap for overreaction and that area (Washington Ave) is notorious for the crowd it attracts as well as the attitude of the officers patrolling it.

    It should also be noted that Deric, who has had an alcohol problem several years ago, was not drinking that night.

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