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Info
- SummarySimon Evans covers sport for Reuters out of Miami, Florida. He covers primarily soccer, NFL, NBA, PGA Tour golf, tennis, Caribbean cricket and motor sports.
Before moving to the USA in February 2007, Simon was sports correspondent for Reuters in Italy for eight years, covering Serie A and Champions League soccer as well as other top class sports events and a series of major sports news stories.
Simon began his journalistic career in Central Europe where he worked as a freelance reporter based in Budapest but covering the post-communist countries of the region.
As well as reporting for Reuters at a range of top sporting competitions, Simon has also been a regular broadcaster on BBC radio and was the co-author of the best-selling book The Rough Guide to European Football. He has also written for The Observer, When Saturday Comes, The Guardian and TIME magazine.
Simon has covered many major international sports events including:
2008 Olympic Games Beijing- swimming and athletics including Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt record-breaking performances.
Four FIFA World Cups - France ‘98, South Korea and Japan 2002, Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010.
Four Super Bowls
Football European Championships – Euro 2000 (Belgium and Netherlands), Euro 2004 (Portugal).
Champions League football – primarily covering AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. Reported on the finals in 2003 (Juve v Milan) and 2005 (Liverpool v Milan in Istanbul).
Winter Olympics – Turin, Italy in 2006 and Vancouver in 2010. Reporting primarily on Alpine Ski.
Formula One - Grand Prix races in Italy, San Marino and Canada and regular coverage of the Ferrari team while in Italy,
Cricket World Cup 2007 and Cricket World Twenty20. Also several tours of the Caribbean.
PGA Tour golf - cover the Florida swing and PGA Championship.
ATP and WTA Tennis, Ski World Cup, NASCAR motor racing.
Usain Bolt and Tiger Woods are among the leading global athletes Simon has interviewed exclusively for Reuters.Specialties: Soccer, Football, Cricket, Tennis, Golf, NBA, NFL, Motor RacingExperience- Feb 2007 - PresentSports correspondent, Miami / ReutersSports reporter for Reuters news agency based out of Miami. Covering NBA, NFL, Major League Soccer, United States national team, West Indies cricket, Caribbean sport. PGA Golf, ATP and WTA tennis.
- 1999 - 2007Sports Correspondent, Italy / Reuters ItaliaCovered sport across Italy - Serie A, Champions League, Azzurri, Ferrari Formula One World Cup ski.
- 1993 - 1999Freelance journalist / Self-employedFreelance journalist covering politics, general news, entertainment and sport. Worked for TIME magazine, BBC radio, the Observer, When Saturday Comes, Budapest Week and the Times Educational Supplement. Co-author Rough Guide to European Football.
Education-
1988 - 1991University of Newcastle-upon-TynePolitical Science
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1986 - 1988Nelson and Colne CollegeGovernment, Language & Literature, Sociology
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Posts
- Jan 25, 12
By Simon Evans
(Reuters) – The New England Patriots will head to the Super Bowl as the most successful NFL team of the past decade but the proud franchise began life flitting from home to home in a city that was at first a tough place for a professional football organisation.
The Patriots started life in November 1959 when a consortium of Massachusetts businessmen led by Billy Sullivan Jr were granted a franchise in the old American Football League(AFL).
The Boston Patriots were by no means guaranteed survival, given that the city had not seen a major league football franchise since the Boston Yanks, who played in the NFL from 1944-48.
Prior to the Yanks, the city had a series of short-lived teams – the Bears, the Braves, who became the Boston Redskins and moved to Washington D.C, the Shamrocks and the Bulldogs.
Unlike their predecessors, the Patriots were at least joining a stable and well-financed league with eight teams.
The problem, however, was the lack of a regular home base, forcing the team to use four different venues during the decade before the leagues merged, including the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park baseball stadium.
Given their history, it was not surprising that the Patriots found it tough to secure a home, and when they took the field for the first time in 1960, it was at the less-than-ideal University of Boston’s ground.
The decade in the AFL brought just one championship game appearance for the Pats but that was one to forget, when they fell to a 51-10 defeat to the San Diego Chargers after the 1963 campaign.
The Patriots can claim, however, the AFL’s all-time high scorer, with 1,100 points, in kickers and wide-receiver Gino Cappelletti and the era also featured Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti.
The AFL-NFL merger marked a turning point off the field – the team moved to a new, purpose-built stadium at Foxborough and adopted the name New England Patriots to acknowledge their move out to the region.
Success remained elusive though and it took until the late 1970s before New England became real challengers with their maiden NFL playoff game arriving in 1976, a first round loss to eventual champions Oakland.
TURBULENT CHANGES
The first Super Bowl appearance took place after the 1985 season where the Patriots, featuring Hall of Fame linebacker Andre Tippett, came up against Mike Ditka’s formidable Chicago Bears team and were crushed 46-10.
It was to be another 11 years before the Patriots returned to the Super Bowl and in that time the franchise underwent some turbulent changes of ownership.
Sullivan sold the club to entrepreneur Victor Kiam, of Remington shaver fame, but four years later, the franchise was in the hands of James Orthwein, whose brief reign was marked by fears he intended to move the team to his hometown of St Louis.
Massachusetts magnate and season ticket holder Robert Kraft, who had gained ownership of the stadium, stepped in and bought the club in 1994 in a move which energized the fan base, as they sold out every home game for the first time in team history.
Kraft’s intervention could be regarded as the start of the Patriots’ rise to the pinnacle of the league.
Coach Bill Parcells, whose hiring was Orthwein’s greatest contribution to the franchise, took the team, by now wearing blue rather than red, to the Super Bowl in 1996, where they lost to Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers.
Then with the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick in 2000, the Patriots went from contenders to champions, clinching their first ever Super Bowl after the 2001 season with a victory over the St Louis Rams.
The quarterback behind that win was a sixth round draft pick Tom Brady, who had taken over from injured starter Drew Bledsoe in week three and never looked back.
The victory was the first of three in four memorable years but after the 2007 defeat to the New York Giants, their opponents in Indianapolis on February 5, Belichick and Brady have plenty of motivation for getting their fourth ring.
(Editing by John O’Brien)
- Jan 25, 12
By Simon Evans
(Reuters) – National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell, who helped reach a labor deal with players that salvaged the 2011 season, was handed a five-year contract extension that will extend his reign to 13 years, the league said on Wednesday.
The 52-year-old Goodell’s deal was set to expire in March 2014, but the league’s 32 clubs unanimously voted to extend his contract until March 31, 2019.
“I speak on behalf of 32 NFL club owners in saying we are fortunate to have Roger Goodell as our commissioner,” Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in the statement.
“Since becoming commissioner in 2006, the NFL — already the leader in professional sports — has gotten even stronger. As evidenced by this contract extension, we have great confidence in Roger’s vision and leadership of the NFL.”
The NFL endured a fourth-month lockout last year during bitter negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement but the season began on time after a deal was reached.
The new deal avoided a potentially disastrous impact on the season in a league that generates $9 billion in revenue, a number that has grown steadily during Goodell’s time in charge.
“It is the only place I’ve ever wanted to work,” Goodell said in a statement issued through his spokesman.
“I am grateful to the owners, the staff, players and coaches, it is truly a team effort. I am looking forward to the challenge of building on our momentum and doing all we can to improve for the fans and everyone who is part of our league”.
The current NFL season concludes on February 5 when the New England Patriots and the New York Giants meet in the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
(Reporting By Simon Evans in Miami; Editing by Frank Pingue)
- Jan 23, 12
MIAMI (Reuters) – An NFL season which almost did not happen is set for a thundering finale with the New York Giants and the New England Patriots heading to the Super Bowl for what should be a pulsating battle.
The rivalry between New York and Boston is unrivaled in North American professional sports, whether it be the Yankees and the Red Sox in baseball or the two gridiron teams who will come face to face in Indianapolis on February 5.
The league, sponsors, television companies and fans will be licking their lips at the prospect.
The NFL season was threatened by a four-month long lockout as the players’ union and team owners argued over a new collective bargaining agreement and it was not until late July that a deal was struck that allowed August’s pre-season to hastily get underway.
The prospect of walking away from $9 billion of annual revenue was too much even for disputing parties who had traded bitter public threats and the Super Bowl, a de facto national holiday in the United States, lies at the core of that money-making machine.
Nothing gets the cash registers ringing more than a New York-New England game for the Vince Lombardi Trophy – a repeat of the 2007/08 season’s Super Bowl, won by the Giants.
The Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in a dramatic AFC title game Sunday to reach the Super Bowl after Billy Cundiff hooked a potential game-tying field goal left of the upright in the final seconds of the game.
For quarterback Tom Brady, the clash with the Giants will be his fifth Super Bowl in 10 seasons as a starter in the league after he tied Joe Montana for a record 16th post-season win.
Brady was well below his best against the Ravens, throwing two interceptions and no touchdowns and saying himself that he “sucked pretty bad.”
But the 34-year-old knows what is in store for him in two weeks’ time – he has three Super Bowl winners’ rings already and twice was awarded the Most Valuable Player title for the big game.
BRAVE DISPLAY
His opposite number, Eli Manning, also knows what it takes to win in the most-watched event in U.S. sports – he threw a last-gasp touchdown pass to win against the Pats four years ago.
Manning showed with his brave display in California on Sunday that he has the necessary guts as well as the guile.
A 20-17 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game was secured by 31-yard field goal by Scottish-born Lawrence Tynes at a rainy Candlestick Park.
The Super Bowl coaches, the Patriots’ Bill Belichick and the Giants’ Tom Coughlin, are two of the most experienced and astute in the game and will relish the chance to pit their wits against each other once again.
The Giants won in New England during the regular season but it is their Super Bowl victory in 2008 that still hurts the Patriots, Brady told Boston station WEEI Monday.
“I still can’t watch highlights from that game,” he said. “I think that’s just the way it is. You get to the end and we had a great opportunity there and really squandered it because we didn’t play our very best.”
(Editing by Mark Meadows)
- Jan 20, 12
We are liveblogging the NFL Conference championships on Sunday – come back at game time for in-game chat and info with Reuters reporters and fans.
Sunday’s American Football Conference (AFC) championship game (15:00 ET) between the high-powered New England Patriots and ferocious Baltimore Ravens is more than just a clash between two rivals battling for a place in the Super Bowl.
It is a classic showdown between teams with opposing styles of play. A match-up that has been played all over North American fields for generations and has the ingredients for an intriguing battle that will be decided as much by wits as athleticism. Read more from Julian Linden’s Reuters preview here.
The New York Giants have enjoyed plenty of playoff success on the road, but their good fortunes will be tested in Sunday’s NFC title game against a San Francisco 49ers team that has lost just once at home all season.
There are many ways to get to the Super Bowl and the Giants are once again taking a long and winding road, but it is a path they are familiar with having followed a similar route to the National Football League’s (NFL) title game four years ago.
That year, the Giants won an NFL record 11 straight road games and became just the third team to post three consecutive road playoff victories capped by a Super Bowl upset of the unbeaten New England Patriots.
The Giants launched this post-season at home with a win over the Atlanta Falcons, then headed to frosty Lambeau Field last week and eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers to set up Sunday’s showdown with the hard-hitting 49ers. Read the rest of Steve Keatings’ preview here.
Wherever you are in the world, come back and join us on Sunday and enjoy discussing what should be two thrilling games.
Photo: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (Reuters). - Jan 20, 12
So Burnley lose an on loan ex-Bournemouth striker and replace him with another one. Eddie Howe clearly likes to know his players.
- Jan 20, 12
Can’t say I agree with Pele’s notion that Messi needs to win World Cups to be considered among all-time greats.
- Jan 20, 12
@Mike_MensHealth Messi has the ability to be up there with Pele and Maradona would be a kinder way of saying same thing.
- Jan 20, 12
Pele on Messi ‘threat’: “He’s a great player, when he has 1,283 goals and has won three World Cups we’ll talk again” http://t.co/S20mZiir
- Jan 20, 12
MIAMI (Reuters) – Kobe Bryant confessed he was finding life after Phil Jackson “strange” after the Los Angeles Lakers fell to another road defeat at the Miami Heat on Thursday.
The team’s top scorer said the Lakers were still adjusting to new head coach Mike Brown after Jackson’s departure after 11 years in charge and some changes in the roster.
“We tweaked some things offensively,” Bryant told reporters after going down 98-87 to Miami.
“We probably want to go back to some of the things that we were doing a few weeks ago in terms of some spots I am on the floor.”
The Lakers have struggled on the road and the latest setback left them with a 1-5 record away from home.
“We are still experimenting, trying out different things,” said Bryant. “We don’t have any practice time so we are kind of experimenting on the fly, which we’ve had interesting conversations about, in terms of trying it on national TV.
“But this is what we have to do, it is a process and we have got to stick to it,” added Bryant, who went into the game as the league’s top scorer.
Asked whether he meant he had told Brown that the team shouldn’t be experimenting in games, Bryant said with a smile:
“We’ve had those conversations but you don’t have any practice time so there is no other time. You’ve got to try and win those games in the interim.
“But in the process you will see a lot of ugly games.”
The five-times NBA champion said the offense was more than just a work in progress.
“It’s under construction. Still working on the blueprints actually,” he said, adding that the process “feels strange.”
“He (Brown) has to see what he has. He knows what he has with me but he needs to see what some of the other guys can do and what they can’t do.
“The only time he can see that is during a game,” he added.
Brown agreed that there was plenty of work to do on offense.
“We still don’t have a good feel in terms of second and third options,” he said. “We are not quite there yet and against better defensive teams it really shows.
“We have to be able to play inside a little more. We are not a pick and roll team so we have to get a little bit of movement for Kobe Bryant and the rest of the team.”
(Editing by Alastair Himmer)
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Tweets
- Great to see American soccer fans so fired up about a fourth round FA Cup tie between two mid-table Premier League teams.Jan 27, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Tim Ream is well capable of becoming a Premier League quality defender. But a very steep learning curve ahead in a relegation battle.Jan 27, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- But that study asks people to choose their number one sport. No surprise soccer low on that list. Bet it is in many top threes though.Jan 26, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Americans' favorite sport? NFL continues to leave behind baseball. Soccer barely on radar of this study. http://t.co/9LyrRndg
- MLS - English defender Richard Eckersley has completed a permanent move to Toronto FC. Ex-Man Utd and Burnley.Jan 26, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Bill Mardo, Daily Worker Writer Who Pushed Baseball to Integrate, Dies at 88. http://t.co/7Z9yHvpe
- Ok - accept the point not entirely pointless exercise. But in general I think usefulness of int friendlies, *these days*, hugely overplayedJan 25, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- I hate to talk of a national team as a 'brand' but meaningless games with players who are far from first squad devalues things.Jan 25, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Not sure there is much point or benefit in games like that. Awful. Again.
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