The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the presenters who will induct the 2012 honorees. The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place Saturday, April 14 in Cleveland and debut Saturday, May 5 (9:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO.

Honorees and presenters for this year’s show include:

• Beastie Boys will be inducted by Chuck D.
• Donovan will be inducted by John Mellencamp.
• Small Faces/The Faces will be inducted by Stevie Van Zandt.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers will be inducted by Chris Rock.
• Laura Nyro will be inducted by Bette Midler.
• Freddie King will be inducted by Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill.
• Don Kirshner will be inducted by Carole King.
• Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns will be inducted by Robbie Robertson.
• The Blue Caps, the Comets, the Crickets, the Famous Flames, the Midnighters and the Miracles will be inducted by Smokey Robinson.

More details about performances, additional presenters and special guests will be announced at a later date. Leading up to the April 14 ceremony, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will host more than a week of special events, including the grand opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s new Library and Archives, tours of the newly-redesigned museum interior space, the unveiling of a new Grateful Dead exhibition, the Rock My Soul gospel tribute, a free concert for Cleveland and a special series of education programs designed to teach students across the nation about the history and impact of rock and roll.

As previously announced, the performers to be inducted are Beastie Boys, Donovan, Guns N’ Roses, Laura Nyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Small Faces/the Faces, the Blue Caps, the Comets, the Crickets, the Famous Flames, the Midnighters and the Miracles. The Early Influence inductee will be Freddie King. The Ahmet Ertegun (nonperformer) Award will be given to Don Kirshner. The Awards for Musical Excellence will be presented to Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns.

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The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place Saturday, April 14, 2012 in Cleveland and debut on HBO in early May. The 2012 ceremony will again be open to the public, as it was – for the first time in the event’s history – at the 2009 inductions in Cleveland.

The new inductees are:

Performer Category

• Beastie Boys
• Donovan
• Guns N’ Roses
• Laura Nyro
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Small Faces/The Faces

Early Influence

• Freddie King

Ahmet Ertegun (nonperformer) Award

• Don Kirshner

The Award for Musical Excellence

• Cosimo Matassa
• Tom Dowd
• Glyn Johns

“We are pleased to announce this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, who represent the broad spectrum of artists that define rock and roll,” says Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “We are also thrilled this year to again be partnered with HBO, who presented the Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Concerts.”

“Our previous collaboration with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a landmark television event,” says Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “We are delighted to team up with the Hall of Fame again for what should be a memorable evening.”

Leading up to the April 14 ceremony, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will host more than a week of special events, including the grand opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s new Library and Archives, tours of the newly-redesigned Museum interior space, the unveiling of a major new exhibition, the Rock My Soul gospel tribute, a free concert for Cleveland and a special series of education programs designed to teach students across the nation about the history and impact of rock and roll.

Once open, the Library and Archives will be the world’s most comprehensive repository of written and audio-visual materials relating to the history of rock and roll. The 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer inductees were chosen by more than 500 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.

Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first recording. All inductees are ultimately represented in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Through approaches as creative and diverse as the music itself, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum tells the story of rock music with its exhibits, education programs and library and archives.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was established by legendary record executive Ahmet Ertegun and a group of music business executives to honor the artists that have defined rock and roll and have inspired and continue to inspire a generation. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music.

It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum designed by I.M. Pei in Cleveland, Ohio that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives, as well as educational programs. For further information, please visit rockhall.com.

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Last time the US soccer team faced Mexico they went home with a lost in the Gold Cup Final.  Months have passed and changes needed to be made, first change coming with the termination of Bob Bradley as coach.  Now Jurgen Klinsmann has taken over as coach, former player and coach of Germany and their first match came to day against Mexico, their main rival on this side of the world.

The US is missing main players who have been around in the past and Mexico’s full squad is also not out there playing in today’s game.  Much remains to be seen if Jurgen Klinsmann can in fact build this team up, one day becoming a major player in national soccer around the world.

As for today’s game, the first half was relatively uneventful and the US team doesn’t seem to have an identity as of yet.  They play and run around not sure of themselves or what is asked of them from the new coach, who has stated that he doesn’t really believe in one particular approach.  The first half was not played with much passion, at the same time though, the Mexican team squeezed in one goal out of nowhere by a player who was being guarded by the son of former head coach Michael Bradley.

Throughout this game, it is important to keep in mind that this is a friendly game between the two teams, much left to be determined in how both teams will look in the future.  Both coaches are trying out different players to see what they have and who will contribute in the future.

The 2^nd half showed us much of the same on the American side that can’t hold on to the ball. They finished with no shots on goal in the first half and Mexico continued to dominate in the onset of the 2^nd half.  In the 55^th minute, Dos Santos was brought in as a substitute and the action picked up for a while after that change was made.

The first sub on the American side came in the 59^th minute when we saw an 18 year old player by the name of Agudelo, he then proceeded to bring a little bit of excitement with a 40 yard run towards goal.  Maybe this will be a youth movement for the American team trying to cultivate talent with an eye to the future. Tim Howard at the age of 32 still remains the guy at goal for the American side; he has not been tested much aside for that early goal in the first half.

In the 73^rd minute, the youth movement made an impact with a goal by Robbie Rodgers.  A beautiful sequence starting with Agudelo, then a brilliant play by another young sub named Brek Shea, finished off by Rodgers who scored on an empty net.

The intensity picked up tremendously after the equalizer by the American team who seemed to have settled down.  Torres and Donovan are playing like the best players on the field along with Agudelo and Brek Shea.

In the 86^th minute, Robbie Rodgers got behind the defenders of the Mexican team in a play in which the Mexican defender should have been red carded- but was spared by the referee after he pulled down the faster American player…A wonderful opportunity for the Americans after the penalty, but no results after hitting the ball into the wall.

The game came to an end 1-1 and although this was a friendly, the 2^nd half should be encouraging to the new coach and fans of American soccer.  There are young players to build with along with their best player Donovan.  A good introduction to American fans for the new coach.

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American soccer fans should remember these great moments of dominance and perceived divine right.  In fact, enjoy and relish in Sundays game and marvel at what was done because it won’t last forever; it is not sustainable for many reasons.

Hearing people talk (myself included) after this past Sunday, after the game against Brazil, you would think that God lives and routs for American sports teams and its athletes alone…of course there are many things wrong with that idea but that is the mentality.  Added with the idea that we are better because of some divine right- then again we shouldn’t be surprise; that is ingrained in American culture.

It works to the benefit of America of course in these great moments where you think they have no hope and our teams manage to pull out improbable victories, it is because American athletes (the good ones) believe in the idea of some kind of close relationship with god and also the arrogance that goes along with believing this.  I’m not saying they believe they can fly or walk on water, they just believe that god is somehow on their side and there is no way they can lose; a great mentality in sports but dangerous off the field of play.

All I’m hearing is this idea in sports and maybe that is something built in every athlete around the world but I think it speak s to American Arrogance in sports all together. It’s funny but when the U.S is bad at a sport, we simply say the sport sucks or ridicule those who are considered great… especially the media.

Sticking to on the field though, I want to make it clear of course; no mentality no matter what the belief, means anything without the skill and financial backing to become good at what you do.

For example, the American women’s team is great and they will be good for a while but we must look into why that is and let’s leave divinity aside for now.  Let’s take a team like Brazil and how good they have become with little to no support back home.  America spends so much money on developing its athletes and it’s a year round thing.  We also reward these athletes with equipment, fields and money but a place like Brazil has only recently come to accept the idea of women playing the same sports that men play and the fact that they can play it very well.

We’ve come to expect great things in all our athletes but not all countries we compete with make these kind of investments; why do you think a great player like Marta comes to play in the U.S during the season…the financial backing and development is there in women’s sports in the US in a way that is not present in other countries.

So the bottom line is, at this point in the development of Women’s sports, we should be far ahead of every other country given how much money we spend and invest in these sports.  The dominance we see or the improbable comebacks and the great wins won’t be there in 10 to 15 years because the rest of the world will have caught up.

The same way other countries have caught up with us in basketball is the same thing we will see in Women’s soccer.  That arrogance will have to turn to respect in order to stay on top; the same way American basketball players have learned to respect their European counterparts.

Like everyone one else, I was in awe at the performance from the Women’s team against Brazil. But after hearing people talk, I caught myself saying things like, there’s something about American athletes; that is the wrong way to look at this victory.  We should look at this victory in the realm of the idea of what sports are.  There can only be one winner and the American team wanted it more than Brazil did and they had the talent to get it done; that’s it, nothing more nothing less.

Sports are about making history as did the Japanese team the day before on Saturday or any other team that has done great things in sports around the world.  The Brazilian men’s team has won many tournaments because they have the talent and support that the women’s team lack at this point, the American men’s team doesn’t win for the same reasons; sports are simple,  so let’s examine sports the right way and leave out the unnecessary.

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