Iranian Women’s National Team

Iran Woman Team

Four players banned from Iranian women’s national team for failing gender tests.  "Women in Iran may not be allowed to attend football matches between male sides for religious reasons". I've never heard of any form of a religious book saying "Thou cannot attend football matches between two teams of the same sex if they are males". I'll tell you what though, if some deity that far in the past knew there was going to be football this far into the future and actually put it specifically in the book, I might actually have to start thinking about it. Failing a gender test is worse than misspelling your name. Come on now. I cannot imagine what level of Hell I would have to be in that would make me want to be the one to look at what is under those uniforms. The bad news is that you have been cut from the men's team. The good news is that we are putting you on the women's team... the really bad news is that we have a different definition of "cut"

Women in Iran may not be allowed to attend football matches between male sides for religious reasons, but the beautiful game is popular among the Islamic republic's female population. Players in Iran's burgeoning professional women's football league will now be subjected to mandatory gender tests, after it has been revealed that four national team players were found guilty of not being women. The Telegraph reports. The country's football governing body is bringing in the random checks after it was revealed that several leading players - including four in the national women's team - were either men who had not completed sex change operations, or were suffering from sexual development disorders. Medical inspectors will now randomly attend professional women's games . and those in the indoor "footsal" league ..to carry out spot checks. Furthermore, clubs will now be obliged to perform gender tests before signing new players to contracts. Those unable to prove they are female would be barred from taking part in the league "until they underwent medical treatment," said Ahmad Hashemian, the head of the Iranian football federation's medical committee.  The Telegraph note that sex changes are often carried out in two-year phases in Iran, but they represent a legal grey area: they are permitted under a fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, but contravene the sexual morality code of Sharia Law. So far, a total of seven players have been barred from the league after failing gender tests.

Jerry Rice is about to become a professional world famous golfer

A lot of NFL players, former and current, have a passion for golf. Some of them are pretty good at it, too. John Elway, Tony Romo, Trent Dilfer(notes) and Billy Joe Tolliver come to mind. Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is pushing it to another level, though. He's going pro.

Rice, playing with a sponsor's exemption, will tee it up with the professionals starting Thursday at the Fresh Express Classic on the Nationwide Tour.

Think of the Nationwide Tour as sort of a minor league for the PGA Tour. The guys there are striving to get to the highest level, and they're pretty darn close. Current PGA Tour studs that came from the Nationwide Tour include Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Chad Campbell, Tom Lehman and Jeff Maggert.

These are the best golfers in the world who do not yet compete on the PGA Tour — and Jerry Rice(notes) thinks he can hang with him.

And maybe he can. Rice, 47, is a better-than-scratch golfer, and the passion he has for golf is just as intense as the passion that made him the best wide receiver in NFL history. Check out this quote, via Barry Salbert at the Huffington Post:

"When I got hurt by Warren Sapp(notes), I was on the football field, and thought to myself oh my God, my golf game."

Rice also used to get up at 4 a.m. so he could squeeze in a session at the driving range before showing up for a Bill Walsh practice at 8:30. And considering that he didn't pick up a golf club until he was in his 30s, his golf prowess is extremely impressive.

Rice's goal is not to win, but just to make the cut. He's pretty confident that he can do it, and given his work ethic, his natural athletic ability and his intense desire to keep himself in the spotlight, I'm not going to doubt him.

Enjoy Jerry Rice Album