Sports News

Top 10 Running Backs of All-Time

2011-08-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

These RBs are the greatest to ever set foot on the field

by Mike Olson

10. Earl Campbell

The 1978 Rookie of the Year and MVP, Oilers star Earl Campbell punished defenses in his short career, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors in three consecutive seasons. Campbell topped 1,300 yards and double-digit touchdowns in five of his first six seasons thanks to a vicious running style that saw him run directly into the teeth of defenses—frequently. (He set a record with 373 carries in one season.) Unfortunately, Campbell paid a price for that bruising mentality, putting up just five healthy seasons in the NFL.

9. LaDainian Tomlinson

Today he’s a change-of-pace back for the Jets who’s grooming a successor and chipping in the occasional goal-line carry. But it wasn’t long ago that LT was the premiere running back in the game, scanning the field in his trademark visor and dissecting his opponents for nine straight double-digit touchdown seasons to open his career. He’s also the owner of one of the most dominant seasons in history, when he crushed the single-season record with 31 TDs and 186 total points in 2006. (Listen closely and you can still hear his fantasy owners bragging about it.)

8. Eric Dickerson

It can be hard to take him seriously when you see that Jheri curl, but Dickerson scampered for 13,259 yards in his 11-year career, leading the league in rushing three times and becoming the first halfback to gain 1,000 yards in seven straight seasons. A thoroughbred in the open field—albeit one in goofy goggles—Dickerson still owns the single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards, set in 1984. And the three-time Pro Bowler also came up big in the post-season, with a record 248 rushing yards in one 1986 game against the Cowboys in which he broke off TD runs of 55 and 40 yards.

7. Gale Sayers

The Kansas Comet put up giant numbers in an injury-shortened, 68-game career. Sayers started off with a bang, scoring 22 touchdowns in his rookie season and crossing the goal line six times in one December game, a record that still stands and a performance that none other than George Halas called “the greatest football exhibition I have ever seen.” Oh, and he’s also the best kickoff returner in NFL history with an unreal 30.56 yard average.

6. Marshall Faulk

The most important cog of the Rams’ "Greatest Show on Turf," Faulk is, quite simply, the greatest receiving running back of all time. But although he averaged more than 63 catches per season in his NFL career, the seven-time Pro Bowler could also run, tallying seven 1,000-yard seasons. Remember, this is the player who took home the Offensive Player of the Year award in three straight seasons, most memorably in 1999 when he eclipsed 1,000 yards in both rushing and receiving.

5. O.J. Simpson

We know it’s hard, but put his post-football, um, hijinks aside and you have a legendary back. Wasted as a kick returner and decoy for his first three seasons in the league, Bills head coach Lou Saban finally turned the Juice loose in 1972. O.J. made the most of it with an explosiveness that helped him shoot through the line of scrimmage and into the open field, where his USC track skills took over. Best remembered for notching 2,003 yards in a 14-game 1973 season, Simpson had an NFL best six 200-yard games in his career, most of them coming for awful teams. (He made the playoffs just once in his career.)

4. Emmitt Smith

When you think of Emmitt Smith, it’s hard not to picture the over-the-hill back with gray in his goatee and a grinding desire to take over the rushing record. It finally happened on October 27, 2002 as a Cardinal, but the eight-time Pro Bowler was the heart and soul of a Cowboys team that won three Super Bowls, including in 1993 when Smith became the only player ever to win a rushing crown, MVP, Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP in the same season. Yet, even though he’s the owner of a record 18,355 career rushing yards, your girlfriend probably still knows him best as a one-time Dancing With the Stars champ.

3. Walter Payton

You may picture Payton as an elusive back with a killer stutter step, but remember, the nickname Sweetness came from his personality off the field. On the gridiron, Payton was a bruising runner—a perfect fit for a blue-collar team and city—who liked to mow over defenders, refused to run out of bounds and essentially invented the stiff arm. Payton, who missed just one game in his career and logged 300-plus carries 10 times, retired as the leading rusher in NFL history (much of it with no offensive line) and was named to both the NFL’s 1970's and 1980’s All-Decade teams.

2. Barry Sanders

The elusive Barry Sanders was just 1,457 yards shy of Walter Payton’s rushing record when he hung up his cleats. If he hadn’t, there’s no way Emmitt Smith tops the record books. The owner of four rushing titles, Sanders was the first running back to notch five 1,500-yard seasons (four of them in a row) and even went two entire seasons (’91, ’94) without a fumble. Short and stocky, Sanders was custom-built for the artificial turf of the Silverdome, able to make quick cuts and turn losses into huge gains. Of course, some stayed losses. Sanders lost 1,114 yards in his career trying to turn small plays into home runs.

1. Jim Brown

More of a fullback who played halfback, this eight-time All-Pro and three-time MVP never missed a game in his NFL career—though he did cut it short to go into acting. The enormous Brown could just as easily run over defenders as around them, with a scary combination of size and speed that helped him lead the league in rushing in all but one season of his career and rush for over 1,000 yards seven times (he fell short by four yards once)—in seasons that lasted just 12 or 14 games. Brown averaged more than one TD per game in his career, and averaged 5.2 yards per carry, the highest in NFL history.

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U.S. Women Likely To Wear 'Black Widow' Uniforms Against Brazil

2011-07-11T01:25:00.000-07:00

by Bill Chappell

Enlarge Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

A Good Luck Charm? The U.S. women's team is undefeated when wearing all black since the uniforms were introduced on May 14. In that game against Japan, Ali Krieger battled for control of the ball.

The U.S. women's soccer team will be looking for a spark when they play Brazil Sunday in an elimination match of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. One source of inspiration could be their new all-black uniforms, which the U.S. team reportedly plans to wear for the first time in Germany.

The all-black uniforms (or "kit," as we call it in the global-inflected world language of international soccer... or, um, football), might help the U.S. women rise to the occasion and defeat Brazil, thus proving that they're more mature and focused than the squad that lost its first-ever group stage match against Sweden and squandered a chance to win Group C.

Described by Nike as evoking a Black Widow spider, the black kit will give U.S. spectators something more to talk about besides the Americans' chances against Brazil and its five-time FIFA player of the year, Marta.

The uniforms have been a hot topic. During the U.S. opener against North Korea, a soccer fan here at NPR shot me a note with some of her thoughts about the exciting match (somewhat superfluously, actually; I heard her yelling from down the hall).

Then she added, "I hate to be a girl...but the uniforms? Really? As soon as anyone starts paying attention, they will start complaining about the uniforms. They look so silly."

It turns out that someone had been paying attention, and complaining, already. In April, Jennifer Doyle wrote on her From A Left Wing blog that "This is quite simply the ugliest women's football jersey I have ever seen."

Another NPR soccer fan said, "I agree that the U.S. uniforms are tragic (though Canada's poncho-esque kits are a close second)."

So, I asked Nike media relations manager Tim Yu about the U.S. team's uniforms. And like with most sportswear, it turns out that they're the result of lots of thinking about function and style.

"The kits are made of a new recycled polyester DriFit yarn that is designed to keep players cooler and more comfortable," Yu says — a possibly huge advantage in the heat and humidity that marked many of the early matches in Germany.

The jerseys are made of, essentially, recycled bottles. In an email, Yu said that "each jersey contains around 8 plastic bottles."

Nike says that DriFit is 15 percent lighter than the previous sports fabric, which makes it sound something like the Michelob Ultra of the uniform world.

That all sounds fine. But here's where we get to the part that makes some fans, and fashion observers, uneasy. "The kit is designed specifically for the female athlete, to enhance the range of motion and create a uniquely feminine silhouette," Nike said back in the spring, when it (and U.S. Soccer) announced the national team's new uniforms.

So far, so good. I've heard from other sources that the U.S. players had some input in the design, and it's understandable that they'd want a kit that's designed for their bodies and does a good job of managing heat.

But then, it seems, fans and fashionistas go a little nuts when it comes to this next part. "Capped sleeves and a high neckline with v-neck piping were added to create a striking aesthetic," in Nike's view.

It's unclear how contagious that view is. Several onlookers, Doyle included, have unfavorably compared the team's white "home" kit to a nurse's outfit. There seems to be less outcry against the black "away" uniform, which features "a black bodice and red piping inspired by the beautiful but deadly Black Widow spider," Nike says.

Of course, there may be less outcry just because the black kit has been worn in fewer games. But at least one reviewer fell in love with it.

For anyone wondering if the U.S. will be playing in the full sun when they're wearing black Sunday: It'll be 5:30 p.m. in Germany when the U.S. plays Brazil. That's 11:30 a.m. ET. I might not know all there is to know about fashion, but wouldn't the 8:30 p.m. (local time) game against Sweden have been the time to break out the formal gear?

Whether they love or hate the new uniforms, there's some good news for U.S. fans hoping the team advances to the semifinals: So far, the Americans are undefeated when they wear the Black Widow unis. The last time the U.S. wore the black kit was in June, when it beat Mexico, 1-0. The all-black look was introduced in a 2-0 win over Japan in May.

Still, the U.S. women could be forgiven for hoping history plays only a small role in Sunday's match. Because in the 2007 Women's World Cup, the Brazilians handed them their worst-ever loss, 4-0.

If the U.S. women win Sunday and you decide you just have to have a uniform for yourself, they're being sold through the U.S. Soccer store. A full kit, including socks, will run you $122.37 before tax. A jersey by itself — white or black — costs $71.99. If that seems steep, you have our apologies for passing along the info that they're made from recycled plastic bottles.

Enlarge Alex Grimm/Getty Images

U.S. players, in white, line up for a corner kick against Colombia in a group stage game of the 2011 Women's World Cup. The white jerseys have been criticized as resembling a nurse's uniform.

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City line-up £55m splurge on Eto'o and Aguero as Tevez edges closer to the exit

2011-07-11T01:20:00.000-07:00

By Simon Jones and Sportsmail Reporter

Manchester City are ready to flex their muscles in the summer transfer window with a sensational £55million double swoop for Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o and Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero.

City had opened tentative discussions with Inter over a possible swap involving Carlos Tevez and Eto'o last month but that was abandoned as figures, including the wage demands of the Cameroon striker, got too high.

However the latest step in the long-running saga involves an £18m transfer fee which is completely independent of Tevez, and Eto'o is keen to talk.

Summer splurge: Sergio Aguero and Samuel Eto'o could be next through the Etihad Stadium entrance

The two-time Champions League winner hopes to secure one final big contract before his stock begins to drop as he gets older, and was unimpressed when he held discussions with Inter president Massimo Moratti about improving his current deal. He wants a further two years with a salary to match City's offer.

The Eastlands outfit are wary having been in a similar position before when Eto'o left Barcelona, but have been assured he is more serious about the move this time.

Eto'o scored 21 goals in Serie A last season for a struggling Inter outfit and having won all that there is to in Spain and Italy, he would welcome a new challenge.

Last month, he said: 'It is true that I have a few offers, I have a month off now to evaluate all of them and decide what to do. I’m 30, I’m close to my final big contract and we’ll have to see whether I should stay or go.

'My eventual departure is not to try to earn 100,000 or 200,000 euros more. What matters in my career is being happy in a city, playing for a big club where I can enjoy myself.'

Flying high: City secured a a stunning £400m deal involving the naming rights of their stadium and their shirt sponsor

The transfers will be the first major piece of business for the club following the announcement they were set for a £400m windfall from selling the naming rights to their stadium and extending a shirt sponsorship deal with Etihad.

Meanwhile City's pursuit of Aguero appears more difficult. The club have so far rejected talk they are in for the Argentine, who is also wanted by Real Madrid.

Yet after it emerged Juventus had offered Atletico Madrid £32.5m for Diego Maradona's son-in-law, the Spanish club claimed City had already bid £4.5m more. That in turn has forced Juve to look elsewhere for attacking reinforcements and they are now expected to challenge Tottenham for the signature of Villarreal's Giuseppe Rossi.

Aguero is seen as a natural replacement for Tevez although City still want £50m for their Argentinian talisman.

Out with the old: Aguero is seen as a direct replacement for international team-mate Tevez who wants out of City

Tevez rocked City in June by demanding he be allowed to end his stay for the sake of his family.

Tevez, who was City's top-scorer last season as they qualified for the Champions League for the first time, issued a statement to Sportsmail explaining his wish to leave the club.

Family man: Tevez wants to move to a club where is family would be settled

It said: 'It is with great regret that I have to inform Manchester City of my wish to leave the club. I would like to state that I have great respect for the club, its supporters and the owner, Sheik Mansoor, who has been nothing other than respectful to me.

'I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family.

'Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me. Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them.

'I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt. Being captain of Manchester City, qualifying for the Champions League, winning the FA Cup and finishing as top-scorer last season has made me very proud.

'I hope that most of the City fans will understand that I have given them my all on the pitch and that my dedication to the city cause has been 100 per cent on the pitch.

'I hope I have done my bit to help City continue their progress towards their ambition to be champions of England and to advance in the Champions League. I have no doubt that the players and management of City will achieve great success in the future.'

Another player who could be heading through the Etihad Stadium's entrance is Samir Nasri. Reports late on Thursday suggested City and Arsenal had reached a deal that would see the Frenchman follow Gael Clichy to the club for a fee of £23m.

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Olympics: 10 signature moments

2009-12-20T03:48:00.000-08:00

Golden touch: Michael Phelps (left) edged Milorad Cavic in an unforgettable race.

1. Michael Phelps' photo-finish victory over Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly at the Beijing Olympics (Aug. 16, 2008)

Every Phelps swim in the Water Cube was impressive, but this one was a stunning sleight-of-hands trick. Several meters from the finish, Cavic, who'd dominated the race, was still ahead. But with one last, fast, half-stroke, Phelps touched the wall first by .01 of a second, equaled Mark Spitz's total of seven golds in one Games and all but guaranteed that he would win a record eighth (as he did in a relay the next day). With its Phelpsian brilliance, high-tech suits and upstart challenger (Cavic, swimming for Serbia, symbolized a new wave of medalists from smaller countries), the race conjoined three of the biggest Olympic stories of the era.

2. The election of Jacques Rogge as IOC president (July 16, 2001)

The decade's least flamboyant but most influential Olympic figure was an orthopedic surgeon from Belgium who helped restore the scandal-plagued IOC to respectability. Rogge, who at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games stayed in the athletes' village rather than a luxury hotel as a signal of change, dispensed with much of the IOC's royal pomposity, worked to contain mushrooming host-city costs, oversaw the approval of new sports (including golf, rugby, women's boxing and snowboardcross) and welcomed the awarding of the Games to more daring sites such as Beijing and Rio de Janeiro. Even Rogge's critics had to acknowledge that his election saved the IOC from likely calamity: The runner-up in the 2001 balloting was Kim Un Yong, who by mid-decade was imprisoned in his native South Korea for embezzlement and bribery.

3. Marion Jones' tearful apology on the steps of the federal courthouse in White Plains, N.Y. (Oct. 5, 2007)

No Olympic champion -- not Jim Thorpe, not Ben Johnson -- ever fell farther than the world's greatest female athlete, who won five track and field medals (three gold) at the 2000 Sydney Games but eight years later was disgraced, bankrupt, medal-less and in jail. The poster girl of the steroid decade had bad luck with men (her husband, her boyfriend and her coach all were embroiled in performance-enhancing drug scandals), but she was responsible for her own downfall. By the time she owned up to her steroid use, she had lied to prosecutors about it and about her role in a check-fraud scam; she eventually served almost six months in prison in Texas. Jones' courthouse speech about her "wrong choices and bad decisions" doesn't rank with sports' great orations, but it belongs on any collection of significant Olympic moments.

4. Usain Bolt's 100-meter victory in Beijing (Aug. 16, 2008)

His win in the 200 might have been a greater athletic feat -- he took down Michael Johnson's daunting world record of 19.32 seconds -- but the 100 came first and was a mind-bender. After pulling away from the field like a thoroughbred racing draft horses, Bolt glanced back 15 meters from the finish, saw no one, eased up, put his arms out like airplane wings, pounded his chest ... and still destroyed the world record. And then celebrated his way around the track. His mark of 9.69 seconds didn't last a year (he chopped it to an insane 9.58 at the 2009 worlds), but memories of his domination and exuberance will not soon fade.

5. The U.S. basketball loss to Argentina in the semifinals of the 2004 Athens Games (Aug. 27, 2004)

The poor-shooting Bad-Dream Team, led by Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, had already suffered the first two Olympic defeats in the history of American men's basketball, 92-73 to Puerto Rico and 94-90 to Lithuania. But if those could be explained away (delusionally) as freak losses in early rounds by a team that hadn't hit its stride, the 89-81 semifinal defeat spoke with finality: The world had, once and for all, caught up. Recognizing the need to change, the U.S. revamped its selection system, picked a team tailored to the international game and gave the squad more time to play together. In Beijing the U.S. Redeem Team lived up to its name -- but basketball gold will never again come easily.

6. The dubious scoring of the pairs competition by French figure-skating judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne in Salt Lake City (Feb. 11, 2002)

By giving Russians Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze higher marks than Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who had the superior performance, Le Gougne ensured that the Russian duo would win the gold medal. In the uproar that followed, Le Gougne said she'd been pressured to vote for the Russians, allegedly as part of a deal under which French and Russian judges would help the other country's skaters win medals (an allegation that was never proved). End result: The awarding of a second set of golds, to the Canadian pair; the suspension of Le Gougne and the head of the French skating federation for three years; and a new system of scoring in figure skating that dramatically changed the sport but, alas, doesn't preclude another judging scandal.

7. Cathy Freeman wins the 400 meters in Sydney (Sept. 25, 2000)

At the confluence of history and sport and theater flowed a woman of Aboriginal descent, running free in the Olympic Stadium, uniting a nation, defining a new era. To the roar of more than 110,000 countrymen, Freeman strode gracefully through the night air in a hooded track suit, veiled yet unmistakable. The Aussies' high-spirited, Good-On-Ya Games had one of the happiest vibes of any Olympics, but Freeman's victory was not merely uplifting -- it was also profoundly moving. In a stadium where she had already lit the cauldron, Freeman kindled a flame that would burn long beyond the 17 days of competition.

Liu Xiang set a world record in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games.

Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images

8. Liu Xiang's victory in the 110-meter hurdles in Athens (Aug. 27, 2004)

An unexpected win in world-record time not only made Liu China's first track-and-field gold medalist, but also transformed the willowy 21-year-old from Shanghai into the face of the Beijing Games four years hence. Beyond that, it declared the arrival of the next great Olympic power, a reality confirmed by China's place atop the gold-medal standings in 2008. Liu didn't share in the glory in Beijing; plagued by a painful right Achilles, he grimaced and limped off the track before his first-round heat, stunning his nation and providing an image as compelling as his triumph in Athens.

9. Shaun White's halfpipe gold medal at the Turin Games (Feb. 12, 2006)

An underplayed story of the decade was the emergence of the U.S. as a Winter Olympics force. Having won no more than 13 medals at any previous Winter Games, the U.S. claimed 34 as the home team in Salt Lake City and 25 more in Turin. The breakthrough was driven by the addition of two decades' worth of new sports, from short-track speedskating to skeleton to snowboarding, in which White was a global star even before he dominated the final in Italy. The Flying Tomato's victory elevated 'boarding's place in the Olympic realm and, more significant, conferred on the Games a new sense of coolness.

10. Eric (the Eel) Moussambani's comically slow 100-meter freestyle in Sydney (Sept. 19, 2000)

The swimmer from Equatorial Guinea needed nearly two minutes -- and quite nearly a life preserver -- to finish a full lap, perhaps not surprising given that he'd taken up the sport only eight months earlier and had never seen a 50-meter pool before arriving in Australia. Yet though his performance and good nature made him a cult hero, his legacy could be less cheerful: His embarrassingly slow time caused officials to tighten qualifying standards in a number of sports, including swimming, reducing the likelihood that we'll ever see another quite like him.

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Bob Knight takes shot at Calipari, says integrity is lacking

2009-12-20T03:39:00.000-08:00

Former Indiana coach Bob Knight said integrity is lacking in college basketball.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bob Knight said integrity is lacking in college basketball and cited Kentucky coach John Calipari as an example.

During a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Knight said he doesn't understand why Calipari is still coaching.

"We've gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching," he said. "You see we've got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that."

Massachusetts and Memphis were both sanctioned by the NCAA for violations committed during Calipari's tenure.

Knight, who won a record 902 games as coach of Army, Indiana and Texas Tech, did not elaborate or take questions from reporters.

What’s in a Nickname? The Origins of All 30 NHL Team Names

2009-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

by Scott Allen

Ever wonder what a Canuck is? How about a Blue Jacket? With the NHL season kicking off this week, here’s a breakdown of how the league’s 30 teams got their names.

1. New York Rangers
In 1925, the New York Americans joined the National Hockey League and played their home games at the old Madison Square Garden. Tex Rickard, the boxing promoter and ex-gold prospector who built and owned the arena, decided he wanted his own NHL team, which he was awarded in 1926. Rickard’s team was immediately dubbed “Tex’s Rangers” as a pun referencing the paramilitary force founded in Texas during the 1830s. The Americans folded in 1943, while Tex’s Rangers remain.

2. New Jersey Devils
Given that New Jersey has never been known for its mountains, the team needed a new nickname after the Colorado Rockies relocated to the Garden State in 1982. The New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority sponsored a statewide newspaper contest to determine the new nickname and some of the other finalists included Americans, Blades, Coastals, Colonials, Gulls, Jaguars, Meadowlanders, and Meadowlarks. While some fans objected to the winning selection on religious grounds – one threatened the life of a reporter who was covering the search – the Devil has an entirely non-religious folk history in New Jersey. According to legend, a harmless creature known as the Leeds Devil, or the Jersey Devil, roamed the Pine Barrens in the southern part of the state from 1887 until 1938.

3. New York Islanders
When New York’s expansion Major League Baseball franchise held a name-the-team contest in 1961, Islanders finished third behind Mets and Empires. Eleven years later, Islanders was selected as the nickname for New York’s new hockey team, which plays its home games on Long Island.

4. Philadelphia Flyers
The team sponsored a name-the-team contest after Ed Snider, then-vice president of the Philadelphia Eagles, brought hockey back to the City of Brotherly Love in 1966. Snider’s sister, Phyllis, reportedly suggested the name Flyers, which sounds good when paired with Philadelphia but doesn’t have any real meaning.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sponsored a name-the-team contest, but Carol McGregor, the wife of one of the franchise’s part owners, Jack McGregor, was the one responsible for the nickname. In his book, Pittsburgh Penguins: The Official History of the First 30 Years, Bob Grove describes how Carol McGregor came up with the name. “I was thinking of something with a P. And I said to Jack, ‘What do they call the Civic Arena?’ And he said, ‘The Big Igloo.’ So I thought, ice. . . Pittsburgh. . . Penguins.” More than 700 of the 26,000 contest entries were for Penguins.

6. Boston Bruins
When grocery store tycoon Charles Adams brought a team to Boston, he hired former hockey great Art Ross to serve as his general manager. Adams tasked Ross with coming up with a nickname, with one of the requirements being that the team’s colors would be the same as his grocery store chain – brown and yellow. Ross decided on Bruins.

7. Buffalo Sabres
When Buffalo entered the league in 1970, owners Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox wanted the nickname for their new team to be unique. The brothers sponsored a name-the-team contest and decided on Sabres, with a buffalo featured prominently in the team’s logo.

8. Montreal Canadiens
In 1909, John Ambrose O’Brien created the Club de Hockey Canadien. Ambrose wanted his team, a charter member of the National Hockey Association, to appeal to Montreal’s francophone population and he hoped to drum up a rivalry with the city’s established team, the Wanderers. The Canadiens are often referred to as “The Habs” or “Les Habs,” an abbreviation of “Les Habitants,” the name for the early settlers of New France.

9. Ottawa Senators
The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, won 11 Stanley Cups. When an NHL team returned to Ottawa in 1992 after a nearly 60-year hiatus, the nickname, a reference to Ottawa’s status as Canada’s capital city, was an obvious choice.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs
Conn Smythe purchased Toronto’s hockey team in 1927 and one of his first orders of business was renaming the team. The franchise that began play as the Arenas in 1917 changed its nickname to St. Patrick’s in 1919 to attract Toronto’s Irish population. Smythe eventually decided on Maple Leafs, for a couple possible reasons. Smythe fought in the Maple Leaf Regiment during World War I, and there was a former Toronto hockey team called the East Maple Leaves.

11. Atlanta Thrashers
Ted Turner named Atlanta’s 1997 expansion team after the brown thrasher, the state bird of Georgia.

12. Carolina Hurricanes
After the Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh in 1997, new owner Peter Karmanos, Jr. named his team after the devastating storms that regularly ravage the region.

13. Florida Panthers
Had Tampa Bay been awarded a baseball team in the early 90s, they likely would’ve been called the Florida Panthers, a reference to the endangered species of the same name. Instead, the nickname was adopted by Florida’s second NHL team. When Panthers president Bill Torrey revealed the nickname, he told reporters: “A panther, for your information, is the quickest striking of all cats. Hopefully, that’s how we will be on the ice.”

14. Tampa Bay Lightning
In 1990, a thunderstorm served as inspiration for then-president of the Tampa Bay Hockey Group Phil Esposito’s decision to name his team the Lightning. Esposito said that in addition to being a natural characteristic of the Tampa Bay area, Lightning expressed the fast action of a hockey game.

15. Washington Capitals
Washington owner Abe Pollin decided on the perfectly apt nickname Capitals after staging a name-the-team contest.

16. Chicago Blackhawks
World War I veteran and coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin was Chicago’s owner when it entered the NHL in 1926. McLaughlin named the team after the 86th Infantry Division in which he served. The “Black Hawk Division” was named after Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk American Indian tribe, who fought the Illinois militia in 1832. The nickname was officially changed from Black Hawks to Blackhawks in 1986.

17. Columbus Blue Jackets
Blue Jackets was the winning entry in a name-the-team contest. According to the team’s website, the name “celebrates patriotism, pride and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and, more specifically, the city of Columbus.” Ohio contributed more residents to the Union Army than any other state during the Civil War.

18. Detroit Red Wings
After purchasing the Detroit Falcons in 1932, James Norris renamed the team after the “Winged Wheelers,” the nickname of the Montreal Hockey Club for which he once played. Norris chose a winged wheel as the team’s logo, a nod to Detroit’s growing reputation as the heart of the automobile industry.

19. Nashville Predators
A vote by the fans helped determine Nashville’s nickname, a reference to the saber-toothed tiger remains that were discovered during an excavation in the city in 1971.

20. St. Louis Blues
According to the team’s website, owner Sid Saloman Jr. selected the nickname Blues in 1967 after W.C. Handy’s song, “St. Louis Blues.” Mercury and Apollo were two of the other nicknames that were considered. The space capsules bearing those names were built in St. Louis.

21. Calgary Flames
The Flames played in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980 and their nickname was a reference to the burning of Atlanta by General William T. Sherman during the Civil War. While the team moved, the nickname remained.

22. Colorado Avalanche
Rockies, the nickname for Colorado’s hockey team that left for New Jersey in 1982, had been adopted by Denver’s baseball team by the time the Quebec Nordiques left Canada for the Front Range in 1995. Management originally wanted to name the team Extreme, but received all sorts of negative feedback, and justifiably so. Avalanche, which eventually beat out Black Bears, Outlaws, Storm, Wranglers, Renegades, Rapids, and Cougars, drew some criticism, as well, given their deadly nature. A member of the marketing group responsible for naming the team replied: “This is the NHL, a rough and tough sport, and Avalanche is something that matches the ‘on the edge’ feel they want to create. Hey, Cougars and Bears kill people, too. People shouldn’t get so excited about Avalanche being a disrespectful name or something. It’s just a name.”

23. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, is also the oil capital of Canada. Edmonton began play in 1972 in the World Hockey Association and retained the name Oilers when it joined the NHL in 1979.

24. Minnesota Wild
In 1998, Wild was chosen from a field of six finalists, which also included the Blue Ox, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Freeze. (Voyageurs were the working-class employees of fur trading companies in the region during the 1700s.)

25. Vancouver Canucks
Johnny Canuck, who originally appeared as a Canadian political cartoon character in 1869, was reinvented as a comic book action hero who fought Adolf Hitler, among other villains, during World War II. Canuck is also slang for Canadian, making Vancouver’s hockey team the Canadian equivalent of the New York Yankees – with a little less money.

26. Dallas Stars
When the Minnesota North Stars, whose nickname was decided by a fan contest, moved to Texas in 1993, they ditched the “North” and didn’t feel compelled to replace it with “South” or “Lone.”

27. Los Angeles Kings
The late Jack Kent Cooke, who owned the Los Angeles Lakers and later the Washington Redskins, settled on Kings as the team nickname from entries submitted in a fan contest. The Los Angeles Monarchs played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League during the 1930s and Cooke’s new team adopted the same royal color scheme as the Lakers.

28. Anaheim Ducks
Quack. Quack. Quack! Quack! QUACK! Anaheim joined the NHL in 1993 and its team was known as the Mighty Ducks, after the wildly popular Disney movie and cross-marketing vehicle of the same name. The nickname was changed to Ducks and the logo was changed in 2005 after Disney sold the team.

29. Phoenix Coyotes
The Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996 and Coyotes was the winner in a name-the-team contest that attracted more than 10,000 entries. Scorpions was the runner-up.

30. San Jose Sharks
Sharks was chosen from 2,300 entries in San Jose’s name-the-team contest. The other finalists included Rubber Puckies, Screaming Squids, Salty Dogs, and Blades. Blades was the most popular entry, but ultimately rejected because of its gang implications. When the nickname was chosen, seven shark species made their home in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast called The Red Triangle.

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One-Handed Basketball Player Gets Division I Scholarship and Takes the Court

2009-10-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

The 2009-10 NCAA basketball season is right around the corner and freshman recruits across the nation are on the verge of stepping onto the college courts for the first time. Many of which are playing under scholarships and fulfilling their dreams. One of those players is doing so in November against more odds than you can imagine. The player, Kevin Laue, has only one arm. And no i’m not referring to some sort of ’special’ college league for handicapped players. I’m talking about the NCAA Division I that every player dreams of playing in as they grow up.

The Globe and Mail had this to say about Kevin Laue today:

Kevin Laue isn’t supposed to be here, standing on the court practising for his first season of Division I basketball in the United States.

Born without a left hand, the 6-foot-11 centre from Pleasanton, Calif., is now a freshman at Manhattan College, having earned a scholarship to play for the Jaspers and a chance to live out the dream of anyone who has been told they couldn’t play a sport they loved because of a physical defect.

When the Jaspers’ season opens Nov. 14, the question will not be whether Mr. Laue can dribble, pass, block, score or rebound, but whether his opponents will underestimate his skills. “It’s to my advantage,” said Mr. Laue, explaining what it’s like to come onto the floor during a game and face his two-handed opponents. “They think they’re going to have an easy game and just whip on some one-handed kid. But I think I’ve surprised a couple people out there.”

Personally, I can’t wait to see the looks on his opponents faces when he rips a board over them, leaves them hung out to dry in the post, or spots up for a made jump shot right in their face. Check out this video clip of Laue playing the game he loves:

World Cup 2010: Top 50 World Cup moments

2009-09-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

Maradona, Pele, Cruyff... Celebrate the greatest moments and greatest players in World Cup history with our definitive list, complete with YouTube clips.

By Rory Smith

That tackle, that save: Bobby Moore (left) swaps shirts with Pele after the epic 1970 World Cup encounter between England and Brazil in Guadalajara, Mexico Photo: AP

Read a full match report of England's 5-1 defeat of Croatia, the result which sealed their World Cup qualification.

1. Maradona’s two minutes, 1986

No player has ever dominated a tournament as wholly as Diego Armando Maradona managed in 1986, taking a workmanlike Argentina to their second World Cup title. How he did it is encapsulated in his two goals against England in the quarter finals; the first a masterclass in the art of deception - he cheated - and the second, simply a masterclass. They were the moments that made him an icon.

Watch YouTube clip one

Watch YouTube clip two

2. Pele’s pass, 1970

In 1966, Brazil, winners of the previous two World Cups, sent a team of cloggers to England and promptly embarrassed themselves. In 1970, they made up for lost time by sending “five number 10s” – Pele, Jairzinho, Rivelino, Gerson and Tostao – and playing some of the best football ever seen. Pele’s pass for Carlos Alberto’s goal in the contemptuous demolition of Italy in the final provided a fitting epitaph for the greatest team ever to grace the finals.

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3. The Goal That Never Was, Maybe, 1966

Taken from a neutral perspective, the 1966 World Cup final is arguably the best of all 18, featuring a late equaliser to send the game into extra time in a six-goal thriller between two arch-rivals. Geoff Hurst’s second, England’s third, killed off the West German resistance and kick-started a debate that still rages today, and not the one about Hans Tilkowski’s hat.

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4. Cruyff’s turn, 1974

There a few tricks employed quite so often on the playground as the Cruyff turn, a devastatingly simple premise barely noted by commentators in the all-singing, all-dancing age of the Premier League. It is, then, testament to Johan Cruyff’s abilities that nobody thought of it until he unveiled it to the world against Sweden, and the hapless Gunnar Olsson, in Germany in 1974.

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5. They Think It’s All Over, 1966

So iconic is Kenneth Wolstenholme’s commentary that his words almost overshadow both Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick goal in a World Cup final and excuse the small-scale pitch invasion that, should it happen in 2018, would be targeted by a Home Office inquiry resulting in banning orders.

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6. The Miracle of Bern, 1954

Where England places Kenneth Wolstenholme, Germany puts Herbert Zimmermann, the man whose screams of “tor” provided the soundtrack to a nation’s rebirth. Two goals down to the Hungary of Puskas, Hidegkuti and Kocsis – who had beaten them 8-3 in the group stages – Germany somehow recovered before Helmut Rahn sent Zimmermann into raptures.

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7. The Wail Heard Around The World, 1950

It is believed the Maracana held more than 200,000 people for the 1950 final between heavily-fancied hosts Brazil and minnows Uruguay. It was all going to plan for the home fans when Friaca put Brazil, in white, ahead, before Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia turned the world on its head. So upset were the hosts that they forgot to give Uruguay the trophy, the 200,000 sat in “silence too difficult to bear” and the national team refused to ever wear white again.

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8. The night before the morning after, 1974

Like Hungary in 1954, Holland were clearly the greatest team on the planet as they swashbuckled their way through the tournament in Germany 20 years later. But their plans fell apart when German newspapers published details of a party at the team hotel on the eve of the final against the hosts – legend has it that Johan Cruyff spent all night persuading his wife nothing amiss had gone on – and their campaign did likewise, as Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller cancelled out Johan Neeskens’ early penalty.

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9. Zinedine Zidane’s sister, 2006

What Zinedine Zidane was to football, Marco Materazzi is to winding up opponents. After a tournament in which he had enjoyed the most glorious of swansongs, the French legend decided to go out in style, giving his side the lead in the World Cup final before, in extra time, responding to one barb too many – reportedly about his sister - with the head-butt seen around the world.

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10. Welcome to Pele, 1958

Brazil’s World Cup pedigree when they travelled to Sweden in 1958 was comparatively poor; when they left, the idea of samba football had been born, largely thanks to the soundtrack which accompanied them as they trained. But the star of the show was the unknown black 17-year-old who saw off Wales in the quarter-finals, scored a hat-trick in the semis and then announced himself to the world with that goal against the hosts in the final.

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11. The Battle of Santiago, 1962

David Coleman, moral arbiter of sport, decried this game between Chile and Italy as the “most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.” Two players were sent off, noses were broken and all manner of chaos broke loose. Everyone watching probably secretly enjoyed it.

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12. Everything Brazil did in Spain, 1982

Football, by all accounts, only remembers the winners. Eder, Junior, Zico, Falcao and Socrates were not winners – Paolo Rossi put paid to that – but, their countrymen from 1970 aside, no more memorable team has ever played in a World Cup finals.

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13. Cry Baby, 1990

Paul Gascoigne’s tears for his booking in the semi-final of Italia 90 did not simply endear the Geordie schemer to a nation, but laid the ground for the gentrification of football into the sport it has become.

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14. The wall breaks, 1974

Zaire did not have much fun at the 1974 tournament, but those watching them did. Faced with the might of Brazil, right-back Ilunga earned his own place in history thanks to his decision to undertake probably the funniest thing ever to happen in Germany.

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15. Battiston’s teeth, 1982

What is truly remarkable about the worst foul ever seen at a World Cup – and possibly in all of football – is that Harald Schumacher was not even booked for what was at least assault on Patrick Battiston. The Frenchman was left unconscious, his front teeth knocked out, needed oxygen on the pitch and, of course, the Germans went on to win.

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16. The thrown game, 1978

Needing to win by four clear goals to beat Brazil to a place in their own World Cup final, Argentina easily saw off the previously impressive – well, adequate – Peruvians by six, prompting reports the Argentine military junta had fixed the game. That Peru’s goalkeeper, Ramon Quiroga, had been born in Argentina hardly helped matters.

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17. USA! USA! 1950

Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian student drafted into the US side for the 1950 World Cup, only played three games in international football, but his contribution – the goal that beat Walter Winterbottom’s England – produced the biggest upset in the tournament’s history.

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18. The ephedrine scream, 1994

Drug cheats all over the world know the best way to avoid detection is not to draw attention to your altered state of mind. Such a ploy was not for Diego Maradona, not after a wonderful goal against Greece. Had nobody felt the need to test him before his celebration, they probably realised they had better check after it.

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19. Marco, Marco, Marco, 1982

Paolo Rossi, recently returned from a ban after becoming embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, fired Italy to the World Cup final, but it was Marco Tardelli’s strike which defined their victory. He denies screaming his name repeatedly as he wheeled away, insisting: “It was just a noise, I could not say anything.”

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20. Banks’s save, Moore’s tackle, 1970

The reigning champions’ defeat to their heirs apparent in the heat of Guadalajara was notable for Jeff Astle’s miss, Jairzinho’s goal, Bobby Moore’s tackle on Pele and, of course, Gordon Banks’s remarkable save from the planet’s greatest player, as well as the mutual respect on show after the game.

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21. Archie’s Army, 1978

It may not have been enough to save Ally McLeod’s side from ignominious elimination, but Archie Gemmill’s waltz through the Dutch defence to help Scotland to a 3-2 win at least salvaged some wounded Caledonian pride from the 1978 tournament.

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22. Pak Do Ik, 1966

Along with the USA’s win over England in 1950, North Korea’s elimination of Italy from the tournament 16 years later ranks as the greatest shock ever seen at a finals. It was Pak Do Ik who delivered the hammer blow before Portugal overturned a three goal deficit to send the Communist side home in the quarter finals.

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23. East 2-1 West, 1998

When Iran and the USA were drawn together in the group stages of the 1998 World Cup, it was thought the game would not be allowed to go ahead. But go ahead it did, and goals from Hamid Estili and Mehdi Mahdavikia gave the Islamic Republic the win against their Great Satan.

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24. The Ronaldo Incident, 1998

It was the toothy striker’s talent which took Brazil to the second of three consecutive World Cup finals, but it was the controversy over his inclusion which may have cost them the 1998 tournament. He apparently suffered a fit, brought on by stress, but was eventually included in the starting line-up, despite originally being replaced by monkey-baiting forward Edmundo. Amid rumours Nike had forced him to play, Ronaldo looked a shadow of his former self and France romped home.

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25. Clive Thomas, 1978

Some things never change. Players have always dived, managers have always complained and referees have always been possessed of a streak of officious incompetence, best summed up by Clive Thomas’s decision to disallow Zico’s winning goal against Sweden in the 1978 World Cup.

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26. Pele’s Dummy, 1970

The greatest goal never scored, shortly preceded by the best piece of play ever to grace a football field that did not involve touching the ball.

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27. Kuwait a Minute, 1982

With his side 3-1 down to the French and hardly likely to launch a comeback, Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah would have been forgiven for accepting Alain Giresse’s controversial fourth as inconsequential. Not a bit of it. He marched his team off the pitch, forced the Soviet referee to cancel the goal and no doubt watched in fury as, minutes later, Maxime Bossis notched a legitimate fourth.

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28. Maradona v Belgium, 1986

Had the diminutive Argentine not gone on to score that goal against England, his effort to see off a talented Belgian side would probably have gone down in his history as his piece de resistance.

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29. Animals, 1966

So incensed was Alf Ramsey by the spoiling tactics employed by Argentina – and their captain, Antonio Rattin, in particular – that he refused to allow his players to swap shirts after seeing off their opponents. He did not, though, call the Argentines “animals”, though he probably thought it.

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30. Higuita and Milla, 1990

The two unlikely stars of the 1990 World Cup. Rene Higuita, the perm-sporting Colombian goalkeeper, and Roger Milla, the all-dancing Cameroonian pensioner who captured the planet’s hearts. Honourable mention, too, to Benjamin Massing and his assault on Claudio Caniggia.

Watch YouTube clip one Watch YouTube clip two

31. Gerry’s pacemaker, 1982

Hosts they may have been, but Spain were hardly a side to be feared in 1982. After drawing with Honduras, they lost to Northern Ireland, thanks to Gerry Armstrong’s goal, and only just scraped through. That should not detract, though, from the proudest moment in Northern Irish World Cup history.

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32. Owen’s goal, 1998

An untested, unproven 18 year-old before he raced away from the Argentine defence to give England a 2-1 lead in the second round of France 98, afterwards Michael Owen was a global superstar.

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33. Gobbing off, 1990

Holland against Germany is always a tense affair, especially after the Dutch gained revenge for 1974 in the 1988 European Championships, but spitting is probably the wrong way to relieve the stress. Seeing Frank Rijkaard’s phlegm in Rudi Voller’s curly mullet remains one of the most disturbing scenes ever produced by television.

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34. Diana Ross v Roberto Baggio, 1994

Had Roberto Baggio converted his spot kick in the 1994 World Cup final and Italy gone on to win, his contribution would have matched that of Maradona in 1986. Diana Ross’s probably would not have, even had she scored.

Watch YouTube clip one Watch YouTube clip two

35. Silly boy, 1998

As one of football’s elder statesmen, David Beckham now seems a different person to the one sent off in England’s second-round fixture with Argentina in 1998 for his petulant response to Diego Simeone’s endless baiting. Effigies of the Manchester United player were burned in the streets, and, until his rescue act against Greece in 2001, the golden boy remained tarnished.

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36. Dennis Bergkamp’s control, 1998

Perfect control, a swift turn and a curling finish past Carlos Roa. Dennis Bergkamp’s third goal of France 98 – the strike that made him Holland’s all-time leading scorer – was his international masterpiece.

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37. Bald eagle, 1994

The reigning champions, Germany, looked a good bet to win a poor tournament until they ran into a Bulgarian side inspired by Hristo Stoitchkov – along with Gheorghe Hagi and Roberto Baggio, the competition’s star – and a bald, journeyman midfielder by the name of Yordan Letchkov.

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38. Cruyff leaves Holland in the mire, 1978

Johan Neeskens famously observed after losing to hosts Argentina in the 1978 final that “if we had won, we would not have left the stadium alive.” He may have been thankful then that Johan Cruyff, for either political or domestic reasons, refused to travel to South America, leaving the likes of Arie Haan and Robbie Rensenbrink – rated as better than Cruyff by some – to help Holland go close, again.

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39. Sticks and stones, 1930

It’s a wonder the World Cup ever got off the ground. First the European entrants for the first ever tournament had to travel by the same boat to Uruguay, then fears over violence were so great for the final that the referee demanded a launch be readied in case he needed a quick escape. When the hosts beat Argentina to win the trophy, their consulate in Buenos Aires was attacked by angry mobs.

40. Platt’s volley, 1990

The moment when England began to believe. Converting Chris Waddle’s chipped free kick with a smart volley in the last minute of extra time, Platt sent Bobby Robson’s side to a quarter final with Cameroon and presented them with their best chance of winning the trophy since 1966.

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41. Leonidas, 1938

The Black Diamond was the undisputed star of the third edition of the competition and the pioneer of the free-running, expansive style which has come to define Brazil in the eyes of the world. Dropped for the semi-final in which Brazil crashed out to Giuseppe Meazza’s Italy, he still finished top scorer.

42. Andres Escobar, 1994

Pele’s tip to win the World Cup – never a good form guide – Colombia were eliminated in the group stage after Escobar’s own goal handed the hosts a 2-1 win. He was shot dead weeks later in Medellin amid speculation his error had cost the city’s powerful drug barons millions in gambling losses.

Watch YouTube

43. 27 seconds in, 1982

Captain Marvel Bryan Robson notched his place in World Cup history with the fastest ever goal at the finals – a half-volley against France in their opening game – but even that could not get Ron Greenwood’s side past the second group stage, where they missed out to West Germany.

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44. The minnows in the sun, 1958

With Scotland inept and England’s hopes decimated by the Munich air disaster, it was Wales and Northern Ireland who bore the brunt of Britain’s hopes. Had it not been for Pele, Wales may have made the semi-finals, while only Just Fontaine’s exploits halted Northern Ireland’s run.

45. Hitler’s bad luck continues, 1938

Desperate for sporting success to prove Aryan supremacy, the Fuhrer co-opted some of Austria’s wunderteam into his German side for the 1938 tournament, held in France. Two years after the Berlin Olympics, it was Switzerland who filled the role of Jesse Owens, knocking the combined side out in the first round 4-2 after a replay.

46. Fashion with Jorge Campos, 1994

In his wonderful treatise Football In Sun and Shade, Eduardo Galeano wonders whether goalkeepers wear bright colours in a bid to overcome the isolation of their role. Campos, the colourful Mexican shot-stopper who fancied himself as a striker, must have been lonelier than most.

Watch YouTube

47. The Fix, 1982

With a win for West Germany enough to take both them and near-neighbours Austria through at the expense of Algeria, both sides stopped playing after Horst Hrubesch gave the Germans the lead in the 10th minute. Algeria protested, Fifa turned a blind eye and the greatest fraud in World Cup history was complete.

Watch YouTube

48. 'The Fix', 2002

First Italy, then Spain. Conspiracy theories abounded in southern Europe as South Korea, co-hosts of the 2002 tournament, saw off two major superpowers – thanks to some truly dreadful refereeing decisions – on their way to the semi-finals, where a third proved too much to ask.

Watch YouTube

49. Cubillas does for Ally’s Army, 1978

Ah, hubris. Scotland travelled to Argentina on a wave of optimism, their side full of some of the best players in Europe and their song topping the charts. Defeat to Peru, though, scuppered their best ever chance of getting past the group stage.

Watch YouTube

50. The most beautiful goal, 2006

Italy may have won the tournament, France and Germany may have provided the romance, but Jose Pekerman’s magnificent Argentina, a poetic, balletic side pivoted around Juan Roman Riquelme, were the best team on show in 2006, a fact beautifully demonstrated by Esteban Cambiasso’s 26-pass goal in the 6-0 trouncing of Serbia.

Watch YouTube

Original here

Briatore out over Renault fix row

2009-09-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

Watch Piquet's Singapore crash

Flavio Briatore has left his position as boss of the Renault team after they decided not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Executive director of engineering Pat Symonds has also left the team.

Renault were summoned by governing body, the FIA, after Nelson Piquet Jr claimed he had been asked to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso's race.

An FIA spokesperson confirmed a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on Monday would go ahead.

Renault have been called to answer charges that they "conspired with Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso".

The hearing will attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore "crash-gate" despite the departure of Briatore and Symonds.

Briatore has lost his job over the Singapore race-fix charge

The FIA could still impose sanctions if Renault are found guilty, including excluding the team from the championship, although that must be considered unlikely given the two people Piquet said were responsible have now left the team.

When asked for his thoughts on Briatore's demise, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said: "Well, I feel sorry for him actually.

"Obviously, I am surprised at what has happened, and I am taken by surprise today that they've decided to walk away."

Piquet crashed in Singapore two laps after Alonso had come in for a routine pit stop.

That meant that when race officials sent out the safety car to clear up the debris from Piquet's car, Alonso was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres.

Renault's double world champion went on to take the chequered flag at Formula 1's inaugural night race and claim the team's first victory in two years.

BBC's Andy Swiss reports on case

At the time, Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error, but after being dropped by the team after July's Hungary GP the race-fixing allegations emerged.

The Brazilian has since testified to the FIA that he was instructed by Briatore and Symonds when and where to crash.

Renault's response was to accuse the 24-year-old and his father Nelson Piquet of false allegations and blackmail, going as far as saying they would begin legal action against them.

But on Wednesday the team said in a statement they would "not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix".

The statement added: "The team also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team."

BBC pundit and former team boss Eddie Jordan said he was surprised by Renault's announcement but believes it was effectively an admission of guilt.

ANDREW BENSON'S BLOG

F1 has long been notorious for its skewed sense of morality, and it appears that may be what has led to this latest scandal

"Suggesting they are not going to contest the allegations is in itself an admission," Jordan told the BBC.

"I don't know what goes on in teams, and certainly in the Jordan team you would contemplate all sorts of things, but you certainly couldn't contemplate that."

It remains to be seen whether this latest controversy, and the exit of Briatore and Symonds, will affect Renault's decision to stay in Formula 1.

Briatore had denied speculation that the French team's future was under threat and the team have signed a new Concorde Agreement to stay in F1 until 2012.

But this latest controversy, coupled with a decline in cars sales, could yet have repercussions for the staff of around 700, who are are employed at the team's headquarters in Enstone, in Oxfordshire, and Viry-Chatillon in Paris.

Former grand prix winner John Watson told the BBC: "The fact that Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have left the team was the only solution to Renault.

Symonds was Michael Schumacher's race engineer in the 1990s

"A company on the scale of Renault, a world-scale motor company could not afford to have a scandal of this magnitude rattling around in the boardroom."

As it is, Renault's statement appears to end the F1 career of two of the sport's best-known protagonists.

Briatore became Benetton team principal in 1988 and when Renault bought Benetton in 2000 to run under its own moniker, the 59-year-old Italian was chosen to lead the team.

Symonds started his F1 career in 1981 at the Toleman team, which morphed into Benetton and Renault, and worked his way though the ranks to become executive director of engineering in 2001.

Briatore was also heavily involved in the teams' association Fota, as it sought to reach an agreement on the future of the sport with the FIA this season.

Original here

Throwback Ref Unis: WTF Or Whataburger?

2009-09-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

During tonight’s Monday Night Football clash between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots, the teams broke out their AFL throwback uniforms. That was awesome. Unfortunately, the refs also wore their AFL throwbacks. When I saw them in these clownsuits, I could only think of one thing…

Seriously, I didn’t know whether to scream at them over calls they blew or order a burger, fries and a shake. When Leodis McKelvin pulled a Munson, ran the ball out when he should have taken a knee, then fumbled, it was utterly hilarious to see a six-pack of these bozos gather around the pile. This is what the work uniform would look like if Foot Locker merged with Whataburger. The hats are absolutely hideous, I think I saw one of those in my grandpa’s closet before he passed.

To make matters worse, the refs in the San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders game are wearing the same thing. I wonder if just putting those on raises your cholesterol. Ugh, they look like what you’d see if an inmate screwed a jack-o’-lantern. The NFL really needs to figure out the difference between throwbacks and throwaways. Please. I’ve been adjusting my TV set all night thinking the color was off.

More pics of these abominations after the jump…

(Adam Best is the senior editor of the FanSided.com Sports Network and the twisted mind behind The Best View. Follow him on Twitter.)

Original here

NCAA president Myles Brand, 67, loses fight with cancer

2009-09-16T23:38:00.000-07:00

Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News

After fighting pancreatic cancer for nearly a year, NCAA president Myles Brand died Wednesday. He was 67.

Brand became a sports figure when, as Indiana University president, he fired basketball coach Bob Knight following the institution of a "zero-tolerance" policy that Brand judged Knight to have violated by verbally confronting an IU student.

Brand subsequently was hired to replace Cedric Dempsey as NCAA president in January 2003. In his NCAA position, he was known for his advocacy of athletes' issues, such as advocating the increase of funds for their emergencies and for championing a more just freshman eligibility process.

Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.

10 Craziest Baseball Rules

2009-09-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

The guy in the photo above is Alexander Cartwright, and he’s credited with inventing the modern game of baseball. Only problem is that those initial rules from the 1840s were pretty messed up, in comparison to how baseball is played today. We’ve lauded a lot of these old timey baseball guys with handlebar mustaches in the past, but we might have to take it all back. In the 1800s, baseball was a goofy game with a lot of stupid rules. These guys would probably crap themselves if they had to face guys like Justin Verlander or Alex Rodriguez today. Here are The 10 Craziest Baseball Rules You Would Never Believe Existed. Besides the whole “no minorities” thing that we’re glossing over, that is.

10. Pitchers Could Cover Balls With Just About Anything
Before 1920, pitchers could cover the ball with spit, Vaseline, road kill, Nickelodeon slime or whatever the hell else they wanted. It apparently worked. That Babe Ruth guy didn’t start hitting a billion home runs a year until they outlawed it. We don’t actually know for a fact they used road kill, but that whole ‘Dead Ball Era’ thing would make more sense if they did.

9. Balls And Strikes Didn’t Really Exist
When baseball started, hitters just kind of stood at the plate whacking away until they hit the ball somewhere in fair territory. That created a question of what constituted a walk (see Rule Four) or a strikeout. In 1887, walks were even considered hits. And that was also the first year that batters were awarded first base if they got hit by a pitch. Called strikes didn’t even exist until 1858. And until 1863, base runners would run advance on foul balls. And as you’ll see in Rule Three, they didn’t necessarily run to the correct bases.

Have you ever seen a Little League game with 6-year-olds? It’s pretty terrible. That’s how we imagine old timey baseball must have looked. We even picture an old farmer so terrible at hitting, that his coach has to bring out a tee.

8. Catchers Had Zero Protection
See that old timey idiot in the picture below? It’s not his fault. Chest protectors weren’t introduced into baseball until 1885. It wasn’t until six years after that when catchers got to wear padded mitts. These poor bastards just had to stand there in a dumb stance and wait to get their goddamn faces blown off with a foul tip. But, then again, you’ll see from #1 that these guys weren’t really facing ‘the heat’ from pitchers until 1883. It’s just amazing it took the rules committee two years to realize that catching was a fairly dangerous job.

7. Pitchers Used To ‘Throw’ From 45 Feet
You’ll notice in the picture below that the pitcher (who isn’t even on a mound) looks crazily close to the batter. That’s because the whole 60-feet-6-inches thing didn’t exist until 1893. But hey, that’s 15.5 feet shorter to hurl your heavy-as-hell Vaseline/spit/pubes ball towards your poor bastard catcher.

6. Hitters Had Flat Bats
For some reason that we can’t figure out, hitters used to have flat bats until 1893. They really took their cricket influence seriously. Why did they want to use paddle bats? Maybe they wanted to spank the ball. Sounds pretty lame to us.

5. Pitchers Couldn’t Step Towards The Plate When They Threw
Seriously. In 1863 a rule was instated which said pitchers had to have both feet on the ground at the same time they threw. Was sh*t getting way to crazy until 1863? Modern day Major League batting practice is probably way more entertaining than old timey baseball. Either that, or it it mostly resembled weird-rules baseball from a middle school P.E. class.

4. Hitters Got Nine Balls Before They Walked
We said in Rule Nine that baseball rule makers had a real hard time with balls and strikes, but in 1879 it was decided that nine balls made a walk. How bad did a pitcher have to be to walk somebody in 1879? You would’ve had to be blind. It wasn’t until 1889 that the number was finally whittled down to four.

3. Base Runners Didn’t Have To Touch Every Base
From 1858 – 1864, base runners didn’t have to touch every base in order. Did they also play the “Benny Hill Show” song while these goofballs ran all over the field?

2. Batters Could Call For The Type Of Pitch They Wanted
From 1867-1887, batters had the privilege of calling for a low pitch or a high pitch. What was the point of pitching? Did the pitcher also have to wipe the batter after they went to the bathroom?

1. Pitchers Threw Underhand
That should blow your mind. Major League Baseball officially started in 1876, but it wasn’t until 1883 that pitchers were allowed to throw overhand. The initial rules of baseball stated that pitchers had to throw the ball as if they were pitching a horseshoe. So these old batters got to call for their pitch and get it thrown to them underhand. They couldn’t step towards the plate. No wonder the pitchers covered the balls in battery acid and pig manure.

Love baseball (or battery acid and pig manure)? Check out our lists on 10 Baseball Players You Wouldn’t Want To Sit On You and 10 Worst Baseball Teams Of The Past 30 Years.

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Mexico edges U.S. 2-1 in qualifier

2009-08-14T11:37:00.001-07:00

Israel Castro tied the game a 1-1 with his first-half goal for Mexico.

LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images

2010 World Cup Qualifying Glance

North and Central America and Caribbean Finals
Standings
Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Costa Rica	6	4	0	2	9	9	12
Honduras	6	3	1	2	11	7	10
United States	6	3	1	2	11	8	10
Mexico	6	3	0	3	8	9	9
El Salvador	6	1	2	3	7	9	5
Trinidad	6	1	2	3	7	11	5
• Top three qualify
• Fourth-place team advances to playoff vs. South America fifth-place team
Results, Schedules
Wednesday
At Mexico City
• Mexico 2, United States 1
At Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
• Trinidad and Tobago 1, El Salvador 0
At San Pedro Sula, Honduras
• Honduras 4, Costa Rica 0
Saturday, Sept. 5
At Sandy, Utah
• United States vs. El Salvador, 7:57 p.m.
At Tegucigalpa, Honduras
• Honduras vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 9:30 p.m.
At San Jose, Costa Rica
• Costa Rica vs. Mexico, 10 p.m.
• All Times Eastern

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican coach Javier Aguirre showed his relief after his team's 2-1 victory over the United States on Wednesday in a critical World Cup qualifier.

"Today is a day to celebrate, drink a few tequilas, and then get back to work," Aguirre said after Miguel Sabah's goal in the 82nd minute gave Mexico the come-from-behind victory. "Everybody will go to bed tonight a bit more relaxed."

The victory -- driven by a patient rally -- eased the pressure on Mexico, which has been struggling in World Cup qualifying. The loss for the United States was almost expected. The United States has played 24 times in Mexico and lost 23. The only tie was a 0-0 draw in 1997.

The Mexicans are fourth in CONCACAF qualifying, with only the top three teams automatically advancing. Costa Rica, a 4-0 loser Wednesday night against Honduras, leads the group with 12 points, followed by Honduras and the United States with 10, and Mexico with nine.

The United States should stay on course to qualify if it wins its two remaining home games.

"I think it's a tight game and a fair score," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "It's tough loss to have so many guys work so hard and then give up a late goal. The feeling inside is one of great disappointment."

Added forward Landon Donovan: "This wasn't a live-or-die game for us. It was for them."

Sabah, who came in 3 minutes earlier, was all alone in front of the net when he took a feed from Efrain Juarez and beat goalkeeper Tim Howard. Defender Jay DeMerit made a key tackle on Juarez in the area, but the ball, instead of bounding out of bounds, went to Sabah, who put it away.

"The guy turned on it quickly and smashed it has hard as he could," Howard said of Sabah's goal.

The Americans nearly silenced the piercing drone of horns, drums and high-pitched screams in the ninth minute when Charlie Davies gave the United States a 1-0 lead on a world-class goal, the fourth of his career.

Donovan turned near midfield and threaded a pass through three Mexicans on the left side to Davies, who timed a perfect run and scored just inside the far post from 15 yards.

It was the first time the Americans led a match at Azteca Stadium, which opened 43 years ago.

"This is what you live for, especially as a striker scoring bigtime goals," Davies said.

The U.S. edge lasted only 10 minutes. In the 19th, Cuauhtemoc Blanco found Israel Castro, who equalized on a wicked 27-yard shot off underside of the crossbar and just over a leaping Howard's outstretched hand.

The goal turned up the volume again for 105,000 fans in sold-out Azteca, where almost every touch of the ball by a Mexican player was greeted by cheers of "Ole! Ole!"

Mexico won the Gold Cup last month using many of the same players. But the U.S. team the Mexicans routed 5-0 in the final was a lesser squad than the one on the field at Azteca.

"We did a good job starting the game well and scoring," Donovan said. "They made one play at the end that made the difference.

"It's hard to play here, man," said Donovan, referring to the 7,400-foot altitude. "It wears you out. It's just exhausting."

In the 74th minute, tempers flared. With Davies down on the field -- apparently with cramps -- several Mexican players tried to pull him off the ground. That angered Benny Feilhaber, who shoved several Mexicans as Howard came out of goal to separate the sides.

Three American defenders -- Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Carlos Bocanegra -- drew yellow cards in a game that became increasingly physical. Onyewu carried a yellow into the match, meaning he will miss the next qualifier on Sept. 5 against El Salvador in Sandy, Utah.

The Americans play Sept. 9 at Trinidad and Tobago. They end qualifying on Oct 10 at Honduras and at home with Costa Rica on Oct. 14.

Mexico plays at Costa Rica on Sept. 5 and is home to Honduras on Sept. 9. Mexico will wrap up qualifying on Oct. 10 at home with El Salvador and at Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 14.

Beckham confronts fan in home return with Galaxy

2009-07-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

CARSON, Calif. -- Boos rained down and fans sent negative messages with their homemade signs. Things sure got ugly when David Beckham came back to town.

Beckham downplayed the rough reception in his first home game with the Los Angeles Galaxy, a 2-2 tie with AC Milan in which his corner kick set up his team's second goal, although his halftime confrontation with a fan indicated otherwise Sunday night.

"I'm not disappointed. It doesn't affect me," he said. "You can't be liked by everyone."

Anti-Beckham sentiment ran high as the English star returned after missing half of the Major League Soccer season while on a five-month loan to the Italian club. He was the target of frequent booing and derisive banners held up in a corner of the stadium, where one of the team's fan groups sits.

The signs all had messages directed at Beckham. "Go home fraud" read one, with a red slash through his No. 23 jersey number. Another said, "23: Repent," while another read, "Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here After You, Here Despite You." Another read, "Is evil something u are...or something u do."

At halftime, Beckham walked toward the L.A. Riot Squad section and motioned to a fan to come closer. A man jumped down from the seats and was subdued by security before being taken away.

"One of the guys was saying things that wasn't very nice. It was stepping over the line," Beckham said. "I said, 'You need to calm down and come shake my hand,' and he jumped over."

The man was arrested by Cal State Dominguez Hills police for trespassing because he left the seating area, a Home Depot Center spokeswoman said.

"I know there was some turmoil in the corner but I didn't see it so I can't comment," Galaxy manager Bruce Arena said. "Obviously, there were some dissenters in the early going but I think he won over a lot of people by the end."

Beckham was the last player to take the field after halftime. He hugged several of his former AC Milan teammates and then turned toward the rowdy fan section and clapped his hands before making a gesture.

The banners weren't displayed as often in the second half, when a line of yellow-jacketed security personnel stood below the fans.

"A lot of people predicted this kind of reaction," Beckham said.

In the 65th minute, Beckham walked toward the fan section to take a corner kick. He sent a bending kick at Bryan Jordan, who headed the ball in from 7 feet to tie the game 2-2.

Beckham didn't join in the play. Instead, he turned and faced the fans who had been riding him all game and spread both arms wide as if to say, "What do you want?" He then gestured before walking away.

"Sometimes the supporters don't understand the situation," AC Milan coach Leonardo said.

Beckham left the game in the 75th minute and clapped his hands as he walked off to a mix of boos and cheers. He waved to fans offering a smattering of cheers in an opposite corner before sitting on the bench.

"The cheers in the end drowned out the boos, which was nice," he said.

It marked the end of a rough week for Beckham that began with him and team captain Landon Donovan accusing each other of being unprofessional. Donovan sparked the dispute with comments he made in a new book "The Beckham Experiment."

Arena mediated the clash during a sit down with both players, who later said they had patched things up.

"That's beyond my control," Donovan said when asked about the crowd's reaction to Beckham.

AC Milan dressed a half-strength lineup as it began a four-game preseason tour of the U.S. The seven-time European champions visited the Galaxy as part of the deal that allowed Beckham to remain on loan with Milan through the end of the Serie A season on May 31.

"You don't want to look silly and we definitely didn't look silly," he said about the Galaxy's play.

Beckham has said he again wants to return to Milan after the MLS season.

"We would be happy if he came back because he did really well. He's incredible," Leonardo said. "The precision he has is something very, very special. He never missed the ball. He controlled the ball. The way the Galaxy plays is very, very important. They see that every ball begins with him."

Thiago Silva put AC Milan ahead 1-0 in the 16th minute. The Galaxy tied the game in the 30th minute on a goal by Alan Gordon, assisted by Donovan and Beckham.

The Rossoneri took a 2-1 lead in the 61st minute when Filippo Inzaghi scored against Galaxy backup goalie Josh Saunders off assists by Mathieu Flamini and Ronaldinho.

"He was integral in both goals," Donovan said about Beckham. "There's not another player on a team in this league that can make those plays. It was an exciting game."

Beckham will play six more regular-season home games.

Earlier this year, Beckham said he wanted to remain with the Italian club rather than return to the Galaxy because he believed the level of play was much better in Europe and would help him achieve his goal of playing for England in the 2010 World Cup.

"If it's possible, I think it could be a very good thing for us," Leonardo said about getting Beckham back. "He knows everyone. Everyone loves him in our club."

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Roethlisberger denies civil allegations of sexual assault

2009-07-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Posted by Mike Florio

In a complaint that reads like the rape allegations made several years ago against NBA star Kobe Bryant, Harrah's employee Andrea McNulty alleges sexual assault against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in a lawsuit filed last week in Washoe County, Nevada.

But lawyer David Cornwell strongly denied the allegations Monday night, in a statement released to PFT. "Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty," Cornwell said.

In the civil suit, which Cornwell confirms was served on Roethlisberger over the weekend and a copy of which our own Gregg Rosenthal has obtained, McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her to come to his hotel room to fix the television, and that he thereafter forced her to have sex with him.

Roethlisberger faces one civil count of assault, one civil count of sexual assault and battery, one civil count of false imprisonment, one civil count of false pretenses, one civil count of fraud, and one civil count of intentonal infliction of emtional distress.

McNulty also claims that the coworkers named in the complaint thereafter defamed her by making allegedly false and inflammatory statements, and by allegedly serving as aiders and abettors of Roethlisberger's alleged misconduct after the fact.

Cornwell, a finalist for the position of NFLPA Executive Director who has represented in the recent past Saints running back Reggie Bush and Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth, points to the fact that no criminal complaint has been filed, and that no criminal investigation has occurred.

"The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct," Cornwell said. "If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated."

It's unknown at this point whether McNulty ever has attempted to file criminal charges as a result of the incident, which allegedly occurred in July 2008.

"Ben will not be baited into a public discussion about his personal life, but we will defend
him vigorously," Cornwell said. "The limited value that Ms. McNulty derived from public disclosure of these viciously false allegations is the only value she will ever receive from Ben in this case."

Regardless of how this one turns out, it has the potential to serve as a significant distraction for Roethlisberger as the 2009 season approaches, especially if the lawsuit triggers a criminal probe.

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South Florida kicker Bonani falls 35 feet from Busch Gardens ride

2009-07-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A University of South Florida football player was recovering at a hospital after falling 35 feet from a gondola ride while working at Busch Gardens in Tampa, team officials said.

Team officials identified the player as Maikon Bonani, 20, USF's starting kicker. The park did not immediately release the employee's name or the extent of his injuries, said spokeswoman Jill Revelle.

The employee was working Saturday at the Skyride attraction. After sending passengers on a gondola out of the station, the employee thought the door might be unlocked and held onto the door to check it while guests sat on the ride, according to a park statement. He held on as the gondola took off -- then 35 feet above the ground -- let go and dropped into a landscaped area, the statement added.

"He was trying to make sure they were safe," said Revelle of those on the ride. She added that no one else was injured.

Park management was reviewing safety procedures. No further information was released Sunday by the park.

Revelle said the employee was responsive but taken to a hospital as a precaution. He was listed in fair condition at St. Joseph's Hospital.

USF football coach Jim Leavitt told the St. Petersburg Times that he spoke to Bonani by phone and later visited him. Leavitt said Bonani may have injured his vertebra.

"He's in pain, but doing fine and resting," Leavitt said.

Bonani grew up in Brazil and moved with his family to Lake Wales in Polk County at age 11, the Times reported. He learned English when he was 11, and played football, soccer and tennis in high school. He was valedictorian of his senior class, the newspaper said.

There was no phone number listed for a Maikon Bonani of Lake Wales.

MMA's 10 best pound-for-pound fighters

2009-07-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is a big summer for MMA's pound-for-pound big three.

Georges St. Pierre was first on deck at UFC 100 and made his case as to why he should be seen as the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter. Throwing even more dirt on his April 2007 loss to Matt Serra, St. Pierre dominated another elite challenger in Thiago Alves for the balance of 25 minutes. St. Pierre's victory was so consummate that it left many wondering if it was worth his time and talent to stick around at 170 pounds.

The next move belongs to heavyweight ruler Fedor Emelianenko, who will finally square off with Josh Barnett at Affliction "Trilogy" on Aug. 1 in a bid to prove he's the sport's supreme being. A week later, at UFC 101, incumbent king Anderson Silva will have his chance to answer his fellow pound-for-pound stalwarts when he looks to add a third division of brilliance to his career résumé in a super fight against former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

Anderson Silva

UFC middleweight champion
Record: 24-4

With another brilliant performance from Georges St. Pierre, and another top heavyweight on the slate for Fedor Emelianenko, the pressure is on Silva to prove he is, in fact, the sport's pound-for-pound king. At UFC 101 on Aug. 8, his 205-pound bout with Forrest Griffin will afford him a unique opportunity: A win over the former UFC light heavyweight champion would make Silva the first man in the sport's history with top-five-caliber victories across three weight classes. He started his career as a standout welterweight before becoming the most dominant middleweight in mixed martial arts history.

Georges St. Pierre

UFC welterweight champion
Record: 19-2

On paper, Thiago Alves was supposed to be St. Pierre's most dangerous challenger to date in the welterweight division. However, "Rush" dealt with Alves just as he has dealt with other elite welterweights, as he dominated him from bell to bell in an impressively one-sided unanimous-decision win over yet another top opponent. St. Pierre's performance was such that many have started to question whether or not a move to middleweight should be in the cards. However, the next challenger for the sport's welterweight ruler will come from either Mike Swick or Martin Kampmann, who will square off in a title eliminator at UFC 103 in September.

Fedor Emelianenko

Affliction heavyweight champion
Record: 30-1, 1 NC

Emelianenko's long-awaited bout with Josh Barnett will headline Affliction "Trilogy" on Aug. 1. Though many have criticized the relative dearth of top heavyweight talent and Emelianenko's opponent selection as knocks against his pound-for-pound status, his fight with Barnett will mark the Russian's third consecutive match against a top-10 former UFC heavyweight champion. However, in unfortunate news for MMA's heavyweight king, the fan-proposed guerilla tactic of chanting Emelianenko's name at UFC 100 never got off the ground.

Lyoto Machida

UFC light heavyweight champion
Record: 15-0

With his brilliant display of dominance in capturing the UFC light heavyweight title and the 205-pound mantle in May, Machida had already built instant anticipation for a showdown with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. However, Jackson instead opted for a second coaching stint on "The Ultimate Fighter," which will set up a bout with Rashad Evans. Yet in a testament to the depth of the UFC and the 205-pound division itself, consensus "Fighter of the Year" Mauricio "Shogun" Rua emerged as Plan B for Machida's first UFC title defense at UFC 104 in October.

Miguel Torres

WEC bantamweight champion
Record: 37-1

There's little rest for a king, and bantamweight ruler Torres is proof positive. After emerging victorious in his thrilling 25-minute war with Takeya Mizugaki in April, Torres will take on undefeated challenger Brian Bowles at WEC 43 on Aug. 9. That show will also feature a de facto title eliminator between hot up-and-comers Joseph Benavidez and Dominick Cruz, the winner of which figures to meet Torres before the year ends -- just like clockwork.

Mike Thomas Brown

WEC featherweight champion
Record: 22-4

Of any pound-for-pound entrant on this list, Brown may be the least vibrant and least tailor-made for stardom. However, the 33-year-old American Top Teamer remains, without question, the king of the 145-pound world, and reaffirmed it in June when he earned a second win over Urijah Faber. Despite gritting out a 25-minute unanimous verdict over The California Kid, Brown's biggest test may be yet to come. His next title challenger come November will be brutal Brazilian dynamo Jose Aldo, possibly the most dangerous fighter the division can offer.

Quinton Jackson

UFC light heavyweight
Record: 30-7

Many fans and critics still see Jackson through the prism of July 2008 vehicular insanity. However, whatever poor judgment he has exercised outside the cage, inside it Jackson is 4-1 against five straight top-10 opponents in one of MMA's deepest divisions. Now, the colorful and charismatic 205-pound standout will captain his second squad of TUFers on Season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter," which will lead up to a high-profile December showdown with fellow former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.

B.J. Penn

UFC lightweight champion
Record: 13-5-1

Talent has never been lacking in Penn, only his desire and focus. His desire to move back up to 170 pounds to challenge Georges St. Pierre in January was not only unsuccessful; it also put the UFC's lightweight class on an extended hiatus. However, the division is poised to get back on track come Aug. 8, when, at UFC 101, Penn will take on a top-five challenger, Kenny Florian, in the second defense of his lightweight mantle.

Rashad Evans

UFC light heavyweight
Record: 13-1-1

The first defense of Evans' UFC light heavyweight belt in May was disastrous, as he was dominated from pillar to post by Lyoto Machida. Fortunately for the Greg Jackson pupil, he remains in a star-laden and talent-rich division. Better still, Evans' comeback fight will come in a high-profile showdown against a fellow pound-for-pound entrant, as he will take on fellow "The Ultimate Fighter 10" coach Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in December.

Jon Fitch

UFC welterweight
Record: 19-3, 1 NC

Though seldom flashy, Fitch wins. By gritting out a unanimous verdict over tougher-than-expected and previously unbeaten Brazilian Paulo Thiago at UFC 100, Fitch upped his record in the UFC to an impressive 10-1. More importantly, those 11 fights have come in arguably MMA's deepest and most talented division. He might not ever make "SportsCenter's" Top 10, but he will likely remain in the welterweight top 10 and keep on beating elite opponents for a good while.

With Fitch's win over Paulo Thiago and Thiago Alves' loss to Georges St. Pierre, the formerly ninth-ranked Alves falls just outside the top 10.

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Pujols pushing for Triple Crown history

2009-07-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

By Tim Kurkjian
ESPN The Magazine
Archive

Albert Pujols has won two MVP awards and is shooting for a third this season. He also is unanimously considered the best player in baseball, and now he has a chance to win the Triple Crown.

There's a reason no one has won the Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat in 1967 and, in the National League, since Joe Medwick in 1937: It's really hard to do, perhaps harder than ever.

[+] Enlarge

Rich Kane/Icon SMIAlbert Pujols has 10 more home runs than the next-closest player in the National League.

How hard? It has been done only 13 times since 1900: Nap Lajoie (1901), Ty Cobb (1909), Rogers Hornsby (1922 and '25) Jimmie Foxx and Chuck Klein (1933), Lou Gehrig (1934), Medwick (1937), Ted Williams (1942 and '47), Mickey Mantle (1956), Frank Robinson (1966) and Yastrzemski. There's no Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Willie Mays or Hank Aaron on that list.

For Robinson, it was the only season during his brilliant career in which he led his league in any of the Triple Crown categories. Since Yastrzemski won it, a player has won two legs of the Triple Crown in the same season 40 times, but no player has won the batting average and home run title in one season. And only four times has anyone won the batting title and RBI title in the same season: Joe Torre (1971), Al Oliver (1982), Todd Helton (2000) and Matt Holliday (2007).

Since Yaz won the Triple Crown, only four players have won all three legs of the Triple Crown in separate seasons during their careers: Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Andres Galarraga. Mike Piazza, one of the greatest right-handed hitters ever and the greatest-hitting catcher of all time, never finished first in any of the Triple Crown categories. Neither has Vladimir Guerrero. Frank Thomas, a two-time MVP, and one of the best right-handed hitters ever, won one batting title. Even Pujols has won only one of the categories, a batting title in 2003.

That season was one of the relatively close calls for the Triple Crown. Pujols led the league in hitting; his 43 home runs tied for fourth in the league, four short of the leader; and his 124 RBIs were tied for fourth, 17 shy of the leader. George Foster made a run in 1977, as did Larry Walker in 1997, Helton in 2000 and Gary Sheffield in 1992 when he led the NL in hitting, was second in home runs with 33 (two behind the leader) and finished fifth in RBIs (nine off the leader). The closest call was Dick Allen in 1972, when he led the AL in home runs (37) and RBIs (113), and his .308 average was third, 10 points behind Rod Carew's.

The reason it has gotten harder to win the Triple Crown is that the game has become more specialized every year. There are hitters who have sacrificed power for a high average, such as Carew, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn, who won a combined 20 batting titles after Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown. There are hitters who have sacrificed their averages to hit for power, such as Ryan Howard. And there are so many more teams and more hitters in today's game that the competition is perhaps stronger than it has ever been. Mike Schmidt won eight home run titles, but in this decade, seven different National League players have won a home run title, eight different NL players have won a batting title and seven different American League players have won an RBI crown. Sammy Sosa had more 60-homer seasons (three) than he had home run titles (two). Bonds has the most homers of all time but only two home run titles.

It has grown harder to win the Triple Crown because of the Rockies, who joined the NL in 1993 and play in the greatest hitters' ballpark of all time. In their brief history, they have had six batting champions, six RBI champions and three home run champions. Compare their history to that of the White Sox, who have been in the AL since 1900 but have only three batting champions, three home run champs and one RBI champ.

Pujols is up against history and the odds during the second half of the season. But he leads his league in average, home runs and RBIs since the 2008 All-Star break and is the fourth player, joining Aaron (1957), Tony Perez (1970) and Bonds (1993), to lead from break to break since Mantle's Triple Crown year in 1956. Now comes the hard part for Pujols -- leading from April until October. But for Pujols, who is behind in the batting race by 12 points as of Sunday's games, his task is even more formidable given that he's trailing a great hitter, Hanley Ramirez.

But Pujols has a shot to win the Triple Crown. Very few hitters in history have had that.

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Cricket rematch spectacle for Afghanistan

2009-05-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

By Martin Patience
BBC News, Kabul

It could have been any village green in Britain.

But the barbed wire, blast walls, and spectators in military uniform, meant this was no ordinary match.

The cricket team from Ditchling, a small village in East Sussex, were taking on the Afghan national side in a heavily fortified military base.

It had taken eight months to organise this "away game", a trip which was causing some worry back home.

"My mum's been pretty quiet about it but my dad had a lot to say," said James Emmons, 23, one of the Ditchling players.

"He wasn't overly keen on it."

We will invite Ditchling again, when we have a decent ground and good security

Khalik Dad Noori

"The security restrictions we've had to go through have been pretty intense. But there've been no scary moments so far."

More than 100 spectators turned up to watch the game, an almost unheard of spectacle in Kabul.

They ate cheese and tomato rolls and turkey sandwiches, and drank green tea, which were laid on for the match.

Occasionally the flat notes of an Afghan trumpet player floated across the ground.

Deeper ties

The Afghan team overwhelmed the players from Ditchling

The Afghan national side had first placed Ditchling in 2006 after an English country team they were supposed to play dropped out and the village club offered to step in as opponents.

After the game, the Afghans suggested a rematch, this time in Kabul, an event no-one in Afghanistan thought would ever happen.

"It's amazing that the team visited Afghanistan," said Hamid Hassan, one of the Afghan national cricketers. "We're thrilled to have them here."

Another Afghan player, Khalik Dad Noori, said that he hoped the event would deepen ties between the two sides.

"We will invite Ditchling again, when we have a decent ground and good security," he said. "We also want to ask other country teams to come to Afghanistan."

Since the teams' first encounter three years ago, the Afghan side have improved dramatically.

Last month they almost qualified for the Cricket World Cup.

And during the match in Kabul, the Afghan team, batting first, quickly found their stride. The balls were flying over the boundary.

Ditchling were overwhelmed.

The Afghans won the match by 124 runs, retaining the Kabul Cup, a trophy contested between the two sides.

The players from East Sussex now say they want a rematch - but next time it is expected to be at home.

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First Stanley Cup ring sold for $60,000

2009-05-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver Canucks Shane O'Brien (55) greets St. Louis Blues David Perron (57) while Canucks Alex Burrows (14) greets Blues Jay McKee (77) after the Canucks 3-2 win at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on April 21, 2009. The Canucks defeated the Blues 4 games to 0, eliminating them in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. (UPI Photo/Bill Greenblatt)

An 1893 Stanley Cup championship player's gold ring found in a Vancouver, British Columbia, attic sold at auction for more than $60,000.

The Province newspaper in Vancouver said only one other ring from the first Stanley Cup championship is known to exist, and that's in a vault at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The ring belonged to the Montreal Hockey Club's George Lowe, the newspaper said.

It was sold at auction to an undisclosed buyer by Quebec's Classic Auctions service, which also declined to reveal who found the ring in an older Vancouver home's attic.

Lowe finished eighth in league scoring and was the team's third-highest scorer with six goals in five games during the 1893 season, a year after the Stanley Cup was donated by Lord Stanley of Preston, then Canada's governor general, The Province said.

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Celtics, Bulls Put On Show

2009-05-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

By Michael Wilbon

Chicago's Joakim Noah, left, goes up for a shot past Boston's Paul Pierce as the teams took an NBA-record fourth game of their series to overtime.

CHICAGO The NBA would be well suited to dump Atlanta, Miami and Orlando, and just hold on to the Celtics and Bulls for another month, best-of-15 series, winner to play Cleveland for the Eastern Conference championship. How do you get rid of one or the other when together they keep producing classics, when the athletic theater is almost too much to bear? It's become must-see TV, each episode more ruthless and more compelling than the previous.

The sixth game, all by itself, should go down as one of the great tests of will in NBA playoff history. Every time it appeared one team had the game won, the other would answer with an improbable run or surreal shot. If it wasn't Brad Miller making a three-pointer, then a driving layup when the Bulls seemed dead and gone in regulation, it was Ray Allen hitting yet another three-pointer to tie when the Celtics were down to their final breath in the second overtime. Or Chicago's 6-foot-11 Joakim Noah stealing the ball from Boston's Paul Pierce and driving two-thirds of the court for a dunk and free throw. That play fouled Pierce out of the game with 35 seconds left in the third overtime and gave the young Bulls, finally, a margin they could manage, though not without near calamity for Chicago, which won, 128-127 on Thursday at United Center.

Whoever wants to see this end after Saturday night's Game 7 in Boston is a fool.

For the fifth time in six games, the Bulls and Celtics took the NBA playoffs to basketball nirvana with another desperately played confrontation that looked for all the fallen bodies and swinging elbows like it should have been played in one of Chicago's West Side alleys inside a cyclone fence, with chains on the rims, shirts and skins. For the fourth time in this series, which has never happened in the playoffs, the teams needed to play beyond regulation to decide the outcome. And this time they needed three extra periods.

As the Bulls' Derrick Rose told the Associated Press, "It's crazy, but you got to love it."

The defending champs looked like just that when they put together a devastating 18-0 run that turned a 10-point Chicago lead into an eight-point Boston lead with just a couple of minutes to play in regulation. The young Bulls, not wise enough yet to know how to grab and hold after being clipped on the chin, choked away a double-digit lead for the second straight game. The Celtics, Allen and Pierce draining bombs, made Chicago pay dearly for every careless mishandling of the ball and every dumb shot, of which there were plenty. You could see the Bulls' players, even Rose, begin to melt under the pressure . . . until he blocked Rajon Rondo's shot with a few seconds left in the third and final overtime, and dribbled down court to get himself fouled.

Rose, who played 59 minutes, then missed a pair of foul shots, of course, to prolong the drama. But the Celtics had no timeouts and Rondo -- who played 57 1/2 minutes with 19 assists and no turnovers -- couldn't hit a desperation heave at the buzzer.

Whatever the Bulls lack in poise they more than make up for in guts, and perhaps athleticism, too. They're neophytes in every sense, yet the champs are unable to shake them. The combination has produced a stunning contrast, making the tension even more delightful, whether it's the wondrous plays or a few jaw-dropping mishaps.

Asked if he was watching the series between the Bulls and Celtics, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, "That's not Game 6, that's the 'Thrilla in Manilla,' Round 19."

It's about as apt a description as anyone has come up with for Celtics-Bulls. It has been the series with everything, just maybe the best first-round series in NBA history. No other series has had even three overtime games. And don't forget, Game 2, which the Celtics won, was decided by an Allen three-pointer with less than three seconds to play in regulation.

"This series is a lot of fun for the fans, the people of Chicago, the people of Boston," Noah told the AP Thursday night. "It's a lot of fun for us, too, playing in environments like this on the big stage. It's special to be part of this, and I know that it's a series people will be talking about for a long time."

There have been great performances from all-stars (Allen and Pierce), the greatest playoff debut since Lew Alcindor (Rose), one of the rare triple-doubles over a full series (Rondo), and one impossible shot after another by the best bad-shot maker in the NBA (Ben Gordon). That, in most other circumstances, would have been theater enough . . . but not in this series.

Anger and, uh, bloodshed didn't enter the mix until the final seconds of overtime of Game 5 in Boston on Tuesday night, when Rondo, all 6 feet of him, hacked the 7-foot Miller across the face on what turned out to be the critical play of the game and perhaps the series. Miller took seven stitches in the mouth, but not until after missing two free throws that let the Celtics walk out of the arena with the game.

Bad enough the game officials missed calling a flagrant foul on Rondo, which would have given Miller two free throws and the Bulls the ball on the sideline with two seconds left. Worse that Stu Jackson, the NBA's czar of discipline, blew it again the next day by not realizing that Rondo's hack job was absolutely excessive, thereby warranting a flagrant designation.

But Jackson's failure to make the proper call probably just gave Rondo the green light to push the envelope even further in Game 6, which he promptly did at the end of the first quarter. After dragging Kirk Hinrich down intentionally, Rondo swung an elbow at Hinrich, which should have called at least for him to be ejected from this game. Instead, officials gave Rondo only a "flagrant 1" foul and left him in the game. The Bulls were up 10 at the time, and having to play the game without Rondo must have sent a shiver through the Celtics.

One could see the Celtics' coach, Doc Rivers, a native of Chicago, screaming at Rondo during the stoppage in play, in essence, "I told you about that before the game!" Just before the game, sensing the same tension and edge, Bulls Coach Vinny Del Negro said: "We can't afford to get a bunch of technicals and flagrants. We have to be as physical as we need to be to win . . . whatever that means."

The anticipation that something nasty and even more dramatic might happen had much of Chicago on edge all day, as people talked basketball everywhere, like they did in the 1980s and 1990s when Michael Jordan's Bulls made basketball the pride of the city, an identity that made Chicagoans feel they were better than anybody's Second City.

But that's just the kind of widespread expectation that young teams -- and these Bulls are one of the youngest teams in the NBA -- don't handle especially well. They built a 13-point lead in Game 6 but clung to a 59-57 halftime lead after briefly falling behind.

The tag-team of Rose (28 points) and John Salmons (35 points) battled Boston's tandem of Allen (who scored a mesmerizing 51 points, including nine three-pointers to tie a playoff record) and Pierce, who had to retreat to the dressing room for a while in the third quarter to fix a bloody nose, the better to set up one more quarter, and as a result one more dramatic evening back in Boston.

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President Obama Shoots Some Hoops With The Lady Huskies

2009-05-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

Total Pro Sports - Recently the 2009 UConn Lady Huskies National Championship basketball team traveled to the White House for a ceremonial visit with President Barack Obama.

During the visit, the Lady Huskies were treated to a special Presidential shoot around at the White House outdoor half-court. Obama a former high school basketball player, absolutely dominated a few of the Huskies in a short game of P-I-G.

“He was pretty good from 17 feet,” said coach Geno Auriemma. “His shot’s a little unorthodox, but it goes in ... He’s got a little bit of that swagger.” [NHR]

Like every other ceremonial visit to the White House the Lady Huskies gave Obama a basketball signed by the players and a Uconn jersey with #1 and his name on the back.

"Number One - that's what I'm talking about," Obama joked. "I will wear it when I'm playing.

Truly a special day that the 2009 Lady Huskies will always remember. Video after the jump.

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New book: A-Rod demanded food, toothbrush be prepared; Yankees teammates viewed him as phony

2009-05-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

BY Teri Thompson and Michael O'Keeffe

Theodorakis/News

Alex Rodriguez takes a break from working out in Tampa on Thursday.

Alex Rodriguez was an insecure prima donna who made a clubhouse attendant load his toothbrush with toothpaste after every game in his three seasons with the Texas Rangers, a new book charges.

The Rangers were also required to send a basket of food to the controversial All-Star's hotel suite during road trips, Sports Illustrated columnist Selena Roberts reports in "A-Rod."

Many Texas teammates kept their distance from A-Rod, who they saw as a spoiled superstar. His relationship with other players didn't improve when Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004.

His Bomber teammates regarded A-Rod as a phony and a hypocrite because he tried to project an All-American public image while pursuing a swinger's lifestyle.

During a series in Texas, Roberts writes, A-Rod went to a sex club while his wife, Cynthia, pregnant with their first child, was at home in New York.

Rodriguez also turned off teammates by bragging about wild nights with strippers - and by making clumsy passes at other players' wives and girlfriends.

"He would use these corny pickup lines on a guy's wife," one former teammate told Roberts. "He just wanted to know that he could, not that he would act on it. Seemed like an ego thing."

As the Daily News first reported Thursday, "A-Rod" contends Rodriguez may have bulked up with steroids as early as high school. It also suggests the third baseman regularly used human growth hormone after he joined the Yankees in 2004.

Rodriguez acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs after Roberts and S.I. reporter David Epstein reported earlier this year that he tested positive for steroids in Major League Baseball's 2003 survey testing.

Rodriguez insisted he only used the illicit drugs from 2001 to 2003, while playing for Texas. He told reporters last spring that he stopped using steroids before joining the Yankees.

"A-Rod" was to be released on May 12, but publisher HarperCollins moved up the release to Monday after The News revealed some of the book's bombshell allegations.

Roberts also details Rodriguez's obsession with teammate Derek Jeter. Players who accompanied A-Rod to clubs said his favorite pickup line was "Who's hotter, me or Derek Jeter?"

Roberts writes that Jeter bested Rodriguez in charity efforts: Jeter's Turn 2 Foundaton donated more than $15 million to charities over an 11-year period beginning in 1997. Rodriguez's AROD Family Foundation was beset by administrative problems and was temporarily shut down in Florida in 2008.

"There was Jeter, always besting him, even as the humble do-gooder," Roberts wrote.

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Loyal Fans Are Batting Cleanup

2009-05-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

By KEVIN HELLIKER

John Brandon never dreamed of owning season tickets to the Kansas City Royals, let alone four in this location: First row, upper tier, directly above third base. A few nights ago, the 52-year-old baseball fanatic caught his first-ever foul ball in these seats. "I thought you had to be rich to have seats like these every game," says Mr. Brandon, a machinist, his arms dangling outside the railing.

The cost of his four tickets: $30 a game -- or $7.50 each -- which is a 50% discount.

In an age of fallen circumstances and concerns about revenue, major-league baseball teams are training their attention on a long-overlooked and increasingly endangered species -- those unfailingly loyal fans who buy tickets for every game. In addition to offering lower prices, clubs around the league are rewarding season-ticket holders with other benefits, such as early entrance to games, access to services that resell unwanted seats, exclusive gatherings with players and team executives, and concierges to address their every need.

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Ed Zurga for The Wall Street Journal

John Brandon, a Kansas City Royals season-ticket holder, got his seats at Kauffman Stadium this year at a 50% discount.

Wooing baseball's hard-core fans reflects a major-league seat change. In the past, when attendance was rising, the clubs' marketing departments focused on big-dollar sales, such as corporate suites and stadium-naming rights. But last year, attendance at ballparks fell 1% even before the economy crashed. Suddenly, clubs remembered that nobody matters more than loyal fans -- people like Frances Ingemann, a retired linguistics professor who drives 50 miles from Lawrence, Kan., to every Royals home game. "Even if the Royals aren't playing well, you see other teams playing well," says Dr. Ingemann, a 24-year season-ticket holder who fell in love with baseball as a girl listening to games on the radio.

Dramatic Reductions

Last year, not a single club reduced its average season-ticket price, according to Team Marketing Report. But ahead of this season, 10 teams -- a third of the total -- did so, in some cases dramatically.

Season-ticket seats can still cost thousands of dollars. But some teams with high prices are experiencing reality checks. On Tuesday the Yankees slashed premium-seat prices in half and awarded season-ticket holders with gobs of free seats. In Boston, Fenway Park has sold out every game this year, but only after recession-worried Red Sox officials engaged in unprecedented levels of marketing during the off season.

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Ed Zurga for The Wall Street Journal

The Kansas City Royals are catering to loyal fans like Ralph Sauceda, a season-ticket holder for 10 years.

Counting on Gate Receipts

That's bad news for baseball. With broadcast rights contributing a smaller percentage of revenue than in other sports, baseball clubs depend on gate receipts for as much as 60% of revenue. And the season-ticket holder typically accounts for about 15,000 seats in stadiums that generally hold between 30,000 and 40,000.

For fans, the discounts are proliferating. Under pressure from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, every team is participating in a campaign to offer new and numerous price promotions, with a majority of teams regularly offering tickets for $5.50 or less. To advertise discounts around the league, MLB.com this month launched a page called Fan Value Corner. "Baseball has always served as a diversion for its fans during difficult times," Mr. Selig said.

A visit to Kansas City, Mo., illustrates the depth of the recession, as well as the tenacity of some of baseball's most-devoted -- some would say masochistic -- fans.

After making the playoffs seven times during its first 17 years, Kansas City hasn't entered the post-season since winning the World Series in 1985. Only the Florida Marlins had weaker attendance last year. Even so, the Royals had 9,200 season-ticket holders last year, many of them baseball nuts such as Ralph Sauceda, a 58-year-old former high-school slugger whose brother-in-law and nephew -- Diego and David Segui -- had stellar major-league careers.

For 2009, the Royals hoped for an increase in season-ticket holders. A $250 million remodeling of Kauffman Stadium, financed 90% by taxpayers, added a giant new scoreboard, seats near the outfield water fountains, greater spaciousness throughout the park and expanded food offerings. Moreover, after three consecutive seasons of improvement -- from 56 wins in 2005 to 75 in 2008 -- the club made some off-season acquisitions that boosted its payroll 20% to a team record of $70 million.

But last fall, the economy started wreaking havoc. The club had expected to retain 90% of its season-ticket holders, up from 87% last year. But as it turned out, that number dropped to 75%. "I've never seen so many longtime customers -- some with season tickets dating back to 1969 -- saying they have no choice but to bow out this year," says Mark Tilson, Royals vice president of marketing and sales. Adds Terry Loose, a season-ticket salesman for the team, "I've literally had my customers say it came down to buying the tickets or feeding their families. I told them to feed their families."

Rewarding Longevity

With season-ticket sales down 8% as the season approached, the team rolled out promotions such as the $400 season-ticket offer, and the decline eased to 5%.

Like a few other teams, the Royals are bending the golden rule of season-ticket sales, which awards the best seats to those with unbroken longevity. Long-time holders who bowed out of Kauffman Stadium this year can retain their priority status for 2010 by going to as few as 12 games in 2009. Should the Royals make the playoffs this year -- as many prognosticators expect -- holders who dropped out can reclaim their seats for the post-season by committing to season tickets next year.

The most effective reward, of course, is performance. After the Seattle Mariners lost 101 games last year, Jack Bray canceled his season tickets, telling club officials that his construction company would go broke if he ran it as poorly as they ran their team. In the off-season, however, the team replaced its general manager, hired a new coach and shook up its roster -- moves that persuaded Mr. Bray to return. "I felt like they had listened to me," he says.

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"The season-ticket holder represents an annuity that is the life blood of the organization," says Mark Fernandez, senior vice president of the Tampa Bay Rays, whose 2008 World Series appearance along with some new promotions have boosted that club's season-ticket base.

In San Diego, the Padres are studying rewards models akin to those used by airlines, including speedier trips through security. Even as clubs add benefits, they are widening the discount that comes with buying a seat for 81 games. This year, the Padres dropped their average season-ticket price 27%. In Kansas City, the Royals have introduced a season ticket for $400, or $5 a game. The Pittsburgh Pirates, a club that hasn't raised prices in seven years, this year launched four new season packages covering 36% of the ballpark at an average savings of 25% from last year's season-ticket prices.

Yet in many markets, the recession is winning. The Padres say their season-ticket sales are off about 20% from historical levels. In distressed Detroit, season-ticket sales for the Tigers fell more than 40%. Most clubs won't divulge those numbers, and league executives won't comment on national season-ticket figures. But some team executives say the league-wide rate of retaining season-ticket holders -- a percentage usually in the mid-80s -- has fallen into the 70s.

Cristiano Ronaldo: That was my best goal yet

2009-04-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

Making a statement: Cristiano Ronaldo struck from 39 yards in Porto Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Ronaldo's sixth-minute goal, a stunning right-footed strike from 40 yards, was enough to seal a 3-2 quarter-final aggregate win and confirm an all-Premier League last-four meeting with Arsenal. With Chelsea also through after defeating Liverpool, it means that for the third season in a row, three of the four semi-finalists are English.

It was Ronaldo's first away goal in the Champions League since last season's final against Chelsea in Moscow and the World Footballer of the Year insisted that last night's strike was as good as any he has scored. "When Anderson gave me the ball, I thought straight away to turn and shoot at goal and I scored a fantastic goal," he said.

"It's the best goal I've ever scored. I've just seen the replay and I didn't realise it was 40 yards out and I hit it at 65mph - wow! This victory will give us confidence. The last five games we didn't play great, but I hope this will change that.

"It's a fantastic tie for us in the semi-final because Arsenal play fantastic football. We know them well, but I think we can win the tie and go to the final."

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson must now prepare for a first leg against Arsene Wenger's team at Old Trafford on April 29 and the Scot has challenged his players to take a lead to the Emirates for the return leg. He said: "No matter what happens, the semi-final is going to be a big factor in our season now. With it being an all-English tie, it will certainly give it extra spice.

"I'd be quite happy to win the home leg 1-0. That would be a perfect scoreline for me. The league game at the Emirates earlier this season showed football in a great light. It will be a terrific tie."

Semi-final dates

Tues Apr 28 Barcelona v Chelsea
Wed Apr 29 Manchester United v Arsenal

Tues May 5 Arsenal v Manchester United
Wed May 6 Chelsea v Barcelona

Final

Sat May 27 Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

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Big names mull joining forces in bid for Canadiens

2009-04-18T05:16:00.000-07:00

ANDREW WILLIS

A shared passion for the Montreal Canadiens is making for strange bedfellows in Quebec business circles, as a consortium made up of pop star Céline Dion, Seagram heir Stephen Bronfman and Quebecor Inc. boss Pierre Karl Péladeau is considering a joint bid for the storied NHL team, financial sources report.

As the Canadiens begin a first-round playoff series with the Boston Bruins as heavy underdogs, majority owner George Gillett is into the second round of bids for the team and arena he purchased nine years ago for $185-million (U.S.). One investment banker familiar with the process said potential buyers who made "initial expressions of interest" now have full access to financial data on the Canadiens and the Bell Centre.

"There is a group bid being discussed, and it's clear that Gillett is very willing to sell if the price is right," said the investment banker, who is helping line up financing for potential bidders.

However, the banker and other sources familiar with the possible sale of the team cautioned it will be difficult to strike a partnership that satisfies the strong personalities of Dion and husband René Angelil, Claridge Investments head Bronfman and Péladeau, the dominant player in Quebec media.

This trio of potential buyers is said to be contemplating a dedicated pay-TV channel in Quebec that would carry Habs games and other hockey-related content as one way to increase revenues from the team.

Several major-league sports teams have launched these networks, to mixed reviews from fans. Regular-season Canadiens games are currently shown in the province on RDS, an arm of CTVglobemedia (which also owns The Globe and Mail).

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté dropped out of the bidding for the team last week, according to sources in the financial community.

One financial executive who knows Laliberté said: "Guy is extremely careful in his money and is not going to get caught up in an enterprise where he doesn't have full control of the purse strings."

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the provincial pension fund, is not expected to be an equity investor in the Canadiens, bank sources report. However, potential buyers are pitching the $120-billion pension fund for loans that would help finance the purchase, and are also trying to borrow from a number of major banks.

Gillett, 70, hired investment bank BMO Nesbitt Burns to weigh options for the Canadiens earlier this year, amidst a brutal economic downturn.

The NHL franchise, which has won 24 Stanley Cups, was recently valued at $335-million by Forbes magazine.

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Open Ice: One-on-One with Brian Leetch

2009-04-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Bagley is a Senior Writer for HockeyBarn.com and a contributing writer for ESPN The Magazine. You can catch weekly updates to her column, "Open Ice," as well as frequent installments to the series "Quest for the Holy Barn," as HockeyBarn scours North America in discovery of hockey's greatest "barns."

Open Ice is excited to launch its premier column with an exclusive interview with one of the greatest defensemen of all time, Brian Leetch. HB talked to the man who redefined "offensive defensemen" about everything from how he got his start on a small rink his father managed in Cheshire, CT to how 'ice time' now means teaching his eight-year-old son the basics of the sport he excelled at for 17 seasons in the NHL.

# 2

It has been more than two years since two-time Norris Trophy-winning blueliner Brian Leetch officially hung up his skates as a professional hockey player, and more than a year since the New York Rangers ceremoniously raised # 2 to the rafters, but the intrigue and impact of one of the greatest NHL skaters of all time is still as sharp as Alex Ovechkin's chip shot.

Leetch, 40, is currently headlining as a dad. When HockeyBarn caught up with Brian by phone, his game-plan for the day was enjoying time at home playing with his three children who had a snow day off from school. Still, he reminisced about his time as a Blueshirt and the rest of his career with the same excitement and understated humility that defined him as he earned a Conn Smythe, Calder, aforementioned Norris (twice), 11 All-Star nods and, oh yea, a Stanley Cup during his 17-season NHL career.

As is fitting for one of the true greats, he transcends the ice, the stats, the laundry-list of records, the uniform...his legacy is somehow bigger than all of that. But he will be the last one to ever tell you that.

"I feel like I should be the one saying thanks because my career on the ice is over and I had so much support for all those years, so much gratitude," said Leetch.

BACK TO BASICS

No dawn-til-dusk pick-up games with four hockey playing brothers or homemade backyard rinks here. Brian grew up in Chesire, CT hundreds of miles from the ponds of Winnipeg or Minnesota and got his first taste of hockey after picking up some skates at a local store, Cheshire Sport, and then playing around with the neighborhood kids at the rink his dad managed.

" "When they built the rink in town, my dad was the rink manager so we all went there together. It was a normal size rink and then a small sheet of ice about as big as one zone is where we learned to skate," said Leetch.

Brian added that he could not remember any specific drills or skills that he worked on because their practices were often informal and he did so many they all blend together.

"It was just us falling down and getting up and learning to skate. Nothing really sticks out because you do everything so much. I see that with my own son now, who is eight. It just slowly starts to sink in a little bit at a time. "

PUT ME IN, COACH

Leetch die-hards (or anyone who has been to the Sports Museum of America in downtown NY) are probably the only people who are aware Leetch had a 90 MPH fastball by his sophomore year of high school in addition to a wicked wrist shot.

In his two years at Cheshire High School, Leetch excelled on two very different playing fields. Leetch led the Cheshire Rams to a state championship in baseball before he transferred to athletic powerhouse Avon Old Farms School in Avon, CT, where he set a school record for 19 strikeouts in a game his senior year...and also scored 70 goals and 90 assists in 54 games. As a defenseman.

Venerated 34-year Avon Old Farms ice hockey coach John Gardner (whom we interviewed HERE) is notorious for his nose for talent, but even he was blown away by Leetch's ability to move the puck:

"One of the first times I saw him skate as a junior was at practice one day. I was standing behind the bench talking to some of the kids and I looked over to the ice to watch him and he just took the puck all the way down the ice and passed about 3 people and then sunk the puck right in the net. Everyone just kind've looked at each other saying things like, 'Did you see that?'"

The hockey phenom spoke about himself in decidedly less effusive terms than his coach, teammates and fans, who would routinely stand up at the bench and watch in awe whenever he took the ice.

"I never looked at myself as having a unique talent but definitely felt a responsibility to my teammates to play well so that our team could be successful. I was receiving the most ice time and was on the ice for all important moments and didn't want to fail or let my teammates down."

Leetch reserved all words of praise for his coaches, John Gardner and Kevin Driscoll.

"They were both men who earned our respect as people and coaches yet were able to joke around and at times act just like us."

Luckily for all of us hockey fans, Brian chose to stick to the rink instead of the baseball diamond. Why? He cited several reasons, but a main motivation was the team aspect. No surprise there for the man who defined team player throughout his career.

"Baseball practice was a lot slower and took longer and focused a lot on individual skills like hitting and fielding. I liked the importance of all five guys on the ice working together in games and the flow to practices."

WELCOME TO THE NHL

Leetch had barely stepped off the plane from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where he captained Team USA, before Rangers GM Phil Esposito had his first round draft pick (9^th overall) in a Rangers sweater. The blueliner made his anxiously awaited NHL debut on a stage that is arguably bigger than even the Olympics: Madison Square Garden.

The Garden is notorious for its relentless media that can sanctify you one week and crucify you the next, and loyal but ruthless fans who would boo even the Little Rangers who skate between periods if they do not take enough shots on goal. (Ed. Note: I've actually seen this happen.)

"My first game at the Garden I was on the bench during the opening face off vs. St. Louis and Chris Nilan was lined up. He got into a fight only two seconds into the game. In the fight he was wrestling and throwing punches and drifted right in front of the Rangers bench only a few feet away from me and I just kind've chuckled out loud to myself, and was thinking 'Welcome to the NHL,' just like that."

The fresh-faced new Ranger played hard for the remaining 17 games of the 1987-1988 season, earning 14 points, yet he lamented missing the playoffs and vowed to himself to do everything in his power to get into the post-season.

By 1988-1989, his first full season with the Rangers, Leetch had both the New York media and the Garden Faithful eating out of his hockey glove. In addition to helping the Blueshirts make the playoffs he scored 71 points, including a record-setting 23 goals for a rookie defenseman, good enough to soundly earn him the Calder Trophy.

"I was always more excited and more nervous to play at home. My first few years the Garden crowd definitely brought out the best in me," said Leetch.

BRINGING THE CUP HOME

1993-1994.

The year that will forever remain on a blue banner hanging from the famous Garden rafters emblazoned with the words STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS.

It has now been fifteen years since Leetch scored 34 points in the playoffs to earn the Conn Smythe and help erase a 54-year drought without a Cup. For many members of the numerous and steadfast Garden Faithful, the run to the Cup seems like it was just yesterday and conversation never seems to dull of the June of 1994.

Much of the season is now a "blur" for Leetch, who also has a permanent place in the rafters, but the MVP shared some of his memories of the season with HockeyBarn.

# 2's Stanley Cup Memories

1. Mark Messier's reaction to taking the lead with his 2nd goal in "the" pivotal Game 6 against the Devils in the Eastern Conference Championship:

"I remember Mark took the lead on his backhand goal, and he was excited. But then within 3 seconds of us coming together, his face got really serious and he gave us a 'Let's go! Let's go!' He switched it right over. A lot of us were like, 'holy cow... we're actually in the lead now' after everything that had gone on. He flipped it over pretty quick to get us focused again. While there was a definite jump in our step, we were thinking that we had the rest of the period to take care of business. And then we did, but then obviously he capped it off..."

2. Winning the Cup was the greatest honor of his career:

"Without a doubt winning the Stanley Cup in New York City was the greatest achievement in my career. The ups and downs that go into an 82-game regular season plus the grind of a two month playoff makes the satisfaction of winning and sharing that bond with your teammates the ultimate reward. Put on top of that winning in New York and breaking a 54-year drought for the franchise, a ticker tape parade...there is no comparison."

3. How he spent his time with the Cup:

"There was no official 'Cup watcher' then, so I actually had the Cup for about two weeks. It was just starting to get into the 'everyone has a day with the Cup' deal. And after about two weeks, I'd had enough of the Cup. We would take it out to the clubs, restaurants and parties in between taking it on Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Yankee Stadium and so on.

The night before the parade I had it in my apartment with a few friends who were in town for those last few days and we just took some pictures with it, but then I knew I had to be up to do a TV show early in the morning so I called my buddy and I said, 'You're going to meet us at the Garden for the parade.' So he wrapped the Cup up in a blanket and then went and got a taxi and put it on the taxi seat next to him and brought it down to the Garden. I met him outside and then we brought it down to the parade. "

Guess we know why they started using security guards to watch the Cup the next season...

SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE...

After retiring in 2007, Brian is now content spending the majority of his time at home with his wife and his three young children, but he is far from done with hockey. He encourages his kids to skate and brings them to games in hopes of getting them excited to maybe play one day since (understatement) he "knows some stuff about hockey."

While he says he will never pressure his kids to play, his oldest son is showing some interest and is playing on a team that Brian helps out with and steps in to coach when needed, though he said he has no desire to be head coach and "deal with parents."

That said, there will be no teary un-retirement from Leetch...but a job in a front office? He would consider it.

"It interests me, there's no question about it. But I know I can't do it halfway and I'm not prepared to jump in full time right now. I'm home with my young family. You're pretty much right back into how it was like when you played, it's a 24-hour thing. That would also probably depend on whether I have any friends that get a position to help me out there that I played with."

Leetch also expressed how much he enjoys returning to the Garden as an alum, which he continues to frequent for both special events or just to take in a game.

"When I go back I feel like I am home and there are so many memories that come up."

Hopefully a certain blue-shirted team who could use a little magic --and who also have a promising young defenseman often compared to Leetch (ahem, Marc Staal)--is listening.

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Birdie blitz puts Kim into record books

2009-04-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

by Allan Kelly

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AFP) - Anthony Kim made Masters history on Friday with a record 11 birdies in his second round and said that reading about the death of baseball player Nick Adenhart had changed his mindset.

The Los Angeles Angels rookie pitcher was killed in a road accident in California on Thursday just hours after making his Major League Baseball season debut.

Kim, one year older at 23, said he had been upset after a disappointing opening 75 on Thursday but had put things into context after reading a newspaper report of Adenhart's death on Friday morning.

"The last line in the story was: 'You never know what can happen, even at 22. You have to live every moment of every day like it's your last.'

"I said to myself - Look, it's been a dream of mine to be at the Masters my whole life, and there's no reason to pout about a bogey or a 3-putt, but enjoy being out here and enjoy all of the hard work that was put into it by myself and my parents, and go out there and have some fun.

"I think that's what made the 11 birdies a lot easier."

Kim had six birdies on the front nine and five on the back, with the only blemishes on his round of 65 being bogeys at the fourth and ninth and a double bogey at the 10th.

The previous record for the number of birdies in a single round at the Masters belonged to Nick Price of Zimbabwe who had 10 en route to a course record 63 in the third round in 1986.

Kim exploded onto the professional scene by winning two tournaments last year and he then played a pivotal role in the US Ryder Cup win over Europe in Kentucky last September.

This year has been more of a struggle after a tie for second place in the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in January.

He did spread his wings though playing well in Asia and was tied for fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic.

There had been signs, he said, that his game was coming together again.

Kim said he had never doubted his own abilities.

"I'm not too concerned about what everybody else is thinking. That has nothing to do with me," he said.

"Of course, I hear or I'll be reading the paper and say, whatever happened to him; I'm still here. I'm still making golf swings.

"I haven't played as much in the US but at the same time, I've been dealing with injuries and different circumstances that I've never had to deal with in my life. So I'm very positive about where my career is headed."

That mindset could get even more positive come Sunday if he can reproduce the kind of form the rewrote the history books on Friday.

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2010 Super Bowl Might Be the First One Online

2009-04-18T05:12:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Miami hosted the first BCS Championship game to be shot in 3-D. Next year, the city might host the first Super Bowl streamed online.

CBS, which will broadcast next year's game, is hoping to persuade the NFL to bring the big game into the Internet age. The network made $30 million off streaming the recent NCAA basketball championship and is eager to apply the model to the Super Bowl.

The NFL hasn't agreed, but according to Business Week, organization execs were quite happy with their experiment streaming regular-season games with NBC last year. They found that online viewership didn't detract from TV viewership, and in fact as many as 80 percent of the online viewers were also watching the game on television. The streams offered four additional camera angles not seen on-air.

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Shaquille O’Neal Gets Payback on Lou Amundson for Prank

2009-04-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

April 15, 2009 - Dr. Anklesnap

The video of Shaquille O’Neal the consummate prankster being the subject of a practical joke went viral yesterday on the internet. Everyone loved watching the big fella get pay back for all the pranks he’s played on people over the years. Although it was all in good fun when Phoenix Suns teammate Lou Amundson filled Shaq’s truck with millions of little pink styrofoam pieces, Shaq vowed to get his revenge.

Well it didn’t take Shaq long to exact that revenge. If Lou Amundson is identified for one thing besides his blue collar work ethic on the court, it’s probably his long golden locks. The guy has long blond hair like a surfer, and clearly he takes pride in it. If you want to hit Lou where it hurts you have to go after his hair, right?

Shaq (with the help of some teammates) tracked down Lou Amundson this afternoon and held him down while Shaq used clippers to take a patch of hair off his head. Mission accomplished, but while he was at it, Shaq also gave Lou’s eyebrows the “Racing Stripes”.

My only question is: “How much do you think Lou’s locks will go for on eBay?”

(H/T to Planet Orange.net for the Pics)

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Tall Catchers, Managers in Uniform, Pitchers Batting 9th, and Other Bad Ideas in Baseball

2009-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

By TIM MARCHMAN

For all its staid traditions, baseball does evolve. If you have an idea, no matter how preposterous, chances are it will eventually get a hearing. (See the Chicago White Sox's brief experiment with Bermuda shorts).

Some of these ideas are probably not going to be adopted. Longtime designated hitter Jim Thome, for instance, believes the rules should be changed "to give the hitters four strikes." Other ideas, like the world's first $2,625 baseball ticket, on sale now at the new Yankee Stadium, may prove to be significantly ahead of their time.

For as much progress as there has been in baseball, there are still some old notions and orthodoxies that ought to be reexamined -- and some new ideas that might need some rejiggering. Here are a few baseball ideas that are dubious, wrongheaded or just downright illogical.

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CSM /Lando
Tall Catchers

Yogi Berra, who was arguably the greatest catcher in baseball history, wasn't exactly long and lithe. Most great catchers aren't. Since it's their job to squat for hours on end, they tend to be short of limb.

Just 11 catchers listed at 6-foot-4 or taller have ever had at least 2,000 plate appearances in the modern major leagues. Among them, only Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins, a two-time batting champion, has been a truly exceptional player -- at least, when he's healthy. Mr. Mauer is currently out of the lineup with a back injury. The idea that catchers shouldn't be too tall is the rare concept that has the scouts and the statisticians nodding their heads in agreement.

All of this raises an uncomfortable possibility for the Baltimore Orioles. Their top pick in the 2007 draft was catcher Matt Wieters, who's listed at 6-foot-5 and hit .355 with 27 home runs in the minor leagues in his professional debut last year. Given the dearth of tall catchers of note, the Orioles could be tempting fate by leaving a potentially historic hitter at the position most likely to stunt his career.

Andy MacPhail, the Orioles general manager, says he's "not necessarily a subscriber" to the idea that a tall catcher can't be successful, despite the views of scouts. He says there are no imminent plans to move the talented Mr. Wieters, although he won't rule out the possibility. "The beauty of the situation," he says, "is that if the bat is what it appears to be, he'll be able to play anywhere on the field."

Pulling Your Best Hitter for a Pinch-Runner

During the World Baseball Classic last month, the Dominican Republic lost a shocker to the Netherlands in the first round. With two outs in the seventh inning of that game, while trailing 3-2, the Dominicans brought Jose Bautista, a journeyman infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, to run for David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox -- one of baseball's great clutch hitters

It's a standard move managers make in close games when they need a single run: Get the big, lumbering guy off the bases in favor of a quicker guy who might be able to wheel it all the way home on a big hit. The logic behind this is based on the notion that getting a run immediately is more important than keeping the best hitter in the game.

Bart Given, a former assistant general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, says the trouble with this tactic is that if your team does survive, it then has to try to win the game without its biggest bat. "It's a pet peeve of mine," he says. In the case of the Dominicans last month, Mr. Given's aversion to this tactic was justified: The Dominicans didn't score after the substitution. When Mr. Bautista came up in the bottom of the ninth inning with the tying run on base and two outs, he promptly struck out. "It always seems to happen," says Mr. Given.

Pitchers Batting Ninth

In 2007, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa decided to make a change. For years, he'd been flirting with the idea of rejecting the conventional wisdom that the pitcher on a National League team (usually the team's worst hitter) should always bat ninth in the order. That season, he decided to see what would happen if he batted his pitchers in the eighth spot.

The move was not impulsive. "If he feels he has two leadoff hitters," explains Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, "he would rather position them nine-one than one-two, because he prefers power in the two spot." If that sounds like a classic case of overthinking things, the math actually bears out.

Several statisticians who have studied the matter say it does make some sense. Seattle Mariners consultant Tom Tango says the move doesn't make a huge difference, but could give the team something on the order of two runs over the course of a season. In fact, he says, the No. 8 hole is actually the ideal spot for the pitcher. "It's more important to set up the top of the order with a bad hitter than a horrible one," he says. That benefit, he says, outweighs the cost of letting the pitcher get a few more at bats."

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Calling in the Closer With a Three-Run Lead

On April 10, the New York Yankees, who were leading the Kansas City Royals 4-1, called on the best pitcher in their bullpen, closer Mariano Rivera, to shut the door. Mr. Rivera retired the side on one hit and recorded two strikeouts. Nobody at the ballpark batted an eye.

But for all the money teams spend on pitching, John Dewan of Baseball Info Solutions, a data company that works for major-league teams, is bewildered by situations like this. "In a three-run game," he says, "you'd be better off bringing in your No. 2 reliever and saving your best pitcher, usually your closer, for the next game." By probability, the most crucial moment in a game -- the one where an out is the most valuable -- often comes earlier, sometimes closer to the seventh inning.

From 1977 to 2006, according to situational probabilities that have been calculated by baseball researchers, home teams going into the top of the ninth inning with a three-run lead win 98% of their games. This would seem to make the use of Mr. Rivera in such situations similar to shooting a fly with an elephant gun.

Last season, the Tampa Bay Rays, the American League champions, made the change. They left most of the easy save chances to veteran Troy Percival, who racked up 28 saves despite an unsightly 4.53 ERA. Stronger pitchers like J.P. Howell and Grant Balfour, who between them pitched 147 2/3 innings with a 1.95 ERA, were reserved for tight situations earlier in games.

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Managers in Uniforms

According to baseball's rule 1.11(a), all members of a team must wear a uniform. As straightforward as this seems, it's actually created a philosophical divide. On one side are the managers who like wearing the same uniform as the players. On the other are a handful of managers who flout the rules and the growing number of comedians who find the tradition hilarious.

According to an informal look by researchers at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, it's believed that the last manager to wear a suit was Burt Shotton of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who last managed a game in 1950.

Ron Gardenhire, the manager of the Minnesota Twins, a fan of the uniform, may have the most convincing argument. "I hate sports coats," he says.

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Kenyan athletes feel the pinch

2009-03-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

By Karen Allen
BBC News, Iten

In Iten in Kenya's Rift Valley, people do not walk - they run.

This is the so-called athletics capital of Kenya. The high altitude and clean air produces some of the best athletes in the world.

But as the economic downturn slashes sports sponsorship, their livelihoods are at risk.

Most of the athletes you spot across the valley are modelling the very latest sports clothing.

The crisis is hitting the athletes hard

Kenneth Kimutai

Nike, Adidas and Puma are household names here. Extraordinary when many of the people survive here on less than $1 (70p) a day.

Product endorsements, appearance fees and big prize money have enabled athletes to carve out a living.

But now the money is drying up and the entire community is feeling vulnerable.

Earnings squeeze

"Athletics is the main industry here," says Martin Keino, a sports marketing specialist and son of athletics icon Kip Keino.

Marathon champion Elias Maindi talks about the future

"It has transformed [people's] lives tremendously, they can build homes, invest in real estate and in turn, positively affect the communities they live in."

But now athletes are "having to review their options", he says.

No-one has been able to put a figure on the value of international sports sponsorship in Kenya, but a handful of elite athletes can expect to earn between $3m-$5m a year.

Most, though, are on more modest sums.

The harsh chill of the economic squeeze is beginning to bite even the hardiest of high-altitude runners.

Marathon champion Elias Maindi was due to take part in the Vienna marathon next month, but he has been told not to come.

The sponsors have slashed their budget and they cannot afford to have established athletes appear at their events.

He cannot even go and fund himself - if he breaks his contract with his manager, which sets out his appearance fees, he would face a $5,000 fine.

"I'm disappointed," he says.

"I've taken months to prepare for the race, now I've now got to go and find another event. This could last several years."

Other options

It is the same for Helen Kimutai, one of Kenya's top female athletes.

She and her husband Kenneth now rely on income from their farm rather than profits from the race track to put their four children through school.

Still modelling their branded gear, just back from a run, Kenneth spoke for both of them.

"The crisis is hitting the athletes hard, so we thought that getting some other business would allow us to continue with our daily living," he says.

Helen Kimutai and her husband have turned to farming to boost their pay

Other athletes are now setting up small shops, buying plots of land - anything that will yield an income that will enable them to continue to run.

The influence of Kenya's athletes on their neighbourhood is apparent everywhere you look in Iten.

Many of the schools, clinics, petrol stations and hotels here are funded by athletes' money.

So Asbel Kirprop, Kenyan silver medallist in the 1,500 metres at the Beijing Olympics, says any fall-off in sports investment will be far-reaching.

He is putting seven promising youngsters through school and says Kenyan athletes have to meet the high expectations of their community.

Athletics Kenya, the body that represents the country's athletes, is keen to play the crisis down.

But for those who are already seeing their sponsorship cut, the impact could go way beyond the sporting community.

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Sport doping test is 'not fit for purpose' experts warn

2009-03-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

by Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor

The current urine test is ‘not fit for purpose’ and should be changed, scientists said in the British Medical Journal online.

An analysis found that different thresholds should be set according to ethnic group because of the prevenance of a certain genetic fault varies in each.

The genetic fault could allow an athlete to take testosterone to enhance their performance but still test negative for doping.

The fault is estimated to be present in one fifth of the African population, eight out of ten Asians, ten per cent of Caucasians and seven per cent of Hispanics.

Sport testing authorities set a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone glucuronide concentration (T/E) at four, with anything above that triggering an investigation for possible doping.

The genetic fault affects how the body breaks down testosterone so an athlete with the fault could take the substance but still have a T/E ratio of less than four.

Research from the Laboratory for Doping Analyses, University Centre of Legal Medicine, in Switzerland, calculated that the threshold should be set at 5.6 for African athletes, 3.8 for Asians, 5.7 for Caucasians and 5.8 for Hispanics.

The study was carried out on 171 professional football players.

Research author Dr Christophe Saudan and colleagues said it would be better to track individual athletes’ own ratios over time and look for changes. Genetic profiling should also be used to determine cases where disparities remain.

He write: “These results demonstrate that a unique and non-specific threshold to evidence testosterone misuse is not fit for purpose.”

Prof Vivien James, emeritus professor of chemical pathology at Imperial College London said it would not be practical to enforce.

He said: “There are ethnic differences in people in the way they handle testosterone and this could provide a method for some people to get under the radar of the drug testing system. Introducing a passport would be a more secure way of monitoring T/E ratios over time so you could look for disturbances in the pattern.”

Prof Peter Sonksen, Emeritus Professor of Endocrinology St Thomas’ Hospital and King’s College London, said the ratios proposed by the research authors would probably not be acceptable in professional sport because it would mean one ‘clean’ athlete would wrongly test positive for doping for every 100 tests carried out.

He added: “It’s not all bad news, however; the increasingly popular ‘athlete’s passport’ and ‘I’m clean’ approach to doping control, where an athlete builds a profile of his/her own metabolism over time as the results of samples accumulate, will allow ‘athlete specific’ reference ranges to be established and these will clearly be lower in people with the gene mutation.

“With this approach it should make the testing more fair and less influenced by ethnicity.”

A spokesman for UK Sport, the national anti-droping organisation, said: “We have already been working on Steroid Profiling, through which we can pick up anomalies in an athlete’s profile which might not necessarily mean prohibited substances are showing up at levels sufficient for them to return elevated T/E, but they provide information which might suggest the need for further investigation or targeted testing."

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Button converts pole into Grand Prix triumph

2009-03-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jenson Button celebrates on the podium.
Photo: John Donegan

Briton Jenson Button won the Australian formula one Grand Prix as his fledgling team Brawn GP debuted in remarkable one-two style on Sunday.

Button survived an incident-filled race at Melbourne's Albert Park to convert pole position into just his second Grand Prix victory in 154 starts.

The 29-year-old was never headed in the 58-lap race, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in his McLaren.

The race finished behind the safety car after Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica first collided, then crashed separately, when running second and third respectively with three laps remaining.

Australian Mark Webber had a nightmarish start to his home town race.

He was caught up in a first corner skirmish with several other drivers, causing substantial damage to his Red Bull car and forcing him into an early pit stop which wrecked his hopes of earning championship points.

Webber emerged from the pits a lap down.

But he eventually finished 13th - the last of the cars to survive the race.

Collated results from the Australian Grand Prix here today (58 laps):

1. Jenson Button (ENG/BRA) 1hr 34min 15.784sec

2. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/BRA) +0.807

3. Jarno Trulli (ITA/TOY) 1.604

4. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 2.914

5. Timo Glock (GER/TOY) 4.435

6. Fernando Alonso (ESP/REN) 4.879

7. Nico Rosberg (GER/WIL) 5.722

8. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 6.004

9. Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/TOR) 6.298

10. Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 6.335

11. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW) 7.085

12. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/FOR) 7.374

13. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 1 lap

14. Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 2 laps

15. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW) 3 laps

nc. Nelson Piquet (BRA/REN) 34 laps

nc. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/WIL) 41 laps

Note: other drivers were not classified

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Animal Fat-Based G-Oil Named Official Motor Oil For American Le Mans Series

2009-03-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

By GreenerDesign Staff

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Green Earth Technologies' G-Oil, which is based on animal fat instead of petrochemicals, has been named the official motor oil for the American Le Mans Series, and race organizers expect some race participants to start using the oil.

Under the terms of a two-year contract, G-Oil will be used in all of the official safety trucks for the American Le Mans Series, and the oil's logo will be featured prominently during races.

The American Le Mans Series has already taken steps to green up racing, requiring participants to use one of four alternative fuels also available to consumers: clean sulfur-free diesel, E10, cellulosic E85 or gas-electric hybrid.

The Series also includes what is now known as the Michelin Green X Challenge, which awards teams based on fuel efficiency and environmental impact during the race.

Earlier this month Green Earth Technologies announced its G-Oil 5W-30 passed the American Petroleum Institute's certification tests, meeting performance requirements set by the group, and letting it use the Institute's certification logo on its packaging.

Green Earth Technologies plans to roll out G-Oil 5W-30 in bulk and quart sizes in the coming months. The company also plans to finalize the testing and certification for 10W-30 and 5W-20 by this summer. G-Oil has been available in 2-Cycle, 4-Cycle and Bar & Chain for Outdoor Power Equipment versions since May 2008.

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Button on pole for stunning Brawn

2009-03-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne Dates: 27-29 March Coverage: Comprehensive live coverage and reaction from Saturday's qualifying session and Sunday's race across BBC TV, radio and online. Find complete listings here

Highlights - Button takes pole in Australia

By Chris Whyatt

Jenson Button secured pole for the Australian Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello as Brawn GP put in a stunning show on their debut.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica will make up the second row at Melbourne's Albert Park.

Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli were sixth and eighth but got put to the back as Toyota's cars broke technical rules.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa is now sixth but Lewis Hamilton starts in 18th after his McLaren suffered gearbox troubles.

Williams had launched a protest about the rear wings of Red Bull and Ferrari's cars, but later withdrew their complaint.

Former Honda team Brawn GP - whose survival was secured by owner Ross Brawn in early March after the British-based Japanese team pulled out of F1 because of the global financial crisis - backed up their impressive performances in testing and practice in some style.

This is the first time any team has been on pole position with the first car they have built since Scotland's Jackie Stewart for Tyrrell at the Canadian GP in 1970.

Button delighted with 'amazing' pole

"The last five or six months have been so tough for both of us, not knowing if we had a drive in F1," said England's Button, whose time of one minute 26.202 seconds secured pole.

"The pace seemed good on both sets of tyres early on but the others seemed closer to us than I thought. I think it was down to about two hundredths.

"I was struggling a bit with fuel as well, I just couldn't get the car to work, but when we got the fuel in it was great and I think that bodes well for the race."

And the performance of Brawn's cars proved even more impressive when the FIA released the pre-race weights, which give an indication of the fuel load each car is carrying.

Button (664.5 kg) and Barrichello (666.5) were carrying significantly more fuel than many of their rivals, with Vettel (657), Kubica (650), Nico Rosberg (657), Massa (654) and Kimi Raikkonen (655.5) all enjoying the advantage of a lighter load.

In the second qualifying session - considered the clearest guide to the true pace of the cars - Barrichello finished nearly four tenths ahead of the rest of field after clocking 1:24.783.

Compounding a scintillating team performance Button was less than one tenth of a second behind, while, lagging beyond, the next eight drivers were split by just two tenths of a second.

Brawn delighted just to be on grid

Yet world champion Hamilton may struggle to catch that leading pack after failing to appear for the second qualifying session following more problems with his McLaren, who have been struggling to put the downforce back into their car in pre-season testing.

The Englishman finished in 15th and was initially put to the back of the grid following the race as McLaren decided they will change the car's gearbox after its fourth-gear failure.

"There was no more drive in the gearbox, there is an issue there," Hamilton told BBC Sport after it happened.

Yet Hamilton received a slight reprieve and will start in 18th following the scrutineering process, where the two Toyota cars were excluded from the qualifying results after race officials found their cars to have rear wings "with an extreme degree of flexibility".

Flexible rear wings are banned because they can bring performance advantages.

606: DEBATE

What odds Brawn for World Champions now?

Red_Tifosi

Renault's two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will start in 10th place, after a mistake on his final flying lap cost him vital time.

"We arrived here to fight for the podium, but this might not be the case tomorrow [Sunday]," Alonso said.

"We were very close to Q3 times, only two or three tenths of a second off, but I made a mistake as I tried to make up some time in the final corner.

"I'm disappointed as I thought I could be fifth or sixth on the grid."

Williams driver Rosberg, who clocked the quickest lap times in all three practice sessions, will start in fifth as the teams being protested against by Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault for the legality of their diffusers - Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams - all, prior to scrutineering, appeared to hit the heights.

But, after both struggling with their cars at various points in practice, Vettel and Kubica put in a much-improved performance when it mattered.

Constructor's champions Ferrari start from relatively disappointing grid positions with Massa - who missed out on the 2008 world title by one point - in the third row and team-mate Raikkonen starting in seventh position.

Red Bull's Mark Webber went well in the second qualifying session but will start in eighth, moving up from 10th, after making a mistake and running wide at Turn Nine on his last lap in the final session.

The Australian GP starts on Sunday at 0700 BST, with coverage on BBC1 from 0600 BST.

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Goodell: Vick must show 'remorse' to play in NFL again

2009-03-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

By Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY


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Bears coach Lovie Smith said Michael Vick deserves a second chance after he emerges from prison. "I would look at Michael like I look at every other prospect that's available: He goes back into the pool," Smith said. "That's what everyone in society does. Martha Stewart went to prison. She paid her time. Now she's back in society." DANA POINT, Calif. — Michael Vick, in the final stages of serving a 23-month sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting ring, will apparently have to pass another standard before he is cleared to return to the NFL. He must show remorse. That's the opinion of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007 after the Atlanta Falcons quarterback pled guilty and who will eventually rule if Vick applies for reinstatement after his July 20 release date. "I'm not going to make a judgment until I know all the facts on Michael Vick," Goodell said Wednesday, as the league wrapped up its annual meetings. "I think it's clear he's paid a price, but to a large extent he's going to have to demonstrate to the larger community — not just to the NFL community and to me — that he has remorse for what he did and that he recognizes mistakes that he made. "Everyone makes mistakes, but he has to show that genuine remorse in his ability to be a positive influence to correct the things that he did wrong publicly." Goodell did not specify how Vick must show remorse, and said he is unsure of how he will weigh various factors. On Wednesday, Vick was in transit from a Leavenworth, Kan., federal prison to an unknown facility closer to Newport News, Va., where he will testify in an April 2 bankruptcy hearing. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor filed complaints in federal district and bankruptcy courts alleging that Vick illegally withdrew $1.3 million from a pension plan to help pay for restitution ordered as part of his conviction — allegations that add complexity to his future. Goodell acknowledged that Vick, suspended roughly four months before beginning his prison term, has been partially disciplined. But he gave no hint on how much of a bearing that might have on potential reinstatement. Asked if Vick will be reinstated for the 2009 season, Goodell said: "I haven't sat down and looked at his case. I haven't met with him. I haven't understood where he is. I'm not going to try to guess." The Falcons own Vick's contract rights, but have ruled out a return and are attempting to trade their erstwhile face of the franchise. Any takers? Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith said that while he is committed to Kyle Orton as his quarterback, he believes Vick deserves a chance to compete for a job. "I would look at Michael like I look at every other prospect that's available: He goes back into the pool," Smith said. "That's what everyone in society does. Martha Stewart went to prison. She paid her time. Now she's back in society. "Mike made a mistake, and he's paying the price for that mistake. Once you've paid your debt to society, you have to say, 'OK, let's go on from there.' " Contributing: The Associated Press

Blame goes to Gillispie and Kentucky

2009-03-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

By Pat Forde
ESPN.com
Archive

After weeks of simmering angst, Billy Gillispie's short, ugly tenure as coach of Kentucky is over. His two years in Lexington were a spectacular failure for Gillispie personally. And for the Wildcats as a basketball program.

[+] Enlarge

Mark Zerof/US PresswireBilly Gillispie and Kentucky were not a good fit from the start.

This was a rushed marriage that rarely felt right or happy. In figuring out how we've arrived so quickly at this ignominious divorce, one thing is clear: There is ample blame for both sides.

Start with the Kentucky brass, athletic director Mitch Barnhart and president Lee Todd. After being turned down publicly by Billy Donovan of Florida in 2007 and rebuffed privately by Jay Wright of Villanova and Rick Barnes of Texas, they panicked. Reacting hastily after the Barnes talks broke off, they lunged at the guy they knew would say yes: Texas A&M's Gillispie.

The decision seemed to be fueled by a fear that mighty Kentucky could not suffer the prestige hit of repeated rejections. Especially not after Barnhart went through an entire Rolodex of football coaching candidates in 2002 before getting Rich Brooks -- which ended up working out splendidly after a rocky start.

But that was Kentucky football, and this is Kentucky basketball. And the Wildcats are not supposed to grovel for a coach.

Never mind that former athletic director C.M. Newton took more than two months and at least a couple of rejections (Lute Olson and P.J. Carlesimo) in 1989 before getting around to hiring a guy named Rick Pitino. This time around, UK hurried a critical decision.

Vanity and rabbit ears for criticism helped push Barnhart into the basketball version of a Las Vegas wedding. And you know how those tend to work out.

Had Kentucky taken the time to carefully conduct its search, it might have learned that Gillispie's prickly personality and uneven moods made him poorly suited for the fishbowl existence of coaching the Wildcats. Even being a bachelor turned out to be a complicating factor, since everyone wanted to know Gillispie's personal business. And because the coach was hardly a stay-at-home shrinking violet, the gossip mill churned at a hysterical pace.

This was a rushed marriage that rarely felt right or happy. In figuring out how we've arrived so quickly at this ignominious divorce, one thing is clear: There is ample blame for both sides.

Nobody much cares what you do at UTEP and Texas A&M. At Kentucky, they care about every breath you take.

They also care about winning. And while Gillispie had done tremendous work reviving UTEP and A&M, he brought a grand total of three NCAA tournament victories with him to Lexington. That's the fewest of any new hire at UK since Joe B. Hall, a former Adolph Rupp assistant who had never been a Division I head coach.

So Barnhart brought in an odd duck with a decent but not dazzling résumé and foisted him off as the savior of a listing program. His failure to gauge the fit between school and coach is impossible to ignore. Now, after just two years, he's in the humiliating position of having to admit he blew it.

Quite frankly, the apparent fact that Barnhart will be in place to make a second basketball hire is either shocking or foolish. Or both.

But that's only half the failed marriage. The other half is Gillispie, who insiders say has absolutely flunked Interpersonal Relationships 101.

The trouble began almost immediately, when Gillispie obstinately refused to sign his contract. He still hasn't, which had to fray his relationship with Barnhart. Every time the subject came up, Gillispie had a flippant response that indicated this was no big deal -- but multimillion-dollar contract impasses always are a big deal.

So are losses to Gardner-Webb. Gillispie did that in the second game of his tenure, showing a strategic stubbornness that would become an unwelcome hallmark of his tenure. There would be no adjustments; it would simply be up to the players to come around to Billy's way.

The 2007-08 Wildcats did eventually come around, going 12-4 in Southeastern Conference play and earning Gillispie co-coach of the year honors. But as early as New Year's Day, insiders were saying the coach seemed miserable and many wondered whether he'd look to leave after only one season.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Rob CarrA rushed decision two years ago has Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart looking for a new coach again.

Kentucky barely got into the NCAA tournament and lost in the first round for the first time since 1987. Two players transferred.

This season, more was expected by a less-than-realistic fan base and less was delivered. Once again, the angst began immediately with a season-opening loss to VMI. Once again, playing time for some players rose and fell seemingly on a whim. Once again, a slow start had the commonwealth wondering.

But then Kentucky rallied, starting with a valiant, last-second loss to Louisville in Freedom Hall. In late January the Wildcats were 16-4 overall, 5-0 in the SEC, and the fan base was speculating about an undefeated league record.

Instead the Wildcats wound up 8-8, collapsing in a weak league and losing their last four regular-season games for the first time since 1907. Along the way Gillispie grew more publicly critical of his players, often foisting the blame onto their shoulders.

After losing in the second round of the SEC tournament, the Cats were out of the NCAAs. And at Kentucky, the three dirtiest letters in the alphabet are N-I-T.

I was in Lexington on Selection Sunday and it was the saddest town in America. A populace that treats NCAA bids as a birthright stayed indoors on a morose, rainy day. The sports bars had few people in them wearing blue. Meanwhile, hated rival Louisville was the overall No. 1 seed.

The season was an official catastrophe.

Before then, though, it started to become clear how many people were put off by Gillispie's personality. The list is longer than 6-foot-8 Patrick Patterson. Some former players took public potshots at him for treating people poorly, and Barnhart's frustrations came through clearly in a revealing all-access story by ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil.

Still, Kentucky and many other schools would tolerate a jerk who wins big. A jerk who goes to the NIT is another matter.

So that's how we got here, in just two years, to Black Friday in the commonwealth.

Kentucky blew a hire at its most public position at a critical time in the program's history. Billy Gillispie blew the chance of a lifetime.

There are no winners here.

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.

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Shaq Finds Mysterious Inscriptions Written On Basketball

2009-03-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX—Upon discovering a series of inexplicable markings on the regulation basketball being used during his team's game against the Nuggets Monday, Suns center Shaquille O'Neal halted play to decipher the meaning hidden in the ball's mysterious symbols and was subsequently called for a 24-second violation.

Enlarge Image

"I never saw anything written on the ball before," said O'Neal, adding that he had not considered the possibility of using a basketball as a device to access information. "In my first glimpse, I had no idea what to make of the bizarre inscriptions I found on the surface, because the referee took the ball away before I could complete a proper analysis."

"I will do whatever it takes to break the code of these intriguing but unintelligible messages," the 15-time all-star continued. "I can only believe that encrypted in that seeming gibberish is a deeper meaning, perhaps the ancient secrets of the known universe or even the NBA itself."

O'Neal, who finished the game with 19 points and three blocked shots, was reportedly aggressive while calling for the ball, jumping for rebounds, and questioning his teammates about the origin of the curious symbols during fast breaks. According to Suns point guard Steve Nash, O'Neal spent several minutes at the foul line in the fourth quarter speculating aloud as to whether the writings represented a cryptic warning to all NBA big men or might unlock the ability to manipulate space and time.

"He kind of freaked out on me when I suggested that it could be an upside down 'S' connected to a 'P,'" Nash said. "After the ref finally warned him to take his shot or risk a technical, Shaq pulled me aside and said the team's cryptographer would probably think differently."

Though O'Neal said it would be irrational to present theories without a solid foundation of research, the 37-year-old did claim that the mysterious inscriptions were definitely created by a more advanced basketball civilization with vastly superior technology. While acknowledging that humans have made impressive scientific progress, O'Neal opined that our culture has not yet developed the sophisticated tools required to embed complex informational structures on the spherical surface of a basketball.

Following the Suns' 118-115 victory over the Nuggets, O'Neal was seen hurrying off the court to the locker room, where he conducted a number of tests on a ball. O'Neal's first experiment, which consisted of squeezing a lemon wedge over the ball to draw out any invisible markings hidden on its surface, was inconclusive, and he expressed annoyance when forced to suspend his research for head coach Alvin Gentry's postgame talk.

"Observing the inscription's sensitivity to high levels of heat seems like a much better use of my time," O'Neal said. "I certainly wouldn't place his feeble recognition of our success in the same realm as my reality-shattering discovery."

O'Neal, who drove to a nearby Sports Authority retail store with the intention of purchasing hundreds of similar basketballs, was distraught when a clerk asked him if he wanted the synthetic version.

"If all these balls are artificial, mere replicas, then that leads to the question of the existence of the original, what I have termed the One True Ball—which may not even exist," said O'Neal, scratching at his face with his fingers. "And if the One True Ball is a mere mental construct, an ideal of perfection, then by extrapolation it becomes impossible to verify that the NBA or life as we know it is even real. Perhaps we are all stuck in separate adjacent dimensions and never actually interact with one another."

"Which ultimately means that we are caught in some kind of cosmic lie," O'Neal added. "All my efforts to create a Shaqtopia were for naught."

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Villanova beats Duke for first time in 50 years

2009-03-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer

BOSTON – Dante Cunningham scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and third-seeded Villanova beat Duke for the first time in more than 50 years, taking advantage of the Blue Devils' poor shooting to win 77-54 Thursday night and advance to the NCAA regional final.

The Wildcats (29-7) will play Big East rival Pittsburgh (31-4), the top seed in the East, on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four.

Duke (30-7), which spent a week at No. 1 in the nation earlier this season, failed to reach the round of eight for the fifth consecutive year.

Kyle Singler scored 15 and Jon Scheyer had 13 for the second-seeded Blue Devils. But Scheyer and Gerald Henderson combined to make just four of 32 attempts as Duke shot a season-low 26.7 percent from the floor.

Villanova was playing on the tournament's second weekend for the fourth time in five years, but Jay Wright's Wildcats have yet to reach the Final Four. But the fans could sense another chance, chanting "We want Pitt!" when Corey Stokes hit a 3-pointer with 2:27 left to give Villanova a 71-50 lead — its biggest thus far in the game.

Villanova, which set a school record with its 29th win, beat Pitt 67-57 in their regular-season meeting at Philadelphia on Jan. 28 when the Panthers were the No. 3 team in the country.

But rankings and seeds have meant little to the Wildcats: No team in tournament history has won more games against higher seeds. The Wildcats are 14-12 as a lower seed since 1979, including their 1985 run to the national championship as a No. 8 seed — the lowest ever to win it all.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, already the winningest coach in tournament history, became the all-time leader in NCAA games coached with 93 — one more than Dean Smith, though the current format with six full rounds has only been in place since 1985. But it became obvious early on that he wouldn't be padding his lead.

After jumping to a 5-0 lead, Duke gave up the next 11 points and never led again. The Blue Devils trailed 26-23 and hit the first basket of the second half, but Villanova scored 12 of the next 13.

Worse, the 3-point shooting that got Duke past Binghamton and Texas abandoned the Blue Devils against the Wildcats. After making 45 percent and 50 percent of their 3s in the first two tournament games, Duke hit three of their first 18 attempts and 5-of-27 overall.

The Blue Devils had beaten Villanova five straight times since the Wildcats' last victory in 1958.

Scottie Reynolds scored 16 and Reggie Redding had 11 points and nine rebounds as Villanova won the rebounding battle 49-34.

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Life of Reilly

2009-03-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

By Rick Reilly
ESPN The Magazine

Matt Steven is blind, but that didn't stop him from being a hoops hero.

A few seconds left. The game teeters on these two free throws. The shooter gulps. The packed gym goes silent, save for the tapping of a white cane on the back of the rim. That's right. The shooter's brother is under the hoop, rapping a cane on the rim. That's because the shooter, Matt Steven, is blind. So why is a blind kid in a competitive CYO game for sighted high schoolers in Upper Darby, Pa.? Because he doesn't like to miss anything -- especially free throws. Matt, a senior, had been on the St. Laurence CYO team for a year and never played in a game -- never expected to. "He just likes being on the team," says Matt's brother and coach, Joe. Matt shoots free throws every practice, though, making about half. And that's what gave Joe a crazy, unthinkable, wonderful idea. Before a charity tourney this past February, Joe asked the other teams if Matt could shoot all of St. Laurence's free throws. Amazingly, they agreed. So did the refs. A blind kid was going to be his team's designated shooter. Hey, it's still better than Shaq. Did that make Matt nervous? "Nah," he says. "I shoot 'em all the time!" The first game, Matt came in and -- to the crowd's shock -- made his first two. He was escorted back to the bench, where he grinned as if he had just kissed the head cheerleader. He was 4-for-8 that day. Matt doesn't talk much -- he has a stutter -- so when Joe got home late after the game, their mom, Joan, asked, "Any idea why Matt's been smiling all night?" "Oh yeah," Joe yawned. "He shot all our free throws tonight. Going to tomorrow night, too." Joan about dropped the spaghetti. Does she like it when Matt rides a bike? Ice-skates? Plays soccer? Sort of. She also dreads the day he comes home hurting. But Matt already knows what it's like to be hurting. Hurting is being born with two permanently detached retinas. Hurting is having your left eye removed in the fifth grade and the right in the sixth. Hurting is when they send you to a high school for the blind even though the last thing you want is to be around only other blind kids. Matt wants to be around other kids. He aches to be treated normal. Not "He does so great for a blind kid!" Just normal. That's why the free throws meant so much. He'd begged his parents to let him transfer to a regular school -- Monsignor Bonner. And he'd begged his brother to let him join his friends on the CYO team. And then, for the first time in his life, he was going to be one of them. Which brings us to Matt's moment in that second game. He'd missed his first six free throws, and St. Laurence was down eight to St. Philomena. Then a full-court press pulled the team to within one with 10 seconds left. That's when St. Laurence's best shooter -- 6'4" senior Ryan Haley -- was fouled in the lane. Surely, with the game on the line, the team stud would shoot his own free throws, right? Up in the stands, Matt's mom was hoping: Please don't make him shoot these. And Haley really was going to shoot them, until he looked over at Matt on the bench. "And I thought, He comes to every game, he never misses a practice, he cheers us on. He deserves a shot. I mean, it's everyone's dream to make those shots." So out comes Matt. And for the first time, the St. Phil fans aren't rooting for him. In fact, they look like they'd prefer that he shoot straight into the hot dog table. "That might have been the best moment of all for Matt," recalls Joe. "For once, he was just normal." Now the ball bounces under Matt's hand. Now the picture shakes in Mom's viewfinder. Now the rim pings from the cane. Matt lets go. Off the backboard and through. Tie game. Crowd goes berserk. Says Joe: "I think it helped that he's blind. He couldn't see the crowd, the scoreboard, his teammates' faces." The crowd stills again. Dribble. Tap. Shoot. Bank. Swish! Up by one. The gym windows nearly break. St. Phil's players forget to give Matt time to get off the court. They race the ball up. Nine guys are running around Matt, who's trying to find a way to the bench. Make that 10, since Ryan's already off the bench and pressing. Make that 11, since Joe -- tears in his eyes -- is trying to get to Matt. Chaos. Joy. Wonder. St. Phil's desperate shot misses. Game over. Since then, Matt's life has gone all kinds of crazy, unthinkably wonderful. His teammates call him Shooter. A girl says she heard all about him. He's even thinking about asking somebody to prom. I hope she says yes. Best blind date of her life. Love the column, hate the column, got a better idea? Go here. Want more Life of Reilly? Then check out the archive. Be sure to check out Rick's latest project "Go Fish."

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Team USA Happy To Be Back Playing For Money

2009-03-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

MIAMI—Back with their respective teams after a second disappointing showing in the World Baseball Classic, Team USA expressed relief to be playing for money again instead of the national pride that supposedly motivates them in the international tournament. "It really feels good to get back to being tangibly compensated for every baseball activity I perform," said third baseman Chipper Jones, who played in three of Team USA's eight games and struck out six times. "It was interesting for a little bit, donating some pro bono swings to my country, but it didn't feel completely right, like there was something missing. Something like money. I'm really looking forward to making some money again." Jones then placed a call to the commissioner's office to see if his recently displayed patriotism had made him more marketable.

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Female pitcher makes history in Japan

2009-03-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

Eri Yoshida was drafted as a 16-year-old, which some in Japan viewed as a publicity stunt for the fledgling Kansai Independent League. (Kyodo News/AP)

Thousands of miles away from any hint of the Major Leagues, history was made in professional baseball on Friday.

That's when Eri Yoshida, a 17-year-old with a wicked sidearm knuckleball, took her 5-foot, 114-pound frame to the mound to become Japan's first female professional pitcher, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Back in December, Yoshida signed a contract to join the Kobe 9 Cruise, one of four teams in Japan's newly formed Kansai Independent League, and made her first appearance Friday in the ninth inning of the first game of the season in Osaka, Japan.

The result? Not too bad.

Yoshida walked the first batter on four straight pitches, then gave up a stolen base, but struck out the next batter swinging before being taken out, as her club picked up a 5-0 win over the Osaka Gold Villicanes in front of 11,592 at the Osaka Dome, according to AP.

"I wasn't thinking about anything other than just going out there and giving it my all," Yoshida, who emulates Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, was quoted as saying by AP. "I think this was a bad result, but the stadium is great and the fans were really cheering me on. I want to be able to pitch more innings and become a pitcher who can be relied upon."

Yoshida, who started playing baseball while in the second grade, said she hopes to stick with the Cruise.

Until now, no woman had ever played against men in Japan, according to AP.

The Kansai Independent League is said to be more of a farm system for bigger teams, like the Yomiuri Giants. Yoshida's signing was originally looked upon as a publicity stunt in order to garner interest in the new league, AP reported.

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World's Most Expensive Baseball Cards

2009-03-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Forget commercial paper--take a look at this investment-grade cardboard.

The card didn't look like much when Bernice Gallego plucked it from a bin of unsorted merchandise in her Fresno, Calif., antique shop. She examined the simple sepia-toned portrait of an unknown team from a bygone era and put it up on eBay for $9.99.

Within hours, the mushrooming volume of inquiries convinced Gallego that this wasn't just any old card. She quickly pulled the item from eBay and took it to an expert, where she learned it was the first card ever printed of the first professional baseball team ever assembled, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. Through sports memorabilia specialist Memory Lane, Gallegos sold the card to Houston dealer Jeffrey Rosenberg for $75,000 in February.

"This is my fantasy baseball--getting to own a card like this," says Rosenberg, who purchased the card for his memorabilia company, Tristar Productions. "It's the type of thing you could put in the Smithsonian or the Baseball Hall of Fame. I think we bought it for a fantastic price."

The scarcest items can command even higher prices: The top 15 vintage cards routinely fetch six figures at auctions by Memory Lane in Tustin, Calif., and similar outfits like Goodwin & Co. in St. Louis, Huggins & Scott in Silver Spring, Md., and Hunt Auctions in Exton, Pa.

The 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth card is the most valuable, worth $500,000 in good condition, according to Brian Fleischer of memorabilia evaluator Beckett Media. The second-most expensive card is the 1909 Honus Wagner rookie, worth $300,000 in comparable condition.

One Wagner rookie card miraculously survived the last century in near-mint condition. Dubbed the "Gretzky Wagner" after it was purchased by the hockey star for $451,000 in 1991, the card sold for $500,000 in 1995, then for $640,000 in 1996, $1.265 million in 2000, $2.35 million in March of 2007 and $2.8 million in September of 2008. Fleischer estimates it would bring $3 million today--and that a comparable Ruth rookie would go for $3 million to $5 million

Rounding out the top three is a card that bears the image of one of baseball's most controversial figures, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Accused of participating in the notorious Black Sox Scandal, in which the heavily favored Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series in exchange for cash from mobsters, Jackson was banned from baseball for life. Scholars point out that he posted a scalding 0.375 batting average in the Series and didn't make any errors in the field, fueling a recent movement to have him posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame. Jackson's 1910 Old Mill second-year card is worth $200,000 in good condition.

"It's just one of the all-time great baseball cards," says Robert Lifson, president of Robert Edward Auctions in Watchung, N.J., a sports house similar to Memory Lane. "It's Joe Jackson's only tobacco card. You don't have to be a baseball card collector to appreciate it."

Play Your Cards Right
Vintage baseball cards have been something of a safe haven during the current recession. Last May, a 1909 Honus Wagner rookie in good condition fetched $317,000. Since then, the Wagner's value has edged up to about $350,000. Other rare pre-war cards have held their value, and modern cards are down just 10-15% on average in the last year. That's only a slight dip compared with the S&P 500, down 40% on the year.

"In past economic downturns, the hobby has done well," says Beckett's Fleischer. "We're seeing really strong sales on high-grade pre-war vintage stuff. People are putting their money in cards instead of traditional investments."

To be sure, the hidden costs of the hobby are often steeper than brokerage fees or fund expenses. Auctioneers typically charge sellers a 10% commission on small lots; for big-ticket items they often waive the seller fee and hit the winning bidder with a buyer premium of 15% or so. Of the $75,000 Rosenberg laid out for Gallego's card, Memory Lane took $11,000. A policy on such a card from Collectibles Insurance Services in Hunt Valley, Md., runs about $460 per year. Still, it's hard to put a price on the satisfaction of ownership.

"It's more fun to buy a Babe Ruth card than some AT&T stock," says Fleischer. "You can't show shares to your friends."

Bragging rights can be rewarding, but for some collectors, a solitary moment with a vintage card is the real treasure. If you take one of these items out of its case, trace the weathered edges with a careful finger and smell the ancient traces of tobacco ingrained in the tiny fibers, for a moment you might feel baseball's mystical soul shuddering through your own.

Regardless of your desire to commune with ball-playing ghosts, you don't necessarily need to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to land a prime piece of vintage cardboard. There will always be more unwitting archaeologists like Bernice Gallego. Last year, a collector in Florida found a Wagner rookie in a tobacco tin in his grandfather's attic.

"It's extremely rare to hit the lottery like that," says Fleischer. "But it still happens."

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Tabata's wife suspected of taking baby

2009-03-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

PLANT CITY, Fla. -- A 2-month-old is back in the arms of her parents, and the wife of a top Pittsburgh Pirates minor league prospect is suspected of taking the infant from a health clinic outside Tampa, authorities said Tuesday.

Amalia Tabata Pereira, 43, was being questioned by Florida detectives in Manatee County, where the baby girl was found unharmed Tuesday afternoon, a day after she was taken from the clinic. Plant City Chief of Police Bill McDaniel said authorities are looking to charge Pereira with false imprisonment.

She is the wife of Jose Tabata, 20, an outfielder and one of the top three prospects for the Pirates, who train in Bradenton, which is in the county where the infant was found. In a statement, Pirates president Frank Coonelly said they have received "no indication that Jose is believed to have had any involvement in this matter."

Jose Tabata addressed the matter in a statement released by the team.

"I was shocked to be told today that my wife has been arrested for kidnapping. I am hurt, frustrated, and confused by her actions," Tabata said. "I have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement officials in anyway that I can. Until I have all of the facts, I cannot comment any further."

“
I was shocked to be told today that my wife has been arrested for kidnapping. I am hurt, frustrated, and confused by her actions.
” -- Jose Tabata

The Pirates said in a statement that they were standing behind Tabata.

"Jose was as shocked as the rest of us upon hearing the news and has cooperated fully with law enforcement officials," Coonelly said in the statement. "The Pirates organization will continue to do anything and everything we can to assist and support Jose during this difficult personal time."

Sandra Cruz-Francisco was taken from her mother, Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, about 3 p.m. ET Monday by a woman her family knew only as "Janet," Plant City police said.

Sirilo-Francisco had taken her baby for a checkup at the Plant City Health Department, where she met Janet, who said she was an immigration official, Sirilo-Francisco told The Tampa Tribune. The woman told Sirilo-Francisco that there were officers at her home waiting to deport her and the child's father to Mexico.

Janet offered to help, but said she had to take the baby.

The two women drove with the infant to a farm where the child's father works, and Janet told him the same story. The mother later handed the child over.

Plant City police Capt. Darrell Wilson couldn't confirm the mother's account of events.

"We believe that may have been the story, but we haven't spoken with the suspect," he said.

Investigators now believe Janet and Pereira are likely the same person. Wilson said Pereira has a criminal record that includes theft and fraud convictions and that police did not have a hometown for her because she has several aliases.

"We don't know if it's an isolated incident or not," he said.

There were conflicting reports regarding exactly how the infant was found.

Plant City police said Pereira turned herself and the baby in to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office early Tuesday afternoon. But authorities in Manatee said Pereira was detained after an anonymous tipster called police to report that a woman on a street corner in downtown Bradenton had information about the missing baby.

When deputies responded to the scene, the baby was found and a woman was detained.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they have launched an investigation. A spokesman wouldn't say whether Pereira worked for the agency, citing the investigation. Wilson, with the Plant City police, said they don't believe she does.

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What Happened to Classic MLB?

2009-03-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Published by Richard Diaz

Does anyone remember the time when baseball was a beloved American pastime?

Remember when collecting rookie cards was more important than saving allowance for a video game? How ‘bout the hot summer days when you’d go out of your way to find a naïve friend to trade with?

After all, how else would you explain the acquisition of an Ozzie Smith rookie card for Minnesota’s John Castino?

Even though pundits will lead us to believe in baseball’s growing popularity, the simple fact is they’re wrong. And for the record, please don’t bring attendance numbers to this debate, because they’re meaningless.

I’m talking about popularity where it counts, as in the youngsters who’ll inevitably be the fans of tomorrow, because this is where you’ll find the huge gap.

Back in the days, opening day was a legitimate reason to skip school, or at the very least, play sick and hope you were left alone with the thermometer. In case you’re wondering, a thermometer and a lamp will get you out of school, but only if you knew how long to hold it to the bulb.

Back in the days, my friends and I looked forward to the release of a new series of plain ol’ Topps’ cards. We were blown away by the release of an Upperdeck hologram, and we fell to the floor in laughter after seeing a certain Billy Ripken card.

The kids today don’t really give a damn about trading cards unless they’re linked to Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh, and that’s a damn shame!

Of course, there’s more to my argument than trading cards.

In truth, my attention was drawn to this topic by the overwhelming lack of interest in the World Baseball Classic, because the United States is out … and no one seems to care.

Though the WBC will officially conclude later this evening, I can’t help but ask how many people were really paying much attention to it in the first place? Were there any American’s who watched each game with the interest of a fan whose national pride was on the line?

In my opinion, this collective yawn of an event will never mean anything because Major League Baseball is no longer America’s pastime. Granted, I love the sport as much as I did when I was a child watching The Wizard of Oz doing back-flips, but am I wrong in saying those days are long gone?

To me, the problem doesn’t start and finish with a lack of preparation, though I’ll admit timing is part of the problem. Simply put, Major League Baseball is suffering from a lack of star power.

Outside of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and the blackballed Barry Bonds, there aren’t too many players who’ve successfully transitioned from MLB star to face of MLB, a la Cal Ripken, Jr. or Tony Gwynn. And for anyone who will criticize my placement of Bonds on said list, I guarantee more kids can identify him than someone like Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols (and rightfully so).

By comparison, this reminds me of the lull in talent during the NBA days after Michael Jordan, but before LeBron James. Yes, we had Kobe Bryant (Derek Jeter), but who the hell gave a damn about a boring guy like Tim Duncan (Ryan Howard)?

Need more? How many people cared about USA basketball before the “Redeem Team?”

Not for nothing, but if you ask me, baseball’s the one sport where national pride should actually mean something. It’s a sport where careers were shortened because athletes in their prime chose to fight for their country. And while I realize this held true across the sports landscape, few were impacted as much as Major League Baseball.

Yet thanks to a lack of star power and general disinterest, the WBC came and went without many people giving it much attention. We watched, we yawned, and we celebrated late inning heroics … but we did so in between viewings of more important programs, such as American Idol, 24, House, the NBA, March Madness, reruns of Family Guy and a lil’ PS3 action.

We heard they were eliminated and didn’t realize they were still playing, but I digress.

Now, in case you’re wondering, this piece is intentionally long and drawn out, because I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to illustrate MLB’s main problem.

No one wants to sit through nine scoreless innings (I’m a huge fan of the pitchers duel) in a landscape where the trendy MMA’s kickin’ ass and taking names. People want action, and they want it now, regardless of how mind-numbingly simple it is.

This is the main reason soccer will never be a popular professional sport in America, and is a huge problem when it comes to the MLB competing with the NFL or NBA.

So, while Major League Baseball will always hold a special place in my heart, I’ll admit there are major hurdles to jump if it ever wants to regain the level of popularity that once made it America’s pastime. In my opinion, this has to begin with star players doing everything in their power to reach the fans of tomorrow, because these kids haven’t been compelled to watch MLB like I was in the late ’80s, and that makes me sad.

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Armstrong breaks collarbone in race crash

2009-03-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

By Al Goodman
CNN Madrid Bureau Chief

(CNN) -- American cyclist Lance Armstrong suffered a shattering blow in his comeback bid on Monday when he broke his right collarbone after falling on the first stage of a five-day race in northern Spain.

American Armstrong was competing in Spain to regain full race fitness after coming out of retirement.

Emerging from a hospital with his arm in a sling, Armstrong said he will return to the United States, where doctors will determine whether he needs surgery.

"I'm miserable," said the record seven-time Tour de France champion. "I just need to relax a couple of days and then make a plan."

Astana rider Armstrong crashed about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the end of the 168-km stage and later said it was the first time he had suffered such an injury in his 17 years as professional.

"It's pretty painful," he said. "Just wait and see how it heals."

The crash took down several riders but Armstrong appeared to be the only one injured.

"That's cycling," he said. "It's nobody's fault. Crashes happen all the time."

As they came within a few miles of the finish, Armstrong said, racers started picking up speed and jockeying for position.

"It happens quick when it happens," he said. "It could have been worse."

Armstrong could be out for three to four weeks said Jacinto Vidarte, spokesman for the Vuelta Ciclista Castilla y Leon race.

The injury looks certain to end Armstrong's hopes of challenging for the Giro d'Italia from May 9-31 -- he admitted race plans are now "problematic" --and must cast doubts on his ambition of winning an eighth Tour crown from July 4-26 in France.

The 37-year-old Armstrong, who was taken to Clinico Universitario Hospital in Valladolid, was seen pointing to his collarbone as he sat by the roadside after the accident.

A group of 15 to 20 riders fell, according to Bartosz Huzarski, a cyclist racing for the Italian team ISD. Huzarski, who saw the fall, said he did not know what had caused it. Only Armstrong appeared to indicate he was hurt, the Polish cyclist said.

One of Armstrong's teammates told velonews.com that he did not see the crash but that the accident happened on a tough patch of road.

"I was in the front," Levi Leipheimer told Velonews, a journal of competitive cycling. "It was on really narrow, bumpy roads. It was a pretty bad road, super-rough and narrow. The edges were deteriorating, with cracks and parts missing, It was worse than typical [Spanish roads]."

Armstrong came out of retirement after more than three years to return to competitive cycling in January.

This was his first race alongside Alberto Contador, a Spaniard who won the Tour de France in 2007, two years after Armstrong's last event victory.

But Armstrong denied there was any friction with Contador, who is also riding for Astana.

"I have to respect the current results and he's the best there is right now. Until that changes, he's the leader," Armstrong told CNN before the accident.

Armstrong recently said Contador "still has a lot to learn," but the Spaniard shrugged it off.

"Anyone can say what they like during the race, but I'm not at all nervous," Contador said.

The fall took place a on a beautiful sunny day on a stretch of two-lane highway, Goodman said.

Armstrong's first comeback came in 1998, two years after he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Doctors gave him a less than 50 percent chance of survival.

He has become a highly visible cancer activist at the head of his Livestrong foundation.

Armstrong, whose Tour triumphs came between 1999-2005, announced in September last year that he would be returning to the saddle.

He launched his comeback in January when he raced in the Tour Down Under in Australia, finishing 29th.

Armstrong then played a key support role as Leipheimer won the Tour of California title in February before finishing 125th in last Saturday's Milan-San Remo in Italy.

He was riding in this week's Castilla and Leon race to continue his bid to reach peak form ahead of the Giro and then the Tour.

Armstrong returned to the sport not only to attempt to become the oldest Tour winner, but also to raise awareness about cancer.

"The most important issue is taking the global epidemic of cancer really to a much bigger stage," explained Armstrong, who previously fought a battle with testicular cancer.

"The best way to do that is to race the bike all over the world. So you race in Australia, South Africa, South America, Europe, America -- that is the first priority," added the Texan.

Original here

Q&A: Assessing troubled QB class of ’06

2009-03-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports

The past seven months have been brutal for the once highly touted 2006 NFL draft class of quarterbacks.

From Matt Leinart’s failure to seize a starting job that the Arizona Cardinals wanted him to win to Vince Young’s meltdown in the season opener with the Tennessee Titans and Jay Cutler demanding this week to be traded by the Denver Broncos, none of the three seem to be on any type of normal career path after three seasons.

The questions for each are obvious: Can their situations be fixed and if so, what’s the solution?

With that in mind, Yahoo! Sports talked to former St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz and a current offensive coordinator with an NFL team who didn’t want to be identified about the future of each. Here’s a look at what they thought of each player …

CUTLER

Martz: “I really think the thing with Jay and [Broncos coach] Josh [McDaniels] isn’t an issue at all. To me, it’s more about the posturing that goes on, probably from people around Jay, like his agent. Really, that stuff happens all the time in the NFL and you just deal with it. You get in a room with just the quarterback and the coach and you start to talk about what you’re going to do, what’s the offense going to be and all of a sudden that stuff fixes itself … it’s like with Kurt [Warner] in St. Louis. His wife got involved in it on a radio program and it made news, but that was a short-term thing and it gets resolved pretty quickly.

Things haven’t gotten much better for Cutler since the season-ending loss to San Diego.

(Chris Park/AP Photo)

“To be honest, I think that Jay and Josh will work really well together once they’re able to sit down, away from other people, and just talk about football … Whether it’s the agent, management or the media, a lot of this stuff can take on a life of its own that really doesn’t matter once the player and the coach sit down and talk about the system, what the practices are going to be like, all of that stuff.

“I think that Josh will love Jay as a player when they finally are able to do that. I love Jay Cutler. When he was coming out in the draft, really, I was enraptured by his talent. I thought he was really, really special. We brought him in to Detroit before the draft and I talked to him for a long time. I like his makeup. I think he’s physically tough and mentally tough. I think he’s got everything you want in a quarterback.

“Yes, trust is a crucial part of the coach-quarterback relationship. No question, it’s all about trust. But that trust will develop. I know people are saying that Josh wanted to get Matt Cassel, but I think that if Jay and Josh give it time working together, there will be trust. Really, it would be different if this happened a year from now after they’d had a year to work together. If that were the case, then you could see there’s a problem. But that’s not where this is right now.”

Offensive coordinator: “I agree that Cutler’s agent [Bus Cook] is driving this problem a lot. I’m not sure that I buy that Cook was the problem with what happened in Green Bay [where Cook client Brett Favre and the Packers went through an ugly divorce] or Tennessee [where Cook client Steve McNair and the Titans also parted on bad terms]. In both of those, the teams clearly wanted to go another direction. That wasn’t going to be pretty.

“But in Denver, this is one where Cook needs to be calming the situation, not feeding it. The Broncos have built that team around Cutler. They have Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and a good tight end [Tony Scheffler] if he can stay healthy. If you’re an agent for a quarterback with those guys, you keep him there because your quarterback has a chance to win and make a lot of money.

“To me, the owner [Pat Bowlen] has to tell the player, ‘You’re not going anywhere and that’s it.’ All this wishy washy crap about how they might trade him if they get a young quarterback or whatever, that’s ridiculous. It just feeds the frenzy. We’re talking about a franchise quarterback. This guy is the real deal when it comes to pure talent … Yeah, he has some issues that bug you. He’s kind of surly, from what I hear, and not a great leader yet and I emphasize yet because he was a great leader at Vanderbilt. All that stuff between him and Philip Rivers is just a waste of time. As a coach, you’re saying to yourself, ‘Who cares?’ But you know that there’s jealousy out there. If it makes him work harder, hey, that’s not a bad thing.”

LEINART

Martz: “There is a maturation process you have to go through as a quarterback. He’s lucky that he’s on a good team where he hasn’t had to play a lot yet and he’s had Kurt to watch and learn from. That can be really valuable for a quarterback. Eventually, he’ll have to go in there and get beat up a little and succeed under duress.

Leinart appeared in just four games last season.

(Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire)

“By that, I mean that he’ll have to go against a good team, with maybe his receivers hurt and be down in the game and find a way to win, which Kurt has done consistently. When you do that, you win the confidence of your team. To be frank, when I was in Detroit, we didn’t really look at Matt. I was so caught up in Cutler that we didn’t bring in Matt or Vince, so I don’t know those guys as well, personally. I know what I’ve studied and Matt has the ability to be a good quarterback, but he needs the time and the action out there.”

Offensive coordinator: “I have the same concerns about Matt Leinart as I do about Vince Young. It’s all about mental toughness … when you watch Leinart, he flashes some ability. He’s had some games where you go, ‘Wow, he has a chance, especially when he first started playing.’ But then you see how he reacts in games where he’s getting knocked around and he gets sketchy. He’s a great front-runner. When everything is going as planned, he’s fine. When it gets hairy, he almost looks scared.

“Think about it, he’s on a team that’s loaded with receivers and he loses that job in preseason. The Cardinals wanted him to win the job. Absolutely were begging him to win it. We all know that. We’re talking about setting up the future of your team for the next eight years. Instead, he was awful and gave the job to Warner. Gave it to him.

“Now look what happens: Warner takes control of the job, the Cardinals have to re-sign him and unless Warner gets hurt, Leinart may never play before his contract comes up. He’ll be in the league for five years and nobody will have a good idea what kind of player he is … nice way to run your career into the ground.”

YOUNG

Martz: “He has some terrific ability to win games on his own. He’s unbelievable that way. But he has to develop the ability to be consistent with what he does. Again, I don’t really know the professional side of Young because we didn’t interview him when I was in Detroit that year … I don’t know what his study habits are, how much work he puts in during the week and during the offseason.

Young watches from the bench after getting knocked out of the opener.

(Mark Humphrey/AP Photo)

“That’s the part that’s going to determine his future. If he’s able to turn his athletic ability into something consistent so that the Titans can win games with him, then he’ll succeed. But he has to work at it because he’s an unusual player. His throwing ability needs work, everybody understands that. But if the offensive coordinator there can work with his ability and get him through it, he has a chance to be great.”

Offensive coordinator: “Martz was being polite. The kid can’t throw. He just can’t. Worse, he still can’t read coverages. The Tennessee passing game with him is either throw it underneath or throw it deep because he’s scary on the mid-range stuff. He has no touch on half his throws and no idea where the defenders are on the other half … I’m being brutally honest and this is hard because he’s not a bad guy, but he’s soft and he doesn’t understand how much work he has to do to get better.

“When he was at Texas, they just let him improvise all the time. He’s such a great athlete, he could get away with anything. Just run around until he made a play. In this league, you can’t do that. That stuff about how coaches should draw up a whole new offense for him is crap. The defenses are too good in this league. In college, you have about four games every year where you really have to be sharp. In this league, you have to be sharp every game.

“Now, I wasn’t there for what happened last season when he supposedly didn’t go back on the field and [coach] Jeff [Fisher] had to chew him out, but that doesn’t surprise me. Like I said, he’s soft. He doesn’t like it. I mean, he talked about quitting after his first season? Are you kidding me? Frankly, if my team brought that guy in and said, ‘Make him a starter,’ I’d ask for battle pay or I’d quit … OK, I probably wouldn’t quit, but I’d make it clear that this wasn’t going to be easy.”

Original here

Yankees Grass Is Now a Brand

2009-03-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

Yankees Sod, which is grown on 80 acres in South Jersey, will soon be available at New York City-area Home Depot stores.

By JOHN BRANCH

BRIDGETON, N.J. — Just when it seemed that all the sports-licensing ideas had been exhausted — coffins with team logos, unveiled a few years ago, could have reasonably been the presumed end — along comes something that has been growing in plain sight all along.

Yankees Sod.

A tuft for the windowsill? A pallet for the backyard? Officially licensed grass is about to be sold, in the form of sod or seeds, to fans who want a patch to call their own.

“It’s just capitalizing on what we have and what we’ve done,” said Rick DeLea, vice president of DeLea Sod Farms, which his grandfather founded in 1928 and has supplied turf for Yankee Stadium since the 1960s.

On a recent morning, Mr. DeLea swept his hand across a portion of the 80 acres of Yankees Sod on a vast hillside in South Jersey. Last fall, some of the secret blend of bluegrass was peeled in broad strips, hauled north on trucks and laid inside the new Yankee Stadium. But most of it was still here, greening under a late-winter sun.

“It’s going to be one of those ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ stories,” said David Andres, the energetic and entrepreneurial man who came up with the idea of selling sod and grass to fans.

A former consultant with the company and now Mr. DeLea’s vice president for business development, Mr. Andres saw a field of bluegrass far bigger than the two and a half acres needed to cover the grassy portions of the new Yankee Stadium. The team had asked Mr. DeLea to reserve 10 acres for the stadium, apparently in case of some horrific horticultural incident in the Bronx, but that left a lot of leftover sod.

“I said: ‘Rick, you’re sitting on it. Why not do something with it?’ ” Mr. Andres said.

Actually, Mr. DeLea had been doing something with it. He sells the same three-variety blend of Kentucky bluegrass from this field to other clients. A high school in West Long Branch, N.J., had 16 acres installed last fall, when it was just called sod. Not Yankees Sod.

Mr. Andres, a self-described “sell ice to Eskimos kind of guy,” took the idea of licensing the product to the Yankees and Major League Baseball. He received the requisite stamps of approval and started a company called Stadium Associates to market Yankees Sod and Yankees Grass Seed.

It makes one wonder if other licensed permutations will follow — Cubs Ivy or Daytona Asphalt or Cameron Indoor Hardwood Floors, using the same vine, road mix or batch of trees as the sports arenas.

For now, Mr. Andres and three partners have visions of Cubs Sod and Red Sox Sod and other licensed sod. They have reached out to the farms that supply the other 27 major league teams with natural-grass fields.

But Major League Baseball is taking it one team at a time.

“We want to see how this goes,” Howard Smith, baseball’s vice president for licensing, said. “But we want all of our licensees to be wildly successful.”

Yankees Sod will be available at New York City-area Home Depot stores near the end of the month. A patch a little bigger than five square feet — 16 inches by 4 feet — will cost $7.50, Mr. Andres said. It may cost a few thousand dollars to cover a large backyard, but the sod comes with a certificate of authenticity from Major League Baseball, complete with the counterfeit-proof hologram, declaring it to be the official grass of the New York Yankees.

Yankees Grass Seed will also be available, in gift-friendly novelty sizes of three ounces and eight ounces, at Yankee Stadium and other places. Home Depot will carry bigger bags of seed.

Mr. Andres wants to sow grass seed in small planters, too, for fans who may want a little patch to water and cut, kind of like bonsai groundskeepers. He is even pondering miniature desktop replicas of the stadium filled with blades of Yankees Sod.

“It is something that is green,” Mr. Andres said, referring to the environmental benefit of the product, if not the awe-inspiring color that greets fans as they step through the stadium portals. “It is something that is connected to America’s pastime. It is something that is affordable. And it is something that every fan can appreciate.”

Except Mets fans, perhaps.

Mr. DeLea, an unassuming man who oversees a 13-farm sod empire with the help of a helicopter he pilots, supplies various varieties of turf, from bluegrass to bentgrass, to clients that include well-known golf courses and small municipalities.

He said that the bluegrass developed for the Yankees took about 14 months to mature. The DeLea sod laid in Yankee Stadium last fall, like the sod remaining on this hillside parcel, was planted in the spring of 2006. More is being planted at various sod farms for fans.

Mr. DeLea said that Yankee Sod was fine for a lawn that receives full sun, drains well and is reasonably maintained.

As the men turned to walk off the lush grass and into a van parked in the dirt, where sod once grew — the sod now in Yankee Stadium, perhaps, or maybe just at a high school in New Jersey — Mr. Andres mindlessly flicked the ashes of his cigar onto the turf.

Mr. DeLea scolded him and rubbed out the embers with his shoe. After all, this was not ordinary sod.

Original here

The 2009 National Douchebag Tournament

2009-03-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to HolyTaco's 2009 Douchebag Tournament! It's the only tournament in the world that pits 64 douchebags in a winner-take-all tourney, voted on by you, to determine who is crowned the Biggest Douchebag of 2009.

We took 16 douchebags from the fields of Entertainment, Sports, Business, and Politics, ranked them accordingly and matched them up in a manner similar to a crazy tournament between February and April that we can't name due to legal issues. So, the #1 ranked douchebag in each division plays the #16 ranked douchebag, the #2 ranked douchebag plays the #15 ranked douchebag and so on.

VOTE ON THE ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS HERE!

PLAY-IN GAME:

Katherine Heigl

What Makes Her A Douchebag:

Declining an emmy nomination last year because last season's scripts on Grey's Anatomy weren't "good enough" definitely qualifies her as a great big bag o' douche. She had no problem collecting enormous checks for being on the show, but then decided it was her duty to throw the show's writers under the bus. But the joke's on her: Grey's Anatomy always sucked.

Ryan Seacrest

What Makes Him A Douchebag:

The perennial douchebag, Seacrest's combines a pretty boy smugness with the world's blandest personality. Listening to him suck up to celebrities and pretend that photos of Brad Pitt walking into a Starbucks are actual news makes you want to slap the facial right off his...face. Seacrest out (of everything except the closet.)

Vote on who's the bigger douche. You can vote as many times as you want. Just refresh the page and vote again.

&nbsp;

(Note: Voting results are slightly delayed.)

Tomorrow you'll have the chance to vote on eight first round match-ups. The voting lasts until the next day's match-ups go up. Each day we'll show the results and update the brackets to let you know who's advancing towards becoming the 2009 Douchebag Of The Year. So, here's a breakdown of all four brackets:

Original here

Scots clubs braced for hard times

2009-03-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

By Chris McLaughlin

Scottish football clubs are feeling the effects of the credit crunch

The majority of Scottish football chairmen have told BBC Scotland that the credit crunch is squeezing club business and they expect it to worsen.

In an exclusive BBC survey, all 42 professional clubs answered questions about their fight against the downturn.

One of the major concerns for clubs is corporate sponsorship drying up as businesses cut back.

Sixty-nine percent said that satisfying the banks and retaining sponsors was the biggest off-field challenge.

Most remain bullish in the face of troubling times, but there is also some frank realism that the game won't escape without casualties.

Some call for big changes, others say the game is well placed to ride out the storm - some even suggest it could be good news in the long run.

Bank managers are under pressure too, so it's understandable, but yes they are looking for more money from us

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson

Most admit that business is affected, with 81% saying that income has been impacted by the economic downturn.

"There's no doubt we've been hit - my fear is that this is just the beginning though," said one worried chairman.

At the moment an obvious concern is getting people through the gates at matches. However, almost 70% said the biggest off-field challenges they face are retaining sponsorship deals and keeping some very nervous banks happy.

"Bank managers are under pressure too, so it's understandable, but yes they are looking for more money from us," said the Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson.

"Anywhere they think they can pull money in, they will. Everyone is in the same position."

Most of the club chairmen also mentioned a decline in the uptake of corporate sponsorship.

"When things are tight in business it's usually the first thing to be cut," said one First Division chairman.

"It's big business for some clubs though and there's no doubt that it'll have an impact."

There is some good news though. If there was no escaping the credit crunch, then it seems now is a decent time for Scottish football to be bitten.

Football finance expert David Glenn from Price Waterhouse Coopers believes clubs had already started addressing some worrying debt trends.

"Scottish football caught a cold four or five years ago and realised that debt levels were just far too high," said Glenn.

"Since then most clubs have taken drastic steps to cut costs - if they hadn't, many would be facing financial meltdown."

There are other factors to consider for the well-being of football's future and other questions addressed in the BBC Scotland survey.

The game's top men have also given their views on issues such as attendances and the quality of entertainment on the pitch.

Chris McLaughlin's series on the state of Scottish Football finances continues on Wednesday 18 March 2009.

Original here

BBC apologises after Match of the Day pundit compares football tackle to rape

2009-03-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

By Paul Revoir

The BBC has apologised after a Match of the Day pundit likened a tackle in a Premiership match to rape.

Former West Ham United manager Alan Pardew, 47, was condemned by women's groups for trivialising sexual violence.

He had been analysing a tackle by Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien on Manchester City striker Ched Evans in Sunday's game.

Alan Pardew, left, with Alan Hansen on BBC's Match of the Day last night, where he made a gaffe by comparing a tackle to rape

Mr Pardew said on Match of the Day 2: 'Ched Evans is a strong boy but (Essien) knocks him off ... he absolutely rapes him.'

Co-hosts Adrian Chiles and Alan Hansen looked stunned, but there was no apology during the show.

Lee Eggleston of Rape Crisis England and Wales, today slammed Pardew for 'trivialising' sexual violence.

She said: 'The use of this language is completely inappropriate and I'm shocked to hear about it - I can't imagine why Pardew has said it.

'That something as serious as sexual assault has been misused to describe football is appalling.

'He has trivialised and undermined the seriousness of rape and anyone who has suffered sexual violence will rightly be angry hearing of it.

'I think he should apologise because otherwise it sets an example that it is okay to use the word rape in that context.

'We have spent 25 years making sure sexual violence is not acceptable and rape is a serious crime and this can only hurt that.'

Pardew was commenting on City striker Ched Evans's attempt to steal the ball from Essien , right, during the Chelsea v Man City game

A BBC spokesman apologised for Mr Pardew's comments but would not reveal whether he will be used as a pundit in the future.

She said: 'What Alan Pardew said was misheard. It was thought he used the word "rakes".

'If it had been heard, there is no question there would have been an on-air apology.

'Alan Pardew apologises unconditionally for any offence caused by remarks he made on the Match of the Day 2 programme last night. We have received a total of 35 complaints.'

Pardew has been described as a 'dangerous and distant animal' due to his poor public relations abilities

Since the ex-Charlton Athletic manager parted company with the club in November last year he has tried to build a career as a football pundit.

It is believed that his appearance on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday night was his first pundit job for the BBC.

Yvonne Traynor, director of Rape Crisis in south London, said: 'How can he say that? It's insensitive in the extreme, how can he even think that it may be OK to make such a comment?

'I thought the BBC was supposed to be being more careful, what a joke! I can't see how he can carry on, but I doubt the BBC will tell him not to come back, that doesn't seem to happen these days.

'They'll probably just slap him on the wrist, but he should be hauled over the coals.'

A spokesperson for Women Against Rape also criticised Pardew for 'trivialising' such an important issue.

'Anyone who can say such a thing has no idea what rape means. It is really insulting to rape survivors to have the word trivialised in that way.'

Original here

Beach Volleyball Ads Could "Spike" Attendance

2009-03-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Posted By: Darren Rovell

The folks at the AVP, the professional beach volleyball league, know that the first key to drawing a crowd in this economic environment is to get people to look. Well, we definitely looked when we were shown the advertising that will be running in each of the markets where the tour will stop this year.

For what it's worth, we're told that the first shot is the bottom of a model and the second one is the posterior of AVP player Tyra Turner. Either way, we're pretty sure the AVP isn't in any danger of false advertising.

Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com

Original here

Florida Panthers Fan Exposes Herself On Live TV

2009-03-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Total Pro Sports - Whenever I go to hockey game its always entertaining to see what people will do to try and get themselves on the big screen.

There are always the drunk guys, the fat guys and the drunk fat guys. Sometimes there are attractive drunk women that steal the show and at a recent Florida Panthers game, that is exactly what happened. An enthusiastic young lady decided that rubbing herself and exposing her breasts to the crowd was a great way to show her support for the home team. What a true fan.

I bet that prior to this game the woman featured in this video was just an anonymous member of society, now because her fine public performance she has become an Internet star. Not everyone is lucky enough to become a star on the net, but this lady definitely has the "talent" to take her all the way.

Check out the video here:

Florida Panthers Fan Exposes Herself On Live TV

Original here

Martin Brodeur Breaks All Time Wins Record

2009-03-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Its rare that the Prudential Center is full for a New Jersey Devils game.

But you knew it would be full tonight.

As of a few short minutes ago, Martin Brodeur, with some key last second saves, has broken the all time NHL record for most wins in a career, with 552. Marty surpasses his idol, former Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche cornerstone Patrick Roy.

On a side note, Patrik Elias broke a different record today with an assist on the game winning goal - it was his 702nd point with the New Jersey Devils, which makes is the franchise record.

To continue the record streak - this is the first time in franchise history that the Devils have won 10 straight home games.

Many thought the record would be set earlier, but unfortuantely for Brodeur, he had fairly severe injury at the beginning of the year, which is a rarity for Brodeur, who rarely gets hurt and is known for playing 70+ game seasons.

But he’s certainly come back to form, as he’s 8-1-0 since returning to an already solid New Jersey Devils roster (makes you wonder why their attendance is usually so low).

Quote from Commissioner Gary Bettman:

“Martin Brodeur is the gold standard of goaltending — the model of character, consistency and commitment to the craft,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. A champion. A winner above all.

“It is difficult to imagine any player who is more universally, and deservedly, respected. The National Hockey League is extremely proud of Martin, his historic achievement and his enduring contribution to our game.”

Original here

NFL players lost at sea may have shed life vests

2009-03-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press Writer

TAMPA, Fla. – Two NFL players might have taken off their life vests after their hopes of being rescued at sea faded as they clung to their capsized boat, according to Coast Guard records on the eventual rescue of a sole survivor.

Nick Schuyler told the Coast Guard that one by one, the other three men aboard the small boat in the Gulf of Mexico took off their life vests and eventually disappeared during the ordeal that began the evening of Feb. 28. The Coast Guard's account came in a 23-page report provided to The Associated Press Monday under a Freedom of Information Act request.

The report, which redacts the men's names, says the group went roughly 70 miles — or 62 nautical miles — to fish for amberjack. Besides the 24-year-old Schuyler, also aboard the 21-foot Everglades boat were Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and former University of South Florida player William Bleakley. The bodies of Cooper, Smith and Bleakley have not been recovered.

Around 5:30 p.m., the report said the group ran into trouble: Their anchor was stuck. Schuyler told investigators that he believed it was caught in a coral reef and they tried to free it, but water filled the boat and it capsized.

Tossed into the frigid water, the men managed to grab their life vests. Schuyler, also a former South Florida player, said they held on to the boat for four hours. But as the night wore on, their will to survive appears to have weakened and the effects of hypothermia were likely setting in.

Schuyler told the Coast Guard that one of the men "freaked out" and took off his life vest and disappeared that night.

Another started getting unruly, throwing punches and later took off his life jacket, dove under the water and was never seen again. The third man thought he saw land nearly two days after the boat capsized and decided to swim for it.

That man said his life jacket was too tight and he took it off, Schuyler told the Coast Guard.

Officials have said they found three life jackets: one on Schuyler, another near the boat and a third underneath.

It's unclear how accurate the account is. Schuyler, who was found clinging to the overturned boat about 35 miles off Clearwater and nearly 48 hours after the accident, was suffering from hypothermia and he has provided different accounts to the men's relatives. For example, Bleakley's family said Schuyler told them that their son held on to the boat with his college teammate until he weakened and died. Schuyler has also said that Bleakley helped him survive by talking to him and encouraging him during their last night together.

Marquis Cooper's father has questioned Schuyler's account that his son removed his life jacket. Schuyler has not responded to interview requests.

As time passed, their relatives grew worried because the group was expected home around sunset. One of the men's relatives contacted the Coast Guard around 1:30 a.m. on March 1 and a search began.

Records document the Coast Guard's repeated attempts — and frustrations — as rescuers tried to find the small white boat in a stormy sea with heavy cloud cover and whitecaps making it tough to spot.

One person who called the Coast Guard reported that one of the men, presumably Cooper, had one week left before he was expected in California for football practice. The caller, whose name was redacted from the report, said the group "could have possibly tried to go farther out to fish."

One of the men's wives was able to find a handheld GPS device that he had left at home and had apparently used in previous trips to record the coordinates of favorite fishing spots. The Coast Guard used that data to refine their search, placing the likely location of the men about 10 nautical miles south of their expected destination.

The Coast Guard contacted the men's cell phone companies for help tracking their whereabouts, without success. They also sent them text messages, stating that, "the CG is looking for you request you to contact us immediately."

"Being that these guys are inexperienced, don't look just at 50 NM offshore, there might be a possibility that they wisened up and stayed close to shore, at least within visual of land," a Coast Guard officer wrote in one e-mail.

The same e-mail added that, "It might be worth considering getting the story out to media earlier than later more people on the lookout both on land and water."

During the search, the Coast Guard reported 14-foot seas offshore and wind gusts up to 30 mph.

More than 24 hours after starting their search, a sign of hope finally emerged.

The Coast Guard cutter Tornado spotted Schuyler, looking small in the vast ocean and clinging to the boat's hull.

At Tampa General Hospital, Schuyler's doctor called it a "miracle" that he survived in the 63-degree Gulf water for nearly two days, and said he probably could have lived only another five to 10 hours.

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Sources: Stallworth expected to be charged

2009-03-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports

Miami police have indicated that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth is expected to be charged as a result of the driving accident that killed a pedestrian early Saturday morning, two sources with knowledge of the investigation said.

Stallworth has spent one season with the Browns.

(Tony Dejak/AP Photo)

Pending the outcome of the investigation, which includes results of a blood test for drugs or alcohol, the sources said driving under the influence, vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving were among the possible charges.

“The police seem pretty confident that they’re going to charge him,” a source with the NFL said. “ … Even if he [is] clean, I think the police feel he’s going to be charged with something, regardless.”

A detective source was also told that the police anticipated charging Stallworth, who was reportedly cooperative with police and distraught over Reyes’ death.

“I think it looks like to the police that Stallworth wasn’t being careful, at the very least,” the second source said.

Mario Reyes, 59, was leaving his job as an overnight crane operator and trying to get to a bus stop on the southeast end of MacArthur Causeway. The causeway connects Miami Beach to downtown Miami. According to co-workers, Reyes, who left Cuba for Miami as a teenager, was on his way home.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league was “monitoring” the situation.

This is at least the second time that Stallworth, who signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns in 2008, has had a brush with the law in Miami, according to the Herald. Stallworth was arrested following a traffic stop in March of 2006. Charges were filed, but he was not prosecuted.

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Spain's Bullfighters Turn on One Another

2009-03-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

By Lisa Abend / Madrid

Spanish matador Francisco Rivera Ordóñez performs a pass to the bull during a bullfight in the Maestranza Bullring in Seville

Outsiders may debate whether bullfighting is sport or art, but within the normally close circle of Spanish aficionados, there is only one correct answer, and it has nothing to do with basketball. Yet if bullfighting is an art, does that make all its practitioners artists?

Most definitely not, has been the answer of many bullfighting insiders ever since Spanish Culture Minister César Antonio Molina announced on Feb. 27 that this year's prestigious Fine Arts medal for bullfighting would go to Francisco Rivera Ordóñez. The 35-year-old matador has killed more than 2,000 bulls, but because of both his family ties — he descends from Spain's most important bullfighting dynasty and was briefly married to the Duchess of Alba's daughter — and his abundant good looks, Rivera is as well-known for his presence in the gossip rags as for his work with the cape and sword. (See pictures of bullfighting.)

And that may be precisely the problem. Announcing the award, Molina described Rivera's technique as "now more aesthetic, relaxed and profound." But "aesthetic" is not exactly how many in the bullfighting world see Rivera's efforts. "I think we're all in agreement that he doesn't represent the artistic side of the toreo," says Israel Vicente, director of Tauropress, a public-relations company that specializes in bullfighting. "He's been given the prize because he's a name that people recognize, not because he's an artist."

Vicente isn't alone in that characterization. Upon hearing of the award, bullfighter José Antonio Morente de la Puebla told the press, "I think it's shameful that they would give it to him," and added that he saw the decision as clear evidence of how little those behind the prize understood "about bullfighting and about art."

Two well-respected bullfighters, Paco Camino and José Tomás, went so far as to return their medals (granted in 2004 and 2008, respectively) in protest. According to Vicente, whose agency represents Tomás, the decision was motivated by the latter's "belief that he is a depository for the art of bullfighting, that he has to defend it. José Tomás has nothing against Rivera; he has a problem with the ministry's argument for bestowing the medal on Rivera. It devalues the award."

Rivera is an easy target. The eldest son of Paquirri, a popular matador who was killed in 1984 by a foul-tempered bull named Avispado, he is the grandson of Antonio Ordóñez and the grandnephew of Luis Miguel Dominguín (the two men's rivalry was famously depicted by Ernest Hemingway in The Longest Summer). Rivera and his equally dashing brother Cayetano, also a bullfighter, have modeled for Armani, hawked high-end watches, appeared in the pages of Vogue and been featured on the American news program 60 Minutes. They have also tended toward prominent matches — Francisco was married to Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, daughter of Spain's most titled aristocrat, while Cayetano was wed to Blanca Romero, a model and actress. Both men are currently dating former Miss Spains. (Read TIME's top 10 beauty pageant scandals.)

"Francisco is wealthy, he's young, he's handsome, he's a good businessman, he's famous, and he's the last in the line of a bullfighting aristocracy that is utterly unique," says a close family friend. "It's normal that he would be attacked. What is not normal is that two respected figures like Camino and José Tomás would do something so disrespectful. I don't think it's jealousy that motivates them; I think it's arrogance."

Even those who are unhappy with Rivera's award seem to believe that Tomás and Camino have gone too far. Writing in El País, bullfighting critic Antonio Lorca said, "The decision of these two maestros isn't very elegant. This idea that 'the award was correct when they gave it to me, but not so much now' doesn't speak well of their sense of collegiality." Carlos Javier Trejo, a bullfighting critic based in Seville, agrees. "I think José Tomás had a little flare-up of vanity, like a Hollywood actor who returns an Oscar because he doesn't like the person who wins it the year after him. But it's very unfortunate, because it hurts bullfighting as a whole," Trejo says.

Of course, bullfighting was hardly undamaged even before this latest episode. In 2004, Barcelona approved a nonbinding resolution declaring itself an "antibullfighting city," prompting nearly 40 other cities and towns in Catalonia to follow suit; in 2007 the state-run Spanish Television networks stopped broadcasting bullfights live. A 2006 Gallup poll found that 72% of Spaniards said they were "not interested" in what is still commonly referred to as the "national fiesta."

Tomás' triumphant 2007 return to the ring, following a five-year hiatus, was seen by many aficionados as a way of stanching the decline. In his first fight back, Tomás sold out "antibullfighting" Barcelona's 20,000-seat ring. But even his powers aren't unlimited, say critics. "Who is he to decide what is worthy and what isn't?" asks the Rivera family friend. "Art is in the eye of the beholder."

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