Violent fans
Posted: April 6, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Category: Football/Soccer
UEFA are taking measures against the two outbreaks of violence that involve English fans in Europe this week, but the sanctions have not been discussed by the European’s governing body.
UEFA are investigating the clashes from Tottenham and Manchester United’s trips to Rome and Seville.
Gaillard ( UEFA’s communications director ) said: “We are at a very early stage in terms of the investigation in terms of the Manchester United and Roma incidents. We are at an even earlier stage of Seville v Tottenham. Any talk of sanctions is pure speculation, it has not been discussed. It makes no sense to talk about sanctions or punishments at this stage.”
Gaillard stated that UEFA president Michel Platini has called for a zero-tolerance approach to football-related violence.
He added: “The executive committee fully supports the president’s stance of zero tolerance against violence and violent people.”
“Mr Platini has written to the presidents of the clubs taking part in the knockout stages of the Champions League, asking for their support and help and he has written to the association presidents, to remind them of their duties.”
Spurs fans were involved in dangerous clashes with the Thursday night’s Spanish riot police, or at Roma VS United match on Wednesday in the Stadio Olimpico.
Gilbert Arenas had surgery for a left knee injury and
Posted: April 6, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Category: Basketball, Sports News
Gilbert Arenas has finished it for the season. On Thursday the point guard of the Washington Wizards’ basketball team had surgery for a left knee injury that will keep him away from playing for two or three months. His soonest return to the game is if his team makes it to the NBA finals without him.
“It’s pretty much down,” said DeShawn Stevenson, While going to the locker room after Thursday’s practice. “But at the same time, we are a playoff team. We have to worry about the playoffs and winning games.”
Arenas was injured in the first quarter with the Charlotte Bobcats, a game that they lost on Wednesday night’s with 108-100. He was diagnosed with a lateral meniscus tear and experienced an arthroscopic surgery at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington.
Arenas averaged 28.4 points and six assists this season. His nicknames were “Agent Zero” or “Hibachi!, nicknames that he would yell when shooting his jumper.
It’s an unfortunate incident. As coaches in the NBA, you have to be prepared for what one of my old coaches use to call ‘thunderbolts.’ And I think we are prepared.”
In only a week the Wizards lost both their All-Stars players. In the loss with Milwaukee Bucks, Caron Butler broke a bone in his hand, on Sunday. In consequence of losing those two players the Wizards have fallen behind the Miami Heat in the race for the Southeast Division title. Nearly two months ago the Wizards had a very promising start in the season.
“That team had a chance to contend, and to lose their most crucial guy at the most pivotal time … it really destroys the whole season, everything they did,” Heat coach Pat Riley said before the game with Cleveland started.
Daisuke Matsazaka, a new star for the Boston Red Sox from Japan
Posted: April 5, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Category: Baseball
Japan has had some major leagues successful players, one of them could be Daisuke Matsazaka. The Boston Red Sox payed a very high price on him having faith that he wold become a star in North America.
Matsuzaka will debutate Thursday in the major league at the ending of a season-opening three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Daisuke Matsazaka is the MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and the most recently Japanese player who want’s and has to meke it very big in the majors, his expectations are very high as well as the price the Boston Red Sox payed for him.
Boston won the ” auction ” on Matsuzaka, giving away a record setting $51.1 million fee to the Seibu Lions for a six-year contract. Daisuke’s a 26 year-old right-hander who took that contract on Dec. 13.
For eight seasons Matsazaka is the best pitcher in Japa, where he was 108-60 with a 2.95 ERA. The Red Sox’s third game of the season will include Matsazaka but they don’t expect an immediately explosion from him to be the best.
“Within myself, there is maybe a baseline for success,” Matsuzaka said. “I have certain expectations toward myself but, as for giving you a hard number, what that might be, that’s something I can’t do.”
Matsuzaka will have to handle the media as well, especialy the Japanese media.
St. Louis Cardinals can do better
Posted: April 5, 2007 at 8:37 am
Category: Baseball, Sports News
ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals have been unlucky in the last games, playing sluggishly and loosing game after game. They scored two runs through out three games against the New York Mets. “Two runs in three nights, we’re better than that,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We have to be better than that if we expect to have a season in contention. I think we’ll fix it, sooner rather than later.”
Wednesday night’s 10-0 defeat was the most discouraging, and these three nights were the Cardinals’s worst nights of the season.On the opening night the team was stopped by Tom Glavine, to be encouraged. In the second game Orlando Hernandez’s array of off-speed pitches destroyed every hope of winning for the Cards.
John Main by the other hand played very well for his 25th big - league game an certainly was remarked, but his skills don’t match either Glavine or Hernandez. Maine was very dominant against the Cardinals, outmatching the starts of other veteran Mets players.
“Give Maine credit,”La Russa said. “But we’re capable of much better production.”
“Think about it, we got one rally all night. That just isn’t making enough happen. We’re better than that.” He was trying to keep a good moral state for the players, and doesn’t take this as the ending of the world, the team can still make a difference.
For a true fan who knows the history of the team, looking beyond those three games, it isn’t so hard to say “They are better than this!” and trust the St. Louis Cardinals sustaining them in the future.
Eddie Robinson died at the age of 88
Posted: April 4, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Category: Sports News, Football/Soccer
He began coaching at Grambling State in 1941, when it was still the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, and single-handedly brought the school from obscurity to international popularity. At the age of 88, Eddie Robinson, Grambling’s well known coach died in Ruston, La. A sad news for us all. Through out his life he worked tireless to brake the racial barrier in his town and in the world. His great skills produced hundreds of NFL players that are world-known.
He has been coach for almost 60 years at Grambling State University, where he trained and released almost every season players for big teams out the world.
A Super Bowl MVP Quarterbacker, Doug Williams was one of his students that made it big and was there when Robinson died.Williams said it was before midnight on Tuesday when coach Eddie Robinson past away.
“For the Grambling family this is a very emotional time,but I’m thinking about Eddie Robinson the man, not in today-time, but in the day and what he meant to me and to so many people.”
His career passed through 11 presidents, the civil rights movement and a few wars. In 57 years of work Robinson compiled a 408-165-15 record. He probably was the best coach in all of collage football.
“The real record I have set for over 50 years is the fact that I have had one job and one wife,” Robinson said.
He was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease since 1997 when he was diagnosed by doctors in Chicago and was forced to retire.
He started coaching at Grambling State in 1941. Eddie Robinson was coach at the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, and brought the school that wasn’t so known at that time to international popularity.
Fed Cup Asia-Oceania zone tournament in Christchurch threatened
Posted: April 3, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Category: Tennis, Sports News
April 2, Wellington, New Zealand - An unspecified security threat was addressed to the International Tennis Federation in London putting in danger the Fed Cup Asia-Oceania zone tournament in Christchurch, but the security will resolve the problem as well as the police will find out who launched the threat.
  
On April 18 the tournament will start with the participating teams form India, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, New Zealand, Syria, Jordan and Singapore.
Tournament director David Blackwell stated that organizers are working with the police in New Zealand and nothing will threat the tournament to start, but he hasn’t released any important details about the problem.
“It was a bit of a bolt out of the blue initially.” Blackwell said.
He also said that the police are acting as they should be and already the threat is gone but there still is a possibility for it to reappear. Certain is that 18 April will emerge as planed.
Phoenix Sun’s owner Robert Sarver did a joke on coach Mike D’Antoni
Posted: April 3, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Category: Basketball, Sports News
On 1th April someone got fooled. Phoenix Sun’s owner Robert Sarver did a joke on coach Mike D’Antoni that he almost made a heart attack. Robert Sarver invented a story that would have Steve Nash unavailable for the Dallas game in that day.
At about 8 a.m. Suns coach Mike D’Antoni was on his way to US Airways Center, when he got a call from owner Robert Sarver , who asked him if he spoke with Jerry Colangelo, team chairman that morning. Coach responded negative, and Sarver hesitated, than told Mike the bad news: Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki were out drinking Saturday night and into Sunday morning, and Nash was caught drunk driving his car home and eventualy got arrested for DUI.
Nash had been bailed out of jail but there was no way he could play against the Mavericks.
It’s a believable story and funny at the same time. Nash has never been a troublemaker but it is known that he and Dirk use to go out together and have some drinks on occasion.
Mike D’Antoni believed it first and started to think for a bit at the problem but realised it was just a joke. Sarver was pleased with the joke and was proud of it because it was innocent and nobody actually felt bad about it. Dirk did play like he was drinking all night, still Phoenix Suns won the game that day.
Suicide or murder?
Posted: April 3, 2007 at 8:49 am
Category: Skating, Sports News
On Mar 112007 pro skateboarder Ben Pappas, Tas Pappas’s younger brother was found dead in Melbourne, Australia. He was found in the the waters of Melbourne.It could be a suicide, but the police are investigating the circumstances of his death to find out if it really is a suicide or a murder. He was a pro skateboarder but dropped off because of the personal problems he had, especially the drug problem, a war he could not win. Wandering in an suspicious circle of friends, Pappas former girlfriend, Lynette Phillips a recovering long-term drug addict was murdered and the police considered somehow he was related with the murder, maybe guilty for it. She had been beaten until she died and thrown in a river.
 
At the age of 21, in the year 1999, Ben was arrested trying to pass unnoticed with 103 grams through Melbourne’s airport packed into the sole of his skate shes. That practically ended up his career in skating.
Another skateboarder died in the last week in Melbourne. Shane Cross was the passenger of the motorcycle driven by Ali Boulala, a friend of his who also was a skateboarder. The motorcycle they were on crashed into a hotel wall last Wednesday
and Shane died instantaneous. Ali survived the accident but he is in a critical condition at the hospital, Doctors say he has a good chance to survive but won’t be able to enjoy life as he did before.
Captain of the U.S. soccer team!
Posted: April 2, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Category: Sports News, Football/Soccer
 Wedding helps Landon Donovan understand what is needed to be a real leader on the U.S. soccer team.
“I got married this off season and that’s helped me grow up,” Landon is a 25-year-old forward that affirmed Sunday after scoring three goals, taking the lead with the Ecuador team, on a exhibition game on Sunday ending it 3 -1.
“I’m now embracing a leadership role. I used to say: `I’d love to be a leader. I want to be a leader.’ But it’s not good enough to say it. You have to show it.”
Growing up for him meant taking soccer more seriously and becoming a leader. And that’s exactley what he did, leading the team to a secure win on his first game as U.S. captain since last May 28. For 1 1/2-year scoreless player in international play, this year Landon has five goals in three matches.
Sunday’s hat trick realised by Donovan moved him into a second-place tie with Brian McBride on the scoring list of America with 30 goals, just four goals behind Eric Wynalda.
“Throughout this camp, you could tell that he had really stepped things up in terms of his role in our team. He was our captain today. And more than that, he really came through in terms of great goals,” interim coach Bob Bradley said. “I thought that the group as a whole put in a very good effort. Ecuador, as we know from last summer, is a very, very talented team.”
Bradley, unbeaten since he was hired as interim coach in December, told the press that Donovan has been very attentive and eager to play after his honeymoon witch made him delay for the national team’s preseason camp.
“The first camp of the year is a tough one,” said Bradley!
Britain’s No. 1
Posted: April 2, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Category: Tennis, Sports News
Andy Murray, Britain’s No. 1 tennis player was smashed in pieces by Novak Djokovic In the Sony Ericsson Open semi final in Miami and felt very bad about it saying he never wants to play so awful ever again. Murray stood 62 minutes on court and all this time he was booed by the fans.
“I guess it’s going to happen sometimes in your career. I’d rather it happened earlier so that I can learn from it. You never want it to happen again. It’s a good humbling experience, and I’ll just have to try to improve on my game and get better to make sure it never happens again.”
 
Nobody is perfect, Andy still is young and has time to learn more.
He started very well but after the third game his opponent hit an ace to set himself up to take the lead. Murry was injured and also struggled with that problem, but he didn’t use injury as an excuse, ignoring the problem.
“I had the chance at the start of the match to break him and I played a bad service game in the next game. I let him get ahead and, you know, it wasn’t anything in particular. I was just missing balls that I wouldn’t normally miss. Against a guy like him - who doesn’t make so many errors - you just can’t give points away. I don’t want to make any excuses today. He played better than me, I wasn’t very good. It was the worst match that I’ve probably played since I’ve been on the tour.”
Andy Murray is a modest person accepting the loss and moving on, trying to learn from his experience becoming even better than he already is.
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