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Archive for the ‘Sports News’ Category
Mon, August 11, 2008 10:15 am By James Coolridge  Printer friendly version
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 BEIJING (AP) _ The entire world is focusing on Beijing for its Olympic bonanza, while US president George W. Bush is using it for an attempt to mix up politics and religion with sports. In an Olympic medley of sports and politics, Bush, on Sunday demanded more religious freedom in China, sought an end to an escalating conflict between Russia and Georgia and cheered U.S. athletes as they dribbled and swam for gold. He also had in store full praise for the Chinese leaders for their swift response to a stabbing attack that killed the father of a 2004 U.S. Olympian.
Authorities tightened already-stringent security throughout the Chinese capital, and President Hu Jintao told Bush of China’s “profound sympathy” for the victim’s family. “Your government has been very attentive, very sympathetic, and I appreciate that a lot,” Bush said.
Todd Bachman, the father of Olympic volleyball player Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman, was assaulted to death on Saturday and his wife was gravely injured at Beijing’s 13th-century Drum Tower. The Bachmans are in-laws of a U.S. men’s volleyball coach at the games.
The assailant, who was later identified as Tang Yongming, 47, jumped from the tower to his death. The motive for the attack is still unclear and has kept the Chinese authorities amused.
The president’s meetings with Hu and other Chinese officials at the Zhongnanhai government happened in the background of deadly clashes between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Georgia is a staunch U.S. ally that Bush wants to see join NATO. The conflict erupted Friday when Georgian troops moved to retake control of South Ossetia, a region bordering Russia that gained de facto independence in 1992. President Bush is seen much concerned that attacks were occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia.
A senior official in Washington said Russia’s use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles against Georgia was “disproportionate to whatever threat Russia had been citing.” The administration official briefed reporters Saturday while putting forward a condition that his name not be used because of the sensitive nature of the situation.
Bush, who called himself an Olympics fan was seen on Sunday cheering at the stands of the Water Cube Olympic swimming venue as American Michael Phelps claimed the first of an expected string of gold medals by smashing his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley. He was accompanied by first lady Laura Bush, their daughter, Barbara, and former President George H.W. Bush. “God, what a thrill to cheer for you!” Bush told Phelps afterward. Phelps told reporters he looked up at Bush moments after winning, and the president nodded.
Bush was also seen later watching the U.S. men’s basketball team, with NBA stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, taking on China, led by center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. Bush’s Sunday began with a worship service at Beijing’s Kuanjie church, an officially registered Protestant congregation, where a children’s choir sang “Amazing Grace” in English and Chinese. Speaking to reporters afterward, Bush alluded to the millions of Chinese who brave harassment and arrest to worship at unregistered “house” churches.
However, Bush did not repeat earlier admonitions about China’s pre-Olympic crackdown on dissent and its strict controls on religion. The Chinese government has bristled at Bush’s prodding as unnecessary meddling in its affairs.
Tags : Olympics, US, China, Beijing, Hu Jintao., George W. Bush, Barbara Bush, Georgia, Russia, Todd Bachman
Sun, July 13, 2008 12:02 pm By James Coolridge
 Rodriguez’s Wife Files Divorce over Links with Madonna
MIAMI - Alex Rodriguez is in news these weeks for wrong reasons. Just after hitting tabloid headlines for his relation with Madonna, his wife has filed for divorce. The 5-year marriage collapsed amid reports of his new friendship the 49-year-old pop singer Madonna. The Yankee sluggish has been hitting heads in both sports pages and gossip magazines for his love sage for past couple of weeks. His wife Cynthia Rodriguez, in her divorce papers accuses Rodriguez for “emotionally abandoning his wife and children.”
“The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband’s extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct,” says her petition for dissolution of marriage, filed in the family division of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.
This New York Yankees third baseman, who earned his 12th All-Star selection Sunday, was not available for any comments..Rodriguez’s attorney in Miami, Ira M. Elegant says he had not reviewed the divorce petition but added: “As you know, anyone can pay the filing fee and make allegations.” Richard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Rodriguez, also declined to address to allegations of infidelity. He said will bring up these issues in court.
“His priorities are to have a future with his children and be a big part of their lives,” clarifies Rubenstein. Cynthia Rodriguez has demanded primary custody of their two children Nathasha Alexander, 3, and 2-month-old Ella Alexander. She also has asked for child support and alimony.
A few days back a US weekly has reported about Rodriguez’s late night visits to Madonna’s apartment in New York. Madonna, who is married to filmmaker Guy Ritchie, has brushed aside the gossips as trash and denied any involvement with Rodriguez in a statement Sunday. Madonna’s statement also added that she has “nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study,”
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Fri, July 4, 2008 12:56 pm By James Coolridge
 Marat Safin is set for a Wimbledon face-off with Roger Federer as the unseeded Russian reached his first grand slam semi-final for three years with a 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 victory over Feliciano Lopez.
Three years after beating Federer in Melbourne en route to winning the Australian Open, Safin, ranked now at world No.75, is back within touching distance of a major final.
Despite his revival, Safin will be a heavy underdog against Federer, who beat him at Wimbledon last year and has yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament as he goes for a sixth successive title.
Safin crushed world No.3 Novak Djokovic in the second round, playing with renewed confidence after that victory, he has now swept aside three more seeds.
He was broken early and his notoriously fragile temperament (reminding us of Macenroe) took just five games to explode when the Russian pounded his racquet into the turf after missing a forehand. He received a warning from the umpire soon after for smashing a ball high into the stands before rain brought a two-hour interruption.
Earlier on Centre Court, Federer moved to within two victories of a record sixth successive Wimbledon when he crushed Croatia’s Mario Ancic 6-1 7-5 6-4 in a brutally one-sided quarter-final.
Tags : Roger federer, Tennis
Fri, July 4, 2008 12:50 pm By James Coolridge
Australia has suffered a late blow ahead of Saturday night’s rugby Test against France with veteran lock Nathan Sharpe ruled out with a groin strain.
 Sharpe sustained the injury when he stumbled during training at Ballymore on Thursday morning and coach Robbie Deans had little choice but to scratch him from the Suncorp Stadium clash. The loss of stalwart Sharpe saps the Wallabies pack of 66 Tests worth of experience and forces a major disruption to the lineout.
New South Wales second-rower Dean Mumm has been promoted for a maiden Test start in a decidedly inexperienced Wallabies outfit that features seven starters with less than 10 international caps.
Australia must now overcome the French resistance with one of their most inexperienced teams in the professional era as Sharpe joins league of injured or sick players Matt Dunning (infection), Lote Tuqiri (knee), Chris Latham (shoulder) and Wycliff Palu (shoulder) in the casualty ward, while veteran halves George Gregan and Stephen Larkham have retired from international rugby.
Tags : Rugby, Sports, Australian Rugby, Nathan Sharpe
Tue, July 1, 2008 12:56 pm By James Coolridge
 After 44 years of being deprived of the Euro cup, Spain finally showed that it has what it takes to beat the three time champions Germany to claim victory.
On Sunday, the world witnessed a stupendous, adrenalin filled soccer match in the beautiful city of Vienna. In the 33rd-minute striker Fernando Torres’ magnificent goal powered Spain to its glorious win over the Germans. Germany, as everyone knew they would, fought hard in Vienna and occasionally threatened on the break but they could not match the sleek skills and swift inter-passing of veteran coach Luis Aragones’s team. In the end, Spain had 13 shots on goal to Germany’s four, and seven on target to Germany’s one, by far proving the Iberian supremacy.
The Spanish victory was mainly based upon the swift inter-passing of veteran coach Luis Aragones’s team. Torres, a superb striker who had been mostly misfiring in the tournament until the final with just one goal and a barrow load of misses to his name. His electric pace earned him his goal as he raced on to a great through ball from Xavi, touched it on and then sprinted round defender Philipp Lahm, stretching to dink the ball with his right foot past advancing German keeper Jens Lehmann and just inside the far post.
Germany, as Russia before them, were plainly outclassed by the superior Spaniards. The Germans played typical, solid football whereas the Spanish team played a game of flair and fantasy.
The stretched out victory in a major tournament sent fans in Madrid and in all of Spain onto the streets preparing for night long celebrations, waving red and yellow banners and singing “Viva Espana”.
Tags : Football, Germany, Sports, Euro cup 2008, Spain, Spanish victory
Sat, June 28, 2008 12:28 pm By James Coolridge
 In the history of golf, the Ryder Cup has played a major role for over seventy years. Each year golf enthusiasts flock to the Ryder Cup, which has been hosted by a variety of countries, courses and climates, and every year they are rewarded with some of the most exciting and memorable matches. In order to understand the meaning and intensity of the Ryder Cup one must understand the rich traditions and evolutions that have taken place over the years for both the American and
European teams.
Samuel Ryder: The Birth of the Ryder Cup Matches
There is debate among golf historians about exactly how the Ryder Cup began. Some claim the original idea was first developed in 1920 and the first unofficial matches played in 1921. What can be corroborated is the unofficial match of qualifying rounds that were called for just prior to the 1926 Open Golf Championship. The Americans formed a team to play against British professionals at Wentworth. As the Americans were defeated, Samuel Ryder, an Englishman and entrepreneur from St. Albans in Herfordshire, was in attendance.
In 1906 Ryder was elected mayor of St. Albans and his health suffered from working too much. Fresh air and light exercise were recommended to improve his health and it was suggested he take up golf. Later, after becoming an avid fan of the sport, Ryder employed Abe Mitchell as his instructor. Mitchell was considered one of Great Britain’s finest players and Ryder enjoyed watching the British team, which included Mitchell, defeat the Americans in the unofficial 1926 match. When it was suggested an official match be created, Samuel Ryder agreed to donate a solid gold trophy. He insisted that the figure on the cup resemble Mitchell. The inaugural Ryder Cup was planned for June 3-4, 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. Ryder lived to see two Ryder Cup matches on his own soil and in 1936 he died. He was buried with his favorite mashie 5 iron
The Beginning of a Time Honored Golf Tradition:
The Americans won the first inaugural match of the Ryder Cup. The team was captained by Walter Hagen and included Johnny Farrell, Johnny Golden, Gene Sarazen, Leo Diegel, Joe Turnesa, Bill Mehlhorn and Al Watrous. Americans dominated the Ryder Cup for 70 years with few exceptions, like the 1969 match, which ended in a 16-16 tie at Royal Birkdale and is considered one of the most memorable Ryder Cup matches ever played. In 1979 a major change occurred and players from the European continent began to compete for what would now be the European team instead of the British team. The American team won in 1979, 1981 and 1983, but the matches became more competitive as the European team had the opportunity to bring in new blood. In 1985 the European team won at the Belfry and then again at Muirfield Village. It was the first consecutive European win and the first on American soil.
Tags : Ryder, Cup, European
Mon, June 23, 2008 8:57 am By Dennis Hays
 If one asks you to tell which sport- football or baseball- is the number one in the United States, it may be difficult for you to give a fair reply since both the sports have wide popularity and passionate fan following. In this article, we have tried our best to give you an unbiased answer by analyzing the essential criteria that determine the popularity of a sport.
There are six main factors that help determine which sport is more beloved. They are the attendance (number of spectators in present in the match venue), ticket costs, revenue generated from television broadcast, salaries of the sportspersons, and venues of matches.
Attendance:
We can determine whether football or baseball is more popular in USA by looking at the number of spectators who present in the match venue. Let us take one instance. The average crowd at a baseball match venue in the year 2000 was 30,125 whereas around 66,077 spectators were present at a football game. This figure is based on a total yearly attendance divided by the total number of games that were played in the sport. These figures tell us that the number of people that went to football matches was twice as that of baseball games in during the year 2000.
Cost of tickets:
Ticket cost is an important criterion which can decide the popularity of a sport. Keeping this factor in mind, it can be said that baseball is more accessible and potentially more popular overall with the American families earning average to below-average income. During the year 2000, a ticket to baseball game cost $20.02, while football games cost around $54.14. We may thus say that live baseball is more affordable than live football.
Revenue generated from television broadcast:
This is another important criterion considered to analyze the popularity of a sport. We may say that football is the winner when it comes to the revenue that the sport generates from television broadcast.
According to a survey, the National Football League (NFL) has revenue of around 2.2 billion dollars generated from television broadcast in a year whereas the Major League Baseball earns about 340 million in a year.
Although football is on a few days per week while baseball is on nearly every night, the former gets more revenue from the advertisements on television. This clearly means that more people are watching football matches than the baseball games. We may thus say that if television revenue is compared, football is the number one sport.
The season of both the sports are opposite in many ways. When baseball season is long and drawn out with teams playing almost every night, football games appear only once a week. This adds to the buzz for a football game.
Tags : Baseball, Football, favorite, American, Sport
Tue, June 17, 2008 11:11 am By James Coolridge
 Marion Jones was stripped her Olympic gold medals which she won in 2000 for lying about steroid use. Now, her US relay team-mates have also lost their medals.
The sprint relay team included Jearl-Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson. The 400-relay squad comprised Jones, Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson.
International Olympic Committee legal adviser Francois Carrard says the US Olympic Committee has been ordered to return the medals of the team- mates, even though they are innocent of doping at the 2000 games.
Jones became the first woman to claim five medals in an Olympics when she won three golds and two bronzes in Sydney. However, she lost those medals after admitting using performance enhancing drugs between September 2000 and July 2001.
Jones is now serving a six-month jail sentence. She has retired from the sport.
Tags : Olympics, Athletics, Marian Jones, doping
Fri, June 13, 2008 10:53 am By James Coolridge
 US women’s national hockey team is going to play in China in the women’s world championships next week.
International debates are going on linking the upcoming Olympics to China’s human rights policies and diplomatic standpoint. “I think everyone is politically aware of the situation and discusses it, but we’re just excited to play hockey” US defenseman Angela Ruggiero said on Friday.
“Being at the Olympics, it can be a political platform, but as athletes we choose to use it as a uniting force rather than a political statement,” Ruggiero said. “We’re going to shake hands with all the teams. We’re going to interact with countries all over the world” she added.
Tags : US national women’s hockey team, China, Angela Ruggiero.
Sat, June 7, 2008 9:22 am By James Coolridge
<img src=”http://www.arxmansports.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/thunder.jpg” alt=”Thunder performance at Toronto Aeros Tournament- hockey ” style=”padding-left: 12px” align=”right” />The North Bay Toyota Thunder Minor Bantam team won the Toronto Aeros Tournament after winning five straight games past weekend.
Thunders beat Vaughan Rangers 6-1 at the Newmarket Redmen, 5-0 over the Markham Waxers; Thunders defeated the Willowdale Blackhawks 4-1 and won the tournament with a 2-0 victory over the Humber Valley Sharks.
“To see the transformation of this team from August to March has been a pleasant surprise,” Thunder coach Mike Dinezza told the media.
He added, “After losing nine players from last years team, this team developed its own chemistry and brought it to the rink game in and game out.”
The Thunder played a total of 80 games this season registering 68 wins, 9 losses, and 3 ties.
Tags : Thunders, | | | | |
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