Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
Clippers beat Grizzlies to reach second round
Posted on May 17, 2012 02:03:41 AM
Miami: The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 82-72 on Sunday to reach the second round of the NBA playoffs while the Miami Heat, led by MVP LeBron James, took another step towards the title they are expected to win by defeating Indiana in their series opener.
James and Dwyane Wade combined for 61 points as Miami beat the Indiana Pacers 95-86 but they lost forward Chris Bosh to an abdominal injury in the second quarter.
Chris Paul shook off an ailing hip to register 19 points for the Clippers, who reached the Western Conference semi-finals for the first time in six years.
They set up a second round showdown with the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs, starting in Texas today.
Article continues below
Cricket: Sri Lanka drops plan to host Pakistan-Australia series
Posted on May 15, 2012 08:03:34 AM
Karachi: Sri Lanka has dropped plans to host a limited overs series between Pakistan and Australia in August as it clashes with the island’s Premier League, Pakistani cricket officials said Saturday.
"It’s disappointing," Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmed, told AFP.
"Initially the SLC (Sri Lankan Cricket) offered to host the series and we stopped negotiating with others."
Since Sri Lanka told Pakistan of its decision Friday, Pakistan had started negotiations with other countries about hosting the series, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia, he said.
Article continues below
Stablemate denies Overturn back-to-back wins
Posted on May 11, 2012 11:02:02 PM
Dubai: Overturn, bidding to become the tenth horse in history to post back-to-back victories in the Chester Cup was narrowly denied a place in history by his new stablemate Ile De Re.
Formerly based with Ian Williams in Birmingham, the French-bred son of Linamix revelled in the prevailing soft ground to prise out a length and three-quarters victory in the two mile two furlong contest.
Both horses are trained by Donald McCain Jr in Cheshire.
Mark Johnston’s Gulf Of Naples, the joint favourite racing in the colours of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, was third and stablemate Eternal Heart fourth.
Article continues below
Celtics coach doubts Allen will play in opener
Posted on Apr 29, 2012 08:01:32 PM
<span class="articleLocatio
“Honestly, I don’t think he’ll play, but we’ll find that out,” Rivers told reporters when asked about the shooting guard who has been sidelined for two weeks because of a sore right ankle.
“He can play, so I’m not saying he’s not, and it would be very nice if he does,” Rivers added, “but he’s just not moving well and we’ll just find out.”
Allen, 36, said he would make a game-time decision on playing.
“There’s actually no swelling right now,” he said. “But there is still pain to deal with.”
Allen averaged 14.3 points a game for the Celtics during the regular season.
If he cannot play, Avery Bradley is expected to start in his place.
“There’s the one (lineup) with Ray and the one without him,” Rivers said. “That’s tough for Avery and Mickael (Pietrus), but both of those guys have been able to deal with that all season. That’s been great for us.”
(Reporting By Gene Cherry in Salvo North Carolina; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
Don Banks: 2012 NFL Mock Draft 7.0
Posted on Apr 27, 2012 02:03:52 AM
Vettel on pole for Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on Apr 23, 2012 11:01:42 PM
Manama: Defending double world champion Sebastian Vettel grabbed his first pole position of 2012 yesterday when he planted his Red Bull car at the top of the times in qualifying for today’s controversial Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old German outpaced McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by just 0.098 seconds to take the 31st pole of his career following a relatively lacklustre start to the season.
The second Red Bull of Mark Webber and Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button will start on the second row.
This speedy top four were able to push last weekend’s maiden F1 victor Nico Rosberg down to fifth with a thrilling final flurry of laps in the closing seconds that left the Mercedes driver, who chose to run only once in Q3, slightly off the pace.
Article continues below
Al Gharbia Watersports Festival closes today
Posted on Apr 23, 2012 11:01:42 AM
Al Gharbia: The Al Gharbia Watersports Festival draws to a close in Mirfa today following some of the most fierce and skilful competition in the region.
Today will see thousands gather to see the finals of the SUP competition, traditional dhow race, beach football and volleyball contests and the kitesurfing championship.
The festival, which is organised by the Western Region Development Council, has already seen the finals of the swimming competitions, including some fine displays by local talent.
The 50m junior winner was Abdullah Mohammad Al Hammadi, followed by Khalid Esmail Al Hammadi and Hassan Sultan Hammadi. The 100m saw Abdullah Hadi Al Hammadi just beat Mohammad Abdul Rahim Al Hosni. The men’s pro division (700m) saw a local winner, Mohammad Al Ghafri (7min 20sec), the General Directorate of Police Operations, who was third in the world championship in Dubai in 2011 and won the Gulf event in Kuwait.
Article continues below
Entertainers Bilbao target all-Spanish final next month
Posted on Apr 23, 2012 05:02:20 AM
Madrid: Athletic Bilbao legend Andoni Goikoetxea has tipped the current Europa League entertainers to beat Portugal’s Sporting and set up an all-Spanish final in Bucharest next month.
The Basque club, coached by the eccentric Marcelo Bielsa, are aiming for a meeting on May 9 against Atletico Madrid or Valencia, who start the other semi-final at the Calderon today.
Goikoetxea was part of the Bilbao side knocked out of the old Uefa Cup by Sporting 27 years ago, the only previous meeting between the sides.
"It will be tough but I’m optimistic because I think Bilbao are a better team, and for this reason I’m convinced they will play the final," the former Spain international told sports daily Marca.
Article continues below
Gill and Breeze shine at dressage championships
Posted on Apr 23, 2012 02:02:20 AM
Dubai: Tracy Gill and Dianne Breeze stole the limelight on the opening day of the Emirates Equestrian Federation’s (EEF’s) Dressage Championships held at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club (DPEC).
Gill took the top spots aboard Erkan in the seniors section in the FEI WDC Preliminary Test for Novices and then in the FEI WDC Elementary Test, while Breeze too helped herself to a couple of top finishes with wins in the FEI WDC Medium Test and the FEI Juniors Test (Advanced Medium) riding Bellissimo Vita.
Also doing well on the first day of the two-day competition was Sarah Khair Allah in the BD Prelim 19-2008 class on board Flagmounts Crackerjack.
In the FEI Juniors Test (Advanced Medium), judged by international judges Alla Subbotina from Russia and Mary Robbins of New Zealand, it was Breeze who led Bellissimo Vita all the way with a total of 502 points and 82 collective marks to end with 66.05 per cent.
Article continues below
In the FEI Young Riders (Advanced) class, last-minute entrant Christina Calin Thompson took her horse Webster through to the top spot with the two judges awarding her 244 and 241 for a total of 485 and a percentage of 63.82.
Results:
BD Prelim 19-2008:
1. Sarah Khair Allah (Flagmounts Crackerjack); 2. Jasmine Hanson (Nazik); 3. Hannah Runnalls (Dunabit).
FEI WDC Preliminary Test (Novice Juniors):
1. Alexandra Millar (Mistral De La Vigotte); 2. Jasmine Hanson (Nazik).
FEI WDC Preliminary Test (Novice Seniors):
1. Tracy Gill (Erkan); 2. Shaun O’Sullivan (Covers Rocket).
FEI WDC Elementary Test: 1. Tracy Gill (Erkan); 2. Dara Blackney (Pikarda); 3. Vincent Flores (Ocapi).
FEI WDC Medium Test:
1. Dianne Breeze (Bellissimo Vita); 2. Victoria Ignath (Bibros).
FEI Juniors Test (Advanced Medium): 1. Dianne Breeze (Bellissimo Vita); 2. Susanna Faustok (Tristan).
FEI Young Riders (Advanced):
1. Christina Calin Thompson (Webster); 2. Farah Al Khojai (Mazurka Graffen Dubai Duty Free); 3. Lynn Al Reda (Tartan Special).
Alex Wolff: Pat Summitt gave all she had in final season as Lady Vols head coach
Posted on Apr 22, 2012 11:02:20 PM
I’m telling myself that it’s all in the preposition. Aside, not down. Pat Summitt will be Tennessee women’s basketball coach emeritus — still there for her players; for her staff; for the fans; for anyone who has come to count on her raising funds and awareness in the fight against dementia.
Ever since she announced, just before this past season, that damned if she wasn’t gonna keep on coaching, notwithstanding a diagnosis of early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s-type, the world has wondered how she is doing. Can she keep it up? How might it end? Now we know.
But simply in the trying, Summitt struck a blow against Alzheimer’s. Yes, she could have spent another season or two on the sidelines, triangulating between her three assistants over here, and a brace of Lady Vols over there. But there was a more responsible decision to be made. This is how her son Tyler — named to the women’s staff at Marquette yesterday, the very day that his mother made her announcement — put it this afternoon: "This was her decision. My mom’s always told me, put the team before yourself. She did what was best for the Lady Vols program."
For many of us at SI there’s a personal and immediate overlay to this story. Only a few months ago we welcomed her to Manhattan to honor her as our 
Sportswoman of the Year. I wrote the story that attempted to do justice to college basketball’s all-time winningest coach. Watching Thursday afternoon’s news conference in Knoxville, where Summitt not only said her peace but also fielded questions, I couldn’t help but think back to the Sportsman/Sportswoman gala in December. True to form, Summitt had vowed that she would stand before the crowd that night and make remarks. And true to form, the people closest to her — from Tyler, to Tennessee women’s AD Joan Cronan, to longtime sports information director Debby Jennings — let their respect for her overrule their anxiety, knowing that in the end the best course was to be there with her, for her. (No one in attendance that night will soon forget the gallantry of her co-honoree, Mike Krzyzewski, who spoke immediately afterward, amplifying and lifting up her comments, drawing ties between them that will resonate for posterity.)
She did fine then, just as she did fine Thursday. Indeed, she sounded like a woman auditioning for Bartlett’s. My favorite moments from Thursday’s presser were when Summitt:
• Referred to the career she’s now easing out of as "the work you have to do, and the work you love that you have to do."
• Shot a glance over at the current Lady Vols team and said, "I can promise you, ladies, I’m here for you."
• Draped a lanyard with a whistle around the neck of her successor, the elevated assistant Holly Warlick, who said, "I know this works, ’cause I’ve heard it a lot of times."
• Answered a question about the timing of her exit — and we can all agree that the timing is driven in large part by the exigencies of recruiting, can’t we? — with this gem: "It’s never a good time. But you have to find the time that’s the right time. And it is now."
• Came up with the perfect grammatical tense to capture the spirit of this step-aside, not-step-down moment, when she said, "We will have taken a magnificent journey." It’s been too long since I sat in English class, but I want to say that’s what’s called the future imperfect tense. The future imperfect: Isn’t that what life throws at us?
She’ll sidle into a new role, in which she can continue to lend, with her name, image and example, the power that the fight against Alzheimer’s and dementia needs and deserves. Stepping up will be two coaches, each of whom will carry a piece of Pat.
Warlick, the new head coach, is bluff and tough, a Tennessee gal who played for Summitt and will thus embody the essence of the program as fully as it’s possible, short of ordering up a blood transfusion.
As for Dean Lockwood, you’ve got a man to bear witness to what women can do. In Lockwood, a former college head coach who brought additional cred when he migrated over from the Tennessee men’s team, Warlick knows she has a male colleague who has never needed an ego stroke.
By Lady Vol standards, this past season was a calvary, marked by glaring deficiencies on the floor, several painful losses at home, and a rout at the hands of Baylor when a visit to the Final Four, in what everyone knew was going to be their coach’s last chance, hung in the balance. Warlick’s tears after that regional final defeat had an eloquence that no one could miss, least of all Baylor coach and Summitt acolyte Kim Mulkey.
But then this past season always was going to be a journey, as Joan Cronan told me, through "uncharted waters." In the end Summitt gave her players and coaching staff every bit as much as she demanded of them. She gave it her best shot.