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From AP-
MIE, Japan – Karrie Webb ended Annika Sorenstam’s Mizuno Classic winning streak at five Sunday, closing with a 6-under 66 for a four-stroke victory over Kaori Higo in Japan’s lone LPGA Tour event.
Sorenstam shot a 70 to finish five strokes back at 9-under 207 on the Kashikojima Country Club course. The Swedish star also failed in her second attempt in a month to win an LPGA Tour event a record six times.
“I’m feeling a little disappointed about the results, especially today,” Sorenstam said. “I couldn’t get anything going and I needed to do it to have a chance to six-peat. Especially with everyone playing so well, especially Karrie. So, I felt like I needed to do something to get it going, but I tried and that’s all I could do today.”
Sorenstam began the streak in 2001 at Musashigaoka and won four times at Seta. Last year, she became the first LPGA Tour player to win a tournament five straight times and matched the record she shares with Mickey Wright for victories in an event. The 36-year-old Sorenstam also had a chance to win the Samsung Championship for the sixth time last month, but lost a final-round lead to Lorena Ochoa.
“You can’t take anything away from Annika winning five years in a row at one tournament. It’s an unbelievable feat,” Webb said. “The change from Seta to here was different, although she had a good chance to win today.
*****
Webb won for the fifth time this season to match Ochoa for the LPGA Tour lead and push her career total to 35. The resurgent Australian star earned $180,000 to move into second place behind Ochoa on the money list with $2,069,613.
Annika’s incredible streak at the Mizuno had to end eventually. As for Webb and Ochoa for LPGA Player of the year, my vote would go to Karrie. One simple reason- Karrie won a major championship this year(The Kraft Nabisco) while Lorena didn’t
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PoliBlog’s Deportes: A PoliBlog Sideblog linked with Annika Sorenstam turns down Samsung World Championship Invitation
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The race to qualify for the ADT Championship linked with OTB Sports
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PoliBlog’s Deportes: A PoliBlog Sideblog linked with The race to qualify for the ADT Championship
From the New York Times-
ALBANY, Nov. 2 — The New York Racing Association, which operates the state’s three thoroughbred racetracks, filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday, the latest chapter in a troubled recent history.
The racing association has owned the franchise to operate the Aqueduct, Saratoga and Belmont racetracks since 1955, but has been affected by a series of scandals that culminated in the appointment of a federal monitor and the installation of a new management team in 2004. The association’s franchise expires at the end of next year, and two major for-profit bidders with considerable political clout and financial muscle are also vying for the rights.
Of late, the association’s prospects for a comeback have been hampered by a feud with the Pataki administration, which has held up the installation of 4,500 video lottery terminals for Aqueduct that were approved by the Legislature and are seen by the association as a critical source of revenue.
The administration has also been slow to disburse a $30 million loan approved by the Legislature last year. The state and the association have also clashed over who owns the land where the racetracks are located, an issue that will probably be addressed by a bankruptcy court judge.
The dispute with New York state didn’t help the NYRA but it wasn’t the sole cause of the association’s downfall. The signs of horse racing’s decline have been obvious for years. Tracks are closing almost everywhere. Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island is closed, Yonkers is planing to become a casino. That only leaves the Meadowlands in New Jersey as the standardbred track in the NYC area. Thoroughbred racing is faring no better. Even Pimlico Downs, home of the famous Preakness Stakes race, is in dire straits.
With gamblers being given new ways to spend their cash with every passing day, the life of horse racing in this country continues to ebb away. The Sport of Kings may not survive.
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| Friday, November 3, 2006 |
Greg Garber argues that the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry has faded into little more than “just another football game” in the era of free agency.
On Oct. 9, 1960, the Redskins beat the fledgling Cowboys 26-14 in the third game of their existence. Thus, the rivalry — one of the greatest in sports history — was born. Tom Landry, George Allen, Joe Gibbs, Marshall, Tex Schramm, Roger Staubach, Sonny Jurgensen, John Riggins, Tony Dorsett, Bob Lilly, Randy White and Rayfield Wright — they all enriched the rivalry, and they’re all enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The two teams would win eight Super Bowls between them and fire emotions not just in their own cities, but across the nation as well. “Those were the glory days,” said Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, who played linebacker for the Cowboys from 1975-79. “We had Crazy Ray and they had the black Indian, and those mascots were hating on each other. There was nothing better than a Cowboys-Redskins game.”
[...]
In today’s mercenary world of the NFL, how can you generate hatred without history? The rivalry, at least at the professional level, is dead.
Rivalries still flourish in college, where the program matters more than the player. Consider the best: Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, Florida-Georgia, Oklahoma-Texas and, naturally, Harvard-Yale.
Free agency, of course, has changed everything. The Redskins might be the most active team in aggressively pursuing free agents in seven years under owner Daniel Snyder. There were nine unrestricted free agents added to Washington’s training camp roster in 2006 alone. This kind of roster movement undermines continuity and, with it, long-term tenures that identify a player with a single team.
“I think all the rivalries in the NFL have lost a little because of free agency. Players and coaches, too, move around so much more than they used to,” said NBC broadcaster John Madden on the Cowboys Radio Network back in September. “They haven’t grown up in the culture. But as far as rivalries exist in today’s NFL, I don’t think there’s much question Dallas and Washington is probably the best one.”
[...]
All of these rivalries have had their moments but, clearly, the most sustained runs of excellence belong to the past. Rivalries today have the shelf-life of a sitcom in a world of “reality” television. Because of their division affiliations, matchups like Steelers-Browns and Broncos-Raiders still occur twice each season, but lately, it seems, both teams are rarely playoff contenders in the same season.
As a Cowboys fan living in Redskin country, I have to admit this is right. Indeed, I would argue that the Eagles, not the Redskins, are the Cowboys most hated rival these days. There was some legitimate bad blood during the Buddy Ryan days and the Eagles have been the most dominant team in the NFC East in recent years, making wins against Philly more satisfying than those against the hapless Redskins.
While the return of Joe Gibbs to Washington and Parcells to the division has helped evoke memories of the old days, the fact of the matter is that pretty much everybody likes Gibbs and pretty much everybody respects Parcells. Until the teams become legitimate obstacles to each others’ success on a regular basis, it’s unlikely the rivalry will heat up. The ‘Skins beat the Cowboys twice last year, narrowly securing a playoff berth and denying a spot to their nemesis. But the ‘Boys had so many problems last year between kicking, quarterbacking, and blocking that the Redskins got very little blame for that.
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| Thursday, November 2, 2006 |
The SEC has limited the number of times USC can annoy people during football games.
The rooster won’t crow as much at South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium. The Southeastern Conference has told the Gamecocks they can only play a rooster crow during timeouts, after a score, before the game, during halftime and when the game ends. South Carolina had been playing the rooster crow before critical third downs and other times to pump up the crowd. The SEC told the Gamecocks they were breaking conference regulations about when artificial noise could be played.
“We are certainly disappointed that we have to limit the Gamecock crow, as we know its a crowd favorite, but obviously we will comply with the Southeastern Conference rules and regulations,” said Jeff Crane, the university’s athletics marketing director.
I was unaware of the controversy and consider it immensely silly. Still, I must say that artificial noise during athletic games is one of my pet peeve as a fan.
Football is much less of an offender in that regard than basketball and hockey, which have a WWE level of contrived hoopla. Beginning with the introduction of players with laser shows and variants of “Let’s get ready to rumble,” constant blaring of rap “music,” dancing gorillas, and so forth, one wonders if the hosts deep down believe that fans need something to entertain them other than the game. Yes, there is “Are you ready for some football” and other nonsense associated with the NFL, but that’s mostly a television thing, not part of the stadium experience.
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