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This comes as the #4 men’s tennis player in the world is being investigated for another questionable match.
ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) – World number four Nikolay Davydenko has been fined $2,000 (976 pounds) for not trying hard enough during his shock defeat by Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic at the St Petersburg Open on Thursday.
“Nikolay Davydenko was fined $2,000 for lack of best effort in his second-round match against Marin Cilic,” the governing body for men’s tennis, ATP, said in a statement on Friday.
The top seed played near-flawless tennis in the first set against the 102nd-ranked Cilic but then started making numerous errors and committed 10 double faults in the last two sets.
He was warned by Belgian umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the final set for not trying hard enough.
“I double-faulted to lose a game in the third set and he gave me a warning saying I was trying to lose on purpose,” Davydenko told reporters after the match.
“I was simply shocked to hear him say that. This is just outrageous. How does he know what I was trying to do? I was so upset with the whole thing I started crying.”
The Russian is being investigated by the ATP after his first-round match against Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland in August attracted irregular betting patterns.
I rarely follow tennis, so I won’t pass judgment on whether anything irregular happened during these matches. However for the integrity of professional tennis, I hope the ATP is taking these allegations seriousl. A sport can suffer incredible damage if the integrity of its events, matches or games look to be questionable to its fans. Even if the charges are said to be unsubstaniated for lack of proof, harm can be done. OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murder, but how many people today think really think he didn’t kill his wife in 1994?Simpson is out of sports, but even if Davydenko is cleared, that doesn’t mean the rumors won’t go away.
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SportsBonehead.com linked with Russian tennis player Davydenko fined for lack of effort
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| Thursday, October 25, 2007 |
No NFL quarterback has beaten 31 teams. That’s not surprising: There are only 32 and there were only 30 until the Cleveland Browns (2.0) and Houston Texans joined the league in 1999 and 2002. Now, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning could all achieve that number in the same weekend.
 Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have been rivals on the field for years. Now the two Super Bowl MVPs could be taking their competition into the NFL record book.
A week before the Colts and Patriots face each other in that highly anticipated showdown, Manning and Brady have a chance to set up the perfect matchup with an almost perfect scenario this weekend: If each wins, and keeps his respective team unbeaten, the NFL says they will become the first quarterbacks in league history to defeat 31 teams.
“I think it’s better for a quarterback to do it than a coach,” said Tony Dungy, the league’s first coach to beat all 32 teams. “You only play those NFC teams once every four years, so that’s tough to do.”
It’s so difficult that even the NFL’s record-setting ironman, Brett Favre, has yet to achieve the milestone. Aside from his own Packers, Favre has never beaten Kansas City, Green Bay’s opponent next week.
[...]
Scheduling changes also have made it more difficult. Before 2002, teams played one division from the opposite conference every three years; now it’s every four years. So if Manning or Brady fail Sunday, they won’t get another shot at Carolina or Washington until they’re in their mid-30s. At age 38, Favre may not get another chance at the Chiefs.
It’s an anomaly, more than anything else. Still, it’s an impressive achievement to get 31 wins as an NFL starting quarterback. Getting wins against 31 teams requires continuing to get the opportunity year after year.
Yesterday I was approved for media credentials in order to cover the final US women’s golf event of 2007. This will be the first time a sporting event was blogged live in person by OTB Sports.
I will be in attendance 4 or 5 days that week. Every day I will walk the course with one of the players and then be in the press room at the end of the day for interviews.
The LPGA to my knowledge has never approved a blogger before. I have to thank two people for helping persuade the LPGA to change their policy. First, James Joyner, the proprietor of OTB Media. James was very kind to sponsor my application. Second, is Palm Beach Post golf writer and blogger, Craig Dolch. Craig put a word in for me with the PR agency handling the event. Thank you James and Craig.
The ADT is a four-day tournament, the winner getting one million dollars. The field starts with 32 players, after Friday’s round it is cut to the low 16. After Saturday’s play, a cut is again made to the low 8. On Sunday all scores are reset. Meaning whoever has the low score on Sunday wins.
Last year’s winner was Julieta Granada. Hope some of you check my coverage next month.
An eleven-year-old teed it up today at t he LPGA Tour’s Honda event in Thailand.
PATTAYA, Thailand (Reuters) – While other golfers land lucrative contacts for playing in big tournaments, 11-year-old Ariya Jutanukarn’s reward for reaching her first LPGA Tour event was an ice cream covered in chocolate sauce.
When the diminutive Thai teed off at the Honda LPGA Thailand on Thursday, she became the youngest golfer to compete in a major international tour event — men’s or women’s — beating American cover-girl Michelle Wie’s record by five months.
The perky schoolgirl, who took up golf when she was five, is unfazed by the big event and is thrilled to be going toe-to-toe with the likes of Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer after advancing through a qualifying round earlier in the week.
“A lot of people are watching, there’s a lot of pressure on me but it’s a chance for me to get experience, play with the top players and show people what I can do,” Ariya told Reuters.
“I feel very excited, just having the chance to play is amazing — it’s great to make history,” added Ariya, who wears an oversized cap and a pink top emblazoned with the logo of her first sponsor, a local dried fish snacks company.
As if the appearance of an 11-year-old on the greens of the Siam Country Club in Pattaya was not odd enough, the presence of big sister Moriya in matching clothes has also raised a few smiles.
The 13-year-old narrowly missed out on qualifying, so Ariya is employing her big sister as a caddy.
They keep on coming, don’t they? Remember Michelle Wie was 13 when she teed it up at the 2003 Kraft Nabisco. Morgan Pressel, winner of the 2007 Kraft Nabisco, was 12 years old at the time of her qualification for the 2001 US Open(but 13 by the time she actually teed it up.) Pressel was only 18 when she won earlier this year.
I don’t know if having your kids play pro golf amounts to a normal or good childhood. Guess it all depends. Ariya shot a respectable first round 75, or three over par. Note that was the same score Morgan Pressel shot today also.
Good luck Ariya.
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| Wednesday, October 24, 2007 |
The California wildfires have forced half a million people to flee their homes, so football is certainly low on the totem poll of concerns in the situation. Still, the San Diego Chargers have had to deal with the effects of the fire on their families, the use of their stadium as an emergency housing facility, and travel to Arizona so that they could practice for their “home” game against the Houston Texans in breathable air. Now, it looks like they’ll have to play their “home” game in Texas.
The Chargers expect to hear today from Mayor Jerry Sanders whether they can play their scheduled game against the Houston Texans in Qualcomm Stadium, and they are narrowing down contingencies for playing elsewhere. “The Chargers are working closely with Mayor Sanders and the fire and police departments to determine how best to deal with Sunday’s scheduled NFL game at Qualcomm Stadium,†the team said in a statement. “Protecting the public safety is the mayor’s top goal, and the Chargers will continue to cooperate with the mayor to achieve this goal.â€
[...]
Among the issues with playing the game at Qualcomm Stadium are air quality, the availability of police and other support personnel and the fact that several thousand evacuees are currently housed at the stadium.
The Chargers and the NFL are also considering whether playing the game in San Diego is in the best interest of the community. It appears likely the Chargers will end up playing in Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, if they can’t play at home, sources said last night. The Cowboys have a bye Sunday. Dallas makes sense because the game would likely draw more fans than would a game in Arizona, which would ease the financial losses the Chargers will incur. Also, the Chargers would count on the fact LaDainian Tomlinson is from Waco and went to school at nearby TCU, as well as Dallas fans’ acrimony for Houston, to ensure the crowd is not pro-Texans.
The Chargers do have an insurance policy that covers lost gate receipts, but the deductible is extremely high. The team can generally expect a home game to bring a gate of more than $7 million.
Team President Dean Spanos has met several times over the past two days with league Commissioner Roger Goodell, as well as other league and network executives. All are in Philadelphia for league meetings.
The commissioner said yesterday the Chargers and the league are also considering playing in Los Angeles, Phoenix or Houston.
The chief issues working against the game being in Los Angeles are the unpredictability of the Southern California fires and the logistics of staging a game in a non-NFL stadium. An NFL game requires high-definition replay equipment for game officials. The same would presumably be an issue at Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium. The Chargers played at ASU in 2003 when the wildfires in San Diego forced them to move a Monday night game against the Miami Dolphins, but Sun Devil Stadium was then the home of the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals’ University of Phoenix Stadium is not available Sunday because it is the site of a motorcycle convention.
The game could be played at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. That would likely guarantee a big gate, but the Chargers are concerned about the competitive disadvantage in making the Texans the home team and “would like to avoid†playing there.
A wag at Football Outsiders wonders, “Is there any way we can get the NY Giants an extra home game out of this situation?”
Paging Ricky Williams? From the Sun-Sentinel-
Just when it seemed the Dolphins had bottomed out in Sunday’s 49-28 loss to the Patriots, on Monday coach Cam Cameron said that running back Ronnie Brown and starting safety Renaldo Hill are out for the season after tearing the ACL ligaments in their right knees.
Brown was hurt while trying to tacke Patriots cornerback Randall Gay on an interception return. He said X-rays taken at the stadium were negative, but Monday’s MRI revealed further damage.
*****
Brown was in the midst of a career breakthrough, and is the current NFL leader in yards from scrimmage with 991. Brown is fourth in the NFL with 602 rushing yards on a career-high 5.1 yards per carry with four touchdowns. He also has a career-high 39 catches for 389 yards and a touchdown.
The injury cost Brown the chance to tie the franchise record of five consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards, set by Ricky Williams in 2002. Brown finished with 76 rushing yards on 17 carries and 33 yards on five catches Sunday.
Cameron said the loss of Brown creates a spot for rookie tailback Lorenzo Booker, the third-round pick out of Florida State who has yet to be activated. Jesse Chatman, who replaced Brown in the second half, and gained 73 yards on seven carries with a touchdown, will start against the Giants. Second-year back Patrick Cobbs played for the first time Sunday, and had 14 yards on three carries with his first NFL touchdown.
The Dolphins are so pathetic this year that beat writer’s can’t even type tackle anymore!
Brown and placekicker Jay Feely(who hasn’t missed a FG try all year) were the only highlights of this catrostrophic Dolphin season. After yesterday’s massacre(Heck I almost had my prediction right on the button 41-10 but it was 42-7 at half-time!) you are left wondering if the team will even win a game this year. With Brown out, the possibility becomes even greater.
Guess who could be back in the equation now?
Also, the decision regarding the reinstatement of suspended running back Ricky Williams is expected any day. Once the commissioner makes his ruling, the Dolphins would then have to decide to activate Williams or release him. With Brown out, the Dolphins could possibly showcase Williams for a potential offseason trade.
Williams won’t change the Dolphins outlook for 2007, but if he played well enough maybe some team would deal Miami a much needed draft pick in return for the flaky running back.
If one thought the Dolphin secondary couldn’t get worse, Hill’s injury is another blow. We do have this news.
Former 2006 first-round pick Jason Allen will replace Hill.
Courtney Bryan, the only other available safety on the active roster, suffered a quadriceps injury early in the game.
Cameron, who has released two safeties — Donovin Darius and LaMont Thompson — the past two weeks, said he’s, “exploring options”, regarding adding more safeties.
Options?
1 Hot Dog vendors
2 Cheerleaders
3 Don Shula. At least he was a defensivie back once.
4- Bloggers with any high school football experience. Exception clause- Those who played a real position.(Kickers need not apply. That rules me out.)
At least we’ll find out how big a bust Jason Allen is. Which reminds me of what was written earlier this year about Allen.
During a June mini-camp, on a similarly sweltering day in another one-on-one match with Hagan, the receiver got some 20 yards behind Allen on his way to another long completion that would have been an embarrassing touchdown were it a regular-season game.
So, hey, Allen has improved his coverage by some 15 yards in just a few weeks.
The next Dolphins game in Miami is against Buffalo in three weeks. Is it too early for Dolphin fans to begin wearing the paper bags over their heads?
Maybe its time to redo the Dolphins fight song
Miami has the Dolphins,
The greatest losingest football team!
We takefumble the ball from goal to goal,
Like no one’s ever seen!
We’re out of in the air,
We’reLying on the ground,
We’re never always in control.
So when you say Miami,
You’re talking SuperToilet Bowl!
(Chorus 1)
Cause we’re the Miami Dolphins Losers,
Miami Dolphins Losers,
Miami Dolphins Number 1. a losing football team.
(Chorus 2)
Cause we’re the Miami Dolphins Losers,
Miami Dolphins Losers,
Dolphins Number 1. I rather go with my wife to the mall!
Can you believe it, just over a year ago this team was predicted to go to the Super Bowl? Check it out yourself.
Why?
1. He was a bench coach for Joe Torre for two years. There aren’t many better bosses to learn from, especially in terms of dealing with the media and with megastar players (egos).
2. He spent this season working in the YES broadcast booth. How else to learn how to deal with the media than to actually experience it?
3. Girardi won Manager of the Year for his one season with the 2006 Marlins. No, it ain’t the most objective award, but he did manage to bring a seemingly awful team to a near .500 record.
4. You want someone the players look up to? Girardi was a hard-nosed player; he caught Mo Rivera and Andy Pettitte early in their careers and mentored Jorge Posada at the very start of his career (perhaps helping him become one of the best in the game?), and won three titles with those guys. I’m sure he’d have a shitload of respect from everyone in the clubhouse.
5. This part is mostly subjective, but he’s young (43), smart, and has less loyalties than Torre. He can bring some new ideas, some freshness perhaps to a team that seemed to stagnate under the 67-year-old Torre. He seems very intelligent from listening to him on YES – almost everything he says oozes baseball intelligence; he’s also got a great sense of humor and gets along well with Al Leiter, Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill (and Kenny and Bobby). Charm, charisma, whatever it is, he’s got it and it could go a long way to helping a ballclub. Outside of possible loyalties to Mo, Pettitte, Posada and Jeter, no one else on the Yanks was a teammate of Girardi’s, so all those feelings and egos that Torre was afraid to hurt because he was there 12 years (and seen somewhat as a father figure) would have no bearing on Girardi’s managing. Objective managing is the way to go.
Why not?
1. If Girardi, off the Yanks coaching staff for two years gets the job, will Don Mattingly feel slighted? Yes, probably. Enough to leave the team? I don’t know.
2. One of the big cons with Girardi is the way he got along (or didn’t) with Florida’s ownership during his season there. There’s no owner more imposing or distracting than The Boss. And even if he’s indisposed of, the Steinbrenner boys and Randy Levine seem to have taken a lesson from the pages of King George on how to disrupt a ballclub. Will Girardi be able to handle it the (usually successful) way Torre did? Since he served as Torre’s bench coach, I believe he can.
3. The other big con with Girardi is how he (supposedly) treated his young pitching staff. Several Marlins pitchers reached career highs in 2006 in innings pitched, and this year they had terrible injury problems. Is Girardi at fault? Is he the right guy for a staff that will have three early 20′s phenoms? This is a subject I’m going to tackle in depth, so stay tuned…
During Joe Torre’s press conference Friday, they kept flashing screens of where Joe ranked among Yankee managers. Two stats soured me – the first read:
‘Most Consecutive Postseason appearances:
Joe Torre 12
Casey Stengel 5
Joe McCarthy 4′
The second:
’76 postseason wins (all-time record)’
A casual sports fan seeing this would think Joe was the greatest manager in baseball history. But as usual, ESPN twisted stats to meet their viewpoint. Stengel and McCarthy managed when only one AL team made the playoffs every year instead of four (since 1995). And Joe managed the Yanks in the wildcard/three-round era when playoff teams play at least three games and as many as 19 – teams now have by far the most opportunities to win playoff games. It’s nothing major and most baseball fans know it, but ESPN should know better. As part of the media, they have a responsibility to represent the facts without trying to mislead.
So how many times did Joe manage the Yanks to the best record in the AL? To BRef for the answer…
2006
2004
2003
2002
1999
1998
So six out of 12 years is great, but they never had the best AL record more than thrice in a row as compared to Stengel’s five or McCarthy’s four. ESPN – the misleader in sports.
Miami(0-6) plays host to New England(6-0) this afternoon. Highest rated scoring offense in the league against the 29th ranked scoring defense. New England’s defense is also 2nd in the league, and I’m predicting no 100 yard game for Ronnie Brown today who is coming off four of those outings in a row. All the ingredients necessary for a massacre are there and who am I to say otherwise. My prediction- New England 41, Miami 10.
He was one of the stars of Super Bowl I. The only one of the games to be broadcast by two television networks, and it wasn’t sold out either. The game has come a long way since and Max McGee will always be part of Super Bowl lore. RIP.
MINNEAPOLIS – Max McGee, the unexpected hero of the first Super Bowl and a long-time challenge for Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, died Saturday after falling from the roof of his home, police confirmed. He was 75.
Police were called to the former Green Bay receiver’s Deephaven home around 5:20 p.m., Sgt. Chris Whiteside said. Efforts to resuscitate McGee were unsuccessful.
McGee was blowing leaves off the roof when he fell, according to news reports. A phone message left at a number listed for an M. McGee wasn’t immediately returned.
“I just lost my best friend,” former teammate Paul Hornung told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “(His wife) Denise was away from the house. She’d warned him not to get up there. He shouldn’t have been up there. He knew better than that.”
Inserted into Packers’ lineup when Boyd Dowler was sidelined by a shoulder injury, McGee went on to catch the first touchdown pass in Super Bowl history in Green Bay’s 35-10 victory over Kansas City in January 1967. Still hung over from a night on the town, McGee caught seven passes for 138 yards and two TDs.
“Now he’ll be the answer to one of the great trivia questions: Who scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history?” Hornung said. “Vince knew he could count on him. … He was a great athlete. He could do anything with his hands.”
Though an admirer of Lombardi, McGee time and again pushed the tough-as-nails coach to the breaking point.
McGee — remembered for saying: “When it’s third-and-10, you can take the milk drinkers and I’ll take the whiskey drinkers every time.” — put Lombardi to the ultimate test prior to the first Super Bowl.
McGee had caught only four passes for 91 yards during the 1966 regular season and, not expecting to play against the Chiefs, violated the team’s curfew and spent the night before the game partying.
Reportedly, the next morning he told Dowler: “I hope you don’t get hurt. I’m not in very good shape.”
Dowler went down with a separated shoulder on the Packers’ second drive, and McGee had to borrow a helmet because he left his in the locker room. A few plays later, McGee made a one-handed reception of a pass from Bart Starr and ran 37 yards to score.
“He had a delightful sense of humor and had a knack for coming up with big plays when you least expected it to happen,” Packers historian Lee Remmel said. “He had a great sense of timing.”
Remmel said McGee once teased Lombardi when the coach showed the team a football on their first meeting and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
“McGee said, ‘Not so fast, not so fast,’” Remmel said. “That gives you an index to the kind of humor that he served up regularly.”
McGee was a running back at Tulane and the nation’s top kick returner in 1953.
Selected by the Packers in the fifth round of the 1954 draft, McGee spent two years in the Air Force as a pilot following his rookie year before returning in 1957 to play 11 more seasons. He finished his career with 345 receptions for 6,346 yards — an 18.4-yard average — and scored 51 touchdowns and 306 points.
*****
McGee is survived by his wife, four children and several grandchildren.
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