CAS has partially upheld D’Arcy appeal
May 29, 2008
Nicholas D’Arcy is still not in the clear to go to the Beijing as part of the Australian swim team. Following the Court of Arbitration for Sport Oceania Registry (CAS) ruling D’Arcy himself has said “I would say that I am a slim chance to go now, I am not by any means saying that I am confident about going”.
Technically D’Arcy is still a member of the Australian Olympic team for Beijing.
This comes following a press release from the CAS that stated that CAS has partially upheld the appeal by D’Arcy against the decision of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) to terminate his membership with the Australian Olympic Team.
The court found that the conduct of D’Arcy in the early hours of March 30 was likely to and did bring himself into disrepute. As a result of his actions D’Arcy, according to the three-man panel, breached Clause 2.2(6) of the AOC Ethical Behaviour By-Law.
The status of D’Arcy is still not 100 per cent clear as the panel noted that the proper procedure to terminate an athlete’s membership of the Australian Olympic Team was not followed. John Coates in his personal role as President of the AOC had terminated D’Arcy’s membership when it should have been the AOC committee and not just John Coates who terminated the membership.
It now seems likely that the correct process will be followed and D’Arcy will officially have his membership terminated. He could then appeal once again.
D’Arcy is due to appear in the Downing Centre Local Court on June 17 in relation to the assault charge.
You can go here to read the full Court of Arbitration for Sport press release.
Big last quarter sees Pistons home
May 27, 2008
A big game from Antonio McDyess saw the Detroit Pistons level the Eastern Conference finals at 2-2. He stepped up with 21 points and 16 rebounds as Detroit defeated Boston 94-75.
Boston’s big three players Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen had trouble hitting baskets. They were a combined 11 from 38 from the field. Shooting like that is not going to win games it that is how it was for Boston.
For Detroit Richard Hamilton chipped in with 20 points and Rasheed Wallace scored 14.
Rain delays Nadal French Open title defence
May 27, 2008
Rafa Nadal fans will have to wait until Tuesday to see him in action after rain ended play early on Monday at Roland Garros.
In matches that were completed the top seeded Roger Federer won in straight sets over Sam Querrey. There was talk that the American could give Federer a tough match however he won in three sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
In other news local hope Richard Gasquet has pulled out of the tournament due to a cyst on the cruciate ligament in his knee. This comes as a double blow for French fans as Tsonga is also troubled by a knee complaint. Tsonga’s is more serious and requires surgery which will rule him out of Wimbledon.
The 2002 women’s finalist Venus Williams was made to work in her first round match. She defeated Israel’s Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Jelena Jankovic is through to the second round after a slow start in her match with Romania’s Monica Niculescu. She did however win 7-6, 6-2.
The main upset of the day was probably the loss to American wildcard Wayne Odesnik by Argentina’s Guillermo Canas. The American won three tie breaks to take the match 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 7-6(8).
Looking forward to seeing Rafa on court on Tuesday.
San Antonio win game 3 at home
May 27, 2008
As expected playing on their home court the San Antonio Spurs won game three in the series against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers still lead the series 2-1.
After a tight first quarter the Spurs blew the game open with a 28-15 second quarter. From that point they cruised to a 103-84 victory.
Coming off the bench it was Manu Ginobili who sunk 5 from 7 3pt attempts to help himself to 30 points for the match. He was backed up with 22 points from Tim Duncan and 20 from Tony Parker.
The Lakers once again relied on Kobe Bryant for their points. He contributed with 30 however the next best of 15 from Gasol was not enough to overcome the Spurs.
Game four will be in San Antonio on Tuesday with a 9pm ET tip off.
Hamilton takes Monaco and championship lead
May 26, 2008
Lewis Hamilton has won the Monaco grand prix in difficult conditions. He now leads the drivers championship.
Rain fell during the race making it a challenge for all the drivers. Without traction control in 2008 it was quite easy to be heavy with the throttle and dump the car into the barriers.
Felipe Massa was leading the race when he made an error that allowed Hamilton to eventually take the lead.
Raikkonen was never really in the race today and ended up taking ninth place.
Hamilton lead home Kubica with Massa coming home in third. Australia’s Mark Webber completed another solid grand prix and claimed fourth place.
Hamilton now leads the championship by three points from Raikkonen, with Massa another point down.
The next grand prix is in Canada in two weeks at Montreal.
French Open tennis - Vaidisova first seed to fall
May 25, 2008
The 2008 French Open is underway.
Nicole Vaidisova (15) has the dubious honor of being the first seed to fall at the Roland Garros tournament for 2008. She went down to no. 68 ranked Iveta Benesova 7-6(2), 6-1.
Last years losing finalist Ana Ivanovic got her 2008 campaign off to a good start with a centre court win against Sofia Arvidsson. The final score was 6-2, 7-5.
My tip to defeat Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal, David Nalbandian, won his first round match 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 against fellow Argentinian Carlos Berlocq.
Last year at the French Open the USA men could not manage to win a single first round match. This year at least they have one entrant into the second round. James Blake defeated former Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(3).
My tip for the tournament, Novak Djokovic has won his first round match in four sets against Denis Gremelmayr 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
In what could be his last match on the ATP tour, former champ and world no. 1 Gustavo Kuerten plays the third match on centre court against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Celtics take upper hand with elusive away win
May 25, 2008
The Boston Celtics had gone 0-6 on the road in the 2008 NBA finals. Today in Detroit they finally claimed a win on the road. The Celtics had dropped a game at home in game 2 so an away win was crucial to the success of the team from Boston.
Kevin Garnett was the man for Boston. He had 22 points and 13 rebounds to help Boston take back home court advantage. The Celtics led by as many as 24 points in this match. The game was setup with a 25-17 opening quarter for Boston and this was followed up with 25-15 in the second quarter to go into the halftime break with a 50-32 advantage.
The home team was able to get the Boston lead back down to 10 points with 2:17 left in the match however that was as good as it got.
Now that the Celtics have a taste for an away victory it will be interesting to see if they can win back to back away matches.
Wests Tigers enjoy return to Leichhardt Oval
May 25, 2008
The Wests Tigers have knocked the Gold Coast Titans off top spot with an exciting 20-18 win. It was a good day for fans who last year were left disappointed by their side when they returned to Leichhardt Oval, the former home of the Tigers. On that occasion they went down to South Sydney 37-12.
The players were keen to not let that happen again this year and they showed that with their inspired play. The Tigers built an early lead with Ben Te’o scoring early. Another converted try by Robbie Farah saw the Tigers with a 12-0 lead over the premiership front runners.
The Titans hit back after 21 minutes with a try to Aaron Cannings. The Scott Prince conversion made the score 12-6. A penalty goal to Hodgson just before half time saw the home team go into the break up 14-6.
The Tigers looked to have the game wrapped up when Brett Hodgson scrambled over the line and converted his try to make the score 20-6 with 20 to go.
Some desperate defence by Preston Campbell and Scott Prince saved a certain try that would have surely given the Tigers the win. After that the Titans made a charge at the Tigers and a try to Brenton Bowen and a fantastic try to Preston Campbell set up a grandstand finnish. The score was 20-18 with seven minutes left on the clock.
The Tigers held on for a well deserved win.
A win for the Sydney Roosters over the Warriors saw them take top spot on the NRL ladder.
Kewell to play A-League?
May 25, 2008
In an interview today on Channel nine’s Wide World of Sport Australian football star Harry Kewell discussed life with Danny Weidler.
Weidler dug deep into his bag of tricks to try to get Kewell to slip out some information about where he is likely to play his next club football match. Weidler asked Harry if he was learning Italian, French or Spanish as he was fishing for an answer.
Harry jokingly replied “I might be learning Australian” as a reference to him joining an A-League team. It would be great if he did. Imagine the crowd pulling power he would have if playing for an Australian team while still in his prime.
I say in his prime assuming he really is over his horror injury run that has devastated his career over the past few years.
Harry did say he would not rule out playing in Australia for an A-League team although you would think a player of his quality would be going to on of the big teams in Europe. In another interview earlier this year also on Wide World of Sports he also hinted at playing in the A-League.
On that occasion he said he would play in the A-League only while still in top form. He did not want to come and play just to close out his career.
I look forward to hearing just where he does end up signing in the upcoming months. Right now Harry Kewell if only looking at the World Cup qualifying matches Australia will be playing in June. The Socceroos have four key matches that they need to do well enough in to claim a top 2 spot in their group in order to move to the next stage.
Where do you think Harry Kewell will next play his club soccer? Leave a comment below.
Roosters end Warriors home win streak
May 25, 2008
The Sydney Roosters have crossed the Tasman and done what no team has been able to do so far, win on the Warriors home turf. The Warriors so far this season have won four from four at home. On the other hand they are zero from five away from home.
Last match away from home there were awful. The lost 46-22. The Roosters were coming off an impressive win over Parramatta, one they achieved without four big name forwards.
In today’s match the Roosters took the lead after 3 minutes when Shaun Kenny-Dowall scored. He was in again three minutes later to take the score to 8-0. With the Roosters on a roll Braith Anasta made it three tries in 10 minutes. He converted his try to make it 14-0.
The main difference between the sides was the kicking game. The Roosters put pressure on the Warriors with their kicking game.
The Warriors scored a try after 17 minutes through Aidan Kirk however just 4 minutes later a good kick from Mitchell Pearce helped Setaimata Sa scramble for a try. This Anasta was able to convert to make the score 20-4.
The Warriors could have easily folded at this point. To their credit they fought back with a try and penalty goal to make it 20-12 at halftime.
It was all Roosters in the second half as they did all the scoring. Tries to Anasta, Kenny-Dowall and Perrett took the final score to 38-12. The Roosters can go home full of confidence after this impressive win.
