Boston collects 2007-08 NBA championship rings and good start for Lakers team
October 30, 2008
The Boston Celtics faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in their opening match of the 2008-09 NBA season. Before the match they collected their championship rings and hoisted the 17th Championship banner for the franchise.
In the match that followed the Celtics pulled off a 90-85 win. Paul Pierce top scored for the champs with 27 points. LeBron James scored 22 for the visitors. Boston helped setup the win with a 24-13 third quarter. With just over a minute to play the Celtics were just three points in front.
Chicago Bulls scored a good first up win when they hosted the Milwaukee Bucks. All eyes were on the no. 1 draft pick for Chicago Derrick Rose. He put in a reasonable display as he grabbed 11 points. He had a few too many turnovers however it was his first NBA game of his career. The Bulls gave rookie coach Vinny Del Negro his first win by getting the better of the Bucks 108-95.
The final match on opening day saw the LA Lakers claim a comfortable win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The final score was 96-76. There was concern for the Blazers as Greg Oden left the game with a foot injury. The top draft pick from last season missed all of last year through injury and is now out for 2-to-4 weeks with a right foot sprain. The Lakers roster is looking good for another title challenge
I enjoyed watching some of the NBA action on broadband. You can watch the Celtics ring ceremony at NBA.com
If you want to chat or talk NBA head over to NBAFanTalk.com
Liverpool maintain lead after win over Portsmouth
October 30, 2008
After some mid-week action in the English Premier League Liverpool FC has kept the three point buffer they established last weekend following their one nil win over Chelsea. This time around they took on Portsmouth at home and claimed the points following a penalty goal by Steven Gerrard with 15 minutes left in the match.
Chelsea kept the pressure on Liverpool after they had a 3-0 win against Hull City. Frank Lampard scored a great goal early in the match after he chipped delicately over the keeper. Nicolas Anelka added a second goal for Chelsea just four minutes into the second half. Florent Malouda killed off the match when he scored Chelsea’s third goal with 16 minutes left in the match.
Tottenham Hotspur picked up another point under new manager Harry Redknapp as they staged a late comeback against Arsenal. It was a goal feast between the two clubs. Spurs opened the scoring with a goal in the 12th minute only to see Arsenal hit back with three before Darren Bent pulled on back on the 66 minute mark.
With the score 4-2 with minutes to play it looked like Arsenal would win. Spurs had other ideas and a goal in the 89th minute to Jermaine Jenas brought them to within one. Aaron Lennon completed the fairytale comeback and the match ended at 4-4.
In other matches Aston Villa moved into fourth place on the ladder with a 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers. Fulham defeated Wigan 2-0. Stoke City defeated Sunderland 1-0. Everton defeated Bolton Wanderers 1-0. Manchested United defeated West Ham United 2-0 and Middlesbrough got the points with a 2-0 win over Manchester City.
The English Premier League ladder now sees Liverpool on top with 26 points from 10 matches. Chelsea is on 23. Arsenal, Aston Villa and Hull City are next on 20 points. Manchester United are on 18 from 9 matches. Tottenham are down at the bottom of the table with 6 points, two behind Bolton and Wigan Athletic.
Next weekend sees the top side take on the bottom side as Liverpool travels to White Hart Lane to play Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea play Sunderland at home.
Are you a fan of the NBA?
October 27, 2008
The 2008-09 NBA season is tipping off on Tuesday 28 October with three games. Both finalists and favorites to again meet in the finals Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are playing at home.
The Boston team will receive their NBA championship rings before they play Cleveland. This will be an interesting matchup as the Cavs could be one of the teams that knocks Boston from their spot at the top of the NBA.
If you are a fan of the NBA I have created a new community website that is just for NBA fans. It is at NBAfantalk.com Why not join in the community and meet NBA fans from around the world?
Liverpool end Chelsea’s home unbeaten streak and take top spot
October 27, 2008
A solid defensive effort and a single goal from Xabi Alonso has seen Liverpool bring to an end an impressive 86-match unbeaten home league record in the English Premier League for Chelsea.
A deflected shot from Alonso in the ninth minute was enough to see Liverpool take full points and with that go three points clear at the top of the English Premier League. A deflection by Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa fooled his keeper Petr Cech.
Liverpool went close to doubling their lead in the 24th minute after a superb Steven Gerard shot from long range was tipped over the bar by Cech.
Chelsea had several good chances in the first half however they were not able to find the net. Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher played with passion in defence and helped the Liverpool cause. In the 36th minute Chelsea’s Deco found some space to make a run at Liverpool but he wasted it with a left foot shot wide of the target.
Alonso was almost a two goal hero as he had another effort on goal denied by the upright. Cole wasted a real chance to score when he was fed the ball by a Di Santo header only to blast wide from just eight metres out from goal.
That pretty much summed up Chelsea’s day. They did not take the chances that fell their way, along with good defence from Liverpool sees the Rafael Benitez coached team sit on top of the league for the time being.
On Wednesday another test of their credentials will come as they face former Liverpool player Peter Crouch and his Portsmouth team at Anfield. To have beaten Chelsea in this match will count for nothing if they go and drop the points to Portsmouth.
Australia open RL World Cup with 30-6 win over New Zealand
October 26, 2008
New Zealand has not troubled Australia in their opening match of the 2008 Rugby World Cup. The New Zealand attack was once again not up to the standard required to win a match at this level.
Australia 30
Tries: Inglis, Monaghan, Folau 2, Slater Goals: Thurston 4, Smith
New Zealand 6
Tries: Manu Goals: Matai
New Zealand coach was asked before the match what area would they like to improve. He said the defence needs work. This may be true but if the team struggles to score points they will not win too many games against the top teams.
Australia’s Joel Monaghan got his Australian test career off to a good start scoring a try on debut. He was second to score after Inglis opening the try scoring for Australia.
Next week Australia will play England in Melbourne while New Zealand takes on Papua New Guinea on the Gold Coast. After seeing Papua New Guinea play last night against England I would rule out a win for them over New Zealand.
In an earlier match today in Canberra the French were too good for Scotland. The final score was 36-18.
Scotland 18
Tries: Steel, Wilkes, Colton Goals: Brough 3
France 36
Tries: Taylor, Guisset 2, Wilson, Raguin, Moly Goals: Bosc 6
Historic win for Briscoe in the Nikon Indy 300
October 26, 2008
Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe will go down in the history books as the first Australian to win the Indy 300 race on the Gold Coast in Australia. Will Power was hoping to be one that notched up the first win for a home grown driver after claiming his third consecutive pole position however he crashed out early in the race.
“The worst mistake of my career,” Power said of his crash today.
IRL 2008 Champion Scott Dixon came home less than a second behind Briscoe to take second place. The New Zealander was hoping Briscoe would make an error in the closing laps so that he could snatch the race win. To the credit of Briscoe he closed out the race to get what he called a triple points race. The fact that it was a race in his home country made the win extra special. American Ryan Hunter-Reay was third.
The Gold Coast round did not actually have any points as the race was on the original Champ Car schedule that was canceled after a merger took place in early 2008 with IRL. After the merger it was added to the IRL schedule.
It is unknown if this will be the last Indy car race on the Gold Coast as at this stage it is not on schedule for 2009. The QLD Government minister responsible said it will be on for sure however we will have to wait and see.
It was great to see an Aussie finally get a win at Surfers.
Papua New Guinea push England in RL World Cup opener
October 26, 2008
Papua New Guinea have come out in their opening game of the rugby league World Cup and shown they are no easy beats. Many expected the English team to run over the top of the Kumuls.
The English team were first to score after a move out wide on the right that saw Ade Gardner dive over after a short flat pass from the English hooker. A sideline conversion from Sinfield made the score 6-0.
Papua New Guinea hit back shortly after as a strong run by the no. 13 Rod Griffin saw him crash over near the posts. The conversion saw the teams level at 6-6. England were next to score as Lee Smith making his debut scored his first of three tries.
The Kumuls would then score twice on the right side of the field to take a 16-12 lead into the halftime break.
As the second half started it was interesting to see how England would handle the expectations of getting the win. As it turned out Papua New Guinea ran out of steam and England outscored them 20 points to six to secure a 32-22 win.
It was a good opening match and showed that some of the lesser known teams can match it for a while with the top three in world rugby league.
In what could be a prelude to the final Australia take on New Zealand on Sunday night.
Are Liverpool pretenders or contenders for the Premier League title?
October 26, 2008
Liverpool FC take on Chelsea in a top of the table clash on Sunday in the English Premier League. The match will be played at Chelsea’s home ground at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool will be out to show Premier League fans that they are true contenders for this seasons championship crown. Over recent years Liverpool has not lived up to expectations as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have dominated the Premier League top spot.
Chelsea has the better record in the Premier League against Liverpool in recent times however Liverpool has done well against Chelsea in Champions League matches.
Liverpool will be looking to end a record 86 home league unbeaten streak held by Chelsea. If Liverpool want to be considered a Premier League contender this is a must win match for the reds.
Both teams come off mid week Champions League action.
Who is your pick for this match?
This matchup shapes up as a blockbuster in the Premier League. The winner will take top spot in the Premier League and gain an important mental edge.
Liverpool let points slip at Atletico
October 23, 2008
In match day three Champions League action Liverpool FC traveled to Spain to take on joint group D leaders Club Atletico de Madrid. Up until the 83rd minute of the match they were looking good to go top of the group with a valuable away win after Robbie Keane had given them the lead in the 14th minute.
Keane’s goal was setup with a through ball from Steven Gerrard that helped Keane slip past the last line of defence. It was touch and go if he was on-side. In the end play continued and he slotted home past Leo Franco.
The referee assistants were to play a big role in this match as first Liverpool then Atletico had goals ruled out for offside. Both decisions were questionable. Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun was first to feel the disappointment of seeing the flag go up as he put the ball into the back of the net. Not long after Seitaridis for Atletico was also denied by an offside call.
As it looked likely that Liverpool would take full points a Jamie Carragher error allowed Diego Forlan to take possession before passing to Simao who then beat Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina. More chances came for both sides as Reina tipped away a Miguel strike and Ryan Babel headed wide of the post.
Rafael Benitez said after the match that he felt Liverpool lost two points rather than gaining one which is normally a good result when playing away.
The draw leaves the two sides on top with seven points, four clear of PSV who defeated Marseille 2-0 at home.
In other matchday three action Barcelona stayed the only team to win three from three as they thumped Basel 5-0. Chelsea won at home over Roma with a 1-0 score after a John Terry goal in the 77th minute.
Matchday four is scheduled for November 4-5. The group stage will be completed on 10 December. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage.
Adelaide United reach Asian Champions League final
October 23, 2008
Adelaide United have become the first Australian football (soccer) team to reach the final of the Asian Champions League. They advanced with a 3-1 aggregate win over Uzbekistan’s Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor.
The South Australian team took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the second leg of their semi-final tie against the Uzbekistan league leaders Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor. The first leg was played in Adelaide two weeks ago and goals were scored by Adelaide’s Diego, Fabian Barbiero and Cristiano.
Adelaide United will play the Asian Champions League final against Gamba Osaka of Japan, who knocked out defending champions and J.League rivals Urawa Reds in the other semi-final. Gamba won their tie 4-2 on aggregate. In the second leg Gamba were too strong for the Reds as they won 3-1.
Big as Australia in the World Cup
“This certainly is as big as the national team getting to the World Cup. It is the biggest competition in club football in Asia and it is a magnificent achievement to get to the final, a real magnificent achievement,” said Vidmar.
Adelaide looked pretty comfortable in the second leg and played a defensive match. Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor took until 11 minutes before fulltime to score through substitute Bahodir Pardaev.
Unlike the European Champions League the Asian final will be played over two legs. The first leg will be played in Japan on November 5 with the second leg on November 12.
