Monica Seles talks about Tennis Night in America
February 28, 2009
Tennis Night in America is coming to a court near you on March 2, 2009. Watch the video where you can listen to Monica Seles talk about the event.
Seles is also asked about her time on Dancing With The Stars.
Liverpool’s poor home record to cost them title?
February 25, 2009
Anfield was once a fortress for the Liverpool team. They often had trouble winning away from home but would build their English Premier League points with good form at home.
You just have to look at the form guide for Liverpool over the past twelve matches home and away. They have had four draws and two wins at home for a total of 10 points. This compares with three wins and three draws on the road. Manchester United on the other hand has had six wins from six at home in recent times and five wins and a draw away from Old Trafford.
The home form is probably what will cost Liverpool the EPL championship. After the weekend games where Man Utd got a 2-1 result against Blackburn and Liverpool drew 1-1 at Anfield, Manchester United are seven points clear at the top of the ladder.
The Red Devils have lost a good lead in the past however with the improved squad depth it is looking less likely that they will slip up after establishing a commanding lead at the top. Not only are Manchester United winning matches they are stopping most teams from scoring.
The goal on the weekend by Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz was the first goal in 1334 minutes of football against Manchester United.
Do you think the title is in the bag or can Aston Villa, Liverpool or Chelsea make a late charge to grab the title? Leave your comments below.
Manchester United Sitting Pretty at Top of EPL
February 20, 2009
Manchester United is now sitting five points clear of nearest rival Liverpool following their convincing 3-0 win over Fulham.
Is this enough of a break for the Red Devils to hold on and win the Premier League title?
Paul Scholes opened the scoring following an error by Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer in the 12th minute. Scholes shot from long range and Schwarzer somehow let the ball escape him.
From that point Manchester United were in total control as they racked up yet another win. Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney also scored goals.
Edwin van der Sar kept a 14th consecutive clean sheet in this match. Soccer fans must be wondering can a team put a goal into the back of the Man Utd net.
The next team to try will be the struggling Blackburn Rovers when they take on Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
If Liverpool can keep in touch with United they will have a chance to close the gap when the two teams face each other at Old Trafford on March 14.
Mike Whitmarsh autopsy confirms suicide
February 19, 2009
A press release on the County of San Diego site has confirmed that Mike Whitmarsh killed himself through carbon monoxide poisoning. He was found dead in a friend’s home on Tuesday.
This all comes as a bit of a shock for the volleyball community. As I wrote yesterday Mike was a very popular player on the AVP tour. In 1989 he came downunder to Australia to play on the PBVA tour. He was a really nice guy.
I can’t say what led to his suicide but only can say it is a great loss, not only for his family but for volleyball fans around the world…
RIP Mike Whitmarsh.
Former Beach Volleyball Star Mike Whitmarsh Found Dead
February 18, 2009
photo PBVA
Mike Whitmarsh was a handy basketball player, he found even greater success on the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour in the 90′s. Whitmarsh teamed up with Mike Dodd to win silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in the first ever Olympic beach volleyball event.
According to newspaper reports Whitmarsh was found dead inside the garage of a Solana Beach home Tuesday morning. He was 46 years old.
This came as sad news to me as I personally knew Mike from some time I spent training in San Diego in 1989, and later that year when he played on the Pro Beach Volleyball Tour in Australia.
Big Mike went on to launch himself on the AVP tour in 1990 winning the AVP Rookie of the Year honor. Whitmarsh earned more than $1.6 million during his career as well as winning 28 titles.
Standing at 6’7″ Mike’s strong point was his block. He was awarded Best Blocker in 2002 on the AVP tour. I remember fondly many of his roof blocks that he embarassed his opponents with when playing with Rande Turner on the PBVA tour.
I had the good fortune to face Mike across the net in a PBVA tournament at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne, Australia. I have to say I did manage to avoid any roof blocks on that occasion.
When playing in Australia Mike was great to watch, he was also a great bloke off the court. On the AVP tour Mike was a crowd favorite, this view was backed up by Leonard Armato, CEO and Commissioner of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour in what he said on the AVP site.
“We are all deeply saddened by the loss of Mike Whitmarsh, a true a beach volleyball legend and one of AVP’s all time greats,” said Leonard Armato. “Mike was gifted competitor, a crowd favorite, and one of the most well liked and respected players on the AVP Tour. His legacy will live on as a silver medalist in the first-ever Olympic beach volleyball competition as well as a great ambassador for the sport. The AVP family’s thoughts and prayers are with the Whitmarsh family during this tragic time.”
Before Mike became a star of the AVP he enjoyed a shortlived basketball career. He played for the University of San Diego and was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 1984. Mike was part of the Minnesota Timberwolves roster in 1989. He also played for three years professionally in Germany.
In 2003 Mike Whitmarsh was awarded the AVP Special Achievement award and in 2004 was awarded a Lifetime Achievement by the AVP.
Mike is survived by he wife, Cindy. “We are all devastated by the passing of Mike,” Cindy Whitmarsh said in a statement. His wife added that, “His family, friends, teammates and colleagues will miss him terribly. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this most difficult time; it means more than we can express.”
I would love to hear your comments about Mike Whitmarsh. You can leave them below.
Beach Volleyball Database – Mike Whitmarsh
Hiddink makes winning start at Chelsea
February 16, 2009
Success seems to follow Guus Hiddink wherever he goes, although his teams have not quite taken the big prize, he seems to have a golden touch. He led his home nation the Netherlands to the 1998 World Cup semifinals where they were defeated by Brazil in a penalty shootout. At the 2002 World Cup he amazingly guided his adopted country, South Korea, also to the semifinals. Next he took Australia into the second stage at the 2006 World Cup where they were defeated by eventual champion Italy.
Last year Hiddink again applied his midas touch as he guided Russia to the Euro 2008 semifinals. Once again his team over achieved however they could not quite go all the way.
Now Hiddink has answered the call of Chelsea in the English Premier League. Chelsea recently sacked World Cup winning coach Felipe Scolari and appointed Hiddink as a replacement until the end of the current season. His friendship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was a big factor in his decision to move to Stamford Bridge.
In the first game with Hiddink in control of Chelsea his team put in a good performance in a FA Cup fifth round match to defeat Watford 3-1. Watford gave Chelsea a bit of a scare after taking the lead in the 69th minute. Nicolas Anelka then took control as he scored three unanswered goals to give the Premier League team the victory.
What do you think about the appointment of Guus Hiddink as the Chelsea manager? Can he guide them back to the top of the EPL? Leave you comments below.
Roddick Talks Out About Random Urine Testing
February 16, 2009
See the video as Andy Roddick talks about being monitored by the ATP.
Australia Japan 0-0 in FIFA World Cup Qualifier
February 11, 2009
Tonight in the Football World Cup 2010 qualifying Australia travelled to Japan to take on the home team in Yokohama. This was a match between the top two teams in the Asian qualifying group one.
The Japanese spurred on by their home crowd totally dominated the match however they could not get the result they wanted. The final score was 0-0. Australia barely troubled the Japanese keeper as they only got one or two shots on goal throughout the match.
It was all Japan in the second half. They had some good shots saved by Australian keeper Mark Schwarzer. The Japanese were getting in cross after cross but just could not find the back of the net.
The Australian defence were solid all night and that was what gave Australia their well earned away point. Scott Chipperfield put in a good performance having not played for about eight weeks, along with Lucas Neil and Craig Moore the defensive unit was strong.
This match will go down as a great escape for Australia.
The draw now sees Australia at the top of the group on 10 points from four matches, Japan is two points adrift on eight. Next come Qatar on four points from four matches.
In Asia group 2 in an earlier match Korea DPR took a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia to move into equal first in the group. They are on seven points in a tie for top spot. The Korea Republic is also on seven points but have a match in hand.
Scolari Given The Boot By Chelsea
February 10, 2009
It does not matter if you have won a World Cup in the cut throat world of professional coaching. Felipe Scolari guided Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, he has now found himself given the sack from Chelsea football club in the English Premier League after just seven months in charge.
A statement released on the Chelsea website on Monday summed up the reason behind Scolari’s dismissal. “Unfortunately the results and performances of the team appeared to be deteriorating at a key time in the season.” the statement went onto announce that the job of running the team now goes to Assistant Coach Ray Wilkins on a temporary basis.
The last temporary manager did a pretty decent job but was still given the flick at the end of last season. That was Avram Grant who took over from another high profile manager at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho who guided Chelsea to the EPL title in 2005 and 2006.
According to bookmakers Russia coach Guus Hiddink is favourite to take over, although the Dutchman said he had “nothing to say” about the speculation. According to The Sun newspaper in Britain, Milan boss Ancelotti is Chelsea’s No 1 target. He was previously offered the job before Scolari took charge last year.
Chelsea are currently in fourth place on the English Premier League ladder and are seven points adrift of league leaders Manchester United. They had recently suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of Manchester United and went down 2-0 to Liverpool. Over the past six EPL match Chelsea has just managed to secure eight points compared with Man Utd collecting the full 18 points from their last six matches.
What do you think about Scolari’s sacking? Was it premature or deserved?
Steelers Football Is Sixty Minutes
February 6, 2009
The Super Bowl has come and gone for another season. The title of the post sums it up. That is what Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said at the after match speech.
That is how it turned out in the Super Bowl last weekend. The match was not wrapped up until a fumble by Arizona’s quarter Kurt Warner in the last five seconds.
Before then we had seen the Arizona team come back from a 13 point deficit to take the lead in the last quarter. With under a minute left to play it looked like the surprise finalists would snatch the Super Bowl title. The score was 23-20 to Arizona at this stage. Larry Fitzgerald had not long before streaked clear for his second touchdown.
The Steelers were not leaving it at that. They made a final charge towards the Arizona line before Ben Roethlisberger flighted a great pass to Santonio Holmes who caught the ball with plenty of traffic around him. Did he get feet down in time, that was the question on everyone’s lips. After much review the decision was yes.
That was it the Steelers had gone to the lead with just over 40 seconds left. Arizona still had time but could not pull off the miracle win.The final score was 27-23 to Steelers.
“Steelers Football Is Sixty Minutes” is what it turned out to be. The Steelers have become the most successful franchise in the NFL as they racked up Super Bowl title no. 6.
The latest Super Bowl was able to match the excitement of last year. Too bad Arizona could not get the win. It would have been great to see Australia’s first Super Bowl participant win a title. Maybe next year.
I look forward to September when the next season will kick off.
