It makes me think that is was actually four years ago where I was looking forward to heading off to Beijing with my wife and daughter for the 2008 Olympics. It seems like only a year or so since we went. Since then my son Adrian was added to the family. He got to enjoy his 18 month vaccination today and he continues to grow fast.

Also looking back at the last Olympics it makes me realise I have been at it on this website for more than four years. I first got going in February 2008. At one stage I was getting heaps of visits each day and at times I have struggled to keep writing, not because I lost my love for sport but due to the need to concentrate on helping out with my son or making money.

If you are reading this leave a comment to say hi and also let me know what you would like to see me write about. Also it would be great if you can share a sports story or two. What is your most memorable sporting moment.

For me it was sitting in the crowd when Usain Bolt set the 100m world record during the Beijing Olympics. That is mine what is yours?

~ Rob Keating

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Slowly but surely the 76ers worked their way back into the match before crushing the Celtics with a 33-20 final quarter. It really was a tale of two halves. The Celtics opened with 24-12 first quarter. The second was 22-19 to the Celtics before the 76ers took over in the second half. The third quarter saw the home team outscore the Celtics 28-17.

Kevin Garnett after a big game three could not back that up with another big game. He could only manage nine points after 27 in the previous game. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 24 in the losing side.

The 76ers shared the scoring amongst the starters and bench players with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner both scoring 16 for the starters and Lou Williams scoring 15 while Thaddeus Young had 12.

The series is now locked at 2-2 with the next game on Monday.

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At 7.25pm on 18 May the flame arrived on a chartered British Airways A319 aircraft, specially named The Firefly.

The torch relay will get underway on the morning of the 19th after the Royal Navy Search and Rescue Squadron delivers the Flame to Land’s End. The helicopter that will carry the flame is scheduled to arrive at 7:00am. Shortly after the first Torchbearer will set off on the estimated 8,000 miles around the United Kingdom.

Three-times Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie CBE will have the honour of being the very first Torchbearer to carry the Olympic Flame.

Below you can watch the Olympic Flame handover ceremony.

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The Heat were already playing without one of the big three as Chris Bosh is out with a strained abdominal muscle. For the Heat to win they need more than just five points from Wade.

At the half the scores were level and Wade was yet to score. The Heat thought they were in good shape. They were expecting Wade to get going in second half and take them to a win. It was not to be. Wade never got going.

On the other hand some of the Pacers were playing at the top of their game. Roy Hibbert scored 19 points and pulled down 18 rebounds to help his team thump the Heat. The final score was 94-75 as the Pacers took a 2-1 lead in the series.

LeBron James scored 22 points but it was Mario Chalmers that stepped it up to score 25 for the Heat. The Pacers got good scoring across four of the starters with George Hill topping the scoring for his team on 20 points.

Game four is on Sunday and Miami will be looking to bounce back after back-to-back losses including a loss on their home court. You would expect Wade to come out and play big after a dismal game three.

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Bosh is likely to miss the series following a strained abdominal muscle injury  he picked up in game one when the Heat won 95-86.

Miami would normally rely on the big three to do most of the scoring for the team but LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could not quite get over the line in game two. James scored 28 points and Wade 24 while their teammates could not score more than five points each.

Both James and Wade missed opportunities to either go ahead or level the scores late in the game. James missed a pair of free-throws with 54.3 seconds to play and with the score at 76-75 in favour of the visiting Pacers. Wade missed a layup with 16.8 seconds on the clock.

The Pacers were also guilty of missing free-throws late in the game as both George Hill and Roy Hibbert sunk one from two to give Miami the chance to tie the game as Mario Chalmers let go a three-point shot with 3.8 seconds to go.

David West top scored for the Pacers with 16 and Hill added 15.

The Pacers built an early 16-9 lead in the opening quarter only to see Miami take a 21-17 lead at the end of the quarter.

At 3:50 to play in the second quarter the Heat had pushed their lead to nine as they led 33-24. The Pacers then managed to fight their way back to 33 all at 1:36 before a Shane Battier three and a James jump shot saw the score at 38-33 by the halftime break.

Indiana hit the lead when a George dunk took the score to 48-46 with 5:50 to play in Q3 from there they built an 11 point lead with under a minute to play in the third period. This came as Indiana outscored Miami 28-14 in the third quarter.

Miami came back and had the lead for 16 seconds after Wade scored his 21st point with 4:11 to play. After the Pacers took the lead with 3:55 to play they were never headed.

Game three will be played in Indiana on Thursday May 17.

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On the weeked just gone the Brazilian women’s team earned the right to defend their title at this summer’s Olympic Games in London when they beat Peru 3-0 (15-12, 25-16, 25-9) in the final of the CSV Women´s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament at the Milton Olaio Filho Gymnasium in São Carlos, Brazil on Sunday. The USA men also won the right to defend their gold medal from the Beijing Olympics.

Wing-spiker Fernanda Garay top-scored for Brazil with 15 points while FIVB Hero Sheilla Castro chipped in with 13 points.

“We played a good qualification tournament, but we have a lot to improve, principally serve and counter-attack,” said legendary Brazil coach Jose Roberto Guimarães. “We cannot think that we are fine because the level outside is higher than here. We have to get better in the physical part, the players need to get stronger.”

Brazil, the defending Olympic champions, have now qualified for nine successive Olympic Games after missing the first four editions and will be aiming to enhance their record which has seen them win two bronze medals in Atlanta and Sydney before claiming the Olympic title in Beijing.

A total of eight women’s teams have now qualified for the Olympic Games.

Olympic Games Women’s Volleyball Qualified Teams

Hosts Great Britain
2011 World Cup winner Italy
2011 World Cup runners up  USA
2011 World Cup third place China
Africa winner Algeria
NORCECA winner Dominican Republic
CEV winner Turkey
CSV winner Brazil
AVC winner (To be determined at joint World and AVC Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan from May 19-27)

Last three vacancies will be filled at joint World and AVC Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan from May 19-27style=”margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;” title=”Brazil celebrates their win at the Olympic qualification tournament” src=”/images/volleyball-brazil-celebrate-olympic-qualification400.jpg” alt=”Brazil celebrates their win at the Olympic qualification tournament” width=”220″ height=”206″ />The London Olympics are set to officially open on July 27 which at the time of writing this post is 72 days away. Teams around the world have been or will be fighting for a spot in the Olympic volleyball tournament.

On the weeked just gone the Brazilian women’s team earned the right to defend their title at this summer’s Olympic Games in London when they beat Peru 3-0 (15-12, 25-16, 25-9) in the final of the CSV Women´s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament at the Milton Olaio Filho Gymnasium in São Carlos, Brazil on Sunday. The USA men also won the right to defend their gold medal from the Beijing Olympics.

Wing-spiker Fernanda Garay top-scored for Brazil with 15 points while FIVB Hero Sheilla Castro chipped in with 13 points.

“We played a good qualification tournament, but we have a lot to improve, principally serve and counter-attack,” said legendary Brazil coach Jose Roberto Guimarães. “We cannot think that we are fine because the level outside is higher than here. We have to get better in the physical part, the players need to get stronger.”

Brazil, the defending Olympic champions, have now qualified for nine successive Olympic Games after missing the first four editions and will be aiming to enhance their record which has seen them win two bronze medals in Atlanta and Sydney before claiming the Olympic title in Beijing.

A total of eight women’s teams have now qualified for the Olympic Games.

Olympic Games Women’s Volleyball Qualified Teams

Hosts Great Britain
2011 World Cup winner Italy
2011 World Cup runners up  USA
2011 World Cup third place China
Africa winner Algeria
NORCECA winner Dominican Republic
CEV winner Turkey
CSV winner Brazil
AVC winner (To be determined at joint World and AVC Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan from May 19-27)

Last three vacancies will be filled at joint World and AVC Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan from May 19-27

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A large crowd of around 9,000 saw Italy defeat Germany 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12) to qualify for the London Olympics. Italy were Olympic silver medalists at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Argentina also advanced to the London Olympics after winning the CSV Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament played on home soil. They defeated Venezuela 25-19, 25-10, 27-25.

Javier Weber, Argentina’s coach, said: “It was a dream and a very hard challenge. We controlled our nerves and we managed our limitations. We worked for four years and all it takes is three days for a team to go to the Olympic Games or stay at home.”

Argentina and Italy join hosts Great Britain and Russia, Poland and Brazil – who finished in the top three at the World Cup – as well as Argentina, Tunisia and USA, who qualified at the Africa and NORCECA Olympic Qualification tournaments respectively.

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In game two the 76ers were able to steal home court advantage after an 82-81 win in Boston. The match was tight most of the way with the Celtics ahead 25-21 at the end of Q1. In a low scoring affair the Celtics were ahead by two at halftime with the score at 38-36 after Paul Pierce hit a three-point shot with three seconds to play in Q2.

In the third quarter the 76ers got out to a good lead as they had done in game one, but this time they held on. With 51.2 seconds to play in Q3 the 76ers were up by ten after Andre Iguodala got the second of two free-throws. He went on to score 13 while Jrue Holiday  top scored with 18 points. Boston’s Ray Allen had 17 points.

The 76ers held an eight point lead at the start of the fourth quarter. The Celtics quickly cut the lead to three after Mickael Pietrus hit a three-point shot with 10:06 on the clock.

With 4 minutes 33 seconds to play the Boston Celtics tied the scores and finally took the lead at 72-71 with 2:21 to play. This came after Avery Bradley hit a three. Next we saw Holiday hit a three only to be answered by Ray Allen. This saw Boston up 75-74 with 1:40 on the clock.

Below are some game one highlights.

An Evan Turner driving layup put the 76ers in the lead for good as he made it 76-75. After an Allen miss the ball finally came to Turner who was fouled. He sunk both free-throws to give the 76ers a three point lead with 12 seconds to play. A Kevin Garnett offensive foul gave the 76ers the ball and they stretched the lead to five after a pair of free throws by Louis Williams.

Two late three-pointers from the Celtics came sandwiched more 76er free throws to see the final score of 82-81.

Philadelphia won its first playoff game in Boston since 1982 despite committing a playoff-high 19 turnovers and getting outrebounded 47-36.

Philadelphia would now have the belief that they can win this series as they return home for game three.

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Pastor Maldonado winner of the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix

Seeing Pastor Maldonado on pole at the Spanish Formula Grand Prix was a surprise to many. To then see him hold off Ferrari’s Fernando Alsono to claim his maiden grand prix victory was shocking.

Maldonado driving his superbly balanced Williams FW34 took the chequered flag making him the fifth winner of the highly unpredictable 2012 Formula One drivers championship, he is also the first Venezualan driver to win a Formula One race.

Fernando Alonso had jumped Maldonado at the start to take the lead which he held onto for the first 27 laps. Just before the second pit stop Alonso was slowed and that gave Maldonado the chance to take the lead. Once back in the lead he held on until the end.

He was pressured again after his third pit stop. He lost a few seconds while in the pits as the left rear tyre was fitted and after Alonso took his third stop we saw Raikkonen just ahead of Alonso in second and third and they were just a few seconds behid Maldonado.

After Alonso used the DRS advantage to pass Raikkonen on lap 48 he then chased down the leader. By lap 50 Alonso was under a second behind Maldonado. On the 57th and 58th laps he had his best chances to take the lead but he could not quite get there. As the laps passed by Alonso lost a bit of grip and then right at the end found Raikkonen on his tail.

At lap 60 Maldonado started to move away and he drove on to a glorious victory for Williams and himself. It was the first win for the once mighty Williams team in eight years.

Alsonso held on for second, Raikkonen third and Romain Grosjean took fourth. Next came Kamui Kobayashi ahead of champion leader Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

It was a good effort by Hamilton who had started at the back of the field following his penalty for not being able to get his car back to the pits after qualifying.

After another exciting race in what for me has been one of the best seasons I can remember, Vettel and Alonso lead the Formula One drivers championship with 61 points.

Back in 1983 the season also opened with five different winners from five different constructors. Do you think the trend will continue in race six or will someone grab their second win of the season? Lotus will be hoping they are next._3614″ align=”alignleft” width=”200″ caption=”Pastor Maldonado winner of the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix”][/caption]

Seeing Pastor Maldonado on pole at the Spanish Formula Grand Prix was a surprise to many. To then see him hold off Ferrari’s Fernando Alsono to claim his maiden grand prix victory was shocking.

Maldonado driving his superbly balanced Williams FW34 took the chequered flag making him the fifth winner of the highly unpredictable 2012 Formula One drivers championship, he is also the first Venezualan driver to win a Formula One race.

Fernando Alonso had jumped Maldonado at the start to take the lead which he held onto for the first 27 laps. Just before the second pit stop Alonso was slowed and that gave Maldonado the chance to take the lead. Once back in the lead he held on until the end.

He was pressured again after his third pit stop. He lost a few seconds while in the pits as the left rear tyre was fitted and after Alonso took his third stop we saw Raikkonen just ahead of Alonso in second and third and they were just a few seconds behid Maldonado.

After Alonso used the DRS advantage to pass Raikkonen on lap 48 he then chased down the leader. By lap 50 Alonso was under a second behind Maldonado. On the 57th and 58th laps he had his best chances to take the lead but he could not quite get there. As the laps passed by Alonso lost a bit of grip and then right at the end found Raikkonen on his tail.

At lap 60 Maldonado started to move away and he drove on to a glorious victory for Williams and himself. It was the first win for the once mighty Williams team in eight years.

Alsonso held on for second, Raikkonen third and Romain Grosjean took fourth. Next came Kamui Kobayashi ahead of champion leader Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

It was a good effort by Hamilton who had started at the back of the field following his penalty for not being able to get his car back to the pits after qualifying.

After another exciting race in what for me has been one of the best seasons I can remember, Vettel and Alonso lead the Formula One drivers championship with 61 points.

Back in 1983 the season also opened with five different winners from five different constructors. Do you think the trend will continue in race six or will someone grab their second win of the season? Lotus will be hoping they are next.

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The win gives the USA a berth in the London Olympic volleyball tournament.

The following teams along with the USA have already qualified for the London Olympic Games:

Women: 1. Italy 2. USA 3. China

Men: 1. Russia 2. Poland 3. Brazil

CAVB Continental Olympic Qualification

Men: 1. Tunisia | Women: 1. Algeria

CEV Continental Olympic Qualification

Women: 1. Turkey

NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification

Women: 1. Dominican Republic

You can keep up-to-date with the qualifying process by visiting the Road to London page on the FIVB website.

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