- 05:08 PM
- 07/05/08
| Member since: | October 3, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Last visit: | July 3, 2008 |
sic has posted 6 links and 211 comments to SportsFilter and hasn’t posted any threads or comments to the Locker Room.
A former cyclist come clean (NY Times link) Two of Lance Armstrong's former teammates come clean.
posted on Sep 13, 2006 - Go to the detail view for this result
US OPEN men's seed report. Federer eyes three-peat; draw gods unkind to Agassi
posted on Aug 24, 2006 - Go to the detail view for this result
Paradiso to Inferno A long two-part explanation of the Moggi-Juventus scandal in Italy.
posted on Jul 30, 2006 - Go to the detail view for this result
Federer vs. Nadal again! In case you forgot with all the World Cup excitement, there's this little tennis tournament going on called Wimbledon. Federer is playing "flawless" tennis and Nadal surprised everyone by making it to the final in just his 5th professional tournament on grass playing his usual high-energy, take no prisoners game. Theoretically, Federer should dominate on grass, but some question his, ahem, resolve .
posted on Jul 7, 2006 - Go to the detail view for this result
First World Cup semi-final lives up to the hype.
posted on Jul 5, 2006 - Go to the detail view for this result
It's a sister slam! Venus and Serena Williams cruised through the Wimbledon women's singles semifinal with straight sets victories over Elena Dementieva and Zheng Jie, to advance to their third straight all-Williams Wimbledon final.
posted to Tennis at 1:09 PM CDT
Nadal wins 4th straight French Open in a rout. Rafael Nadal put on a clinic against World #1 Roger Federer to match Bjorn Borg's record for consecutive victories at Roland Garros. He was so dominant, he felt he had to apologize to Federer for the result.
posted to Tennis at 2:02 PM CDT
One of the greatest tournaments ever played in Tennis. Nadal absolutely dominated the field and capped it off with a flat out beatdown of the perhaps the greatest player of all time. Congratulations Rafa! Throughout the tournament he didn't drop a single set and I believe he lost the fewest total games since Borg. He held his quarterfinal opponent Nico Almagro to three breadsticks (6-1, 6-1, 6-1) and bageled the world's number one (first time Fed's lost a set 6-0 since 1999). Wow.
The sickest thing about this performance (I'm talking the entire fortnight) is that it illustrates that Rafa has actually improved his clay court game over the past year. It sounds amazing but here's what's happened: Rafa has been working hard to improve on grass and hard courts over the past few seasons and he's incorporated some of those weapons into his clay game. So now, in addition to being the greatest defensive player on the circuit with amazing movement he is also a fierce attacking player. He's playing closer to the baseline, which allows him to dictate points and go for winners; he's serving harder and more consistently; he's developed a blistering cross-court backhand and has some of the best passing shots in the game.
In short, he is now unbeatable on clay. Unless he's injured (a legitimate concern with Rafa), Roger will never beat him in an RG final.
posted at 6:10 PM CDT on June 8
You know that in tennis, like most sports, confidence is a huge part of success. I have to believe that right now Federer would have very little confidence facing Nadal in the Wimby final, while Nadal's would be through the roof. I think Borg was right, if Rafa makes it through the early rounds he will win Wimbledon.
posted at 9:19 AM CDT on June 9
Fed has definitely lost the aura of invincibility that he has had against the rest of the tour (except for Nadal, who was never intimidated by Roger). It seems apparent that his motivation and perhaps his skill are in decline (although he's still the best all around player, just not by much). This is normal for any player who has stayed on top of his sport for so long. It happened to Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Agassi, Sampras. Hell, even Michael Jordan had to take a two year baseball camp vacation. Staying number one for as long as Federer has is a superhuman feat. The top players get no breaks, they have to play tournament after tournament to maintain their ranking. If you make it to every final like Federer has, you end up playing an incredible amount of tennis. It takes a physical toll, of course, but I have to believe that the mental toll must be absolutely devastating over the long-term. I think Roger has lost his spark and I can't say that I blame him.
There are many hungry youngsters who are ready to fill the ATP power vacuum, given the chance. Besides Nadal and Djokovic there's Monfils, Tsongas, Gulbis, Gasquet (if he can ever get it together), Berdych, Murray, Youznhy, Baghdhitis, etc, etc. All young, all potential world beaters. This is good for tennis. Federer is a virtuoso, but his five year monologue was growing tiresome. All I can say, thank God for Nadal, and also for Djokovic.
posted at 1:33 PM CDT on June 9
I was getting tired of watching Federer have no competition. Big difference.
posted at 3:11 PM CDT on June 9
Yeah, those finals against a clueless Roddick were more painful than anything else. Although I admit I was wincing my way through Sunday's match as well. Rafa has become on clay what Federer was on grass. I'm hoping for some more compelling tennis come Wimby.
posted at 3:55 PM CDT on June 9
Out of curiosity, has this whole mono business been confirmed? There have been conflicting reports. I heard at some point that he had a stomach virus before the AO. The mono rumors came out quite a bit after. During his Roland Garros presser he mentioned a "disease" that he had (that was a translation from French), but he doesn't specify. Has RF actually said he had mono?
posted at 2:41 PM CDT on June 10
Fines will be imposed for clear cases of flopping: The league office has yet to determine exact fine amounts for offending flops and how fines might escalate for repeat offenders, but in-game arena observers and video reviewers will be instructed to report instances of theatrical flopping for potential punishment as part of postgame reports on officiating and other matters.
posted to Basketball at 11:35 AM CDT
Nice post dave2007, I think what you wrote about how globalization of soccer has created cultural problems about what is fair play and what is cheating is dead on. The same goes for basketball. Players from Argentina or Serbia or Italy will always bring these "gamesmanship" aspects to any sport.
For those of you who think that the league will be able to shame guys like Ginobili into not flopping (pink armbands and all that), you are dead wrong. That kind of "cheating" is so ingrained in his culture (and many others) that its not just accepted, it's applauded. If you do it well, you are admired and respected.
posted at 2:30 PM CDT on May 30
It's been 10 years?!
That's right, 10 years since Kerry Wood tied the major league record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game.
You can watch the video highlights of the 20 strikeouts here.
posted to Baseball at 8:05 PM CDT
video's down - any alternative sites?
posted at 5:37 PM CDT on May 8
"This fella, Ronaldo, he's a cod" RTE's TV pundits show they really don't like Cristiano Ronaldo (via). Why does he seem to polarise opinion in a way that other players don't?
posted to Soccer at 3:44 AM CDT
I think Ronaldo's penchant for diving cost him a valid penalty against Barca. It wasn't called, partly because he had tried several ridiculous dives in between the first (called) penalty and the second (non-called). I think the referee was suffering from Ronaldo fatigue. It happens. He did look mighty dangerous every time he touched it though and he certainly looked about twice as fast as Marquez and Milito.
posted at 10:29 AM CDT on April 26
The Cubs Own Chicago; The White Sox Just Rent There One team finally brings a World Series championship to Chicago, a much-maligned, double-jeopardy Charlie Brown of major league baseball. The other team "celebrates" 100 years since their last championship. So why are the White Sox the city's second-class citizen?
posted to Baseball at 11:49 AM CDT
Two words: Wrigley Field.
The friendly confines oozes magic; Big Corporate Box field on the south side has no soul.
posted at 2:25 PM CDT on April 1
Top 10: Hardcore Fans The following 10 groups of hardcore fans, on the other hand, perform their rituals in stadiums, while the game is being played. Each group has been judged based on its longevity, the size and scope of the organization and the lunacy and originality of their behavior. Hooliganism will, of course, factor into this, since Italian and Spanish clubs have done little to curb the radical elements of their fan bases.
posted to Culture at 9:05 AM CDT
Shoddy reporting, the average FCB fan, the "culer" may be rabid, but if you are talking about the truly radical factions, that would be the Boixos Nois, who are the equivalent of the Ultra Sur group that supports Real Madrid.
posted at 6:05 AM CDT on March 13
A Crushing Blow to Yao Ming and the Rockets The future of the Houston Rockets is back on spin cycle. The player some believe plays like Bill Walton is now threatening to have a career like ... Bill Walton.
posted to Basketball at 4:24 PM CDT
Well this sucks. I find myself really liking Yao for a lot of different reasons, work ethic, his arc of progression, the fact that he handles himself really well in the most stressful position of just about any athlete in America (when you realize how heavily his every move is scrutinized by the BILLION + people in China). He is also worn down every summer playing for the Chinese national team, so he gets little rest. History will tell you that most guys that big who play as much as Yao get injured often.
Again, this sucks.
posted at 1:43 AM CDT on February 28
Cavs Acquire Ben Wallace and Wally Alphabet for Playoff Run. Eleven player, three team deal between Cleveland, Chicago and Seattle. TrueHoop's thoughts.
posted to Basketball at 5:11 PM CDT
I haven't see Chicago play this year but if Big Ben still has that fire then he'll be huge for them.
That fire is dead.
To be honest, this may be a decent trade for both teams (but never a good trade, because no real talent was exchanged). Wallace may be able to salvage something of his defensive reputation playing PF next to a big, offensive C. Hughes may fill a need as a decent slasher on a team made up primarily of jump shooters - as opposed to being a crappy jump shooter on a team that already has the best slasher in the NBA. But let's be honest, this is trading garbage for garbage, bad contract for bad contract.
To really understand the context, go read Cavs blogs like http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/ or Bulls blogs like Blogabull to see how ecstatic each teams' fans are to get rid of Wallace and Hughes respectively. The first time Hughes goes 1-14 from the field, and the next 50 times Wallace airballs a free throw will make the fans of their new teams see the light.
The best player, or at least the player who is playing best, in this deal is Joe Smith.
posted at 1:38 PM CDT on February 24
Suns go from Run and Gun to Ground and Pound Heat trade Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, pending an MRI of Shaq's left hip.
posted to Basketball at 9:04 AM CDT
As far as I can tell this trade has not been finalized.
posted at 9:32 AM CDT on February 6
Knowsalittle, they could look at the matches played on that surface over the last 52 weeks. It's absurd to have Davydanko seeded 4 at Wimbledon or Roddick seeded (at all) at Roland Garros.
Although it occurs to me that Wimbledon would have problems doing this since there is no grass season...