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6368. wabbit - 7/6/2009 4:22:15 PM  I hope no tennis fan missed the men's final at Wimbledon. It was sad that someone had to lose. Roger Federer was playing for history. Andy Roddick was playing the match of his life. On and on they dueled, Federer trying for a record-breaking 15th major championship, Roddick striving for his second, in a Wimbledon final that required more games than any Grand Slam title match in the considerable annals of a sport dating to the 1800s. They were each other's equal for four full sets and nearly the entire 30-game fifth set. Until Federer, far more experienced in such matters, finally edged ahead, breaking Roddick's serve for the only time in the 77th and last game to close out a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 victory Sunday.
The epic match -- the fifth set alone lasted more than 1 1/2 hours -- gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon title. Add that to five from the U.S. Open, three from the Australian Open and one from the French Open, and Federer's Grand Slam total rises to 15, one more than Pete Sampras, who flew in from California on Sunday morning to be on hand.
When the latest all-Williams women's final finished, when Serena wrapped up a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory for a third Wimbledon championship and 11th major title overall, she jogged to the net with her arm extended for a handshake. Venus pulled her close for a warm embrace, instead. Serena was facing the only other woman who can equal her power and court coverage on grass courts. Monday's rankings will say Serena is No. 2, and Venus No. 3 -- behind No. 1 Dinara Safina, a 6-1, 6-0 loser to the elder Williams in the semifinals -- but it is clear who the best woman in the world is at the moment. Serena has won three of the past four Grand Slam titles.
About 3-1/2 hours after their match ended, Serena and Venus returned to Centre Court and capped their domination of the tournament by winning a second consecutive Wimbledon doubles championship. Slapping palms between points, the sisters beat Australians Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (4), 6-4 to collect their ninth women's doubles Grand Slam title, fourth at Wimbledon. Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia won their second straight Wimbledon men's doubles title Saturday, beating top-seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (7), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Wimbledon
6369. wabbit - 7/6/2009 4:24:39 PM  Shot twice in the head and two more times in the chest, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was the victim of a homicide, police declared Sunday. But authorities wouldn't say it was a murder-suicide -- even with his 20-year-old girlfriend dead at his feet from a single bullet.
McNair had been dating Sahel Kazemi for several months, and Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Sunday that a semiautomatic pistol was found under her body. She was shot in the head.
McNair, who was married with four sons, had a permit to carry a handgun in Tennessee, and he was arrested once before with a 9mm weapon although charges in the case were dropped. Police said they had not yet determined who owned the gun found at the scene.
Investigators weren't looking for a suspect but were questioning friends of the couple as well as Kazemi's ex-boyfriend. They were also waiting for results of drug and other laboratory tests before deciding whether McNair was killed in a lovers' quarrel...
6370. wabbit - 7/9/2009 4:30:51 PM Former U.S. figure skating champion Nicole Bobek probably got mixed up with the wrong crowd, the skater's mother said Wednesday, two days after her 31-year-old daughter was released from jail on a drug distribution charge stemming from an investigation that has netted 20 arrests so far.
Jana Bobek said her daughter liked to party and may be in trouble because of the company she keeps.
"If she is in some kind of trouble, she is probably in some trouble because she got in with the wrong company. I do strongly believe she would never do anything criminal," Jana Bobek told The Associated Press.
"Did she party? Probably, yes," Bobek's mother said. "I know she's a wonderful person and she has a very good heart and a lot of time that's been taken advantage of."
Nicole Bobek, who has homes in New York City and Jupiter, Fla., has been charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hudson and other North Jersey counties. She was arrested in Florida last week and extradited to New Jersey.
So far, 20 people, including Bobek, have been arrested in connection with the drug ring. An investigation is ongoing. Wasn't that always the rap on her, that she was a party girl?6371. wabbit - 7/12/2009 4:58:22 PM  John Smoltz finally felt as if he contributed to the Boston Red Sox. He doesn't expect it to be for the last time. Smoltz got his first win for Boston and Kevin Youkilis hit two home runs to lift the Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals 15-9 Saturday night. Smoltz (1-2) struck out seven over five innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out four batters in a row over the second and third inning capped off by called third strikes that painted the corner on Miguel Olivo and Tony Pena. Coming off shoulder surgery that cut his 2008 season to six appearances, the 42-year-old Smoltz didn't make his first start until June 25 against Washington. He struggled with an 0-2 record and 6.60 ERA in three previous appearances. Jason Varitek and David Ortiz also homered for Boston while Youkilis, who had been in a 3 for 30 slump, drove in four runs and scored four as well.
Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena will replace Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the American League roster for Tuesday's game All-Star game. Pedroia's wife, Kelli, is seven months pregnant and been in the hospital since Monday with complications.
The Los Angeles Angels struck seven runs in the fifth inning and overwhelmed the New York Yankees 14-8 on Saturday. The Angels, who trailed 4-0 early, turned the game around with seven big hits in the fifth and added four more runs in the eighth after New York pulled within 10-8. Alex Rodriguez homered twice for the Yankees, boosting his career total to 570, and team mate Eric Hinske also had two home runs, but four New York pitchers could not weather Los Angeles' 16-hit attack. The loss dropped the Yankees to a game and a half behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Los Angeles pulled even with Texas in the AL West prior to the Rangers' late game at Seattle. Mike Napoli and Bobby Abreu both drove in three runs for the Angels, who beat the Yankees for the second consecutive day.
MLB news
6372. wabbit - 7/12/2009 5:00:25 PM  Tour de France update - on Saturday, the status quo between Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong prevailed as Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain won the eighth stage in the Pyrenees, while Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini retained the yellow jersey. Contador eclipsed the seven-time Tour champion Armstrong a day earlier in the first Pyrenean ride, and trails the Italian, who is not seen as an overall title threat, by six seconds. Armstrong is eight seconds back. Astana holds four of the top six spots. Levi Leipheimer of the United States is 39 seconds off the pace in fourth, while Andreas Kloeden is sixth, 54 seconds behind.
The 26-year-old Contador is already one of cycling's top riders, having won all three Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain -- a feat accomplished only by five riders. Armstrong isn't one of them.
Armstrong didn't speak to reporters after Saturday's stage, a 110-mile trek along three big climbs from the Pyrenean principality of Andorra to Saint-Girons, France. Armstrong posted on Twitter: "St8 done. Tough but not 2 challenging. Had anti-doping control AGAIN." Cycling's governing body UCI and France's anti-doping agency have stepped up urine and blood tests this year in an effort to root out cheats who have marred cycling's premiere race in recent years. That means top performers like Armstrong face more checks.
6373. wabbit - 7/18/2009 3:02:45 PM 
Carl Crawford's glove and one of the great bullpens in All-Star history helped save the American League's streak. Crawford pulled back a home run with a leaping grab an inning before Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth, giving the AL a 4-3 victory Tuesday night at the new Busch Stadium.
"It was definitely probably the best catch I ever made," said Crawford, the MVP. "I didn't think it was going to carry that far, but it carried and I just had to find the wall, make the adjustment and make the play on it."
The AL has won seven straight times the All-Star game has been used to determine home-field advantage for the World Series, an innovation that began after 2002's 7-7, 11-inning tie at Milwaukee. It is 12-0-1 since its 1996 defeat at Philadelphia — the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history. Not even President Barack Obama's ceremonial first pitch helped the NL, which had been 4-0 previously when sitting presidents threw out the first offering. The NL scored all its runs in the second inning, and 22 of its last 24 batters made out.
AL manager Joe Maddon credited his bullpen "stallions" of Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan and Mariano Rivera. Starting with Hanley Ramirez's groundout off starter Roy Halladay that ended the second, AL pitchers retired 18 consecutive batters before Adrian Gonzalez's two-out walk in the eighth against Nathan. Orlando Hudson singled and, with pinch-hitter Ryan Howard at the plate, stole second before Howard struck out on a breaking ball in the dirt. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his record fourth All-Star save, breaking a tie with Dennis Eckersley and giving him eight All-Star innings over eight appearances with no earned runs.
6374. wabbit - 7/18/2009 3:03:08 PM 
Lance Armstrong stayed in third place after a wet and chilly ride Friday and lost a crucial ally for the rest of the Tour de France when teammate Levi Leipheimer withdrew because of a broken wrist.
The top standings didn’t change in the 124-mile stage through the rolling hills of northeast France that featured three big climbs, including the demanding Col du Platzerwasel. Armstrong, who trails overall leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy by eight seconds and Astana teammate Alberto Contador by two, said a crucial showdown awaits in Sunday’s ride into Switzerland.
“That one is almost a guarantee because it’s uphill,” the seven-time champion said of the ride from Pontarlier, France, to the Swiss ski station of Verbier. “For sure, it’s a decisive stage and exciting for the fans.”
Armstrong and Contador expressed regret about the withdrawal of Leipheimer before the stage. Leipheimer, who had been fourth overall, 39 seconds behind Nocentini, fell off his bike and broke his wrist in the last two miles of Thursday’s stage.
The 13th stage from Vittel to Colmar, won by Germany’s Heinrich Haussler, was less secure for riders Julian Dean and Oscar Freire: they were lightly injured by shots from a suspected air rifle from the roadside. A projectile embedded in Freire's thigh was removed by a team doctor. Garmin spokeswoman Marya Pongrace said Dean's right index finger was injured.
6375. wabbit - 7/18/2009 3:03:44 PM  With a cold and murky sea gurgling behind him, Tiger Woods bent at the waist in search of his missing golf ball. He swiped at the tall heather on Turnberry's 10th hole like anyone else would in a disquieting round of golf, moving the yellow blades of grass around in a fruitless pursuit.
Several groups ahead, the 59-year-old Tom Watson was carrying a British Open gallery in the palms of his weathered hands, beating back a rash of bogeys and rolling in putts from distance.
These were two sights few predicted they would ever see at the 138th British Open at Turnberry. The world's No. 1-ranked golfer doubled over, careering toward his second missed cut in a major since turning professional. And Watson, the world's 1,374th-ranked golfer, a senior tour veteran who had his left hip replaced last October, leading the British Open after all these years.
The 33-year-old Woods is going home, removed from blustery Turnberry and the storyline of golf's oldest championship after missing the cut at a major for only the second time as a pro; he last failed to make a major weekend at the 2006 United States Open at Winged Foot. After opening with a one-over 71 in calm conditions on Thursday, Woods followed in Friday's windy weather with an unsightly four-over 74. His five-over 145 total through 36 holes left him one shot over the cut line. He will have to wait until next month's PGA Championship at Hazeltine to resume his chase of a 15th major title, and he is still four short of his boyhood idol, Jack Nicklaus, who won 18.
Left in Woods's wake is a fascinating leader board, topped by a five-time British Open winner in Watson and a first-time British Open participant in Steve Marino. They stand at five-under 135, one man considered by many the greatest links golfer ever born, the other man playing links golf for the first time. Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open champ, stands one shot back, and several other big names, including Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Miguel Angel Jimenez, are two back.
6376. wabbit - 7/20/2009 2:49:41 PM I waver between heartbreak for Tom Watson or happiness for Stewart Cink. Either way, the 2009 British Open was something to see. At 6:19 p.m. Sunday, on a spit of land hard by the Firth of Clyde, an old man with a new hip strode down the center of a dusty fairway. The summer sun was bathing Turnberry in gold, exactly as it had 32 years ago, the very first time Tom Watson conquered these storied, ancient links.
Watson's moment had come again, it seemed, and all of Turnberry felt it. The grandstands at the 18th hole creaked with the weight of the young and old. A silver trophy that Watson had won five times before was waiting in a trailer off the green.
A par would make the 59-year-old Watson the 138th and most improbable Open Champion. But destiny and the languid swing of Stewart Cink would deny him.
On the 72nd hole Watson finally, heartbreakingly, started to look his age, hitting his birdie putt from behind the green 10 feet past the hole, and then leaving his par putt for the championship inches short. The next hour, and a four-hole playoff, belonged to the 36-year-old Cink, who topped Watson by six shots and won the British Open for the first major of his career.
"It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn't it?" said Watson, who nearly claimed a record-tying sixth British Open. "It wasn't to be. It tears at your gut, as it always has torn at my gut. It's not easy to take."
Instead, it was Cink — who three-putted the 72nd hole at the 2001 United States Open to miss a playoff by a shot — claiming the oldest major championship in golf... 6377. wabbit - 7/20/2009 2:57:39 PM I guess the drug issues were getting passe for the Tour de France. A woman crossing the road during the Tour de France was killed Saturday when she was hit by a police motorcycle escorting riders. Two other fans were injured after the motorcycle skidded into them.
The accident happened in the early afternoon in Wittelsheim in eastern France during the 14th stage, a 124-mile route from Colmar to Besancon. A few breakaway riders had just ridden through the town center, Tour organizers said.
Organizers identified the victim as a 61-year-old woman. Race medical teams treated her immediately before emergency staffers arrived.
The accident happened 24 miles into the stage. After hitting the woman, the motorcycle skidded into two other fans. A 36-year-old complained of neck pain, and a 61-year-old broke a leg. They were taken to a hospital and are not in serious condition, Renard said. They were identified only by age... Meanwhile...The Tour de France star pedaled up out of his saddle in a mountain stage, dusted his rivals, and seized the yellow jersey that he knows all too well and covets so much. This time, it wasn't Lance Armstrong, but his teammate and one-time rival Alberto Contador, who won Sunday's 15th stage and made a case to be the Texan's successor at cycling's premier event. Armstrong finished in ninth place - 1 minute, 35 seconds after Contador and among other also-rans.
As the three-week race entered the Alps, the 26-year-old Spaniard recovered the celebrated shirt that he hadn't worn since his Tour victory in 2007. Race contenders knew that after a week of mainly flat stages that didn't alter the top standings much, the 128.9-mile ride from Pontarlier, France, to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier was critical.
Armstrong rose from fourth to second in the standings but lost time to Contador, whom he now trails by 1 minute, 37 seconds.
Now, he sees his job as serving as a "domestique'' - or support rider - for Contador, putting an end to speculation about whether he or the Spaniard deserved the role of Astana team leader... 6378. alistairConnor - 7/21/2009 12:47:23 AM It was the first really interesting stage. (Also the first one I got to watch on TV. Some years, my annual mountain biking trip gives me the time to catch the end of a few stages in front of a cold beer; but it never turned out that way this year.)
There are a series of really tough Alpine stages starting tomorrow, so a lot can still happen. But it looks like that climb to Verbier was the true indicator of form. It would be churlish to gloat over Lance's apparent failure to return to the very top of the heap... Still. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. 6379. robertjayb - 7/21/2009 4:05:53 AM Yes, it would be churlish. 6380. iiibbb - 7/21/2009 4:17:11 AM Alistar... it is a bit ironic that you would be tempted to gloat about a man who's "failure" constitutes being #2... by default acknowledging that Lance is just that great.
Really, it's rather remarkable that someone who theoretically is so full of himself, so readily accepted that a team-mate is the better man, and that he's going to support him.
Good luck to Contador... he's damn impressive.
6381. alistairConnor - 7/21/2009 7:50:52 AM iii:
Lance is immense, he's dominated the Tour for the last decade, even when he wasn't there. I respect him for coming back, for taking that risk. The fact that he says he'll work for Contador is standard cycling practice, it's the least he can do.
But the race isn't over yet! He kept it buttoned up tight until Sunday, partly through the work of his team, and partly by his incredible psychological domination of his rivals. Starting now, it's going to be a free-for-all. But his team is still the strongest by far, so he's still one of the favourites.
I just wish I could like him. It wouldn't take much effort on his part, but it's never been in his priorities. So people feel cheated. 6382. iiibbb - 7/21/2009 11:00:48 AM I guess... but he's not the first elusive sports figure... take Tiger Woods.
I think he's also a creature of the cycling media's making. I would think it's hard to be so open when so many people work so hard to hunt your head. I'm not sure which came first in this case, but that certainly seems to be the dynamic at this point.
I don't expect Lance to give up ground either. Contador could bonk on any given day (it's happened in the past)... or heaven forbid there could be an accident. The tour is full of surprises.
Astana's almost in a position to sweep the podium. Wouldn't that be something? 6383. alistairconnor - 7/21/2009 10:39:23 PM The irony is that Astana could sweep the podium, then explode.
Manager Johan Bruyneel, who saved the team from the wreckage of a major doping scandal, has announced he's quitting, and will be forming a new team with Lance (who says he will be back for the Tour 2010). Vinokourov, who has finished his two-year ban for doping, has announced that he's coming back, it's his team, and if Bruyneel doesn't like it he can fuck off (freely translated from the Khazak original).
As for comparing Lance to Tiger Woods : Lance is not elusive, he's a manipulative asshole. There's a subtle difference. 6384. iiibbb - 7/22/2009 12:09:50 AM You have to admit there are a number of Tour champions who were manipulative assholes. 6385. alistairconnor - 7/22/2009 4:36:31 PM Yes, but they knew when to smile.
Meanwhile... that podium now looks like this :
Contador/Schleck/Schleck.
Brother Frank won the stage, accompanied by Contador and brother Andy. The b
Both Schlecks moved past Lance in the general ranking. 6386. alistairconnor - 7/22/2009 4:39:32 PM Yes, but they knew when to smile.
Meanwhile... that podium now looks like this :
Contador/Schleck/Schleck.
Brother Frank won the stage, accompanied by Contador and brother Andy. It was Andy who attacked, they were the only ones able to follow. Lance finished fifth today.
Both Schlecks move past Lance in the general ranking. He's now fourth, 3 min 55 behind Contador, and the writing's really on the wall now. 6387. alistairconnor - 7/23/2009 4:57:06 PM Hey Lance... who's yer daddy?
Alberto Contador.
He won the time trial, once anti-clockwise around the lake of Annecy, gaining another minute and a half on Lance, who is sixteenth today. But Lance gets back on the virtual podium, because he gained time on both the brothers Shrek.
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