Monthly Sports Round-up - July 2006
Highlights from around the world of sports during the month of July...
July 2 - After 3 exciting draws where India had a chance to win each of the 3 tests entering the final session of the test, the Men in Blue put one victory across the West Indians, and thus ending the wretched run of 31 years without a series victory in the Carribean. Though the inability of Sachin's men to make 120 in the 4th innings at Bridgetown still rankles me, I was so happy that India, under Dravid, managed to win this test & with it the series. If there is somebody, apart from Dravid, who truly deserves this series victory, it should be Kumble, given his unsung hero status & the untiring dedication of the man who gives his best each time he is called on to bowl. I was so happy that he was instrumental in the victory, with his 6 wicket haul in the last innings.
July 2 - Michael Schumacher wins the US Grand Prix and cuts down the points difference between himself & Alonso to 19 points. He becomes the first ever man to win 5 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Though he started from the pole position, he surrendered the lead temporarily to teammate Massa for the first few laps before overtaking him after the first pit stop & gaining control of the remainder of the race. In the end, it turned out to be an easy outing for this accomplished Ferrari driver. Though 23 cars started the race, only 9 were able to finish it, thanks to the multiple collision in the first lap involving 7 cars.
July 9 - Italy it is. As all the favorites wilted by the way side as the tournament progressed, it was left to Italy & France to fight it out in the final, which didn’t live up to all the expectations and befitting a tournament of this stature. This is Italy's 4th world cup win and it has come after a gap of 24 years. Zidane wins the Golden Ball ward for the MVP of the tournament. A small consolation for the man who had a very forgettable end to his distinguished career.
July 9 - Federer finally overcomes his nemesis of this year, Nadal, beating him in 4 sets to win his 4th straight Wimbledon title. Though the match surely showed glimpses of Nadal's potential on grass, Federer was in control throughout the game. With his 4th straight title, Federer joins some elite company - Sampras & Bjorn Borg - as the only 2 other men to have won 4 straight Wimbledon titles. The Wimbledon championships threw up another interesting statistic about the state of affairs of tennis in the US - this is for the first time since 1911, that there was no representation of the US in both the men’s and women's quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Sad to see that the country that produced legends like Sampras & Connors is struggling to produce world class talents in tennis.
July 16 - Michael Schumacher wins the 8th French Grand Prix of his distinguished career, as gets the better of Alonso for the 2nd consecutive race. It was a 1 & 3 finish for Ferrari with Alonso coming second. The difference between Alonso & Schumacher is now down to 17 and the home stretch of this F1 season is gearing up for a great finish.
July 23 - Tiger Woods wins the British Open by a 2 stroke margin, thus increasing his total number of major championships count to 11, in the process narrowing the difference between him and Jack Nicklaus to a mere 7 majors. It was a dominant victory for the golfing phenom, as he lead comfortably from round 2 onwards. The final round saw him play more conservatively, sticking on to his lead and not trying anything adventurous. After the victory though, Tiger breaks down into uncontrollable bouts of tears, in the arms of his caddie and his wife. Next up is the PGA Championships in Medinah Country Club near Chicago this month.
July 23 - Floyd Landis wins the Tour De France, thus making sure that the cycle world's most grueling & prestigious championship title remains with the Americans for the 8th consecutive year. But in completely unexpected developments, days after the race got over, news surfaced that Landis' urine sample was found to contain more than acceptable levels of testosterone. The American rider has vehemently denied the same claiming that the reason for the abnormal level is due to his natural metabolism, while the whole world awaits the result of his backup sample, which if returns a positive result, Landis will be stripped of the title. I feel really bad for the guy, in case this is all a mistake. In this age of technology when even the minutest of infractions can be zeroed in, I believe that Landis would not have done this on purpose. If that is the case, this is all a great tragedy bcos his title victory will always be viewed with suspicion, with an asterisk near it, which is something any sportsman would hate to see. The days ahead will be interesting...
July 30 - It was again a 1-2 Ferrari finish as Schumacher and Massa took the first 2 spots of the German grand Prix, with the German earning the 89th victory of his distinguished career. If it was Alonso who dominated the early part of this championship by winning 6 out of the first 9 races, it has been Schumacher all the way during the past 3 races, as he conjured up his 3rd consecutive race victory. The German thus further cut his deficit between him & Alonso by 6 points as the points difference between them now just stands at 11 points. If Schumacher can win the remaining 6 races of the season, then he will win the championship no matter what Alonso does. Next stop is the Hungarian Open, next Sunday.
July 31 - Well, you have to write something about it if 2 players go on to make 624 runs in well under 2 days, with each of them scoring mammoth centuries (one of them in the process becoming the 4th highest scorer in an innings in the history of test cricket). Scoring 500+ runs partnership is not new to the Sri Lankans as they already held the world record for the highest partnership for any wicket (they did so against Sachin's Indians in that forgettable match where they scored 900+ runs and the match went on to become a dull draw). Though I am highly critical of this approach of the Sri Lankans in that they kill whatever little interest the watching public has in test cricket, the fact that they managed a result out of this one made me write about it. Murali just keeps taking 10 wickets a match, as though it were his birth right and as though someone will shoot him to death if he gets anything less than 10 wickets in a test :)
Best individual performance of the month - This has to go Jayawardane and Sangakkara for their world record setting partnership of 624 runs. 157 overs, 942 balls, 79 boundaries, 0 wickets. It should have been truly heartbreaking for the South Africans. It is really an achievement to bat with so much concentration over such a long period of time. So, here’s to Jaywardane and Sangakkara for their mind-boggling partnership.
Best sporting event of the month - Though the game did not live up to the dizzying expectations of the best sporting event of the year, the final of the World Cup has to be given the status of the best sporting event of the month, atleast. After all, you don’t get to see it for the next 4 years, whatsay? If not anything, Zidane made sure that this final will stay in our minds for years and years to come.
July 2 - Michael Schumacher wins the US Grand Prix and cuts down the points difference between himself & Alonso to 19 points. He becomes the first ever man to win 5 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Though he started from the pole position, he surrendered the lead temporarily to teammate Massa for the first few laps before overtaking him after the first pit stop & gaining control of the remainder of the race. In the end, it turned out to be an easy outing for this accomplished Ferrari driver. Though 23 cars started the race, only 9 were able to finish it, thanks to the multiple collision in the first lap involving 7 cars.
July 9 - Italy it is. As all the favorites wilted by the way side as the tournament progressed, it was left to Italy & France to fight it out in the final, which didn’t live up to all the expectations and befitting a tournament of this stature. This is Italy's 4th world cup win and it has come after a gap of 24 years. Zidane wins the Golden Ball ward for the MVP of the tournament. A small consolation for the man who had a very forgettable end to his distinguished career.
July 9 - Federer finally overcomes his nemesis of this year, Nadal, beating him in 4 sets to win his 4th straight Wimbledon title. Though the match surely showed glimpses of Nadal's potential on grass, Federer was in control throughout the game. With his 4th straight title, Federer joins some elite company - Sampras & Bjorn Borg - as the only 2 other men to have won 4 straight Wimbledon titles. The Wimbledon championships threw up another interesting statistic about the state of affairs of tennis in the US - this is for the first time since 1911, that there was no representation of the US in both the men’s and women's quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Sad to see that the country that produced legends like Sampras & Connors is struggling to produce world class talents in tennis.
July 16 - Michael Schumacher wins the 8th French Grand Prix of his distinguished career, as gets the better of Alonso for the 2nd consecutive race. It was a 1 & 3 finish for Ferrari with Alonso coming second. The difference between Alonso & Schumacher is now down to 17 and the home stretch of this F1 season is gearing up for a great finish.
July 23 - Tiger Woods wins the British Open by a 2 stroke margin, thus increasing his total number of major championships count to 11, in the process narrowing the difference between him and Jack Nicklaus to a mere 7 majors. It was a dominant victory for the golfing phenom, as he lead comfortably from round 2 onwards. The final round saw him play more conservatively, sticking on to his lead and not trying anything adventurous. After the victory though, Tiger breaks down into uncontrollable bouts of tears, in the arms of his caddie and his wife. Next up is the PGA Championships in Medinah Country Club near Chicago this month.
July 23 - Floyd Landis wins the Tour De France, thus making sure that the cycle world's most grueling & prestigious championship title remains with the Americans for the 8th consecutive year. But in completely unexpected developments, days after the race got over, news surfaced that Landis' urine sample was found to contain more than acceptable levels of testosterone. The American rider has vehemently denied the same claiming that the reason for the abnormal level is due to his natural metabolism, while the whole world awaits the result of his backup sample, which if returns a positive result, Landis will be stripped of the title. I feel really bad for the guy, in case this is all a mistake. In this age of technology when even the minutest of infractions can be zeroed in, I believe that Landis would not have done this on purpose. If that is the case, this is all a great tragedy bcos his title victory will always be viewed with suspicion, with an asterisk near it, which is something any sportsman would hate to see. The days ahead will be interesting...
July 30 - It was again a 1-2 Ferrari finish as Schumacher and Massa took the first 2 spots of the German grand Prix, with the German earning the 89th victory of his distinguished career. If it was Alonso who dominated the early part of this championship by winning 6 out of the first 9 races, it has been Schumacher all the way during the past 3 races, as he conjured up his 3rd consecutive race victory. The German thus further cut his deficit between him & Alonso by 6 points as the points difference between them now just stands at 11 points. If Schumacher can win the remaining 6 races of the season, then he will win the championship no matter what Alonso does. Next stop is the Hungarian Open, next Sunday.
July 31 - Well, you have to write something about it if 2 players go on to make 624 runs in well under 2 days, with each of them scoring mammoth centuries (one of them in the process becoming the 4th highest scorer in an innings in the history of test cricket). Scoring 500+ runs partnership is not new to the Sri Lankans as they already held the world record for the highest partnership for any wicket (they did so against Sachin's Indians in that forgettable match where they scored 900+ runs and the match went on to become a dull draw). Though I am highly critical of this approach of the Sri Lankans in that they kill whatever little interest the watching public has in test cricket, the fact that they managed a result out of this one made me write about it. Murali just keeps taking 10 wickets a match, as though it were his birth right and as though someone will shoot him to death if he gets anything less than 10 wickets in a test :)
Best individual performance of the month - This has to go Jayawardane and Sangakkara for their world record setting partnership of 624 runs. 157 overs, 942 balls, 79 boundaries, 0 wickets. It should have been truly heartbreaking for the South Africans. It is really an achievement to bat with so much concentration over such a long period of time. So, here’s to Jaywardane and Sangakkara for their mind-boggling partnership.
Best sporting event of the month - Though the game did not live up to the dizzying expectations of the best sporting event of the year, the final of the World Cup has to be given the status of the best sporting event of the month, atleast. After all, you don’t get to see it for the next 4 years, whatsay? If not anything, Zidane made sure that this final will stay in our minds for years and years to come.
posted by Filbert at 7:31 AM
3 Comments:
Very true about kumble. Only if he takes wickets we are winning the tests. Last few test wins are all becoz of kumble and the board dumps him once tests are over..very bad :(
And Schumi back to form is awesome to watch. Hope he steals this year championship from alonso :)
Glad to see that you too feel the same about Kumble. He is somebody whom I admire so much, for all he has done to Indian cricket. Whenever India wins, it is the batsmen who get all the credit whereas in reality, it would have been Kumble who got us the victory. Almost all the major Indian wins in the last decade has some meaningful contribution from this gentleman of a cricketer.
I really hope the test results on Saturday turn out to be negative. About what you quoted - from the looks of it, it appears that this testoeterone level is something that can be easily found out, if the levels are not normal. Given that, only someone who is really stupid would do something to increase the testosterone level. And I am sure Landis is a smart guy :)
About this long post - I did not write this in one shot. I keep writing this over the duration of the whole month, as and when something important happens. It helps in 2 ways - 1) You might forget the details of some events when you write them at the end of the month and 2) it makes it that much easier to write it in parts than doing at one stretch.
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