Monthly Sports Round-up - August 2006
The way I usually do these posts is as the month progresses, I keep writing about sports events which I think should find a place in the month-end post and if the list becomes too big at the end of the month, I delete the not-so-important ones. But this time around, I was in India for the most, with not a chance of catching up any sports events. So, I am just listing down the main sporting events that I am able to recall with whatever little news that I was able to get to during my hectic trip. So, you guys are most welcome to add on to this list.
August 5 - The dreaded news came early on Saturday morning as Floyd Landis' sample B results came out and they too confirmed his worst fears. Once the results were out, he was stripped of the Tour De France title and the title was handed over to runner-up Spaniard Oscar Periro. The sport which had already reached a low before this year’s tour actually began (when many favorites from Spain were suspended on doping charges) further loses its credibility with this historic incident.
August 14 - The Unitech cup - Of course, this should not technically be in the list but it is bcos of the 3 balls that Sachin faced during the brief play that was possible, I decided to include this in this list. I was all excited that day, watching the man play 3 balls before play was called off due to bad light. Though it was a mere 2 ball stint, the tournament officially marked Sachin's return to the international cricket and hence finds its place here in the list. I can not remember the last time when a complete tournament has been scraped off without a ball being bowled (or has it even happened?) The only good thing they did is that they called off the tournament right after the second ODI was cancelled, instead of waiting till the 3rd ODI too was rained out, thereby giving our players some extra time to rest before the next series.
August 19 - The World Basketball championships begin in Japan. This was something that was given wide coverage here in the US, long before the tournament actually began and the main reason for that being the more-than-the-usual efforts put in by the US team to put behind them disappointments from these championships & the Olympics in the past few years and thus regain basketball glory. The US team duly obliged the coverage it has received and made it to the semi-finals without breaking much of a sweat. But the Americans were brought crashing down to earth with a 101-95 loss to the reigning European Champions, Greece today. So, looks like they have to wait for another 2 years (till the Olympics) to regain that elusive world basketball title. All that talent in the world (which included the Class of NBA Draft 2003 – Lebron, Carmelo and Wade) could not still buy a world championship title.
August 20 - Hair controversy - well, he is at it again. The most controversial umpire in the game's history does it again, as he first penalizes the Pakistanis 5 runs for alleged tampering and then awards the test to the Englishmen after the Pakistanis refused to come out to play after the tea break on day 4. No wonder, that this has now become a part of the cricketing folklore, as arguably the most controversial decision in cricket's history what with this becoming the first test match to be conceded in the history of test cricket. IMHO, I though his awarding the test to the Englishmen was according to the rules which state that if a team does not come out to play, then the game should be conceded to the opposite team, which is what exactly he did. I fault the Pakistanis who continued playing the game even after the penalty was awarded. If they had not played right after that, Hair would not have had a reason to concede the test match to England. I don’t even want to get into the most sensational part of the whole morbid story - that of Hair offering to resign if given .5 million USD. My only comment would be that it was way too small amount to be claimed as compensation :)
August 20 - Tiger continues his dream run with his second major in 2 months, winning the PGA Tour Championships in the Medina Golf course, near Chicago. That leaves him just 6 short of the all-time majors record of 18 titles held by Jack Nicklaus. To me, the one thing that has fascinated me about Tiger is this fact - looks like, of all the times he has gone into the final round with atleast a share of the lead, he has made sure that he comes out on top. It is the final round that usually has all the tensions to it and it is amazing how time and again, he delivers. I was in Madurai during this tournament but I was able to catch all the action on ten sports channel. It was a pleasant surprise to see the amount of golf coverage we get back in India. And after the win at WGC Bridgestone invitational a week later, Tiger now has won 4 tournaments in a row, something he has repeated after a gap of 7 years.
August 27 - Felippe Massa wins his first career Formula 1 victory at the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul. In a close fight for the 2nd spot, Alonso pushes Schumacher to the 3rd spot, thus increasing his lead over Schumacher in the driver's championships race to 12 points. 4 races remain and it is going to be one uphill battle for Schumacher to catch up with the defending champion. All eyes on the Italian GP on September 10th.
August 28 - Agassi's swan song tournament (how else to call this year's US Open) beginsand looking at the way he struggled to overcome Pavel in the first round, he might not survive the second round or in other words, before this post sees the light of the day :) That was what I had written before yday when I had originally decided to publish this post. But Andre just refuses to go away, coming out with a hard fought 5-set victory over 8th seeded Baghdatis, in a match which many thought would be his last. Apart from the Agassi angle, the way Nadal dismissed one-time power played Mark Philippoussis, suggests that we are on course for the battle royale a.k.a the Federer-Nadal final. Yours truly leaving to NYC in a few hours from now and hopefully get to watch some games over the weekend. I have tickets to just 1 session during the weekend and planning to get tickets for the other sessions, at the venue. Any readers with previous experience of going to the US open, please do throw some light on the ticket availability at the venue.
Best sporting performance of the month - Given the too little sports action that I was able to catch during this month, Tiger's performance at the PGA Championships IMO deserves to win this. So, here's to Tiger recapturing his best form, after a brief slump following his father's death.
Best Sporting event of the month - This again involves Tiger and happened during the final round of the WGC Invitational gold tournament which Tiger won, the week after winning the PGA championships. Stewart Cink and Tiger were tied at the end of the 4 holes and what followed after that was some very exciting action. The play-off went on till the 4th hole when Tiger finally finished off with a birdie and Cink could only watch it. But the scenario was entirely different during the first 3 rounds of the playoff hole where it was Cink who had the upper hand and Tiger was haplessly watching, from the green. But you don’t waste 3 opportunities against Tiger and still hope to win. It was a nervous and closely fought playoff, albeit with a familiar result.
August 5 - The dreaded news came early on Saturday morning as Floyd Landis' sample B results came out and they too confirmed his worst fears. Once the results were out, he was stripped of the Tour De France title and the title was handed over to runner-up Spaniard Oscar Periro. The sport which had already reached a low before this year’s tour actually began (when many favorites from Spain were suspended on doping charges) further loses its credibility with this historic incident.
August 14 - The Unitech cup - Of course, this should not technically be in the list but it is bcos of the 3 balls that Sachin faced during the brief play that was possible, I decided to include this in this list. I was all excited that day, watching the man play 3 balls before play was called off due to bad light. Though it was a mere 2 ball stint, the tournament officially marked Sachin's return to the international cricket and hence finds its place here in the list. I can not remember the last time when a complete tournament has been scraped off without a ball being bowled (or has it even happened?) The only good thing they did is that they called off the tournament right after the second ODI was cancelled, instead of waiting till the 3rd ODI too was rained out, thereby giving our players some extra time to rest before the next series.
August 19 - The World Basketball championships begin in Japan. This was something that was given wide coverage here in the US, long before the tournament actually began and the main reason for that being the more-than-the-usual efforts put in by the US team to put behind them disappointments from these championships & the Olympics in the past few years and thus regain basketball glory. The US team duly obliged the coverage it has received and made it to the semi-finals without breaking much of a sweat. But the Americans were brought crashing down to earth with a 101-95 loss to the reigning European Champions, Greece today. So, looks like they have to wait for another 2 years (till the Olympics) to regain that elusive world basketball title. All that talent in the world (which included the Class of NBA Draft 2003 – Lebron, Carmelo and Wade) could not still buy a world championship title.
August 20 - Hair controversy - well, he is at it again. The most controversial umpire in the game's history does it again, as he first penalizes the Pakistanis 5 runs for alleged tampering and then awards the test to the Englishmen after the Pakistanis refused to come out to play after the tea break on day 4. No wonder, that this has now become a part of the cricketing folklore, as arguably the most controversial decision in cricket's history what with this becoming the first test match to be conceded in the history of test cricket. IMHO, I though his awarding the test to the Englishmen was according to the rules which state that if a team does not come out to play, then the game should be conceded to the opposite team, which is what exactly he did. I fault the Pakistanis who continued playing the game even after the penalty was awarded. If they had not played right after that, Hair would not have had a reason to concede the test match to England. I don’t even want to get into the most sensational part of the whole morbid story - that of Hair offering to resign if given .5 million USD. My only comment would be that it was way too small amount to be claimed as compensation :)
August 20 - Tiger continues his dream run with his second major in 2 months, winning the PGA Tour Championships in the Medina Golf course, near Chicago. That leaves him just 6 short of the all-time majors record of 18 titles held by Jack Nicklaus. To me, the one thing that has fascinated me about Tiger is this fact - looks like, of all the times he has gone into the final round with atleast a share of the lead, he has made sure that he comes out on top. It is the final round that usually has all the tensions to it and it is amazing how time and again, he delivers. I was in Madurai during this tournament but I was able to catch all the action on ten sports channel. It was a pleasant surprise to see the amount of golf coverage we get back in India. And after the win at WGC Bridgestone invitational a week later, Tiger now has won 4 tournaments in a row, something he has repeated after a gap of 7 years.
August 27 - Felippe Massa wins his first career Formula 1 victory at the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul. In a close fight for the 2nd spot, Alonso pushes Schumacher to the 3rd spot, thus increasing his lead over Schumacher in the driver's championships race to 12 points. 4 races remain and it is going to be one uphill battle for Schumacher to catch up with the defending champion. All eyes on the Italian GP on September 10th.
August 28 - Agassi's swan song tournament (how else to call this year's US Open) begins
Best sporting performance of the month - Given the too little sports action that I was able to catch during this month, Tiger's performance at the PGA Championships IMO deserves to win this. So, here's to Tiger recapturing his best form, after a brief slump following his father's death.
Best Sporting event of the month - This again involves Tiger and happened during the final round of the WGC Invitational gold tournament which Tiger won, the week after winning the PGA championships. Stewart Cink and Tiger were tied at the end of the 4 holes and what followed after that was some very exciting action. The play-off went on till the 4th hole when Tiger finally finished off with a birdie and Cink could only watch it. But the scenario was entirely different during the first 3 rounds of the playoff hole where it was Cink who had the upper hand and Tiger was haplessly watching, from the green. But you don’t waste 3 opportunities against Tiger and still hope to win. It was a nervous and closely fought playoff, albeit with a familiar result.
posted by Filbert at 10:31 AM
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