Monthly Sports Round-up - April 2007
Florida does a repeat
3 national titles in 12 months. No wonder ESPN.com called Gainesville as Titletown, FL. The whole athletic department of the Gators deserve all the praise they are getting for putting together this Championship run in these days of so much competition where there is little to choose between the top tier college teams in terms of talent and effort. In a game where the Buckeyes never really had a chance, the Gators pulled away for a 84-75 victory to win their second consecutive national championship. I am no big SEC fan and definitely not a Gator fan. So, it wasn't a pleasant watching the Gators win. Every time the Buckeyes pulled to within 5 to 8 points of the Gators, Humphrey will sink in a 3 and effectively douse all their hopes. The Buckeyes were one tired team and with Billy Donovan wisely rotating his players, this was as good as a no-contest mid-way through the 2nd half.
Zach Johnson wins the Masters
Tiger flops in the most prestigious of golf tournaments as he fails to reach par in any of the 4 rounds and finally ends up 3 shots behind the eventual winner Zach Johnson. Tiger's quest for an incredible 5th Master's championship victory thus came to an abrupt halt. He could not get his driving right all week long and he ended up finishing 46th in the field when it came to the number of fairways that were made during the week. It was a bad weekend in the office for all the big-name players and so it was indeed a minor consolation for Tiger fans in that he finished runner-up.
Australia completes a hat-trick
So, my prayers of Australia not winning a 3rd consecutive World Cup were not answered, as the Aussies completed a clinical demolition of the Lankans in the finals of the 2007 ICC World Cup. Though the Aussies were head and shoulders ahead of any other team in the tournament, I was still hoping for a miracle where the Lankans would pull off a surprise. But it was not to be. Gilchrit's 149 will find its place in the list of unforgettable knocks ever produced in a World cup. Even after Australia put together 281 on the board, as long as Jayasuriya and Sangakkara were knitting their little partnership, I was carrying faint hopes that we might be in for something special. But ultimately, the target of 282 in 38 overs proved to be just too much. The way Gilchrist bulldozed through the Sri Lankan bowlers, I was really looking forward to the Aussies breaking the 300 run mark but somehow they did not go for the whole hog in the final overs bcos may be they thought a score of 280 is more than enough for these Lankans.
End of a forgettable World Cup
What a chaotic ending to an already uninteresting World Cup. I really thought that this world cup almost deserved such a rain shorted game in the finals and absolute chaos towards the end of the game. To me, this World Cup has to be THE most forgettable world cup, ever since I started following cricket in the early 90s. The most obvious reason is the fact that India was knocked out in the first round. Looking beyond that, the other reason why this World Cup will be forgotten by me in a matter of weeks is the fact that apart from couple of games (one of them being a dead rubber), there were no real close games and last-over nail-biters that are usually what World cups are remembered for (South Africa – Australia semifinal in the 1999 WC, anyone?). Add on top of this the literally empty stands that watched the games, day in and day out. But if there is one thing this World Cup will be remembered for (apart from the unfortunate murder of Bob Woolmer) is the fact quite a few legends of the game called it quits at or after the World Cup. Lara, Inzamam, Kumble and McGrath - that is quite a list.
Russell goes first
Jamarcus Russell, the heavily built LSU quarterback who led his team to last year's Sugar Bowl victory, was drafted as the number 1 overall pick by the Oakland Raiders, ending months of speculation as to who among Russell or Quinn would be the number 1 overall pick. Brady Quinn fell all the way to the 22nd pick where the Browns traded a pick to draft him, after failing to draft him with their 3rd overall pick. Other than Brady Quinn, there were very few surprises in the draft and going by popular consensus, it is the Carolina Panthers who emerged as the clear winners with them stealing among others, WR Dwayne Jarrett and center Kalil from USC with their late 2nd round picks. Though the Seahawks did not reach out and draft any big-name college player, they did what they had said they will do - take players they had on the board that they liked. They added 4 players each on both sides of the football, also making sure they drafted players at positions which cost us games last year.
Moss goes to New England
Bill Belichick is just not done as he made the biggest of his off-season moves to sign Randy Moss from the Raiders. Though talks of Moss going to New England (or to the Packer nation) were doing the rounds during the free agency market frenzy couple of months back, it did come as a surprise when the Patriots, after completely revamping their receiving core earlier by signing folks like Daunte Stallworth and Wes Walker, chose to further strengthen their receiving core and decided to rope in Moss. If Belichick with his debilitated offense of last year could take the team to the AFC Championship game where they gave the Colts a close call, imagine what the Patriots can do with such a star-studded and healthy looking team. It is safe to say that the Patriots will start as the pre-season favorites of the 2007-08 NFL season.
Nadal's unbeaten streak continues
It is a well-known fact that when it comes to clay court tennis, Nadal is simply the king. So, him winning a 3rd straight Barcelona Open on clay is not really news. But what about his streak of unbeaten matches on clay court that stretched to 72 with the win, isn't that something to rave about? After upstaging Federer in last year's French Open's finals, many believed that they had their someone-please-stop-Federer prayers answered but he kind of withered off in the subsequent Grand Slams, failing to make it to the semifinals of the 2006 US and 2007 Australian Opens. But that was until now when he started playing on his favorite surface. My only wish is that he carries this form of his into the upcoming French Open and further stretch his streak.
3 national titles in 12 months. No wonder ESPN.com called Gainesville as Titletown, FL. The whole athletic department of the Gators deserve all the praise they are getting for putting together this Championship run in these days of so much competition where there is little to choose between the top tier college teams in terms of talent and effort. In a game where the Buckeyes never really had a chance, the Gators pulled away for a 84-75 victory to win their second consecutive national championship. I am no big SEC fan and definitely not a Gator fan. So, it wasn't a pleasant watching the Gators win. Every time the Buckeyes pulled to within 5 to 8 points of the Gators, Humphrey will sink in a 3 and effectively douse all their hopes. The Buckeyes were one tired team and with Billy Donovan wisely rotating his players, this was as good as a no-contest mid-way through the 2nd half.
Zach Johnson wins the Masters
Tiger flops in the most prestigious of golf tournaments as he fails to reach par in any of the 4 rounds and finally ends up 3 shots behind the eventual winner Zach Johnson. Tiger's quest for an incredible 5th Master's championship victory thus came to an abrupt halt. He could not get his driving right all week long and he ended up finishing 46th in the field when it came to the number of fairways that were made during the week. It was a bad weekend in the office for all the big-name players and so it was indeed a minor consolation for Tiger fans in that he finished runner-up.
Australia completes a hat-trick
So, my prayers of Australia not winning a 3rd consecutive World Cup were not answered, as the Aussies completed a clinical demolition of the Lankans in the finals of the 2007 ICC World Cup. Though the Aussies were head and shoulders ahead of any other team in the tournament, I was still hoping for a miracle where the Lankans would pull off a surprise. But it was not to be. Gilchrit's 149 will find its place in the list of unforgettable knocks ever produced in a World cup. Even after Australia put together 281 on the board, as long as Jayasuriya and Sangakkara were knitting their little partnership, I was carrying faint hopes that we might be in for something special. But ultimately, the target of 282 in 38 overs proved to be just too much. The way Gilchrist bulldozed through the Sri Lankan bowlers, I was really looking forward to the Aussies breaking the 300 run mark but somehow they did not go for the whole hog in the final overs bcos may be they thought a score of 280 is more than enough for these Lankans.
End of a forgettable World Cup
What a chaotic ending to an already uninteresting World Cup. I really thought that this world cup almost deserved such a rain shorted game in the finals and absolute chaos towards the end of the game. To me, this World Cup has to be THE most forgettable world cup, ever since I started following cricket in the early 90s. The most obvious reason is the fact that India was knocked out in the first round. Looking beyond that, the other reason why this World Cup will be forgotten by me in a matter of weeks is the fact that apart from couple of games (one of them being a dead rubber), there were no real close games and last-over nail-biters that are usually what World cups are remembered for (South Africa – Australia semifinal in the 1999 WC, anyone?). Add on top of this the literally empty stands that watched the games, day in and day out. But if there is one thing this World Cup will be remembered for (apart from the unfortunate murder of Bob Woolmer) is the fact quite a few legends of the game called it quits at or after the World Cup. Lara, Inzamam, Kumble and McGrath - that is quite a list.
Russell goes first
Jamarcus Russell, the heavily built LSU quarterback who led his team to last year's Sugar Bowl victory, was drafted as the number 1 overall pick by the Oakland Raiders, ending months of speculation as to who among Russell or Quinn would be the number 1 overall pick. Brady Quinn fell all the way to the 22nd pick where the Browns traded a pick to draft him, after failing to draft him with their 3rd overall pick. Other than Brady Quinn, there were very few surprises in the draft and going by popular consensus, it is the Carolina Panthers who emerged as the clear winners with them stealing among others, WR Dwayne Jarrett and center Kalil from USC with their late 2nd round picks. Though the Seahawks did not reach out and draft any big-name college player, they did what they had said they will do - take players they had on the board that they liked. They added 4 players each on both sides of the football, also making sure they drafted players at positions which cost us games last year.
Moss goes to New England
Bill Belichick is just not done as he made the biggest of his off-season moves to sign Randy Moss from the Raiders. Though talks of Moss going to New England (or to the Packer nation) were doing the rounds during the free agency market frenzy couple of months back, it did come as a surprise when the Patriots, after completely revamping their receiving core earlier by signing folks like Daunte Stallworth and Wes Walker, chose to further strengthen their receiving core and decided to rope in Moss. If Belichick with his debilitated offense of last year could take the team to the AFC Championship game where they gave the Colts a close call, imagine what the Patriots can do with such a star-studded and healthy looking team. It is safe to say that the Patriots will start as the pre-season favorites of the 2007-08 NFL season.
Nadal's unbeaten streak continues
It is a well-known fact that when it comes to clay court tennis, Nadal is simply the king. So, him winning a 3rd straight Barcelona Open on clay is not really news. But what about his streak of unbeaten matches on clay court that stretched to 72 with the win, isn't that something to rave about? After upstaging Federer in last year's French Open's finals, many believed that they had their someone-please-stop-Federer prayers answered but he kind of withered off in the subsequent Grand Slams, failing to make it to the semifinals of the 2006 US and 2007 Australian Opens. But that was until now when he started playing on his favorite surface. My only wish is that he carries this form of his into the upcoming French Open and further stretch his streak.
Labels: Monthly Sports Round-ups, Sports
posted by Filbert at 5:56 PM
2 Comments:
Awesome post Filbert.Keep posting.
Rumya
Thanks Rumya :)
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