Nov 13
The Cats tip off the 2007-08 season tonight against NAU. Here is some of the latest news and notes heading into the game.
Filed under Arizona
Source: NAU pregame Notes
Nov 13
Coach K, Paulus, Nelson, and Scheyer met the media following Duke’s 25 point victory over NMSU
Filed under Duke
Source: Quotes: Duke v. New Mexico State
Nov 13
The doors of Wembley Stadium officially opened to the public today with the launch of the new Wembley Stadium Tour and Stadium Store.
For the first time, guests can now experience their own 90 minutes at Wembley by taking a tour behind the scenes and following in the footsteps of their heroes.
Playing and performing at Wembley Stadium is the ultimate dream for footballers, sports stars and musicians alike.
From hearing the famous Wembley roar as you walk out of the players’ tunnel, to walking up to the Royal Box to lift The FA Cup - fans can now experience what those magic moments feel like and fulfill their dream of walking out at Wembley, the home of English football and one of the greatest and most famous stadiums in the world.
The new Wembley is now a world-class stadium through which the spirit and emotion of its rich heritage lives on.
A Wembley Stadium Tour is interactive, inspiring and educational and gives visitors the opportunity to experience the excitement of Wembley Stadium for themselves.
Highlights of the Stadium Tour include the Bobby Moore Statue, the newly opened Wembley Stadium Store, England’s changing rooms and warm-up areas, the press conference room, lining up and walking out of the tunnel, sitting in the team dugouts, walking up Wembley’s famous trophy presentation route and even holding The FA Cup in the Royal Box.
Wembley Stadium’s Managing Director, Alex Horne said: “Wembley Stadium has quickly re-established itself as a world-class venue, having now staged 25 major sports and entertainment events in an incredible first year.
“We are now thrilled to be able to open Wembley’s doors for everyone to come and experience the magic of Wembley on a behind-the-scenes tour.
“Wembley is a breathtaking stadium with a truly unique heritage and I would urge anyone who is a fan of football, sport, music or architecture to come and visit London’s newest and most exciting attraction.
“Come and follow in the footsteps of your heroes and be part of the magic of Wembley.”
For full details or to make advance bookings on-line, head to www.wembleystadium.com/tours or call the booking line direct on 0844 800 2755.
Source: Follow your heroes
Nov 13
It would seem reasonable to suppose that if Alesana Tuilagi at full pelt cannot breach the opposition lines – the Samoan supertanker tried at the end of the first half in Dublin and was placed on his bottom by Keith Gleeson – then Andy Goode, who is more of a Coventry canal barge, will not make it through either. That Leicester refused to learn such a simple lesson explained this damaging defeat.
The Tigers, despite a line-out under pressure from Malcolm O’Kelly and a scrum not quite able to make Ollie le Roux bend the knee, had enough possession to win twice, and they chose to use it on short passes and charges from backs and forwards alike. It was slick enough, in its way. However, while Leinster’s backs and back row are many things, a number of of them as pleasant on the eye as the try madefor Shane Horgan by Felipe Contepomi, they are not defensively naïve. Contepomi, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Girvan Dempsey and Co, helped by the front five as well as Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip and the former Leicester flanker Shane Jennings, stopped every attack in its tracks.
More often than not, and particularly in a 20-minute spell into half-time when a Tigers pack led by the No 8 Jordan Crane turned the screw, the home side then secured a turnover. How Leicester missed Danny Hipkiss, their one man adept at taking contact and then, Contepomi-like, slipping the ball away. The England centre withdrew before kick-off, with flu.
In the final minutes, the game gone but hopes of a bonus point lingering, Leicester staged their first attack with any real pace as Geordan Murphy intercepted in his own 22. Not only did Horgan catch him, but Tuilagi and Ollie Smith were unable to finish the try in the final five metres after Murphy had kept the ball alive. Leinster, again, turned the ball over and cleared.
Contepomi outkicked Goode, knocking over five penalties to the extravagantly bewhiskered Englishman’s three, and the Argentinian stand-off – a centre at the World Cup – also created and converted Horgan’s try.
Straight from a scrum onthe Leicester 22, Contepomi exchanged passes with O’Driscoll and then fed D’Arcy, dummy runs between the passers staying just on the right side of the law to create a run to the line for Horgan that the indefatigable Lewis Moody, haring across, could not quite halt in the corner. The invention and flair involved in that move, and hinted at elsewhere, justified a valuable victory for the Irish side.
Leinster: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll (capt), G D’Arcy, R Kearney (L Fitzgerald, 59); F Contepomi,C Whitaker; O le Roux, B Jackman (B Blaney, 77),S Wright (J Francisco Gomez, 69), L Cullen, M O’Kelly,K Gleeson, S Jennings, J Heaslip.
Leicester: G Murphy; J Murphy, O Smith, S Rabeni, A Tuilagi; A Goode, F Murphy; M Ayerza, B Kayser (M Davies, 77), J White (M Castrogiovanni, 50),L Deacon (J Hamilton, 77), B Kay, M Corry (capt),L Moody, J Crane.
Referee: C Berdos (France).
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Source: Leinster 22 Leicester 9: Contepomi too cute for Tigers
Nov 13
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Suspended NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones is expected to take a plea deal that will get him probation in return for testimony about a Las Vegas strip club triple shooting, his lawyer said Tuesday.
The Tennessee Titans cornerback intends to plead no contest to one charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a gross misdemeanor, in return for a promise to suspend a sentence of one year in county jail, according to a written plea agreement obtained by The Associated Press.
Jones’ attorney, Robert Langford, said he would appear on Jones’ behalf Tuesday to tell Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo that Jones intends to take a plea. The actual plea will take place at a later date before a Clark County District Court judge.
“He has agreed to testify in whatever hearings come up regarding the shooter,” Langford said. Jones, who is not expected to appear at Tuesday’s hearing, would not be sentenced until after testifying, he said.
Abbatangelo is expected to waive Jones’ preliminary hearing on two felony coercion charges stemming from allegations he incited the melee inside the club. The evidentiary hearing was postponed Oct. 29 while plea negotiations continued.
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In addition to one year of probation, Jones must attend an anger management program, complete 200 hours of community service within a year and submit to random drug testing, according to the plea deal. Langford said Jones already is subject to drug testing under NFL rules.
Langford would not say if Jones knew the identity of a gunman who authorities say opened fire and wounded three people Feb. 19 outside the Minxx Gentlemen’s Club minutes after Jones and members of his entourage were involved in a melee inside.
“I can’t comment because that’s an ongoing police investigation,” Langford told the AP.
Langford said, however, that Jones did not know the identity of a man whose photo was released in June by police. Investigators said they wanted to question that man in the shooting. The photo was obtained from surveillance cameras, and police said they thought the man lived on the East Coast.
Police have not charged anyone with the shooting, which left three people wounded, including a bar employee, Tommy Urbanski, who was paralyzed from the waist down.
News of Jones’ plea deal surprised Urbanski’s wife, Kathy, as she prepared to go to work Tuesday.
“I want to see what he does, who he implicates. If he’s not going to implicate anyone, I’m going to be absolutely furious. I really am sick of it,” she said. “I just hope the victims have rights in this situation. Obviously, the criminals do.”
Kathy Urbanski said she didn’t think the original charges against Jones were strong enough, especially not while she and her husband still live in a hotel while their home is renovated to make it wheelchair accessible.
Pacman Jones was arrested in June, the result of his alleged involvement in a Feb. 19 fight at a Las Vegas strip club that led to a triple shooting outside. ( / Getty Images)
The Titans and the NFL had no comment Tuesday.
Urbanski, co-worker Aaron Cudworth and club patron Natalie Jones have each filed civil lawsuits seeking damages from Jones.
Urbanski’s lawsuit also seeks damages from the NFL, the Titans and the owners of Harlem Knights, a Houston strip club that hosted events at the Minxx club during the NBA’s All-Star weekend, Feb. 17-19.
“I’m pleased to see he’s accepting responsibility for his conduct on the date in question,” said Richard Schonfeld, lawyer for Cudworth, a bar bouncer who was wounded in the shooting. “We’re looking forward to proceeding expeditiously with the civil litigation.”
The 24-year-old Jones has not played this NFL season, after being suspended for violating league personal conduct rules. The NFL Players Association is appealing commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision not to reduce Jones’ seasonlong suspension.
Arrested six times since the Titans drafted him in April 2005 from West Virginia, Jones also has another criminal case pending, a felony count of obstruction in Georgia from a February 2006 arrest.
In the Vegas shooting case, two co-defendants, including Jones’ bodyguard and a woman who police say hit a bouncer in the head with a bottle and attacked other club employees with a chair and a stanchion, also will plead no contest to reduced charges Tuesday, said Langford, who also represents them. Both will testify if called, he said.
Neither Robert “Big Rob” Reid nor Sadia Morrison will attend Tuesday’s hearing, during which Langford said Abbatangelo was expected to bind the case over to state court for their pleas to be entered.
Joseph Abood, a deputy Clark County defender since 1989, called it “odd” that conspiring to commit a misdemeanor, disorderly conduct, would be a gross misdemeanor.
Nov 13
Percy Montgomery is one of 11 players missing for South Africa
South Africa will be without 11 members of their World-Cup-winning squad when they tour Britain later this month.
The Springboks take on Wales at the Millennium Stadium on 24 November and play against the Barbarians at Twickenham a week later.
But they will be missing full-back Percy Montgomery, prop BJ Botha and centre Jean de Villiers through injury.
Star winger Bryan Habana, flanker Schalk Burger and captain John Smit have all been named in the squad.
Since the World Cup fly-half Butch James, hooker Gary Botha and winger Ashwin Willemse have joined clubs in England and France and are therefore ruled out of the matches.
While Prop Os du Randt and number eight Bob Skinstad have retired.
It means uncapped duo, prop Wian du Preez and number eight Ryan Kankowski, and twice-capped flanker Hilton Lobberts come into the squad.
The trio were called up after loose forwards Danie Rossouw (neck) and Wikus van Heerden (neck) and prop Gurthro Steenkamp (hand) pulled out of the squad on Monday.
Revised South Africa squad: John Smit (captain), Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Wian du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Conrad Jantjes, Ricky Januarie, Wayne Julies, Ryan Kankowski, Hilton Lobberts, Matfield, Johann Muller, Akona Ndungane, Wynand Olivier, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Andr Pretorius, Juan Smith, Francois Steyn, Albert van den Berg, CJ van der Linde, Heinke van der Merwe.
Source: SA name depleted squad
Nov 13
FORMER national coach John Buchanan has proposed a bold plan to fix world cricket where he believes rival Test nations should aim to poach the next generation of Australian stars.
In the wake of another crushing Australia victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Buchanan also called for a world cricket summit to address the growing chasm between Australia and the rest of the world.
As former South Africa batting great Barry Richards claimed cricket had become a turn-off because of Australia’s overwhelming dominance, Buchanan advised rival nations to tap into Australia’s talent pool of young cricketers.
"Countries should maybe look to recruit young players from Australia, and places like India, to increase their depths of talent," Buchanan said.
"Those players would enhance the domestic competition and hopefully go on to play Test cricket for the country they move to.
"I believe the International Cricket Council should allow this and relax guidelines for the qualification periods. This would be a short-term fix for a more level playing field in world cricket.
"A summit is also a good idea but it would have to be devoid of politics and have the right people in the room.
"We certainly don’t want world cricket to become like a horserace when the favourite wins all the time. No one will want to watch."
Ricky Ponting’s dominators have rebounded from the 2005 Ashes loss to win 13 Tests in a row - needing another four to snatch the world record for consecutive wins — and there are growing fears cricket is becoming all one-way traffic.
Buchanan’s idea may seem revolutionary but cricket can point to several successful defectors in the past.
Both Allan Lamb and Kepler Wessels have starred at Test level after switching their allegiances.
Nov 13
The Topper Harley-like power dive of the Bavarians ended three meters below the surface of the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, due to the critical loss of the right wing. Gomez was all happy to take good advantage of it and still wearing his Halloween hangman costume showed no hesitation to carry out the sentence. However, he may never have succeeded if it weren’t for self-nominated robicarlos Ludovic Magnin, who provided excellent box to box play.
Expectable as it was, the Reds could have only been defeated two ways in Bundesliga – either with an out of bunker strike as Frankfurt t(r)ied, or with kamikaze attacks from the very beginning hoping to score before you die - knowing the inconsistent defence the VfB have, no wonder the young&wild opted for version B.
Were there ominous signs? No doubt. Nimbus was maintained in Belgrade, but two goalless draws in the League atop with a poor UEFA performance against PL also-ran Bolton made pundits shake their heads in disbelief. But not executive director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who has always been against the return of Hitzfeld, the grandmaster of rotation.
But this time it backfired louder than a Trabant (ultimate symbol of inefficient DDR industry). Bayern conceded almost as many goals as in the whole season thanks to the red-carpet walkthrough laid by the now pushover midfielders – release can only be given to the all-time youngest BM starter Tony Kroos. I am shocked to hear myself say that the absence of Dr. van Bommel caused emergency in the midfield, without his license to kill they marched into battle unarmed, were highly disorganised and uninspired, moreover, were constantly fleeing from duels. This match also raised the sensitive question of whether a team that relies heavily on individuals and suffers from Ribéry addiction can be considered as TEAM with capital letters.
Hitzfeld’s other great mistake was to have been deceived by the midweek illusion of Podolski – granting a first half permission to leave for Stuttgart defenders. He meant danger only for home fans sitting in sector D by sending random ground-air rockets at them – leaving Schafer’s net to be the best cover. By the time Miro got on board it was all over, not as if average onlookers had been able to see the spark of Bayern’s determination to pay back for the last season fiasco for the die Schwaben, since they were playing hands down from the beginning.
All in all, we can report both a well-deserved victory for Stuttgart to continue their march up the table in fine style and two incoming vehicles in Bayern’s rearview-mirror – hunting season is back.
P.s.:Talking about pay-back time, BM players can take vengeance on Magath (was called Saddam behind his back in Munich) with the Wolves visiting the Allianz Arena in the next round. The Reds have two weeks to regroup and give them a tough tour in the Colossium.
Source: Bayern Munich Watch - Hot Shots III released in Stuttgart
Nov 13
This … is … funny
Want to quiz commissioner Gary Bettman about the state of the NHL?
XM Satellite Radio will give listeners the chance to do just that, announcing plans Monday for a new show called NHL Hour hosted by Bettman and a rotation of league executives.
The weekly program, debuting Nov. 27 and also broadcasting on NHL.com, will be co-hosted by Bill Clement and encourages fans to submit questions via phone and e-mail.
“I look forward to hearing from our fans directly and being a part of this one-of-a-kind radio show,” Bettman said in a statement.
Will Bettman have all questions pre-screened to ensure that Bettman can spin his web of half-truths into answers most common fans can’t fully comprehend?
Will Bettman get burned by constant questioning of his tenure and the holes in his arguments?
I don’t get XM, nor would I be prone to listening to Bettman for more than 5 minutes, but I invite anyone who does listen to XM Radio to have a gander at the show and let us know how Bettman performed.
In any event, the fact that the commish is putting himself out there, screened or not, is commendable.
Labels: Gary Bettman, XM Radio
Source: Bettman Radio?
Nov 13
Arsenal celebrates
READING, England - Arsenal returned to the top of the English Premier League with a 3-1 victory at Reading on Monday.
Mathieu Flamini fired the Gunners ahead a minute before halftime, Emmanuel Adebayor added a second in the 52nd and Alexander Hleb made it 3-0 in the 78th. England left-back Nicky Shorey replied for the Royals with three minutes to go.
Arsenal’s ninth victory in 12 games gave it 30 points, the same as Manchester United but with a game in hand. The two are level on goal differential but Arsenal has scored more goals, 27 to United’s 23.
”It’s enjoyable to watch and work with them,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of his players. ”They are hungry, they have a fantastic spirit and attitude.
”I felt we were in control, but we needed to be patient. (Reading) didn’t come at us and they wanted to catch us on break. It was us going at them, we were always in control. I didn’t want my team to get frustrated, we knew we needed to be patient, maybe the first goal coming before halftime was the killer for Reading.”
Unbeaten in its 12 games, Arsenal also ended Reading’s run of three home victories to leave the Royals in 12th place.
Arsenal almost went ahead in the third minute when Cesc Fabregas split the Reading defence with a through ball to Adebayor, whose shot beat goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann from 15 yards but hit the foot of the post.
Keeping plenty of players back in their own half, the Royals defied Arsenal for the first 44 minutes before a goal came just before halftime on a breakaway from a Reading corner.
Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia collected the ball and kicked it and, this time, Reading had too many players committed to attack. Tomas Rosicky, Adebayor and Hleb found space and time to combine and the Belarussian laid the ball off to Flamini, who turned the ball home with a low shot.
Early in the second half, Hleb, Rosicky and Fabregas put together another series of passes and Adebayor scored with a left-foot shot.
Adebayor had the ball in the net again two minutes later but it was harshly ruled out for offside.
But Arsenal scored the third goal, Hleb finishing off another well-worked move by dribbling into the area, going round Hahnemann and driving the ball in.
Reading hit back with a consolation goal with three minutes to go. Dave Kitson held the ball up, Graeme Murty hit the post and the ball went to Shorey, who forced it home.
The only sour note for the Gunners was a fifth yellow card of the season for Fabregas, which means he will miss the next game.
In the League Championship, West Bromwich Albion won 4-0 at Coventry to move up to second place, six points behind Watford.