Scotland
GLASGOW, Scotland – Celtic was held to a 1-1 tie at home by Hibernian on Saturday, giving Rangers a great chance to take over the lead in the Scottish Premier League.
David Murphy put Hibs ahead after 20 minutes at Celtic Park, and Jiri Jarosik captured a point for the defending champion with a tying goal in the 78th.
All that mattered was that they played. At noon, two hours later than scheduled but still remarkable in the circumstances, they took the field. There was a carnival atmosphere. People were excited, genuinely happy. There was nothing forced about it.
There were several reasons why the Football Association moved so swiftly to recruit Fabio Capello but one of them was definitely its preoccupation with the media. Having been involved in England squads for the past few years, I have got to know the people behind the scenes of the governing body and had a small insight into how they work. What has struck me after winning a game is the sense of relief within the emblazoned suits of the staff. On a plane coming home from one away victory, I remember turning to one official and saying it had been a good week for all involved. “Yes, the press will be off our backs for a month at least, great,” he replied. Given the fiasco surrounding the attempted appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari last year, they would have been acutely aware of the pressure to get it right this time.
ADELAIDE enhanced their National Basketball League finals prospects and dented West Sydney’s with a 122-100 away win over the Razorbacks at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
The 36ers started the night on 7-10 in 10th position, one place below West Sydney on 8-11, but were too offensively potent for the struggling Pigs to subdue.
Sparked by a match-high 27 points from in-form forward Adam Ballinger and some deadly three-point shooting, Adelaide dominated the second half.
Italian number one Potito Starace and countryman Daniele Bracciali have both been suspended for betting on matches.
Starace, ranked 31 in the world, was banned for six weeks from 1 January and fined 21,400 by the sport’s governing body for making five bets in 2005.
Stephon Marbury has filed a grievance with the NBA over a $195,000 fine assessed by the New York Knicks when he left the team during a road trip, allegedly without permission, the New York Post reported.
Center Field
Cincinnati Reds
Profile
2007 Season Stats GM HR RBI R OBP AVG 90 19 47 52 .368 .292 ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Hamilton proved he had overcome his demons in Cincinnati, and now he wants to conquer his future in Texas.
One of baseball’s best comeback stories during his breakout rookie year, the 26-year-old center fielder whose career was nearly derailed by alcohol and drug abuse was traded Friday from the Reds to the Rangers for pitchers Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera.
I have been told that former USBA Cruiserweight champion Emmanuel “Chukwu” Nwodo of Baltimore will return to ring action on Saturday, January 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Nwodo (21-4, 17 KO’s) will take on perennial cruiserweight contender Ezra Sellers, who is originally from DC, but now makes his home in Florida. The bout will be on the undercard of the Roy Jones-Felix Trinidad card. No word yet on whether the bout will be part of the pay-per-view telecast.
This will be Nwodo’s first bout since losing the USBA title to Darnell Wilson by stunning 11th round knockout on June 29 in Staten Island, NY. Sellers (29-7, 26 KO’s) who was the IBO Cruiserweight champ and lost bouts for the IBF and WBO titles, is fighting for the third time since taking a three-year sabbatical from the sport. Since his return, Sellers has won two straight bouts.
If you’re looking for someone who knows as much about, say, Frolunda defenseman Ronnie Sundin as Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Mats Sundin, Peter Westermark would be a great bet. The 32-year-old native of Skelleftea, Sweden blogs for HockeySverige.se, and is a longtime contributor to outlets such as McKeen’s Hockey, Hockey’s Future, and IHWC.NET, the official Web site of the IIHF World Championship. Westermark, who teaches mathematical statistics at the Lulea University of Technology, took time out of his schedule to offer his opinionated analysis of contemporary Swedish hockey with HockeyAdventure.com.
1. What has been the biggest surprise in the Elitserien so far this season?
Roscoe Parrish
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Bills receiver Roscoe Parrish is questionable for Buffalo’s game Sunday against the New York Giants because of a shoulder injury.
Coach Dick Jauron said Parrish hurt the shoulder after falling on it late in Thursday’s practice. He did not participate in Friday’s workout after he developed some soreness in the area.