LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas is known for its shows, and Alabama put one on Sunday night complete with a supporting cast. The Crimson Tide hopped a redeye flight home after some red-hot shooting led to the championship of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.
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Source: Tide Takes Title in Vegas
David Beckham
LONDON - David Beckham is eager to play under new England manager Fabio Capello - despite the stormy relationship the two shared at Real Madrid.
The 32-year-old midfielder has played 99 games for England and hopes to reach his century of appearances in England’s friendly against Switzerland at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 6.
"Fabio is one of the managers players look up to and want to manage them. I hope I’ll be part of his plans," Beckham told BBC Radio in an interview to be broadcast on Christmas Day. Excerpts were released by the BBC on Monday.
"I think he is a great appointment for England. Everyone wants someone leading you that has respect and success. He has definitely got that in his career."
Capello dropped Beckham from Real Madrid when the former England captain announced his move to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. But Beckham won back his place and helped Madrid win the Spanish league title last season.
"There were ups and downs with me and the manager at the time but he brought me back into the team and he had the belief in me to put me back in the team," Beckham said. "It gave me an amazing end and I was sad when he got the sack (fired) as I believe he had turned the club and the players around and given the fans what they deserved, a trophy."
Capello, who won 14 trophies with four different clubs, was appointed manager of England’s ailing team on Dec. 14.
He replaced Steve McClaren, who was fired in November when England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championship. McClaren’s first decision when he became manager in August 2006 was to drop Beckham, only to bring him back in May when England’s Euro 2008 campaign was faltering.
Capello was noncommittal about Beckham’s future during his first news conference on Dec. 17.
"I think Beckham, when he sets himself something, he will achieve it," Capello said then. "But I will have to make choices. I believe that Beckham is an important player for England and I will take him in serious consideration."
Jonathan Bernier
Team Canada’s quest for a fourth consecutive win in the World Junior Hockey Championship starts Wednesday, and Jonathan Bernier will get the start.
Canada begins the tournament against the host Czech Republic in a game that can be seen live on TSN, TSN HD and TSN Broadband at 1:30pm et/10:30am pt on Boxing Day.
The 19-year old Bernier stopped 23 shots against Slovakia during Canada’s 6-1 win over Slovakia in an exhibition game on Thursday.
Captain Karl Alzner did not skate at practice on Monday. He felt a tweak in his back on Sunday night and although he could have practice, the coaching staff gave him a maintenance day.
There was also a line shuffle at practice where Wayne Simmonds and Zach Boychuk swapped places.
Simmonds skated alongside Brandon Sutter and Stefan Legein, while Boychuk practiced with Riley Holzapfel and Colton Gillies.
The Brad Marchand, Kyle Turris and Claude Giroux line along with the line of Matthew Halischuk, Steven Stamkos and Shawn Matthias remained unchanged.
Head coach Craig Hartsburg selected Bernier to start the first game over Steve Mason who stopped 31 of 33 shots on Sunday against Finland.
Bernier began the season as the starting goaltender for the Los Angeles Kings.
England should probably consider themselves grateful that it is the season of goodwill to all men. Quite what the chap who at Galle Stadium yesterday erected the banner saying: “England, hang your heads in shame,” would have concocted at any other time of year hardly bears thinking about. The hanging suggestion might not have been restricted to heads in shame.
It was quite a shock to the system to see this but it demonstrates that fans care. They may be willing to tolerate anaemic batting, bowling and fielding but not all at once.
As the team left the ground after the third day, having been bowled out for 81 in reply to 499 for 8 declared, they might initially have assumed the waiting supporters were hunting for autographs. They probably sussed that they were to be spared the chore when the booing began. Those outstretched hands were not holding pens and pieces of paper.
Discontent at England’s performance was inevitable and if the players were surprised at the strength of it they should remember that many of these fans trekked round Australia last winter watching most of them being similarly pulverised. It certainly begins to redeem Andrew Flintoff’s performance as captain of that bedraggled lot.
The tourists were better yesterday and lost only one wicket before a heavy storm ended play with only one session (almost) completed. At 102 for 1, England had scored 183 runs altogether. This meant that Mahela Jayawardene who made 213 not out was unlikely to beat them on his own as Inzamam-ul-Haq did to New Zealand at Lahore in May 2002. Inzy made 329, New Zealand were bowled out for 246 and 73, a total of 319.
It was clear that while England came out with renewed determination yesterday they were struggling to come to terms with their own previous ineptness. They could hardly been so poor if they had all been nursing whopping hangovers after the team Christmas party.
“Momentum in cricket is quite a strange thing,” mused Alastair Cook, who reached a gritty 50 without ever quite seeming in nick. “The way the Sri Lankans bowled was fantastic. We couldn’t respond to it and once you lose a couple of wickets it’s such a hard thing to stop. It snowballs.”
He was chastened by the fans’ attitude but recognised their annoyance. “You don’t need motivating when you see banners up and you get booed getting on to the bus. It’s tough. They’re entitled. They’re passionate cricket fans who’ve come a long way and like to see us doing well. I can understand how they felt.”
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Source: Cook admits failings that leave sour taste in mouth of touring fans
SOCCEROOS striker John Aloisi is confident he will be fit for Central Coast’s A-League clash with Melbourne Victory on New Year’s Eve, but two other Mariners have joined the club’s long list of unavailable players after bad news from doctors.
Aloisi had scans in Adelaide which cleared him of any structural damage to the knee he hyper-extended during the Mariners’ epic 5-4 loss to Sydney FC last weekend.
But midfielders John Hutchinson and Greg Owens will join defender Dean Heffernan - who broke his leg against Sydney FC - and suspended duo Danny Vukovic and Adam Kwasnik on the sidelines for the Victory match.
The club said Hutchinson would miss at least one game with a knee injury, while Owens will miss at least the next two matches with his knee injury - and possibly longer.
Owens faces more scans next week to find out the full extent of his problem.
Aloisi will spend Christmas with his family in Adelaide, but the club said they were confident the striker would be able to play against the Victory.
He was forced off in the 59th minute of Saturday night’s A-League classic after twisting his knee - just one of a truckload of sensations in a match which has been ranked the best ever played in the competition.
The World Cup hero’s experience will be needed for the league leaders, who have gone from being at full strength to dire straits just five weeks out from the finals.
But coach Lawrie McKinna said he would at least have enough replacements to cover his heavy losses, and a nine-day break between matches does allow the Mariners more of a recovery window.
"Midfielders (Andre) Gumprecht, (Bradley) Porter and (Damien) Brown are all available and the way our injury toll is looking, the good thing is we’ll have enough players for a squad," he said.
"Our job now is to bounce back. It will be really good for us to have an extra couple of days. It doesn’t matter what 11 players we put out there next week, we’ll be confident we can go out and get a result."
The Mariners still lead the A-League by three points, but second-placed Queensland could close the gap this weekend if they beat Perth and the Victory can conjure a result at the Central Coast.
AAP
Source: Mariners injury concerns mount
The Phillies announced Sunday that they moved to consolidate and add flexibility to their outfield as well as to gain a pinch-hitting threat in signing a one year deal with former St. Louis Cardinal So Taguchi. The deal reportedly also includes an option for 2009.
Not only does utilityman Taguchi bring a career batting average of .283 to the Phillies, AP’s report for Yahoo sports notes that “he led all National League pinch hitters with a .406 (13-32) batting average” and MLB.com’s Ken Mandel reports that right-handed-hitting Taguchi is a .284 hitter in 120 career pinch-hit appearances.
Last season, Taguchi hit .290 getting 89 hits in 307 at bats in 130 games for the Cardinals.
Mandel further notes that;
Taguchi’s greatest value to manager Charlie Manuel is his ability to play all three outfield positions, and be a longer-term solution in center field should Shane Victorino suffer an injury such as the strained right calf that cost him most of the final two months of 2007.
Taguchi completes a five-man bench that also consists of Jayson Werth, catcher Chris Coste, Eric Bruntlett and whoever doesn’t start at third between Greg Dobbs and Wes Helms.
The AP report also notes;
As a member of the World Series champion Cardinals in 2006, Taguchi hit .400 (6-15) with two home runs and four RBI in the playoffs. He started in three of the five World Series games.
“Taguchi gives our team more defensive versatility in the outfield,” Assistant General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said in a statement released by the team. “And he has proven over his career that he can get key hits in big situations.”
And so another Japanese ballplayer is acquired pre-emptively by the Phillies so as to not skip a beat should Victorino go down with injury, just as 2nd baseman Tadahito Iguchi was acquired by trade and performed after starting 2nd baseman Chase Utley went down.
Source: OF So Taguchi, Phillies Sign 1 Year Deal With 2009 Option
Aberdeen’s Scott Severin has defended Lee McCulloch despite the off-the-ball challenge that led to the Rangers midfielder’s dismissal on Sunday.
McCulloch was red-carded after attempting to intervene when the Dons’ Chris Clark fouled Alan Hutton.
“It was a bad challenge by Chris and Lee was running over to defend his team-mate,” said midfielder Severin.
“I tried to stop him and it’s just the way he was trying to get past me, I think. I won’t hold it against Lee.”
McCulloch was sent off after the farside assistant reported his leap into Severin to the referee.
Rangers were leading 1-0 through a goal from Charlie Adam, but Aberdeen equalised through Lee Miller soon after the Scotland man’s departure.
Lee said he raised his knee as the player was running across him to try and get out of the way
Severin had no hard feelings for his international team-mate.
“I’ve know him for a number of years now,” the Dons midfielder told the Daily Record.
“He’s a great big guy and it’s unfortunate he got sent off.
“I just tried to stop him. I don’t think there was any need to get involved as things were already heated.
“Maybe next time I should just let him get past me.
“Lee said to me after it he didn’t realise it was me he trying to get past.
“He just saw the tackle and was trying to get over there to help his mate.
“I never felt a thing. I just felt him barging past me. It was just one of those things.
McCulloch getting sent off could prove to be a blessing in disguise - Walter will now be forced to change things and he may give Gow a chance at left midfield
“He apologised as he went past me on his way off and that’s fine.
“Maybe the linesman was over the top.”
The involvement of assistant George Drummond was questioned by Rangers manager Walter Smith, who said he did not see the incident himself.
“Lee said he raised his knee as the player was running across him to try and get out of the way,” he said.
“We had a situation where the two lots of players were together and that always happens here, so that wasn’t unusual in its own.
“But what was unusual was the linesman running 60 or 70 yards.
“If he wants to be a referee then he should be a referee and not a linesman.”
Source: Severin backs sent-off McCulloch
One-day international: New Zealand v Bangladesh
Play starts: 2300 GMT Tuesday
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
New Zealand will be the side under pressure when they begin a three-match one-day series against Bangladesh in Auckland on Tuesday.
After a series of poor results against South Africa and Australia, the players have been warned that places in the team are at stake.
“We need to see some improvement in both the batting and bowling,” said chief selector Sir Richard Hadlee.
“They’ve got a couple of games to really impress.”
The Kiwis have a 100% record in 50-over games against Bangladesh, their most recent win coming by a nine-wicket margin during the World Cup in the Caribbean eight months ago.
While NZ should win easily they mustn’t underestimate the Bangladeshis
But the tourists have shown over the past couple of years that they are capable of beating anyone on their day if their gifted, but inconsistent stroke-makers are on song.
New Zealand will be without their main strike bowler, Shane Bond, who suffered an abdominal strain during the tour to South Africa last month.
But it is their batting which has been the main cause for concern of late.
“It feels very tentative with the batting unit,” said former captain Stephen Fleming, who is no longer part of the limited overs squad.
“There’s been a lot of focus on it, the performances haven’t been great and with that comes a certain amount of tension,”
Bangladesh, by contrast, play without fear, according to Fleming.
“The consequence of them playing a bad shot and getting out doesn’t seem to be there,” he added.
The home side will look to the likes of Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor and Scott Styris to push them towards big totals.
And they are also boosted by the return of Peter Fulton following knee surgery.
“Peter has shown good form in the State Championship, and he has proved in the past he can translate a high standard of performance at domestic level to the international game,” said coach John Bracewell.
Bangladesh’s chances have been hampered by the loss of reliable new-ball bowler Syed Rasel, who injured his shoulder during a warm-up game against Northern Districts.
Uncapped Sajidul Islam, another left-arm medium pacer, has been called up as a replacement but they will rely heavily on vice-captain Mashrafe Mortaza to spearhead an inexperienced attack in conditions which usually favour seam bowling.
The series is their first under new coach Jamie Siddons, who believes developing consistency is their biggest challenge.
“We know we are not the strongest bowlers or the biggest hitters, but we have our way of going about our cricket and hopefully that will be good enough to win some games,” the Australian commented.
New Zealand (from): Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jamie How, Peter Fulton, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel.
Bangladesh (from): Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Javed Omar, Tamim Iqbal, Rajin Saleh, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Tushar Imran, Junaid Siddique, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Saqibul Hasan, Farhad Reza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzaq, Nazmul Hossain, Sajidul Islam, Shahadat Hossain.
Source: Kiwis seek all-round improvement
It’s time to take a trip around Europe once again to see how some of the other leagues in the continent are shaking out as we head towards the new year (you did know that there was football beyond the English Premier League, right?).
The Bundesliga is on break until February, and heading into its hiatus, there’s a familiar face at the top, as Bayern Munich hold top spot with 36 points from 17 matches. They hold that top spot on goal difference over Werder Bremen (+23 to +18), with Hamburg SV four back with 32 points. Hamburg are holding onto third place (and for their sake, hopefully onto Juventus and Chelsea target Rafael Van der Vaart) by two points over Bayer Leverkusen, who have 30 points. Schalke, the only German side left in the Champions League, are fifth, seven points off the top, with reigning champions VFB Stuttgart in eighth place, 11 points back.
In the SPL, it was a rather forgettable weekend for the Old Firm.
On Saturday, leaders Celtic fell behind early at home to Hearts, but thankfully for Jiri Jarosik’s 78th minute strike, Gordon Strachan’s side were able to get at least a point from the 1-1 draw.
On Sunday, Rangers missed the opportunity to draw level on points with Celtic as they could only draw 1-1 at Pittodrie against Aberdeen. Rangers went ahead on the half hour through Charlie Adam, but Lee McCulloch’s sending off minutes later, and a Lee Miller equalizer on the stroke of half-time dented their hopes for three points.
So, Celtic remain on top with 37 points from 18 matches, while Rangers are second on 35, but have two matches in hand. Motherwell are third with 32 points, but missed their chance at closing the deficit with a surprising 3-0 home defeat to Falkirk.
Celtic have had a down December, winning one, losing one, and drawing three in their five league fixtures this month, and aren’t looking anywhere near as dominant as they have been in the last several seasons. For once, there could be a real title race in the SPL, and not just between Celtic and Rangers.
PSV are back on top of the Eredivisie after Saturday’s 4-1 whipping of Utrecht. Kenneth Perez scored twice to lead the reigning champions to an easy three points and give them 33 points from 15 matches.
They took the lead from Ajax, who lost 2-1 away to Excelsior on Sunday, and as a result, are now in third, two points behind PSV and one point behind Feyenoord, who now occupy second after a 2-0 win at NEC Nijmegen.
There was a top-of-the-table clash in France, as Lyon visited second-placed Nancy. Lyon were assured of coming out of the clash still on top, but keeping or extending their cushion was the objective. It looked like that cushion would be extended to seven points, when Milan Baros put Alain Perrin’s side up 1-0 on 80, but Nancy rescued a point through Chris Malonga’s equalizer in the 87th. As a result, Lyon, who haven’t won in their last three Ligue 1 matches, have 39 points from 19 matches, while Nancy are still hanging close with 35 from 19.
In Portugal, Porto lost their first league match of the season, going down 1-0 away to CD Nacional de Madeira, but still hold a comfortable seven-point lead over Benfica, with 35 points from 14 matches to Benfica’s 28, with the other giant, Sporting, in third with 26 points.
In Turkey, things are very tight at the top. As expected, the big three of Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Besiktas are all right there, but the one above them all is Sivasspor, the new kid on the block.
Sivasspor went top two weeks ago, but quickly dropped back after a loss to Galatasaray last weekend. However, they’re on top once again, after their 2-0 win over Genclerbirligi on Sunday. Sivasspor have 37 points from 17 matches, and hold the top spot on goal difference over Fenerbahce, who defeated Trabzonspor 3-2 on Saturday.
Galatasaray are now third, one point behind after Sunday’s 0-0 draw away to Genclerbirligi OFTAS. The team to watch out for is Besiktas, who are only three points off of the top after Friday’s 2-1 away win against Vestel Manisa.
In Greece, AEK Athens, who qualified for the UEFA Cup round of 32 this past week, ended the week on a high note by taking sole possession of first in the Greek Super League, with their 4-1 demolition of last-placed Ergotelis. AEK are now two points up on Olympiakos, who could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Larissa. Panathinaikos, meanwhile, are within reach of the two leaders, with their 3-1 win over OFI Crete keeping them in third with 27 points from 13 matches.
The closest race in Europe might be in Austria, where things are very, very tight heading into the top flight’s winter break. Through 23 rounds, SK Sturm Graz (37 points) are on top by goal difference over reigning champion SV Salzburg and Austria Vienna, with Rapid Vienna one point back of the top three, LASK Linz two back, and SV Mattersburg only five points back.
Last season, Salzburg won the championship by 19 points over SV Josko Ried (currently eight points back, which is good for 7th in the ten-team league), but if the final 13 rounds are as tight as the first 23, then it’s going to be much closer than that.
If there is a league that you would like covered in the roundup - Romania, Switzerland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, or anywhere else in Europe - let me know, and I’ll get them to them in the next roundup. Happy holidays!
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Tags: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Week In Review, Celtic, Europe, Features, Scottish Premier League, Rangers, Bundesliga
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Source: Trekking Around Europe: Happy ho-ho-holidays for some, for others a lump of coal
Reporter Mike Sullivan has a story on Trinity Fields and his decision …
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Source: Cardozo Guard Makes A Commitment