Fernando Verdasco wins Nadal at Madrid Open
Nadal feels the blues as he loses in Madrid
(CNN) – World number two Rafael Nadal has sensationally lost to Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the third round of the Madrid Open.
The loss was the first defeat of the clay court season for the six-time French Open champion.
Considered arguably the greatest player to ever set foot on clay, Nadal had recently won in Monte Carlo — a record eighth title — before clinching his seventh tournament victory in Barcelona. He had previously between Verdasco on all 13 of their previous meetings.
It took Verdasco three hours and 11 minutes to beat Nadal in an error-strewn match. Verdasco hit nine double faults but Nadal somehow conspired to lose despite leading 5-2 in the final set.
The shock defeat will reopen the debate about the Madrid Open’s controversial use of blue clay. World number one Novak Djokovic has been an outspoken critic of the surface.
“It’s impossible to move,” he was quoted as telling reporters by AFP earlier in the week.
“I cannot find the words to describe this court. It’s really tough to play like this on a center court. We need serious discussion about the future of this blue clay.
“We cannot change anything this year, but my first impressions are not good. I don’t want to be the one complaining, but I say honestly what I feel.”
Ironically it was Nadal that refused to be drawn on the issue of the blue clay after he had comfortably beaten Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets 6-2 6-2 on Wednesday.
“It was my first match here in these circumstances,” he said.
“I am very happy about my result, about the way that I played.”
Verdasco goes on to play the sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in the next round.
Madrid wins Europe championship
Football: Atletico Madrid win Europa League
(CNN) – Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the all-Spanish final of the Europa League in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
The game was won in the first half an hour after Colombian international Radamel Falcao scored two stunning individual goals.
Athletic Bilbao held on until half time, regrouped, and had most of the possession in the second half but couldn’t make the breakthrough.
Instead Falcao came close to scoring a hat trick when he hit to post before Diego scored a late goal on the breakaway.
The build up to the Europa League final, Europe’s second continental club competition after the Champions League, focused on the fact it was an all-Spanish affair.
Yet that only tells half the story.
Both teams may hail from the same league but their philosophies, history, catchment area and even language are a country apart.
Athletic Bilbao is a Basque team to its marrow. The team come from the northern city of Bilbao and have never been relegated from Spain’s top tier.
The Basque region has long walked a different beat to the rest of Spain, having a distinct language, culture and history. The terrorist group ETA has taken hundreds of lives fighting for Basque independence.
The Athletic Bilbao team is made exclusively of talent nurtured in its youth academy or from players who can trace their ancestry to the Basque country.
But in that context, their Argentine coach comes from a different planet.
Marcelo Bielsa is arguably the most innovative coach in world football. Known for his intellect, temper and idiosyncratic behavior on the sidelines and on the training pitch — behavior that has earned him the nickname “El Loco” — Bielsa has had to rely on tactically out thinking his opponents rather than outspending them.
The highlight of the campaign came in an earlier round when Bielsa’s team ripped Manchester United apart over two matches.
For the final “El Loco” was up against Diego Simione who played for Bielsa when he was in charge of the Argentina national team.
But it was Bielsa’s young protégé that came out on top, the second time Atletico Madrid have won the title in three years, largely thanks to the performance of Falcao.
His two goals gave Madrid a decisive advantage. In the second half Athletic Bilbao besieged Madrid’s goal without having many clear cut opportunities. Instead Madrid waited and broke on the counter attack, scoring a third and effectively ending the contest with five minutes to go.
By then even the usually boisterous “El Loco” sat quietly on the bench, resigned to his fate.
“I am disappointed, we did not play a good match,” Bielsa told AFP after the match.
“I am in charge of the strategy of the squad who failed to achieve its objective, which makes the disappointment even greater. Atletico deserved their win, but the scale of it was excessive.”
Seau’s family gives brain to research
Doctors to examine Junior Seau’s brain
Since news broke that the former Chargers linebacker killed himself Wednesday with a gunshot to the chest, there has been speculation about whether repeated hits to his head over his 20-year pro career could have been a contributing factor.
The family made the decision to allow the research in hopes it will help NFL players and others in the future, Mitchell said.
The San Diego County medical examiner’s office on Thursday classified Seau’s death as a suicide, but said a final autopsy report may take up to 90 days to complete.
While there was no evidence Seau suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease brought on by multiple concussions, friends and family have stepped forward to say the legendary linebacker suffered a number of hits to the head during his career.
As a linebacker, he played “the most havoc-ridden position on the team. He suffered many concussions, so there is a strong sense that it played a role,” Mitchell, a pastor and Seau family friend, said Thursday.
Mitchell, who stood next to Seau’s grief-stricken mother as she faced a sea of cameras to discuss her son’s death, said the family had received calls from researchers asking to study his brain.
“Him taking the shot to the chest makes sense that he would want his head examined,” he said.
While Mitchell did not identify the researchers making the requests, among the institutions the family could donate Seau’s brain to is Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, the research center that found former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson suffered degenerative damage to his brain because of repeated hits.
Duerson committed suicide, shooting himself in the chest in 2011 and leaving a suicide note that said he wanted his brain studied for possible damage.
Seau’s death follows last month’s suicide of former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, the lead plantiff in a class action lawsuit against the NFL over concussion-related injuries. The lawsuit names more than 1,000 professional players.
In both cases, Easterling and Duerson exhibited symptoms of repetitive head trauma: memory lapses, anger and deep depression, according to family and friends. And in both cases, researchers found signs of brain trauma.
More than 100 former professional football players added their names Thursday to the growing list of people suing the NFL, saying it “repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by attorney Mike McGlamry.
The NFL has repeatedly dismissed the allegations, saying player safety is a priority. “Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit,” it said.
Seau does not appear to have participated in any of the pending lawsuits against the NFL.
CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, warned against drawing a conclusion in Seau’s case, though he said there were striking similarities between his death and other cases involving football players.
The only way to determine if Seau suffered CTE is to analyze the brain tissue for “hallmarks of the dementia-like disease,” Gupta said.
“We can’t know, unless Junior Seau’s” brain is analyzed in this way, whether his death was related to CTE, he said.
Though Seau had no reported documented history of concussions, Gupta said “the hits don’t necessarily result in diagnosed concussion, but the brain is rattled over and over again.”
Seau family friend Joe Gallagher said the former linebacker made a comment recently that appeared to indicate a possible issue.
“Junior had wanted to donate his brain to science to the study of concussive injuries,” he told CNN affiliate KGTV of San Diego.
Tim Abell, an actor and veteran’s advocate who conducted what is believed to be Seau’s last interview on Monday at a charity golf tournament, said he saw no indication that Seau was suicidal.
“He was so jovial and happy,” he said Friday on CNN’s “Starting Point.”
A Seau friend who was also at the tournament agreed.
“He seemed to be in a very good mood, lighthearted,” David Biber said.
Seau was drafted into the NFL in the first round in 1990 out of the University of Southern California. He debuted with the San Diego Chargers, establishing his Hall of Fame potential as a Pro Bowl staple.
He left San Diego before the 2003 season to join the Miami Dolphins and spent parts of the last four seasons with the New England Patriots before retiring in late 2011. Seau amassed 1,526 tackles, 56.5 sacks and 18 interceptions in his 20-season career.
Seau’s death rocked the Southern California city of San Diego, where he was a member of the 1994 Chargers — the only team in franchise history to make it to the Super Bowl.
His reputation as a fierce tackler — with a heart of gold for his community work — earned him admiration and a legion of fans.
Through most of his career he avoided negative publicity that plagued some in the NFL.
But in October 2010, he made headlines when he was charged with domestic violence after an incident with his girlfriend, and then hours after his arrest he drove off a cliff and crashed on the beach. Investigators later ruled the crash an accident, saying he fell asleep at the wheel.
On Wednesday, Seau made headlines again. His girlfriend, who had just returned home from a workout, found him in the bedroom of his home with a gun lying next to him, authorities said.
It is not clear if Seau left a note or an explanation.
In the hours before his death, Mitchell said he sent text messages to his ex-wife and their three children.
“They said simply, ‘I love you,” Mitchell told CNN. “They actually responded back to him with ‘Love you too, Dad.’”
Young to face charges of aggravated assault
Tigers outfielder released on bail after skirmish
New York (CNN) – Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young has been released on $5,000 bail after he was arrested in Manhattan and charged with aggravated harassment after a dispute with another man.
Young was set free Friday evening, his attorney, Daniel J. Ollen said. Young is not required to stay in New York and is due to appear in court in May.
The dispute occurred Thursday night. Police said Young appeared intoxicated when they arrived at the scene outside the Hilton New York hotel. He was treated and released from a hospital Friday morning, police Detective Martin Speechley said.
The other man, who was not identified, sustained minor injuries but refused treatment, according to Speechley.
The aggravated harassment charge is a misdemeanor, but Speechley said the case is being investigated as a possible hate crime because of “religious statements made” during the dispute.
If there is evidence to support a hate crime, the seriousness of the charge would be “elevated,” he said.
Young plans to plead not guilty, Ollen said.
“I sincerely regret what happened last night,” the outfielder said in a statement Friday, according to CNN affiliate WABC. “I take this matter very seriously and assure everyone that I will do everything I can to improve myself as a person and player.”
The team issued a brief statement Friday afternoon.
“We are aware of the situation, however it is our club policy not to comment on pending legal matters,” the statement said. “As we understand it, this is an allegation and we need to allow the legal process to take its course.”
The Tigers are in New York for a three-game series against the Yankees. Detroit lost the first game Friday to the Yankees.
Devils and Panthers face off in game 7
Zajac plays hero as patient Devils push Panthers to seventh game |
- Travis Zajac’s overtime goal lifted the Devils over the Panthers 3-2 and into a Game 7 on Thursday.
Devils
Panthers
NEWARK, N.J. — It came as no surprise that a game between the Devils and Panthers went to overtime. After all, Florida led the league with 25 extra sessions this season; New Jersey was close behind with 22. If anything, it’s shocking the teams hadn’t needed more than regulation before Game 6 on Tuesday night. At times, it looked like a marathon was in the making as they traded chances early in the extra frame.
But it took just 5:39 before the stalemate was broken by Travis Zajac, the Devils’ once-Ironman who missed all but 15 games this season with a torn Achilles tendon. In hero’s fashion, the top-line center had been missed by New Jersey for so long sent a reminder of his value into Florida’s net.
“I saw first hand what [Zajac] worked through, with eight months of rehab and the setbacks, being in the gym by yourself and on the ice by yourself, being left behind while the team is traveling,” Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. “It’s not a lot of fun, and [so] it couldn’t happen to a better guy, for all the work he put in to get back to this point.”
Zajac looked no worse for wear as he streaked down the left side and took a pass from winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who drew two Florida defenders with him as he gained the blue line. The open space Kovalchuk created gave Zajac just enough time to settle the puck and snap a shot through goalie Scott Clemmensen and send this series back to Sunrise, Fla., for Game 7 on Thursday night.
Zajac’s shot was one of the few Clemmensen couldn’t handle on Tuesday night. The journeyman goalie, filling in for the injured Jose Theodore and getting his second career NHL playoff start, made 39 saves in the losing effort.
Knowing they would face a desperate team, the Panthers seemed to start the game tentatively, focused more on containing New Jersey than generating offense of their own. Breaking up the Devils’ cycle and playing them close, the Panthers gave little room, forcing New Jersey to make decisions quickly. So while the Devils had plenty of looks on Clemmensen, the quality of those chances weren’t particularly stellar. Of New Jersey’s 13 first-period shots, eight came from beyond 30 feet; five from beyond 40 feet. But sometimes, quantity matters.
“He was seeing pucks, and anyone’s going to stop them if they see them,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “But the good thing is that we threw 40 at him. You just assume one’s going to go in sooner or later.”
With the Devils outshooting the Panthers 12-3 late in the first, one finally went in. With 3:23 left in the opening frame, a clean offensive zone faceoff win set up defenseman Peter Harrold for a point shot, which was tipped in the slot by center Ryan Carter. Clemmensen handled the tip, but the rebound went off to his right, leaving a chance for winger Steve Bernier to sweep the puck through the goalie’s feet. It was the fourth goal generated by the Devils’ fourth line in the series, one fewer than their top line at even strength.
“Our fourth line, I can’t overstate their importance through the first six games of this series,” DeBoer said. “[Bernier] is a playoff-type guy. He’s a big body, likes to forecheck, wins battles. He’s an underrated player.”
Special teams, too, have played an important role throughout the series, usually in the Panthers’ favor. But early in the second, New Jersey’s power play connected, extending their lead with a tic-tac-toe play. With crisp puck movement, Zajac, stationed down low on the goal line, spotted Kovalchuk pinching in from the opposite point and put a perfect pass in the crease for him to tap in.
But it took less than three minutes for the Devils’ two-goal advantage to shrink. The Panthers’ ability to pounce on opportunities — whether on the power play or by taking advantage of turnovers — had staked them to a 3-2 series lead.
“They’re a team that doesn’t go away,” Parise said.
And when they saw their chances, the Panthers pounced again. Seven minutes in, center Stephen Weiss confidently carried the puck into the zone, gaining speed down the left side and getting position on both David Clarkson and Bryce Salvador. Strong on his skates, Weiss put a pass on the stick of linemate Kris Versteeg in the slot. The winger snapped a low shot through Brodeur’s feet, scoring his third goal of the series.
Nearly six minutes later, the Panthers would tie the game on a 4-on-2 rush created because Kovalchuk and Parise were tripped up in their own end. As Florida gained the zone, defenseman Tyson Strachan, the fourth man in, took a shot that went through Brodeur’s pads and skittered wide of the net. Winger Sean Bergenheim, positioned at the goal line, had an easy put-in to draw even. It was Florida’s eighth shot of the game.
“[They're] a really opportunistic team,” DeBoer said. “But I thought we deserved the win, and we got it.”
A workmanlike third period, in which the Devils kept Florida to just three shots, was more characteristic of how New Jersey wants to play, DeBoer said, and it set the tone for overtime.
“We were defensively solid, creating offense,” he said. “I really felt it was just a matter of time, if we could just stay patient and keep that type of game going.”
It’s the game New Jersey will also want to take back to Florida for Thursday’s decider. With hopes of winning their first playoff series since 1996, Florida has another chance to dismiss the Devils on home ice. The opportunity is there and the Panthers won’t be an easy out.
MMA Bullring Teams with Bamma USA to bring Mixed Martial Arts and Bull riding to another level
MMA Bullring has put together a who’s who team of established MMA icon’s as well as experienced rodeo promoters to lead this new entertainment extravaganza.
Led by MMAJACKED, ProFightNetwork, and MMABAY NEWS founder, Chris Greenman, and Ontario Rodeo promoter John Shelby & Sons, this group has a veteran base.
MMA Bullring’s first proof of know-how came in the immediate decision to claim partnership with BAMMA USA, a veteran and successful California Mixed Martial Arts promotion. Greenman and BAMMA USA CEO, Brett Roberts, have a long and loyal history of partnered events and both know MMA from almost all aspects.
IJR NEWS spoke with Chris Greenman, and he told us this “Mr. Shelby came to me with this idea and I initially took it on as a marketing consultant gig. Through my discovery of their already dedicated audiences of the rodeo events and after going to some of these events in Ontario, it was simple choice. There was already a committed crowd and it might make sense to introduce them to MMA. It was my twisted idea to have the best at each compete in the others respective sport and Mr. Shelby agreed.”
“I then contacted Brett Roberts to see if he would back me on bringing BAMMA USA out to Perris and he came out to the fairgrounds and arena and was convinced, the rest will be history in the making and I am excited to add another dimension to my favorite sport. Can you imagine, Jon Jones on a bull or Anderson Silva or any UFC guy? I know some of them wouldn’t hesitate but there are others that would run as fast as I would.”
Will the cowboys fight a round of MMA with other cowboys or even possibly established MMA fighters? Will MMA fighters ride a bull or play cowboy poker against other MMA fighters or possibly established bull riders? These are all questions that will be fun seeing answered.
This is a first of its kind type of event mixing both Mixed Martial Arts and the most brutal rodeo events including bull riding and cowboy poker. At the end of the planned 6 event circuit, the tables will turn allowing the top of each sport compete in the others sport. May 19th marks the debut of MMA Bullring’s inaugural event, located in Perris, CA at the state fair location. Tickets are now available to May 19th event that promises to push the envelope in terms of toughness.
Allen Shelby
Junior Journalist IJR News
Allen@ijrnews.com
Bubba wins the Masters 2012
Bubba Watson won the Masters with his own brand of golf, but family trumps his green jacket
By Dan Wetzel
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Molly Watson walked down the side of 10th fairway in the second playoff hole ofthe Masters, saw the spot where her son, Bubba, had put his tee shot – deep in the woods without a clear path to the green – and knew immediately he’d find a way to swing for the pin.
“That’s his game,” she said.
“Bubba Golf” is what Bubba Watson calls it, and it’s some combination of aggressiveness and innocence. The guy boasts of never taking a lesson. He has no coach. He employs no sports psychologists. He does things he knows he shouldn’t, like hitting driver when control is of the essence, or imagining some weaving, looping wedge shot out of the woods and into history.
“Hit a crazy shot that I saw in my head and somehow I’m here talking to you with a green jacket on,” he said.
So, yes, Molly Watson sure was correct. She knew her boy. Knew he was a simple kid from the Florida Panhandle, son of a contentious Vietnam vet. Knew he learned the game hitting Wiffle balls around the yards. “Inside the house, too,” she said.
She knew that as much as he wanted to win the Masters, Bubba was more focused on getting out of Augusta and back to his wife and their 6-week-old son, Caleb. They’d adopted him just weeks ago after an emotional, roller coaster of a process, and none of this seemed to mean as much anymore.
She knew that as much as her late husband, Gerry, always said Bubba’s greatness was possible, it wasn’t in Bubba’s mind to believe it. He was a kid who would assume the worst yet play carefree anyway.
“I dreamed about [winning the Masters],” he said. “I just never made the [winning] putt.”
When you assume it won’t work you might as well try something that shouldn’t. Bubba Watson was in a playoff with Louis Oosthuizen for a green jacket, so what if he’d cranked into no man’s land?
Watson had always lived by a simple golfing motto: “If I have a swing, I have a shot.”
He knew he had a swing. So they parted the gallery for him. He tried to take measure of where a green was. He couldn’t see it behind the patrons and a television stand. He grabbed his 52-degree gap wedge and from 164 yards to glory he let rip the most perfect Bubba Golf shot ever.
“Hooked it about 40 yards,” he said. “Hit it about 15 feet off the ground until it got under the tree and then started rising.”
[ Related: Phil Mickelson comes up a shot short in bid for green jacket No. 4 ]
It wound up in the middle of the green, where he would need a simple two-putt to win the Masters. As he ran out trying to follow its flight, fans jumped forward and patted him on the back and ran right along with him.
“Pretty easy,” he smiled.
Soon he and Molly were hugging and crying at the center of the green. Neither could say a single word.
Bubba isn’t quite your prototypical “Bubba,” but he’s the closest they’ve ever seen at Augusta National. He recently rewarded his success by purchasing the original General Lee of “Dukes of Hazzard” fame and is restoring it.
He once won a bet that he couldn’t drive a golf ball out of Sanford Stadium, home of his beloved alma mater University of Georgia football team (he won that one). His first words at the green jacket ceremony were, “Go Dawgs!”
His wife, Angie, was in Florida, watching on TV, trying to get Caleb to take a nap. She was trying to figure out what he was going to do to celebrate, “You know he’s gonna put on the green jacket and drive down something in the General Lee,” she told the Golf Channel. And as for next year’s champions dinner, where he’ll pick the menu?
“Might be In-n-Out cheeseburgers,” Angie said.
Everyone was laughing Sunday because it had all worked out, and they all knew how close things had come to breaking bad. Bubba was always talented and always headstrong. He says early in his career he was overwhelmed by everything.
On the course, “every golf shot was controlling how mad I got,” he said. Off of it, “I was the fun, goofing-around little kid.”
It was a terrible mix: no balance, no focus. Angie sat him down for a long talk. His caddy threatened to leave him. He said he gave himself to Christ. All helped, but he acknowledges it’s been “a slow process.” It still is.
Part of his recent emotions came from finding his son. On their first date Angie told him she was incapable of having children. “I said, ‘That’s fine.’ ” Various family responsibilities, including the death of his father in 2010 to throat cancer, prevented them from seeking adoption sooner. They finally went after it this winter.
The adoption process can be painful for would-be parents, hopes rise and then are dashed with cruel regularity. On March 19 they thought they had a baby and then got turned down at the last minute.
“Heartbreaking watching my wife,” he said.
They were willing but Bubba had to play that weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational outside Orlando. He wanted to pull out, but Angie made him stay. He finished fourth, a fine tune-up for this.
“Then Monday morning, we were down in South Florida, picking up little Caleb,” he said.
Watson began to tear up again.
“I can’t wait to get back.”
He meant it. Even during the green jacket ceremony, he kept thinking about a private jet waiting for him at the airport. He saw a helicopter and wondered if it might be about to whisk him out of Augusta National right then.
Most Masters champions want to stick around, soak up the memories and the moments and bask in the glory of what may be their greatest accomplishment.
“The thing is, golf is not my everything,” he said.
This is the most staid, traditional, secure-of-itself place in America. It changes for no one. It’s convinced it is everything.
Bubba Watson came a long way, the hard way, his own way, to get here. The guy can really play golf. He just isn’t obsessed with every last facet of the game, doing it how everyone else does, playing it safe when he should.
Bubba Golf just won the Masters and now all he wanted to do was go home and avoid changing diapers. And that, too, is just what Molly Watson expected.
Tiger Woods – The tale of the comeback kid
Tiger wins back fans from young to old
Like Arnold Palmer had his army, Tiger certainly has his troop.
Thousands of patrons lined the fairways on Augusta National Golf Club’s front nine Tuesday morning as Woods played a practice round. They crammed themselves as many as 10 deep around the greens and moved from tee to green like waves going up each side of the fairways.
“I think he’s going to bring a lot of people back to the game,” said Will Brown, an Augusta resident who was following Woods with his wife and two sons. “He’s good for golf.”
As he spoke, his son Zeke, 6, tugged at his father’s pant leg, begging to go to the practice tee to wait in line for Woods’ autograph.
“He’s very special,” Zeke squeaked about his favorite golf star.
Woods scored his first official PGA Tour victory in two and a half years two weeks ago, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Florida by five strokes. It was also his first victory since disclosure of his marital infidelities, which led to divorce.
In the months between those wins, his game nosedived and he plummeted from the top spot in the world golf rankings, even falling out of the top 50. He’s rebounded to No. 7 and rebounded with the fans, too.
Leo Brown, a 60-year-old from Greenville, South Carolina, was pleased to see Woods back in the winner’s column.
“He showed all the doubters that he still had a game,” Brown said.
SI.com: Tiger Woods shows this is his Masters to lose
Some never were doubters, including Qabaniso Lupafya, a native of Zimbabwe who moved to Massachusetts 26 years ago and now lives in Worcester.
“I love Tiger. I’m obsessed with him,” said Lupafya, who also goes by Frank for those who can’t pronounce his name. He said his goal is to play with Woods one day.
Lupafya, a former rugby player, said watching Woods — and a nasty knee injury — inspired him to take up golf four years ago. He’s down to a six handicap, he said, and has won local tournaments, but he’ll just be watching Woods from the other side of the ropes at Augusta.
“I got a date with Tiger. I’ll see ya!” he said Tuesday morning, scampering down the ninth fairway in search of his idol.
Gary Hanson of Palm Beach, Florida, also had a date with Tiger on Tuesday morning, but don’t count him among Woods’ fans.
That’s because Woods doesn’t respect the fans, he said, adding the golf star had done little to acknowledge their cheers in Tuesday morning’s practice round.
“Without the fans, where are you?” Hanson asked. So why was he making the trek around Augusta’s back nine for a meaningless round on a gray Tuesday morning?
“The wife loves him,” he said. He looked over to the ropes where his wife, Gail, followed Woods as he walked up to the sixth green. “She’s in love with him!”
For himself, Hanson said, he’d rather be following Phil Mickelson.
“And you know why? Because he interacts with the fans,” Hanson said.
Don’t tell the kids Woods doesn’t interact.
Up by the practice green, they squeezed against the railings of the junior autograph area, hoping to get Woods to sign whatever they had handy.
Golf.com: Most-anticipated Masters in years
Alec Cwienkala, a 13-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, scored Woods’s signature on his flag.
“It was really cool being up close to him,” said Alec, who waited 90 minutes in the autograph area.
Woods and the other Masters participants have been examples for his own game, Alec said.
“I try to make my swing like all those pros,” the young golfer said.
And maybe watching Woods is something that will inspire new generations of players to take the game to new levels.
Vicki Martin of St. Cloud, Minnesota, said she thinks there’s something to that argument.
“Tiger makes these young kids what they are today,” said Martin, noting that Woods athleticism and conditioning regimen has set the standard for others and elevated the game as a whole.
Martin said Woods has inspired her 13-year-old grandson.
“He’s obsessed with Tiger,” she said. “He says, ‘I want to play in the Masters.’”
Woods has elevated more than just the sport, said Jim Banks, a retired Army colonel from Fort Hood, Texas.
Leo Brown, Tiger Woods fan
That’s because if Woods is bringing people out to PGA Tour events, the charities that golf supports are able to do more for those they serve.
“Think about the revenue created for the charities,” Banks said. “It’s he, and he alone, who does that.”
Out along Washington Road, the main route from Interstate 20 to the course, Woods’ resurgence is having another kind of economic effect. Those who came to Augusta without tickets are paying more to buy passes from the roadside brokers.
Tye Bedwell of Chattanooga, Tennessee, his brother and a friend lucked into two passes at face value from a passing motorist, Bedwell said. But they still needed a third and hadn’t found anything under $350 at noon Tuesday.
“We’re not going to pay $350,” he said.
“The ticket price has spiked up,” said Randall Matod, who said he’s been trading tickets on Washington Avenue for the past 30 years. He had sold passes for Tuesday’s practice round for $250, he said, but was looking for new inventory at lunchtime. For Sunday’s final round, they’ll be around $500 — and they’d be higher, he said, but the fact that Sunday is Easter is keeping the price dampened a bit.
Of course, that Easter Sunday deduction may well be eliminated if Woods is atop the leaderboard on Saturday night.
“I couldn’t say I’m pulling for him to win. It just makes golf more interesting,” said Jordan Myers of Columbia, South Carolina, who was watching for Woods with his brother and father.
“Golf is way better with Tiger,” said Alec’s father, Steve Cwienkala. “Whether you love him or hate him, the sport needs him.
Sadaf Rahimi dream to become the Olympic boxing champ
Afghanistan’s first female Olympic boxer eyes London dream
17-year-old Sadaf Rahimi was given a wild card to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) – An arena where the Taliban used to execute women provides a chilling and incongruous setting for one teen girl’s unlikely Olympic dream.
But the dusty floors, broken mirrors, and poorly-lit hallways inside Kabul’s Ghazni stadium have been the training base for 17-year-old Sadaf Rahimi.
Dressed in a track suit, red lace up boots and a blue bandana, she is on course to become Afghanistan’s first female Olympic boxer and only the third Afghan sportswoman to compete at an Olympic Games.
“The first time I hit someone it was in my village, I was 11. It was actually my cousin,” she told CNN during a break from training. “Afterwards he said I hit him so hard that I should become a boxer!”
She did just that. A wild card from the Olympic committee has propelled the student towards the London games this summer, a daunting prospect given the modest resources at her disposal.
Rahimi and her teammates, including her sister Shabnam, can’t train in a proper boxing ring, because one doesn’t exist in war-torn Afghanistan. Instead dozens of girls and women in the team shuffle around in mismatched uniforms inside a small, dirty improvised gym complete with padded flooring.
“The equipment we have is pretty inadequate. I’ve even had to buy my own boxing socks,” she said.
Women’s boxing in Afghanistan
With sport facilities in short supply in Kabul, the boxing team’s time in this gym is limited.
“We can only train one hour a day, and that’s it,” said Rahimi. “It’s not enough to prepare for London. Other teams around the world train three times a day.”
Rahimi says she would like expert help in Dubai or India to be competitive against more seasoned international fighters.
But this is Afghanistan, where money is too often in all the wrong places. So they’re left hoping for a sponsor to help them out.
“We would like a sponsor with a good name in the world of sports. But more importantly a company that can assist our female athletes in the future, Rahimi’s coach, Mohammed Saber Sharifi, said.
Sharifi, a former male professional boxer and an advocate for women’s rights, believes the world will see Afghanistan in a different light when Rahimi steps into the ring in London.
“I hope the world can see that Afghan women are breaking down barriers by pursuing their dreams of becoming a professional athlete. We represent this country with pride,” he said.
Mohammed Saber Sharifi, coach
Afghan females imprisoned for ‘moral crimes’
The Afghan Amateur Women’s Boxing Association was established by the Cooperation for Peace and Unity project in 2007 to promote women and girls in sports.
When female athletes were banned by the Taliban from competing in sport, Afghanistan was suspended from competition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It missed the 2000 Olympics in Sydney as a result. Afghanistan — with female athletes involved for the first time — competed in Athens in 2004 after the Taliban had been ousted in 2001.
But the Taliban have not been the only obstacle.
In a country where human rights activists say women are still vulnerable to prejudice and a range of issues including domestic violence, forced marriage and sexual abuses, Rahimi fears for her own safety.
Her father spoke of anonymous threats and warnings that his daughters should not be boxing. Many fear this kind of conservatism in Afghan society will increase when NATO leaves the country.
“For one month I was not allowed to come to the gym for practice because of my safety”, she said.
While her own parents are extremely supportive of her and her sister, she says other family members have criticized their lifestyle.
“My aunt used to say girls should stay at home and do housework, they shouldn’t be going out and playing sports. She would say my actions are not in line with Islam.”
But Rahimi says this pressure doesn’t keep her from the sport she loves.
It’s easy to be impressed by the dedication shown by someone who says she’s never hit anyone in anger — well, not yet anyway.
No fight between Murray and Chavez due to visa problems
Murray withdraws from Chavez Jr. fight in June
Great Britain’s Martin Murray (right) battled middleweight beltholder Felix Sturm to a draw in December. (Uwe Anspach/DPA/ZUMAPRESS.com)
British middleweight Martin Murray has withdrawn from a June 16 fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. due to legal issues preventing him from obtaining a visa to enter the United States. The issues are connected to Murray’s past criminal behavior, which included street fighting and robbery, crimes that resulted in four separate stints in prison.
“I’d signed the contract and everything was agreed, so to be told I cannot box Chavez Jr. because of my past is gut-wrenching,” Murray said. “As a human being, I couldn’t have done any more to turn my life around over the last seven years. I have a fantastic wife, Gemma. We have two wonderful children, Archie and Amelia. They are my life and everything I do is for them.”
Murray, 29, popped on the international radar last December, when he battled WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm to a draw. Murray’s manager Neil Marsh and promoter Ricky Hatton said in a statement that they would work to resolve the visa issues quickly. In the meantime, they will look to make a fight for Murray (23-0-1) in the U.K., where he could defend his minor domestic titles.
“I am a qualified youth worker and spend lots of time working with kids making an effort to help keep them out of trouble,” Murray said. “I am pleading with the youth of today not to make the same mistakes I did when I was young. Even if you change your life around it can still come back to bite you.”
Meanwhile, Chavez Jr. will look to fill Murray’s slot. Industry sources say unbeaten junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan and middleweight Andy Lee are the leading candidates.
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