Stories of the week:
– Five road wins in seven games. (And no draws!)
– The Red Bulls’ early lead in the East is gone, with the Crew emphatically taking control. A couple of injuries seem to have rattled the Red Bulls.
– Last year’s MLS trophy winners, Columbus and Salt Lake, have won four straight.
STANDINGS/LINEUPS/PERSONNEL INFO/ETC
Time to have a good weekend of actual sports after a nasty day of news — cycling scandals, St. Louis soccer problems, etc.
FRIDAY
5 p.m.: Cycling, Stage 6, Tour of California. A very tough mountain stage should shake up the standings. Versus
11 p.m.: MMA, Strikeforce. Veteran Matt Lindland vs. up-and-comer Kevin Casey in the main event. Showtime
SATURDAY
9 a.m.: Cycling, Giro d’Italia, Stage 14. Universal Sports
10 a.m.: Soccer (England), Championship promotion final, Blackpool-Cardiff. Yes, one of these teams will be in the Premier League next season. Probably not the season after that. Fox Soccer Plus
Noon: Ice hockey, World Championship semifinal, Czech Republic vs. Sweden. Universal Sports
** 2:30 p.m.: Soccer (Europe), Champions League final, Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munich. Fox
4 p.m.: Ice hockey, World Championship semifinal, Russia vs. Germany. Universal Sports
** 6 p.m.: Soccer (Women’s), USA-Germany in a huge international friendly. No WPS games this week due to international play. ESPN2
6:30 p.m.: Cycling, Stage 7, Tour of California. It’s a time trial, though unlike the Tour de France, it might not be the last word. Versus
SUNDAY
5 a.m.: Tennis, French Open, first day. Tennis Channel
8 a.m.: Track and field, Diamond League in Shanghai, with Usain Bolt in action. Universal Sports online
9 a.m.: Cycling, Giro d’Italia, Stage 15. Universal Sports
Noon: Tennis, French Open, first day (broadcaster shift). ESPN2
1 p.m.: Soccer (Mexico), Toluca-Santos, second leg of final. 2-2 in the first leg. Telemundo
2 p.m.: Darts, Premier League semifinals. Can we watch on Sky’s online viewer? Anyone know?
2:30 p.m.: Ice hockey, World Championship semifinal, Universal Sports
6:30 p.m.: Cycling, Final stage, Tour of California. Hilly circuit. Versus
Ahead to Monday: England-Mexico (3 p.m., FSC/Telemundo) and more French Open.
NCAA Championship watch:
More action:
The news that former Tour de France champion Floyd Landis has admitted using several performance-enhancing drugs in his cycling career, reported in The Wall Street Journal, is disappointing on several levels.
First, it invalidates one of the great performances in sports, Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France. Landis had lost his overall lead with a weak ride the day before, falling from first to 11th overall. He then stormed out to a solo breakaway that you never see from a contender in one of the great Tours. Riders who have fallen far back in the general classification may pull off a breakaway at times, but if someone of Landis’ caliber breaks free, the pack responds. The pack did indeed respond, but Landis was just that strong.
(Landis tells ESPN’s Bonnie Ford that the testosterone test that flagged him after that race is still inaccurate, but he admits he using human growth hormone.)
Second, it raises more doubt on cycling’s protracted clean-up efforts and, once again, on Lance Armstrong. Landis implicates much of American cycling’s pantheon — Armstrong, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and David Zabriskie — though he concedes to Ford that he has no documentation.
Third, it makes us wonder if anti-doping efforts are helping at all. Any gloating from anti-doping activists — especially from Dick Pound, whose irresponsible comments about “violating virgins” in the early days of the Landis case showed a nasty tendency to talk first, gather facts later — would be misguided.
If there’s even a grain of truth in the e-mails Landis has sent to cycling and anti-doping authorities, then the tests are missing the mark. He tells Ford he is showing authorities how athletes are still cheating and beating the tests.
And yet, the test that flagged down Landis is still questionable. The site Trust But Verify meticulously cataloged problems with Landis’ case, and nothing Landis says here disputes any of that analysis. Arbitrator Chris Campbell ripped the French lab that handled the results in voting to dismiss Landis’ case, and the two arbitrators who overruled him conceded that mistakes had been made. Even if Landis were indeed using synthetic testosterone at that time, which he still denies, better handling of the case would’ve led to a much cleaner and quicker resolution.
Anti-doping science is difficult and ever-changing. Just ask Zach Lund, who missed the Torino Olympics over an anti-baldness drug that was later removed from the banned list. The tests are complicated, and athletes are finding ways to beat them.
And that’s why the anti-doping movement must always proceed out of humility rather than arrogance. Especially today.
Update: Christine Brennan sums up anti-doping challenges in reference to the case of Canadian doctor Anthony Galea, who paid house calls to Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez, with some telling quotes from someone who understands those challenges better than anyone — Gary Wadler.
Already at the eighth episode? And we still don’t know why Tito isn’t fighting Chuck. We still don’t know if any two fighters will be healthy enough to fight in the finale. We still don’t know if anyone eventually tapes Crabman’s mouth shut.
We do know the wild-card matchup. One wrinkle: Kyacey Uscola gets special dispensation to take a phone call from his wife, who has just delivered their baby boy. It’s a touching scene. Kris McCray, his opponent, sincerely congratulates him. No trash-talking going into this one. McCray, humbled by his earlier loss, says he’s probably the underdog. No, Kris, you’re not.
Steve Mazzagatti is our ref, and we’re underway before the first ad break! That has to be a record.
Uscola seems looser and more confident early, letting his hands go a bit. McCray answers with kicks. Then an Uscola leg kick catches McCray badly, and his corner urges him to pounce on his grimacing opponent. But McCray recovers quickly and lands some shots against the cage.
It’s one of the quietest fights in the show’s history. Tito, as promised, is keeping his mouth shut, not willing to pick sides between teammates. Other fighters are also staying out of it. You hear one or two guys from each corner.
McCray catches Uscola in the groin with a knee, and Mazzagatti breaks them up, giving Uscola time to recover and, more importantly, escape from being pinned against the cage. But McCray presses the action again and easily takes the first round.
Dec. 31, 2004. Fedor Emelianenko defeats Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the second time. He is Pride’s heavyweight champion and the winner of the heavyweight Grand Prix. At the same time, UFC is in heavyweight limbo due to Frank Mir’s motorcycle accident. Few can doubt that Fedor is the best heavyweight fighter in MMA.
Fedor has won 10 more fights since then. Some have had good resumes. But at most, one has gone on to do anything significant since facing Fedor.
Call it the Curse of Fedor. Or perhaps bad matchmaking and bad timing. Emelianenko is still ranked No. 1 in the world, a claim helped by the relative inexperience of UFC champion Brock Lesnar and interim UFC champion Shane Carwin. But that ranking isn’t as certain as the No. 1s in the next three classes — Mauricio Rua, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre.
Here’s a breakdown of what Fedor’s opponents have gone on to do:
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Pride Bushido 6, April 3, 2005 (doctor stoppage after first round): A rematch of Fedor’s only “loss,” a 2000 Rings tournament bout that was stopped early when Fedor was cut by an illegal strike. In most circuits, that would be declared no contest. But someone had to advance in the tournament, so Kohsaka was credited with the win. He went on to lose to Randy Couture in the same tournament and then lost to a succession of top fighters before facing Fedor again.
After Fedor: 2 wins (neither notable), 2 losses. Retired.
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Pride Final Conflict, Aug. 28. 2005 (unanimous decision): Perhaps the last great Fedor fight. Certainly the last time to date that he’s gone the distance. Cro Cop had marched through some of the best in the game — Sakuraba, Vovchanchyn, Barnett and Coleman.
After Fedor: 11 wins, 4 losses, no contest. The best record by far of any of Fedor’s opponents of the last five years, with wins over Josh Barnett (again) and Wanderlei Silva. Yet the man with the short shorts has struggled in UFC fights, compiling a 3-3 record with no big wins and losses to Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo and Junior dos Santos.
Zuluzinho, Pride Shockwave 2005, Dec. 31, 2005 (first-round submission to strikes): The glorious world of Japanese matchmaking brought us this Brazilian fighter, who was 15-0 when he made his Pride debut against Fedor. Twenty-six seconds later, he was 15-1. Here’s how:
After Fedor: 4 wins, 5 losses. He went on to lose to Nogueira and Eric “Butterbean” Esch in a not-so-stellar Pride career. Best win was against Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa, whose 45-30-8 record tells the tale of an up-and-down career.
Mark Coleman, Pride 32, Oct. 21, 2006 (second-round armbar submission): Coleman was a fine choice as Fedor’s opponent when Pride made its first trip to the USA. He would later be named to the UFC Hall of Fame, and he was Pride’s 2000 open-weight Grand Prix champion. He had lost to Nogueira, Cro Cop and Fedor himself in the years since then, and his most notable win — over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua — was the result of a catastrophic mistake in which Rua broke his arm.
After Fedor: 1 win, 2 losses. Coleman was inactive for more than two years until the UFC brought him back for a light heavyweight rematch with Rua, in which he fought gamely but showed his age. He then took an impressive unanimous decision over Stephan Bonnar, taking down the younger fighter and beating him up old-school. But he showed little in a loss to Randy Couture and was cut from the UFC despite his Hall of Fame status and the desire of many to see him beat up Tito Ortiz, who heckled him during his postfight interview.
Mark Hunt, Pride Shockwave 2006, Dec. 31, 2006 (first-round kimura submission): The New Zealand kickboxer, whose best results were split decisions over Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop, wasn’t the top choice to face Fedor in what turned out to be the last Pride heavyweight title fight. He still made a decent go of things before Fedor’s class won out.
After Fedor: 0 wins, 3 losses. All solid opponents — Alistair Overeem, Melvin Manhoef, Gegard Mousasi. All quick losses.
Matt Lindland, BodogFight, April 14, 2007 (first-round armbar submission): The gambling company’s brief dalliance in fight promotion included a trip to Russia, offering Fedor a chance to fight in his home country for the first time in six years. The choice of opponent was curious — middleweight Matt Lindland, who packed on a few pounds to try to even the scales. The 2000 Olympic wrestling medalist had a respectable 20-4 record, mostly against UFC and IFL opposition, but jumping two weight classes was a tall order.
After Fedor: 1 win, 2 losses. He moved to Affliction and took a unanimous decision over Fabio Nascimento, but Vitor Belfort knocked out in spectacular fashion, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza spoiled his Strikeforce debut. He fights again Saturday against Kevin Casey.
Hong-Man Choi, Yarennoka!, Dec. 31, 2007 (first-round armbar submission): The ultimate in Japanese matchmaking eccentricity is this 7-2 Korean kickboxer. That’s his height, not his record. He had a decent kickboxing record but was 1-0 in MMA coming into this fight, having beaten TV personality Bobby Ologun. Fedor took some damage in the fight, mostly from trying to take down the much larger Choi and having him topple on top.
After Fedor: 1 win, 2 losses, but at least he beat Jose Canseco.
Tim Sylvia, Affliction: Banned, July 19, 2008 (first-round rear naked choke): Surely this would be a more legitimate traditional matchup. Sylvia had held the UFC belt 18 months earlier and was coming off a loss to Nogueira, hardly a shameful result. But the UFC had parted ways with him for some reason. And his next two fights lasted a total of 45 seconds. He survived 36 seconds against Fedor and NINE against Ray Mercer, the former boxer most notable in MMA for losing an exhibition to Kimbo Slice before Slice started training seriously.
After Fedor: 1 win, 1 loss.
Andrei Arlovski, Affliction: Day of Reckoning, Jan. 24, 2009 (first-round KO): Again, a relatively recent UFC champion would face Fedor. And Arlovski was fresh from a second-round win over Roy Nelson, albeit a mildly controversial one. Arlovski took the fight to Fedor early on. Then he rushed toward an apparently stunned Fedor with a flying attack, and Fedor swatted him out of the air and out of the fight with one well-timed punch.
After Fedor: 0 wins, 2 losses. Brett Rogers (see below) took him out in 22 seconds. Then he lost a decision to Antonio Silva.
Brett Rogers, Strikeforce, Nov. 7, 2009 (second-round TKO): Rogers was unbeaten entering the bout, having just beaten Arlovski. He was competitive in the first round, but Fedor caught him in the second and pounded him out.
After Fedor: 0 wins, 1 loss. Overeem finally returned to Strikeforce to defend his title, and he did so convincingly, taking a first-round TKO.
TOTAL RECORD: 21-24
RECORD SINCE CRO COP: 8-18
RECORD SINCE ZULUZINHO: 4-13
Fedor’s next opponent, Fabricio Werdum, beat Overeem in May 2006. He’s 5-3 since then, losing to Nogueira, Arlovski and Junior dos Santos.
Best of luck to him after June 26.
Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson spent most of a season of The Ultimate Fighter jawing at each other. Odds were pretty good they’d do the same thing in Tuesday’s conference call to promote next Saturday’s UFC 114 fight card. The UFC is depending on them as the draw, as the co-main event of Antonio Rogerio “Little Nog” Nogueira vs. Forrest Griffin fell apart with a Griffin injury, and substitute Jason Brilz doesn’t quote carry the same star power.
So let’s judge this conference call as if it were a fight. A 10-point must system is in effect. The most thorough instant recap is at Heavy.com, which I’m using as a sort of instant replay on what I heard. Also, the full audio is at MMAJunkie.com
(Interesting start: UFC President Dana White, not the PR staff, is hosting.)
ROUND 1
Rampage: Rashad shouldn’t run his mouth because he’s not at the same level. This fight is like a step backward.
Rashad responds on the next question (I think it was actually mine, but whatever I asked was forgotten in the answer): “M–f–, who is he to fight me!” Rashad beat Forrest Griffin, who beat Rampage. That brings Rampage back in for some back-and-forth that’s hard to follow, though we hear Rampage saying he didn’t train for the Forrest fight. Oh, and he didn’t lose.
Then Rashad lays the hammer down: “Stop acting like just because you’re black, you’re stupid. I can’t stand that attitude.”
We segue into some argument about who has a belt and who doesn’t. Neither fighter currently has a title, but Rampage claims to have three belts.
Rashad says he sent Rampage a package. Rampage says he didn’t get it and says he’s a “grown-ass man” while Rashad is playing “little-boy games.” Then he answers Rashad on the “big words” argument, saying Rashad has no sense of humor. That doesn’t really work after accusing your opponent of “little-boy games.”
RASHAD, 10-9
ROUND 2
They start with some inconclusive sparring over who turned down which fight. This matchup was put on hold for several months for Rampage’s A-Team filming. Rampage claims Rashad backed out of a fight to improve his odds of keeping the light heavyweight belt a little longer. Rashad answers that he turned down a fight because it was on a quick turnaround while he had a newborn baby.
That gives Rashad the edge, but he quickly devolves into some unnecessary sexual stuff. That’s a one-point deduction.
Rampage has landed a couple of zingers during this round. He responds with sexual stuff as well, so he also loses a point. This one’s hard to score.
RAMPAGE, 9-8
ROUND 3
Rashad teases Rampage about using smaller guys in training and then acting like he accomplished something when he wins in sparring. Rampage claims Rashad has a glass jaw, a tough accusation against someone with one career loss.
Asked to trace their dislike of each other, they go to back Evans’ days on the Gladiator Challenge circuit. Rashad says he admired Rampage then and was crushed when he lost to Wanderlei Silva, who devastated Rampage twice in Japan before Rampage took revenge in the UFC. Rampage said he thought Rashad was OK until he celebrated a win over a friend of Rampage’s.
Not much of substance here.
DRAW, 10-10.
Final tally: DRAW, 28-28.
I’m thrilled to see two books on American soccer history being released in the same month. I’m absolutely biased in saying that, of course, because one of them is mine.
The other is Filip Bondy’s look at the U.S. men’s national team, Chasing the Game, which weaves recent and ancient history to tell the story of the team as it heads into the World Cup.
Bondy uses the same narrative device Jere Longman used in The Girls of Summer, flipping back and forth from chapter to chapter between the main story and background pieces on a particular player or some piece of history. It can be a little hard to follow, especially if you put the book down for a few days and come back to it, but it’s more interesting than giving a few chapters on history and then getting into the 2008-09 qualifying campaign.
Adam Spangler has taken Bondy to task for a few bits of questionable analysis. Such is the subjective nature of a sport that can’t be easily quantified in stats, though some news junkies may also disagree with his depiction of the Honduran political crisis of 2009. (Yes, it’s relevant to his story.)
Spangler also points out something else that brings us to the Great Dilemma of the Soccer Writer in Mainstream Media (GDSWMSM?): Am I writing for soccer fans, a more general audience or some mix of the two? Those of us who have been compelled to write an explanation of the U.S. Open Cup every time it’s mentioned in passing can empathize.
Bondy splits the difference, and it’s hard to argue with that. Heading into a World Cup, fans need different levels of edumacating. Some fans have no idea about the 1950 USA-England game or the intricacies of World Cup qualification. Some already know Landon Donovan’s and Walter Bahr’s biographies in detail.
What I always tried at USA TODAY was to include some detail, some anecdote or some quote that was unique. Bondy offers plenty of that. He fleshes out our image of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, showing him to be even more detail-obsessed than any of us imagined. For each qualifying game and each player described in detail, he has something most people didn’t know or hadn’t considered.
And Bondy is nothing if not thorough. He saw the qualifiers, and he interviewed the key participants. He goes back in history and talks with 1950 World Cup star Walter Bahr about the USA-England matchup of that year and this year. As U.S. World Cup histories go, he has a word from everyone except Bert Patenaude, who passed away 35 years ago.
Having been through the publishing process, I’m impressed that the book has come together so quickly. Six months before the review copy arrived, we weren’t even sure if the USA would make the trip to South Africa. In the book world, particularly outside the major publishing houses, six months is a tight deadline.
If the book seems rushed, though, it’s still worth the effort. It’s a great way to relive the ups and downs of qualifying while learning a bit more about what happened.
I’m again a little biased in the sense that I enjoyed reading about a few things I had witnessed first-hand, particularly the ad-hoc viewing party in which several reporters gathered around Sunil Gulati’s laptop in a Beijing sports bar to watch the USA win in Guatemala. But a lot of fans have their own memories that they’ll enjoy revisiting. And if you don’t remember anything that was written here, you need to read this book before June 12.
We’re starting with WPS for a highlight that probably didn’t make SportsCenter (correct me if it did) but should have. It’s Abby Wambach’s back-heel, throwing off three defenders and setting up the Washington Freedom’s first goal against the run of play as the Atlanta Beat once again looked wonderful but couldn’t finish. If you want to skip ahead to it, go to the 1:17 mark:
Wambach’s header wasn’t bad, either, which is why she gets my Player of the Week vote ahead of Marta. Granted, if I could see Marta’s video highlights, that would help.
The full week (home teams first):
GLOBAL SOCCER
Several trophies were on the line, but the decisive games made news for reasons beyond the results.
MMA
CYCLING
TENNIS
OLYMPIC SPORTS
CHESS
Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky drew in their first meeting at the U.S. Chess Championships on Sunday, likely keeping both of them on track to play again in the “Final Four” in this uniquely formatted tournament. Irina Krush killed my fantasy team by losing out of what seemed to be a winning position against Varuzhan Akobian in a 113-move thriller. (U.S. Chess Federation)
INTRIGUING READS
If the season ended today, we would have two playoff teams from the East and six from the West.
Want more East-West factoids?:
– In fact, the third-place Eastern team (Toronto) would be barely ahead of the last-place team (Chivas USA) in the West. The tiebreakers are head-to-head (haven’t played yet), goal difference (both at -2), then goals scored (Toronto leads 11-10).
– The East leader (New York) has a negative goal difference (-1). Columbus (+5) is the only East team with a positive goal difference.
– Jeff Sagarin’s ratings, which take schedule strength thus far into account, have only two East teams in the playoffs: Columbus (2nd) and Toronto (7th, barely). New York is 10th. The remaining five teams are 12th through 16th.
Frankly, no one could really complain if the eight teams currently in place reached the playoffs. Of the teams on the outside, Dallas and Chivas USA show occasional glimpses, New England could be decent if the injuries ever heal, and Kansas City is one goal-scorer away from contention. Toronto has one of the league’s all-time greats (Dwayne De Rosario), an emerging young forward (O’Brian White) and a solid keeper (Stefan Frei), but does anyone south of the border really want to see that team in the playoffs?
We could see a shakeup in this cozy division of haves and have-nots, though, as the World Cup borrows players for a while, starting now. Los Angeles, Columbus and Chivas USA are the teams hit hardest. Then they could be shaken up again after the post-Cup transfer market shakes out.
“Good,” say fans of D.C. United and anyone who was a little bored with this week’s 0-0 and 1-0 affairs.
Here’s how they stand heading into the break, with injuries taken into account.
STANDINGS/LINEUPS
1. Los Angeles Galaxy (23 pts/9 games played)
– Drew 0-0 vs. Toronto in the shock result of the week.
– Lineup (4-4-1-1): Josh Saunders; Bryan Jordan RB, Gregg Berhalter CB, Omar Gonzalez CB, Todd Dunivant LB; Charlie Birchall DM, Michael Stephens RM, Jovan Kirovski LM, Juninho AM; Landon Donovan WF, Edson Buddle F. Saunders replaces injured Donovan Ricketts, Jordan remains in for A.J. DeLaGarza (back spasms), Juninho returns but in place of Chris Klein rather than Kirovski.
– Injuries: Sean Franklin (left ankle sprain) hasn’t yet reclaimed his spot at the back, bruiser Dema Kovalenko (right hamstring strain), and Eddie Lewis (left foot contusion) has been questionable.
– The Galaxy will be without Donovan through the World Cup and Buddle at least through pre-Cup camp. Good thing they’ve built that huge lead in the standings.
Live-blogging on the Diamond League’s debut in Doha didn’t go so well, honestly. In part, that’s because the live stream didn’t give a lot of cues as to what was going on with the field events, and the results feed crashed.
The big stories from a U.S. perspective: Allyson Felix cruised in the 400, Lolo Jones rallied to win the 100 hurdles, Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement went 1-2 in the 400 hurdles, and Christian Cantwell unleashed the best throw of the year to win the shot put. Chaunte Howard Lowe tied with Blanka Vlasic in the high jump but took second with more misses.
It was a funny meet in some other respects. The starts were too fast a couple of times, leaving confused sprinters trying to make up time. (Didn’t hurt Asafa Powell too much.) The pacemaker in the 3,000 steeplechase made a dash for glory and is now ranked third in the Diamond League.
But it’s a long season.
My attempt at live-blogging follows …
Duresport.com 