Month: June 2010

mma, olympic sports, rugby, tennis, track and field

Friday Myriad: USA-England II, Liddell-Franklin I, Track-Field II

Posted on by Beau Dure

No, we’re not going to forget the rest of the sports world during the big month in South Africa. That said, I’m backing off from the chronological viewing program this week and doing a more basic linking spree. Enjoy.

SOCCER TV NEWS

World Cup: DirecTV has everything in HD, some in 3D and a total of seven languages — English, Spanish, Arabic, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese. (press release)

WPS: The league is getting more pickup from Comcast regional networks. Best off checking your local affiliate for delayed broadcasts; the league site’s schedule just has the live ones.

RUGBY: USA-ENGLAND II

Well, sort of. It’s the USA against the England Saxons, essentially England’s B team, Sunday at the Churchill Cup. That’s one day after that other USA-England game in South Africa.

TRACK AND FIELD

Diamond League raced in Rome on Thursday and will resume Saturday in New York, where 5,000-seat Icahn Stadium is sold out. Universal Sports, 8 p.m. ET

The Rome highlights:

  • Men’s 400: Jeremy Wariner barely held off Angelo Taylor in a thriller, winning in a world-leading 44.73. (Universal Sports video)
  • Men’s long jump: Dwight Phillips with a world-leading 8.42 meters.
  • Women’s high jump: Another duel between the USA’s Chaunte Lowe and Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic, another win for Vlasic on fewer misses.
  • Men’s 100: No Bolt or Gay, so Jamaica’s Asafa Powell just shaved a little bit off his world-leading time. Down to 9.84 seconds.
  • Women’s 400 hurdles: Also a routine world-leader for Lashinda Demus (52.82).
  • Men’s 200: Walter Dix’s 19.86 broke Michael Johnson’s 11-year-old meet record.
  • Men’s shot put: Christian Cantwell’s 14-meet win streak went down to the last throw. Nailed it. 21.67 meters.

Expected in New York (entry list PDF):

  • Women’s pole vault: Silver medalist Jenn Suhr, formerly Jenn Stuczynski, is due back in action after an Achilles injury
  • Men’s 1,500: Bernard Lagat and Lopez Lomong
  • Men’s 400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement
  • Men’s pole vault: Aussie favorite Steve Hooker and U.S. veteran Tim Mack
  • Women’s 1,500: Shannon Rowbury, not just mentioned here because she went to Duke. Also Cristin Wurth-Thomas.
  • Women’s 200: Allyson Felix and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown
  • Women’s 100 hurdles: Lolo Jones and a lot of people with comparable PBs

OLYMPIC SPORTS (all times ET)

Beach volleyball: Men and women both in Moscow for FIVB action that Universal Sports’ blogger says will draw huge crowds. (Russia’s soccer team, coincidentally, isn’t in the World Cup.) Online at UniversalSports.com: women’s medal matches, 10 a.m. Sunday / men’s medal matches, 9:30 a.m. Monday

Wrestling: The U.S. team for this year’s World Championships is being determined tonight and tomorrow. (USOC; video highlights at themat.com)

Volleyball: Like Frank Zappa and the Mothers, the U.S. women are in Montreux. (USOC)

Figure skating: Sorry, ice dancing fans and infatuated guys on the Web — Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are hanging up the skates.

Triathlon: Hunter Kemper is injured and will miss Hy-Vee Race. (Twitter – @vmichaelis)

TENNIS

Nadal lost, leaving Sam Querrey a nice opportunity to win a title at Queen’s Club. Maria Sharapova is in the women’s semis. Men’s semis and final on Tennis Channel

Former No. 1 Roger Federer is still in at the Gerry Weber Open.

MMA

UFC 115: We have Chuck Liddell–Rich Franklin, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic-Pat Barry, Martin Kampmann-Paulo Thiago and a host of others heading into a very busy stretch of fights. And yes, I was busy writing all that with Sergio Non this week.

Bellator: Pat Curran is the Season 2 lightweight champion in a decision Sergio didn’t like. On Thursday, it’s the welterweight tournament finale between Dan Hornbuckle and Ben Askren, the 2008 Olympic wrestler who has a very quick turnaround from attempting to make the Olympic wrestling team today (see above). The good news is that Askren was wrestling at 163 pounds and will fight at 170, so he shouldn’t worry about making weight.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER

World Championships: Frank Cassela took the Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Name This *&*$ing Event So We Don’t Have to Type All That Stuff title on Tuesday, beating notables such as Jennifer Harman (third) and John Juanda (fifth).

The 2-7 Draw Lowball championship is down a final table that includes Juanda, Erik Seidel and Daniel Negreanu. Check the official updates or get Negreanu’s colorful first-hand Tweets about the event and whatever else springs to mind.

The Ladies event is underway, though a few men have elbowed their way to the tables. Shaun Deeb said he was doing it for charity after losing a bet, which we wouldn’t believe except that they are indeed in Vegas. Duke grad Vanessa Rousso is already out, so we’re rooting for chess GM and SportsMyriad interviewee Jennifer Shahade. Shannon Elizabeth has a healthy chip stack at the moment.

Back in the a.m. for World Cup Virtual Viewing.

0
soccer

Virtual Viewing Party: Mexico-South Africa

Posted on by Beau Dure

Can’t be at your favorite watering hole for a game? Just so enamored of a couple of soccer bloggers that you want to chat with us? Desperate for updates? Twitter crashing? You’re in luck. Hop in the discussion below for the World Cup opener and come back throughout the Cup for more chatting.

South Africa vs. Mexico, 10 a.m. ET
ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN3.com/Univision

Today’s hosts are Beau Dure, who runs Sports Myriad, and Kyle McCarthy, who writes for myriad sites and papers (Boston Herald, Goal.com, MLSSoccer.com among them).

[iframe http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=45ca371996 500 600]

0
mma

‘The Ultimate Fighter’: Season 11 semi-finale

Posted on by Beau Dure

Two hours! Two semifinals! Crabman arguing with Uscola in the house! Are you ready?! Do you wish this wasn’t on opposite Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals and some MLS games?

Let’s go …

The first bit of suspense is in the opening credits. Will they replaced Ortiz with Franklin? The answer: Yes! That must’ve cost some money.

I spoke with Franklin on Monday for a story you’ll see Friday, and it’s strange to see him here.  Coming in so late in the season put the mild-mannered fighter in a tough spot.

Continue reading →

1
soccer

MLS marquee matchup: Real Salt Lake and R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Posted on by Beau Dure

Through a fluke of the schedule, MLS has a terrific lead-in to the World Cup: an MLS Cup rematch (9 p.m. ET Wednesday, Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com) that finds both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake in good form.

Real might be exhausted, having spent several days sweating in D.C. for an Open Cup qualifier, a White House visit and a league game. But they’re motivated. The mountain men have an MLS trophy, but after squeaking into the playoffs last year, they know they have some work to do.

“We’re going to have to keep fighting in order to keep getting respect,” captain Nat Borchers said after Saturday’s 0-0 draw in D.C.

“At the beginning of the season, everyone thought we were going to be a big-time team,” Robbie Russell said. “We lose three games on the road against the top three teams from last year, and all of a sudden everyone’s talking about how we’re not good. We have another streak of form, get some home wins, and all of a sudden, we’re good again.”

Russell isn’t exaggerating. Real’s April schedule was borderline sadistic. At Houston. A lone home game against Seattle. At Los Angeles. At Columbus.

“When you’re 1-3-1 and have played a lot of good soccer, I think it’s a bit frustrating,” Borchers said. “That being said, we did play very good soccer. We know how good we are at home – that’s our castle, and we got good results there.”

“Castle” may seem a little overblown, but in general, Real’s players have a strong belief that they’ve found that mythical Right Way of Doing Things.

“It’s been about a 2 1/2-year season where we’ve been striving to get to where we’re getting to now,” Kyle Beckerman said. “We have a style of play now we really believe in. You feel confident in games when you have a style you know works. That’s keeping the ball on the ground, keeping a good deal of possession. When you tend to do that, the other team is playing defense a lot of the time, and that takes a lot out of you.”

And so Beckerman, who’s nursing a torn tendon in his left foot, is in a hurry to get back after the World Cup break.

“I’m about two weeks into rehab. We decided to continue with that. It happened at a decent time where I’m only going to miss three games and should be back for the game after the break.

“The injury was a bit unique. It’s not a standard injury where you do the surgery and you’re back in a certain amount of time. I didn’t really feel comfortable with the surgical options. The one doctor who I did feel comfortable with, he thought it would be OK to go the conservative route without surgery.”

1
olympic sports, rugby

Monday Myriad: USA, Russia split

Posted on by Beau Dure

Going quickly today with two big projects in the last four days before the World Cup:

– Beach volleyball: Olympic champs Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won their 50th title together at the AVP Huntington Beach Open. Their records this year: 17-0 AVP, 23-5 FIVB. (Universal Sports)

The women’s side has been a bit less one-sided, with world champions Jen Kessy and April Ross winning twice on the FIVB tour but not winning this season on the domestic AVP circuit until Sunday, when they held off Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh. For all their accomplishments, Kessy and Ross had never won near their hometowns in southern California. May-Treanor and Branagh haven’t beaten Kessy and Ross this season but seemed to be closing the gap in Sunday’s three-setter. Gold medalist May-Treanor is playing with Branagh this season because Kerri Walsh is out on maternity. (Universal Sports)

– Tennis: Rafael Nadal (no surprise) and Francesca Schiavone (big surprise) are your French Open winners.

– Poker: Men “The Master” Nguyen won his seventh World Series of Poker bracelet in the seven-card stud World Championship.

– Rugby: USA 39, Russia 22 at the Churchill Cup. The Eagles shook off some rust in the first half and pulled away in the second. (USA Rugby)

– Volleyball: Not as good for the USA vs. Russia — the U.S. men dropped their first two matches of the World League in Ekaterinberg, Russia.

– Triathlon: Sarah Haskins finished fifth in Madrid to move up to fourth in the World Championships Series. Jarrod Shoemaker finished ninth to move up to 10th in the series; Matt Chrabot finished 14th to remain in the top 10 at ninth.

– College softball: Maybe it seems like UCLA and Arizona are in the championship series every year, but this year, they’re the fifth and 10th seeds. And Arizona had to battle back through the losers’ bracket after losing 9-0 to Tennessee. And even though UCLA has 10 titles and Arizona 8 (next on the list: Texas A&M with 2), they haven’t faced each other in the final since 2001. Game 1 is on ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET.

– College golf: Augusta State is the upset winner in the men’s tournament. Yes, Division I. (AP)

– Table tennis: A U.S. women’s team consisting of 41-year-old Olympic veteran Jun Gao, three 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old finished 16th at the World Team Championships, clinching a spot in the 2012 world event. (USOC)

0
soccer

MLS recap: Fighting in Toronto, sweating in D.C.

Posted on by Beau Dure

No lineup analysis this week — over the break, we’ll go team-by-team to look at the rosters.

Yesterday:

– Come on you Reds! No, we didn’t mean red cards! With neither side finishing in Toronto, we go to the judges’ scorecards. Adelaide Byrd has it 29-28 Toronto; Nelson Hamilton scores it 29-28 Kansas City. Cecil Peoples insists that leg kicks can’t finish a fight and therefore has neither team winning a round for a 30-30 decision. It’s a draw!

Oh, that was a soccer game, not an MMA fight?

TFC fans were hopping mad after the first round … half, I mean, half … but the biggest complaint seems to be that more Wizards weren’t sent off. The game ended 10-v-10 as is. Toronto squandered a few chances, but if Preki and company want to hang on to that playoff spot ahead of all the more talented West teams just behind them, they should consider investing in some defenders who aren’t quite as clumsy.

–  Soccer soup: The other scoreless tie Saturday was in D.C., where the stats can be a little deceiving. Both teams played positively for the most part, though the heat and humidity sucked the life out the game at times. For some reason, several United attacks wound up on the foot of Stephen King, who was denied brilliantly once or twice by Real Salt Lake keeper Nick Rimando. The rest, he squandered. RSL’s Will Johnson told the Salt Lake papers (the team’s White House visit provided a handy excuse to open up reporters’ travel budgets as if they were suddenly the Washington Post) that he found United’s lack of attacking urgency baffling for a home game, and indeed, RSL was pressing toward the end while D.C. counterattacked. That said, United managed to get a few shots on goal.

– Galaxy stomp: LA 4, Houston 1. No question that the Galaxy can survive without Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan. More pressing question is whether the Dynamo defense is aging before our eyes.

– Quick six for Red Bulls: Hot start, sudden skid, and now the Red Bulls have just as suddenly won two games in the Red Bull Arena fortress.

– Rapids for real: Colorado isn’t going to catch Los Angeles this season, but the Rapids shouldn’t be overlooked. A home win against East leader Columbus ought to grab some attention and bolster some confidence. Colorado scored the winner short-handed thanks to Pablo Mastroeni once again showing the flashes of temper that have hampered his career. (Or, perhaps, made us all regret that he didn’t go to Serie A, where he might have fit in well.)

– Can Dallas hang around? Jeff Cunningham is going through another stretch as Mr. Hyde, and yet FC Dallas isn’t out of it in the West. Brek Shea, my choice for Player of the Week, scored twice against San Jose. The club even showed signs of life at the gate with a crowd of 14,331.

Also, Chicago beat Philadelphia and former coach Peter Nowak 2-1, and Seattle exorcised the demons of a disappointing start with three spectacular goals against New England.

1
soccer

Live: USA-Australia

Posted on by Beau Dure

Watch the USA-Australia friendly with us — or, if you’re stuck somewhere and can’t watch, follow the action with us. This is basically a test run for the World Cup, when I’m tentatively planning to have a discussion like this for every game. Your hosts today are Beau Dure and Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Doug Roberson. During the Cup, the plan is to rotate hosts. Readers, of course, can join us and chime in at any time.

By U.S. Soccer mandate, we’re obliged to tell you that the game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Click here and make sure your pop-up blocker isn’t on

0
cycling, olympic sports, rugby, soccer, tennis, track and field

Friday Myriad: French finals, final Cup tune-ups

Posted on by Beau Dure

One side effect of the World Cup: These are the last MLS weekend games until June 25. They’ll play a few midweek games June 9-10, then break.

This is an eclectic weekend. How often do you see beach volleyball on two channels? College rugby on a major network?

If you’re an MMA fan, this is your one weekend off before a dizzy stretch with five cards (UFC PPV, Ultimate Fighter finale, WEC, Sengoku, Strikeforce) in nine days.

FRIDAY

7 a.m.: Tennis, French Open men’s semi, #5 Robin Soderling-#15 Tomas Berdych. Tennis Channel

11 a.m.: Tennis, French Open men’s semi, #2 Rafael Nadal-#22 Jurgen Melzer, possibly on delay. Might also see women’s double’s final, Williams sisters vs. Kyeta Peschke-Katarina Srebotnick. NBC

11:55 a.m.: Soccer, France-China. Start the panic in Paris if this one goes awry. ESPN2

2 p.m.: Track and field, Diamond League, Bislett Games, Oslo. Universal Sports.com

7/9:30 p.m.: Softball, Women’s College World Series, winner’s bracket games. ESPN

8 p.m.: Hockey, Stanley Cup finals Game 4, Philadelphia-Chicago (Chicago leads 2-1). Versus

SATURDAY

8:30 a.m.: Soccer, USA-Australia. How well have the final 23 acclimated to South Africa? We’ll find out. ESPN2, with live coverage right here at SportsMyriad.com

9 a.m.: Tennis, French Open women’s final, Samantha Stosur-Francesca Schiavone, and men’s doubles final, NBC

12/2:30 p.m.: Softball, Women’s College World Series, elimination games. ESPN2

4 p.m.: Soccer, Toronto-Kansas City. How far can Dwayne De Rosario and Stefan Frei really carry TFC? Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

4 p.m.: Rugby, Sevens Collegiate Championship Invitational, San Diego State-Tennessee, Army-Navy, California-Dartmouth, Ohio State-Penn State, NBC

7/9:30 p.m.: Softball, Women’s College World Series, elimination games. ESPN

7:30 p.m.: Soccer, New York-Chivas USA. The Red Bulls rebounded nicely with a big home win Wednesday, stopping the plummet out of the playoff places. FSC

  • 7:30 p.m.: D.C. United-Real Salt Lake. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com
  • 8 p.m.: Los Angeles-Houston. Galavision
  • 8:30 p.m.: Dallas-San Jose. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com
  • 8:30 p.m.: Chicago-Philadelphia. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com
  • 9 p.m.: Colorado-Columbus. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

10:15 p.m.: Boxing. Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman bout tops card from Yankee Stadium. HBO

10:30 p.m.: Soccer, Seattle-New England. Two teams with high expectations try to shake off the early-season misfortune. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

SUNDAY

9 a.m.: Tennis, French Open men’s final, NBC

1/3:30 p.m.: Softball, Women’s College World Series, unbeaten teams in each bracket vs. other surviving teams. ESPN

2 p.m.: Beach volleyball, AVP Huntington Beach Open women’s final, ESPN2

3 p.m.: Cycling, Dauphine Libere prologue (delay), Versus

4 p.m.: Beach volleyball, AVP Huntington Beach Open men’s final, NBC

4 p.m.: Rugby, Sevens Collegiate Championship Invitational final, NBC

6 p.m.: Soccer (WPS), Chicago-Atlanta. Missing St. Louis Athletica? See several of their players in action for the visiting Beat. FSC

7/9:30 p.m.: Softball, Women’s College World Series (if necessary), winners advance to best-of-three championship. ESPN2

8 p.m.: Hockey, Stanley Cup finals Game 5, Chicago-Philadelphia. NBC

OLYMPIC SPORTS

  • Beach volleyball, track and field televised (see above)
  • Volleyball: U.S. men open World League play at Russia
  • Triathlon: World Championship Series, Madrid; UniversalSports.com
  • Modern pentathlon: Final World Cup before the final; Saturday/Sunday coverage at pentathlon.org. Americans Margaux Isaksen (ninth) and Will Brady (21st) in good shape to reach 36-athlete final.

MISC

0
mma

‘The Ultimate Fighter’: Season 11, Episode 10: Iceman 1, Crabman 0

Posted on by Beau Dure

We start with Chuck Liddell taking out his frustration over Tito Ortiz pulling out of their fight, ranting in front of an amused Dana White. Tito says Chuck doesn’t understand what he’s going through.

Then, in one of the most abrupt segues in Ultimate Fighter history, we have the weigh-in for the Josh Bryant-Jamie “Crabman” Yager quarterfinal.

As we get to the part with teammates talking up each fighter’s chances, we see Kyacey Uscola casting doubt on Yager. They’re both on Team Ortiz. Or is Yager officially on Team Yager now?

Yager, though, gives a good analysis of the Bryant bout. Bryant is busy taking out the trash.

Crabman should be the favorite, based on the speed of his prelim and first-round wins. Bryant needed a majority decision to get into the house, then labored his way to an upset of Kris McCray.

Steve Mazzagatti is the ref. Crabman is the tall one. It’s one of the biggest height differentials in Ultimate Fighter history. We’re off.

Continue reading →

5