Everton 'agree Jelavic fee'

Everton and Rangers have struck a deal for the transfer of striker Nikica Jelavic, according to Sky Sports sources.

The Croatian striker has been linked with a host of clubs this month following a series of impressive performances in the SPL during the first half of the season.
Ally McCoist has made it clear that he would prefer to keep Jelavic but the level of interest has been so great that it looks as though Gers may have been able to agree what they believe to be a good deal.
David Moyes dodged questions about his interest in the 26-year-old on Monday after it emergedthaEverton had lodged a bid over the weekend.
It is now understood that the two clubs have reached an agreement over a fee, with the Toffees able to spend some money following the sale of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to Spartak Moscow.

He has still not finalised personal terms or undergone a medical, but Everton will be hoping to push through a deal before the 11pm deadline on Tuesday.



 

 

 

 

Black Cats move for Bridge

Sunderland look set to win the race to land Manchester City full-back Wayne Bridge, Sky Sports understands.

The Black Cats have made a late move for the England defender, just as he had been set for a switch to the Championship.

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Reading, fresh with funds from their prospective new Russian owners, had agreed a deal to take Bridge - paying a substantial part of his wages.
But Sunderland have made a last-ditch bid for the 31-year-old, who now looks set for a move to the North East.
Bridge is set for a medical on Wearside on Tuesday morning, ahead of completing the deal.
Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill remains hopeful of bringing in a new striker, with Bolton's Kevin Davies still his top target.

Marshall’s 4 TD catches lift AFC in Pro Bowl .

Marshall’s 4 TD catches lift AFC in Pro Bowl

HONOLULU (AP)—While everyone was playing at half-speed and ready to extend their Hawaiian vacation, Brandon Marshall played as if it was his last game.
The Miami Dolphins wide receiver caught six passes for 176 yards and a Pro Bowl-record four touchdowns, and the AFC used a second-half surge to beat the NFC 59-41 on Sunday.
“You never know when you’re going to be back,” Marshall said, “and I wanted to go all out today because it could be my last Pro Bowl.”
Marshall had a touchdown catch in each quarter, including an early 74-yarder and a 3-yarder in the fourth, in a game filled with highlight-reel grabs.

He was selected the game’s MVP, and his name now will join the likes of Walter Payton and Jerry Rice on the MVP banners at Aloha Stadium.
“You know what? I wanted it,” he said. “It’s a Pro Bowl. Some guys are playing 100 (percent), some guys are playing 90, some guys aren’t playing at all, but it means a lot to be up in the rafters with some of these guys.”
The 59 points by the AFC set a Pro Bowl mark, and the 100 points scored by the teams combined was the second highest, a touchdown shy of the 107 scored in 2004.
But it was clear from the start it was Marshall’s day. He hauled in a deflected, go-ahead 47-yard TD pass from Andy Dalton, while on his back, to give the AFC a 38-35 lead late in the third quarter. It was Marshall’s third TD catch of the game, tying Jimmy Smith’s Pro Bowl record set in 2004.
“It was the most unathletic highlight I ever had,” he said. “Andy put it up there for me to make a play. I saw the ball, got nervous, fell, saw the ball, kicked it up and it just fell in my hands.”
Marshall, making his third Pro Bowl appearance, then nabbed a 3-yard TD pass from Dalton that gave the AFC a 52-35 lead with 8:25 left and put the game away.
“People were saying throw to him. I saw the matchup I had and he’s a great receiver, so I knew he could make the play,” Dalton said.
Hawaii has been kind to Marshall, who also won MVP honors at Aloha Stadium in his final game at Central Florida in the 2005 Hawaii Bowl, where he caught 11 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns.
Marshall noted he had six TDs this season, but four this game.
“It says a lot when you’re playing with these type of quarterbacks,” Marshall said. “They just put it in the right place and I just made the play. Hats off to those guys throwing me the ball.”
The game featured 36 first-timers, including rookie quarterbacks Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals, who replaced Super Bowl quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady. Their selection made this Pro Bowl the first to feature two rookie signal callers.
Dalton and Newton played the entire second half.
While Dalton looked composed, Newton played horribly—struggling to move the ball, stay in the pocket and find his targets, which drew some boos from the sun-splashed, sellout crowd of 48,423.
“No excuses,” Newton said. “When you hang the ball up there, against these kinds of players, that’s what you get,” Newton said. “It’s the good and the bad of playing in a Pro Bowl. I learned a lot.”
Newton finished 9 of 27 for 186 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Dalton, meanwhile, was 7 of 9 for 99 yards and two TDs.
On his first series, Newton overthrew a wide-open Tony Gonzalez over the middle, with the ball sailing into Eric Weddle’s hands. The San Diego Chargers safety popped up to his feet and returned it 63 yards to the NFC 23, leading to a 37-yard FG by Sebastian Janikowski, which gave the AFC its first lead of the game at 31-28.
Newton recovered on the next series, airing out a 55-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Panthers teammate Steve Smith, making it 34-31. But he was intercepted again on the next series.
Weddle also intercepted another pass by Newton late in the game. After picking off the deep pass, he pitched it to teammate Derrick Johnson, who rumbled 60 yards for the AFC’s final score.
“None of us want to go out and lose, so we picked it up and went out and made some plays,” Weddle said. “Got the `W,’ that’s the main thing.”
With the Pro Bowlers unable to get out of third gear—particularly on the offensive and defensive lines—and hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight, the Pro Bowl featured some good, bad and real ugly— sometimes on the same play. For example, Aaron Rodgers caught a pass from himself. His throw was deflected at the line and he leaped to catch the ball and backpedaled for a 15-yard loss.
Rodgers was 13 of 17 for 141 yards and two TDs, giving him a quarterback rating of 139.6, higher than his NFL record 122.5 rating during the season. But he was watching late in the game as Newton struggled.
Rodgers said it’s easier to play in the first quarter when the game isn’t as intense.
“It’s tough to be the last guy in, when it’s the fourth quarter and money becomes an issue,” he said. “Guys are playing a little bit harder. They come at you.”
The NFC had three players with 100-yard yard receiving: Gonzalez (seven for 114), Larry Fitzgerald (6 for 111) and Smith (5 for 118).
The AFC and NFC traded score after score, and turnover after turnover in the first half.
Rodgers and Fitzgerald connected for a pair of scores on back-to-back plays to put the NFC up 14-0 early in the game.
After stopping the AFC on fourth down at midfield, Rodgers drove the NFC down the field and threw a 10-yard TD toss to Fitzgerald. Six seconds later, Rodgers aired a 44-yard rainbow in the end zone to Fitzgerald for another Score after the NFC got the ball back with a surprise onside kick.
The reception was Fitzgerald’s sixth career TD catch in the Pro Bowl, tying Gonzalez’s record. He would break the record with the game’s last touchdown, on a 36-yard pass from Newton.
The AFC came right back and tied it up on two deep TD passes on the right side by Ben Roethlisberger. He threw a 34-yarder to rookie A.J. Green, and then connected with Marshall on a 74-yarder.
But Drew Brees and the NFC kept the scoring going. Just like in the regular season, Brees and Saints teammate Jimmy Graham hooked up to give the NFC a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. On fourth-and-goal, Brees zipped a pass to Graham for a 6-yard score and would later find Greg Jennings for an 11-yard TD. Brees finished 10 of 14 for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Antonio Gates pulled in a 27-yard TD from Chargers teammate Rivers as time expired in the half to tie it at 28.
Each AFC player earned a record $50,000 for the win, while the NFC players received $25,000.

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Terry scores 34, Mavs beat Spurs 101-100 in OT .

Terry scores 34, Mavs beat Spurs 101-100 in OT

DALLAS (AP)—Jason Terry was more than willing to take the big shots, with Dirk Nowitzki just getting back into the DallasBrendan Mavericks’ lineup. Terry made them when they mattered, too.
Terry scored the last four points in overtime, after hitting a tying 15-footer with a half-second remaining in regulation, and the Mavericks came back after blowing a big lead against San Antonio’s reserves to beat the Spurs 101-100 Sunday night.
“He put us on his shoulders there,” said Nowitzki, who played for the first time after a four-game hiatus to strengthen his sore right knee and do some conditioning work. “He made some great pull-ups. He got to his sweet spot to send it to OT.”
Terry put Dallas ahead to stay when he took a pass from Nowitzki and made a 12-foot baseline jumper with 42 seconds left to make it 99-98. After Shawn Marion stole the ball from Gary Neal, Terry got fouled and made both free throws with 17 seconds left.
“It’s just the will to win when the game is on the line,” Terry said. “I like to take the shot when the game is on the line. … When my team needs me the most, I’m going to come through regardless of what’s going on the entire night. Fourth quarter is winning time.”

Terry scored 26 of his season-high 34 points after halftime, though the Spurs still had a chance after his last two free throws.
Neal, who finished with 19 points, drove for a layup and was fouled by Marion with 12 seconds left. But Neal missed a potential tying free throw that was rebounded by Ian Mahinmi, who was fouled and missed two free throw attempts.
After Neal got that rebound and the Spurs called timeout, Vince Carter knocked the ball loose. Danny Green grabbed it and threw up a 3-pointer that ricocheted off the front of the rim as the game ended.
Green and the Spurs thought he had a game-winner at the end of regulation, but his 14-footer was disallowed when replay clearly showed that shot didn’t get out of his hands before the buzzer sounded.
“I thought it was good, but I guess it was too good to be true,” Green said.
Dallas led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter before San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich decided to go with his reserves. The Spurs’ last 51 points after that came from bench players, and they went ahead by as many as nine in the fourth quarter with the help of a flurry of 3-pointers.
“We were just on fire shooting 3s and it got us back in the game. It’s as simple as that. I thought the energy defensively was great; we double-teamed everywhere,” Popovich said. “They were playing great. There’s no sense in taking them off the court.”
The last Spurs starter to score was Richard Jefferson on a 3-pointer with 4:28 left in the third quarter. When Jefferson came out less than 2 minutes later, the only starter to re-enter the game was Kawhi Leonard for 1.1 seconds in overtime.
Terry’s tying shot at the end of regulation was set up after Rodrigue Beaubois, starting for injured Jason Kidd, drove for a layup with 30 seconds left and then blocked a shot on a drive by Neal. Nowitzki grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Terry.
San Antonio still had a chance to win the game. Green swished his jumper off the inbound pass, but officials looked at the replay before ruling it didn’t count and sending the game to overtime.
“We got a little lucky there,” Nowitzki said. “I thought it was over.”
Carter had 21 points, his most with the Mavericks, while Beaubois had 14. Nowitzki had 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 13 rebounds.
“I’m moving better,” Nowitzki said. “Definitely that was an improvement from before. I’m going to keep working and get back to normal soon.”
Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan and Green each had 12 points for the Spurs.
Dallas (13-8) took over the Southwest Division lead, ahead of Houston (12-8) and the Spurs (12-9).
The Mavericks had a 67-49 lead after Terry’s basket with 3:48 left in the third quarter. That’s when San Antonio’s reserves took over.
There were seven consecutive points to cut the gap, that capped by Matt Bonner’s 3-pointer that helped ignite a frenzy of 3-pointers.
San Antonio opened the fourth quarter with a 17-2 surge that included five 3-pointers. Bonner’s trey from the right wing with 8:24 left in regulation put the Spurs up 75-71.
That was from about the same spot that Green had hit before a missed shot by Nowitzki.
San Antonio, which made seven 3s in the fourth quarter, led 84-75 with 5 1/2 minutes left when Neal stole the ball from Terry and had a fast-break jumper. It was still 89-81 only 2 minutes later when Neal made a 3-pointer.
“We were unable to capitalize on it,” Neal said. “They were able to make shots and forced it into overtime.”
Notes: Kidd has a right calf strain, and is expected to miss at least five games. … San Antonio finished with 12 3s, which was four less than they made when the teams first played 3 1/2 weeks ago when the Spurs won 93-72 at home. … Manu Ginobili (broken left hand) missed his 16th consecutive game for the Spurs, while T.J. Ford (torn left hamstring) has missed 11 in a row. … When former Mavericks owner Don Carter and his wife were showing on the video board during a timeout in the first quarter, both flashed their 2011 NBA championship rings. … Brendan Haywood had a season-high five blocked shots for Dallas.
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James, Heat escape with 97-93 win over Bulls .

James, Heat escape with 97-93 win over Bulls

MIAMI (AP)—The odds had to overwhelmingly be in Chicago’s favor. Down by a point with 22.7 seconds left, with Derrick Rose heading to the line to shoot a pair of free throws.
The reigning NBA MVP. He was a perfect 29 for 29 from the foul line in the fourth quarter this season. As if this moment needed extra significance, it was coming against the Miami Heat, the team that downed Rose and the Bulls in last season’s Eastern Conference finals by taking the series’ last four games.
And missed a potentially game-tying jumper with 3.7 seconds left to boot, as somehow the Heat held on for a wild 97-93 win on Sunday. LeBron James—the player who Rose supplanted as the league MVP—scored 35 points for Miami, which never trailed yet never could relax until Chris Bosh sealed it by making two free throws with 0.1 seconds left.
“This is so surreal right now knowing that I had a chance to win the game,” said Rose, emotional at his locker afterward. “And this time it didn’t work out.”
Bosh scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds for the Heat (15-5), who got 15 points from Dwyane Wade and pulled within one game of the Bulls (17-5) in the East.
“Like the playoffs in January,” Wade said.
Richard Hamilton and Joakim Noah each scored 11 for Chicago, which got 10 apiece from Ronnie Brewer and Carlos Boozer.
“A highly contested basketball game,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
Oh, that doesn’t even begin to tell the story of this one.
“I let my team down,” Rose said.
It had a little of everything. James leaped over—yes, over—Chicago’s 5-foot-11 John Lucas for an alley-oop dunk from Wade in the opening minutes, saying afterward he never saw the Bulls’ guard in his path. Wade missed nine of his first 10 shots, airballing the last of those. James missed a pair of free throws 5.1 seconds after Rose misfired on his tries in the final moments. There were skirmishes, hard fouls, pushing and screaming and shoving. Even an inadvertent whistle in the final moments that ultimately didn’t hurt Miami, although the Heat strongly believed the whistle took away their advantage.
As for that notion that this was “just another game” … nope. Not even close.
“The way I see it, every time we play the Bulls it’s going to be like that,” Bosh said. “It’s always going to be an atmosphere where nobody wants to lose and that’s how the playoffs are.”

This wasn’t the playoffs.
It only seemed that way.
The Bulls trailed by 12 points midway through the second quarter, though never let Miami pull completely away. Not even in the fourth quarter, when it seemed like Miami was on the cusp: James connected on a long jumper to close the third quarter, then he and Shane Battier set each other up for 3-pointers on the first two possessions of the fourth for an 82-71 lead.
Chicago called time-out, and Rose willed the Bulls back. A floating jumper made it 84-82, and a knifing layup that he made seem simply effortless knotted the game for the fourth and final time with 6:55 left.
The Heat answered with a 10-2 run, before Chicago rallied again, Rose’s three-point play with 49.1 seconds left cutting the lead to 94-93.
On the play where he missed the free throws, Rose then lost the ball on a drive, but drew contact from Miami’s Udonis Haslem and went to the line. Rose’s first hit the front of the rim and bounced away, and his second rimmed out. James grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Noah—only to miss both free throws himself.
“I couldn’t believe he missed both,” Wade said of Rose. “I couldn’t believe LeBron missed both, either. Averaged itself out, I guess.”
After James’ second miss, Wade said he knocked the ball away and Bosh appeared to emerge with control, but an inadvertent whistle led to a jump ball. James—who talked Bosh out of taking the tap himself—outleaped Taj Gibson, getting the ball to Mario Chalmers, who made one free throw for a two-point lead.
Chicago wound up getting one last chance with 9.9 seconds left, calling time out. Naturally, it went to Rose, who weaved his way into the lane—but came up short. Bosh got the rebound, and Miami began celebrating.
“The ball was on our side this time,” said James, who defended Rose in the fourth quarter—and in the postgame, saying last season’s MVP deserved credit for the comeback instead of simply having all the blame for misfiring down the stretch.
The Bulls played without forward Luol Deng and guard C.J. Watson, both sidelined with wrist injuries. Watson may be back in Chicago’s lineup as early as Monday, and Deng—who has a torn ligament in his left, non-shooting, wrist— is “very close” to a return, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Insistence that this was “just another game” notwithstanding, Miami started quickly. Wade appeared a bit more emotionally charged than usual after joining his teammates in the pregame huddle, and the Heat ran out to a fast early edge.
Maybe it would be more accurate to say they “jumped” out to that lead.
Wade set James up for three dunks in the first 7 minutes, the last of which is probably going to be replayed for quite a while. James appeared to be forgotten as he hovered on the weak side of the floor, so he darted toward the basket. Wade tossed a lob his way—and the two-time MVP went over Lucas for a dunk that put Miami up 16-7.
“I never saw him,” James said.
Said Lucas: “When he gets that running jump, what can I do?”
More than two hours later, that play—so wild that the NBA quickly tweeted video of the slam—almost seemed forgotten. The Heat celebrated, and the Bulls lamented.
Just like in last season’s East finals.
“Derrick has always been someone who’s his biggest critic,” Noah said. “He takes losses very hard. He wouldn’t be the competitor that he is if he weren’t. At the end of the day, we have his back. I’ll go to war with him any day. I’ve never been around a competitor like that in my life.”
Notes: James had a large icepack strapped to his right shoulder during a first-half stint of rest. He was grabbing at the shoulder in pain early in the first quarter after a collision, but did not appear to have a serious issue. … Boozer said he needed more than 20 tickets for the game. He’s been spending part of his offseasons in Miami for several years.

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Woods stumbles in Abu Dhabi golf

Unheralded Robert Rock was proving to be the fly in the ointment for Tiger Woods in the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Sunday.

Aiming to win his first full tournament in over two years, Woods, the fallen giant of the game, started the day in a share of the lead with the world number 117 following a 66 on Saturday - his best score since the Masters second round last April.
He got off to the best of starts by holing a 50-foot putt for birdie at the par five second and picked up another stroke at the next to move ahead at 13 under par.
But Englishman Rock, playing for the first time with Woods, stuck to him with birdies of his own at the second and third.
And when Woods stumbled with back-to-back bogeys at the next two holes, Rock suddenly found himself two strokes clear of the field.
He then birdied the sixth to go three clear against all the odds as Woods settled for a par.
Playing in the grouping directly ahead, US Open champion Rory McIlroy stayed in touch at 11 under with birdies at the second and fifth, before he bogeyed the par-three seventh.

That put him level after the first few holes of the final round with Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet and Scotland's former British Open champion Paul Lawrie.
It was at Augusta National that Woods sustained the leg injury that sidelined him for most of last year before he finally returned to the winners' circle at the Chevron World Challenge in California in early December.
That, however, was only an 18-man invitation event that Woods himself organised for the benefit of his charitable foundation.
In Abu Dhabi at the fourth tournament of the European Tour season, it was the real deal with the top four players in the world starting their seasons and six out of the current top 10 taking part.
In three, improving rounds of 70, 69 and 66 for 11 under par for the tournament, Woods has so far given the surest signs yet that the swing he has painstakingly remodelled under new coach Sean Foley is finally in place.
A win here will remove a huge burden from his shoulders and lay the first stepping stone of a path he hopes will lead to a 15th major title at The Masters in early April.
"This is a step in the right direction," he said of his own form here over three rounds.
Doubly pleasing for Woods must be the early season dominance he has shown over the world's top players assembled here.
World number one Luke Donald finished well adrift on level par, number two Lee Westwood not much better and number four Martin Kaymer missed the cut altogether.
Only third-ranked McIlroy, who played with Woods over the first three days, has near matched him, going into the final day just two strokes back.
The 22-year-old Ulsterman is seen by many as likely to be the next big dominant figure in the game since his eight-stroke victory in the US Open last June and he has played some superb golf in the Gulf.

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Liverpool down United in FA Cup

Liverpool down United in FA Cup, Newcastle exit

LONDON (Reuters) - Substitute Dirk Kuyt struck two minutes from time to give hosts Liverpool a 2-1 FA Cup fourth-round victory over Manchester United on Saturday with visiting captain Patrice Evra being booed throughout and making a mistake for the winner.

Mike Williamson was the fall guy for Newcastle United as his 76th-minute own goal meant Championship (second division) Brighton and Hove Albion knocked out the Premier League side 1-0 in the late kickoff.
Fourth-tier Crawley Town stunned second division Hull City by the same score in the only other shock, while Chelsea also beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0.
United left back Evra was given a hostile Anfield reception after the Frenchman's involvement in a spat with Liverpool's Luis Suarez in October, which led to the Uruguayan forward's current eight-match ban for racial abuse.

Kenny Dalglish's side, still missing the verve offered by Suarez, took the lead on 21 minutes when Daniel Agger headed in a corner that struggling United goalkeeper David de Gea failed to collect after he was crowded out by the hosts.
United, without the injured Wayne Rooney, hit back through a crisp strike inside the near post from Park Ji-sung on 39 minutes and the visitors had other good chances, with Antonio Valencia hitting the post.
Liverpool had the last laugh, though, when Andy Carroll, widely criticised for his form since his move from Newcastle last year, flicked on the ball to leave Evra out of position and Kuyt slammed it in when De Gea could again have done better.
Asked if Liverpool had merited victory, captain Steven Gerrard told ITV Sport: "Not on possession, probably not on general play; we've got to give Manchester United credit, they controlled large periods of the game today, but the most important thing was the result and we got there in the end."
United boss Alex Ferguson, whose side beat Premier league title rivals Manchester City in the third round but are now out of the FA Cup as well as the Champions League, agreed.
"I don't know how we lost it, it was a really good performance by us," he said.
NO HANDSHAKES
Liverpool were woeful in a league defeat at struggling Bolton Wanderers last weekend but eliminated Premier League leaders City on Wednesday to reach the League Cup final and have now beaten bitter rivals and league champions United.
Dutchman Kuyt's strike sent Anfield into raptures and prompted more hopes in the city that Dalglish can bring back the glory days from his previous spell in charge.
The goal also avoided a replay at Old Trafford next month, which Suarez would have been eligible to play in.
Racism accusations were also the backdrop to Chelsea's win at Queens Park Rangers, where John Terry, in court next week after being charged over comments allegedly made to QPR's Anton Ferdinand in October, was kept away from his fellow defender as the clubs decided not to shake hands before kickoff.
Like Evra, Terry was constantly heckled by the home fans whose wrath switched to the referee on 62 minutes when he awarded a soft penalty to Chelsea after Clint Hill was adjudged to have pushed Daniel Sturridge. Juan Mata converted the spot kick.
In two all-Premier League ties, Bolton overcame Swansea City 2-1 at home and Norwich City prevailed 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion to also make round five.
Last season's runners-up, Stoke City, progressed with a simple 2-0 victory at Derby County.
Other results included Blackpool 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City 2-0 Swindon Town, Millwall 1-1 Southampton, Sheffield United 0-4 Birmingham City, and Stevenage 1-0 Notts County.
Tottenham Hotspur are also through after beating second-tier Watford 1-0 on Friday, when Everton overcame Fulham 2-1.
The two remaining fourth-round fixtures take place on Sunday, with Sunderland entertaining north-east rivals Middlesbrough and Arsenal hosting Aston Villa.

Barca draw to leave Real seven clear in La Liga

MADRID (Reuters) - Real Madrid moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga with a comfortable 3-1 win over bottom side Real Zaragoza as Barcelona could only draw 0-0 at lowly Villarreal on Saturday.

The league leaders recovered quickly from their midweek King's Cup quarter-final exit to arch-rivals Barca and it was Pep Guardiola's victors who seemed to suffer a hangover.
Barca's pursuit of a fourth consecutive league title is now an even tougher task as they seek to catch Jose Mourinho's men after yet another poor showing on the road where five draws and one defeat has taken it's toll.
Real's 17th win from 20 league games left them top on 52 points, with Barca second on 45. Valencia, in third with 35, visit Racing Santander on Sunday.
The European and Spanish champions were down to the bare bones at the Madrigal with Pedro a late addition to their growing injury list that includes the striker David Villa and midfielder Andres Iniesta.
Lionel Messi lobbed just wide during a stale first half as Barca lacked their usual zip against a side who started the day in 17th place having won their first game in 11 attempts last weekend.
Barca threw men forward near the end, fielding Alexis Sanchez as a substitute despite him playing with a shoulder injury, but they could not beat home keeper Diego Lopez.
The Spanish international denied Messi in a one-on-one in the closing minutes and with the goal gaping, Fabregas booted the rebound high over the bar to complete a bad night for the visitors.
"The league isn't over yet, there is still a long way to go," World Player-of-the-Year Messi told reporters.

"We just lacked a bit of luck tonight. We didn't play as well as we can do, but we created chances and all we lacked was a goal."
SURPRISE LEAD
Angel Lafita gave Zaragoza a surprise early lead at the Bernabeu after a quickly taken freekick in the 11th minute but thoughts of a first win since mid-October quickly disappeared.
Brazilian Kaka squeezed a low shot under Roberto to level in the 32nd minute and Cristiano Ronaldo tapped in his 24th league goal of the campaign at the start of the second half.
The lively Mesut Ozil netted with a fierce drive after a slick passing move in the 56th and the whistles from home fans against Mourinho from last weekend, appeared long forgotten.
Manolo Jimenez's side remain six points adrift at the foot of the standings with 12 points, and are without a win in 13 outings.
Espanyol are fifth with 31 points and Athletic Bilbao sixth on 29 after both won earlier on Saturday.
Espanyol recovered from a shock midweek King's Cup quarter-final exit against tiny third-tier side Mirandes to beat 10-man Real Mallorca 1-0 at home.
Vladimir Weiss capitalised on an error from Mallorca's Israeli goalkeeper Dudu Aouate to put the Catalans in front after 18 minutes, but they failed to make the extra man count when Aouate was harshly sent off just after the break.
Spain striker Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick as Cup semi-finalists Bilbao came from behind to win 3-2 in a pulsating encounter at Rayo Vallecano.
The powerful frontman nodded in the equaliser, controlled a long ball and turned his marker to put them 2-1 up, and headed the winner for his 11th league goal this season.

The Life of Oscar Pistorius

The  Life of Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Pistorius trains inside a converted garage at the home of his personal trainer, a former professional rugby player. Iron pull-up bars and a variety of ropes and pulleys are bolted to brick walls. Free weights are lined up on the floor, along with hammered-together wooden boxes that serve as platforms for step-ups and standing jumps. Some of the equipment is clamped to an exterior wall of the garage, opposite an uncovered patio; when it rains, athletes just carry on and get soaked. “It’s old-school,” Pistorius said as we drove up to the place early one morning. “Some of the guys who train here, they bang it so hard, they often get sick in the garden. Nobody judges them.”

I visited with Pistorius last month in Pretoria, South Africa, where he was born 25 years ago without a fibula in either of his legs. (The fibula runs between the knee and ankle, beside the tibia.) His parents yielded to doctors’ recommendations that his lower legs should be amputated, and at 11 months, they were cut off just below the knee. At 13 months, he was fitted with prostheses. At 17 months, he was walking. Now he is among the top-ranked 400-meter runners in the world and a favorite to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics this summer. If he achieves this goal, he will be the first person without intact biological legs to compete in an Olympic running event. If he runs for South Africa in the 4-by-400-meter relay — and if Usain Bolt, the world-record holder in the 100- and 200-meter dashes does the same for Jamaica, as he hopes to — the finals of that event could be the marquee moment of the Summer Games.

In media accounts, Pistorius is often referred to as the Blade Runner because of the J-shaped carbon-fiber prostheses that he wears in competition. He has also been called the “fastest man on no legs.” The nicknames accentuate his otherness, as if it is important to set him apart from the rest of the field. An article published by the Berman Institute of Bioethics, at Johns Hopkins University, speculated that Pistorius may be a “pioneer on the posthuman frontier,” whatever that might mean. For what it’s worth, a South African magazine recently anointed Pistorius the country’s sexiest celebrity.

The artificial legs Pistorius runs on, called Flex-Foot Cheetahs and manufactured by an Icelandic company, have been a point of contention, and he has had to fight efforts to exclude him. But amputees have been running on the Cheetahs since the late 1990s. None have approached his best time, 45.07 seconds, in the 400 meters.

When I watched Pistorius train at the garage that morning, he had on traditional plastic prostheses that emulate the shape and look of biological legs and feet, which are what he wears for daily living and all activities other than running. For 90 minutes, he progressed through a series of pull-ups, push-ups and situps while grasping rings attached to the ropes. He looked like a gymnast. The exercises were meant to build strength in his core — particularly important for a runner who has no muscles or nerves in his lower legs and therefore must get all his thrust from above the knees. He executed a set of jumps on to a two-foot-high box, which I said I was impressed by, to my immediate regret. “That’s not very high for me,” he said. “I can do a lot higher.”

Near the end of his workout, Pistorius put on boxing gloves and unleashed a barrage of punches at his trainer, Jannie Brooks, who held a pair of padded mitts at shoulder level. He looked adept at this, which made sense, since boxing is one of the many sports he has competed in — along with wrestling, water polo, rugby and motocross. Brooks told me he has worked with Pistorius since he was in high school. “He came around with his mates, looking for training,” Brooks recalled. “He was just one of the bunch of them. It was six months before I realized he didn’t have lower legs.”

Any notion that Pistorius has somehow “crossed over” into able-bodied sport is inaccurate. When he ran in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, at age 17, it was one of the few times he had ever competed against other amputees. In fact, he had only recently even heard of the Paralympics.Learn more>>>

Penn State's Trustees Recall Painful Decision to Fire

Penn State's Trustees Recall Painful Decision to Fire

The board, scrambling to address the child sexual abuse scandal involving the university and its football program, had already decided to remove Graham B. Spanier as president. Then, many of those present recalled this week, the tension in the room mounted. Joe Paterno’s future was next up. Surma announced that an agreement appeared to have been reached to fire Paterno, too — the trustees having determined that he had failed to take adequate action when he was told that one of his longtime assistants had been seen molesting a 10-year-old boy in Paterno’s football facility.

Surma, those present recalled, surveyed the other trustees — there are 32 — for their opinions and emotions before asking one last question: “Does anyone have any objections? If you have an objection, we’re open to it.”

No one in the room spoke. There was silence from the phone speakers. Paterno’s 46-year tenure as head coach of one of the country’s storied college football programs was over, and the gravity of the action began to sink in.

“It was hard for us to want to get to the point where we were going to say that,” said Ira M. Lubert, a board member who works in private equity. “I was laying in bed that night shaking. And I couldn’t sleep — thinking: We just terminated Joe Paterno.”

The 100 or so hours beginning with the arrest of Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator for the football team, had built to a crescendo by that Wednesday night’s meeting of the trustees. By then, the campus was aflame with discontent. Penn State students and faculty, its alumni and its growing number of outside critics had been roiled by anger and confusion, embarrassment and sorrow. Reporters had inundated State College. It was, plainly put, the most trying time in Penn State’s 156-year history.

On Wednesday, in a conference room in New Jersey, a group of 13 trustees spoke to The New York Times in detail about that week — a somewhat frantic, certainly exhausting week that led to the firings of Paterno and Spanier and to the disturbances on campus that those dismissals set off.

The board decided to share its story because it grew weary of hearing criticism, which included calls from alumni who started a group known as Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship in an effort to replace the current board members. The trustees, over three hours, described how they had felt blindsided by Spanier’s failure to keep them informed of the nature and scope of the Pennsylvania attorney general’s investigation of Sandusky, along with the investigation of university officials.

Spanier, two other senior university administrators and Paterno had all given testimony before a criminal grand jury by late spring of 2011. They had been questioned extensively about what they had done after learning of a report in 2002 that said Sandusky had molested a young boy in the showers of the football building. According to the trustees, Spanier never informed them of any of that before Sandusky’s arrest on Nov. 5.

The trustees also laid out what they said were three key reasons for firing Paterno: his failure to do more when told about the suspected sexual assault in 2002; what they regarded as his questioning of the board’s authority in the days after Sandusky’s arrest; and what they determined to be his inability to effectively continue coaching in the face of continuing questions surrounding the program.

The trustees, who had not spoken publicly in any detail since the firings, also disclosed that, while having fired Paterno, they were still honoring the terms of his contract and are treating him financially as if he had retired at the end of the 2011 season.

To some trustees, Paterno failed in not reporting to the police what he had been told of Sandusky’s suspected assault. Some of the trustees were also upset that Paterno was seen leading “We are Penn State” cheers on his lawn with students and fans who had gathered after Sandusky’s arrest, which some board members viewed as insensitive.

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EA Sports unveils changes to Tiger's video game.

EA Sports unveils changes to Tiger's video game
EA Sports unveiled the new golfers and courses which will be included in Tiger Woods PGA Tour '13, to be released on March 27.
  Graeme McDowell, Dustin Johnson, Ben Crane, Hunter Mahan and Ross Fisher join a cast of 17 returning golfers, including the 14-time major champion.
 

A handful of new courses can also be played in the game, including five major championship venues. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Valhalla and Crooked Stick - all PGA Championship sites - have been added. Royal County Down and Royal Birkdale round out the new course offerings.
  In the Collector's Edition, five additional courses will be available: PGA National, Pinehurst No. 2, Oakmont CC, the Old White TPC at Greenbrier Resort and the Straits Course at Whistling Straits.

New Jersey sports betting bill into law

 New Jersey sports betting bill into law
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law Tuesday legalizing sports betting in the state — but only after a federal ban on such gambling is overturned.
The governor signed a bill that had been passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the state legislature. It would legalize betting on professional and collegiate sporting games at the Atlantic City casinos and the state's four horse tracks.

Next up is a court fight to overturn a federal law that makes it illegal to bet on sports in all but four states. If New Jersey prevails and the law is either overturned by the courts or repealed by Congress, it would free all 50 states to offer sports betting.
"This is the beginning of the end for the unfair, discriminatory and unwise federal ban on sports betting," said Sen. Raymond Lesniak, an Elizabeth Democrat who has been the measure's most vocal proponent. "It has failed to curb the public's desire to bet on sporting events. Indeed, betting on sports has increased exponentially since the ban passed Congress."
Voters signaled by a 2-to-1 margin in a non-binding referendum in November that they want sports betting to be legal.
"New Jersey voters made clear they want sports wagering, and this law will handle it in a responsible and professional fashion," said Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, an Essex County Democrat. "It does the right thing for New Jersey, and will ensure our racetracks and casinos remain competitive. Our job isn't done, but this is great economic progress for our state."
Deputy Assembly Speaker John Burzichelli, a southern New Jersey Democrat, said the law is designed to reclaim money currently flowing to illegal bookies and offshore gambling web sites.
Let's face it — sports gaming is already taking place, but the only people taking advantage of it are the bookies and criminal enterprises," he said. "This opens the door for New Jersey to implement well-regulated sports gaming."
Lesniak tried once to sue the U.S.Government over the 1992 federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which limits sports betting to four states that approved it by a 1991 deadline. New Jersey weighed such a law but failed to act on it. Sports betting currently is legal only in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana.
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New group will promote sports industry in Clark County.

New group will promote sports industry in Clark County
Clark County has a new player in the game of economic development: a sports commission that will give advice on how to attract sports events and tournaments to the area, and how to promote such activities.
It’s the brainchild of the nonprofit Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office, which announced Tuesday that its board of directors had approved the creation of a 20- to 30-member sports group.
The Vancouver USA Regional Sports Commission will serve as a special advisory committee to the nonprofit’s board.
In email to The Columbian, Jill Daniel, marketing and communications manager for the tourism office, said the nonprofit will continue to use its operating budget — funded through a public lodging tax — “to grow this market,” including attending trade shows, “advertising in sports publications, memberships in sports organizations, etc. to bring more business into Clark County. “Additionally, we will leverage some private sponsorship dollars to augment those efforts.”
In the news release, Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart said the county “can build on the successes of marathons, regional youth tournaments, and equestrian events to make sports a major force in economic development and revitalization for the county.”
Stuart was a proponent of a 5 percent admissions tax to help bring professional baseball to Vancouver. The proposal died in November when neither Commissioner Marc Boldt nor Commissioner Tom Mielke would second Stuart’s motion to approve the proposal.
Stuart could not be reached Tuesday for an interview.
As to the reason for launching the sports commission, Daniel, in her email, said: “In our work with sports planners and tournament directors, it has become clear that an expanded local network of sports related industry professionals can help us grow this market.”
The commission already has six members, according to the Tourism Office: Kim Bennett, president and CEO of the Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office; Brian McClary of Heathman Lodge; Charles Guthrie of Clark College; Peter Mayer of Vancouver-Clark County Parks and Recreation; Alison Hite of SpringHill Suites by Marriott; and Dave Sobolik of Fit Right Northwest.

Ultimately, the sports group will comprise 20 to 30 people from across Clark County, representing such interests as college, university and high school athletic programs; private and public sports venues and facilities; athletic suppliers and vendors; sports medicine organizations; and private businesses and retailers.
The commission is expected to meet first in February. People interested in serving on the panel are invited to contact the Vancouver USA Regional Sports Commission atClark County is home to “a growing number of major national and regional sports events that attract thousands of visitors to the region every year,” according to the Tourism Office’s news release. Those include the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Cross Country National Championships, which have been held in Vancouver since 2009 and return this year.
Vancouver also has welcomed everything from the Little League Girls Softball Western Region Tournament and the Washington State Horse Expo to the Adidas Clash at the Border soccer tournament and the U.S. Rowing Northwest Junior District Championships.
“Our numerous sports facilities, parks and natural venues are becoming well-known among event organizers throughout the Northwest as well as the entire U.S.,” said Bennett, CEO of the Tourism Office.
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Apologies England, but Test cricket needs Pakistan

 Apologies England, but Test cricket needs Pakistan

There have been moments over the last year or two (hello again, by the way) when Test cricket has been the format that dare not speak its name. Recently it has become the format that refuses to put a sock in it.

 

The chatter has been intoxicating – and it's why the best outcome for the world game will be if Pakistan beat England in the series starting on Tuesday in Dubai.
You read that right. And before you wonder whether this English columnist has taken leave of whatever of his senses remained, consider this: Test cricket, if it is to convince an increasingly sceptical world of its relevance, needs to remain on the tip of our tongues – Pakistani, English and everyone else's.

It needs to generate so much noise that the private marketeers and starry-eyed administrators who worship at the shrine of Twenty20 realise that price and value are not the same thing.
It needs a story so gripping that the even the auction for IPL5 will be elbowed aside at the top of the Indian news agendas. Stop me if I'm getting carried away...
So far, the winter has – from a global perspective, if not always from an Indian one – been as beguiling as we could have wished for. Test classic has followed Test classic, with eight of the ten sides involved in something momentous or nail-biting at one stage or another.

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It just so happens that the two to have missed out on the fun are Pakistan and England. It is time, as Duncan Fletcher used to say, to join the party.
Despite some of the bullish talk emerging from the Pakistani camp – and full marks to Saeed Ajmal for the promise of a new delivery: Shane Warne would be proud – it will still count as an upset were they to beat England in this three-match series. And that is precisely why neutrals should be rooting for a Pakistan win.
A glance at the Test rankings tells you that they (along with Sri Lanka) currently inhabit the no-man's land between the leading quartet and the bottom three (four if you include Zimbabwe, who do not yet have an official ranking).

If Test cricket is to allay fears that it could one day be the exclusive plaything of England, South Africa, India and Australia, it needs another name in the top-of-the-table mix.
Since Sri Lanka have won one out of 17 since Muttiah Muralitharan retired from Tests, that name can only be Pakistan. Throw in the desperate need for Misbah-ul-Haq's side to put the spot-fixing horror behind them, and you get the drift.
Can they beat England? Well, yes.
Scarcely noticed among England's rise to the top in 2011 – an age ago now, it seems – was the way in which Pakistan kept churning out the results. Last year, they won six Tests and lost one.

And if their wins came against modest opposition, they at least showed a consistency quite at odds with everything they have traditionally stood for. Ajmal claimed 89 international wickets in 2011 to Graeme Swann's 62; Misbah and Younis Khan provide middle-order class; Umar Gul knows how to reverse it; and barely a game went by last year without Mohammad Hafeez pocketing the man of the match award.
Neither have they been throwing their wickets away in the manner of their next-door neighbours. During the recent 1-0 win over Sri Lanka in the UAE, Pakistan chugged along at 2.66 runs an over (the equivalent of 239 runs in a day).

Saeed Ajmal

Misbah appears to have got them playing for each other. Not every Pakistan captain can make the same claim. 
England, meanwhile, have not had the smoothest preparation, despite pulling off two three-day victories which underlined their resilience: they win from weak positions. Tim Bresnan has flown home with a dodgy elbow, Chris Tremlett has an infected eye, Stuart Broad a bruised foot, Ian Bell has been hit on the wrist by a throwdown from Graham Gooch.
But Andy Flower has proved adept at getting his players up for Test-match challenges: witness the proximity of the Ashes win and the whitewash of India.
This year is considered a crucial one in the evolution of the Test team: nine of their 15 Tests will take place in Asia. And they are aware that their legacy could depend on how well they fare. Flower knows this. Now will not be the moment England ease up.
Still, the rest of the world will be cheering if Pakistan catch them on the hop...

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS...

At last, a contest

As far as the hosts were concerned, England clearly arrived in Australia a year too early.
While much of the post-Perth analysis has focussed on why India's batting line-up twice failed to score as many as David Warner managed in a single innings, it's worth bearing in mind that the Aussies have assembled a seam battery as deep as England's.
Since the Ashes, the stats are frightening: Peter Siddle has claimed 34 wickets at 24, James Pattinson 24 at 18, the born-again Ben Hilfenhaus 23 at 16, the occasionally fit Ryan Harris 17 at 19, Shane Watson 13 at 16, Pat Cummins seven at 16 (and Mitchell Johnson nine at, er, 63: face it, Australia, you got lucky with his injury). Nathan Lyon (24 at 30) is doing his job as an offie too.
Suddenly the prospect of 10 back-to-back Ashes Tests in 2013 and 2013-14 doesn't look quite such a drag after all.

If you can't beat 'em, don't play 'em!

What are India to do about their away form? A sequence of seven defeats in a row may have been the norm in, say, the 1960s, when they lost 17 on the trot outside India; it even recalls the prolonged misery of the 1980s and '90s, when they managed only four away wins (individual Tests, that is – not series).
But it is a worry when the country that bankrolls the international game shows as little aptitude for the moving ball as it has done in recent months and weeks.
But a solution is at hand: not until December 2013, when India arrive in South Africa (God help their batsmen), will they play a Test series outside the subcontinent.
And to think people are always having a pop at the BCCI...

Sachin Tandulkar

Sri Lanka get their money's worth

Never let it be said team coaches dodge questions. After Sri Lanka were bowled out for 43 in the first one-day international against South Africa in Paarl, a game they lost by an absurd 258 runs, Geoff Marsh put his finger on the problem: 'We have to just address all areas,' he conceded. 'Our batting, bowling, fielding and mental approach to the game.'
And he was true to his word: Sri Lanka lost the second game by a mere five wickets.

Nothing like a good whinge

  When England lost to South Africa in 2003, Michael Vaughan blamed county cricket. It was a ridiculous claim, just as it would have been ridiculous to ascribe England's run of success in 2004 and 2005 to the county game.

It would have been equally strange to say that county cricket was to blame for England's post-Ashes demise in 2005-06 and beyond; absurd to blame the counties for the home defeats to India and South Africa in 2007 and 2008; and odd to jump to the conclusion that county cricket was at the forefront of results since 2009.
Yet to read some of the responses to David Morgan's proposal to reduce the county championship from 16 games per team to 14, it is as if the England team has forgotten its debt to the domestic game.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Morgan's plans, the structure of the county championship will have nothing to do with England's fortunes. It was ever thus.
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Lionel Messi named world’s best player for 2011

ZURICH (AP)—Already judged one of football’s all-time greats at just 24, Lionel Messi unsurprisingly extended his reign as the world’s best player for a third year on Monday.

Lionel Messi with trophy

The Barcelona and Argentina forward received the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for 2011, beating his club teammate Xavi Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid to the game’s most prestigious individual honor.
“It’s a huge pleasure for me,” Messi said, after accepting the trophy from another three-time winner, former Brazil forward Ronaldo. “It’s the third time I get this award, and it’s a huge honor.”

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Messi’s prolific scoring and unselfish creative play inspired Barcelona to win five trophies last year including the Champions League, Spanish League and Club World Cup.
Messi is the first man to win three straight FIFA world player awards in the honor’s 21-year history. Zinedine Zidane of France also won three FIFA player awards.
Messi received 47.88 percent of the points in votes cast by national team coaches and captains plus invited journalists. They chose from an original shortlist of 23 players.
Cristiano Ronaldo finished second with 21.6 percent and Xavi got 9.23 percent to finish third for the third straight year.
“This one is very special because I want to share this with my friend and teammate Xavi . He deserves it,” Messi said.
On a night of Barcelona dominance, the Catalan club inflicted another defeat on its great rival Madrid in the men’s coaching award.
Barca’s Pep Guardiola was chosen ahead of Madrid’s Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. Mourinho and Ronaldo did not attend, as Madrid plays a Spanish Cup match Tuesday in Malaga.
In the women’s award, Homare Sawa of Japan ended Brazil forward Marta’s five-year rule as the world’s best player. Abby Wambach of the United States was also shortlisted.
Sawa led Japan to win the 2011 Women’s World Cup and adds the FIFA prize to her tournament best player and top scorer trophies.
A major international tournament victory is all that now eludes Messi.
Guardiola and Ferguson agreed at an earlier news conference that Messi should be classed alongside legends such as Pele, Diego Maradona and Alfredo di Stefano.
“Now he can sit beside them. It’s a huge award, no?” Guardiola said.
FIFA’s world player honor merged last year with the Ballon d’Or trophy awarded by France Football magazine since 1956.
Messi joins Michel Platini winning the Ballon d’Or for three consecutive years, though the France great won from 1983-85 when only European players were eligible. Netherlands forwards Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten also received three Ballons d’Or in their careers.
Before starting his victory streak, Messi was runner-up twice behind Brazil’s Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively.
Messi was outscored by Ronaldo in the Spanish League last season—40 to 31 — but elevated his game to a higher level in the biggest matches.
He scored twice, including a sublime individual effort, against Madrid in a bad-tempered Champions League semifinal, first-leg match, and struck with a perfectly placed shot to help Barcelona beat Man United 3-1 in the final.
Xavi described his gifted teammate as “one of the best footballers in the history of the sport.”
“He’s still young. I think he’s probably going to break all the record that exist in the sport,” Xavi said.
Messi missed a second trophy presented for the year’s most beautiful goal, chosen by fans who voted online from a shortlist of 10. Brazil forward Neymar got the prize for a solo goal in his club Santos’s 5-4 loss against Flamengo last July.
Ferguson received some reward for losing the coach’s prize, getting the FIFA presidential award from Sepp Blatter to recognize his 25 years as manager at Old Trafford.
“It is an honor for it to be given me in the twilight of my life,” said the 70-year-old Scot, who has won 12 English League and two Champions League trophies.
Japan collected three of the seven awards.

Norio Sasaki was named best coach of a women’s team for his work guiding Japan to its World Cup title. Pia Sundhage of the beaten finalist United States team and France’s Bruno Bini were also on the shortlist.

The Japan Football Association received FIFA’s Fair Play award for its response to a devastating earthquake and tsunami last March, including hosting Barcelona’s Club World Cup victory in December.

All three Ballon d’Or nominees were chosen in a World XI lineup chosen by the FIFPro group of players’ unions comprising 50,000 members worldwide.
They selected a team composed entirely of Barcelona, Madrid and Man United players.
Madrid captain Iker Casillas was selected as goalkeeper. In defense, Barcelona’s Dani Alves and Gerard Pique lined up alongside Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and Nemanja Vidic of Man United.

Xavi anchored a midfield trio with Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta and Madrid’s Xabi Alonso. Messi led the attack with Ronaldo and Rooney. 

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Sports Scholarship Applications Available

Sports Alliance Scholarship Applications Available

ABILENE, TX - The Abilene Sports Alliance will offer $8,000 in scholarships to local graduating student athletes. One male and one female athlete from Abilene Christian, Abilene, Cooper, and Wylie high schools will receive this award.

 

Applications may be picked up in the high school Counselor's office, the Athletic Coordinator at each campus or on-line at www.abilenevisitors.com/sports. The completed application must be turned into the campus Athletic Coordinator by April 2.

 

The hugely successful Action Sports Medicine Champions Classic held annually has allowed the Sports Alliance to distribute these generous scholarships. This event has generated an enthusiastic following, not only locally, but at the state and national level.

 

The Sports Alliance is a committee under the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau an affiliate of the Chamber of Commerce. The Sports Alliance was created to generate revenue to the local economy through sporting events. The goals are to increase existing tournaments and create new ones, have an enthusiastic volunteer base and offer scholarships. To date the Sports Alliance has awarded $54,000.

Sports talk show host Jim Rome leaves ESPN for CBS

 

NEW YORK — Sports talk show host Jim Rome is leaving ESPN for CBS's networks.
He will host a half-hour weekday show on cable channel CBS Sports Network called "Rome" starting in April. CBS said today that he would also have a sports and entertainment series on Showtime beginning late this year. Rome will contribute to CBS's coverage of the NFL, NCAA basketball and U.S. Open tennis.
His combative style may be best known for a confrontation with NFL quarterback Jim Everett in 1994. After Rome repeatedly called him "Chris" — in reference to women's tennis star Chris Evert — on a live ESPN2 broadcast, Everett flipped over a table and knocked Rome out of his seat.
After hosting "The Last Word with Jim Rome" on Fox Sports Net, Rome returned to ESPN in 2003 with "Rome is Burning."
Rome will continue to host his nationally syndicated radio show.
"Rome," which will air at 6 p.m. ET, will premiere April 3 after he takes part in CBS's Final Four coverage.