Williams Battles Injury, and Insects
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — If anything, it was the insects buzzing around Rod Laver Arena that bothered Serena Williams the most.
Her injured left ankle held up fine in her opening match Tuesday at the Australian Open, and even the near-midnight start time was O.K. But the bugs?
“I hate bugs more than you can imagine,” Williams said after reaching the second round by beating Tamira Paszek, 6-3, 6-2.
The match started at 11:32 p.m., and Williams hit a service winner 79 minutes later to finish it off. Between points, though, she picked up and moved or shooed away bugs that landed on court, and two that landed on her back.
“I’m going to request not to play at night anymore because I hate bugs, except for the final,” Williams said. “I heard it’s at night.”
Two years after her last Australian Open title, Williams extended her winning streak to 15 matches at Melbourne Park. She won titles in 2009 and 2010 but missed the chance to defend her title last year amid a prolonged injury layoff.
The match started late because Williams and Paszek had to wait until the conclusion of a four-hour men’s match won by Lleyton Hewitt. It was Williams’s first match since she badly sprained her ankle two weeks ago at the Brisbane International, an injury that jeopardized her participation in Melbourne. Williams was playing only her third match since losing the United States Open final to Samantha Stosur last September, and she said she was “a wee bit tight.”
“Physically I felt fine,” Williams said. “I was definitely moving better than I suspected. I still think I can move better, though, and just get that confidence.”
Stosur, the last woman to beat Williams, did not make the second round. She lost, 7-6 (2), 6-3, to No. 59-ranked Sorana Cirstea.
Fourth-ranked Maria Sharapova won the first eight games of a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Gisela Dulko of Argentina.
Hewitt gave the night session crowd something to cheer when he beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Hewitt will face his old rival Andy Roddick, who defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0. Djokovic wore pair of red, white and blue shoes with images of the three major trophies he won in 2011 on the sides and a Serbian flag on the heels.
In an early match Wednesday, the defending champion Kim Clijsters needed only 47 minutes to beat Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France, 6-0, 6-1. She will meet Daniela Hantuchova in the third round, and faces a potential rematch of last year’s final in the fourth round with Li Na, who won, 6-2, 6-2, over Olivia Rogowska.
FISH OUSTED No. 8 Mardy Fish, the top-ranked American, became the first top 10 player to fall in the men’s draw when he lost in the second round to the 71st-ranked Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (6), in three hours.
Fish had trouble controlling both his forehand and his backhand — hitting 58 unforced errors to Falla’s 34 — but also his temper.
Down by two sets to none, Fish appeared distracted and aggravated by the treatments Falla received for cramping. He complained to the chair umpire, Enric Molina, and sarcastically questioned a tournament referee about rules for cramping treatments.
Fish grew increasingly chippy as momentum shifted throughout the third set; several times, he unfurled a series of loud profanities after unforced errors.
“When you think someone is cramping or ailing physically, you sort of change your game a tiny bit,” Fish said, using air quotes to underline his skepticism of Falla’s condition. “I thought he was having some physical issues. But then in between every point, you know, he was totally fine.”
The second-round loss abbreviated what was an uncharacteristically cantankerous month for Fish in Australia. During losses in singles and mixed doubles at the Hopman Cup in Perth two weeks ago, Fish exchanged words with the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. At one point he needed to be separated from the 20-year-old Dimitrov by a tournament official.
No. 3 seed Roger Federer, meanwhile, advanced to the third round when Andreas Beck withdrew because of a lower back injury. Second-seeded Rafael Nadal also moved on, with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tommy Haas. BEN ROTHENBERG
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
With a Goal, Scholes Puts United Back in the Hunt
With a Goal, Scholes Puts United Back in the Hunt
Paul Scholes scored his first goal since ending his short-lived retirement to help Manchester United to a 3-0 win over visiting Bolton in England’s Premier League on Saturday.
In the second match of his comeback, Scholes turned in Wayne Rooney’s cross in the 45th minute for his first goal since August 2010. It was Scholes’s 151st league goal, and it helped United pull two points ahead of third-place Tottenham, which tied, 1-1, with relegation-threatened Wolverhampton.
United trails the Manchester City on goal difference, although City can restore its three-point lead by beating Wigan on Monday.
Six months after ending a career during which he only played for United, the 37-year-old Scholes returned in last weekend’s F.A. Cup win at Manchester City. On Saturday, he became the oldest Englishman to score a league goal for United.
“It was a surprise to see him at the far post,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said of Scholes. “With his age and the fact he has just come back, we were looking for him to control central midfield, which he did.
“But he has the instinct. He always has had.”
Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 in the 74th minute from another assist by Rooney, and Michael Carrick completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. Rooney had a first-half penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
Tottenham dominated visiting Wolves at White Hart Lane but Steven Fletcher put the visitors ahead from a rebound in the 22nd minute after Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel parried Roger Johnson’s header from a corner. Emmanuel Adebayor had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime before Luka Modric tied the score in the 51st.
City and United have 48 points, two more than Tottenham. Chelsea is another six points back in the final Champions League qualifying position after beating Sunderland, 1-0, on Frank Lampard’s goal.
“I’ve never said to anybody that we are going to win the league,” Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp said. “I know where we are at, and if we can get a Champions League position again this season it will be great for us.”
Liverpool played a scoreless tie with visiting Stoke and could be four points behind fifth-place Arsenal if the Gunners win at Swansea on Sunday. Newcastle could replace Liverpool in sixth place if it beats visiting Queens Park Rangers.
Blackburn lifted itself out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Fulham even though it played 67 minutes with 10 men, and the Los Angeles Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane faced each other in Everton’s 1-1 tie at Aston Villa. Donovan set up Darren Bent’s 69th-minute equalizer for Everton.
ROMA STOPPED BY RAIN Roma’s Serie A game at Catania was suspended midway through the second half because of heavy rain in the Sicilian city. The referee, Paolo Tagliavento, decided to bring a halt to the match 21 minutes after halftime with the score tied at 1-1. After waiting five minutes to see if the rain would ease up, the game was officially postponed. Similar weather is predicted for Sunday, when the rest of the Serie A schedule is to be played. The Roma-Catania match will be completed on Feb. 8 or 15, depending on whether Roma beats Juventus to qualify for the Italian Cup semifinals.
REAL MADRID ESCAPES The Spanish league leader Real Madrid survived a scare ahead of its Copa del Rey match against Barcelona this week as it came from behind to win, 2-1, at Mallorca. Madrid’s seventh straight away victory in league play extended its advantage over second-place Barcelona to eight points. Barcelona hosts Real Betis on Sunday.
PATO STAYING AT MILAN The A.C. Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi announced he had decided to keep striker Alexandre Pato at the club rather than sell him to Paris St.-Germain for a reported fee of $44 million. The decision seemingly puts the brakes on Milan’s bid to sign the disgruntled Manchester City striker Carlos Tévez. In a statement on Saturday, Berlusconi said of the overture for Pato, “The whole deal didn’t convince me, neither from a technical point nor from an economical one.”
JONES BACK WITH U.S. Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, who has been suspended for eight weeks by Germany’s federation, is joining the United States national team’s training camp ahead of exhibition games against Venezuela and Panama. Jones was suspended on Jan. 5 after the German federation concluded he intentionally stepped on an opponent’s foot during a match. He cannot appear in any competitive or exhibition matches for Schalke until March 1. The United States, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, is scheduled to play Venezuela on Saturday, then is at Panama four days later.
JOHN TO WEST HAM ON LOAN West Ham has signed the American defender George John on a two-month loan from Dallas of M.L.S. West Ham, a second-tier London club, said it obtained John, 24, “with a view to a permanent signing.”
Paul Scholes scored his first goal since ending his short-lived retirement to help Manchester United to a 3-0 win over visiting Bolton in England’s Premier League on Saturday.
In the second match of his comeback, Scholes turned in Wayne Rooney’s cross in the 45th minute for his first goal since August 2010. It was Scholes’s 151st league goal, and it helped United pull two points ahead of third-place Tottenham, which tied, 1-1, with relegation-threatened Wolverhampton.
United trails the Manchester City on goal difference, although City can restore its three-point lead by beating Wigan on Monday.
Six months after ending a career during which he only played for United, the 37-year-old Scholes returned in last weekend’s F.A. Cup win at Manchester City. On Saturday, he became the oldest Englishman to score a league goal for United.
“It was a surprise to see him at the far post,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said of Scholes. “With his age and the fact he has just come back, we were looking for him to control central midfield, which he did.
“But he has the instinct. He always has had.”
Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 in the 74th minute from another assist by Rooney, and Michael Carrick completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. Rooney had a first-half penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
Tottenham dominated visiting Wolves at White Hart Lane but Steven Fletcher put the visitors ahead from a rebound in the 22nd minute after Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel parried Roger Johnson’s header from a corner. Emmanuel Adebayor had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime before Luka Modric tied the score in the 51st.
City and United have 48 points, two more than Tottenham. Chelsea is another six points back in the final Champions League qualifying position after beating Sunderland, 1-0, on Frank Lampard’s goal.
“I’ve never said to anybody that we are going to win the league,” Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp said. “I know where we are at, and if we can get a Champions League position again this season it will be great for us.”
Liverpool played a scoreless tie with visiting Stoke and could be four points behind fifth-place Arsenal if the Gunners win at Swansea on Sunday. Newcastle could replace Liverpool in sixth place if it beats visiting Queens Park Rangers.
Blackburn lifted itself out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Fulham even though it played 67 minutes with 10 men, and the Los Angeles Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane faced each other in Everton’s 1-1 tie at Aston Villa. Donovan set up Darren Bent’s 69th-minute equalizer for Everton.
ROMA STOPPED BY RAIN Roma’s Serie A game at Catania was suspended midway through the second half because of heavy rain in the Sicilian city. The referee, Paolo Tagliavento, decided to bring a halt to the match 21 minutes after halftime with the score tied at 1-1. After waiting five minutes to see if the rain would ease up, the game was officially postponed. Similar weather is predicted for Sunday, when the rest of the Serie A schedule is to be played. The Roma-Catania match will be completed on Feb. 8 or 15, depending on whether Roma beats Juventus to qualify for the Italian Cup semifinals.
REAL MADRID ESCAPES The Spanish league leader Real Madrid survived a scare ahead of its Copa del Rey match against Barcelona this week as it came from behind to win, 2-1, at Mallorca. Madrid’s seventh straight away victory in league play extended its advantage over second-place Barcelona to eight points. Barcelona hosts Real Betis on Sunday.
PATO STAYING AT MILAN The A.C. Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi announced he had decided to keep striker Alexandre Pato at the club rather than sell him to Paris St.-Germain for a reported fee of $44 million. The decision seemingly puts the brakes on Milan’s bid to sign the disgruntled Manchester City striker Carlos Tévez. In a statement on Saturday, Berlusconi said of the overture for Pato, “The whole deal didn’t convince me, neither from a technical point nor from an economical one.”
JONES BACK WITH U.S. Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, who has been suspended for eight weeks by Germany’s federation, is joining the United States national team’s training camp ahead of exhibition games against Venezuela and Panama. Jones was suspended on Jan. 5 after the German federation concluded he intentionally stepped on an opponent’s foot during a match. He cannot appear in any competitive or exhibition matches for Schalke until March 1. The United States, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, is scheduled to play Venezuela on Saturday, then is at Panama four days later.
JOHN TO WEST HAM ON LOAN West Ham has signed the American defender George John on a two-month loan from Dallas of M.L.S. West Ham, a second-tier London club, said it obtained John, 24, “with a view to a permanent signing.”
Monday, January 16, 2012
Wylie Vale Jr., Groundbreaking Endocrinologist, Dies at 70
Wylie Vale Jr., Groundbreaking Endocrinologist, Dies at 70
Wylie W. Vale Jr., an eminent endocrinologist who helped identify the hormones through which the brain governs basic bodily functions and who was involved in a combative race for the Nobel Prize, died on Jan. 3 at his vacation home in Hana, Hawaii. He was 70.
The cause was not yet known, his wife, Mary Elizabeth, said.
Dr. Vale spent most of his career at the Salk Institute in San Diego, where he led efforts to identify the group of hormones involved in bodily functions like growth, reproduction and temperature. Their discovery was a landmark in the history of endocrinology, coming after more than 30 years of bitter competition.
The Nobel Prize went to others, but Dr. Vale “really, in the long run, had the biggest impact in the field,” said Bert O’Malley, an endocrinologist at the Baylor College of Medicine.
The first part of Dr. Vale’s career was spent as the principal scientist in the laboratory run by Roger Guillemin, who was locked in a 20-year race with a rival, Andrew Schally, to identify the hormones first.
The Guillemin-Schally war, described by Dr. Schally as “many years of vicious attacks and bitter retaliation,” ended in a draw in 1977 when the Nobel medicine committee gave each man a quarter share of a prize, the other half going to Dr. Rosalyn Yalow.
But the race was not over. An unexpected second phase erupted when Dr. Vale split from Dr. Guillemin and started competing against his former mentor to find the remaining hormones.
The serene campus of the Salk Institute, a plaza that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, then became the home to two laboratories locked in a race for scientific glory, as Dr. Vale and Dr. Guillemin sought to prove that each could succeed without the other’s help.
“They sharpened their swords and went at it full bore,” said Ronald Evans, a hormone expert at the Salk Institute.
Dr. Vale’s first target was the master hormone known as CRF, or corticotrophin releasing factor, which integrates and controls the body’s response to stress. Dr. Guillemin and Dr. Schally had spent seven years trying to isolate CRF before giving up and moving on to easier targets. Dr. Vale discovered CRF in 1981 and the next year found a second hormone, called the growth hormone releasing factor, or GRF, which had also eluded the older scientists. GRF controls the body’s growth.
Endocrinologists watched in amazement as the battle over the hormones raged. But they let the fight continue, mostly because of the importance of finding the hormones, but also because the dueling labs had acquired expertise in processing hundreds of thousands of sheep, pig and beef brains obtained from slaughterhouses for the research. It was a semi-industrial operation in which few others cared to join.
Despite the pressure of the competition, first with Dr. Schally and then with his own mentor, Dr. Vale maintained his easygoing Texan style and sense of humor. By contrast, Dr. Guillemin, born in Dijon, France, in 1924, brought an immigrant’s intensity to his work. He was also, like his rival Dr. Schally, loath to share credit for his lab’s achievements with his younger colleagues.
Toward the end of the fight with Dr. Schally, Dr. Vale became disenchanted with his mentor’s single-minded quest for scientific renown. During his search for GRF, Dr. Vale wrote the chemical formula for the hormone — it had not yet been published — on a large blackboard, which the members of Dr. Guillemin’s lab could see through the window every morning as they left the Salk parking lot. The formula was a decoy, intended to mislead the rival team. Dr. Vale kept the correct version on a piece of paper in his wallet.
Dr. Guillemin was aghast at the challenge from his scientific “son,” a man whom he had trained for his doctorate. Though he succeeded in finding the CRF and GRF hormones independently, in both cases Dr. Vale’s lab beat him to the punch.
Wylie Walker Vale Jr. was born in Houston on July 3, 1941. He attended Rice University and, after hearing Dr. Guillemin lecture on the releasing factors, as the brain’s hormones are known, joined Dr. Guillemin’s lab at the Baylor College of Medicine, earning his Ph.D. in 1964.
Dr. Vale’s principal task was to detect the releasing factors’ whereabouts in the large volumes of tissue from the sheep hypothalamus, a region at the base of the mammalian brain. He helped Dr. Guillemin to his first success, the identification of TRF, or thyrotropin releasing factor. Like the other releasing factor hormones, TRF is produced in the hypothalamus and reaches its target cells in the pituitary gland, just below the base of the brain. A second hormone, which is released by the pituitary in response to TRF, controls the thyroid gland and the body’s temperature control system.
In 1970, Dr. Guillemin moved his team to the Salk Institute. Over the next three years, Dr. Vale played a central role in the lab’s discovery of LRF, the releasing factor that controls the whole reproductive system, and somatostatin, a releasing factor hormone that inhibits the body’s growth.
Dr. Vale founded two companies to exploit his discoveries. One, Neurocrine Biosciences, is testing drugs that block the action of CRF that may help manage clinical depression. The other, AcceleronPharma, is testing drugs for treating anemia.
He also served as president of the American Endocrine Society and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Besides his wife, who is known as Betty and whom he met in high school in Houston, Dr. Vale is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Gandhi and Susannah Howieson; his father, Wylie; a brother, Shannon; and a granddaughter.
After Dr. Vale’s competition with Dr. Guillemin ended and the two men had reconciled, Dr. Guillemin recalled how a psychiatrist friend had advised him at the time to reread the Oedipus myth.
At a tribute on Dr. Vale’s 65th birthday, Dr. Guillemin quoted Freud’s analysis of the myth: “Part of any son worth his salt is planning the killing of the father he loves and taking his kingdom.”
Wylie W. Vale Jr., an eminent endocrinologist who helped identify the hormones through which the brain governs basic bodily functions and who was involved in a combative race for the Nobel Prize, died on Jan. 3 at his vacation home in Hana, Hawaii. He was 70.
The cause was not yet known, his wife, Mary Elizabeth, said.
Dr. Vale spent most of his career at the Salk Institute in San Diego, where he led efforts to identify the group of hormones involved in bodily functions like growth, reproduction and temperature. Their discovery was a landmark in the history of endocrinology, coming after more than 30 years of bitter competition.
The Nobel Prize went to others, but Dr. Vale “really, in the long run, had the biggest impact in the field,” said Bert O’Malley, an endocrinologist at the Baylor College of Medicine.
The first part of Dr. Vale’s career was spent as the principal scientist in the laboratory run by Roger Guillemin, who was locked in a 20-year race with a rival, Andrew Schally, to identify the hormones first.
The Guillemin-Schally war, described by Dr. Schally as “many years of vicious attacks and bitter retaliation,” ended in a draw in 1977 when the Nobel medicine committee gave each man a quarter share of a prize, the other half going to Dr. Rosalyn Yalow.
But the race was not over. An unexpected second phase erupted when Dr. Vale split from Dr. Guillemin and started competing against his former mentor to find the remaining hormones.
The serene campus of the Salk Institute, a plaza that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, then became the home to two laboratories locked in a race for scientific glory, as Dr. Vale and Dr. Guillemin sought to prove that each could succeed without the other’s help.
“They sharpened their swords and went at it full bore,” said Ronald Evans, a hormone expert at the Salk Institute.
Dr. Vale’s first target was the master hormone known as CRF, or corticotrophin releasing factor, which integrates and controls the body’s response to stress. Dr. Guillemin and Dr. Schally had spent seven years trying to isolate CRF before giving up and moving on to easier targets. Dr. Vale discovered CRF in 1981 and the next year found a second hormone, called the growth hormone releasing factor, or GRF, which had also eluded the older scientists. GRF controls the body’s growth.
Endocrinologists watched in amazement as the battle over the hormones raged. But they let the fight continue, mostly because of the importance of finding the hormones, but also because the dueling labs had acquired expertise in processing hundreds of thousands of sheep, pig and beef brains obtained from slaughterhouses for the research. It was a semi-industrial operation in which few others cared to join.
Despite the pressure of the competition, first with Dr. Schally and then with his own mentor, Dr. Vale maintained his easygoing Texan style and sense of humor. By contrast, Dr. Guillemin, born in Dijon, France, in 1924, brought an immigrant’s intensity to his work. He was also, like his rival Dr. Schally, loath to share credit for his lab’s achievements with his younger colleagues.
Toward the end of the fight with Dr. Schally, Dr. Vale became disenchanted with his mentor’s single-minded quest for scientific renown. During his search for GRF, Dr. Vale wrote the chemical formula for the hormone — it had not yet been published — on a large blackboard, which the members of Dr. Guillemin’s lab could see through the window every morning as they left the Salk parking lot. The formula was a decoy, intended to mislead the rival team. Dr. Vale kept the correct version on a piece of paper in his wallet.
Dr. Guillemin was aghast at the challenge from his scientific “son,” a man whom he had trained for his doctorate. Though he succeeded in finding the CRF and GRF hormones independently, in both cases Dr. Vale’s lab beat him to the punch.
Wylie Walker Vale Jr. was born in Houston on July 3, 1941. He attended Rice University and, after hearing Dr. Guillemin lecture on the releasing factors, as the brain’s hormones are known, joined Dr. Guillemin’s lab at the Baylor College of Medicine, earning his Ph.D. in 1964.
Dr. Vale’s principal task was to detect the releasing factors’ whereabouts in the large volumes of tissue from the sheep hypothalamus, a region at the base of the mammalian brain. He helped Dr. Guillemin to his first success, the identification of TRF, or thyrotropin releasing factor. Like the other releasing factor hormones, TRF is produced in the hypothalamus and reaches its target cells in the pituitary gland, just below the base of the brain. A second hormone, which is released by the pituitary in response to TRF, controls the thyroid gland and the body’s temperature control system.
In 1970, Dr. Guillemin moved his team to the Salk Institute. Over the next three years, Dr. Vale played a central role in the lab’s discovery of LRF, the releasing factor that controls the whole reproductive system, and somatostatin, a releasing factor hormone that inhibits the body’s growth.
Dr. Vale founded two companies to exploit his discoveries. One, Neurocrine Biosciences, is testing drugs that block the action of CRF that may help manage clinical depression. The other, AcceleronPharma, is testing drugs for treating anemia.
He also served as president of the American Endocrine Society and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Besides his wife, who is known as Betty and whom he met in high school in Houston, Dr. Vale is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Gandhi and Susannah Howieson; his father, Wylie; a brother, Shannon; and a granddaughter.
After Dr. Vale’s competition with Dr. Guillemin ended and the two men had reconciled, Dr. Guillemin recalled how a psychiatrist friend had advised him at the time to reread the Oedipus myth.
At a tribute on Dr. Vale’s 65th birthday, Dr. Guillemin quoted Freud’s analysis of the myth: “Part of any son worth his salt is planning the killing of the father he loves and taking his kingdom.”
With a Goal, Scholes Puts United Back in the Hunt
With a Goal, Scholes Puts United Back in the Hunt
Paul Scholes scored his first goal since ending his short-lived retirement to help Manchester United to a 3-0 win over visiting Bolton in England’s Premier League on Saturday.
In the second match of his comeback, Scholes turned in Wayne Rooney’s cross in the 45th minute for his first goal since August 2010. It was Scholes’s 151st league goal, and it helped United pull two points ahead of third-place Tottenham, which tied, 1-1, with relegation-threatened Wolverhampton.
United trails the Manchester City on goal difference, although City can restore its three-point lead by beating Wigan on Monday.
Six months after ending a career during which he only played for United, the 37-year-old Scholes returned in last weekend’s F.A. Cup win at Manchester City. On Saturday, he became the oldest Englishman to score a league goal for United.
“It was a surprise to see him at the far post,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said of Scholes. “With his age and the fact he has just come back, we were looking for him to control central midfield, which he did.
“But he has the instinct. He always has had.”
Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 in the 74th minute from another assist by Rooney, and Michael Carrick completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. Rooney had a first-half penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
Tottenham dominated visiting Wolves at White Hart Lane but Steven Fletcher put the visitors ahead from a rebound in the 22nd minute after Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel parried Roger Johnson’s header from a corner. Emmanuel Adebayor had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime before Luka Modric tied the score in the 51st.
City and United have 48 points, two more than Tottenham. Chelsea is another six points back in the final Champions League qualifying position after beating Sunderland, 1-0, on Frank Lampard’s goal.
“I’ve never said to anybody that we are going to win the league,” Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp said. “I know where we are at, and if we can get a Champions League position again this season it will be great for us.”
Liverpool played a scoreless tie with visiting Stoke and could be four points behind fifth-place Arsenal if the Gunners win at Swansea on Sunday. Newcastle could replace Liverpool in sixth place if it beats visiting Queens Park Rangers.
Blackburn lifted itself out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Fulham even though it played 67 minutes with 10 men, and the Los Angeles Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane faced each other in Everton’s 1-1 tie at Aston Villa. Donovan set up Darren Bent’s 69th-minute equalizer for Everton.
ROMA STOPPED BY RAIN Roma’s Serie A game at Catania was suspended midway through the second half because of heavy rain in the Sicilian city. The referee, Paolo Tagliavento, decided to bring a halt to the match 21 minutes after halftime with the score tied at 1-1. After waiting five minutes to see if the rain would ease up, the game was officially postponed. Similar weather is predicted for Sunday, when the rest of the Serie A schedule is to be played. The Roma-Catania match will be completed on Feb. 8 or 15, depending on whether Roma beats Juventus to qualify for the Italian Cup semifinals.
REAL MADRID ESCAPES The Spanish league leader Real Madrid survived a scare ahead of its Copa del Rey match against Barcelona this week as it came from behind to win, 2-1, at Mallorca. Madrid’s seventh straight away victory in league play extended its advantage over second-place Barcelona to eight points. Barcelona hosts Real Betis on Sunday.
PATO STAYING AT MILAN The A.C. Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi announced he had decided to keep striker Alexandre Pato at the club rather than sell him to Paris St.-Germain for a reported fee of $44 million. The decision seemingly puts the brakes on Milan’s bid to sign the disgruntled Manchester City striker Carlos Tévez. In a statement on Saturday, Berlusconi said of the overture for Pato, “The whole deal didn’t convince me, neither from a technical point nor from an economical one.”
JONES BACK WITH U.S. Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, who has been suspended for eight weeks by Germany’s federation, is joining the United States national team’s training camp ahead of exhibition games against Venezuela and Panama. Jones was suspended on Jan. 5 after the German federation concluded he intentionally stepped on an opponent’s foot during a match. He cannot appear in any competitive or exhibition matches for Schalke until March 1. The United States, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, is scheduled to play Venezuela on Saturday, then is at Panama four days later.
JOHN TO WEST HAM ON LOAN West Ham has signed the American defender George John on a two-month loan from Dallas of M.L.S. West Ham, a second-tier London club, said it obtained John, 24, “with a view to a permanent signing.”
Paul Scholes scored his first goal since ending his short-lived retirement to help Manchester United to a 3-0 win over visiting Bolton in England’s Premier League on Saturday.
In the second match of his comeback, Scholes turned in Wayne Rooney’s cross in the 45th minute for his first goal since August 2010. It was Scholes’s 151st league goal, and it helped United pull two points ahead of third-place Tottenham, which tied, 1-1, with relegation-threatened Wolverhampton.
United trails the Manchester City on goal difference, although City can restore its three-point lead by beating Wigan on Monday.
Six months after ending a career during which he only played for United, the 37-year-old Scholes returned in last weekend’s F.A. Cup win at Manchester City. On Saturday, he became the oldest Englishman to score a league goal for United.
“It was a surprise to see him at the far post,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said of Scholes. “With his age and the fact he has just come back, we were looking for him to control central midfield, which he did.
“But he has the instinct. He always has had.”
Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 in the 74th minute from another assist by Rooney, and Michael Carrick completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. Rooney had a first-half penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
Tottenham dominated visiting Wolves at White Hart Lane but Steven Fletcher put the visitors ahead from a rebound in the 22nd minute after Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel parried Roger Johnson’s header from a corner. Emmanuel Adebayor had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime before Luka Modric tied the score in the 51st.
City and United have 48 points, two more than Tottenham. Chelsea is another six points back in the final Champions League qualifying position after beating Sunderland, 1-0, on Frank Lampard’s goal.
“I’ve never said to anybody that we are going to win the league,” Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp said. “I know where we are at, and if we can get a Champions League position again this season it will be great for us.”
Liverpool played a scoreless tie with visiting Stoke and could be four points behind fifth-place Arsenal if the Gunners win at Swansea on Sunday. Newcastle could replace Liverpool in sixth place if it beats visiting Queens Park Rangers.
Blackburn lifted itself out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Fulham even though it played 67 minutes with 10 men, and the Los Angeles Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane faced each other in Everton’s 1-1 tie at Aston Villa. Donovan set up Darren Bent’s 69th-minute equalizer for Everton.
ROMA STOPPED BY RAIN Roma’s Serie A game at Catania was suspended midway through the second half because of heavy rain in the Sicilian city. The referee, Paolo Tagliavento, decided to bring a halt to the match 21 minutes after halftime with the score tied at 1-1. After waiting five minutes to see if the rain would ease up, the game was officially postponed. Similar weather is predicted for Sunday, when the rest of the Serie A schedule is to be played. The Roma-Catania match will be completed on Feb. 8 or 15, depending on whether Roma beats Juventus to qualify for the Italian Cup semifinals.
REAL MADRID ESCAPES The Spanish league leader Real Madrid survived a scare ahead of its Copa del Rey match against Barcelona this week as it came from behind to win, 2-1, at Mallorca. Madrid’s seventh straight away victory in league play extended its advantage over second-place Barcelona to eight points. Barcelona hosts Real Betis on Sunday.
PATO STAYING AT MILAN The A.C. Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi announced he had decided to keep striker Alexandre Pato at the club rather than sell him to Paris St.-Germain for a reported fee of $44 million. The decision seemingly puts the brakes on Milan’s bid to sign the disgruntled Manchester City striker Carlos Tévez. In a statement on Saturday, Berlusconi said of the overture for Pato, “The whole deal didn’t convince me, neither from a technical point nor from an economical one.”
JONES BACK WITH U.S. Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, who has been suspended for eight weeks by Germany’s federation, is joining the United States national team’s training camp ahead of exhibition games against Venezuela and Panama. Jones was suspended on Jan. 5 after the German federation concluded he intentionally stepped on an opponent’s foot during a match. He cannot appear in any competitive or exhibition matches for Schalke until March 1. The United States, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, is scheduled to play Venezuela on Saturday, then is at Panama four days later.
JOHN TO WEST HAM ON LOAN West Ham has signed the American defender George John on a two-month loan from Dallas of M.L.S. West Ham, a second-tier London club, said it obtained John, 24, “with a view to a permanent signing.”
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Michigan Prevails in an Exciting Conclusion to an Uninspiring Game
Michigan Prevails in an Exciting Conclusion to an Uninspiring Game
NEW ORLEANS — Since the Bowl Championship Series went to its double-hosting format in 2006, the contest held before the national title game in the host city has been more relevant as a springboard to the next season.
While the first game gets the prime television slot, the payout and the status of being called a B.C.S. game, there is little that differentiates a game like Tuesday night’s Sugar Bowl from other solid games like the Cotton Bowl or the Capital One Bowl.
Georgia used the Sugar Bowl here four years ago to spring to a No. 1 preseason ranking. Boise State used the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to start its recent run of dominance.
No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Michigan managed to cobble together an exciting finish and a thrilling overtime in a 23-20 Wolverines victory. But the matchup was created primarily because Sugar Bowl officials thought Virginia Tech fans would fill hotel rooms. And thanks to that decision, the game lived down to its uninspired billing for three quarters as the first Sugar Bowl without a top-10 team since 1945.
There were 12,000 empty seats, which prompted much grumbling from fans of the higher-ranked and more deserving Boise State. With the low attendance and lack of buzz, the game provided a three-hour infomercial on why college football’s bowl system is so flawed.
But after fits and starts of ugly play, the game redeemed itself with a taut fourth quarter. The portly Michigan kicker Brendan Gibbons hit a 37-yard field goal in overtime to clinch the game for the Wolverines (11-2), who finished with less than 200 yards of total offense.
“It felt good to make that kick for the team and make the seniors go out in a good way,” Gibbons said.
Michigan’s coach, Brady Hoke, said: “We talked about playing 60 minutes of Michigan football. We played 63.5, I think.”
The defining play of overtime, and biggest play of the game, came when Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas appeared to connect with receiver Danny Coale for a 20-yard one-handed touchdown grab.
“I thought it was good,” Hoke said. “When they said it wasn’t, I was a happy man.”
A replay overruled the touchdown call, with officials saying Coale had not controlled the ball with his outstretched hand before it hit the ground. Virginia Tech’s third-string kicker, Justin Myer, then missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt, spoiling a night during which he hit four field goals, including a 25-yarder at the end of regulation that forced overtime.
The night offered another black mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s decade-long run of football irrelevancy, with the conference falling to 2-12 in B.C.S. games. The A.C.C. has not had a legitimate national contender since Miami and Virginia Tech joined the league in 2004.
Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer is clearly the conference’s best coach, but Tuesday’s loss dropped his record in B.C.S. games to 1-5. The A.C.C. has a shot at redemption with Clemson playing West Virginia in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday.
Virginia Tech (11-3) should be the favorite to win the A.C.C. next season, with the stalwart defensive coordinator Bud Foster expected to bring back 9 of 11 starters, assuming that cornerback Jayron Hosley declares for the N.F.L. draft. The Hokies showcased their potential in the way they bottled up the star Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, who finished with a career-low 13 yards on 13 carries.
Despite Michigan’s preference to be a pro-style team, Robinson’s best weapon has always been his legs. But he never found any gaps against a taut Hokies unit. He also completed only 9 of 21 passes for 117 yards.
But his two touchdown passes summed up the extremes of his performance. Robinson appeared lucky on a jump ball to Junior Hemingway near the end of the first half, which resulted in a 45-yard touchdown. Robinson then threw a perfect ball off his back foot into a tight window for an 18-yard touchdown to Hemingway in the third quarter.
Virginia Tech outgained Michigan, 377-184.
Michigan’s victory may have come down to a decision made by Beamer. His call for a fake punt on fourth-and-1 near midfield late in the fourth quarter allowed Michigan to take the lead, 20-17, with four minutes left.
“I’m about half sick,” Beamer said, adding, “It was just kind of fluke plays.”
In the end, despite the lackluster matchup, the fans who did make the trip were treated to an exciting conclusion. But the game will most likely be remembered more for what it did not have — the fans who did not come and the teams that did not get chosen — that what it did.
Michigan won a B.C.S. game, but in doing so raised the question of how meaningful a B.C.S. victory really is.
NEW ORLEANS — Since the Bowl Championship Series went to its double-hosting format in 2006, the contest held before the national title game in the host city has been more relevant as a springboard to the next season.
While the first game gets the prime television slot, the payout and the status of being called a B.C.S. game, there is little that differentiates a game like Tuesday night’s Sugar Bowl from other solid games like the Cotton Bowl or the Capital One Bowl.
Georgia used the Sugar Bowl here four years ago to spring to a No. 1 preseason ranking. Boise State used the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to start its recent run of dominance.
No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Michigan managed to cobble together an exciting finish and a thrilling overtime in a 23-20 Wolverines victory. But the matchup was created primarily because Sugar Bowl officials thought Virginia Tech fans would fill hotel rooms. And thanks to that decision, the game lived down to its uninspired billing for three quarters as the first Sugar Bowl without a top-10 team since 1945.
There were 12,000 empty seats, which prompted much grumbling from fans of the higher-ranked and more deserving Boise State. With the low attendance and lack of buzz, the game provided a three-hour infomercial on why college football’s bowl system is so flawed.
But after fits and starts of ugly play, the game redeemed itself with a taut fourth quarter. The portly Michigan kicker Brendan Gibbons hit a 37-yard field goal in overtime to clinch the game for the Wolverines (11-2), who finished with less than 200 yards of total offense.
“It felt good to make that kick for the team and make the seniors go out in a good way,” Gibbons said.
Michigan’s coach, Brady Hoke, said: “We talked about playing 60 minutes of Michigan football. We played 63.5, I think.”
The defining play of overtime, and biggest play of the game, came when Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas appeared to connect with receiver Danny Coale for a 20-yard one-handed touchdown grab.
“I thought it was good,” Hoke said. “When they said it wasn’t, I was a happy man.”
A replay overruled the touchdown call, with officials saying Coale had not controlled the ball with his outstretched hand before it hit the ground. Virginia Tech’s third-string kicker, Justin Myer, then missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt, spoiling a night during which he hit four field goals, including a 25-yarder at the end of regulation that forced overtime.
The night offered another black mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s decade-long run of football irrelevancy, with the conference falling to 2-12 in B.C.S. games. The A.C.C. has not had a legitimate national contender since Miami and Virginia Tech joined the league in 2004.
Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer is clearly the conference’s best coach, but Tuesday’s loss dropped his record in B.C.S. games to 1-5. The A.C.C. has a shot at redemption with Clemson playing West Virginia in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday.
Virginia Tech (11-3) should be the favorite to win the A.C.C. next season, with the stalwart defensive coordinator Bud Foster expected to bring back 9 of 11 starters, assuming that cornerback Jayron Hosley declares for the N.F.L. draft. The Hokies showcased their potential in the way they bottled up the star Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, who finished with a career-low 13 yards on 13 carries.
Despite Michigan’s preference to be a pro-style team, Robinson’s best weapon has always been his legs. But he never found any gaps against a taut Hokies unit. He also completed only 9 of 21 passes for 117 yards.
But his two touchdown passes summed up the extremes of his performance. Robinson appeared lucky on a jump ball to Junior Hemingway near the end of the first half, which resulted in a 45-yard touchdown. Robinson then threw a perfect ball off his back foot into a tight window for an 18-yard touchdown to Hemingway in the third quarter.
Virginia Tech outgained Michigan, 377-184.
Michigan’s victory may have come down to a decision made by Beamer. His call for a fake punt on fourth-and-1 near midfield late in the fourth quarter allowed Michigan to take the lead, 20-17, with four minutes left.
“I’m about half sick,” Beamer said, adding, “It was just kind of fluke plays.”
In the end, despite the lackluster matchup, the fans who did make the trip were treated to an exciting conclusion. But the game will most likely be remembered more for what it did not have — the fans who did not come and the teams that did not get chosen — that what it did.
Michigan won a B.C.S. game, but in doing so raised the question of how meaningful a B.C.S. victory really is.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Celebrated in Asia, Little Known in America
Celebrated in Asia, Little Known in America
ORLANDO, Fla. — It is the all-American girl’s study as conceived by a Hollywood set director. In addition to her growing collection of trophies, Yani Tseng has displayed two dozen Starbucks mugs from all over the world, an ad for a local pizzeria and a plush Angry Bird scowling from a loving cup. Only the 8 ½-by-11 certificate noting Tseng’s completion of a Level 4 English class hints at her deepest
Tseng, 22, is the world’s No. 1 female golfer, a one-name celebrity in her native Taiwan and the spark of the sport’s next big boom, in her homeland and in China.
She is the youngest golfer, man or woman, to win five major titles. For her next act, Tseng wants to win over America. She may find it easier to become the first woman to win a calendar Grand Slam.
With the exception of superstars like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, golfers are faint stars in the American firmament, outshined by football, basketball and baseball players. For a female golfer to make the rounds of the morning talk shows, all the planets have to align. It happened in September, but the player was not Tseng, who had won eight tournaments by then. It was Lexi Thompson, a tall, blond American teenager fresh off her first professional victory.
Over the past decade, the L.P.G.A. has had a proliferation of South Koreans in its ranks after the success of Se Ri Pak. Since 2008, its overall schedule has been downsized, but the number of tournaments in Asia has been rising.
Among the official events added this year was one in Taiwan, which Tseng fittingly won for the 10th of her 11 worldwide titles in 2011.
The crowds that met Tseng at the airport when she arrived for the event were so large, she required the same security detail that accompanied the pop star Lady Gaga when she performed there. It was the same story on the course, where Tseng’s large following led her 92-year-old grandmother to ask if she had paid to have all the people brought in.
“It was so much fun,” Tseng said, adding, “Now I know what Tiger feels.”
After the success of the event, organizers in Taiwan paid handsome appearance fees to lure 8 of the top 10 female golfers to New Taipei City this week for what amounts to a curtain call: an 18-hole skins game, followed by the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association Invitational.
Tseng’s fame in Asia dwarfs her profile in the United States, which raises the question: in an increasingly globalized world, does it matter if the brightest stars shine in the East or West? Robert Thompson, a professor of mass media and popular culture at Syracuse, said, “We have this prejudice that it does not matter if you’re huge anywhere else, that the only real sign of success is if you’re famous in the United States.”
He added: “If I were advising her, I don’t think I’d put being famous in the United States at the top of my list. When you’re really famous in Asia, there are billions who know you, compared to millions in the U.S. I’d tell her to keep playing the way she’s playing and if she doesn’t make the highlights on ESPN, oh well.”
Last year, a Chinese company, looking ahead to 2016, when golf becomes an Olympic sport, reportedly offered Tseng millions of dollars, the use of a private jet and an apartment in Beijing to change her nationality so she could represent China.
“I didn’t think too much about that,” Tseng said. “I’m just very proud to represent Chinese everywhere.”
At a tournament in China last month, Tseng was asked about playing against men, as her mentor Annika Sorenstam once did in a PGA Tour event. She said if the opportunity presented itself, she would like to try it. Within days, a tournament director in Puerto Rico offered her a sponsor exemption to his 2012 event.
“It was really nice to have people who really pay attention to you,” said Tseng, who declined the invitation. “I feel like every word I say now, I can really inspire people.”
ORLANDO, Fla. — It is the all-American girl’s study as conceived by a Hollywood set director. In addition to her growing collection of trophies, Yani Tseng has displayed two dozen Starbucks mugs from all over the world, an ad for a local pizzeria and a plush Angry Bird scowling from a loving cup. Only the 8 ½-by-11 certificate noting Tseng’s completion of a Level 4 English class hints at her deepest
Tseng, 22, is the world’s No. 1 female golfer, a one-name celebrity in her native Taiwan and the spark of the sport’s next big boom, in her homeland and in China.
She is the youngest golfer, man or woman, to win five major titles. For her next act, Tseng wants to win over America. She may find it easier to become the first woman to win a calendar Grand Slam.
With the exception of superstars like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, golfers are faint stars in the American firmament, outshined by football, basketball and baseball players. For a female golfer to make the rounds of the morning talk shows, all the planets have to align. It happened in September, but the player was not Tseng, who had won eight tournaments by then. It was Lexi Thompson, a tall, blond American teenager fresh off her first professional victory.
Over the past decade, the L.P.G.A. has had a proliferation of South Koreans in its ranks after the success of Se Ri Pak. Since 2008, its overall schedule has been downsized, but the number of tournaments in Asia has been rising.
Among the official events added this year was one in Taiwan, which Tseng fittingly won for the 10th of her 11 worldwide titles in 2011.
The crowds that met Tseng at the airport when she arrived for the event were so large, she required the same security detail that accompanied the pop star Lady Gaga when she performed there. It was the same story on the course, where Tseng’s large following led her 92-year-old grandmother to ask if she had paid to have all the people brought in.
“It was so much fun,” Tseng said, adding, “Now I know what Tiger feels.”
After the success of the event, organizers in Taiwan paid handsome appearance fees to lure 8 of the top 10 female golfers to New Taipei City this week for what amounts to a curtain call: an 18-hole skins game, followed by the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association Invitational.
Tseng’s fame in Asia dwarfs her profile in the United States, which raises the question: in an increasingly globalized world, does it matter if the brightest stars shine in the East or West? Robert Thompson, a professor of mass media and popular culture at Syracuse, said, “We have this prejudice that it does not matter if you’re huge anywhere else, that the only real sign of success is if you’re famous in the United States.”
He added: “If I were advising her, I don’t think I’d put being famous in the United States at the top of my list. When you’re really famous in Asia, there are billions who know you, compared to millions in the U.S. I’d tell her to keep playing the way she’s playing and if she doesn’t make the highlights on ESPN, oh well.”
Last year, a Chinese company, looking ahead to 2016, when golf becomes an Olympic sport, reportedly offered Tseng millions of dollars, the use of a private jet and an apartment in Beijing to change her nationality so she could represent China.
“I didn’t think too much about that,” Tseng said. “I’m just very proud to represent Chinese everywhere.”
At a tournament in China last month, Tseng was asked about playing against men, as her mentor Annika Sorenstam once did in a PGA Tour event. She said if the opportunity presented itself, she would like to try it. Within days, a tournament director in Puerto Rico offered her a sponsor exemption to his 2012 event.
“It was really nice to have people who really pay attention to you,” said Tseng, who declined the invitation. “I feel like every word I say now, I can really inspire people.”
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sócrates, Brazilian Soccer Star and Activist, Dies at 57
Sócrates, Brazilian Soccer Star and Activist, Dies at 57
RIO DE JANEIRO — Sócrates, the soccer great and medical doctor who transcended the sport through his involvement in Brazil’s pro-democracy movement and his outspoken defense of his own bohemian excesses, died on Sunday in São Paulo, Brazil. He was 57.
The cause was septic shock from an intestinal infection, according to a statement from Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, where he was admitted on Saturday.
Sócrates, the captain of Brazil’s team in the 1982 World Cup, had been hospitalized three times in the last four months. In recent interviews, he had described liver problems related to decades of heavy drinking, for which he was sometimes pilloried.
“This country drinks more cachaça than any other in the world, and it seems like I myself drink it all,” he once told an interviewer, referring to the popular Brazilian spirit made from fermented sugar cane. “They don’t want me to drink, smoke or think?”
“Well,” he said, “I drink, smoke and think.”
His exuberant style reflected an expansive and multifaceted career. In addition to playing soccer, he practiced medicine and dabbled in coaching and painting. He also wrote newspaper columns, delving into subjects as varied as politics and economics, and made forays into writing fiction and acting on the stage.
Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira was born on Feb. 19, 1954, in the Amazonian city of Belém do Pará, Brazil. His upbringing was more privileged than that of many Brazilian professional soccer players, who often rise from abject poverty.
Emerging in the 1970s as a promising young player in Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo State, he studied medicine while playing for provincial teams before attaining his medical degree at 24. After that, he moved to Corinthians, the famous São Paulo club with a big following among Brazil’s poor.
Known to his fans as Doctor and Big Skinny, a reference to his spindly 6-foot-4-inch frame, Sócrates arrived at Corinthians at a time of intense political activity in São Paulo, a period when anger and resistance were coalescing against the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil.
Sócrates, in addition to organizing a movement advocating greater rights for Corinthians players, spoke at street protests in the 1980s calling for an end to authoritarian rule. That movement helped usher in a transition to democracy.
Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, praised Sócrates in a statement on Sunday.
“Dr. Sócrates was a star on the field and a great friend,” said Mr. da Silva, a Corinthians fan who is being treated for throat cancer at the hospital where Sócrates died. “He was an example of citizenship, intelligence and political consciousness.”
On the field, Sócrates was known as a wily strategist who could elegantly employ his signature move, a back-heel pass. At a time when many players maintained a clean-cut appearance, Sócrates had a beard and sometimes appeared with his long hair held back in a headband, like the tennis star Bjorn Borg.
Fans of Sócrates mention his name in the same breath as Brazilian soccer greats like Pelé, Ronaldo and Romário. But unlike those players, he was never part of a World Cup championship team.
The team he captained in 1982 was considered among the best to play the game, but it lost to Italy, 3-2, in the second round. In the 1986 World Cup, Sócrates missed a penalty kick in a quarterfinal loss to France.
Revered for his rebellious irreverence and his “heel of gold,” he deplored the way Brazilian soccer had evolved in recent years, criticizing the new playing styles as “bureaucratic” and “conservative.”
“Being sensible isn’t always the best thing,” Sócrates told The Guardian in 2010.
While Sócrates often defended his nonconformist style, he struggled publicly with his demons, too.
In televised comments this year, he described his struggle with alcoholism, leading to a broader debate in Brazil over the country’s drinking habits. As recently as August, he said that he had abstained from drinking “so that my liver can unite the conditions to be balanced.”
He is survived by his wife and six children, The Associated Press reported.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Sócrates, the soccer great and medical doctor who transcended the sport through his involvement in Brazil’s pro-democracy movement and his outspoken defense of his own bohemian excesses, died on Sunday in São Paulo, Brazil. He was 57.
The cause was septic shock from an intestinal infection, according to a statement from Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, where he was admitted on Saturday.
Sócrates, the captain of Brazil’s team in the 1982 World Cup, had been hospitalized three times in the last four months. In recent interviews, he had described liver problems related to decades of heavy drinking, for which he was sometimes pilloried.
“This country drinks more cachaça than any other in the world, and it seems like I myself drink it all,” he once told an interviewer, referring to the popular Brazilian spirit made from fermented sugar cane. “They don’t want me to drink, smoke or think?”
“Well,” he said, “I drink, smoke and think.”
His exuberant style reflected an expansive and multifaceted career. In addition to playing soccer, he practiced medicine and dabbled in coaching and painting. He also wrote newspaper columns, delving into subjects as varied as politics and economics, and made forays into writing fiction and acting on the stage.
Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira was born on Feb. 19, 1954, in the Amazonian city of Belém do Pará, Brazil. His upbringing was more privileged than that of many Brazilian professional soccer players, who often rise from abject poverty.
Emerging in the 1970s as a promising young player in Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo State, he studied medicine while playing for provincial teams before attaining his medical degree at 24. After that, he moved to Corinthians, the famous São Paulo club with a big following among Brazil’s poor.
Known to his fans as Doctor and Big Skinny, a reference to his spindly 6-foot-4-inch frame, Sócrates arrived at Corinthians at a time of intense political activity in São Paulo, a period when anger and resistance were coalescing against the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil.
Sócrates, in addition to organizing a movement advocating greater rights for Corinthians players, spoke at street protests in the 1980s calling for an end to authoritarian rule. That movement helped usher in a transition to democracy.
Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, praised Sócrates in a statement on Sunday.
“Dr. Sócrates was a star on the field and a great friend,” said Mr. da Silva, a Corinthians fan who is being treated for throat cancer at the hospital where Sócrates died. “He was an example of citizenship, intelligence and political consciousness.”
On the field, Sócrates was known as a wily strategist who could elegantly employ his signature move, a back-heel pass. At a time when many players maintained a clean-cut appearance, Sócrates had a beard and sometimes appeared with his long hair held back in a headband, like the tennis star Bjorn Borg.
Fans of Sócrates mention his name in the same breath as Brazilian soccer greats like Pelé, Ronaldo and Romário. But unlike those players, he was never part of a World Cup championship team.
The team he captained in 1982 was considered among the best to play the game, but it lost to Italy, 3-2, in the second round. In the 1986 World Cup, Sócrates missed a penalty kick in a quarterfinal loss to France.
Revered for his rebellious irreverence and his “heel of gold,” he deplored the way Brazilian soccer had evolved in recent years, criticizing the new playing styles as “bureaucratic” and “conservative.”
“Being sensible isn’t always the best thing,” Sócrates told The Guardian in 2010.
While Sócrates often defended his nonconformist style, he struggled publicly with his demons, too.
In televised comments this year, he described his struggle with alcoholism, leading to a broader debate in Brazil over the country’s drinking habits. As recently as August, he said that he had abstained from drinking “so that my liver can unite the conditions to be balanced.”
He is survived by his wife and six children, The Associated Press reported.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Helpful Linesman Hurts United; Barcelona Is Handed First Loss Since April
Helpful Linesman Hurts United; Barcelona Is Handed First Loss Since April
Manchester United conceded a contentious penalty after a linesman intervened in its 1-1 tie with Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday, dealing a blow to its bid to retain the English Premier League title.
United defender Rio Ferdinand was judged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa in the 61st minute, although replays suggested Ferdinand had made a perfectly legal tackle. The referee, Mike Jones, appeared happy to award a corner but a linesman, John Flynn, indicated a penalty should be awarded, causing several angry United players to surround the officials.
Demba Ba kept his composure to convert the penalty after a two-minute delay, drawing Newcastle even after United went ahead in the 49th minute on Javier Hernández’s goal.
“I didn’t think anyone in the ground thought it was a penalty apart from the assistant referee,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said.
Newcastle played the last 12 minutes with 10 men after Jonás Gutiérrez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Patrice Evra.
Hernández had a goal disallowed for offside in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Second-place United is four points behind Manchester City, which plays at Liverpool on Sunday.
Third-place Tottenham closed within two points of United as Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea scored three times in the first half for a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton. Arsenal slipped two points behind the Blues after defender Thomas Vermaelen scored a goal after giving up an own goal in a 1-1 tie against Fulham.
FIRST LOSS FOR BARCELONA Real Madrid extended its lead to six points in the Spanish league after a comeback 4-1 win against nine-man Atlético Madrid and Barcelona’s first loss of the season.
Real Madrid overcame an early goal by Atlético to win its ninth straight league match and maintain its 12-year unbeaten run in the Spanish capital derby. The win was even sweeter when Getafe edged out Barcelona, 1-0, on Juan Valera’s second-half header. The defeat ended Barcelona’s 27-game unbeaten run, which dated to April.
JUVENTUS BACK IN FIRST Simone Pepe scored to give Juventus a 1-0 win at Lazio, putting his team back on top of the Serie A standings. Juventus took a one-point lead over Udinese, which had briefly held the top spot after its 2-0 win over Roma on Friday. Lazio is three points behind.
BUNDESLIGA LEAD CHANGE Borussia Dortmund took the league lead in Germany by defeating Schalke, 2-0. Dortmund had not beaten Schalke at home since 2007 but has now won seven of its last eight league games.
CRASH KILLS 6 IN TOGO At least six top-flight Togolese soccer players were killed and another 28 people were critically injured after a bus carrying their team plunged into a ravine and caught fire. In a statement read on national television, the government said those injured from the Etoile Filante club had been taken to the military wing of the Lome Central Hospital to receive urgent medical attention.
Manchester United conceded a contentious penalty after a linesman intervened in its 1-1 tie with Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday, dealing a blow to its bid to retain the English Premier League title.
United defender Rio Ferdinand was judged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa in the 61st minute, although replays suggested Ferdinand had made a perfectly legal tackle. The referee, Mike Jones, appeared happy to award a corner but a linesman, John Flynn, indicated a penalty should be awarded, causing several angry United players to surround the officials.
Demba Ba kept his composure to convert the penalty after a two-minute delay, drawing Newcastle even after United went ahead in the 49th minute on Javier Hernández’s goal.
“I didn’t think anyone in the ground thought it was a penalty apart from the assistant referee,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said.
Newcastle played the last 12 minutes with 10 men after Jonás Gutiérrez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Patrice Evra.
Hernández had a goal disallowed for offside in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Second-place United is four points behind Manchester City, which plays at Liverpool on Sunday.
Third-place Tottenham closed within two points of United as Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea scored three times in the first half for a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton. Arsenal slipped two points behind the Blues after defender Thomas Vermaelen scored a goal after giving up an own goal in a 1-1 tie against Fulham.
FIRST LOSS FOR BARCELONA Real Madrid extended its lead to six points in the Spanish league after a comeback 4-1 win against nine-man Atlético Madrid and Barcelona’s first loss of the season.
Real Madrid overcame an early goal by Atlético to win its ninth straight league match and maintain its 12-year unbeaten run in the Spanish capital derby. The win was even sweeter when Getafe edged out Barcelona, 1-0, on Juan Valera’s second-half header. The defeat ended Barcelona’s 27-game unbeaten run, which dated to April.
JUVENTUS BACK IN FIRST Simone Pepe scored to give Juventus a 1-0 win at Lazio, putting his team back on top of the Serie A standings. Juventus took a one-point lead over Udinese, which had briefly held the top spot after its 2-0 win over Roma on Friday. Lazio is three points behind.
BUNDESLIGA LEAD CHANGE Borussia Dortmund took the league lead in Germany by defeating Schalke, 2-0. Dortmund had not beaten Schalke at home since 2007 but has now won seven of its last eight league games.
CRASH KILLS 6 IN TOGO At least six top-flight Togolese soccer players were killed and another 28 people were critically injured after a bus carrying their team plunged into a ravine and caught fire. In a statement read on national television, the government said those injured from the Etoile Filante club had been taken to the military wing of the Lome Central Hospital to receive urgent medical attention.
Recent Play Has Woods Confident of Victory
Recent Play Has Woods Confident of Victory
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After contending at the Australian Open and helping the United States team to a victory over the International squad in the Presidents Cup, Tiger Woods will find out this week if his play in Australia was a mirage or a sign that he has turned the corner in his comeback.
The 35-year-old Woods is bullish about his chances to end a two-year victory drought when play starts Thursday at the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club. Woods, the host of the event, is paired with Steve Stricker. At No. 6, Stricker is the highest-ranked player in the 18-man field, which includes eight players in the world top 20.
Graeme McDowell, who came from four strokes behind on the final day to beat Woods in a playoff last year, will not defend his crown. He is playing instead in a big-money event in South Africa.
Woods said the difference in his game now as opposed to a year ago was he no longer has to rely on his putter to save him from his wildness off the tee. He made a joke to drive home his point, knitting together questions in his pretournament news conference Wednesday about the state of his swing and a hockey goalie mask that bore his autograph that was for sale on eBay for nearly $5,000.
“I’m swinging the club well enough that you don’t need to walk out there with hockey helmets on,” Woods said.
There may be other hazards, though. The weather forecast for Thursday calls for gusts reaching 30 to 40 miles per hour. If Woods is not striking the ball solidly, his every flaw will be exposed in the wind.
After playing well in the wind in Sydney, finishing third in the Australian Open, Woods is confident he can weather any conditions.
“Playing in Oz for two weeks, it was fantastic,” he said. “I hit all shapes, all trajectories, and if you look at the rounds, I hit most of my shots pin-high. That’s an indication if the wind’s blowing that hard, that I’m really controlling my trajectory well.”
Woods had not gone a full season without a victory until 2010, and now he is staring at the possibility of going consecutive seasons without an individual title. It has been so long since Woods could taste victory, his good friend and fellow golfer Notah Begay asked him this week how it felt to be in that position late in the final round in Sydney.
“I told him I felt nothing,” Woods said, “and he said: ‘Good, because you’re not supposed to. You’re supposed to be normal. You’re supposed to be there.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I know.’ ” He added: “On Sunday, I felt the same way I did the first three days, and that’s a good sign. I feel very comfortable being up there.”
Woods said the progress he had made since missing the cut at the P.G.A. Championship in August was palpable. “Absolutely, I can sense it,” Woods said. “I’ve made tremendous strides.”
When his ball-striking is solid, Woods said, everything is easier. “If you’re hitting the ball well, there’s very little stress because you’re missing all those golf shots in the right spot,” he said. “You’re not going to hit all perfect golf shots for 18 holes, but as long as you miss in the right spots, it’s easy to get up and down.”
As he talked about swing planes and shaping shots, Woods sounded like a geek in a gadget shop. He talked about there always being room to improve as if it were a good thing. “That’s the beauty of golf,” he said.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After contending at the Australian Open and helping the United States team to a victory over the International squad in the Presidents Cup, Tiger Woods will find out this week if his play in Australia was a mirage or a sign that he has turned the corner in his comeback.
The 35-year-old Woods is bullish about his chances to end a two-year victory drought when play starts Thursday at the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club. Woods, the host of the event, is paired with Steve Stricker. At No. 6, Stricker is the highest-ranked player in the 18-man field, which includes eight players in the world top 20.
Graeme McDowell, who came from four strokes behind on the final day to beat Woods in a playoff last year, will not defend his crown. He is playing instead in a big-money event in South Africa.
Woods said the difference in his game now as opposed to a year ago was he no longer has to rely on his putter to save him from his wildness off the tee. He made a joke to drive home his point, knitting together questions in his pretournament news conference Wednesday about the state of his swing and a hockey goalie mask that bore his autograph that was for sale on eBay for nearly $5,000.
“I’m swinging the club well enough that you don’t need to walk out there with hockey helmets on,” Woods said.
There may be other hazards, though. The weather forecast for Thursday calls for gusts reaching 30 to 40 miles per hour. If Woods is not striking the ball solidly, his every flaw will be exposed in the wind.
After playing well in the wind in Sydney, finishing third in the Australian Open, Woods is confident he can weather any conditions.
“Playing in Oz for two weeks, it was fantastic,” he said. “I hit all shapes, all trajectories, and if you look at the rounds, I hit most of my shots pin-high. That’s an indication if the wind’s blowing that hard, that I’m really controlling my trajectory well.”
Woods had not gone a full season without a victory until 2010, and now he is staring at the possibility of going consecutive seasons without an individual title. It has been so long since Woods could taste victory, his good friend and fellow golfer Notah Begay asked him this week how it felt to be in that position late in the final round in Sydney.
“I told him I felt nothing,” Woods said, “and he said: ‘Good, because you’re not supposed to. You’re supposed to be normal. You’re supposed to be there.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I know.’ ” He added: “On Sunday, I felt the same way I did the first three days, and that’s a good sign. I feel very comfortable being up there.”
Woods said the progress he had made since missing the cut at the P.G.A. Championship in August was palpable. “Absolutely, I can sense it,” Woods said. “I’ve made tremendous strides.”
When his ball-striking is solid, Woods said, everything is easier. “If you’re hitting the ball well, there’s very little stress because you’re missing all those golf shots in the right spot,” he said. “You’re not going to hit all perfect golf shots for 18 holes, but as long as you miss in the right spots, it’s easy to get up and down.”
As he talked about swing planes and shaping shots, Woods sounded like a geek in a gadget shop. He talked about there always being room to improve as if it were a good thing. “That’s the beauty of golf,” he said.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Valentine Is Chosen to Manage Red Sox
For more than a century, the rivalry between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox has been the stuff of legend, filled with large personalities and fiery competitors. Now add to that caldron Bobby Valentine, one of the more colorful and controversial figures in recent New York baseball history.
Valentine was hired Tuesday by the Red Sox, the Yankees’ chief rival in the American League East, to be their manager, according to a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Valentine, who in six years managing the Mets taunted the Yankees and stoked a rivalry from across town, now will do so from Fenway Park. And he will do so with an expensive, talented team that many predicted would win the World Series last season before it collapsed in historic fashion.
The possibility of his managing the Red Sox was hardly considered a month ago, when the Red Sox were examining candidates who did not have Valentine’s experience or charisma. But with the team in a state of upheaval, it was decided a more seasoned and engaging personality was required.
While Valentine was in Japan this week on a charity tour, Ben Cherington, the Red Sox’ new general manager, extended the offer, and there was little negotiation involved, the person in baseball said. Valentine agreed, and he is expected back in the United States on Wednesday, with a news conference announcing his hiring expected to be held in the next few days.
The Red Sox needed a new manager after they declined to pick up the option on Terry Francona’s contract following the bitter disappointment of last season, when the Red Sox were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the season after holding a nine-game lead in September.
After the season, reports emerged of pitchers’ drinking beer and eating chicken in the clubhouse during games and of a general sense of tumult. Francona departed, and General Manager Theo Epstein left to become president of the Chicago Cubs. Epstein’s assistant, Cherington, took over and began the search for Francona’s replacement. He assembled a list of candidates that included the Brewers coach Dale Sveum, the former White Sox and Pirates manager Gene Lamont and the Blue Jays’ first-base coach, Torey Lovullo.
Valentine, 61, brings to Boston the experience of more than 3,000 games managed for the Texas Rangers, the Mets and the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan.
It has been nine years since Valentine managed in major league baseball, but during his six-year tenure as the manager of the Mets, beginning at the end of the 1996 season, he set about reclaiming part of New York for the Mets and their fans. That included fueling the rivalry with the Yankees, starting with their first interleague game in 1997, when the Mets scored a surprising 6-0 victory at Yankee Stadium.
He took over a Mets team that had floundered for seven years and brought steady improvement, the pinnacle of which was the World Series in 2000.
His tenure was marked by success and controversy, as he weeded out players he did not think fit the team concept and feuded with General Manager Steve Phillips. Despite occasional flare-ups, Valentine became the first manager to lead the Mets to the playoffs in consecutive years, in 1999 and 2000.
After failing to reach the playoffs in 2001, and leading the Mets through a tumultuous season the next year, Valentine was fired. He went to Japan in 2004 and a year later led a previously moribund Chiba team to the Japan Series title. Since leaving Japan after the 2009 season, he has worked as an analyst for ESPN.
After losing out on managing opportunities with the Seattle Mariners, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cleveland Indians and the Florida Marlins in recent years, Valentine faced doubts about whether he would manage again. Instead, he landed with one of the premier teams in sports.
Cherington’s first choice was Sveum, a former coach on Francona’s staff, but when ownership was not impressed Sveum took the Cubs job. At that point, the search widened, and the Red Sox president, Larry Lucchino, made it clear to Cherington that he wanted Valentine included in the search.
After meeting with the three key members of the Red Sox ownership group — Lucchino, John Henry and Tom Werner — Valentine had an eight-hour interview with Cherington and his staff. He impressed them with his insight, passion and vast knowledge of baseball.
Cherington might have been pressured into including Valentine on his list of candidates, but during the process he was clearly impressed by Valentine.
Among the many attributes that attracted Cherington to Valentine was his wealth of experience tangling with the Yankees.
Valentine was hired Tuesday by the Red Sox, the Yankees’ chief rival in the American League East, to be their manager, according to a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Valentine, who in six years managing the Mets taunted the Yankees and stoked a rivalry from across town, now will do so from Fenway Park. And he will do so with an expensive, talented team that many predicted would win the World Series last season before it collapsed in historic fashion.
The possibility of his managing the Red Sox was hardly considered a month ago, when the Red Sox were examining candidates who did not have Valentine’s experience or charisma. But with the team in a state of upheaval, it was decided a more seasoned and engaging personality was required.
While Valentine was in Japan this week on a charity tour, Ben Cherington, the Red Sox’ new general manager, extended the offer, and there was little negotiation involved, the person in baseball said. Valentine agreed, and he is expected back in the United States on Wednesday, with a news conference announcing his hiring expected to be held in the next few days.
The Red Sox needed a new manager after they declined to pick up the option on Terry Francona’s contract following the bitter disappointment of last season, when the Red Sox were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the season after holding a nine-game lead in September.
After the season, reports emerged of pitchers’ drinking beer and eating chicken in the clubhouse during games and of a general sense of tumult. Francona departed, and General Manager Theo Epstein left to become president of the Chicago Cubs. Epstein’s assistant, Cherington, took over and began the search for Francona’s replacement. He assembled a list of candidates that included the Brewers coach Dale Sveum, the former White Sox and Pirates manager Gene Lamont and the Blue Jays’ first-base coach, Torey Lovullo.
Valentine, 61, brings to Boston the experience of more than 3,000 games managed for the Texas Rangers, the Mets and the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan.
It has been nine years since Valentine managed in major league baseball, but during his six-year tenure as the manager of the Mets, beginning at the end of the 1996 season, he set about reclaiming part of New York for the Mets and their fans. That included fueling the rivalry with the Yankees, starting with their first interleague game in 1997, when the Mets scored a surprising 6-0 victory at Yankee Stadium.
He took over a Mets team that had floundered for seven years and brought steady improvement, the pinnacle of which was the World Series in 2000.
His tenure was marked by success and controversy, as he weeded out players he did not think fit the team concept and feuded with General Manager Steve Phillips. Despite occasional flare-ups, Valentine became the first manager to lead the Mets to the playoffs in consecutive years, in 1999 and 2000.
After failing to reach the playoffs in 2001, and leading the Mets through a tumultuous season the next year, Valentine was fired. He went to Japan in 2004 and a year later led a previously moribund Chiba team to the Japan Series title. Since leaving Japan after the 2009 season, he has worked as an analyst for ESPN.
After losing out on managing opportunities with the Seattle Mariners, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cleveland Indians and the Florida Marlins in recent years, Valentine faced doubts about whether he would manage again. Instead, he landed with one of the premier teams in sports.
Cherington’s first choice was Sveum, a former coach on Francona’s staff, but when ownership was not impressed Sveum took the Cubs job. At that point, the search widened, and the Red Sox president, Larry Lucchino, made it clear to Cherington that he wanted Valentine included in the search.
After meeting with the three key members of the Red Sox ownership group — Lucchino, John Henry and Tom Werner — Valentine had an eight-hour interview with Cherington and his staff. He impressed them with his insight, passion and vast knowledge of baseball.
Cherington might have been pressured into including Valentine on his list of candidates, but during the process he was clearly impressed by Valentine.
Among the many attributes that attracted Cherington to Valentine was his wealth of experience tangling with the Yankees.
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